MK Tal calls on Minister Kahana to open kashrut to Reform, Conservative rabbis

• Published date: 06 October 2021
• Author: JEREMY SHARON
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Tal added that he found it insulting that the director of the Religious Services Ministry said in a committee hearing on the legislation today that there was no place for Reform and Conservative rabbis in Israel's kashrut system.

Kahana and the government are advancing legislation through the budget arrangements bill which would abolish the chief rabbinate's monopoly over kashrut and allow independent kashrut supervision authorities to be established to provide kashrut supervision to any food business seeking their services, while the Chief Rabbinate would act as a regulator of the system.

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });

>

In order to establish a kashrut authority, however, it must be headed by a rabbi with qualifications from the Chief Rabbinate to serve as a municipal chief rabbi who has written approval from the Council of the Chief Rabbinate attesting to this qualification.

This would in practice exclude Reform and Conservative rabbis from establishing such kashrut authorities.

Tal is proposing an amendment to Kahana's bill whereby the condition in the legislation stating the rabbi seeking to establish a kashrut authority has written approval from the Council of the Chief Rabbinate attesting to this qualification be removed.

In addition, Tal's amendment proposes to add in the legislation a "Liberal Kashrut" standard to allow non-Orthodox rabbis to issue kashrut certificates.

"I'm proud to be part of this coalition which is creating the kashrut reform because the best answer to corruption is to...