Our predominant image of the High Holy Days is of God as Judge.  We human beings are the defendants on trial.  We come before the Judge, and our record is examined.  Finally, after our good deeds and our sins are weighed, a verdict is rendered, and after our last minute pleas, the decree is sealed and court is adjourned.

I’d like to offer a different metaphor that explains why we’re here today, and what is taking place: God is a Mashgiach, a Rabbinic supervisor.  The Synagogue is the food factory, and we are the product in search of a Hechsher, a certification of Kashrut.  The “Mashgiach on High” picks up each of us, checks our ingredients to see what we’re made of, and then carefully examines how we’ve mixed with others, and what we’ve made of ourselves.  If we pass the rigorous tests and meet the high standards, were given the stamp of approval and get to show that most special of labels – the designation “Kosher.”

Despite what most people think, the word Kosher doesn’t mean “healthy” or “clean” or ritually pure.  Its simply denotes something that is “fit” or “proper” for use.  Food can be Kosher, but so can a Torah scroll – if it’s made the right way, and isn’t missing any words or letters.  A person can be Kosher, too, as when we speak about a Kosher witness – someone who meets the legal criteria to sign a Ketuba at a wedding.

A Mashgiach is a Kashrut supervisor, usually a Rabbi, although not necessarily.  The Hebrew word means “ to watch” or “supervise.” You can usually tell who the Mashgiach is at a Kosher affair – he’s the guy with the beard who hangs out in the kitchen watching the cooks and the waiters like a hawk.  He makes sure ever item brought into the kitchen is reliably Kosher, and then he oversees the way all the food is prepared and served.

Finally, there’s the Hechsher – a small symbol that is found on the label of a product signifying that it is Kosher. The most famous Hechsher is the O-U which stands for the “Orthodox Union” – a group that certifies over 3,000 companies and 6,000 plants in more than 70 countries.  But, at last count there are over 860 different labels – including the KAF-K, the O-K, the Star K, the Tablet K, the Diamond K, the Triangle K, and the Guitar K – of Nashville!

I imagine that God the Mashgiach, does a very through job before He hands out a Hechsher.  We, mere mortals, see a man who gives away millions to charity, and consider him a great philanthropist worthy of a plaque and a testimonial dinner.  God looks on the inside and sees something else: A business man who made his millions in an unscrupulous manner, and who was advised by is accountants to  give away money in order to reap the favorable tax benefits.  God would tell us that he expects us to follow the letter of the law, but He also intended that we be true to the spirit of the law, as well.  The laws of a Kosher slaughter for example, are very complex and exacting: Your need a certain kind of blade, of a certain length, checked each time it is used, to make sure it is absolutely smooth; and that knife has to be used by an expert, who has studied the law, and who recites a blessing, and who then draws the knife in a certain way across the animal’s neck.  But it is clear from all these details in the letter of the law that the intent of the law is to make sure that when we take the life of an animal for our food, we do it in a way that minimizes the animal’s pain.

It’s no secret that there were – and still are – Kosher slaughter houses who were meticulous about the letter of the law, but not so interested in its spirit.  They would higher a Shochet who was a stickler for details.  But at the same time, they would arrange for the animals to be moved down the assembly line as quickly and efficiently as possible – for as everyone knows, time is money.  So heavy animals had a shackle attached to a rear leg and were hoisted upside down and brought to the slaughterer.  This had nothing to do with the Kashrut or Jewish law, and everything to do with business and money.  Some people, it seems, cared only for the letter of the law, but forgot about its ultimate purpose.

Today, there are many Jews who keep Kosher, but won’t eat veal, or foie gras – because of the way young calves are confined to tiny stalls so their muscles don’t develop – and the way the geese are force-fed to enlarge their livers.  The veal and the foie gras are certified as Kosher, but some Jews say: “Just Kosher isn’t good enough.  We answer to a higher authority!”

It’s fascinating to see how Jews in modern times have related to the issue of Kashrut.

