The state has asked the High Court of Justice to reject a petition that appears on the docket for Tuesday, January 29, 2019, which deals with bringing chametz into hospitals during Pesach. The request was filed after the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has rejected any talk of a compromise regarding the proposed establishment of ‘chametz areas’ in hospitals for those who wish during Pesach. The Ministry of Health has also withdrawn from the petition as a result.

There is a compromise on the table, presented last month, which would permit establishing an area to eat chametz during Pesach, which is illegal under the current law.

The state’s proposal to allocate designated areas in the hospitals during Pesach, to which chametz will be permitted, states: “In this way, hospital patients and visitors will be allowed to enter and eat non-kosher for Pesach foods in the designated place, without compromising the kashrus of utensils, in accordance with the food provided in the hospital to all hospitalized patients”.

The state’s proposal also details rites that provisions will have to be implemented to ensure the chametz remains in the designated areas only, and not brought into other areas of the hospital.

The state did not respond before discussing the matter with officials in the Health Ministry and Chief Rabbinate, and only after the state presented the compromise plan, the Chief Rabbinate announced a change of heart, opposing the planned compromise.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)