The highly controversial kashrut reform spearheaded by Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana is expected to be approved soon, Israel Hayom has learned from sources involved in the matter. 

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The wording of the bill has reportedly been finalized and will be approved as part of the Arrangements Law, which is a bill presented to the Knesset each year alongside the State Budget Law. It incorporates various economic and financial legislation amendments needed for the government to fulfill its economic policy.

According to the final version of the bill, by 2023, private companies will also be able to be certified to provide kashrut licenses for businesses, as opposed to the current supervisors, who work for local religious councils and therefore for the Chief Rabbinate.

The coming year will be a transition period for establishing the systems and regulations needed to implement the change.

In addition, approval from the Rabbinate will not be required for the establishment of a kashrut licensing institution. As per the reform, three ordained rabbis will be able to establish such a company and be able to grant kashrut certificates. 

Religious councils will no longer be limited to their respective locales and will be able to issue kashrut certificates throughout the country. Also, private companies will be able to license kosher products from abroad, thus facilitating import. 

The request from representatives of the Reform Judaism denomination – to amend the bill in a way that would allow them to provide such licenses as well – was denied by Kahana from the start.

The Rabbinate and the ultra-Orthodox community and Knesset members have outright rejected the reform, claiming it would "destroy kashrut" in Israel. They also said contrary to statements by Kahana, the legislation would not make matters easier for kosher business owners. 

The Tzohar rabbinical organization, meanwhile, has come out publicly against the Chief Rabbinate and in favor of reforms to Israel's system of kashrut certification.

In a position paper obtained by Israel Hayom in August, Tzohar pointed out a series of problems with how food vendors currently obtain kashrut certificates.

If Kahana's reform is enacted, the Tzohar kashrut supervision, which is currently in use but forbidden to feature the word "kosher," will be able to supply its services to thousands of businesses.

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Following the High Court of Justice's decision this week to recognize Reform and Conservative conversions under the Law of Return, United Torah Judaism faction chairman MK Yitzhak Pindrus opted for harsh language in discussing female immigrant IDF soldiers who convert to Judaism while in the military as part of the Nativ program.

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Speaking at a conference sponsored by the religious news website Kipa and ITIM – The Jewish Life Advocacy Center, Pindrus said, 'I'm not willing to compromise on even a single 'shiksa' or goy becoming part of Israel because I want to be pluralistic and nice. That won't happen."

After MK Tehila Friedman (Blue and White) made an outraged response to these comments, Pindrus upped the ante and said, "She [the soldier] is a shiksa, a goy. If she converted through the IDF, she isn't Jewish according to Jewish law. If someone marries her. His father should sit shiva for him, rend his clothing, and say Kaddish."

Pindrus' remarks drew fire from politicians. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said that "MK Pindrus' remarks are primitive and sad. What female IDF soldier is he talking about? The women combat soldiers in the Caracal Battalion? The female Border Police at the checkpoints? The lookouts on the Gaza border?

"These wonderful young women you call 'shiksas' are saving your life," Lapid said.

MK Yair Golan (Meretz) also condemned Pindrus' comments, saying "MK Pindrus is under pressure because they are taking away his monopoly on Judaism, so he is humiliating kosher Jews who don't espouse his failed approach."

Rabbi Seth (Shaul) Farber, chairman of ITIM, said in response to the wave of controversy that "We cannot ignore attacks on righteous converts who serve in the IDF and work on behalf of the people of Israel. MK Pindrus' works prove that the Haredi parties aren't afraid of non-Orthodox conversion, but rather of losing their control over the religious establishment and the conversion process."

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A number of leading religious Zionist rabbis have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of Reform Judaism.

The rabbis' letter, published last week, said that "Recently, we regret to say that barriers are being broken down and some rabbis are holding meetings and discussions about the Torah with representatives of the Reform Movement, as we supposedly have a 'shared rabbinical discourse' with them."

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According to the signatories of the letter, "One may certainly love every Jewish person, but that does not mean, heaven forbid, allowing cooperation with representatives of the Reform movement that has taken away the Torah and is even now fighting against everything that is sacred in our country: conversion, the Western Wall, Jewish marriage, and more."

The open letter was published on the heels of a call last week by Chief Sephardi Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who attacked Rabbi Eliezer Melamed for his ties to the Reform community.

Yosef said that Reform Jews "faked" the Torah and "destroyed everything that was good in the Jewish people," and that "they must be kept at a distance so that not even a single person will listen to them in these meetings and follow their path."

Head of the Reform Movement in Israel, Rabbi Gilad Kariv, said in response to the rabbis' letter: "In the midst of a public health, social and economic crisis, prominent rabbis are choosing to spread hate and discord in Israeli society and among the Jewish people, rather than encouraging dialogue, moderation, and tolerance.

"The fact that some of them hold public office only worsens the ramifications of their inappropriate behavior," Kariv said.

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Those who regularly attend synagogue and who planned to hold a religious celebration in the coming days were particularly worried, as the new restrictions could severely disrupt their way of life.

As a result, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau issued on Thursday new guidelines aimed at providing some answers to perplexed Israelis who want to uphold their daily religious duties even as they abide by the governmental edicts.

The post Should COVID-19 postpone weddings? Chief rabbi sorts out halachic mess appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

A spokesman for Education Minister Rafi Peretz confirmed Tuesday that Peretz said that "assimilation is like the Holocaust" in a July 1 session.

Peretz is leader of the national-religious Habayit Hayehudi party, which ran in recent elections as part of the United Right list, and is a former chief military rabbi.

Much of the American Jewish community abides by more liberal streams of Judaism, whereas Orthodoxy prevails among Israeli Jews.

Relations between North American Jews and the Israeli government have been strained in recent years after plans for a mixed-gender prayer area at the Western Wall were scrapped in 2017, and over differing opinions about US President Donald Trump.

The post Education minister: 'Intermarriage is akin to second Holocaust' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.