Orthodox Jews, of course, believe that the Mitzvot in the Torah are commands that come directly from God.  We obey them because God said so – no additional reason or rationale is necessary.  As Orthodoxy has grown – both in numbers and in self-assurance over the last 25 years, it has tended to become more strict, especially in the area of Kashrut.  For example, most Orthodox Jews today will only eat Meat that is “Glatt Kosher” – meaning that the animal’s lungs are completely smooth.  That’s the reason they won’t eat Hebrew National products – which are Kosher, but not necessarily Glatt.  In recent years, Orthodox Jews have become very meticulous about not drinking tap water in New York – because of microscopic organisms, and not eating some vegetables – like Broccoli, because of the presence of tiny bugs.

Reform Judaism developed in Germany beginning in the 1820’s as a reaction against Orthodoxy.  Reform believed that the essence of Judaism was Ethical Monotheism.  The ritual laws of the Torah were no longer mandatory, while the ethical teachings of the prophets still were.  Reform Jews very much wanted to be a part of general society that, after the French Revolution, was opening up for Jews.  They rejected those mitzvot that set Jews apart from their neighbors, like Payis, Tzitzis, and Kashrut.  I’ll never forget 25 years ago when the Jericho School’s superintendent invited all of the local clergy to a lunch meeting at the Milleridge Inn.  Rabbi Steinhart and I ordered the cottage cheese and fruit, while our Reform colleague, true to Reform beliefs, feasted on the non-Kosher steak.

Conservative Judaism developed in this country as a reaction against Reform – hence the name which signified a desire to conserve tradition, not change it.  In fact, it was the food at a Banquet at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 1883 that galvanized the break with Reform: On the menu were clams, shrimp, frogs legs, non-Kosher beef, and ice cream that caused the traditionalists to walk out and start the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.

For Conservative Judaism, the Torah is divinely inspired, yet it is ultimately a human product.  The mitzvot are our attempt to discover what God would have us do to make our lives richer and more meaningful.  Kashrut, as it has evolved from Biblical times until today has several purposes:

It fosters Jewish identity by having us do what Jews have done for over 3,000 years; it promotes self-discipline by teaching us we can’t have anything we want whenever we want it; it makes us more humane, by guiding us how to take the lives of the animals we eat.  Most importantly, it teaches us about holiness – how to take the purely biological act of eating and transform it into a regular sacred occasion.

Unlike Orthodoxy, which has become more strict in recent decades, Conservative Judaism has tended to find ways to be more lenient: Permitting all hard cheeses, considering sturgeon and swordfish as Kosher, requiring only three hours waiting time between eating meat and eating dairy.

This past year, Kashrut has made its way onto the pages of the New York times and the Wall Street Journal.

Agriprocessors is the largest Kosher slaughterhouse in the world.  Located in Postville Iowa, it is owned by the Rubashkin family of Brooklyn.  They are Lubavitch Hasids, and among their name brands are ‘Aaron’s Best’, ‘Rubashkin’s’, and ‘David’s’.  They produce 60% of the Kosher meat in this country.

In 2004, PETA – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – sent in undercover workers who filmed inhumane treatment of the animals before and during slaughter.  The videos were posted all over the internet and raised serious questions about Agriprocessors concern for the very spirit of the laws of Kashrut.

Then this past May, federal authorities raided the plant and arrested 390 workers on illegal immigration charges.  The feds also alleged that company owners and supervisors physically abused and exploited workers; knowingly hired workers without legal documentation; altered work records; paid some workers off the books and paid them below minimum wage.

About a dozen years ago, Morris Allen, a Conservative Rabbi at Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, noted an anomaly: Though Conservative Judaism believes in the critical importance of keeping Kosher, most Conservative Jews don’t.  So in a program he cleverly called “Chew by Choice”, Rabbi Allen asked his congregants to take a first step, and stop eating flagrantly treif foods, like pork, and shellfish.  This led him to become more and more involved in promoting Kashrut.

In May of 2006, after an exposé of the Agriprocessors Plant was published in the Forward, Rabbi Allen decided that enough was enough.

“As concerned as we are about how an animal gets killed, we need to be equally concerned about how a worker lives” he said.  “We should not be more concerned about the smoothness of a cow’s lung than we are about the safety of a worker’s hand.  We should not be eating food that has been produced in a way that has denied the dignity of the labor!”

