HERE WE ARE, ALMOST AT THE END of Pesach (Passover) 5779 (2019).
Yesterday the 13 year-old neighbor came over to help trim a tree. To reward him for volunteering, the Spouse offered him some candy.
His reaction: I can’t, it’s Passover.
My wife’s response: We know, the candy is K4P (kosher for Passover).
But is it?
When she filled a resealable bag she noticed TWO certificates of kashrut on the bag in which the candies were packaged. (She bought them recently in Israel.)
On the BACK of the package is the seal of the b'datz (Bet Din Zadek) of Jerusalem.
This organization claims that the candies are NOT kosher for Pesach, or, more precisely, the heksure “does not include Pesach.”
Does that mean the Jerusalem group does NOT approve Elite’s candy for Pesach DESPITE Chatam Sofer’s approval? Both are Ashkenazi.
In the U.S., and probably elsewhere “b’hul” — outside of Israel — we have heksure competition. Sometimes it gets nasty with one label throwing aspersions at another; it is, after all, a business and the more products on which a specific label appears, the more money for the label’s owner.
A lot of Israeli companies know this and, in order to sell into the U.S. market, they buy — in addition to Israeli certifications — “name” heksures; in the U.S. that includes OU, cRc, Star-K, and Kaf-K. (A list of the more common agencies is given at http://www.crcweb.org/agency_list.php )
Unfortunately for my Spouse, she bought the candies in Israel produced for the Israeli market; ergo, no U.S. or any non-Israeli heksure.
So, Strauss Group, which is it? Chatam Sofer or a b'datz?
I could understand if there was a caveat to the b'datz label: “Not kosher for Pesach for Ashkenazim” (who don’t eat kitniyot), or alternatively, “Kosher for Passover for those who eat kitniyot”. This has become a common note to many certificates.
WHY did b'datz Jerusalem decide what was Kosher for Pesach for Chatam Sofer’s label but not sufficiently kosher for the b'datz? Maybe there is a valid reason, but in that case, Strauss should only have put one label on the package.
Having opposing decisions is not good for Strauss; it suggests the company doesn’t care about kashrut, only that it buys an acceptable label.
Is there no one at Strauss that looks at its products and their packaging?
OK, this is Israel and I remember a popular yogurt that was marketed to youngsters. At one time the package had a cartoon — a cartoon, not a likeness — of a dinosaur. The rabbis who sold their hecksure for the yogurt told the company, Tnuva if I recall correctly, that either change the packaging or lose the certification.
Reason? Dinosaurs are not mentioned in the Torah, therefore they did not, could not, exist.
Rabbinical logic — or lack thereof.
At least the yogurt only had one label; folks who bought it didn’t have to wonder “Kosher or not kosher,” although they might wonder about the people behind the kosher label.
THE REST OF THE STORY
I asked Strauss, the company that owns Elite, about the seemingly conflicting heksures (kosher certifications).
To my surprise, I received an explanation in response.
According to Strauss, the b’datz is a “year round except Pesach” certification.
The Chatam Sofer certification is strictly for Passover. Chatam Sofer certifies that the candy is K4P and does not contain kitniyot
And that, as the late Paul Harvey oft intoned, Is the rest of the story.”
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