Nathaniel Popper
By Nathaniel Popper
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News Hasidic Village’s Neighbors Have Slaughterhouse Blues
Evelyn Moses’s family has owned the unincorporated plot of land on which she lives, an hour drive north of New York City, for decades. When she inherited it in 1994, it was surrounded on all sides by trees, with a small dirt road running alongside it. “Nice country living,” she said. Then, about a decade…
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News Former Agriprocessors CEO Rubashkin Sent to Prison
Sholom Rubashkin, a former executive at the Agriprocessors kosher meat company, was found guilty of 86 counts of bank fraud committed while managing the company’s finances — a verdict that could land him in prison for life. The guilty verdict from the 12-person jury came November 12, after a four-week trial in federal court in…
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Life Mystery (Agriprocessors) Meat
A reader from suburban Chicago was mystified when he made a trip to the kosher aisle of his supermarket this last weekend. There, among the kosher soups and meats, he found packages of Agriprocessors’ turkey and corned beef, being sold under the Aaron’s Best label. The presence of these packages was a mystery because Agriprocessors…
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News With Prayers and Support, Rubashkin Goes on Trial After Plea Bargain Fails
The trial of former kosher slaughterhouse executive Sholom Rubashkin began in South Dakota on October 12, though only after a failed effort to reach a plea bargain, according to a close confidant of the defendant. Rubashkin, the former CEO of the Agriprocessors slaughterhouse, was arrested last year, five months after his company was the subject…
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Life Claire Danes’ (Sobering) Chabad Memories
Chabad Lubavitch is famous for their willingness to open their homes to Jews and non-Jews, including the goyische celebrities, such as Jon Voigt, who appear on Chabad’s West Coast telethon to cheerlead for the group. Sometimes, though, the encounters produce a more nuanced response — as is evident in actress Clare Danes’ memory of a…
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News Pushing for Better Wages, Not Necessarily Giving Them
Rabbi Michael Siegel has been a leading advocate for improving the treatment of workers in kosher food facilities. As the founding co-chair of the Hekhsher Tzedek program, Siegel was behind the release last month of detailed standards on how kosher companies should properly compensate their employees. Soon after the release of those standards, though, Siegel…
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News Pressure Builds on Iowa Kosher Company
A congresswoman has joined with a host of national Jewish organizations to pressure a controversial Iowa kosher meat company to open up dialogue with the community in which it is located. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, wrote one of a number of recent letters to the new owners of Agri-Star, who bought a kosher slaughterhouse…
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News New Kosher Food Certification May Be Most Detailed In the Industry
The Conservative movement has released detailed guidelines for what experts say could be one of the most comprehensive food certifications in existence. The guidelines for the new Magen Tzedek food certification are intended to ensure that ethical standards are adhered to in kosher food production, and they delve into nearly every phase of the production…
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