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Israeli Flag Prompts Boycott of Certain Food Items


bamba.jpgThe Eida Chareidis has announced a boycott of certain items that are displaying an Israeli flag on their package as large firms display the national symbol ahead of Israel’s 60th anniversary.

One such popular item is the Bomba snack food; in addition many other items which bear an Eida Chareidis kosher supervision. The pashkavilim (wall notices) circulated before Shabbos call on chareidi consumers to boycott the items, angrily adding that companies cannot enjoy a chareidi hechsher and then push their [unwanted] Zionist agenda in the faces of consumers opposing the “Zionist avoda zara” (Zionist idol worship).

Some notices call on chareidi families who hold the religious way of life dear to them and their children to refrain from bringing products displaying the Israeli flag into their homes.

Adding to pre-Yom HaAtzma’ut (Independence Day) tensions are notices that rabbis are planning to boycott official holiday events due to fears there will be situations that do not conform with basic demands of modesty. The rabbis signaling they will not attend official holiday events include the rabbis of the communities of Elad and Rosh HaAyin.

YWN reported last month [HERE] that Rabbi Chananya Tsfar, the head of the Rosh HaAyin Religious Council tried to persuade the Yad L’Banim organization to abandon non-Jewish customs associated with Memorial Day, such as the laying of wreaths on graves.

The rabbi explained that he will encourage the recitation of tehillim while Memorial Day sirens are sounded, as well as lighting yartzheit candles and the recitation of Kadish instead of promoting foreign customs.

Rabbi Tsfar’s letter received a harsh response from Yad L’Banim officials who rejected his attempt to implement changes in the long-standing customs.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)



38 Responses

  1. I THINK SOMEONE SHOUD SEND A ‘ HARSH COMMENT” TO YAD LBANIM FOR CHANGING CUSTOMS THAT ARE MUCH MORE ANCIENT THAN THEIR GOYISH CUSTOMS

  2. Sim Sholom Al Yisroel Amecha Kulonu K’ECHOD….
    Toras Chaim v’Ahavas(th) Chessed….
    Bad traditions should be changed and good ones implemented. History repeats itself;study and absorb the lessons of T’NACH !
    Kosher foods and kosher hashkofos go hand-in-hand!.How can one support Torah with treife supports? It is worth nothing if not done correctly.

  3. Doesn’t the Eda have more important things to be busy with than this? Besides, what about the chillul Hashem?

  4. i Don’t understand what a political agenda has to do with food being kosher?!?!?! this always happens!

  5. and what about music and shaving during sefira? (i mean, do they really think that yom haatzamos is more choshuv than Shabbos Koydesh, when they surely won’t shave on Erev Shabbos during sefira)

    and what about hallel with a brocha? remember that chazal say that if you say hallel too often, you’re considered a “mecharef u’megadef” (cursing towards Shomayim chas v’sholom)

  6. These customs are most definitely older & traditional. They predate Avrohom Ovinu, as we said in the Haggodo – Mitechilo Ovdei Avodah Zoroh Hoyu Avoseinu!

  7. “…rejected his attempt to implement changes in the long-standing customs” – get the irony there?

  8. Pashuteh:

    The difference between the U.S. flag and the zionist flag is that the U.S. flag is a symbol of patriotism towards America, while the zionist flag displays patriotism towards zionism — an anti-Jewish movement.

  9. i doubt “the eidah” were behind this. it’s the normal rabble rousers who see no problem with forging whatever signatures they want on pashkevillen. (or in the best instances, they have a chat with a rav about how the israeli flag isn’t heimish, the rav nods, so they assume consent to their whole agenda and add his signature)

    does anyone have a copy of the pashkevillen so we can verify if they are authentic or just the normal rabble rousing by troublemakers?

  10. I’m confused. Does the Eida HaChareidis say the Medina is Avoda Zara? Is it aligned with Neturei Karta?

    Also, does anybody ever talk about the fact that the flag is based on the talis and techeiles? Maybe if more Israelis knew about that they’d start wearing tzitzis.

  11. and what about hallel with a brocha? remember that chazal say that if you say hallel too often, you’re considered a “mecharef u’megadef” (cursing towards Shomayim chas v’sholom)

    Comment by kitzur_dot_net
    =============================
    Source? IIRC it was if you say hallel daily?
    KT

  12. I am in the camp of the skeptics on this one. The Israeli flag compared to avodah zarah! That’s just overboard. Besides the obvious obligation to follow daas Torah and reject the State of Israel as a legitimate Jewish entity, I am as harsh a critic as you can find about how the State has done so many awful things against the Torah and the Jewish people.

