CLOSING at Rubashkins' Meat and Chicken, Today, Monday 9/8/08 as of appro. 12:00 Noon

[Mashgiach]

It has now been confirmed that there was indeed a total shutdown at Rubashkins Plant on Monday but the reason, is not yet known.

It could be a Kashrus related Shutdown or possibly a Legal Shutdown or for other reasons (perhaps they were tipped off about the imminent Arrests which took place on Tuesday?).

Rubashkins' entire Beef Line was closed down today, shortly after 12:00 Noon and has not yet been reopened.

The Chicken workers are also reportedly completely idle, "waiting to be called back to work".

It is unclear at this point if this marks the permanent end of Agriprocessors' or if it will be able to reopen again at a later date.

DaasHakohol.com will keep you updated on this breaking story, as more details become available.

[Reb_Sholom]

Click here to read the official complaint against Rubashkin and affidavit.

http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag..._Labor%20.html

IOWA ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES MORE THAN 9,000 COUNTS OF CHILD LABOR VIOLATIONS AGAINST RUBASHKIN today.

Criminal Charges are now against Avrohom Aahorn Rubashkin and Against Sholom Rubashkin. 2 of Rubashkins Managers have been arrested today and Avrohom Aaron and Sholom are being sought * Right NOW! *

[Mashgiach]

Charges spark O.U. threat

Published: 09/09/2008 Following the filing of criminal charges against Agriprocessors, the Orthodox Union may withdraw its kosher certification of the company. On Tuesday, the O.U. announced it would withdraw certification from the kosher meat company, the nation's largest, unless new management is hired. The announcement came just hours after Iowa's attorney general filed criminal charges against Agriprocessors and its owner, Aaron Rubashkin, for child-labor violations. "Within the coming days, or lets say a week or two, we will suspend our supervision unless there's new management in place," said Rabbi Menachem Genack, the O.U.'s head of kosher supervision. On Tuesday, the attorney general's office charged Rubashkin, his son Sholom, and three human resources employees with more than 9,000 violations of Iowa's Child Labor law, according to a statement from the attorney general's office. Former workers had alleged child labor violations at Agriprocessors almost immediately after a massive immigration raid at the plant in Postville, Iowa, the country's largest kosher meatpacking plant. The company has denied having knowingly hired underage workers. “All of the named individual defendants possessed shared knowledge that Agriprocessors employed undocumented aliens," said the affidavit filed Tuesday in Allamakee County District Court. "It was likewise shared knowledge among the defendants that many of those workers were minors. The company’s hiring practices encouraged job applicants to submit identification documents which were forgeries, and known to contain false information as to resident alien status, age and identity.” The alleged violations, which date back to September 2007, are each punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine of between $65 and $625, the attorney general's office said. An initial court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 17. Agriprocessors has been under the gun since a raid on May 12 resulted in the arrest of nearly 400 employees on illegal immigration charges. Following the raid, employees alleged they were shorted on pay, forced to work long hours and were the targets of sustained sexual harassment. In May, the company announced that the Postville plant's manager, Sholom Rubashkin, would be replaced. Months later, Rubashkin is still a regular presence at the plant and no replacement has been named. The attorney general's complaint represents the first criminal charges to be brought against the company's owner and senior management.

http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/110297.html

[Mashgiach]

BREAKING NEWS: Empire Kosher Poultry set to enter kosher meat market

New York…Empire Kosher Poultry, founded in 1938 by Joseph Katz, is set to enter the kosher meat market, sources told KosherToday.

The beef will not be sold under the Empire brand, due to trademark restrictions, but will be certified by the Star-K Kosher Certification and Khal Adas Jeshurun.

Sources say that Neil Rosenbaum, the company CEO, has worked out a deal with the AD Rosenblatt brand to use the small slaughterhouse in Wichita, Kansas that Rosenblatt uses.

AD Rosenblatt was launched two years ago by Rabbi Yaakov Rosenblatt, a Brooklyn transplant, who currently resides in Dallas, Texas.

