Arutz Sheva Staff
Following the reforms by the Religious Affairs Ministry to the current kashrut (kosher supervision) system in Israel, and the vociferous opposition by the Chief Rabbinical Council of Israel, and in response to the efforts to harm Jewish kashrut in the Diaspora as well, Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto harshly criticized those who act in opposition to halakha (Jewish law), saying they are “little foxes – [who] destroy vineyards,” a quote from Song of Songs 2:15.
In a letter sent Tuesday night to his students, Rabbi Pinto, who also serves as head of the rabbinical court chiefs in Morocco, wrote that when it comes to everything connected to halakha and kashrut, there is no room for compromise.
“We must clarify this in our souls, with complete acceptance: There are no compromises in halakha, and there are no compromises on the foundations of the Torah,” he wrote.
In recent years, Rabbi Pinto has worked to expand the kashrut system in Morocco, in order to allow the thousands of Jews in the community and the hundreds of thousands of tourists to enjoy strictly kosher food.
“This is a difficult generation, which wants to bring the world to compromises by making various and strange claims – the progress, the change in the world. But we must know, ‘the new is forbidden by the Torah,’ and every compromise in Torah, in halakha, in kashrut, brings even greater compromises,” Rabbi Pinto added sharply in his letter to his students.
Quoting the Passover Haggadah, Rabbi Pinto continued: “In every single generation, they rise up against us to annihilate us, but though small in numbers, those who sacrificed their lives in order not to compromise – only they preserved the existence of the People of Israel. Wherever it is demanded that a person compromise, it is a commandment and obligation upon him to run from that place as if from fire, because its destiny is to be destroyed, and not a single remnant or refugee will remain.”
He emphasized: “We have already found entire communities who took the path of compromise, and the name of Israel did not remain from them. The Children of Israel were redeemed from Egypt because they did not change their names, their tongue, and their dress. And wherever people who are far from the Torah enter to manage the Torah and halakha, the strength of the action is in what is acted upon, and they destroy every good portion, and the ‘little foxes, who are destroying vineyards,’ will come upon their punishment first.”
