(YD 119)
Question:
May the Rabbinical Assembly grant kashrut supervision to a restaurant which is open on Shabbat?
Responsum:
The Rabbinical Assembly may not grant kashrut supervision to a restaurant which is open on Shabbat, because the owner who does not keep Shabbat cannot be trusted to observe strictly the laws of Kashrut and the laws regarding cooking on Shabbat when the mashgiah is not present.
On the other hand, one cannot appoint a permanent mashgiah in that restaurant, because he would transgress the biblical commandment of “You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:14) since many customers will drive there from far away and all customers will pay on Shabbat.
In addition, the mashgiah would transgress the rabbinic commandment that “one cannot strengthen the hand of a transgressor” (Mishnah Shevi’it 5:9).
Finally, there is no reason to “reward” the owner of such a restaurant with a kashrut certificate in order that “the transgressor should not be rewarded” (Yevamot 92a).
Rabbi David Golinkin
In favor: Rabbi David Frankel
Rabbi Simchah Roth
Rabbi Yisrael Warman
Opposed: Rabbi Gilah Dror
Rabbi Michael Graetz
Rabbi David Lazar
A Reaction to the Responsum on the Wearing of a Kippah by Men and Women
(OH 91:3-5)
I agree with Rabbi Frankel’s responsum, aside from the last section regarding women and girls. Inasmuch as wearing a kippah is a symbol of Fear of Heaven, of modesty, and of respect for tradition, which became a binding custom in times of sanctity, we have to require the wearing of the kippah not only of men and boys but also of women and girls. By so doing, we give women and girls the same opportunity to enrich their religious experience and to give the sacred moments in their lives the additional dimension that wearing a kippah adds.
Rabbi Gilah Dror
In favor: Rabbi Michael Graetz
Opposed: Rabbi David Frankel
Rabbi David Golinkin
Rabbi David Lazar
Rabbi Simchah Roth
Rabbi Yisrael Warman