CHICAGO (STNG) -- Just in time for the High Holy Days, two prominent Jewish leaders are putting the City Council’s two Jewish aldermen on notice: They risk incurring the wrath of God if they push to repeal Chicago’s foie gras ban.
“Beyond the Kosher dietary laws, God has told us to do what is ‘good and proper in the eyes of God,’ ” Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Anshe Sholom B’Nail Israel Congregation wrote to Aldermen Burton F. Natarus (42nd) and Bernard Stone (50th).
Jana Kohl, former director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, accused Natarus and Stone of reneging on a “vow” made personally to Kohl to support the foie gras ban as a statement against animal cruelty.
In an angry letter to the two political cohorts, Kohl promised to do “everything in my power to defeat your misguided efforts.”
“As the only two Jewish members of the Council, it’s particularly shameful and disgraceful of you to turn your back on our cherished concept of ‘tikun olam,’ namely our obligation to make our world a better, more compassionate place,” wrote Kohl, whose grandfather founded Kohl department stores.
Stone categorically denied that he had promised Kohl he would stand behind a foie gras ban approved by the City Council on April 26 by a vote of 48 to 1.
Natarus could not be reached for comment.
The Illinois Restaurant Association and a coalition of chefs have filed a lawsuit that seeks to overturn a foie gras ban that has made sarcastic headlines around the world.
The proposed repealer was quietly filed with the city clerk’s office four weeks ago.
Last week, Daley said a repeal was the next item on his legislative agenda.
In a telephone interview Monday, Kohl argued that Judeo-Christian ethics and precepts mandate that animals raised and slaughtered for food and clothing be treated humanely.
Foie gras is produced by force-feeding geese and ducks.
“It’s the only food item that can only be raised by torturing an animal,” Kohl said.
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