tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post2068402532065813004..comments2024-03-27T15:07:31.495-04:00Comments on <b><center>Unorthodox-Jew </center></b> <br><small>A Critical View of Orthodox Judaism</small>: New Signs Going Up At Agriprocessors After $holom Rubashkin'$ Trial! ** Yudi Kolko New CEO!**Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-67415245667351784062008-06-03T22:28:00.000-04:002008-06-03T22:28:00.000-04:00To UOJThis is the first time i was shown your blog...To UOJ<BR/><BR/>This is the first time i was shown your blog, and I was just blown away!!<BR/>although im familiar with 90% of the junk going on in our community, I have one question to you: Why are YOU in the "bloteh? surely someone who has such a sick fascination with shmutz shares in it vicariously to some degree, albeit from far. A person who has the time to think up such shtuss, is obviously going to cover it up and say its in the name of community "good"..and you now what? b'mokom shel machshavto shel adom,shom hu!" <BR/><BR/>This seems to be your involvement for the betterment of the community!!??<BR/><BR/>I am convinced that if you would really care about the improvemt of the community, you would NOT have time for such shtuss, but would be out there volunteering ,or assisting in some form or other, or even G-D forbid, going to a shiur and learning!<BR/><BR/>When the brothers threw yosef into the pit, it says "v'habor raik, ein bo mayim".and chazal ask: why the repitive statement? surely saying the the pit was empty would have been enough..but they add "because nature abhores a vacuum. When a persons head is empy then Akravim, snakes, and vermin enter..'nuf said.<BR/><BR/>may I humbly suggest that you begin using your precious hours, minutes,and days,to do some positive good for the klall..get your hands wet on truly using the gifts Hashem gave you and stop Squandering your life.Remember: life is not a rehearsal-its the real thing and you dont get to do it again!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-85282992740679054582008-06-01T20:12:00.000-04:002008-06-01T20:12:00.000-04:00To anonymous who posted the article from the Jeru...To anonymous who posted the article from the Jerusalem Post here is a response on talkback to the article.<BR/>" 4. In most places in the US, especially whith large Latino populations, such raids would be considered unconscionable.<BR/>The very people who gloat over this raid, and claim moral superiority, would never vote for a congressional candidate who advocated this in California, NY, Florida or Texas. Oh yes there are other allegations, but where are the proofs? Those are likely excuses for pulling off this raid, unique in contemporary history. Not that employing illegals is desirable, but please, spare us the sanctimony."Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405098837405331655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-7607379676320676272008-06-01T19:55:00.000-04:002008-06-01T19:55:00.000-04:00To Steve,I see that you get around the blogs becau...To Steve,<BR/>I see that you get around the blogs because I didn't write anything about beards on UOJ.I did write about the importance of having a beard on that other blog but I was not the one that said thats it's more important then dina dmalchusa.Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405098837405331655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-15350242174718860292008-06-01T17:33:00.000-04:002008-06-01T17:33:00.000-04:00The Vilna Gaon mentioned in his writngs about the ...The Vilna Gaon mentioned in his writngs about the presence of Eruv Ravniks who attempt to dominate Jewish communal institutions and proceed to bring them down. Rav Avigdor Miller z"l tried gently to persuade certain individuals to leave Chinuch. Would the GRA have been so gentle?spacedoutBThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01509651208203221048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-90781602564505933282008-06-01T17:28:00.000-04:002008-06-01T17:28:00.000-04:00Will "anonymous" who kvetched about the teacher wh...Will "anonymous" who kvetched about the teacher who got fired quietly from HAFTR please do something about what he/she knows??/spacedoutBThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01509651208203221048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-90795675486300330702008-06-01T14:37:00.000-04:002008-06-01T14:37:00.000-04:00I can remember my bubbe telling me how she would b...I can remember my bubbe telling me how she would buy a chicken on the Lower East Side, bring it to the butcher where the shochet would slaughter it. She would watch the shochet check the chicken and watch the Rabbi check the knife before each slaughter. She would take home the chicken, to Brooklyn, soak it and salt it to complete the process. I don't know how many perutim I left out, but I do know that, the gross gesheft, many bubbes and mommas out there haven't got a clue. When it comes to laundry, they haven't got a clue. When it comes to raising a child, they run to the therapist or to the psychologist. WE WILL FALL WHEN WE OUTSOURCE OUR LIVES. Bubbe knew in 1930 and 1940 that outsourcing was the yeter hara. What happened?