Deuteronomy 24:14 says "you shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow Israelite or a stranger in one of the communities of your land." Although there are many terms here that are up for interpretation, the Torah clearly favors the just and humane treatment of laborers. It seems as if kashrut has become a highly compartmentalized area of Jewish law, focused on the food and how it is produced, but divorced from the workers who produce it. Do you think that the rights of workers is an integral part of Jewish dietary law or do you think this is outside the scope of what it means to be kosher?
Fishkoff writes that "a group of Orthodox rabbis in Los Angeles organized a project similar to Uri L'Tzedek's Tav HaYosher seal, but they expanded their efforts to include any Jewish owned business, including synagogues and doctor's offices, all of which, they said, had the same Jewish obligation to treat workers fairly and ethically." Why did hechsherim stop at food? Why aren't all Jewish businesses certified as "fit." Should they be?
If you were to create standards for a Reform ethical hechsher, how would they look different from that of Magen Tzedek or Tav HaYosher?
Rabbi Morris Allen, the head of Hechsher Tzedek (now Magen Tzedek) pointed out that "kosher meat had become less expensive in recent years...because the average salary of a worker on the killing floor at Agriprocessors was $6.75 and hour. Workers doing the same job in other Iowa meat plants earned an average of $11.25 an hour. 'That's why we could buy kosher meat in tray packs in supermarkets...We were all complicit. No one asked, how are we doing this?'" Do you think kosher meat consumers were partially to blame for the abuses happening at the Agriprocessor's plant in Postville? Do you, as a consumer, question something's quality and ethical production when it suddenly becomes much cheaper and more readily available? If so, what actions do you take?
Many rabbis who are involved in workers' rights issues support community-wide bans on certain items when the company that produces those items is caught abusing workers. What action would you, as a rabbi, take if you discovered that something your synagogue or its members regularly purchased was produced at the expense of exploited workers?
It is ON!
Welch's for Pesah? " Welch's Teams With Manischewitz in Battle Over Kosher Grape Juice " (NPR, 10/10/17)
2 comments:
1) The term "kosher" gets thrown around for a LOT of things, including non-food related items. On that note, I think it's possible that workers rights could be INSIDE the scope of something being Kosher. I can't seem to find the page in Kosher Nation, but somewhere it said that worker's rights and food kashrut are separate. I don't know as ANY halacha is completely independent from another. If halacha is based around God, and doing God's work, then yes, they can both be a factor in Kashrut. I guess I find myself echoing the sentiments of Richard Litvak (Sacred Table, p 286). Essentially if we don't pay attention to worker's rights, we don't "ensure the validity of our blessing..."
Then again, I'm the guy that would rather buy organic-grass fed beef that's not kosher.
2) When reading about chocolate, and how only 1% of one of our favorite foods is fair trade, I was wondering if it's possible for EVERY company to treat their workers fairly. Is it possible for EVERY company (regardless of what they sell) to live up to "proper" standards of environmental and labor practices?
With the success of companies like Toms Shoes, why aren't more companies making the switch? Is it just a bourgeoisie fad?
The more I think about it, the more skeptical I am of the possibility of fair-treatment, fair-trade, fair-everything when the dollar rules and not values.
Reading Kasdan right after reading Prinz, I wondered if the urge for synagogue’s to use fair trade coffee, tea and chocolate are today’s version of the synagogue support of the grape boycotts. But then I’m surprised when I walk into a synagogue and find styrofoam cups and coffee that has not been certified as fair trade or Hershey’s candy still on the rabbi’s desk. Don’t they know that this is how we’re going to save the planet and our people?
It seems like such a no brainer to me. Those of us who spend the majority of our days in synagogues know how much coffee, tea and chocolate are consumed in these spaces. Making the switch to fair trade products may cost more money but how much does it cost our conscience to use products that exploit workers and children?
I wonder, however, how many of our congregants actually care about fair trade practices and about the call for synagogues to join the greening movement. As I read the Kasdan article, it occurred to me that I actually knew nothing about the late 80s commitment of the CCAR to support the grape boycott. I was definitely involved in social justice issues of the time.
*****
Should a synagogue wish to ignore my cynicism here are some ways to bring fair trade into our institutions and a story of some Jews who did just that.
Post a Comment