Lamun balanja ka supermarket, sarerea oge pasti nengetan naha dahareun ieu 
teh boga label Halal atawa henteu. Halal dina hartina ieu dahareun teu 
ngandung bahan haram saperti Babi.  Urang Yahudi oge sarua, dahareunana kudu 
"halal", disebutna "Kosher food". Ceuk beja dihandap ieu urang Yahudi 
Amerika ayeuna keur padungdengan soal kriteria "kosher" (=halal), salian 
tina bahanna oge, tapi oge nganiley kumaha produsen dahareun 
"memperlakukeun" karyawanna. Naha produsenna henteu ngalalaworakeun/neken 
karyawanna.

Kira-kirana label Halal dina Islam, perlu henteu nempo kalakuan produsen 
dahareun ka karyawanna? Saha nu terang, kornet atawa sardens nu "Halal" teh, 
diproduksi ku pabrik nu ngalalaworakeun karyawanna?

Baktos,
WALUYA

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gWGnSRzVhSSp6HRzT3eB9UbtEulwD92GB90G0

Slaughterhouse case fuels kosher justice movement

By RACHEL ZOLL - 17 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) - Very little goes unexamined in the kosher world.

>From meat and poultry to the coating on vegetables and the ingredients
in mouthwash, rabbis who determine whether a product meets Jewish
dietary laws scrutinize the most minute details about all things
consumed.

For religiously observant Jews, that concern has rarely extended
beyond the product itself.

But now, allegations of worker abuse at the nation's biggest kosher
slaughterhouse have some Jews demanding that food companies be judged
not just by the purity of their products but by the way their treat
their employees.

"How can you sit at your table and eat a product packaged by a
pregnant woman who has been standing on her feet all day?" asked Rabbi
Morris Allen of Minnesota. He is developing a certification program
that aims to protect workers and the environment in the kosher
industry.

Interest in Allen's "hekhsher tzedek," or "certificate of
righteousness," has ballooned since a May 12 immigration raid at
Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa.

Nearly 400 illegal immigrants were arrested at the plant in the
biggest such raid on a single work site in U.S. history. State
officials say dozens of underage workers were employed there in
violation of child labor laws. Agriprocessors has denied any
wrongdoing.

Many Jews are embarrassed and angered by the allegations and, along
with some religious leaders, are rethinking what it means to be
certified kosher.

The "hekhsher tzedek" would be awarded to companies that pay fair
wages, ensure workplace safety, follow government environmental rules
and treat animals humanely, among other criteria.

The program, which could begin as soon as next year, would be separate
from the traditional certification process that measures compliance
with Jewish dietary law. A company that fails to obtain a "hekhsher
tzedek" could still get its food certified as kosher.

Allen, of Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights, is developing
the program through the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism and
its Rabbinical Assembly, to which he belongs. Conservative Judaism
holds a middle ground between the liberal Reform and strict Orthodox
traditions, allowing some innovation in Jewish law to adapt to modern
times.

But it's unclear how much of an effect the certificate would have.

The majority of kosher consumers and certifiers are Orthodox, and they
drive the multibillion-dollar U.S. market. Kosher meat is more
expensive than standard food, and since large families are the norm
among the Orthodox, some fear any changes could increase the cost.

Rabbi Menachem Genack, chief kosher executive of the Orthodox Union,
the largest kosher certifier in the U.S., called the proposed criteria
for Allen's certification program "amorphous." He said the Orthodox
Union relies on federal and state agencies - "who have both the
expertise and authority" - to monitor plant conditions.

Yet, pressure for change is coming from more than just Conservative
Jewish leaders.

Within the Orthodox community, there are signs that Jews in their 20s
and 30s are gaining interest in what the Torah says about social
justice.

Last year, young Orthodox Jews in New York formed Uri L'Tzedek, an
advocacy group on issues such as immigration and labor rights. Leaders
of the group, whose name means Awaken to Justice, collected about
2,000 signatures in support of a boycott of Agriprocessors.

They suspended the action when the owners hired a former federal
prosecutor as a compliance officer, but are still going ahead with a
fact-finding tour of the plant this week, where they will also meet
with immigrant workers.

"The younger generations of modern Orthodox Jews are seeking new
meaning to their religious expression, going beyond survival and
anti-assimilation and just text study," said Shmuly Yanklowitz, a
rabbinical student and co-founder of Uri L'Tzedek. "There have been
countless individuals who have felt estranged from the Orthodox
community who have been in touch with us. We're getting hundreds of
e-mails saying that this has filled a gap."

Despite sharing the ideals of the "hekhsher tzedek," Yanklowitz said
his group does not support the proposal. He said any systemwide change
in kosher production will have to come from within the Orthodox world
because of its "overwhelming commitment" to following Jewish dietary
law and the buying power that brings.

Still, Conservative Jewish advocates for the justice certification
believe they can bring moral pressure for change.

Rabbi Avram Reisner of Baltimore, a member of the panel of religious
law scholars that guides Conservative Judaism, has written a 20-page
analysis of Jewish law on wages, working conditions and other business
issues in support of the "hekhsher tzedek."

"The Conservative movement has hauled the Orthodox establishment out
in a way they hadn't anticipated," Reisner said. "We're not looking to
horn in on the business. We're looking to expand the envelope so the
kosher consumer can buy things that they feel good about."

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