Rapper Kanye West and wife Kim Kardashian-West arrived in Israel on Monday morning April 13th with their 22-month-old daughter North. On Monday night they were hosted by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and his wife, taking the rapper star and his wife to dinner. The restaurant selected in the capital serves treif. A photo of the bill was published by Ynet.
The mayor took his guests to the Mona Restaurant on Shmuel HaNagid Street. The restaurant serves meat and milk together and operates on Shabbos. Critics explain that the mayor of the Jewish capital should conduct himself differently when hosting official guests, and in this case that means taking them to a restaurant that has a hashgacha. The mayor also posted a photo with his guests in the restaurant and wrote “We are toasting Jerusalem with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. I asked them to be ambassadors of Jerusalem and send the message to the entire world, the message that Jerusalem is open and all are satisfied with the city’.
Rabbi Eliyahu Schlesinger, who is the Chief Rabbi of the Gilo area of the city and former Rav/Posek of the Jerusalem Religious Council told Kikar Shabbos News the mayor should exhibit a heightened sense of religious sensitivity. “Every mayor in Israel must be aware that he represents religious people as well and certainly the mayor of Yerushalayim must maintain this awareness and he must be sensitive to these matters. It is unfortunate he is not. He is the mayor and therefore this is his responsibility” Rabbi Schlesinger is quoted saying.
City Hall officials responded to the report stating the mayor did not eat treif.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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9 Responses
1)I didn’t know that North West is a girl. I thought she was a boy. (But you never know with that family.)
2) Why should most readers of the Yeshiva World care about a couple of adulterous gentile celebrity airheads like Kim and Kanye? IMHO, kosher food need not be wasted on them.
Kanye West is the most narcissistic person in this world. He thinks he is JC. He didn’t want to continue his show bc a wheelchair bound person didnt want to stand up.
He is so full of himself. Don’t even get me started with his wife and her family…….
He doesn’t represent Judaism and is not an ambassador of Jerusalem.
What is worse Barakat eating a treif meal or the convicted criminal Deri becoming a minister in the Government of the State of Israel?
The restaurant serves meat and milk together; City Hall officials responded to the report stating the mayor did not eat treif. This response is not adequate, because cannot even have Hano’oh from meat & milk together.
Oh, I get it. Cheeseburgers are kosher? It’s OK to eat a steak with mac & cheese? Didn’t know that isn’t eating treif. I guess only eating chazzer is not kosher. You learn something new everyday.
Seriously?
Mayor, when I am next in Israel, please take me to a kosher eatery. I will let you pay the bill. Todah.
Bookworm 120:
Exactly. You hit the nail on the head.
Thanks, Not getting involved. 🙂
(I’m also pleasantly surprised my comment is the first!)