By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

Each year the city of Chicago holds a Sweets and Snacks Expo. Just before the expo, the Almond Board of California (yes, there is such a thing) conducted a survey of 5400 consumers in eight global markets about why and how people eat chocolate. They announced the results of their survey at the expo. It found that 45% of consumers eat chocolate because it makes them feel happy, while 43% eat it because it tastes good. It also found that 70% prefer to eat chocolate with nuts as opposed to just plain chocolate.

In the Jewish community, chocolate sales are burgeoning, with candy stores offering gift packs that are perfect for Shabbos guests to bring to their hosts or for family or friends to just send a thoughtful gift for a simcha. There are Shalom Zachar gift packs, Voch Nacht gift packs, Bas Mitzvah gift packs and many more.

There are, in fact, two ways in which these gift packs can be purchased at many of these candy or sweet shops. There is the pre-packed method, which is generally much more expensive. And then there is the “make-your-own” method, which is less expensive, allows for personal creativity, and is loads of fun. Plus, one gets to watch them shrink wrap the “make-your own” creation and dress it up with a bow.

So what is the problem? Believe it or not, one must be extremely careful, because if not there is a whole host of prohibitions that one can violate in making your own gift pack.

The issue lies in the weighing.

As of this writing there are no signs on the store in question warning about how the chocolates are weighed and priced. The situation as it stands is fraught with halachic danger.

How so? Well, let’s say, for example, you purchased a $6.50 tray and went to fill up the three areas with various chocolates. At the top section you filled it with the $18.99 Swiss chocolates. You just took 3/10th s of a pound of the Swiss chocolate one since they are pretty expensive. Then you took some of the $4.99 chocolate covered nuts. You got 2 pounds for that one. Then you took some $5.99 rum balls and took .9 of a pound on that one. The total should be $5.70 for the Swiss chocolate, $10.00 for the chocolate-covered nuts, and $5.60 for the rum balls. This adds up to $21.30 plus your $6.50 for the tray. Had you added them all up, your expected total would have been $27.80, but who brings a calculator?

The problem is that, in many of these sweet shops, this is not how the young lady or young man behind the cash register will be calculating it.

Instead, he or she will just average the total price of the chocolates [($18.99 + $4.99 + $5.99) divided by 3] and get the figure of $10.33. She will then multiply this figure by the total weight of all the chocolates – 3.2 pounds. The total you are now paying is $33.06 (including the container).

This is a full $5.26 more than you would have paid had she weighed them separately. Conversely, an unscrupulous chocolate lover could use this problem against the owners of the store. This can be done by buying more of the Swiss chocolates and lowering the average with the other types. This author actually witnessed such an attempt, but the cashier merely weighed them separately, showing that in this case the averaging is not just inadvertent.

So who cares?

The Torah does. The Torah in Sefer VaYikra (19:35-36) tells us not to do an “avel bamishpat” referring to the proper use of measurements, and to use honest balances, honest weights, and honest dry and liquid measures. The purpose of this Torah commandment, of course, is to ensure that the purchaser receives and pays for the amount he or she thinks was what was purchased. Indeed, even if a weight is off by only a small amount, the verse in VaYikra is violated. These halachos are quantified in the Choshain Mishpat section of Shulchan Aruch (231:19).

LIFNEI IVER

Another issue is the one of Lifnei Iver – not placing a stumbling block before another person. The Torah (VaYikrah 19:14) states: “You shall not curse the deaf nor place a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your G-d – I am your L-rd.” Even if someone is inadvertently violating the prohibition against theft on account of you, you have placed a stumbling block in front of him.

While one may quibble about whether the violation of honest weights and measures is violated here, since there is nothing wrong with them per se, there clearly exists a violation of theft and of Lifnei Iver.

Of course, this all is inadvertent, but that doesn’t really matter.

Rashi’s comments on the verse in VaYikra are quite eye-opening. He labels the one who measures, i.e. the store-keepr, as a “Dayan” a judge. Rashi further writes that one who measures inaccurately is labeled with all the horrific appellations that apply to an unscrupulous judge.

Rashi points out that ripping off consumers with inaccurate measures has all sorts of horrifying repercussions. It causes the land to become impure; it causes Chilul Hashem, it removes the Shechina, it causes Israel to fall under the sword, and it causes Israel to be exiled from their land. As a judge who twisted things, he is termed hated and an abomination.

DINA DeMALCHUSA

Is there also a Lifnei Iver on Dina DeMalchusa Dina? Most authorities write that Dina DeMalchusa Dina is a rabbinic prohibition, but Lifnei Iver does apply to Rabbinic issues. Although most authorities also write that Dina DeMalchusa only applies to taxes and kinyanim, it can be argued that the Dina DeMalchusa Statute here (Nun Yud Choff Raish Raish: Siman Raish Chof Aleph) does apply to kinyanim.

Clearly, there may be some very serious prohibitions involved here.

SOLUTIONS

So what are the solutions? One thing you can do is to make sure that you bag all your chocolates separately, then have them weighed, and then place them in the container that you purchased to be shrink-wrapped. Another thing you can do is to mentally and or verbally forgive the inadvertent theft. What the store can do is to put a sign up by the scale that says, please note that the price you see may not be accurately reflected in your final purchase – since we average the price of all your chocolates.

Is this something that the Kashrus agencies should be involved in? It is an issue that does not involve Kashrus per se, but involves other, more meta-halachic issues. Our Kashrus agencies do legislate in regard to closing in ample time before Shabbos, so why not include Lifnei Iver and Choshain Mishpat issues too? Indeed, the Rambam writes (in Hilchos Genaivah 8:20) that the Bais Din of the community is obligated to check the stores and make sure that the items are weighed honestly. As we saw in the aforementioned Rashi, the repercussions of this are not inconsequential. So too borrow a trade-marked phrase from the MTA – “If you see something, say something.”

The author can be reached at [email protected]