Kosher Certification is NOT a Kosher Tax

Thank you for agreeing to this debate. I ask you to please keep to the current debate topic, and not stray as you spent the first half of your argument doing. But since you did bring it up, those passages were referring to the 7 Canaanite tribes, which were removed as per the book of Joshua approximately 3000 years ago. Further, even during those biblical times, non-Jews were allowed to live in Egypt provided a) they did not worship idols b) did not try to kill Jews. Christians and Muslims who do believe in the "Jewish" God according to many opinions would have no issue living in Israel, provided they obey standard legal laws (don't kill, don't steal) and don't try to kick the Jews out. Further, there is NO source that says you are going to hell (nor is hell even mentioned in the bible) for being a non-Jew. Now that we have both had our say on this matter, I will ask you kindly to leave this topic alone as it is NOT the subject of the debate. You make the following assumptions 1) That you pay extra due to the Kosher certification 2) You assume the only cost for the Rabbi is "to give blessings" 3) That the profit amassed by Rabbis is "lavish." 4) That since people have other options such as organic and hallal, they do not need (?) Kosher certification 1) You DO NOT pay extra for Kosher Certification, any more than you pay extra when a product advertises "Now with more Calcium!" It is a marketing decision. Further, you cannot point to any product that after receiving certification has become more expensive. Oreo cookies received kosher certification from the OU in 1994. Since that time, when inflation is factored in, the price of Oreo cookies has DECREASED. The same with Mars and M&Ms brands which received kosher certification in 1996. The truth is that prices DO NOT increase with kosher certification. Why is this? Because it is marketing decision. A company decides their profit will go up 2% as a result of the kosher certification, while the total cost to them would be a mere .1%. Hence they make a profit and do NOT raise prices. It is the same as a decision to create a new logo or remake a box. Why should you pay extra for a product simply because a box looks different? You ideally won't b/c the company has decided that the increase in sales due to the new box would offset (and out gain) any expected costs of creating the new box. This is marketing 101. 2) You assume that Rabbis simply give blessings to make food kosher. This could not be further from the truth. Rabbi's do NOT make any blessings to make food kosher. I am not sure where this idea even came from, but Rabbis do not go up to the Oreos, make a blessing, and poof, they are kosher. It would be helpful for you to first learn what kosher certification means. Kosher can mean 2 things. In the case of non-meat items, the issue is generally that it is Kosher based on what is NOT in it. I.e. There is no combination of milk and meat, and no pork or other non Kosher items in the food. So for Oreos, they used to use a lard based emulsifier in the cookie batter. That was changed to vegetable oil. So far, no non-Jewish people have complained about the taste. Now in order to certify a product like Oreo cookies a list of all ingredients in the item must be received. Now the Inspector must look at all the places that all the items are made. For example, the plant in Brazil that exports chocolate must be inspected to ensure that it does not also make pork products on the side on the same equipment. It gets even more dicey with additives. Many food colorings and additives are animal based and must be inspected to verify their source, if kosher or not. The other type (which is generally not performed by large corporations) is meat certification, which ensures the meat is slaughtered in the proper way, ensuring both the windpipe and jugular vein are severed in one motion and no bones were hit while the incision was made. Generally this is only performed in Kosher plants, and non-Jews would NEVER pay the outrageous prices that Jews do for meat products. Suffice it to say that Kosher certification is just that, certification that the items used in the product are not non-kosher items, and is an immensely complex and expensive operation to say the least. 3) In terms of full disclosure, my father happens to be the CTO of the OU, the largest (by far) Kosher certification organization in the world. They have inspectors in 70 different countries and certify 400,000 products. I am a lowly programmer, in a non-managerial position, working for roughly 30 fewer years than he in the computer business. Our salaries are roughly equal. The average Rabbi inspector starts at around 40k per year and maxes out at around 90k per year. This is despite undergoing years of rigorous training, working at a job with crazy long hours, and having to travel frequently. While they are not destitute, they are not raking in "lavish" profits. The truth is that Kosher certification is a tremendously expensive endeavor and little or no profit (the OU is a non-profit organization) is made by doing it. That is not to say a lot of money is not involved. When you deal with millions of products 12 billion is what it costs to certify every ingredient of each of them . 4) I am glad you brought up items like Organic. You actually do pay extra for Organic even though it is simply an inspection. The producers of Organic products must pay a fee to be certified as Organic. There are numerous other certifications. There are now green certificates for food products and establishments http://www.dinegreen.com... . Kosher certification is NO different, as it is a marketing decision the owners have made which they believe will increase revenue. I am not sure why you brought up Hallal. My point is simply stating that other groups benefit from Kosher certification as well, such as those with milk allergies or lactose intolerance (they can verify if items contain milk), and those groups (like Muslims) that do not eat pork. I know numerous Muslims that do, in fact, rely on Kosher certification for many items. The fact of the matter is the idea that Kosher certification is a "Jewish Tax" is clearly an anti-Jewish one intent on stirring up animosity towards Jews. Of course it could not be further from the truth.