How did about 60 tons of frozen butter produced in Poland end up at a company's factory in Bnei Brak on Shabbat? The Chief Rabbinate's national unit for enforcing the law prohibiting fraud in kosher is also trying to solve this mystery.
In a letter sent last Wednesday by Rabbi Rafi Yochai, the director of the unit, to Rabbi Moshe Yosef, head of the Beit Yosef Badach, under the title "Inspection regarding the import of frozen butter by the Bescotti company" - he recounts the story of the incident:
""During an inspection conducted at the 'Biscotti' company in Bnei Brak by inspectors from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, it was found that approximately 60 tons of frozen butter were imported into Israel in a cumulative manner, which was produced in the Polmalek factory in Poland under your supervision based on Chalav Yisrael - kosher for Passover.
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""On the cardboard packaging there is a manufacturing label with a hologram from Badatz Beit Yosef attached, indicating that the manufacturing date was November 9, 2019. Upon inspection, it was found that this date fell on Shabbat!
""In addition, it was found that at the time of the audit at 'Biscotti', no application was submitted to the Import Department of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel by the importer to receive a kosher certificate.".
""On 3 Sivan 5770, a kashrut certificate was issued for the first time by Badatz Beit Yosef, relating to production on 9.11.2019, starting on the aforementioned Sabbath. This certificate was attached to the production report form that was filled out on 25.5.2020, which was only two days ago, for production that took place in November 2019, which was six months after production.".
The director of the National Unit for Enforcement of the Law Prohibition of Fraud in Kosher adds and specifies: "A review of the production report filled out by Rabbi Eyal Ephramy on your behalf and additional data indicates that the six supervisors from the Badatz Beit Yosef boarded the plane from Israel to abroad on November 4, 2019 and boarded the plane back on November 7, 2019 for the purpose of supervising milking and production, bearing in mind that they were supposed to ensure that the tanks were emptied and cleaned in advance, to cover the geographical spread of dairy farms, to supervise production and packaging while affixing the holograms.".
The unit manager emphasizes: "It should be noted that in order to produce this amount of butter alone from Israeli dairy, a huge amount of milk is needed, assuming that butter constitutes about 1/3 of the milk.".
He then presents a series of questions:
""We would be grateful if the KHTR would look into the matter and update us on the following issues:
1. Why is the Biscotti factory, which is also under your supervision, not careful to use kogah that bears the approval of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in accordance with the procedure?
2. Why was your certificate for production in November 2019 issued only on May 25, 2020?.
3. How is it possible that production for Passover was done on Shabbat and in the apparent absence of close supervision? Who owns the holograms?
4. Was the amount of milk from the Israeli dairy that came from the dairies for this production examined in relation to the amount of butter supplied by the factory in Poland, and was the milk intended only for the production of butter?.
Haredim 10 contacted Rabbi Michael Elhadad, director of the meat-free food import department at Badach Beit Yosef:
The Chief Rabbinate sent you a letter regarding the import of butter - what is your response?
""Very simple. I have no idea who issued this letter. It's a normal procedure between us and the Rabbinate. They ask a question and we answer.".
They asked: Why and how could the production be done on Shabbat?
""This is not done on Shabbat, but on Shabbat evening by a local overseer who lives there.".
The production date was 11.2019 and your certificate was issued only last week - on 25.05.2020.
""The certificate doesn't matter when it's issued, as long as it arrives in Israel.".
You need to notify the Chief Rabbinate about this creature in advance, which we haven't done.
""We are coordinating with the Chief Rabbinate. Apparently there is a certain quantity that is not in line with them. That is their business. From our perspective, we are doing the production in an organized manner. This production is a large production, done together, and there is no problem with the matter.".
The Rabbinate's letter says other things, such as that the butter was produced on Shabbat.
""How do they know it was created on Shabbat and not on Shabbat night? It's the same date.".
Because on those dates there were no supervisors there.
""You say that, there was a local overseer there.".
60 tons of butter produced just on Saturday night?
""Not 60 tons but 34 tons. The Rabbinate decided that it was 60 tons, their problem. 34 tons of butter and that is definitely a reasonable time and more can be produced and everything is fine. On 9/11 there was a supervisor on our behalf who attached holograms and it was spread over several dates and there was no problem. There were 8 supervisors on our behalf in this production plus a local supervisor.".
So why did you write six months later on the date 05/25/2020?
