Shatnez Labs Argue Over Kapotas

By COLlive reporter

Mendy Sacho, owner of Sacho’s Kapotas in Crown Heights, is denying claims made by a Monsey Shatnez laboratory that his Kapotas contain Shatnez.

A letter from the Monsey Shatnez Laboratory circulating on social media claims that Shatnez was found in the Kapota sold at Primo Hatters on Kingston Avenue, stating that “its collar was reinforced with a linen canvas.”

Sacho says the laboratory contacted him, “accusing me that every Kapota in my store has Shatnez.”

“Not taking this accusation likely, we took this Kapota to have it checked by our local Shatnez checker, Ezra Cohen at Regency Cleaners, who’s been checking for more than 20 years,” Sacho said.

Sacho said Cohen checked more than 10 kapotas from the same run, and said that none of them contained Shatnez.

“We then took that Kapota in question, removed the Kosher label and had it checked again, and we were informed that 1,000,000 percent, this Kapota contains no Shatnez,” Sacho says.

He also says his company regularly does random checks of their Kapotas and always suggests to the customer to have their garments checked themselves as an extra precaution.

“We continue to offer that if you do find Shatnez in any garment purchased by us we will replace or remove it,” Sacho says.

“One should never wear any garment without having it checked, even if it’s purchased from a Jew,” he reminds customers.

Update:
Ezra Cohen, Crown Heights Shatnez expert, checked the Kapota in question again on Wednesday, both with a machine and without, Sacho told COLlive.

Cohen’s verdict is that the Kapota is 100% Shatnez free, telling Sacho that, “there is something there that looks a little bit like Shatnez, but it is not, and an inexperienced Shatnez checker could make that mistake,” he said.