N.Y. Food Establishments Earn New Ethics Seal

By Sue Fishkoff · May 12, 2009

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Uri L'Tzedek co-founder Shmuly Yanklowitz, left, discusses the group's ethical seal with a worker at New York City's Cafe Nana, which received the Tav HaYosher. (Courtesy Uri L'Tzedek)

SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- One year after a massive immigration raid at the largest kosher meatpacking plant in the United States, an Orthodox social justice organization announced the first seven recipients of its seal of ethical business practice.

Uri L’Tzedek recognized six kosher restaurants and a kosher supermarket in Manhattan with a Tav HaYosher, or ethical seal.

Mike’s Bistro, Mike’s Pizzeria and Italian Kitchen, Cafe Nana, Hewitt Dining, My Heights Cafe, Hartley Kosher Deli and Supersol of the Westside are displaying the seal in their windows.

Uri L'Tzedek, which was founded by rabbinical students at the liberal Orthodox Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, timed its announcement to May 12, the anniversary of the 2008 raid at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa.

The ensuing scandal and ongoing court cases generated widespread discussion of the ethical dimensions of kosher food production, and spurred several new social justice initiatives. They include the Tav HaYosher, envisioned for kosher eateries, and the Conservative movement’s Magen Tzedek, a proposed social justice program for food manufacturers.

Uri L’Tzedek developed the Tav HaYosher project last summer to shine a spotlight on kosher restaurants that treat their workers well, pay fair wages, give adequate work breaks and maintain a safe work environment. It is based on a similar Israeli ethical seal, Tav Chevrati, that has been given to more than 350 kosher and non-kosher restaurants in that country.

“Given recent events in the kashrut industry, it is imperative that we implement a system that will prevent abuse and exploitation,” Uri L’Tzedek’s Web site explains.

Noting that “thousands” of New York restaurant workers are paid below minimum wage, denied overtime pay and subjected to unsafe working conditions, the statement continues, “we must ensure these abuses are not taking place in kosher restaurants.”

In Los Angeles, a similar initiative spearheaded by three Orthodox rabbis gave its first compliance certificate to two restaurants and two synagogues right before Passover.

The L.A. project, Peulat Sachir, also looks at employment conditions, but is not limited to restaurants. In fact, Rabbi Elazar Muskin of Young Israel of Century City, one of the co-creators, says the group wants synagogues to sign on first.

“Change begins at home,” he said.

Neither project is adversarial, its leaders insist. The intention is not to shame restaurants that do not meet the groups’ standards, but to publicize those who do and encourage others to follow suit.

In the Tav HaYosher program, restaurants apply for the certification and staffers visit to vet working conditions. Volunteer compliance officers trained by the organization visit the sites every four to six weeks to ensure continued compliance.

The Peulat Sachir project, conversely, actively solicits Jewish-owned businesses and relies on self-policing.

“We speak with the owners and the workers, we go through payroll records,” says Yeshivat Chovevei Torah student Shmuly Yanklowitz, one of the founders of the Uri L'Tzedek program. “There’s an anonymous tip line workers can use to call us.”

Not all applicants pass. One kosher restaurant that applied for the seal pays its undocumented workers $2 an hour, far less than the minimum wage of $7.15 an hour for non-tipped employees.

“We said, at least pay them $4.80, the minimum wage for delivery workers,” Yanklowitz said. “They said no and we walked away.”

Uri L’Tzedek has trained nearly 60 volunteer compliance officers and is developing a core group of 12. Virtually all are in their 20s or early 30s.

This summer, 10 to 15 college students will receive fellowships to spend six weeks in New York studying Jewish teachings on social justice and serving as field workers for the project.

Yanklowitz says he has fielded calls from Jewish food activists in Washington and Chicago eager to bring the program to their cities, but for now the group is focusing just on Manhattan and plans to build slowly.

The fact that the project is up and running gives the lie to the notion that it’s too difficult, or inappropriate, to monitor the ethical practices of kosher establishments, Yanklowitz says.

“There’s a huge cultural shift taking place,” he insists. “Thousands have signed on to say they will only buy from these places. The spirit of volunteerism in the young Jewish community is very strong.”

Sue Fishkoff writes about Jewish identity for JTA and is the author of the 2003 book "The Rebbe's Army."

Orthodox group drops meat boycott

Orthodox group drops meat boycott

Published: 07/08/2008


An Orthodox social justice group called off its boycott of the country's largest kosher meat supplier less than a month after it began.

The boycott, organized by Uri L'tzedek, went into effect in mid-June in an effort to pressure Agriprocessors to institute mechanisms to ensure compliance with U.S. labor laws.

On Tuesday, the group said it was suspending the boycott because the company "is beginning to take significant steps towards directly addressing the concerns" raised about treatment of its workers.

