The family in question specified numerous times in meetings that this was to be a Kosher affair. Why else would they have rented specifically Kosher dishes? They were dealing with the “Kosher Division” of this catering service only, which is separate from the regular division and has separate letter head on which they print their contract agreement.

The family was under the assumption that this caterer had a Kosher kitchen. Had this not been the case, the caterer was under obligation to inform the customers that the affair would not be Kosher without the Mashgiach present while they cooked in a Kosher kitchen (not their kitchen). Other caterers they had contacted had informed them of that fact. Since they weren’t told this by Knife and Fork and since they were dealing with the Kosher division of Knife and Fork, the family assumed that Knife and Fork had their own Kosher kitchen.

Furthermore, at least one attendee from the Orthodox community had called Knife and Fork to check whether this was a Kosher event and was told that it was.

The fee had nothing to do with it. The Mashgiach fee is small in comparison to the whole cost of the catering.

As far as the DC Vaad is concerned, disgusted caterers have told me that the caterers that pay the most money are the ones that get certified and that certification has more to do with money than with rules (always the result of monopolies–religious institutions being no exception). Metro-K is known to follow the rules of Kashrut which have nothing to do with Orthodox or Conservative designations–or money paid under the table. And by the way, there are many within the Washington area Orthodox community who use private non-DC Vaad certified caterers that they know personally to follow strict Kashrut laws (and are affordable).

My frustration is that a local rabbinical council
takes it upon itself to serve as a veto to choice. Although NY has lots of problems, and they have been well documented, it is possible to hire a caterer supervised by one of the national organizations without need for additional oversight. Due to politics and the desire to protect its turf, this RCW makes this impossible. In taking this attitude, the RCW attempts to maintain its “apparent” monopoly while passing the costs onto the consumer. Its monopoli1stic practices also allow it not to have to explain its actions or policies to the community at large.

I would argue that competitive hashgachot that keep high standards of kashrut are constructive and not destructive to the community, because they would service to increase efficiency in organization and decrease cost to the consumer. Competition would also force each of the competitors to become more open to community review, if needed. In all cases, like anything else, consumers have to be educated and do their homework. “Let the buyer beware” is the case for any customer in any situation, be it in the cost of the affair, or the level of kashrut offered at it.

As a personal protest, I try not to frequent stores with va’ad oversight. Fortunately, in a city with as large and developed a Jewish comminity as the DC area, this is relatively easy to do. Between Giant, (DC’s answer to Stop and Shop) Super Fresh, (DC’s answer to the A&P) Trader Joe’s, Wegman’s etc. there are plenty of other places where one can purchase kosher foods with reliable hasgacha. The prices are much lower. For example, I’ve been able to purchase Tillamook kosher cheddar for as low as $1.99/8 oz. when on sale. Trader Joes sells Empire poultry for a dollar less per pound and other items at a dollar less per item than va’ad supervised stores.

As for the pizza, my chatana doesn’t include any, so I don’t have to worry about it. :-) Seriously though, it is insulting to insinuate that someone who would go through the trouble of having a supervised kosher affair would have Papa John’s pizza served at it.

In Washington, the local Orthodox rabbanim as a group certify local establishments. They do not establish seventeen different competing hashgachot.

The gentleman is correct in that mistakes may have been made, and he brings a couple of examples. Whatever mistakes that have been made have been made in a collective manner. There is also a value in collectively building up a system of kashrut in an area and realizing that a system of duplicative hashgachot is destructive to the community.

In any case, one wishes Soon to be Married well on his upcoming chatunah, and trusts that the Papa John pizza which may be served will be under proper kashrut supervision:-).

My problem with the DC Va’ad is that it claims exclusivity over all areas of kashrut within this geographical area. I grew up in New York, where this is not the case at all. The protectionism professed by the RCW (Rabbinical Council of Greater Washington) is such that a caterer supervised by Star-K (the Baltimore Va’ad), for instance, needs to have additional supervision by the DC Va’ad, if it wants to provide service in the DC area. Exclusivity, and a lack of competition is, by nature, a bad thing. It can, and inevitably will led to complacency and corruption. Let’s also not be fooled in assuming that the DC Va’ad is without faults. It missed Jack Abramoff’s violation of va’ad rules when he owned a controlling stake in a non-kosher restaurant at the same time he owned Stacks, the kosher deli under Va’ad supervision. Stacks has since closed, as have the fortunes of Mr. Abramoff. I haven’t even begun to talk about the “Moshe Dragon” scandal of the late 1980s (See Regardie’s Magazine, April 1990 issue pages 87-95). I am convinced, from personal experience, in Metro-K’s (the agency which supervises kosher events for both Ridgewells and the Knife and Fork) complete competency’s in supervising kosher events.

If customers are not savy or educated enough to understand the difference between a kosher and a non-kosher event, this is indeed sad. It is also a legitimate topic for a discussion on the failure of Jewish education and identity etc. However, it is wrong to blame the mashgiach, who was never hired, for the non-kosher status of a particular event. Neither is it correct to blame a caterer who was not specifically contracted to provide a kosher event for failing to do so.

The situation is not exclusive to the DC area, where this woman is from. Had the woman been interested, there is a full array of kosher services of all types available in the DC area-see: http://www.capitolk.org

She was simply interested in seeing that her guests would not eat pork or shrimp. That level of Judaism is a level which cannot be sustained; it is compounded by these same people giving their children not much of a Jewish education and being shocked-just shocked-that they marry non-Jews in large numbers. What else would one expect?

“she had a friend making chocolate centerpieces for the reception that might not have passed muster with the mashgiach.”

This suggests that there may have been a GOOD reason to decline the mashgiach, who may not have allowed them to bring in the uncertified homemade centerpieces. It would have been entirely reasonable for the family to accept the caterer’s assurance (though it would have been better to get it in writing) that the food would be prepared in the same way as if a mashgiach was present. That is especially true if the caterer was charging the same price except for a small fee!

The onus falls on the mashgiach and the Rabbinical Supervision.

http://www.kosheretiquette.com