Showing posts with label sushigate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sushigate. Show all posts
Jan 30, 2011
SushiGate in RBS
For some background, for those unaware of what "sushigate" is, for some reason Rav Malinowitz had JKN investigate the kashrus of a local sushi business, called Sushiagogo. It seems they were advertising that their business operated under the hechsher of Agudas Yisrael. Calls to the Aguda made it clear that this was not true, the Aguda said an announcement must be made to that effect, and if people ate food from the sushi place, it might not have been kosher and they should consult with their rav as to how to proceed.
After Shabbos it was further investigated and discovered that the sushi place was buyign their sushi from a factory that was under the supervision of Agudas Yisrael, but the sushi place was not itself under this supervision. They had made a private arrangement with the Aguda mashgiach and he certified that their sushi was kosher. Being that they were buying Agudas Yisrael sushi from the factory and using the Aguda mashgiach, plus the mashgiach used the Aguda name, they seem to have mistakenly been under the impression that the Aguda was giving them the certification.
It turns out that the Aguda was not aware of the arrangement, as the mashgiach had never mentioned it to them. Therefore, when they demanded the announcement, they were assuming someone claiming their hechsher falsel, so they were concerned the food was not kosher. Now that they have been apprised of the situation, they have said the food was kosher until now. The Aguda and the mashgiach have said that it was the mashgiach's error, and the food until now was fine, but the private arrangement will no longer continue. Food until now was kosher, but from now on it does not have their hechsher (perhaps they are arranging an alternate hechsher).
UPDATE:
As only one side in this story has been heard until now, and that was via the emails they themselves publicized on the various email lists, I thought it would be helpful to get the other side of the story as well. I emailed a series of questions to the owner of Sushiagogo, and he sent me his responses.
1. Please help get the story straight - are you a store or a factory? do you buy from a factory? How did this all begin?
We are sushi chefs that made our sushi in a J-m restaurant under the Badatz Aguda. We don't buy from a factory. All of the sushi is made by us in the restaurant.
It began last year when we bought Sushiagogo.com from another owner. We continued to make the sushi in RBS under the Badatz mashgiach, Rabbi Neiman. Last spring we were hired to be the sushi makers in a restaurant. The owners and mashgichim knew that some of the sushi made there was being sent out to RBS.It was the exact same sushi being served in the restaurant.
2. Who certified Sushiagogo as kosher? Agudas Yisrael? a private mashgiach? if a private mashgiach, why did you say you were certified by the Agudas Yisrael?
While in RBS we had the supervision of the Badatz Aguda, Rabbi Neiman mashgiach. When we moved to the restaurant we just continued with the Badatz Aguda mashgiach there.
3. when you were told of the problem, did you call the mashgiach and ask whats going on, why are they saying you have no hasgocho? what was his explanation?
We really didn't know the extent of the issue until it hit the email lists and JKN. The only inkling was what we thought an innocent question emailed by a local rav. The question was: "I just want to make sure--you have Agudas Yisrael hechsher?" We answered yes as we believed that we were under the supervision (and as Rav Kroiser confirmed). It was lack of communication
4. did you try to make your situation understood by those investigating your kashrus? They didn't clearly clarify their intentions so we didn't have the opportunity to make the situation known.
5. now that the Agudas Yisrael mashgiach is saying you are no longer under his supervision, what kashrus organization are you taking for supervision? We are considering our options. In any case we will not sell sushi without hashgacha because we wouldn't eat it ourselves without proper hashgocha.
Do you have anything to say about what happened, a message you want people to hear that has not been mentioned? "Dan adom l'chaf zchus". We are frum people even though just teenagers. We personally feel that a better way would have been for the rav and JKN to say something like the hechsher may be in question or is under investigation. The very harsh and unclear language has stirred many people to think that we were serving treif, chas v'shalom, or trying to fool the public or lie. As it is now known this wasn't the case. In an email to our customers a foot note was written about the mitzva of "dan adom l'chaf zchus" with the mention that sometimes one detail is missing. The rav who started the investigation replied that he did everything correctly and there was no issue of dan adom l'chaf zchus. We see in the end however that the one detail..the lack of communication at the Aguda made all of the difference. I am not a rav but I think that everyone can learn the lesson of judging others favorably even when it look otherwise.
Open thread in the comments, keep it clean.
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