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-66053951570427287732008-06-01T14:21:00.000-04:002008-06-01T14:21:00.000-04:00state of the Jews says...from the Jerusalem Post, ...state of the Jews says...<BR/><BR/>from the Jerusalem Post, by Samuel Freedman<BR/><BR/>In the Diaspora: 'Treif' as swine<BR/><BR/>As the Havdala ritual serves to remind us, Judaism sanctifies separation. We separate holy days from ordinary days, Shabbat from the rest of the week, light from darkness, purity from impurity.<BR/><BR/>There is one sort of division, however, that Judaism refuses to hallow. That is the disengagement of cause and effect. If anything, our holy texts, prophetic injunctions, historical memory and rabbinic interpretations all tell us that cause inevitably leads to effect, and in forms as catastrophic as the defeat of <BR/>kingdoms, the destruction of temples, the imposition of exiles.<BR/><BR/>The stakes admittedly are not nearly so existential in the matter of the Agriprocessors slaughterhouse and the American Jews who both operate and <BR/>patronize it - the largest kosher meat plant in the nation. Still, the moral and ethical questions remain real, present, and pressing.<BR/><BR/>Should it not matter to us that the meat we buy and consume, ostensibly for the purpose of fulfilling a religious obligation or at least reifying a sense of <BR/>Jewish community, is coming from a scandalous source? Just what does the separation between kosher and treif mean or matter if kosher depends on the exploitation and endangerment of the human beings who do the supposedly Godly work of preparing our food?<BR/><BR/>As a good deal of American Jewry already knows, federal authorities earlier this month raided the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, and arrested more than <BR/>300 workers on suspicion of being illegal immigrants. Scores of them have already been sentenced to jail and lined up for deportation in an assembly-line version of criminal justice.<BR/><BR/>The last thing I would condemn Agriprocessors for is hiring immigrants who have fake Social Security cards or work permits. The United States' unconscionable <BR/>immigration policy - its refusal to make the common-sense reforms variously proposed by President Bush, John McCain and Edward Kennedy over the past few <BR/>years - enables this kind of shadow economy, especially in arduous industries like meat-processing.<BR/><BR/>Similarly, I cannot get terribly worked up by the earlier attacks on Agriprocessors by the animal-rights group PETA for the company's slaughtering <BR/>practices. No matter how Judaism tries to create the fiction of compassionate slaughter, no such thing can exist. There is no kind way to kill an animal for food; we're not talking about hospice here. To be an omnivore, as I am, means to accept a brutal hierarchy among the species.<BR/><BR/>THE IMPORTANCE of the recent immigration raid is that it has laid bare a Jewish hypocrisy on the subject of humans rather than cows, lambs and chickens. Between <BR/>the PETA criticisms four years ago and the federal sweep on May 12, <BR/>Agriprocessors has repeatedly abrogated basic standards of health and safety for its workers. It has fought against their right to join a union, and failed to <BR/>provide them training in Spanish, their native tongue. It has, if recent allegations prove correct, forced them to work overtime shifts without overtime pay. Taken together, these labor practices evoke the Triangle Shirtwaist <BR/>Company.<BR/><BR/>A chronology of the Agriprocessors controversy by a reliable, impartial source - the Des Moines Register, Iowa's respected statewide newspaper - cites a pattern since early 2006 of workplace-safety violations, pollution, contaminated food, <BR/>product recalls, and unsanitary conditions including rodent infestation.<BR/><BR/>Even before the recent raid, one Brooklyn-based va'ad had withdrawn its endorsement from Agriprocessors' brands, and activists in the Conservative <BR/>rabbinate had begun promoting the concept of a hechsher tzedek, a "justice certification" that takes into account how a food company treats its employees.<BR/><BR/>Now, in the wake of the arrests, the Conservative movement's associations of rabbis and congregations have called for a not-quite-boycott of meat from <BR/>Agriprocessors, which is owned by a prominent Lubavitcher hassidic family, the Rubashkins. The Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative <BR/>Judaism issued a formal statement advising members to "evaluate whether it is appropriate to consume Rubashkin products until this situation is addressed."