Supporting Jewish Owned Business
Question
How far does the obligation to support a Jewish over a non-Jewish competitor go?
Where I live is there is a Jewish-owned kosher supermarket and several non-Jewish supermarket franchises. The non-Jewish stores sell plenty of kosher products and many of the same items as the kosher store, often for less money. Sometimes it is more convenient to go to the non-Jewish stores when I am closer to one. And the kosher supermarket gets so crowded that there are very few times during the week when the lines are short enough that I really feel like going there. The owner of the kosher store is very wealthy and isn’t missing much if I shop somewhere else.
Answers
There is no obligation, per se, to support a Jewish store if it will cost more than in a non-Jewish store selling the same products. However, if the reason that a person prefers to shop elsewhere is not for financial reasons but because it is more convenient for them, I would suggest that they shop in the Jewish-owned store, because if everyone felt the same way, the Jewish-owned store would find itself floundering financially and possibly even having to close down.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team