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Israel/Zionism See other Israel/Zionism Articles Title: Kosher Delusion Four generations of Americans have now lived with kosher certified food, soap, detergents, food wrap, appliances and more, regardless of their religious faith or whether they even knew that this religious certification enterprise existed. Most consumers likely see the “Kosher” section of an “International Foods” aisle in their supermarkets, and would never imagine that the other fifteen aisles were saturated with kosher certification symbols, usually obscure and small to the typical consumer and never textually displaying the words “KOSHER CERTIFIED” on a label. But the truth is that a preponderance of most shopping carts are filled with kosher certified goods, largely from the number one agency that began it all, that of OU Kosher. So how did this all begin, and what are we to make of it? If you follow the articles and blogs at www.TheKosherQuestion.com, then you may have come across a brief history of the kosher industry as it pertained to riots in the Lower East Side of New York City in 1902, destructive protests rivaling that of today’s Antifa and BLM, demanding lower costs and honesty in kosher meat markets. This movement was entirely spawned by new immigrants to America, largely fleeing Eastern Europe from what they claimed were persecutions. Now, residing on the land of the free, they embarked on a mission of the brave to regulate and codify the kosher market to meet the needs of Jewry. But while new laws and regulations helped with the authenticity and economics of what constituted “kosher,” the industrialization of the food industry made matters more impractical for the Jewish community, as assessing food production facilities and the contents inside modern packaging (e.g. canned goods) resulted in new problems. As technology marches forward, humanity loses more and more freedom. Such is the conundrum dealt with by philosophers of technology like David Skrbina, Ph.D., who look deeper into how all this progress affects us all. But look at one of Skrbina’s subjects to get a closer peek at the relationship between food and technology: Theodore Kaczinski [from his diary January 21, 1978]; “[M]odern society probably gives me better assurance of food supply than I could give myself as a primitive hunter-gatherer. But that’s beside the point. As a primitive I would have the right to deal with the problem myself and make my own decisions regarding it. As it is, the system makes all the decisions for me and I can do nothing about it.” [our emphasis] Were the advances in technology the coup de grâce for the Jewish followers of Kashrus, the dietary laws of Judaism? Had they lost their freedom to inspect the contents of the packaged food they bought or make decisions as to how their food was produced? The answer would come in 1923 when the Heinz Corporation began cooperating with the rabbinical staff of Orthodox Union to produce the first mass kosher- certified vegetarian beans. Very gradually more and more corporations contracted with kosher agencies who oversaw the ingredients, the machinery, and the processing of the food they produced, stamping a hekhsher (i.e. kosher seal) on the label to signify its kosher status. The promotion of this practice created an entirely new industry, one that grew almost like an elaborate pyramid scheme since producers of kosher raw ingredients were rewarded when food with numerous ingredients required kosher certified sources. The rabbis were now in control, applying and reinterpreting their ancient religious laws from Leviticus, Deuteronomy and the Talmud, building their database, and training more mashgichim. A decade later, the secret ingredients of Coca Cola were shared with a rabbi, who changed it so that this most popular soda could also receive a kosher seal. And by the Fifties, kosher certification reached enough products, both edible and inedible, that some outside the Jewish community began to notice. A 1954 speech given by Mrs. Marian Strack of the Daughters of the American Revolution presented the first challenge to the burgeoning kosher certification practice at a Trenton, NJ, DAR conference. But what was the objection? Her boldest part of the speech was as follows, and it drew a great deal of public criticism in the press: “Clandestine Kosher markings on canned goods symbolize how a bold minority can impose its will and even its religious observances upon an apathetic majority.” And she was correct in using the term ‘clandestine’, as very few consumers today can recognize the ubiquitous certification seal of OU Kosher after nearly a century. In fact, research studies have shown that kosher seals have minimal transparency, averaging just one tenth the size of all those other seals found on packaging. But what Marian Strack noticed and feared for above the naivety of her fellow DAR members and critics was that the system was steadily changing the culture of America towards the needs of a tiny minority instead of assimilating the tiny minority into Americans. A 1966 newspaper article, “The ‘In’ World of Kosher Food,” featured Rabbi Alexander S. Rosenberg of the OU Kosher Certification Service admitting that “THE SYMBOL was devised to indicate the products that have been certified kosher in an unobtrusive way that would not offend the sensibilities of other faiths.” [our emphasis] The rabbi continues: “While the ‘U’ is small and unobtrusive, it nevertheless has drawn vilification from certain people whom Rabbi Rosenberg has termed ‘the lunatic fringe’…” That newspaper article from 1966 was most certainly a response to the testimony from a leader of the KKK in a House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings, where this leader had “financed literature aimed at exposing ‘the kosher food racket.’” The article was clearly framing the kosher industry in a positive light by using the phrase “The ‘In’ World” in its title, but the article also framed anyone who counters kosher labeling as “the lunatic fringe,” someone who