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Pork with ‘Shechitas Bais Yosef’ Sold in NYC Store

by Philip Gourevitch – New Yorker

If you want Kosher pork—pork spare ribs, pork cutlets, center-cut pork chops, all labeled in Hebrew “Sh’Chita Beit Yosef” (i.e., kosher slaughtered)—you get that only in New York, only at the Associated Supermarket at 4407 Greenpoint Avenue, in Sunnyside, Queens, and only for a few hours today, between the time the Israeli artist Oded Hirsch snapped the above photo on his cell phone and it got forwarded to me, and the time I phoned Aris Duran, the supermarket manager, for an explanation.

“What are you saying?” Duran asked. “Pork cannot be kosher.” So I e-mailed him the photo. He called me right back, and said he was going to pull all the meat off the shelves. “It was a mistake,” he said, and a few seconds later he called back and left a message to say, “Thanks for alerting me.”

Duran had to leave a message because I was on the other line to the Orthodox Union, whose voice-mail recording describes it as “the global leader in Kosher supervision and the world’s largest Jewish resource.” (So much for the Torah and the Talmud.) I pressed two for matters Kosher, and listened to another menu until I heard: “To report a product that may be mistakenly labelled, press four.” I did, and was invited to leave a message for Howard Katzenstein, who called me right back. “I have to tell you,” he told me, “my father-in-law read your magazine religiously—or some would say irreligiously. How can I help you?” I told him about the kosher pork for sale in Sunnyside. “If the price is right, I say go with it, right?” Katzenstein said, and giggled.

But seriously, Katzenstein told me, he hears of such outrages only “rarely.” “Computer-generated labels,” he said, “they’re a nightmare waiting to happen.” The last two words of the stamp on the pork in Queens, “Beit Yusef,” mean “according to Sephardic custom,” said Katzenstein, an Ashkenazi Jew. “But I don’t think even the Sephardim would accept that.” For further information he referred me to the head of Kosher-law enforcement for New York State, Rabbi Luzer Weiss (“but he’s a winner in my book,” Katzenstein said). In this era of budget cuts, the state has laid off all eight of its Kosher-enforcement inspectors, leaving Rabbi Weiss as a one-man department, and apparently he was on other cases, because I haven’t heard back from him.

Oded Hirsch, meanwhile, went back to the supermarket with a proper camera. He’s an artist, after all, and thought he could come up with a better image than his initial cell-phone snapshot. By the time he got there, just a few minutes after I had e-mailed that picture to Aris Duran, he found the meat department almost entirely purged of pork. “A pack of six workers were scanning the fridge frantically,” Hirsch reported. “Anyway, I did manage to sneak a few more shots.” He attached the clandestine images (see above) and signed off: “Ha ha.”

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52 Comments

  • It Doesn-t Say Kosher

    It only says Bais Yosef schechted it. It doesn’t say it’s kosher.

  • Milhouse

    It doesn’t say “beit yosef”, it says “beit yiysef”. Maybe that’s a Christian Arab.

  • Kosher Freak

    That’s a good deal for kosher 1.99 the pound , I will order some for my cholent

  • Best Solution - Go Vegetarian

    Best Solution: Stop eating meat. Go Vegetarian.

    There are way too many things that can go wrong with “kosher” meat, and the very best way to avoid taking any chances is to abstain completely.

    This is completely doable. Torah sources agree that the original diet that Hashem created for man in Gan Eden was vegetarian. Meat was a later concession permitted to man after the flood, but it is not necessary. This is especially true in modern times when nutritional needs are known and vegetarian supplements are available if needed.

    As an extra benefit, a diet without meat is much healthier, more economical, easier to produce, completely environmentally friendly, and of course it is much more morally appealing.

    Oh yeah, it is also a lot tastier too – and you never have to wait 6 hours to have ice cream!

