Picture by Rabbi Anton Klein
At the presentation to Rabonim and Shul execs ahead of the release of the Kingston Report on the price of kosher chicken last month, Rosh Beth Din Dayan Moshe Kurtstag came under close cross questioning regarding the role of the Beth Din in the market.
Kurtstag said the Beth Din comes under fire “whatever we do.” He said to the Rabonim and Shul execs that the Beth Din had been “accused [by the community] of protecting a monopoly.”
“We don’t control the market,” Kurtstag said. “Our business is to supply the kosher market with chicken,” he explained. Fielding a barrage of questions from an audience which offers no answers can be difficult at the best of times. But Kurtstag kept his cool throughout.
When another Rabbi questioned Kurtstag about the fact that the directors of the Tenderchick abattoir drew large salaries, the frustrated Rosh Beth Din responded: “What must we do? Tell Bolnicks to close? We can’t determine what should be a business’s profit.”
In fact, in 2009 the Monopolies Commission had approached the UOS in this regard after receiving a complaint. They accepted the UOS’ explanation that they do not deny entry into the market, but that there had only been two applications in the past 20 years and both could not meet the kashrut standards prescribed.
A second kosher chicken abattoir is expected to open this week.
Available on MyShtetl:
ONE-PAGE SUMMARY OF CHICKEN REPORT
FULL INDEPENDENT CHICKEN REPORT
PRESENTATION TO RABONIM AND SHUL EXECS
Associated reading on MyShtetl:
READ: Why the chicken crossed the road and other Rabbinical stories.
READ THE ORIGINAL STORY
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