could now be linked to the KKK. As time moved on, the ADL would continue using the same strategy with its internet article The Kosher Tax Hoax: A Recipe for Hate. Let us pause for a moment to summarize what had evolved: 1) a small group of religiously devout immigrants found dishonesty and criminal wrongdoing surrounding a kosher meat market; 2) rioting ensues; 3) new laws and regulations are created for small group, 4) industrial technology further complicates the kosher status of food; 5) the small group contracts with the food processors to certify their products; 6) this results in food processing technology then conforming to the dictates of the small group to support their religious observance; 7) the small group purposely obscures the technological scheme; 8) critical thinkers and observers of out-groups examine this barely transparent business ;9) critical thinkers in support of out-group interests, especially religious or economic, are at first labeled “lunatic fringe”, and as time goes on, “haters” and “anti-Semites” by the system. Deception Deception typically involves causing others to accept something that is invalid to be valid. When Orthodox Union’s Rabbi Rosenberg in 1966 stated that its kosher symbol was “devised…in an unobtrusive way that would not offend the sensibilities of other faiths,” he was in one way being honest that they put some thought into the design of this kosher seal. He was also honest that their seal was “small” when found on labels. But he was also deceiving the public as to their intent when suggesting that the seal was small so as to be unobtrusive (i.e., not blatant or aggressive). For what could be more obtrusive and “offend [people] of other faiths” than to impose its minority religious laws on the free food market of an entire population? In truth, they made deliberate efforts to hiding or obscuring their activities, making their certification seal difficult to notice or understand so that few people outside their small in-group would follow their scheme as it grew nationally and internationally. For who in 1923, 1954, 1966, or even 2021 would readily know that the small letter “U” within a circle on a label would indicate a kosher status? The deception (the obscure symbol) was set to progress within the system, and a healthy dose of self-deception buttressed its ethical and moral standing, Rabbi Rosenberg likely believing “We are not offending the sensibilities of other faiths.” This framework of deception and self-deception has been theorized “as mechanisms for furthering evolutionary goals.…Self-deceiving individuals are able to present an appearance of trustworthiness and sincerity and to believe their own rationalizations.” Well what better means of promoting that trustworthy, sincere appearance than getting the message out in a well-controlled newspaper article titled “The ‘In’ World of Kosher Food”? Let’s look closer at self-deception in the kosher world. We have shown OU’s earlier admittance that they were purposely designing their kosher seal to be small. But 55 years later some of our supporters would share with us responses from OU Kosher as they complained that the seal was “too small.” Their Marketing Director replied “As is the norm in the kosher industry, we cannot control if, where or how large a company uses our symbol on their packaging.” This is a fascinating statement, given all the contractual stipulations and even surprise inspections that are involved in this industry. It might be more accurate to say that they are deceiving themselves that they can’t mandate a minimum size for their ubiquitous seal and can’t insist that “KOSHER CERTIFIED” be stamped next to or around the hekhsher. But while the OU Marketing Director makes bold statements like “we cannot control any aspect of the kosher seal,” is there an evolutionary instinct driving her into self-deception, knowing that the kosher certification industry has evolved into a mega-money making business that supports her community, her people’s interests? Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 9.
#1. To: X-15 (#0)
That's about the size of it ;) the devil is in the hechsher and the symbols hex our food. Gee, jews are so religious!
I have always wondered if Circle K gas stations have anything to do with being Kosher. But it seems their HQ is in Tempe, AZ. :-/
You have to be right about this. No city in this country (and many others) is safe from major infestation -- the shock is the unlikely ones they do turn up. Wikid: 'Entrepreneur Fred Hervey purchased three Kay's Food Stores in El Paso, Texas, in 1951.[16] Hervey renamed the stores as "Circle K Food Stores, Inc." rather than "Kay." He grew the Circle K chain into neighboring New Mexico and Arizona, which has been the company's home base since 1957. (Hervey would go on to serve two terms as mayor of El Paso.)' Aha -- his mother's name initially shows as a totally unheard-of 'Sally Gertrude Crossett Hervey' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/158954858/frederick-taylor- hervey but per my exact suspicion, she was also known as Sarah https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/142631574/sally-gertrude-hervey Basicly only jewesses were named Sarah in her era. Hervey's 1st wife was née Helen Gould Dee, and she had a sister who married a Seidel, so we may have a winner here.
I worked concerts in Chicago with a guy named Fred Gould. His Dad was going out in the car. He told me, "Yeah, he's heavily armed." In many neighborhoods in Chicago being armed was a matter of survival. The guys in the neighborhood I lived always told me they could tell when I was packing a pistol. ;)
And how long ago was that in the annals of ChiCONGO history?
I worked concerts (and sports events) back in the 80s and 90s. ;)
#10. To: BTP Holdings (#9)
It was I-90 I was thinking of, going north. But Stony Island Avenue (adjacent to Museum of Science and Indusrty/Jackson Park), going south, takes one right into the heart of darkness. A whole other world from Kokomo, IN.
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