    Having said that, the State still exists and is needed for the protection of Jewish people and for other benefits which it provides. And the Israeli flag, while being inextricably linked with the State and its actions, also more represents the Jewish people and there connection with Eretz Hakodesh. I don’t think you are going to see Chareidim flying the Israeli flag from their rooftops any time soon. But when it comes to a matter of kashrus, this flag flap seems to me to be going out of our way to poke the secular Jews in the eye, without any real benefit to Yiddishkeit. It just seems like an act of hatred and resentment, rather than a principled, halachic decision with appropriate concern for the Shalom and Achdus of Klal Yisroel.

  13. #20/Pashuteh – #13 is right on the ball. Zionism is as anti-Jewish as they come. And you are mistaken, the gov’t may consist of some Jewish people, but the government is certainly not remotely Jewish. And the Eida does not touch one penny in government funds as a matter of principle.

  14. what a chillul hashem. this will help them be m’karev more non frum Isarelis– NOT.

    Now I understabnd why they come to collect dollars from us. They don’t want to touch the shekel

  15. to #23..to reb shalom..the holy divrei yoel wrote a sefer “v’ayoel moshe” on this subject there you can find the answer…

  16. They don’t want to eat it, don’t eat it. The rest of Medinat Yisrael won’t really care one whit. The Chreidim better come to realize that they while they may have certain political influence, they are an insignificant factor in Israeli society.

  17. And the Eida does not touch one penny in government funds as a matter of principle.

    WRONG, their mashgichim receive military escorts while checking veggies, slight $$$ from the government is connected to the BADATZ hechsher. While several dayanim, rabbanim are government employed..

  18. Whether or not one supports the current government as Jews we all indirectly or directly benefit from the medinah (whether being protected by the IDF, the kiddush Hashem of having our own country, the asylum, etc.). By virtue of having a flag, does that make such a blatant statement and support a Secular government? I personally don’t know and I see that flag as a banner of Am Yisrael Chai. I am hesitant to disagree with Talmedei Chachamim, but nevertheless I feel this is not the best way to further Shalom Al Yisrael.

  19. #31/Pashuteh – The Mishna certainly is not referring to the illegitimate heretical zionist government that was created contrary to halacha.

    The Chareidim resided in Eretz Yisroel prior to the secular. The Chareidim survived in Eretz Yisroel prior to the influx of the secular anti-Torah Jews. The Chareidim were opposed to the creation of the State.

    They pay for their utility usage. They never requested any new infrastructure be built for them (certainly the Eida.) And they refuse any government funds for their schools, etc. Including what they would be entitled to under the law.

  20. to #33 cantor esq…caught you again.. see article “eretz yisroel gedolim…” may 3, post #25 regarding mr cantor esq..

  21. to#3 zern…the eida are busy with more important things too..also can you please explain what chilil hashem is involved here …before you answer find out what constitutes chilil hashem…

  22. to #35 see post #32…so you will understand about the flag. you say having the medina is a kiddish hashem,can you explain in what way? so learn thru the sefer (post #32 ). you say “hesitant to disagree with talmidai chachamin….”, you shouldnt even start to think of disagreeing with talmidai chacahmin. we are not talking of just a plain talmid chachim ,see post #32. now if you say there are gedolim of his calibur that hold different , then mention them and where we can see thier writings on the subject… but from your wording one undersatands its you oun opinion…so halacha is not derived from opinions..

  23. to#5 “you dont understand what political agenda has to do with kosher food?” lets bring a shtiklle dimyon. the eida had or has a hechsher on coca cola. now about ten years ago(?) ago coca cola had their ads on bill boards springing along the major highways and we know what lewd pictures they advertise (— —– on the beach…)and with big letters b’hechsher b’datz ,you know thier big seal,so the eida took off the hechsher and were taken to court , but we shomrei torah understood the implication of such shmutz ads with bedatz hechsher on it, now same here, since eida go in the shita of see post #32, and the particular bags have the picture of flag which represents cneged the shita of…. so its same idea..

  24. Did anyone here actually look at the bag of bamba? I bought one yesterday. THERE IS NO FLAG! There is a small strip of light blue across the top of the special new nougat-filled bamba, and it says special edition in honor of 60 years. Does anyone know for a fact that the aida chareidis is behind this?

