Jewish Daily Forward: Orthodox, and Sticking With the Union

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.forward.com/articles/107108/

By Nathaniel Popper
Published June 03, 2009, issue of June 12, 2009.

Recent controversies about labor issues in the Jewish community have often become battles between non-Orthodox and Orthodox Jews. At the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago, this paradigm seems to hold, with rabbis from more liberal denominations protesting the Orthodox Jewish owners of the hotel.

But in Chicago, the standard mold is broken by Rabbi Asher Lopatin, who is the head of one of Chicago’s biggest and most vibrant Orthodox synagogues, Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation. Lopatin, 44, has become one of the most outspoken critics of the Congress Hotel’s management. He signed a letter to the hotel’s manager, asking for a meeting (it was refused), and he criticized the decision to hold an Orthodox singles event at the hotel (it was eventually canceled).


Solidarity: Rabbi Asher Lopatin has worked with pro-union Jewish groups on the Congress Hotel strike.


“I generally see myself as right- of-center politically,” Lopatin told the Forward just outside the hotel, “but to me these things are no-brainers — they’re not left/right issues.”

In addition to his work on the hotel, Lopatin was involved in protesting the Orthodox owners of the Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse, which was the subject of an immigration raid in May 2008. It all has added up to some discouraging conclusions for Lopatin.

“There seems to be a pattern of Jews, and especially Orthodox Jews, not knowing how to relate to gentiles,” Lopatin said. “We have a history of really trying to survive as Jews and having to protect ourselves constantly, but now we are in a different reality. If you want to stay in the Brooklyn ghetto, maybe that’s okay. But if you want to go out into the rest of world and get involved in real business, you can’t just have the same paradigm we had in Europe or the Middle East.”

FULL story at link.

[madaboutharry]

1. It is just not gentiles that Orthodox Jews can't relate to, they

can't relate to any Jew that isn't Orthodox. They really do think they are better. I know that I may be offending some, I don't mean to. But the truth is that for the most part they act like they are superior. Not all, but I think most.

The problem is that many Orthodox Jews isolate themselves from the modern world. They see things through a very different prism.

Also, Anyone who has ever gone to buy kosher meat from a kosher grocery store knows exactly what I am talking about. Every single one I have ever been in is a certifiable dump. They don't see it and they don't care. All I can say now is "Thank God for Trader Joe's".

There is a wonderful book called "Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels" by Hella Winston. It is a book about Jews from the Ultra Orthodox Communities in New York who break away. It is a spellbinding look into the culture and mind set of these communities.

[marybourg]

2. I've never seen an orthodox rabbi with his head uncovered. nt.

[madaboutharry]

3. His head is covered.

Look at the picture more closely. You can see he has a dark colored yarmulke on at the back of his head.

[marybourg]

5. I'll take your word for it. nt.

[aquart]

4. Three Jews and a typewriter equal five political parties.

I thought everyone knew that.