Rabbi Rabi and Ben Pekuah Break Up

Statement on the Ben Pekuah Meats website:

Customer Statement

In April 2016, Ben Pekuah Meats severed ties with its former Rabbi, Meir Gershon Rabi, after a dispute over certification that began in December 2015 between him and Kosher Australia and a number of other international rabbinic and kosher authorities.

The decision to dissociate with Rabbi Meir Gershon Rabi over the unnecessary and damaging disputes has now prompted an urgent global search for an eminent, suitably qualified and experienced rabbi to provide the company the necessary oversight to ensure its meat production

fulfils all requirements under traditional law.

Ben Pekuah Meats is confident it can source the right individual, but stresses this may take some time, and urges consumer and community support and patience as it resolves the problem.

Some questions::

• Some commentators state that the entire concept and idea of "Ben Pekuah" meats is the brainchild of Rabbi Rabi. This is also apparent in the Age article quoted below. Is this the case? 
• If this is the case will "Ben Pekuah Meats" compensate Rabbi Rabi for lost income/patent/trademark?
• Will Rabbi Rabi now branch out on his own and start a new "Ben Pekuah" system?
• How can "Ben Pekuah Meats" be trusted if that not only don't have a Rav HaMachshir whatsoever and the business is mostly owned and operated by non-Jews?
• Now that they've fired Rabbi Rabi, will "Ben Pekuah Meats" publish the letter allegedly written by Rav Chaim Kanievsky about Ben Pekuah?
• And finally, how confident are "Ben Pekuah Meats" that they can ever find a Rabbi willing to support their initiative when even Rabbi Rabi was roundly condemned by just about every Australian Rabbi for saying that this initiative is halachically acceptable?

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Yesterday (Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Metzorah) The Age ran an article about the Ben Pekuah business.

Short quotes follow:

New herd targets kosher markets, but ruffles feathers in Jewish community

 

Source: theage.com.au

A Victorian business has developed a herd of cattle and a flock of sheep it hopes will make kosher meat more affordable for consumers. 

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Known as Ben Pekuah, the "ancient ritual breed" allows all of the meat from the animal to be consumed, according to AK Ben Pekuah's managing director, Stephen Bloch.

**

The breeding of Ben Pekuah livestock followed an approach by a Melbourne rabbi to the Victorian Farmers Federation about 10 years ago about establishing a new kosher meat supply chain.

Rabbi Rabi is a well respected frum Jew who was one of the founding members of the world renowned Kollel Beth HaTalmud in Balaclava. He spent over 15 years there being marbitz torah and growing mechayil el choyil. Over the last five or more years he has spent most hours of the day studying torah at the Kollel Beth Yossef which forms an integral part of the Adass Yisroel community and shul complex. He is highly respected there and is often sought after by young Kollel yungerleit to answer their complex questions.

Although many people had halachic differences with Rabi Rabi when it came to matters of Kashrus, he was always regarded as a serious Jew who has brought many wayward Jews back into the fold.

Now that he has been sent on his merry way by the business owners, one wonders whether anyone will take them seriously. Indeed, one could argue that the main reason that Rabbi Rabi was targeted by kosher Australia was because of his insistence that Ben Pekuah is acceptable. "Severing ties" with him out won't make any difference, surely?

Time will tell.

Melbourne Hatzala on Australian TV

Further to our article yesterday regarding Hatzala Melbourne's handling of complaints and questions about its Board and Constitutional structure, we received an email from a  reader who complained about our coverage of this “private” issue.

The reader kindly shared a link with us of Melbourne Hatzala being interviewed for a Jewish TV show.

  

In the clip Danny Elbaum, the Operations Manager of Hatzala discusses the founding of Hatzala with Henry Greener of “The Shtick” amongst other Hatzala matters.

"The Shtick" labels itself as "The only Jewish TV show in Australia".