A plant owned by Agriprocessors, which sells meat under the Aaron's Best and Rubashkin brand names, is the largest producer of kosher meat in the United States. It's been in the news recently following a raid by federal agents, which turned up violations of a host of immigration and labor laws, not to mention accusations that some plant employees were operating an onsite meth lab. Here's a roundup of stories about the Agriprocessors plant, and you can find more coverage on the anti-Chabad Failed Messiah blog (the Rubashkin family, which owns Agriprocessors, is affiliated with Chabad, a movement within Orthodox Judaism).
I eat very little meat, but when I do eat meat, I only eat kosher meat. In smaller Jewish communities such as Seattle, virtually all of the available kosher meat comes from the Rubashkin plant. I, for one, will not purchase or consume any Rubashkin/Agriprocessors products until I have seen convincing evidence that they have resolved the ethical issues apparently plaguing their plant. As a Conservative Jew, I believe keeping kosher involves not only compliance with the letter of halacha (Jewish law), but also adherence to high moral and ethical standards in the food we eat. Many within the Conservative Movement strongly support this principle and are in the process of creating a certification addressing these ethical issues, called heksher tzedek.
Because of this, I am disappointed that the Conservative Movement's rabbis apparently decided not to urge a boycott of Rubashking/Agriprocessors products. The stated reason is that boycotting Rubashkin could discourage Jews from keeping kosher. Perhaps, but I think ethical issues should trump convenient and cheap kosher meat, and anyone can temporarily refrain from meat or eat less meat and continue to keep kosher (most people I know within the kosher non-Orthodox community in Seattle are either absolute vegetarians, fish-eating vegetarians (fish does not need to be specially slaughtered to be kosher), or very occasional meat-eaters -- in other words, we can refrain from eating meat indefinitely if need be). I suppose one might also argue that Rubashkin should be innocent until proven guilty, but in the world of kosher certification, even the possibility that food is unkosher is enough to render it unkosher until proven kosher. Why should this not apply to Rubashkin? Even if the allegations against Rubashkin have not been proven, the mere suspicion that food from the Agriprocessors/Rubashkin plant is either religiously or ethically unkosher should be enough to dissuade any observant Jew from purchasing or consuming its food until these issues or resolved.
I, for one, urge a boycott, even if the Conservative Movement is unwilling to take that step.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
BS"D
Good for you. I daven in an Orthodox shul, and I am sickened by the Rubashkins' antics and by the failure of Orthodox authorities to fix this problem (as well as the broader issue of factory farming (the eggs that are in your challah were laid by hens treated even worse than Rubashkin's cattle.
There is no REQUIREMENT to eat meat.
My wife and I have decided to stop purchasing Rubashkin products. If we cannot find other meat to purchase, we will eat dairy or pareve meals on Shabbat.
It seems some kind of guidelines will soon be forthcoming? (A Statement by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly Regarding Rubashkin's Meat Products)
I won't eat anything from Rubashkin's nor have I for quite some time. My hope is that eventually more of us will have locally procured kosher meat available to us such as has been done at a shul in Maryland.
the argument that the rabbis give doesn't make sense.
they are concerned that people will be discouraged from keeping kosher, but if the meat might not be kosher (and is meth kosher?), then that would mean that by condoning Rubashkin meat, they are in fact encouraging people to not keep kosher.
Post a Comment