Abraham Aaron Rubashkin (, ; 1927 or 1928 – April 2, 2020) was a Russian-American businessman. He died during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

due to complications brought on by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Early life

An adherent to

Haredi Judaism Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

of the

Lubavitcher Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups ...

hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

movement, Rubashkin was born in the late-1920s in the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n town Nevel in the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

He was the son of Getzel Rubashkin and Rosa Lubavicher Hasidim, who raised their two sons and daughters as observant Jews in spite of the anti-religious repression in the Soviet Union. When the Germans occupied Nevel in July 1941, the Rubashkin family fled east, eventually reaching the Uzbek city of

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

, where he married Rivka Chazanov of the Chein family of Nevel.Getzy Markowitz
"The Language of Faith"
. Prepared for the wedding of Getzy and Shaina Markowitz, March 14, 2010. Retrieved October 18, 2010 After the war, the Rubashkin family left the Soviet Union via

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

and spent time in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, before they settled in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1947. In Paris, his father ran a grocery shop and his mother served as a cook at a Jewish girls school, and he became a butcher. In 1953, the family moved to New York City, where he and his partner opened Lieberman & Rubashkin Glatt Kosher Butchers on 14th Avenue in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn.Nathaniel Popper
"How the Rubashkins Changed the Way Jews Eat in America. The Rise and Fall of Agriprocessors Is the Story of an Immigrant Family Gone Awry"
''

The Jewish Daily Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, '' ...

'', December 11, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2010

Career

He was the head, usually referred to as "patriarch", of the

Rubashkin family The Rubashkin family () is a family of American Hasidic Jews of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Brooklyn, New York, headed by Aaron Rubashkin. Members of the family were or are active in various family businesses, most of them in the family's ma ...

, dubbed a "kosher meat dynasty" by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. The Rubashkin family is a tight-knit family, well known among orthodox Jews in Brooklyn for its wealth and generosity towards Jewish causes. Rubashkin was the owner and president of most of the family's businesses, many of which have faced legal problems. Most notable of those problems were those of

Agriprocessors Agriprocessors was the corporate identity of a slaughterhouse and meat-packaging factory based in Postville, Iowa, best known as a facility for the glatt kosher processing of cattle, as well as chicken, turkey, duck, and lamb. Agriprocessors' ...

, once the largest kosher

slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

and meat-packaging factory in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Through the company, Rubashkin was responsible for establishing a small

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

community in

Postville, Iowa Postville is a village in Allamakee County, Iowa, Allamakee and Clayton County, Iowa, Clayton counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. It lies near the junction of four counties and at the intersection of U.S. Routes U.S. Route 18 in Iowa, 18 and U.S. ...

. Agriprocessors went into bankruptcy after the

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(ICE) staged a raid of the plant known as the " Postville Raid" for employing illegal immigrant laborers.

Family businesses

Although best known for his role in the kosher meat business, Rubashkin also invested in the textile industry and in real estate. Three generations, including in-laws, have been involved in the tight-knit family's business ventures.

Rubashkin's

Rubashkin's, a butcher shop on 14th Avenue in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, which Rubashkin opened in 1953 with his partner Alter Lieberman, was run by him until his death. His office on the second floor was said to be the center from where he was overseeing his various businesses. Rubashkin's was also one of the names under which the kosher meat produced by Agriprocessors' was marketed.

Crown Deli

Crown Deli, on 13th Avenue in Brooklyn, a restaurant run by Rubashkin's wife, Rivka, since the 1960s, was described by some as more of a

soup kitchen A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center, is a place where food is offered to the Hunger, hungry usually for free or sometimes at a below-market price (such as via coin donations upon visiting). Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoo ...

than a business. It was closed several times for

sanitary Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems a ...

violations by the

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is the department of the government of New York City responsible for public health along with issuing birth certificates, dog licenses, and conducting restaurant inspection and enforcem ...

(DOHMH), the last time on March 3, 2010.

