South Florida Jews’ “Kosher Dilemma”

The following excerpts from an article by Lois K. Solomon in yesterday’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel demonstrates how lost and misguided some of our estranged Jewish brethren are. Be sure to read ‘Rabbi’ Silver’s quote below in bold. It is truly pathetic, but it shows what kind of battle we, Torah Jews, face in our effort to keep kosher and ensure that we can continue to have kosher shechitah in this country. -ed:
Judy Lipman and her husband, Herman, have been following a vegetarian diet for 15 years. In a recent column in “COBRUA Reporter,” the newspaper of Century Village west of Boca Raton, Lipman tried to persuade her fellow residents to take a look at how kosher animals are treated and consider alternative foods. But she said few people have sought her out for further discussion. “It should have been a wake-up call for all of us,” said Lipman, 83. “I’ve learned that people in their 70s and 80s are not about to change.”

Although Lipman has had little success in getting her neighbors to give up meat, Jewish eating habits across the country are undergoing a transformation, said Sue Fishkoff, a Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent who is writing a book on the kosher food industry.

“On a practical level, there is less kosher meat, so people are eating less,” Fishkoff said. “But the biggest change is that keeping kosher has become a hot topic of conversation, that it’s legitimate as a Jewish value, not just an Orthodox value.”

Many Jews in South Florida and around the country have…questioned the ethics behind kosher meat processing.

Observant Jews follow laws of kashrut, or keeping kosher, which regulate which animals can be eaten, how they are killed, how to prepare the meat and which foods can be eaten together. Some of the laws are from the Bible (prohibition of eating blood, Leviticus 7:26; prohibition of eating meat and milk together, Exodus 23:19), but others developed from the Talmud and rabbinical commentaries.

Some observant Jews believe these age-old laws apply to modern times and are sufficient for Jews to follow the will of God. But others say keeping kosher also means workers and animals are treated according to contemporary moral and safety standards.

These competing values have given momentum to a proposed new seal called Magen Tzedek, which would ensure that stamped foods meet standards related to working conditions, fair wages, animal treatment and the environment. The seal will be awarded to some kosher food companies in the coming months, according to www.hekhshertzedek.org.

Rabbi David Botton, of Hollywood, said he was deluged with questions about the processing of kosher meat…So Botton, a vegetarian for the past five years, said he started eating meat once a week to assure congregants it was safe and ethical.

“Because people are improper in business does not mean kashrut is compromised,” said Botton, a doctor of Chinese medicine who leads Ner Yitzchak congregation in North Miami Beach. “We believe that in moderation, all things are good.”

However, Rabbi Barry Silver, who leads Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor in Boynton Beach, believes vegetarians more closely adhere to Jewish dietary ethics because they refuse to harm animals or the environment through the food they eat. Silver has…urged congregants to adopt vegetarianism, which he has followed for 36 years.

“The rationale behind keeping kosher has always been to spare the animal pain,” Silver said. “The practices now are the opposite: They are causing the animals to suffer. If you want to be true to your Jewish beliefs, you would become a vegetarian.”

{South Florida Sun-Sentinel }

{Matzav.com Newscenter}