Hebrew National is a brand of kosher hot dogs and sausages made by ConAgra Foods, Inc.

History[link]

The Hebrew National Kosher Sausage Factory, Inc. was founded on East Broadway, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1905. The company was founded by Theodore Krainin, who emigrated from Russia in 1885. The factory was registered as government inspected establishment #552 by the United States Bureau of Animal Industry with Theodore Krainin as proprietor. in a 1921 article, Alfred W. McCann writing in The Globe and Commercial Advertiser citied Hebrew National as having "higher standards than the law requires." McCann wrote the article during a crusade for commercial food decency standards, in which The Globe was prominent. He wrote "More power to Krainin and the decency he represents! Such evidence of the kind of citizenship which America should covet is not to be passed by lightly."(Alfred W. McCann in The Globe and Commercial Advertisier, Thursday, July 28, 1921) "It served the Jewish neighborhoods of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Germany and soon developed a favorable reputation among the other Jewish residents of New York City.

In 1934, after a bankruptcy action, the certificate of incorporation for Hebrew National Sausage Factory listed SolomonLevinson, Sylvia Marans and Miriam Spector, all of Brooklyn, as directors and shareholders. In 1937 after an increase in capital stock, a Pinckowitz (Jacob), appears for the first time as an officer. (Diversified Corporate Services Int'l Inc. Albany,N.Y. Reference # 02923.) The company was bought by Jewish Romanian immigrant butcher Isadore Pines (born Pinckowitz). In 1935, Isadore's son, Leonard Pines, took over the business.^[1] In 1965, Hebrew National came up with the slogan that they've used ever since: We answer to a higher authority — a reference to Jewish dietary laws and a claim to higher quality that was able to appeal to both Jewish and non-Jewish markets.

In 1968, the Pines family sold Hebrew National to Riviana Foods, which was taken over by Colgate-Palmolive in 1976. In 1980, Isidore "Skip" Pines, grandson of the founder, bought the company from Colgate-Palmolive for a fraction of the price it was originally sold for.

The health food movement of the 1980s, with CEO Steve Silk at the helm, encouraged the company to stick to a recipe that used no artificial colors or flavors, and to minimize other potential modernizations of the recipe. This strategy ultimately proved successful, and with a growing revenue, Hebrew National hoped to transform itself into a large conglomerate through acquiring other brands, in order to compete with the food giants that dominated the industry.

Hebrew National developed a non-kosher brand called "National Deli". This strategy was less successful, and National Foods was acquired by ConAgra Foods in 1993. The National Deli brand was sold off in 2001 to a former Hebrew National employee, and still operates today out of Miami, Florida.

Location[link]

The site of Hebrew National's manufacturing plant had been New York City for many years; it moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1989. The Indianapolis plant was closed down in 2004 as operations were consolidated with the ConAgra Foods Armour hot dog plant in Quincy, Michigan.

Kosher supervision[link]

Ironically, Hebrew National beef products cannot be eaten by many observant Jews, despite the fact that Hebrew National is probably one of the most well-known kosher brands among non-Jews. For many years, Hebrew National relied on a body within the company to certify its products kosher. Many Orthodox Jews did not feel that Hebrew National's kosher standards were up to those set in place by groups such as the Orthodox Union, Kof-K, and the like, and as such, would not consume Hebrew National beef-based products. (Standards, and opinions, differed for Hebrew National's poultry.)

The Conservative movement also did not regard Hebrew National acceptable and therefore not Kosher. Rabbi Paul Plotkin, the chair of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards' Kashrut Committee, wrote that "Until recently, Hebrew National, which is widely distributed, wasn't 'kosher enough.' Its supervision was unacceptable to many Jews who keep kosher including the Conservative movement."^[2]

In the early 2000s, Hebrew National switched to an external certification group, the Triangle K, under the auspices of Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag which was widely seen as somewhat of an upgrade in its standards of kashrut. In 2004, the Conservative Movement found the upgrade sufficient to be acceptable by Conservative standards.^[2]

Nonetheless, the Jewish Daily Forward reported that most Orthodox authorities did not follow this endorsement, and most Orthodox Jews continue not to rely on its kashrut.^[3]

