Rabbis: 'Not Kosher' To Cross Stop & Shop Picket Lines For Passover Essentials

BOSTON (AP) — Some New England rabbis are advising their congregations not to cross picket lines to get their Passover essentials at Stop & Shop supermarkets, where workers remain on strike.

Rabbi Barbara Penzner, of Temple Hillel B'nai Torah in Boston, says it's "not kosher" to purchase "products of oppressed labor" as Jews mark their ancestors' escape from slavery in Egypt.

Rabbi Jon-Jay Tilsen, of Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel in New Haven, Connecticut, says he's shared a similar message with his congregation.

Burt Flickinger, a grocery industry analyst, says the spiritual protest will impact Stop & Shop's finances as kosher and Passover sales are a significant part of its annual revenue.

Workers at 240 Stop & Shop stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut walked off the job April 11 over the company's contract proposal.

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