Milk shortages expected to intensify as chief rabbis veto non-Jews working in dairies over Sabbath, holidays

In a letter addressed to Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, the chief rabbis of Israel reject a proposal to allow non-Jewish workers to operate dairies during the Jewish holidays in order to avoid an expected shortage.

“Dairies in Israel receive kosher certification from the Chief Rabbinate, and operating the plants on Shabbat could compromise the certification they are granted,” says the letter signed by Sephardi Chief Rabbi David Yosef and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber.

“The Sabbath is one of the most distinctive symbols of the Israeli nation and is the sign of the covenant between the Creator and his people,” it adds. “The very fact that factories in Israel observe the sanctity of Shabbat is a statement in itself and also expresses the Jewish identity of the State of Israel.”

The High Holidays — Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — followed immediately by Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret-Simchat Torah, starting later this month, will fall in the middle of the week, shutting milk production at dairies for a total of nine workdays. Production also ceases on Shabbat, to comply with kashrut constraints.

Yosef and Ber say that dairies in Israel already have experience with the challenge and managed to avoid shortages in the past.

“In our opinion, since we are still at a reasonable distance from the [Jewish month of] Tishrei holidays, there is sufficient time to make the necessary arrangements to ensure that no shortage will occur, God forbid,” they write in the letter.

Grocery stores in Israel have been rationing milk over the past few weeks amid production shortfalls.