JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

06/26/08 10:05 PM

Great job BBYO!  I support and admire this important stance taken by BBYO & its leadership to raise awareness among Jewish youth that the laws of Kashrut cannot be separated from ethics and justice. Rubashkin’s terrible record of worker exploitation is a deep contradiction, deserving of scrutiny and protest by all Jews, both young and old.  In fact, the situation reminds me of the Biblical quote from Isaiah 58, where G-d poses a question to the Jewish people about what kind of fast He is really after – “Is it a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?” Of course not. It is a fast “to loose the fetters of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke…[and] to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house…” (Isaiah 5: 5-7).

So, along these lines, I’m asking myself – is this Rubashkin’s kashrut that G-d intended – “one that oppresses immigrant workers with excessively long hours and low wages?” Or is it a type of Kashrut that respects both workers and the natural environment – that is both socially just and ecologically sound.

I have to say some of the comments were outright amusing – I mean, calling the BBYO participants “revolutionaries”? APRPEH, you have got to be kidding me. And Jacob, I totally disagree with your points, but you might be taken a tad more seriously if you took checked your spelling.

Also, according to the Jerusalem Post, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly (not what I’d call radical organizations) say Jews should consider for themselves whether or not to buy the meat from Rubashkin’s (see http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1211434112899&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull) so that is exactly what these BBYO youth are doing!

Also you can check out this blog for more info: http://stoprubashkins.blogspot.com/.

06/27/08 09:46 AM

It is little short of fascinating, in a traffic pileup sort of way, to watch the BBYO Red Pioneer comminterns here chanting in unison “Down with the oppressors!” The party central committee must be happy with their legions of useful idiots.

Lessee, just how interested in individual worker rights is the former AFL-CIO Propaganda Minister?

If I had introduced Marilyn Sneiderman after June 2, I would have pointed out how great the California unions did in obtaining a real field mobilization of its members to defeat the vicious Proposition 226 that was intended to silence unions’ political voice.

And just what was so nefarious about Prop. 226 that motivated Comrade Sneiderman to militate against it so vociferously?

Requires all employers and labor organizations to obtain employee’s or member’s permission before withholding wages or using union dues or fees for political contributions. Employee’s or member’s permission is to be obtained annually using a prescribed form. Requires record keeping.

Nope, cannot have the rank-and-file having a voice in how their union dues are spent.  That must be left to inner party members only.  We know what’s best for them.  I am sure the same sentiment is worming its way in to this current Agriprocessor campaign.

06/27/08 01:35 PM

I am glad to see BBYO take a stand on this important issue. We all should be speaking out against the immigration, labor, environmental, and human rights abuses that have been documented at the agriprocessors plant. BBYO is teaching kids about real life activism and how all of us should work to make our world a better and more just place.

06/27/08 02:03 PM

If I were a Jewish teenager reading this blogpost and its comments, I would learn the following things:
(1) When you have a principled disagreement with someone, expand the conflict as widely as possible.  A global war of us-vs-them is always preferable to a manageable grievance.
(2) It’s okay to launch semi-libelous personal attacks on people with whose professional politics and practices you disagree.
(3) Judaism has nothing whatsoever to do with care for the worker and working conditions.  All of those words in the Torah and the Talmud about treating workers with respect and paying them proper wages on time are just suggestions.

Thanks to Marilyn Sneiderman and the BBYO, many teens are learning a better lesson: just because it’s kosher doesn’t make it right.

06/27/08 02:59 PM

I’m so impressed with BBYO for teaching youth about pursuing justice not just doing acts of loving kindness.  Not buying from a company that has been cited for numerous health and safety violations is a great way to make it a better workplace. 

Jewish law requires that we treat our workers with dignity.  We should therefore be holding our kosher manufacturers to a higher standard.  Agriprocessors is not even meeting the standards set by OSHA.  I’m glad that BBYO is involved in this struggle for justice.  Kol ha kavod!

06/27/08 04:46 PM

Jewish values are meaningless without Jews taking actions aligned with those values.  Good for BBYO for reminding all of us of that.  I applaud their clarity and courage.  We can all learn something from BBYO and its young leaders.  justice justice shall you pursue.

06/28/08 04:29 AM

Wow, it is amazing to see how quickly everyone resorts to name-calling here. The idea of keeping kosher is to bring an awareness and holiness to the miracle of plenty. How anyone can do so in the knowledge - or even suspicion - of abusive working conditions and mistreatment is incomprehensible to me. Kudos to BBYO for realizing that Jewish law is concerned with both the letter *and* the spirit.

06/29/08 05:38 AM

Justice, justice thou shalt pursue--saysing justice twice because it is that important.  Wonderful to see BBYO carrying on the social justice of our tradition with the next generation.  Thanks for what you are doing.  We need to take some risks and take action to change the future, bult on our traditions of the past.

06/29/08 06:11 AM

“Teens Demand Agriprocessor-Free Camp Programs”
Yeah , right!
Who are you kidding?
Like al;l of a sudden these teen rise out of the woodwork calling and screaming about agro=processors?!
Gimme a break.
The overall policy of convicting before a trial is itself, dumb.
Hey!
Ever look at the president’s policy? He would like to “stem the flow” of illegal aliens while talks about a fence for two years and has never had one built. He allows illegals to cross into the U.S. knowingly EVERY day. Yet, Rubashkin is a bum for hiring them? It’s the best thing that ever happened to these people. And the Social Security Administration is glad with illegals, because even people with false social security numbers and cards are still paying into the system anyway!

06/29/08 07:32 AM

To all the frummies saying, “Innocent until proven guilty,” I just want to remind you that that is the same thing you all said about Baruch Lanner and Yehuda Kolko, so I’m completely unsurprised and instead disgusted.

Even creating the APPEARANCE of wrong-doing is assur. 

The appropriate response is NOT to riot, accusing the less observant of wrong-doing.  The appropriate response is TESHUVA.