In a chain letter circulating around Eretz Yisrael, a letter estimated to have reached tens or even hundreds of thousands of people, the secular community is seeking to launch a boycott of products that bear the supervision of the Eida Chareidis.
The letter mentions a number of points found objectionable by many, including non-service in the IDF, segregated mehadrin buses, chareidi education funding from the state, and discrimination against members of the Ethiopian community to mention a few. Special mention was also given to the dispute surrounding the bones discovered at the building site of Ashkelon’s Barzilai Hospital. It appears the latter was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’.
The chain email instructs those willing to support the effort to seek out the Eida logo, which appears on many products from major firms such as Telma and Osem, and to put those products back on the shelf, to simply boycott them.
“The Eida Chareidit is a small organization numbering several thousand people”, the email explains, an organization that is “adamantly opposed to Zionism and stands behind most fanatic chareidi actions”. The letter points out that unlike the general chareidi population, the Eida and its followers make a point of boycotting the state and the time has come to reciprocate. The letter correctly adds that the Eida is the single largest private kashrut supervision in the State of Israel and organizers are calling for a boycott.
Seeking to enlist supporters, the letter explains the Eida’s kashrus is costly, and these costs are passed to consumers while the handsome profits remain in the hands of the Eida and its community.
Undoubtedly, one impetus for the boycott was an article written by prominent journalist Nachum Barnea in Yediot Achronot, stating the Eida is racking in big bucks and using the money to burn Israeli flags. In essence the boycott letter explains, the secular majority is funding the anti-Zionist efforts and actions of the Eida Chareidit by buying products with its logo on it.
Therefore, shoppers are now urged that in addition to check the price, weight, expiration date of a product, to also check the kashrut logo and if the Eida Chareidit appears, place it back on the shelf.
The organizers are serious, and they hope to send a clear and financially potent message to food manufacturers – that working with the Eida simply does not pay.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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31 Responses
It’s about time that they should be boycotted, a lot of their so called “mehadrin” products are actually bishul akum, because an arab runs the machinery that cooks the item. My Rav at te kollel where I learn is involved in kashrut inspections here in Israel and a lot of items under the Badatz are not mehadrim even though are labeled as such. Plus, they support the neturei karta, and also they support the destruction of the State of Israel, but don’t mind stuffing their pockets with shekels and dollars.
What a joke.
So companies will package products differently depending on neighborhood. The reason zionist companies want a hareidi hecksher is since it improves market share. Until not too recently no zionist company bothered with a hareidi hecksher, but they needed the customers.
Ho-Hum!
Another waste! The secular do not care about this matter. They have tried before and it does not work!
To #3,
Why everything with you have to be anti-zionist? there are other hecksherim out there better than “the eida hacharedit”, you are not involved in kashrut supervision here in Israel, so you don’t know squat!!! of what’s really going on here.
The Eida provides the most reliable hechsher in Eretz Yisroel.
For my part I try not to buy anything with their label alone, I do not support ideologies that are against the Torah, like being anti-zionist and supporting the destruction of Israel.
Let the Eida relocate to Arizona. We will be a sanctuary state for common sense in a world populated by morons.
I agree with #8. Let Arizona have ALL the racists and other assorted nut jobs and leave the rest of us alone.
I don’t know too much about hechsherim in Israel, but I would wager that there are other acceptable hechsherim.
I think this is actually a good idea – see how many people REALLY oppose Eida and are willing to forgo what they want for it.
Is Eida Chareidis the branch that doesn’t take money from the Israeli government? I wonder how they would really survive a boycott.
NO NO !!!!! you have it all wrong let the Zionists move to Arizona !!!! The Eida was there and IY”H be there long before and after the State of Israel!!!! Also if I’m not mistaking the founders of the state of Israel in early talks with the UN all they wanted was a place to call home and I think there were talks about other places to get some land to call home!!!!!
This article is somewhat misleading, in that it’s not only secular that are calling for a boycott of the Eida hechsher – a large percentage of the Dati Le’umi and non-Kitzoni Chareidi community are interested in boycotting them as well. The Eida’s own antics, and their failure to condemn the actions of others that they claim are only a “small group” have finally resulted in a well-deserved backlash. I know that I personally try to avoid Eida where I can – though the Eida is so pervasive that it’s not practical to totally avoid their hechsher.
an Israeli Yid
To#6 volvie,
Sorry, they are not “the most reliable hecksher” in Israel. I rather take any hecksher from Benei Brak, of from the Rabbanut any time.
My gut feeling tells me no problem let them boycott it. who cares wat these seculars eat. they anyways eat Chometz on Pesach plus plus plus. The only losers will be they themselves. Lets see how many will hearken to this plea. a bunch of out cases.
I cannot believe it…readers from Yeshivah world who are supposed to be religious should write such emails
Yes i am involved in Kashruss in Switzerland and i can give testimony that the best Chashgocho in Israel is Eida.
And before you speak Loshon Horah give me proves!!!!!!
Kashruss has nothing to do with politics and if this is how you speak about ehrliche Yidden than you should be the one to go to Arizona!
* The Edah does not accept state funding for any of its schools.
* The Edah does not have anything against Ethiopians. There are some Ethiopians in Edah-affiliated movements.
Eida chareidis is a good hechsher, but theree are other good ones aswell.
It is mainly a brand name which helps boosts sales.
There is an European Hechsher by Rabbi Westheim of Manchester who is as good and is very price competitive, offering an excellent service along a Mahadrin Hechsher.
Lets avoid Loshon Hora nad everyone should do what they want without slandering others!!
There are too many products which have edeh charedit on it for any reasonable person to boycott all of them.
