The 'herring worm' is often found in herring, mackerel, whiting and blue whiting, but it also occurs in many other species. Its scientific name is Anisakis simplex. It grows up to 2 cm long in fish, is almost colourless, and is found tightly coiled and encased in the guts and flesh, sometimes in considerable numbers, particularly in the belly flaps. Anisakis can migrate from guts to flesh in fish left ungutted after capture, notably in herring, mackerel and blue whiting.
Ling
Mullet
Pollock
Red perch-Canada
Red perch-Iceland
Scrad
Seabass-Chilean (aka smoked sable) Fresh & frozen
Turbot frozen
White fish- Canada
There will be a run to produce canned salmon "labeled-FARMED"- should you trust the label? They claimed "there are no worms in canned salmon". Dagim was aware for years that their Flounder labeld fish has worms, I told them about it.
This includes the canned Alaskan wild salmon-Dagim says they didn't see any worms in their salmon-Dagim denies that there (may be) are worms in their canned salmon. Nonetheless many educated consumers have stopped using it.
BRING BACK YOUR CANNED SALMON FOR A REFUND.Dagim as of late doesn't respond to my inquiries.
There has been lately more confirmation of worms in the flesh of fish.
There is a Rav Revach that has been doing some research into the subject. He is also involved with a company that sends fish to china to inspect for worms in the flesh. They do the inspections via a light-box. It's being done at a rate of 2 seconds a piece. They may be removing some of the larger ones but not the smaller thinner ones.
It doesn't make a difference, as long as even one remains, you can't use the fish.
There is a list that was put together by Rav Wagshall;
Wild salmon is one of the types that have worms in the flesh. Chillean & Norway don't have the problem. Farm raised is almost clean. Canned salmon is usually from wild salmon,
Cod- Black-wild (aka Smoked sable)
Flounder-BB Black Backs
Flounder-Dabs-wild
Flounder- Yellow Tail
Greysole- Canada
Hadock- Chatum
Hake
Halibut-Alaska
Halibut-East coast
HERRING
There is a Rav Revach that has been doing some research into the subject. He is also involved with a company that sends fish to china to inspect for worms in the flesh. They do the inspections via a light-box. It's being done at a rate of 2 seconds a piece. They may be removing some of the larger ones but not the smaller thinner ones.
It doesn't make a difference, as long as even one remains, you can't use the fish.
There is a list that was put together by Rav Wagshall;
Wild salmon is one of the types that have worms in the flesh. Chillean & Norway don't have the problem. Farm raised is almost clean. Canned salmon is usually from wild salmon,
Cod- Black-wild (aka Smoked sable)
Flounder-BB Black Backs
Flounder-Dabs-wild
Flounder- Yellow Tail
Greysole- Canada
Hadock- Chatum
Hake
Halibut-Alaska
Halibut-East coast
HERRING
Ling
Mullet
Pollock
Red perch-Canada
Red perch-Iceland
Scrad
Seabass-Chilean (aka smoked sable) Fresh & frozen
Turbot frozen
White fish- Canada
65 comments:
Yudel Thank you so much for bringing us this important information, I don't understand why nobody else bothered advising us on the above.
udel, a huge credit goes to Rav Moshe Lazer Blum from Monsey. He was the first to bring this to the attention of the experts.
Too late! Tonight, my family has eaten fish imported from China with worms in it. Poison control was a help. I managed to get the store to pull the rest of the fish. The package was printed with stars and stripes on it, but bottom line it was a "product of China". Oh, I'm a real happy camper at the moment!
Stefansky of Dagim is a mechutan of Paskesz who imports Westheim's treif beef gelatin candies.
When I called Paskesz last year to complain about the lab findings confirming beef, whoever answered the phone just kept insisting that they trust their rabbonei machshir.
California and other states are starting to shut down their poison control lines because they have no money. Maybe Hatzolah should expand operations into this area.
The NY Times reported after Sept. 11th that Dagim's tuna facility in the Muslim south Philippines was staffed by al Qaeda terrorists looking to make some money on the side.
The list from cod to whitefish - is that good or no good?
Dagim unloads their catches in Winnipeg which is connected by canals to the ocean that ships can navigate to.
Does anyone know if they were using the Freshwater Fish Corp facilities with the farshlofenna OU mashgiach?
Dagim charges a fortune for their Alaskan Blueback salmon.
Which types of canned fish have no worm problems? Thank you
Dear Reb Yudel,
"Farm raised [salmon]is almost clean", does that mean we can eat it, we should ask a shaila and if so how do we describe "almost" to the Rav?
What is news on the meat from Rabbi Rubin or alternate? You mentioned it to me once.
Yasher Koiach!
http://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/26066/orthodox-blasphemous-youtube-outburst-shocks-community
Melbourne’s tightly-knit Orthodox community is reeling following the public ostracism of a group of dissident Lubavitchers accused of “a massive and reckless” act of blasphemy.
A video posted last week on YouTube shows the group celebrating a seudah, or religious feast, on the Fast of Tevet on December 27, when Orthodox Jews are supposed to mourn the day the First Temple was besieged.
The group, led by Alex Leonard and Asher Rozenfeld, appeared to include about 25 men, women and children singing, dancing, waving the yellow Chabad messianist flag and saying special prayers celebrating the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson — who died in 1994 — as the Messiah.According to Jewish tradition, fasts are replaced by feasts in the messianic era.
