[Avodah] Gelatin

[Akiva Miller]

.
R' Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter wrote:

> And yet, it is davka in Eretz Yisroel where you will find
> acceptance of R' Chaim Ozer's psaq, and a rejection of the
> Chazon Ish's psaq, whereas, outside of Eretz Yisroel, the
> Chazon Ish's psaq is generally followed.
> (Of course, this is more due to R' Ovadya Yosef, than to R'
> Chaim Ozer.)

I suspect that this is not so much a function of the tendency of poskim in
a given area to hold similarly. Rather, I think it is a practical result
that in Eretz Yisroel, where there is an effort to provide basic-level
kashrus for as many people as possible, leniencies such as gelatin were
allowed by the basic-level hashgachos. (Which, by the way, far
pre-dates Rav Ovadia.)

In contrast, in America (my knowledge of other areas is sorely lacking)
most hashgachos pride themselves on aiming for the people who care more
about kashrus and halacha, so they avoid such leniencies and aim for the
chumros. But even in America there have always been some hashgachos who
were willing to rely on the leniencies for gelatin.

People of a certain age will have no problem remembering when KoJel was
made of real gelatin, and the box said that it was "packed under the
supervision of Rabbi" Ploni, but omitted the name of whoever it was that
supervised the raw gelatin itself. And even today, such hechsherim still
exist. For example, search Amazon for "NOW Supplements, CoQ10 400 mg,
Pharmaceutical Grade, All-Trans Form produced by Fermentation, 60
Softgels", and you'll find a Triangle-K with the words "Contains Gelatin".

Akiva Miller
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