Albert Glass, Cape Town
Over the years, the South African Jewish community has weathered many storms and faced various instances of criticism. It has reacted with outrage when the cause has demanded this.
Some of the criticism currently being directed at the community has been laced with anti-Semitic vitriol. Some politicians seem to apply this from time to time as part of their efforts to score “brownie points” for their constituents. A case in point is the recent outburst from MPL in the Western Cape by Sharon Davids, as well as comments by Cabinet members such as Naledi Pandor. Hate speech in all its guises is still hate speech and is not to be tolerated.
And then there are the storms that rage within our community. These are worsened by distrust and disappointment . Take the revoking of Stan & Pete’s kashrut licence, which shocked us all . But when we read so-called confessions on social media by mashgichim in the Beth Din about their treatment and what really goes on behind the scenes, this opens the proverbial can of worms.
Can we, as a community, trust the kashrut rulings made by the Beth Din now? All this coming to the fore on the eve of Pesach is worrying . It’s all well and good to introduce forensic audits and standard operating procedures now – why weren’t these implemented years ago?
The onus lies on the Beth Din to earn back the trust of the community.