Kosher industry sources say that at this point, the Empire move is no more than a “foray,” but that Empire, once the dominant kosher poultry producer in the U.S., was looking to take advantage of changes in the marketplace, including the ongoing problems at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa.

One source said, “Empire watched helplessly as Agriprocessors and Alle Processing ate away at their market share in poultry and it was only a matter of time that Empire would venture into their territory.”

For the Star-K, headed by Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, the new brand is the second kosher meat to be certified by the agency.

The Star-K certifies the J.W. Treuth company in Baltimore. For KAJ, which already certifies Empire Poultry along with the Orthodox Union (OU), the new brand provides them with a source of beef, which they lost when they ended their relationship with Agriprocessors in April.

Despite the new Rosenblatt and Empire products, kosher sources are still concerned over a shortage of kosher beef in many parts of the country due to the cutbacks in production at Agriprocessors.

[Mashgiach]

Rabbi Weissmandel who also provides kosher certification for Rubashkin plant, in a phone interview said:

“My job and expertise is strictly kosher supervision, as long as the strict guidelines of Kosher Shichitah is followed in this plant my Hecsher will stay on”.

[Mashgiach]

Update: Agriprocessors execs face state child-labor charges;
two also charged by feds

TONY LEYS • tleys@dmreg.com • September 9, 2008

Postville, Ia. — Agriprocessors’ owner and four of the meatpacking plant’s executives could face jail time under criminal charges filed today by the Iowa attorney general’s office.

The charges are related to allegations of child-labor violations, the attorney general’s office said.

Separately, federal authorities charged two of the five executives today with felonies in connection with helping workers they allegedly knew were undocumented with their human resources paperwork.

Agriprocessors leaders continue to deny any allegations that the company knowingly employed underage workers.

"All of the minors at issue lied about their age in order to gain employment at the company. At the time of hiring, all of the minors, like all job applicants, presented and signed documents stating that they were over 18," company spokesman Chaim Abrahams said in a prepared statement.

"They knew that, if they told the truth about their age, they would not be hired. In addition, the company's human resources employees, if they suspected that an applicant was underage, routinely and regularly rejected the application until the applicant produced a birth certificate showing their true age," Abrahams continued. "Whenever the company received notice that one of its workers might be underage, the company investigated and terminated any employee who turned out to be a minor."

The two women federally charged, Laura Althouse, 38, of Postville and Karina Freund, of Fayette, are human resources managers, court documents say.

Althouse faces three felony charges: aiding and abetting document fraud, aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to harbor undocumented aliens, records show.

A criminal complaint states that on May 11, Althouse helped employees complete new applications with new names using newly acquired false identification documents. Althouse knew some of the “applicants” were current employees who worked in the supervisor’s department, the complaint alleges.

Freund is charged with a single felony: aiding and abetting the harboring of undocumented aliens. The complaint states that several former Agriprocessors employees, all of whom are undocumented, said Freund helped them obtain false identity documents.

Click here to read the official complaint against Rubashkin and affidavit.

Those charged by the state are company owner Abraham Aaron Rubashkin; his son, longtime company leader Sholom Rubashkin; human-resources manager Elizabeth Billmeyer; and human-resources employees Althouse and Freund.

Requests for comment were not immediately returned.

The state’s action today will not force the plant to shut down, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said this afternoon. The criminal case is against five individuals, and doesn’t relate to the future of the corporation or the plant itself, he said.

The plant was in operation this afternoon, with semitrailer trucks coming and going and forklifts moving material around the grounds. Scores of cars were parked in the employee parking lot.

Advocates for the employees had mixed reactions. Some said they hope state officials can help correct deficiencies at the plant - and save 1,800 jobs.

Others, including those who have complained for months that hundreds of the company’s former employees are sitting in jail on immigration charges while company leaders had not been held accountable, hailed today’s news.

“I am just grateful that the legal system is working, and we have high hopes that justice will be brought forth,” said Sister Mary McCauley, a Catholic nun working to help many of the plant’s former employees.

