For Passover This Year…Raise Hell

It would seem that Bumblefuck is everywhere, even in the heart of a city that boasts a large Jewish community.

See, yesterday I went grocery shopping, to my huge American superstore.  And I bought most of my usual foods, but because Passover is just around the corner, I also went looking for matzah and matzah-related items. 

Please understand that I live in a not-so-Jewish neighborhood, a "transitional" in-town neighborhood (that's what realtors call it when you have a lot of litter floating around, and a bunch of stray dogs).  So I don't expect to find spelt-matzah-balls, or those potato-stick-thingies.  But I expected some half-assed attempt at a Passover display.

Nope.

There was nothing. Not even on the Jew-food island near the other "ethnic foods" like Old El Paso and Thai Kitchen.  Tucked away behind the ramen I found the usual array of year-round matzah, gelt, and borscht.  But there were NO Passover foods. Despite the abundance of sugar-free Easter candy (consumption of candy and type 2 diabetes are both more popular than Judaism it would seem).

I was PISSED!

Now, I know I can drive 15 minutes to the Kosher Kroger and get myself all the Passover goodies I need, but I was pissed anyway. Because there ARE Jews in my neighborhood. Plenty of them. Maybe not visibly Jewish people, or synagogues, but enough people to eat a few boxes of matzah.  And the fact that we don't have a huge amount of buying power doesn't mean that my store shouldn't at least give a little nod to us. Right?  I should be able to run to the store and pick up a box of matzah…

They stock all kinds of other crap they don't sell much of. I'm assuming.

So I called the store manager and (politely) freaked all over his ass.  I told him I write for the local press (I do) and that I work for a Jewish agency, and need to be able to buy things for catering purposes (I used to). I also said that this was the kind of incident that might cause me to take my $120 a week grocery list over to the competition.

He kindly explained…  that there just aren't enough Jewish shoppers to make Passover a priority.

I kindly explained right back… that the Jewish population in this area is growing, and that sending a message to that population… telling them their needs will be met… is a PR move, even if it means a loss of $20 in stale matzah a year.

He was profusely apologetic, and asked if I'd make a list for him, of all the things I need. And of other Jewish holidays I think they should consider stocking for.  He swore up and down that he'd get on top of this issue.  And I really believed him

The poor guy felt awful, I think.  He said that he'd been here for 3 years, and that nobody had ever complained until now.

!!!

This strikes me as nuts, since I have at least 5-10 Jewish friends who shop there each week, and they all buy  Passover foods.  So I can only assume that when they saw the store didn't have a Passover display, they resigned themself to a drive.  And that's just my friends… I wonder how many other Jews shop there and never said a word.

Which brings me to my point:

Stand up and be counted! If you find yourself NOT getting what you need as a Jewish person–  whether from your grocery store, your PBS station, your schools.  Let the world around you know that you are Jewish, and that Jews have needs.

It may seem petty and bitchy to request special foods for a small population, but this is how the world knows we exist. This is how we educate the population around us. This is how we grow.

The fact that you CAN drive a few miles to get what you need… the fact that your kid CAN make up the test after the High Holidays…

Doesn't mean we should HAVE to!

Just think… if we all went and pitched a fit at our local grocery store… they'd know how many of us there really are.