Tel Aviv Rabbinate Bans Figs, Asparagus

"This is absolute nonsense that only makes people loathe religion. This isn't Judaism as I see it. The reason for all these orders is corruption and a desire to add more paid kashrut supervisors while milking more money out of restaurants and hotels in need of a kashrut certificate."

Tel Aviv Rabbinate Bans Figs, Asparagus
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Tel Aviv’s chief rabbinate has banned figs and asparagus ahead of the High Holidays even though the fig is one of the seven fruits of the Land of Israel mentioned in the Torah, and under rabbinic law a special blessing must be recited after eating it.

A letter sent to the hotels signed by Rabbi Shimon Baloka of the Tel Aviv Chief Rabbinate's Kashrut Department forbade the hotels from serving the produce for fear it contains minute bugs.

The president of the Israel Hotel Association Ami Federman was reportedly enraged by the letter, telling Ynet that the letter "is a wonderful example of the delusional world these people are creating, without being supervised by anyone, without being subject to any authority.

"The Rabbinate has decided to remove one of the Seven Species from hotels' menus, using ridiculous claims about worms and vermin. I don't know of anyone who has seen a worm in their fig or asparagus at home. I also don't know anyone who doesn't check if their apple has sand in it or is rotten.

"This is absolute nonsense that only makes people loathe religion. This isn't Judaism as I see it. The reason for all these orders is corruption and a desire to add more paid kashrut supervisors while milking more money out of restaurants and hotels in need of a kashrut certificate."

[Hat Tip: Yosef Ben Matityah.]

Comments

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

It's a tzius thing. Too phallic.

[The Anti-Schmendrick]

The rabbinate did not ban those foods. They don't think the hotels have enough competent supervisors to check them, especially when some hotels buy produce from cheap sources that don't use proper pest control. Therefore, and rightfully so, they don't trust the hotels to serve these foods.

I have found worms in figs. One look at a fig and you see it is a breeding ground for insects.

[A. Nuran]

Extortion Jewish style

[Steven]

Asparagus has been banned in Australia for over a decade now because of thrips (bugs). If you follow halacha of not eating bugs, then you can't complain that you can't asparagus and certainly not say the rabbis are crazy to ban it.

[Bassy the Haredi Slayer]

Unfortunately a lot of our food contains bugs and bugs parts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/opinion/13levy.html?_r=1

You may be grossed out, but insects and mold in our food are not new. The F.D.A. actually condones a certain percentage of “natural contaminants” in our food supply — meaning, among other things, bugs, mold, rodent hairs and maggots.

In case you’re curious: you’re probably ingesting one to two pounds of flies, maggots and mites each year without knowing it,

Rabbi Blumenkrantz from the Laws of Passover book decided to stop eating vegetables and subsequently died of malnutrition.

[Nic]

I live in Australia and Asparagus is not banned?!

We eat it almost every day, it can be bought at every supermarket.

[Shmarya]

Rabbi Blumenkrantz from the Laws of Passover book decided to stop eating vegetables and subsequently died of malnutrition.

Posted by: Bassy the Haredi Slayer | September 16, 2012 at 12:53 AM

He stopped eating most green vegetables and leafy vegetables and most fruits, but he did NOT die of malnutrition – although his ability to resist disease was certainly weakened by his bizarre, OCD diet.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I think he means banned by hairydim, but i have nt heard of it.

[David]

Keep it up guys! I am right on the verge of stopping keeping kosher as it is.

[Hamish McHorny]

David, may I suggest that your decision as to keeping kashrut should be your own based on your own development as a person and not an emotional gag reflex to anyone else's behaviour.

Shana Tova

[Yosef ben Matitya]

cherchez chabad.
if aspargus was not on the table of the alter rebbe, aspargus becomes ipso facto inedible.
figs? they sure didn't have in the pale of settlement, likewise, inedible.
and what did they eat in the pale of settlement? potato, shmaltz, herring sausage & vodka. (probably in the healthier reverse order).
and of course gefilte fish under chassidish supervision, otherwise carps could harbor vermin too.
everything else is treife.