The charges were cheered by a Des Moines lawyer representing more than 20 former Agriprocessors employees who allegedly worked at the plant while underage. Sonia Parras Konrad said her clients have talked at length with representatives of the attorney general’s office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. She said they plan to testify at trial, and she hopes plant leaders go to jail.

“They certainly deserve to serve time,” she said. “I hope justice is really done, and that we in Iowa set an example.”

The Postville plant was the site of a May immigration raid, in which nearly 400 workers were arrested for being in the country illegally. In the wake of that raid, accusations of worker abuse, including child labor, have arisen. The Iowa Division of Labor alleged last month that the company had been employing dozens of underage workers, and it recommended that the attorney general file charges.

Company leaders have denied knowingly hiring workers who were underage or in the country illegally. But the attorney general’s office disputed that claim today.

“All of the named individual defendants possessed shared knowledge that Agriprocessors employed undocumented aliens,” according to an affidavit the state filed in Allamakee District Court. “It was likewise shared knowledge among the defendants that many of those workers were minors."

The affidavit says the "company’s hiring practices encouraged job applicants to submit identification documents which were forgeries, and known to contain false information as to resident alien status, age and identity. Each defendant, either as principal or as aider and abettor, hired children, retained the employment of children observed working throughout the plant, and/or participated in efforts to conceal children when federal and state labor department officials inspected that plant.”

The misdemeanor charges allege a total of 9,311 child labor violations, involving 32 youths under the age of 18.

Before the raid, Agriprocessors was known as the nation’s largest producer of kosher meat.

State Sen. Mark Zieman, a Republican from Postville, said he’d like to see government agencies work with Agriprocessors to see if problems can be corrected – and 1,800 jobs saved.

“Is there something we can do as a state so management knows what’s expected of them? Is there some way to make this thing work? If there’s no way, so be it,” Zieman said. “But we owe it to the employees. If that plant isn’t there, all of a sudden getting a job around here gets quite a bit more difficult.”

Zieman said he’d like Iowa Workforce Development and the U.S. Department of Labor to point out deficiencies, make sure they’re corrected “then leave them alone.” As for these new criminal charges, “that’s what we have the courts for," he said.

But one of Agriprocessor's fiercest critics raised questions today about the company’s future.

“Given the seriousness and sheer number of charges, we cannot see how this company can remain in operation with the current ownership,” said Scott Frotman, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers union. The union, which for years has tried to organize Agriprocessors’ employees, hailed the attorney general’s action.

“These charges show that worker abuse and child labor were standard operating procedure that permeated through every level of this company,” said union spokesman Scott Frotman. “It was condoned, pushed and promoted at the highest levels of Agriprocessors.

"Going forward, we believe that there is an important place for the kosher meatpacking industry in the state of Iowa, and we look forward to the day when there is a meatpacking facility in Postville that kosher consumers, worker advocates and all Iowans can be proud of – a company that respects its workers and reflects Iowa's values."

Leah Hanson Sweeney, who teaches preschool in Postville, was glad to hear that company leaders had been charged. She said she knew many of the Guatemalan and Mexican families who used to work at the plant but are now in jail or moved away. “They were great people, overall,” she said, “but I feel they were greatly taken advantage of.”

Hanson Sweeney added that she believes the town’s managers were more to blame than the immigrants for use of forged identity papers.

Hanson Sweeney said many longtime Postville residents are fed up with the plant’s owners. The company brings jobs, she said, but if it can’t treat people fairly, she wouldn’t mind seeing it close. “This town was fine without Agri,” she said, adding that it could go back to relying on the farm economy.

The attorney general said he’d heard authorities took two of the defendants into custody Tuesday on unrelated federal charges.

Asked why workers facing civil charges were immediately jailed while the executives facing criminal charges were not, Miller said one was a federal immigration case while this is a child labor law case.

“We’re doing what we think is appropriate, what we think is standard in the state court for these type of charges,” he said.

A court hearing was set for Wednesday, Sept. 17, at the Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon.

The five defendants won’t necessarily appear in court on that date; they have the option to do a written appearance. Miller stressed that the five defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The penalty for the misdemeanor charges is 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $625 per count.

