Some years ago we called a Rav who jointly certified a large number of products together with a national kashrus agency. The problem we called about was regarding a production run that was supposed to be pareve, but had been done using oil that was used for dairy products just before and was halachicly dairy.

When we spoke to the Rav, a well-known individual who is a talmid chachom, he said that he was unaware that he certified the product. Next we spoke to the national kashrus agency. The rabbi taking the call asked us, "What did you say to Rabbi ___? He has been jointly giving hechsherim with us for years, and this is the first time that he ever called us."

Enough said. That Rav's so-called "hashgacha" was no more than a rubber-stamp alongside the national agency's certification.

1. Piggy-Back Hashgachos. Like the example just given of the rubber-stamping Rav, piggy-back hashgachos do little or nothing to back up their kosher certification. The rabbis in the organization have no direct knowledge of products which they certify. In such agencies, the other agency is where the buck stops, although both logos will appear on the product.

2. The "OU" model. The "OU," over its decades of supervision, has developed a tiered system. On the front lines are mashgichim (Rabbinic Field Representatives or RFR's) who visit the actual plants to verify enforcement of their standards. The mashgichim report to the Rabbinic Coordinators (RC's, or account executives) in the "OU" office. The RC's, who each specialize in a few industries, are the rabbanim hamachshirim of the "OU." It is the RC's who implement "OU" halachic and kashrus standards and respond, as necessary, to the inspection reports of the mashgichim. RC's report to Group Leaders, who, in turn, report to Senior Management, who, in turn, report to Rabbi Menachem Genack, the Rabbinic Administrator of the Kashruth Division of the "OU."

3. The "OK" model. The "OK" set up involves Executive Rabbis at the "OK" Headquarters and mashgichim in the field.

In addition to the regular monitoring by the area mashgichim, every plant under the "OK" is visited annually by one of the Executive Rabbis. Since responsibilities are evenly distributed within the office, the Executive Rabbis rotate the annual inspections to allow maximum exposure to the many aspects of kashrus. In this manner, no one individual is assigned to a specific company.

When a mashgiach contacts the office for guidance, he is connected with the rabbi who was most recently at the facility. If that rabbi is not available, another rabbi who is also familiar with the site can easily be found.

4. The One-Man Show. There are many rabbis who function completely independently. Sometimes even a local vaad is really the responsibility of just one man. There is no question with such a certification as to where the buck stops.

5. Loose Control. There are organizations, national in scope, where regional representatives have been empowered to make all kashrus decisions for their region. No-one in headquarters can answer a question about their products, nor have they ever visited the actual sites. For such agencies, the national office is not so much a clearinghouse as a switchboard. (We are not referring here to one of the "big four" agencies.)

6. "I'm not there yet!" In some agencies, the head rabbinic administrator has just taken over, and he deflects inquiries by saying that he cannot yet vouch for the quality of the agency.

7. Rabbinic Advisors. This is our name for the sort of agency to whom we sent the letter that appears in the sidebar [not available online]. The rabbis whose names are associated with this particular agency meet only briefly several times per year to discuss their agency's kashrus standards!

They rely on a professional staff to manage the kashrus. Even when approached with a detailed critique of their hashgacha, this agency chose not to answer personally, but rather to assign the task to their professional staff. We know of several such agencies.