According to a report on Walla News (they have audio), a kashrut inspector (mashgiach) for the Rabbanut had been appointed to 9 different food establishments in Jerusalem, with him working upwards of 20 hours a day. This sounds like a lot bu tit is nothing compared to the mashgiach who was discovered last year to be responsible for 19 locations and working 27 hours a day!

Actually, this Shmuel Shapira isnt the slacker I just made him out to be. In addition to those 9 food establishments, he is also the rav of the Rami Levi supermarkets, he assis Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Rabbi Shlomo Amar in his visits around the city, and he is also a supervisor for tens more of establishments.

While some say this points to corruption, I suggest that perhaps it is simply a man who works very hard, maybe even is a workaholic. Perhaps he should be given praise and some sort of medal for working 20 hours a day to ensure we all eat kosher food in the establishments under his authority. And I hope he gets paid commensurate to his hard work.

Just joking. About him deserving a medal and praise.

You cannot control everything. You just cannot.

The kosher cellphone market in Israel is already past the tipping point in the Haredi community. i don't think they need to promote it, among the communities that are targeted. Anyone buying a cellphone who pays attention o these things, and unless he has strong needs otherwise, buys a kosher phone. Those who don't want to listen or feel the kosher phone doesn't meet their needs, won't buy it.

Those who feel it is important, such as rabonim and askanim, need to keep it going, but as far as from a promotional perspective we are bombarded far less about it today than we used to be.

Now it seems this is not enough.

until now, people bought the kosher phone, often for social reasons. Schools required it of parents, socially in some places they had to be seen with it, shidduchim, etc. Anybody who was only buying it for social reasons but really wanted a regular smartphone found a solution. Either they would get a second phone, or they'd buy a fake kosher phone, or a dual-sim phone, or some other solution.

Now they want to control the stores even more than before. the stores authorized to sell kosher phones need mashgichim. It has been discovered that these sellers have also been selling treif phones "under the table", and having mashgichim checking the stores will put an end to that.
source: Mynet

It is probably true. Mashgichim checking the stores might be effective and put an end to the under the table black market. But do they really think this will stop the phenomenon of people getting that treif phone they really wanted (out of need or just want)? f they can no longer get it at the local cellphone shop in their own neighborhoods, they'll go out to the adjacent neighborhoods or places further away and find the shops there that sell the phones.

There is no point in having mashgichim check the shops. The people who follow the rules will buy the kosher phones. Th epeople who want to buy the treif phones under the table will continue to find ways to do so.

The only point I see is to give a few more people a parnassa. And at the end of the day, it will be the consumers of the kosher phone market that will be paying for it.

Now, with mashgichim joining the industry, there is probably room for competition at different levels. One hechsher might have a mashhgiach temidi in their stores, while another hechsher might have a mashgiach nichnas v'yotzei...

Last night 6 mishgichei kashrut working in the farms in Jordan (established there to provide vegetables from abroad due to the shmitta year making it difficult to provide local Israeli vegetables) were attacked by Arabs. It seems these Arab workers attacked the mashgichim with stones and axes.

Local police were called to the scene,. They came and protected the mashgichim and transferred them to the border-crossing with Israel.

According to the reports, it is unclear what the Arab workers were angry about, but it seems it was the result of some financial dispute.
source: Kikar

All I have to say about it is that this was something that was easily foreseen. Somehow they who set this enterprise up thought it would be a good, and cheap, idea. They thought they could trust the Arabs there and that they would be safe. I would also note this is not the first incident, though it seems to be the most serious so far (that I have heard of).

I am surprised they thought this would be a good idea.

The big salvation for the people who keep what they call "shmitta l'chumra", i.e. not touching any produce from Jews in Israel but only non-Jewish (aka Arab) produce, or imported produce, was supposed to be the initiative by some involved with the Eida to grow produce in Jordan and bring it in. They bought/rented the land, set up the farm, created a system with mashgichim being sent from Israel, and this would create a system of Jewish produce that is imported, instead of local Arab produce (that is usually lower quality and has the problem of supporting the Palestinians).

All was good until it no longer was.

The Jordanians are now making trouble for them. In this time of political tension and terror, the Jordanians seem to be leaning to support the Palestinians over Israel, even at the expense of the peace treaty.

Everything was working nicely, with the mashgichim coming and going, until the Jordanians put new regulations into effect this past week.

According to the new regulations, Israelis can no longer enter Jordan as individuals, but only in groups of 6 or more, along with being accompanied by a policeman and a guide during their entire stay in Jordan..

