Mezuzah Blog

More and more, I am noticing Judaica products that are made in China or India.  Another thing that I am noticing is items made by Israeli companies that are actually manufactured in the Far East (much as you might by a Whirlpool dishwasher that was made in China).

I am not necessarily against this practice altogether.  We also sell a few items that are made in China.  For example our Clear Lucite Mezuzah Cover.  This is an example of a product that is meant to be mass produced as cheaply as possible in order to keep it affordable.  It is therefore understandable that it would be made in China.

What I am a bit uncomfortable about is the practice that is becoming increasingly popular of Israeli companies marketing Israeli style Judaica products that are made in China.  Some of these companies will even shop around Israel for products made by Israel artist and then go get the same thing mass produced in China.  They will then market it under the name of their Israeli company.  The words ‘made in China’ will be in tiny print on the bottom of the package (or nowhere at all).

I think that most customers who purchase Judaica products want them to be made in Israel.  And I think that this practice takes advantage of peoples simple trust.  As I have become aware of this practice, I am trying more and more to offer only items that are actually made in Israel.  On each product page, it will be noted if the item is made in Israel.  If you want to support this kind of business practice.  Vote with your credit card and make sure to purchase only these products.

Here is an article by one of the wholesale companies that we buy from who only deals with made in Israel products.  Check it out.

You may have noticed that we recently introduced a new product on our website.  It is the fabric Mezuzah (see them here and here).  I am not 100% sure, but I think we may be the only ones selling a product of this type.

 These Mezuzahs were made specially for us by Rachel Weinstein.  Rachel lives in the village of Tekoa in the Judea region of Israel.  She specializes in making all kinds of crafts from fabric.  She uses classic quilting techniques as well as hand embroidery work.

I met Rachel and we started talking about what kind of fabric products she could make for our website.  She said, “Why don’t I make a fabric Mezuzah?”  Although the idea seemed nice, I was immediately concerned that the scroll inside would not be protected enough by the soft fabric.  We came up with the idea of putting a hard plastic tube inside.  That is how the fabric Mezuzah was born.

Since this is a totally new idea, I would love to hear what you think about it.  Let me know in the comments.