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Mar'is Ha'ayin is the Halachik concept that certain actions, which should be permitted, are prohibited merely because other people could mistake what one is doing for something else that is prohibited, causing them to think that it is permissible or to view one negatively. | Mar'is Ha'ayin is the Halachik concept that certain actions, which should be permitted, are prohibited merely because other people could mistake what one is doing for something else that is prohibited, causing them to think that it is permissible or to view one negatively. | ||
These Halachos arise very frequently. For example, kosher fake-shrimp products boast excellent and reputable hashgachas (supervision)<ref>e.g. KOF-K and OK </ref>--but can that lead to people thinking that real shrimp is kosher (which it most certainly is not <ref> shulchan Aruch Y.D. 83:1. It lacks the proper Simanim. </ref>)? Likewise, people commonly consume surimi products, begging the same question. As another application, is one able to use pareve creamer with coffee, and if so, is there a need to place the bottle next to the coffee? Another example: there is a restaurant which recently began making cheeseburgers using pareve cheese. Do people that see you eating that cheeseburger necessarily know that it contains pareve cheese? Along similar lines, can one ever walk into a non-kosher restaurant--is there a concern of maris ayin with a mashgiach walking into a non-kosher restaurant in order to do reverse certification (see footnote)?<ref>Reverse certification is when a company gives a hechsher on a restaurant etc and the owner has a different store which is non-kosher. The mashgiach goes into the non-kosher store to make sure no non-kosher is going out with the kashrus label on the product. </ref> All these questions and others will be discussed below. | |||
==What is Maris Ayin ? == | ==What is Maris Ayin ? == |