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MONSEY, NY — A letter released today by one of the Rabbis that has provided kashrus certification for years to Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, before it was sold to AgriStar, has informed the public that he has removed his hechser from the poultry processing facility.

Rabbi Terminates AgriStar’s Kashrus Certification

MONSEY, NY — A letter released today by one of the Rabbis that has provided kashrus certification for years to Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, before it was sold to AgriStar, has informed the public that he has removed his hechser from the poultry processing facility.

In his letter Rabbi Weissmandl states “I wish to advise the public that as Friday, Feb. 12, 2010, I will terminate my Kosher certification of the poultry plant, and poultry meat processing facility of AgriStar in Postville, Iowa, which is now under new management. These products are packaged under the “Aaron’s Best” -“Supreme Kosher” and “Agri Star” labels. As of this Friday, Erev Shabbos Parshas Mishpotim, my Kosher certification will no longer be in force and I take no further responsibly for its Kashrus. The public should take note.”

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22 Comments

  • what don-t you get

    what do you mean why? Rubashkin doesn’t own the plant anymore, its owned by goyim. this is simple. Rubashkin will never get this back.

  • To what don-t you get:

    Since when is Heshy Friedman a goy???!!
    Maybe it’s just a matter of disagreements between the rav & management.

    To oy: Why doesn’t someone bring in meat from Montreal?

  • a neighborhood resident

    I saw today on one of the packages that they also have ou glatt certification. A inquiry should be made as to 1. whether The Rabbonim of Ch still have their hechsher on some of what comes to ch etc.& to whether anyone besides the Ou is giving a hechsher etc.It could be just money issues or it could ch”v be a real problem Anash need to know asap.

  • Eli

    what don-t you get wrote:
    what do you mean why? Rubashkin doesn’t own the plant anymore, its owned by goyim. this is simple. Rubashkin will never get this back.

    Goyim???, It’s owned by a Jew.

  • zalman shimon

    Guys , how do you reach the conclusion that Heshy Friedman is a “goy”??
    In fact he is a yid, who bought the plant from bankruptcy court.

  • BP Yid

    The Rabbi is ONE OF THE MANY RABBIS who give a hechsher to AAron’s , what are the other hechsherim? Isnt CH one of the other hechshers along with OU Glatt?
    Heshy Friedman is a FRUM YID!!!!

  • I-ts $$

    As that old song went MONEY makes the world go round and in this case the hechser valid.

    Don’t worry a new cheaper kashrus provider will soon step up.

  • CR

    RMMW was the principal kashrut supervision at Agri-whoever. The OU, CHK, etc. would pay occasional visits to ascertain overall operations but day-to-day ops were under his responsibility. A few commenters at another news site state that Tartikov is the new principal. It is entirely possible that the CHK can enter into a similar joint arrangement with them as they did with KAJ and RMMW previously.

    Perhaps someone closer to the “ground” can provide some better clues on what to expec

  • anon

    I agree with vegan. Go to vegweb.com. You’ll find plenty of kosher vegetarian recipes. You’ll feel better, lose weight, live a lot longer and hey, you won’t have a dead animal rotting in your stomach on a regular basis.

    Look at the Rastafarians in Crown Heights on Nostrand. Those guys are slim, old, look great and they’re vegetarians.

    The bigger a person’s belly fat is, the more at risk they are for diabetes and other diseases; the community needs to be more proactive about their health.

  • FRIEDMAN

    Though I dont know much of the politics that went on,

    Probaly if this FRIEDMAN would not purchase the plant – then the banks would be forced to give it back to Rubashkin in order to get some of their money back.

    Maby Rubashkin would not be in Jail now.

  • mel

    i am aware of the rebbes directives of eating lubavitcher shichita, but these r the times n we can eat non-lubavitcher shichita. IT IS STILL KOSHER! LUBAVITCH OR NOT!

  • what don-t you get comes back!

    ok, heshy is not a goy but if none of the meat packaged is kosher, who cares. To friedman: you definitely dont know the politics from that comment. GIVE UP ON RUBASHKIN. The anti-frumkeit judges will never rule his way.

  • what don-t you get comes back!

    friedman you dont know the politics from that comment. Its not kosher so who cares if the owner is a yid. that is so ironic, heshy owns it but its not kosher

  • NoManReggae

    Look at the Rastafarians in Crown Heights on Nostrand. Those guys are slim, old, look great and they’re vegetarians.
    —
    LOL They look happy because they are high as a kite on ganja. I have never seen an old Rasta-mon because most of them die of disease brought on by impure pot or in fights related to drugs.

    We are supposed to eat meat al pi Torah. Full stop. Overconsumption of anything is bad and there might be something to be said about avoiding overly processed meat, but ein simcho ela babosor veyayin.

    Enough of this new age food fetish garbage seeping into Chabad. Sure, we should be emulating the Rastafarians. That is all we need.

    As for Friedman and the plant, yes, he is an opportunist who got a good deal because of the Rubashkin tzoros but where was someone from Anash when the plant could have been bought in a way that Rubashkin somehow could have preserved some equity? Even if someone from Anash had bought it in bankruptcy (and ideally given the Rubashkins some silent partnership out of fairness and for the trademarks) it would have been better for the Postville community than the present ownership which could care less about Chabad in Postville or anywhere else and which in any case is probably headed for failure.

  • what don-t you get

    To Mel: you are the foolish one. you think only meat shechted by a lubavitcher is considered kosher? chas v’shalom, that is a grave error to make