Miller said his staff hadn’t done any research to compare this case with past ones to determine how historic it is. But he said: “In my tenure here, we have not filed this number of counts in this kind of case.”

The charges stemmed from investigations by Iowa Workforce Development’s Labor Division, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations and the AG’s office.

The lead state prosecutor will be Thomas H. Miller, an assistant attorney general.

— Jennifer Jacobs contributed reports to this article.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/app...VILLE_ICE_RAID

[Mashgiach]

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller tells a news conference Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa, about child labor charges.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) --
The owner and managers of the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant were charged Tuesday with more than 9,000 misdemeanors alleging child labor law violations.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller tells a news conference Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa, about child labor charges.

They're accused of hiring minors and, in some cases, having children younger than 16 handle dangerous equipment such as circular saws, meat grinders and power shears.

The allegations are the first criminal charges against operators of the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, where nearly 400 illegal immigrants working at the facility were arrested in May in one of the largest single-site immigration raids in U.S. history.

The complaint filed by the Iowa attorney general's office said the violations involved 32 illegal-immigrant children under age 18, including seven who were younger than 16. The complaint says in addition to handling dangerous equipment, the children were exposed to hazardous chemicals such as chlorine solutions and dry ice.

The attorney general's office said the violations occurred from September 9, 2007, to May 12, 2008, when the plant was raided by federal immigration agents.

Charged are the company itself, Agriprocessors Inc.; plant owner Abraham Aaron Rubashkin; former plant manager Sholom Rubashkin; human resources manager Elizabeth Billmeyer; and Laura Althouse and Karina Freund, management employees in the company's human resources division.

Each defendant faces 9,311 individual counts -- one for each day a particular violation is alleged for each worker. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said at a news conference on Tuesday that he would not elaborate on what evidence led to the indictment.

Don't Miss Fear follows largest workplace raid in U.S. history

"All of the named individual defendants possessed shared knowledge that Agriprocessors employed undocumented aliens. It was likewise shared knowledge among the defendants that many of those workers were minors," the affidavit said.

The charges are simple misdemeanors, each carrying a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a fine of $65 to $625.

Miller said the case is the largest of its type he'd handled in his 26 years as attorney general.

Chaim Abrams, a manager at the plant, said in a statement that Agriprocessors "vehemently denies" the allegations. He said the underage workers -- not the company -- are to blame.

"All of the minors at issue lied about their age in order to gain employment at the company," he said. "At the time of hiring, all of the minors, like all job applicants, presented and signed documents stating that they were over 18. They knew that, if they told the truth about their age, they would not be hired."

Abrams said the state wouldn't be able to back up its case.
"In order to convict, the state is going to have to prove that the defendants willfully violated the child labor laws," he said. " ... The state will not be able to carry this burden of proof. Agriprocessors acted in good faith on the child labor issue. We look forward to our day in court."

Sonia Parras Konrad, an attorney representing more than 20 of the children, said her clients were as young as 14 when they started working at the plant.

"We don't need to see any papers to see that someone is a child," she said. "This was not one mistake, two mistakes, three mistakes, but many, many mistakes."

Parras Konrad said minors in the plant were treated the same as adults and often worked in the same conditions.

"They were hungry all the time, it was freezing cold or burning hot," Parras Konrad said the children told her.

The attorney general's office said the company encouraged job applicants to submit forged identification documents that were known to contain false information about their resident status, age and identity.

"Each defendant ... hired children, retained the employment of children observed working throughout the plant, and/or participated in efforts to conceal children when federal and state labor department officials inspected that plant," the affidavit said.

The more than 9,000 violations the state alleges fall into five categories: employing a child under age 18 in a meatpacking plant; employing a child under age 18 in an occupation that exposes the child to dangerous or poisonous chemicals; employing a child under age 16 who operated power machinery; employing a child under age 16 who worked during prohibited hours or more hours in a day than permitted by law; and employing a child under 16 who worked more days in a week than permitted by law.
It said the company's records also show that employees were not paid for all overtime worked.

