“Should the hechsher be withdrawn if these issues come to light? Or do we consider the hechsher limited to the kashrus of the food?”
I dont think those are the two exclusive sides.
There is no question (in my mind) that a hashgacha is not limited to the status of food. nobody would support a hashgacha supervising a place of ill repute , as long as the food was kosher. A hashgacha stamp of approval on an establishment certainly certifies that the “establishment” is kosher. This includes decor , ambiance all of which go into making an “establishment”
That said. things unrelated to the “establishment” are not the kashrus’s purview. So if the owner cheats on his taxes, while certainly bad, the fact that the store has an OU (or whatever) doesnt mean, they support that. (unless of course the Store is called “Tax cheats and eats” coem get tips how to cheat taxes while havign a delcious lunch. In that case a hashgacha saying we only cerrtify the ood would be wrong)
Yes, of course there will be examples that are hard to neatly fit into wehter it is in or out of kashrus’s bounds using this metric, but I think it is a reasonabe lrule of thumb.
I don’t think Ben and Jerrys are defining themselves as an anti Israel company. They are taking “liberal stance” one that I disagree with, but nobody would see a chaf K/OU on their ice cream and think hey I guess the OU views the land as “occupied”
furthermore, I am a bit worried about the perception of pulling the hashgacha. Kashrus is largely supported by Non-Jew as documented in several recent books (Sue Fishoff’s Kosher nation, Kosher USA and Kosher private regulation in the Age of industrial food all come to mind).
There is a push among the anti Semites to avoid kosher as it is a “kosher tax” many of them claim as well, that this tax funds “Israeli occupation” If a kashrus orginazation pulls kashrus certification because the company wont support “Israeli occupation” it certainly lends credence to them.
To be clear: Pulling the certification would not be for that reason, and its not like these groups have much support – yet. It could be a problem later and it rubs me thewrong way.
That said continuing hashgacha is a bit funny vis a vis the company, here we are boycotting, and publicizing the boycott then “The Rabbi” comes in and says ok lets talk business we are here to certify you as kosher.
I vote keep hashgacha, but I’m not convinced. Just offering food for thought
“while ignoring actual genocide of Chinese Muslims and other atrocities?”
Ben and Jerry’s doesn’t sell in china