SHATNEZ fraud IN MONSEY?-YES! (It's worse than you think!) Lakewood Branch???

Update: This was reconfirmed

Background: Monsey shatnez test center is unqualified to test, and they put on non-shatnez labels on clothing that have shatnez. R"L = All clothing must be rechecked!

SHATNEZ TESTING: The Monsey Shatnez Test Center does testing in Monsey, Queens, Englewood & other areas as well.
While testing in Queens, there arose some questions by some of the Queens "Rabonim" as to the expertise of the tester. The Rabonim had garments that the Monsey tester labeled as non-Shatnez was re-tested by the National Shatnez Testing laboratory & found that they did in fact contain Shatnez.

The Rabonim confronted the Monsey tester, & was told that these garments contain Shatnez, yet he was unable to identify the places that contained the Shatnez. Other tests were prepared for the tester to ascertain his degree of expertise. After the conclusion of the testing of his expertise he was advised not to return to Queens.

We followed up with approaching Rabonim in Monsey, NY to advise them to follow up on the serious concerns of the conclusion of the Queens Rabonim. The Monsey Rabonim sent garments to the Monsey test center & had the same results; the National Shatnez The Monsey Shatnez Test Center does testing in Monsey, Englewood & other areas as well. The Monsey Shatnez Test Center used to go to Queens to do shatnez testing in Rabbi Friedman’s Shul & David’s Cleaners on Main Street every Sunday morning.

In June ’01-Sivan ‘61, some of the Queens "Rabbonim" (Rabbis Yigal Haimoff ,Shlomo Teitelbaum) began to suspect the validity of the Monsey tester. Therefore the Rabbonim acquired three garments that contained shatnez and sent them to the Monsey tester for testing via David Cleaners in Queens. All three garments the Monsey tester labeled as non-Shatnez. These garments were re-tested by the Directors of the National Association of Professional Shatnez Testers & Researchers (Lakewood) who confirmed that they did indeed contain Shatnez in obvious places, that any qualified tester should be able to find easily.

Rabbis Yigal Haimoff, Teitelbaum, Peretz Steinberg confronted the Monsey tester (June17’01-26 Sivan’61 in Rabbi Friedmans Shul), & they informed him that these garments contain Shatnez, yet he was unable to identify the places of the Shatnez.(?)

Another test was prepared for the Monsey tester to ascertain his degree of his expertise that took place on June 20th ’01 in front of Rabbis Oelbaum,Teitelbaum, Peretz Steinberg, Savitsky. They concluded by advising him not to return to Queens.

On July 17 ’01-26 Tamuz,’61 Rabbi Shain together with the Directors of the NAPSTAR met with Rabbis Yisroel Hager, Weissmandel, Schnebalg, Neiman to discuss the seriousness of the problem concerning the Monsey Shatnez Test Center.

The Directors of the NAPSTAR were asked to come to Monsey and demonstrate to the Rabbonim where was the shatnez in the garments that was certified as non–shatnez by the Monsey Test Center. The Directors of the NAPSTAR clearly showed Rabbis Yisroel Hager, Weissmandel, Schnebalg, Neiman the Shatnez, by use of Microscopes. The Rabbonim were shocked and dismayed how the shatnez was missed and that they all had labels non-Shatnez labels affixed to them by the Monsey tester.

Rabbis Yisroel Hager, Weissmandel, Schnebalg, Rottenberg, Neiman confronted the Monsey Shatnez Center with the facts on July 26th ’01-5 Av,’61 where he confessed that he is lacking the knowledge to be able to test properly & the Rabonim concluded that he is not qualified to test for Shatnez unless he attends extensive shatnez training sessions. (which the Monsey tester didn’t follow up)

Thereafter he went to the "Bnai-Brak" & Yerushlaim Shatnez laboratories to attempt to obtain a certification (August 12th- 15th). Rabbi Shain advised them to test his Shatnez knowledge.They interviewed him & advised him that he will require a least whole year of training in their Laboratory before they can consider certification. The Monsey tester informed them that he is leaving the Shatnez testing field altogether. Upon his return to Monsey he decided nonetheless to continue Shatnez testing.

