The dati leumi community has decided to launch its own hashgacha, a hechsher that intends to compete with the top-of-the-line chareidi hechsher, Badatz Eida Chareidis.
Orot HaKashrut will be under the guidance of Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Shlita, the chief Sephardi rabbi of Tzfat and a son of the late chief rabbi, HaGaon HaRav Mordechai Eliyahu ZT”L. Rabbi Eliyahu has appointed Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg to oversee the day-to-day operations of the new badatz.
The new hashgacha is expected to begin appearing in the marketplace in the coming weeks. The hechsher will also have its own poultry shechitah. According to the director of the new kosher certifying service, Ronen Gimni, who told Galei Yisrael Radio the birthing process is difficult since there is much opposition, apparently from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel too. Gimni however remains optimistic, explaining “HaKadosh Baruch Hu will open the gates and the community will come forward”.
With the realization that a growing number of people in the dati leumi world are displeased with the kashrus of the Chief Rabbinate, Orot officials are confident this will provide a welcome alternative to the Eida Chareidit and other chareidi-affiliated high-end hechsherim.
(Yechiel Spira, Jerusalem Kosher News for YWN)
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15 Responses
When the ‘Eida HaChareidis’ supported the wackos in Beit Shemesh that was seriously poor judgement.
Anything with the haskama of Rav Shmuel Eliyahu (son of the tzadik HaRav Mordechai Eliyahu ztz”l) is OK by me.
Can anyone explain in what way “a growing number of dati leumi people were displeased with the kashrus of the Chief Rabbinate” ?? Were they miekel too much or machmir too much or whatever else??
1. The Badatz Edah charedit never supported any wackos, neither did they support any spitting of one on another, charedi spitting on seculars, or secular spitting or cursing on charedim, they never supported burning trashes and damaging property, they are supporting torah values as mehadrin bussing etc, and oppose police brutality & charedi oppression, they are in support of toarh and torah observance, and no boycott or alikes will break them.
2. This new hashgacha is no competition to badatz Edah, rather competition to she’erit and rabbanut, the clientel looking for badatz will not accept such a hashagcha as an alternative.
Competition is good. (cf: Adam Smith – but don’t tell anyone in Eretz Yisrael, they seem to be solidly statist)
To No. 3. I respectfully disagree. The hashgacha of Rav Shmuel Eliyahu, shlita, will clearly provide a much needed alternative and great competition to the badatz Edah hashgacha. Both are good and will get their share of the chareidi market but over the long erm, I think this new hashgacha will take away the core of the Edah customers.
yes, thats just what we need, more hashgachos, more politics and more things to keep us divided. face it, jews cannot handle prosperity—-whenever they have it, they fight with each other; only when attacked by an enemy outside do they unite.
Something is wrong with this reporting! On the one hand you write that this Hechsher intends to compete with the top of the line Eida Hechsher, on the other hand you write that this Hechsher was made after realizing the growing discontent with the Hechsher of the Rabbinate. Anyone who would think about eating Rabbinate food isn’t mokpid to only eat Badatz or Rubin. You don’t make a hechsher that is so stringent like the Badatz because people don’t want to eat the most lenient Hechsher in the whole land! Besides the Daati Leumi crowd in general doesn’t care for such stringencies. It sounds more like this Hechsher isn’t intendent to be such a high end Hechsher, sounds like they are just trying to be a bit less then the worst!
#7, the Israeli plain Rabbanut (not mehadrin) is at least as good as the OU. The Rabbanut mehadrin is better.
Good idea, hope they will have eateries and take outs available too. Competition is good and Rav Eliyahu is a machmir in kashrus,
#5, appears you’re not too familiar with the variety of hasgachos in EY, neither with the the kosher consumer in EY, Rav Eliyahu would be a similar hashgacha to Rabbanut mehadrin, may compete with Sh’erit, agudah etc, but will not please 99% of people looking for Badatz.
#8: The OU is a much more reliable supervision than plain Rabbanut. The OU is more careful about shchita, about hilchos ha’aretz, about full-time mashgichim for meat establishments (“basar ha’nis’alem min ha’ayin”), and about many other things. Note that the Rabbanut Rabbanim themselves may be much more serious Rabbonim than many OU Rabbis, since Rabbanut Smicha is so much harder to get, but they enforce lower standards in order to make kashrut cheaper and easier. There is a reason that many non-chareidi strictly religious and knowledgable Jews are careful to only eat mehadrin.
#3: The Eida Chareidis and many of their member Rabbanim have put up pashkevilim supporting Moshe Friedman, a man I personally saw curse at schoolgirls and their parents in Beit Shemesh. They also supported Naftali Heller, a man I personally saw spit at women who were standing in fully tzanua clothing on the street. They also defended the man arrested for destroying a bookstore and threatening its owner because he sold books of Rav Kook.
If the MOs want kosher food, it is already available with many good hechshers. It looks like they are still trying to loophole their way out of real Yiddishkeit.
Loyal Jew, do you say the same thing when Rav Rubin leaves Rabbanut Rechovot Mehadrin to form Badatz Mehadrin, or when Rav Machpud leaves Neve Tzion to form Badatz Yoreh Deah, or when She’eris forms out of concern about Rav Landa, or when Belz forms because of disagreement with the Eida, or any of the other examples of people starting their own kashrus organizations?
Aren’t there different shittos as far as Sephardim and Ashkenazim in kashrus. Why would Ashkenzaim who are mapkid on Eida start having food with Sephardishe kashrus? I’m not saying this to put down Sephardim (my parents are Sephardi and I married out, LOL). It’s just a matter of kulos/chumros that each group would keep that the other would not.
No, Mr.(I hope not Mrs.) Krulwich. I do think the people behind this hold by loopholes on army service, going to college, heter mechira, new prayers in the davening, tznius, “independence day” etc etc. They should start by correcting these and not by launching a “new and improved” hechsher.