|
|
NEWS
Shemen To Ma'aser Imported Soy Oil
by Betzalel Kahn
Shemen, the largest Israeli concern for the manufacture of
oils, has decided to ma'aser all soy oil produced from
imported soybeans. The soybeans undergo an extraction
process in company plants in Israel. Taking ma'aser
from the soybeans is in accordance with the rulings of the
Chazon Ish who said that if the final product is made in
Israel (gemar melocho) then ma'aser must be
taken even if the raw material comes from chutz
la'aretz.
The procedure is discussed at length by our poskim,
who deliberate on whether the fact that the extraction takes
place in Israel renders the oil analogous to a product grown
on Israeli soil from which terumos and ma'asros
must be set aside. The greatest poskim are divided on
this issue. The opinion of the Chazon Ish can be found in
detail in Derech Emunoh by HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, who
wrote (chapter one, letter 254): "We heard that Maran was
strict to tithe soy oil made of soybeans that had been grown
abroad, because [the extraction process] it undergoes in
Israel is considered a gemar melocho in Israel. This
oil must be tithed without a brocho, and perhaps
because most of the beans will be used in the production of
oil."
Practical arrangements to tithe the plant's products are
being set up. In a tour of the plant by a kashrus delegation
headed by HaRav Yosef Efrati, all arrangements for the
tithing and new labeling of oil to be produced in line with
the Chazon Ish rulings were surveyed. Upon the institution
of this halachic hiddur, the company will also come
under the supervision of the Center for Torah-Based
Agriculture.
This very important decision on the part of Shemen was made
upon consultation with the gedolei haposkim, who
blessed the company for its willingness to accept the
stringent hiddurim.
|
