As Temple Mount Security Compromise, Rabbinate Says Just Put Up Certificate

In exchange for a monthly fee, they may display certification of supervision, regardless of how often the facility is actually subject to inspection, if at all.

Jerusalem, July 23 – Representatives of the Chief Rabbinate division charged with overseeing compliance with Jewish dietary laws in the preparation of food at restaurants and factories proposed a resolution today of the conflict over metal detectors at a contested Jerusalem holy site, whereby instead of the actual devices and inspections aimed at preventing violations, a document be hung on the wall near the entrance to the facility declaring that the plateau is under supervision, and that would be that.

Heads of the Rabbinate’s Kashrut division suggested this morning that to reduce tensions over such a blatant display of Israeli control over the Mount as the installation of security measures, the police adopt the Rabbinate’s model, whereby in exchange for a monthly fee, they may display certification of supervision, regardless of how often the facility is actually subject to inspection, if at all.

“We have decades of experience in such arrangements,” argued Rabbi Talui Mushkhat, Deputy Chief of Kashrut Operations at the Jerusalem Rabbinate. “Many Rabbis at a time are part of our network of kosher supervisors whose job it is to pretend to inspect the many, many establishments to which they have been assigned, with each one carrying far more establishments than is reasonable. As a result, numerous restaurants go months and months without a proper inspection, and when the supervisor does visit, his main purpose is to collect his wages. We believe such a system would work well at the Temple Mount, where the presence of supervising personnel is a sensitive issue.”

“This would be a good fit, actually,” added his colleague Rabbi Kula Tamuah. “The Waqf should have little problem paying for supervision by inspectors in an organization whose official position is not to allow Jews to enter the Temple Mount. And while some in the Waqf might recoil at the thought of paying Jews for anything, they can be won over with the explanation that we will actually be in their employ, just as our supervisors are in the employ of the establishments over which they are supposed to be exercising authority – and are therefore beholden to the enterprises that provide their wages, which calls into question their credibility. We haven’t had a problem so far with this model, and we think the Waqf would be positively disposed to having it work in their favor.”

He then asked a reporter if he thought the Waqf would offer better bribes to look the other way than restaurants do.

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