Jerusalem – In his weekly radio address, HaRav Ovadia Yosef described the evolution of Kashrus in Eretz Yisroel, specifically regarding the shechita of meat and the significance of the Badatz Beit Yosef hechser.
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According to Israeli news site Kikar, R’ Yosef explained that 150 years ago there were no Ashkenazim at all in Yerushalyim, but as the local officials began to allow European Jews to settle in the city, conflict arose over the differences between Ashkenazic and Sephardic shechita.
“The Ashkenazim were much more lenient in their shechita,” explained R’ Yosef. “The non Jews who were selling the animals began to sell their livestock to the Ashkenazi shochtim exclusively because they did not want to have the concern that the local Chacham might declare their animal not kosher.”
The Sefardi shochtim suddenly found themselves out of work and sought the advice of the Rishon L’tziyon, HaRav Yaakov Shaul Elyahar, the Sefardic Chief Rabbi of Israel at the time. The shochtim were advised to designate two different levels of kashrus on their shechita: meat stamped simply ‘kosher’ was allowed for Ashkenazim, but Sefardim, with their more stringent customs were only permitted to eat meat that was designated ‘Chalak’.
“Let it be announced in Sefardi batei knessiot,” R’ Elyashar reportedly told the Sefardi shochtim. “Sefardim buy only Chalak because Kosher is not kosher. Only Ashkenazim buy kosher.”
R’ Yosef concluded his address saying, “Only a Sefardi who is a fool would buy meat that is marked simply Kosher. We buy meat only when it carries the Beit Yosef hechsher, which means that is is Chalak.”
many talmidim of the maggid of mezritch setteld in eretz yisrael around תקל”ה
This simply is another effort to denigrate litvashe minhagim by the sephardim. While Rav Yosef is well regarded among litvashe rabbonim, they would not accept his view that their hashgachot are in any way less machmir that sehpardeshe hashgachot. Indeed, most yidden know that the top of the line chasiddeshe hashgachot are the only ones that can be relied upon for mehadrim.
THis is ridiculous. We ashkenazim pasken like the mechaber. Period.
You want to be machmir? Then put a turban or your head and eat rice on Pesach. THere is no justification for a ‘pick and choose’ religion. You cannot pick and choose what you want to do. That would create a frankenstein Judiasm that will produce wierd results. Just read Rav Leib Keleman to understand.
Then again, it also was foolish to say that ‘chalak is the only kosher meat around. It makes the Satmar look foolish with their ‘glatt’ invention that is not here nor there.
Some people have to pull others down in order to feel superior. I don’t know why Rabbi Yosef has such an inferiority complex towards Ashkenazim that in almost every weekly speech he makes he says something negative about them. Maybe it’s an Israeli thing? I don’t know. But I do know that here in the States I rarely hear Ashkenazim talk in such a manner about Sephardim…we recognize differences in our practices but we don’t claim they aren’t keeping a strict kosher Pesach because they eat beans and corn and rice.
FWIW there were a few Ashkenazim in Jerusalem prior to 150 years ago.
The way this thread is going seems a leetle dangerous and could lead to even worse ‘pilug’.
Can someone please enlighten me as to what the objective difference is between Beit Yosef Chalak, and Askenazi Glatt? For that matter, what is the objective difference between one kind of Glatt and another? What I mean is, is there a specfific type of sircha that one category allows and another does not?
According to the Beit Yosef (Maran Rav Yosef Caro) kosher means that the lungs of the cow are completely free of lesions.
Many Rabbis accept a heter that lesions that have healed can be considered as “glatt”. This heter is applied because of 1). the great loss that could apply to a cow and 2). in the cold countries of Europe where the cows had to winter on silage (and all of its fermentation issues) it was rare to find a cow that did not have lesions.
Glatt and Chalek both mean smooth. Glatt is Yiddish and Chalek is Hebrew. The difference is in the halachic definition of these terms.
I laugh when I see “glatt kosher pizza”.
#3 when are you going to grow up and speak with respect???? have you ever listened to CHACHAM OVADYA’S shiur on a motzai shabbat or any other time ?? its seems pretty obvious that you haven’t.he always says ”’achaynu ashkenazim”’ yet i have NEVER heard ”acheynu hasefardim”’ from your rabbi’s !!!