COR’s very own Rabbi Catriel Blum has been selected “Mashgiach of the Year.”
KASHRUS Magazine, the Brooklyn-based periodical for the kosher consumer and Trade made the announcement and presented him with a check for $1,000. The presentation was made at Kosherfest, on Wednesday, November 16. Kosherfest is the world’s largest trade show for the kosher industry.
Rabbi Blum was chosen from among the nominees of the 1,371 kosher agencies worldwide. He has worked for the COR-Kashruth Council of Canada for 15 years as a “route mashgiach,” a kosher supervisor for multiple establishments. Rabbi Blum supervises 12 establishments, including both dairy and meat restaurants and bakeries, visiting each as many as six times a day.
“A kosher supervisor is not a policeman,” said Rabbi Yosef Wikler, editor of Kashrus Magazine, “rather, he is the representative of kosher and Judaism to the staff in his facility and to the administration of the company he works for. Rabbi Catriel Blum, through his winning personality and firm resolve, wins daily the hearts and cooperation of proprietors, kitchen staff, and the COR, truly deserving the title ‘Mashgiach of the Year.’”
Rabbi Tsvi Heber, COR’s Director of Community Kosher adds, “The Toronto kosher community is known for its high expectations for the kosher standards of the establishments located in their city. Rabbi Blum, through his tireless years of superhuman effort, has won the community’s full confidence.”
Rabbi Blum has literally become a legend in the Bathurst & Lawrence section of Toronto as he is seen walking from store to store in a three block area, clocking five miles per day. People there see him as a “community kosher supervisor” and he sees them as “my people.”
