Gourmet Glatt vs. The Vaad

Wednesday, 01 November 2006 19:00

So far, it's been a quiet Gourmet Glatt week, with the full-page newspaper ads scaled back and quiet diplomacy under way to help bring an end to the situation-or, as some like to say, the crisis. Many we've spoken to this week, including those closely involved, feel that the entire episode could have been avoided if the players would have not been so emotional and spoken off-the-cuff to newspapers.

In the meantime, it seems that Orthodox Jewish communities around the country are watching the local kashrus situation closely as a precedent-setting guide for similar situations that could emerge in their communities. Feelings on both sides of the equation continue to be strong about what happened and about what the eventual outcome will be. As most know, the Vaad HaKashrus of the Five Towns-after issuing an ultimatum to the Bolender family to sell their business by February 1, 2007 or have the Vaad's kashrus supervision of it withdrawn-quickly withdrew its supervision after the supermarket retained the services of an additional kashrus organization, the K-1, under the direction of Rabbi Yehuda Kravitz of Brooklyn.

The withdrawal was quickly followed by announcements by members of the Vaad to abstain from patronizing Gourmet Glatt until such time that the business is sold or comes into compliance with Vaad guidelines for running the business.

Reports have surfaced this week indicating that talks were under way that involved Gourmet Glatt's taking in a new partner who has experience in the kosher meat industry, and whom the Vaad feels they can work with so that they can comfortably return the hashgachah to the store. The hope was also that there would be a quick temporary settlement to allow two vendors-Ossie's Fish and Korn's Bakery-to avoid the continuing losses being incurred as a result of a situation that they had nothing to do with.

While street and after-shul talk continues to center on a lawsuit that Gourmet Glatt might at some point bring against the Vaad, the Vaad's attorney, Frank Snitow of Queens, assured the Five Towns Jewish Times that such a lawsuit would have very little merit and would not stand up in court. The hope is that cool heads will prevail, and that there will be no such court action and the pre-withdrawal certification status will be able to be restored.

For now, as the situation with the supermarket enters its third week, the vendors who are leasing space from Gourmet Glatt seem to be the biggest losers-victims of what people are calling collateral damage. Mr. and Mrs. Laiby Ganz, who run the Korn's Bakery counter in Gourmet Glatt, were not satisfied with last week's depiction in the 5TJT. Mrs. Ganz called us, saying she felt that our reporting that Ossie's was staying closed while Korn's remained open communicated the idea that Korn's was defying the Vaad; she said, "that is the furthest thing from the truth." She explained that while people think that Korn's is a chain store, the bakery counter at Gourmet Glatt is actually operated under a franchise agreement, in which the Korn's name is used and Korn's products are sold, but the business is owned by the Ganzes and is their only source of income. She pointed out that while they were covered by the local Vaad as long as Gourmet Glatt had the Vaad certification, the fact is that they continue to have a reliable chassidishe hechsher.

As for K-1, the new certifying agency for Gourmet Glatt, Rabbi Kravitz called the Five Towns Jewish Times last week to say he also felt that he was not being dealt with fairly and wanted to clear up several points about how he came to provide certification for Gourmet Glatt. As reported in last week's paper, a Vaad HaKashrus member accused Rabbi Kravitz of attempting to undermine the local Vaad by moving in on Vaad territory during a crisis. Rabbi Kravitz said that in his original meetings with the Gourmet Glatt owners, also present at the meeting were two rabbis from the community who encouraged him to supervise the kashrus at Gourmet Glatt and that, had they not encouraged him to do so, he never would have taken the job. It's expected that, as part of any settlement between the parties, agenda item number one will be the cancellation of the K-1 kashrus contract if and when the Five Towns Vaad returns.

At the end of the day, when the dust settles, the consumer and this community will be the beneficiaries of these unhappy events. The Vaad HaKashrus will emerge as stronger than ever, with Rabbi Yosef Eisen viewed as a strict, no-nonsense kashrus enforcer-which is what the head of any kosher certifying agency should be. The hope is that we will be assured as consumers that there will be no flexibility or zig-zagging when it comes to kashrus in Five Towns food establishments.

At the same time, it will be good when things get back to normal and Gourmet Glatt is functioning up to speed. Gourmet Glatt has been around and part of the pulse-beat of life around here for over two decades, and once reason and responsibility prevail, let's hope that both the Vaad and the store emerge stronger, with the community as the winners.