Kalo café and the kashrut certificate controversy

A great hue and cry has arisen on social media as a kashrut supervisor from the city's branch of the chief rabbinate revoked the kashrut certificate of a well-loved eatery on Monday morning. The supervisor did so after discovering that the stove was converted into an induction system. According to kashrut rules, a non-Jewish cook cannot light the burners (or the stove). Kalo café on Bethlehem Road is a hangout in Baka for Anglos and other locals – most of them religiously liberal. Mustafa Halwi, who has cooked there for years, has never presented a kashrut problem, based on the certificate provided by Rabbanut Rashit Yerushalayim (non-mehadrin). Only a few customers were aware of the induction stove issue that changed the situation. An induction stove immediately cools down when a pot is removed, so when Halwi puts a pot back on the stove, he relights the stove himself. The kashrut supervisor didn't observe Mustafa actually lighting the stove, but assumed the induction stove caused it and decided to cancel the certification. Café owner Yaacov ben Elul, nicknamed Kalo, has decided to renounce the certification. Since the eatery is beloved by regulars, a Facebook campaign quickly spread the news. While perplexed religious customers are not sure how to react, the social media response shows there is much support for Kalo in the neighborhood and beyond – including from people who have never even been to the restaurant. City council member Laura Wharton (Meretz) sent a letter to Jerusalem religious council head Rabbi Yehoshua Yishai complaining about the procedure and the request to fire the Arab cook. Kalo says he is not considering terminating the cook's employment, which he considers racist. “So what if he is an Arab? I am a believer myself, and Mustafa is working under the rules. There is nothing wrong with employing him. Moreover, why cancel the kashrut certificate so suddenly? Why not ask, explain, request? Why this aggressive act by the supervisor? I have decided not to accept it. I believe my customers will understand my decision: I will work without a kashrut certificate.” Yet this story might have a more complex background, as sources at the Jerusalem Rabbinate indicate there is a scandal behind it. Jerusalem's Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Aryeh Stern, who should be in charge of the kashrut administration, has been prevented from acting due to being over 70 years old. Stern and his supporters in the national-religious camp want him to remain, but haredim prefer to replace him with a haredi rabbi. This struggle has been going on for almost a year. Stern continues to come to his office, but kashrut issues have been handed over to Jerusalem's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who is stricter on these issues. “Basically,” says our source, “expect more rules and difficulties to be applied now.” Councilman Elad Malka (of the Hitorerut opposition party), who has been monitoring the local rabbinate for irregularities, says the rabbinate should have provided guidance for all eateries employing non-Jewish cooks as they introduce induction stoves, “but they didn't do it. That's the first problem. There are solutions to this kind of situation, which are the rabbinate's obligations to investigate and discuss before canceling a certificate.” The rabbinate responded, “The technology installed in the restaurant's kitchen has made the cooking there bishul akum (cooking by non-Jews) and therefore violates kashrut law. We have explained this to the owner, but despite our sympathy and sorrow, we cannot change halachic rules. We will happily restore the certificate if he addresses the problem.”

Kalo café and the kashrut certificate controversy

According to kashrut rules, a non-Jewish cook cannot light the burners (or the stove).

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Kalo café and the kashrut certificate controversy

According to kashrut rules, a non-Jewish cook cannot light the burners (or the stove).

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