A Kosher Kerfuffle in Jerusalem over Jewishness (and its Implications)

Yehuda Dov recently wrote a piece for the Orthodox jewish news website ‘VIN News’ about an ongoing kosher kerfuffle happening in Jerusalem in Israel that I think is rather illustrative of the reality of how Judaism works.

The kerfuffle started when the Yochananoff supermarket chain’s local kashruth inspector questioned whether the employee was in fact jewish, which is an important part of kashruth law in Judaism where-in the kosher status of many products – especially meat, milk and wine – are directly linked to no non-jew handling - or being unsupervised with - it at any time.

The reason being – and this is not usually explicitly stated by jews outside of specialist works – is because non-jews are believed in Judaism to be especially prone to the Yetzer hara (aka ‘the Evil Urge’) and as such take any and all opportunity to adulterate, abuse and adhere to their animal instincts to the detriment of jews (such as by offering kosher wine as a sacrifice to pagan gods [by which they also mean the Christian god]), (1) which includes the jewish belief that non-jews like to have sex with animals - such as cattle - at any given opportunity.

Dov writes how:

‘The National Labor Court rejected an employee’s lawsuit against the Yochananoff supermarket chain for compensation over alleged harassment, invasion of privacy, and wrongful dismissal, after an argument broke out between him and a kashrus supervisor at one of the branches regarding clarification of the employee’s Jewish status.

The employee worked for Yochananoff as a chef in the prepared-food departments of two company branches. Shortly after beginning work at the Rehovot branch, a dispute erupted between him and the kosher supervisor, after which the supervisor demanded that the employee present his ID card in order to verify whether he was Jewish. When the employee did not provide the ID, the kosher supervisor ordered him to stop cooking until the matter was clarified. The employee refused to comply, and the supervisor threatened to revoke the department’s kosher certification.

The following day, the employee reported to work while various company officials held discussions with representatives of the local religious council in an attempt to reach a practical solution. Eventually, it was decided that the employee would temporarily work only in the cold kitchen while his Jewish status remained in question. A few days later, a meeting was held between the company’s legal adviser and managers and representatives of the religious council. It was agreed that until the matter was clarified, the employee could return to working as head chef in the hot kitchen, but with certain restrictions, such as a prohibition on lighting fires.

Ultimately, relations between the parties deteriorated following an incident in which the employee allegedly performed actions in the kitchen that violated the imposed restrictions. Several weeks later, the company informed him that he was being dismissed.’ (2)

The point here is that the local kashruth inspector demanded to see the employee’s ID to prove that the employee was jewish and this was defined not by mere belief in Judaism, but his nationality aka his biology.

Put another simpler way: his race.

This is the essence of Judaism as a religion. It is not a confessional religion in any normal sense. It is a caste-based religion with a nod to the possibility of conversion but then doesn’t treat converts to Judaism as the same as a born jew regardless of their religious belief. (3)

As Anita Diamant observed:

‘The Orthodox rabbinate is not eager to work with converts, and many Orthodox rabbis discourage prospective candidates from even trying.’ (4)

The Orthodox rabbinical authority Rabbi Norman Lamm for example quotes one female convert to Judaism called Mary Lynn Kotz on this as follow:

‘How painful it is for us to hear the word “goy.” It implies an outsider, who can never become one of us. It refers to my brothers, whom I love. Many times I have heard it wrongly applied to me. (I wonder, when they call me “shiksa,” if they know the word “shiksa” means “abomination”?)’ (5)

Put another way: jews don’t accept converts to Judaism as actual jews but rather as weird goyim who pretend to be jewish but weren’t born jewish so they aren’t actually jewish.

