Hechsherim in Israel

In Eretz Yisroel more people are machmir. In America you have many people who are meikel.

Lowerourtuition – if you watch the video, he doesnt actually say those two words. Not sure why the writer of the article added them.

It’s not complicated. There are just more choices. If you are a machmir, you will have the highest standards. If you want the basics, you ate more than covered. And every level in between is accommodated.

BH we have so many Jews in EY that want to keep kosher!

If you have any questions, ask an American in EY that you identify with about their standards. Lots of options.

Why lehavdil?

TT: You’re saying that the Sefardic rabbis of the Sefardic hechsher think that their hechsher is best. What a momentous thought.

Meanwhile the majority of Klal Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel accepts the Eida hechsher as the gold standard unlike any other.

TT: For the umpteenth time, that is because the Sefardim have a different shitta in regards to meat than Ashkenazim, and Sefardim don’t consider Ashkenazic meat to be glatt even though Ashkenazim do.

This is an old story.

He singled out the Eida since the Eida is his own affiliated hechsher’s biggest competition and threat since even most Sefardim look at the Eida as the gold standard. And he wants to shake that view due to the aforementioned difference in halachic opinion regarding meat between Ashkenazim and Sefardim, that he obviously and legitimately subscribes to being a Sefardic leader.

@lakewut

Rabbanut it kosher. They don’t keep the same chumras as OU (e.g. glatt). And OU doesn’t keep the chumras of the Rabbanut (e.g. chadash, chalav akum when it’s not powdered).

These are apples and oranges. The OU is also more centralized and standards are enforced uniformly. The Rabbanut is more decentralized more like a local vaad hakashrus, where each area goes by the rabbanim of their area, with national minimum standards and local enforcement.

searchin345:
Please don’t attack me for not providing a sources, I’m not as learned as many here.

If i say something halachic on a forum, then i definitely have heard it from somebody who is clearly a talmid chochom, and baki b’ halacha. In this case i can’t remember who it was, but it made a roshem. Generally, i am more of a skeptic.

Maybe everyone else knows this , but
I have only recently learned that Yashan in Eretz Yisrael is not a chumra.

Outside of EY, it is still considered a chumra to refrain from chadash, because there are significant chilukei dayos haposkim of whether it applies. I don’t think there’s much disagreement that eating only yashan is REQUIRED in Eretz Yisrael. That applies to food that grew there, AND [If understood this correctly] also to food that you bring in, if you’re going to eat it there! (The sandwich you didn’t end up eating on the plane). You do have the option of holding on to your (crackers?) and eat them once you have left the holy Land. And… food that is chodosh, that grew in E.Y. has no special requirement to be avoided outside E.Y. (unless of course you are following the chumra of eating only yoshon outside of E.Y.)

If you are frum, you are quite likely to have learned that there are special halachos that apply to food in E.Y. As a Torah observant jew, if you go to E.Y., it is up to you to prepare, and learn how to follow the halachos that pertain only to there. You should find about them from the outset, or immediately upon arriving there.(You probably DO make sure to check the weather forecast before you go, not leaving it up to chance!). It shouldn’t be up to the OU to notify you that INSIDE E.Y., you must eat only yoshon, no matter where it comes from. For such issues, kashrus is highly dependent on how and where a product is consumed.

Regarding milk powder, Rav Moshe Feinstein’s psak about chalav yisroel affects how we look at the issue. For those not in the U.S.A., it is a far different matter. There apparently is strong reason to conclude that although chalav yisroel is non-negotiable (outside of the U.S., where Reb Moshe’s psak has any significance at all), milk powder as a substance is changed so drastically in the process, that for some reason it no longer requires to be of a chalav yisroel source for some reason – I don’t remember the details.

I would be interested to know who says that a product with a Rabbanut hechsher on it is makpid on yoshon. As far as I have always know, only Badatz and possibly the mehadrin hechsherim like Shearis and Rubin, are makpid to give their hechsher only on a yoshon product.

Products that are yoshon in chutz la’aretz have a notation about that status near the hechsher. There is a Rav Herman, who was recently niftar, who created a whole guide on products and when they would become chodosh, investigating thousands of products to find out their status and putting out a guide for those interested parties, free of charge.

A Rabbanut of Israel stamp on a product produced in chutz la’aretz has no more assurance of its chodosh/yoshon status than the original hechsher. A prime example would be granola bars from Nature Valley sold here in EY. You would have to refer to the chodosh guide to find out when those products began using chodosh products in order to know whether they are still yoshon.

If anybody has conflicting information on what I have written, please advise.

Rav Herschel Schechter was giving a shiur and mentioned that the OU was certifying something for the rabbanut from European wheat and the rabbanut insists it be yoshon.

I have an acquaintance who works as a mashgiach for the regular Rabbanut and Rabbanut Mehadrin.
He said that he would not eat from the regular Rabbanut. Rabbanut mehadrin he told me he would eat only after speaking to the Mashgiach and making sure that the particular product that he wants to eat in this particular establishment is up to par.

I personally know a rav who checks out hotels and hechsherim. Firstly no frum person relies on the rabanut. It was established for people who would not eat kosher and the rabonim fought the state for whatever they got. They wanted to make sure that jews would not be eating actual treifus. They tried for a more stringent halachic kashrus and couldn’t get it otherwise they would not have had anything hence the most lenient possible kulas were dug up to protect the non-religious shoes from eating treif. For someone to think it is either political or fine is no different then someone being mechalel shabbos for lack of knowing the halacha. It is each persons responsibility to understand that even if some things may be political there is a difference between kosher and not. Secondly there is no one coming into check the kashrus and we are relying on mechaleli shabbos to keep the place kosher. On lesser hashgachas you have problems where even the mashgiach will arrive late but the restaurant already began cooking food and the workers turned on the ovens. They rely on a heter mechira which the chareidi community does not believe in. This heter was given at a time when there was a shortage of food and one of the rabbonim found it written in a sefer. When looking for it later it was never found again which shows that Hashem in a shaas hadechak allowed it. Terumas and massros are not taken. Fruits and vegetables are not bug free. The list goes on and on.
As far as the Eida Hachareidis it is the most widely accepted hechsherim. As far as beit yosef goes there are several problems. In the states Beit Yosef is a very good hechsher. As an ashkenazi one cannot say I will eat only beit yosef since his minhag is to accept our standard of kashrus. In Israel however even if beit yosef would be good there is no one who checks up on it to make sure it follows through. Further more they kasher the kid hanashe which is asur to us and they kasher other parts that we say are impossible to kasher. There is a lot more but just a taste of understanding To sephardim our meat is assur and hence you will have rabbonim saying it is treif and terrible because for sephardim it is. Just as sephardim eat kitniyos and all ashkenazim will put it away and it is asur for us. People cannot simplify kashrus unless they have an understanding of what is really going on.
It is a shame and hard that kashrus is so much comlicated in Israel and I see people that look chareidi and are eating unacceptable hechsherim or staying in hotels where the laws of kashrus are being comprimised. Especially in a hotel . If they run out of lettuce they are getting it wherever they can pick it up and if it is infested with bugs so be it. A g-d fearing person should ask to speak to the mashgiach and he will tell you what you can eat and what to stay away from. If they don’t have a mashgiach that tells you a lot and you are relying on the workers who are mostly arabs for your kashrus. Hope this clarifies a little bit some of the misconceptions of what is going on.