All food in Israel is kosher?

DrMom

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 12:05 pm

amother Latte wrote:

I actually know some people who had the mindset in sem that everything in Israel was kosher and refused to hear otherwise. Even in Yerushalayim they ate at totally non kosher places. It’s really scary that some people have this mindset

I find it difficult to believe that anybody would think that.

Even if they thought that before they came here, most seminaries advise their students on kashrut guidelines for restaurants.

Did they not notice that some restaurants are serving meat and milk together? Or that some restaurants serve shellfish? Or are open on Shabbat?

essie14

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 12:30 pm

amother Latte wrote:

That makes no sense at all.
I've walked into restaurants where you can see the meat and milk being cooked together, and you can see the lack of teuda.

I once walked into an unsupervised Aroma to buy a bottle of water and the cashier looked at my mitpachat said, "you know this branch is not kosher, right?"

Elfrida

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 2:48 pm

amother Emerald wrote:

Honestly, I find keeping kosher in e"y much more difficult than in America. Fruits, veggies etc.

Kedushat Eretz Yisrael.

It permeates everywhere.

Once you get used to it, it's really no harder than anywhere else, but we get to perform so many more mitzvot through our produce.

amother

Emerald

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 4:23 pm

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

Where did you live and what hechshers do you eat?

Now were in NY, but my husband is israeli sefardi and only keeps certain hechshers when we go to visit his family. I just do what they do. But we cant eat out a lot.

And elfrida, so true! its a real zechut you have

amother

Scarlet

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 4:35 pm

amother OP wrote:

Thank you. So how do I find out what's considered good and what not?
And there's actually treif food in Israel? So why are people saying that everything is kosher? How do I do the correct research?

I would really like to know who told you everything in Israel is kosher, but what’s much more important is for you to take note of who it was that told you that.
The reason they told you is because they’re completely ignorant of the facts. Most people would be self aware enough to realize they’re not kashrut experts and would be honest and care about your welfare enough to say, Sorry, I can’t help you with questions about kashrut in Israel. This person (or persons) fed you wrong information on an important subject that could have led to you and your family eating treif. Remember not to go to them for advice again.
There are Israeli imas here giving you information on making sure the food you eat in Israel is kosher. Don’t argue with them and ask why someone told you everything is kosher. That’s complete nonsense.

amother

Snowflake

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 4:43 pm

Not only is that not true, but things are actually more complex, because unlike chutz laretz, where all produce is kosher (assuming you've checked for bugs), in Israel you have to make sure your fruits and vegetables were grown according to the laws that apply to farming in Israel. If they weren't, then they're not kosher either.

Shuly

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 6:07 pm

Kashrus laws are actually more complicated in Israel because even fruits and vegetables need a hechsher. There are so many halachos that only apply in Israel such as trumah, maaser and shmitah.

Do you know that if a Jew plants a vegetable in Eretz Yisrael during shmitah, that vegetable is completely treif and assur to eat?

There are also many different levels of hechshers in Israel. There are some hechshers that are just for basic kashrus so that the food is not outright treif, but they still rely on many leniencies that you may not eat. So just because a store shows you a kashrus certification, it may not be the level of kashrus that you keep.

It's really important to ask your Rav before going to Israel which hechshers you can rely on.

Bnei Berak 10

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 7:38 pm

Shuly wrote:

Some people pay an annual fee for Keren Measrot and they measer their produce, usually those who follow shitta of Chazon Ish OR people who lives in places where it's difficult to get mehadrin produce so they measer vegetables. Fruits are more complicated halachot.

ora_43

Fri, Aug 25 2023, 6:38 am

amother Steel wrote:

Maybe they meant that you can find kosher food everywhere.
Which is mostly true and not the same thing.

That's what I was thinking too.

It would be really weird for someone to really think "everything is kosher". If nothing else there are restaurants that are open on Shabbat in every major city so obviously those aren't kosher.

But it would make sense if what they meant was more like, "you don't need to track down kosher restaurants in advance, everywhere that has restaurants has at least one place with a heksher."

ora_43

Fri, Aug 25 2023, 6:42 am

For hotels, call or email the hotel and ask what heksher they have.

For restaurants - unless there's a specific place you want to eat, or a certain cuisine you want to try, I don't think there's any need to find kosher restaurants this far in advance. Just go where you want to go, and when it's time to eat google "kosher" and see what pops up nearby.

The only time it might get more complicated than that is if you're in a museum or something - then do keep in mind that the cafeteria might not be kosher.

amother

Maroon

Fri, Aug 25 2023, 6:57 am

Most yeshivish/chareidi/chassidish people only eat mehadrin hechsherim, and usually it's not all mehadrin hechsherim. For example, Rabbanut mehadrin (which most cities have) are not required to use only mehadrin products, and most people I know don't eat them. Best to speak to a rav or a friend/family member who is in the know.

For starters:
Everyone I know eats Badatz Eidah Chareidis.
Almost everyone I know eat Badatz Sheeris Yisrael & Harav Landau.
Most people I know eat Harav Rubin and Kehillos.
There are those who eat Harav Machpud and Chatam Sofer.
Less but some also eat Beit Yosef.

You will also find many products here (but not usually hotels or restaurants) with good hechsherim from chutz laaretz.

Many chareidi cities also have local mehadrin hechsherim that charedim eat (like Kiryat Sefer).

amother

Puce

Fri, Aug 25 2023, 7:22 am

amother Maroon wrote:

Yes this is how we hold, but of course everyone will hold differently, it’s Israel!!
Also many people will hold by rabanut mehadrin for milchigs but not for fleishigs
I would call a knowledgeable person or rav who you trust and ask them which hechsherim are good for you.
Some people will literally only eat badatz, shearis yisrael and rav landau (some won’t even eat rav landau because of politics) again, welcome to Israel, it’s all about politics and 5 different people will argue over the color of the sky!
The only way you can really know is by personally calling a knowledgeable rav who you trust. There is just too much nuance!

Bnei Berak 10

Sat, Aug 26 2023, 3:42 pm

amother Puce wrote:

Hechsher Landau is now widely accepted among litvish people since passing of the previous Rav Landau and things were reorganized within the hechsher.

LovesHashem

Sat, Aug 26 2023, 4:01 pm

amother Maroon wrote:

Actually that's not true. I can't find the source now but I read recently for example on a gov source from Jerusalem that mehadrin there only uses stuff from the top mehadrin heschers - rubin, Landau, kehillos, machpud, eidah etc. Not even bet Yosef products I believe.

Mehuderet which is a step less, which we don't eat uses anything that has the word mehadrin on it basically. Even they don't use rabbanut products.

Not sure where you heard rabbanut mehadrin uses rabbanut products....

Also besides the products there's the mashgiach, how often they come and check. Every city is different but so far when we've asked around if the chareidi community in a random city eats their local rabbanut mehadrin so far the answer has almost always been yes, at least for dairy.

amother

Springgreen

Sat, Aug 26 2023, 4:36 pm

This is my pet peeve. I hate when Americans come to Israel and assume everything is kosher because it’s Israel.
I had to convince my mom (chassidish women from Williamsburg) that the fruits she bought in this random place in Tel Aviv isn’t kosher because there was NO HECHSHER and she argued that fruits don’t need a hechsher….
Another time I went with American friends to the beach and they were about to go eat at a restaurant and I told them I’m 100% sure it’s not kosher and the waitress came over and they start ordering and she says “Btw I see you are Chareidi, we are not kosher, we fry meat and cheese together…”
Makes me so frustrated.