You don't have to go to Beit Shemesh, Israel to see the lengths some of our brethren go to in order to avoid looking at images of women of any age.Monsey, New York, a quiet little enclave less than an hour north of the George Washington Bridge, is home to many Chasidim and Haredim. It's also the home of the Rockland Kosher Marketplace - The Shoppers Haven, which claims to be the largest kosher supermarket. We've heard of similar claims from Pomegranate in Brooklyn and Seven Mile Market in Pikesville, Maryland, but we haven't checked them out yet.
The Monsey store is a shopping wonderland for anyone who is looking for an amazing variety of kosher food and household products, but if you're looking for a bottle of Downy Fabric Softener, you'll have to find it by the shape and color of the bottle, not by the product label.
Why? All of the bottles of Downy on the store shelves have a 4 x 2 1/2 inch white label completely covering the product name and the image of a young girl in a dress with bare arms and legs frolicking in a field of flowers.
We first found out about this cover-up in a blog by DovBear last week. Even though the blog included a photo of the store shelf, we wanted to be sure it wasn't a set-up for a joke timed to the cover-ups of women now being protested in Israel. So, since we were shopping in the area on Monday, we visited the store to check out the display. Sure enough, there were the Downy bottles, every one covered with not one, but two thicknesses of white labels.
Our curiosity aroused (but only our curiosity), we checked the aisles wondering what the store did to Aunt Jemima Pancakes and Sun-Maid Raisins boxes, but alas, we couldn't find any. The only brands of these products they sell are Gefen and Mishpacha. We did, however, find boxes of Life Cereal that had a photo of a mother and daughter with some skin showing. (We didn't complain.)It's quite the scene, with Yiddish songs playing on the speakers placed throughout the store. Check out the video below and consider a field trip to this slice of Haredi life. But be sure you're not barefoot or wearing shorts or sleeveless clothing.
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G-d forbid we see a women's ankle on a package OY!!!
ReplyDeletePhil
By covering bare arms and legs -- What are their shoppers being protected from? And why does the store (and/or community culture) think the shoppers need this protection? This is a serious question requesting comments from your readers, because I don't understand why the shoppers need to be sheltered from bare skin. Sharon
ReplyDeleteThe "voice over " on the above video grates on y nerves more than the stupid policy about the Downy bottles. The guy cant pronounce Hebrew
ReplyDeleteTo each their own. If the store owner thinks that it will help him attract a certain clientele, and it's legal, it's his right by all means and kudos to him!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, when that package was created there definitely was thought put into how to make that box as attractive as possible to make it be the one picked over competition... As a marketer, I can tell you that nothing is left to chance by these brands. It may be a joke in the larger scheme of things, but yes, it is something, and if one wants to not see that, it's their right... and even if you yourself could care less, it's still "Mi Ke'amcha Yisrael!"
Balance is and "extremely" :) hard trait to master!! Am Yisroel Chai - Shabbat Shalom. Avi
ReplyDeleteSo sad.
ReplyDeleteBecause jews are a minority outside of Israel, it can be looked at as a joke.
But here in Israel, we don't think things like that are funny at all!
It's not funny. the pictures of babies are covered so that orthodox Jewish men won't get sexually aroused. This is not a joke- this is the real reason. It started with the covering of women's faces and bodies, and eventually got to babies.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly is funny about the bigoted treatment of women in orthodox Judaism?? Foreigners as well, btw- but that's a different "joke"... And if someone chooses to reply- being "respectful" to women as long as they stay within bounds dictated by a strictly patriarchal society is NOT respecting women.
Judaism 2012....
I don't see the problem here. These Chareidim are practicing their own standards of modesty in their own supermarkets; they are not forcing their standards on anybody else. As Rabbi Ginzberg said, kudos to them.
ReplyDeleteI was waiting for that fish to talk.
ReplyDeleteIf a child in a summer dress arouses you, you need to be castrated.
ReplyDeletefor so many years no one was bothered - and life went on. All of a sudden the world 'has fallen on its head'. Moslems go back hundreds of years ago, whereas until not very long ago most of them acted 'normally'..
ReplyDeleteSo did Jews, even the very fanatic ones... But this, and the changes in Israel - they must have lost their minds....
shaia
Perhaps the Downy manufacturer has some requirement that retailers must sell the product intact, e.g., complete with the entire label?
ReplyDeleteThe Jewish Taliban.
ReplyDeleteIs this a joke?
ReplyDeleteI would worry more about these so called "drum" Charedi men. If they have no self control, they don't belong among society. A picture of a baby or young child should not arouse. Forcing babies, young girls and young women to cover up because of their shortcomings is a sign of disrespect to women everywhere. Who are they to force their phony "brand" of religion onto others? They are the new Neturei Karta or "Jewish Muslems."
ReplyDeleteIf rockland Kosher would like to show how Tznius they 'd like to be they should dismiss all the preetzis goyim they have working there all those with their cut outs shirts and pants and eyeing our women and replace all their workers with frum people!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSomeone sent me a Purim-Shpiel email with a link to this page. I am a strictly observant Jewish woman, and I think the folks who requested the store to place the stickers are unclear on the concept of tznius. First of all, while tznius is usually translated as "modesty" it really means something more like "dignity", it applies to men as well as women, and it is about much more than specific clothing rules. Secondly, the clothing guidelines that are recommended for maintaining dignity apply to JEWS -- although it would be nice if everyone dressed in a dignified manner, non-Jews are not obligated to follow our rules. I don't see how Kol kevudah bas melech penimah can be interpreted into an obligation to cover a non-lascivious picture of a non-Jewish child.
ReplyDelete