This regulation will definitely hurt their tourism industry, but more to our point, mashgichim can no longer go check out what they need to supervise, unless they go in large groups. They now lose their element of surprise, as well as requiring travel coordination with a large group, rather than one or two being able to go do their work on their own.
source: Ladaat

I am not sure what these mashgihchim are even needed for. If they already set up the farm, they already ensured it is outside of halachic Israel. Meaning, there are no shmitta issues, mashgichim are not needed for the purpose of tithing and separating truma. The produce is natural, so manufacturing or ingredients don't need supervision. Why do mashgichim need to go to Jordan to check out tomatoes and lettuce? Maybe to ensure that the vegetables are bug-free, assuming they grow them by bug-free methods?

I feel bad for the investors who put a lot into this initiative. It looks like they are going to take a hit just because they thought the Jordanians are trustworthy and want Israeli business..

The Kashrus Cops are coming.. and perhaps it is about time.

Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Rav Eli Ban Dahan, in cooperation with Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau, is proposing a law to improve the kashrus industry.

Rabbis Lau and Ben Dahan want to give the kashrut supervisors more practical authority to prevent fraud. The fraud department of the Rabbanut kashrut authority has been functioning for 14 years, but its employees have very limited authority for enforcement. They are proposing a law that would give serious authority to supervise the kashrus industry. Inspectors, mashgichim, will be able to demand identification, take samples, remove an outdated kashrut certificate from a place of business, some sort of authority for investigating suspected crimes and the ability to take items connected to any such investigation or suspicion.
(source: Kipa)

I particularly like the idea of "taking samples", and this might be a good reason to get a job as a mashgiach or kashrut supervisor. I'd be happy to go into restaurants and have the authority to "take samples"..

Joking aside, the one part that surprises me is that they would now have the authority to remove outdated, expired, kashrut certificates. Of all the things they can or cannot currently do, it is shocking to hear that they cannot go into a restaurant and remove an expired kashrut certificate.

Turning these supervisors into more than just figureheads is the right thing to do. How can they ensure kashrut, which is their job, if they can't even stop a restaurant from fraudulently displaying an expired certificate?

The short days of winter have been known to lead to kashrut problems - not actual kashrut, but some stores, especially supermarkets, try to stay open for the public as close to the end of the day as possible, at times leading to problems of chillul shabbos.

The Rabbanut is going out on an initiative to prevent stores from staying open past the entry of Shabbos and reminding store owners of the rule that they must close on Fridays no later than 2 hours prior to Shabbos.

In some places though, it seems store owners are not necessarily quite as cooperative, and will try to keep their stores open as late as they can get away with it. To counter this the Rabbanut is putting together a position of "Mashigiach Shabbat". This mashgiach will circulate the problematic areas very close to Shabbos and make sure stores are closed, and report those that are not. Kashrut certificates will be removed from stores and restaurants that violate these rules.

The Rabbanut does not even blame the owners and accuse them of intentionally keeping their stores open on Shabbos. They very understandingly have said that closing a store is not just shutting the doors at the appointed time. The store needs to be closed, merchandise needs to be organized, cleaners need to do their job, money needs to be counted and put away, etc. All these things take time. And on a short Friday, as Shabbos is approaching, customers come in at the last minute, maybe they knock on the doors pleading to be let in to get just one more thing, and all this takes time. They are therefore saying that the doors need to shut, completely, at least 2 hours before Shabbos, to allow the owner and his team to do whatever is necessary to conclude the days tasks in time for Shabbos. Customers should know that going shopping so late in the day can cause chillul Shabbos.
(source: Srugim)

I remember once reading that the Rabbanut or municipalities had supervisors employed to check and ensure businesses were closed on Shabbos. I seem to recall that for that job, which was being done on Shabbos itself, Druze people were employed. This job is different in that it is being performed on Friday afternoon, albeit close to Shabbos, so it seems Jews will be employed for this. Not that it matters - Jews or Druze.

I assume the Rabbanut will ensure that the mashgiach they send out, unless he is indeed Druze, will be sent out with enough time to finish his rounds and have enough time to get home for Shabbos.

The issue of women serving as mashgichei kashrut, kashrut supervisors, for the Rabbanut has been an open case for a couple of years now. The Emuna organization has even field a lawsuit against the rabbanut for not allowing women to serve as kashrut supervisors and for continued delaying tactics.

