Kosher Food 4/29/2006

Editor MNH :  4-29-06

Since J.L. in her article “Rabbi plays role in kosher food-making process”  (MNH 3/6/2006) did not mention anything about the cost of the kosher symbol to the company,  I went to the yellow pages and called the dairies listed. I had two questions. Are your products listed as kosher? If the answer was yes;  how much does the kosher symbol cost you? The manager of only one dairy was forth coming. ( I spare you the rest of the replies). Here it is: The rabbi inspects the dairy once a month. He charges forty dollar per hour. The clock starts ticking when he leaves the house. This adds up to between 16 and 17  hours per visit.

I have in front of me an ad by the Union Of Orthodox Jewish Congregation Of America. Their symbol is the U in a circle. It reads  “Support Israel Buy Kosher Products. Manufacturers pay a lot of money every year to make their products kosher… The costs are passed on to the consumer, so every time you buy a kosher product you are doing your part to help Israel …” My comment. If the Jews want to support their rabbis and indirectly Israel, that is their business. But why rope me into it? There are many items, pasta, unsalted butter, molasses, organic whole wheat flour etc. I can’t buy without contributing to the livelihood of a rabbi and indirectly support Israel. However I did find  mayonnaise, shortening, and sugar without the U or the K at Aldi’s. Since we have separation of church and state I should have a choice either to buy kosher or non kosher. I wrote to the ACLU and the Freedom from Religion Organization to get redress. I received no reply. I am contemplating a class action suit  against the M. grocery stores.