What We Eat: Labor Day and Kashrut

Re’eh

Deut. 11:26 - 16:17

Précis: Moses begins by quoting God, saying “Behold (re’eh), I set before you a blessing and a curse this day.” The blessing flows from observance of the laws and the curses result from violations. A concern with idolatry permeates the following verses. The parasha explains that there will be a single site for sacrifices. A test for a false prophet and the punishment of an idolatrous city are included. The parasha then shifts to other subjects: a prohibition against self-mutilation, the biblical basis of the laws of kashrut, tithing so that the needs are met for the Levites, the "stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.” Remission of debts, freeing of Hebrew slaves, and the dedication of firstborn cattle are discussed, as are the commandments for the observance of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot.

Deut. 14:2-3 “For you are a people consecrated to Adonai, your God; your God chose you from among all other peoples on earth to be a treasured people. You shall not eat anything abhorrent.”

Melanie Aron, writing in 10 Minutes of Torah (8/22/11) suggests that the laws of kashrut offer a format for ethical consideration across a range of issues, beyond food alone. Questions she poses include whether tomatoes grown with the intensive use of pesticides are acceptable, whether newsprint made by chopping down old-growth forests are acceptable, and other ecological matters (What makes a house kosher? Sufficient insulation? Good windows and storm doors?)

These questions can be expanded to consider other ethical issues: is it “kosher” to purchase products made with child labor or made by companies who abuse workers? How about using a bank which has major investments in tobacco companies?

The Conservative Movement in its Hechsher Tzedek Campaign seeks to make sure that food products are kosher only when (in additional to ritual requirements) the producers abide by wage and hour laws, treat their employees (and animals) humanely, and act in otherwise ethical manner. Uri LeTzedek, an Orthodox organization, has developed the Tav HaYosher, which requires that a kosher restaurant comply with civil law with regard to minimum wages, overtime pay, breaks, discrimination, and a safe and sanitary work environment.

The then-leader of the Reform Movement, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, stated at the Toronto Biennial (November 7, 2009),  “We do not bless or consume food produced by acts of injustice, by mistreating animals, or by despoiling the environment.” Noting that verses on kashrut are immediately followed by verses about tithing, he makes a connection: kashrut has a relationship with caring for the vulnerable members of our society.  

As Aron notes, this week’s reading “points us in the direction of understanding that which is kosher, that is, fit to eat, as being not only ritually compliant, but also morally defensible.”

As we observe Labor Day this coming weekend, we should remember that it is labor which makes it possible for us to eat what is before us. We are commanded to bless and thank God after we have eaten. How much more worthy when we can recite that blessing in the knowledge that it has been produced humanely and ethically?