Four years ago, on the morning of May 12th, 2008, dozens of federal agents descended on the small town of Postville, Iowa for the largest workplace immigration raid in American history. At the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant, the main employer in Postville, agents arrested nearly 400 undocumented workers, and promptly deported 300 arrestees on false identity charges.
Almost four years later, the Agriprocessors raid remains a subject of great controversy due to its broader implications for the immigration debate. But away from the national limelight, the Agriprocessors raid has also impacted America’s Orthodox Jewish communities, prompting them to reconsider the human costs of their kosher food products.
Agriprocessors held a near-monopoly in the Kosher meat industry, and revelations of worker maltreatment at the plant created shockwaves across the Jewish community. A shochet, or kosher meat slaughterer, undergoes years of training and plays a vital community role. Kosher slaughterhouses are assumed to reflect core Jewish values such as honesty and respect for others. Instead, the abuses at Agriprocessors revealed that today, kosher is often not ethical.
Read More: @ haaretz.com
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