Postville resident Dave Hartley, 50, said the allegations were unsettling.
"Everything is unsettling because Agri's a huge employer in this town," he said. "So you want to see the town strive and move forward."
He said one troubling aspect of the charges is that Postville will again be thrust into the spotlight.

"You want things to get back to normal," Hartley said. "I wouldn't say it's turmoil in town, per se, but people are just wondering what's going to happen."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/09/....ap/index.html

[Mashgiach]

Ben Harris

The Agriprocessors kosher meat plant in Postville, Iowa.

By Ben Harris

Published: 09/09/2008

NEW YORK (JTA) -- The filing of criminal charges against the owners of Agriprocessors has prompted the Orthodox Union, one of the meat company’s kosher certifiers, to promise it will suspend its kosher supervision unless new management is hired.

The O.U.’s announcement came Tuesday just hours after Iowa’s attorney general filed criminal charges against Agriprocessors and its principal owner, Aaron Rubashkin, on more than 9,000 counts of child labor violations related to operations at its plant in Postville.

“Within the coming days -- or, let’s say, a week or two -- we will suspend our supervision unless there's new management in place,” Rabbi Menachem Genack, the O.U.'s head of kosher supervision, told JTA. “I hope they're smart enough to recognize that new management is absolutely required.”

Agriprocessors’ products also are certified as kosher under the label of Rabbi M.M. Weissmandl. Asked if he would follow the O.U.’s lead in suspending supervision, Weissmandl demurred.



“My business is kashrut,” he told JTA. “As long as the high kosher standards are in place, I'm not removing any hechsher. My business is to make sure that the place is 100 percent kosher.”




The attorney general's complaint represents the first criminal charges to be brought against the company's owners since a May 12 immigration raid resulted in the arrest of nearly 400 illegal immigrant workers in Postville. Each day an underage employee reported for work qualifies as a criminal charge -- hence the 9,000 counts -- and each is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine.


Genack emphasized that the O.U. would suspend its supervision on the basis of the charges alone and not on a conviction. He also said the Rubashkins could continue to be involved in ownership and operation of the plant and retain O.U. certification as long as an independent CEO is named.


The criminal complaint and affidavit filed Tuesday in Allamakee County District Court named as defendants Rubashkin, his son Sholom, who managed the Postville plant until late May, and three human resources employees.


The affidavit alleges that the five hired underage workers, retained them as employees or concealed their presence during inspections or assisted in doing those things.


“All of the named individual defendants possessed shared knowledge that Agriprocessors employed undocumented aliens,” the affidavit alleges. “It was likewise shared knowledge among the defendants that many of those workers were minors. The company’s hiring practices encouraged job applicants to submit identification documents which were forgeries, and known to contain false information as to resident alien status, age and identity.”


Agriprocessors issued a statement Tuesday denying the allegations. The company said that underage workers had lied about their age and that their employment was terminated if they were discovered.

“In order to convict, the state is going to have to prove that the defendants willfully violated the child labor laws,” the company said. “That means that the state, as to every one of the alleged violations, is going to have to prove that each defendant knew that the employee was underage on the day in question, and knew that it was against the law for the person to be employed in the manner alleged. The state will not be able to carry this burden of proof.”

The O.U. had said it would suspend its supervision if criminal charges were brought against the owners of Agriprocessors.

On Tuesday, Genack said he was not withdrawing supervision immediately because he wanted to act “responsibly, not precipitously,” and with sensitivity toward the company, its employees and kosher consumers.


“We want to be responsible in terms of our obligations, in terms of supply and communal needs, and in terms of the workers there,” Genack told JTA.


The O.U.'s threat further jeopardizes the ability of Agriprocessors, which controls a sizable portion of the country's kosher meat and poultry market, to meet the rising demand that typically accompanies the High Holidays.


Agriprocessors has struggled to restore its production capacity since the May 12 raid, when nearly half its workforce was taken into federal custody.


Its competitors already have moved to fill the void. On Monday, a kosher industry publication reported that Empire Kosher, a poultry producer, is entering the kosher meat market.


