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Kashrut and ethics are not interwoven

October 14th, 2008

In response to Cynthia Herber’s opinion article in the Sept. 26 issue (“Agriprocessors teaches that we must be held accountable all year round”), her husband needlessly turned down the gift of a pigskin briefcase. There is no halachic prohibition on deriving benefit from non-kosher animals.

Herber is on firm Jewish ground, however, when she emphasizes the importance in Judaism of ethical behavior in business and our personal lives. However, a fundamental error lies in her presentation.

Ethics and kashrut, while both important Jewish fundamentals, are not interwoven. The meat of a cow properly slaughtered, even if processed in an unethical manner, remains kosher no less than an improperly slaughtered cow processed in a highly ethical manner remains non-kosher. Unethical acts are themselves decidedly not “kosher”, i.e. Jewishly proper; but they do not affect the kashrut of a resultant food.

The confused conflation of kashrut with ethics is one of the reasons Agudath Israel of America rejects the “Hekhsher Tzedek” initiative. As our statement on the matter noted: “Standing up for ethical practices is laudable, but not when it is done in a way that redefines a Jewish religious term like kashrus.” Herber’s essay proves the wisdom of that concern.

As to the labor-law charges against the Agriprocessors plant, I have no knowledge about whether the company’s owners are guilty or innocent. Neither, though, does Herber. And so Jewish ethics — clear, codified and compelling — requires us to withhold judgment on the matter.

Rabbi Avi Shafran
Director of Public Affairs
Agudath Israel of America
New York