New York – A new seal for kosher products and establishments being promoted by the Conservative movement is reportedly about to appear alongside those of Orthodox kashrus agencies. The “Magen Tzedek” certification is intended to signify adherence to certain standards regarding labor, treatment of animals, safety, environmental concerns and corporate integrity.
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Such issues are worthy ones but they are well covered by governmental regulations and other areas of halacha, as determined by recognized Torah authorities. They have nothing to do with kashrut.
The goal of “Magen Tzedek,” however, is nothing less than to redefine kashrut. Magen Tzedek is the symbol of an entity called the “Hekhsher Tzedek Commission.” Its exclusive purview is food. In its own literature, it calls itself the “gold standard of kashrut”; prominently claims to offer “kashrut for the 21st century”; and states its objective: to “improve our consciousness, understanding and practice of kashrut by extending the definition beyond ritual to reflect ethical, environmental and social concerns.”
There is no such thing as “ritual.” There is only halacha – the holiness we are enjoined by our Creator to embrace. To in any way change halacha is to corrupt the essence of the concept of mitzvah, Divine commandment.
The brazen effort of Magen Tzedek to change the Jewish mesorah, or religious tradition, should come as no surprise, considering its source. The Conservative movement has repeatedly shown that it harbors no respect for the very concept of halacha as it has been carefully preserved with great sacrifice by observant Jews through the ages. For a movement that does not subscribe to halacha to suddenly inject itself into a complex halachic realm like kashrut – with the avowed purpose of “extending the definition” of kashrut – should strike any informed Jews as unmitigated chutzpah.
We Jews have a responsibility to not only ethics but to the entirety of the Torah. All of us who recognize the Divine nature of halacha, along with our established kashrut organizations, should regard the new seal for what it is, a falsification of the Jewish religious heritage, and treat it accordingly.
Very well written. Boycott this supposed hechsher.
I think that the only orthodox institution that can make any difference in this case is the OU. If the OU threatens to pull its hashgacha from those companies that sign up for this abomination – that is real power. Of course there are possible repercussions. Companies may say to the OU – fine take a hike and we, the kosher consumer, will be left without the product. However, the point remains the same. Statements by chareidei institutions are meaningless. The only way to stop this thing is with buying power. Real buying power is in the hands of the largest kashruth organization in the US.
Purely inflammatory remarks which were unnecessary. The conservatives here did not seek to subtract any halachic standards, but merely to add some additional workplace standards which don’t hurt or undermine kashrus in any way. There is enough fighting in klal yisroel already. Why fight over nothing?
“standards regarding labor, treatment of animals, safety, environmental concerns and corporate integrity” in fact are important areas of halachah and this statemenent minimizes that fact. For some of these areas, being a willful violator means that you can’t be trusted as a witness to kashrut. I would have greatly preferred for AI to have made this clear. Unfortunately, too many allegedly orthodox institutions have ignored these halachot. No, the Conservative movement shouldn’t redefine kashrut, but neither should Orthodox institutions ignore much of the Shulchan Aruch!
Oh, stop it. There *are* things out there that can be improved in terms of
“labor, treatment of animals, safety, environmental concerns and corporate integrity”
Oh, I know… The evil Conservatives did it, so it must be wrong. We have to stop the denomination wars and ask a simple question: Does this add value in some way or another? To me, I dont see why it wouldnt. Its very nice to say that there are goverment regulations (OSHA, FDA etc). But the fact is these regulations are flaunted every day. Just because the Conservatives did it doesnt make it worthless or evil.
I very seriously doubt that “A new seal … is … about to appear alongside those of Orthodox kashrus agencies.” i.e. these orthodox hechsherim, OU first of all, will refuse to allow their respectable symbols to appear on the same product as this abomination. Just in case, I am instructing my wife to not purchase any product with this abomination stamped on it, no matter what the real hechsher is, and I will alert all my friends to do likewise. I suggest all of you alert your friends because often when one finds a familiar hechsher on a product, he stops looking further, and thus this abomination may sneak in unnoticed.
Most of you miss the point. Aside from other halachic considerations, there is a halachic concept of Chukas HaApikorsim as demonstrated many years ago by Rav Herschel Schachter in his B’Ikvai HaTzoan
Policing Kashrut integrity should be left to the Orthodox and polcing financial integrity should be left to the non-orthodox; the orthodox have shown their inability to adhere to financial ‘kashrut’ but their complete ability to adhere to food kashrut, while the non-orthodox have shown to be the exact opposite! There you have it!!
I agree with #s 3,4 & 5. Just because the conservatives came out with something doesn’t make it treif.