But their actions prompted a severe rebuke from Rabbi Zvi Telsner, chief rabbi of Melbourne’s Chabad community. Rabbi Telsner, a former rabbi at Finchley Central Synagogue, issued a scathing statement on Sunday against the “perpetrators of such misguided deeds”, saying that the fact they publicised their “transgression” on the web “constitutes a massive and reckless Chillul Hashem”, or desecration of God’s name.
In his ruling, plastered on the walls of the Yeshiva Centre, Lubavitch’s local headquarters, he said the dissidents cannot be counted as part of a minyan, are not allowed to answer “amen” in shul, cannot receive an aliyah to the Torah and no members of the community should speak to or have any business dealings with them until they seek forgiveness before a Jewish court.
But Mr Rozenfeld and Mr Leonard, who were reportedly expelled from the Yeshiva Centre several years ago, said they had not seen the edict.
“We are free to talk to anybody we choose and to carry on our business as usual,” Mr Rozenfeld said. Stating that he suspected the edict — which does not list names — constituted “character defamation”, he added: “I find it strange that a letter of such serious content would be issued publicly without me or anyone in the video receiving it first.”
Rabbi Telsner — who in 2004 himself signed a letter declaring the Rebbe is the Messiah — hosed down suggestions he had ordered an excommunication.
“It’s a statement about people who have transgressed. Their behaviour was in total disregard of Jewish law.”
While some Orthodox Jews in Melbourne are bemused, others believe it raises serious questions about Chabad, which split after the Rebbe’s death between those who believed he was the Messiah and those who did not.
Another Lubavitcher, Raphael Aron, said the furore “questions the ability of Chabad to continue without a Rebbe.
“It raises existential questions about the future of Chabad. Is the Rebbe Moshiach? Is there another Rebbe or are we waiting until Moshiach? It’s a discussion no one is prepared to have.”
An expert on cults, Mr Aron said the dissident group is “behaving in a cultish manner. It’s like they’re in some sort of trance.”
The maelstrom has spawned hundreds of comments on Jewish websites. “Every Lubavitcher needs to do some major introspection, and realise that they are at fault for this horrible Chillul Hashem,” wrote one contributor on theyeshivaworld.com. “It started out by believing in their hearts that the Rebbe was Moshiach, but denying it publicly. Then they crowned him Moshiach after his stroke. When he went into a coma they stated he could not die because he’s Moshiach. Finally when he died they started to come out with foolishness of a second coming. From there it’s just gone downhill.”
reb yudel can you tell me how there are packages of rubashkin chiken at shlomys world when rubashkin plant was shut down quite a time ago?
Some of the Rubashkin stuff is very old but there is newer stuff because Hershey Friedman is still using the packaging.
The biggest problem however is the Rubashkin stuff with phony front names delivered by peddlers in unmarked trucks to disguise it's origin.
Some hashgochos like the Queens Vaad are aiding and abetting this fishy arrangement, probably in return for $omething. When people think Moishe Finkel & question the traceability, the hashgochos pass the buck to Weissmandel, saying he takes achrayus.
http://www.5tjt.com/news/read.asp?Id=5670
reb yudel you need a doctor
by the time you will be finished we will all starve to death
men darf epes esen
whats wrong with ou
you dont want to go to gehenom with them
what about all your loshon hora
thats worse than eating bugs with the hecsher from the ou
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/world/europe/28olives.html?pagewanted=print
December 28, 2009
Olive Growers’ Claims Prompt Investigation
The story of the miracle harvest turned up on an application for European agricultural subsidies that surfaced in 2007; officials determined the amount requested was well in excess of what the farmers could conceivably have been entitled to. But something disturbed investigators more than the simple size of the claim: It was filed not by the hard-pressed growers themselves, but by the leaders of their agricultural co-operative — one of thousands of locally powerful, politically connected producers’ associations across Europe.
In poor, remote areas of Southern Europe, evidence is emerging that what happened in Crete — where the European Union is demanding a refund of nearly €375,000, or about $540,000, paid to the collective that operates around Vamos — is not a minor aberration but a symptom of a broader problem involving co-ops.
Investigators believe that tens of millions of euros may have been lost in the few cases they have investigated — which they say are just a snapshot of the wider picture. They are currently looking into four new cases, while five have been completed.
Writing in a report about several scams involving two Portuguese banana co-ops two years ago, the European Union’s fraud investigative agency, known as OLAF, said it had found “that this pattern of abuse by some producer organizations was a problem throughout” the bloc.
The victims, OLAF says, include many farmers whom the co-ops were established to protect but who are believed to see little of the illicit proceeds, even though the investigators believe some of their bank accounts have been used to launder them.
It is E.U. policy to encourage cooperatives because they can use their size to get good prices for farmers from the giant supermarket chains.
According to Copa-Cogeca, cooperatives now control 60 percent of the collection, processing and marketing of the region’s agricultural products, a process worth billions of euros.
It says it represents 40,000 cooperatives that employ 660,000 people with a global annual turnover of €360 billion.
In Northern Europe, cooperatives have tended to merge, often becoming huge agricultural conglomerates with real market muscle. But in the south, many stayed small, selling produce through wholesalers and often building their identity, and clout, through ties to local politicians or economic institutions like banks.
