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September 3, 2008

Israel Office

SHATIL

Weekly Message

I grew up in a kosher home. From an early age, I was made aware of the special symbols on various food products that signified whether they were appropriate for our consumption. And, in response to an apparent consumer demand, an increasing number of companies have chosen to accept rabbinic supervision of their production processes.

The issue of what makes a product kosher is about to become more complicated. Rather, than limiting consideration to traditional legal rules, the Conservative movement in the United States is promoting a Hekhsher Tzedek initiative, which seeks to make ethical and environmental standards part of the process for evaluating food products. The initiative, a shared effort between the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, would establish a seal for previously designated kosher foods. Specifically, the seal would be based on a company’s adherence to standards in the following five categories: a) wages and benefits; b) health, safety and training; c) environmental impact; d) product development; and e) corporate transparency (for more information, see http://certifiablyethical.org/.)

In Israel too, a grassroots effort is underway to provide a “social seal” for restaurants that treat their workers in an ethical manner and provide access to customers with disabilities. Bemaaglei Tzedek was established as an NGO in 2004 and, according to its website, has certified more than 50 restaurants in the Jerusalem area; interestingly, most but not all the restaurants also have kosher certification from the rabbinical authorities.

Skeptics question the staying power of this movement, particularly in view of consumer interests in purchasing the best product at the cheapest price. And Orthodox critics argue that it is a mistake to confuse the traditional rules regarding kosher with social and ethical criteria that are inherently subjective and lack the legitimacy of a thousand-plus year tradition. Nonetheless, these parallel efforts in Israel and the US have generated considerable enthusiasm among those looking for a more ethical oriented Judaism, and the Jewish and mainstream media have already provided considerable and quite laudatory coverage. The scandal regarding worker treatment at the nation’s largest kosher meat-processing plant has certainly had an impact.

In Israel, NIF grantees like Bina and Memizrach Shemesh also seek to combine Jewish tradition and identity with social activism. Bina, for example, operates both a secular yeshiva and a project in south Tel Aviv where young people who move into the neighborhood run Jewish identity programs for disempowered children, teenagers and adults. Memizrach Shemesh, meanwhile promotes the study of Mizrahi Jewish sources with the dual goals of contributing to the development of a moderate, traditional Jewish identity and furthering social justice. And NIF’s new Paths of Peace Fund, which has just been established in memory of our board member Gerald Cromer, who passed away earlier this year, seeks to support organizations that promote peace and pluralistic action based on Jewish values.

I am convinced that these initiatives combining the study of Jewish texts, promoting Jewish identity and the pursuit of social justice are here to stay, and are a new dimension in NIF’s longstanding battle for religious pluralism. The notion of an ethical Judaism, whether expressed in the laws of Kashrut or the treatment of workers or our respect for the environment, provide an exciting basis for expanding the concept of what it means to be a practicing Jew in the 21st Century. These initiatives also demonstrate how grassroots action can change the mainstream discourse in a constructive manner.