KO S H E R C O NSISTEN C 11 1
SUSAN WELCH
ALAN HITSKY
A
t one time in Detroit, a
customer in search of
kosher beef would have
been spoiled by choices.
More than 90 kosher
butchers existed, served by at least
three local packing houses.
Times have changed with the
advent of the supermarket, looser
adherence to kashrut and a shift in
eating habits. One beef
slaughterhouse now serves 12 retail-
ers who, in recent years, have also
faced changes instituted by the
Council of Orthodox Rabbis (Vaad
Harabonim) in its efforts to achieve
standardized observance of kashrut.
One thing hasn't changed. The
consumer wants genuinely kosher,
quality beef and is willing to pay
more for it.
National reports of kosher fraud
.
Are Detroiters
getting what
they pay for
at the local
kosher butcher
shop?
and recurrent local disputes have
fueled consumer concern about cost -
and reliability. But there is a reas-
suring consideration: The Detroit in-
dustry enjoys an excellent national
reputation (See next page).
To preserve its reputation, the
Vaad Harabonim, in what secretary
Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg calls "a
very important step," is seeking to
fill the newly created position of
administrative director of kashrut.
"One of his first assignments,"
says Rabbi Goldberg, is to analyze
the whole system to make it more
secure."
State law defines "kosher" as
"prepared or processed in accordance
with Orthodox Hebrew require-
ments, sanctioned by a recognized
rabbinical council." The Council of
Orthodox Rabbis, which includes
most Orthodox rabbis in Detroit and
nearby communities, provides this
sanction.
The process of providing kosher
beef to Detroit-area consumers starts
at Monarch Packing Company,
which serves the vast majority of the
local butchers. (Feldman Brothers
and Cornbelt Beef Corp. supply
kosher veal and lamb.)
Rabbi Yoel Sperka supervised
the kosher procedures at Monarch
with Vaad Vice President Rabbi
Shaiall Zachariash. The Vaad pays
$100 a week for the three-to-four
days of supervision required. Addi-
tionally, Monarch employs two rab-
bis as schochtim (kosher slaughter-
ers) at an annual cost of over
$60,000, according to Managing di-
rector Stewart Gottlieb. These
schochtim are responsible for the
ritual slaughter, meticulous inspec-
tion and stamping of some 350 head
of cattle a week.
These -rigorous steps add consid-
erably to the cost of production.
Gottlieb, whose packing house also
handles a large volume of non-
kosher business, says it takes almost