Those days are now over. The Rabbanut has appointed its first female mashgiach.

While some might expect that the women in the eye of the storm would be a feminist activist, maybe someone who is associated with Reform or Conservative Judaism... It turns out that the first woman mashgicha is a mother of 7 from beitar Ilit named Avivit Revia. Beitar is not exactly a bastion of Reform Judaism nor a hotbed of feminist activity, so I think it is safe to say that she is probably an Ultra-Orthodox woman.

According to Srugim, the Rabbanut has finally responded to the Supreme Court saying they have decided to reform the system and allow any organization to run a course to train mashgichim, rather than the previously limited list of approved courses. This decision will de facto open the doors for women to be certified as kashrut supervisors. they can now take a course and the exam just like everyone else.

Revia told Srugim that naturally women are more involved with food, as politically incorrect as that sounds, and she expects her new position with the Rabbanut will be especially significant.

While I am not quite sure why it was such a big deal in the first place, while perhaps not overly common, it was never uncommon for women to serve as kashrut supervisors both in the US and less commonly but also in Israel for private organizations, I would note that I think Chief Rabbi Lau has shown anybody who was afraid of him as being too haredi or promoting the hard-core Haredi positions because they supported him as Chief Rabbi that they have nothing to fear. With Rabbi Lau's declared position on hetter mechira and now being the first to allow female kashrut supervisors, he is not exactly the extreme-haredi rabbi some people expected. As a matter of fact, he seems to be far more liberal than many expected, and I would not be surprised if some of his original supporters (during the election period) are even a bit miffed by some of his positions...

As this post was about to go online I saw that Rav Shlezinger, rav of Gilo and one of the leading rabbonim in Jerusalem and heavily involved in the Rabbanut, said that halachically there is no problem with women serving as kashrut supervisors, but in general women are not so appropriate for the job. Rav Shlezinger said religious and Haredi women are normally very timid, and part of the job of mashgiach is to be a policeman and to be strong and suspicious... so while it is not a halachic problem, usually women are not appropriate for such a job.
(source: Kikar)

While Rav Shlezinger might be right and such a timid woman should not be hired as a mashgiach kashrut, I don't know that such a rule is appropriate. There are aggressive women, in the frum community too, just like there are aggressive men, and there are timid men just like there are timid women. Whether hiring a man or a woman for the job, for any job, it would be prudent and best to hire one that is appropriate for the work involved.

It seems that snitch-lines must be a successful method of the government finding out the information it looks for. Besides for seeming dirty, encouraging citizens to turn on each other, it seems unprofessional - the government should have better methods, it should do its own work. They charge us an awful lot of money in taxes to pay the salaries of lots of government employees - they should be doing their own work and not dumping it on the citizens of the State.

Habayit Hayehudi is opening a new snitch-line. This snitch-line will be targeting mashgichim - kashrut supervisors - of restaurants and other food establishments who supposedly disappear on the job. When this happens, it gives the feeling over to the restaurant owners that the concept of hasgacha is really just a business and nothing to do with kashrut.

The project is being run by the "Secular division of Habayit Hayehudi" and they promise that every case reported will be investigated and passed on the Ministry of Religious Affairs .

If you are curious, the phone number of the snitch-line to report on such mashgichim who do not do their job properly is 052-873-6395.
(source: Israel Hayom)

A story that was big news in the religious media yesterday was that of a restaurant named 'Vista' in Ashqelon, under the kashrut supervision of the Rabbanut, in which the owner was caught, by the mashgiach kashrut, trying to sell non-kosher meat as kosher. When the mashgiach caught him, he immediately revoked the kashrut certificate.

The restaurant owner tried to hide from the mashgiach the arrival of a batch of non-kosher meat, and he unpacked the meat while trying to pass of a certificate of kashrut to the mashgiach as if it was connected to that batch of meat. The Rabbanut received information about the situation, and the mashgiach confronted the owner caught in his lie, and the mashgiach took him immediately to a disciplinary hearing during which the kashrut certificate was revoked. The fraud division of the Rabbanut is also starting legal action against the restaurant owner.

The restaurant still advertises itself, both on its website and in its print advertising, as being kosher. The Rabbanut wants to warn the public that this restaurant is not kosher.

Why do I care? I probably don't have too many readers out in Ashqelon...

