At the May 10 Israel Segal Memorial Lecture at Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen are speaker Rabbi Mayer Rabinowitz, second from right, chair of the Conservative movement’s Joint Bet Din, and, from left, Daniel Segal, Neve Shalom Rabbi Gerald Zelizer, Shirley Segal, and Eric Segal. Not shown is daughter Deena Segal Fraint.
Photos by Debra Rubin
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Rabbi Mayer Rabinowitz listens to an audience question during the Israel Segal Memorial Lecture at Neve Shalom.
May 26, 2009
Finding a moral solution to modern problems can often be found in the ancient and timeless ethics offered in Jewish law, said a leader of the Conservative movement.
Rabbi Mayer Rabinowitz, chair of the movement’s Joint Bet Din, or rabbinic court, dealing with such issues as marriage, divorce, arbitration, and mediation, said those insights extend to areas the ancient sages never envisioned.
“The Torah is a lot like the Constitution,” he said May 10 during the 24th annual Israel Segal Memorial Lecture at Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen. “The law was written at a period in time, but like the Constitution it doesn’t deal with everything, so a lot of new laws have to be written.”
The free lecture series was established by the Segal family to commemorate longtime Neve Shalom member Israel Segal and his commitment to educating others.
Modern decisions are morally grounded within Halacha (Jewish law) and ethics, said Rabinowitz, an associate professor of Talmud at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he has also served as a dean or director of many departments.
For example, kosher laws have been a central part of Judaism since ancient times, but current concerns about animal and workers’ rights must be taken into account. Rabinowitz served on the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly — the rabbinic arm of Conservative Judaism — for 25 years, writing many of its responsa, or legal opinions.
“In response to allegations of labor violations and animal abuse at an Iowa kosher meat processing plant,” said Rabinowitz, “the law committee developed its Magen Tzedek symbol, signifying that producers meet ethical as well as traditional kashrut standards.”
Numerous tenets of worker rights, including receipt of fair wages, are covered in both the Torah and Talmud, said the rabbi.
The initiative has been endorsed by the Reform Central Conference of American Rabbis but ignited some controversy within the Orthodox community. However, the Orthodox Union, a leader of kashrut supervision in the United States, is considering placing the symbol alongside its hechsher.
While kosher slaughtering itself is considered humane and in line with the Jewish commandment requiring kindness to animals, Rabinowitz said, treatment of animals leading up to slaughter has not always followed suit.
He said the practice of “hoisting and shackling” — through which the animal is raised, sometimes hanging upside down for minutes with a chain around its back and leg — was banned as inhumane by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, an exception was granted for kosher slaughter because the industry claimed it was traditional.
Rabinowitz said because the practice causes “tremendous pain to the animal, breaking limbs and rupturing organs” and because it set a lower moral standard for the Jewish community than for the rest of society, the committee decided it violated Jewish law.
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