My father always warned me to never enter the kashrut business. The temptation of corruption is great and inadvertent mistakes are quite common. Little did he know I would become a Rabbi. The truth is, I’m perfectly happy keeping busy behind the computer keyboard, than behind a kosher meat market kitchen. Kol hakavod to those brave Rabbis who take it upon themselves to maintain a standard of excellence at these facilities. It surely is a tremendous task and a big responsibility.
My father mentioned how common it was, in Stemarkand, Russia, for a butcher to threaten the Mashgiach’s life if he did not give his stamp of approval. Thank G-d today in America, we have some strong kashrut organizations that will not tolerate such shenanigans. Unfortunately, sometimes a story comes out with horrific consequences. Does anybody remember the butcher in Monsey, NY who sold non-kosher chickens to many in the New York and Philadelphia area for years?
According to our sages, if one consumes non-kosher food, it ruins the ability to reach and comprehend any levels of spirituality, even inadvertently. One might wonder why some people just can’t get into it while others are just enjoying some aspect of Torah and Judaism. They look at the people enjoying the Torah like they are weird because they cannot relate. Well, they cannot relate because their pipes to the heavens have been clogged up. I wonder if they’re not jealous of the spiritual individuals, that they can feel something that they cannot. This is the result of non-kosher consumption. It’s not for naught that Orthodoxy takes enormous pains, time, money, and skills to make sure everything is tip-top. The authorities are trying to avoid damage to our precious souls. This is the main reason we’re so meticulous.
Those of you who read my articles weekly, know that they are pretty positive and encouraging. However, it’s a pretty sticky subject. I’d like to share this gruesome story with you.
There was once a butcher in the town of Tzippory who used to sell non-kosher meat to Jews. Once, on Yom Kippur eve, he ate a heavy meal, drank wine, and ascended to the rooftop. In his intoxicated state, he tripped, fell, and broke his neck. The dogs assembled to lap his blood. Yom Kippur has already begun, and the people hurried to R’ Chanina to ask him whether it was permissible on Yom Tov to carry the corpse to a different place where it would be protected from the dogs. “Leave it where it is,” ordered R’ Chanina. “This man cheated the dogs out of legal reward assigned to them by the Torah.” It says “Do not eat traifa meat, but throw it to the dogs” (Shemot 22:30). However, this man fed the Jews non-kosher meat, thereby withholding it from the dogs. They therefore are coming now to claim their reward.
Kashrut is a very serious business on both sides of the fence, both on the eating and on the selling. Please use precautionary measures.
Leave a Reply