As OU Kosher CEO Rabbi Menachem Genack prepares to step down after 45 years, conference highlights the global network, collaboration, and standards he built and defined
For many kashrus agency professionals, the annual OU Kashrus Conference is more than a collegial gathering; it is a rare opportunity to learn about the latest industry developments, and to connect with colleagues who understand the unique experiences and challenges of kosher certification. This year, that connection carried added meaning, as attendees paid tribute to a leader who built and grew that community and expanded access to kosher food worldwide. After 45 years of transformative leadership at the helm of OU Kosher, Chief Executive Officer Rabbi Menachem Genack will celebrate his retirement this summer.
“The conference was especially meaningful as we celebrated Rabbi Genack’s remarkable career and achievements,” says OU Kosher Chief Operating Officer Rabbi Moshe Elefant, who will succeed him. “The legacy he leaves is that of the largest kosher certification agency in the world, built from the ground up with uncompromising standards. He also assembled an exceptional staff — a group of rabbanim, all talmidei chachamim, representing every corner of the Jewish world.”
Now in its 32nd year, the two-day conference at New Jersey’s Hilton Parsippany drew 200 participants, including OU Kosher Rabbinic Coordinators (RCs) and Rabbinic Field Representatives (RFRs) from North and South America, Israel, and Europe, as well as representatives of over 20 international kashrus agencies.
An additional 100 friends and relatives of Rabbi Genack, along with Orthodox Union lay and professional leaders, attended a special tribute banquet that included a video retrospective and the presentation of two books published in his honor. OU President Mitchel Aeder, OU Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, Rabbi Moshe Elefant, and Rabbi Genack’s daughter, Shira Schiowitz, shared reflections, and Rabbi Genack offered words of gratitude and bracha.
“The friendships that have developed over the decades mean a great deal,” says Rabbi Genack. “OU Kosher has been the foundation for the growth of the OU and its many important programs — educationally, in kiruv, supporting people in need, and across so many areas. That mission has been central from the very beginning.”
Under his visionary leadership, OU Kosher became the world’s largest and most widely recognized kosher certification agency, certifying 1.5 million products manufactured in 15,000 plants across 108 countries.
In the 1980s, Rabbi Genack laid the foundation for OU Kosher’s modern infrastructure by assembling a professional team of RCs to oversee kashrus operations from its New York headquarters. In the 1990s, he launched the annual OU Kashrus Conference, creating a forum for RCs and RFRs to share expertise, exchange ideas, and address challenges together in a structured setting.
“As our staff expanded, both at OU Kosher headquarters and internationally, the conference gave, and continues to give us, the opportunity to interact in person — to put faces to names and to brainstorm collectively about how to advance the OU Kosher program,” he says. “It also helps mashgichim understand the halachic basis of kashrus issues and stay current with developments. The conference is essential to OU Kosher’s continued growth, both in maintaining standards and in strengthening our cohesiveness.”
Rabbi Michael Morris, OU Kosher’s director of field operations, logistics ombudsman, and manpower and routing director, helps organize the annual conference in partnership with colleagues. He notes that it provides rare in-person interaction for professionals who typically work independently.
“Many of our RFRs work in relative isolation in remote areas of the world,” he says. “This is a once-a-year opportunity to gather with colleagues in person, whom they interact with daily.”
Rabbi Elefant adds, “Despite working closely together, RCs and RFRs rarely have the opportunity to connect in a relaxed setting. When we get together, there is unity and a shared mission to serve Klal Yisroel and uphold the highest standards of kashrus.”
OU Kosher RFR Rabbi Shoshan Ghoori oversees OU Kosher certification and business development across Latin America — specifically Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and to a lesser extent, Colombia and Mexico. His role includes visiting companies, certifying new companies and plants, and managing client relationships throughout the region. He also helps oversee the mashgiach teams in Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, together with Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman, the RC for Latin America. This is Rabbi Ghoori’s 15th year attending the conference, and he appreciates the sense of connection and achdus that prevails each year.
