The Director-General of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel is threatening Rabbi David Stav with dismissal from his post as Chief Rabbi of Shoham if Rabbi Stav and his Tzohar Rabbonim organization move forward to launch a new alternative kashrus agency as planned.

In the letter sent to Rabbi Stav it states, “Last weekend there were adverts in the media stating Tzohar Rabbonim is weighing the possibility of launching an alternative kashrus, a service independent of the Chief Rabbinate”.

The letter continues explaining the recent High Court ruling regarding kashrus; which prohibits a business from labeling itself kosher, while permitting a store to state it adheres to the halachos of kashrus. “A store cannot represent itself as kosher or supervised” the ruling continues, adding it may not display a teudat kashrus of a private organization.

“The practice of a city rabbi who is known to be authorized by virtue of the Prohibition of Deception in Kashrut Law to issue kashrut certificates, in the framework of a private kashrut body, is not permitted. “Accordingly, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has acted several times in the past against rabbis who provide kashrut and other elements in the kashrut system of the establishment, which operated concurrently in the framework of other religious courts”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)