Lawmaker Yulia Malinowsky did a wonderful thing when she posted a video on TikTok celebrating the expected approval of the kashrut reform and congratulating Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana, who spearheaded the bill.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
In it, she jokingly wrote off several rabbinical certificates and praised a made-up "kashrut supervision by Malinowsky" license. Understandably, Kahana was not thrilled about the video, but what Malinowsky did was show the true essence of the reform.
In terms of kashrut supervision in Israel, the bill neither contributes nor detracts from the existing situation. After all, even according to the new outline, it's not that just anyone will be able to issue certificates. If that happened, the ultra-Orthodox community would switch to buying products certified by the higher rabbinical court (Badatz) alone, giving it a complete monopoly. And the Chief Rabbinate, by the way, is not completely out of the picture either. It will continue to be a powerful regulatory supervisor.
True, the kashrut reform boosts the Tzohar rabbinical organization, but they do not need support. Everyone knows that Tzohar is reliable, and whoever wants to already buys the products they certify. Whoever doesn't rely on this institution won't change their mind, no matter how many reforms get approved.
We must ask ourselves, then, what made Malinowsky so happy since clearly, she does not understand the reform? And the answer to this lies in the very opposition to the bill: the clear sense that such changes are welcome by lawmakers because they are an expression of the hatred toward the rabbinate and other rabbinical establishments.
In recent weeks, the rabbinate has been portrayed as a disorganized and inefficient institution that is overly stringent and expensive. The reform, in turn, was lauded as the move that would fix the system, which is clearly untrue.
The rabbinate suffers from a bureaucratic load just as any other Israeli institution, but it is efficient and professional. It is cheaper for business owners to work with them than with private corporations, and is much more convenient. Ask any kosher business owner and they will tell you the same.
But most Israelis will buy into any accusation against the rabbinate. Their dislike of the rabbinical institutions has nothing to do with the quality of service they provide. It is the direct result of the prejudice and opposition to the very existence of the rabbinate, and no reform can remedy that.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