  • Great Siman

    It is taught that the chazir(pig) will be kosher in the Geulah Shlaimah. The Rebbe MHM mentions it in sichos, that just like it’s name, it will return to become kosher. I love seeing this shot of the kosher sign on it. But, remember, you have to shecht, kasher, &
    check it, like all other meat products, since we want it to be only glatt kosher. Great siman(sign), everyone should be very b’simchah from this!! Enjoy, enjoy!!! Now if only the Rabbaniim will get on board, along with the rest of k’llal Yisrael, we can all move forward, B”H.

  • CR

    The sign may have been true. You can conduct Shechitas Beis Yosef on a pig. You can even bodeik, menaker, soak and salt it. It doesn’t stop being a pig, however.

  • Debra

    Oh well, I would have driven over on my way to the OHEL to get some but first to ask the Rebbe for a brocha.

  • to #5

    weirdo liberal. eating meat (korbonos etc) is part of being a frumeh yid and not having a git shtik fleish is sac religious

  • It-s Worth the Effort!

    To “Best Solution- Go Vegetarian”-
    Yes, we can just take the easy way out and go vegetarian- and then on Shabbos, we can also take the easy way out and just sit on a recliner all day long- because after all , I’m scared to move for fear of transgressing the many, many forbidden things on Shabbos. I can also just stay in my house all day and not go out because all those Tznius laws are too hard to keep- there are too many ways to go wrong, so I’ll just avoid it. I ALSO won’t talk at all all day long, for fear of saying Lashon Hara- so I’ll abstain completely from that.
    This is just silly! Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean you just give up and avoid it! You put in the effort and live your life with all it’s chances, and try your hardest and do your best. Hashem put animals and meat on this world for us to eat and enjoy, and so we can follow His rules for us, NOT to avoid because it’s just too chancy! We get s’char for every one of His commandments- so every time I make sure to buy Kosher food, and work a little harder to check up on its Kashrus, I am getting precious s’char. I would not give all that up just to take the easy way out because I’m scared of the possible mistake. I would hope most of K’lal Yisroel doesn’t too.
    And I can wait til my Melave Malka to enjoy my ice cream- because it’s worth the extra effort.

  • Thank G-d it was pork!

    Thank G-d it was pork! if it was cow meat more people would have bought it!

  • Andrea Schonberger

    #5 Best Solution is right–go vegetarian and you won’t have to worry about eating “kosher” pork.

  • CR

    “It doesn’t say “beit yosef”, it says “beit yiysef”. Maybe that’s a Christian Arab.”

    More likely, it’s Litvishe Sprach. ;-)

  • CR

    BTW, the original story at The New Yorker now has an addendum explaining the whole silly mix-up (and it is silly, trust me ;-).

    The store in question specializes in pork products and has never intended to sell “kosher” anything. Apparently, they bought a used labeling machine that had the B“Y lettering already programmed as a default addition to all labels. They have since disabled the additional lettering. Again, silly mistake that makes for great ”blog fodder” but not worth getting tzu aroisgechapt un kochen…

  • to #13 and the vege

    to #13 – it was a miracle in disguise actually

    and to all those who are insulting the vege, you probably all have pot bellies.
    that is not what he meant.
    he has a good point. it is a win win situation.
    however, having a little fleish here and there doesn’t hurt – keeps the balance.
    unfortunately, most pple’s plates are mainly or at least half fleish. big prob health wise.
    you are laughing at him
    he is the one who is making better dietary choices.
    and
    your insults aren’t nice

  • comment

    to #5

    it is mentioned in the talmud that Adam received meat when the angels brought for him roasted meat from hevaen (SEE Sanhedrin 38)

  • Milhouse

    #12, Why wouldn’t they be printing their own labels? What store doesn’t?

    #5, What makes you think vegetarian products are more likely than meat to be kosher? If this mistake can happen with meat it can just as easily happen with pareve things.

  • Prank?

    can someone look into this to see if it’s a prank or if that logo (shichtas bais yiisef) is used elsewhere too?