<BR/><BR/>THAT CAREFULLY parsed statement strikes me as appropriate. As much as a formal boycott would potentially wield greater power, I have a wariness of that weapon, <BR/>one so indiscriminate that it can serve the idealism of Cesar Chavez with non-union grape-growers or the bigotry of Sonny Carson with Korean-owned stores in black neighborhoods.<BR/><BR/>Besides, the decision to patronize Agriprocessors rightly resides with the individual conscience. Reading the other day through the manuscript of the historian Jonathan Sarna's excellent forthcoming book, A Time to Every Purpose: <BR/>Letters to a Young Jew, I was struck by the phrase he cites from the ancient Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria: "the practice of virtue."<BR/><BR/>What are many of the mitzvot, and the broader, more secular sense of Jewish values, than such practice? We cannot know the provenance of every item we buy, but when we know, shouldn't we act on that knowledge? The proliferation of "fair trade" products such as coffee and of no-sweatshop college apparel offer just two examples of the market bending to a collection of personal consumer decisions, inspired by organized public advocacy.<BR/><BR/>The most significant consequence of the Agriprocessors raid is not, as certain articles in Jewish newspapers have suggested, that a meat shortage could result <BR/>from the plant's loss of one-third of its workforce. What we should care more about is what we have learned about how our kosher meat gets from hoof to market.<BR/><BR/>There is a difference between law and justice, and there is a difference between following every requirement of kosher slaughter and treating the people involved <BR/>inhumanly. Or is the moral of the Agriprocessors story that it is permissible to abuse a worker as long as he or she isn't a Jew?<BR/><BR/>I can only tell you what I have done. Several months ago, I was clicking my way through Freshdirect.com, the online supermarket I use for most of my food shopping. I happened to notice a notation on the kosher meat screen - many of <BR/>the products came from Agriprocessors under names like "Aaron's Choice." Since <BR/>then, I have engaged in my own form of separation, buying my meat from a local butcher. <BR/><BR/>Agriprocessors, of course, has more to worry about than my flyspeck worth of lost income. This meat plant, a very public element of the Lubavitcher hassidim, can do plenty of damage to the sect's positive reputation among Jews. As a journalistic observer of American Jewry, I've seen and admired the energetic, <BR/>sincere inreach of the Chabad movement; I serve on the faculty advisory board to Chabad at Columbia University, where I teach. If the image of Chabad becomes something out of The Jungle, then that will be a grievous but entirely self-inflicted wound.<BR/><BR/>Last week, the chief executive officer of Agriprocessors, Sholom Rubashkin,announced he would resign. Still, his father, Aaron Rubashkin, remains the owner <BR/>of the plant, which can only make one wonder about the prospects for a true housecleaning.<BR/><BR/>Until that day comes, I can only say that, for me, the putatively kosher meat from Agriprocessors will be as treif as swine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-81936713707177669662008-06-01T13:26:00.000-04:002008-06-01T13:26:00.000-04:00And yes, wearing a beard is far more important tha...<I>And yes, wearing a beard is far more important than the "law of the land"</I><BR/><BR/>No Arthur, it goes like this: If you are wearing a beard, you better be sure that you keep the law of the land. Otherwise you are causing a chillul hashem. The beard doesn't raise you above the law. It just adds responsibilty in that all of your words and actions are scrutinized by the public. That's why if one is going to cheat in business or molest children, he should shave his beard and take off his hat and kippa. At least it will minimize his crimes a bit in that the chillul hashem factor will not be so great.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-30600384026954489232008-06-01T12:39:00.000-04:002008-06-01T12:39:00.000-04:00"If Arthur wants to mock those with less than illu..."If Arthur wants to mock those with less than illustrious shtellers, I don't think he wants to get into the career of Rav Rivkin's son in St. Louis, in the "State of Misery" Yes I do want to do want "to get into the the career of rav Rivkins son in St.Louis".If your referring to the fact that He's been suffering from a very serious case of Parkinsons and has been bed ridden and in a semi coma for the last couple of years,your really hitting below the belt.