Action against Abraham Kaufmann, president of the Neboh Kosher Provision Company of 488 Broadway, Brooklyn, was undertaken in the Fifth Magistrate’s Court in Brooklyn yesterday, when he was charged by inspectors of the Health department with exposing for sale non-kosher meat in his kosher establishment.
Magistrate William F. O’Dwyer adjourned the case until March 26, when it will be resumed in his court.
In his complaint, Sidney Rosenwasser, an inspector for the health department, stated that on March 13 he served the defendant with a summons, alleging that Kaufmann had violated Section 435A of the Penal Law by exposing for sale eight barrels of beef, which the inspector contended were not kosher.
On the stand Rosenwasser testified that on March 13 he followed a truck which, he claimed, was loaded with the meat from the nearby Certified Provision Company, a non-kosher establishment, and delivered to the Naboh Kaosher Provision Company.
according to the testimony of Arthur Simon, a Superior officer in the Health Department, who said he had accompanied Rosenwasser and another inspector to the defendant’s office in quest of non-kosher meat, the authorities entered the establishment without search warrants and upon investigation served the defendant with a summons. Under questioning by the magistrate, two of the inspectors admitted that they “did not know from their own knowledge” whether or not the meat was kosher or non-kosher, but the third, Rosenwasser, refused to give a yes or no answer. He plead for time to introduce evidence which he said he expected would prove that the meat was non-kosher.
Explaining that his grievance was not against the Health Department generally or the purpose it performs but rather against practices, which he indicated might be general, the magistrate declared:
“I object to terrorizing merchants, running into their establishments and tearing up their desks without search warrants, and having them call policemen for protection. Too many businessmen have headaches without this.”
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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.