    First of all there’s that glaring spelling mistake that people pointed out, so it might be that someone tried to COPY the words from elsewhere.

    2nd of all it looks like the YUDs are not yuds but rather Single and Double quotation marks. Look at it closely. If that’s the case, it seems it’s not a computer error but a deliberate effort.

  • Best Solution - Go Vegetarian

    To Comments:

    10. to #5 wrote: weirdo liberal. eating meat (korbonos etc) is part of being a frumeh yid and not having a git shtik fleish is sac religious

    and

    23. comment wrote: to #5 – it is mentioned in the talmud that Adam received meat when the angels brought for him roasted meat from hevaen (SEE Sanhedrin 38)

    Simple:

    The next time you come across some kosher meat slaughtered in the Bais Hamikdosh or personally delivered to you by an angel from heaven I’ll be glad to join you at the feast. But until then, I’m quite sure nothing for sale at any kosher butcher’s in the world today is worth bothering with.

    By the way, the only time it was a real obligation to eat meat even in the times of the Bais Hamikdosh was the ONE KEZAYIS of the Korbon Pesach each year. I’m sure it was tasty then!

  • this is funny but not

    Like someone else said, good thing it was pork. This does bring up the question of whether they could actually have put it on beef that isn’t kosher, which would have easily slipped through the cracks only to be eaten by lots of Jews and no one would have even known the difference. Goes to show you need to get your meat from a reliable place that you know and trust.. Preferably somewhere that doesn’t have other types of meat lying around.

  • Why Liberalism is against Torah

    How come crown heights has become a magnet to all sorts of worldly liberal garbage?

    Nowhere in the shulchan aruch, talmud or even kabala does it say anything about being abstinent from eating meat. There are cases of an ISTENIS, which is dificult to define (a sickly person or sensative) but makeing the world a better place by being nicer to animals by not eating them is a concept born from non-jewish sources.

    You know what? Don’t put schach on your sucka because we shouldn’t cut down trees. Of course don’t do kapperes because you are cruel to animals.

    Even Native Americans, lehavdil, understood the concept of Doimem < Tzomeach < Chay < Midaber. They believed that it was an honor for the animal to be consumed by a “higher” being such as man. If you don’t eat meat on shabbos, you will never have the merit of “elevating” the energy in the food to the service of God. Vegetarians believe we are all the same, so they are actually dragging the divinity of man down to fertilizer producer machines!!

    One last things for vegetarians, when you begin eating grass, please stop there!! You are humans, not cattle!

  • B H #11, I-m all with you

    attention all vegetarians – are you sure there is no hint of avoda zara in your food choice- from your (or your vegi instructor’s) past, non-frum searchings?

    Veggis and dairy also have to be inspected and supervised.

    I know Jew who nebach thinks he fulfilled his life’s mission by becoming a hairy kishka (pun intended). He’s always blabbing about this vegan nonsence. Today he bit off a small chumk of his tongue! Literally. His body was craving Meat – even if it was his own!

    I’m waiting for a taste of the leviason and shor habor. It’s ok if you won’t eat them. There will bemore for the rest of us.

  • shame on Katzenstein!

    “Beit Yusef,” mean “according to Sephardic custom,” said Katzenstein, an Ashkenazi Jew. “But I don’t think even the Sephardim would accept that.”
    I take offence at his comment. For your information, Beis Yosef is lot more mehudar than regular Glatt.

  • menachem

    To #5 (Go Vegetarian):

    Not everyone agrees that Adam was not able to eat meat. Tosafot says that Adam was allowed to eat meat that died on its own. See here for more details: http://judaism.stackexchang…

    Also, in Gemara Sanhedrin 59B, R’ Yehuda ben Besaira says that while Adam HaRishon was in Gan Eden, the angels roasted meat for him.

