Court action involving the refusal by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate to supervise kosher slaughter at a new cooperative abattoir in the Negev was dropped here today when lawyers for the abattoir requested cancelation of an order by the Supreme Court for a hearing on the case which had been scheduled for September 1.
The case arose in connection with the withdrawal of kashruth certificates by the rabbinate from those markets selling meat supplied by the new, large Marbek Abattoir in Kiryat Malachi, after the latter employed as a supervisor a rabbi not recognized by the rabbinate. Marbek was unable to secure a supervisor recognized by the rabbinate because the cooperative refused to comply with certain conditions it said were “unreasonable.”
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the Chief Rabbinate is not exempt from replying to an order from the high tribunal and, in that respect, is no different from any other public body in the State. The court postponed a hearing on the merits of the case until September 1, to give the Chief Rabbinate an opportunity to appear in court in response to the show cause order granted the abattoir lawyers.
The granting of the show-cause order by the Supreme Court met with sharp criticism on the part of rabbinical authorities here, who viewed it as an “intolerable” interference by a secular court into an issue based purely on “halachah” (Jewish religious laws.) The settlement, which was reported to be based on proposals by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Isser Yehuda Unterman, appears to have headed off a collision between the Chief Rabbinate and the lay authorities.
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.
