CCAR RESPONSA
New American Reform Responsa
242. The Temple Gift Shop and Non-Jewish Customers
QUESTION: Our Temple gift shop is the only source for Judaica in Northern Indiana. Occasionally, non-Jews will purchase items from the shop as gifts for Jewish friends’ weddings or Benei Mitzvah. What is the responsibility of the Temple gift shop to sell Judaica to Christians who might use these items for religious purposes, and what would be our responsibility for selling such items to Messianic Jews or Jews for Jesus? (Rabbi Morley T. Feinstein, South Bend IN)ANSWER: Most of the objects which are connected with Jewish ritual that a gift shop is likely to handle have been designed specifically for Jewish use, but there is no special holiness attached with any of them. Ordinary objects can be used for Jewish ritual. For example, any candelabra with two or more candles can be used for shabbat or festival eves and any eight branched candelabrum may be used for Hanukkah, although it may not have been specifically designed for that purpose. Through the century we have, of course, decorated a large number of ritual items and a specific Jewish artistic expression has been created around them (Joseph Gutmann (ed) Beauty in Holiness; Jewish Ceremonial Art; Cecil Roth (ed) Jewish Art; Stephen Kayser Jewish Ceremonial Art; Abram Kanof Jewish Ceremonial Art and Religious Observance; Journal of Jewish Art Vols 1-15). These items may be sold by a gift shop or by another store in the community which need not be under Jewish auspices or ownership. It would be difficult for us in this period, when we continue to seek good relationships with the world around us, to question a non-Jewish purchaser about the final use of any item. In some instances they are purchased for Jewish friends, a thoughtful gift. In others they are intended for display in a church or a denominational school in order to demonstrate some Jewish ritual. So, for example, several churches in this area have purchased Hanukkah menorahs and Seder plates as part of their museum collection or for their religious school studies of Judaism. This will help the world around us understand Judaism better. We should remember that the primary task of a gift shop is to supply the congregation itself and beyond that, the larger Jewish community. It is not a business enterprise and any profit which accrues is secondary to its mission of helping local Jews to celebrate festivals, shabbat, and Jewish occasions properly. The shop may very well seek to restrict itself somewhat from the larger community, although in the present day setting that is difficult. We would prefer not to have any contact with Jews for Jesus and would discourage them using our shop and perhaps indicate that their presence in our gift shop is not welcome, but we should not embarrass others whose intentions are good and helpful. If Jews for Jesus are a particular nuisance in a community, then it is perfectly proper for a Temple gift shop to refrain from selling them anything. We should not let this small group stand in the way of developing better relations with the general community.December 1988
If needed, please consult Abbreviations used in CCAR Responsa.