In his motzei shabbos drasha, Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita discussed the kashrus of the Badatz Eida Chareidis, explaining that in the past, the teudat hechsher was deceptive, leading Sephardim to believe they may eat in such a store but in actuality, that was not the case. Rav Ovadia stated that over the years he has told many people they may not eat in such an eatery since a non-Jew may be found placing food on the grill, and for Sephardim, this is not ‘bishul yisrael’ and therefore, the food is prohibited.
He told the tzibur that “They knew they are deceiving the Sephardim” and that is why he told so many they may not eat is such a place. Chacham Ovadia feels the Eida should have explicitly stated in its teudat kashrus that a store is not ‘bishul yisrael’ in line with the p’sak of Maran, and therefore, not suitable for Sephardim.
He concludes by saying “many of them have done tshuva and corrected this matter, prohibiting a non-Jew from placing food on the fire.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
this does seem to somewhat contradict the rav’s ruling in yechuvei daas, part 5, simin 54 where he is maykil even for sfardim because mishum bnoseyhem isnt shayich by laborers.
EMET, since I work as a mashigach and when had sefarim acted accordingly
This is not a problem only for Sefaradim. It’s a problem for many Americans, too. For example, in restaurants in Israel, they serve Muscovy duck, which most American poskim and all reliable national hechsher organizations prohibit. They don’t tell you it’s Muscovy, just that it’s duck. Also, they serve foie gras, while many communities pasken to not eat fatted geese because of nekuvas haveshet. Bottom line is that the consumer needs to be on guard, or it’s his own fault.
#1 Besalel: He would be meikel bedieved, not lekatchila.
“this does seem to somewhat contradict the rav’s ruling…”
I think that ruling is bediavad yesh lihakel. The present news item is his ruling lichatchila.
This post was written up on Tuesday December 18th, referring to Rav Ovadya’s shiur on Motsai Shabbos the 15th. I was present, and while the last statement was said,
“[M]any of them [Badatz restaurants and kosher supervisors] have repented and corrected this matter by prohibiting non-Jews from placing food on the fire,” Yosef happily noted
the line cited earlier in the original article, “They knew they are deceiving the Sephardim” – was simply not said, nor was anything similar to it said.