Letters to the Editor 12-26

Issue of Dec. 26, 2008 / 29 Kislev 5769

Angry about vote manipulation

To the Editor:

Shame on O.U. Senior Vice President David Luchins for manipulating the voting process at the organization’s convention and abusing his influence with teenage delegates (Unorthodox tactics at the OU convention; Dec. 19, 2008).

Instead of glossing over the incident, the OU leadership should dismiss Luchins immediately. Rather than trumpet the importance of youth involvement, which no one disputes, they should emphasize the despicable example Luchins has set for our well-intentioned teenagers and future Jewish leaders.

Perhaps Luchins, a former aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, should consider a political position in which his sleazy tactics might be more appreciated. I understand Illinois may be looking for a new governor.

Joshua Schein

Woodmere

A balanced report

To the Editor:

Thank you for your balanced and informative reporting on the discussions of the nexus between hashgacha and ethical behavior within the Kosher food industry (A Kosher Quandry; Dec. 19, 2008.)

Whether hashgacha companies should “branch out” into ethical oversight is an interesting question. However, hashgachot have long been “branching out” to impose their will on other religious and social ideals.

Last year, due to extenuating circumstances, I allowed my synagogue to run its annual dinner, an important fund-raiser, during the counting of the Omer. My synagogue was later surprised to learn that the caterer’s hashgacha would not allow catering of an event with live music during the Omer.

Our synagogue’s experience was not unique. It is well known that hasghachot often impose expectations on their clients, from where the clients send their children to school, to how late at night a restaurant can stay open. Frankly, I would prefer if hashgachot kept to the business of overseeing kashruth, and left these other social and religious policies to be made through other mechanisms, such as the individual and his or her halachic authority.

A similar argument can be made regarding ethical behavior of kosher businesses. Perhaps hashgachot should stick to determining the kashruth of the food, and leave the ethical determinations to other mechanisms, such as the Conservative movement’s Hekhsher Tzedek and Uri L’Tzedek’s Tav Hayosher. However, if kashruth organizations are willing to impose religious and social demands on their clients, it is troubling to me that there is as much reticence to investigate the ethical behavior of their clients. After all, ethical behavior is a major, if not a paramount, religious and social value in Judaism!

The article also reported that Rabbi Shafran rejected the Hekhsher Tzedek idea as “sinful” in “jumping to negative judgments.” Rabbi Shafran did not shy away from making his own judgments about the Conservative movement. Arguing that in the Orthodox world ethical problems should be addressed to “the elders,” Rabbi Shafran said that, “non-Orthodox rabbis are based on progression, not Mesorah and not on respect for elders.”

I am not familiar with the “mesorah” that creates a theocracy in which ethical decisions are made only by a privileged few. I am far more familiar with the mesorah that interprets that “Have fear of no man, for justice is G-d’s” (Deut. 1:17) requires a student to speak up when he believes his teacher is rendering an unjust decision (BT Sanhedrin 6b).

Rabbi Shafran’s presumption that mesorah and elders play no role in the non-Orthodox world is both preposterous and offensive. I myself do not agree with the Conservative approach to Torah and Halacha. I feel that as a movement they have misapplied the balance between modernity and Jewish law. Because of these differences, I disavowed myself of the Conservative movement and now affiliate with the Union for Traditional Judaism (UTJ), a group that I believe best reflects authentic Torah and halacha. Nonetheless, I believe that the Conservative movement is sincere in its attempt to apply Jewish law and tradition (mesorah) and the guidance of scholars both modern and ancient (elders) to today’s reality. Where we disagree with their conclusions, the halachic world must learn to express those differences in terms of reasoned analysis, and not by jumping to negative judgments.

Rabbi Noah Gradofsky

Long Beach

The writer is Rabbi of Temple Israel of Long Beach and a member of the Executive Board of the Union for Traditional Judaism.