Comments on: Kashrus Magazine Responds

By: mashgiach

mashgiach — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:35:46 +0000

response to Moshe, as of the 2010 guide Conservative Traditional reform & secular are not listed.

response to yecheil, if you would like to see a comprehensive listing of Conservative Traditional reform & secular purchase the 2009 kosher supervision guide. (last years guide.)

I would like to add the purpose of the guide is to know who the hechsher is without the guide I wouldn’t even know who the symbol is. there are even a few symbols that are look alikes.
I would like to point out that the unauthorized badatzim were listed in the Israel alerts of kashrus magazine.
I would also like to point out that there are many orthodox hechshrim in the USA that are much worse then the unauthorized badatzim. those places are also under the reg rabanut. I will post more details later

By: Moshe

Moshe — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:42:37 +0000

The Kashrus magazine in their kosher supervision guide includes NON orthodox “Hechsherim”, and says so explicity on the homepage under “about KSG”

About The Kosher Supervision Guide

…To make the guide as complete as possible, we have included non-Orthodox kashrus agencies in our list. Where known that an agency or the rav hamachshir is Conservative or Traditional (based upon synagogue affiliation, not ordination), it is noted.

so I’m not sure I fully comprehend Rabbi Wikler’s reply above, unless of course the KSG is not under his charge.
“…but they are kosher agencies administered by Orthodox Jews, men who are supposedly committed to an Orthodox lifestyle and who eat kosher themselves. How well they adhere to proper kosher standards is beyond the scope of the Guide.” ????????

By: Pith from Pinhas

Pith from Pinhas — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:49:23 +0000

PS does the Rabbi believe that a person living in a religious environment and wearing a certain uniform is ipso facto religious regardless of his actions?

By: Pith from Pinhas

Pith from Pinhas — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:24:09 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a cop-out. With all due respect to Rav Wikler, some of these guys out there (and I have not seen which of them actually feature in the said list) are total frauds who issue impressive looking lies for cash. If they are on this list, the list is worthless.

By: Dov

Dov — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:28:57 +0000

Anyone who takes Kashrus seriously will already know the disclaimer, and will notice it when it’s printed. Kashrus magazine’s list is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to figure out Kashrus in America, primarily to be able to look up new symbols in order to ask their Rav. Anyone who’s not serious with a magazine or web site is not serious with symbols or te’udot. Anyone serious enough to realize that not every K-in-a-fancy-symbol or te’uda-with-the-word-badatz is reliable is serious enough to check with a Rav before relying on either a magazine list or a web blog.

By: yechiel-admin

yechiel-admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:11:16 +0000

Dear Rabbi Wikler,

Would you also put out a listing of rabbis and include people who are reform
and conservative with a disclaimer that this is a comprehensive listing of
rabbis and not a recommended listing ? Surely, a so called kashrus agency
that has no acceptable standard has no right to be called a kashrus agency.
Rest assured that no one, but no one, reads the disclaimer or takes it
seriously anymore than anyone reads the disclaimers in the so called hareidi
newspapers that they take no responsibility for all the ads for hotels here,
there and everywhere that have so called hashgacha l’mehadrin min hamehadrin from people who as you put it, are supposedly committed etc. but in reality have no acceptable standards. It is high time that responsibility be indeed taken for any piece of information passed on to the general public of whom 90% (a conservative estimate) just read it without thinking and accept it.

Kol Toov,

Dovid Stein