Genack said the O.U. has been pushing for reforms at Agriprocessors since the May raid, including replacing Sholom Rubashkin as CEO and hiring a compliance officer.


On May 23, the company announced that Sholom Rubashkin would be stepping down from his post, but he remains a presence at the plant and no replacement has been named.


Two weeks later the company hired Jim Martin, a former U.S. Attorney, as compliance officer.


Genack also said he was reaching out to various players in a bid to “stabilize” the situation in Postville. He mentioned the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which he said could be helpful if it unionized the Postville plant’s workers.


The UFCW long has waged a battle to organize Agriprocessors’ employees, but so far without success.


http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news...909agriou.html

[Mashgiach]

It seems that every day, new scandals and more and more arrests and charges emerge against Rubashkins Meat and Chicken production.

You would think that after having most of their workforce arrested as Illegals and 2 days ago, being charged with over 9,000 charges, of child labor, the Rubashkins would have learned something?

Today, Sept 11, 2008, 2 more Arrests took place of Rubashkins workers.

Traffic stop leads to false identification charges

Thursday, September 11, 2008 12:16 PM CDT

WEST UNION — Two more Agriprocessors employees were arrested for possessing false identification documents.

Enrique Ortiz, of North Carolina, is charged with false documents after the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office stopped his vehicle Sunday just east of Highway 18 for several traffic violations. He allegedly gave deputies the name of Jose Ramon Delgado Hance, 38.

His passenger, Crisofora Barrios, 35, was charged with false documents and public intoxication. Barrios was using the name of Ruben Puented, 31, of Austin, Minn. The names were discovered their real names after checking their fingerprints, the sheriff’s office said.

During a further search of the car, deputies discovered 13 false birth certificates and social security cards.

Both men have been referred to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who is also conducting its own investigation. Further charges may be pending, the sheriff’s office said.

The Agriprocessors plant is the world’s largest kosher meat packing plant in the country. It was also the site of one of the largest immigration raids in recent history. Federal authorities arrested 389 workers on May 12, of which about 300 faced criminal charges.

Two supervisors have pleaded guilty to federal identity theft charges. Recently, four administrators — including company founder Abraham Aaron Rubashkin and former CEO Sholom Rubashkin — were charged with more than 9,000 state criminal charges of child labor law violations.

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2...3952431009.txt

[Mashgiach]

"We feel at this point they've lost a lot of credibility," Orthodox Union President Steve Savitsky said Friday in Omaha, where he was visiting a growing Orthodox synagogue, Beth Israel.

Click Here for More Details

Published Monday September 15, 2008

Allegations spur debate on what's kosher

BY CHRISTOPHER BURBACH

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Is it OK to eat meat from a processing plant that mistreats workers, even if the meat has your religion's official stamp of approval for physical and spiritual cleanliness?

Should a religious organization even give its stamp of approval to food from a plant facing allegations of violating labor laws, including employing teenagers younger than 16 to handle dangerous slaughterhouse equipment?

Those are questions that have been discussed by many American Jews in the wake of a federal immigration raid on the Agriprocessors Inc. kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa.

Not just for Jews

---

Jews observing their religious dietary laws aren't the only consumers affected. Many Muslims buy kosher meat and products when halal products (those that comply with Islam's dietary laws) are unavailable. Vegetarians and vegans often look for the kosher designation.

The debate has reached synagogues, supermarket shelves and kitchens in Omaha, where hundreds of Jews observe kosher, a set of Jewish dietary laws.

Last week, the ante went up after Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller filed thousands of criminal child labor charges against Agriprocessors' owner and managers. Then the Orthodox Union threatened to withdraw its certification, and its familiar circled-U seal, fromAgriprocessors' products — a move that would be devastating to the Iowa plant and could make it harder for consumers to find kosher meat. Agriprocessors had been the nation's largest kosher meatpacker.

"We feel at this point they've lost a lot of credibility," Orthodox Union President Steve Savitsky said Friday in Omaha, where he was visiting a growing Orthodox synagogue, Beth Israel. "We want them to bring in new management, even bring in new equity partners."