[PulpitRabbi]

We allow these when a competent mashgiach is present, as I am sure the Tel Aviv rabbinate would, too. From experience, however, I have to report that depending on the quality, one may frond worms in anything from a negligible proportion (fresh, high quality figs), to well over ten percent. And the bugs aren't minute, they can be long, fig see colored worms. Non Jewish factory managers who saw my demonstration checking figs were quite surprised and dismayed at what they serve in some of their fare.

[The Anti-Schmendrick]

Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz AH was diabetic and in ill health all his life. He could not eat strawberries and some of the other fruits he did not recommend because of their sugar content. He did not ban anything for anyone else, as was made very clear in the introduction to every year's Pesach guide.

Those who took the time to read the guide knew who he really was. If anything, his guide saved me much unnecessary work and expense especially when I was involved with Chabad sedorim abroad.

[Shmarya]

Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz AH was diabetic and in ill health all his life. He could not eat strawberries and some of the other fruits he did not recommend because of their sugar content. He did not ban anything for anyone else, as was made very clear in the introduction to every year's Pesach guide.…

Posted by: The Anti-Schmendrick | September 16, 2012 at 05:07 AM

Idiot.

Diabetics actually have to eat fruit and other items with types of sugar in them as part of the attempt to regulate their blood sugar.

Blumenkrantz was OCD and a fool, and he very publicly stopped eating most vegetables and fruits because an OCD fear of bugs – NOT because of his health.

His eating choices actually made his health worse.

[amused]

Shmarya, did you actually know him? Rabbi Blumenkrantz was likely one of the most
G-d fearing individuals of our generation. What he did, he did out of his fear of heaven. May his memory be for a blessing.

[Just Curious]

Blumenkrantz was a very nice OCD man. He was nuts about bugs and chumras. He did allow sham sales of chometz though.

[Jeff]

What he did, he did out of his fear of heaven.

A lot of what people in your world think is being done out of "fear of heaven" is in fact being done, as Shmarya said, as a result of mental illness.

[Barry]

Nonsense, bugs are good for you. They are juicy and nutritious ang gives the food that very special exotic flavor to enhance the yom tov spirit.

[Apostate]

How infantalizing.

Here's a revolutionary idea: Why not think for yourself, and not let other people tell you what to eat?

[SkepticalYid]

Posted by: PulpitRabbi | September 16, 2012 at 04:05 AM

For thousands of years, Jews ate figs. Their consumption of figs predates the use of pesticides. Would you expect us to believe that for centuries, figs had no worms?

[Rebitzman]

Diabetics actually have to eat fruit and other items with types of sugar in them as part of the attempt to regulate their blood sugar.

No. No we do not. In fact we have to be extremely selective and sensitive as to what fruits we cannot tolerate and stay away from those we cannot. I had to avoid all fruit for 2 years, at which point I was able to slowly integrate berries into my diet...........

And the issue is not sugar - it is carbs.

I am extremely fortunate in that I have lost 80 pounds over the last three years and have my diabetes under control to the point where I can eat any fruit (in moderation) now but the majority of folks in my circle would be better off eating a lollipop than they would a banana.

That said - I have a solution:

Let's buy there rabbis microscopes. Really GOOD microscopes. Microscopes that will reveal anything and everything that lives on our food.

We do it today, the entire movement with starve to death before Hannukah.

[Jeff]

Would you expect us to believe that for centuries, figs had no worms?

In those days, the figs were at a higher madrega. No fig today can possibly operate on the same level as a fig of yesteryear.

[jancsipista]

jeff-hahahahahah thats a good one,youre 100per cent right they are mentally ill disturbed and deranged

[WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar]

The frumma want fruits and vegetables grown with extra heavy doses of pesticides, while the normal people of this planet want as little of those poisons as possible.

Let the frumma have their wish, and let certain farms apply extra insect poison for frumma customers.

