Rabbi Avraham HaKohen Rubin, rabbi of the Bnei Torah community in Rechovot and a member of the Badatz She'erit Yisrael rabbinical kashrut court, has told the public not to rely on the kashrut supervision of the Rechovot Rabbinate for now, including its mehadrin certification, according to a recording distributed to residents and reported by Kikar HaShabbat.
Rubin linked the instruction to changes in the city's kashrut system. He said the supervision cannot be relied upon until a chareidi authorized rabbi is appointed to oversee it.
In the recording, Rubin explains that he had held off on issuing a statement for some time because there were still people in the kashrut system who could be trusted. Recently, he said, the previous appointments were cancelled and new officials were installed who were not appointed by him or by an authorized rabbi acting on his behalf.
"And therefore, to our regret, there is no possibility of relying on the kashrut," Rubin says in the recording. He makes clear that the instruction covers factories and event halls under the city Rabbinate's supervision as well as shops. Until an authorized rabbi is appointed to supervise the system, he said, the public should be careful not to buy products from these places and should instead use products carrying a different mehadrin certification.
