In a public letter, Rabbi Avraham Osdoba and Rabbi Yosef Braun, members of the Crown Heights Beis Din and its CHK certification, wrote:
To Members of the Crown Heights Community, and Anash and consumers all over,
We hope this letter finds you well.
As the Rabbonim of the Bais Din of Crown Heights, it is our duty to ensure the highest standards of kosher supervision within our community and beyond.
We are writing to address the AgriStar plant. For some time, there have been significant kashrus challenges at the AgriStar plant. Despite our diligent efforts to maintain proper kashrus standards, we encountered resistance from the management at the plant.
The management’s lack of support for our representatives made it increasingly difficult to ensure compliance with kashrus protocols. For example, after one of the recent Rabbinic visits to the plant, we requested numerous adjustments to procedure, including serious issues regarding the deveining of the animals. Despite efforts to implement these adjustments, not all requested changes were fully enacted at AgriStar. Some were initially ignored, then disputed, and even after prolonged delays, not all items were fully instituted.
Other requests like the desire to accommodate consumers who desire only Lubavitcher Shechita, and better inspection of chickens were deemed “impossible” to implement.
This strained relationship and inconsistent adherence to proper procedures have created an environment detrimental to our kashrus supervision efforts.
The AgriStar plant has a long history of being associated with the CHK, and its current owners have invested a great deal to create a state-of-the-art plant and to promote the Hechsher. However, trust and the human factor are the keys to kashrus.
Despite our longstanding relationship with AgriStar and our extensive efforts to address these issues, we regret to inform you that we can no longer maintain our kosher certification at AgriStar.
Thus, going forward, the Shor Habor brand, and other AgriStar beef and poultry will no longer be under our hechsher. This decision is made with a heavy heart, but it is necessary to uphold the integrity of our kashrus standards.
You may continue to use Agristar Shor Habor beef and poultry products produced before this decision; however, any AgriStar and Shor Habor products produced from today onwards will no longer bear our supervision.
Rest assured that all other meat and poultry products bearing the CHK logo are produced with our high kashrus standards and are Lubavitch Shechita. The Vaad Hakashrus is working with existing and new sources to increase the supply of CHK meat and poultry in the market.
We urge the members of our community, Anash elsewhere and all consumers, to insist on the highest standards of Kashrus and to use CHK products wherever possible.
No worries. I’m sure they already have another lubavitch hechsher lined up to take it over.
Why would anyone, except for the pure lust of business, want to give them a hechshar if they are not up to par?
Loved their hot dogs
We’re the greatest
They lost our business
And thats the problam, a hechsher became just a marketing tool not a standard of Kashrus.
Kudos to the CHK for standing up for kashrus standards!
That’s the way it is. When one hechsher leaves because of kashrus concerns there will always be someone waiting to happily take them over
This is very unfortunate. As Lubavitchers and Chasidim we all know that keep to the Lubavitch standard is very important, that includes lubavitch shechita. I understand someone who lives in the middle of nowhere where it is or was close to impossible to get. But baruch hashem, today especially in America it is accessible, and an important part of “viNiflinu” . I hope this gets sorted out, and I hope this opens the eyes of those who have through “yeridas hadoros” struggled in keeping with the Lubavitch standard, to reevaluate which meat they put in their mouth. Hatzlocha
Which other company has the CHK for the same products?
Such as David Elliot chicken which has very high standards, and is 100 percent lubavitch schita, besides that you have the crown heights butcher on Albany who also is chk but not agri shor habor.his butcher has excellent standards, and 100 percent shchita lubavitch
To my knowledge there is no specific set of rules that make Shechita “Lubavitch”.
None of our 7 holy Rebbeim ever used this term.
It’s ok if you didn’t know, but then you should ask around and do some research first.
Do just a little bit of research and you’ll see otherwise..
Our Rebbe definitely used this term. Rabbi Hendel of Montreal asked the Rebbe if the shechita they had in Montreal those days could be considered Lubavitch. In that days the Hungarian yidden ran the shechita and a couple days they allowed a Lubavitcher to come oversee and be mashgiach etc. The Rebbe answered that Lubavitcher shechita means that the Rebbe takes responsibility for that piece of meat and that can only be if the shochet has a full beard, learned Chabad chassidus and goes to mikvah. Only then can it be called Lubavitcher shechita
Wrong. Lubavitch Shchita follows the rulings of our Rabbeim, and the Shochet is a Yiras Shomaim, goes to the Mikvah, learns Chassidus etc.
Not every knife holder is a reliable shochet….
The Rebbeim we’re adamant that the shochtim in the villages should be chassidim, even allowing for the towns rav to be a misnaged as long as the shochet was a chosid!
The Rebbe instructed Rabbi Yitzchok Hendel to only use Lubavitch Shochtim.
Learn your facts than talk.
Thats not an instruction for all times and places.
That’s a private conversation and doesnt apply as a general instruction.
