[Avodah] Kashrus, trusting the gy, Veg Restaurants

[Rabbi Meir Rabi]

Reb Moshe Paskens there is no need to Kasher the margarine factory which
normally uses animal fats. He explains that, independently of the needs of
Kashrus, there are two factors - A] the govt. regulations and penalties  B]
the owner will ensure that his workers will clean the machinery, because he
wants to protect his business, and therefore the machinery/factory is
reliably clean to a standard that satisfies Halacha. This all Halachically
correct WITHOUT a Mashgiach present.

[the Keilim are not a problem because the ban against using Keilim that are
not Kashered is a decree that applies only to Yidden - and requesting a Y
to be a Mashgiach, as opposed to Glick's or Manishewitz commissioning the
factory to make marg under their label, does not impose the ban of not
using Keilim that have not been Kashered]

So, even if there is no Mashgiach present, Reb Moshe Paskens the
circumstances are Halachically correct to assert that no residual lard or
tallow will contaminate the batch of vegetarian marg manufactured in this
special run.

The workers may not understand the seriousness of Kashrus, indeed they may
even mock Kashrus and the weird looking rabbi-mashgiach, but as R Moshe
makes clear, it is not the rabbi they fear but the owner and their job
security. Furthermore, one must keep in mind that Kashrus Halacha is not
determined by being able to provide an absolute guarantee. The Q - But how
do you absolutely know? - is Halachically false and misleading.
However, unfortunately, this is the mantra of modern day Kashrus business,
as mentioned earlier. The modern Kashrus mantra is - It may good enough for
????? but it is not good enough for me. Those loyal to HKBH know that this
does not makes HKBH happy.

This relates precisely to our topic - *non*-certified vegan restaurants.
Halacha absolutely insists that there is every reason to trust the
integrity of the vegan status of the uncertified vegan restaurant.
And in fact, it is reasonably suggested that on the contrary, the provision
of a Kashrus supervisor/certificate makes things far worse because the onus
is no longer on the owner but on the Rabbis and Mashgichim - and if - as we
have often discovered - that is sub-standard, then the workers indeed can
and often since they resent the imposition of Kashrus and its heavy-handed,
clumsy implementation, look for ways to vent their spite by TRYING to get
away with doing the wrong thing. Which of course should set our teeth on
edge, because if the Mashgiach catches them once and they know there is no
heavy penalty, we can only suspect that there are MANY other times when
they have successfully dodged the Mashgiach.

Of course those who defend this position respond that this is - THIS IS THE
HALACHA, we use Hashgacha Temidis or NichNess VeYoTzeh and if we challenge
them they simply point out that they are following Halcha and that our
suspicions do not change Halacha. In other words, Halacha is not a system
that is supposed to provide guarantees.

Those who propose that = there is *nothing* preventing workers from cooking
their meat in the restaurant's equipment, and it is *standard practice* in
the industry for them to do so = are [probably with the best intentions]
misled and attempting to mislead others or reflecting on the frustrated
kitchen staff who resent Kashrus.

I am unaware that Reb Moshe was ever challenged about his ruling, no-one
wrote to him claiming they have = very reliable sources who know exactly
what is happening where workers defy the owner etc.  And if they did, Reb
Moshe did not recant.
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