  • but

    it doesnt even say beis yosef! yosef is yud and vov, samech, laynge fei.
    here it is yud, yud, samech, lange fei.
    no insults please! ive heard some stories of ppl stamping on fake hechsherim just to get a bigger clientele

  • hah!

    second mistake found:
    it does not say “Beis yeisef” it says “Keis yeisef” with a kof!
    hah, these ppl really dont know how to get their act together…

  • Go Vegetarian

    To 29. Why Liberalism is against Torah:

    It’s not clear what you mean by “Liberalism,” nor why it is “against Torah.”

    Wiki’s definition, in complete conformity with Torah ideals, is: “Liberalism (from the Latin liberalis, ”of freedom“) is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but most liberals support such fundamental ideas as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, free trade, and the freedom of religion. These ideas are widely accepted, even by political groups that do not openly profess a liberal ideological orientation.”

    — I suppose you favor the opposite, Stingy and Repressive.

    You wrote: “How come crown heights has become a magnet to all sorts of worldly liberal garbage?”

    — Typical of your kind you call names and vilify anyone different from you.

    B’ezras Hashem I’ll answer the rest of your rant soon.

  • Go Vegetarian

    29. Why Liberalism is against Torah wrote: “Nowhere in the shulchan aruch, talmud or even kabala does it say anything about being abstinent from eating meat.”

    On the contrary, “abstinence” is universally praised as being among the practices of the righteous.

    —

    “There are cases of an ISTENIS, which is dificult to define (a sickly person or sensative)”

    I admit to brushing my teeth and showering with soap on a daily basis. Maybe you don’t.

    —

    “but makeing the world a better place by being nicer to animals by not eating them is a concept born from non-jewish sources.”

    There are classical Jewish sources that say this explicitly.

    —

    “You know what? Don’t put schach on your sucka because we shouldn’t cut down trees.”

    Don’t get carried away. I said it is best not to eat meat. No one is saying “Don’t put schach on your sucka.” Of course any cutting of trees should be in an environmentally friendly manner (which is also mandated by Torah, or else there will be no schach for sukkos next year).

    —

    “Of course don’t do kapperes because you are cruel to animals.”

    The prohibition of cruelty to animals is straight out of the Torah.

    It is not advisable to violate Hashem’s command.

  • Go Vegetarian

    #29 wrote: “Vegetarians believe we are all the same, so they are actually dragging the divinity of man down to fertilizer producer machines!!”

    Actually, I have no objection to using cattle as “fertilizer producers” – fertilizer helps the growth of better crops, fruits, vegetables and grains, the food on which we live. You may be so mind dead from all the dead meat that you eat that you didn’t even realize what you wrote.

    What I do object to is your terming animals as “machines.” Such an attitude is definitely against the Torah’s teachings. Again, you may not be able to understand this due to your mental condition. It may not be your fault, it may only be because of something you ate. If you change your diet perhaps you’ll recover your health and your senses.

    —

    “One last things for vegetarians, when you begin eating grass, please stop there!! You are humans, not cattle!”

    Actually sprouts and wheat grass are delicious and some of the healthiest things for humans to eat. Enjoy.

  • yosy

    whatever happened to “ein simcha elah b’bosor”?! Even the Rebbe eats chicken!! Are you frumer than the Rebbe?! It is a k’lall – that all those who are so concerned with “harming” animals, are the biggest low-lifes in the world!
    Look no further than Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin! The Peta mamzeirim-yemach shemom – were so concerned about the wellbeing of animals, but do not blink an eye for a human being?!
    They yell and scream about “killing and torturing” animals, but then they have no problem wearing fur-coats!?
    Vegetarians are pathetic self-righteous tyrants – who cloak themselves in piety and kindness, but in reality – are the most ruthless, un-caring people to ever walk the face of the earth!

  • PETA - People Eat Tasty Animals

    “Actually sprouts and wheat grass are delicious and some of the healthiest things for humans to eat. Enjoy.”

    Given the 30 deaths that occurred in Germany last month I would not be so glib. Sprouts have cause more deaths than nuclear power this year!