“Meeting colleagues face-to-face refreshes and strengthens the relationship in a way that remote communication cannot,” he says. “Being together reignites the connection and reinforces a shared sense of purpose. It strengthens the feeling that we are part of one coordinated effort.”
This year’s sessions centered on the future, with a focus on technology, food industry innovation, developments in food science, and AI’s kashrus applications. Topics included Boilers without Borders: Remote Starters in Halacha; Behind the Scenes in Engineered Milk and Engineered Meat; How Kashrus Agencies Are Evaluated; and What’s Brewing: The Latest in Beer and Alcohol, among others.
Additional conference highlights included a dedicated chavrusa/networking session with OU and OU Kosher lay leaders, senior administrators, and colleagues; a shiur by Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) Rosh Yeshiva and OU Posek Rav Hershel Schachter on Stam Keilim Aino Ben Yomo; Daf Yomi; and the recognition of Rabbi Binyomin Kaplan and Rabbi Yitzchok Friedman for their 25 years of dedicated service to OU Kosher.
A key theme throughout the conference reflecting a principle long championed by Rabbi Genack was collaboration among kashrus agencies.That initiative was on full display at the conference, where the second day was opened to kashrus professionals from outside the OU, who also led sessions.
As one of Rav Yosef B. Soloveitchik zt”l’s closest talmidim, Rabbi Genack attributes his embrace of fellow kashrus agencies to the guidance he received from the Rav.
“When I first came to the OU, Rabbi Soloveitchik told me, ‘I don’t want to see the OU become a kashrus monopoly,’ and I’ve always kept that in mind,” recalls Rabbi Genack. “We work very closely with other agencies that uphold high standards, and it’s important to collaborate and build together. I truly appreciate their participation in the conference.”
OU Kosher Managing Director of Marketing Rabbi Ei Eleff notes, “Kashrus is a communal effort, and the only way for it to thrive is through collaboration with other agencies. One of the nicest aspects of the conference is that it enables people from the same industry to network, meet one another, and share best practices. There is something to learn from everyone. When there is diverse knowledge-sharing, everyone wins.”
Rabbi Ghoori echoes this sentiment, valuing the opportunity to connect with colleagues from other kashrus agencies who are all working toward the same objective.
“There is mutual respect and an understanding that, while each agency serves its own clients, we are all ultimately providing a service to the broader kosher world,” he says. “That includes both the Jewish community and the wider kosher-consuming public, which today extends well beyond Jewish consumers.”
OU Kosher RFR Rabbi Saadya Kaufmann has attended the OU Kashrus Conference for the past 16 years, and enjoyed this latest one the most.
“The conference was probably one of the best that I have attended,” reflects Rabbi Kaufmann, who oversees plants manufacturing everything from candy and salsa, to aluminum foil and chemicals, throughout Texas, Mississippi, Northern Mexico and El Salvador. “The sessions were all very relevant and interesting.”
However, celebrating Rabbi Genack and his pioneering achievements at OU Kosher was particularly memorable.
“The highlight was being able to pay tribute to Rabbi Genack,” he says. “It was especially meaningful and inspiring in light of Rabbi Elefant’s observation that everyone present was hired to work for OU Kosher by Rabbi Genack. It reflected a shared sense of hakaras hatov for all he has accomplished for Klal Yisroel.”
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About OU Kosher
OU (Orthodox Union) Kosher is the world’s largest and most widely recognized international kosher certification agency, certifying 1.5 million products produced in more than 15,000 plants located in 108 countries around the world. The agency certifies two-thirds of all kosher-certified foods in the United States.
About the Orthodox Union
Founded in 1898, the Orthodox Union (OU), or Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, serves as the voice of American Orthodox Jewry, with over 400 congregations in its synagogue network. As the umbrella organization for American Orthodox Jewry, the OU is at the forefront of advocacy work on both state and federal levels, outreach to Jewish teens and young professionals through NCSY, Israel Free Spirit Birthright, Yachad and OU Press, among many other divisions and programs.