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between the ages of 5 and 18, instruction is provided on an
individual basis at all levels. Sessions fill up rapidly, so call and
register today or stop by at 29350 Northwestern, just west of
Franklin Road in Southfield.
•
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56
FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 1990
851.1994
Hebrew National Kosher,
N.Y. State Court Rules
STEWART AIN
Special to The Jewish News
ebrew National's
meat products are
kosher, the State of
New York has concluded in
closing a year- long probe of
the Bronx-based firm.
Allegations of kosher law
violations against Hebrew
National by Rabbi Robert
Schwartz, a kosher super-
visor at the firm's In-
dianapolis plant, were
nothing more than a dispute
between two rabbis, the
state said.
"This is a case where one
rabbi found a practice accep-
table and another rabbi
didn't," said a spokesman
for the state's Department of
Agriculture and Markets.
"The kosher laws don't ad-
dress such a situation. It is
up to the rabbis to decide
what is kosher."
Isidore "Skip" Pines,
chairman and chief exec-
utive officer of Hebrew Na-
tional, said the company
"feels very good" about the
decision and now wants to
"put this behind us.
"These things are unfor-
tunate, because they take
the focus off our main pur-
pose — providing top-quality
products with the best rab-
binic supervision to our
customers," said Pines.
The case was closed, said a
state official, "because we
could not substantiate any of
the allegations. It became
not a matter of facts but of
rabbinic interpretation."
Schwartz had charged that
meat products were cooked
on the Sabbath in September
1986 and that they were
cooked without rabbinic
supervision and shipped in
boxes with insufficient or no
drainage. He also claimed,
among other things, that
meat products were being
improperly de-veined and
were delivered without the
required kosher tags.
Disputing Schwartz' asser-
tions of violations was an-
other kosher supervisor at
the Hebrew National plant,
and Rabbi Tibor Stern, the
firm's chief kosher super-
visor.
"There's no question Stern
has better rabbinic creden-
tials" than Schwartz, said
the official. "And when you
get into questions of rabbinic
interpretation, you start to
Stuart Ain writes for the New
York Jewish Week.
cross the line between chur-
ch and state."
The state's investigation
included the subpoena of
Hebrew National's records,
their review by state
auditors and depositions
from Hebrew National
employees.
The state spokesman said
Stern's response to all of the
charges was to make
changes to avoid any ques-
tions in the future.
For instance, he took steps
to ensure that no cooking
took place on the Sabbath,
but did allow packing to
occur; he said any product
delivered without the proper
kosher tags must be shipped
to a non-kosher wholesaler;
he ordered that additional
drainage holes be made in
shipping boxes; and pointed
out that there is no Orthodox
Jewish law regarding proper
de-veining techniques.
"The charges involved
mostly procedural matters,
and in most cases it seems as
though Hebrew National
was willing to correct the
situation once it was
brought to Rabbi Stern's
attention," said the
spokesman.
Pines said his firm coop-
erated fully with the in-
vestigation because "we had
nothing to hide and felt very
sure of our position."
But within days of being
served on April 14, 1989,
with a subpoena for its
records, Hebrew National
slapped a $10 million
harassment suit against the
state's chief kosher enforcer,
Rabbi Schulim Rubin.
The suit alleged that the
subpoena was issued at
Rubin's direction in pursuit
of a "conspiracy" he entered
in 1987 "to punish Hebrew
National for moving its
plant to Indianapolis" from
Queens, N.Y. ❑
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Water Thievery
Charge Denied
Tel Aviv (JTA) — The
Mekorot Water Authority
has strongly denied Jorda-
nian accusations that Israel
is "stealing Arab water."
The Jordanian minister in
charge of water affairs
charged Tuesday that Israel
was "stealing" 1.3 billion
cubic meters of water annu-
ally from Arab sources. He
also charged that Israel was
drawing off water from Leh-