Deputy Minister Yaakov Litzman
Photo: Motti Kimchi
Litzman tells hospitals to 'search visitors' for Hametz on Passover
Instructions come after some hospitals announce they don't intend to 'invade people's personal space' at the entrance in search of Hametz; but Litzman and state say it is important to respect patients who do observe the stringent dietary laws.
Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) has instructed all hospitals to search people entering their premises during the festival of Passover holiday for Hametz (leavened bread) or other food items containing traces of it.
During the festival, many Jews, both religious and secular, refrain from eating any Hametz, and kosher products are labelled to indicate whether they contain it or not.
The order came after some hospitals announced that they did not intend to search all visitors and patients entering the buildings to prevent them from bringing in bread or other forms of Hametz, food items which are strictly forbidden during the week-long festival.
The hospitals say that the policy of rummaging through people’s bags in search for Hametz is unrealistic and, in any event, is not enforced.
“I don’t see a situation in which the guard is going to turn bags belonging to a sick person inside out at the entrance of a hospital and forbid him from entering with his sandwich,” one official at a hospital reasoned.
Deputy Minister Yaakov Litzman (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
“We will hang signs asking people to avoid bringing in Hametz but the guards will not prevent a person from bringing in food that is not kosher from his home during the festival.”
The comments sufficed to spark Litzman’s attention, who emphasized on Tuesday that there are customs that have always been observed when it comes to Passover.
“I heard that there are hospitals saying that they aren’t enforcing the practice of kashrut (dietry laws). On Passover, there are customs that say that hospitals do not allow Hametz into their premises and they need to check people,” Litzman said during a Ministry of Health conference held at the Heichal HaTarbut concert hall in Tel Aviv.
“What can you do? Eighty percent of the population observes kashrut on Passover. No manager has any authority to not enforce what has been practiced for 60-70 years. That is the custom that has hitherto been practiced and it will remain that way,” he continued.
The hospitals, however, were unmoved by the ultra-Orthodox deputy minister’s comments, insisting that they would stand firm on their position.
“Litzman’s statements are intended for the Haredi public’s ears. We won’t check the sick patients or their relatives when they come to the hospitals, and even if we are forced to check them, we will turn a blind eye,” said a senior staff member at one of the hospitals.
“In public spaces, in the cafeterias and in the vending machines we will observe kashrut, but we will not start invading people’s privacy. We are not kashrut supervisors,” the official continued.
The Secular Forum recently submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice against the Health Ministry and Israel’s Chief Rabbinate in a bid to prevent the custom this year of forbidding Hametz entering hospitals.
However, the state responded by saying that forbidding Hametz from being brought into the premises was a reasonable and appropriate custom that is intended to ensure that hospitals remain accessible for people who do observe the stringent dietary laws during Passover since the Jewish law strictly forbids “the seeing or finding” of Hametz. Therefore, the state explained that the practice should be observed in hospitals to cater for those who do abide by the laws.
