The Conservative movement in Israel will appeal to the Supreme Court unless the Jerusalem rabbinate reverses its decision not to renew the kashrut certification of the movement’s youth hostel on Agron Street here.
Rabbi Pesach Schindler, director of the World Center, for Conservative Judaism, told the Jerusalem Post Wednesday that the center adheres to the kashrut and Sabbath laws.
It has had a kashrut certificate from the local rabbinate for the 14 years since it opened. The sudden withdrawal occurred with no explanation.
The only reason seems to be that the Orthodox rabbis just found out that the hostel was affiliated with Conservative Judaism. Apparently it is the affiliation, not violation of the kashrut laws, that prompted the action.
Rabbi Yehoshua Pollak of the Jerusalem rabbinate said the hostel asking for a kashrut certificate was like a monastery asking for one. “The kitchen can be kosher, but our rabbis can’t go in there,” he said.
According to the rabbinate, the hostel is a place which “destroys the Jewish religion.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
