Many of us have shopped for fruits and vegetables in the local supermarkets and found many of them marked «Product of Israel.»  After asking our rabbis, who then consult with the OU Kashrut division, we’ve found out that these products are not necessarily prepared for Terumot and Maasrot as required by Jewish law. As a result, many of us have avoided purchasing these products—a boycott comparable to BDS!

Why are our rabbinical organizations not handling these situations for us? Doesn’t this fall under the Biblical prohibition of לפני עור לא תתן מכשול? Many of these products may not even have stickers stating their points of origin. How should we know? Also, our congregational rabbis have an obligation to teach their congregants how to «fix» them.

Can we start a phone-calling or letter-writing campaign addressing the rabbinical organizations (OU, RCA, Rabbanut Harashit of Israel) to try to stem this issue at the core—either in Israel before shipping, or, once received at the ports in America through import notification, to take care of «fixing» these items?

Also, what are the laws of informing others of this produce found in supermarkets? Are we avoiding לפני עור לא תתן מכשול, or are we guilty of מוציא דיבת הארץ (casting a shadow on purchasing from Israel)? Are we depriving our Jewish brothers of livelihood? Are there issues of many other prohibitions?