The Meat Products Factory Job

I have been called to an urgent permitting job for a pork meat packing factory South of Tel Aviv. The firm, founded by a Romanian Jew, produces pork products like salami and so, and was about to close some years ago but the Russian immigration saved it. Thanks to the million so new pork-loving customers, the factory is prospering and purchased four neighboring properties and has gradually re-modelled the old building into a complex unit. From the water supply and sewage aspect it is a complete mess, they have four different water meters, and 6 grease interceptors. My job is to map the piping and try to rationalize it, and of course get the permit for the whole factory. They had another engineer doing the job but apparently he gave up.

As I toured the plant taking pictures, I arrived to the "katzavia" - the butchery department, where twenty or so young Russians with big knives were cutting up the pork carcasses. One Russian commented: "Look, this is how a Jew (me) looks like, he comes with a camera taking pictures of you!" The language spoken in the factory is Russian, all the workers (except accounting) are Christian Russians, and they have not shedded their jovial Russian antisemitism. The pork plant is not kosher and it has no external signs seen from the street. It also produces for export, which is not suprising, given that in pre-war Hungary, the famous Hungarian salami industry - Herz, Pick - had been a Jewish industry. Paradoxically, the pork industry in Central Europe was a Jewish activity, it is perfectly kosher for religious Jews to deal in non-kosher industries for a living. Incredibly, Israel may yet supply salamis to Hungary.