tinue to fight but, as of press time, her
store had been crossed off the list of
kosher establishments under supervi-
sion of the Vaad.
Rabbi Krupnick responded, "We
made a couple of simple requests from
her" about her level of Jewish obser-
vance. "She did not fulfill those
requests. To my knowledge," he said,
"this has nothing to do with gender.
"We have numerous contact people
with whom we work on a continual
basis who are women."
Gilman's rabbi,-David Nelson of
Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak
Park, a Conservative congregation,
said he is aware that Gilman is having
problems with the Vaad in trying to
establish her business.
"But reasonable people on both
sides should be able to resolve a dis-
pute," Rabbi Nelson said. "There's a
niche for her, a place for her. I hope
it's resolved."

Not Unusual

rupt," Jacobovitz said. "I told them I'd
open with or without their supervi-
sion. They wanted a full-time supervi-
sor here and I had to pay the full
salary — but it was more than my
gross!"
Jacobovitz and the Vaad were able
to come to a compromise. Based in
part on his own experience as a super-
visor, Jacobovitz got kosher certifica-
tion at a rate much lower than the
original quote, and did not need to
have an on-site supervisor as originally
suggested.
But, Jacobovitz acknowledged,
"The Vaad has a total monopoly. And
anyone who competes with them gets
knocked out."
Silver concurred: "There is no other
supervision in this town. There are
people who are appalled by how
things are done here in Detroit, but
they're scared to do anything."

Rabbi Joseph Krupnik
of the Council of
On
Rabbis
of Greater Detroit

These kinds of disputes,
according to loCal and
national supervision
experts, are par for the
course.
RabbiMoshe Elefant
is the executive rabbinic
coordinator for the
Orthodox Union in
New York, whose
kosher supervision
label, the OU, is the
world's most recognized
kosher symbol. The OU
can be found on nearly 250,000 prod-
ucts in 68 countries.
"Problems are common. It's going
to happen," Rabbi Elefant said. "It's
like a marriage --you can't say a hus-
band and wife never fight.
"Being kosher is a commitment,
and it is also an economic decision. It
has to make sense. But if you have a
weak rabbi, you'll end up hurting [the
supervisors]," he said. "There are no
secrets, and the community won't
accept your products."
Business owners who determine
they want to be kosher must make
sure their decision makes good finan-
cial sense because, as Silver and others
have discovered, supervision doesn't
always come cheap.
Yossi Jacobovitz decided to open
All/K kosher market and carryout at
Coolidge and Lincoln in Oak Park.
But, for two years, he was unable to
reach an agreement over supervision
payments to the Vaad.
"Finally, I had to open or go bank-

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Rabbi Shaiall Zachariash, a Vaad
member who serves on its presidium,
offered a different interpretation of the
local situation.
"Detroit is unique in that there is
one major entity that handles the local
supervision," he acknowledged.
"Other cities look to cities that have
this type of arrangement with envy.
"We consider it a plus for our com-
munity that [the Vaad] maintains a
standard that is acceptable, whereas
individual rabbis supervising may have
variations. It is fortunate that most of
the local supervision is handled
through the Vaad," Rabbi Zachariash
said.
But, he added, "We have problems,
problems with supervision and all
other sorts of things. It's like having
children — yours are angels all the
time? There are shortcomings. It's all a
part of life. But that doesn't mean it's
no good." ❑

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