Here's the point I want to make. I do not consider this a story. The guy was caught before he sold any non-kosher meat. The mashgiach did his job just fine. No scandal. Commentators taking the opportunity to bash the Rabbanut about this incident were out of place, as the Rabbanut did a perfectly fine job. Even if they use lenient standards and one does not want to rely on their kashrut, this icident is not one that can be used to show the Rabbanut as a failure, as one whose kashrut supervisors cannot be relied upon. The mashgiach here did a perfectly fine job.

To me, this story is really just a PSA to not eat at that restaurant. A kashrut scandal is when a kosher establishment is only caught after 5 years (or however long) of selling non-kosher meat, not when the establishment is caught in real-time when just getting started in the attempted scam. That is exactly why we have kashrut supervision and supervisors - because we do not completely trust proprietors of businesses trying to make profit off the business of kosher food.

It looks like the price of matza is going to go up again this year. I don't see how it cannot.

According to Bechadrei, there is a new process that has been added by the factories to the matza baking process. The purpose of this is to improve the quality of the matza - as any producer of any product, matza factories constantly look for new ways to improve their product, as they should. The result of this is that the Badatz Eida HaHareidis has responded by requiring the placement of an additional mashgiach to inspect every single matza as it comes out of the oven, in addition to the general mashgiach supervising the process.

The new process is one by which as soon as the matza is removed from the oven it gets dried by a special blower. This makes the matza more crispy and supposedly improves the taste dramatically.

According to the Badatz, the new stage in the process is potentially problematic. The warm air generated by the blower is clearly at a much lower temperature than the heat of the oven. If the matza comes out not completely baked and then blown on with this blower, it will be the blower doing the baking and in the process it can become chametz due to the lesser heat being used.

So, the Badatz has decided that they will need to place an additional mashgiach in the factory standing at the oven. He will inspect each and every matza as it is removed to ensure that it has been completely baked. If he sees one that is still a bit too soft and underbaked, he will instruct the guy manning the oven to put it back in for a few more seconds.

So, we can all expect the price of matza to rise. How can it not, if the number of mashgichim is going to be doubled? The question is by how much will it go up?

Exactly a year ago the Rabbanut announced that they were looking into ways to integrate women into the rabbinate system in more ways, perhaps in the role of kashrut supervisors.

I don't know why such a discussion needs to take so long to come to a conclusion and decision, but it seems that a year later and they are still debating the issue and have not come to a decision.

The 'Emuna' organization had started promoting courses to train women as kashrut supervisors. A number of rabbis involved with the Rabbanut, over the past few months, have come out opposed to women being appointed to such positions. They claim all sorts of reasons for their opposition - from it not being tzanua, modest and appropriate, for women to have such jobs, problems with expecting women to remain at events until late into the night in such a capacity, concern that they might not be capable of standing up to kitchen managers or owners when kashrut issues come up, concern that this might be a slippery slope of sorts leading to the demand that women next be appointed as mohels, shochets, and rabbis, etc.

It seems this issue has come up before as well. Emuna actually asked the Rabbanut in 2004 for recognition of a new course. At the time the Rabbanut waffled and delayed, and the issue died down. Since then, Emuna has revived the possibility a number of times, and now seems intent on getting the recognition.

According to Bechadrei, there is a serious dispute in the Rabbinate Council as to how to deal with this. Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar supports the inclusion of women in such positions, saying their is no halachic reason women cannot work in such positions, while Chief Rabbi of Holon Avraham Yosef leads the opposition and also believes that the issue is not one that is purely halachic in nature..

Emuna is already saying that if the Rabbanut continues to delay or if they get a negative response, they might be forced to petition the Supreme Court on the matter. The Rabbanut says they have asked Emuna to wait while they deliberate the issue, and Emuna promoting courses prior to receiving approval is fooling the women - they should wait patiently for a halachic and administrative decision on the matter.

The Rabbanut has shown it is still behind the times. With "mashgichot" already serving in some places around Israel, and outside of Israel mashgichot have been used for a very long time, the Rabbanut should simply approve the issue. If halachically it is acceptable, which it is, they should approve it. It will do them no favors to end up in the Supreme Court fighting an issue that they will definitely lose, especially since halacha allows for it. Concern for tzniyut issues or other practical on-site issues (such as the need to say late at events) can, and should, all be dealt with to find solutions. That need not impede the acceptance of the role and delay the decision.



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As a result of all the recent hullabaloo over gender-segregation, examining every aspect of public life for instances of even the slightest slighting and/or [perceived] inequality of women has become the national sport. the secular are examining every detail of religious life for any possible point to attack on, and the haredim are examining every aspect of secular and dati life looking for hypocrisy and to show that there to they do not treat women equally (and plenty has been found).

