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Australian Kashrus Company Delists Ben & Jerry’s, Will Chof-K Be Next?


A Sydney-based kashrus authority announced on Wednesday that it is removing Ben & Jerry’s ice cream from its approved products list in protest of the company’s boycott of Jewish communities in Yehudah and Shomron.

“Whilst kosher certification for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is not local, as a help for the community, the KA has listed this brand and all kosher products within the range for many years,” a KA statement said. “That ended this week with its deletion, in support of those who proudly reside in Yehuda v’Shomron. Yes, this is a small stance on a global scale, but one we have chosen to make.”

In Melbourne, the Kosher Kingdom supermarket announced on Tuesday that it will no longer sell Ben & Jerry’s, joining dozens of kosher supermarkets in the tri-state area in the US.

The KA statement noted that it will still be possible to buy Ben & Jerry’s products in Australia with the US-based Chof-K hechsher.

However, many Jews are calling to Chof-K to remove its hechsher, with others arguing that kashrus certification should be granted or eliminated solely on halachic concerns.

YWN POLL: Should the Kof-K drop its Kosher certification of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream?

YES

NO

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)



11 Responses

  1. Dumb article! Kosher Australia doesn’t even certify any Ben & Jerry items. There’s absolutely no comparison between them and Kof K kosher supervision. In Australia they’re talking about removing it from stores, in the United States you want people to lose parnassa and for organizations to be short-funded because of your utterly ignorant desires.

    For each one of you that sickeningly wants Kof K to remove certification from Unilever ice cream, I ask you are you ready to personally make up the difference to the hundreds, If not THOUSANDS, of families that would be affected by this decision? If you knew anything about the organization you would know that the moneies they get go to support yeshivas, shuls, and other mosdos, not only in the United States but in EY as well!

    Do you really want this on your head? You people are no better than the ones who are doing BLM yms’h who have no care in the world about the people they are trying to “help,” as long as their agenda gets done. You are falling to the socialist leftist ideology where as long as you get what you want, the collateral damage does not make a difference, especially because it doesn’t affect you! Yiddishkeit does not operate by ends justify the means. We are judged by the “means,” as well as by the ends. By you wanting this organization to lose thousands of dollars yes many thousands of dollars, monies which go to people’s parnassa and monies which go to the organizations, you are a rosha and I’m not מקנא your gehenim.

    So think again when you want an organization to drop certification that will affect HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS of families, literally hundreds IF NOT THOUSANDS of families. Do you want that on your head, not only for this generation but for potential future generations as well? If you think about this for a single second, you will realize that you are wrong and you need to stop what you’re doing.

    Are we frustrated? Yes, absolutely!

    Are we mad at Ben & Jerry and in turn Unilever? Yes, absolutely!

    But Please please please please do not do things that will affect thousands of people, the people you are allegedly trying to assist because then you are no different than the leftist, those rabble rousers who don’t care about anyone else as long as it meets their agenda.

    I strongly urge YWN to stop this stupidity!

  2. I vote yes. This will give other companies looking to follow ben and jerry’s lead that starting up with israel is starting up with the Jews

  3. An earlier comment was made referring to Ben and jerry’s not being
    cholov Yisroel, however, they also have several flavors that are
    non-dairy de.

  4. I think a boycott is a correct response to such despicable actions. Kashrus, however, should only be terminated based on violations of Kashrus standards and understandings. Otherwise, we will be diluting it’s validity and politicizing the Kosher symbol.

  5. Just curious, what legal footing do the kashruth agencies have to arbitrarily remove their hechsher? If the company is in violation, that’s then understandable. Further, if the company didn’t pay for the certification, that’s grounds for discontinuing the hechsher. But if it’s a political disagreement, is that legal grounds for termination?

  6. why? do we demand kashrus agencies remove certifications from companies in other countries that hate us? companies in pakistan, and tunisia are certified by klbd out of london for example. the “president” of tunisia wants to criminalize “normalized relations with israel”. if this is “our” official position then lets pressure all kashrus agencies worldwide to immediately cease certification of all companies in such countries. why pick on the chaf k?

  7. I think Ben and Jerry’s decision was despicable. That said, I don’t think it’s a good idea for a kashrus agency to revoke a hechsher purely for a political reason instead of a kashrus reason. Doing so would give succor to things like the conservative movement’s “hechsher tzedek” and would make the job of the kashrus agencies harder.

  8. It is imperative that Chof-K NOT drop its hechsher. This is not because I support BDS. This is because once Kashrus organizations open the Pandora’s box of sanctioning anything but Halachic imeratives, then they will be pressured to drop Hachsherim on companies that hire foreign workers and pay minimum wage (or less), or who don’t conform to whomever’s standards of cruelty to animals, or who aren’t environmentally friendly, etc. etc. Kashrus must remain dedicated to its cause, and refuse to be sidetracked by anything else, no matter how important.

  9. I certainly hear the valid point that several ‘posters’ are making. Ideally a Kashrus organization should be concerned with KASHRUS ONLY. However, I have a simple question…where exactly do you draw the line?
    What’s if a company is actively funding saying Hamas, should the OU, OK, KOF K, etc. just “stay out of it”??

  10. I say NO. Kashrus and politics should never mix. If the Chof-K were to drop it’s hechsher it would set a dangerous precedent.

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