A meeting of Rabbis Yisroel Hager,Weissmandel, Schnebalg, Rottenberg & the Belzer Dayan took place in Monsey on August 30th ’01-11Elul,’61 on how to proceed. Monday September 3rd ’01-15 Elul,’61 a comprehensive meeting took place. Rabbonim with the Bodkim of Lakewood, Williamsburg & Monsey. The purpose of the meeting was to try to get everyone to work as a unit.

Rabbonim attending were: Rabbis Yisroel Hager, Weissmandel, Schnebalg, Neiman, Rottenberg, Belzer Dayan , Satmar Dayan Also present were Rabbis Shain, Yeshaya Dovid Feier, and the Director’s of NAPSTAR R’ Yoel Schockett & R’Yosef Sayagh, & the Director of Lee Ave Shatnez Lab. R’ Yitzchok Gluestien and R’ Yakov Kreitman the Monsey tester. The conclusion of the meeting was that R’ Yakov Kreitman was going to be trained by R’ Yoel Schockett.

On Sept ’01-13 Elul,’61 Rabbi Schnebalg asked of R’ Schockett to please send R’ Yakov Kreitman the Monsey tester a garment that contains shatnez to see if he will find it, the shatnez was unfortunately missed. After Succos, by Nov 1st ’01-15 Cheshvan, ‘62 a total of nine garments were sent to the Monsey tester and all were certified as Non –Shatnez. All this was done under the auspices of Rabbi Schnebalg. On Nov 7th ’01-21 Cheshvan, ‘62 NAPSTAR were asked to come to Monsey & demonstrate to Rabbis Yisroel Hager, Weissmandel, Schnebalg, Neiman, Rottenberg where was the shatnez that was certified as non–shatnez by the Monsey Test Center.

Rabbi Rottenberg wrote everything that was said by the Directors of the NAPSTAR as to where the shatnez in every garment was, and then he sent the garments to WLSBG & Boro Park for further clarification. The Rabbonim met with the Monsey Tester and asked him to resign. Thereafter he obtained the certification of Bais Din "Mishpat-Sholom" in Brooklyn, NY despite “Mishpat Shalom” being advised by the Monsey Rabonim of the serious situation &; “mich’shol li’rabim”.

"Mishpat-Sholom" also certifies Lee Ave Laboratory. "Mishpat-Sholom Rabonim" admit that they don’t know the practical aspects of shatnez testing nor do they have a qualified expert in the practical testing of Shatnez in the Bais-Din. Lee Ave Brooklyn lab claims that they have retrained the Monsey tester. The fact remains that after retraining, we are confronted with the same problems, Shatnez garments having labels non-Shatnez.

Please Note: The writer, R' Yehuda Shain was trained in Shatnez testing under R' Yosef Rosenberger OB"M 45 +- years ago, and worked under his personal guidance. A meeting was called by Mishpat-Sholom Bais-Din (WLSBG) to update them of the findings of the Queens & Monsey Rabbonim as far as the Monsey tester.

The meeting took place in Wlsbg on Jan 16th ’02-3 Shevat, ‘62, Rabbi Shain & the Director of the NAPSTAR were present together with representatives of the Lee Ave Shatnez center. Why wasn’t the most important individual present, "the Monsey tester"?.

Some prominent Rabonim advised against going to the meeting called by the Bais-Din Mishpat Shalom as their intentions are to cover up & to make the accusers look foolish. We were not ready (at the time) to accept that a Bais-Din will be using such tactics. Also at the meeting was a CPA who brought some suits of his (purchased at the “British-American House” NYC) that were tested by the Lee Ave Shatnez center & labeled as Non-Shatnez. After retesting them at the Flatbush Lab (not affiliated with Lee Ave. Lab) they were found to contain obvious Shatnez.