The Rabbanut of Israel has announced, in two separate instances this week, of improving the level of equality for women within their systems:

1. The issue of women at funerals has been a touchy point in the past. Some chevra kadishas have been known to insist on the custom of women not attending, or eulogizing at, the actual burial. It caused a ruckus when the women in a family wanted to attend their fathers funeral and the specific chevra kadisha did not allow it.
   
   I will add that it is only some chevra kadishas, as I have been to plenty of funerals where women were present at the burial.
   
   While Yaakov Margi was originally waiting for a ruling by Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar before he decided how to instruct chevra kadishas to act in this regard, he has now decided to not wait any longer. Rather, he has decided to instruct the chevra kadishas based on a ruling already given by Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger. Rabbi Metzger already ruled that the tradition of keepnig women away is just that -  a tradition. It is not actual halacha. Margi has decided to rely on this decision to instruct the chevra kadishas that women should be allowed, when they so desire, to be present at funerals.
   (source: Ynet)
   
2. The Rabbanut announced that they are looking for ways to integrate women into positions within the Rabbanut. While obviously there will not be a "Rabbah" appointed, and there will not be female dayanim, as that is against halacha, other positions might be made available to women such as the position of mashgiach kashrut.
   (source: Israel Hayom)
   
   Hiring women as mashgiach kashrut, or as a mashgicha, is nothing new. In the USA and in [some places in Europe] women have been filling such roles for a long time. While it became less popular in recent years, female mashgiachot have been making a comeback. Cleveland is famous for having one, Rav Shternbuch has famously paskened that a woman could be a mashgiach kashrut, the Star K has had women emplyed as mashgichot for a long time and continues training women for these jobs. The OU has been training women in kashrut and said it is possible they might formally train them to act as mashgichot as well, and many cities local kashrut organizations have been employing women in this fashion for a long time already.
   
   I expect in Israel where everything is a bit [a lot] more extreme, this will be used as another reason to put down the Rabbanut as even more unreliable than they already consider it.  

The Rabbanut is revamping the kashrus system in an effort to make improvements. The revamping is in the system of the kashrus supervisers - the mashgichim.

The Rabbanut is moving to no longer employ their own mashgichim. Rather, they will outsource all that work to human resources companies. The mashgichim will now, if the law is passed, no longer work for the Rabbanut, but will receive their salaries from the human resource companies. The companies being supervised will pay the HR companies, and not the mashgichim or the kashrus agency.

This is expected to make an improvement in the integrity of the Rabbanut, as mashgichim will now be hired purely on professional grounds and not with protexia or nepotism. As well, the companies will not be able to influence the mashgichim.

The downside is this is that kashrut costs will rise a bit, as employing through HR companies will cost more.

Anything that improves honesty and integrity is good, but I dont see why they think that just because someone else is paying the salary the mashgiach is not corruptible. A bribe can always be paid directly to the mashgiach. The nepotism and favoritism issues might be solved by this, to a certain extent.

If this works out well, I assume this will lead to outsourcing government jobs in general. With all the politicians who have been on trial for hiring unqualified people -friends and relatives generally - this would be a good solution to that problem.

The question is at what point will this work be outsourced to India.....

Here is an example of what is wrong with the kashrut system that we have. The mashgiach is directly involved with the site he is supervising. Often he is being paid by them, creating an obvious conflict of interests, but what is even worse is when they are caught giving extra benefits to the mashgiach.

A mashgiach for the Tel Aviv religious council was given free room and board at a hotel under his supervision. Supposedly he was not even on duty at the time he was given the free room and board (if he was on duty and had to be there during the holiday because of it, it is understandable as part of the arrangement that they provide him with the room and board). he denies it and they are looking into it. What actually happened, and whether it is accurate or not, does not interest me.

What does, is the fact that this happens. The hotel has the ability to give a benefit to the guy who is supposed to be supervising the kashrut. Will such a mashgiach who is receiving such benefits have the cojones to stand up to hotel management when he finds something wrong in the kitchen? It might only be a subconscious and subtle bribe, but it is a bribe nonetheless. This is one of the biggest problems with the hechsher system in Israel. Considering I have heard the heads of kashrut organizations complain about it as well makes me wonder why they don't bother changing it. Could be because despite it all they don't want the responsibility of paying the mashgichim and prefer, despite the problems, to dump it off on the hotel/restaurant. but it should be changed.