HaRav Michah Halevy, the Rav of Petach Tikvah and the Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivas Ateres Nechemia, a Dati Leumi yeshivah, slammed the government’s kashrus reforms two days after meeting with Religious Affairs Matan Kahana.
Speaking at the Ichud Rabbanei HaTzionot HaDatit conference on Thursday, Rav Halevi, one of Israel’s leading Dati Leumi Rabbanim, first addressed the government’s disparaging behavior toward the Rabbanut, saying that the Rabbanut and city Rabbanim connect Israeli Jews with kedushah. “Every Jew in Israel, even before he uses the Rabbanut for practical matters – just the fact that there’s a Rabbanut and a city Rav enables him to feel connected to the kedushah of the Torah.”
“How is it that we’re not crying?”, he said in a choked voice. “Speaking disparagingly against the Rabbanut is a strike against the heart of every Jew. Criticism needs to be said with a goal of correcting and not destroying.”
Rav Halevi then spoke at length about the kashrus reforms, saying that the reforms are not based on halacha. “The shita requires the presence of a Mashgiach from the Rabbanut – without the local Rabbanut, the private hechsherim are not in accordance with halacha! The shita that the reforms propose is not halachic, it’s a non-kosher shita.”
“I fully identify with the position of the Moetzet HaRabbanut HaReishit and the majority of all Rabbanei Yisrael that it’s halachically assur to cooperate with the kashrus reforms.”
“When you want to fix something you don’t trample on it and speak against it and you don’t create something that is fundamentally tainted.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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7 Responses
Let this be a lesson to the daati
The only politicians that will protect the status quo are the chareidim
Some of the so-called “reform” proposals by the new government are stupid and counter-productive. However, getting rid of the Rabbanut’s monopoly over hashgacha is long-overdue. There are many private hashgachos that meet the even stricter requirements of various segments of the tzibur and and do so more efficiently and arguably with less cronyism and “questionable payments” and graft. The market is perfectly capable of providing hashgachos scaled to the very differentiated needs of those who are shomrei hilchos kashrus.
The “Religious Zionist” faith holds that everything – yes, everything – about the Zionist State is holy and part of the redemption, etc. So if the impure Zionist army is holy then so are the other Zionist gezeiros.
A better question is why the “Religious Zionists” are not crying over the mistake they’ve made in replacing the true faith of Judaism with the idolatry of “Religious Zionism”.
We seem to function pretty happily outside of Israel without centralised Kashrus. The Rabbanut will still be in charge of setting the kashrus standards, it will just be open for lots of private hechsherim to meet those standards at the cheapest price.
What’s to lose?
I noticed in some of the comments that they are bashing religious Zionists. One thing I know for sure and I mean really for sure, if us Yidden are going to continue to knock another Yid, I mean all Jewish people, more observant, less observant, this may trigger 20 more variants and lots of protests, lots of rioting and looting merchandise in the amounts of 200 billion dollars. The more fighting amongst us, the deeper we are all sinking. Most of our problems, issues and all the crazy stuff that is happening lately, is all thanks to the inside fighting amongst us and the outside fighting. The more fighting and the nasty comments, the mess is just getting bigger.
“The shita requires the presence of a Mashgiach from the Rabbanut – without the local Rabbanut, the private hechsherim are not in accordance with halacha! The shita that the reforms propose is not halachic, it’s a non-kosher shita.”
What arrogant nonsense. What “shita” is he citing? There is obviously not one word in the Shulchan Aruch about the Israeli rabbanut. We have very good kashrus in most of the world where there is no rabbanut. He is simply making up halachot — megaleh panim batorah shelo kehalacha.
Cry cry cry.
Cry that you align with Torah-underminng zionists.
Cry that you jump into the pockets of uprooters of yiddishkeit when you need them.
Cry that you call the Medina “reishit hageula”.
Cry as a hoodwinked fool that clings tenaciously
to his semicha not worth the paper its written on.