Triangle-K, Hebrew National and Rav Ralbag: Is It Kosher?

A letter from Rav Asher Lopatin (posted with his permission):

Chaveirim,

Before Shabbat I have to ask charata: I mentioned that someone told me that Rabbi Ralbag said not to eat Hebrew National. However, this week I had a long conversation with Rav Aryeh Ralbag, and he told me that you can rely on Hebrew National 100%, that he follows all the p'sakim of the Aruch HaShulchan, the Posek Acharon for Lita, and that he does eat Hebrew National products himself. In his home he buys only 'glatt', but he is happy to eat Hebrew National outside his home, and he tells his congregants that they can eat it also.

There is a lot more to discuss, but I was impressed on the phone. Rav Aryeh Ralbag is also the chief rabbi and posek for the Jewish community in Holland. He also assured me that his meat is not shackled and hoisted, but, rather, follows the suggestions of animal expert Temple Grandin - she was praised in the Orthodox Israeli magazine, "Mishpacha" - in shechting in a way that is least painful and traumatic for the animals. He also assured me that all his foreign mashgichim, bodkim and shochtim have R1 visas issued by the govt. He says the shochtim are given regular b'chinos every few months, and that implied to me, that they are well supervised.

I realize that many in the hashgacha world have questions about the Triangle K, but, I wanted to correct and error that I had about Rav Ralbag's attitude towards his products.

Shabbat shalom,

Asher Lopatin

Gerut: The Necessity To Think Outside New York

Much has been written about the Rabbinical Council of America's "Gerus Protocols and Standards (GPS)". I have been thinking about it recently while attending the 2nd annual conference of Israeli and Diaspora Rabbis coordinated by Rabbinei Tzohar. I would like to just highlight one area that I find to be particularly problematic. That area being their policies towards the conversion of minors (ger katan).

According to the GPS the parents of an adopted child must commit to the following for the child to be converted under the auspices of the RCA:

... commit to 12 years of Orthodox day school education for that child. The Bet Din should set criteria for what it considers to be schools in which the child will receive a serious Orthodox day school education...

Now, how can any parent living throughout the United States or Canada not in a major Jewish metropolitan area like New York, Chicago, Toronto or Los Angeles possibly send their child to an Orthodox day school? There are very few Orthodox day schools outside of the major areas of Orthodox concentration in North America.

This requirement effectively puts up an iron barrier impenetrable by couples yearning to have a child. The adoption process is a thoroughly complicated and financially burdensome endeavor without this additional requirement which is absolutely unrealistic for anyone living in most of North America.

The geographic impossibility aside, this requirement additionally makes adoption only feasible for the very wealthy. Day school education is quite expensive and 12 years of it could prove impossible for countless couples.

All rabbis interested in the continuity and vitality of the Jewish people are concerned with the education of the next generation. To criticize this requirement is not to say that one does not support Jewish education. It is to say that the realities of Amkha (our people) have to be taken into consideration and one can not decree something which is impossible to implement or maintain.

Blurry Lines

The lines are blurry between who is defined as "secular" and who as "religious" when men carrying cellular phones on Shabbat proceed to take a napkin and put it on top of their head for the duration of their meal so as to not eat bareheaded.

The lines are blurry between who is defined as "secular" and who as "religious" when a child, who only a few minutes prior was playing a video game on a computer, chides his parents for forgetting to perform the ritual of netilat yadiyim before partaking of their bread.

The lines are blurry between who is defined as "secular" and who as "religious" when a woman, sitting by herself looking at her PDA, stops what she is doing and walks over to the "religious" couple dining at the next table over and asks to hear kiddush.

Some observations from this past Shabbat.

Haredim Are Protesting and Everyone Asks Why?

The opening line in The Yeshiva World article on the violent rioting happening right now in Jerusalem (see earlier post) is particularly poignant:

Police seem to be wondering why the chareidi community in Yerushalayim is coming to the defense of the mother being described by authorities as an “abusive mom"

.

Indeed, everyone is wondering - why are they protesting? Why are tehillim rallies not being organized on behalf of the young child? How are these actions, in any sense of the word, appropriate?

For more see:
- Emes Ve-Emunah
- Jerusalem Post

When Protesting Is Not Effective

An article today in Haaretz Online Edition reports on the arrest of an Ultra-Orthodox mother who was starving her toddler for months. The arrest came after inquiries and investigations into the matter. It is thought that the mother suffers from Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. The response by her Ultra-Orthodox community? Mass protests in Meah Shearim against her arrest.

An example of bad strategy and not well thought out community relations tactics.

Full story at: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1100106.html

Kibbutz Galiyot (Return of the Exiles): On Ben Yehuda Street

If anyone needed proof that there is a movement of kibbutz galiyot happening right now one needs only to reflect on the following scene:

Enjoying iced coffee at California based Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Yaffo Street near the Ben Yehuda Pedestrian Mall in downtown Jerusalem.

If you can't understand immediately how this demonstrates kibbutz galiyot then reflect some more.

The Yated Blasts Open Orthodoxy: Who Cares?

The Ultra-Orthodox newspaper, Yated Neeman, ran an article this past week decrying Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Rabbi Avi Weiss and Open Orthodoxy. It called for the RCA and others to condemn YCT. My only really thought on the article is: who cares? Why am I supposed to care that an Ultra-Orthodox newspaper does not like YCT? Yeshiva University used to be their target of choice, now apparently YU is the Yated's new best friend as they have chosen a new target for their intolerance and minimalist read of Judaism. Let them vent. Who cares?

(As an aside the author of the piece, Yisroel Lichter, inadvertently [or perhaps intentionally] insults male social workers by writing: 'YCT has emasculated the position of Rabbi... to a Rabbi that is a glorified Social Worker...')