Tav HaYosher

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The Tav HaYosher is a certification mark offered, free of charge, to Kosher food establishments that meet a series of ethical criteria developed by the organization, Uri L'Tzedek. Particularly, the Tav HaYosher confirms that an eating establishment with its seal pays minimum wage to all employees and overtime to those employees working more than 40 hours a week. It also ensures the establishment offers employees appropriate breaks as required by law, and provides a safe and abuse-free working environment.

Traditional kosher certification agencies such as the Orthodox Union and Star-K offer kosher certification (known in Hebrew as a Hechsher), which confirms that the food meets the standards of kosher dietary law and can be eaten by those Jews who observe the laws of Kashrut. Many non-Jews purchase kosher food, believing that the kosher certification implies that the food was produced to meet a higher ethical standard all around, not just in terms of Jewish law (Halacha) and Kashrut. [1] Many kosher consumers were shocked to discover that Agriprocessors, a kosher slaughterhouse and meat processor in Postville, Iowa, had been raided by Federal authorities on May 12, 2009, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had discovered breaches ranging from fraud to defiance of child labor laws to immigration violations. [2]

In 2009, the Tav HaYosher was announced by Uri L'Tzedek as the Orthodox Jewish community's response to these legal and ethical offenses. [3] Each restaurant applying for the certificate is reviewed by one of 60 volunteers, who audit the company's ledgers and speak with workers to ensure that they are being treated fairly. The Tav HaYosher ensures that workers receive their rights according to federal and state law as well as ethical standards. After the free initial certification, inspectors visit each establishment unannounced every two to three months to verify continuing compliance. [4]

In May 2009 five New York City restaurants carried Tav HaYosher seal [5] and by January 2010, Tav HaYosher certification had been granted to over 70 dining establishments in Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, California, Ohio, Missouri, Texas, and Montreal. [6] However, certification was sometimes met with controversy, as occurred on June 15, 2009, at Mike's Italian Kitchen and Mike’s Bistro. [7] Businesses such as Noah's Ark, with locations in Manhattan and Teaneck, New Jersey, were covered by the Tav HaYosher, with owner Noam Sokolow remarking that he wanted his "restaurants to be on a level where everyone feels comfortable" and that Tav HaYosher offered a means "to have an additional agency supervising an aspect we feel is important." Sokolow stated that he had to make no changes in his business practices to meet the certification standards in any of his restaurants. [4]

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Kashrut is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the term that in Sephardi or Modern Hebrew is pronounced kashér, meaning "fit". Food that may not be consumed, however, is deemed treif, also spelled treyf. In case of objects the opposite of kosher is pasúl

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A hechsher or hekhsher is a rabbinical product certification, qualifying items that conform to the requirements of Jewish religious law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mashgiach</span> Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment

A mashgiach or mashgicha is a Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment. Mashgichim may supervise any type of food service establishment, including slaughterhouses, food manufacturers, hotels, caterers, nursing homes, restaurants, butchers, groceries, or cooperatives. Mashgichim usually work as on-site supervisors and inspectors, representing a kosher certification agency or a local rabbi, who actually makes the policy decisions for what is or is not acceptably kosher. Sometimes certifying rabbis act as their own mashgichim; such is the case in many small communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kosher wine</span> Wine produced per Jewish dietary law

Kosher wine is wine that is produced in accordance with halakha, and more specifically kashrut, such that Jews will be permitted to pronounce blessings over and drink it. This is an important issue, since wine is used in several Jewish ceremonies, especially those of Kiddush.

Kosher foods are foods that conform to the Jewish dietary regulations of kashrut. The laws of kashrut apply to food derived from living creatures and kosher foods are restricted to certain types of mammals, birds and fish meeting specific criteria; the flesh of any animals that do not meet these criteria is forbidden by the dietary laws. Furthermore, kosher mammals and birds must be slaughtered according to a process known as shechita and their blood may never be consumed and must be removed from the meat by a process of salting and soaking in water for the meat to be permissible for use. All plant-based products, including fruits, vegetables, grains, herbs and spices, are intrinsically kosher, although certain produce grown in the Land of Israel is subjected to other requirements, such as tithing, before it may be consumed.

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The Orthodox Union is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs for the disabled, localized religious study programs, and international units with locations in Israel and formerly in Ukraine. The OU maintains a kosher certification service, whose circled-U hechsher symbol, U+24CAⓊCIRCLED LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U, is found on the labels of many kosher commercial and consumer food products.

