The fire has also interrupted a linchpin of kosher meat production, according to OU Kosher, the oversight agency run by the Orthodox Union.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe damaged facility means a significant portion of kosher beef and chicken slaughtered and sold in the US will not enter the kosher supply chain,\u201d Rabbi Moshe Elefant, the organization\u2019s CEO, said in a statement<\/a> on Wednesday. \u201cKosher consumers will feel the impact of the tightening supply with reduction of availability.\u201d<\/p>\n Elefant said OU Kosher was working to \u201cfind solutions for ramping up production at other plants\u201d while warning that the crisis could fuel bad actors.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition \t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, when supply is limited, it creates opportunity for unscrupulous individuals who seek to make money by preying on the well-meaning Kosher observant public,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Jarad Bernstein, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines, said the fire represented \u201ca terrible situation\u201d in an email to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.<\/p>\n \u201cThe impact on the local community and the business will be large,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The fire is not the first time that a crisis at AgriStar has sent the community into a tailspin. In 2008, a federal immigration raid at the plant, then known as Agriprocessors, netted the arrest of hundreds of workers and led to the arrest and conviction of the company\u2019s longtime CEO Sholom Rubashkin on 86 counts of bank fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.<\/p>\n \t The raid also led most of Postville\u2019s Jewish residents to leave the town,<\/a> which had developed as an unusual stronghold of Orthodox life in eastern Iowa.<\/p>\n Saying that \u201cmany people\u201d believed Rubashkin\u2019s 27-year prison sentence had been excessive, US President Donald Trump commuted<\/a> Rubashkin\u2019s sentence in 2017. Rubashkin\u2019s conviction stands.<\/p>\n Canadian Jewish billionaire Hershy Friedman purchased Agriprocessors and reopened it as Agri-Star. He told<\/a> JTA in 2016 that he had done so after being urged by Jewish leaders to ensure competition in the kosher meat processing industry.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t done for financial purposes; it was done to really cater to the Jewish community,\u201d he said about the purchase. \u201cDuring the time Rubashkin was closed, the price of beef roughly doubled. After we acquired it, it came right back down.\u201d<\/p>\n Friedman also said he had shored up the company\u2019s employment practices, which had run afoul of the law, and made improvements to the slaughter process that had made Agriprocessors a target of animal rights activists.<\/p>\n \t Agri-Star said in a statement <\/a>on Wednesday that it appreciated the first responders who \u201cworked tirelessly and selflessly to protect lives and contain the fire\u201d and the employees who had shown \u201cinspiring\u201d care for each other. It also indicated that it did not yet know the future of the plant.<\/p>\n \u201cWe understand there are many questions about what comes next,\u201d Agri-Star wrote on social media. \u201cWhile we are still gathering information and evaluating our short-term plans, we are committed to sharing verified updates as soon as they become available. We appreciate your patience as we work through this process thoughtfully and responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this,<\/strong> please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community.<\/strong> Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\t
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP_100514023199-e1463147799816-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tSholom Rubashkin, left, speaks with his defense attorney Montgomery Brown at Rubashkin\u2019s trial on May 14, 2010, at the Black Hawk County Courthouse in Waterloo, Iowa. (Andrea Melendez\/AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP_21026563795327-e1785431694831-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tIllustrative: Staff work on the production line of Kosher poultry meat in a Kosher slaughterhouse in Csengele, Hungary, on January 15, 2021. (AP Photo\/Laszlo Balogh)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tWe can’t do this work alone.\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-4-200x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYes, I’ll join\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/334x334-200x200.png\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n