The Chief Rabbinical Council recently summoned the owners of the Bab Al-Yaman restaurant, Yehonatan Wadai, for a hearing on the appeal filed following the Rabbinate's refusal to grant the restaurant a kashrut certificate.
A few weeks ago, a petition was submitted to the Supreme Court by the Ne'emanei Torah v'Avoda movement, on behalf of Wadai, in which the rabbinate was asked to explain why it will not issue a kashrut certification for a restaurant that is open on Saturdays without desecration of the Shabbat.
Today the restaurant serves kosher food and opens its doors on Shabbat, as stated, without desecrating Shabbat. The food is prepared in advance and heated on Shabbat plates and the payment is made before or after Shabbat, just as is done in hotels in Israel and in many kosher restaurants around the world.
"The fact that the rabbinate refuses to give kosher certification to the restaurant is strange and makes no sense," says Yonatan and Da'i, the owner of Bab El Yaman, "If hotels can receive kashrut certificates, why do not we? I call upon the rabbinate to do the right thing and to strengthen the values of Shabbat."
Tani Frank, Head of Religion and State in the Ne'emanei Torah v'Avodah movement, who submitted the petition together with Wadai, noted that "the rabbinate should have an interest in strengthening restaurants that do not violate Shabbat and serve kosher food. This strengthens local small businesses, and we very much hope that the rabbis will work to bring the hearts closer together, examine the matter impartially, and allow Bab Al-Yaman and other restaurants to open their gates on Shabbat - without desecration of the Shabbat."