his certification of kosher meat, which was paid by the customer. Some customers felt that the imposition of this fee for kosher certification was similar to the taxes that antisemitic governments had imposed on kosher meat in Europe and Russia. Some felt that it drove the price of meat higher for no good reason. Others wanted a return to the days when they could simply trust their own kosher butchers, without the approval of a foreign rabbi, who did not even speak English. These disputes became personal when culturally Jewish but anti-religious Yiddish newspapers opposed to the concept of a centralized Orthodox rabbinical authority printed unflattering rumours about the chief rabbi's personal life. Eventually, after six years, the Association stopped paying the rabbi's salary. The butchers then paid him until 1895. This did not stop the conflict, however, for when the butchers paid his fees, charges were made that the rabbi might certify non-kosher meat simply for the money. Successes Although Joseph fought a losing battle in the kosher meat and poultry industry, he managed to achieve some notable accomplishments, including the hiring of qualified shochtim, introducing irremovable seals ("plumba") to identify kosher birds, and setting up Mashgichim to oversee slaughter houses. He also took an active role in establishing the Etz Chaim Yeshiva—the first yeshiva on the Lower East Side, which was founded in 1886. (It was the forerunner of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.) Works Joseph published: Le'Beis Yaakov (Vilna, 1888), a collection of homilies and novellæ. Death In 1897, Joseph suffered a stroke, which incapacitated him, although he was still Chief Rabbi when New York saw the outbreak of the 1902 kosher meat boycott, which began on May 11. At that time, 400 kosher butchers on the East Side organized a boycott of the meat trusts, pressuring them to lower a sudden rise in the cost of meat. The trusts prevailed and the kosher butchers ended their boycott, but at that point the women of the Lower East Side Jewish community, led by Fanny Levy and Sarah Edelson, held a massive protest. On May 15, 20,000 protesters, mostly women, took to the streets to attack the butcher shops. They smashed shop windows, poured gasoline on the meat, lit it on fire, and threw pieces of meat at police officers. As the boycott continued, almost all purchases of kosher meats ceased. By May 22, the kosher Retail