Business aspects of the Rubashkin shechita
I spoke today to a source very much in the middle of this controversy.
He said: There are many kosher producers in America but the two biggest are Rubashkin and Empire. Although Rubashkin is the leader in meat and his plant is used by other labels, Empire operation dwarfs Rubashkin in poultry. Empire is under the OU supervision which makes it acceptable for the general public. To differentiate his business from Empire and appeal to the black hat market Rubashkin invited KAJ in addition to OU, as a centrist well respected name; it makes his meat acceptable for Brooklyn and beyond. Rabbi Chaim Kohn of KAJ allegedly is the person with hands-on responsibilities for the procedures at his plant. In his interview with Shmarya, Rabbi Kohn denies pulling out the trachea, a routine in the video. He also makes references to the second cut, and nobody I know can identify this second cut on the video. Meat producers strive to become more competitive, they need to increase the quality. There is an opinion that removal of the trachea speeds up bleeding and decreases chances of blood clots. This procedure relies on the inference that shechita=death (more about this here). Dr. Temple Grandin writes that she has not seen this procedure performed in any other plant.
OU, the second stamp on Rubashkin's meat perhaps relied on KAJ, with KAJ taking the lead in the actual supervision.
According to my source, recently KAJ made a deal with Empire and is in the process of transferring their hashgochoh from Rubashkin to Empire (see the announcement). This infuriated Rubashkin, as it left his business exposed without a �heimisher hashgochoh�. In a defensive move Rubashkin invited well respected Nitra Rov of Monsey Rav Weissmandel to assure that his meat continues to be accepted by the traditional crowd. Rav Weissmandel has a clean slate here; he can come in and fix the mess. Rubashkin might also be the victim of the Rabbonim and their instructions, but ultimately he is the one saddled with this humongous PR problem.
It appears that an institution with most explaining to do is KAJ. Incidentally my source said that in the past, Rav Kohn has praised Mr. Rubashkin for "not counting money to do what's right by halocha."
UPDATE: Shmarya comments: KAJ did NOT dump Rubashkin. Rubashkin became infuriated when KAJ began to certify Empire (note that the OU certifies both Empire and Rubashkin as well). He brought in the Nitra Rav to enhance his market and to have some traction against Empire, which is widely regarded as having both the better slaughtering/processing procedures and the better chickens. The haredi world buys based on hechsherim (supervision). If Empire and Rubashkin both carried the KAJ and, all other things being as they were two weeks ago, Rubashkin would have lost a tremendous amount of business. Therefore, in comes Nitra.
He said: There are many kosher producers in America but the two biggest are Rubashkin and Empire. Although Rubashkin is the leader in meat and his plant is used by other labels, Empire operation dwarfs Rubashkin in poultry. Empire is under the OU supervision which makes it acceptable for the general public. To differentiate his business from Empire and appeal to the black hat market Rubashkin invited KAJ in addition to OU, as a centrist well respected name; it makes his meat acceptable for Brooklyn and beyond. Rabbi Chaim Kohn of KAJ allegedly is the person with hands-on responsibilities for the procedures at his plant. In his interview with Shmarya, Rabbi Kohn denies pulling out the trachea, a routine in the video. He also makes references to the second cut, and nobody I know can identify this second cut on the video. Meat producers strive to become more competitive, they need to increase the quality. There is an opinion that removal of the trachea speeds up bleeding and decreases chances of blood clots. This procedure relies on the inference that shechita=death (more about this here). Dr. Temple Grandin writes that she has not seen this procedure performed in any other plant.
OU, the second stamp on Rubashkin's meat perhaps relied on KAJ, with KAJ taking the lead in the actual supervision.
According to my source, recently KAJ made a deal with Empire and is in the process of transferring their hashgochoh from Rubashkin to Empire (see the announcement). This infuriated Rubashkin, as it left his business exposed without a �heimisher hashgochoh�. In a defensive move Rubashkin invited well respected Nitra Rov of Monsey Rav Weissmandel to assure that his meat continues to be accepted by the traditional crowd. Rav Weissmandel has a clean slate here; he can come in and fix the mess. Rubashkin might also be the victim of the Rabbonim and their instructions, but ultimately he is the one saddled with this humongous PR problem.
It appears that an institution with most explaining to do is KAJ. Incidentally my source said that in the past, Rav Kohn has praised Mr. Rubashkin for "not counting money to do what's right by halocha."
UPDATE: Shmarya comments: KAJ did NOT dump Rubashkin. Rubashkin became infuriated when KAJ began to certify Empire (note that the OU certifies both Empire and Rubashkin as well). He brought in the Nitra Rav to enhance his market and to have some traction against Empire, which is widely regarded as having both the better slaughtering/processing procedures and the better chickens. The haredi world buys based on hechsherim (supervision). If Empire and Rubashkin both carried the KAJ and, all other things being as they were two weeks ago, Rubashkin would have lost a tremendous amount of business. Therefore, in comes Nitra.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 7:18 PM
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