Trigger warning! I will now tell a horror story. If "The Godfather" was too difficult for you to watch, please skip this post.
The story begins about twenty years ago, in a community that had for many years followed a very liberal, albeit Orthodox, halachic line. In recent years, however, they began a "get tough" policy. Conversion policy, for example, that had essentially been "come Tuesday at three. By five you will be a Jew" now became extremely strict. This went even further in the area of Kashrut. The council of community rabbis agreed to a new policy. Anything in THEIR city without THEIR supervision would be declared non-Kosher. There was a restaurant in town. The owner was both devout and learned. Even the most pious members of the community freely ate there. One day, the rabbis came to him. "You need our supervision, or we will declare you non-kosher. " The proprietor said "I have been in business for many years. There isn't a Jew in this city who doesn't trust me. Why should I give you several tens of thousands of dollars a year for your supervision?" "Believe us; you need it". The man scoffed. A few days later, a large ad appeared in the local Jewish newspaper: "It has been determined that this restaurant can no longer be considered kosher". The man soon went out of business. He lost his livelihood, as well as the respect of the community. I soon heard this story, and could scarcely believe it was true. A relative of mine (I say this with deep shame), was a rabbi in that community. I asked him if the story was true. "Not only is it true, but I was on the committee that made that decision and went to speak with the owner". Seeing my jaw drop, he added "we HAD to do it. That was the only way we could get a unified kashrut policy". What I still don't know is, if the rabbis meant it; a unified policy was so vital that it didn't matter who was destroyed on the way? Or was it the income generated by the supervision "service" ($40,000/year for the agency; Mashgiach [kashrut supervisor] paid separately)? Most people think that "kosher" always means rabbinic supervision. This is pure fiction. What is clear from the Talmud, as well as legal codes is if the people preparing the food are not to be relied upon (e.g. people who themselves didn't keep kosher, or otherwise lacked credibility), a trustworthy person must supervise. Until the mid-1980s, rabbinic supervision was rare, with the exception of wine and meat, and in many places cheese (to be discussed in a later post). Canned and frozen fruit and vegetables, all kinds of packaged goods, were assumed to be kosher, unless a suspect item appeared on the ingredient panel. Everything began to change in the mid-1960s, taking over the Jewish community over the next two decades. Now, even bleach (which few sane people ingest) has supervision. A booklet appeared, put out by an Orthodox student group, under the auspices of a rabbi prominent in the kashrut industry. Through a series of half-truths, as well as downright lies, the booklet "Proved" that virtually nothing can be kosher without supervision. Various chemicals "might" be used in the manufacturing process which "might" be non-kosher (as discussed in my previous post) Machines "might" be dabbed with lard. The booklet even alleged that out of the five species of tuna, only two were kosher (false). If the ingredients read "100% pure vegetable oil", it could, and usually does, contain up to 4% animal oil (false). Any ingredient that is 2% or less of the total package, need not be listed (false. The actual number is two parts per million). The panic spread slowly, but spread it did. In the early '80s, I spoke to a Hungarian Hareidi rabbi of a community that was centered around a Yeshiva. I asked him if canned goods needed a Hechsher (kosher certification). He said "We tell the residents here to buy only with a hechsher. But for the Yeshiva, we get government surplus without a hechsher". The die was cast when Coor's Beer, which had been owned by an outspoken antisemite, applied for rabbinic supervision after the original owner's death. Sales skyrocketed. No other beer had supervision at that time, but had nevertheless been freely consumed. A rumor circulated (and was published in a Kashrut magazine) that some other beers were made from non-kosher wine (!!!!) Most companies then jumped on board. By 1990, nearly anything that could have a hechsher, did. This was a financial boon for the manufacturers, as well as the kashrut agencies. The kosher consumer, who had been disempowered by the false information, was now dependent on these agencies. In what ways was this actually good? How was it bad? (besides the reasons I have already stated), and is anyone fighting it? That will be the topic of my next post
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