The Kashrus Triangle

Two days later, the OK released a statement revealing that while the cases of meat caught on video were never brought into the store, the owner confessed off camera that he regularly mixed in “small amounts” of nonkosher meat into his diner “over an extended period of time.”

The restaurant was shut permanently, and OK rabbanim ruled that anyone who purchased products from there must kasher all utensils. In the days since, rabbanim have issued calls for consumers to be extra vigilant when dining in or buying from stores or restaurants not owned by Jews.

Rabbi Sholem Fishbane of the Chicago cRc, who also heads the Association of Kashrus Organizations, an umbrella group of virtually every kashrus agency in the US, says this is a critical moment for kashrus. “After Manalapan, kashrus changed,” he put it. “There is no going back to the old way of doing things.”

I want to ask you about giving a hechsher in non-Jewish-owned restaurants. A Jewish restaurant owner basically stakes his reputation on the kashrus of his store. If he gets caught selling nonkosher food, he will lose everything — his reputation, his livelihood, maybe even his marriage and family. A non-Jew, however, doesn’t stand the same risk. If he’s caught selling nonkosher meat, he goes home to his family and community, having lost nothing by cheating the system. Is there a halachic basis for not giving a hechsher to a person when he has nothing to lose by being caught?

It’s a great question. If I don’t trust someone, I will not be giving a hechsher, even if that person is frum. I’ll tell him, “I don’t give a hashgachah to someone who’s way smarter than me, and you’re way smarter than I am.” It’s a nice way of saying, “You can outsmart me any day and find somebody else.”