A Conservative Jew's News and Views: On the proposal for a "tsedek hekhsher," or justice certification
(Hat-tip to Shayna Galyan.)
At Hirhurim, Rabbi Gil Student wonders, " . . . realistically, how many consumers will really start demanding this certification? Perhaps Conservative synagogues will start insisting on only using caterers that adhere to this certification. But if it becomes too much of a burden, caterers won't do it and synagogues will be stuck. This is especially so in smaller communities where kosher food is hard to come by.
Maybe I'm wrong on this. But did anyone do an economic study on this before submitting this proposal? Because I just don't see it as working."
Hey, Gil, we're just trying to join the party--if the Orthodox can have their chumrot (extra stringencies), why can't we have ours? :)
Seriously, I'm not sure whether this will work, either, but I think it's worth a try.
There's been some commentary on a blog or two (can't remember which ones) about the El Al strike that resulted in a violation of Sabbath and/or kashrut, which, in turn, has resulted in Chareidi threats to boycott El Al. (Some kosher food spoiled while a plane was grounded in a location in which no kosher food was available, so the passengers were given a choice of treif sandwiches or fruit.) It was politely pointed out that the employees hadn't been paid for several months, and that, if the Chareidi world had been upset enough about that injustice to support the workers' right to be paid, the strike might never have taken place.
In connection with that commentary, I have a problem with this comment to Gil's post:
This is further proof that the "conservatives" are morphing into a more "humanistic"(and less halachik) religion.
posted by Shira Salamone at 8:53 PM
8 Comments:
"Seriously, I'm not sure whether this will work, either, but I think it's worth a try."
I'm not sure if it will ultimately succeed or not either. But I do believe it will raise awareness, and that has to count for something.
While I haven't gone to the other blog you quoted here (and don't plan to if it's going to result in me being frustrated), it does seem like there are too many who are so caught up in the minutae of ritual observance that they've forgotten Hillel's admonition "What is hateful unto you, do not do unto your neighbor."
And I doubt that he'd be happy if he knew that people were giving far more weight to the "...now go and study" than to the quotation above. I doubt that he'd be happy if he knew people were so careful to study and not violate ritual (and often, rabbinic) laws that they violated Hillel's "golden rule."
Shayna, the trick is to be in the middle, fulfilling *both* the ritual laws (bein adam laMakom) *and* the ethical ones (bein adam lachaveiro). It's a problem when religious observance becomes weighted so heavily in one direction that it almost excludes the other.
Agreed. I currently have to choose between them in purchasing my food, since there are no free-range, organic, ethically-produced, kosher-slaughtered meats available. Why?? Because the liberal movements have moved so far from traditional kashrut that they cannot bring their persepctive to bear in a meaningful way, and the orthdox are so concerned with "the big 3" (kashrut, taharat ha-mishpacha, and shabbat) that they view organized efforts towards fulfilling any other mitzvot, esp in combination with one of these 3, as a threat! makes me crazy.
Yishar koach to this commission - I hope kosher consumers now start to think more about these issues.
Tzippora, while your perception may be a bit exagerrated (or, at least, I hope so!), I have the same general feeling about this sense that there's a conflict between ritual and ethical commandments, which is ridiculous. I, too, hope that this commission works out.
I'd like to see this work, but I'm somewhat pesimistic. Regarding the emphasis on ritual at the expense of bein adam l'chavero, I think it's sad, but I also think that the liberal movements, including my own Conservative one, go to the other extreme, and it won't be until the laypeople of the liberal movements start demanding otherwise that we'll see a shift. From what I've seen since my conversion, the policies of the liberal movements tend to be a reflection of what's popular among the laypeople, rather than what Halachah may dictate.
"I also think that the liberal movements, including my own Conservative one, go to the other extreme, and it won't be until the laypeople of the liberal movements start demanding otherwise that we'll see a shift." My own experience among Reconstructionists and Conservatives is that they're, um, we're inconsistent in our ritual observance. Some folks are quite traditional, some not traditional at all, and some, like me, can't make up our minds. Oy. Are we amenable to change? Some of us are, some aren't.
"From what I've seen since my conversion, the policies of the liberal movements tend to be a reflection of what's popular among the laypeople, rather than what Halachah may dictate." One could make a case for that, but, in fairness to the liberal movements, I think that what may be at issue here is the opinion, among the more traditional, that the answers were given already on Sinai, whereas the liberal movements tend to take more contemporary thought into consideration. I hope that I'm not generalizing too much.
as a orthodox/traditional Jew I agree with Rabbi Student that this might not work, but I think it would be a good thing to try.
If those shuls get stuck they can always go back right ;).
In all seriousness though this could increase the amount of Jews that keep Kosher or eat Kosher more often. It also adds more competition which lowers prices.
I dont see how anyone could argue with that =P
Hey, anything that lowers prices . . . :) :) :)
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