Israeli Supreme Court Declares Jews For Jesus 'Kosher'

J for J, Hebrew Christians and Messianic Jews can now display Rabbinate kosher certificates in their food shops and restaurants.

Court declares Jew for Jesus 'kosher'
Matthew Wagner , THE JERUSALEM POST

A Jew for Jesus who demanded kashrut supervision from the Chief Rabbinate won a Supreme Court decision on Monday likely to spark another confrontation between the nation's highest legal arbiter and the Orthodox rabbinical establishment.

In its verdict, based on a precedent that found belly-dancing to be unrelated to kosher food, the court ruled that an Ashdod baker's belief that Jesus was the messiah did not make her baked goods unkosher.

Therefore, argued the court, the Chief Rabbinate could not demand more stringent kashrut supervision arrangements than for any other baker.

The Orthodox rabbinate reacted negatively.

"It's absurd that the Supreme Court is telling rabbis how to keep kosher," Ashdod Chief Rabbi Yosef Sheinen said in a telephone interview with The Jerusalem Post.

"What does the Supreme Court know about kashrut?" asked Sheinen. He said that according to his understanding of Halacha, an apostate Jew could not be trusted to adhere to the laws of kashrut.

"The Supreme Court is undermining the level of kosher supervision," added Sheinen, who said he had not read the entire ruling yet and therefore had not fully formulated his opinion.

In 2006, Sheinen revoked a kashrut supervision certificate issued to the Pnina Pie bakery in his city when he discovered that its owner, Pnina Conforty, was a messianic Jew.

Later, after Conforty petitioned the High Court of Justice, Sheinen and the Chief Rabbinate agreed to a compromise.

The rabbinate's governing body ruled that if Conforty wanted a kosher supervision certificate she had to meet certain conditions not normally demanded of secular Jewish eatery owners.

Conforty had to hire a worker approved by Sheinen. This worker had to be paid by Conforty via the local religious council or via an employment agency, and not directly by Conforty, to prevent extortion.

This worker would be allowed to bake and do other errands for Conforty in addition to his kashrut supervision role, but Sheinen would define the worker's duties and salary.

In addition, Conforty had to give a kashrut supervisor keys to the bakery.

The Chief Rabbinate also demanded that she promise not to engage in missionary activity on her premises.

Conforty refused to accept these conditions and the Chief Rabbinate refused to soften them.

The High Court on Monday rejected Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger's argument that Conforty's un-Jewish religious faith undermined her trustworthiness.

"The Kashrut Law states clearly that only legal deliberations directly related to what makes the food kosher are relevant, not wider concerns unrelated to food preparation," ruled the court.

The decision rested on a ruling handed down by the High Court two decades ago involving Ilana Raskin, an immigrant belly dancer from Philadelphia who enjoyed tremendous popularity in the late 1980s until Jerusalem's chief rabbis ruled that food served in wedding halls and restaurants in which Raskin appeared was not kosher.

That High Court rejected the claim made by the Chief Rabbinate at the time that any owner whose immoral sensitivities were callous to the depravities of belly dancing could not be trusted to serve kosher food.

Justice Eliezer Rivlin wrote that his court accepted the distinction made in the Raskin case between "core" kashrut issues and considerations that were not directly pertinent.

Dr. Aviad Hacohen, dean of Sha'arei Mishpat Legal College and an expert in religion-state issues, predicted that the High Court's intervention in the Chief Rabbinate's decision-making would spark a religious war.

"We are likely to see a rekindling of old animosities between the Supreme Court and the rabbinate," said Hacohen. He pointed out that Sheinen was aligned with the more haredi stream of Orthodoxy and that Ashdod was heavily populated by the Ger Hassidic sect.

"I also think it is highly problematic for the High Court to make a distinction between 'core' kashrut issues and ones which in its eyes are not relevant," Hacohen said.

Meanwhile, Conforty said she was ecstatic.

