Working for Liberation: the Tzedek Hechsher March 6, 2007

>>Working for Liberation in 2007: The Tzedek Hechsher Initiative<<
A Pre-Passover Social Justice Program

What: Join Kol Tzedek West Philadelphia Synagogue, the Jewish Labor Committee, and student groups at the University of Pennsylvania for a presentation and discussion about the Conservative Movement's visionary new "tzedek hechsher" initiative. The tzedek hechsher will be a system for certifying that food is produced by workers who are treated fairly and in ways that are environmentally sustainable. This new standard will supplement, but not replace, the traditional hechsher, which certifies that food is kosher. To learn more, visit: www.forward.com/articles/conservative-rabbis-pledge-groundbreaking-system-f/

We will discuss:

* the conditions of workers who produce kosher food (and non-kosher food)
* Jewish laws and teachings that relate to workers' rights & the environment
* how the tzedek hechsher can protect workers and the environment
* what all this has to do with liberation and the Pesach story
* what we can do here in Philadelphia

Who: The presenter will be Avi Lyon, national director of the Jewish Labor Committee and a member of the commission that is formulating the new hechsher. Avi is a long time labor and social justice activist and recently participated in investigating abuses of workers' rights at AgriProcessors, the U.S.'s largest kosher meat processing plant.

Sponsors: The event is co-sponsored by Kol Tzedek West Philadelphia Synagogue, the Jewish Labor Committee, Bindlestiff Books, Conservative Jewish Community at Penn, Farmecology, the Jewish Graduate Student Network, and Tzedek Hillel.

For more information: email programming@kol-tzedek.org.

Official Website: http://www.koltzedek.org