Dear Zev Brenner, amv"sh
Please forward this both to Shmuly Yanklovitz and to attorney Sam Hirsh and to the Rubashkin family for a new perspective. Thanks
Regarding the Rubashkin case, let's try to look at the Bigger Picture!
Shmuly from Uri L'Tzedek: As one who is in the forefront in the fight for ethics and morality, in your honest opinion, which scenario is more ethical and moral according to a "Higher Authority"?.
The hard earned American tax payer money legally lands up in the Palestinian Authority to teach children about 'martyrdom', praise violent resistance and teach that the entire State of Israel does not exist.http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/134354 or alternatively, according to American law lands up illegally in the hands of the Spinka Rebbe who uses this money to pay salaries for his Rabbeim of his Yeshiva some of whom have large families e.g. 10 kids. The Spinka Yeshiva, like most good Yeshivas teaches the observance of Torah and Mitzvoth the epitome of ethical and moral behavior.
One has to admit that when we are talking about a higher moral order, the illegal money landing in the Spinka Yeshiva is preferable to legal money ending up in the Palestinian Authority Schools teaching incitement and martyrdom. In fact I would even venture to guess that you yourself would prefer that your tax money would end up in a Yeshiva rather than in a PA school that teaches incitement and martyrdom.
Or does American legality overrule answering to a "Higher Authority?"
Shmuly,
I am all for paying taxes and being ethical and moral. But do you really believe that the Spinka Rebbe should be on such a defensive for defrauding the American tax payer when the Orthodox Jewish American Tax payer is being defrauded by the American Gov't who uses their hard earned money to give lots of money to the Palestinian Authority. see link The USAID program has pumped $2.4 billion into the Palestinian Authority since 1994 for what it says are programs that "reduce poverty, improve health and education, create jobs and advance democracy." USAID says it plans to invest another $153 million in 2010 for the development of PA infrastructure in Judea and Samaria.
Shmuly, it is not secret that the Palestinians rejoiced when the Twin Towers fell.
It is nice and fine to be patriotic but how much do your really care about your fellow Jew in Judea and Samaria all 350,000 of them who have built up their lives and community, with an honest and ethical work ethic and in spite of this, face expulsion and destruction due to pressure coming from the American Government using your hard earned taxes. I'm not sure how much you've earned so far because you are still a student. This is hypothetical. And if you think that a Palestinian State will not bring Kassam rockets upon all of Israel within Kassam reach, go live in Sderot and experience first hand the result of Disengagement. After all, what happened to the taxpaying, hard working, honest and ethical Jews from Gush Katif whose homes and communities were destroyed because the ethical and moral Jewish communities in America and elsewhere were too self absorbed in whatever they were absorbed in to protest?
You yourself managed to organize thousands to sign a petiion against Agriprocessor and company? Couldn't you have used your energies to fight for Yesha? Is it no wonder that G-d sends as His Shaliach some judge in Indiana that comes up with a some unrelated Psak that says that Rubashkin can't have his passport because he might run to Israel the Homeland for the Jewish People.
Perhaps G-d, who has his messengers is telling us Jews through this judge that Israel is our Homeland and we must not forget it?
Do you really think that the reason Jews are being targeted because we are involved in serious bank fraud and unethical business behavior? You yourself said that if someone did not meet your ethical standards you would not commit them to jail but would work with them.
I am not promoting hiring illegal immigrants but honestly, what is their alternative? Are these illegal immigrants better off now than they were not working for Rubashkin? Honestly, are they now grateful to you for your charity when they were laid off. Are their lives much better now as a result of your pursuit of honesty and legality and ethics? Who helps support them when your charity ran out? Is their new job conditions much more favorable than their previous job conditions in Postville? What do they get paid in Guatemala now that they can not work illegally in the US.
Of course as loyal Americans we are concerned about upholding the law of the Land and are against hiring illegal workers and not paying less than minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
Immigration law is not that black and white. America has always absorbed the best and sometimes, laws that are too harsh to protect illegal immigration works against our better interests.
