[Avodah] Kashrus

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R"n Toby Katz wrote:
> The article you quoted gives one very strong argument in
> favor of hechsherim as opposed to lists:  if a company is
> under contract with a kashrus agency, it can't change the
> ingredients in its supervised products without informing
> the kashrus agency.
 
Oh, yes, I agree most definitely.

But this is a reason to WANT the "American model", not to REQUIRE it.

Throughout Shulchan Aruch, we find over and over that Chazal trusted us to be reasonable about manufacturing methods and the chances of getting fooled. There are some cases where they put their foot down and said, "This is too sensisitive - you can't take chances," but there are other cases where they said, "Unless you have some reason for suspicion, don't worry."

Example 1: Cholov Yisrael - This is a product where the consumer is easily fooled, and a certain degree of fraud was known to exist. Chazal therefore instituted that a certain degree of hashgacha is required. If a non-Jewish milkman has a great reputation for selling only pure cow milk, he still cannot be relied on. He must be supervised, although some poskim hold that government supervision is adequate.

Example 2: Pas Palter - Pas Akum was forbidden because of intermarriage problems, not because of questionable ingredients. In many societies, and for long periods of time, it was well known to all that there was no kashrus problem with the bread in the local non-Jewish bakery. Pas Palter is therefore specifically allowed in those times and places. When and where it is discouraged, it is discouraged for reasons having nothing to do with the kashrus of the ingredients. When and where there is reason to suspect a problem with the ingredients, then it is not merely discouraged for Pas Palter reasons, but forbidden like any other product with questionable kashrus.

Example 3: Eggs - No one sells nonkosher eggs. Not in the days of the Gemara, not in the days of the Shulchan Aruch, and not today. Eggs, if they are still in the shell, and are not explicitly labeled as coming from a nonkosher bird, do not need a hechsher, Period.

The European model is not a substandard way of observing kashrus. It is a *different* way of observing kashrus. It is the way Jews have acted for millennia. I think we will all agree that there are certain advantages to the American model, but one must be very careful in describing those advantages, lest he be Motzi Laaz Al Harishonim. I will not point fingers, but I think that there may be some in this thread who have stepped over that line.

Akiva Miller

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