Falafel Hateomim has been in business for 42 years and is run by a family that describes itself as tradition and kashrut observant. The have always had Rabbanut supervision on the falafel shop and never had trouble and agree with the importance of kashrut and supervision.
The problem is that Corona hit. And it hit them hard. Many restaurants are in similar positions, as are many businesses in general. They had to close the falafel shop for a while, and then even when able to reopen it was slow business and only take-away.
Falafel Hateomim has now decided to forgo the Rabbanut supervision. They say they are collapsing under all the expenses and little business. The Rabbanut did nothing wrong and they have nothign against the Rabbanut, and the Rabbanut has to charge fees as it has expenses and the mashgiach cannot work for free, and the monthly charge is not great on its own, but when taken in consideration with everything else and all the other expenses on their heads to try to keep the business afloat - they had to decide what to cut in order to survive, and the Rabbanut supervision is being cut (among other things as well).
Somehow this became an internet sensation.
Both Falafel Hateomim and the Rabbanut published signs announcing this change. The Rabbanut announced that supervision has been removed, and Falafel Hateomim published a sign saying the kashrut was removed because they cannot afford to continue paying for the supervision - they add that everything will continue to operate as normal as it always has with the supervision and nobody need to be worried. Note that they did not use the word "kosher" which would have been illegal.
I am impressed that some little falafel shop losing or giving up its hechsher is so significant that it makes almost every single news site* in Israel plus tens (or more?) of Facebook posts. Initially I was not going to write about it - it has been years since I have even been in Givatayim and never heard of this falafel shop, and I am sure most of my readers have not either. It seemed like a story that holds no interest, but somehow it became a sensation.
The Falafel people say that they offered the Rabbanut a compromise suggesting what they could afford to pay and the Rabbanut rejected the offer. The mashgiach cant work for peanuts. The Rabbanut explains that for the two months of Corona, they did not charge any fees, even though they still worked part of the time (take-away), but now that the restaurant is functioning again and it has been a couple of months they can no longer provide the supervision without payment.
I am in no position to judge who is right. Could the Rabbanut be compassionate with a business that is struggling due to the pandemic and find some solution, maybe to let them pay off later after business picks up again or some other solution? Maybe, yet they have their expenses that need to be covered as well. The Mashgiach needs to be paid - he has to support his family, and supervision is not just a sign on the wall but is also a lot of responsibility. Maybe the falafel shop could find something else to cut but keep the kashrut? So while I am no position to judge who is right, I feel bad that it has come to this.
Regarding the kashrut of the shop, now that there is no Rabbanut, it goes back to the regular rules - if you trust them that everything is kosher, you can eat there. If not, not. If you want to support the Rabbanut so other shops don't follow suit, and therefore say no kashrut supervision no eating, that is your right. if you are militant against the Rabbanut and want to say you will strengthen their hands against the Rabbanut that has no compassion for struggling restaurants and just want their payday, you will eat there.
In general, this won't bring any good press for the Rabbanut, but I guess that's not the business they are in.
* Ynet, Kikar, Srugim, Walla News, Ynet, and more
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