Pappenheim to farmer: No one forces you Beis Din laws

The letter by Netzer Shamir, a farmer from Moshav Sde Nitzan - first published in Behadrey Haredim - continues to stir the network. So far the letter, in which he complained about the conduct and training of the Eida Hareidis, did not receive official attention, but today (Monday) Shmuel Chaim Pappenheim, the most articulate spokesmen of the Eida Hareidis, published a long and detailed response to the letter which caused a stir.

Pappenheim: "Netzer Shamir, 69 years old, a farmer for 30 years in Moshav Sde Nitzan in the Western Negev, said that last year the Kashrus committee of the Eida Hareidis determined that each yielding orchard must have three Kashrus inspectors. He claim that their unnecessary salaries come out of the pockets of farmers.

"Interested parties tried to make political gain from him and inflame the situation in the tense political atmosphere."

Pappenheim claims that he replies to Shamir's letter as a member of the Eida Hareidis, and as one who served for many years in an official role in its lines and his reply is "officially recognized by the Kashrus system to the complaint and what stems from it."

More:
• Hareidim against Netzer Shamir: "Don't buy from those who spit into well"

"The Eida Hareidis keeps only one mashgiach in that packaging and not three," he determined. "If there are two other mashgichim they are from other bodies, the Chief Rabbinate and another kosher system. It is true that the Chief Rabbinate is more lenient in many things and approves supply of a particular commodity, but Badatz as a private body rejects them.

"The Chief Rabbinate as the body in charge on behalf of the state has procedures of its own, and even in the rabbinate there are varying degrees of supervision, there is kashrus supervision and there is mehadrin, and there are degrees of types of mehadrin, depending on the nature of the local rabbinate which provides the supervision. But the Badatz as a private, independent body provides the needs for specific people who want certain procedures, more strict or stringent, therefore they have the right to reject things to which the rabbinate agrees. The Badatz as a private body does not force people to consume its supervision, and he (Netzer) can definitely settle for Rabbinate, and no one asked him to resort to the procedures and rules of the Badatz.

"Badatz Eida Hareidis has no connection to Mr. Netzer Shamir and any other honorable farmer. The Badatz works with a wholesale dealer, according to a business – marketing relationship, and he is the one who is in contact with the farmers, so that any claim a farmer may have – he should contact the wholesale dealer and not the Badatz. Mr. Netzer Shamir's hurling of words at the Badatz and the overseer is misplaced, the Badatz has no contact with him, and he should make any claim he has to the wholesale dealer and not to the Badatz.

"The Badatz's kashrus system is very sorry for the hurt and insult Mr. Netzer Shamir hurls at the dedicated supervisor, especially since it is known to the Badatz that he was on friendly terms with Mr. Netzer Shamir, and beyond that, and his public affront to him, is a defamation of name and highly unethical and inappropriate conduct.

"To the merits of the matter, according to our knowledge the kashrus supervisor works very hard and Sisyphean work on the scene, with freezing cold conditions and under heavy rain during the winter, and the blazing heat of the terrible Negev summer in very harsh field conditions. At the end of the day there are packing plants which set aside for him a ventilated and comfortable room for shelter, to summarize all the crop packaging and its signing by the supervisor, but there are also those... who do not provide it for the supervisor, and then he comes in, full of mud and sweat, completely soaked and physically exhausted to his car, and tries to find cover there for himself after a day of hard and arduous work.

"The kashrus system of the Badatz really joins the call of Mr. Netzer Shamir, and invite anyone who can come and see for himself the painstaking work of the supervisor, and see that the insults of the farmer at his friend the supervisor was not in place, impairs his credibility and paints him as lacking values and problematic.

"The Badatz takes from the wholesaler a sensible fee for every ton of crop he provides. The payment is minimal, for the costs of the mashgiach and supervision, which is supervised by a detailed report. The supervisor does his job faithfully according to the halakhic instructions of the Badatz and deserves payment, and he receives it according to a legal and detailed report which is submitted to the offices of the Badatz.

"It should be noted and emphasized that the profit of the kashrus system of the Badatz for the goods which become more streanlined and expensive because of the prestigious stamp of the Badatz supervision, comes to perhaps an additional 10% from the improvement which the wholesales allows himself to earn and collect for the produce ..."

Finally Pappenheim writes: "There is not a shred of truth in various publications about the removal of supervision of the Badatz for the crop fields of Mr. Netzer Shamir. The story does not exist and there was not even a thought of the like. The Badatz deals only with the supply of kosher foodstuffs which are acceptable to consumers and does not address the management of bookkeeping and side accounts of this sort and other, and certainly not inflaming passions and judgment of statuses of all kinds of people in situations like this and others, and will continue to work in cooperation and mutual respect with Mr. Netzer Shamir for the benefit of both parties. "

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!