The Rubashkin family () is a family of American Hasidic Jews of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Brooklyn, New York, headed by Aaron Rubashkin. Members of the family were or are active in various family businesses, most of them in the family's main business, kosher meat, for which they earned the title "kosher meat dynasty". The tight-knit family has been influential in its local area and is well known among religious Jews for its generosity towards Jews and Jewish causes.
Some of the family's activities have been controversial, and a few of its members have been the subject of legal investigations and convictions.
Notable family members
Family patriarch Aaron Rubashkin and Rivka Rubashkin
Moshe Rubashkin, son of Aaron Rubashkin
Sholom Rubashkin, son of Moshe Rubashkin
Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, son of Aaron Rubashkin
Yaacov Weiss, son-in-law of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin
Milton Balkany, son-in-law of Aaron Rubashkin (married daughter Sarah Rubashkin)
Family businesses
Kosher meat
Rubashkin's, Inc. (established 1953) owned by Aaron Rubashkin, kosher butcher shop in Borough Park, Brooklyn, established as Lieberman & Rubashkin Glatt Kosher Butchers. Agriprocessors, Inc. (established 1987, sold in auction July 2009) owned by Aaron Rubashkin, managed by his sons Sholom Mordechai and Heshy Zvi Rubashkin. Agri-Food Distributors, Inc., founded in 1994, Aaron Rubashkin is listed as president, Sholom and Heshy Zvi Rubashkin are listed as officers. Shemesh, Inc., Florida-based company founded in 1999 as a distribution center for Agriprocessors kosher meat products owned by Aaron Rubashkin. Gutol Goldman-Rubashkin, Sholom, Heshy Zvi and Yossi Rubashkin are listed as officers. After failing to file mandated reports with the state in 2005, the company was administratively dissolved. When it was reinstated in 2007, only Sholom Rubashkin was listed as a company officer. An amended report, filed in December 2008, removes him from the company and names Goldman as the sole officer. Lagoon Technology, LLC, listed at Agriprocessors' physical address in Postville, Iowa, was formed in April 2005 to provide reimbursements to the city in connection with agreed upon maintenance of the waste lagoons. Best Value, Inc., founded in 2001, Gutol Goldman-Rubashkin, Sholom, Heshy Zvi, and Joseph Rubashkin are listed as officers. Best Value Distributors, Inc., formed in 2001, lists Sholom and Heshy Zvi Rubashkin as officers. Best Value Food Products, LLC, formed in 2001, lists the same home office as Agriprocessors. Cottonballs, LLC, listed at Agriprocessors' physical address in Postville, Iowa, was a poultry firm founded in late 2004 operated by the Rubashkin family. Kosher Community Grocery, Inc., set up in May 2005, lists Sholom Rubashkin as president and secretary, and Heshy Zvi Rubashkin as president and treasurer. Gemach Mamash Now Corporation, founded in 1996, has Sholom and Heshy Zvi Rubashkin listed as officers. The company provided interest-free loans to Jews. Postville Rabbinical Academy, founded in 2000, Sholom and Heshy Zvi Rubashkin are listed as officers. Crown Deli (established c. 1960) owned by Aaron Rubashkin, run by his wife Rivka Rubashkin, a restaurant on 13th Avenue in Brooklyn, described as more of a soup kitchen than a business.
Textile mills
Cherry Hill Textiles, Inc. (established 1972, dissolved 1997) owned by Aaron Rubashkin and Moshe Rubashkin, managed by Moshe Rubashkin, was a corporation in Brooklyn, New York, engaged in the dyeing and finishing of textiles. Montex Textiles Ltd. (established 1989, closed 2001) owned and managed by Moshe Rubashkin, was a textiles bleaching and dyeing company, in Allentown, Pennsylvania.