<BR/>As for Rav Shach,He was a big bal machlokes and had issues with Ger and other Chassidishe kriezen and I stick with my prior statement about him.<BR/>About Kolko ,apparently you didn't read what I wrote about him in a previous post.<BR/>I really don't know why I respond to the allegations about me,the Rebbi ZT"L and Lubavitch in general.Kol Hamisnavel.......The haters will hate no matter what.<BR/>By the way I don't know anything about alleged "secret Letters".If they were secret how come you know about them?If you have access to them I really like to see them.Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405098837405331655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-16109797569701309052008-06-01T11:55:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:55:00.000-04:00Hey Arthur, you forgot to say I'm also anti UOJ, a...Hey Arthur, you forgot to say I'm also anti UOJ, anti going to jail, anti keeping my hands off kids, anti taking money under the table from Margo, anti hundcuffing guys with beards, and anti anything that normal people would expect from a rabbi or human being.<BR/><BR/>Just thought you'd like to know.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-15657290843730238602008-06-01T11:53:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:53:00.000-04:00My father is alter Monsey yid. I was telling him a...My father is alter Monsey yid. I was telling him about Arthur’s comments, and he started to laugh.<BR/><BR/>He said Finkel also was a staunch hater of Lubavitch. He was well known by the Rebbi for slashing tires of the mitzvah tank of Monsey, to make sure children should as he put it “not be exposed to that cult leader”. The boys came in another van after the rosh chodesh farbrengen and the Rebbi stayed with them for a long time. The Rebbi and Rav Hutner both said that he will eventually give up yiddishkeit because of his chutzpah. He made a big deal how he won’t let Rubashkin meats into his store, look what he gave instead.<BR/><BR/>He said Finkel was always talking bad about Lubavitch. He used to refuse to make a MiShebairach for Lubavitch cholim. The Rebbi found out about this and made a personal MiShebairach for that choileh. A few months later Finkel’s oldest son became seriously ill. Every specialist tried to help to no avail and things were looking bleak. Until a famous rosh chodesh farbrengen when a young boy came over to the Rebbi to ask for Finkel’s refuah. He was healthy again before the next rosh chodesh farbrengen.The Rebbi had strong feelings towards this son. He said “This boy’s actions will bring Moshiach, he will influence many through his actions and hashpaah as much as his father will turn people away from hashem. The son will be zoiheh to a kisser shem toiv”. <BR/><BR/>For those who want to bash the Rebbi and his Chassidim be careful. His zechusim still protect his Chassidim and true oivdei hashem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-53029779342480669662008-06-01T11:52:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:52:00.000-04:00Does Arthur expect to be taken seriously with his ...Does Arthur expect to be taken seriously with his silly arguments?<BR/><BR/>There were not many opportunties in the early days of Palestine and then Israel. Rav Elyashev worked at the Rabbanut.<BR/><BR/>We have also heard these juvenile claims before that some bochur at some yeshiva "made micemeat" of or supposedly shlogged up the maggid shiur. Most often it's some am haaretz who doesn't have a clue. The rebbe doesn't even bother answering such ridiculous outbursts which the fools take as further proof they are right.<BR/><BR/>The rebbe of the Chofetz Chaim, R' Nochumke Kaplan, was forced by unfortunate circumstances to be a melamed in some little village. He was much greater than his talmid.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-26442719827583240612008-06-01T11:45:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:45:00.000-04:00The OU is obviously resorting to scare mongering a...The OU is obviously resorting to scare mongering as shown by Genack's speech in Teaneck.<BR/><BR/>You want to play Moral Leader and stop eating Rubashkin? You're going to pay through the nose for it.<BR/><BR/>No mention of any achrayus that falls on the OU's shoulders.<BR/><BR/>What sick people. It's shocking that they are going ahead with this immoral charade when even Belsky has bailed out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-41462832855100198082008-06-01T11:38:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:38:00.000-04:00Effective today, June 1st, Alle raised prices on a...Effective today, June 1st, Alle raised prices on all meat products.<BR/><BR/>If Genack can't find beef to put on his table for a reasonable price, there is plenty of crow for him to eat.