Q&A: Halakhic Claims Against the Kashrut Reform
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Halakhic Claims Against the Kashrut Reform
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Recently I heard a talk from a rabbi who came out against the kashrut reform for two reasons.
1) In the reform there is no “unannounced inspection,” which is the deterrent created by the fact that the supervisor can walk in at any moment, since the oversight is not regional but organized by chains.
2) Those same private bodies are funded by the businesses, so they are affected by a conflict of interest.
That rabbi claimed that these reasons invalidate the kashrut certification.
I wanted to know your opinion regarding those reasons.
Thank you.
Answer
I’m not familiar with the details of the reform. In principle I support reform, and I’ll elaborate on this in a later column.
The Rabbi is in favor of reform in matters of the rabbinate in general, and in favor of separating religion and state—that we know. Will the column address this reform itself? Because many people support reform, but if the situation gets worse and new problems are created, maybe even more severe ones (I know that in your opinion there is no problem more severe than the very power of the rabbinate), what good will the column do?
Sorry, I just don’t have the patience to wait for the column…