In Jerusalem

Certainty without certification?

12/20/2012 16:15 By PEGGY CIDOR

The list of restaurants that claim to be committed to running a kosher establishment yet do not want to be associated with the rabbinate is growing.

Photo by: Marc Israel Sellem

The small but loud demonstration last week on the corner of the Rehavia neighborhood’s Gaza and Metudela streets was – so far – the most outspoken stage of a new but rapidly growing protest movement. A few owners of restaurants and coffee shops, from various parts of the city, stood on the sidewalk and explained to passersby why they had decided to stop using the Chief Rabbinate’s kashrut certificates, and why despite that decision, customers who cared about kashrut should still come to their establishments.

It all started a few months ago, following the Chief Rabbinate’s decision to raise the fees for the kashrut certificates they provide to restaurants and coffee shops in the city. The first to decide simply to renounce the service was Gil Gini, owner of Topolino in the Mahaneh Yehuda market area. Since this restaurant does not serve meat, things were a little less controversial, and all Gini’s customers, including many observant Jews, kept coming. Soon afterward, it was the turn of a few others – Rehavia’s Carousela and Muiz cafes, among others – and recently the well-known Café Mizrahi at the shuk joined the movement, adding a touch of celebrity to it.

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Certainty without certification?

The list of restaurants that claim to be committed to running a kosher establishment yet do not want to be associated with the rabbinate is growing.

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