Chief Rabbis Call for Halt on Attack Against Kashrus

The Chief Rabbis of Israel, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and Rabbi David Lau, published an open letter Wednesday condemning the Bennett-Lapid coalition’s proposed overhaul of the country’s system of kashrus supervision.

Though widely described as “reforms,” the chief rabbis called it “the destruction of kashrus that reflects a trend toward the displacement of Judaism in the state of Israel.”

They demanded an immediate halt to the move, which earlier in the day moved forward in the Knesset, and appealed to the rabbis of Israel to stand with them, and not grant certification to restaurants or factories where they have not been authorized to do so by the Chief Rabbinical Council.

Rabbi Lau and Rabbi Yosef further warned of what this bill portends:

“In the space of the conspiracy rooms of change, additional voices are already resonating in matters of conversion and marriage outside the framework of the Chief Rabbinate, which will inevitably lead to the separation of the communities in Israel. We must protect the unity that was the desire of the founders of the rabbinate…

“We turn to you with this call: Take your hands away from the holiness of Israel! Matters of halachah and religion are the purview of the rabbis of Israel. It is inconceivable that in the blink of an eye they would destroy an entire building in a trend to please certain factors.

“Out of heavy responsibility to the people of Israel and to the Land of Israel, we call for an immediate end to this process,” the letter concludes, as quoted by Arutz Sheva on Wednesday evening.