  • Milhouse

    #28, even if it were beef, have you EVER heard of anyone trying to keep kosher who would buy meat that had no kind of hechsher at all, and didn’t even say “kosher” on the label? I haven’t. And to the person advocating vegetarianism, what makes you think vegetarian food is ANY less likely than meat to be mislabeled?

  • lGo Vegetarian

    #30. wrote: “attention all vegetarians – are you sure there is no hint of avoda zara in your food choice- from your (or your vegi instructor’s) past, non-frum searchings?”

    Yes we are sure. Why do you suggest it? BTW, the overwhelming number of worshipers of avoda zara do eat meat. Does that make you and all other meat eaters ovdei avoda zara as well? It would seem that if one is really concerned about not being identified as an ovdei avoda zara, it would be far better to abstain from eating meat.

    “Veggis and dairy also have to be inspected and supervised.”

    Yes, but with veggies and dairy it is a much, much easier, and much less can go wrong.

    “I know Jew…Today he bit off a small chumk of his tongue! Literally. His body was craving Meat – even if it was his own!”

    Sounds like he had an accident of some kind, refuah shleima to him b’gashmius u’b’ruchnius. But I’m sure the cause had nothing to do with what you wrote.

    “I’m waiting for a taste of the leviason and shor habor. It’s ok if you won’t eat them. There will bemore for the rest of us.”

    Livyoson and shor habor are spiritual concepts. (It says that the shor habor will be slaughtered by the fin of Livyoson, obviously not a kosher shechita if it is understood physically.) Additionally there will be no more or no less for anyone — it will either be like the Mon, a set portion for everyone, or it will depend on the quality of your own service. You will not “get more” if someone else doesn’t eat it.

    By the way, the last time I checked Livyoson is considered to be some kind of fish – and I don’t have the same objection to eating fish as I do to eating meat (actually I personally eat fish, dairy and even eggs if they are cage free and fed all vegetarian feed).

    True, as with vegetables and dairy there are potential kashrus issues with fish, but again they are not nearly as significant or hard to protect against as those that are inevitable with the meat of animals.

    May we all merit to Seudas Livyoson and Shor Ha’bor bimhara b’yomeinu.

  • bystander

    Hey I would expect a bit of Eidelkeit from a vegetarian

    somebody must have pissed you off, chill out

  • ImaYisroela

    Some claim that they raise pigs in special cages above ground, they never get dirty, etc…. One catch: NOT A KOSHER ANIMAL!!!

    Pigs don’t sweat in addition to other non-kosher things about the pig. That means if they get sick, all bacteria stay in their meat!

  • ImaYisroela

    Maybe the vegetarian guy is anemic and cranky! Quick! Someone feed him a piece of meat! Maybe the poor thing ate that bland Ashkenazi food all his life… If he had some real food, he’d actually like it!

    Thanks to PETA, kosher slaughtering is about to be banned in the US as inhumane. No Jew should ever support them! Just because someone doesn’t eat meat, it does not mean they must force their way of life on the rest of us!

    Oh, vegetarian dude, I hate to break ur bubble but free range chickens is not a good thing. Have you any idea what those dumb things stuff into their beaks while wandering around the farm?

    YO! “yosy”!!! The Rebbe ATE chicken, not EATS chicken! Thanks to the Rebbe worshipers like yourself, they had to put several of NY’s finest around his grave out of fear of dead man’s assassination!

    To #25: do we have another Obama Birth Certificate hoax on our hands?

    Shabbat Shalom All!

    Enjoy the cholent! And spice it up! Today try spare ribs in beer in your slow cooker.

  • grass eater

    “Actually sprouts and wheat grass are delicious and some of the healthiest things for humans to eat. Enjoy”

    you baal taivah,

    actually I was looking for that wheat grass stuff to put in my chulent but it was already shabbos so maybee next week. In the meantime I’L try some other grass and see what kinda interesting effect it will have on my perception of reality. I’L also put in the spare ribs with the beer!