[Expatriate Owl]

"A letter sent to the hotels signed by Rabbi Shimon Baloka of the Tel Aviv Chief Rabbinate's Kashrut Department forbade the hotels from serving the produce for fear it contains minute bugs."

Actually, it is the two-legged kind of bugs who are the real problem!

[SkepticalYid]

Posted by: Jeff | September 16, 2012 at 08:10 AM

Good one! Another possibility is that in days of yore they had super-vision and would vaporize the bugs on sight.

[WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar]

You must not eat figs, but you can suck a bleeding penis.

What a wonderful religion.

[Barry]

a desire to add more paid kashrut supervisors

Ho sick! Don't they know that Haredim are not supposed to work! They are to be in yeshiva learning - no work is permitted!

What chutzpah!

[Jeff]

Good one! Another possibility is that in days of yore they had super-vision and would vaporize the bugs on sight.

They didn't need to. The yidden in those days were all so heilige that they were able to consume treife substances and liberate the sparks.

[Reb Chaim]

It's a new year and so I suppose we have to have a new dose of stupidity to celebrate it. I have a fig tree in my yard and have found that as long as the figs are not attacked by wasps, birds or insects, the skin remains intact and all that must be done before eating them is to wash and dry them. But if the little critters get at them first, they should be discarded.

[zibble]

The hard part about figs is that the insides themselves look like worms! I'm sure there are occasional worms & such in figs, but I've NEVER found them. Nor have I seen them in raspberries - unlike that Star-K (IIRC) scare tactic video - and I've checked frequently. Broccoli, almost never and as a result I do only a cursory check now based on the rov. ROMAIN is probably the biggest vegetable issue for those who care about bugs - for sure ya gotta check (ironically, the most infested batch I ever go was "aleh katif", supposedly bug-free.)

[zibble]

(PS - haven't read all the comments & has probably already been mentioned):

"U'shmartem es Nafshoseichem" doesn't seem to be taken too strictly in the chareidi community, what with the habit of their gedolim and askanim to lengthen the banned list of some of the healthiest foods around...

[Jeff]

I have a fig tree in my yard and have found that as long as the figs are not attacked by wasps, birds or insects, the skin remains intact and all that must be done before eating them is to wash and dry them. But if the little critters get at them first, they should be discarded.

Actually, the fig depends upon a family of wasps for pollination. I don't think the fruit can be produced otherwise. The mature female enters the fruit and becomes trapped and dies after laying her eggs. Apparently, the fruit contains enzymes that dissolve the body of the female, the egg remains and whatever young fail to find their way out.

I don't know if the "worms" they've been finding are the larval form of the wasp, or of other species that invade afterward. In any case, I'm a little squeamish; ever since I learned this, I haven't eaten figs (not that I was crazy about them beforehand).

[Baltimore Yid]

I believe so many of the chumrot we are supposed to observe were created by an uneducated rabbanut. In turn these "super" chumrot will provide them with an income. It's done under the guise of observance but in reality it's just another scam. I'm so sick of all of it.

[Cattleya]

Yes, figs contain bugs, and they must! ( http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/insects-arachnids/fig-wasp.htm ). At least one female fig-wasp burrows into the fig to transfer pollen from the male flowers. She perishes in the process, but not to worry, powerful fig enzymes dissolve her corpse. (The crunchy stuff is seeds.) The males suffer the same fate within the inedible male fig. All this was probably known to the ancient Greeks who, some argue, incorporated images of the wasp on their coinage( http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?param=81795q00.jpg&vpar=592&zpg=25970 .)
So why are the rebbes in such high (and ignorant) dudgeon? Perhaps the crypto-Christianity which many of us believe undergirds Messianism is showing .. Mark 11:12-14 see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursing_the_fig_tree.

[jancsipista]

Theese rabbis need to get rid of the bugs in their friggish mind AND STOP BEING IDIOTS.

[MM]

"Diabetics actually have to eat fruit and other items with types of sugar in them as part of the attempt to regulate their blood sugar.

