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Dear HoRav Lichtenshtein,

I listened to your latest podcast, and I would like to make a few comments.

I was very much disappointed with regards to your discussion Vis a Vis Rabbi Don Yoel Levy.

First of all, you said a few times that it is a given that everything that Rabbi Shain was true, being that the OK admitted to this. I have no clue where the OK made any such admission. Their admission goes back to 6 months. Has anything happened earlier than that? Possibly, but there is nothing in the OK statement which validates the claims made by Yudel Shain, not in the timeline and not in the other claims which he made.

Second of all, with all due respect to Rabbi Shain, if you are going to believe every single one of his allegations, then the whole world is eating Treif. Gp check out his website, and you tell me if you believe everything he claims.

Third of all, you keep on talking about the OK, as if it is some family Hechsherel. All while you say, that the OU must be great because it is run by Rav Genak. Now I cannot say anything about how the OK is being run currently in the last two years. However when it was run by Rav Don Yoel Levy AH, everyone knew (and you can ask Rabbi Genak for that matter), that he ran a top notch hechsher which was very reliable. I cannot vouch for what happened in this case, but the way you are stam maching up Rav Levi AH, seems like you just don’t know who he is, more than anything else.

And I want to finish with my fourth point: There are legitimate Tannois which one can make at the current OK leadership in how they handled this. But Rabbi Shain did not just talk about the current claims, but he is claiming that this goes back years. And you bought the story hook line and sinker and are running with this story and all its details. Now it could be it is all true. However, neither you nor I know the full story, or the true facts. On the other hand you kept on talking not nicely about Rav Levy AH, when he is not alive and cannot defend himself. We all know, that it is not proper to speak about dead people, who cannot stand up for themselves.

In regards to Rabbi Broydes comments Vis A Vis the Magen David Yeshiva, I wonder why Rabbi Broyde did not make reference to this the follow ruling of Scotus

Thank you very much.

I want to point out one more thing:

Rav Levy AH had a name in the business. You can ask Rabbis Genak or Elefant and they will back it up a hundred percent. He had a name of having a certain type of sterling character, who would never hesitate, to stand up for Kosher. It is also makes no sense that he would ever say, that because it is lean times that we have no choice, but to continue with the Hechsher. I am sorry today, but Yudel Shains description of Rabbi Levy, is not the Rabbi Levy anyone knows. Yet you somehow bought it hook line and sinker, to the effect, that you said that is must be 100% true, and that the OK even admitted it. Again I have no clue as to what took place after Rabbi Levy passed away, but in regards to what happened beforehand, you would do a lot better, then to Stam bring on Yudel Shain to spew all his Maselach.