What may be worse that eating non-Kosher?
Reading Hoax Kashrus Essays
and believing they might be true
One must strongly suspect that this article is a hoax.
Firstly, it is a self serving article. It is the president praising his own club. The fox explaining why he is the very best one to look after and protect the chickens. And we are supposed to fall for that? May we wonder if those so delighted to promote this article would be equally delighted to promote the Teshuvah from Reb Moshe Feinstien brought below. http://www.kosherveyosher.com/lone-rabbis.html Secondly, how could any responsible rabbi ignore the very first admonition of HaRav Moshe Feinstein who quotes Rav Rosenberg, the revered father of Kashrus in USA, that the very first and most important requirement for all Kashrus agencies is to be utterly free from any financial remuneration and benefit provided by those receiving Kashrus certification. And that any Kashrus org that does gain financially from those receiving the Kosher certification, even if only for defraying the supervision costs, is no better than any other Kashrus org. But Reb Moshe goes further - he says that in such circumstances the larger orgs are to be less trusted than the smaller orgs. Why? Because the smaller orgs have a person who must take responsibility whereas the larger orgs just pass the buck. Furthermore, Reb Moshe explains that the larger orgs are not scared because even when things go wrong they, like a juggernaut just roll over the issues and bury them under the weight of their momentum. Whereas the smaller orgs are constantly worried that if anything goes wrong they will not survive. So who would you rather have looking after you - the fellow who is really concerned to do the job right otherwise it's curtains for him, or the big boy who could not care because at the end of the day he knows that he is safe from criticism and consequences? 3] The scenarios described in the article relate mainly to factories producing both Kosher and non-Kosher foods. This may have applied decades ago however, this is hardly ever the case these days. Factories are specialised manufacturing plants, designed to function at high speeds, high output and with minimal variation. 4] The infantile stories brought in this article are typical of the small minded and backward mentality cultivated by the Kashrus agencies trying to shore up their power and persuade Kosher consumers that their spiritual lives hang in the balance and if not for the 'reliable' Kosher agencies they will face eternal damnation - without relief. Stories are never proof. They might serve as an illustration but only if they make some sense and are not fantastic episodes of fantasy. Did Reb Moshe Feinstien know how to unravel miles of pipes before he was able to Pasken? Whenever Reb Moshe required expert opinion about medical issues he consulted experts but he did not ever consult a food scientist or food factory engineer in order to Pasken Halacha. Neither did the Nodah BiYehudah and many [most] other Poskim. That is not to say that the food scientists did not come to Reb Moshe with their claims and intrigues to insinuate that Reb Moshe supported their perspectives and arguments. This pompous article, posits that just being a Talmid Chacham does not qualify one to be a Rav HaMachshir. So according to Rabbi Gutnick who wholeheartedly endorses this article - Reb Moshe would not have been capable of correctly Paskening matters of Kashrus because he did not understand how spray dryers, deodorizers, reactors, retorts, steamjacketed kettles and other complicated pieces of machinery operate and function. Nor was he capable of guaranteeing that there is no cross contamination between Kosher and non-K and dairy and Pareve. Ridiculous. Asinine. Arrogant. Neither was Reb Moshe equipped to be able to Pasken because, "proficiency in Yoreh Daya alone (the section of the Shulchan Oruch that deals with matters of kashruth) does not enable a rabbi to determine if ingredients are kosher, dairy or pareve." The jester has spoken. That a data base of ingredients containing 1.9 million entries is maintained, is nothing more than a device to impress Kosher consumers and reinforce the Kosher certifiers' power via big numbers window dressing and charade. And if the Kosher agency actually believes there is a need for such a database, it is a testament to their incompetence and their lack of Halachic understanding. Further I propose that if these Kosher agencies are fond of counting they count their expensive labels and tamper evident Plumbas used for identifying and verifying the Kosher integrity of meat they certify. Because these expensive labels are freely available - I have a couple thousand in my garage - There is, it appears, no reconciliation going on to establish how many labels were taken, how many were used, and how many ought to have been returned. Those labels are a licence to print money, a lot of money. When they declare, "chromium acetate natural (which may be nonkosher)" they conveniently forget to tell us that these esoteric ingredients are deemed to be Kosher by very many eminent Poskim. The story about the "good Mashgiach" finding round pies and square pie pans, is probably the very worst illustration one could provide and makes any clear-minded person think to themselves "these guys are about as competent as the Keystone Kops". Does the author of this piece of fiction actually believe that his or her readers will be comforted and feel secure about the Kashrus provided by a Kosher agency and a Mashgiach who have absolutely no idea about what products and ingredients are being delivered to the manufacturing plant? And Rabbi Moshe Gutnick promotes this as the genuine article and archetype of a Kashrus organisation? He is proud to present this to his members? Is his poorly concealed agenda so overwhelming that it has shut down his brain? We are told, "Since the rabbi had not authorized the bakery to use any frozen dough, he confronted the management with this evidence of wrongdoing." So, even AFTER the Mashgiach has found an anomaly, he still remains incapable of accessing the purchase orders to verify what is going on. Any Kosher certifier prepared to offer Kosher certification when restricted by such crippling limitations must be an utterly incompetent or negligent rabbi, certifier or desperate person. But we must be shocked by the casual carefree brainless attitude that such nonsense can be paraded under the spotlights as a wonderful illustration of the highest Kosher standards, and put shamelessly to the almost 2,000 readers expecting them to quite happily swallow the swill spilled before them. And are we not all pleased and is Perry Mason not put to shame by the pure brilliance of the Mashgiach's detective work in finding the impression of the pie pan manufacturer's name in the pies' pastry. And as a final swagger of mirth conceit and foolishness bursts from our dear narrator, "No doubt, Sherlock Holmes would have been proud." Disgusting. We are told, "A Mashgiach must become a suspecting and questioning sleuth. Many rabbis simply are not capable of assuming such contradictory roles." How well we know this. Here in Melbourne we have rabbis and agencies [we are told they are supported in full by US Kosher orgs and associations] who are quite happy to trust and certify [without full time Kosher supervision] the meat fish insect prone vegetables and cheese, all of which can be substituted easily with the far less expensive and essentially indistinguishable non-Kosher equivalents which are prepared served and sold by desecrators of our Holy Shabbos. |