HERE WE GO AGAIN!

The newest issue of Kashrus Magazine, in an article about possible insect infestation of raisins, had this to say at one point in the article:
“… A leading Brooklyn posek told his congregation that if foods were cooked or baked with raisins, they (editor’s note: ie, the food) may be eaten, but the raisins must be removed.”

Gosh, who is this anonymous posek? And why does he insist on remaining anonymous? How much credence do we give a statement attributed to an anonymous source whose credentials are blatantly left out of the picture? What makes this person a “leading Brooklyn posek?” If he were a Queens rabbi, would he be less of a posek? Or maybe a greater posek???

As for his alleged statement: It just doesn’t make any sense. Take out the raisins, but it is ok to eat the cake, bread, etc?? So we need not worry that any bugs that might have been in the raisins didn’t fall into the baked matter? Is that even logical?

In recent days, both the OU and the cRc have issued statements concerning the permissibility of eating raisins. We supervise a store that buys Kof-K certified raisins in 35 pound boxes. We constantly check the raisins “just to be sure.” In over 15 years, we have never seen even a single bug on the light table mixed in with the raisins.

Hey, we get it- there can be problems with raisins that are not stored properly. But, let’s not turn this into a crisis of major proportions.