Also present was a prominent Flatbush Rov, Rav Eliezer Ginsburg & a Flatbush askan. At first the Lee Ave. Lab told all of us & the Bais-Din that their tester has not been going to the British American House in NYC for 3 years (which was not true). The owner of the suits called the store from the Bais-Din & they said that the Lee Ave. Labs tester comes every 2 weeks to do Shatnez testing. The Bais-Din Mishpat Shalom was in a bind by certifying Shatnez garments as non-Shatnez.

Mishpat Shalom decided on a new tactic & wanted to know one thing only “why we brought this new problem to them"? This questions the qualifications of the current Lee Ave Laboratory as well. The current head of Lee Av Lab is the son in law of Mr. Rosenberger, OB"M who never let him get involved in Shatnez testing. (He obviously realized that he wasn’t qualified).

The CPA & Rav Eliezer Ginsburg asked the Mishpat-Sholom Bais-Din how they intend to deal with this additional serious problem. The Bais-Din responded that it's of utmost importance to know why I told the Flatbush group about this meeting & thereby putting them in a corner. And till they do not get a satisfactory response they will not address any real Shatnez issues.

Then one of the Judges said a long story about him eating a hot piece of Gefilte fish & going to the hospital, & it's hard for him to talk; yet all the Mishpat Shalom Judges had him do all of the talking.

We saw that the Monsey tester was not present & Lee Ave Lab was there, we realized the "set-up". At that point it was useless to remain any longer (2 + hours) at the meeting. We must confess that the Rabonim that advised us against going to the meeting, were regretfully right, as this is the outcome they foretold.

The facts as they are today, the Monsey Shatnez Center & the Lee Ave Lab. are certifying clothing containing Shatnez as "non-Shatnez", under Mishpat-Sholom Certification. The "Right Place" in Borough Park was advised that their tester is unqualified & is certifying suits containing Shatnez as "non-Shatnez", the Right Place refuses to stop deceiving the public and buyer beware.

All of the "Right Place" suits require re-testing by a qualified lab, which excludes the following labs: Lee Ave Lab & their affiliates, Monsey Test Center. They claim to be guided by a Psak of a Rov. The Shatnez testing fee is a fraud. We verified that the Rov was given wrong and misleading information.

There have been surfacing some fraudulent letters about Shatnez & other related issues. The Rabonim signed authentic letters that certain Shatnez testers are not to be relied upon. The fraudulent letters are known as the "Weinberg-letters". The Copy Express on Lee Ave. in Williamsburg is more than happy to provide anybody with copies of the fraudulent "Weinberg-letters".

Pps. Rabbis, among others were invited to the Shatnez meetings & turned it down as he is an” Erliche responsible tester” (e.g. Erlicher butcher) .This information is current.
CONCLUSION! YOU MUST RECHECK ALL YOUR CLOTHING!

For reliable Shatnez test centers in your area call 732–905–2628 or 732-364-7056
or
http://home.comcast.net/~shatnez/testing_labs.html
Since this past Rosh Hashonah, Lakewood "Kreitman" branch also is unqualified & misses shatnez.

Yah'hadus in Monsey?

Some history is in order; When I lived in Monsey some 50 plus years ago there were no restaurants, caterers, eateries to speak about. If there was a Bar Mitzvah, it was in Bais Medrash Elyon and the Appledorfer’s made the kidush and the cholent, etc. 


Now, the scenery has changed without anyone controlling the reins of kashrus. Therefore, in Monsey and the surrounding communities are very susceptible to weakness in kashrus, shatnez among other issues of Yah’hadus for some yet unexplained reason(s). Is it that the residents or Rabbonim are not demanding anything?


We had the Shevach/Finkel episode, the KYO restaurant, King David, China Town, Monsey Shatnez tester, etc. among some smaller non-publicized episodes.

