This is funny.
Jerusalem Kosher News, a.k.a. Yechiel Spira, does some good work in raising awareness of kashrus issues for the English speaking community in Israel. I happen to not like some of the things he does to that end, but overall I think he does mostly good and important work.
Spira has now set up a new kashrus organization of some sort. He calls it KFI - Kosher Food Information.
To quote:
KFI is a not-for-profit organization founded by a group of English-speaking Rabbanim concerned about the lack of uniform standards amongst the kashrus organizations in Yerushalayim. They seek to establish a minimum Mehadrin standard, as well as spread greater awareness of kashrus (and potential kashrus issues).
The Rabbanim of KFI have found widespread deficiencies, even in mehadrin eateries, in areas such as bishul akum, the absence of adequate supervision, checking of bugs, as well as instances where meat, chicken, and other sensitive items were left unsealed. Therefore, the Rabbanim have joined together to create a much needed system of independent verification of kashrus standards.
[...]
KFI IS NOT A HASHGACHA!
We do not recommend any eatery. Rather, we seek to provide the public with the information that will allow the consumer to ask his Rav for an accurate and considered ruling.
What is funny/ironic about this is three things:
1. they claim they are not a hashgacha, but they are acting like one, recommending what restaurant can be relied upon for kashrut after going in and checking their standards and improving them.
2. They are doing this without putting any names behind it. A hashgacha, or any recommendation (if they insist on not calling it a hechsher) is only as good as the name of the rabbis behind it. If you won't tell us who you are, how can anybody rely on you?
3. this initiative reminds me of "hashgacha pratit" -a similar volunteer kashrut organization base don volunteers checking out eateries and recommending them to people as being reliable. Except Hashgacha Pratit says who is behind it. This is funny because while they seem to be doing the same thing, I doubt KFI would have a good word to say about Hashgacha Pratit.
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