  25. Pashuteh – See the Divrei Yoel for your answer. (And it hasn’t anything to do with the NK. It is accepted across the spectrum.)

  26. to #42 mr pashuteh yid..”b’mifleh mimcho al tidrosh” see #32. we are too little to put our heads between giant rocks, also one should not say he was a yochid because there were and are plenty that are of the same shita and the reason he is always qouted because he was a giant among tzaddikum,and geonim and was on the forefront of this shita….and please dont be medameh such giant haskafa thats nogayah to klall yisroel to “zugos”..also b’noigah “zugos” its in pesochim 109b- from m’eiri mashma not noigah b’zman hazeh..also see artscroll b’shem “ish chai” same… but anyway maby you start a shita l’gabay zugos bring reyous..and maybe you can pick up followers…”mokom henichu avoisof l’hisgader bo” chulin 6a or 7a(?) and we think once learned that all segulos l’gaby mazikun that gemorrah mentions are not nogayah b’zman hazeh..not sure ..if someone out there knows please enlighten…

  27. to #10 “well” see #38..and maybe YOU start worring about those bigger things..also please dont be so “sad”..learn a blatt gemorrah, it will cheer you up..

  28. I agree with those who have reason to be wary of snacks emblazzoned with the flag of the Zionist regime. This is what happened in my house, last night:

    I gave my son a bag of Bamba, since he was hungry for a delicious kosher peanut-flavored snack. I returned to my sefer, but soon my son appeared. “Tatti, look I what I drew!”

    I gasped. Across a plain white piece of paper were two perfectly executed blue lines. “Is it a swimming pool?” I asked.

    “No,” my son replied, “not yet.” He sat and with great intensity drew a blue triangle in the middle of the page. And then another triangle, upside-down and superimposed upon the first, both positioned squarely between the two blue lines. He looked up with an evil gleam in his eyes. “It’s an Israeli flag.”

    I screamed and grabbed the Bamba, certain that the offending snack had been the cause of this deviance. I threw the bag out the window into the yard, and held my son close.

    My wife soon appeared. “Shlomie, you better look outside.”

    “Is it the police?”

    “No.”

    “Is it a fire?”

    “No.”

    “Is it Hatzoloh?”

    “No.”

    I looked out the window. Where I had thrown the Bamba, the grass was blue. And it was spreading, in alternating waves of blue and white.

    I looked at my wife, who was gazing blankly out the window.

    “It’s like tza’ra’as,” she said quietly. “But it’s not lashon hora that is afflicting us. It’s . . . Zionism.” She turned to me, tears in her eyes. “And now our neighbors will know,” she continued, fighting back tears. “Now they’ll know that we eat snacks from bags emblazzoned with a blue strip and the numeral 60. And now,” she continued, “and now they know.” She broke and wept. I looked out the window, and saw that the colors were creeping quickly to the very walls of the house. Surely we would be driven from the neighborhood for this offense.

    You. Are. All. Crazy. The State of Israel has its warts; so does everything. And we always have had our warts. Learn TaNaCh. K’lal Yisrael through the ages has been subject to citizens and leaders whose adherence to Torah has been less than ideal. Did not avodah zora exist in the days of the Nevi’im? Did we not have melachim in history who attempted to subvert Torah? So you think that today’s less-than-perfect world is new, or worse? Grow up. Work within the system to make it better. And if you make only inches of progress, take that victory home, and come back again tomorrow. Nebach, your snack has a flag on it. You don’t like it, don’t buy it. You don’t like the government, move out, and move on.

  29. to #52…its possible we have different definition of the word “chareidi”..we understand chareidi ..”churod al d’var hashem” someone with yiras shomayim, believes in and observes every seuf in shulchan urech, etc., etc., yes we know there are skotaim all over, but to l’katchila disregard a din in shulchen urech IS KEFIRA..so if you can enlighten us what your definition of “chareidi” is so we can take it from there…

  30. # 52, Jent seems not to understand certain historical truths. In post schism Hungary, it was affiliation, not personal observance that mattered. From the perspective of the separate Orthodox community, a shomer Shabbat neologue who woke up to say Tikkun Chatzot was a worse Jew than an Orthodox affiliated ochel treifus on Yom Kippur. In my fmaily I have encountered both types of people and heard their first hand accounts of how life was. Chareidim today simply have no idea what it really was like.

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