My gut (no pun intended) feeling is that non-kosher rennet in cheese is more problematic than non-kosher gelatin. (Both issues are to do with processing that takes something from an animal and makes it into something non-edible.)

I can’t remember all the arguments of the issues after listening to shiurim on the subjects but I do feel that I came out with that conclusion. Maybe I am mistaken, and my conclusions were based on biases that are personal and nothing to do with halacha.

Are there Rabbanim on this list that can put the issues into perspective.

A solution could be a simple colour coding to differentiate regular and mehadrin teudot, but nothing more complicated, with no partial-supervision of shops etc etc, then it would be clear which shops are and are not kosher.

This is a big issue and I prefer to go to the supermarket where everything is either wrapped in plastic with a hescher, or from a clearly supervised and certified section of the shop (meat and fruit specifically)

What does the Shuk committee say about this?

However, you state that cheese made using animal rennet “is very seriously non-kosher.” In fact, this is not true. There are many poskim who adhere to the position that animal rennet is fine for making cheese. (Please understand: cheese made this way certainly needs supervision.)

Among those who held this position was Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. So it is a mistake to state categorically that such cheese is non-kosher.

At most, you can say that there are halakhic positions that it is non-kosher, but that is a subject of a machloket.

I have purchased from this store for some time probably around 9 months and have never seen either of the brother bosses wearing a kippa. None of the other staff have worn a kippa either when I visited the store. I know that they have many groups visit them and they give out samples of cheeses and then some of the people in the group purchase. Do they put on kippot when certain groups visit them? I don’t know. The positive thing is that all the people working in this store in the Shuk are very pleasant and give good customer service.

There are some disconcerting things:-

1. They often tell people that there are hechshers on certain cheeses but never show the people the hechshers. On one of the cheeses that we like, the Soignon Chaubier we have seen a Badatz hechsher when we first purchased it months ago. If we again buy this I will insist I see the hechsher again.

2. Do all the stores have a general hechsher and are they closed on Shabbat? I presume that the store in the shuk is closed on Shabbat

3. I have noticed that there are often wide ranges in pricing some cheeses each time we come to the store. In fact I found that purchasing a certain Gruyere, the supermarket price per kilo for the same cheese but packaged was way below what I was charged. When I complained, the price of the Bashar Gruyere unpacked was reduced. I was also offered a much cheaper Gruyere which I was told has a hechsher(but which I did not check as I relied on the bosses) which I purchased. When I asked for the same Gruyere cheese next time I visited the store I was offered a completely different Gruyere and told it is the same one as I purchased before. I knew that this was not the case because the rind of the cheese was a completely different colour and texture.

4. I do believe that there is a possibility that there is overcharging because my wife purchased the Soignon Chaubier in an express store in Rechov Azza for a cheaper price, but they only stock it rarely.

Is there anyone who is likely to be in Machane Yehuda in the near future to report the name of the kosher shop, and also under whose kashrut auspices it is?

I hope that there is not a problem in posting the kosher store name on this feedback, but if there is then please can Yechiel forward me the info privately.

Many thanks.