Israeli Supreme Court Sides With Messianic Jews
In its verdict, the court ruled that the 51-year-old Yemenite baker's belief that Jesus was the Messiah did not make her baked goods unkosher.
(Jerusalem, Israel)—A bakery in Ashdod, Israel, owned by a Messianic Jew, may now continue to bake its own kind of bread, according to a news report from the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ).
Following a lengthy legal battle, Israel's Supreme Court on Monday (June 29) ordered the Chief Orthodox Rabbinate to grant "kashrut" (or "kosher") certification to an Ashdod bakery owned by a Messianic Jew. (Photo: Challah bread)
In its verdict, the court ruled that the 51-year-old Yemenite baker's belief that Jesus was the Messiah did not make her baked goods unkosher.
Furthermore, ICEJ reports, the court found that the Chief Rabbinate Council had exceeded the authority granted them by the Kashrut Law when they demanded that the bakery meet special conditions such as promising not to engage in missionary activity and turning the keys to the bakery over to a kashrut supervisor, conditions demanded solely because the owner is a Messianic Jew.
The ICEJ report says the owner, Pnina Conforty, who became a Believer while working in Ohio for an evangelical Christian family, enjoyed impressive business success after returning to Israel and opening the bakery in 2002.
ICEJ says Conforty, however, quickly saw a sharp decline in sales after her faith was publicized in an article in a Messianic Jewish magazine. She suffered from demonstrations outside her bakery and posters with her picture distributed throughout the city warning that she was a missionary.
"Finally I won. This is my baby," said Conforty after giving credit to the Ohio family that led her to Christ.
