Letters to the Editor 4-24-09

Issue of April 24, 2009 / 30 Nissan 5769

National hechsher not needed

To the Editor:

I have been eating Streit’s Matzo for more than 50 years only to find, as I did my last minute shopping, that Streit’s had been pulled from the shelves by the Vaads HaKashrus of Queens and the Five Towns.

Is it a strange coincidence that both organizations are headed by individuals with professional ties to the OU? Is anyone going to be surprised when, next year, the OU comes in and offers a “national” hechsher, taking a good portion of the money that now goes to Rabbi Soloveichik? One of the reasons that I have looked for the Streit’s brand has been my small way of paying tribute to this legendary family.

Kashrus has it’s own equivalent of Newton’s law. Items at rest stay at rest. Cheskas Kashrus says items that are kosher remain kosher unless proven otherwise. Nothing in the Shulchan Aruch says anything about a need for a “national” hechsher. It does talk about interrogating witnesses and not accepting gossip.

The Streit and Soloveichik families both have reputations of integrity that have stood the test of time. The fact that no one has done a personal inspection of Streit’s speaks to the integrity of the Vaad HaKashrus of the Five Towns and Far Rockaway.

David Willig

Far Rockaway

Contradictions in Streit’s story

To the Editor:

Re the banning of Streit’s Matzo (“Streit’s Matzo off preferred list in Five Towns,” April 10): If your reportage is accurate, our Vaad HaKashrus and the Queens Vaad Harabonim have besmirched the reputation of an iconic company; caused the company untold losses; maligned its supervising rabbi; and harmed stores that ordered Streit’s Matzo. Moreover, the blindsiding of Streit’s right before the holiday was disgraceful.

The article is rife with contradictions. Rabbi Yosef Eisen, our local Vaad HaKashrus head, says that “we’re not saying, chas v’shalom, that it’s not kosher.” Well, either Streit’s is kosher and should be on store shelves, or it is not kosher. Which is it? Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, states that he advised people who had already bought the matzo not to return it. Translation: Streit’s Matzo is kosher. Then why was it pulled from Queens stores?

Rabbi Daniel Senter of the Kof-K claims that the lack of a national hashgacha is the concern with Streit’s. Yet he admits that a very recent visit to Streit’s disclosed no differences in the production from a system approved by the Kof-K itself.

Worst is an unnamed source who insists that standards at Streit’s have suffered since the passing of Rav Ahron Soloveichik and the assumption of supervision by his son Moshe. Why does an anonymous smear merit credence? And Rabbi Schonfeld’s supporting statement that “we know nothing about Rav Moshe Soloveichik” is pathetic. Rav Moshe co-supervised Streit’s with his father and then jointly with the Kof-K. Rabbi Schonfeld could have picked up the phone and called either Rav Moshe or reputable rabbanim who know him.

Rabbi Schonfeld expresses “regret if we caused any loss to anybody.” Sorry, but that does not alleviate the damage you have done. The Streit family, the company and Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik deserve more than a lame line in a newspaper.

Avi Goldstein

Far Rockaway

Union kosher?

To the Editor:

“Everyone seems to agree” that Streit’s matzo was kosher for Pesach. But Streit’s is learning what the construction industry learned years ago: you must play ball with the union local having jurisdiction in the area in which you work and not with the union local having jurisdiction in your home area.

The Queens and Far Rockaway vaads (loyal to the OU) claim jurisdiction over Pesach, long having bucked Kof-K and are now gunning for the non-affiliated Rabbi Soloveichik. I am not an expert on the fine points of kashruth, but I am familiar with union jurisdictional disputes. I would be willing to bet that by paying for OU supervision, Streit’s could be accepted by these two vaads, with no change in their production methods.

Now ask why the cost of kosher food is so high.

Leon Schwarzbaum

North Woodmere

Chilul Hashem

To the Editor:

The totally inappropriate and completely off-base halakhic announcement that caused Five Towns stores to ban the sale of Streit’s Matzo clearly points out the need to remove the current administration of the Vaad Hakashrus, which must bear full responsibility for the resulting chilul Hashem.

Lawrence