The following is a statement by ACLU:
ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Purdue signed into law a bill repealing the unconstitutional Kosher Food Labeling Act and replacing it with a new law mandating that consumers be fully informed about the standards under which any kosher food product is certified as being kosher. The bill, signed Thursday, was prompted by an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit and was passed by the Georgia legislature last month.
The previous Kosher Food Labeling Act required that any food sold as kosher in the state meet “Orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements,” delegitimizing alternative interpretations of kosher adhered to in other Jewish communities. The new law no longer institutionalizes an official definition of kosher and instead requires that all food and food establishments represented as being kosher clearly disclose to consumers the practices and standards by which the food was prepared.
“The state should never be in the position of deciding which religious beliefs are ‘legitimate’ and which are not,” said Debbie Seagraves, Executive Director of the ACLU of Georgia. “The state legislature did the right thing by making clear that the power to define what is religiously acceptable should never rest with the government. These are personal religious decisions.”
The ACLU, ACLU of Georgia and cooperating attorneys from King & Spalding filed a lawsuit last year on behalf of Rabbi Shalom Lewis of Congregation Etz Chaim in Cobb County challenging the constitutionality of the Kosher Food Labeling Act.
“The Georgia legislature is to be commended for creating a law that affirms our nation’s bedrock American principle of respecting everyone’s religious beliefs,” said Rabbi Lewis who, as a Conservative Jew, had been unable to lawfully fulfill his rabbinical duties to supervise food establishments because his theological interpretation of the kosher laws differ from that of Orthodox Judaism. “It has been very gratifying working with the Orthodox community to achieve this result, which provides protection to consumers by enabling them to make informed choices about the food they buy and fosters enhanced respect and mutuality within the community.”
One of the most vital services that Lewis provides to his congregants is serving as their mashgiach, the Hebrew term for a person who supervises any type of food service establishment – including restaurants, grocery stores and caterers – to ensure that food is acceptably kosher. But because Lewis cannot certify the preparation of food in accordance with Orthodox Hebrew requirements, he has been prohibited by law from serving as the mashgiach of any kosher food operation – a fact that jeopardized his ability to fulfill his calling as a duly ordained rabbi of the Jewish faith and impeded his religious freedom. If Lewis had violated the state’s previous kosher laws by supervising food establishments using a different interpretation of kosher than the law had required, the laws could have been enforced against him, damaging his reputation and subjecting him and others to criminal charges and fines.
The ACLU’s lawsuit charged that the Kosher Food Labeling Act violated the religious liberty guarantees of both the U.S. and Georgia Constitutions by endorsing only “Orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements” and criminalizing the practices of the many people across the state who, while seeking kosher products, subscribe to interpretations of kosher that differ from those of Orthodox Jews.
“Previous law in Georgia violated the fundamental pillars of religious liberty by endorsing one particular set of beliefs and impeding the free religious exercise of those who believe differently,” said Daniel Mach, Director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “The government should never take sides in theological debates.”
The ACLU of Georgia and the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief were joined by the Atlanta law firm King & Spalding LLP as co-counsel for Rabbi Lewis.
Conservative don’t eat kosher! what do they care if people who only eat kosher run the kosher biz?
Read about the controversy about new food labelling laws in Australia
http://ajnwatch.blogspot.com/2010/05/should-ora-be-official-arbiter-of.html
Do you remember how Duncan Hines changed the recipe for their cake mix to make it all dairy, and within a few months changed it all back because the kosher customers demanded pareve? Do not underestimate the kosher consumer base.
Can a goy decide what he considers “kosher” and give such legal “hashgocha”? And if for some odd reason (since it would be discriminatory to insist that) it must be someone from the Jewish people (which itself raises the question – what legally defines someone as “Jewish” – does it include Jews for J? One with only a Jewish father? One who “feels” Jewish? Or members of Islam who consider themself “true” Jews?), can an athiest (Jewish, of course) decide his standard of “kosher”? If anyone can legally call anything “kosher”, then yes, why not a Conservative or Reform heretic?… Read more »
The new law is fine in that it specifies where the hashgachah is coming from;however, it’s less than desirable in that those who accept less than Orthodox kashrus will now have the option of eating questionably kosher items that were previously not permitted to carry a “Kosher” label.From our perspective I’m not sure I would have wished this option be available to the Jewishly undereducated public. This gallus is a real mess…
If you pay attention to the maketing surveys you will find that food companies get hashgacha because the non-kosher crowd including goyim think that kosher means a higher standard. In other words for the majority of consumers they don’t care which certification is on the package or even if it is really kosher, as long as it says kosher. As long as only orthodox was recognized, we who do care, could have a huge range of products to choose from. What I believe that this law does is now make it possible for a Reform or conservative rabbi to approach,… Read more »
All states would be wise in adopting such a law, and we would then have no fear of the Tzedek Kashrus label gaining legal endorsement. Also would be precedent to keeping shchita and mila out of the mischievous reach of “less than Orthodox” hands.
As much as it confuses myself and every other kosher consumer the government should not stop him from being mashgiach on his restaurants. America is all about giving consumers the choices not having the government make our choices for us (bloombergs soda, salt and fat laws aside).
I do think that it should be mandated that he mark his (and all conservative) products clearly as conservative kosher.
Well I’m glad that’s all cleared up..
To quote Jewish children’s entertainer David Grover, “Whether you’re Reform, Conservative or Orthodox, we like gefilte fish, chopped liver and we all like lox.”