Badatz Free: The War Against Croutons

In the war against croutons, Bamba, and cleaning products, the “Badatz Free” protest group is claiming its first victory: Massive food manufacturer Nestle has launched its new Joya line of gourmet ice creams without the controversial kosher certification of the Eda Haredit.

Several months ago, Badatz Free launched a campaign calling on the public to boycott products with the “Badatz Yerushalayim” sponsored by the Eda Haredit, a group that has been at the forefront of many of the more extreme conflicts between halacha (Jewish law) and the running of a modern state.

The Eda Haredit, a small but vocal ultra-Orthodox sect numbering just a few thousand in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh and comprising such Hassidic courts as Satmar, Toldot Aharon, Dushinsky and Breslav, was behind the recent rioting against the construction of the rocket-resistant emergency room at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

The Eda Haredit also rioted to protest the opening on Shabbat of a parking lot near the Old City of Jerusalem, which was intended to relieve severe illegal parking on sidewalks, and the Shabbat operation of an Intel’s fabrication plant in the Har Hotzvim Industrial Area, even though it would have been operated entirely by non-Jews. Collectively, these riots have resulted in millions of shekels of damage as traffic lights were destroyed and trash bins set on fire.

The Eda Haredit is also one of the most public anti-Zionist groups. A YouTube video shows numerous signs in Jerusalem’s Meah Shearim reading “Jews are not Zionists” and “No passage to Zionists,” along with pictures of Eda Haredit members burning the Israeli flag.

Badatz Free is urging consumers who don’t agree with the policies and actions of the Eda Haredit to hit the group in its collective pocketbook by not purchasing products for which the Eda Haredit provides kosher supervision (and receives payment in return).

That won’t be easy – especially for families with young children. In addition to Nestle, on the boycott list are Osem (the makers of perennially popular snack foods Bisli and Bamba along with a popular brand of salad and soup croutons), Angel (the number one bread maker in the country) and, inexplicably, Sano which makes cleaning products, not food.

The boycott campaign was kicked off several months ago by an article from journalist Nahum Barnea, writing in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, who asked why, if one checks the price, the ingredients, the weight and the expiration date of products we buy, why not also its kosher certification? A follow-up piece by Michael Hirsch in the Jerusalem Post agrees, urges that those “who are careful in their adherence to the kashrut laws should question the validity of kashrut supervision provided by an organization (Badatz) which condones and implicitly supports…anti-religious behavior.”

A recent poll found that 23% of respondents said that, given a choice, they would prefer to purchase products with a different group’s supervision and 21% would endorse a full boycott.

The term “boycott” is controversial, to say the least. Israelis bristle when educational institutions overseas put our country on the no contact list. Others say a boycott will never work and suggest a letter writing campaign instead. When I put this out on Facebook, many responded that the most stringent kashrut supervision is the only way to ensure Jewish culinary unity.

Nevertheless, the decision of Nestle to separate its new Joya gourmet ice cream from the company’s overall Eda Haredit heksher was welcomed by Badatz Free as proof that a boycott campaign can work. The organization vows to plow on until all Nestle products are supervised by a different group.

In the meantime, the Badatz Free website provides a list of controversial products and alternatives you can buy instead (substitute Vita croutons for Osem). The group also has a Facebook page with nearly 1,500 members.

[Israelity]