B"H
Korach and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
Conference of Presidents Applauds Unilever for Reversal of
Ben & Jerry's Boycott
June 29, 2022, New York, NY - Dianne Lob, Chair, William Daroff, CEO, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Vice Chair, of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, issued the following statement:
“We applaud Unilever for selling “Ben & Jerry’s Israel” to Avi Zinger, current licensee and CEO of Ben & Jerry’s Israel. Ben & Jerry’s Israel operated the first factory outside the United States as a lessee over 30 years ago. This sale comes 11 months after Ben & Jerry’s, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever, announced it was not renewing its franchise and licensing agreement with Zinger, over his refusal to stop selling ice cream in the West Bank.”
I'm going to make a self serving compromise; when I’m in Israel I won’t boycott Ben & Jerry’s. (I may not personally indulge but I’d be delighted to buy it for my grandchildren). When I’m outside of Israel I will continue boycotting a company whose ideals and values are reprehensible. Following Unilever’s decision to continue its sales in Israel, Ben & Jerry’s publicly declared that they are opposed. Thus I’m going to partially follow my doctor's advice to reduce multiple consumption of ice cream by refraining from purchasing or eating Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. They not only publicly support BDS but they doubled down on their anti Israel propaganda by demanding that all workers watch anti Israel rhetoric.
I compare self serving hypocrites with the likes of a biblical personality named Korach. He was the first cousin of Moses and Aharon who was deeply upset about the nepotism shown by Moses in appointing his brother as High Priest. His goal was to spread the power to his side of the family, which indicated that he wasn’t truly upset about nepotism, he was upset about his lack of power. Similarly, Ben and Jerry's sell their wares in Russia, China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Venezuela and Iran. They hide behind their anti Israel bias by claiming that Israel is an occupying force but ignore raising their collective ire against tyranny and oppression by some of the world's most evil regimes.
I certainly don’t need the calories but I really d enjoy indulging by savoring spoonfuls of Cherry Garcia or Chunky Monkey every so often. Their products are indeed sweet to the palate albeit not that sweet to the pocketbook. But as far as I’m concerned, as delectable and creamy it may be, in my mouth it leaves a most bitter aftertaste.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Jack
