Kosher Xmas food? – Ask the Rabbi
Q. My local kosher baker was selling mince pies and fruit puddings before Xmas. I know the ingredients would have been kosher, but is it right for a Jewish shop to do this?
A. Why not? The people who buy kosher commodities aren’t all Jewish. In the United States, the kosher market has been found to attract millions of non-Jewish customers.
A friend of mine who runs a kosher fish and chip shop says it is the non-Jewish trade that keeps his business viable. I know kosher bakers who do a roaring trade in hot cross buns before Easter. Kosher butchers often have a sizable Muslim clientele.
Non-Jews often buy matzah (a Catholic bishop used to ask me to bring him a packet of matzah every time I came to a meeting where he would be present).
If all this makes it possible for kosher purveyors to keep afloat, it is to our community’s advantage.
(I take it for granted of course that items which have a clearly non-Jewish connotation such as hot cross buns should not be bought or eaten by Jews.)