In Crete, where olive trees are everywhere — clinging to rocky hills, competing for space with orange trees or growing alongside whitewashed churches — the agricultural cooperative of Apokoronos and Sfakia came under scrutiny with the aid of a whistle-blowing farmer, Yannis Matsamakis.
The average tree yields enough olives to make between one and five liters, or about 35 to 170 fluid ounces, of oil. But the claims from groves at Vamos and a clutch of surrounding villages suggested they were producing five times that much.
Though everyone in the surrounding area was complaining, no one would take the list to the local prosecutor, Mr. Matsamakis said, until he did.
Most of the 57 olive growers listed were either employees of the cooperative, relatives of those who worked there or relatives of local politicians, Mr. Matsamakis said, though one of those named wrote to a local newspaper denying any knowledge of the claim apparently made on her behalf. Investigators found evidence of other abuses involving banks.
Often it is the cooperatives that certify how much farmers produced in the past, which is one of the barometers for determining what they get in the future.
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-living/ci_14081068
Currently, most of the olive oil we consume comes from countries such as Italy, Spain, and Greece. A lack of government regulation means that despite the label it's possible you're consuming adulterated olive oil, canola oil, or a blend, says Patricia Darragh of the Berkeley-based California Olive Oil Council. The COOC filed a petition with the USDA in August 2004 to set standards for the importation of olive oil into the United States. The petition is pending.
Adulterated chocolate
http://goeurope.about.com/b/2010/01/12/tuscanys-chocolate-routes.htm
Tuesday January 12, 2010
If you were to ask which country in Europe had the best chocolate, you might not think of Italy. Cioccolato puro, pure chocolate, is still produced there. This is important, because the tasteless politicians of European Parliament have allowed manufacturers hungry for additional profit to adulterate pure chocolate's naturally occurring cocoa butter with cheap vegetable oils, not to mention allowing genetically modified products inside without need to mention it on the label.
reb yudel i spoke to rabbi gissinger he said you dont know what your talking about he never saw any bugs yet not in the vegetable and not in the fish
Has 5 Towns Jewish Times owner Larry Gordon lost his mind? He says Sholom Rubashkin has complete charatah and paid back all of his baalei chov, which is sheker vechazav.
http://www.5tjt.com/news/read.asp?Id=5631
Mr. Rubashkin now sits in a jail cell at the age of 50, having been convicted of serious financial crimes. Over the last few months, all you have seen and read about as the day draws nearer for sentencing is that he stands to receive—if the book is thrown at him (which so far it has been)—a sentence of 1,255 years in jail. Once those who report on these things come to grips with the absurd sensationalism involved in harping on the idea of such a sentence and the reporters come down to dealing with the situation in more realistic terms, we find that he still faces up to the next 27 years in prison.
Leading constitutional experts like Nathan Lewin and Alan Dershowitz have weighed in on and analyzed the subject and have written that it is within the judge’s discretion to exact a significantly smaller sentence. This, of course, takes into account Mr. Rubashkin’s solemn remorse, his admission of making serious errors in judgments and his family having already made full restitution to any party that may have suffered a financial loss due to his actions.
It's these same shoytim who try to threaten R' Doniel Eidensohn that everything he writes is "loshon horoh" and warn him about burning in hell.
This is the garbage propaganda from corrupt rabbonim who don't want to be exposed.
Rav Eidensohn has written many posts from Rishonim, Achronim & Chazon Ish that there is no issur and even a chiyuv to be mefarsem on all the corruption.
So this comedian spoke to Rabbi Gissinger. So what?
Gissinger gives hashgocho on Bodek which has had problematic items. I also think R' Yudel is a little too machmir, but he is 100% right about at least some of the items.
Gissinger gave hashgocho on the goyishe restaurant in Monsey with the treif.
Gissinger lets child molester Yudi Kolko daven in his shul.
http://www.5tjt.com/news/read.asp?Id=5671
In light of the recent ruling of the Israeli Supreme Court against the U.S. extradition request for Mondrowitz, Rav Moshe Shternbuch was asked what the proper Torah response should be. Rav Shternbuch’s response was that even years later, an offender should still be punished “Lemaan Yishmeu VeYirau" - a biblical term meaning "so that all should hear and fear.”
This statement indicates that there is an obligation on the community to ensure that such types of activity be taken very seriously and to publicly demonstrate that offenders will be punished.
The extradition request came a full quarter century after he arrived in Israel. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office had indicted him 24 years ago on suspicion of committing 13 crimes against five boys aged nine to 13.
Justice Ayala Procaccia wrote that Mondrovich's right to a proper judicial procedure would be harmed if the extradition was carried out. She explained that this was on account of the lengthy period of time that had elapsed. Justices Elyakim Rubinstein and Miriam Naor agreed with Justice Procaccia, making the decision unanimous, and unappealable. The Supreme Court had rejected a lower court ruling handed down on February 10, 2008, upholding the state's request to extradite the suspect.
In the past Rabbi Shternbuch has warned schools that they have to take quite seriously any allegation of abuse and misconduct along these lines and not ignore rumors but rather investigate them properly. His views were written in the latest edition of his responsa (Teshuvos VeHanhagos Volume Five.)