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-74018293417868953912008-06-01T11:36:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:36:00.000-04:00There were plenty of chicken wings. Aron Twerski i...There were plenty of chicken wings. Aron Twerski informs me that when Dougie's bought out all the available stock before Memorial Day, it was a big order for Margo who is trying to hog them all to himself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-88184935054630453492008-06-01T11:33:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:33:00.000-04:00Has anyone contacted Wal-Mart, Pathmark, Shoprite ...Has anyone contacted Wal-Mart, Pathmark, Shoprite and other major customers of Rubashkin's "Iowa Best" brand to inform them it would be prudent to switch to other beef producers like Cargill? It would be horrible for their businesses if they ran out of meat because of Rubashkin's current supply situation. Besides what fresser would want to risk Salmonella and Mad Cow Disease?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-86775312850357941232008-06-01T11:21:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:21:00.000-04:00Yeah, they ran out of meat in Houston and other ci...Yeah, they ran out of meat in Houston and other cities and New York had a shortage of chicken wings, because as Genack & Lubinsky inform us, Rubashkin has "enough inventory".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-49544739357093210662008-06-01T11:12:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:12:00.000-04:00http://www.jstandard.com/articles/4355/1/OU-weighs...http://www.jstandard.com/articles/4355/1/OU-weighs-in-on-Agriprocessors-scandal<BR/><BR/>"This issue of undocumented workers in plants is not a Rubashkins’ story, it’s an American story," said Rabbi Menachem Genack, who spoke Tuesday night at the Jewish Center of Teaneck to some 80 listeners. "It is standard in many manufacturing facilities that workers have documentation but are not legal."<BR/><BR/>Genack, of Cong. Shomrei Emunah in Englewood, said that a faulty American immigration policy was creating these problems, which, he added, are widespread in factories across the country. He said that he did not know if the Rubashkins, the Brooklyn-based Lubavitcher family that owns Agriprocessors, were aware of workers’ falsified documents, but he urged members of the audience to be patient as the investigations continue.<BR/><BR/>"We have to see where the facts take us," he said. <BR/><BR/>Because of the number of federal agencies responsible for overseeing the plant, Genack said that the most serious charges involving physical abuse of workers are unlikely to be true. Likewise, he dismissed allegations that workers ran a methamphetamine lab on the premises.<BR/><BR/>If the company hires independent management, then the OU is unlikely to withdraw its supervision, even if the Rubashkins are found liable, Genack said.<BR/><BR/>According to Eli Rosenfeld, a spokesman for Empire Poultry who was at Tuesday night’s gathering, that company has increased its production and seen "a noticeable increase" in orders in the past two weeks. Despite fears of shortages or price gouging, Rosenfeld said Empire does not anticipate a price hike. Genack said Agriprocessors has enough inventory to avoid a "dramatic change" in prices but calls for a boycott — which have come from a number of Jewish organizations — could change that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-76808234897196194152008-06-01T11:06:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:06:00.000-04:00Oh wow, Arthur has come to the "scholarly" conclus...Oh wow, Arthur has come to the "scholarly" conclusion that there are no kashrus issues at Rubashkin based on an old newspaper article that was written while the cover up was in full swing and BEFORE the secret letter from KAJ to Rubashkin was leaked, a cover up that KAJ itself was keen on assisting.<BR/><BR/>Next he will present the letter from Willy Wiesner and infamous words of Aron Twerski to "prove" that Kolko and Margulies are "innocent" as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-87406646137384650712008-06-01T11:01:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:01:00.000-04:00Now that we know that Arthur is the probably relat...Now that we know that Arthur is the probably related to Rav Rivkin from Torah Vodaas or whichever other Lubav chossid, I understand where he is coming from, although I don't believe the old Rav Rivkin himself would attack maran Harav Schach ztl.<BR/><BR/>The only people who do attack Rav Schach are various disgruntled Lubav wackos and Chaim Shaulson.<BR/><BR/>Rav Schach was a maggid shiur in Kletzk and already a big name in learning before the war. Bochurim from the Mir and elsewhere would take long train rides to speak to him in learning. There are alter Litvaks still alive who will attest to this.