Attention: Beef Purveyors and Certifying Agencies
The ongoing beef shortages of the past several years have reached a point where the industry can no longer treat this as a temporary inconvenience. We believe the time has come to introduce a non-Glatt line into the market, and we are asking you to take this seriously and act on it.
This is not a new or radical idea — it is a return to how things worked for most of American kosher history. Roughly seventy-five years ago, the great majority of kosher beef sold in this country was non-Glatt, and it was accepted as fully kosher by the overwhelming majority of Ashkenazi consumers. The wholesale shift to Glatt-only distribution followed Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum's push to move the market away from non-shomer-Shabbos distribution channels — a legitimate concern at the time, but one that has since hardened into an assumption that Glatt is the only acceptable standard, which halacha itself does not require.
We also have practical precedent, both recent and current. In 2008, when the Agriprocessors shutdown triggered a nationwide kosher meat shortage, Harvard Row Kosher Meats in West Bloomfield, Michigan, working with the Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit (COR) under Rabbi Doniel Neustadt, began sourcing and selling properly supervised non-Glatt beef alongside its Glatt offerings. The COR provided full-time supervision to stand behind it, consumers were clearly informed of the distinction, and the community absorbed a supply shock without being pushed toward non-kosher meat. The Chicago Rabbinical Council (cRc) also had a non-Glatt line available a few years back.
And this isn't only a historical model — United Mehadrin Kosher (UMK) in St. Paul, Minnesota, under Rabbi Asher Zeilingold, certifies beef as non-Glatt today unless it is specifically labeled otherwise. The infrastructure and precedent already exist. There is no reason a version of this can't be made permanent and mainstream rather than treated as a regional or emergency-only measure.
With proper supervision and proper seals in place, there is no legitimate reason distribution logistics should stand in the way. That is a solvable problem, not a barrier — and it should not be used as an excuse for inaction.
What is not solvable, and what should concern every one of you, is what's already happening on the ground: simply raising the price of USA beef is pushing people — including those who are only marginally affected, not just those in real financial distress — toward non-kosher beef. That is a direct consequence of continuing with the status quo, and it is a consequence this community cannot afford to absorb.
We are not raising this as a suggestion to be filed away. It requires action.
If there is anything we can do to help move this forward, please advise.
Thanks,
Yehuda Shain
11 comments:
wow! this is not the place i expected to read this type of suggestion
The best action would be Horav Reb Yudel Shlit”a would be the first to give the KOSHE non glatt his hashgacha.
2. He should check out Hebrew national which ‘suppose it Lo’ has improved their standards somewhat. He should post that it’s allowable lechatchila. The goiyom already know that it’s the best hot dog. But it’s time for ‘inzereh’ to find out what a hot dog taste like.
Of course no one expects Reb Yudel to go that direction -it’s not a very great political move.
But, of course all others should go that way.
Nu.Nu.
What do you mean? There has always been non-Glatt supply (even if it’s labeled Glatt!). Do you need a map to point you to Iowa & South America?
Poel yotze of the resulting fleish shortage: OU Kosher is responding on 2 fronts. It’s urging consumers to validate the kosher symbol and check package integrity on everything they buy & instructed its mashgichim in the field to take extra caution during this period. For shoppers, the practical translation is simple. Confirm the hechsher is real & correctly applied before you buy. Make sure seals & packaging are intact & undamaged. Be skeptical of meat offered at prices that look too good while everyone else is short. If a deal on kosher beef seems to defy a national shortage, that’s a reason to check the label harder, not a reason to celebrate.
Really Yudel is the one responsible for the shortage. Now all the agri folks will buy Bella and Frankel so the frum poor Yeshivah guys will be left eating honey cake and challa.
There is nothing else to eat according to Yudel.
Will the owner of this blog start eating non-Glatt? If you remember, there was a blog owner a few years ago who was pushing for non-Glatt by Agi & he was told they weren't interested in him. The rest is history.
So Reb Yudel, tell us if Hebrew national hot dogs are really as good as they say.
Truth of the matter is that there is some plain kosher Non-Glatt currently in the Market, but the supply must be enlarged considerably.
Currently ther is the Hebrew National brands, the Zelingold UMK, SBD Rabbi Hatchual, the Rabanut at postville and at solomon's shechitas.
Solomon’s too? What is the brand name of their non-Glatt?
I was told by a former shochet by the huge amount of animals that are shechted per day there is more of a chance that not only are people nit getting glatt as it is but also there is a possibility they are eating treifos
You need a better source than this. Rav Elyashev said Belsky has no neemonus, not in kashrus nor in any other miktzoyos of halacha. Ralbag Sr, whose Triangle K is a galechter, was Belsky's shutef in the mamazerus scams & beatings who only didn't go to prison because he' s a Moisser who cooperated with the Feds to put the others away. He probably ratted out Belsky alein whose house was turned upside down by the FBI shortly before he was niftar. They spent an entire day carting away documents & other evidence
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