Chaim Schwartz writes on page 11 of the Queens Vaad magazine that "many" establishments have a mashgiach for bedikas tolaim only and if not they are "prohibited" from washing vegetables and must buy "pre-checked" vegetables.
Not quite.
First of all, these "pre-checked" vegetables have often been Star-K or even with no symbol on the Dole package whatsoever.
Then, even some places using Bodek for regular items will still have a head of lettuce floating around for sandwich preparation, where someone just rips leaves off without checking. This can also be a nekius or health issue where the lettuce is black with dirt.
On this same page it says the Queens Vaad is a "member of the board of the 'executive committee' for bedikas tolaim of the Association of Kashrus Organizations (AKO)."
That's a mouthful!
I sure hope they aren't lowering the bar for other member hashgochos!
Welcome back "Queens" basher.
Before you open that 'cess-pool'
find out what really needs checking, how it should be checked and if in fact it is being checked.
The results are in, the basher is wrong on all counts and the 'cess-pool' needs another service call.
The BRC has lots of experience with this so try to enlist their help. Bring $$$.
To: Sun Jan 17, 09:31:00 PM 2010
It would be nice to call him Rabbi
Chaim....
With a little respect for others, maybe readers will take you seriously!!
We saved the "best" part for last.
Pages 4 & 5 of the latest Queens Vaad magazine features an attack written by Queens Vaad President AND OU Group Leader Yoel Schonfeld on "the blogs that claim to be watchdogs for kashrus". In this unspecific reference to R' Yudel Shain, R' Doniel Eidensohn, R' Feivel Mendlowitz and others, who he describes as the minions of "Satan", Schonfeld accuses them of "lies, distortions and lashon hora of the worst order", which he says "boggles" his mind.
This vicious attack piece which is nothing but a smokescreen for those exposing his own shortcomings and cover ups is also full of am haaratzus as will be delineated. This rebuttal was run by ainer fun der choshuve mashgichei ruchni to make sure it is on target.
After fawning over the gadlus of the Queens Vaad and OU for 3+ paragraphs, Schonfeld raises the spectre of the ominous sounding "Dark Side" aka his critics. We also can't help but wonder if Schonfeld is borrowing from Avi Shafran's shtick of making references to popular movies to get his points across, the "Dark Side" made famous by the "Star Wars" saga.
Schonfeld hints that those complaining about bugs in Queens Vaad vegetables are even worse because of onoas devarim against him. This is completely absurd. The Queens Vaad presents themselves to the public as providing a level of supervision that in actuality falls far short. Even if it somehow was onoas devarim to expose this fraud, there is one or two issurei Torah for onoah as opposed to 5 lavin for every single insect on the cheshbon of the public who is duped into trusting them.
Schonfeld brengt a "raayah" that the Neviim in Tanach gave musser to Klal Yisroel for every single issue except kashrus. "Why?" fregt er, because it wasn't as important as other mitzvos he thinks. Is Schonfeld kidding? We see from Chazal and Rishonim-Achronim that Klal Yisroel used to be on a very high madreigah in shmiras kashrus (See the medrashim and Sefer Yalkut Hagershuni on Seder Shmos). This is why the Neviim had no need to give musser about kashrus. Kashrus used to be on individualized level. When it becomes commercialized there is room for abuse. The baal Haflaah, R' Pinchos Halevi Horowitz, was one of the gedolei hador hundreds of years ago when kosher restaurants starting emerging. He wrote that if someone wants to guard his neshomo, he should not eat outside of his house.
Schonfeld moves on to the Chazal on Yom Hadin Hagadol if you were koveya ittim Latorah and were osek with emunah. In another one of his "gothcha!" moments he seizes that kashrus is not one of the questions from the Beis Din shel Maalah. How ridiculous! First of all the din is on everything and the meforshim only ask why 3 specific questions come first. But ha gufah, the Queens Vaad & OU should look in the mirror about being osek with emunah.
Schonfeld comes back at the end to give another big round of shkoyech to the "magnificent" job being done by the Queens Vaad & OU. He claims that he & his chevrah are shining light on his dark critics. Nice try deflecting where the blame lurks. The last sentence quotes Rav Breuer zl that "glatt yosher" is an imperative which he veiter uses as a taynah against his critics. Ain hachi nami Rabbi Schonfeld. Kshot atzmecha techilah.
Keep up the good work, Queens Basher. Your true colors are once again emerging.Come clean.
Tell the world what your demanding from the Queens Vaad.
Tell the world how much you want from the Queens Vaad.
Tell the world whats really bothering you.
Tell the world who in the Queens Vaad touched one of your nerves.
Tell the world details.
Tell the world proof.
Tell the world the truth.
Tell the the world 'I'm a professional basher'.
Tell the world that 'I patronize each and every Queens Vaad establishment'.
Tell the the world your name.
Tell the world that 'I'm ashamed to reveal myself'.
Tell the world your motives.
On shuldicks for not calling him Rabbi Chaim Schwartz.
Just curious, has he ever been a rov of a shul or magid shiur in a yeshiva anywhere?
It's true that the BRC (Bucharian hashgocho) is bad news but it doesn't excuse the Queens Vaad's failings. As a matter of fact, it seems that the Queens Vaad often turns an eye away from kashrus problems because they know if they make a shtink, the place will bolt for the more lenient BRC or others. This is where things really boil down to $$$ if you really must know.