The Agriprocessors controversy might seem like an internal Jewish debate. But it strikes universal chords that are growing louder, said William O. Stephens, a Creighton University professor of philosophy and classical and Near Eastern studies. He also teaches ethics.

It's like not buying clothes manufactured in a sweat shop, Stephens said, or trying to buy food from farms that pollute less than others.

"That's how people try to make their dollars speak in terms of ethical judgments," he said.

Under the moral concept of taint, products created unethically are tainted, regardless of how pure they are physically, Stephens said.

"Spiritually, you want it to be pure meat — it's safe, it's wholesome, it's been killed humanely, and then you can feel good about ingesting it," he said.

Savitsky traveled to Omaha from Orthodox Union headquarters in New York to visit Beth Israel Synagogue. Beth Israel is a growing congregation in the Orthodox movement, the most traditional branch of Judaism.

The Agriprocessors controversy wasn't on Savitsky's official Omaha agenda. But it was an unavoidable topic. Beth Israel Rabbi Jonathon Gross welcomed news of the ultimatumfrom the Orthodox Union. He said it was consistent with Jewish religious law and with the Orthodox Union position on Agriprocessors all along.

"I am incredibly proud as a rabbi to be a member of the Orthodox Union because I think they handled this perfectly," Gross said. "They did not act in a frenzy. They said they would take their leads from the authorities. They waited for the authorities, and then they took decisive action."

Gross said he has had no qualms, so far, buying meat from the plant.

But now, Gross said, issues of trust have arisen.

"If the plant managers can't be trusted to obey state and federal laws, can they be trusted to process the meat correctly?"

Beyond that, he said, potentialmistreatment of workers isan ethical problem in itself.

"Jewish law is not only relegated to the kitchen," Gross said. "It also regulates how we conduct ourselves in business. . . . If a company violates these laws and mistreats people, that's equally if not more egregious" than violating kosher processing laws.

While creating a dilemma for many individual Jews, the issue has also been a controversy between branches of Judaism.

Some leaders reacted quickly after allegations of labor abuse in the wake of a May 12 immigration raid that netted nearly 400 illegal immigrants at Agriprocessors.

A group of Conservative rabbis called for a boycott of products from Agriprocessors, which are sold as Aaron's Best and Rubashkin's, among other brands. Another group of Conservative rabbis launched an effort to create an additional ethical certification, heksher tzedek, for kosher food based on standards for wages and worker safety.

Rabbi Mordechai Levin, who heads the Conservative Beth El congregation in Omaha, said the reports of what he called unacceptable worker conditions at the Agriprocessors plant are "disturbing."

He said by e-mail that Jewish dietary teachings, originating in the Hebrew Bible, "teach reverence for life and humane treatment of animals."

"Judaism teaches — among other things — about the importance of social justice, the rights and responsibilities of every human being, and the importance of business ethics," Levin said. "If those reports (of labor violations) are accurate, they are in contradiction with the teachings of Judaism."

If the reportsof labor violations are true, Levin said, he and his members would have to evaluate whether to buy Agriprocessors products.

A local Reform rabbi, Aryeh Azriel, said he has members who carefully observe kosher laws, even though the Reform movement generally does not adhere to kosher dietary restrictions. But he said his main interest in this matter is not the religious debate, but the question of justice.

"The concern really is seeing that the work is done with dignity, not just for the animals, but for the workers, that there is no abuse of the workers in your plant," Azriel said.

The Iowa Attorney General's Office on Wednesday filed thousands of misdemeanor child labor charges against the Agriprocessors plant's owner, Abraham Aaron Rubashkin, and some of its managers.

Miller accused the plant of hiring 32 illegal immigrant children under age 18, including seven who were under 16. The number of charges is so high because Miller filed a charge for each day that a violation was alleged for each worker.

Chaim Abrams, a manager at the Agriprocessors plant, said in a statement that the company "vehemently denies" the Iowa attorney general's allegations. Abrams said the underage workers — not the company — are to blamefor lying about their age.

