Posted on 11/12/2008 1:14:22 PM PST by Nachum
(IsraelNN.com) The bankruptcy of the kosher meatpacking plant Agriprocessors, the largest American kosher meat operation, has forced many Jews to go vegetarian amid kosher-food shortages and soaring prices.
The Postville, Iowa plant had supplied more than half of the kosher meat for millions of Jews as well as non-Jews who prefer buying meat processed according to Jewish law. Federal investigators raided the plant in May and charged officials with violating immigration laws and hiring 389 illegal workers.
Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy this week after the resulting labor shortage left it unable to meet customer demand and forced a shutdown of its beef department, according to the Des Moines, Iowa Register. Charges that could result in multi-million dollar fines have been placed against the company's owners.
Nationwide shortages have forced many people to eat vegetarian meals on the Sabbath, when meat and chicken are a long-standing tradition. Many stores throughout the U.S. reported their meat cases were empty.
One rabbi told the KosherToday website, "This past Sabbath was the first in a long time that my wife made a pareve [non-meat] cholent," a stew usually consisting of meat or chicken, grains and potatoes. The rabbi added that he was hoping to haul home several boxes of meat when he goes on a trip to Brooklyn.
The large Empire Kosher Poultry company is trying to make up for the meat shortages and meet increasing demand for chicken but does not have a beef plant.
Agriprocessors, operating under bankruptcy laws, still is producing at a limited rate. This too may cease, however, because hundreds of the plant's workers are unable to pay their electricity bills and may have to leave their homes soon. The local energy company has agreed to a week's delay before cutting off power to the workers' homes but employees will not be able to stay in their houses without power as the winter approaches.
“And freedom from such dietary restrictions...”
Well, tell that to the folks who get Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease from eating processed cow brains in non-kosher hot dogs.
If you don’t have a theological reason to worry about it, perhaps consider the rules as “good advice.”
I suspect the reason these criminals set up shop way out in Iowa, far from any real orthodox Jewish communities, was so they could perpetrate this very profitable fraud, selling meat to unsuspecting orthodox Jews as “kosher” with the accompanying mark-up, while blithely ignoring any kosher law and civil law that would cost an extra penny. Their production costs were probably well below that of large non-kosher beef processors.
Frankly, if they hadn’t been conspicuously Jewish, I think they’d have been shut down a long time ago. They used their religion, and the public perception that Jews are frequent victims of discrimination, as cover for their criminal activities. Authorities were afraid to crack down on them because the perps would invariably start screaming “anti-Semitism!”.
Not according the man at the kosher food company that manufactured the products I was inquiring about. He was quite clear that they would NOT meet my vegetarian dietary requirements and that their gelatin content was “100% bovine”.
I see. So the idea is that it’s over with quick. I guess that’s about all you can do really.
And how is this different from how they kill the animals at a non-kosher slaughter house? I’m guessing they slit the throats too, but maybe it’s done mechanically rather than with a skilled slaughterer with a knife?
ROFL!!!
I don’t know; I’ve never been in a non-kosher slaughterhouse.
From a vegetarian resource citing, quoting a Kashrus Magazine article:
http://www.ivu.org/faq/gelatine.html
Kosher gelatin can be made with fish bones, and/or beef skins. Contrary to assumptions, it is also considered kosher to use it with dairy products. Kosher law is very complex and the bones and hides used in gelatin production are considered pareve. The general meaning of pareve refers to foods that are neither milk nor meat, and many people assume this means that the product is vegetarian. However, OU pareve certified ingredients can have animal products, such as fish, eggs, and gelatin, in them.
“Kosher Gelatin Marshmallows: Glatt Kosher and ‘OU-Pareve’,” an article that appeared in Kashrus Magazine, explains the distinctions. A quote from the article is as follows:
“...since the gelatin product is from hides or bones - not real flesh - and has undergone such significant changes, it is no longer considered ‘fleishig’ (meat) but ‘pareve’, and can be eaten with dairy products.”
Previous post was meant to be addressed to you.
How could God get upset if someone grates parmesan on his lasagne, but have no problems if he dumped a can of cranberry sauce on top?
It’s okay. I understand dietary laws. Here in Italy if you overcook the pasta, you get sent straight to hell. Deservedly so. Italian orthodoxy starts and ends there.
Interesting..it explains why Kosher is so much more expensive.
One company has developed a product called Kolatin - a beef gelatin made from Glatt Kosher beef hides. It is rather expensive.
Overwhelmingly, kosher gelatin is vegitable (seaweed, tapioca) or, more rarely, fish-bone based.
“How could God get upset if someone grates parmesan on his lasagne”
Well, it’s in the Bible like 10 times. The only prohibition cited so often.
To be fair, the prohibition is “boiling a baby calf in its mother’s milk.”
There were two issues: (1) this was a practice by neighboring tribes and (2) it is shows basic disrespect to the order of life.
It couldn’t be happening to a nicer bunch of business owners.
Illegals, child labor, identity theft..you name it.
Maybe some enterprising Jews will open a new packing company paying legal wages and following the legal requirements as well as the religious requirements and be a success..now that the criminals are out of business.
ping
That’s it? No pork and blessed by a rabbi? How hard is that?
I’ll be sure to add that to my list of food issues, right along with the illnesses that are much more likely, also caused by contamination of our food - and not just restricted to “non-Kosher” foods... Like the Jalepeno-linked salmonella. But at least that isn’t usually fatal...
And lest we forget that any food, improperly handled and prepared can lead to illness or worse.
And I won’t deny that the dietary restrictions in the Law were there for a reason - and it was more than just to demonstrate obedience to God. It wasn’t all that long ago that man discovered the cause of trichinosis...among other pork-born diseases.
Man didn’t grasp disease-causing agents in the time of the Old Testament, but God has always taken care of His people. So in HIS Law, he put restraints to protect - not only in the food that was considered clean, but in the handling of other “unclean” issues - such as diseased people, women in “that time”, etc. All to protect them.
The majority of food-born illness today is caused directly by improper handling, processing, or preparation. Putting brain matter in hot dogs is stupid. If someone wants to eat brains, then can them and label them as such... that way it is a choice. But since the food labeling regulations only require that the package be labeled as containing pork, chicken, beef, etc. - without any specifics beyond that... it could be cow anus, it would still be labeled as “beef”...
And it is freedom from such dietary restrictions - based on the LAW that has ben fullfilled. I don’t eat pufferfish - not because of any religious or theological point, but because it can kill me.
Hebrew National hot dogs.
Have had them, they are good!
Hawwww ... not until you replied did I relize how I (mis)composed that sentence.
It seems I was wrong...see 36 & 38
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