Kashrut on Soap – #309
Date and Place: 19 Sivan 5670 (1910), Yafo
Recipient and Background: Rav Baruch Meyers, Chief Rabbi of Haifa
Body: I hereby inform you that I have found no grounds for concern with the rabbinical certification on soap in Lod. I saw the whole production process. Everything is made from olive waste; there is no part of forbidden fat or other forbidden matter. I found among the producers an undoubtedly reliably observant person, and I tasked him to be the supervisor on an ongoing basis. Among the ownership partners, some are presumed to be reliably observant, with a connection to Torah and with fear of Heaven.
My opinion is that when you certify the Atid factory (in Haifa), you should use the same approach. You can rely on someone to be a constant supervisor even if he is not a kashrut professional but a worker who is known to be observant. Specifically, this supervisor must be reliable and steeped in fear of Heaven, when they will also make oil for eating, for then it will be necessary to take tithes. Especially if they will make sesame oil bought from non-Jews, it will be possible to rely on those who consider this to be produce whose preparation was finished by non-Jews and thus exempt from tithes, even if Jews buy it from them [and finish the process]. It will then be necessary to supervise carefully to separate between that which requires tithing and that which is exempt, and there should not be mistakes in the order of taking tithes. You will use your wisdom to do everything in the best way. May Hashem give you good counsel and enable us to raise the banner of His holy Torah on holy soil and raise the stature of the Jewish community of Eretz Yisrael with wisdom and fear of Hashem.
