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The 1983 Kosher Fraud Law stipulates that the Council of the Chief Rabbinate, and the local rabbis ordained by it, are the only ones allowed to provide a certificate of kashrut for food in the State of Israel.
Recently, the Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, with his characteristic arrogance and that of the legal system, ruled that any person, whether rabbi or boor, whether religious or secular, is permitted to issue a certificate of kashrut supervision for a restaurant, a food chain, or for hotels. All they must do is indicate clearly that "this document does not constitute a kosher certificate from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel", nor write that it is a "kosher" establishment.
In other words, any man in the street can issue a very dignified and impressive certificate on behalf of, let’s say, "Beit Din Tzedek ‘Shomrei HaTorah’, under the auspices of the Gaon John Doe", and write in this certificate:" All the food sold or served in this store has been prepared in accordance with all the rules of halakha, Mehadrin min HaMehedrin, taking into account the opinions of all poskim, Rishonim and Achronim, Sephardim and Ashkenazim. Enjoy your food!" etc., and the bottom line will read: "This document was issued by the 'Badatz of Shomrei HaTorah’ and not by the Chief Rabbinate."
The "rabbis" who grant the certificate can be either totally secular, naive tzadikim, or just plain people who received money for it – and this will not constitute any violation of the law whatsoever, because on their fancy certificate it will not be written that it was provided by the Chief Rabbinate, and the word "kosher" will not appear on it.
Even the Supreme Court, in a decision which harmed the authority of the Chief Rabbinate, agreed that "the objective and purpose of the law is to prevent fraud in relation to the kashrut of food in terms of its quality, preparation, and supervision" (Theodore Or, 05/27/90). And now, the Attorney General dares to strip the law of all its substance, in stark contrast to the lawmaker’s intent.
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The Supreme Court and the Karaites
In the meantime, the legal system landed another blow to traditional and religious Jews who keep kosher. On Sunday, the Supreme Court accepted the position of the Karaites, allowing them to sell meat under the title "Kosher under the supervision of the Karaite Rabbinate." Halakhically, the meat is treif (not kosher), because the Karaites do not keep halakha according to the Oral Torah scholars. However, the Supreme Court judges permitted them to use a word that deceives the public, as though their meat is kosher and under some type of rabbinical supervision, in complete contradiction to the Kosher Fraud Law.
The Importance of the Kashrut Law
It’s impossible to provide kosher food for the masses of Jewish people without the Chief Rabbinate having the authority to supervise all the various kashrut organizations. As each year passes, the food industry becomes progressively more complex and intricate, leading to a need for broad, inclusive, and authoritative supervision. Without it, even rabbis with good intentions would falter in providing kashrut for foods that are not kosher – for various reasons: Either they would be unable to check if the fruits are orlah, or if the grain, most of which is imported, was harvested in contradiction to the prohibition of chadash, or if the meat comes from a factory where it was not slaughtered properly, etc. etc..
All the more so when we know that in the food market, vast economic interests are involved, and it is clear that there are elements who would abuse the gaping hole that the secular legal system opened before them, and find a way to buy a cheap "kashrut certificate", and under it auspices, market treif food.
Just as there are general veterinary inspections of all foods, and general supervision for all doctors, so too, there is a need for general supervision of the kashrut system, and this is the purpose of the Kosher Fraud Law in kashrut. Let’s hope that the government will quickly find a way to block this loophole, and by doing so, put the legal system in its place.
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