Kosher food just isn't kosher anymore for some members of the Jewish faith.
Concerns about worker abuse at kosher slaughterhouses have led Conservative Jews to develop standards to ensure that producers pay fair wages and benefits and are sensitive to animals and the environment.
A proposed certificate of righteousness, called hekhsher tzedek (pronounced HECK-shur ZED-ick) and an identifying seal, are likened to fair trade coffee. The idea is producing a rift between Conservative and Orthodox Jews.
Some Orthodox rabbis say they have no place getting into the business of labor practices, which are best left to the federal government. Furthermore, they question why producers of kosher food should be held to a different standard from other businesses.
"On humanitarian grounds, I support it," said Rabbi Sheftel Neuberger, a leader in Baltimore's Orthodox Jewish community. "But I don't think it's a rabbinic issue. ... Are they going to also choose which sneaker company to endorse?"
But other Jews say that ethics surrounding the production of kosher meat are as important as the ritual.
"I'm not obligated to buy Nike shoes; I am obligated to buy kosher food," said Rabbi Morris Allen, a Minneapolis rabbi who has led the Conservative movement to implement the seal.
"I can't fix business practices throughout the world ... but I do have a responsibility to be involved in trying to address an industry that I am dependent upon in order to fulfill my Jewish life."
In May, federal authorities raided Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville, Iowa, the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant. Immigration officials arrested about 400 allegedly illegal workers, and authorities are investigating possible violations of child labor law, among other things. Yesterday the plant was accused of more than 31 safety violations, according to Iowa state labor officials.
Allen and the rabbinical and congregational arms of the national Conservative movement have been in the process of developing a hekhsher tzedek for more than a year, since concerns first surfaced over work conditions at Agriprocessors.
Draft regulations were approved last month for standards that address five areas: health, safety and training; wages and benefits; environmental impact; corporate transparency; and product development.
The program would be strictly voluntary. Companies that seek the symbol would be evaluated by a commission to ascertain whether they meet the five standards and would then be periodically re-evaluated.