"I've been waiting for three years for this decision," said Conforty, who added that without kosher certification her business had been failing.

"Finally I won. This is my baby," she said.

Conforty said that when she opened her first bakery in Gan Yavne in 2002 she enjoyed impressive business success. But after her faith was publicized in an article in a Messianic Jewish magazine, she suffered from demonstrations outside her bakery and posters with her picture distributed throughout the city warning that she was a missionary.

As a result, Gan Yavne Chief Rabbi Meshumar Tzabari revoked her kashrut certificate. At the time she did not fight Tzabari.

In 2006 she opened another bakery in Ashdod. But soon word got around that she was a Jew for Jesus and former customers and haredi anti-missionary groups began picketing her bakery while Sheinen revoked his certificate.

"I should be allowed to praise God in any way that I want," said Conforty, who grew up in a traditional Yemenite family. "No one can force their religious beliefs on me."

Conforty said that she "came to faith" while working in Ohio for an evangelical Christian family.

"God arranged it that I arrived at a place where there were Christians who love Israel more than most Jews do. Their love and faith were so different from the religion I learned at home that was based on fear. I was never taught to serve God out of love until then. They taught me that Yeshua is the messiah."

Conforty said that her gradual embracing of faith in Jesus put her marriage in jeopardy.

"I was on the verge of divorce and I prayed to God. I said to him, 'If Yeshua is messiah then you have to bring my husband back to me and make peace between us. No more than 10 minutes passed before my husband came to me and accepted the faith."

Conforty said that she did not actively proselytize. "But if someone shows an interest, I talk openly."

The Ha'aretz report:

Court rules rabbinate can't deny kashrut certificate to Messianic Jew's bakery
Tomer Zarchin • Ha'aretz

Following a lengthy legal battle, the High Court of Justice on Monday ordered the Ashdod Rabbinate to grant kashrut certification to a local bakery owned by a Messianic Jew. 

Justices Eliezer Rivlin, Yoram Danziger and Salim Joubran ruled that both the Ashdod Rabbinate and the Chief Rabbinate Council, which backed its decision, had exceeded the authority granted them by the Kashrut Law when they demanded that the bakery meet special conditions not demanded of other enterprises solely because the owner is a Messianic Jew. 

The bakery, Pnina Pie, is owned by Pnina Comporati, a 51-year-old resident of Gan Yavneh who grew up in a traditional Yemenite household. Sixteen years ago, however, while working in the United States, she became a Messianic Jew. 

In 2001, she opened the first branch of her bakery, in Gan Yavneh, and the Gan Yavneh Rabbinate immediately gave her a kashrut certificate. Later, however, her messianic faith became known, and in 2004, the rabbinate revoked her certificate. Comporati opted not to fight this decision. 

Two years later she opened her second bakery, in Ashdod. However, word of her messianic faith soon reached that town, and the kashrut certificate she had initially received was revoked there, as well. As a result, she said, she lost 70 percent of her business within three weeks. 

In July 2006, the Ashdod Rabbinate gave her a hearing, after which it wrote that because she believes in Jesus, she cannot be trusted to keep her bakery kosher. Therefore, it said, if she wanted a kashrut certificate, she would have to hire a full-time kashrut inspector, who would be on the premises whenever the business was open and have sole possession of the keys when it was closed. 

Comporati appealed this decision to the Chief Rabbinate Council. But while she was awaiting a hearing, the Gan Yavneh Rabbinate decided to restore her kashrut certificate - with no strings attached. 

The Chief Rabbinate Council, however, largely sided with the Ashdod Rabbinate, softening its terms only a little: It said she could obtain a kashrut certificate only if she hired someone whose kashrut could be trusted and who would be on the premises most of the day, and if she handed over the keys to a kashrut inspector every night. 

Comporati petitioned the High Court in 2007, arguing that the rabbinate had no right to set special conditions just because of her religious faith. That, she said, violated both her freedom of occupation and her freedom of religion. 

