Once again, unscrupulous individuals seeking to meet the demand for talleisim and tallis katan for the Yomim Tovim are using goyim to tie the tzitzis, something difficult to trace for the unsuspecting consumer.
In the past, the one saving grace was that one could usually find tashmishei kedusha with a reliable hechsher but now, the bogus talleisim and tzitzis are coming with a bogus hechsher along with the tzitzis tied by non-Jews, usually foreign workers paid less than minimum wages for their efforts.
The Eida Chareidis is doing its part to ensure one gets a kosher item that is fit for a bracha and fulfilling a mitzvah. As such, a new kashrus label has been designed with a hologram, making forgeries increasingly difficult.
Unfortunately, most consumers are unaware that a label appearing on a garment may be a fake. Shoppers are also urged to make their purchases in a store owned and run by a Shomer Shabbos G-d fearing Jew, who takes the time and effort to ensure he purchases his supply from reputable sources to eliminate the fear of chas v’sholom buying one of the fake tashmishei kedusha.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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2 Responses
Speaking about holograms, when and why did Empire/OU/KAJ discontinue using holograms in the hashgocha sticker?
A few notes…
First, stores stock up their products for Yom Tov far in advance. There is a rush to buy products, but there is no manufacturing rush to deliver them, _that_ rush occurred 2 months ago. So the “pre-yom-tov” ness of the warning is just to get attention.
Second, the main suppliers are well established and well known. Temporary tallit manufacturers don’t suddenly pop-up for the holidays. After all, you need a garment manufacturer, a tzitzit string manufacturer (with 2 levels, stam or l’shem hamitzva), and a tying group, then marketing and distribution. Not to mention supervision.
I personally visited the tying and distribution center for Neatzit (now out of business), I saw the staff, the tying process, and the packaging process. It was staffed exclusively by frum yidden, they started each tie l’shem hamiztzvah. A surprisingly _few_ number of people tying all their product.
The setup process, materials cost and so forth versus the cost of the tie is such that the idea there’s a major cost savings by replacing the person tying with a goy is ridiculous.
This is a push to market a hashgacha, using community fears.