Rabbis and Community Look for Elusive Answers

Monsey, NY

At meetings this week of rabbinic groups and certification agencies, a number of proposals were floated to protect kosher consumers from the type of scandal that rocked the community just a fortnight ago. Shevach Meats, a popular glatt kosher butcher, was caught selling non-kosher poultry as kosher. One rabbi suggested banning the sale of fresh meats in supermarkets and returning to the days of the local kosher butcher. Others promoted the idea of requiring a mashgiach temidi, permanent kosher supervisor, at such stores, while another proposal called for rabbis and agencies to have the keys, codes for alarms, and combinations to establishments selling fresh meat. Meanwhile rabbis were busy quashing rumors that a popular Boro Park butcher was also involved in the scandal. One rabbi said that the store had actually been fingured by Mr. Shevach (the name given the proprietor of the store believed to have sold the non-kosher chickens) but that a close inspection of the store showed that there was no basis for the accusation. A source told KosherToday that rabbis interviewing Mr. Shevach found his story to be “less than credible” which was confirmed by a subsequent investigation of the Brooklyn store. A letter signed by a prominent rabbi was posted in synagogues this past weekend confirming that the Brooklyn butcher was not under any suspicion.

Residents of the community were still asking “how it could have happened” in their community. This past Sunday was declared a fast day in the community to atone for the unsuspecting violation of kashrus law by so many residents. Some residents are temporarily going vegetarian while others are eating only on paper and plastic plates and using plastic utensils. The scrubbing and cleansing of kitchens continues in many homes, but most unnerving for the residents and even for those not living in the community is the constant spade of rumors that this scandal goes far beyond the sale of chickens in the Hatzlocho Kosher Supermarket, which was supplied by Shevach. A prominent rabbi in Flatbush charged consumers with being too complacent and urged that they demand a mashgiach temidi in every establishment that sells fresh meat, even if it has to cost the store an estimated $50,000 a year, which will surely result in higher prices. While many consumers were ready to pay the surcharge, they wondered out loud whether rabbis are not too trusting of those owners they consider beyond rapproach. “After the scandal two years ago in Flatbush (where a glatt kosher takeout store sold kosher meat as glatt kosher),” said the rabbi, “there were promises of change, but nothing happened.” The question that many are asking these days is if the more serious scandal in Monsey will at last prompt both rabbis and the community into action.

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