Hekhsher Tzedek

I used to think that faithful adherence to Jewish law would help make me a better person. In some ways, it did: Observing the Sabbath gave me a sense of peace, and tuned me in to the value of community. I admired my observant co-religionists for rising above the "I, me, my" values so rampant in America. I did my best to emulate them.

For years, I listened to countless rabbinic admonitions against speaking ill of my fellow Jews. But I noticed that speaking ill of each other seemed to be a favorite Jewish pastime. It always seemed to be justified by the claim that one must "warn" a fellow Jew of harm that can come to him or her by associating with an "evildoer." I looked the other way, figuring that these perpetrators of loshon hara (evil speech) were exceptions and not the rule. I can't do that any longer. I just keep running into loshon hara with at least the frequency as the admonitions against it.

Over the last several years, Americans have been treated to footage of Jews in black hats being frog-marched off to the pokie for one form of corruption or another. The latest, Rabbi Levy Rosenbaum, has admitted to--of all things--organ trafficking. We're not talking about some runaway Jew here; Rosenbaum is a religious leader who has given all his fellow Jews a black eye. A religious Jew who publicly disgraces himself not only puts his fellow Jews in danger of antisemitism, but defames his Creator at the same time. Rosenbaum surely knows this.

Then there's the kashrut game. Having very few intellectual pursuits, observant Jewish women chat constantly about what's kosher and what isn't, and where to find the latest kosher delectable. Having nothing else to talk about with these women, I became a big player of this myself.

Then I noticed it becoming nasty. A won't eat at B's home because B serves food that has been processed under a particular kosher authority that A doesn't like. Recently, I was admonished by a "friend" for purchasing something with a "dubious" certification. Mind you, that "friend" had never been willing to come to my home for a meal, even prior to discovering that I bought this particular product.

Kashrut, which is supposed to hold Jews together, is being used by many to keep us apart. It's really sad, but not half as sad as learning that Agriprocessor, America's biggest (and nearly only) kosher meat processing plant, had been violating child-labor laws and employing (and abusing) illegal immigrants for years prior to being raided in 2008. The company is now in bankruptcy, but the facility is still in use by many of the "holiest" of kosher meat processors.

This week, I learned about a ray of hope in this disgusting mess. It's called Hekhsher Tzedek, i.e. "righteous kashrut certification." A creation of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly, Hekhsher Tzedek certification will be awarded to kosher food companies who comply with standards in the areas of employee health, safety and training; wages and benefits; corporate environmental impact; and corporate transparency. The seal is not intended to replace the current kashrut certification, but to augment it by assuring consumers that products not only comply with Jewish dietary laws, but Jewish laws of social justice as well.

It's about time!

My disillusionment has not caused me to abandon my love of God, Judaism or the Jewish people. However, it has caused me to shift my focus away from the games played in the Orthodox world and toward building a stronger personal relationship with my Creator. I think my rebbe of blessed memory, Rabbi Dovid Zeller, is probably looking down from his heavenly abode and also saying, "It's about time!"