It was proven to a group of 7-8 Monsey Rabbonim at countless meetings and demonstrating to them many sets of clothing that had “non-shatnez labels affixed to them by the Monsey tester, yet contained shatnez. Other garments that had non-shatnez labels were not even opened up for testing, a total sham.

The kosher certifiers in the Monsey and surrounding areas over the past few years were generally nothing to write home about, definitely nothing to be proud of either. As long as the kosher Certifier had a title Rabbi, Dayan, etc. it was accepted, even though it just barely good-enough, sometimes not even that much.


The uneducated kosher consumers have been used to look for certain “buzz-words”, Heimish, Chasidishe, etc. In the real world of kosher, those buzz-words don’t really work.

At most one should be able to at least rely on the Owner/Management of the establishment for the kashrus standard and system when there is these type of kosher certifiers. Sadly, that is very often not the case.

Numerous times it’s the fault of some local Rabbonim/Askonim that get in the way of addressing serious issues head-on. The lack of proper Shatnez testing in Monsey area is the fault of Forshay area Rabbonim. 

The weak kashrus and the scandals in the Monsey area is also attributable very much to the Forshay Rabbonim.

We recently had the Monsey Eiruv blow-up, with valid accusations regarding the weakness of kashrus, yet as soon as the real issues of the Franklins became resolved, the kashrus issues became null and void, yet more they publicized that the failed Hashgocha will work with the dysfunctional Mivakshei-Kashrus, which they are  no more than a “Wan ’ne-be” Organization to upgrade of kashrus standards through unqualified clueless mashgichim with the best of intentions.

As the saying goes “the road to … is paved with the best of intentions”.

Where were all of the Rabbonim and Mivakshei-Kashrus for the 10 plus years? They did a Choni Hamaagel sleep, now they all turned over to the other side and went back to sleep once they got their desired green-backs, and they are calling it “ we made Shalom”, “what a sham and defrauding of the kosher consumer”.

In kashrus, one must realize that there are two main areas of concern; the system in place, and the kashrus standards. When one has a strong tight system but a lower standard, we still have basic kashrus, on the other hand if one claims to have very high standards, but no reliable system in place, we do not have any kashrus at all.

There were over the years various Hashgochas appearing on the Scene in the Monsey area which did not give any level of comfort to the ones that are looking for even basic kashrus standard. To add to that, when we tried recently to publish a full-page advertisement in the “Community Connections” that addressed many kashrus issues including some unreliable kashrus items in Monsey, the Community Connections refused to publish the advertisement.

There is a Rabbi Binyamin Taub living in Monsey area, giving some hashgochas to food service establishments. He has been in the kashrus field for many years, he’s very knowledgeable, very organized, etc. perhaps as a first step, ask the vendors to utilize his hashgocha. The Rabbonim can and should check him out, afterwards they should advise their congregants and constituents to only purchase items from a vendor that has the acceptable hashgocha.

UPDATE; Lakewood Bais Din L'Inyanay Shatnez, certified test center "not-reliable" R"L- must re-check all clothing

There have been numerous incidents where the Lakewood Shatnez test under the hashgocha of the  Lakewood Bais Din L'Inyanay Shatnez, has been found to be definite Shatnez even though it was certified as Non-Shatnez.

The incidents were numerous, too many to be called a mistake. The places where the Shatnez was fond indicate a complete lack of knowledge of the expertise required to properly check for Shatnez. We are not talking of re-processed issues, regular straight out "shatnez" according to any "mumcha".

Therefore previous tested clothing by above,  should be re-tested by a qualified test center. 

The fact of the Bais Din certification on that Test center puts to question of the Knowledge the Members of the Bais Din poses in the Expertise of Shatnez testing.

EMPORIO with SHATNEZ certified by 203 Lee Ave as "non-shatnez"

This Consumer alert of finding shatnez in checked clothing, is all too common with clothing checked by affiliates of 203 Lee Ave, Brooklyn, NY Labs and the Monsey Shatnez test center. Both of them are certified by Bais-Din Mishpat Sholom

NOTE: Educated consumers use only Shatnez Labs that are affiliated with the International Organization of Professional Shatnez Laboratories.

