Ethics and Auctions at MHDC: "I made a G today." "But you made it in a sleazy way."

Due to a recent neck injury that sidelined me from kickball today, this month’s posting will be devoid of wit and humor.

March was one for the books at MHDC. Our Ethical Kashrut event, led by NYC-based activist and rabbinical student Ari Hart of the Orthodox social justice movement Uri L’tzedek, provided a compelling examination of the Jewish textual basis for worker’s rights, the importance of ethics in food preparation, and his organization’s campaign to introduce ethical certification at up-to-snuff kosher restaurants. We discussed the state of affairs of the kosher meat industry, including the shameful case of Agriproccesors, the gargantuan Postville, IA - based plant that supplies most of the kosher beef and poultry in the US, which, following a federal raid that exposed atrocious labor and human rights abuses, has left many Jews questioning how kosher their meat really is when it’s produced at the expense of the workers (most of whom are undocumented immigrants at Agriprocessors.)

Our date auction was (by most male accounts) a resounding success, and has led some to postulate that it may have done more to up the Tribe's birthrate than a Birthright. Our most recent Shabbat dinner was attended by a photographer from the Washington Post, so look out for an article on MHDC, most likely in the April 19 edition. Pesach begins this week, and as the last-born of the MHDC clan, I'd bet that our doorpost won't be slathered in any paschal juice.

חג שמח