FOR THE FIRST — and perhaps last — time, Kosherfest included a kosher supervisory agency run by a non-Orthodox rabbi. Rabbi Jason Miller’s Kosher Michigan certifies more than 50 businesses and is one of only a handful of non-Orthodox supervising agencies in North America.
In an e-mail interview, Menachem Lubinsky, Kosherfest’s founder and coproducer, said that Kosher Michigan is “the first non-Orthodox agency that has even attempted to exhibit at the show” and that it “fell between the cracks.”
The show’s salespeople did not realize Kosher Michigan “was not an Orthodox agency,” Lubinsky said. The show is under the kosher supervision of the Association of Kashrus Organizations, which takes responsibility only for those booths that are either AKO members or offer products that meet AKO standards. Miller, added Lubinsky, “is clearly not a member and his products do not meet AKO standards. Show management will take steps to assure that only AKO-approved exhibitors participate in the show in 2014.”
Interviewed by phone, Miller, who is based in suburban Detroit and certifies over 50 companies, most of them in the Midwest, emphasized that he had not hidden his Conservative identity; in fact, Kosher Michigan’s exhibitor blurb — which, Miller said, has been on the Kosherfest website for months, states in the first sentence that the agency was founded in 2008 by a Conservative rabbi.
“Certainly the ultra-Orthodox do not want to believe a non-Orthodox rabbi is able to run a successful kosher certification agency,” he said, “but the facts on the ground are that that’s what’s happening.
“The marketplace — the consumers — have the loudest voice in this industry so the market will dictate which certification agencies are authentic and which are not…. My goal has always been to increase the number of kosher options without increasing the cost.”
Miller emphasized that he uses the same standards as Orthodox supervisors. “If you look in the Torah or Talmud, nothing says a certifying agent has to have Orthodox smiha,” he said.
Have the rabbonim certifying this product studied the anatomy of goats with competent veterinarians to be sure there is no issue like the surgeries which render many cows "teraifa"? And does this rabbi allow others to go to the farms and milking facilities to evaluate kashrus standards? just curious.
i bought it taste gantz fine
ReplyDeleteHow do you supervise "Chalav Yisrael"?
ReplyDeleteIs this raw milk (no pasteurization), or do you have to kasher the pasteurization equipment?
What temperature do you kasher at?
What's the story with their cheeses?
What happens with milking on Shabbos?
ReplyDeleteDoes the mashgiach come in on Shabbos, or not?
Do you need to differentiate between cholov Yisrael, and any non cholov Yisrael?
How?
Interesting that AKO is directly providing a hashgocho but I don't believe that between them & Lubinsky no one caught this before the show started.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.njjewishnews.com/article/19128/noshing-becomes-big-business-at-kosherfest#.UoWngXCsh8E
FOR THE FIRST — and perhaps last — time, Kosherfest included a kosher supervisory agency run by a non-Orthodox rabbi. Rabbi Jason Miller’s Kosher Michigan certifies more than 50 businesses and is one of only a handful of non-Orthodox supervising agencies in North America.
In an e-mail interview, Menachem Lubinsky, Kosherfest’s founder and coproducer, said that Kosher Michigan is “the first non-Orthodox agency that has even attempted to exhibit at the show” and that it “fell between the cracks.”
The show’s salespeople did not realize Kosher Michigan “was not an Orthodox agency,” Lubinsky said. The show is under the kosher supervision of the Association of Kashrus Organizations, which takes responsibility only for those booths that are either AKO members or offer products that meet AKO standards. Miller, added Lubinsky, “is clearly not a member and his products do not meet AKO standards. Show management will take steps to assure that only AKO-approved exhibitors participate in the show in 2014.”
Interviewed by phone, Miller, who is based in suburban Detroit and certifies over 50 companies, most of them in the Midwest, emphasized that he had not hidden his Conservative identity; in fact, Kosher Michigan’s exhibitor blurb — which, Miller said, has been on the Kosherfest website for months, states in the first sentence that the agency was founded in 2008 by a Conservative rabbi.
“Certainly the ultra-Orthodox do not want to believe a non-Orthodox rabbi is able to run a successful kosher certification agency,” he said, “but the facts on the ground are that that’s what’s happening.
“The marketplace — the consumers — have the loudest voice in this industry so the market will dictate which certification agencies are authentic and which are not…. My goal has always been to increase the number of kosher options without increasing the cost.”
Miller emphasized that he uses the same standards as Orthodox supervisors. “If you look in the Torah or Talmud, nothing says a certifying agent has to have Orthodox smiha,” he said.
Have the rabbonim certifying this product studied the anatomy of goats with competent veterinarians to be sure there is no issue like the surgeries which render many cows "teraifa"? And does this rabbi allow others to go to the farms and milking facilities to evaluate kashrus standards?
ReplyDeletejust curious.
Goat milk is useless is if it pasteurized. It kills all the beneficial bacteria and enzymes.
ReplyDelete