PRINTRimini Pizza – Ramat Eshkol Shopping Center – Jerusalem
The pizza shop until recently has been under the supervision of Belz – Machzikei Hadas but has now switched over to Rav Rubin.
Rimini is located at 9 Paran Street in Ramat Eshkol and is obviously dairy.
****
Moshiko Shwarma – Ben Yehuda St. – Jerusalem
As per the OU this morning, the store is still under its supervision. I phoned to inquire since while passing last night I realized the teudah was expired. Rachel explained to me that the mashgiach was given the new teudah and it appears he did not get it to the store on time.
Moshiko is also under Jerusalem Rabbinate Mehadrin [which is not expired]
****
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream – Israel
Sometime ago, I reported that according to the head of OU Israel, Rabbi Yosef Minsky, the hechsher in the Holy Land is only chalav yisrael, unlike in N. America where there are OU-d products that are daily non-chalav yisrael.
It now appears that while most of the Ben & Jerry’s products are indeed OU chalav yisrael, but you must read the label. There are a number of flavors containing candy bits that contain non chalav yisrael milk powder. Yes I am well aware many are not strict, so I guess this is intended for those who do not wish non chalav yisrael milk powder. As usual, this is not a judgmental announcement, but informative to remind you, the consumer, that you must read the label looking for the hechsher. These flavors of course are not marked ‘chalav yisrael’ as are the others.
****
Prigat Juices - Clarification
One reader correctly pointed out that when shopping, if you wish to be a scrupulous kosher shopper, you must actually inspect each item.
A case in point – he is stringent and does not use heter mechira. His incident if you will occurred in the Yeish supermarket in Ramat Eshkol, but the same applies everywhere.
“Prigat Squeezed (Prigat Sachut) products rely on heter mechira as it says on the bottle by the date (l’shimush ad) stamp. What I can tell you is that the juices on the shelf (aside from the Prigat Squeezed Lemonade) were heter mechira. I heard that there was a sign at a shul in Ramat Beit Shemesh to be wary of this product as well. If the bottle was stamped l’fi heter mechira, it only had a hechsher from Kfar HaRoeh as opposed to the lemonade product (again which was not stamped l’fi heter mechira) which had that hechsher in addition to the Chug Chatam Sofer hechsher”.
The point is that now, even after shmitah, the bottles may contain heter mechira contents and this is problematic for those who do not use such items. It just requires a few seconds per item as they are inserted into one’s shopping cart.
This morning, I phoned Rav Eliyahu Dumpti, the mashgiach for Prigat seeking clarification. Actually, it is not complicated, but you as a consumer must be aware, read the label.
Most of the company’s line remains the same, mehadrin with the hechsher of Chug Chatam Sofer Petach Tikvah and the OK. The ‘fresh squeezed” fruit juice line, the bottles generally found in the refrigerated section, including but not limited to orange and red grapefruit, are no longer mehadrin because they are ‘heter mechira’. As such, the Chatam Sofer and OK were removed, and they are under the supervision of Rav Weiss from Kfar HaRoeh. All such bottles are clearly marked “heter mechira”.
****
Ma’adnei Bina – Shuk Machane Yehuda – Jerusalem
The Ma’adnei Bina ‘mehadrin’ take home food store in Machane Yehuda, the one without a hechsher, is now out of business. The same fellow is now operating the Bina fish store in the same, but remodeled location.
****
High Court Orders Hechsher for Messianic Jewess
The following article was written by me for Yeshiva World News (http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/), appearing on Thursday, July 2, 2009. I thought readers might find it appropriate for this forum, providing a glimpse at the difficulties encountered by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, which seeks to run a system by halacha, but too often, is usurped by the secular judicial system.
In a troublesome ruling, Israel’s High Court this week ordered the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to issue a kashrus certificate to a Jewess who by her own definition if a Jew for Yeshu. She owns and operates two bakeries, Penina’s Pie, one in Ashdod and one in Gan Yavne. The Gan Yavne Rabbinate set conditions, explaining her faith in Catholicism compelled them to set stringent conditions for a hechsher, that she agree to ongoing inspections and that the mashgiach be given a key and free access to the bakery [which should be the case for any store].
After not agreeing to the conditions, Penina Comforti opened a second bakery in Ashdod and received supervision from the local rabbinate, hiding her religious preferences from the rabbis. She then turned to the Gan Yavne Rabbinate to reinstate her supervision, explaining she has one from Ashdod. The rabbis spoke and she was summoned to a meeting with Rabbi Yosef Sheinen of Ashdod, following which her kashrus certificate was revoked. The rabbi explained that after Comforti confirmed she believes in the New Testament, it became obvious to him that she is not trustworthy for kashrus matters.
Comforti however was not taking this without a fight, and she turned to the Supreme Court, a move that surprised the Ashdod Rabbinical Council, which then gave her a teudah once again, with restrictions. The main condition is that one of the main workers present most of the working hours is “Ne’eman B’Kashrus”, a trustworthy individual that will allay the rabbis’ fears. She was also instructed to give the mashgiach keys, as well as guaranteeing there would be no missionary activities on premises. This arrangement was to be reevaluated after one month.
The state recommended that the High Court reject the petition, explaining the rabbis did not refuse to grant a kashrut supervision, but set conditions as they felt were required to ensure the kashrus is upheld, in adherence to halacha. The court however decided to accept the petition and ruled against the rabbis.
The court stated that while it is not ruling on halachic matters, and that the rabbis must decide what is acceptable to meet halachic standards, the conditions set forth by the rabbis must comply with the law and considerations not connected to kashrus matters may not come into play. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)