There has been some discussion on a private email list that I am a member of on the issue of the reliability of Hashgachos (Kosher supervisions)in various locations. In one particularly shocking post a list member wrote the following:
A very well-known Chassidish rav was marrying off one of his daughters a few years ago. I was invited to the Chasuna, so I called up the place in Brooklyn (that is now out of business) where he was making the chasuna. I asked about the supervision, and was told by the owner, "I give my own supervision." On this or another occasion (I do not recall exactly), the owner told me, "I do not have any supervision, and if you think that I need it, you are not a Maimon (believer)!"
It is quite informing about the state of our rabbinic leadership that a well known Chasididhe Rav was so ignorant of the Kashrus standards of the catering hall he was about to use for his own daughters wedding. Is this what our leadership has come to? Ignorant people are now considered our leaders? What possible explanation could there be for such behavior? This incident serves only to cement my view that in at least some cases, our rabbinic leadership are anything BUT... leaders.
But there is an even greater issue here, the state of Kashrus in the largest Orthodox Jewish city in the world, New York.
According to a reliable source who has worked in Hashgacha for over forty years and wishes to remain anonymous, the Hashgacha situation in NY is horrendous. There are establishments that supposedly advertise Chasidishe Shchita but have absolutely no supervision. Yet Frum people eat at these establishments all the time. They see "Chadidshe Shechita" and they assume it must be OK. How can this be allowed to continue? It is one thing to have differences of opinion about this or that Hashgacha agency. Someone may like the OU better than the OK or have a preference for KAJ over Chaf-K. But that isn’t what is happening in New York. It appears that there are restaurants that have a very large religious clientele that are unsupervised. How can this be allowed to continue. Where is the rabbinic leadership? Why aren’t they speaking out? I have heard nothing about this scandal outside of my source and a few other contacts in the closed confines of the Hashgacha world. I trust my sources and if I could divulge my main source no one would question his integrity.
Without a certified Hashgacha one should not trust an establishment just because the people behind the counters look Frum, the clientle do, or both. Big mistake.
