Can you please tell me if pears grown in the mold of little Buddhas would be assur to buy/eat? I’m not sure who makes these pears but apparently they have some esteem for the Hindu god if they’re growing these fruits in his mold.
Also, can you please tell me if why it’s muttar (if it is) to mark a tin container with a sharpie marker if the beliyus isn’t kosher and nosen taam lfgam isnt used lechatchila?
Thank you!
Answer:
As long as the pears are not actually worshiped and don’t have all the features of the buddha [just the outer general form], and are being sold by a fruit store and not to support a temple, there would be no prohibition eating them. Nevertheless it would seem proper not to bring such items in to one’s home.
There are a number of doubts as to whether this would be any problem: perhaps there are no non kosher ingredients, even if there are they may already be nullified in the ink. In addition this would not just be taam pagum, but rather “nifsal maachilas kelev” unfit even for canine consumption and has no status of a food item at all.
