In a surprising move, a leading Hassidic rabbi spoke out in favor of Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana's kashrut reform Saturday, despite opposition by most in the ultra-Orthodox world to the change. The reform seeks to abolish the kashrut monopoly that has been held by the Chief Rabbinate since the establishment of the state.
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"For 70 years, the Haredim have opposed the Chief Rabbinate, and now all of a sudden they support it?" Rabbi Menachem Eliezer Zev Rosenbaum, head of the Kretshnif Hassidic dynasty, was quoted to have told congregants on Saturday.
"For 70 years we have been told that the Rabbinate is unfit and seeks to compromise the Jewish character of the state, and lo and behold, now they [the ultra-Orthodox] are fighting on its behalf."
Rosenbaum also hinted that opposition to the reform by Haredi Knesset members, in particular, stemmed from hypocrisy on their part.
"Who knows, perhaps due to this reform, Jews that have until now not kept kosher will start eating kosher food specifically because of this 'reform of rabbis,'" he said.
In contrast, Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef lambasted the reform, claiming that some elements were looking to get rid of kashrut altogether.
"They want to take kashrut and destroy it all," he told listeners at his weekly lesson on Saturday evening.
He claimed that the reform requiring the mashgiach (kashrut supervisor) to only arrive at the site he supervises once a week was insufficient.
"At the time when the mashgiach is not present, they will bring in non-kosher meat and the likes," he said.
Yosef also pointed out that while the ultra-Orthodox will continue to rely on kashrut certifications granted by the higher rabbinical court – which is not part of the Chief Rabbinate – the reform will predominantly affect those Israelis who keep kosher but accept certificates of all kinds.
"We will fight this matter," he said and lambasted Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau for failing to battle the reform as well due to a desire to continue to serve on the Supreme Rabbinical Court.
Yosef said that the only way he would be willing to hold talks with Kahana was if the reform was taken off the Arrangements Law, which is a bill presented to the Knesset each year alongside the State Budget Law that incorporates various economic and financial legislation amendments needed for the government to fulfill its economic policy.
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