Shaatnez — Made In China

YERUSHALAYIM

A shaatnez laboratory in Bnei Brak recently discovered a small piece of linen reinforcement in short suit jackets which also contain wool.

The garments, which are sold in the chareidi men’s clothing market, were manufactured in China. When notified of the fact, the Israeli importer informed his Chinese supplier that the linen reinforcement, a common technique in the industry, was, however, unacceptable to chareidi clientele. He also arranged for the rest of his inventory to be checked for the problematic insert.

In an unrelated item, two non-Jews in Britain attracted attention when they took their garments to be checked for shaatnez.

The curiosity of a shaatnez checker in Gateshead was aroused when two customers with noticeably non-Jewish names brought garments into his laboratory. A discreet inquiry revealed that one of them, in fact not Jewish, works for a Jewish catering firm, and he reasoned that since the food he handles has to be kosher, then the clothes he wears while working there should also be kosher.

The second customer is employed in a large clothing chain which has an agreement with a shaatnez lab which provides a checking service for Orthodox customers. That service increases the price by 10 percent. If Jews, who are so smart, are willing to pay extra for such a thing, there must be a good reason for it, he explained….

In the Bnei Brak shaatnez lab, the following story was heard, relating to the kashrus of food, rather than clothing:

An African-American woman shopping in a Canadian supermarket told her small child who was asking for a candy on display, that “it wasn’t kosher.” When the child heard this, he stopped asking for it.

When a Jewish shopper nearby who overheard this, asked if they were Jewish, she was told they were not. But, the mother explained, after seeing once how a Jewish mother quieted her child’s request for candy by saying it wasn’t kosher, she understood that works,” and decided to do the same with her child.

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