""This is our local factory.".
If you produce kosher products, are you supposed to notify the Rabbinate about it?
""We are never supposed to notify the Rabbinate. We manufacture and when the product arrives in Israel and requires a certificate, we receive the report from the head of the project that does this and find a certificate for it.".
Why did the overseers fly to Israel after the creation and return?
""Because they didn't have to stay, the creation was done, it was just the sticking of the holograms.".
They returned back to Israel and flew there again. Why?
""They don't stay there on Shabbat. There is a local supervisor who stays there. Our need for a large number of supervisors is mainly for milking. Making butter requires between one and two people. That's why this date was on the evening of Shabbat, with the supervisor Rabbi Yochanan Shelev, he is a local supervisor and he did it.".
""I have no idea who in the Rabbinate had an interest in releasing these things. The letter is our internal correspondence. This is normal, everyday stuff. They ask questions, we answer them. There is no discussion here.".
We spoke with Rabbi Victor Chai, who managed the butter project:
What is the case in question?
""The importer should usually submit the applications. The importer did not submit the application. I took it upon myself because I managed the project. I should have submitted the application. That was my mistake.".
""Regarding Shabbat - factories work all week abroad, it's not the Land of Israel where factories don't work on Shabbat. There is a local supervisor, whom I brought in the previous production, I sent a supervisor from the country to finish the production there. I saved costs, I brought in a local supervisor who is Torah and mitzvot-observant, and is strict about Jewish milk. I brought him to production, he continued production on Shabbat night, that's just continuing production, not milking. The milk arrived on Friday.".
In 6 hours on Saturday night, they produced 60 tons of butter, you claim 34 tons?
""They didn't produce on Thursday either. It's not like the entire quantity was produced on Saturday night. The entire production was 34 tons. A small portion of the production was produced on Saturday night, 8.2 tons were produced on Saturday night. That's production for a few weeks, a week or two.".
Rabbi Michael Elhadad: "There is a lot of dirty play by importers and competitors who are constantly searching and searching. As soon as they saw something like this, they immediately took pictures and made a big fuss about it. The things are clear and well-known. Badatz Beit Yosef's kashrut is not something trivial. It is a respectable kashrut that a conservative established with dedication. We proudly carry his image to represent him in the best possible way. We use the best and most professional people in these matters.".
Do you really think that vested interests in the Rabbinate issued this letter?
""I don't know who to blame. This letter is an internal letter, someone had an interest in releasing it. You don't have to be a genius. There's no reason for it to come out. They ask questions that we answer. Why did it come out? There's no reason in the world for an internal letter of inquiry between the Chief Rabbinate of Israel's kosher body to come out, unless someone had an interest in it.".
In a letter of reply that Rabbi Michael El-Hadad sent today to Rabbi Rafi Yochai, he writes: "Although the letter was distributed in the Bat Rabi newspaper many times before any response was received from us, and assuming that your entire intention is solely to strengthen the walls of kashrut, without any other consideration, we would like to respond in order to remove these words from your lips:
A. The production of butter was carried out under the strict supervision of seven supervisors, who went around the dairy farms to prepare the milk containers and observe the milking, as required by the Halav Yisrael, and also to ensure that the milk was delivered in sealed containers to the dairy.
B. In the dairy, there is a supervisor who receives the milk and transfers it to special, reserved containers for the purpose of producing butter.
C. The butter production at the dairy was carried out from 2019.11.04 to 2019.11.10, including production on Saturday evenings, under close supervision, and therefore the date stamped on the product also bears this date.
D. A team of seven overseers could certainly and easily control the quantities of milk being milked, and produce even more than thirty-five tons of butter (and not 60 tons as you wrote).
E. The holograms and kashrut seals are, of course, only in the hands of the Shlita supervisors.
F. The butter was intended exclusively for the 'Biscotti' factory, which complies with the Badatz kashrut all year round, and also complies with the kashrut of the Bnei Brak Rabbinate. Needless to say, the factory uses only raw materials that carry the highest level of kashrut.
G. Since this is a special production for this factory, the certificate was only issued when we were requested.
H. The names and details of the supervisors, an Excel table indicating milkings against quantities and days, are available at the Badatz offices.
If there are any additional questions or inquiries, as they come to our attention, we will be happy to respond as we always do.
In the Torah blessing
Michael Elhadad
"Import Department""