<BR/><BR/>If Arthur wants to mock those with less than illustrious shtellers, I don't think he wants to get into the career of Rav Rivkin's son in St. Louis, in the "State of Misery".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-4162082552861955032008-06-01T10:41:00.000-04:002008-06-01T10:41:00.000-04:00To UOJ,As to why KAJ removed their hechsher,I did ...To UOJ,<BR/>As to why KAJ removed their hechsher,I did some research and came up with the following article taken from rhe Jewish Forward.<BR/>"POSTVILLE, IA — A conflict between supervising rabbis at an embattled kosher slaughterhouse has become public, opening a window into the usually closed world of kashrut certification.<BR/><BR/>Rabbis who represent K’hal Adath Jeshurun, a small ultra-Orthodox community based in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, have announced that they will not continue to certify products at the huge AgriProcessors slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, because, they said, another rabbi is restricting their access to the slaughtering process. Months of negotiations between KAJ and AgriProcessors fell through at the end of last month.<BR/><BR/>“We are fully cognizant of the momentous repercussions that our decision entails and can assure that we have not taken it lightly,” the rabbis wrote in a letter to AgriProcessors.<BR/><BR/>Kosher certification for meat is a complicated process that often involves rabbis from several Orthodox communities taking turns at enforcing slightly different standards of shchita, or kosher slaughtering practice. Members of one congregation will not necessarily eat meat that has been certified by a rabbi from a different congregation.<BR/><BR/>Because of its size, the AgriProcessors plant requires a great deal of rabbinic supervision; one estimate holds that about 70 rabbis — including slaughterers, or shochtim, and overseers, or mashgichim — help to maintain standards at the company. As a result, a designated head rabbi is placed in charge of certification, and a “super-mashgiach” manages the entire process on the ground. Some organizations, including the Orthodox Union, frequently delegate their oversight of the slaughter to that mashgiach, who is entrusted with upholding the specific standards of each congregation.<BR/><BR/>Until two years ago, the head rabbi at AgriProcessors was Rabbi Chaim Kohn, who is affiliated with KAJ. Kohn played an important role in the scandal that resulted when People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals castigated AgriProcessors for the practice of ripping out live cows’ throats, which some say is condoned by kosher law.<BR/><BR/>“Kohn helped PETA to understand that the practice did not violate humane standards,” KAJ president Eric Erlbach said.<BR/><BR/>Kohn left AgriProcessors shortly after the PETA scandal and was replaced by Menachem Weissmandl, who leads a small community in Monsey, N.Y., known as Nitra, after its birthplace in Hungary.<BR/><BR/>Here, accounts diverge. According to Erlbach, Kohn was pushed out for reasons connected to conflicts with Weissmandl and the Rubashkin family, which owns AgriProcessors. According to Erlbach, upon taking over, Weissmandl quickly hired a new super-mashgiach on his own payroll and began restricting other rabbis’ access to the slaughterhouse.<BR/><BR/>“From the time that he took over, we have had less and less control over what was going on, less and less ability to supervise,” Erlbach said. “Our certification is based on our ability to supervise the process. We are not willing to cede that control to Rabbi Weissmandl or to anybody else.”<BR/><BR/>Weissmandl, for his part, claims that the current super-mashgiach was jointly hired by all the rabbis who are involved with supervision at AgriProcessors, including representatives of KAJ, and that the congregation later made an unreasonable demand: that there be a rabbi with the same amount of authority as the super-mashgiach who would oversee only slaughter performed by KAJ standards and report only to KAJ.<BR/><BR/>“I did everything possible to have a good working relationship with KAJ,” Weissmandl said. “But the Rubashkins and I felt it would not make sense to have two rabbis running the place.”<BR/><BR/>KAJ and AgriProcessors began negotiating the issue last October, but on December 28, KAJ leaders sent a letter to AgriProcessors announcing that they would “terminate… supervision of all AgriProcessors’ operations” in April.<BR/><BR/>AgriProcessors responded publicly with a press release that did not mention KAJ by name but suggested that the company had voluntarily terminated the relationship in order to “consolidate its kashrus supervision” behind the O.U. and Weissmandl. AgriProcessors could not be reached for comment.