That’s the big question being addressed by Hekhsher Tzedek, an initiative led primarily by rabbis in the Conservative movement, most notably Rabbi Morris Allen of Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
With new guidelines just released in which they set out the criteria which a business must meet in order to gain this group’s seal of approval, they are not replacing one form of kashrut with another. In fact, they are not even certifying the ritual/legal process by which the food is rendered kosher. They are offering a complimentary certification which raises awareness about the ethical/legal obligations that business’ and employers have according to halacha, Jewish law.
One can agree with them or not, but if you think that Jewish law matters, then this is a good thing. You don’t have to buy in to their system to appreciate the significance of their commitment to reintegrating the ethical and ritual aspects of a tradition that arguably never saw the two as distinct from each other any way. In other words, this new initiative is a powerful return to tradition.
I wrote recently about the mistake being made by so many people who have jumped into the ethical kashrut issue with sacred rage about “injustice”, and confuse two separate areas of Jewish law, each important and each with their own complex set of details. But Rabbi Allen has managed to nurture this move to heightened ethical awareness without such hyperbole or confusion. And in our world, especially when it comes to religious issues, that’s almost a miracle. Here is how he describes the work of Hekhsher Tzedek:
The concept of kosher foods produced by companies that have attained this “God Housekeeping Seal,” has tremendous consumer appeal, merging the ritual aspect of kashrut with ethical consciousness, states Rabbi Morris Allen, founder and director of Hekhsher Tzedek.
“Hekhsher Tzedek is a holistic celebration of Jewish tradition, uniting ethical practice with ritual observance in the production of Jewish food,” he added. “Jewish law is concerned not only about the smoothness of a cow’s lung, but also about the safety of a worker’s hand as well as the impact that kosher food production has on the environment. Hekhsher Tzedek grows out of Jewish tradition; it does not seek to redefine kashrut as much as enhance it.”
I am curious about they are only working with companies that are already certified kosher. I hope it’s a function of needing to start somewhere and wanting that “somewhere” to be closer to home. Though, I wonder if there is not a bit of “in your face” attitude toward the Orthodox establishment on display here as well. Of course if they went the other route and started certifying “un-kosher” foods, they would get slammed by those same rabbis as having endorsed food which they themselves would not eat!
Here’s an idea: I invite all rabbis who think that this initiative is too narrow because it only addresses those companies that already have kosher certification, to sign a pledge promising to support Heksher Tzedek when it reaches out to certify the ethical behavior of companies producing non-kosher foods. That’s right, let’s see a promise not to mock Conservative rabbis and their standards of kashrut, before asking them to go out on that limb. Personally, I think that would be the way to go. It may too early for that, but it would be wonderful.
Imagine finally having the courage to endorse what people do on an issue by issue basis and not on the basis of it being a reflection of our own behavior! Imagine an otherwise “non-observant” Jew who becomes a master of ethical kashrut, without having the slightest interest in “traditional kashrut” meeting up with someone who practices kashrut the other way around i.e. great on technicalities of how the animal was slaughtered but couldn’t care less about the worker who made that possible. The very definitions of words like religious, traditional, observant, etc would all open up and more people would find more connections to both each other and the tradition.
How bad would that be?
Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
posted August 3, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I want to know if there is any synagogue run by the Conservative Jewish movement that could qualify for the Heksher Tzedek. My local Conservative Jewish synagogue does not provide a 401 k plan for its staff, it does not provide affordable health insurance, it does not provide a living wage for its full time preschool teachers, and it does not provide more than 12 weeks leave of maternity leave.
So many Conservative Jews are so jewishly illiterate today. Our synagogues are desparate for adult On a national level the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism is pretty much broke. Their dues to keep membership in USCJ are enormous and the services they provide are so limited. And in spite of all that the USCJ and the Rabbinical Assembly is going to use whatever resources that are left to find the most prisitine companies around. Get Real.
posted August 5, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I am confused-I do not understand this article at all.
Something eather is kosher or not. Who needs all this stuff. You are worried about a certain food and how it is made-we got the INTERNET!
If you have the ability to read you know how something is made, if the product has kosher or non-kosher products in it.
The idea of all these various symbols from this or that group is not really needed any longer.
The only time you need to worry is when you wonder if something altho kosher all year round is OK for Passover. That is really it.
We certainly do not need anything new! Enough already!
posted August 6, 2008 at 10:49 am
Stop with this nonsense. Just like I wouldnt want my favorite eatery to be denied rabbinic supervision because of the music it plays, the posters on the walls, or if (God forbid) there is a dance floor that allows mixed dancing, so too this BS with “hechsher tzedek.” The fact that organized conservative jewry is all of a sudden interested just shows some willing ortho-bashing for a stupid Rubashkin mistake.
posted August 7, 2008 at 11:50 am
I am shocked and disappointed by the comments posted here so far. When Jews start separating the ritual mitzvot from the ethical mitzvot then all that is left is a heartless, conscienceless Judaism. There is a profound hypocrisy in someone who claims to be living a Jewish life because they are observant of the rituals yet oblivious of our ethical obligations in the treatment of fellow human beings and God’s creatures. Probably no one has said this better than the prophet Isaiah:
“To be sure, they seek Me daily, eager to learn My ways. Like a nation that does what is right, that has not abandoned the laws of its God, they ask Me for the right way, they are eager for the nearness of God: “Why, when we fasted, did You not see? When we starved our bodies, did You not pay heed?” Because on your fast day you see to your business and oppress all your laborers! Because you fast in strife and contention, and you strike with a wicked fist! Your fasting today is not such as to make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast I desire, a day for men to starve their bodies? Is it bowing the head like a bulrush and lying in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call that a fast, a day when the Lord is favorable? No, this is the fast I desire: To unlock the fetters of wickedness, and untie the cords of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free; to break off every yoke. It is to share your bread with the hungry, and to take the wretched poor into your home; when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to ignore your own kin.”
If Isaiah were to return and visit Postville, he would be ashamed to be a Jew!
posted August 7, 2008 at 1:13 pm
If Isaiah were to visit Postville he would have preached “Dan l’chaf zchut.”
And what are vapid, ethically universal bromides with no ritual underpinnings? Not a Judaism that Isaiah or I would recognize or want to practice. Did the harm that would attend to “guilty until proven innocent” ever enter the moral calculus of the Jewish protesters in Postville? I think not. In the main, their congregants observe neither the ethical nor ritual obligations of kashrut (which I think is a false dicotomy), so who cares if a business that caters primarily to the Orthodox community is harmed? And how ironic, that their protest occured during the three weeks preceding tisha b’av, when all Jews should be working diligently to purge sinat chinam from their words, hearts and deeds. Suggestion: Seek michilah for your Postville transgressions at your shul’s observance, although from your synagogue’s website it appears as if you do not observe that day in the Jewish calendar.
posted August 7, 2008 at 2:08 pm
And I am saddened by the anger and stridency that is shared by you both. Enough with the sacred sanctimony. How about giving each other a break?