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At a local convenience store near my work, they stock all sorts of non-Kosher products. However at the cashier's desk is a guy obviously orthodox Jewish (Curls down from the side, Black Clothing primarily, etc.). Is he breaking any Jewish Law?

My thinking is he might be ok since he's not likely doing the cooking himself (everything is pre-packaged).

(Disclaimer: I'm a non-Jew myself, but have been around Judaism enough to survive)

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  • Does he own the store? Perhaps even if he is a owner he is only a part owner? Jan 17, 2013 at 16:58
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    tekiegreg, welcome to Mi Yodeya, and thanks very much for bringing your question here! I hope you'll look around and see what else catches your interest.
    – Isaac Moses
    Jan 17, 2013 at 17:27

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I would advise that a person consult their rabbi before taking such a job, but if you tell me that someone has done so, I'm not particularly shocked nor concerned.

One issue is a prohibition not just on eating non-kosher, but on deriving tangible benefit from it. (Which would mean you couldn't sell it.) There are very few categories of non-kosher that fall into this one, such as meat-cooked-in-milk. For stuff like pork rinds, a good Jewish boy isn't advised to get into the business of selling them, but if he got a case of them by mistake he'd be allowed to sell them -- thus, in a convenience store, most of what he's selling isn't particularly non-kosher, so not so much of an issue.

The other issue is if Jewish customers come in and try to buy something non-kosher, are you facilitating their sin. Generally speaking if it's someone who isn't keeping kosher normally, and if you don't sell him the product he can fairly easily get it at a convenience store down the block, that's not prohibited as "facilitation."

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