No. No we do not. In fact we have to be extremely selective and sensitive as to what fruits we cannot tolerate and stay away from those we cannot. I had to avoid all fruit for 2 years, at which point I was able to slowly integrate berries into my diet...........

And the issue is not sugar - it is carbs."

Rebbitzman, your information is in error. First of all, the various forms of sugar (fructose, glucose, lactose) ARE the sources of carbohydrates, as are the starches which turn into sugars as part of the digestive process.

If by "sugar" you specifically mean granulated table sugar, then you have a point. The issue for a diabetic is carbs, and something sweetened with table sugar can be acceptable if the total number of carbs in the consumed portion fits the number permissible according to the individual's specific prescribed diet plan.

The typical diabetic diet plan is based on exchanges, specified portion sizes of fruits, dairy products, starches, and non-starchy vegetables. These exchanges are the interchangeable building blocks of each meal. Fruit is an integral part of a diabetic's diet. Berries (including strawberries) are relatively low-carb (meaning a diabetic exchange of berries is a larger portion than an exchange of, say, pears), as well as being high in nutritional value and anti-oxidants. Other relatively low carb fruits are melons and avocados. A diabetic who avoids fruits and vegetables is undermining his health.

Now I am an old woman, and it's been a long time since I learned the laws of kashruth and a long time since I followed them, but I learned that when it comes to kashruth if you can't see it with the naked eye it isn't there. Now I think it would be a very rare person, Jew or non-Jew who, upon seeing a creepy-crawly in his food, would eat it. Any normal person would either remove the creepy-crawly or throw the whole food item in the garbage. So what is the hysteria? If you see some sort of worm in your fig, don't eat it. Problem solved. If some insect antenna got into the strawberries that were cooked for preserves and got mashed into the pulp so that it can't been seen, then it's not there, and the preserves can be eaten. Have the rules changed since I was a girl? Or is all of this worm and insect hysteria just a way for some people to throw their authoritarian weight around--and make money?

[Igor]

Idiots

[Yosef ben Matitya]

Shmarya, did you actually know him? Rabbi Blumenkrantz was likely one of the most
G-d fearing individuals of our generation.

I volunteer that I myself, never met him. But the guides he produced say it all. Everything is treif unless proven otherwise. No doubt the man suffered of multiple faceted ocd's.

[Rebitzman]

@MM

No I am not. You are dead wrong - especially if you are diabetic and follow your own advice. Old fashioned and wrong.

White bread, white rice .....empty carbs have a much bigger impact than do simple sugars on the long term measures A1C.

The "sugars" as we used to call diabetes are far better understood today, and we better understand that while all sugars are carbs, not all carbs are sugars. You watch the carbs - the sugar handles itself.

And I never said or advocated staying away from vegetables - fruits ARE problematic. A single banana holds more carbs than a diabetic is allowed in an entire meal - an apple almost as much.

[Rebitzman]

@MM

I do agree on strawberries. Only 12 grams of carbs per serving. Slightly more for blueberries.

Point is - In the long run, watch carbs I've sugar

[SkepticalYid]

Posted by: Rebitzman | September 16, 2012 at 05:09 PM

I'm curious, if you don't mind. Why is carb content more important then glycemic index?

[mimi]

Every fig has a wasp inside of it. That's just how they are made.

Cattelya had it right.

[Bassy the Haredi Slayer]

It is erev Rosh Hashana so just to say a good thing about rabbi Blumenkrantz , in one of his last booklets he said that you can have certain Ben and Jerry ice cream in Passover without a specific supervision. That was way Kewl!

[MM]

No, Rebitzman, all carbohydrates are saccharides. The term carbohydrate is used a little differently in biochemistry than it is in food science. In food science, there are complex carbohydrates (the starches) and sinple carbohydrates (the "sugars"). The digestive process breaks the complex carbohydrates into simple carbohydrates. So for dietary purposes, carbs are sugars and starches.

