Differing Tastes
Paul Kohn's Quality Kosher Catering breaks from Vaad, takes on new supervision.
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
Staff Writer
A
Dec. 1 break by Paul
Kohn's Quality Kosher
Catering from a local
kosher certification agency
has led to a first for a kosher business
serving Detroit Jewry — certification
from an international service.
"In the history of the Vaad, this had
never happened," says Rabbi Joseph
Krupnik, kashrut director of the
Southfield-based Vaad Harabonim
(Council of Orthodox Rabbis of
Greater Detroit). "There has been a
breakdown, and it's a mind-shattering
event."
The Vaad serves as the retail and
wholesale kashrut monitoring and cer-
tification agency for metro Detroit.
Quality Kosher Catering's new
kashrut monitoring agency is the Star
K Kosher Certification, a Baltimore-
-
based certifier with international
clients.
"Differing attitudes of how to deal
with certain kashrut issues" is how
Rabbi Krupnik describes the reason
for the break with Quality Kosher
owner Paul Kohn of Southfield. He
says Kohn in no way broke any laws of
kashrut.
"He did not use anything that was
non-kosher. We just have different
ways of following kashrut laws," says
the rabbi. The Vaad has supervised
Quality Kosher Catering since it
opened in 1978. "I always aim for the
most strict and Paul sometimes goes
for the more lenient," says Rabbi
Krupnik.
"There are different schools of
thought within the strictly Orthodox
guidelines of kashrut," Kohn says.
"The Vaad's approach to some of these
halachic issues do not apply to us."
"For me," Rabbi Krupnik says, "it is
most important to make the item
kosher. To him, he finds a way to
make it kosher in a more lenient way
if there isn't time to do it the stricter
,,
way.
Kohn says, "There's no denying
we've faced some serious challenges.
But those challenges were in process
and perception — never issues of
kashrut."
12/7
2001
24
vaad," Rabbi Shmuel Heinemann says.
"We are very excited about working
with the company and its employees.
While there were not many changes
that needed to be made for Kohn to
be accepted by Star K, the few that
were necessary were costly. According
to Rabbi Shmuel Heinemann, they
were made without question.
"While as a rule everything was fine,
thousands of dollars of meat that he
had could not be used," the rabbi says.
"It's not that it wasn't acceptable, it
just didn't follow the same standards
we have."
Upon approval by Star K, Quality
Kosher was admitted to the Star K cer-
tification program; the Vaad contin-
ued its supervisory duties over Quality
Kosher through Dec. 1, with an over-
lap of Star K's supervision, which
began the same day We had one
party supervised by the Vaad and Star
K," Kohn says.
Accentuating The Positive
Mashgiach Sheldon Goldner, kosher caterer Paul Kohn and kashrut administrator
Mordechai Katz inspect vegetables.
Making The Move
At the beginning of November, upon
notification by the Vaad that his certi-
fication would be terminated in
December, Kohn began a search for a
new kashrut monitoring agency. The
Star K Kosher Certification was his
first choice. Rabbinic Administrator
Rabbi Moshe Heinemann heads the
worldwide service.
After Kohn chose Star K, Rabbi
Yisroel Levin, a member of the Vaad
as well as Kohn's . rabbi at
Congregation Beth Tefilo in
Southfield, stepped in.
"I would have liked everything to be
rosy between Paul and the Vaad and
for them to have worked out a proper
working relationship," Rabbi Levin
says. "But when his certification was
not renewed, a number of members of
the Vaad understood that it was very
important for him to get certification
somewhere else. No one wanted him
to close down."
In fact, the rabbi says, "If he had
been unable to work out getting an
outside hashgachah (kashrut supervi-
sion), we would have sat down with
him and worked something out within
the Vaad."
Rabbi Levin spoke with Rabbi
Heinemann at Star K. "I explained
why I thought any problems Paul had
working with the Vaad would not be a
problem with Star K. We discussed a
number of details of what happened in
the past," he says.
Rabbi Shmuel Heinemann, the New
Jersey-based kashrut administrator for
Star K and brother of Rabbi Moshe
Heinemann, was in Detroit for an on-
site investigation of Quality- Kosher in
November.
Rabbi Levin met with him for several
hours. "I offered him my rabbinical
point of view on why I thought issues
could be worked out," Rabbi Levin says.
"We don't foresee having issues,"
Rabbi Shmuel Heinemann says. "The
owners we work with don't decide the
policies. There is no place for excep-
tions with us since everyone is given
the same guidelines and we don't back
down, so having someone follow a
more lenient opinion doesn't happen."
Rabbi Shmuel Heinemann says
Quality Kosher Catering is one of the
first caterers that Star K has supervised
outside of the northeast United States.
"Generally, caterers deal mostly local-
ly and don't go further than their local
In Star K, Kohn says he has found a
certifying organization that he feels
not only will serve him better, but
also allow him new opportunities.
"Star K is somewhat more expen-
sive for us, but what we'll get out of
the relationship is worth it," Kohn
says of paying salaries for on-site
supervisors as well as additional
supervisors needed for events and
parties.
"By being able to market our
Passover pastires to sell nationally, we
hope to cover that additional cost and
not pass it on to our customers."
Star K has "seen it all," Kohn says.
"When I need a rice crepe recipe,
they'll have the resources to help us -
find the ingredients. We like to be
forerunners. We were the first local
caterer to make kosher sushi. Now we
have someone to ask when we need
to find new products. Their depth of
resources can help us move forward.
"The change is a positive and good
one," says Kohn, who maintains,
"there wasn't anything wrong, so
there isn't a need for dramatic
changes."
Previously, Kohn had one full-
time, in-house mashgiach (kosher
supervisor) on staff, salaried by
Kohn, but provided through the
Vaad. Now he has two new employ-
ees, hired by Star K.
"Sheldon Goldner is an Orthodox
man from Oak Park who is in train-
ing to be a mashgiach and is in
charge of inventory control," Kohn
says of the full-time employee. "He's