<BR/><BR/>It is unclear how much of an impact KAJ’s rescinding its certification will have on AgriProcessors’ sales. The company is huge, and the community is relatively small, although it is possible that the KAJ certification holds prestige for those outside Washington Heights"<BR/>It's interesting to note that even though the the the decision that KAJ would would leave Agri took place at the end of Dec.,the actual removal of the hechsher did not take place until the following April.If this would have been a Kahsrus issue then KAJ would have certainly removed their hechsher immediatly.Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405098837405331655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-26933618899387896852008-05-31T23:51:00.000-04:002008-05-31T23:51:00.000-04:00As to the individual who brings proof from "Harav"...As to the individual who brings proof from "Harav" Shach about speaking lashon Hora ,that's what I would expect from him.He was a hater to.He had been a non entity Rosh Hayishiva in some Mizrachi school after which he gave a proba shiur at the Lubavitcher yeshiva in Kfar Chabad where a Bochur who is now a choshever Rosh Hayisheva himself,made mincemeat out of him.He was obviously not hired.Only then did he go to Ponviezh and joined the roster of so called "gedolim".As a result he had an ongoing hatred for Lubavitch till his dieing day.Oooo am I gonna get flack for this.Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405098837405331655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-69573298623319067992008-05-31T23:21:00.000-04:002008-05-31T23:21:00.000-04:00To UOJI have been a avid follower of your blog for...To UOJ<BR/>I have been a avid follower of your blog for quite a while.I think that the issues you bring up and your opinions about them are right on target.However your type of blog attracts a large amount of professional haters and wackos.The kind that think or say "don't confuse with the facts, my mind is made up"<BR/>I'm not going to attempt to respond to their vile attacks on the Rebbi ZT"L and Chabad in general because it won't make an iota of difference to these haters,but I do find that most of the bashers had issues with Lubavitch way before the Rebbi's ptirah.<BR/>By the way your "friend" Kolko worked for me as a counselor when I was head counselor at camp Gan Yisroel many moons ago.He was a virulent hater of Chabad and was quite vocal about it at the time, and look what happened to the self righteous SOB.<BR/>My doubts with this whole Rubashkin story is that we have set ourselves up as policeman,judge,jury and executioners.The only thing we are sure of at this time is the illegal alien issue. All the other issues are still in abeyance.This whole attack on Agri seems to be, at least to me,a lynch mob situation.If all these other accusations turn out to be false then we will all be guilty of shfichas dam mamosh.What I do know is that without Agri the price of kosher meat will be sky high and I am a firm believer in not bighting the hand that feeds me.There are a lot of factors at play here.Peta,the Mafia run butchers union,the Conservitive so called hechser are behind mos of these allegations<BR/>Lets not make this a Lubavitch,issue,Mossiach Rebbi issue or some other inane issue.If the allegations turn to be true then I will be in the front lines together with you and everyone else to close them down.<BR/>What I'm saying is lets put this on hold till all the facts come out rather then lynch them outright.<BR/>Just in case you think that I am a Rubashkin as some luny blogger claims, I don't have the remotest familial relationship with them.I barely know them personally.The closest contact I've had with them is eating in the Crown restraunt, which is owned by Rubaskin,on 13th Ave.many years ago as a bochur.My uncle Z"L who was a lubavitcher chosid and a Rosh Hayishiva in Torah Vidaas.<BR/>Enough said.Arthurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405098837405331655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-79676997483256196912008-05-31T22:26:00.000-04:002008-05-31T22:26:00.000-04:00RUBASHKIN-SHOMER NAFSHO YIRCHAK MEHEM (the product...RUBASHKIN-SHOMER NAFSHO YIRCHAK MEHEM (the products and the family)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-345223315866877622008-05-31T22:25:00.000-04:002008-05-31T22:25:00.000-04:00...Meanwhile, while we talk about kashrus, the tea......Meanwhile, while we talk about kashrus, the teacher fired by HAFTR for alleged misdeeds with under=age girls can seek employment elsewhere, and harm untold numbers of jewish girls, because no one will name who this teacher was, nor follow the law and report the person to the authorities...and the journalists and others involved pat themselves on the pat for a job well done...<BR/>who are we kidding?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com