Is the USA gov't interested in merely correcting offenses. regarding illegal immigration and other violations. How come they close Agriprocessor with no regard to the employees and those who suddenly lost their source of livelihood, as a result of this closure thereby causing great distress and suffering in the process. Surely, these violations could have been corrected a more humane manner. .
As a Rabbinic student you must be aware that In Jewish Law when someone commits a sin he is subject to lashes. Yet if the one that carries out the punishment, exceeds by even one lash he is Chayav. He is over Baal Tosif.
Don't you think that strictly from an American Legal perspective, Rubashkin and the company Agriprocessor is being punished too harshly? Why not investigate independently and if you find via investigative research, not based on biased media reports that Rubashkin was subject to selective prosecution, you who helped bring him and his employees down with your pursuit of fairness and justice, have the obligation to join with Sam Hirsh and help him fight his case. Otherwise, you will be held accountable for all the extra lashes he is receiving unjustly. . If you were so concerned about justice and ethics do not allow a family to be ruined more than they deserve especially when you helped bring them down. All your compassion for them can not undo the damage that you and your organization perhaps caused them.
Sincerely, Robin Ticker
PS. G-d is the ultimate just and fair Judge,
My message to the Rubashkin family is to learn from the Judge who told Rubashkin that his homeland is Eretz Yisroel and to do whatever they can to fight for Shleimus Haaretz and against the terrible decree slated for the hundreds of thousands of Jews in Judea and Samaria Our obligation to state that the entire world belongs to G-d and G-d chooses to whom to give the Land is taught to us when we learn about Shemittah.
Shemittah has 2 components.
One component is dependent on the Land of Israel. Shemittah Karkaot.
The other component is universal, Shemitas Kesafim.
Rubashkin started his business in 1987, which was a shemittah year. I believe his whole enterprise fell apart in 2008 which is the year following Shemittah. Interestingly, the fall of the twin towers was also in Aseres Yemai Teshuva following a Shemittah year and the stock market in 1988 took a plunge following a Shemittah year. Shemittah is supposed to be metaken the problem of Kochi VeOtzem Yadi which is symbolized by the World Trade Center and the stock market. In the Shemittah year we are obligated according to the Torah to loan to the poor and then forego loans .. I have no doubt that Rubashkin used Pruzbul but the spirit of Shabbat and Maein Olam Haba is not experienced via legal loopholes even Pruzbul. Sometimes the letter of the Law is not enough.
Maybe in the Shemittah year, Rubashkin could have instituted a program to feed the poor with chickens. :"Buy a chicken for a needy family in honor of Shabbos (Shabbat Haaretz). Especially a needy farmer. " Maybe a year of extra caring for the fellow Jew to an extraordinary degree during the Shemittah year was in order. Shemittah is meant for Jews. How many Goyim even have the inclination to keep Shemittas Kesafim. Of course this should apply to all Jews not just Rubashkin. However since Rubashkin is experiencing such difficult times, they may be the ones to be the pioneers in this uncharted territory of Shemittas Kesafim not totally relying on Pruzbul, a Rabbinic loophole instituted by Hillel,
This is food for thought. You might want to read a bit more about my own personal experience regarding Shemittah at http://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com/2005/09/how-it-began-how-i-became-interested.html
Kol Tuv, and Shavua Tov!
Here is a reprint of the report of Uri LeTzedek just to refresh your memory.
Repairing a sacred relationship
By Ari Hart and Shmuly Yanklowitz
With black helicopters buzzing overhead, scores of U.S. Federal agents on May 12 conducted the largest immigration raid in American history, at a meatpacking plant in the small town of Postville, Iowa. Affidavits and search warrants alleged that the slaughterhouse had hired hundreds of undocumented Guatemalan immigrants, abused and threatened them, and paid them sub-minimum wages. The episode shocked many Americans and revealed major flaws in our immigration system and domestic labor practices. Even worse, from the Jewish point of view, was that this story unfolded at Agriprocessors, the largest supplier of kosher meat in America.