Now there is such a thing as glycemic index. Not all grams of carbohydrate are equal. A gram of carbohydrate derived from some foods raises blood sugar (glucose) levels more than a gram of carbohydrate derived from other foods. So 15 grams of white potato will have a greater impact on blood sugar than 15 grams of sweet potato. Some fruits are less desirable in terms of blood sugar control than other fruits. But to say as you did in your initial comment that fruits in general should not be a part of a diabetic's diet is just in error.

A diabetic should consult a qualified dietitian to plan a suitable diet. Numerous charts are available which list carbohydrate counts and glycemic index for every imaginable food. Carb info is available on every packaged food, and some actually list the diabetic exchange value of a serving of the food on the label. Thus a diabetic has the tools to plan meals appropriate for the condition and the type of medication prescribed.

But a blanket prohibition on fruits and vegetables in a diabetic diet is just dangerously wrong. And, no, I don't eat bananas (I hate them anyway), and I do eat berries which are just fine in every respect. And if I should see a bug in my strawberry, I promise I won't eat it.

And all you non-diabetics, enjoy your yontiff apples and honey and honey cake.

[Audrey the Liberal]

God Hates Figs!

[Pagan]

"Asparagus has been banned in Australia for over a decade now."

That is a damned lie:

http://www.asparagus.com.au/index.php/home/

[Jeff]

"Asparagus has been banned in Australia for over a decade now."

That is a damned lie:

He meant by rabbinic authorities.

[Home Postville]

You know, figs do bear a resemblance to little boobs. Between the debate over circumcision rites and the shapes that fruits and veggies come in these days, one has to be more careful of what you put in your mouth!

[Steven]

"Asparagus has been banned in Australia for over a decade now."

I meant by Rabbinic authorities. Thanks Jeff. A lot of silly comments above. If you want to keep kosher, then do as much as you can. If you can't live without asparagus and although the Rabbis have said that all Australian crops are infested with bugs and hence they are not kosher, then eat asparagus. If you can't live without waiting one hour after milk to eat meat, then wait as much as you can. But just don't say "I am fully kosher".

[Tikvah]

FYI "There are trillions upon trillions of microbes living on and in the human body.

To put this in perspective, Jeffrey Gordon, a professor at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, who studies the microbes that live on and in us, offers this factoid: "We think that there are 10 times more microbial cells on and in our bodies than there are human cells. That means that we're 90 percent microbial and 10 percent human."

Seriously, bugs everywhere. Guarding against them is utterly futile.

[spacedout BT]

unlike vegetables fresh figs usually don't get cooked into recipes but get served whole and raw as appetizers and platters.In kosher establishments in the USA the guest is served a whole fruit and is expected to do his/her own checking as part of caveat emptor. There are species of wasps that exclusively seek ripening fresh figs to lay their eggs. This is a concern but now I fear another wholesome source of nutrients is being banned from the Orthodox roadmap and its only a matter of time before the ban reaches the US

[spacedout BT]

HaRav Blumenkrantz a"h never ossured fresh fruit but issued a caveat about opening fruit with a knife and looking inside the flesh and the seeds. R, Blumenkrantz also confirmed the principle of his rebbe Ha Rav Moshe Feinstein a"h about permitting use of quinoa on Pesach while the Badatz still ossured it.

[Ynot]

I am all against eating bugs, the thought grosses me out. But I must say that Moses and Abraham did not have microscopes. I would venture to say that if they could not see it with their bare eyes, they munched down and enjoyed every bite.

[PulpitRabbi]

@SkepticalYid wrote:
For thousands of years, Jews ate figs. Their consumption of figs predates the use of pesticides. Would you expect us to believe that for centuries, figs had no worms?

They did like I do whenever eating a fig, they opened the fruit and looked. It's really easy.

But when you have to do two crates for a restaurant, or a larger quantity of dried ones for an industrial operation (dried figs are much more often infested, fresh ones are, as long as the skin is intact, in a much, much better shape), the mashgiach needs some skill.