Rabbi Kaplan inspects two tortilla plants, one producing a low-carb type and the other that uses a special corn flour called masa.
Los Angeles has been on the mind of many, and we wanted to check in with our LA mashgiach, Rabbi Binyomin Kaplan. We got a sense of the situation, an understanding into the type of plants he inspects, the retelling of two anecdotes about how plant personnel at a Coca-Cola plant told him not to drink Coke because they thought it wasn’t kosher and about a fortune cookie facility near Dodger Stadium that only uses specific types of written fortunes. In addition, learn about what area to visit for the best restaurants and how he came to work at the OU.
OU Kosher: You live in Fairfax in Los Angeles, and there has been much devastation taking place. How are you doing?
Rabbi Binyomin Kaplan: We’re two miles South of the Runyon Canyon, which had one of the fires. It was brought under control quickly, and I don’t think they tend to spread from canyons and hillsides to the more paved parts of the city. We didn’t have to evacuate, but we could walk outside to the sidewalk and look up and see the fire in the Hollywood Hills. It wasn’t anything I ever thought I would see.
OU Kosher: You inspect a Chinese noodle and fortune cookie establishment near Dodger Stadium. Did you ever confront issues there?
Rabbi Binyomin Kaplan: They used to have a dairy ingredient that necessitated kosherization visits from a Mashgiach from time-to-time, but now it’s an all-kosher, all-pareve plant, so the main thing I do on my regular visits is to check ingredients.
Interestingly, when I walk into the production area where they’re making the fortune cookies, I see small white paper strips with fortunes all over. They make sure not to use fortunes that have serious-sounding statements because people can believe in them. When a fortune cookie emerges from the oven, it is a fully baked thin disc but still warm. The machine folds it around the fortune and then it keeps its new shape when it cools off.
OU Kosher: You also inspect a Coca-Cola plant. What’s that like?
Rabbi Binyomin Kaplan: Originally, in LA, there was no OU on Coca-Cola bottles and cans. Kosher consumers knew by word-of-mouth that Coke was kosher. This explains an anecdote that occurred there.
One time, a mashgiach was there supervising the annual round-the-clock Pesach production (a few months before the actual holiday). The mashgiach who was supposed to relieve him couldn’t come, so I took over for one shift. During the shift I went to the break room to get a Coke, and a worker called out “Rabbi, don’t drink that!” thinking it was not kosher. He didn’t realize that it was kosher for year-round, since they only used the word “kosher” for the product made at that annual Pesach run. Now that Coke bottles and cans made in LA have the OU symbol, they understand that there is also year-round kosher.
OU Kosher: Another plant you visit specializes in spices. What kind of kosher sensitivities can you run into there?
Rabbi Binyomin Kaplan: There are lots of ingredients and blends to check. And a few times in the history of the plant, there were sensitivities that arose because certain items were coming from Eretz Yisrael, requiring additional hashgacha for tithing and other laws relating to the land. The owners are Orthodox Jews, so they understood exactly what the issue was and worked with the OU to obtain the necessary certification.
OU Kosher: Part of your rotation is to also inspect two tortilla plants. Can you elaborate?
Rabbi Binyomin Kaplan: One is in the San Fernando Valley (“the Valley”) and produces low-carb tortillas. The other is in East LA and produces corn tortillas from a special corn flour called masa. In the East LA plant, I get to practice my broken Spanish, which somehow still exists 50 years after my high school Spanish classes.
OU Kosher: What’s Jewish life like where you are living?
Rabbi Binyomin Kaplan: There’s a mix of Chassidish and Russian Jews in my neighborhood, but not exclusively. I sometimes daven in a Moroccan shul around the corner from where I live, which has a very spiritual feel. I live a few blocks from kosher supermarkets and a Judaica store, but the main satisfaction is being part of a large community.
OU Kosher: Where could one go if they were looking for an OU-certified restaurant?
Rabbi Binyomin Kaplan: The Pico-Robertson neighborhood has the most kosher restaurants, including some OU-certified ones. There is a well-known OU-certified restaurant at the Herzog Winery in Oxnard (slightly more than an hour from Los Angeles) called Tierra Sur.
OU Kosher: How did you come to work at the OU?
Rabbi Binyomin Kaplan: I was a graduate student in English at Tulane University in New Orleans and I got to know author Rabbi Alter Metzger at a Summer Yeshiva program. Rabbi Metzger got me started editing English religious books translated from Hebrew, which was part of how I made my living for a few years along with teaching writing at various colleges. Rabbi Reuven Nathanson, the OU West Coast Director, also lived in New Orleans previously and I got some experience doing work for the OU there through him and through Rabbi Yossie Nemes, the Chabad Shliach in Metairie, Louisiana. Perhaps because my resume mentioned editing books by Rabbi Metzger, Rabbi Genack (who knows Rabbi Metzger) sought out his recommendation when I applied for the job. I’ve been with the OU for 25 years now. The rabbis in the office tell me my reports are very concise.