You're going to have to do a better job of shooting the messenger than calling people names.
There are rabbonim in Queens who do not eat VHQ vegetables because they are not checked properly and any fool can see things in the open at some VHQ establishments.
We know exactly what we say when we say that the Queens Vaad is in miserable shape when it comes to checking for bugs and are far behind other area hashgochos in Brooklyn and 5 Towns.
"Tell the world what your demanding from the Queens Vaad."
As this Queens Vaad insider has been told before, fix the problems.
What we get instead are denial, cover ups and the Queens Vaad throwing tantrums online and offline.
It's interesting with all the hashgochos that get criticized here, no other starts having conniptions and arguing back like the Queens Vaad.
Does anyone know anything about a lakewood towing company giving kickbacks to hatzolah members for getting them the tow?
Don't pay any attention to the Queens Vaad. Menachem Lubinsky also tried to distract away from himself by attempting to discredit the blogs. We found out just how credible he was.
Meanwhile, Rav Dunner from England wrote this letter to a newspaper letting us know exactly what kind of dirty things Lubinsky is involved in now:
http://www.5tjt.com/news/read.asp?Id=5595
To keep this happening while diverting attention away from the real activities and towards the chareidi image being projected, Lubicom PR agency headed by Mr Menachem lubinsky was running a big-time campaign to keep the operation going. The seminars and the venues, the speakers and the message were all coordinated by Lubicom - who apparently billed
around $500,000 last year for their efforts. When has a serious klal
organization had its image and message manufactured by a PR company?
Yiddishkeit isnt a detergent or automobile which needs hard sell and message management and when something claiming to be yiddishkeit does, it should be immediately a cause for suspicion. It must be noted however that they do a great job as they have successfully managed to position
ejf as a mainstream and serious organization and create an image in the mind of unsuspecting Gedolim and public. They have also done a wonderful job post-tropper-fiasco of fighting a rearguard action with limited weaponry and under very adverse conditions. They produced some gloriously meaningless press releases designed to say nothing at all while the damage assessment was underway. They were all over the blogs with whole-hearted defenses of the defenseless which could not be attributed to them. They spread the usual quarter-truths and innuendos mixed in with a good dosage of plain old-fashioned sheker - the prime example of which is the mealy-mouthed puff-piece mentioned above that most frum
news outlets were paid kesef molei to run. (some were honest enough and brave enough not to run it and were subjected to a barrage of abuse by lubicom/ejf)
I read a teshuvah on the issue where the only way to spot the worms is to use special ultraviolet light which was not available to earlier poskim.
I discusse this with someone whose judgment I respect. He said that the reason that microscopic animals are kosher because "lo nitnah torah lemaalachei hashores". The same with the special tools needed.
I am wrong about the worms. They are camaflogued and cannot be detected by observation with the naked eye.
The so called Rabbonim who, the basher claims, don't eat Queens Vaad vegetables also don't eat their chickens (because it isn't Pella). They also don't eat meat.Ever.
They also don't eat turkey (no mesora).
There is no Hashgacha that has a better 'checking' policy then the Queens Vaad.
Prove it to youself. Just go to any establishment and find out.
(The Basher should not bother going, because he will be out of business when he finds out the truth.He won't have what to 'blabel' or 'babel' about.)
Again, tell the world how much money you want to extract from the Queens Vaad to stop 'trying to fix the world' (except youself).
Tell the world your credentials. What do you know about practical Kashrus?
What kind of training did you get? Besides self taught egotistical 'I know better then you' courses.
Tell the world concrete facts and back yourself up not just your illusional accusations.
Tell the world that your 'venom' is as true as the accusations of 'I know who' is defending the Queens Vaad of your non sense.
Could you comment on the pesak that I mentioned regarding salmon. Is he correct that the worms can only be detected using special equipment?
When I read the original issur, I asked his opinion. And, since tehn I have relied on it.
Please check the facts for me. Agai. Could you reduce teh chatter that is not halachic but gossip.
I raised a question about how these worms can be seen. I am awaiting your response.
The Queens Vaad insider who is currently calling himself "Bright Lights" is actually proving to be pretty dim and is doing a very poor job trying to cover up.
Nobody is falling for your ridiculous accusations of extortion. The Queens Vaad has not been asked for money and if you were, you could have the FBI arrest any extortionist in a second.
VHQ vegetables have nothing to do with different shitos on chicken & turkey. (Mesorah is not the only issue with turkey. There is also the cheshash of doress which is the shita of the Shaloh Hakadosh) We are not just referring to the rov who doesn't eat any beef. We have already explained in great detail what the problems are with the VHQ vegetables and how the Queens Vaad has not been applying any legitimate shita. For you to say that the Queens Vaad is the "best" is preposterous and could not be further from the truth.
Here is a refresher.
