Wednesday 23 December 2015

halacha - When a chain store advertises a "Holiday" or "End of Year" sale, may I buy their product?


My question is related to this one. The linked question focuses on the phrasing in the ad of referring to "Christmas", so it seems obvious that they are referring to a specific holiday.


My question is a bit generic. Many chain stores decided to become politically correct and don't want to offend those that don't celebrate Christmas (I'm apathetic either way) so they call it a "holiday" or "end of year sale". It's pretty obvious which holidays they are referring to, anyway.


This Mishnah says not to do business with non-Jews 3 days before their holiday. IIRC, the Gemarrah specifies that we don't want to give them pleasure and give them money that they can use to celebrate their idol-worship-associated holiday.


My question relates mainly to chain stores like Macy's and Wal-Mart as well as buying from a car dealer.


One can argue that they are just making a sale and the holiday season is incidental or an incentive. It seems a bit more obvious with car dealers as their main incentive is to clear their inventory before the end of the year (as a dealer explained to me.)


So related questions, here:




  • Does it make any difference if the advertising mentions that the sale is for Christmas specifically? What if the sale extends before or after the holiday?

  • What if what one buys is used for a mitzvah purpose, even indirectly? For example, a person attends weddings and other simchot frequently, but to do this, he needs a car to get there. He currently doesn't own a car. Can he buy one during this time?




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