In the contempt of court hearing on Monday against HaRav Yosef Sheinen, who heads the Ashdod Religious Council, the High Court of Justice on Monday instructed the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to appoint another rav who will grant a hechsher to the bakery in question within 30 days.
The case refers to the rabbi’s refusal to grant a hechsher to the bakery owned by Penina Comforti, a Jewess for “J”, unless she agrees to a fulltime mashgiach. Comforti took her case to the High Court, which ruled against the rav, ordering him to issue a kashrus certificate without a fulltime mashgiach.
The rabbi is in contempt of court for not complying, explaining he cannot betray halacha, even if instructed to do so by the High Court, explaining that if he acts contrary to Shulchan Aruch, he no longer has the right to call himself a rav.
R’ Sheinen told Kol Chai Radio on Monday night “There is only one Shulchan Aruch and I hope and believe all rabbonim will adhere to it…Even those who do not recognize the Shulchan Aruch must rely on the rabbonim”.
R’ Sheinen explained that not only did he respond to the High Court, quoting the relevant laws in Shulchan Aruch, Rishon L’Tzion HaRav Moshe Shlomo Amar Shlita did the same, but the court appears to feel their familiarity with the Jewish Law is not the determining factor. The rav explained that a Jew “who is suspect, a ‘mumar’” carries a stricter ruling than a non-Jew, and this is the halacha and the court cannot change it.
Seeking to have its decision implemented, the court on Monday turned to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to appoint another rav in R’ Sheinen’s place, to have the bakery certified as kosher by the local religious council, within 30 days.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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6 Responses
The so called “high courts” should issue the supervision.
On which legal basis does the high court give their ruling?
He who pays the fiddler calls the tune. If you want to be a government rabbi, you are working for the government. Perhaps the yeshivos need to include more political science and economics, since some rabbanim don’t seem to understand the implication of working for someone who isn’t frum (and in fact, is very anti-religious).
This supports the long held view than any government hecksher is inherently unreliable. When push comes to shove, the people making kashrus decisions are the ones running the government, not the “rabbis” they hire.
The Government-sponsored Rabbinate is a farce–now exposed for all to see!
akuperma, I hope you’re not condoning giving a hechsher to a place like this. If halacha indeed demands that a mashgiach temidi be present then you don’t give a hashgacha without one. What will “political science and economics” in yeshivos do for these mashgichim and how will it benefit the mashgichim and the rest of Am Yisroel? It will only make matters more difficult for Klal Yisroel and it will result in a fight for EVERYTHING. You don’t and can’t play games with halacha.
These judges are trying to make a name for themselves by standing up for their “clients” and going up against halacha. You can’t give in to these kinds of people because it never ends. You can’t change Judaism because of a court. Israel is, after all, a Jewish state, albeit not a religious state, but if you change halacha and don’t stick to the “rules” then what do you have for being Jewish other then hatred from the entire world? The only thing you have for being Jewish is the religion and that is why we’re proud to be Jewish, despite all the prosecution that comes with it. However, if you don’t play by the “rules” of the “book” and you don’t act like the “people of the book” then how are you different?
I understand the court and its judges are not religious, but you still don’t give in to them because it will not end there.
The high court is a big Pig and now wants to kasher Treife. Well got news for you “high court”
you are low in the eyes of the Jews and at the bottom in the eyes of Hashem
Go and learn something about Yiddishkeit and not some secular nonsense