WUNRN
First Woman Elected to Lead a Jewish Kasruth Agency
For the
first time in history, a female will lead a US national Kasruth agency promising
equality in Kosher supervisory
March
3, 2015 - MANHATTAN, N.Y., March 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As the first
female President to lead a Kosher certification agency, Miriam Jochelman Peled
may have just become the most powerful person in Kosher – man or woman. Peled
was elected by KOSH 9009 Board of Directors to serve a four-year term as
President of the organization. KOSH 9009 is one of the nation's leading Kasruth
and quality management consultation agencies and pioneer of a challenging
movement that is destined to go viral promoting 'Equality for Women in Kosher.'
The
KOSH 9009 website is located at http://kosh9009.com/ which proudly advertises its mission
statement: "Kosher Made Simple and Affordable – With Equality For
Women."
Moshe
Heinman, Director for KOSH 9009, said males have dominated Kosher supervision
since the 1920's when Kosher products started finding their way into the
American market. According to Heinman, a teacher of Conservative Judaism, all
major Kasruth agencies are directly or indirectly disqualifying women to serve
in leadership roles, particularly as President, simply because of their gender.
"Someday we respectfully hope to see a woman President of The Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations (OU), The Organized Kashrus Laboratories (OK),
STAR-K, Kosher Supervision (KOF-K), and other major Kasruth certification
agencies," said Heinman.
Jochelman
Peled is an educator, speaker, and the second generation of Holocaust Survivor
Parents. Born in Postavy, Republic of Belarus, formerly the U.S.S.R, Miriam
holds a B.A. in Art Education/Art Therapy, Master Degree from Seton Hall
University in Judeo-Christian Holocaust Studies, and attended the Yiddish I.L.
Peretz School, where Judaism was fostered, along with other secular subjects.
Her professional work experience includes VP of Operations for Guberman-PMC,
LLC, an internationally recognized quality management consultancy. Previously
she served as senior auditor for G-PMC Registrars, in which she received
numerous awards. She is currently serving a three-year term as Chairwoman of
CWOB, the nation's fastest growing quality management certification program for
women-owned businesses. Miriam has lived and/or traveled to Israel, Poland,
Belarus, Lithuania, France, Italy, Russia and other countries teaching others
of Jewish history, and its cultural and social challenges.
In a
nod to the significance of being the first woman to lead a Kosher agency,
Jochelman Peled said she hoped her achievement would inspire more women to seek
positions as head of a Kasruth agency. "I'm really hoping to see more
women in Kosher supervisory roles for other Kosher organizations that believe
in equality," she said.
Sara
Brickman, spokeswoman for KOSH 9009, said through Miriam's leadership and
strong values rooted in her Jewish faith and heritage, combined with her
professional work experience, international travels, and understanding of
Kashrut laws, KOSH 9009 will continue to prosper as a preferred Kosher/ISO
certification program bringing guidance, strength, diversity and purpose to
businesses worldwide.
The
American Board of Accredited Certifications (ABAC), which serves as the
accreditation board of KOSH 9009 and oversees its operations, has made a
history of bringing diversity to Kosher and quality system certification by
electing women, minorities, Veterans and people of different faiths to serve
as board members, directors, and signatories of the organization. Last
year two consultants representing KOSH 9009 traveled to New York City to meet
with Rabbi Moshe Elefant, COO of the Orthodox Union's Kashruth Department, to
discuss a potential partnership that will enable the OU to offer quality
management solutions for its customers, particularly ISO 9001 certification.
The alliance never materialized but is believed to be still open for future
discussions.