A story first reported here on Matzav.com has since spawned a number of false claims and fallacious reports, both on online websites as well as on Twitter and WhatsApp.
As reported first here on Matzav.com earlier today, a yeshiva bochur at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City early this morning spotted a basket of chometzdike kosher pastries for sale at a shop right past the customs counter. The bochur, who Matzav.com has been in touch with throughout the day, saw that the labels on the black-and-white cookies stated, “Gebaken noch Pesach tof shin ayin hey,” indicating that these items were baked after Pesach 5775. That was obviously impossible, since we are currently in the midst of celebrating the joyous Yom Tov of Pesach 5775.
The item in question is under the kashrus supervision of the Hisachdus Harabbonim (CRC), the Orthodox Union (OU) and the Debreciner Rov.
The bochur, who asked that his name be withheld by Matzav.com, said that he is now dismayed that false rumors are being spread. One letter claimed that he actually saw a label that stated “Gebaken noch Pesach tof shin ayin dalet,” and that he changed the dalet to a hey.
“That is patently false,” the bochur told Matzav.com. “I am dismayed that people would fabricate such things.”
The pictures “was taken at about 6 a.m.,” the bochur told us. “I had gone to the airport to pick up two relatives who had arrived from Eretz Yisroel. When I saw the labels, I knew that there must have been an error. I took the photo and sent it to a member of the kashrus community.”
Other rumors, such as the bochur being a Vizhnitzer chossid, he said, are completely untrue.
The bochur regrets that the false rumors are causing even more grief for a respected business that has been a mainstay in the frum community for so many years.
The basket, he said, contained pastries with regular labels, and other with the mistaken label seen above.
“The photo I took was sent to one of the kashrus agencies that supervise the production of that company,” the bochur told Matzav.com. “Somehow the photo was sent out to various other people and then went viral. I never intended for that to happen.”
Resiman’s Bakery first issued the following explanation following the release of the aforementioned photo:
Firstly, we have no chometz left in our bakery over Pesach, as has been verified by our kashrus agencies.
A vendor at JFK airport placed an order a few days before Pesach for 24 pieces of Jumbo Black & White Cookies. The labels that were meant to be used after Pesach were mistakenly put onto these cookies.
We have the highest standard of kashrus, with supervision by the best Kashrus Agencies.
We regret the error, but please be assured that, other than those 24 Black & White cookies, all of our product that you will see with the “after Pesach” label will indeed be baked after Pesach.
Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions you are welcome to contact our Kashrus agencies, or our office after Pesach when we reopen.
Reisman’s Bakery
Reisman’s later stated that after learning of the label error, a company representative went to John F. Kennedy Airport to ensure that the products were disposed of.
“We have become aware that people are circulating letters allegedly signed by us,” Shia Friedman of Reisman’s added. “Any letter other than the above statement did not originate from Reisman’s Bakery. We respectfully request that people stop writing false letters using our company name. Even if you have good intentions, we prefer to speak the truth. Thank you.”
{Gavriel Sitrit-Matzav.com Newscenter}
