What does it mean when we send out an email stating that “due to violations of Kosher Miami policies, such and such an establishment is no longer under Kosher Miami supervision and certification”?
We hope the following explanation will not only clarify this particular issue but will also shed some light on the procedures and operation of a local Vaad Hakashrus.
It is the policy of Kosher Miami to not only certify that the food of an establishment is kosher, but to ensure that there is a system, made up of many components, that needs to be in place to assure us that this kashrus will be maintained.
Most of the people we deal with cooperate with and support our Vaad’s kashrus standards and policies. But there are however, owners who break the rules that provide the framework for maintaining and ensuring a consistent level of kashrus.
There are many policies and systems in place at each establishment to help us prevent a kashrus disaster. When the KM certifies an establishment it means we have control of the kosher supervision, along with the total cooperation of the owner. When the owner begins to dictate to KM what is correct and what is not, that is a red flag, a warning that future problems may occur.
So, when someone calls and says, “Rabbi, but did you actually find treif?” we answer “Chas Vshalom”. There is much more to kashrus than the absence of trief. Our goal at KM is to forsee potential kashrus violations and prevent them from ever occurring. If we ever get to the point of finding treif, the system was broken long before. If eating non-kosher can be compared to eating poison, we are not looking for antidotes. We are working on preventing the problem before it begins.
Stay tuned for the next article in this series which will discuss the actual systems in place in restaurants, and then the final article in this series which will discuss recruitment and training of mashgichim.