It’s not because I want to eat the candy (I try not to) that I buy kosher. It’s not even because of the non-Jews in the office (as I said earlier, if I were the ONLY Jew, I probably would buy non-kosher – to remove the temptation to eat from it myself). It’s strictly because of the other (non religious) Jews that I only buy kosher candy. It’s them that I was wondering about. (Warning: gross over-generalization ahead!!) Many non-religous Jews tend to get antsy whenever an Orthodox Jew starts talking about religion.
I realize that my friend mentioned the matter in a half joking manner, and as such, I wasn’t * too * seriously concerned. But it did stick in the back of my mind.
From agisofia
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Well, that’s not really an issue agisofia because there are no religions (to my knowledge, anyway) that forbid eating kosher products.
However, to put it in a more applicable situation: Am I in violation of the ADA (Americans with Disabilites Act) if I don’t also put out sugar free candy for the diabetics in the office (there is at least one that I know of)?
I agree with you. I never said it was an intelligent question. That doesn’t, however, mean it couldn’t happen. Stupider things have happened in the past…
Candy, like any other food item, can be kosher or not depending on it’s ingredients and/or the way it is prepared.
Microwaves, ovens, dishes, pots, pans and the like can be kosher or not depending on what was prepared in them. According to Jewish law, utensils absorb flavoring of hot items in the walls of the utensil. This flavor can also be released back into food being prepared in that vessel later. Thus, if I prepare a roast ham in my oven, the oven walls absorb some of that flavoring. In addition, that flavoring would then be released back into any subsequent foods being prepared in that oven, thus rendering them non-kosher.
Certain utensils (depending on their composition) can be kashered (made fit for kosher food again). The exact process of which is beyond the scope of this post.
This, by the way, is the reason Orthodox Jews keep two sets of dishes (meat and dairy) since mixing the two is forbidden.
My sense from Zev’s question was that his concern was not so much for the non-Jews, but for the (possibly non-observant) Jews in the office. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that he buys kosher candy not for himself, but because he doesn’t want to knowingly cause another Jew to violate a commandment, whether they care or not. Does this fall under not “putting a stumbling block before the blind”? There are some Jews that are offended at the notion of more observant Jews “violating their autonomy” to eat whatever they want (witness the interdenominational disputes over whether a kitchen at a new JCC in our community should be kosher). (As I preview, I see Zev has already reiterated these points, but I’ll leave them anyhow)
If you’re going out of your way to point out to your Jewish co-workers that you bought kosher candy so you wouldn’t cause them to violate a mitzvah, that might be out of line. Otherwise, I would think that everyone just assumes that you’re bringing in stuff that you can eat yourself. Would a Seventh Day Adventist or Hindu be upbraided for never bringing Swedish meatballs to a company potluck (unless they were made with GimmeLean (OK-Pareve IIRC), of course)?
A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away), I heard a song on the Dr. Demento Show called “The Ballad of Irving”. It was about a Jewish cowboy named Irving, the 142nd Fastest Gun in the West. One of the verses was:
“He came from the old Bar Mitzvah spread
With a ten-gallon yamulka on his head.
He always followed his mother’s wishes –
Even on the range he used two sets of dishes!”
Now I know what that “two sets of dishes” line is all about!
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awww, I made zev blush!
Thanks for the explanation about the microwave. I knew about the two set of dishes, just didn’t go all the way through in my mind to microwave. I see it now.
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sdimbert included an example of a devout employee needing certain amount of breaks during the day for prayers etc and perhaps more than the typical number or times of days off. I live in Michigan, where, for 2 weeks during the year entire companies shut down because of deer hunting season, so I’m relatively familiar with the need of a corporation to comply with certain employee issues.
Where I think it needs to go back to the drawing board, as it were, is to balance all employee’s needs/rights of religious expression with other employee’s number of breaks and so on. It’s the age old debate about the smokers taking more “official” breaks 'cause they have to go outside, whereas the non smoker may “loose” their break 'cause they stay at their desk.
zev: you are comletely in the clear on this, OK? Sheesh
Now, if the candy was bought with company funds, and Kosher was considerably more expensive, and you insisted that only Kosher be bought…but this is ridiculous, so i won’t go on.
I would appreciate anyone who brought sweets to the office, its just a nice thing to do. The fact that it is kosher candy and everyone can enjoy it is a good idea.
My co-worker is a devout Muslim and I have paid special attention to ingredients when I have brought items to work to share as he follows very similar dietary practices. He said that he appreciated it that I would check things out for his benefit.
Chaim, Zev, can you help me out here? I’ve just moved to the States, and this thread has made me a bit nervous. Can you give me a list of non-kosher candy? I’m Conservative, so I don’t really care too much about a Kashrut stamp, but I’d like to know which brands actively include treif. I know Oreos are bad. What else?
If you are interested in keeping kosher, but not interested in the certification process, the only tool you have to go by is the list of ingredients on the box. That works for non-kosher products. It doesn’t cover, however, the mixing of kosher meat/dairy products.
Also, with this (imperfect) method, you’d have to check the list of ingredients every time (in case the manufacturers made a formula change).
HOWEVER, I believe (and if I’m wrong, I’m sure someone will correct me) a manufacturer doesn’t have to list an item in the ingredients if it is below a certain percentage of the total. This too, may cause you problems. Your best bet would be to look for the hechsher (kosher certification).
I’m a diabetic, and an atheist. Diabetics CAN eat small amounts of sugar. In fact, I’d far rather eat a couple of pieces of “real” candy, kosher or not, than some of that sugar free stuff that’s on the market. I really don’t care if a food is kosher or not, so I don’t think that the OP has anything to worry about.
By the way, a lot of those sugar free candies can cause the runs and/or extreme flatulence if you eat more than a couple of them. As I said, I’d rather eat the real thing.
I know about this rule, but I’ve often wondered how…uh…extreme it is. I know Jews who keep Kosher can’t have a cheesburger, but can you eat a salad with cheese sprinkled on it for an appetizer and, say, chicken for your entree?
No. Those who keep kosher generally have a certain time period between which they’ve eaten a milk product and when they can eat a meat product (and vice versa). How long depends on how strict you keep it.
For obvious reasons, those are easy to find in Montreal as well; you can buy good-sized paper bags of broken hosts in supermarkets. The main funny thing about them is seeing, in big letters, “RÉTAILLES D’HOSTIES”, in your supermarket aisles. That is because “hostie”, which literally means “host”, is also a swear word in Québécois French. (Sort of like “bitch” and “bastard” - polite only in certain clearly defined contexts.)
It is almost but not quite as funny as those pastries called “pets de soeurs” - “nun farts”. (The English translators usually wuss out and call them “nuns’ pastry”.)
I know this has already been answered fully but I have to post something–I read the whole thread! Anyway, I think the only way it could be considered proselytizing is if you were buying those little candies with the Bible verses on them or something (“Testamints”?) and then it would only be proselytizing if those were the only kinds of candy available in the office or if they were purchased with office money. Or maybe not. Just a thought.
Well, it could be considered prostelytizing if every time one of the less-religious Jews took a piece of candy, Zev said “Those are kosher, you know.” Or maybe that would just be annoying. In any case, we’ll just assume that Zev’s not doing that.
