Metro
Status Quo, For Now
Harvard Row butcher makes a decision on kosher certification.
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Senior Writer
A
signature poll placed on the
counter at Harvard Row Kosher
Meats convinced the store's
owners to change from Orthodox kosher
supervision to a Conservative supervisor.
The West Bloomfield store will remain
supervised by the Council of Orthodox
Rabbis of Greater Detroit (Vaad), based
in Southfield, which has certified kashrut
at the store since it opened at 11 Mile and
Lahser roads in Southfield in 1966.
More than 300 individuals signed the
list, but it was the 40 or so who indicated
they would not remain customers if
Harvard Row was not supervised by the
Vaad that convinced the owners.
"During the time the survey was done,
we also looked into seeing if we would be
saving money by making the change said
Johny Katz, who owns Harvard Row with
his daughter, Susan Shacket. "We realized
we would not, but mainly we decided to
stay with our current supervision because
we know if we leave the Vaad, we would
lose some of our customers."
Discussion about a possible change
began last year when Harvard Row was
unable to continue purchasing products
from its beef supplier, Agriprocessors, and
the only other suppliers the Vaad approved
were very expensive. Agriprocessors in
Iowa filed for bankruptcy late last year in
the wake of criminal charges that included
the arrest of 500 of its workers in a federal
immigration raid.
"Now we are buying beef from dis-
tributors, including one in New York, and
Superior Kosher [at One Stop Kosher
Market in Southfield]," Shacket said.
All the suppliers are approved by the
Vaad. Superior continues to distribute
Agriprocessor's products.
Kosher lamb comes from Cornbelt
Beef Corporation in Detroit, which is not
a kosher beef distributor. Harvard Row's
poultry is purchased from Morris Kosher
Poultry in Hazel Park, a local distributor
of Empire Kosher poultry products.
A New Option
"We were thinking that if we were super-
vised by a Conservative rabbi, it might
open the doors for us to be able to buy
meats — at lower prices — from places
Johny Katz, an owner of Harvard Row Kosher Meats in West Bloomfield
not allowed by the Vaad," Katz said.
So they contacted Rabbi Jason Miller,
a local Conservative rabbi who is kosher
supervisor at several
area venues, including
Tamarack Camps and
A & J Kosher Caterers
inside Adat Shalom
Synagogue.
"They approached me
several times and asked
Rabbi Miller
if I would consider giv-
ing hashgachah (kosher
certification) to their
establishment;' said Miller, whose prod-
ucts are certified with the symbol "KM,"
standing for Kosher Michigan.
"I told them that I was not
interested. After a few times, they told me
they would have to shutter their store if
they stayed with the Vaad and I told them
I would consider this arrangement.
"I contacted my teacher, [former
Detroiter] Rabbi Joel Roth at the Jewish
Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York,
to ascertain what would be involved.
Following that conversation and the
assurance from the store's owner that the
current mashgiach would remain under
contract, I told them I would consider it."
Mary Gamer, an Adat Shalom member
from West Bloomfield, said, "Personally, I
think the Conservative movement's super-
vision is just as good as the Vaad. My son
is a Conservative rabbi and we have had
a number of discussions regarding this
issue."
Miller, who served as mashgiach at the
Conservative JTS, feels strongly about the
need for Conservative kosher supervision.
He says he provides it as a service for the
community, taking minimal payment and
donating it all to charitable agencies.
Similar Findings
For six weeks, customers signed the sur-
vey, some merely with an "X."
During that time, Katz discovered
that even if all his customers approved
Conservative supervision, he couldn't
find a financial advantage in making the
change.
Harvard Row requested that Miller find
a beef distributor whose cost was lower
than what it was paying other suppliers.
Katz had found a less expensive supplier
in New York, but neither the Vaad nor the
Conservative movement would approve it.
Katz said the cost of employing Miller,
compared to the cost of having the Vaad
supervise the store, would have been com-
parable.
Harvard Row now pays the Vaad $100 a
month plus the salary of the Vaad super-
visor who is required to be in the shop
whenever the door is unlocked.
Aside from pre-packaged products
available in nearby supermarkets and
specialty stores, the only other area kosher
butchers are Superior Meats, inside the
One Stop supermarket in Southfield, and
the kosher butcher counter inside Farm
Fresh Market in Oak Park. Both are super-
vised by the Vaad.
Because of the price concerns, the cur-
rent decision to remain supervised by
the Vaad isn't necessarily a permanent
one. Shacket still is hoping a lower-priced
product line will become available that
will be acceptable for Conservative kosher
supervision.
"It is embarrassing for me to quote
such high prices to customers',' she said.
"I highly respect Jason Miller. I think it
would be in the best financial interest of
the store to keep searching for a distribu-
tor he can approve so we can pass those
savings on to consumers. We'd have a hard
time not making that change if it became
available." —I
April 2 2009
A19