Rubashkin Arrest

by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

Just in case anyone missed it, it seems that Moshe and Sholom Rubashkin were arrested last week, believe it or not, NOT for violations at their AgriProcessors slaughterhouses, but after being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges stemming from incidents at a closed textile plant they own.

According to JTA

The U.S. attorney in Philadelphia charged Moshe Rubashkin with leaving hazardous waste at the Montex textile plant in Allentown, Pa., and charged his son Sholom with misleading an investigation into a fire at the plant, according to the Forward. …The current charge is that he left drums of hazardous waste in the mill after it closed in 2001. A fire broke out there in 2005 that allegedly was exacerbated by the hazardous waste.

Granted, this is technically not a kosher slaughter house story, but it seems to me that what we’re looking at now is a matter of time. The JTA artcle refers to him as a “community leader” in Crown Heights, so it is unsurprising to me that the community continues to support him and make him out to be a victim, but this is now clearly a matter of someone who engages in unethical practices across the board. He had even served 15 months in prison for writing bad checks from the Montex plant.

There is nothing good in supporting someone in their criminal and unethical behavior, Jew or not; and if the commandments of our law aren’t enough to separate ourselves from such behavior, then surely we should be considering that someone who engages in these kinds of practices considers themselves better than others, and is not going to be limited by practicing on non-Jews. After all, as Failed Messiah points out in his excellent ongiong expose of this saga, the last major problem at AgriProcessors was the Rubashkins’ failure to follow food-safety procedures, including safeguards against Mad Cow disease - at lest five incidents of this, where food safety inspectors asked cows to be removed, only to find out later that they were slaughtered anyway. In other words, they don’t care if their customers get sick and die. So much for loving your fellow.

For a full story on the arrest see here

Sheesh. It’s getting to the point that Rubashkin needs its own category.
For a history see:
See: öÄéÌåÉï” title=”http://jewschool.com/2006/12/19/11635/\”>öÄéÌåÉï” target=”_blank”>jewschool.com/2006/12/19/11635/”>öÄéÌåÉï áÌÀîÄùÑÀôÌÈè úÌÄôÌÈãÆä åÀùÑÈáÆéäÈ áÌÄöÀãÈ÷Èä, Where’s the beef now? Kashrut update on Rubashkin’s, Another beef with kashrut in the news, and Kashrut Brouhaha Has Legs; Agriprocessors: Still trayfin’ it up,
and Failed Messiah