The Jewish community in general and the observant community in particular are obliged by countless directives, rooted in the Torah, to protect and support the workers who produce the goods and services that sustain us. Even if our skin colors and faiths are different and we are hundreds of miles apart, our lives are deeply intertwined by virtue of the sacred social relationships between consumer, worker and employer. The charges raised by the government made it eminently clear that those relationships had been violated: Its affidavit outlined many health and safety violations, including dangerous working conditions, at the Agriprocessors plant. There were also many horrific stories in the media about physical and sexual abuse of workers and severe mistreatment of animals.
Uri L'Tzedek, the first Orthodox social justice organization in the United States, responded. Our initial action was to raise funds to help the families that, as a result of the raid, were left destitute without income. We also petitioned the company's owner, Aaron Rubashkin, protesting the abuse of workers, who included many immigrants, vulnerable populations that the Torah repeatedly demands the Jewish people protect.
Signers of the petition demanded that Agriprocessors agree to pay its workers at least minimum wage, $7.25 in Iowa, and recommit to abiding by all U.S. laws relating to worker safety and rights. Approximately 60 percent of kosher beef and 40 percent of kosher chicken in America and much in Israel come from Agri, but these signers committed to buy from and patronize only those institutions that purchase the alternatives. While the Orthodox Union, the country's largest kashrut certifier, decided not to challenge Agri on these allegations, nearly 2,000 Jewish leaders and kosher consumers, from the U.S. and Israel, did sign on to our demands. Many synagogues, schools and camps have also vowed to cease buying Agri products until the injustices are rectified. We believe this in itself was a victory confirming that the Orthodox and broader kosher communities care about the oppressed, the stranger and the worker.
Members of Uri L'Tzedek also met with members of the Rubashkin family and company management in early June. The atmosphere was tense, but the company did commit to complying with our demands. At the same time, it hired Jim Martin, a reputable former U.S. Attorney, to serve as the company's chief compliance officer, a new position created in response to these major problems. Martin has already instituted a number of reforms, intended to bring Agriprocessors into compliance with U.S. laws governing worker protection. Our negotiations and dialogue with the company and with Mr. Martin have continued, and the boycott was suspended in response to these initial signs of reform.
This was an important victory for the kosher consumers who signed on and for the workers who remain at the plant. The arrested undocumented employees and their families, however, have lost out: Hundreds have been imprisoned and await deportation. And new allegations of withheld pay and exploitation of workers continue to arise.
More generally, a failed immigration system remains in place in America, by which many industries rely on the labor of easily exploited poor undocumented immigrants to provide cheap services. When the government does take action, it is often against the workers, rather than seeing them as the abused party.
The Uri L'Tzedek team intends to visit Postville on August 12 to assist and meet with workers past and present, and their families. A number of leaders of Jewish youth groups also plan to join the delegation: They are the next generation of kosher activists. Addressing these larger issues is integral to Uri L'Tzedek's work as Orthodox Jewish activists. In addition to mobilizing members of the Orthodox and broader Jewish community to raise funds for the families that have been hurt by the raids, we have attempted to raise awareness about workers' rights and immigration through educational campaigns in the Orthodox community, and have lobbied U.S. House and Senate staff to express our concerns about the human suffering that results from these kinds of enforcement tactics.
As Orthodox Jews, we feel that we must go beyond addressing our own parochial needs and wield the unprecedented influence we now have for the values the Torah holds dear: justice, love and compassion. As American Jews, we have been deeply inspired by the path blazed by B'maaglei Tzedek in Israel, placing social justice at the forefront of religious priorities. It does this in part via its tav hevrati (social seal), which certifies restaurants as not only kosher but also as meeting ethical standards. We value the effort to carry out the ethical mitzvot as stringently as we observe the ritual ones.
We believe this campaign signals a new level of communal expectation of all our Jewish businesses to conduct themselves with the highest standards of ethics and justice, as demanded by our holy tradition. We work and we yearn for the time when "justice shall roll down like waters and righteousness like an everflowing stream" - may it come speedily in our days. Amen.
Ari Hart and Shmuly Yanklowitz are Orthodox rabbinical students at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and co-directors of Uri L'Tzedek http://uriltzedek.webnode.com
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