The Rebbe said many times that a provate instruction in not for everyone.
from an article: During the yechidus, the Rebbe said to Rabbi Yitzchok Hendel that he needed to begin to institute a Lubavitcher shechita in Montreal. R’ Hendel asked: What does that mean? The Rebbe said: Lubavitcher shechita is shechita that the Rebbe, my father-in-law, would eat. R’ Hendel understood that the Rebbe was at that very moment introducing a new standard of conduct for Chassidim and so he said that he still did not understand precisely what this meant. The Rebbe clarified: When people say that meat is Lubavitcher shechita, it means that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is responsible for the… Read more »
Where can I find the article?
BTW what’s the point of all this with passover coming up!! Who’s taking responsibility for this who will insure that there will be meat and poultry in the stores tomorrow It’s nice to play these money games (like was just done with the matzoh bakery) But it’s done on our accounts If there was an issue spell it out what is it What was an issue that didn’t exist yesterday or the last 30yrs that now became so prevalent that its no longer kosher you haven’t spelled out a single issue in your statement It’s been running perfectly for 30yrs… Read more »
It has to with kasherus standards, from a lubavitch hashgacha we expect a higher standard.!
Nonsense? Money?
Higher Kashrus is standards is the core of being a Chossid.
What was the difference between the CHK Hechsher and the Rabbi Weissmandel Hechsher at the Postville plant?.
What is the definition of the term “ Lubavitcher Hechsher”?
They said that their policies and practical procedures were not being implemented… they take precautions to prevent issues. If a company doesn’t listen you can’t keep giving a hechsher. They didn’t say they found treif (maybe they did, but they didn’t say so).
Re-read it slowly and calmly.
My husband never bought agri or Shor habor. We were surprised it was under chk until now.
I haven’t eaten it for years already because it was not 💯 shochtim lubavitch, and a high standard, who knows maybe things will change overthere after this letter, maybe let’s see what happens, or maybe someone else will open up
Can I ask and I hope it does not come across too strongly, do you think non chabad yidden are any less jewish? If R Chaim Kanievsky was a shochet would you not trust him?
Who cares is the shochet is chabad?!?
So, what do you do? What shechita do you eat?
David Elliot chicken and the crown heights butcher on Albany
So what did you eat ?
When something terrible happens everyone screams ” where were the rabbonim”
Now Rabbonim actually stand up and do something so now you complain its about money.
I applaud the rabbonim for standing up to a processor and doing the right thing.
And personally I haven’t eaten shor habor in years , on the other hand I am wondering what will be with the lubavitch mosdoes in Iowa, how will this inpact them, also I was wondering what options they can create to replace agri, I mean it will have to be a plant located in a way that it can reach the entire united states very curious how the chk will come up with a new plan
The Rebbe did not allow the Badatz of Crown Heights to call themselves “Lubavitch” or their Hechsher should be called “Lubavitch” – the Bais Din is purely a “Crown Heights” Bais Din NOT “Lubavitch”.
They thus gave a CHK Hechsher (not a “Lubavitcher Hechsher”.
BTW: Not all Shochtim in Postvile (under Badatz of Crown Heights) were always necessarily Lubavitcher Chassidim
David Elliot makes chicken…what about all the beef products? It’s nice that those in little CH have used the local butcher shop with their 100% standards, but Agri provided kosher meat to thousands around the country and around the world. How do you replace THAT?
It sure looks like politics here….
Does this mean we have to go vegetarian for a while or embrace Zuckerbergs path of only eating what you shecht yourself?
Is there a YouTube clip on deveining properly?
Can the chk please publish an updated list of every single food product and restaurant that has their certification?
may postville be blessed infinitely forever
Let’s face it, the folks in crown heights, even though they think they’re more powerful, are not so powerful in the overall scheme of things. There’s no doubt that agri star is up the par because they have a lot of other certification agencies. If anyone doesn’t want to eat from their products, then please don’t. I think the brand name that you’re talking about is such a small nothing with nothing there in comparison to everything else, it wasn’t worth the headaches from the people in crown heights.
A Schochet has to be someone with Yiras Shamaim. Lubavitch doesn’t have a monopoly on Yiras Shamaim.
A Proud Lubavitcher
But if you believe there’s a better derech to become a yiras shamayim, why are you a lubavitcher? And if Lubavitch is the best derech, than it would make sense that overall a lubavitcher would be a greater yiras shamayim than his counterpart. And if so, when it comes to meat, it definitely makes sense to be machmir on a Lubavitcher shochet
Let’s try to be careful of what comes out of our mouth just as much as what goes in
“We urge the members of our community, Anash elsewhere and all consumers, to insist on the highest standards of Kashrus and to use CHK products wherever possible.”
So, if it’s not possible, then Empire should be okay.
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I want to buy cholov Yisroel kosher organic milk and don’t know of anywhere that ships. Does anyone know of any?
Probably more to the story