Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ had a fascinating reaction to the decision of a kosher bakery owner to cancel an order, placed by a Conservative congregation, for a rainbow cake and rainbow cookies celebrating Pride month.
When the West Orange Bake Shop said that making the cake would go against his religious beliefs, according to the Jewish News Service, the Federation initially notified its staff and supporters that it would no longer order from there because the bakery’s decision “did not align with the value of B’tzelem Elo[k]im, that each one of us is created in the Divine image and deserves to be treated as such.”
News of the Federation’s boycott did not go over well in the community, so a subsequent statement was released by the organization: “We are looking forward to future conversations with the vendor with the goal of finding a resolution. We sincerely regret that our actions have caused divisiveness in our community as our aim is to bring the variety and richness of our many constituents together.” As we understand this second statement, there seems to now be an acknowledgement that the Federation would somehow find a place for the store owner and others of his kind who follow traditional Jewish beliefs.
We rather think that those Federation folks have got it backwards. It is those who have endeavored to change our traditions who are the outliers and who must be called out to justify themselves, not the other way around.