Agriprocessors also operates a plant near Gordon, Neb. The Nebraska Department of Labor has said state regulators have checked on the Gordon plant and found no indication of problems with labor laws.

Production problems at the Iowa plant since the raid have led to many bare racks in supermarket kosher aisles, including at the Bag 'N Save at 76th and Dodge Streets, the main place to buy kosher in Omaha. Smaller producers such as Noah's Ark in Minnesota haven't been able to pick up the slack, leading to limited choices for consumers. Bag 'N Save Vice President Leon Shrago said he hopes Agriprocessors can resolve its problems soon.

The Orthodox Union'sSavitsky said Friday that the Postville plant's meat still qualifies as kosher. But he said the mounting legal troubles have led to concerns about current managers of the family-owned plant's ability to perform up to standards.

The charges still haven't been proved, he said. But he said it would be in the Agriprocessors owners' interests, as well as the Jewish community's interest, for them to put someone else in charge and let the plant get back to providing kosher meat for the country.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


• Contact the writer: 444-1057, christopher.burbach@owh.com

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pag...u_sid=10433239

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1 sample comment:
Kashrus Concerns at Rubashkin Says:
All comments here, who are defending Rubashkin fall in to the following 2 general categories:

1) Rubashkin does a lot of Chessed and therefore he couldn't possibly do any other Avera - Right? ? ?

Actually that is WRONG.

A person can do Mitzvos A N D Averos and there is no contradiction.

Because every person has BOTH a Yetzer Tov and a Yetzer Hara and besides a person can be a "Mumer Ledovor ECHAD".

In fact most Frum Yidden are generally Frum, yet we all say plenty of "Al Chet"! So this "reasoning" is outright non-sense!

2) Rubashkin violated only secular Law but it has no impact on Kashrus, Right? ? ?

Actually that is dead wrong too.

Besides all the recent allegations of breaking the Law, yet, long before that, there have been many who had accused Rubashkin of many highly questionable Kashrus Practices including the removal of the Washington Hights, Broyers, KAJ Hechsher.

And also allegations of a LOT of Kashrus problems at Rubashkins by Reb Yudel Shain, (http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/) a known Whistle Blower, who had previously been the first one to WARN the entire world about the SHEVACH MEAT problems - while everyone on this website and on other websites, had accused Reb Yudel Shain of just "Loshin Hara" but by now, everyone already realised that they must Kasher their Pots!

Chazal say that:
"Hamechalel Shem Shomayim Baseser", then in the end he will be exposed PUBLICLY. The real issue for us Jews, is KASHRUS at Rubashkin but the current public allegations here, are not so OPEN and Clear (not about Kashrus * YET *).

So Hashem sent the Goyim to make their version of "CRIME" to show us, what Chilul Hashem, is really happening, behind the scenes, at Rubashkins.
Vehamevin Yovin:
We should all be SMART and understand that:

"Where there is SMOKE, there is likely FIRE, too".

KAJ took of their Hechsher from Rubashkin for Kashrus reasons and not because of Secular Law violations and many others too, had stopped using Rubashkins Meat, long ago, because of Kashrus concerns.

For us, frum yidden, it's a very real KASHRUS CONCERN.

But to all "defenders of Rubashkin", I say:

Go Right ahead and "close your eyes" and keep on eating Rubashkins Meat, (just as you did with SHEVACH MEAT, the Infamous Monsey Meat Scandal), until you are told to "Kasher Your Pots".

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Kashrus Concerns at Rubashkin Says:
In addition, remember that even the OU (who are Mekil in Non-Cholov-Yisroel and in Pas Palter), even their (relatively lower) standard of Kashrus had agreed (finally) that they WILL remove their Hechsher from Rubashkin, if things remain as is, (if management is not replaced) at Rubashkin.

That should be a KAL V'CHOMER, for all Yidden who have a higher standard of Kashrus than just "OU". Yidden who refuse to eat Pas Palter and non-Cholov Yisreol, All Achas Kama Vekama, that they should be concrened NOW, with Rubashkins Kashrus NOW.

09-16-2008 - 3:17 PM