Question:
We have a number of products produced here in Israel such as honey, date syrup and coconut oil that come in glass jars. Is there a way to know where the jars are produced? If they are made here in Israel by Jews then if we want to reuse them, they should not require tevila according to all opinions. I heard once that wine bottles may have a certain sign on them. Does this apply to other bottles and jars? Is it possible that this information is a safek, in which case there is a sfeik sfeika in a din derabonan. Maybe it was made by Yidden. Even if was made by goyim, maybe the halocha is like Reb Moshe, who is lenient. Thanks very much.
Answer:
There is a company in Israel that produces glass jars called Poenicia. Their symbol is triangle with the left side of the triangle not being complete, in a way the makes the triangle look like the letter “Pe”. This symbol is on the bottom of the honey etc. jars that are produced by this company. It is noteworthy, that although it is a Jewish company unfortunately, they are mechalel Shabbos. It is for this reason that there are people that don’t want to buy from this company until they will start to be shomer Shabbos.
Best wishes
