Justice Hala Gerstel, the president of Petach Tikvah District Court, this week took a personal interest in assisting Israel’s OK kashrus officials, seeking to block the distribution of Yayin Nesech marked as kosher wine under OK supervision.

The wine is distributed under the label ‘Gilgal’, originating in Romania. The bottles display an OK supervision, but the product is not under its supervision and is not kosher.

The matter came to the OK’s attention when a consumer realized there was an error in the text of the bottle’s label testifying to the wine’s kashrus. Rabbi Aaron Haskel, who head’s the OK in Eretz Yisrael was notified. Rav Haskel immediately turned to the district court in the hope of obtaining an injunction preventing further distribution of the non-kosher wine. Justice Gerstel took a personal interest in the case and issued a permanent injunction instead of a time-limited one as is customary.

She also told the OK’s attorney, Yossi Ashkenazi, to arrange for a visit to the warehouse to enable the OK to get a realistic idea just how much of the bogus wine exists. The OK is also moving ahead via legal channels against the distributor in Israel as well as informing Rabbi Refael Yochai of the Chief Rabbinate.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)