JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Badatz Bet Yosef, affiliated with the followers of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, refused to grant a hechsher to a new restaurant opening on Jerusalem’s Yaffo street, due to the name chosen for the eatery- “The Divorcee’. The owner of the restaurant, Tehilla Waknin, is a divorcee who decided to take the pain of her own divorce and use it humorously for her business enterprise, which offers reductions for “divorcees paying child support” as well as stating that “You don’t have to get married for food” and “You can’t cheat on food.”
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Waknin, who left her religious way of life after getting a divorce from her abusive husband, said that she was “shocked” by the Badatz’s decision. “I am a single mother who emerged from a shelter for abused women. The title of ‘divorcee’ has been central to my life. I couldn’t stay chareidi after they shunned me and called me a shiksa. I bled for my status,” Waknin added. She decided to promote her culinary talents by opening a Moroccan-style restaurant, which was slated to open last week.
Apparently people had told the Badatz about the name of the establishment and the picture she used of a curly-haired woman and they had decided to remove the hechsher, forcing her to delay opening and race to find another hechsher. In the end, Rabbi Shlomo Amar from the Jerusalem Rabbinate granted her a hechsher and she says that “The rabbinate is no less strict than other hechsherim, in some ways it is stricter.”
“I insisted on a hechsher since I want to serve the chareidi community and see it enjoy my delicacies, this is the community I wished to work with,” Waknin said. On her Facebook page she added that “I took all of my fears and turned them into humor. The name is not meant to make noise and antagonism. There is a lot of meaning behind it. Divorcee is not something negative, divorcee means a woman who is fighting for her rights.”
The restaurant formally opened with the new hechsher on Sunday, July 2nd.
I think this is the best thing that happened to the divorced community. A casual place where divorced men and woman can come eat, meet and maybe find their bashert . Look at this as an improvement not as a negative.
The article says, “Apparently people had told the Badatz about the name of the establishment and the picture she used of a curly-haired woman”. I see a picture of a woman wearing a sheitel, they saw a picture of a curly-haired woman. We all see what we want to see or hope to see.
She’s a great cook. I know her personally
I am anxious to go there. Do they let in Guys?
A name in general is very personal and even then there are people who hate their names, so when it comes to nicknames (This isn’t a nickname, but I use this term for a lack of a better way of saying it) some people will think its cute others it wouldn’t even faze and others would get offended. Evidently the Badat”z Bais Yosef took offense to this name while the other hechsher didn’t take offence. Nothing personal.
Why does she want to serve the charedi community per se, considering that they treated her badly?
It takes a lot of guts to do what she did, from a women’s shelter to a businesses woman she rises, with the help of Hashem. She doesn’t want to be a victim; she’s a survivor and role model to us all. Furthermore, she was determind to keep kosher. Kol Hakovod. Wishing you success and happiness. Your strength and courage gives others hope and your wonderful Moroccan cooking will give those who enter comfort.
MAZAL TOV
sad
Last time I was in Jerusalem I ate at an event held at the world HQ of the Reform movement. The food was kosher, certified kosher non-mehadrin by the Jerusalem Rabbanut.
When I get to Israel I will eat there G-d willing. I wish you all the best!
Kashrut is about more than just food, for example- Rabbanim have refused hechsherim where mixed dancing was part of the experience,
The name and theme of the restaurant is a bit troublesome as it promotes the decimation of marriage. We all know that divorcing is allowed but we still dont celebrate it. Malachim cry for a reason. Even when the divorce is for a good reason, its still a failure (no one on their wedding day prays for its divorce) the Malachim cry that the couple couldnt improve and make it work.
Would you want your kids to eat at “Dropout” restaurant with themes that include – we hate homework, teachers are the pits, corner seats reserved for Principals??? or how about “Unemployed” ?
Yes these are all funny and we can all use a good laugh, but where does the laughing end and the endorsement begin?
If she isn’t religious then maybe the hashgacha refusal was because she isn’t religous? Can you trust that she won’t serve non kosher when she herself doesn’t eat kosher?
I thought that a hecsher is about food, not mores. Obviously someone’s palm was not properly greased.