By COLlive reporter
Those shopping at the Sukkah Center in Boro Park for the light bamboo mats for their Sukkah are not aware of the meticulous process behind their production.
The OK Kosher Certification stamped on each bundle of mats is only one indication.
“We put thought and effort to assure that they are the most mehudar,” Rabbi Chaim Fogelman, a Crown Heights-based OK Rabbinic Coordinator, tells COLlive.com.
“First, we make sure the mats are not comfortable to sit on as it says in Shulchan Aruch that such an option makes them forbidden for sechach.
“For that, we make sure that between the flat bamboo sticks there is always a full round one that sticks out from the rest.”
In addition, he says, at the manufacturer in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeastern China, signs are hung all around reminding workers that “these mats are being made for use as temporary roofing, not as shades.”
The notices, printed in both English and Chinese, state that “these are for religious purposes.”
The OK sent Rabbi Yossi Goldstein from Israel as a special Mashgiach to supervise the process.
The bamboo mats are tied with a thin string and the OK says that cotton is the most mehudar.
Although they confirmed with the factory that they would only use cotton, Goldstien still checks the many rolls of string to be used, confirming they are indeed cotton.
“He does so by burning part of the string,” Fogelman told us. “You can immediately tell the difference between cotton and synthetic materials.”
Another specification of theirs was that no intertwined string be used instead of the plain cotton string.
Why can’t we go to Home Depot and buy regulatr full bamboo
poles? It is sold at many of the stores.
it says cotton in its raw state can be used for schach,but once it has been combed & made into string it cannot be used for schach because it is not recognizeable as something that grows from the ground,so why is cotton better than anything else?
i dint know that you needed a suit and a tie to be machshir bamboo!? i had always thought that a plain fedora was more than enough. on that note, does the OK only allow mashgichim to wear suits with stripes, or are solid colors fine too?
window shades would be makabel tumah that would makem pasul for shchach
Probably means specifically made for schach and not for anything else like for window shades or wall decorations
Just FYI
When you buy from the sukkah center you are supporting the Rebbrs Shluchim in FLa. One good thing leeds to another
BS”D I remember going on a ‘sukka hop’ with college students and the obvious thought the had when seeing the bamboo mats was that they came from home depot. Thank G-d it came out in conversation so I was able to explain differently but what stops the general public from making that mistake? We don’ t make up gezeiros, but maybe we should be sure that this information is very well publicized and maybe when shipping a bamboo mat it should include a small sign to be hung in a visible place “this mat was made specifically for sukkah use,… Read more »
Shulchan Aruch says that shades is OK, to lay down is a problem.
i never knew that thay actually go out to visit places like that.
i guess there is more going on on troy ave that meets the eye
OK Kol Hkovod
We would like thank the OK for being Mezake the Rabim with these Mehadrin Mats at offordable prices.
hatzlacha
the one thing “made in china” thats actually for chinese resources!!!!!!!! :):):):):)):):):)
Look at the working conditions! Proud to be an American!