An eye opener re; Shatnez in Lakewood and Monsey-Update: Almost all Lakewood's suit stores currently have serious shatnez issues.

https://jnews.us/shaatnez-testers-in-monsey/

Please see the attached Consumer Notice. 

As the Centurion brand suits are manufactured in China, scrap materials are being put into each and every suit. As such, it is incumbent to test for shatnez at a competent shatnez laboratory, each and every suit before wearing.

Above is a picture of a dart with linen threads, that was discovered in a Centurion woolen men's suit sold at His Place in Lakewood. To their credit, they are advising consumers to check their suits for shatnez.

Please publicize.

Thank you,

Rabbi Moshe Bresler

Vaad L'Mishmeres Shatnez

1-877-4-SHATNEZ

Shatnez???? yes-can't rely on them

All of the reliable shatnez labs are affialiated with the International Association of shatnez Labs

The following ones are not reliable at all.

G & G CLOTHING

Including All of their branches
Borough Park, Williamsburg, Monsey, Monroe, Hungary, etc

must recheck all of their clothing

***********************************

EMPORIO clothing

The RIGHT PLACE Boro Park

MONSEY SHATNEZ TEST CENTER

203 LEE AVENUE & their sample takers

GELB the tester from 203 Lee Ave (do not confuse with the reliable tester Sasson Gelb)

Copy express-Yankel Weinberger

Mishpat Sholom certified labs

All clothing purchased in frum stores must be checked for Shatnez by a qualified testers affiliated with the International Shatnez testers Association

 

בס"ד אב תשפ"ג Shatnez Warning Many instances of shatnez are found in garments produced and sold by Jewish-owned companies. As an example, Fino Custom Clothiers is a Jewish-owned retail outlet that produces and sells men’s custom suits in New York and New Jersey, including Monsey and Lakewood. Over the past couple of weeks, laboratory results have verified that two of its suit styles (pictured below) have all been found to contain shatnez. Obviously, one may not wear the pictured suits. Additionally, as with all Jewish-owned stores, all Fino Custom brand suits should be tested for shatnez before wearing. These incidents underscore the severe problem of assuming that shatnez cannot occur in garments produced by Jewish-owned companies. Please publicize! ,בברכה ועד למשמרת שעטנז Vaad L'Mishmeres Shatnez 64 Aspen Court, Lakewood United States of America You received this email because you signed up on our website or made a purchase from us. Unsubscribe

Unauthorized Shatnez tester in the "Heights".

The Monsey shatnez Test center continues to deceive the public with their testing. ALL of their tested garments require retesting by a qualified Shatnez test lab. All of the labs affiliated with the International Shatnez testers are qualified.

2nd Update: Shatnez testing-who should I use?

There isn't any ביטול בשעטנז anymore, because it's a דבר שיש לו מתירין-(the Kreitman group and Lee Ave, are מתיר everything)

I eat anything with a "K", I read ingredients list, then I decide if it's kosher enough, I use non- Glatt, any kosher symbol, I use $25.00 Mezuzahs, ד' מינים, חינוך,tefilin $250.00, we aren't into yoshon or infestation, there are many heteirim, etc.

Then the following Shatnez testers are for you;

Kreitmans- Monsey & Lakewood- 

Shatnez Maven, Shatnez specialists, Cleaning Station River Ave-Cleaners in SeaGull Mall-etc.

The following clothing stores are NOT for you;

 Emporio-

Prestige-

His Place "South Side".

If you are one that has a different standard in Kashrus, then buy your clothing anyplace provided it's then checked by a qualified shatnez lab. make sure the store will allow you to return it, if it's not feasible to remove the Shatnez. 

Shatnez Alert :Monsey shatnez-All items require re-testing

Monsey Shatnez Shiur