The VHQ sometimes relies on Achronim that you may check only a sample of lettuce. All the gedolim signed 25 years ago that we may no longer rely on these shitos because of new information that has emerged. The VHQ relies on a posek in KGH who admitted that he does not have shimush in checking for insects. It's good that Rabbi Chaim Schwartz is now trying to raise standards with light boxes etc but it is misleading to say this is uniform as he implies in the VHQ magazine. What we fear is that if Rabbi Schwartz does too good of a job, he will be terminated by certain elements in control, just as they did to Rabbi Katz who was the first serious administrator at VHQ in ages. This also explains why Rabbi Schwartz is seemingly powerless to stop the use of products under a Conservative rabbi. Is someone getting kickbacks or do they just have a special place in their heart for apikorsim?
The VHQ sometimes has Dole lettuce with Star K which does not have any real checking.
The VHQ sometimes has Dole lettuce with no hashgocho whatsoever.
VHQ is on a much lower level than many Brooklyn hashgochos, the 5 Towns Vaad, the OU, etc. One VHQ official admitted that following an acceptable standard found outside Queens is only voluntary.
VHQ establishments routinely violate the VHQ's own guidelines. The mashgichim have no clue because they put too much trust on baal habatim who don't care about much to begin with and don't do too much checking up. Even when they are caught, they get a slap on the wrist if even that. A few years ago, someone caught a VHQ client breaking the rules. He called Rabbi Richmond in a hurry only to be berated that he should call the office during business hours instead of his house. We don't know of any normal hashgocho that wouldn't appreciate being tipped off right away.
We checked out the story written here the other week by the Persian reader in Great Neck. He is correct that the VHQ is approving Bukspan's frozen vegetables over there. Tell anyone in hashgochos about Bukspan and you will be laughed right out of the building.
We know plenty of other hard facts and have a background in kashrus but we will not be baited by your childish comments into possibly revealing ourselves. We know you have been very busy blaming suspects and speculating who else is behind this. Good luck on your slapstick detective work but be advised that if you employ scorched earth tactics to cover up instead of fixing the problems, ver veisst what else could be publicly revealed for the first time. We have tipsters and snoops who give us information from VHQ establishments across Queens, Long Island & Westchester. We are in contact with rabbonim both in and out of Queens who we share our findings with. Unless there is Yad Hashem to improve the situation, we, our sympathizers and the rabbonim who are alarmed by the metzius will continue to avoid the vegetables and many other VHQ items and establishments.
i wont disagree with this basher guy. a rov told me that not many stores in queens are really checking vegetables right. he mentioned that the store on main street with the soft baked pretzels is one that is ok because the owner is a yiras hashem who checks every leaf even though the vaad doesnt force him to
And now we can add 'Star-k'
basher" as well.
Look out for more FREE advice.
Ahey, Vaad of queens. All the rabbis can retire. We have a new ANONYMOUS self appointed rabbinical commitee who will lead the Vaad of Queens and pull them out from the basement into the SPOTLIGHT and onto first place. Yhey!
Anyone with an inkling of what's going on knows that Star-K on Dole lettuce is worthless.
Even when Rabbi Gornish and the chassidishe guys were forced to pull their hechsherim from romaine because it was so infested, Star-K jumped right in to pick up the accounts and were denounced in a kol koray signed by 60 rabbonim.
Maybe this nudnik should retire from defending all the shvache hashgochos.
I don't understand people like Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld. I would have hoped that him leaving YU and hesder yeshiva circles for Lakewood would translate into him not going along with the corruption in Queens from the modern orthodox.
When Rabbi Sladowsky was Queens Vaad president, things were so bad that a restaurant on Queens Blvd had music and mixed dancing that no one would do anything to stop. What's being covered up under the current administration is almost as bad.
All you guys out there. Read the rules of Checking Veggies by Rabbi Eisen who is the mumcha here in America (published by the OU).
Most of the stuff used in stores
needs only a minimum checking (iceberg & cabbage - red or green).
The expensive stuff such as Romaine
(which most Hashgochos don't allow unless they have a special checking mashgich) mesceline and those other stuff are not used too often in most stores.
So why create a tumelt for a chumrah that you may have of checking each leaf on stuff that really does not need it?
save your tumelts for real issues.
In the days when Rabbi Sladowsky was active there also was plenty of chilul shabbos in the world.
There also was plenty of mixed dancing at orthodox events. Those days are over and gone. Lets not bad-mouth anyone (especially a Rabbi) based on todays standards.
If in those days nobody said anything there was good reason for that. You can't judge people today
for what was accepted 40 - 50 years
ago. You would not want anybody to hang out your laundry from years ago. Be fair.
Rabbi Eisen? give me a break, with all due respect-don't call him a mumcha in toleim. He is a fantasic convincing speaker, but a mumcha in toleim?
When a Rabbi (he considers himself a mumcha) giving a pesach hashgocha wanted Romain lettuce from POSITIVE, he was uncomfortable having them order directly from positive, so he had Rabbi Eisen place the order "now that's a mumcha".
Like it or not, Rabbi Eisen rules.
Whatever he says is sets the norm.
This is just another example of people having or creating chumrahs
and then shoving it down other peoples throats.
Get real and grow up.
I'm not talking 50 years ago when Young Israel had parties with mixed dancing.
I'm talking in the late 1990s when Rabbi Sladowsky was still in charge that Da Mikelle restaurant had mixed dancing.
The Queens Vaad bichlal is in a time warp with everything. It was only a few days before 2010 that they talked for the first time about using light boxes.
Gut morgen.
