2002-11-22 - 10:35 p.m.
NOT STRICTLY KOSHER
The local grocery store has a whole new section. The new section has lots of shelves, a frozen food section all its own, and a refrigerator section. It even has a name on a bright new shiny sign. The sign is lovely although the cute spelling needs to go. The section is named �Krazy for Kosher Korner.� In other words, the section is full of items that meet Jewish dietary laws.
For many of you, the significance of this change is not readily apparent. Fifteen years ago, the neighborhood was approximately one-third Jewish. Most of the Jews in the neighborhood, however, were Reform Jews and not traditional. Most of them did not follow all of the dietary laws that the Torah and the rabbis laid down. The store always had a small section of special kosher foods but did not advertise it heavily or boast of it. Obviously, the store now believes that kosher is a bigger selling point than it once was�and it�s the store�s business to know. Literally.
We now have a Chasidic shul nearby. Chasidic Jews are a subset of more traditional Jews although they have certain beliefs that separate them from mainstream traditional Jews. They believe, unlike most Jews, that special intermediaries called rebbes have a special link to God, a sort of hotline to God�s ear. Moreover, the position of rebbe is usually hereditary. They also believe spirt---dance and song---with men and women separated, of course, is a necessary and desirable form of prayer. They stress spirit, sometimes over learning. Shul is simply the Yiddish word for synagogue, particularly a small traditional one.
Every Sabbath, they walk up my street to their shul. To a traditional Jew, driving is work and banned on the Sabbath so they will not drive to services. Part of me celebrates the increased diversity of my neighborhood. But the part of me that is on a school board shudders.
Once, long ago, back in the dark ages when I was a teenager, I lived in Teaneck, New Jersey. The Teaneck of my time and place tried to be a welcoming place for Jews and ultimately for traditional Jews. They came, they bought homes, and they contributed to the neighborhood. They also, as a by-product, contributed to the destruction of the good public school system. Traditional Jews generally do not send their children to public schools. They send them to private religious schools. In Teaneck, they ultimately helped destroy the delicate racial balance in the schools.
Here, the concern is not the racial balance. The concern is the contribution to the drop in enrollment. In a state with revenue caps tied to enrollment, each kid who is not enrolled in the public school is a kid who does not generate revenue. If costs were tied directly to the number of children enrolled, this situation would be fine. Unfortunately, the tie is not one-to-one. In addition, each family with children who do not go to public school is at least one and more often two votes against any possible referendum for the schools.
The other concern is the point at which non-Jewish neighbors begin to feel so uncomfortable that many of them leave. Imagine yourself living in a neighborhood of Amish folk. They will not be rude but they will barely notice your existence. Their distinctive mode of dress will make you believe that they are everywhere. Soon you may seek out more of �your own kind.�
I don�t like feeling threatened by a Krazy for Kosher Korner (at least not by anything other than that horrendous K fixation that always makes my skin crawl.) It makes me feel like a bigot. It makes me feel like the worst type of bigot: a bigot against my own. Saying, �you do not belong here� goes against what I believe and stand for.
Something�s not kosher here. I hope it�s me. But I�m afraid it�s more.
LAST YEAR: My Saying Thanks (by Day-Hay)
LAST FIVE ENTRIES:
Short
Culturally Deprived
A Very Strange Feeling (by Kat)
Gloried
Whole Word
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Copyright 2006 by Ellen |
