In bad taste?

A restaurant owner is suffering severe financial loss after the Orthodox Union hung up posters announcing it had revoked his mehadrin kashrut certificate, omitting that he still carried certification from the rabbinate

By PEGGY CIDOR
OU HQ521 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
OU HQ521
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
In an entrepreneur’s effort to establish a foodrelated business and have it be successful, obtaining kashrut certification is a crucial element. The almost unbearably cavalier way a business is either granted or denied that important document, be it a restaurant or a catering business, is one of the nightmares of the industry.
The most recent case is that of La Cuisine, which has a restaurant in Beit Avi Chai, a café on Aza Street and a catering business in the city. La Cuisine is strictly kosher dairy, and for some time it had the mehadrin stamp from the Chief Rabbinate. Two years ago, La Cuisine owner Avidov Bernstein decided that he wanted to change from the mehadrin certification of the Rabbinate to certification from the Orthodox Union.
The OU has a large branch in Israel and is well known and valued here. Since many of La Cuisine’s customers are of Anglo origin, Bernstein was sure it was the right thing to do. While he retained regular kashrut certification from the rabbinate, he asked for the OU one, specifically its mehadrin kashrut.
On a sunny morning at his restaurant in Beit Avi Chai recently, more than a month after the drama that ended with the OU’s canceling its kashrut certificate for his business, Bernstein is still very upset. He says the incident has caused serious damage to his livelihood, adding that he doesn’t understand why he had been dealt such a blow.
“I was asked to do a particularly thorough cleaning of the whole place for the Passover kashrut – which I intended to do anyhow,” he says. He adds that although he didn’t receive specific instructions as to what and how to clean in the appropriate manner required, he says his staff was instructed to literally dismantle the place in order to clean it meticulously.
“I am religious myself, Orthodox. I know exactly what it means to clean a kitchen before Passover , but I was ready to do as I was told anyway,” he says.
In addition to the regular supervisor who oversees kashrut during the year, the OU added another one to help with the specific requirements of the Passover kashrut regulations.
“The place was closed for three days in advance.
We just cleaned and cleaned all day long, all the staff here, under the supervision of the mashgihim,” says Bernstein.
But things soon became messy, he recalls, especially with the supervisors speaking rudely to the staff members, who were Arabs.
“These employees have worked for me for years. I know them. They are good and reliable people. I just couldn’t abide having them addressed in such a rude manner with, on top of that, racist remarks,” he says.
What apparently brought the situation to a head was the OU’s request that he add a third supervisor – all at Bernstein’s expense, which was a sizable amount.
The kashrut certificate is an expensive item. Besides the annual fee of NIS 2,000, there is a monthly payment for the supervisor (NIS 1,000 to NIS 1,500), which makes the requirement of three supervisors a very expensive demand in itself. But Bernstein says that money was not the issue but rather the rude attitude and the feeling that he was helplessly in the hands of people who had more on their agenda than just the task at hand.
“At a certain point, they demanded that we dismantle one of the components of the coffee machine. I tried to explain that only hot water was kept there, but they wouldn’t listen to me. It seemed that nothing would ever satisfy them,” he says.
But Bernstein was soon to discover that his misfortune would be even greater.
“I called Rabbi Mendelssohn, my regular supervisor, and tried to come to an understanding,” he says.
“After all, I wanted to get their kashrut certificate; it was clearly in my interest. Mendelssohn said that in that case, I should agree to have a fourth supervisor. I felt blackmailed, and I refused. He said, ‘Then you will not obtain our mehadrin certificate for Passover.’ And I agreed.”
Bernstein was sure that he would simply be left with the regular Passover kashrut certificate from the rabbinate, assuming that it would be enough for most of his customers. In addition, he told the representatives of the OU kashrut division that he would put a large notice at the entrance to the restaurant to warn his customers about the lack of the OU mehadrin certificate. However, his proposal was disregarded. Up until the night before Passover, he was sure that the only problem he’d face would be a few customers who might not patronize his restaurant for a week.
“On the day before Passover, I received hysterical phone calls from friends telling me about the hundreds of posters signed by the OU kashrut services declaring that they had revoked my kashrut certificate, overlooking the fact that I still had a regular [rabbinate] kashrut certificate.
It was a terrible blow. I understand people who hesitated to come. Others called me and got the correct information, but since then my business has suffered a serious drop in income, and I have lost regular orders from some organizations on which I depended for my livelihood. What bothers me most in this story is how such a large and reputable organization can afford to behave like such a bully.
How can they, ‘in the name of religion,’ sully my reputation and livelihood, as well as the streets of Jerusalem, with their hateful posters?” he says.
Bernstein has an update on the latest developments. He says that the CEO of the OU in Israel called and asked to meet with him.
“He expressed deep shock and regret. He also said that he had no control over the extreme Orthodox brutality within his organization! He also promised to ‘see what can be done ...’ But it’s been over a month since he said that, and no one has gotten back to me,” says Bernstein.
OU Israel published the following statement on its website last week: “Two days before Pesach 5773 OU Israel ceased to kosher certify the La Cuisine restaurant in Jerusalem and by mutual consent, the OU and La Cuisine agreed that the restaurant would not continue under OU certification,” the statement read. “This, of course, necessitated informing the public that OU supervision and standards were no longer in place at the restaurant.”
Regarding Bernstein’s claim that the signs published all over the city caused him harm, Avi Berman, head of the OU Israel kashrut, told In Jerusalem that the signs were identified and signed and featured a phone number where customers could get more details. Berman added that he had no other way of informing the public, because of time limitations before, as it was too late to advertise in newspapers.
“This action,” says Berman, ”was not intended to be punitive or to hurt the restaurant, but was generated by our responsibility to inform the consumer.”
Berman says that he is aware of the damage to the La Cuisine, but stresses that he had no other choice and adds that hefelt really sorry for la Cuisine’s owner, for whom he had and still has a lot of sympathy, but “for people concerned about strict kashrut, their choice is clear.”
Bernstein is unmoved by the sympathy expressed by the OU management.
“The ‘deep shock and regret’ of the OU’s CEO will not help restore the good name or compensate me for the economic damage the OU has caused La Cuisine,” he concludes. •