- Q. Hello Rav, My teenage daughter was asking me if it would be permissible to eat movie theater popcorn.
She has no intention of watching a movie there, and is comfortable with Chalav Stam.She just wants to try the popcorn! We shelter our kids from so many things, so I don't want to just say NO so quickly.
I have heard that you can ask the workers to see the packaging and all the ingredients are able to be identified as kosher chalav stam (oil, salt, popcorn). Additionally, the popcorn machine is only used for popcorn. Since popcorn is not a bishul akum issue, and its safe to say that no non kosher ingredients were used in the last 24 hours, is it safe to say the popcorn would be permissible even if there is a chance that non kosher ingredients may have been used in the past?
Meaning....I don't know what they used in the machine 10 years ago, but since those potentially non kosher ingredients are Eino Ben Yomo and thus would give off a "pagum" taste, it should not pose a kashrut issue. Am I correct? Additionally, is there a Maaris Eyin issue of walking in there to purchase the popcorn or is it similar to walking into a Tim Hortons to buy a coffee? If it was a Maryis Eyin issue...is there any way around that? (ie. go in not looking like fum yid, etc?) Thanks so much.
A. Our Rabbonim maintain that since there are so many different complicated Shailos and doubts in this case, that can easily go wrong, the best you can and should do is just buy her a real nice big bag of kosher certified corn that usually has the same taste as the one she desires or even better.
You could give her another tasty food she likes even more.
It is important you should explain to her the Halacha points and rules and prohibitions involved and why it is so special and important to keep the rules of what Hashem told us makes food great and kosher to eat, and the extraordinary taste one feels when Hashem also enjoys with us the great food he gave us to truly enjoy.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit'a
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