Hope for peaceful settlement of the controversy between Benjamin Cohen for Swift #38; Company, on one hand, and the kosher board and rabbis’ union on the other, vanished when a conference called by Judge David Thomas of Common Pleas Court ended without the desired results. The trouble arose from a demand by Cohen for a permanent injunction against the rabbis, who a few weeks ago banned two Jewish slaughterers. A temporary injunction enjoined the rabbis and the kosher board from interfering with the business of Swift #38; Company and Cohen, and forbade the kosher board from advising the Jewish community that meat coming from Swift was not under its supervision, that it was not kosher and that Swift’s slaughterers were under the ban.
When Cohen, testifying on his own behalf, pretended to be an authority on Jewish ecclesiastical law and attempted to tell the court what can and cannot be done under the kashruth laws, Jews in the court burst into tears at the spectacle of a Jew dragging Jewish law in the mud. Cohen claimed that the rabbis and the kosher board had combined with “gansters to put him and his retail butchers not under supervision but out of business.”
Joseph Mellen, representing the rabbis and the kosher board, vigorously fought Cohen and his four lawyers, and his arguments did much to overcome the unfavorable impression created by Cohen’s testimony. An attempt by the judge and Mellen to bring about an understanding outside of court in order to prevent Jewish law from being dragged into court failed when Cohen remained obdurate. The trial will continue.
The trial is causing the greatest excitement among the Jews of Cleveland and nearby towns and several mass meetings are being planned for the next few days. Though the general desire is to take the case out of court, not a single voice has been raised to withdraw or give way to Cohen or Swift. The great majority of Jews, whether orthodox or not, are prepared to fight the case to the limit.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