  • to number 10

    part of being a frume yid as you call it, is not calling another Jew a weirdo liberal simply for stating his opinions or anything for that matter.

  • to number 47

    Go Vegetarian: “you may not be able to understand this due to your mental condition”

    I see what you mean, 47. Making fun of people by calling them mentally retarded must be part of being a frum vegetarian

  • Go Vegetarian

    To 43, 45 and 48 — apologies if you feel I overdid it in replying to my detractors. As 47 and others pointed out, there is a reason I was ‘ticked off.’ Being suspected of idolatry for not eat meat is a bit annoying. The rant by Yosy, 39, is particularly uncalled for, but I’ll leave it to the readers to dismiss his comment without my help – ImaYisroela, 45, already started on him anyway (the difference between “eats” and ate), ImaYisroela I’m with you on that!

    BTW, I’m not sure what exactly the Rebbe zt”l used to eat, however just because the Rebbes o.b.m. did something in their times does not mean it is necessarily a practice for everyone at all times. For example, they used to chain smoke tobacco until it was learned how unhealthy it is.

    Meanwhile, Yosy implies that the Rebbe did not eat meat, but only chicken — does that mean that all of his chassidim should likewise not eat meat but only chicken? Anyone wish to comment on this?

  • Go Vegetarian

    To the 40, who wrote: “Given the 30 deaths that occurred in Germany last month I would not be so glib. Sprouts have cause more deaths than nuclear power this year!”

    You should be aware that all contamination of vegetables from e. coli, salmonella and other bacteria, without exception, originates from animals; that’s why the overwhelming number of such incidents occur in meat. The only ways vegetables get these bacteria is through contact with improperly composted manure, contaminated irrigation water, or from workers failing to wash themselves properly before touching the food. You should rinse off your fruit and vegetables before eating, and make sure any restaurant you go to does the same.

    As for the cause of the recent outbreak that started in Germany, it is not at all confirmed that contaminated sprouts were the real culprit. See: _ecoli_bioengineering.html” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.naturalnews.com/… and http://cucumberecoli.com/20… – Hashem ishmor from the likes of that!

  • Why LIberal yada yada dude

    Now that I see how important it is to those who don’t eat meat, I had a talk with a shliach about this topic. He told me that they actually encorage vegetarianism to their congregents who aren’t frum simply because it would be impossible for beginners to properly deal with kosher meat, especially as it is difficult to obtain. So for those starting out it is far more practical for them to begin by sticking with the greens.

    I heard a story of about a booklet from the kashrus organization describing how to inspect greens. The publication described how when eating insects in vegetables one transgresses on seven issurim min hatorah as opposed to eating non kosher meat which is only one issur. The problem was that there were baali teshuva who took this so literally that they stopped eating anything green and fell back to eating treifes univeiles beleiving that the sin was less severe. This is why shluchim don’t like preaching all sorts of chumres and hidurim since these tend to replace the more important basics (kashrus and shabbos)

    Now, to the veggie preacher here, you might just be a shliach who has found it necessarily to teach others to take the path to vegetarianism as the road toward a life of Torah and mitzvos. Agreed. However, you may just be another of PETA’s animal right activists who found a forum on which to spread your nonsense. If your intention was lisheim shamayim, then I want to sincerely apologize for speaking out against vegetarians. However if your intentions were to bring enlightenment to a primitive people, then shame on you and your environmental values.

    One more thing I want to take back: before I said that nowhere in the Torah does it mention anything about abstaining from eating meat.Actually, shame on me for forgetting the minhag that began this week for the 9 days when we don’t eat meat since we are mourning. Nevertheless, I still think that many green eaters out there who’s principles are based entirely on their rebellion of schita and mila. While you may value herbivorism lisheim shamayim, there are others who don’t and who conduct lives in ways worse then carnivors or even cannibals.