Inspecting Kashrus Close Up – An Exhausting But Rewarding Trip
Author: Webby
 On Wednesday night, July 5, Rabbi Berel Levertov, Head Kashrus Supervisor for the Vaad Hakashrus-CHK, was about to leave on a long trip. It was one of his frequent trips for surprise inspections of dairy facilities of the Ahava company, which carries the Crown Heights Kosher certification. Then his phone rang. On the line was Rabbi Avrohom Osdoba, Rabbinic authority of Crown Heights. His request was to please take with him Rabbi Yitzchok Zirkind and Rabbi Shlomo Segal, two of the newly elected members of the Beth Din, to introduce them to the Beth Din’s kashrus procedures at the milk farms and dairy plants under its supervision. Ever since the time of Rabbi Yehuda Kalman Marlow, of blessed memory, one of its original members, the Beth Din of Crown Heights has special rules instituted for ensuring the highest standards of kashrus. For example, every supervised dairy farm has to have a continuous mashgiach (kashrus supervisor), who lives on site with his wife, besides an additional mashgiach for the night. At 2:00 a.m., the three Rabbis dropped in for a surprise visit at the milk farms in the Adams Center region, about 40 miles from the Canadian border. The Beth Din’s mashgichim were at their posts to supervise the milking of the cows. The Rabbis watched as groups of cows were led in to be milked, and as the milk storage tanks were closed and sealed after each milking. They also learned about the special care taken to separate cows that experience surgical procedures – which usually render them non-kosher – from the herd milked under Crown Heights Kosher supervision (these cows are either sold or transferred to a non-kosher dairy). After a side trip for morning prayers to Ottawa, Canada, the closest city with a shul, they rested for a while at the home of Rabbi Dovid Hayes, son-in-law of Rabbi Chaim Osher Kahanov, which was a senior Mashgiach of the Vaad Hakashrus-CHK, on one of the farms in the past.. Then they returned to the United States, heading for Ogdensburg, just inside the New York State border. There they inspected the plant of Primo Food, opened by Ahava three years ago after its other plant, Lewis County Dairy (in the Lewis County region), became too small for the company’s large volume of dairy products. The Primo Food plant is now used for producing all hard cheeses such as cheddar and mozzarella, while other products, such as yogurt, leben, cottage cheese and sour cream, are processed at Louis County Dairy. Ahava’s owner, Moshe Banayan, a Torah-observant Jew, is unique in the United States in owning two dairy plants devoted solely to the production of cholov Yisroel products at the highest level of kashrus – “mehadrin min hamehadrin – thus requiring no koshering of machines for the occasions they are used for kosher products. That’s why most companies catering to the strictly kosher market (New Square, Morning Select, Best Moo, Kahal etc.) process their products at these plants. The inspection was most positive. The visiting Rabbis were shown around the entire Promo Foods plant by Rabbi Levertov and the on-site head mashgiach, Rabbi Matusov, inspecting the procedures for receiving and storing the milk, the various stages of production, additives etc. At each key location, they noted how G-d-fearing mashgichim were at their posts, faithfully doing their tasks so that the Jewish public, and the Lubavitcher community in particular, should be able to eat the most reliably kosher cholov Yisroel products with all possible stringencies, without having to seek such products elsewhere. While they were there, Mr. Benayan asked them to kosher a new machine he had recently purchased, and Rabbi Levertov, of course, rolled up his sleeves and obliged. They had hoped to pay a surprise visit to another farm, in Lewis County, but decided against it when they realized it was already past milking time there. They continued to Louis County Dairy, where they were met by Reb Zev, one of the best mashgichim, who lives next to the plant so that he can oversee supervision around the clock. He showed the visitors around the whole plant, through all stages of production, from unloading milk from the trucks, through the production processes, additives, ensuring that seals are placed on milk storage tanks and on products as they are packed etc. The visitors commented that such a plant, used solely for processing cholov Yisroel products, ensures the very highest standards of kashrus, as befits G-d-fearing Jews and Chassidim, particularly Lubavitcher Chassidim, who have always been accustomed to self-sacrifice, if necessary, to eat only food of impeccable kashrus. On their way back to New York, the Rabbis made a surprise inspection of one more farm, in Lewis County. Milking takes place there around the clock, which is why two couples serve as on-site mashgichim, each responsible for half of each day’s 24 hours. The Rabbis were pleased to find them at their posts, and were very satisfied with the kashrus arrangements for the milking process, storage etc. After a fatiguing trip of almost 40 hours, they returned to Crown Heights on Friday. They were exhausted, of course, but very satisfied and deeply impressed with all they had observed and learned about the high standards of kashrus enforced by the Vaad Hakashrus, under the continuous direction of Rabbi Osdoba, with his vast expertise and many years of experience in kashrus supervision. 
    Posted By - Webby on 12/07/06 at 10:23
|