By COLlive reporter
From Holland to Turkey, New Zealand to Montana, Quebec City to the Bahamas and everywhere in between, 115 dayanim, rabbonim, and directors of Kashrus organizations converged at the Sofitel hotel in Montreal this week for a two-day conference to discuss contemporary kashrus issues.
The AKO Vaadim Conference is the annual gathering organized by the Associated Kashrus Organizations (AKO) which unites major kosher certifiers and agencies to coordinate standards, share resources, compare experiences and make connections.
It was hosted this year by the MK – Montreal Kosher certification agency. “The presenters we got were diverse, covering many colorful topics,” said MK Director Rabbi Saul Emanuel. Topics covered included the brachos and halachos of gluten-free products, the kashering of metal trolleys used to move raw tuna into steam rooms in production facilities, and AKO standards for member hashgachas.
The conference was honored by the presence of Dayan Ahron Dunner of London, who addressed the crowd and availed himself to many individual consultations. Rabbi Uri Deutsch, Rav of the Forest Park Kehilla in Lakewood, gave chizzuk to the attendees. Rabbi Menachem Meir Weissmandl of Nitra graced the convention as well.
While many of the event’s 115 attendees represented the largest kosher certifiers, many more attendees represented certifications in far-flung cities, who are present, for instance, at far-flung fisheries or coconut production plants. Many participants commented on the clear feeling that the conference was a kiddush shem shamayim in every sense: over 100 Jews gathered to advance today’s kashrus.
Some noteworthy presentations included Agudah’s Rabbi Leibish Becker on the topic of certifying shul kitchens, Eric Baxter, VP and Senior Counsel at the Becket Religious Liberties Group, who spoke on the topic of “Kashrus Supervision in a Woke World,’ and the MK’s Rabbi Berel Bell, Dayan of Kehillas Lubavitch Montreal, who spoke about mainstreaming the kashrus standards of Chabad houses worldwide.
Also speaking at the event were Rabbi Chaim Fogelman, member of the OK’s Kashrus Committee (Vaad) and Rabbi Chaim Bruk, Chabad Shliach who runs the Va’ad of Montana certification.
Also in attendance were Rabbi Yosef Kirszenberg and Rabbi Berel Levertov representing CHK Kashrus.
A Monday night panel allowed attendees to present unique kashrus questions from the field to Rabbis Dunner and Weissmandl, as well as Rabbi Yonasan Binyomin Weiss, Chief Rabbi of Montreal and the Av Beis Din of the Rabbinical Court of Montreal. Another panel covered the kashrus questions which arise from home businesses.
Attendees particularly benefited from the expertise of MK’s Beis Din of skilled and trained rabbonim, who showcased some of the industry’s highest standards in presentations on ethics, the use of video cameras to supplement hashgacha in meat establishments, and collaboration and integrity in kashrus.
Attendees walked away with newfound knowledge, new relationships, and a reinforcement that their responsibility, though sometimes overwhelmingly “nitty-gritty,” is avodas hakodesh and a tremendous source of chizzuk to Klal Yisrael.
is there a recording of any of the lectures?
Rabbi Hanoka also gave an excellent presentation on Kashrus Systems that was very informative and relevant.
Present as well were dozens of other Chabad Shluchim, Rabbonim and Kashrus experts including Rabbi David Banon.
Besides the few Chabad speakers mentioned in the article, a plethora of Chabad Shluchim, Rabbonim and kashrus experts presented at the AKO conversion.
Among them Rabbi Moshe D. Gutnick from KA kosher, Rabbi Sholom Bluming from Bahamas Kosher, Rabbi Schneor Cheruty from the ORB, Rabbi Nissan Zibell from the RCF, Rabbi Yitzchok Hanoka form the OK, Rabbi Levi Feigelstock from the ORB.