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NEWS
OU Products Sold with Hetter Mechirah Identified
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
The Israeli shemittah products sold in the United
States under certification from the Union of Orthodox Jewish
Congregations of America (OU) are parsley, dill and cilantro.
These products are, in turn, used in hundreds, or even
thousands, of other products. Most eating establishments
including restaurants and pizza parlors, use these products
and thus may use these products that come from Israel and are
forbidden as having been grown in shemittah. This
report is a follow-up to our front-page article of two weeks
ago, which was the only report to appear in a newspaper. The
Yated will publish further information as it becomes
available.
According to an expert in the food industry, Israeli parsley
is of particularly good quality and is much in demand.
Cilantro, or coriander, is used in Sephardic cooking
extensively, and known as kuzbara.
Organized Kosher Laboratories (OK) has announced that it does
not certify products containing produce that was harvested
using the hetter mechirah and monitors the production
of products under its supervision to ensure that these items
are not used in OK-certified products.
The products were grown at Kibbutz Sedeh Eliahu in the Beit
She'an Valley. Special efforts were made in implementing the
sale of the fields and the subsequent cultivation, in large
part based on an approach outlined by Rabbi Whitman, the rav
of Tnuva. Fields were sold individually, and with the
permission of the Israel Land Administration (Minhal
Mekarke'ei Yisrael). They also mentioned that the Beit She'an
valley may not be part of Eretz Yisroel.
The Gedolei Haposkim in Eretz Yisroel have declared
that the entire hetter mechirah approach is
fundamentally flawed and should not be relied on whatsoever.
The steps that were taken there are only significant if the
fundamental approach is accepted, but have no significance
otherwise. Consideration of the fact that the Beit She'an
valley may not be part of Eretz Yisroel was explicitly
rejected by the Chazon Ish who said that such considerations
are not to be introduced into halachic discourse, even as
subsidiary considerations where the main point is based on
something else. The Chazon Ish is recognized as having
clarified and established the entire modern approach to the
mitzvos hateluyos ba'Aretz.
When a kashrus certifying organization is not
identified with a particular community but serves the Jewish
community as a whole, it is usually expected that it will
follow rulings that are broadly accepted. The approach that
the OU has taken in this case is, at best, highly
controversial in the Orthodox community. It is not even
generally accepted in OU production within Israel for sale
within Israel itself. When there is some special
consideration for following a non-conventional approach, all
products produced this way are usually clearly labeled so that
those who want to avoid them may do so. This was not done in
this case.
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