I'm surprised that R' Yudel is allowing this garbage to posted against R' Yosef Eisen.
There are 2 groups I know of that attack him:
The modern Lawrence crowd who don't care about kashrus so everything is a "chumra" to them.
A certain group who are angry that he speaks the truth about some shvache Brooklyn hashgochos.
He is 100% right about bugs and this plain halacha. He tested each brand of bagged lettuce and could tell you exactly who had how many critters per bag. And he gets a lot of information from people like Rav Beck who gives the hashgocho on the largest jam & preserves company in America and has a lot of shimush with fruits.
As far as Brooklyn, some call him a hypocrite because Kehillah also has problems but he is only an outside consultant to them and does not set their policies and run their cover ups.
From when is this supposed OU directive from Rabbi Eisen published? It doesn't sound right because light boxes have been used for every leaf of iceberg in the 5 Towns for at least 15 years.
25 years ago, R' Moishe, R' Yaakov, Rav Schwab and others signed that much more checking is needed than just samples.
Light boxes are a convenience.
According to all 'veggie-checking-guides' they do not have to be used to check iceberg & cabbage. That is the bulk of what most stores use.
To criticize people or hashgachas because not everyone has them is straight motzie shem rah.
Quoting or citing letters from Gedoloim that are taken out of context just adds to the bluff that these so called anti-establishment bloggers fuel.
We also checked out the queens blvd. story and once again only half the story is told.( it seems that these yentas forgot to either hear the rest of the story or left it out on purpose)
Love those who listen to all the third and forth hand gossip, draw conclusions, only quote the halve that suits them and then posken shaalos or print teshuvous based on these fictional issues.
vaad, shoefeld, eisen, great neck,queens blvd., this rov, that rov, sixty rabbonim, three rabonim.
whats next?
It's true that a light box in of itself is not a chiyuv, only a convenience when compared to checking under the light holding your arm up.
But each leaf needs to be checked according to the gedolim. The Achronim like Mishkenos Yaakov who say you can check small percentages may no longer be followed as per the gedolim due to new information in the 1980s from the research on infestation done by two Lakewood rabbis at California plantations with the assistance of Federal USDA agents.
Anyone saying different is either an am haaretz or a Queens Vaad plant who try very hard to shut down the discussion every time a comment is made ("anti-establishment" is their latest name-calling for those who have legitimate complaints).
You do have a right to be angry about the checking however as was R' Yaakov Kaminetzky who said that the Lakewood rabbonim shoud have never gone looking for the problems as there was no chiyuv to do so but now that they did we are stuck with a type of imposed chumra that we are mechuyev to keep.
The only way around doing each leaf is with commercial processing where you have many different things like power washing that introduce sfeikos if there are still bugs present. But a restaurant peeling off individual iceberg heads must check each leaf.
Nothing was "taken out of context" or "motzee shem ra" or "fiction". I know that the Queens Vaad critic is correct because I saw the letter printed in a kuntress. Besides the gedolim R' Moishe, R' Yaakov etc, it was also signed by all kinds of Chassidish and Sfardish rabbonim.
Mr. denial asked for facts but still explodes with anger when he got them while trying to stop any kind of honest dialog.
So if you claim that mixed dancing on Queens boulevard is only "half the story", what is the other half? If anyone is making a poor case and giving incomplete information, it would be you.
It's no surprise that Mr. Denial is also protecting Star-K since Queens Vaad is using their products.
You can huff and puff but you can't blow away the letter that was signed by 60 rabbonim against Rav Heinemann for the romaine scandal.
Does Rav Shain have copies of these letters to display? It would be great to shut Mr. Denial up for once and for all. Rav Shain has previously posted the letters from Rav Sternbuch that Star-K is making a churban out of kashrus, from R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach that Star-K cuts corners on bishul akum which is gorem intermarriage and from Rav Elyashev against the Queens Vaad for making millions of dollars by digging up an old cemetery for yesomim to resell the same kevarim to Russians. Real nice guys the Queens Vaad.
Many of the yungerleit in Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim buy Dole with Star K to eat at home. This is because the yeshiva's posek is the same posek for Vaad of Queens. It becomes a problem if you are invited for a Shabbos meal. Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim has always been very isolated (self imposed) and does not interact with the yeshivishe velt which is why they are decades behind the times in these inyanim. Some of the yungerleit do not eat it because their fathers have yedios in kashrus from the outside world.
Here he goes again. Mazel Tov. He admits that the OU, OK, star K (probably the chof K as well) all agree in their guides that light boxes are not needed. He also finally admits himself that light boxes are not required.
He decided that what he thinks the gedolim said, under unknown context, is the standard, should be the standard and must be the standard.
All others are 'blah blah blah...'.
This is not required, it is not the accepted standard among all the kashrus agencies.
Yet he chose to besmirch only the Vaad of Queens (in addition to all the mis-information, that he admits he is not aware of, and now wants to know.)
Now tell me that this 'whoever...he is...' has no issues with the Vaad.
Rabbi Eisen is no good (Chas V'sholom) according to him, but he has no issues with him just yet. Star-K is no good (C"V), but no issues with him either. If he starts with the OU, OK and/or Chof K, he won't be able to eat anything.
