Gourmet Glatt Update..the Sale is done --How does the Vaad sleep at night?

It seems that the Sale of GG is a done deal the VAAD bullies should be ashamed of themselves. The may have Shmita but they haven't acted much like Rabbis throughout this process---more like mafioso's. For a a look at the full story see Gourmet Glatt vs. Five Towns Vaad, a tragedy in too many acts)

The Jewish Star had the scoop. (H/T Orthomom)

Gourmet Glatt Being Sold

By Mayer Fertig

The white knight lives in Borough Park. He is an investor named Chezky
Kaufthiel, leading a group that is now in the process of becoming the
new owners of Gourmet Glatt. The Bolender family has sold its entire
interest in the store, which their parents founded when there were no
other kosher butchers in the Five Towns.

The sale is expected to herald the return to Gourmet Glatt of many,
many customers who have stayed away since late October, heeding the
directive of their rabbonim. The boycott followed the removal of the
hashgacha of the Vaad Hakashrus of the Five Towns and Far Rockaway.
Rabbi Simcha Lefkowitz of Congregation Anshei Chesed in Hewlett, and a member of the Vaad Hakashrus of the Five Towns and Far Rockaway,
confirmed that, "the Vaad is returning it's hashgacha, and everyone
should be free to shop there, in all the departments, including meat."
Rabbi Yosef Eisen, the rabbinic administrator of the Vaad,said, " Mr.
Kaufthiel and his group have an interest in concluding this deal ASAP.
All parties have been working closely together. We're walking toward
the chupah right now. The conclusion is, b'ezras Hashem, going to take
place in the not so distant future.

Through his attorney, Paul Sod of Lawrence, Kaufthiel confirmed he is
the buyer and said, "We are interested in bringing Gourmet Glatt to a
point where it is the premier supermarket in relation to quality,
service, value and kashrus." Other members of the group were not
identified. Paul Sod, and his counterpart, Alexander Novack,
representing the Bolenders in the sale, said they did not know who else
is part of the group. They called Kaufthiel "a facilitator" who's "been
in the lead in the efforts to resolve this unfortunate mess, but it's
not clear what role he'll play" ultimately. Novack said, "all the sellers are very happy with this resolution of what has been a very difficult couple of months and hope for the continued success of Gourmet Glatt."

... Virtually every Orthodox rabbi in the Five Towns and Far Rockaway is a member of the Vaad, which is led by Rabbi Eisen. Together, they made an emergency decision to remove the hashgacha from Gourmet Glatt in late October after Rabbi Yehudah Kravitz was retained to provide a second hechsher. At that time the Vaad had recently advised Mark Bolender and his siblings to sell the business prior to the permanent removal of the hashgacha in four months time. This followed an incident where several brands of kosher Cornish hens were mislabeled and a long string of other run-ins between Mark Bolender and the Vaad.

[Sammy note:This is Another example of the Star and/or Vaad loshen hora- rumor mongering that has been going on since this crisis started. None of this has ever been confirmed with evidence or by a Vaad Rabbi out in the open]

Rabbi Kravitz declined to comment when he was contacted on Tuesday.
Two members of the Bolender family, Chaim and Andrea, will remain at
Gourmet Glatt to help with the transition, and possibly longer. They
will be salaried employees of the new owners. Mark Bolender's
relationship with the store will end with the sale.

... "The community will hopefully find this to be a very positive outcome
to a very difficult experience," said Rabbi Kenneth Hain of Lawrence's
Cong. Beth Shalom. "Due to some hard work and responsible efforts by
all parties I expect that this will result in not only a quality
establishment under the highest of kashruth standards, but also in
competition that will be of benefit to kosher consumers."

One of the attorneys, Alexander Novack, said the deal was structured
with care taken to be sure it would easily lead to a resumption of
supervision by the Vaad Hakashrus. "A number of rabbonim who have made themselves available on Sunday nights, and holidays," he said, "have been very accommodating." He singled out for credit Rabbi Eisen, whomhe said had made himself available for consultation on a number of recent Sundays.

In the last two days I have heard from many people in the neighborhood afraid for their livelihoods if they disagree with their Rabbis on the Vaad issue. In the Torah we find many of our sages disagreeing with G-d Avraham, Moshe...etc. These Rabbis have decided that they are better than Hashem, because people can't disagree with them without fear of retribution.

Residents of the Five Towns you must keep up the pressure, otherwise my friends, there will be more GG type incidents incidents.

I understand there is a mass Buy-in planned for Thursday night at GG...If you live anywhere near the Five Towns please Join in I will keep you informed

I just came back from GG. It is very close to the end and they cannot hold out much longer. The group shop is a very good idea and should be organized. Who ever thought of it, please post the time you wish to do it and if we should all gather in the parking lot or start at a different location and walk over, for instance. Shall we meet at Beth Sholom Parking lot or the Young Israel of Lawrence/Cedarhurst and organize ourselves as a group and then walk together to show unity and solidarity in the community. Maybe we should all have a label on that says,
" We respect our Rabbonim but we disagree wholeheartedly in this case. KEEP GG OPEN, JEWS FORGIVE EACH OTHER."

If we do it in an organized fashion, we will have an impact. Also, if those members in the community were afraid to come out in public before because they feared they would be the only ones, they can come to the designated location and see how many others are willing to go into the store arm and arm to keep it open. There is power in numbers. There is a rumor out that the VAAD is giving back the Hechsher on Thursday because that is when GG is changing hands. I ASKED GG TODAY IF THAT IS TRUE, THEY SAID "NO". However, they will have to give up shortly and we don't have much time left. Start spreading the word.

In order to get an idea of how many people will be there on Thursday night starting from 6:00pm (and on) for the group shop- please email mishpat26@hotmail.com.