Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana announced on Tuesday a far-reaching set of reforms to the kashrut market which will establish the Chief Rabbinate as a regulator over independent kashrut organizations which will serve as the kashrut service provider.
The measures, if enacted, will in effect end the Chief Rabbinate’s long-held monopoly over the kashrut supervision industry and enable independent kashrut authorities to issue kashrut licenses to restaurants and other food businesses.
Kahana said the move is designed to create competition for kashrut supervision services and thereby increase the standard of service provided, while at the same time solving some of the worst problems in the current system which have led to corruption and poor standards.
The minister said at a press conference on Tuesday where he unveiled the reforms that it would also give businesses freedom of choice to choose whichever supervision authority they wish, and would also lead to cheaper prices for consumers.
And he argued that the measures he seeks to institute, which need to be carried out through legislation, would strengthen the Chief Rabbinate since it will be in charge of determining nationwide standards and overseeing the different independent kashrut authorities.
At the same time, Kahana admitted that the chief rabbis are not “overly excited” by the reforms, especially a track allowing for a kashrut provider to determine its own standards if approved by three municipal chief rabbis.
The reforms would be enacted through legislation with a 6 to 12 month interim period in which any local rabbinate could provide kashrut supervision in any municipal jurisdiction around the country, until the primary reforms are ready to be implemented.
Immediately following the minister’s announcement, the Chief Rabbinate denounced the reforms, describing them as “dangerous” and said they would “destroy kashrut in Israel.”
Ultra-Orthodox MKs and those of the hard-line Religious Zionist Party also condemned the proposed measures, with United Torah Judaism chairman Moshe Gafni denouncing Kahana as “seeking to eradicate any spark of Judaism” in the country.
But moderate religious-Zionist lobbying group Ne’emanei Torah Va’Avodah, which helped draft the measures, welcomed the reforms, saying they would allow for real competition in the kashrut market and increase standards.
Currently, only local rabbinates headed by a municipal chief rabbi can issue kashrut licenses to food businesses, and these rabbinates are also in charge of allocating kashrut supervisors to supervise those businesses, as well as appointing inspectors to oversee the supervisors.
No food business can declare itself in writing to be kosher unless it has supervision from a local rabbinate, although a 2017 High Court of Justice ruling allowed independent kashrut authorities to stipulate that they provide various supervisory services to a business, although use of the word “kosher” was still reserved only for those with rabbinate supervision.
Under the reforms proposed by Kahana, the Chief Rabbinate would essentially become a regulator for independent kashrut supervision authorities.
It would set unified kashrut standards across the country, likely with at least two different levels of kashrut observance, and would also be in charge of an oversight body which checks the compliance of the various independent kashrut providers.
The kashrut providers would have to be headed by a rabbi with qualifications from the rabbinate to serve as a municipal chief rabbi; and the provider itself would need to commit to upholding the standards set by the rabbinate at whichever level they chose.
Any existing kashrut provider could become a Chief Rabbinate approved provider, including, for example, the most stringent ultra-Orthodox kashrut supervision authorities, the kashrut authority of the moderate religious-Zionist rabbinical association Tzohar, or any local religious council currently providing kashrut supervision services.
At the same time, there will be an alternative route for any kashrut provider that wishes to provide more basic kashrut standards from those determined by the Chief Rabbinate.
Such a provider would need to seek the approval for its operations from three rabbis with qualifications from the Chief Rabbinate to serve as municipal chief rabbis, and then declare which kashrut standards it plans to follow.
The Chief Rabbinate’s oversight body would also perform oversight for such a provider and ensure that it complies with the standards it declares itself to uphold.
Food businesses which would avail themselves of the services of such a provider would be able to declare themselves kosher, but not under the auspices of the rabbinate.
The reforms will be carried out through legislation in the Arrangements Law which accompanies the state budget, giving it a greater chance of approval through the legislative process.
“Israel’s kashrut system must become more efficient, the current system suffers from quality problems, divergent standards, poor employment conditions for supervisors, problematic oversight and a multitude of kashrut authorities,” said Kahana.
He added that State Comptroller reports have lambasted the kashrut system for systemic failures, and that his reforms would solve many of these problems.
“The revolution I am leading will strengthen the Chief Rabbinate, establish professional kashrut authorities, improve kashrut standards, create competition, reduce prices and allow businesses to choose between different authorities and improve working conditions for supervisors,” said Kahana.
The Chief Rabbinate denounced the reforms however.
“The Chief Rabbinate totally rejects the dangerous initiative of the Religious Services Ministry to destroy kashrut in Israel,” saying that the plan meant “the abolition of kashrut in the State of Israel, and the opening of a bazaar for organizations with businesses’ interests which will grant kashrut and allow any wheeler-dealer to give kashrut when the result will be the destruction of kashrut.”