c. 2008 Religion News Service

Orthodox rabbis to draft standards on ethical kosher products

NEW YORK (RNS) As the Conservative and Reform Jewish movements work to create a seal of approval for labor practices at kosher food companies, a group of Orthodox rabbis has decided to draft their own guidelines for workplace standards.

The Rabbinical Council of America, the New York-based governing body of Orthodox rabbis, has charged a task force of a dozen business ethicists and experts with coming out with the guide by January.

In contrast to the Conservative movement’s Hekhsher Tzedek initiative, which plans to create a supplemental seal to certify kosher foods as produced through fair wages and ethical working conditions, the Orthodox guide will only expect companies to comply with existing government laws.

The guide will also provide a list of Jewish principles companies can voluntarily adopt “as a matter of corporate social responsibility,” said Rabbi Basil Herring, RCA executive vice president.

“We believe that for the most part, the kosher food industry conforms to the rules and regulations, but unfortunately there have been reported cases where at least it has been alleged that there have been violations, and we want to do whatever we can to ensure that there is compliance to the extent that we possibly can,” he said.

In Iowa, the giant Agriprocessors meatpacking plant was recently charged with thousands of child labor violations, prompting some Jews to boycott its products. Under the Orthodox proposal, Herring said, the company would be innocent until proven guilty.

Rabbi Morris Allen, head of the Hekhsher Tzedek initiative, said the news showed the Orthodox movement had begun to recognize the importance of ensuring that certified foods are ethically as well as ritually kosher.

But with 3,000 companies with factories in 80 countries currently receiving kosher certifications, it’s impractical to make rabbis responsible for workplace standards, Herring said. The RCA guide will help by requiring that companies obey existing laws at a minimum, if they want to keep their kosher certifications.

“It puts companies on notice that they have to make a commitment to be good citizens,” Herring said. “They know that having a kosher supervision approval means they have additional incentive to do the right thing and to obey the law as a matter of corporate policy.”

_ Nicole Neroulias

Biden tries to reassure Jews on Obama and Israel

WASHINGTON (RNS) Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden assured a group of Jewish voters Tuesday (Sept. 23) that he would not have joined the Democratic ticket if he doubted presidential nominee Barack Obama’s support for Israel.

“Barack not only made that commitment to me, Barack has voted that commitment in his career in the United States Senate,” Biden told a meeting of the National Jewish Democratic Council.

“I promise you, I guarantee you _ I guarantee you _ I would not have joined Barack Obama’s ticket as vice president if I had any doubt, even the slightest doubt, that he shares the same commitment to Israel that I share,” he said.

Both Biden and Obama have campaigned in recent weeks in Jewish communities of Florida working to ease voters’ skepticism about Obama’s position on Iran and rumors about his religious background. In key battleground states such as Florida, the campaign is highlighting Obama’s support for Israel and the country’s right to defend itself against terrorism.

“The first trip I ever took abroad was to Israel,” Biden told an audience of more than 200. “I’ve spent 35 years of my career dealing with issues related to Israel. My support for Israel begins in my stomach, goes to my heart and ends up in my head.”

Biden, who is Catholic, said he has spoken out against anti-Semitism and co-sponsored the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006.

Obama also co-sponsored the bill, which expressed U.S. support for a two-state solution in the Middle East and banned U.S. assistance to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

“Imagine a president who won’t wait until his seventh year in office to discover the need for American leadership in the Middle East peace process,” Biden said in a veiled criticism of the Bush administration.

The speech was the first time Biden has addressed a major national Jewish organization since being selected as Obama’s running mate in August.

_ Brittney Bain

CAIR says anti-Muslim violence is down, but profiling is up

WASHINGTON (RNS) Anti-Muslim discrimination reached an all-time high in 2007, according to a report released Wednesday (Sept. 24) by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The District of Columbia and just nine other states account for 80 percent of the civil rights complaints. California leads with one in five complaints, followed by Washington, D.C., and Illinois. The prime factors for discrimination are an individual’s ethnicity, religion or “Muslim name,” according the report.

The report said incidents of due-process issues, physical violence, denials of service or access, and verbal harassment decreased last year, but passenger profiling reports increased by 340 percent. Claims of workplace discrimination increased by 18 percent, the report said.

CAIR recently got involved in a case of religious accommodation for workers at JBS Swift & Co. meatpacking plants, and has produced a pamphlet entitled “An Employer’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices” for distribution.

Corey Saylor, CAIR’s national legislative director and author of the report, said the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes _ defined as any crime against property or person where the victim is selected because of a perceived faith _ decreased in 2007.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” said Saylor. “We hope the wave of anti-Muslim hate crimes we’ve seen through the years is starting to level off.”

Given the results of this year’s report, Saylor recommended asking elected officials and other public officials to condemn anti-Muslim bias.

“When authority figures are sending positive messages about Islam,” he said, “we find that people are less inclined to go out and commit anti-Muslim discrimination.”

_ Ashley Gipson

Falwell hopes 10,500 Liberty students help tip election

(RNS) Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. is spearheading an on-campus voter registration drive that he hopes is decisive in putting the toss-up state of Virginia into the winner’s column on Election Day.

“Wouldn’t it be something if Liberty votes were enough to change which presidential candidate won Virginia and maybe even the presidency itself?” he said in a statement published Sept. 10 in the online Liberty Journal.

Falwell, whose late father founded the Lynchburg, Va., school in 1971, announced the registration drive at a convocation. The school includes 10,500 students who are eligible to vote.

Falwell, who supports Sen. John McCain’s White House bid, canceled classes on Election Day and is providing buses to get students to and from the polls in the emerging battleground state.

Falwell said about 20 of the 26 Virginia college towns, including Lynchburg, permit college students to register to vote locally.

The university’s voting students as a whole amount to a larger number of voters than the margin of some Virginia elections, the Associated Press reported. For example, Republican George Allen lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jim Webb by about 9,300 votes in 2006.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Quote of the Day: Conscientious objector Pfc. Michael Barnes

(RNS) “I can no longer justify spending my short time in this world participating in or supporting war. … I must try to save souls, not help take them.”

_ Pfc. Michael Barnes, who was granted conscientious objector status by a federal judge on Monday (Sept. 22). Barnes was quoted by The Associated Press.

KRE/LF END RNS