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July 26, 2002/Av 17 5762, Vol. 54, No. 45
Kashrut is more than ingredients
DAVID GOLDSTEIN
Special to Jewish News
The Phoenix Jewish Community has grown in numbers, in the quality of its institutions and in the number of Jews committed to mitzvah observance. Not selectively, not just kashrut and not just the Sabbath, but all of the mitzvoth.
So too the constituency of the Greater Phoenix Vaad Hakashruth has changed.
Consequently, the Vaad has continued to refine its standards. More of those who care about kashrut also care about Sabbath observance. Were the Vaad to sanction a Jewish business that opened on the Sabbath, its certification would lose its meaning and its constituency would not rely on it.
Recognizing that changing constituency, the Vaad worked for approximately five years with Karsh's Bakery in Phoenix to accommodate Karsh's desire to remain certified and to serve those people who wanted to shop at the bakery on Shabbat.
No viable solution was reached. Commendably, the bakery decided to close on the Sabbath in September 2000, but found that that decision was not economically viable. The Vaad declined to certify Karsh's when the bakery reopened on the Sabbath in February 2001.
For the last 20 years the Vaad's fees to Karsh's have not increased. When Karsh's closed on Sabbath, the Vaad upgraded its supervision of the bakery by visiting and inspecting it daily, but did not increase its fee. It supported the experiment and wanted Karsh's to succeed.
Yet when Karsh's reopened on Saturdays, those of us for whom the Sabbath a way of life and a proclamation of God's creation of the universe were met by signs that proclaimed, "Yay, we're open on Saturday again." It was a slap in the face of those who bought more bread and bagels at Karsh's than normal because they wanted Karsh's to succeed while it respected the Sabbath.
Those who complain that Karsh's, a business owned by Jews, cannot be kosher and open on the Sabbath, while Albertson's, a business owned by non-Jews, can have a kosher section and be open on the Sabbath, miss the point. Ever since Sinai, Jews must answer to a higher standard, a standard that demands adherence to the fourth of the Ten Commandments.
Just as the Jewish community has begun to upgrade its standards of observance, so too has the Vaad upgraded its standards. Both are signs that our community is maturing. Its efforts to serve that maturing community should be encouraged and not criticized.
David B. Goldstein, who resides in Phoenix, is a principal in the law firm Hyman & Goldstein. He is also the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix liaison to the Greater Phoenix Vaad Hakashruth.
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