XPost: alt.revisionism, soc.culture.jewish, alt.conspiracy   
   XPost: alt.law-enforcement   
   From: smock@nizkor.org   
      
   "Seneca"  wrote in   
   news:sZkBb.39470$ou6.13351@newssvr31.news.prodigy.com:   
      
   > "Steven Mock"  wrote in message   
   > news:Xns944BF365B5D34smocknizkororg@140.99.99.130...   
   >> "Seneca"  wrote in   
   >> news:K04Bb.4366$MO7.539@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com:   
   >>   
   >> > My witch hazel is kosher. (How the hell can witch hazel be kosher?)   
   >> > My Joy dishwashing liquid is kosher. (What?!) My Ajax cleanser is   
   >> > kosher. (Oy, vey.) All these items, and thousands more I'm sure,   
   >> > carry the little symbols showing that some rabbinical organization   
   >> > or other has skimmed its share off the manufacturer's profit   
   >> > margin.   
   >>   
   >> If that's all it meant then why would manufacturers do it?   
   >   
   > Why indeed, Steven? Why indeed?   
   >   
   >> Do they simply   
   >> like giving money to "rabbinical organizations"?  Or do they get   
   >> something in return?   
   >   
   > Good questions. I would like to know too.   
   >   
   > Another good question is, How can things like witch hazel, kitchen   
   > cleansers and dishwashing liquids be kosher? My dictionary says kosher   
   > means "conforming to dietary laws; ritually pure." That has always   
   > been my understanding as well. Can you explain to me how these   
   > non-dietary things (and presumably many others) can be kosher?   
      
   Just because they are "non-dietary" does not mean that their ingredients   
   might not contain animal by-products, which would upset someone who was   
   strictly religious and concerned with trace elements of forbidden items.   
   A kosher certification ensures that this is not the case, and that the   
   product has been manufactured under conditions that would ensure this   
   didn't happen.   
      
   > What this *appears* to be is a device for squeezing money out of   
   > manufacturers for Jewish interests and causes, completely unrelated to   
   > the product.   
      
   That's because you are ignorant.  Hope I could be of some help.   
      
   > Why manufacturers would go along with this is still the   
   > most interesting question. Presumably they either believe they are   
   > getting something in return for paying the "kosher tax"   
      
   Which is generally the reason why anybody makes any business decision...   
      
   > or that they   
   > will be hurt in some way if they do not.   
      
   ... which basically means the same thing.  Unless, of course, you are   
   referring here to the band of rabbinical thugs that go around beating up   
   manufacturers who don't certify their products.   
      
   If the product is not certified as kosher, a certain number of Jews will   
   not buy it.  That's how said manufacturer is hurt.  If it is, they will.   
   That's what a manufacturer gets out of kosher-certifying a product.  Its   
   not that complicated, really.  Indeed, its pretty much the basis of   
   economics in a free market.   
      
   Steven Mock   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)