The same old Discussion

B"H

In the summer of 1996, I was about to start my second Ulpan (Hebrew language course) in Kibbutz Givat Brenner. Givat Brenner is one of the biggest Kibbutzim in Israel and usually well - known for its "Disney Land" the "Beit Chalomotai - The House of your Dreams". Of course, haredi readers can make their regular claim that all the Kibbutzim are totally secular and the members are leftists.
Leftist Zionists.

This is still true today. The majority of Kibbutzim is secular although there are a few religious Kibbutzim. Not according to haredi standards but more or less national religious.
Kibbutz Givat Brenner is the prototype of a secular Kibbutz. It has a small synagogue but it takes ages until a Minyan gets together on Shabbat. And pork is available in the dining room.
Nevertheless, the Kibbutz itself is quite nice and its location very central; only two kilometers (about one mile) from Rehovot.

When we new Ulpan students arrived, the former students went on a farewell trip to the beach. Organized by the Kibbutz.
We newcomers were invited to join. Soon the Ulpan manager started a barbecue and put all kinds of meat on the grill. And guess what the meat mostly consisted of ?
Yes, right, of pork.

The Kibbutz justified itself by saying that pork is cheaper than kosher meat and the Kibbutz has not much money. Almost nothing at all to be more precise.

The problem was that the Ulpan manager only announced the treife meat when we were already in the middle of our meal.
Surprise, surprise.
An American girl had asked about the kosher meat and he just started laughing.
"Kosher ? Are you nuts ? We are a Kibbutz."

Many Ulpan students were not what you would call religious. However, many of them were very upset and immediately threw the meat away. They were disgusted but the Ulpan manager kept on laughing. Well, we are not in Mea Shearim and therefore "welcome to reality".

I have to admit that this incident really destroyed our trip. By the way, the only people who kept on eating where the Russians. Who else could it be ? - (saying this with Israeli sarcasm)

My point is that many Jews from abroad, and it doesn't matter if religious or not, expect kosher food in Israel. Israel is still our homeland and a Jewish country. And in a Jewish country the food must be automatically kosher. But as soon as you land at Ben Gurion Airport, you have to face reality being anything but Mea Shearim. And especially now before Pessach you should prepare yourself.

Every year again, the same old discussion starts anew. Can Jewish shops and restaurants sell Chametz (wheat products) on Pessach ? The orthodox say NO, many secular say YES.

The difference between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is enormous. Whereas in Jerusalem Jewish tradition more or less rules, Tel Aviv is just a mess. Selling Chametz during Pessach is strictly forbidden according to the municipality law. However, many stores decide to sell it despite the issur. Profit counts and as there are many Jewish Israelis who consider the issur of Chametz as a violation of their individual rights, the shop owners see the great demand. They keep on selling Chametz, make huge profits but also take into consideration that the municipality is fining them. Okay, let's pay some thousand Shekel fine but on the other hand, let's earn thousands of Shekels more.

Every year again, I am asking myself what it makes so hard for Jews to keep Pessach. Seven days without Chametz, so what ? Can't we eat anything else and still be happy ? What about Pizza made of Mazzemehl (Mazze flour) ? And haven't we enough to replace everything anyway ? We still have Mazze cake and biscuits. Even for people who don't eat Gebrochts or Kidniot.

Unfortunately, even in Jerusalem we have plenty of shops providing their customers with Chametz. Just go downtown to Hillel Street and you can see something. The worst is, however, that just like in Givat Brenner, many treife shops don't let their customers know that the food includes Chametz. You have to ask first and if not, eat Chametz and be happy. The shop owner will laugh at you just like our former Ulpan manager.

Links:

The Shass party against Chametz

Chametz fines

Kibbutz Givat Brenner