Agriprocessors' woes mean kosher meat scarce

WATERLOO --- Agriprocessors' woes have made keeping kosher even more difficult for area Jews.

The Postville plant was the nation's largest producer of kosher beef until a May immigration raid, which netted 389 illegal immigrants, decimated its work force.

"If you're used to eating kosher meat, it's real difficult right now," said Rabbi Stanley Rosenbaum of the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Waterloo.

Rosenbaum was at a conference in Omaha, Neb., and said kosher meat supplies are scarce across the region.

"Some people are saying 'it's been months since I've had a brisket," he said.

In the Cedar Valley, kosher adherents usually order their meat by mail or buy larger supplies.

The area doesn't have a kosher meat market or deli, Rosenbaum said.

"We're a very tiny Jewish population here," Rosenbaum said. "If supplies aren't available, that makes it very difficult for small populations."

Rosenbaum's congregation is considered conservative, a movement of Judaism that, while traditional, does not adhere as strictly to religious customs as do orthodox Jews.

Gaylen Hutchins, Hy-Vee meat department manager said there is little demand at the Crossroads store for fresh kosher meats, though the store does carry kosher hot dogs and other kosher products.

In Postville, the situation is even more dire.

At Kosher Community Grocery, the store has cut back on hours. Fresh produce shelves sit half bare.

A handmade sign asks customers to ration milk.

Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn, N.Y., plan to send a trailerload of food and supplies next week after receiving reports of families eating plain bread for meals, and a shortage of kosher food at a local school.

Last weekend, word of the situation reached Rabbi Morris Allen of Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights, Minn.

The synagogue collected the food, and a Minneapolis-area Jewish disaster response organization lent a trailer to ship the supplies on Tuesday.

"I got a call that there was a real concern that there were not adequate kosher food supplies in town for the Jewish community," Allen said.

Despite the food shortage, some of Postville's orthodox Jewish families privately expressed reservations about accepting donations from a conservative congregation whose leader has been openly critical of Agriprocessors.

The community's leaders, however, instructed them to put any differences aside.

Allen helped start a new kosher standard, called Hekhsher Tzedek, that will take into account how companies treat their employees.

The movement gained momentum after the immigration raid revealed widespread allegations of worker abuse.

"Our responsibility to help one another transcends any differences," Allen said. "We hope some of the suffering that has been caused by Agriprocessors' behavior will be alleviated."

Rosenbaum, said his synagogue will not accept products from Agriprocessors unless new management is put into place.

"It's not just ritual behavior; it's ethical behavior," he said. "The ethical laws in the Torah are just as important."