Originally Posted by
mikebg
You are not only not 100% correct, but 100% WRONG!
1) The Glatt meals from Israel are certified by the Eda Haredit. I have never heard of anyone who will not eat them. When EL AL decided to bring in a second supplier of glatt meals in order to generate some competition, it was specifically stated that the certification had to be of the Eda Haredit in order to avoid problems with certain travellers not recognisin their kashrut.
2) Rav (Moshe) Yehuda Leib Landau is the son of Rav Yaakov Landau, who passed away many years ago.
3) The reason that EL AL do not make all the meals glatt kosher is that such meals are considerably more expensive than the regular meals. Both the raw materials, and the actual physical conditions they are prepared in (the kitchen equipment) are more expensive. Glatt meat is less common than regular meat, and if it is from a more widely recognised shechita operation it will be even more expensive. Not because someone is getting rich, but because the more 'mehadrin' kashrut agencies require the shechita process to be slower in order to check each animal more thoroughly for kashrut problems (treifot). Anything which is borderline, but was eventually passed as OK will be rejected for glatt kosher certification. The differences with chickens are greater.
The current standard of the kitchens in the TAMAM factory (belonging to EL AL) are very far removed from being glatt kosher. In fact, many local rabbinates in Israel would insist on far higher standards. It is pretty much the lowest common denominator. The cost of upgrading the kitchens to a more rigorous kashrut standard would be considerable. Would it be commercially worthwhile for EL AL? Probably not. It has been considered in the past and rejected as being not worthwhile.
Sorry to say but I think that you are also a little confused on a few points.
Firstly you have interchanged the terms GLATT with MEHADRIN a few times.
Glatt, which is the Yiddish word for "smooth" refers only to beef. In Hebrew it is called, "Chalak". It refers to the slaughterer checking the inside of the lung for any lessions. If he feels anything, the animal is sent to the regular line, where the lung will be inflated with air to check it out. If there is no hole, it is regular Kosher. If there is a hole, it is Trief, and sold to an unkosher meat packer.
Chickens cannot be Glatt. They can be Mehadrin, when they are specially checked at the, TZOMET HAGIDIM which is part of the leg. This is what adds the cost to chicken.
Kitchen equipment and preparation cannot make food Glatt. I am not sure I follow your comments about the costs involved in upgrading the equipment to make the Kitchen "more Glatt".
You might be refering to the need to check all the leafy vegetable for bug infestation. Regular Kosher usually gives it a salt water or vinegar bath in a large washing machine type contraption, while Mehadrin will only use leafy vegetables which were specially grown and cared for to prevent infestation. This is what raises the costs there. The vegetables used to come from GUSH KATIF, but now are privately grown
Then there is the issue of meals from overseas. All regular Kosher meals made in New York are from Borenstien's with the OU certification. All meats from the OU are Glatt by default and I am pretty sure "Gush Katif" type vegetables. The same may be from London.
The KSML issue came up a few years ago when EL AL FA"s were caught warming up unkosher food which they bought on the ground, in the plane's oven. All regular Kosher meal main dishes and breads are heated up without double wrapping and are therefore able to be contaminated or made Trief, if the oven used to heat it up in was trief, as would be the case with heating up the previously mentioned private food
As this was caught twice and there was no way of knowing if it still happen etc, the OU put out a statement that it's certification was only on the food and NOT the plane or the presentation. This caused a great deal of flyers to order KSML because they are heated double wrapped and cannot therefore be made trief
EL AL said at the time that they had taken steps to prevent this occurance from happenening again and the issue died down and many travellers returned to the regular Kosher meals at least from the US since they are Glatt.
On a personal note, I find the food on EL AL to be quite good and have just returned from the Far East in C and had very good service and very good food. Admitedly I have not really had the oppurtunity to compare to other airlines but I am very happy with what I got.
EL AL is still my first choice