Trading in Pork via Gentile Agent Under Government Concession

From: Rabbi Moshe Sofer

To: Rabbi Yosef

Description

The Chasam Sofer addresses a situation where Jewish butcher-lessees are forced by a government franchise to sell pork. He permits a strictly circumscribed arrangement — the Jew lends money to a gentile who purchases and slaughters the pigs in his own name, with the Jew recouping the loan as debt repayment but never performing meshichah — relying on the ruling that a Jew does not acquire from a gentile through money alone or through a loan. This leniency applies only in cases of significant financial loss, and the Chasam Sofer concludes that one who guards his soul should distance himself from all such arrangements.

Source: Shu"t Chasam Sofer YD §108

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