His response was to propose a new type of certification that would be given in addition to the regular Kashrut symbol on a label.  It will be called “Hechsher Tzedek”, or “Certification of Justice”.  It would testify that the food was produced in a way that meets Halakhic – Jewish legal – standards for workers and animals.

The Torah, is filled with laws protecting workers, and looking after the welfare of animals.  Here’s but two examples.  Deuteronomy 24:14 – “You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow countryman or a stranger in your land…”  Deuteronomy 22:4 – “If you see your fellow’s donkey or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it; you must help him raise it.”  And there are many, many more.

Hechsher Tzedek is not looking to get into competition with the O-U, or the other Kashrut supervision agencies; it’s staff would not be involved in examining the ingredients or the cooking process.  It would be in addition to those Hechshers, and would assure interested consumers that the company is “doing the right thing” when it comes to how it treats workers and animals.

Hechsher Tzedek Guidelines demand that Companies must offer fair wages and benefits to all employees; companies must provide a safe and healthy workplace to all employees; companies must offer quality products and services, and market them responsively – and ensure that animals are treated humanely at all points of the production cycle; companies mist operate transparently and with integrity, respecting ethical standards of conduct and corporate governance; and companies must avoid having a negative impact on the environment and by extension communities located near company facilities.

It’s instructive to see how the three major movements have responded to Rabbi Allen’s initiative.  It tells us a great deal about their understanding of Judaism.

Orthodoxy has been, by and large, very critical of Rabbi Allen and of Hechsher Tzedek.  They believe he is mixing two different things which have nothing to do with one another.  Kashrut is solely about following the detailed procedures found in the Shulhan Arukh: How to check the knife, how to cut the animal’s throat, how to check the organs, how to soak and salt the meat to remove the blood.  Violation of labor laws is a matter for the State and Federal authorities – like OSHA and the Department of Labor – not Rabbis.

Some Orthodox organizations are concerned that the Conservative Movement is looking to get into the Kashrut Supervision business, and pose a potential threat to established Hashgachas.  They are worried about competition.

Some say that Conservative Judaism – after abandoning classical norms of observance (by supporting Gay Rabbis and Gay Marriage) has lost any legitimacy to speak about Halakhic matters of any kind.

Some have attacked Rabbi Allen – holding that he himself has eaten in non-Kosher restaurants, and is thus ineligible to set standards of Kashrut for anyone else.  (Note, by the way, that Conservative Judaism would allow eating cold food in a non-Kosher establishment.  The implication that Rabbi Allen doesn’t keep Kosher is nonsense.)

Some are worried that the negative attention on Agriprocessors only serves to hurt the Kashrut industry, and will make Kosher meat less available and thus more expensive.

And some believe that what this controversy is all about is a zero sum clash between two irreconcilable cultures – Judaism, as represented by Halakha, and Western civilization and its liberal and ethical values.  If one wins – the other loses.

In fairness, there are a few voices in the Orthodox Community who have spoken out against the allegations of wrongdoing.  The PETA videos demonstrate violations of Halakha.  And mistreating workers is also against the Torah.  That being said – it’s unlikely they will support an organization founded by a Conservative Rabbi.

There hasn’t been a lot heard from the Reform movement because Reform Judaism doesn’t count Kashrut as one of its top priorities.  (One of our local Reform Temples recently redid their catering facility, and now doesn’t even offer a Kosher option!)  In the last ten years or so, Reform Judaism has inched its way back towards tradition (more Yarmulkas and Tallesim are seen these days in the Reform Temples than used to be) – but whether that translates into significant numbers of Reform Jews who keep Kosher either in the home or outside – remains to be seen.

What Reform Judaism is interested in is Social Justice.  This, in fact, is the pillar on which the movement stands.  Reform Judaism is deeply involved in the issues of Immigration, Minimum Wages for workers, and Safe Workplace conditions for people who otherwise have no voice or clout in society.  But Reform Jews would be equally upset if the violations happened at Oscar Meyer or Perdue.

So here’s the great irony: Many Orthodox Jews say “We could care less about the abuse of illegal immigrants; all that matters to us is if the rules of Kosher slaughtering were meticulously adhered to.”  It’s all about Ritual, not ethics. And many Reform Jews say: “We could care less about the Kosher stuff; all that matters to us are the issues of justice and fairness to the poor, and a lack of cruelty to animals.”  It’s all about Ethics, not Rituals.

