Businessman Arcadi Gaydamak, who purchased the non-kosher supermarket chain Tiv Ta'am, has tentatively withdrawn from his plan to turn the chain kosher and to close it on Shabbat.
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| Gaydamak acquires non-kosher supermarket chain / Ofer Petersburg |
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Billionaire, who purchased 51 percent of shares, intends to ban sale of non-kosher meat, close stores on Shabbat |
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The statement said that closing the chain on Shabbat was not currently on the agenda but it would be examined in the future.
However, Yedioth Ahronoth has discovered that Gaydamak's representatives are holding discussions with representatives of the haredi community in an attempt to have Mo'etzet Gdolei HaTorah, the Council of Torah sages, endorse the chain.
In order to acquire the endorsement the chain would have to become strictly kosher, removing all non-kosher products such as shrimp, lobster and non-kosher cheeses.
An official in the chain said that there was a feeling that Gaydamak was not familiar with the Israeli public's consumer habits in regard to kashrut issues and did not entirely comprehend the meaning of the kashrut certificate and its implications.
"You cannot have a semi-pregnant woman. Likewise, there is no such thing as partially kosher," he added.
Yigal Amedi, Jerusalem's deputy mayor who has been accompanying Gaydamak in his race for mayor, said that there was no food chain that was currently recommended to the haredi sector. "(The haredim) are accepting Gaydamak's plans for Tiv Ta'm extremely well. In the synagogues, they are saying that removing pork is even more important than Shabbat."
Amedi was asked about the likelihood that the haredi establishment would endorse the chain even if it sold seafood, non-kosher wines and mixed meat and milk products and opened on Shabbat, but removed the pork.
He answered: "No, treif (non-kosher) is treif. Arcadi has only committed to removing pork, but Tiv Ta'am in Jerusalem and other places would have to be meticulously kosher if we want the haredi rabbis to recommend it."
Navit Zomer contributed to the report
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