Rabbi Tzvi Aryeh Friedman, dayan

 

1. A week after Pesach, before the end of bein hazmanim, my son asked me to restock on oatmeal packets. I asked my friend to come with me to Kosher Town to purchase them.

My friend responded, “I heard that Kosher Town stocks up before Pesach and sells it to an eino Yehudi. The Gra has a chumrah not to eat chametz that was sold over Pesach. I heard that Foodrite carries instant oatmeal packets, and it belongs to an eino Yehudi.”

I’m wondering whether it’s better to give business to a fellow Yid, or is my friend right to follow the Gra’s chumrah?

1. This really is a fascinating question and quite relevant to everyday life. Rashi in Parshas Behar[1] quotes a Chazal that when doing business, whether buying or selling, it’s a mitzvah to buy from or sell to a Yid. Therefore, all things being equal, one should always give preference to a Jewish-owned store. The question arises: What’s the halachah if the store is more expensive? Are we still required to give the Yid preference?

In the 1600s, the Maharam Padawer printed a set of Rambam. The printer’s competitor was very angry that he wasn’t chosen as the printer, and to get revenge on the Maharam Padawer, he went and printed a Rambam himself, selling it for one golden coin less. Consumers weren’t sure what to do, and the she’eilah was sent to the Rema,[2] asking whether it’s permitted to take advantage of the bargain from the eino Yehudi or if one must buy from a Yid even at extra expense. The Rema replied that the mitzvah to buy from a Yid applies even at an added expense.

Later poskim discuss this psak. The Maharsham says that one is only required to buy from the Yid when the price is equal, while the Chafetz Chaim concurs with the Rema that the preference applies even at greater expense.

This is about when the price is different, but what about when the difference is a spiritual one? Take, for example, the question of hiddur mitzvah.[3] If one can do a more beautiful mitzvah by buying from an eino Yehudi, does the Torah still require giving preference to the Yid? This she’eilah was presented to many gedolim in the 1800s concerning the esrog industry. The esrogim grown in Eretz Yisrael by Yidden were less beautiful than those grown by Greeks in Corfu, Greece. Would it be preferable to buy a perfect Greek esrog or a simple Israeli esrog? We find a machlokes haposkim concerning this she’eilah: The Mechzeh Avraham rules that according to the Rema that says one must spend more money to buy from a Yid, it follows that buying Jewish has priority over hiddur mitzvah. On the other hand, R’ Meir Arik, the Imrei Yosher, posits that an esrog mehudar is preferred.

Similarly, the Sdei Chemed mentions a question about building a shul. Should one use a Jewish architect who can design a simple shul or a non-Jewish architect who can design a more beautiful shul? The Sdei Chemed rules that Hakadosh Baruch Hu would prefer we use a Yid.

Therefore, since buying from a Yid is a mitzvah d’Oraysa, while the chumrah of chametz sh’avar alav ha’Pesach is a knas d’Rabbanan, it would follow that unless you have a specific minhag to avoid chametz that was sold over Pesach, it would be preferable to buy from a Yid.[4]

 

In conclusion: Unless you have a specific minhag to avoid chametz that was sold over Pesach, it would be preferable to buy from a Yid.

 

Rav Moshe Sternbuch relates that one year, after the first days of Pesach, he received many phone calls from the members of his Johannesburg community reporting that on Leil Pesach, the goy went from house to house and demanded a drink from the whiskey he had bought.

When Rav Sternbuch questioned the goy why he felt the need to visit all the houses, the goy replied, “I didn’t believe the people really take their religion so seriously. Now that I see Yiddishkeit is real, I’m thinking of joining. I’m really impressed with the Jewish people.”

Rav Sternbuch replied, “Jan, that’s really special. Just please…wait until after Pesach!”

 

[1] 25:14

[2] Shu”t siman 10

[3] In layman’s terms: something that beautifies the mitzvah but isn’t integral for the fulfillment of the mitzvah

[4] Orach Yaakov siman 81