Hebrew National meat is not glatt kosher and its certifiers do not represent it as such. Accordingly, its meat is unacceptable to the majority of Orthodox Jews in the United States, where the pervasive Orthodox custom is to observe Glatt kashrut.^[3]

Products[link]

Hebrew National primarily makes meat products including hot dogs, but they also make salami, bologna, knackwurst, Polish sausage, and cold cuts. In addition to meat, they make a small number of sausage-related kosher condiments: sauerkraut, pickles and mustard.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Shechita

References[link]

1. ^ Phyllis Berman, Why Pastrami and Soap Don't Mix. Forbes December 2, 1985.
2. ^ ^{a b} Rabbi Paul Plotkin, Kosher Enough: A New Look at Kashrut. United Synagogue Review Fall 2005.
3. ^ ^{a b} Hebrew National Certified Kosher — But Not Kosher Enough for Some. Jewish Daily Forward, June 11, 2004.

External links[link]

• Official website

Non Phixion
Background information
Origin	New York City
Genres	Hip hop Underground hip hop
Years active	1995–2006
Labels	Uncle Howie Matador Geffen
Associated acts	La Coka Nostra Necro
Past members
Ill Bill Sabac Red Goretex DJ Eclipse MC Serch

Non Phixion (pronounced non-fiction) was a New York-based hardcore hip-hop group.

History[link]

In late 1994, MC Serch (of 3rd Bass fame) took his protege Sabac and teamed him up with DJ Eclipse and Ill Bill, thereby creating the group known as Non Phixion.^[1] Within six months Goretex, a childhood friend of Ill Bill, had joined the crew after freestyling for MC Serch.^[1][2] Six months later they had released their first single, "Legacy". It went on to sell over 20,000 copies worldwide.^[3]

NYC 1998

MC Serch secured the group a deal with major label Geffen Records. Serch kept releasing singles for the group and they continued to garner underground notoriety.^[4] Eventually a series of mis-communications between the group, Serch and Geffen over the whereabouts of money led to Non Phixion being dropped by the label.^[4]

Following their attempt at a major label release, the members of Non Phixion spent their time performing live in New York and around the world; opening for contemporaries such as Gang Starr, The Beatnuts and The Roots.^[3] After 1998 saw the release of their "I Shot Reagan" 12" on Uncle Howie Records, Non Phixion secured a deal for a full-length with Matador Records, however, this never came to fruition. Around 2000, Rick Rubin was attempting to bring Non Phixion to Warner Bros. and executive produce their record, but this too never materialized and ultimately their debut LP The Future Is Now was released on Ill Bill's own Uncle Howie Records on March 26, 2002.^[3][5]

After the release of their seminal album, Non Phixion's members put out their first round of solo material: Ill Bill released What's Wrong with Bill?, on March 2, 2004; this was followed by Sabac’s Sabacolypse: A Change Gon' Come on June 15, 2004 and Goretex’s The Art of Dying on September 7, 2004; all of their solo efforts were released on Necro's Psycho+Logical-Records. The following year, Ill Bill and Goretex released an album with Necro and Mr. Hyde as The Circle of Tyrants on September 13. At the time there was talk of another full length Non Phixion album, called The Nuclear Truth, with the same producers and ideas being extended from The Future Is Now.^[6] Non Phixion went on indefinite hiatus in 2006 before a second LP was finished. Goretex (G Blasphemy) left to develop his new project Supercoven and Children Of Doom, while rumor has it the insulation company Gore-Tex forced Goretex to change his name resulting in surmounting legal issues. He now goes by the name Gore Elohim, and dropped his new official track "Lord Of Plagues" on his YouTube account.^[1][7] Sabac Red moved to Oakland to likewise pursue solo efforts. He is now Ill Bill started a new group with a number of other emcees called La Coka Nostra. Ill Bill, Sabac Red and DJ Eclipse still often perform together, but they have not recorded as Non Phixion.^[8]

Ill Bill

The band's logo was created by Away (aka Michel Langevin) using the same font style that was used for his own futuristic metal band, Voivod.^[9]

Hamburg/Germany 2003

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• The Future Is Now (Uncle Howie, 2002)
• The Green CD/DVD (Uncle Howie, 2004)

Singles[link]

References[link]