This attitude is openly racially supremacist with Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman and Rabbi Morris Kertzer bluntly stating this attitude as follows:

‘Jews are nothing less than partners with God, in that they have been charged with the task of uprooting evil and perfecting the cosmos.’ (6)

The doyen of modern academic jewish studies Rabbi Jacob Neusner explains this in the context of Judaism as follows:

‘For while the Israelite is defined as the portion of humanity that rises for om the grave to eternal life, the gentile is defined solely in practical terms of how the Israelite intersects with the gentile on specified occasions or in particular transactions... But to the comparable issue – What is justice for the portion of humanity excluded from life eternal and left to rot in the grave? - the law speaks only implicitly... Then of what does justice consist? How shall we explain the distinction within the genus, humanity, into two species, Israelites and gentiles?... In addition, a practical issue of justice in Israelite-pagan relationships flows from the distinction between life and death, Israel and the nations, and should not be missed. How shall we find justice in the present status of Israel, subordinated as it is to the gentiles? For if God rules as a sovereign over all humanity, and if the two species of humanity compete, where is the justice in the fact that one species, the gentiles, presently dominates the other, Israel? It follows that to make sense of and to justify world order the subordinated status of both species, the gentiles in the age to come and, Israel in the present age, has to be explained and the same explanation must govern both..

But when it comes to the law of the Mishnah, ”Israel” is defined with the reference to the end of days; Israel is comprised of all those who will emerge victorious over death.’ (7)

While the Orthodox Rabbi Emanuel Feldman is even more blunt about the supremacist implications of this belief that this necessitates:

‘David: I do not want to repeat what is obviously a cliché, but doesn’t choseness imply superiority? Do we actually consider ourselves superior to the rest of mankind?

Rabbi Emanuel Feldman: That is another false supposition. Superiority per se is not an evil. Certain athletes are superior to others; certain musicians are superior to others; certain doctors are superior to others...

The fact is that certain nations are superior to others in specific areas of endeavor.

Yes, we believe that the Jewish people is chosen for its mission by God because it possesses certain God given talents; a clear vision and knowledge of God and how He wants mankind to live on His earth, and the ability to connect with God and with the sacred in life... The Jewish people was seen by God as having certain qualities – steadfastness, spiritual resilience, courage, faith, self-discipline – which made us the most suitable agent for bringing the concepts of God and holiness into the world. That is to say our national character.’ (8)

However, the bluntest statement of this attitude is provided by the former Chief Rabbi of Switzerland Arthur Cohn – aka the Baseler Rav – who wrote that:

‘Nobody can deny that we are a people. We are one through descent, blood and race. We have never mingled with other nations and have kept our blood pure.’ (9)

Put another way: Judaism assumes, believes and preaches the absolute racial superiority of every jew – defined biologically not by confession of faith – over every non-jew also defined biologically not by confession of faith.

References

(1) On this please see my article: https://karlradl14.substack.com/p/idolaters-and-the-abomination-in

(2) https://vinnews.com/2026/05/11/labor-court-rejects-supermarket-employee-claim-of-wrongful-dismissal-over-kashrus-concerns/

(3) Maurice Lamm, 1991, ‘Becoming a Jew’, 1^st Edition, Jonathan David: New York, pp. 68-60; Neville Laski, 1952, ‘The Laws and Charities of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews Congregation of London’, 1st Edition, The Cresset Press: London, pp. 94-95

(4) Anita Diamant, 1997, ‘Choosing a Jewish Life: A Handbook for People Converted to Judaism and for their Family and Friends’, 1^st Edition, Schocken: New York, p. 20

(5) Quoted by Lamm, Op. Cit., p. 36

(6) Lawrence Hoffman, Morris Kertzer, 1993, ‘What is a Jew?’, 5^th Edition, Simon & Schuster: New York, p. 114

(7) Jacob Neusner, 2004, ’Making God’s Word Work: A Guide to the Mishnah’, 1st Edition, Continuum: New York, pp. 64-65

(8) Emanuel Feldman, 1998, ’On Judaism: Conversations on being Jewish in Today’s World’, 2nd Edition, Shaar Press: New York, pp. 269-270

(9) Arthur Cohn, 1972, ‘Of Israel’s Teachings and Destiny: Sermons, Studies and Essays’, 1st Edition, Ahron Press: New York, p. 79