A Message from Rabbi Tilsen

Toward a Moderate Communal Kashrut Regime

One day’s mail brought two advertise- ample, my essay “Chews by Choice” on sidy by Conservative Jews of non-Con- ments that highlighted the true dilemma the BEKI website). servative rabbinic organizations. They of the kosher consumer. One was a full are not supposed to be the battleground back-page newspaper ad for “Kosher” As faithful as we want to be to the Torah for various factions to prove who is more brand kosher-certified bottled water. laws and rabbinic regulations, it is clear “strict” or to delegitimize others. The other was a separate oversized mail- that the rules of kashrut are not supposed ing for “Mizmor” brand kosher-certified to prevent observant Jews from eating Rather, the rules are intended to help water. The dilemma for the consumer: with each other, or keep people from ever make us holy through conscientious pri- which brand is really more kosher? eating meat. They are not supposed vate and communal food preparation and eating. They are intended to reinforce I was somewhat upset to receive these the bonds of Jewish community. Unfor- advertisements, not only because my Pu- tunately, the dynamic of kashrut is that rim gags had been preempted, but also restaurateurs, caterers and institutions because these actual products sug- sometimes seek the “strictest” rules gest an unethical practice and are so they can serve the widest cli- religiously misleading. entele. Essentially, it can give veto power, or undue weight, Let us go back a step. The to the particular strictures of Torah outlines dietary re- some religious faction or strictions, primarily the organizations. limitations on meat-eating and the prohibition against Working in the kosher mixing meat and milk. The food business – whether rest of the kashrut regime is as a vendor or supervising intended to keep us far from agency – can be a thankless violating those core Biblical job. Ever-changing products laws. and standards of practice, com- peting religious organizations, The Torah gives us reasons for fol- the confluence of religion, politics lowing these rules. One reason is that and money, dealing with fanatic rabbis, eating certain creatures, such as worms all make for a lot of aggravation. or lizards, is “disgusting.” A second reason is to make us “Holy” like God to make eating twice as expensive for Over the years, we have tried to stake out (whatever is meant by that). A third rea- Jews, or make anyone wealthy. They a moderate approach to kashrut that will son is that “God says so.” Beyond the are not intended to require rabbinic per- enforce generally accepted kashrut prac- reasons stated in Torah, our sages as well mission to drink water. They are not tices and enable most observant Jews to as nationalists and culturalists, modern intended to enable commercial fraud or eat with complete confidence. psychologists, anthropologists, ethicists the “selling” of rabbinic authority. And, and other scientists have suggested other contrary to what the anti-Semites love to The Kashrut Initiative of the New Haven reasons for the historic and continuing point out, these rules are not supposed to Area Rabbinical Assembly (KINAHA- observance of kashrut. I personally put be a tax on non-Jews. They are not sup- RA) has sought to provide continuing a lot of stock in the Torah’s reasons as posed to be a mechanism for a vast sub- education on kashrut issues for consum- well as the other rationale (see, for ex- ers and those who work as volunteers in

 BEKI Bulletin March 2007 Visit us at www.beki.org A Message from Rabbi Tilsen

our communal kitchens. The hope is that itics. It turns out that the broadest part of of the products or vendors they super- understanding the “real” rules of kashrut, the market will accept our certification. vise, and an incentive to compete with as well as developing simple procedures other agencies, even by rejecting others’ to follow them, will make kashrut easier While visiting Philadelphia recently, my certification. Our “community supervi- to swallow, so to speak. Our model is son Tsvi and I patronized three of the sion” model can somewhat alleviate that akin to the “community policing” model four restaurants supervised by the Phila- conflict, but does not completely remove that New Haven made famous – a “com- delphia Branch of the Rabbinical As- it. munal kashrut” regime where most par- sembly. At a 2:00p lunch in a great Chi- ticipants have a stake in the outcome, nese restaurant, a couple came in, and I Observing kashrut can be difficult. Ob- and professionals or volunteer experts will guess that they were not Jewish. He serving kashrut without falling into the provide the support to keep everything says, “Everything is vegetarian!” She traps of spiraling strictness, corruption, on track. says, “And it’s kosher!” He says, “Yeah, or laxity is even harder. Our “moderate” I trust that.” Presumably, they are among approach to kashrut can keep its focus on It so happens that the Rabbinical Assem- the six to ten million non-Jewish Ameri- the core Biblical rules and central rab- bly is the largest, or one of the largest, cans who rely on kashrut supervision to binic values only with the continuing organizations of rabbis in our area. This maintain their personal dietary ethic. A process of dialog among the concerned gives us certain advantages in offering moment later, a single woman seated consumers and rabbinic authorities, min- kashrut supervision and certification. nearby asked the server to point her to a imizing the profit motive and dampening It means that we are able to adopt one “washing station” – the request of a pi- competition. Doing so adds a sense of set of standards and share our resources ous Jew. holiness to our lives and helps insure the such as mashgihim (supervisors), and to future of the Jewish People and the con- ensure a market for any vendor we certi- There is a particular structural imbalance tinuation of our mission. fy. It means that our work does not have in the world of kashrut supervision. We to depend on a single rabbi, and we con- will accept the certification of any cre- Rabbi Tsadoq says: Do not make the stitute a large body of rabbis who are not dentialed and reliable rabbinic authority, Torah a crown for self-aggrandizement trying to “compete” with each other. even if it does not meet our standards nor a spade for digging one’s livelihood. in every way, as long as it is within the For this is what Hillel warned against: It has been noted that some non-Con- law. On the other side, some will not ac- One who uses Torah for personal gain servative rabbis will not accept our cer- cept our certification without respect to perishes. (Avot 4:7) tification. It is also true that many of any objective rules of kashrut but rather those same rabbis also don’t accept the out of their own parochial institutional For information on BEKI’s kashrut poli- certification of other non-Conservative interests, lack of trust or respect, or ex- cies, see www.beki.org under “kashrut.” rabbis, but only accept the certification clusivist ideology. Can we survive with For communal standards, see of rabbis within their own organization this imbalance? It is like those mission- www.kinahara.org. or its allies. You can’t please everybody. aries who believe everyone must follow Fortunately, our experience is that many their religion to be “saved,” whereas tra- kosher consumers rise above partisan re- ditional rabbinic Judaism teaches that ligious politics, and most of the obser- there are other valid ways to please our vant Jews in our area are secure enough Creator and gain eternal life. Can our in their observance and knowledge to model compete? cross institutional lines. Moreover, it turns out that half of the kosher consum- There is also a terrible conflict of inter- ers are not even Jewish to begin with and est that comes into play in kashrut super- are not affected by partisan religious pol- vision. In short, supervising rabbis or agencies have an interest in the success

Visit us at www.beki.org BEKI Bulletin March 2007