A story that was big news in the religious media yesterday was that of a restaurant named 'Vista' in Ashqelon, under the kashrut supervision of the Rabbanut, in which the owner was caught, by the mashgiach kashrut, trying to sell non-kosher meat as kosher. When the mashgiach caught him, he immediately revoked the kashrut certificate.
The restaurant owner tried to hide from the mashgiach the arrival of a batch of non-kosher meat, and he unpacked the meat while trying to pass of a certificate of kashrut to the mashgiach as if it was connected to that batch of meat. The Rabbanut received information about the situation, and the mashgiach confronted the owner caught in his lie, and the mashgiach took him immediately to a disciplinary hearing during which the kashrut certificate was revoked. The fraud division of the Rabbanut is also starting legal action against the restaurant owner.
The restaurant still advertises itself, both on its website and in its print advertising, as being kosher. The Rabbanut wants to warn the public that this restaurant is not kosher.
Why do I care? I probably don't have too many readers out in Ashqelon...
Here's the point I want to make. I do not consider this a story. The guy was caught before he sold any non-kosher meat. The mashgiach did his job just fine. No scandal. Commentators taking the opportunity to bash the Rabbanut about this incident were out of place, as the Rabbanut did a perfectly fine job. Even if they use lenient standards and one does not want to rely on their kashrut, this icident is not one that can be used to show the Rabbanut as a failure, as one whose kashrut supervisors cannot be relied upon. The mashgiach here did a perfectly fine job.
To me, this story is really just a PSA to not eat at that restaurant. A kashrut scandal is when a kosher establishment is only caught after 5 years (or however long) of selling non-kosher meat, not when the establishment is caught in real-time when just getting started in the attempted scam. That is exactly why we have kashrut supervision and supervisors - because we do not completely trust proprietors of businesses trying to make profit off the business of kosher food.
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