The law until now has been that private hechshers can only be used above and beyond, rather than instead of, the Rabbanut kashrus. And, a restaurant cannot advertise itself as kosher without a Rabbanut hechsher.
Yehuda Weinstein, the Attorney General of Israel, has announced that food establishments are no longer prohibited from using private hechshers - and they can do so without first having a Rabbanut. The only limitation seems to be that they cannot actually call themselves "kosher", but can say they are "under alternative supervision".
The Rabbanut is still trying to figure out how to respond and whether or not this will hold up legally.
The decision came as a result of an appeal made by two businessmen to the Supreme Court. They wanted to be allowed to call their restaurants "kosher" even without having a Rabbanut supervision.
The bigger problem might actually not be the kashrut issue, but the political one. In the coalition agreement between Likud and UTJ, there is an agreement that says there would be no changes to the status quo in the kashrut issues of the country. Will this cause a political crisis? Can they circumvent Weinstein because of the coalition agreement/ Does a law need to be changed to work it out?
source: Kikar and Bechadrei
It seems though a solution might have been found. Kikar is now reporting that Chief Rabbi Rav Yitzchak Yosef and MK Aryeh Deri have come up with a solution, and have put it in their coalition agreement. They have stipulated that the Rabbanut will remain the sole entity authorized to supervise kashrut, and it will be solidified in law. And, Shas has already submitted a new proposed law to that effect.
The proposed law states that a restaurant cannot call itself kosher, or indicate kashrus in any other way even without using the word "kosher" .
The situation might have been resolved by this fairly quickly, even before it really became a problem, or maybe not. The law still has to pass.
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I hope the law doesn't pass. I can understand not allowing one to advertise as Kosher without mentioning caveats, but no one except the Rabbanut benefits from not allowing private Hechsharim.
ReplyDeleteThe rationale for giving the Rabbanut a monopoly on Kashrut is to prevent the introduction of fraudulent hechsherim. As it stands now every kosher food meets at least basic kosher standards. Without this law, well meaning, but less knowledgeable, consumers will think products or establishments claiming to be kosher actually are, when in fact, they literally could be serving meat and milk together. That is similar to what happens in the USA with a plain K which is worthless to anyone knowledgeable of the fact that a K means nothing.
DeleteI agree. Calling yourself Kosher, in this country, should be a matter of regulation. Stating that you're under a Hechsher should not be. As it stands, the only reason to get an additional Hechsher is to cater to clientele who do not eat Rabbanut. Little would change in regard to customer expectation if the Rabbanut's Hechsher was not also being provided.
DeleteToo confusing. Calling yourself Kosher is synonymous with saying you're under a hechsher and vice versa in the mind of most people which is why the regulation (get approved by the Rabbanut) should continue to be the norm.
DeleteAvi - what do you mean by "but no one except the Rabbanut benefits from not allowing private Hechsharim.", as a kosher consumer, don't we all benefit from a standard minimal requirement required to use the word Kosher. I know and trust the standards of the Rabbanut. If there is a private Hechsher, how can I know how reliable it is without personally checking up every self-appointed kashrut organization.
ReplyDeleteIf I order a Pizza and the guy tells me that it is Kosher, and the box says that is kosher, i know that by law it must have a reliable level of supervision.
Without the kosher law, the ord "kosher" on the Pizza store may mean that his great aunt told him that as long as there is no pork, it is kosher enough and he could still advertise as Kosher.
Many places have laws about use of the word "Kosher", not just Israel -see the following example:
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXV/Chapter94/Section156
Ontario also has strict laws about what can be labelled as Kosher (requires Orthodox supervision)
I can understand not allowing one to advertise as Kosher without mentioning caveats...
DeleteI agree. Calling yourself Kosher, in this country, should be a matter of regulation.
If you hadn't ignored the first half of the sentence you quoted, you'd have your answer. How many more times must I write it?
One of the problems with Rabbanut supervision is that it's not minimal - they come up with requirements like limiting restaurant owners to only four stalls in the Machaneh Yehuda market (which has many more stalls supervised by the very same Rabbanut) or that the restaurant only buy "Gush Katif" leafy vegetables which are supposedly bug free because they're grown hydroponically but actually use excessive amounts of pesticides.
ReplyDeleteAlso, how can I get information about the Rabbanut's standards. Are they published somewhere? Can I find out how many hours a week the mashgiach visits? Or perhaps the last time he was at this particular store?