A bill was presented on Wednesday by chareidi and non-chareidi shomer shabbos lawmakers seeking to prohibit the High Court of Justice from interfering in matters of kashrus, a response to a court decision compelling the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to grant a kashrut certificate to a bakery run by a Jew for “J”.
The chief rabbi of Ashdod ruled that the store can indeed have a hechsher, but demands a fulltime mashgiach. The owner, Penina Comforti, maintains she cannot afford one, taking her case to the High Court, which overruled the rabbis, insisting the establishment must receive a certificate of kashrut without a full-time mashgiach. The court ordered the Chief Rabbinate to make certain the store is granted a certificate of kashrut within 30 days.
The bill is the result of a call to the MKs by Rishon L’Tzion HaRav Moshe Shlomo Amar Shlita, who insists matters of halacha such as kashrus must be left to the rabbonim, not the secular Supreme Court.
It appears that in an increasing number of instances the lawmakers are busying themselves with bills intended to circumvent the authority of the High Court, which currently maintains dictatorial authority, which when accompanied by its ultra-liberal and secular policies, is a most worrisome reality.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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5 Responses
What, pray tell, is a non-chareidi shomer Shabbos?
#1 — Seventh Day Adventists are “shomer Shabbos”, but not in any halachic sense.
Well, as the saying goes:
“He who pays the piper, calls the tune!”
This would probably require the Israeli equivalent of a constitutional amendment (a “Basic Law”),which is difficult to pass without broad support. Under zionist law, the Israeli supreme court has control over anything the state is involved in.
The only way to get rid of the problem, short of a revolution, is not to have the state involved in kashrus (at least until Messiach comes, or at least until the hilonim die out).
#5
A law that specifically assigns kashrut supervision exclusively to the Rabbinut would effectively prevent the court from interfering.