A company attempting to bring kosher-for-Pesach pizzas into Israel from overseas encountered an unexpected requirement from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate.
Rabbi Avi Kozman of the Chief Rabbinate informed the company that in order to obtain kosher certification, the pizza must have a “mountain of cheese” at its center, according to a report by Ynet.
The Chief Rabbinate clarified that the purpose of this requirement was to distinguish the kosher-for-Passover pizza from regular pizzas that are consumed throughout the year.
Additionally, the Rabbinate specified that the shape of the pizza must be altered from round to either square or rectangular. In a letter sent to the importer, the Chief Rabbinate demanded: “In the center of the pizza, there must be double the amount of cheese, so that it creates a shape resembling a mountain.”
The importer responded, explaining that fulfilling such requirements would be unfeasible, since the pizzas are prepackaged in cartons. Adding more cheese would increase the importer’s costs by approximately 15%, which would result in an 8-10% increase in the retail price of the product in Israel.
“Why does the Chief Rabbinate demand changing the shape of the pizza, if the package clearly states, ‘Kosher for Pesach under the supervision of the Chief Rabbinate,’ both on the front and on the side of the package?” the importer questioned.
{Matzav.com Israel}
Because the importer went to the press to complain, if I were the Rabanut, I would tell him to pound sand. Don’t go wash your smelly gatkes in public! The fact is the rabanut does not have to give you certification on anything. They could have simply told you no which probably would have been a better answer .
They can add food coloring if they dont like to change shape. But when someone is holding the end product there needs to be a noticeable difference.
Nice hit piece on the rabbinate. Please don’t publish one-sided complaints. This does nothing to encourage halachic observance, rather to the contrary. This only alienates the people that won’t do their own research as to what might have triggered the rabbinate to require something like this.
this is just the opposite. its not a “hit piece’. kuddos to the Rabbinate
Come join us in Orlando. We don’t have such pesky shialos. We’re good.
I’m not sure I follow.
Cheese melts.
If you have a mountain of cheese in the center, it will simply melt and spread out as it is baked
Maybe, just maybe, the fressers can do without the imitation pizza for 8 days. It’s Pesach, you know.
Because when it’s out of the box, on a table, it needs to look, and feel like Pesach food. For your sake, and for clarity of anyone involved in serving the food.
When you are hungry and tired, confusion happens easily. Your right brain is your only line of defense. The shape, or feel of the food might be the only thing that protects you from eating non-kosher. Or kares, ch”v.
If you’ve ever needed to live in a non-Jewish environment for school, work, or other necessary reasons… you know that without certain boundaries, protection is reduced. Mistakes are inevitable. Repetition of mistakes add confusion to the mind.
If you’ve ever spent Pesach in a non-Jewish hospital, you would definitely understand.
Respect the wisdom of Rabbanim who have accepted responsibility to protect you from timtum halev!
They can’t refrain from such FRESEREI for 1 week??? This is nothing but Ben Sorer uMore, Zolel VeSove.
Will that make it more expensive as it has extra cheese?
As a seasoned balebuste, I’m not embarrassed to admit that in my Pesach cooking, I have often found myself riffling through the garbage to verify that a commercial product I used is indeed labeled Kosher for Passover! Some items just taste and look too much like chometz! And one year, when shopping during Chol Hamoed Pesach, I found a completely Chometzdik pie crust sitting in the middle of its Pesach lookalike. It was the only chometz one in a dedicated Pesach section. Which suggests that possibly a bunch of chometz pie crusts sold that year as Pesachdik. So its very important that a chometz lookalike is made distinctly different for Pesach.
This is a very important point, Zumy. Thank you.