Can I sell jade buddha or yushka on a cross pendants
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A Jew is absolutely allowed to sell little Buddhas or crosses, even with Jesus on them. There’s no halachic problem at all because these items are not avodah zarah in the halachic sense — they’re not an object worshipped as a god or offering, just symbols or decorations. The same goes for a Buddha figurine: it’s not actually worshipped as a deity in that form, so it’s not prohibited.
I remember about 20 years ago bringing this up at my father’s Shabbat table. I said I was thinking of going to Bethlehem and, for safety, maybe buying a cross to wear so I’d look Christian and no one would bother me. My mother almost had a heart attack at the thought of me wearing a cross — but my father just laughed. He told me about a bishop, or someone high up in the Church, who gave a gold cross as a gift to the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem over 100 years ago, and whenever the Chief Rabbi went to visit the bishop, he would actually wear the gold cross.