Agriprocessors has sustained a wave of negative media coverage since May 12, when federal authorities conducted the largest workplace immigration raid in American history at its meat-packing plant in Postville, Iowa.

In the wake of the raid, employees have claimed they were underpaid and sexually and physically abused. Agriprocessors officials deny the allegations and the federal government has yet to bring any charges against the company's owners, the Lubavitch Rubashkin family of Brooklyn, N.Y.

As evidence of the company's apparent turnaround, Uri L'tzedek cited a number of reforms it says have been instituted by James Martin, the new compliance officer hired by Agriprocessors. Among the reforms named are the creation of an anonymous tip line for workers, a new safety department and new safety training initiatives.

"In light of these early signs of reform, Uri L'tzedek is no longer calling for the community to abstain from purchasing Agriprocessors' products," the group said. "Time will show what kind of results these reforms will yield for the workers at Agriprocessors."

Agriprocessors boycott commences

Note from the Maven:

I am proud to say that my Rabbi is a graduate and received his semicha from the YCT Rabbinical School where this boycott started. Keeping kosher means more than watching what it is that you put in your pie-hole. It's how you conduct your life on a daily basis - the essence of living Torah, not just talking about it in abstract terms. Yasher Koach to all involved.

Randy Shiner


Agriprocessors boycott commences

Published: 06/17/2008


A Modern Orthodox social justice group launched a boycott of the kosher slaughterhouse Agriprocessors.

Uri L'tzedek, an initiative started by students at the liberal Orthodox rabbinical seminary Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York City, set Monday as the date it would stop patronizing Agriprocessors if the company did not agree to abide by certain ethical labor standards.

Organizers say some 1,300 people, including several leading Jewish figures, have signed the group's petition asking the company to establish a transparent department to ensure compliance with both Jewish and U.S. legal requirements regarding worker treatment.

Representatives of Uri L'tzedek met last week with several company officials in New York, including members of the extended Rubashkin family, which owns the company. The group was promised a statement of the company's position on worker rights within 48 hours, but the document had not materialized as of Tuesday morning.

The representatives also spoke with Jim Martin, a former federal prosecutor who was hired recently as the company's compliance officer. The group submitted written questions to Martin regarding the parameters of his role; they are awaiting a response.

"Until they produce what we've asked them to produce, we still don't feel comfortable purchasing Rubashkin's meat," Uri L'tzedek spokesman Ari Hart told JTA.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested nearly 400 Agriprocessors workers in a raid last month on the firm's plant in Postville, Iowa. Employees since the raid have complained of working long hours without being paid and being sexually harassed.

Agriprocessors spokesmen have not responded to JTA requests for comment.

One Cook, Thousands of Seders

April 16, 2008
One Cook, Thousands of Seders
By JULIA MOSKIN
TO Passover cooks parched for new ideas, wandering in a desert of matzo and dried-out brisket, Susie Fishbein is like a tall, icy Coca-Cola — the kosher for Passover kind, made with sugar instead of corn syrup.

Mrs. Fishbein is the author of the popular Kosher by Design cookbooks, which have sold more than 300,000 copies.

“No corn, no grains, no legumes, no seeds — not even mustard or soy sauce for eight days,” she said, searing a rib roast as big as a bread machine in her kitchen in Livingston, N.J. “It’s quite challenging, as a cook.”

She will not be making her famous tricolor matzo balls (colored by spinach, tomato and turmeric) for the Seder this year, and her signature napkin rings made of braided challah are prohibited during Passover.

But she has produced beef roulades with creamy parsnips, molten chocolate soufflés and yet another cookbook, “Passover by Design,” her fifth since 2003. On Tuesday it was the best-selling book in three categories on Amazon.com: holidays, entertaining and kosher foods.

Among strictly kosher cooks, she has an unparalleled following and unparalleled credibility: at ArtScroll/Mesorah, the religious press in Brooklyn that publishes her books, two Orthodox rabbis review her books for Jewish content and kosher law before publication.

A review of her closets reveals no edict limiting the number of platters one woman can own. In all of Mrs. Fishbein’s books, tables drip with feathers and hydrangeas, sparkle with crystal and shimmer with tea lights, tinsel and gold.

“I go shopping at Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel right after Christmas, when everything goes on sale,” she said, looking with satisfaction at her silver-clad Passover table, set weeks ago for the first Seder. “Their holidays end after New Year’s Eve, but we have them all year round.”

But, Mrs. Fishbein stipulated, her daily table resembles that of anyone with four children and a full-time job. “I would rather be the kosher Rachael Ray than the kosher Martha Stewart,” she said. “My books speak to harried everyday cooks like me.”

That is, women with a fundamental commitment to Jewish faith and family, some disposable income and a house to be proud of — along with a matching appetite for entertaining friends and occasionally impressing the socks off the neighbors.

