The immigrant employees at Flaum worked hard for years to ensure the company’s success and growth. Yet when they asserted their fundamental right to be paid in accordance with the law for their hard work, the workers were fired en masse. The crime is all the more objectionable because their status as immigrants is being used against them to perpetuate their exploitation.

I, for one, am glad that the workers have started to humiliate (if it’s possible) Moshe Grunhut, owner of Flaum Appetizing, in front of his own home in his deeply religious community, with weekly protests. Obviously, the power of subtle suggestion is not the only thing this guy needs. 

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Or what about when someone says your congregation is supporting Nazism, because your rabbi mentions social justice?

What if someone were to say: “I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice are code words [either Communism and Nazism]. Am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!" That is an illogical person, and they hate everything you (“you” is a code word for “me”) believe in.  And that person would be Glenn Beck. Humor is a great way to counter illogical extremes; Jewish Funds for Justice figured this out with their creative response to Glenn Beck’s ridiculous comments about religion and social justice: Haik U Glenn Beck.

If you don’t write a Glenn Beck-themed haiku, Hitler wins.

This post originally appears on jspot.org

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This post originally appeared on JSpot and is reprinted with permission

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Last week, two self-identified "self-hating Jewish hipsters" were arrested for repainting and stenciling the bike lanes back onto Bedford Ave. These Jews represent the thousands of secular (or simply less observant than Hassadic) Jews who are part of the flux of hip, scantily clad  and cost-conscious people moving into areas that are historically Hassadic enclaves. The lane removal has prompted outcry from bike activists and there have been lots of jabs made at the Hassidic community. Moshe Goldberger, a Hassid, complained to the Post that "unauthorized painting on New York City property is unlawful, but that is overlooked because it’s committed against the terrible Hasidim." The battle between two of Brooklyn’s most controversial and discussed subcultures- hipsters and Hasidim- leads me to ask questions that I don’t have answers for. First, what public actions and statements are considered Jewish? In all articles I saw on the story, only the Hasidim are written about as Jewish and their perspective is presented as the Jewish voice about the subject. What would it mean if the bike lane advocates did re-paint the streets not as "self-hating hipster Jews", but as proud Jewish rabble-rousers, who might be less observant but saw their protest as Jewish? Second, how can progressive Jews lovingly challenge Jews from all observance level, ethnicity, country or class, while acknowledging nuance, i.e., the right for community control vs. sustainable transportation?

This post originally appeared on JSpot.org and is reprinted with permission. 

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