A recent report that one of Israel's largest wineries discriminates against employees of Ethiopian descent at the order of the Badatz Eda Haredit kashrut supervision organization, has sparked a wave of backlash even in the ultra-Orthodox community.
The controversy erupted over an exposé by the Kan public broadcaster, which reported that a number of Ethiopian-Israeli employees at the Barkan Vineyards winery had been let go at the request of Badatz representatives, who argued that Jewish law forbade non-Jews from touching kosher wine.
According to the exposé, the Badatz decision reflected the organization's stance that Ethiopian-Israelis are "not Jewish enough," despite an unequivocal ruling by the late Sefardi Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef that Ethiopian Jews are Jewish according to all the parameters of Jewish law.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, to whose Shas party Yosef was a spiritual mentor, said that the rabbi had worked to ensure that Ethiopian Jews were brought to Israel.
"The winery workers are Jewish according to Jewish law. The people who fired them must not only rehire them but should ask their forgiveness," Deri said.
Current Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's son, stated that he viewed the orders issued "by those calling themselves a kashrut [supervisory] body, to bar religiously observant workers of Ethiopian descent from making wine, as very bad.
"There is no excuse for instructions like these, other than sheer racism. Ethiopian Jews are Jews in every aspect. It's very doubtful if a kashrut [supervisory] body that sees itself as supposedly strict, but averts its eyes from other Jews being embarrassed and harmed simply because of the color of their skin, can be trusted," Yosef said, adding that he intended to take action and use the full weight of the law to ensure that the matter was addressed and the "proper conclusions" reached.
Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Shlomo Amar also defended the Ethiopian-Israelis who were fired from the winery, arguing that they are full-fledged Jews and that the Badatz decision was wrong.
President Reuven Rivlin put out a statement in which he reminded the public that "Ethiopian Jews are the ones who for hundreds of years were willing to give their lives for their Jewishness and go through horrors to reach their ancestral land. We should remember this so there won't be more incidents like this one, and terrible mistakes like the one at the Barkan Vineyards can be rectified."
Zionist Union MK Shelly Yachimovich said, "I won't buy any more wine from Barkan Vineyards. I'm not calling for a boycott – I don't like boycotts. I just know myself well enough to know that when I'm shopping for the weekend meals, even if Barkan wine is on sale, my heart won't let my hand take a bottle off the shelf."
The Israel Association of Community Centers, which operates some 750 community centers nationwide, announced Tuesday that in light of Barkan Vineyards' actions, it would ban all of its centers and offices from purchasing Barkan wine.
Barkan Vineyards issued a statement on Tuesday in which it explained that it was not responsible for the discrimination against Ethiopian-Israeli employees and had merely taken steps to meet the stringent demands required for Badatz kashrut certification.