Which leads us to the critical question: Isn’t there anybody who cares about both?  The answer is Yes.  We do.  Conservative Judaism cares equally about Rituals and Ethics.  That’s what Judaism is all about.  And it’s that view that makes us distinctive.

To be a Conservative Jew is to live in two worlds at the same time: To be a part of the modern secular world, and steeped in the world of traditional Judaism.  We hold them both as filled with value.  And when they come into conflict and clash, we do everything we can to reconcile them.  Sometimes that can’t be done, and we may reject secular values, or we may change traditional practice.  But we do so only as a last resort.

For over 15 years, Conservative Judaism struggled with the issue of Homosexuality.  The Torah seems pretty clear in condemning and forbidding gay and lesbian sexual relations.  But medical, psychological, and scientific evidence in recent decades seems pretty clear that homosexuality is not a choice – that people are born with a sexual identity.

Orthodoxy starts and stops with the Torah.  Scientific evidence is of no meaning compared to what is God’s will and God’s command.

Reform Judaism on the other hand has no problem in ignoring or excising sections of our most sacred text that go against modern sensibilities.

It’s only Conservative Judaism which had to struggle over this issue.  We can’t ignore what modern research tells us.  Yet how do we turn our backs on what our people have read and believed in for over 3,000 years?  There’s no easy answers here, and there’s still no unanimity in our movement.

This past year we studied one of the Teshuvot – or position papers that tried to reconcile these two opposites.  Using typical rabbinic methodology, it involves close reading of our sacred texts, and sometimes re-interpreting what the Torah said. 

In the coming years, you will be seeing more Gay Conservative Rabbis, and soon you’ll be seeing straight Conservative Rabbis performing commitment ceremonies for gay couples.

There’s been a lot written in the past few years about the three movements in America – How Orthodoxy is attracting more and more people who want “authentic” Judaism – some of the best and brightest of our own movement become disillusioned with the “wishy-washyness” of Conservative Judaism and move to the religious right; How Reform Judaism, recognizing the phenomena of intermarriage, opened its doors and welcomed interfaith couples, and in doing do became the largest of the three movements; And how Conservative Judaism is on decline, its population aging, its synagogues merging or closing down, how it has become the main source of congregants for the other two movements. 

To be honest, I have to tell you that there is some truth in those assessments.  But it’s not the whole truth.  Orthodoxy is vibrant and growing, but it has also become obsessed with strict ritual observance, and is increasingly rejecting the secular world and its values.  Modern Orthodoxy, is being pushed aside by Ultra-Orthodoxy where computers, TVs, and college degrees are frowned upon.

Yes, Reform Judaism is the largest of the movements, but a significant number of its members are not Halakhicly Jewish, and without a strong commitment to Jewish ritual and tradition, many wonder what they get from Judaism that they can’t find in contemporary liberal politics.

It’s only in the Conservative movement that you can find the authentic dualities of Judaism completely and comfortably embraced:
            - Religious and secular values;
            - Ritual and ethics;
            - the letter of the law and the spirit.

We recognize that people join a Conservative Synagogue for all sorts of reasons: You could get into a good carpool for Hebrew School; your friends go here; you heard nice things about the Cantor and the Rabbi.  But why ever you joined – you’re here.  And you need to know that we believe you made the right choice – not only because of those other reasons, but because Conservative Judaism, philosophically, make the most sense.  As you hear more about Hechsher Tzedek, and in the not too distant future when you see a Hechsher Tzedek label on the labels of cans and packages you buy at the supermarket, you’ll know what it means, and you can be assured that only Conservative Judaism could have come out with such a concept, and you can be proud that you are part of the Conservative movement.

I want to believe that when God looks over our record of the past year, He’s not only going to check if we dovvined three times a day, didn’t work on Shabbes, and ate Kosher food;
And He’s not only going to ask if we gave to charity, were kind to widows, orphans and strangers, and helped feed the hungry.

To get a Hechsher Tzedek from God, we’re going to have to have tried to do all those things. 

Makes me think that maybe God is a Conservative Jew.