[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Many feel that if a Jewish store owner assures one of the kashrus of a store, even a non-religious Jew, one has what to rely upon. They are all the more confident if the person sports a yarmulke or appears chareidi [whatever that means]. This is less prevalent in chareidi circles and seen more frequently in other communities amid continued attacks challenging the integrity of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and its local religious councils as well as the validity of the so-called badatz hechsherim.

As the state kashrus is under attack in the media and the nation’s courts, the following story may shed light on the fact that one must verify an eatery has a hashgacha from a supervising agency one relies upon and not just take the word of a store owner or enter and eat if there is a teudah from an unknown agency that contains the buzz words like “mehadrin”, “shechitas Beis Yosef” and so on.

It is pointed out that even if a business owner is genuine, that is to say s/he honestly believes the store is kosher, one’s lack of knowledge may lead to the actual reality being far from an acceptable level of kashrus.

Amichai Kreiger is an inspector employed by Israel Kashrus Enforcement Unit, which many believe is a branch of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel but in fact, it operates under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office. Amichai tells of three cases in a 24-hour period that should have all consumers alarmed, incidents that involve treif as well as meats that pose a health hazard to consumers.

Krieger entered a Chinese restaurant in Jerusalem which advertises as “kosher without a hechsher”, a new and growing trend in which store owners insist that maintain kashrus but simply do not wish to pay for a hashgacha. Krieger explains one of the stores had an expired teudat kashrus that was given to another business, a vegetable supplier. He uses it to explain his veggies and other ingredients are kosher, as he only buys from kosher suppliers.

As he looked around, Krieger saw a curry item in the cabinet, an item that may appear benign to some, but he is aware that curry is derived from the East and its production is not always kosher. In this case, the ingredients [as seen in one of the photos] clearly states “contains shrimp”.

In his report Krieger explains the store owner admitted to using the product and he was not too troubled to learn clients ingested prohibited foods.

Case II – Meat from Um el-Fahm

As Krieger traveled in the Carmel Shuk in Tel Aviv he stopped at a butcher store which displayed an outdated teudat kashrus, dating back decades. His shipping label for meat [see photo] was also quite dated. It was learned the source of the meat being sold was Um el-Fahm, an Israeli Arab municipality. The meat was not kosher! In addition, it lacked veterinary supervision and may pose a health hazard!

Krieger warns consumers to look for a valid teudat kashrut and a veterinary approval certification where applicable.

Case III – Bogus kashrus

The third case deals with a simcha hall, in Yerushalayim. The venue advertises as kosher “mehadrin min hamehadrin” and displays a teudat kashrus from “Ohr Eliyahu”.

Krieger entered a walk-in refrigerator and found pieces of lamb that still had the animal’s wool on them. He inquired as to the origin of the meat, to which he was told “it is shechita that we did in my home”, what is referred to in Israel as illegal shechita.

Krieger points out that here too, an issue with kashrus as well as a doubt as to the suitability of the meat from a heath point of view as no one knows the conditions under which it was slaughtered, if at all, not to mention storage and transportation.

YWN-ISRAEL adds that there is an increasing number of eateries in cities around Israel advertising as kosher while they do not have kashrus from recognized kashrus agency. This is true in Jerusalem as well. In fact, in Machane Yehuda there is a growing number of businesses, pubs, eateries without a reliable hashgacha and too often, passersby see other ‘religious appearing’ individuals eating and simply enter and join in without verifying the kashrus first.

One of the more common tricks is that a store will display what appears to be a valid teudat kashrus. However, the expiration date will be covered by a photo of a rov/mekubal or even the weekly Shabbos candle lighting signs. Hence, one must verify if a teudah on display is current or expired.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)