That being said, I personally disagree with a lot of their demonstrations/protests/public behavior but that doesn’t take away from the reliability of their hechsher.
Being that there are so many ppl who prefer it, it would take a lot of ppl boycotting to make any impact on it.
Firstly: Non-Jews “running” equipment does not make the food produced on that equipment bishul akum. Only the one who either lights the fire (according to the Rema) or places the food on the fire or otherwise is involved in the cooking (according to Marab Bait Yosef) has to be a Jew in order to fulfill the requirements of Chazal.
Secondly: Everyone “involved” in kashrus knows with certainty that BaDa”TZ Aidah HaChreidis is one of if not the most advanced, knowledgeable, and yes, mehadrin certifications in the world. Their seriousnessdoes cost extra, but the fact they are the “single largest private kashrut supervision in the State of Israel” is testimony aenough that companies – even Israeli ones – feel it is well worth the investment
Thirdly: They DO NOT support the neturei karta. In fact they disavowed themselves of the group more than 30 years ago.
Fourthly: They do not have nothing to do with State. They work within and by all its laws, etc.
Fifthly: They are not only kashrus. They are an educational system, a charitable organization (one of the largest), and much more.
I don’t know which kolel you learn in, but I have yet to meet a Rabbi of any nusach or derech ha’limud who does not appreciate the Aidah for their contributions and respect them for their greatness.
i will now go and buy osem croutons. They r gr8 in soup
Bravo Nr 19 so it is!
Thanks
#14 What you wrote is pretty disgusting. I can’t understand the purpose in saying loshen horah about a group of Jews. Just because people are secular does not give you a right to speak loshen horah about them. How does one do teshuva for speaking loshen horah about a large number of people in one breath? We should be trying to bring people closer not push them farther away. BTW may secular do not eat chametz on Pesach.
“The Eida provides the most reliable hechsher in Eretz Yisroel.”
I know where this statement comes from. You see, nowadays there are so many hechsherim in EY that one can claim Hechsher A to be best and Hechsher B, C, D, etc to be “traif” and still manage to eat. It wasn’t always that way. BD”Z Eida Hacharedis gave its hechsher before these politics were possible, as they were the only reliable game in town. Every “shearis yisroel”nik knows that his grandfather ate Bdatz, so he can’t condemn them. That’s not to say that there aren’t many, many other reliable hechsherim today.
I actually wondered about the reliability of a hechsher that is behind the protests etc.. Eventhough the idea of a protest might be sanctioned but there should be rules and condemnations of all actions that are not befitting bnei torah.. those protests were such chilulei Hash-m.. and probably deter ppl from Torah rather than bring ppl to it..
Not to mention the fact that they are the most expensive and therefore a deterrent for many ppl. They should be doing what they can to make sure that all ppl have accessibility to proper kashrus.
Moron Harav Eliyashiv and Harav Shteinman said to eat Shearith whenever possible, if there is not Shearith then Eida, Rubin is the same…..I heard this myself from them.
This is actually a fascinating conversation and that is because as a typical American tourist I have no clue what is or is not kosher in the Holy Land.
I am makpid on pas yisroel, cholev yisroel, and obviously glatt. So in the US I trust the OU, OK , star k and I know there limitations with pas yisroel, cholev yisroel. So now when I go to Israel I am told that if the Bedatz gives the hechsher it’s the gold standard. Well then I started thinking, what about the rabbinnut Tel Aviv perhaps they are equivalent to the OU and if that is the case then I have no problem eating the food on El-Al, and the milk is probably cholov yisrael. That also means I can eat in all the great restaurants in Tel Aviv.
If there is someone out there that has a thorough knowledge about the kashrus situation in Israel without any negius and is willing to use his true name, unlike myself. Please help us out. Thank You.
Someone said; “Let Arizona have ALL the racists and other assorted nut jobs and leave the rest of us alone.”
And yet Arizona is the one ‘excluding’ all those described above, IE…Racists and nutjobs like La Raza for example which all the left wing anti American nutjobs support.
I like to always try to find something good about a rotten situation. So, here goes! I think that it will be the FIRST TIME that many chilonim have looked for or at a kashrus symbol or hashgacha! Maybe someone will learn what it is and actually look for it in the future too!!
And the ironic thing is that these supposedly uneducated boors can put many educated food chemists to shame with the extent of their knowledge!
The people calling for the boycott are nothing short of r’shoyim at the highest order! These people should be put where they belong … in the anals of history.
Firstly it is worth repeating the following post: “And the ironic thing is that these supposedly uneducated boors can put many educated food chemists to shame with the extent of their knowledge!” This is absolutely correct. The kashrus professionals of the Eidah not only know halachah, but also its practical, current applications, and have a thorough knowledge and working understanding of food service technology and science (chemistry, engineering, mathematics, etc.).
Secondly: Any kashrus organization is only as good as those that are running it at any particular time; who is posing the questions to them and who is answering them. Any haskomah by any Rov concerning any hashgachah must be taken in context of the time it was said and regarding what aspect of the certification.
Thirdly regarding the Rabbanut. Each city’s Rabbanut must accept all other city’s Rabbanut regardless of the local standards and regardless of the caliber of the head of the local vaad. That is the law of the land. In fact, the Rabbanut must issue an ishur kashrut to any product imported to EY regardless of the reliability of the supervision. The Rabbanut was set up purposefully to provide as many people as possible “kosher” food at little expense. That often means relying on leniencies. So there is no one standard and basically the lowest common denominator determines the level of kashrus. That does not describe the OU or any other national certifying agency in the USA and therefore to compare the two is not only wrong, but dangerous.