By now everyone figured out that there other issues on this 'whoever..'s mind, and he will
throw dirt at the Vaad weather it is kashrus, chevrah kadisha or all the other things he says he 'knows' about the Vaad.
Enough said. You can have the last word.
You want to change things start at the top. OU is # 1. Here he goes again. Mazel Tov. He admits that the OU, OK, star K (probably the chof K as well) all agree in their guides that light boxes are not needed. He also finally admits himself that light boxes are not required.
He deecided that what he thinks the gedolim said, under unknown context, is the standard, should be the standard and must be the standard.
All others are 'blah blah blah...'.
This is not required, it is not the accepted standard among all the kashrus agencies.
Yet he chose to besmirch only the Vaad of Queens (in addition to all the mis-information, that he admits he is not aware of,and now wants to know.)
Now tell me that his 'whoever...he is...' has no issues with the Vaad.
Rabbi Eisen is no good (Chas V'sholom) according to him, but he has no issues with just yet. Star-K is no good (C"V), butno issues with him either. If he starts with the OU, OK and/or Chof K, he won't be able to eat anything.
By now everyone figured out that there other issues on this 'whoever..'s mind, and he will
throw dirt at the Vaad weather it is kashrus, chevrah kadisha or all the other things he says he 'knows' about the Vaad.
Enough said. You can have the last word.
You want to change things start at the top. OU is # 1. Here he goes again. Mazel Tov. He admits that the OU, OK, star K (probably the chof K as well) all agree in their guides that light boxes are not needed. He also finally admits himself that light boxes are not required.
He deecided that what he thinks the gedolim said, under unknown context, is the standard, should be the standard and must be the standard.
All others are 'blah blah blah...'.
This is not required, it is not the accepted standard among all the kashrus agencies.
Yet he chose to besmirch only the Vaad of Queens (in addition to all the mis-information, that he admits he is not aware of,and now wants to know.)
Now tell me that his 'whoever...he is...' has no issues with the Vaad.
Rabbi Eisen is no good (Chas V'sholom) according to him, but he has no issues with just yet. Star-K is no good (C"V), butno issues with him either. If he starts with the OU, OK and/or Chof K, he won't be able to eat anything.
By now everyone figured out that there other issues on this 'whoever..'s mind, and he will
throw dirt at the Vaad weather it is kashrus, chevrah kadisha or all the other things he says he 'knows' about the Vaad.
You want to change things start at the top. Lets see what happens. OU is # 1.
Enough said. You can have the last word.
I think if you want to gossip about someone then put it on its own post.
The topic of this postis fish. I raised a point about salmon and the pesak I related based on an assumed metzius should be discussed. I asked if the facts were correct. Again. Can the worms be seen with the naked eye? Or do you need the special ultra violet light.
R. Shain. Please check out and report. Otherwise, why should anyone pay attention. There is no end to cheshoshot. Do you job. Please.
hey yudel dagim says reb aron ate from his fish why are you against them
The only person vos red shtussim is the Queens Vaad defender / staffer who keeps coming back to make incoherent arguments.
He is also trying to discredit any type of criticism of VHQ from any angle by conflating and making it sound like I am the only person who is complaining. All kinds of people are steaming mad at the Queens Vaad for all different reasons. You have Polin's chevrah upset that they had Bryks in charge of mikvaos, his shvogger Krohn doing his barbaric bris milos with approval, people upset about shvache kashrus, VHQ beis din scandals, chevra kadisha corruption. The Queens Vaad has got something for everyone.
When the gedolim first assered sample checking, the yeshivishe oylam basically stopped using lettuce & cabbage at all. For a while they were resorting to grinding kohlrabi knobs to make cole slaw. This was because of the huge time consuming hassle of checking both sides of every leaf under the light. The introduction of Bodek and light boxes alleviated this problem.
I happen to know about the mixed dancing and that one rosh yeshiva was calling them repeatedly veggen dem but no one would return his phone call. There is no "half" of a story despite what the liar tells you to cover up. The whole story is that there was dancing going on a regular basis and when it was breezy out they would leave the front door wide open so that you could see the devorim assurim from the street.
rabbai shain
you must be a magnet to bugs your the only one who sees them
all other ball machshers say
eichlu anovim visbou
hey yudel why does the whole olam say that your crazy
there is one extra bed in kimbals mental ward i just checked it out for you ask jurkansky he will help you get in your just hallucinating about bugs a whole day
refuah shlamoh
mr shain
i think you should go to rav batzri i think he can help you
who is this rasha yelling insults and denying there are bugs? any fool knows there are bugs in leafy greens. i was in mesivta when the gedolim spoke about the new yedios of infestation. the rebbe brought a head of lettuce to shiur which we picked apart. no surprise that we found bugs.
a few years ago i was at someone's house when the strawberry tumult started. they found it hard to believe. i told them check the berries carefully. guess what? they found bugs.
to the person who called me a rasha
how can you call me a rasha when im am a rabbai
1 got simicah from the lakewood directory
look inside you will see evreybody in lakewood is a rabbai
rabbossai dont be so hard on rabbai shain he knows what he is talking about
im am a caterer and i see first hand all the bugs in food
rabbai shain must be a gilgul from yona hanovie to know so much about fish. he saw first hand all the bugs in the stomach
rabbai shain thanks alot for all that you do chasak vemotz
Post a Comment