As salaries reach hundreds of thousands of shekels: The Chief Rabbinate to expand shochet training
The Council of the Chief Rabbinate has approved the immediate renewal of practical exams for shochets and a temporary certification track for team leaders. The move aims to address a manpower shortage that has driven up koshering costs for imported meat, though consumer price relief is not guaranteed.
The Chief Rabbinate is attempting to address one of the most expensive bottlenecks in the kosher meat market. The Rabbinate Council approved a plan on Tuesday for the immediate renewal of practical exams in the profession of shechita (ritual slaughter), following a long period where training of new personnel failed to keep pace with the growing needs of meat importers. According to the Rabbinate, this move is intended to allow dozens of professionals to advance and certify new team leaders—a role currently facing a severe shortage and considered the most expensive part of the kosher shechita system abroad.
The plan includes practical exams for candidates who have already passed theoretical tests and met advancement requirements, as well as a temporary certification track for team leaders, subject to professional and halachic standards. The Rabbinate states that hundreds of candidates took theoretical exams during July and August, with another round expected in September and October.
About a year ago, Globes reported that an acute shortage of qualified shochets and team leaders had created a market where importers had almost no alternatives. Data presented at the time indicated there were fewer than a thousand qualified shochets of various levels, with many team leaders aged 70–80 and almost no new generation entering the field.
Importers told Globes that team leaders, who previously earned tens of thousands of shekels monthly, demanded sums of about 250,000 shekels per month during the 2025 shechita season, and sometimes more. Other team members also benefited from the shortage, with organ inspectors demanding 100,000–120,000 shekels monthly and shochets about 80,000, in addition to expenses for flights, accommodation, and business-class travel.
Will this reach the consumer's pocket?
The Israeli market depends heavily on meat from abroad. A Globes investigation estimated that in 2024, about 60% of meat supply came from imports, and koshering expenses, which previously accounted for 3–4% of meat costs, reached over 20% in some cases.
However, increasing the number of shochets does not guarantee lower supermarket prices. The Rabbinate does not pay these salaries, as team members are employed directly by importers via personal contracts. Increasing the supply of shochets and team leaders is intended to reduce the bargaining power created by the shortage; only if this leads to lower costs for importers might some of the savings be passed on to the consumer.
It is important to note that last November, the Rabbinate announced plans to establish additional shechita schools and recruit teams from Israel and abroad via a fast track. Contacts with the Ministry of Finance also explored recognizing foreign shechita teams already operating overseas to reduce the need to fly teams from Israel.
The meat market in flux
At the end of June, Globes revealed that Shufersal intends to import meat directly from South America to bypass large importers like Baladi and Neto. This move aims to reduce mediation costs and strengthen the chain's private brand. Industry estimates suggest importer mediation margins can reach 7–10%, though direct import places the burden of approvals, koshering, and logistics on the retailer.
Alongside this, Baladi has been managing a regulatory struggle regarding its plan to open commercial chicken imports from Brazil. This week, acting director of Veterinary Services, Dr. Sergio Dolev, reversed a predecessor's decision and removed a factory in which Baladi invested 21 million shekels from the approved import list. The company claims the move was intended to generate hundreds of millions of shekels in annual activity. Baladi is also currently in legal proceedings against the Rabbinate regarding poultry shechita abroad.
Meanwhile, consumer prices continue to rise. Over the last five years, the price index for chicken products has risen by about 30% and beef by about 20%. The Rabbinate is now presenting the increase in the number of shochets as a tool to combat the cost of living. Yehuda Avidan, acting CEO of the Rabbinate, stated this is a "direct and significant action to lower the cost of living and the prices of kosher meat in Israel."