According to Lubicom, a marketing firm for the kosher food industry, about 350,000 households in the United States keep kosher kitchens year-round, a number that has gone up by 3 percent to 5 percent every year since 2005 as some American Jews have become more observant.

Mrs. Fishbein has earned her star status in those kitchens partly with knife skills and charisma, but mostly by tireless appearances on the national circuit of Jewish benefits, Hadassah bake sales, kosher cruises and food festivals.

“These ladies cook three meals every day, so they are not rookies,” said Debbie Cohen, a member of the Orthodox B’nai B’rith Jacob congregation in Savannah, Ga., who arranged for Mrs. Fishbein to teach a Passover cooking class to 50 members last month. “But everyone there felt that they had learned some great new thing for the Seder.”

In her congregation, Ms. Cohen said, it is not unusual for women to have all five of the Kosher by Design books.

“She is a contemporary baleboosteh,” Matthew Shollar said of Mrs. Fishbein, using a Yiddish term of praise for an excellent homemaker. Mr. Shollar is chief executive of Chosen Voyage, a travel service for religious Jews. Chosen Voyage sends rabbis to purify kitchens on vintage European train cars, makes sure that men and women will have separate swimming pools on cruise ships, and provides upscale entertainment, like cooking classes that are taught by Mrs. Fishbein.

“Susie is part of this whole trend in the Orthodox community to a more luxurious lifestyle that is still very religious,” he said, referring to the drift toward American-style consumption from the traditional scholarly, synagogue-based model of family life. “And she knows exactly what her audience wants.”

One thing they want is to move beyond the classics. Like many of her readers, Mrs. Fishbein, who was raised in Oceanside, N.Y., has never eaten nonkosher food, meaning that whole worlds of flavor are unfamiliar to her. She has never, for example, eaten in a Chinese or a Japanese restaurant. (“There is one kosher Thai restaurant, in Florida,” she said wistfully.)

But she has figured out how to adapt the culinary experiences of others to her own purposes, quizzing chefs, reading cookbooks and strip-mining menus to come up with dishes like quinoa seasoned with mango, lime juice and red onion; slow-roasted tomatoes with fresh herbs; and chewy-crisp macaroons that reflect French pâtisserie more than Passover tradition.

(Quinoa is fashionable among kosher cooks, she said, because although it tastes and chews like grains, which are forbidden during Passover, many religious and botanical authorities consider it a berry.)

“A lot of kosher cooks just make what they know, and they get bored, their families get bored,” Mrs. Fishbein said, citing common missteps like overcooking, using dusty herbs from jars that date from the time of the Second Temple and relying on packaged foods ($15 billion in kosher food products were sold in 2007, according to the Orthodox Union, the largest kosher certification agency).

Her recipes, she said, are modern without being exotic or scary; virtually all of the ingredients are available at the supermarket.

Mrs. Fishbein is hardly the first ambitious cook to rise from the ranks of Jewish women, but she is one of a handful to have acquired an international following.

Her business model may be unique: in 2000, having compiled a successful community cookbook at her children’s day school, she decided to upgrade the results by soliciting recipes from chefs. After developing a network of contacts in the small world of kosher fine dining, she began hiring chefs with kosher experience who were between gigs to provide cooking lessons and recipes for publication in her books.

“It’s all about the out-of-work chefs and restaurants that have closed,” she said.

Damian Sansonetti, now the executive chef at Bar Boulud, near Lincoln Center, had just finished a stint at an upscale kosher restaurant in New York when Mrs. Fishbein called him in 2002.

“I would never have thought I would spend so much time teaching one lady to cook,” he said. “But Susie is humble and fun and very curious. It was interesting to take someone with no experience of seasonal vegetables to the farmers’ market for the first time.”

She soon began absorbing principles of cooking that were new to her: cooking with fresh herbs, sea salt and freshly ground spices; getting a good sear on a piece of meat; using water instead of broth as a braising liquid to lighten flavors, as in her rib roast with melted tomatoes and onions.

The books, like Mrs. Fishbein herself, remain enthusiastic, encouraging and uncritical, presenting ambitious recipes like pineapple-coconut truffles and salmon tartare with undemanding ones like brisket roasted in barbecue sauce and ketchup and baked chicken stuffed with boxed rice pilaf and apricot jam.

Kosher cooks have built-in responsibilities for a great deal of cooking. In most parts of the country, takeout and restaurant options are limited; cooking is still a daily necessity.

And observing the Jewish calendar generates many festive meals, like a weekly Shabbat lunch for 13 people or the formal first Seder, where Mrs. Fishbein provides each guest with a bento box and sake flask of warm water for ritual handwashing.

“Aren’t they great?” she said, pulling back the creamy silk drapes in her dining room to reveal even more table tchotchkes, stacked on the floor because they did not fit anywhere else. “I go shopping in Chinatown in every city I go to.”