K A S H R U T . C O M_©

Knesset Debates Complaints that Restaurants Employing Olim Lose Kosher Certification

November 9, 2017 from the JewishPress:

"The Committee on Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs on Tuesday heard complaints that kosher certifications of restaurants are being revoked because they employ new immigrants."
"It is illegal to discriminate against anyone in employment, school, wages, or kosher certification, regardless of whether the person is a new immigrant or a long-time resident of Israel"
"According to Amichai Kreiger, head of the Chief Rabbinate’s Kashrut Fraud Division, the Jewishness of an employee in the food industry affects the measure of kashrut at the place of business. There are many non-Jewish workers in the food industry, and those who do not prepare food need not be Jewish. These procedures are anchored in regulations that were approved by the Knesset in 1988 in the framework of the Law Against Kashrut Fraud, way before the immigration from the Commonwealth of Independent States."
"Jerusalem Religious Council Chairman Yehoshua Yishai said, “According to the Halacha, only the person who cooks the food must be Jewish; the other workers do not have to be Jewish. "