Judaism 2009
 
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Rubashkin and AgriProcessors

Contents

  1. 1 Introduction
  2. 2 Coverage by the Forward
  3. 3 Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Raid on AgriProcessors
  4. 4 Legal case against AgriProcessors
  5. 5 Treatment of workers by AgriProcessors
  6. 6 Treatment of animals at AgriProcessors' plants
  7. 7 Heksher Tzedek


Introduction


Coverage by the Forward

Articles in the Forward on Rubashkin and AgriProcessors. This summarizing article begins, "The Forward has been at the leading edge of reporting on a now national story about kosher meat and the conditions in which it is produced. Much of what has appeared in the pages of The New York Times and Wall Street Journal on this topic began with a May 2006 exposé by the Forward’s Nathaniel Popper on the working conditions at the country’s largest kosher slaughterhouse, run by Agriprocessors." After this article there is a listing of all the Forward articles on Rubashkin and Agriprocessors.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Raid on AgriProcessors

http://www.forward.com/articles/13360/ - “Immigration Authorities Arrest Hundreds in Raid on Nation’s Largest Kosher Meat Plant”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/us/13immig.html - "Hundreds Are Arrested in U.S. Sweep of Meat Plan" (New York Times,  May 13, 2008).

Legal case against AgriProcessors


Orthodox Rabbis Rally Around Rubashkin as He Sits in Jail - from Wednesday, January 21, the Forward.

Treatment of workers by AgriProcessors

In Iowa Meat Plant, Kosher ‘Jungle’ Breeds Fear, Injury, Short Pay - by Nathaniel Popper, May 26, 2006 (article about working conditions at the plant).

http://www.forward.com/articles/13910/ - “Slaughterhouse Accused of Child Labor Violations.”

"Label Says Kosher; Ethics Suggest Otherwise" - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/nyregion/11kosher.html. This is a very interesting article on the debate within Orthodox Judaism about what kashrut should consist of. It begins:

What it means to be kosher — the nub of a debate sparked in May by sweeping labor abuse charges against the Orthodox Jewish owners of the largest kosher meatpacking plant in the nation — was pondered Tuesday night in a panel discussion at Yeshiva University in Upper Manhattan, the academic nexus of Orthodox Judaism.

It was, for the most part, a subdued and scholarly discussion about ritual law, Jewish ethics and what to do if you suspect that the kosher meat on your table has been butchered and packed by 16-year-old Guatemalan girls forced to work 20-hour days under threat of deportation, as alleged in a recent case.

“Is it still possible to consider something ‘kosher certified’ if it is produced under unethical conditions?” asked Gilah Kletenik, one of the organizers of the student group that arranged the session, which drew an overflow crowd of 500, most of them students.

In keeping with the Talmudic tradition embodied by the rabbis on the panel, the answer seemed to be yes and no.

“The basic underpinning of Jewish tradition is ethics,” said Rabbi Menachem Genack, a Yeshiva dean and the chief executive of kosher certification for the Orthodox Union, the group that oversees kosher standards in 8,000 food manufacturing plants around the world, including about 25 meatpacking facilities in the United States.


Treatment of animals at AgriProcessors' plants

Animal-rights Activists Take Aim at Glatt Kosher Meat Plant, by Gabriel Sanders, December 03, 2004. This article covers revelations by PETA activists about the Postville plant. It begins, "Armed with a stomach-turning, clandestinely made videotape and statements from two foreign rabbis, a leading animal-rights organization is accusing the world’s largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse of violating both American and Jewish laws mandating the humane slaughter of animals. The allegations are being leveled by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals against AgriProcessors, an Iowa-based firm that markets its meat under the Rubashkin and Aaron’s Best brands."

Video Renews Beefs About Slaughterhouse’s Practices, by Nathaniel Popper,  July 11, 2007 (about the Rubashkin-owned slaughterhouse in Nebraska).

http://www.forward.com/articles/12666/ - “Widespread Slaughter Method Scrutinized for Alleged Cruelty”


Heksher Tzedek

http://www.forward.com/articles/10733/ - “Rabbis Move Ahead With New Certification Plan”

Magen Tzedek - blog written by Rabbi Morris Allen of Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota, Minneapolis, who has worked extensively on the issue of fair treatment of workers at kosher meat-packing plants.

Hekhsher Tzedek - on the Conservative movement's new kashrut certificate for ethical treatment of workers. See especially the education page, which has a number of downloadable documents.