Published: 12 June 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
AFTER A FAMOUS and celebrated falafel bar in Givatayim which has had a kashrut certification for 42 years decided it could no longer afford to pay for supervision due to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the Givatayim Rabbinate plastered notices around B’nei Brak warning customers away.
The action was seen as hostile and aggressive, and generated an outpouring of support online as well as queues outside the long-established eatery on Sunday afternoon by those seeking to express their solidarity.
The COVID-19 lockdown created severe difficulties for restaurants across the country which faced a catastrophic fall off in revenue during the height of the government's social-distancing restrictions.
One of the steps Falafel Hateomim took to reduce its overheads during this period was to cease paying for its kashrut supervision, which amounts to NIS 800 a month, although was reduced by the Chief Rabbinate to NIS 500 during the crisis.
As a result, the Givatayim Rabbinate posted numerous posters around the city, in addition to neighbouring Bnei Brak, announcing that Falafel Hateomim no longer had supervision and declaring “The public should know and beware!”
In response, Falafel Hateomim took to social media and posted a poster in the same typeface and style as the rabbinate’s notices, insisting that despite it no longer having rabbinate supervision, it would continue to work and serve its customers as it has for the last four decades.
FULL STORY ‘Kashrut shaming’ leads to backlash by celebrated falafel bar (Jerusalem Post)
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Photo: The twin owners of Falafel Hateomim in Givatayim
