Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger has ordered a complete halt in importers' sale of non-koshered meat to Israeli chains.
Metzger's decision has great implications for meat importers, who rushed to stop all sales after hearing it, according to him.
In the debate held at the Chief Rabbinate of Israel,
Metzger mentioned that the original permit to sell non-koshered meat – or meat that is not salted in order to remove all traces of blood – was given for the benefit of non-Jewish consumers in order to cut costs.
But recently the rabbinate has discovered that many Jews were buying meat which has not been koshered precisely because it is cheaper, thus creating a situation in which rabbinate-approved non-koshered meat was being consumed by Jews who did not realize the meat had not undergone the proper process according to halacha.
Therefore Metzger ordered a complete halt in sales to supermarkets and other food chains. He did not, however, ban the importation of non-kosher meat. The rabbi hopes that in this way the meat will end up only in stores that service non-Jewish clients.
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