While Tzohar Rabbonim has gone nationwide with its kashrus supervision, it appears that not as many people rely upon it as the organization would like to believe. In fact, according to a poll published by the dati leumi Kippa website, only 8% of people who are shomrei kashrus will rely on Tzohar, preferring to see a kashrus certificate from the local rabbinate or one of the known ‘badatz’ kashrus providers.
Over 50% of the Jews living in Israel keep kashrus, and according to the poll, most of them do not rely on Tzohar or Hashgacha Pratit.
This emerges from a survey conducted ahead of the annual conference on Religious Services in Israel of the Center for Religion, Nation and State at the Israel Democracy Institute, published Sunday. No response has yet been received from the Tzohar organization.
Most of the persons who keep kosher are satisfied with a standard teudat kashrut from the Chief Rabbinate (46.5%), compared with 33% who say they only rely on a Rabbanut Mehadrin or Badatz. According to the survey, even among secular Jews who observe kashrus, only 38 percent will be satisfied with private kashrut bodies.
The private kashrut bodies were established following criticisms of the kashrut monopoly held by the Chief Rabbinate since the establishment of the state, but it appears that they are suffering a mortal blow and the people of Israel rarely rely on them.
A survey conducted by the Guttman Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, headed by Prof. Tamar Hermann, conducted by Panels Ltd., in which 500 respondents participated, revealed that half of the respondents said that the State of Israel should not consider Diaspora Jewry in all matters of religion and state, as compared to 38% who think they should be taken into consideration.
Ophir Sofer, secretary-general of the Ichud Leumi party, welcomed the results of the survey: “Despite an aggressive campaign, most of the citizens of Israel who observe kashrut are choosing the kashrut of the rabbinate rather than private organizations. We are certain that this will also be the result among the religious public on matters of conversion, marriage and divorce. The religious public in Israel is a state and we will continue to preserve Jewish statehood and a Jewish state.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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12 Responses
mixing tzohar and hashgakha pratis is like mixing the OU and halal. tzohar is 100 % reliable; i will not eat from the eidah if i can avoid it, who buy Arab products as opposed to the heter mechirah. rav stav was RAL ztl’s choice for Chief rabbi over the current lightweight.
DrYidd, that lady in the picture doesn’t adhere to the basic laws of tznius , you must have low kahsrus standards to trust people like her.
Lol, people like Dryidd have nothing but an axe to grind. Living in Israel, I’ve spoken to hardcore mizrachis who choose to davka eat only the best chareidi hechsherim, knowing that they’re worlds better. One guy told me, referring to the rabanut (and I’d add, kol sh’kein tzhoar) “What, I need to eat trief just because I’m mizrachi??” The Eida doesn’t rely on heter mechira because ideologies shouldn’t influence halacha, and the big poskim who threw their weight behind it write explicitly it’s only if people are starving.
philosopher, sephardim follow their mimetic traditions, not ashkenazi inventions in the laws of tzniut. have a peek at pictures at frum weddings in pre-war Europe.
Philosopher: That “lady” has her head covered and is wearing a high collar/long sleeve black dress. Do you find her exposure of her nose or her neck to be problematic? I suspect you would prefer a mashgiach affiliated with Lev Tahor who wears a burka and hijab??
Philosopher,
What’s her role anyway? And as a rebby of mine once asked us a question to make an important point: ” If somebody wants to borrow 50G$$ from you and says trust him on his long beard alone, would you lend it him? ”
You can debate her tznius , but will you rather automatically trust a piece of chicken on a sheitel/shpitzel/woolen socks, alone?
Eidah’s got other issues that people aren’t comfortable with.
“I will not eat eidah if I can avoid it”. This statement makes no sense whatsoever. Every single body of kashrus in Israel relies in Eidah (for a reason btw). Your “tzohr kashrus” or whatever you want to call it also relies on Eidah. So whenever you eat almost anything in Israel that has multiple ingredients, most likley there is something Eidah inside what your eating. The only way to avoid it is to live on a farm and grow your own food.
DrYidd, frum Sephardim have always followed halacha in tznius and they don’t dress this way and never have. And I’ve seen many photos of women in pre-war Europe and nobody ever dressed with necklines like this. It is against halacha for Ashkenazim and Sephardim.
Gadolhadorah, are you so immature to make such a dumb comment that because I wouldn’t trust this lady as a mashgicha that’s why I would only trust someone wearing a burqua? That sound like a kindergarten-type of remark.
ZionGate, tznius is not the only indication if a women has yiras shomayim but it is the first indication if a women has yiras shomayim. Tznius is a basic requirement of a woman according to Jewish law. Just as a mechalel Shabbos cannot be trusted to as a masgiach or mashgichah, so too cannot a mashgicha be trusted if she transgresses basic halachas in tznius.
In any case, I wouldn’t trust any mashgicha. It’s part of the new liberal mishagas of women trying to fill mens’ roles. They are all a bunch of conservatives on the way to becoming Reformers Israeli-style despite calling themselves datim.
Searchin,
The same logic , but in reverse, is true in USA.
All mehadrin min hamhadrin 2-3 yeshivish/ chassidish hashgacha seals on products rely on OU. It’s not even a secret. Yet, many won’t eat OU.
Toi, I’m no fan of the heter mechira, but if you avoid it by buying from the Arabs then יצא שכרו בהפסדו. Indeed one of the main problems with the heter mechira is לא תחנם, but buying from the Arabs is a much bigger לא תחנם.
And it’s not true that everyone relies on the Eida. Lots of people don’t, because the truth is they’re not that reliable.
DrYidd, the state of tznius in pre-war Europe, even among the “frumme”, was deplorable. And I mean even pre-WW1, let alone pre-WW2. The fact is that in many frumme homes the women were not so frum. This is why the gedolei hador saw a need for kosher chinuch for girls, and established Beis Yaacov.
Millhouse, the level of tznius pre-war Europe was dependand on the family and region, overall though, the level of tznius that many who consider themselves frum, is today much, much lower than in pre-war Europe. Nowhere in history have frum woman worn wigs till their waist, such short skirts and such tight clothing. At most, some Litvishe didn’t cover their hair and some frum women wore knee length skirts and shorter sleeves. Nowhere and never was their such a low level of tznius than in some frum circles today.
Philosopher,
The negative kashrut issues that occurred in establishments in my lifetime, all were under supervision of men..I’ll have more faith in a learned woman mashgiach than in a man.