Canada Dalet Minim Crisis Averted

By Matis Glenn

The Canadian Jewish community can breathe a sigh of relief, as the ban on imports that was announced Tuesday morning has been lifted

Askanim leaped into action upon hearing the news from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which would have left hundreds of thousands of Jews with almost no options to obtain lulavim, hadasim and aravos for Succos. Under the ban, the only way to observe the mitzvah would be for a Canadian Jew to travel to the United States within three days of Succos, and bring a personal set – no sets would be able to be brought in earlier, and no imports for commercial purposes would be allowed even during those three days.

Mayer Feig, a prominent Canadian askan, told Hamodia that the ban was due to a mis-categorizing of the dalet minim which began two years ago, but was unnoticed until now. He was able to enlist the help of Member of Parliament Rachel Bendayan, to assist in the matter. Bendayan, who is Jewish, understood the urgency of the problem, and escalated the issue to the Prime Minister’s office within hours. She was able to classify the precious cheftzei mitzvah in a way that would permit them to be sold as they have been every year until now.