The Tzohar Food Supervision initiative, which provides kosher certificates to a variety of restaurants across Israel, is now in the advanced stages of a secret deal to go into business with the official hotels association in a major tourism city in Israel, Israel Hayom has learned.
Over the last few months, the Tzohar subsidiary has stepped up its efforts to enter the hotel business in Israel and around the world, with the express aim of expanding its reach.
In Israel, millions of people observe kashrut dietary laws, which stipulate which foods can be eaten and which are prohibited. In the past, the Chief Rabbinate completely monopolized the field, exclusively issuing kashrut certificates, but in recent years, Tzohar has entered the market and provides an alternative.
Generally speaking, Tzohar has defined its main objective as "identifying national Jewish issues and successfully evolving workable solutions in response." The group seeks to provide "accessible, contemporary, friendly, no-strings, can-do" religious services, particularly in areas where the Chief Rabbinate's stringent approach poses obstacles for Israelis seeking religious services.
Currently, Tzohar's food supervision subsidiary already provides kashrut certificates to leading hotels in Israel. Over the recent Hanukkah holiday, Tzohar provided kashrut supervision to a hotel in Nuweiba, a resort town in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
Israel Hayom has learned that in recent weeks, the alternative kashrut initiative has been approached by a large number of hotels looking to work with Tzohar on kashrut certification.
Likewise, in light of the initiative's success over Hanukkah, Tzohar plans to offer its certification services to hotels in Western Europe and in Africa over Passover, in the spring.
If the current talks succeed and Tzohar begins certifying major hotel chains, it will be a blow to the Chief Rabbinate, which currently dominates the hotel market.
"Tzohar is advancing to a new level in implementing its kashrut service," the head of the initiative, Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, told Israel Hayom. "Many hotels have been approaching us, seeking our kashrut service. Tzohar sees this as a vote of confidence from the industry, but also from the consumers, who want a stringent, transparent and reliable kashrut service."
