LUBICOM CEO Menachem Lubinsky is the founder and co-producer of Kosherfest, the annual trade event for the kosher food & beverage industry and is the editor-in-chief of KosherToday.

Eye on Kosher shares Lubinsky’s personal reflections on kosher-related topics and is released on alternating weeks with My Sixth Sense, which can be found at http://www.koshertoday.com

The “Powerful” Vaadim

Jun 07, 2009

I continue to receive e-mails on what has become known as the “Streit’s controversy.” There is still considerable anger over the action taken by the Vaad Harabbonim of Queens and the Five Towns Rabbinical Board to keep Streit’s matzohs off the shelves with just a few weeks remaining before Passover, causing Streit’s an estimated $200,000 loss. The reason given was that Streit’s no longer had a national certification; it had dropped the Kof-K for economic reasons. The upshot was that the Vaadim (plural for Vaad) did not trust the hekhsher (kosher certification) of Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik, without a national certification. Rabbi Moshe is the son of the late Rabbi Aharon Soloveichik, the long-time certifier of Streit’s. It is not entirely clear what the issues were but the purpose of this article is to take a closer look at the role of the Vaad in kashrus.

Amongst nearly a dozen e-mails I received after a piece appeared in Kosher Today was this one: “The whole Streit’s incident smells rotten. When did the Vaad get such powers as to disqualify a long-standing national brand that was a major staple for Passover for so many for decades?” Several others also questioned the right of the Vaad to ask the stores not to carry the Matzos although the Vaadim made it clear that they were not Saying that the Matzoh was not kosher. An official of a prominent kashrus agency told me that some of the Vaadim were becoming a problem for the agencies as they have been second-guessing the agencies demanding changes that are not mandated by the agencies. But he was quick to add that these are the aberrations, not the norm.

A Vaad is a kashrus committee that overseas kosher certification in a local area. They are predominantly involved in local retail and foodservice establishments, but on occasion will also certify a local manufacturing plant. In some cases, the Vaad will work with a major national certifier. In recent years the Vaadim have also published newsletters on general kashrus issues and have taken on a more prominent role in kashrus. In many cities, the Vaad has gone beyond the committee of local rabbis that deal with kashrus issues. Many have hired executive directors and actively solicit regional and ,local businesses for their kosher certifications.

The rabbi from the kashrus agency said that there was greater cooperation today amongst the Vaadim and the kashrus agencies than ever before, but he added: “Like everything else, it depends on the personalities. Some work better than others with other kashrus officials. Others are more problematic.” So what else is new?

I wish to make it clear that I am not pointing a finger at the Vaadim in the Streit’s fiasco although there are many questions on their actions. I am merely pointing out that the Vaadim today are a major factor on the national kashrus scenes and even national manufacturers will have to take that into account in the future.