The rabbinate, backed by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, argued that the conditions it set were legitimate. But the court rejected this claim, saying the only considerations the rabbinate may consider in granting kashrut certificates are those directly related to kashrut. As long as the applicant's personal beliefs do not affect the kashrut of the food, the rabbinate has no right to discriminate on account of these beliefs, it ruled. 

Comments

[mr moe]

SICK!!!!

[SJ]

The government shouldn't even be involved in kosher supervision.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

sick? sick!
today gentile businesses also get
hechshers in america. and why not.
as long as they comply with kashrut requirements including employing jewish cooks.
those "sickened" among us -like previous posting-, really want them out of the country, out of sight, better yet dead probably.
at the end of the day, it is the market that will dictate if their businesses succeed or not.
and those who don't like them, will not shop or dine there. i wouldn't!

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

Jews for Jesus, Jews for Menachem: what's the difference?

[Greg]

I don't understand what the fuss is about. Where I live we buy kosher food from the supermarket all the time. Its a large multinational chain of stores with maybe one Jew on staff (orthodoxy unknown). Its all packaged foods! To get a heksher that enables the owner to cook and prepare food, one has to be assured of rabbinic supervision! The Supreme Court can not force orthodox rabbis or their mashgiakhs to supervise premises they don't want to supervise. So, no supervision, no heksher. That simple....it seems to me. After all, only the most trusted observant members of community would be allowed to operate under heksher without supervision (except occasional visit).

[Yochanan Lavie]

The teudah just certifies that the food is kosher, not the ideology. Caveat emptor. (Let the buyer beware).

[Dag]

Madoff T-Shirt!

http://www.printfection.com/purimtees/Madoff-Until-150-years-T-Shirt/_p_4084864

[Ahavah]

They give certificates to bakeries owned by Chabad messianics, don't they? This isn't any different.

[steve]

This bakery should not get a hashgocha based on a lack of neemanus when it comes to kashrus. Similarly, the Queens Vaad removed their hashgocha from Isaac Ebbstein the child molester. However, if the Messianic Jew/Jew for J/Meshichist was a shochet, then it would have greater halachic ramifications. When Rubashkin employed meshichist shochtim and was involved in all types of illegal and immoral activities, MMW and the OU looked the other way. Just to put things into their proper perspective, these bakeries pale into comparison to what went on in Postville. You cannot wash any of these kashrus concerns away with Avi Shafran's "poet who doesn't shower" analogy.

[steve]

This bakery should not get a hashgocha based on a lack of neemanus when it comes to kashrus. Similarly, the Queens Vaad removed their hashgocha from Isaac Ebbstein the child molester. However, if the Messianic Jew/Jew for J/Meshichist was a shochet, then it would have greater halachic ramifications. When Rubashkin employed meshichist shochtim and was involved in all types of illegal and immoral activities, MMW and the OU looked the other way. Just to put things into their proper perspective, these bakeries pale in comparison to what went on in Postville. You cannot wash any of these kashrus concerns away with Avi Shafran's "poet who doesn't shower" analogy.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Are the hot cross buns pas yisroel?

[David Willig]

Interesting. The Court is going to order the Rabbanut to give a hechsher. And if they don't? Then what? The Vatican ordered Galileo to say the Earth stood at the center of the solar system and the sun moved around it. Did that change the facts?
Yes, there are goyim that do kosher catering. The rabbis have certain demands that they do not have for Orthodox Jews. Why? Because a Christian, or a J for J may find it very amusing to put nonkosher ingrediants in the food. I think there should be a special label for the products of this store.It should read "Under the supervision of the High Court, not of the any Rabbis"

[Phil Norcom]

I have visited this bakery in Ashdod. The baked goods are the best in Israel! Pnina follows kosher guidlines perfectly! She is a wonderful host and servant to all of her customers. I pray that G-d will bless and prosper this woman for being so bold and unashamed to stand up for what she believes in. shalom and blessing upon all of Israel.

