The rav of Petach Tikva, Rav Micha Halevi, responded to those working against the Rabbanut kashrut division, in light of the proposed law to dismantle the Rabbanut kashrut, and took the position that the Rabbanut kashrut is extremely critical to kashrut in Eretz Yisrael, and without it, if we only had the various "Badatzim" to rely on, the Badatzim would be feeding us "neveilos and treifos". He said, "only the Rabbanut is what causes us to not have Neveilos and treifos in Israel".
Rav Halevi went on to speak about other aspects of kashrut as well, such as saying that if a mashgiach does not show up to a restaurant as frequently as he should be showing up, as has been found to happen and is one of the main complaints about the Rabbanut (and other hechshers), it is a problem that needs to be fixed, but it does not cause a problem in the hasgacha's reliability. The restaurant that was checked and has a hashgacha has a chazaka of being kosher and one can rely on that - even though the hechsher has to fix its problems and send the mashgichim when they are supposed to.
Rav Halevi also accused those rabbonim who spoke against the Rabbanut and claimed it is unreliable because some mashgichim don't show up as frequently as they are supposed to. He said they are incorrect and these rabbonim are ignorant in halacha and are speaking with an agenda.
source: Behadrei
oh, how I wish he would explain and reveal some of his secrets behind his statement that the badatzim would be feeding us neveilos and treifos, if not for the Rabbanut..
The claim is not new, about there being serious problems in the various Badatzim (including the Eida Hachareidis, despite its reputation), though I have never heard it expressed quite this way before.
The biggest problem, in my opinion, is the lack of transparency in the Badatzim. Nobody knows the standards by which they work, and nobody knows the processes employed to uncover, and fix, problems. We just trust them by reputation alone. The Rabbanut, being a public body, has a much higher level of transparency to the public. They say openly they rely on certain leniencies in order to be able to provide kashrut to the masses, but they are transparent about what they do.
It seems to me to be a bit extreme to claim the Badatzim would be feeding us neveilos and treifos, but I don't know what he knows. At worst he would be guilty of speaking the same motzi shem ra that he accuses others of speaking against the Rabbanut, but he claims to know what he is talking about...
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Isn't there a method to uncover this madness? Who does supervise the Badatzim? Is there a Rav overseeing?
ReplyDeletenot that I am aware of
DeleteIn the US, the various hechsherim supervisions don't regularly publicize their standards, but when they do, they ignore the exceptions to the same standards.
ReplyDeleteEven the big one.
The claim that Badaztim send mashgachim more regularly than the Rabbanut would depend on the Badatz and which Rabbanut.
ReplyDeleteI was in a Pizza store in Modi'in that had both Modi'in Standard (not mehadrin) Rabbanut, as well as a well known Charedi bedatz. The owner told me that both Hashgachot cost the same, but the Mashgiach from the rabbanut is regularly there, shows up unannounced, checks where their supplies come from, and makes sure that Chalah is taken.
The owner said that he has never met a mashgiach from the Bedatz, his only connection with them is the cheque that he sends every month, yet he feels obligated to pay the Bedatz as he has Chredi customers who wouldn't eat there without it.
Sounds like the Charedi Hechsher is just a cost of doing business. That is, the profit from the Charedim is greater than the cost of the Hechsher. Such is life in Israel.
Delete"The owner said that he has never met a mashgiach from the Bedatz"
ReplyDeleteHow does the (a?) Badatz know that their mashgiach is actually doing his job?
Why would they care? The checks have been on time, and they haven't bounced.
Delete