R’ Mendel Weinstock z”l, Pioneer of Glatt Kosher Provisions

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meal martIt is with great sadness that we report the passing of R’ Mendel Weinstock, a founder of Meal Mart and Alle Processing, last week at the age of 92.

Mr. Weinstock was one of three brothers who, after World War II, became pioneers in the production, distribution and marketing of glatt kosher meat in the US.

At the shivah.
At the shivah.

Mr. Weinstock opened a glatt kosher butcher store in Williamsburg that eventually became Meal Mart, the second such store to open in 1954; the first was in Crown Heights.

Back in the 1950’s, almost every Jewish woman was connected in some way to a kosher butcher. According to the late Gil Marks, author of the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, there were nearly 3500 kosher butchers in New York City at that time. The kosher butcher had no kosher supervision and the integrity of the kashrus very much relied on the reputation of the butcher. Most would never pass muster in today’s kosher world, but several became the trendsetters for today’s burgeoning glatt kosher market. The Weinstocks were trusted by the leading Chasidic Rebbes, most notably Rav Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe.

Meal Mart, one of the original kosher takeout stores, with its slogan of “Your Personal Chef,” still has retail stores in Flatbush and Williamsburg and is also a major brand for frozen glatt kosher provisions available in supermarkets all over the US. The Weinstock enterprises eventually became Alle Processing, the largest glatt kosher purveyor in the US.

R’ Mendel is survived by a prominent family of bnei Torah, baalei chesed and avdei Hashem.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com Newscenter/Kosher Today}


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