[steve]

FROM COMMENTS ON VIN:

There is a story concerning Rav Yehudah Leib Malbim ZT"L. A Jewish butcher in his city joined the Reform temple, and Malbim revoked the kashrus of his butcher store. The Jew went to the Austrian secular court and sued to get his kashrus back. The Austrians ordered the Malbim to return the kashrus approval to the butcher shop and to announce it in his shul. The Malbim said, "As you know, I revoked the kashrus certification from Ploni's butcher store because he openly violates the mitzvos, etc. However His Majesty the Kaiser Franz Josef yorum hodo, holds a different halachic opinion and according to His Majesty's kashrus the Ploni butcher store is kosher and all of you who rely on the Kaiser's halacha can eat from there."

[WoolSilkCotton]

It seems like the issue is that this merchant's motives and actions may not be above board. The goal is clearly to convert Jews to Christianity.
Leading Jews astray by serving kosher food intentionally laced with nonkosher food is what a lot of us suspect.

[Backseat Blogger]

most of the discussion here misses the point.

The point is not her religion. (for the record i despise jews for jesus as much as i despise jews for menahem).

The point is equality before the law. She should be treated as any other non jewish bakery that wants kosher certification.

Period. End of story.

[Dave Marshall]

I think our problem as Jews is that we have neglected theology. We should negatively, as in "I'm Jewish so I don't believe in Jesus Christ", we should put it positively as in "I am Jewish so I believe in the Creator of the Universe, who is far above man's puny understanding, therefore believing in any man or woman becoming divine is nonsense, illogical and blasphemy"
We should also study more Ramchal, Rambam, and Bachya ibn Pakuda, all of whom clearly repeatedly state, especially Ramchal and Bachya how greatly G-d loves us. If this lady baker had been exposed to this religious literature, I don't think she would have fallen into heresy (that's what it is, let's call a spade a spade).

[Proton Soup]

"Conforty had to hire a worker approved by Sheinen. This worker had to be paid by Conforty via the local religious council or via an employment agency, and not directly by Conforty, to prevent extortion."

oh my, the irony. let's extort the baker while claiming we need protection so she doesn't extort us. what a bunch of low-lifes.

[Dr. Dave]

She as well as any other messianic - including chabad bakery would need to:

1. Have a full time orthodox Jewish mashgiach - unaffiliated with the heretical movement - with the keys to the establishment

2. Have a sign in the window of equal size to the teudah and to any kashrut sign stating that this establishment is a missionary establishment who's aim is to lead Jews astray from torah.

3. Have a sigh in the window stating that the food is pas nochri.

[Yoel]

I don't have the full intricate details, but from reading the articles, it does sound like the Rabanut made a reasonable effort of provide for her to remain open and serve kosher baked goods with hashgachah based on sound halachic principles. Apparently she did not agree with their halachic decisions (is that a surprise??). But it is not for the storeowner to make the halachic decisions. In essence the Rabbinut give a take it or leave it offer. It is up to someone other than the storeowner to decide if the Rabanut is being principled (like perhaps another Rabanut). Keep in mind keeping kosher is not a religion..or..a science. It is part of the whole Torah paradigm, and many issues are at play besides "ingredients" in the food. I think it clear the Rabunut did all they could to accommodate this woman, and then the supreme court stepped in (and what do they have to do with Halachic decisions?)

[Ben]

rav Sheinen of Ashdod featured here is the very same person who during recent EJF convetion proclaimed that all converts should to be considered liars. He is the one of the perverts who are working tirelessly to transformed Judaism from religion of wisdom and brotherhood into religion of hate. It is people like this one who drive people into J for J and buddism and secularism and anti-theism...

I do not see how this woman would be capable to except "Sheinen special agreement" and stay in businness.

[Mezuzah]

Messianic is the right thing!