Kashrut war heats up
THE Kashrut Authority (KA) has launched a scathing attack on Community Kashrut (CK), Sydney’s second kosher authority, stating that those behind it “have successfully hoodwinked a large portion of the community and its leadership”.
THE Kashrut Authority (KA) has launched a scathing attack on Community Kashrut (CK), Sydney’s second kosher authority, stating that those behind it “have successfully hoodwinked a large portion of the community and its leadership”.
The KA claimed in a letter, which a KA board member confirmed related to CK, that its licensees have been approached to leave the KA to “be able to operate without a mashgiach temidi [full-time kashrut supervisor]” to save costs.
“Those who tout accountability and transparency wish to set back the community over a quarter of a century in their aim to set up a kashrut that will be the least accountable and transparent by virtue of its lax standards,” the letter said.
“We will without doubt receive a whole rationale as to why no mashgiach will be fantastic, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time, and everyone sees through it.
“Those behind this have successfully hoodwinked a large portion of the community and its leadership in relation to the KA and now they want to hoodwink those who are observant of kashrut as well.”
But CK chairman David Sandler said that what is in the letter is “absolutely false”.
“The Va’ad HaRabbonim [which includes five communal rabbis], together with the supervising rabbi, have stated that full-time supervision is required under CK,” Sandler said.
“The accusation that we are lowering standards and changing everything is categorically wrong.
“I have come to expect unwarranted attacks and a lot of baseless accusations.
“We are focused on developing CK, not fighting with another player in the community, but nothing in the world of kashrut in this town surprises me.”
The AJN understands that at least one caterer and restaurant are close to switching from the KA to CK and that an announcement is expected within the next two months.
CK was established following a review into the state of kashrut in NSW by the Kashrut Commission of Inquiry (KCI), which conducted a 12-month investigation backed by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, Council of Orthodox Synagogues of NSW, United Israel Appeal and the JCA.
The report stated that the KA, which was previously the only widely used hechsher recognised in Sydney, needed structural reform and lacked transparency in relation to operations and finances.
It also stated that the community was not properly represented on the KA board, that the KA’s decision to force kosher establishments to use one or two suppliers when it came to meat was “not based on halachic considerations”, and that wholesale meat prices were 30 per cent lower in Victoria.
The AJN approached KA president Baron Revelman for comment but he declined.
JOSHUA LEVI
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