by Josh Frankel · Monday, August 11th, 2008
Some quick hits to check out
Ari Hart and Shmuly Yanklowitz of Uri L’Tzedek broadened the Op-Ed campaign and took aim on the pages of English Ha’aretz.
Rabbi Jennie Rosenn tries to give a broad view of the implications of this fight for the Jewish community at the Huffington Post.
Here’s the report from the Orthodox rabbis of their tour in Postville. If you were concerned about how things were going in Iowa, just read this article. You’ll see, it’s all your imagination.
From the blogosphere, to print media to the airwaves. Agriprocessors is everywhere. Here are Rabbi Genack, the head of OU Kosher, and Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld - who recently published a scathing opinion piece in the New York Times - talking it out on NPR.
by Josh Frankel · Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
Wow, wow, look at that. Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, the rabbi of the National Synagogue in Washington, D.C. just broke the eleventh commandment - Do Not Air Dirty Laundry in Public. He published this op-ed in … gasp! … the New York Times. I remember, oh, just about a year ago, Noah Feldman started his own little media storm by publishing in that same esteemed newspaper. Ahh, but this, this is different. Week after week, we have been tortured by reading reports and editorials about Agriprocessors, and now, someone from within the community has spoken up.
Unfortunately, this year kosher meat has become a different type of symbol, one not of mourning and spiritual devotion but of ridicule, embarrassment and hypocrisy.
That’s the critical line, and God, it’s good to hear someone say it. But, this isn’t just a complaint, he has plans.
What is needed is for the Orthodox Union to appoint an independent commission whose members have not in the past been paid by either the Orthodox Union or Agriprocessors. Such a commission would select a team of rabbinic experts to spend an extended period of time at the plant and then make suggestions and recommendations. This independent team would make sure the plant upholds basic standards of kashrut and worker and animal treatment — and that it is in full compliance with the laws of the United States.
No, these demands aren’t new. They do take a new tack, by petitioning the OU as opposed to working opposite Agriprocessors. But, essentially, they are same demands that Uri L’tzedek put forward in its fizzled boycott attempt.
What is new is the forum. This guy wrote his article in the Times! While the rest of the Jewish world was putting around at the Forward and Jewish Week, Rabbi Herzfeld is upping the ante. And, you know what’s cool, look at who he is. While some YCT students made some noise, and the liberal community joined in a march, this rabbi, ordained at YU, a member of the RCA, is the first one to stand up, not just as a Jew, but as an American, in a public newspaper and demand change.
People are going to talk about this article for a while. Rabbi Herzfeld will draw a lot of hate, but I have a lot of admiration. He did what I pray I had the chutzpah to do.
Kol HaKavod!
by Josh Frankel · Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
That’s right folks, we can all eat meat again. So say the good people at Uri L’Tzedek.
A few weeks ago, Rubashkin’s retained former federal prosecutor James Martin from the Prevene group to insure the company’s compliance with relevant secular and Jewish laws. No one was really sure how serious this would be, or what Mr. Martin could actually do. However, following a meeting with Mr. Martin, the Uri leaders were satisfied that he was prepared to do exactly what they had wanted. The original open letter had called for the company to comply with all relevant laws (both Jewish and secular) and to bring in a third party for verification. Well, well, it looks like Mr. Rubashkin listened, and did exactly as he was asked.
So today is a happy day. A good day for Jewish law, for workers’ rights, for consumer activism, and for Uri L’Tzedek.
So it would seem at least. But, I don’t know, I feel a little empty. Something doesn’t sit right for me. Uri L’Tzedek had the right demands, and they were fulfilled, but I guess I wanted a little repentance, a little chest thumping. Something akin to how Tylenol dealt with the cyanide crisis of the ’80s. A radical change, a broad corporate effort to make the world better. That hasn’t happened. Well, maybe that’s asking too much. You can’t ask people to be good people, only to do the right thing. And, well, it seems they have.
However, Uri L’Tzedek, and the rest of us should remain vigilant. Mr. Martin was only retained for one year, and we need to make sure that the work he does is effective. But, until then - enjoy your hot dogs!
by Kung Fu Jew · Sunday, June 29th, 2008
Profiled in all his ugliness in The New Yorker this week: Billionaire Sheldon Adelson is the third richest man in America, a huge funder of birthright israel, Bush’s election campaigns, the ZOA, the Republican Jewish Caucus (check out the new RJC Watch blog, by the way), One Jerusalem, AIPAC…the list goes on. You’re looking at the sugardaddy-Godfather of American (Jewish) right-wingery here.
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by Josh Frankel · Thursday, May 15th, 2008
The Rubashkin’s raid made big news earlier in the week, and we were angry. We were furious, filled with righteous indignation, ready to destroy the kosher meat industry, to throw out kashrut, to bash Orthodoxy until the last black hat disappeared from Iowa. But, now, it’s time to help. With hundreds of worker’s arrested, thousands of their family members are now in limbo. They have no money, no income, and no resources. They are frightened to apply for work, frightened to go shopping, and their kids aren’t going to school. Charities in Postville are pitching and do what they can to help these people, and unfortunately not-surprisingly, Agriprocessors isn’t helping out. I don’t often ask people to give tzedakah, and if I do, it’s a casual request. This is different. Anyone who has ever eaten kosher meat in this country has benefited from the hard, poorly compensated work these people have done, and now that they are in desperate need it is our turn to help.
Ari Hart, one of the leaders of Uri L’Tzedek, has been in contact with people on the ground, and he found this church, St. Bridget’s Catholic Church, which is working very hard with the families in town. However, the church’s resources are stretched thin, and they need donations.
Please, send money to:
St. Bridget’s Hispanic Fund
c/o Sister Mary McCauley
POB 369
Postville, IA 52162
Agriprocessors might be a large, unscrupulous company, but to these people, it represents one thing - Judaism. Please give. Please write a letter thanking them. Please let them know that you care.
by Josh Frankel · Friday, November 9th, 2007
A lot of people have been interested in how the tzedek beit medrash in Washington Heights went, so I got Mike Schultz, one of the founders of Uri L’Tzedek to give a little report.
Can you imagine 35 people coming out for an Orthodox group’s social justice learning program, looking to get involved in their local community outside of the shul? It’s a new world within Orthodoxy, and that exciting reality shone through brilliantly at the second Uri L’Tzedek Beit Midrash this past Monday night at Mt. Sinai Jewish Center, in Washington Heights.
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by Josh Frankel · Sunday, November 4th, 2007
After the tremendous success of its first beit medrash, Uri L’tzedek, the organization dedicated to engaging the Orthodox community in social justice, is back for more. “Ethical Kashrut, Workers’ Rights, the Kosher Meat Industry” is the title for this week’s program, and the word on the street is that Rubashkin’s should take cover. Monday night, 7:30 - 9:00 PM, at the Mount Sinai Jewish Center, 135 Bennet Ave, in NYC.
For more information, check out Uri L’tzedek’s new facebook group.