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Magen Tzedek, originally known as Hekhsher Tzedek, is a complementary certification for kosher food produced in the United States in a way that meets Jewish Halakhic (legal) standards for workers, consumers, animals, and the environment, as understood by Conservative Judaism. Magen Tzedek certification is not a kashrut certification which certifies that food is kosher in that it meets certain requirements regarding ingredients of food and technical methods of animal slaughter, but an ethical certification complementary to conventional kosher certification.

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Star-K Kosher Certification, also known as the Vaad Hakashrut of Baltimore, is a kosher certification agency based in Baltimore, Maryland, under the administration of Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, with the involvement of many other rabbis. It is one of the largest Jewish dietary certification agencies in North America. It is trusted by many Orthodox Jews worldwide for dedication to preserving Kashrut. The organization supervises tens of thousands of commercial food products and food establishments around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kosher restaurant</span> Restaurant serving food permissible in Jewish dietary law

A kosher restaurant or kosher deli is an establishment that serves food that complies with Jewish dietary laws (kashrut). These businesses, which also include diners, cafés, pizzerias, fast food, and cafeterias, and are frequently in listings together with kosher bakeries, butchers, caterers, and other similar places, differ from kosher-style businesses in that they operate under rabbinical supervision, which requires the observance of the laws of kashrut, as well as certain other Jewish laws, including the separation of meat and dairy.

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A kosher airline meal is an airline meal that conforms to the standards of kashrut. Many airlines offer the option of kosher meals to passengers if ordered in advance. These not only contain food that is kosher, but also other features to aid observant Jews, such as copies of Tefilat HaDerech and prayers that are recited before and after eating and bread on which the mezonot blessing is recited, thereby enabling observant Jews to consume the bread without washing hands.

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A kosher certification agency is an organization or certifying authority that grants a hechsher to ingredients, packaged foods, beverages, and certain materials, as well as food-service providers and facilities in which kosher food is prepared or served. This certification verifies that the ingredients, production process including all machinery, and/or food-service process complies with the standards of kashrut as stipulated in the Shulchan Arukh, the benchmark of religious Jewish law. The certification agency employs mashgichim to make periodic site visits and oversee the food-production or food-service process in order to verify ongoing compliance. Each agency has its own trademarked symbol that it allows manufacturers and food-service providers to display on their products or in-store certificates; use of this symbol can be revoked for non-compliance. Each agency typically has a "certifying rabbi" who determines the exact kashrut standards to be applied and oversees their implementation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hashgacha Pratit (organization)</span> Israel-based Organization with both female and male clergy

Hashgacha Pratit (השגחה-פרטית) is an independent, Israel-based organization with both female and male clergy that self-describes as providing an alternative form of Orthodox Rabbinical authority and social activism group dedicated to challenging the monopoly of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel over religious ceremonies and practices, through the provision of private religious ceremonies. Founded in 2012 by Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz in Jerusalem, Israel, it offers alternative halachic services in life-cycle events, rabbinical training, and other courses in religious education. It has provided private kashrut supervision for restaurants, worked on raising public awareness and finding loopholes in the laws to circumvent the Chief Rabbinate's monopoly, first regarding Kashrut, by leading the movement to open the kosher food market to competition, and today regarding Orthodox wedding ceremonies.

Kosher by ingredient is an approach to observing the laws of kashrut that determines whether a food is kosher or not based on ingredient, rather than by the presence of a hechsher. This approach has fallen out of favor with Orthodox Jews, but is practiced by many Conservative Jews as well as by some Reform Jews and Reconstructionist Jews.

References

  1. ↑ Neal, June Sandra. "Kosher's Charisma ; Non-Jews Are Converting To Its Standards, But Dietary Laws Don't Make It All Health Food", Hartford Courant , February 5, 2006. Accessed April 27, 2018.
  2. ↑ Beckerman, Gal. "Obey Civil Law, Say New Orthodox Kosher Rules.", The Forward , January 27, 2010. Accessed April 27, 2018.
  3. ↑ Resnick, Elliot. "New Orthodox Seal Certifies Ethical Compliance.", The Jewish Press , May 20, 2009. Accessed June 18, 2010. Archived June 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 Lipowsky, Josh. "Kosher restaurants put ethical standards on the menu", Jewish Standard / The Times of Israel , June 18, 2010. Accessed April 27, 2018.
  5. ↑ Klein, Dani. A New Ethical Standard in Kosher: Tav HaYosher, YeahThat'sKosher, May 22, 2009. Accessed April 27, 2018.
  6. ↑ Beckerman, Gal. "New Restaurant Seal Meets with Approval.", The Forward, March 19, 2010. Accessed April 27, 2018.
  7. ↑ Rebecca Honig Friedman, The Scoop on Mike’s Bistro and the Tav Hayosher TJC The Jewish Channel, June 18, 2009. Accessed April 27, 2018.
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