[Avodah] Monsey kashrut problem

[Kohn, Shalom]

In one of the circulars about the Monsey problem, signed by what I presume to be a broad swatch of the notable rabbanim in town, there was the phrase that "as to kashering pots and kapara, consult your local rabbi."

I'd like to raise the hashkafa aspect of this "kapparah" line for discussion among the assemblage.

I am puzzled why anyone would think "kapparah" is in order.  Clearly, oness rachmana patray, and unless someone who relied on the kosher supermarket knew of a problem or was negligent, this is clearly an oness.  Further, since chezkat kashrut is a halacha -- and here, I assume there was in addition to that, some kind of hashgacha which was deceived -- where is the blame necessary to require "kapparah"?  Is there a suggestion that anyone in the community, except those perpetuating the fraud, was at fault?

I understand that one ingesting non-kosher may need some kind of "tahara" on the principle that non-kosher is me-tamteim es halev, and that one properly feels violated for eating non-kosher, even b'oness.  But "kaparah"?

Finally, I understand that if the chamor of Pinchas ben Yair did not eat treif, tzaddikim atzma lo kol she-kain, so that someone who might otherwise have considered that adage applicable to themselves would conclude that indeed, their status as a tzaddik may not be as firm as they would have hoped.  Thus, if anything, I would think the mussar for the Monsey community is that we are not at the level of Pinchas ben Yair's chamor.  This is a cause for increased humility and probably teshuva, but again, not "kaparah."

Thoughts?



[Email #2. -mi]

When we had an episode of fraudulent kosher chickens in Chicago some years back (Shelat), Rav Gedalia Schwartz ruled the one did not need to replace china.  As I recall, it was based on a combination of factors of safek (if anyone bought the treif chickens rather than kosher ones from the save purveyor), hefsed, and aino ben yomo.  There may also have been an additional safek added as to whether the chickens when placed on the plate were yad soledet.  R. Schwartz did recommend kashering that which could be kashered.  I noted R. Weissmandl provides a "leniency" for china etc. (kashering 3 times), but does prohibit items which cannot be kashered (he also does not discuss lids where the knobs cannot be removed).

One question -- on kashering sinks, R. Weissmandel suggests kashering from the bottom up.  I understand tasayi gaver (if applicable at all) but as a practical matter, purportedly "treif" water (because it absorbed treif from the sink) would flow down from the top of the sink to the bottom, which has just been kashered.  Shouldn't the kashering be from the top down?



                Shalom L. Kohn