A group of mashgichei kashrus gathered outside the home of Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana (Yamina) on Monday to protest his controversial kashrus reforms which are expected to be passed in the Knesset in the coming weeks.
The nature of the protest was decidedly unique as the mashgichim fried shrimp and other seafood to make a point about the nature of Kahana’s reform. They also brought mice and rabbits in cages bearing the “kashrus certificates” of Hashgachas Matan Kahana and Avigdor Leiberman.
“Kahana and Lieberman want to pass reforms that will cause a huge public to be machshil in eating forbidden foods – mamash treifos and neveilos into the mouths of millions of Israeli citizens,” said Rabbi Dror Aryeh, one of the organizers of the protest and the head of the Dati Leumi Chazon organization. “They’ll transgress the most chamur issurim in the Torah HaKedosha due to coalition agreements. We’re obligated to thwart this evil law.”
The kashrus certificates were titled: “NOT Kosher, B’Hashgachas Ha’Badatz of the Reform” and listed the supervised foods: Shrimp NOT under the Rabbanut, Pig NOT under the Rabbanut, and worms without vegetables. The supervisor to contact for questions was listed as Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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10 Responses
מה זאת עשה אלקים לנו!!
We must repent to annul this gezeira
I don’t understand. To observe Kashrut, you do not rely on government, you rely on the hechshers you trust. How can any law change that?
huju that is a very good question. I don’t know that there is a simple answer as the premise you make is correct.
However, say you and I live near each other in Jerusalem. We are friends but from different backgrounds. One of us is perhaps charedi the other daati leumi. While the Charedi may be more strict, he won’t consider the daati leumi a treif consumer and would eat at his house while perhaps avoiding certain foods.
With the Government compromising the rabbanut, the rift in our nation will be substantial.
This was reported to be the concern of Rav Elyashiv zatzal.
I don’t understand, these protesters are waring white shirt, kipah and black hat,
Such fakers
What, they couldn’t protest without actually cooking up treifot? What Torah observant Jew would choose to handle and cook treifot for absolutely no reason? This is very off-putting.
As long as they want to engage in these theatrics, they should have gone to an Arab shlachthois and obtained some fresh chazerfleish for their barbecue. It would have made for better media coverage.
gadolhadorah- muslims don’t eat pork!
Huju, the basic premise is that EVERY hechsher is Israel relies on the Rabbanut to some extant, whether they like to admit it or not.
It would be like the US government taking over the OU and telling them what they may certify. This wouldn’t only effect the OU, it would effect every hechsher in the US.
Ki ha-kesef ye’aneh et hakol. I prefer rav stav and tzohar over any of these grandstanders.
It creates such confidence in the status quo to learn that mashgichim know how to cook treif.