Sep 8, 2006 9:43 am US/Eastern
Jewish Community Up In Arms Over Kosher Scandal
by Tony Aiello
MONSEY, N.Y. (CBS) ―
Thousands of Jewish families are scrubbing pots, pans, plates and utensils, fearing they've been tainted by non-kosher food.
It's a purification ritual known as kashering, made necessary by a discovery that has shocked the Orthodox Jewish community in Rockland County.
The owners of Hatzlocha Grocery learned recently that their butcher relabeled non-kosher chicken and sold it as kosher.
"It's a disaster, like a bomb," said Rabbi David Eidensohn, who explained observant Jews who ate the non-kosher meat feel as if their souls have been poisoned.
"The Jewish people have a Jewish soul that cannot thrive without kosher food, and if it eats food that is not kosher the soul is badly damaged," Eidensohn said.
The meat was sold at the grocery and also served at a large yeshiva and many catering halls.
Religious leaders have told congregants to purify their kitchens, so thousands of families are taking part in the kashering ritual. Pots, pans, plates and utensils are subjected to heat, or dipped in boiling water.
"If we cook non-kosher meat in this utensil, part of that will come into the kosher meat we cook in the future," said Milton Berg of Monsey. "So we do purify the utensils."
Residents said the butcher, Moshe Finkel, has gone into hiding. Rabbi Eidensohn said Finkel brought great shame on his family.
"His whole life now is going to be dealing with this," the Rabbi said. "He undoubtedly has cried great, bitter tears from this."
Finkel also may face charges for mislabeling a food product.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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