Investigative report into Beit Yosef hechsher (video)
Israel's Channel 10 did an investigative report into the Beit Yosef hechsher. This report is not about the standards of kashrut and level of supervision, but is about the administration of the hechsher and how they use the hechsher for the purpose of generating jobs and money for the family and friends of the Yosef family. It was not all that exciting, as most people, I think, already know that all the hechshers function in this manner.
The issue isn't the administration of the hechsher — it's a private business and there's nothing wrong with running it like one. The allegation here is that there's some sort of convoluted plot to appoint city rabbanim who will somehow use their positions to steer business to this hechsher. The implication is that it's somehow like a building contractor using political clout to get his friends and relatives appointed to the school boards of various cities, so that when the school boards have construction work to be done they will steer the contracts to their sponsor.
In this case, supposedly if the clique's candidates are chosen as city rabbanim, their rabbanut kashrut division will "cooperate" with this hechsher and not with any other, thus enabling it to get a greater percentage of the clients who are looking to supplement their rabbanut hechsher with a private one. But what does this "cooperation" consist of, exactly? As far as I know rabbanuyot cooperate equally with all legitimate private hechsherim, don't steer business anywhere, and only take legal action against the ones that are scams. So how exactly is this grand conspiracy supposed to work? How will Badatz Bet Yosef make more money if R Yitzchak Yosef is rav of J'm than if R David Yosef is appointed instead? It just doesn't make sense.
The issue isn't the administration of the hechsher — it's a private business and there's nothing wrong with running it like one. The allegation here is that there's some sort of convoluted plot to appoint city rabbanim who will somehow use their positions to steer business to this hechsher. The implication is that it's somehow like a building contractor using political clout to get his friends and relatives appointed to the school boards of various cities, so that when the school boards have construction work to be done they will steer the contracts to their sponsor.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, supposedly if the clique's candidates are chosen as city rabbanim, their rabbanut kashrut division will "cooperate" with this hechsher and not with any other, thus enabling it to get a greater percentage of the clients who are looking to supplement their rabbanut hechsher with a private one. But what does this "cooperation" consist of, exactly? As far as I know rabbanuyot cooperate equally with all legitimate private hechsherim, don't steer business anywhere, and only take legal action against the ones that are scams. So how exactly is this grand conspiracy supposed to work? How will Badatz Bet Yosef make more money if R Yitzchak Yosef is rav of J'm than if R David Yosef is appointed instead? It just doesn't make sense.