“We Jews have a responsibility to not only ethics but to the entirety of the Torah.”
unfortunately, it has been shown the orthodox do not care about ethics, no one if the frum community cared about what was going on at Rubashkin all they cared about that is was kosher and that is all that mattered . even the OU admitted that saying we only take care of the kashrus of the meat the other stuff is in the hands of the government. I know many gentle who do not buy certain products because of corporate practices
There is no conflict here regarding kashrus all this has to do with is with corporate business practices .
What a shame that the frum do not care how a company runs their business whether they pay workers or pollute all that matters to them is it kosher. The torah tanach and the gemorah spends time on ethics and how to treat people and animals, something that for some reason this author and others simply forgot or want to ignore.
There is more to yissihgeit beside bein adom lamokon, there is another halve of bein adom lachavara
Whats wrong with that, or is it simply conservative =no good
shame
OK, I was waiting for this! My husband is in the food industry, and he has a very simple solution. IF the Consumers call the companies that put the hechsher tzedek on their products, and let them know that WE are boycotting them….. We will not support a company with a hechsher tzedek, we will buy their competing brands,, then we wont see too much more of this stupidity.
Fred E, u are being narrow minded. The Conservatives do not have to hide their standards behind a hechsher, which implies the food is Kosher. See the picture for what it is…..
What an obnoxious statement! They don’t want to eliminate anything about the halacha of kashrut, they want to enhance it. You’re just trying to create a division between Jews. If I saw two products and both were certified kosher and one had, in addition, this certification, I would go for that one. It’s articles like this that make people think, incorrectly, that kashrut is inhumane. We need to start improving our standards, not fighting other movements because they want to improve standards. Shame on you!
Policing Kashrut integrity should be left to the Orthodox and polcing financial integrity should be left to the non-orthodox; the orthodox have shown their inability to adhere to financial ‘kashrut’ but their complete ability to adhere to food kashrut, while the non-orthodox have shown to be the exact opposite! There you have it!!
Union wages that do not allow business owners to make a living are not tzedek. They are geneiva. Many unskilled laborers in food plants are lucky to be working at all.
Personally I hope to see more automation in kosher plants so that this nonsense becomes moot and so that prices go down. That also means less illegal immigration and fewer blue-collar workers to vote for unions and the left.
As Hebrew National famously once claimed, “we answer to a higher authority”, but did that sway even one scrupulosly kosher consumer to think they can forget about a real Hechsher? Of course not! The Agudah’s message is to clarify to the ignorant Jews of the world to beware. Even prior to this there are many Kashrus symbols that are unacceptablet to mainstream religious Jews. That doesn’t mean all religious Jews knows what Hechsher is acceptable or when certain ingredients even when the product has a Hechsher still make it unacceptable to their Minhagim. There hundreds if not thousands of young Chassidim who eat at places they aren’t allowed to like Dunkin Donuts where the omelet they are eating is purely Bishul Akum and they assume that since elsewhere another DD has a Hechsher, than this one must be just as kosher – minus the Rabbi etc.
It is helpful to look at the Magen Tzedek website, as this article doesn’t accurately reflect the MT organization’s mission statement. Their Scope of Certification states:
“1. The Magen Tzedek service mark is not intended to replace traditional Kashrut certification. We are deferring to those who are already responsibly certifying food products as kosher.
2. The Magen Tzedek service mark will only be appended to products that are already certified as kosher. This mark is a supplement to, not a replacement of, the traditional kosher mark.”
To me, this is similar to having something marked “Organic”, but with a Jewish twist. As a consumer, if I can choose kosher meat from animals that are raised on a farm that doesn’t pollute, for example, I might choose to buy that brand. Why is this a problem?
Do you also boycott those items that also carry a “halal” (Moslem) certification? One that has an “organic” certification? The only reason why you would boycott a Conservative certificate is purely for political purposes. If a consumer cares about how the workers and the animals were treated, then they will specifically look for this certification, in addition to O-U or O-K, or whatever other Orthodox hashgacha is on the package.
The only people who can stop this is the OU, OK, Star K, and Chof K – the himishe won’t go a long with this anyway
This does not replace halacha(see #20 ).
well I guess bad working conditions, poor treatment of animals and workers and environment who cares…Orthodox values? NO! Maybe OU or Star K should try a nice neighbor certification.
Oh yeah the largest consumers of Kosher food are not Frum Yidden so maybe the market will support this as all those PC and social action Jews we all wonder about or criticize buy more things with this certification.
If this Hechser is additional to respected Hechserim OU OK Etc why is there a problem? If we dont trust the Goverment for Kashrus than Can we trust them on ethical laws? Gam zu Misinaj. See Pirkei Ovajs starting this week
maybe the real problem is that no hemieshie business would be able to get one and that would be very telling
when they say “extending the definition beyond ritual to reflect ethical, environmental and social concerns.”
Do they mean “extending” or “changing”? in other words if all ethical, enviromental and social concerns are met, would they put their stamp of approval on pork products?
