Don’t Boycott Food, Share Food

I don’t have a sweet tooth and often shun desserts, with one notable exception and that is halva. I first tasted halva when living in Israel.  I have eaten it in Jerusalem’s Arab shuk and its open-air market, Machane Yehudah.  I have relished its sweetness in Jewish homes and Arab. 

As far as I am concerned, the best halva is that produced by Seed + Mill. I always keep a supply of their halva and also their tahini to add to dressings.  (This summer try their chocolate tahini on fresh berries!)  And so, I felt a mixture of sadness, bewilderment and anger when I read that Seed + Mill’s products will now be among those banned by Brooklyn’s Park Slope Food Coop. Last week, the coop voted to ban Israeli products to protest Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians.

Seed + Mill was founded by three Jewish women, one of whom is Israeli and all of whom call New York City their home.  Its products are produced by Israeli Arabs in northern Israel. Another suggested banned product is Equal Exchange olive oil.  This is produced by Palestinian farmers in the West Bank. I want to shout, “Be more discerning.  Be more exacting.” 

Such boycotts are misguided.  They are ill-informed.  They are unproductive and even counterproductive.  They only manage to assuage anti-Israel activists’ feelings.  Boycotts do not tip the balance toward justice.  Most worrisome of all, boycotts such as these open the door to antisemites who speak about Jewish supremacism, call Jewish shoppers Nazis and accost Israel’s supporters.  I don’t know how else to read about the boycott of the Jewish owned store, Seed + Mill.  I don’t how know else to understand the slurs hurled at the boycott’s opponents.

With this frightening rise in antisemitism, too often fueled by anti-Israel hatred, I was proud that congregants marched in this year’s Israel Day parade.  Now is the time for solidarity with our people.  Now is the time to stand together.  Buy Israeli products—and I would add Palestinian goods as well.  You can start with two of the banned products: Osem’s Bamba snacks and Equal Exchange olive oil.  Eat good food. 

Boycotts create a mythic good versus evil divide as if one side is entirely evil and the other completely innocent.  They foster an intolerance to opposing views.  In the end they denigrate the humanity of those standing in opposition.  Boycotts insist that to support one people’s struggle for self-determination one must reject the other’s. 

Those who voted for the boycott apparently believe there is only one answer to the Israeli Palestinian conflict and that is the dissolution of the State of Israel.  Why?  Because in their minds Israelis are the perennial oppressors and Palestinians the eternal victims.  They advocate a disassociation with anything and everything connected to Israel.  I might be able to understand the arguments to boycott companies that produce Israeli tanks and bombs, but again I would demand exactitude and insist on accompanying bans on Hamas and Hezbollah supporters.  Now I want to scream, “Food is meant to be shared.  It brings people together.  It transcends borders and boundaries.”

We do not, however, live in a mythic world.  In the real world there are nations and borders.  There are friends and foes, enemies and allies.  The Torah declares, “May Your enemies be scattered, and may Your foes flee before You!” (Numbers 10) During Shabbat services, these words are proclaimed when the Torah is taken from the ark.  Long ago the Reform movement excised these lines from the service. I imagine my predecessors thought we should not speak about enemies, or by implication war, during prayer services.  But our enemies are real!  And war continues to be our tragic reality.

Let us not be naive.  Let us be discerning and exacting in calling out our enemies.  Let us be clear-eyed where they can be found and where they cannot.

They are not found in the foods we eat!

When I savor halva, I often recall my time tutoring Palestinian Israelis.  When I lived in Israel, I met with these Jerusalemites to tutor them in English.  I would travel to their homes in Beit Safafa where I was greeted with mint tea and sweets, and often halva.  During our weekly meetings, we would discuss their hopes and prayers (and mine!) for a more shared future.  Halva is eaten by Israelis and Palestinians, by Jews and Arabs.

It does not belong to one or the other but both.  Its sweetness can remind us of the promise of a shared peaceful future.