Grocery Stores & Jewish-Owned Chometz

How Long Must We Wait Before Shopping In Such Stores & The ‘Myth’ Of Lag B’omer

       March, 2023

I. Jew & Gentile

        I was once certifying a commissary in Western New York when, while explaining some of the rules, the owner’s son became visibly upset and verbally intolerant. “This is all because we are Gentiles, right? I am sure if I put on one of your little hats you wouldn’t make my mom jump through all these hoops!”

     His mother was mortified and began to apologize profusely.

    While the Chazon Ish would tell talmidim that “Ah yid enfort nit’ (a Jew shouldn’t respond to such comments), in this case, for several reasons, I felt compelled to retort, albeit without sharpness or riposte.

     While his lack of respect was a red flag, it is indeed understandable that to an outsider the world of kashrus can appear capricious, fickle, and erratic.

      A grape-based company once shared with me that they used to be fully certified until noticing a potato chip company down the block was being charged a fraction of their kashrus price, and then described how their rabbi didn’t demand being there for production, whereas by their grape product the rabbi was there daily, and for hours. They thought they discovered an injustice when, in reality, it simply seemed that no one explained the exceptionality of kosher grape production and their unique status in halacha.

     With this in mind, I turned to the son in our first story and shared that while it is undeniable that being a Gentile can affect kashrus (e.g. bishul akum, etc.), a Jewish owned facility can also introduce complications, and indeed, at times, be far more complex than if he were Gentile.

       When my vaad first certified a local supermarket bakery, the one item they didn’t know how to make – and instead ship-in ready-made –  was challah. To avoid consumer confusion, they wanted this product repackaged with our logo, so I called its rav hamachshir for authorization, and sent a mashigiach to Paramus, New Jersey for a pro-forma visit. (It is standard practice to visit even a reliable hashgacha’s facility should one’s imprimatur be added).

    Upon this customary inspection, the mashgiach -today a kashrus veteran -called me up in a panic.

    “I met the owner!” he anxiously began.

       “So?”

   “So?! His name David Moskowitz [name has been changed]! He is a Jew; not (yet) frum!”

   Can the reader now guess the urgent concern?

 Hafrashas challah!

(This halachic complexity not only exists regarding such factories, but also local pizza shops, bakeries, etc. as well. How this is dealt with is quite fascinating, and perhaps a good subject to explore another time)

II. Chometz Liquor and Stores

     But by far the greatest headache that is unique to a Jewish owned food business is chometz.

     Several years ago, this issue became a public and international colloquy when it was discovered/made public that many liquor manufactures were owned by Jews.

      I had the zechus to be at the meeting with various kashrus experts where Rav Belsky and lbch”ch Rav Shmuel Kamenetzky spoke about how to best guide the tzibbur regarding this concern. Rav Shlomo Miller would later also address this same group with a shiur on the topic.

       Already well before that liquor tumult, the average consumer was generally aware and anxious vis-à-vis these issues. Many grocery stores chains or their individual franchises may be owned by a Jew, making purchasing such chometz which was owned by them over Pesach forbidden.

     This halacha is titled ‘chometz sh’over al hapesach’.

     How long must one wait to purchase such items?

      When I was around ten, I distinctly recall hearing the date ‘lag b’omer’ as a cutoff period for tis concern; meaning from that day on such stores become permissible. I mention my age, because not only did I then accept this date as Torah m’sinai but believed that on that date such chometz actually becomes permissible.

    Neither of these suppositions were accurate, and after some recent (unscientific!) polling, it appears that there are many who still follow this. Others informed me that they recall Shavuos as the termination, and still others heard ‘six weeks’.

III. The Halacha

      Chazal teach that chometz owned by a Jew over Pesach – even for but a small portion of the chag, and even just acharon shel Pesach (Shulchan Aruch HaRav 448:1) -is forbidden (Pesachim 28a-29a). This is a k’nass/fine, for which nullification before Pesach alone doesn’t resolve.

    There is no expiration date to such foods’ forbidden status, staying assur forever, and one may not even derive benefit from such items (e.g., to buy/sell or use it as pet food; although this may sometimes be affected regarding certain non-biblical chometz, see Shulchan Aruch, 447:12 with Magen Avraham).

     This subject is exceedingly multifaceted, with untold potential cases, and permutations. The enquiring reader is encouraged to peruse an astounding itemized list of real-world cases along with their sources in poskim in the sefer ‘Halacha Shel Pesach’ (vol. 1, p. 248-251, HaRav Avraham Mordechai Feldman of Yerushalaim).

IV. Bypasses?

      Do cutoff dates exit, at which such stored may be patronized?

  Simply, the only way such stores may be patronized right after yom tov is if they sold their chometz, and this frequently done by major and respected vaadim.

    But how this is possible?! How can we ‘sell’ chometz and then observe them doing business with it? Doesn’t this negate any transaction?!

      When I sold my and many other rabbanim’s chometz this year to Rep. James Gennaro (NYC’s 24^th District), he surprised us all when he declared “I have been buying chometz for years, and I have one rule: I do not purchase chometz from a non-religious person if he will be selling it over Pesach. I once drove by a liquor store over Pesach and saw he was open. I walked in and said, “Hey! I bought this inventory! What are you doing?!”.

     All the rabbanim had a laugh, but he was also very serious.

    What is, then, the allowance? Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe, orach chaim, 1:149 and 2:91) and many other litvish and chassidehse poskim (e.g. the Sanzer rav and the Lubavitcher rebbe) explain how while other lesser issues are indeed involved, the initial sale is unaffected by such later actions (see Piskei Teshuvos, vol. 5 new edition, p. 185, note 153 for additional sources).

        Without such a sale, the consumer would have to discover which stores/companies are owned by Jews (conglomerates and large corporations with Jewish owners/partners/investors – is a subject beyond our scope). This is indeed a difficult task, which is why it is best left for local rabbanim to simply check into their most local stores. However, national vaadim do offer aid by sending out more general information, such as national unfranchised chains where Jews are not owners, such as all CVS and Walgreens.

V. Lag B’Omer Cut-Off?

     Because such chometz is indefinitely forbidden, any cutoff would be due to an awareness that the current inventory is not the same as what was there over Pesach. To assume this, one would only need to know that fifty percent of the chometz inventory has been exchanged (Igros Moshe, 4:96).

     Is there a way to determine a set date for this?

     My brother-in-law, R’ Efraim Halpert, shared that one national hashagacha this year did give lag b’omer as that presumed date.

     But such dates are pragmatic and may change year-to-year and even city-to-city. For example, it’s possible that as people eat healthier, stores do not sell as much cereal from year-to-year.

      Chazal discuss this very issue in the Tosefta, giving specific cutoff dates for such chometz depending on the type of store, location, etc. (Pesachim 2:1).

     In Toronto, circa 1985, Rav Gedalya Felder (d. 1991) suggested that three-four weeks should find enough turn-over therby allowing one to purchase their chometz (Yesodei Yeshurin, vol.6, p. 330-331).     

    I would posit that this popular sefer among rabbanim birthed the rounded and easy-to-recall ‘lag b’omer’ cutoff (see Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach’s letter to him, published in the beginning of this volume, anticipating its printing).

      There is a much simpler way to avoid all of this, both before and after lag b’omer: simply support your local frum stores!

     Alas, that is a whole other subject and whole other article!