I really don’t see what the problem is here. The article clearly states that these symbols will appear on products alongside those of orthodox unions. These symbols will not be put on non-kosher food; they are just a symbol for those who are environmentally friendly and concerned about the conditions in which the products were produced.
“with the avowed purpose of “extending the definition” of kashrut”
They’ve extended the definition of everything else, why not this.
I frankly wouldn’t object to this as a social certification. I don’t know whether I’d care one way or the other. But it’s being marketed as “kashrut”, by a movement that is not known for widespread public observance of the practice. In a way, it’s like learning Zohar before delving into Chumash. I wonder if there’s an element of being “frummer than the Orthodox” behind this.
This is really about the Con-servative movement being on its last legs, one or two generations from dying out altogether. So, instead of doing tshuva, they look for gimmicks. Gam ze yaavor – utzu eitzo vesufar, dabru dovor veloi yakum.
very few are for this most think it is an affront to orthodoxy
that is simply prove that this is needed the orthodox have no concept of ethics it seems or care if the company they buy from abuses workers pollutes, as long as it is kosher its good nothing else matters
funny one would think the torah never mention ethics in business to some people
I’m not Orthodox, I’m a Conservative Jew, but I felt compelled to respond after reading the very negative messages on this post. It’s very sad to see almost nothing on here resembling ahavat yisrael and a genuine attempt to understand the Conservative position.
For one thing, I have to clear up one misunderstanding: that Conservative Jews don’t believe in halakha. That is simply not true; the Conservative movement has an entire group devoted to voting on halakhic issues, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. Just because the movement often *disagrees* with various Orthodox views on halakha doesn’t mean Conservative Judaism is *against* halakha.
If anyone actually wants real information about the Conservative movement, read it here: http://www.uscj.org/About_the_United_Syn6400.html . Note that one of the USCJ’s stated goals is “to further the observance of Sabbath and the dietary laws,” as it was a reaction against Reform Judaism.
I respect people’s disapproval of the hescher tzedek, but please don’t malign all Conservative Jews or imply that they don’t care about halakha while you’re at it. As someone who cares deeply about halakha, I can tell you that’s pretty upsetting.
For the orthodox kosher keeping community, this is cause for concern. Until now we have been very blessed to have so many products with hashgochas. Don’t fool yourselves into thinking companies are dishing out money to attract the insignificantly numbered religous customers. They pay because a kosher symbol on a product is an added assurance of quality to enough non-kosher eating customers. Now that theres this new “kashrut” that directly addresses the quality aspect of the product, let’s hope the real hashgochas won’t be cut.
“Such issues are worthy” I think we all agree on this one. Its the issuer of the certificate we dont accept and or trust. ” are well covered by govermental regulations.” Unfortunatly i have yet to see a product with goverment approval of ethics etc. Untill the Goverment or Orthodox Kashruth Agencys will start to certify products for Tzedek i have no choice but use this.
The statement gives off the impression that the Agudah and the unnamed leadership has time on its hands (perhaps during Bein Hazemanim). They should have sat this one out, because there are things which are beyond the technical kashrus of the food which have historically been of concern. Would a kosher caterer be able to cater an event in a church? I think not. There are also stories of Mashgichim at weddings forcing bands to stop if there is mixed dancing and other inyanim that happen. So to say that a hechsher is just about Yoreh Deah irrespective of Choshen Mishpat and other areas of Halacha, including Chillul Hashem is somewhat inconsistent.
No one is forcing anyone to use this hechsher. Don’t use the products if you don’t like it. However, it is here to stay.
I’m Conservative and do follow halacha. I really feel about how gleeful everybody is in denigrating fellow Jews. Most of my friends are frum, many are Hasidic. I’ve never encountered this kind of disrespect in person, thank G-d. I hope you don’t think the future of the Jews will be guaranteed when other Jewish movements disappear. Quite the opposite. There’s nothing wrong with this certification. It’ll enhance the others, not threaten them. As far as the cost, people can certainly decide not to pay more for anything that doesn’t concern them.
As far as AI is concerned its all about $. Their statement is an expression of their fear. Fear born of ignorance and stupidity. It is interesting that the Reform are now exploring a return to kashrut. The number of Conservative and Reform Jews far outnumber frum Yidden — wouldn’t it be nice if more Jews actually kept kosher and increased the demand for kosher products, thus lowering the cost for all of us? As for those who threaten to pull their hechsher, give us a break! There are more then 1,000 certifying rabbis/agencies. I’m sure one of them will be happy to provide certification that will stand alongside Magen Tzedek’s service mark.
This hechsher should gain great respect as we should consider all traditional rules of kashrut as well as the rights of our employees and the need for avoiding unneeded cruely to animals.