something strange in Bnei Braq

There is a strange situation going on in Bnei Braq. And it has nothing to do with Corona.

Rav Landau, originally the Chief Rabbi of Bnei Braq and now his son has continued this, has given the kashrus certification on Coca Cola for a long time now, and the Israeli Coca Cola factory is even located in Bnei Braq. Yet, in Bnei Braq you can find Coca Cola imported form Kiev, Ukraine.

It used to be that people would import Coca Cola from the Ukraine or other places in Europe, as well as from the Palestinian Authority, and it would be sold here without any kashrut certification. Rav Landau fought very strongly against this saying that Coca Cola requires a hechsher and one cannot buy Coca Cola without his certification.

Many native Israelis even think, probably as a result of such campaigns, that Rav Landau is the only person in the world to know the famously secret ingredient in Coca Cola and certify it, and was the first, and only, to do so. They are shocked to be told that a Rabbi Tobias Geffen in Atlanta, Georgia declared Coca Cola kosher in 1935, well before Rav Landau, and that the issue was with glycerin and they changed the source of the glycerin because of Rabbi Geffen's insistence.

So a while back Rav Landau fought a campaign against the imported Coca Cola with no hechsher. he even put up pashkevils against it, declaring that Coca Cola must have a hechsher, and any Coca Cola without is not kosher for consumption.

I would note that this is not the policy of all kashrut organizations. I was personally told by a major kashrut organization in the USA that Coca Cola from anywhere in Europe does not need a hechsher. I don't know the policy on this of the OU, and a brief search did not discover an article by them about it. Among other kashrut organizations and experts, it is a debated topic, with some saying no hechsher is needed on Coca Cola anywhere int he world and others saying a hechsher is needed everywhere.

Now that the background is behind us, I want to get back to the strange situation in Bnei Braq.

Until now, pretty much everywhere in Israel but especially in Bnei Braq, one could only find Coca Cola from the Bnei Braq factory with the hechsher of Rav Landau. It seems though that Israeli Coca Cola is among the most expensive around the world. The explanation [given by some] seems to blame this on the kashrut certification. This prompts people to try to import Coca Cola from other countries and sell it in Israel for cheaper than the locally produced drink. Sometimes it is brought in from Bethlehem, and sometimes from Kiev and sometimes form other places. Until now the alternates were always brought with no hechsher, and then the debate raged. It was easy for Rav Landau and his people to fight against that, because it did not have a hechsher. They took the position that Coca Cola needs a hechsher, and end of story. While some people surely bought it anyway, it seems most people stay away after such a campaign. It never really took off and became a success, even if every now and again you could find such cans of Coke in a store somewhere.

Now the fight is different.

Someone is now importing Coca Cola from Kiev (Ukraine) with a hechsher. The hechsher is called Maor Hakashrut, and it also bears the authorization of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. Meaning this is either a forgery or an officially approved kosher import.

The story does not end there. Don't worry. In the meantime I will just add that I know nothing about this hechsher or about Rav Yisrael Goelman who heads it (other than that he is a rabbi in Ramot in Jerusalem, according to his stamp).

Suddenly one can find Coca Cola sold in Bnei Braq, with a hechsher, at 50% below the normal price. Cans of Coca Cola are reportedly being sold at 2nis per can.

Rav Landau is fighting against this as well, and it seems Rav Goelman is now backing down. He released a letter saying that he did give a hechsher on Coca Cola from Kiev but he has since stopped (he does not say why). Any Coca Cola bearing his hechsher on products with an expiry date after a specific date are forged, according to Rav Goelman.

There is a lot of unclarity over this. I asked Kosharot about this hechsher, and they responded with the old answer of Cola without a hechsher is not kosher. I insisted that they address the issue itself that now this product has a hechsher (but I do not know if the hechsher is reliable) and they responded that this hechsher is not at the same level as that of Rav Landau.

Someone later told me that the Rabbanut issued a statement that this hechsher was given while not adhering to the rules of the Chief Rabbinate and some ingredients without kashrut certification were used in it and they are unable to approve the kashrut for import.

Yet it has a hechsher and an approval from the Rabbanut. So either it is a forgery or a mistake or someone is strong-arming someone to prevent an alternate hechsher from being used to make Coca Cola cheaper.. I have no real way of determining what the real story is...

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