Cherry Hill Textiles

Cherry Hill Textiles, Inc. was a corporation with its principal place of business in Brooklyn, New York. It engaged in the dyeing and finishing of textiles owned by Aaron Rubashkin and his second oldest son Moshe Rubashkin. In 1995 he and his son Moshe were found guilty of collecting

union dues Union dues are a regular payment of money made by members of unions. Dues are the cost of membership; they are used to fund the various activities which the union engages in. Nearly all unions require their members to pay dues. Variation Many ...

from their employees without sending the collected monies on to the "United Production Workers Union". They were ordered by the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...

. to repay the money with interest.

Agriprocessors

Founded in 1987, the

and meat-packaging factory Agriprocessors, based in

Postville Postville is a village in Allamakee and Clayton counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. It lies near the junction of four counties and at the intersection of U.S. Routes 18 and 52 and Iowa Highway 51, with airport facilities in the neighboring co ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, was owned by Rubashkin and managed by two of his sons and a son-in-law. The distribution centers in Brooklyn and

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Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

were run by one of his daughters and another of his sons. Agriprocessors faced several accusations of mistreatment of cattle between 2004 and 2008. The company was fined $600,000 for violating waste-water regulations in 2006, and $9.99 million in October 2008 for various violations of state labor law, including illegally deducting money from employees for safety equipment and failing to pay employees. When the

(ICE) staged a

raid Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...

at the Postville plant in May 2008, during which nearly 400 illegal immigrant workers were arrested, Rubashkin said that he "had no idea that his workers were illegal". In September 2008, he, his son

Sholom Rubashkin Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin (born October 30, 1959) is a convicted felon and the former CEO of Agriprocessors, a now-bankrupt kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa, formerly owned by his father, Aaron Rubashkin. Durin ...

, as well as the company's human resources manager and two office employees, were charged for state child labor violations. He was never charged federally, and the state child labor charges against him were dropped in May 2010. His son was acquitted in state court of knowingly hiring underage workers at the plant in June 2010. However, Agriprocessors, as a corporation, entered a guilty plea to 83 child labor charges, with the footnote that the conviction wasn't based on the knowledge or intent of Sholom Rubashkin or his father, Abraham 'Aaron' Rubashkin. The plant's human resources manager pleaded to state child labor charges under an agreement with the state. On November 5, 2008, Agriprocessors filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

, and was bought at

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

in July 2009.

Personal life

Rubashkin's death from

was announced on April 2, 2020.

Family

The couple had nine children, five daughters and four sons: *Gutol Goldman *Sara Balkany *Rochel Leah Rosenfeld *Yossi Rubashkin * Moshe Rubashkin * Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin *Chayala Gourarie *Heshy Zvi Rubashkin *Chana Zelda Minkowicz

References

External links

* Elizabeth Dwoskin
"The Fall of the House of Rubashkin. As the nation's largest kosher empire implodes, Brooklyn's ultra-Orthodox Jews begin to break ranks"
''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', December 3, 2008 * David Levine
"A Beef With the Rabbis"

Portfolio.com Portfolio.com was a website published by American City Business Journals that provideed news and information for small to mid-sized businesses (SMB). It was previously the website for the monthly business magazine ''Condé Nast Portfolio'', pub ...

, October 15, 2008 * National Labor Relations Board
"Cherry Hill Textiles, Inc. and United Production Workers Union, Local 17–18". Case 29–CA–17848
Decisions of the NLRB, August 17, 1995 * Jennie Rothenberg
"Torah Amid Corn"
''Hadassah'' magazine, April 2004. Retrieved from Shmais.com * The Rubashkin Story from A-Z
Part 1
an
Part 2
Yaakov Astor's Blog, May 12, 2010. Excerpt from "Rubashkin. The Entire Story", ''Zman'' magazine, June 2010
"Lessons in Leadership". Forward 50 2008
. ''The Jewish Daily Forward'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubashkin, Aaron 1920s births 2020 deaths American food industry businesspeople American manufacturing businesspeople American Orthodox Jews American people of Russian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from New York City Chabad-Lubavitch (Hasidic dynasty) Child labor in the United States

Aaron According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...

Soviet emigrants to the United States Russian Jews Businesspeople from Brooklyn Russian businesspeople in the United States American white-collar criminals American businesspeople convicted of crimes Businesspeople in the meat packing industry Year of birth missing Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)