New York, NY – Several hundred people showed up in front of downtown New York’s Brown Brothers Harriman building for a candlelit, social justice-oriented Kol Nidre service Friday night. They included men and women in white prayer shawls, participants in street wear and non-Jewish onlookers.
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Leaders of the service prayed for the eradication of racism, classism and discrimination. As with the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, no microphones were used and readings and songs were echoed throughout the crowd as dozens of police officers watched.
No incidents have been reported. Several attendees crossed the street to Zuccotti Park to spend the night with Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, as observant Jews do not use cars or the subway on Yom Kippur.
All photos credit Jimmy Justice for VIN News
This shows that the protest has grown to include even the frum community. Many frum yidden are hurting economically and this protest reflects basic yiddeshe values of fairness and caring for the poor. More rabbonim and askanim should get behind the Occupy Wall street movement and organize on their behalf. Sure, there are some crazies in the group but most are very seriousl
Protesting won’t create jobs or change the harsh economic realities.
This movement has absolutely nothing to do with Jewish values.Yiddishkeit believes if you earn your money fairly it belongs to you. Of course there is a Mitzva to help the poor, but that has absolutey nothing to do with this misguided movement!
sorry #1 but socialism and liberalism are not Jewish values no matter how much you and others of your ilk would like it to be. so no, #1 , no rabbis and/or askanim will associate themselves with this dangerous silliness.
I’m not sure if this is a chilul Hashem or kiddush Hashem !! But if you heard the anti semitic statements these loonies are making about all the Jews that run the financial industry and are trying to take over America, you would not associate yourselves with these nuts. I guarantee you that everyone of these protesters, give them some money and they will fly to the otherside in a heartbeat!!_
Nebach, nebach.
How were all these “frum” jews allowed to carry their machzorim on yom kipper without an erev?
One of their main stated beliefs is “wiping out all debt” on all levels – from international to individual consumer credit card. That is most certainly NOT a Jewish concept.
These are antisemitic anarchists and we should stay far far away from them.
All those who rant against these demonstrators will “pay” for their hatred of those who fight in the name of tikun olam to make the world a more fair and equitable place for ALL and not just the wealthy. If a job and health care are not “rights” of basic human dignity, I’m not sure what is.
#1 FRUM JEW? They are mechalel yom kippur befarhesia you consider this jewish? Shame on vin for posting pics of such chillul hashem.
They carry theyr machzorim in the street on yom kippur is against halacha.
The thing is, it’s difficult to say if the Occupy Wall Street people are protesting for a Jewish value or not because they have no cohesive message at all. They are talking about how there are poor people and not enough jobs, but they have no list of demands or suggested solutions. They don’t have a leader or anything–they are all just marching around yelling things like “Wall Street got bailed out! We got sold out!” .
They are decidedly not republican, but they are very critical of the Obama administration as well.
The issue is not if the system is fair – the question is is this movement good for the Jews- the answer is probably not! The economy is a cycle and will come back- most of these people want another ism- and are for palestinian rights etc…Jews always get caught up in hurting themseleves
The photos are by “Jimmy Justice” who made the videos in past years of parking agents parking illegallly and his confronations with them. Was he a particpant in the protest?
This has nothing to do with social justice and everything to do with a free handout. These kids that were raised and educated in a culture of entitlement, have had life handed to them on a silver platter and now that the spigot has run dry, they’re furious?
Most of them dont even know why they are there. When asked by interveiwers what they want the current system replaced with, they stutter, hem and haw, or simply give you the “deer in the headlights” stare, like they never even thought about it !! They use terms like “redistribute the wealth”, and “kill the Wealthy”. Sounds like communism to me. How did that 70 year experiment work out for you?!?!
One girl told me she would like a system more like Europe. After I finished laughing, I asked if she was aware that Greece is on the brink of bankrupcy and Italy,Spain,Portugal, Ireland , just to mention a few, are on the brink as well. Even the so called healthy European economys like France, Britan, and Germany are struggling ,and now they are balking at bailing out Greece et.al. Predictably , once those little facts sunk in, all I got was, “REALLY”?
This country has simply gotten too fat and lazy.
What a Chillul Hashem! These people completely miss the point of Yom Kippur. Its a day that were not supposed to worry about physicality and gashmiyus and here these people are protesting to the government about the economy! Its such an oxymoron to be standing out there on Yom Kippur as a Jew protesting this.
Socialism is, indeed, a Jewish value. From forcing locals to pay tuition for those children who’s parents can’t afford it (look it up in shulchan aruch) to mandatory contributions to the town’s “kippah” in order to provide food for the needy. Chazal teach us – g-d. Created the poor so the rich can benefit by providing for them. That is another way of saying spreading the wealth. The Torah, while it may not the social model these protesters envision, is still closer to the socialist values these protesters identify with than the immoral and corrupt capitalist values.
i haven’t seen the Berditichiver being quoted.
“Look at Am Yisroel, in the midst of protesting, and being raised with very little Jewish background, they still don’t forget Yom Kippur”
This movement is simply about removing political power wielded by the government in favor of corporations and replacing it with a balance in our favor as intended by the constitution. This is neither Republican or Democratic, but at it’s core a Libertarian movement.
Protesting at the right location Brown Brothers Harriman is one of those Greedy Wall Street firms it employees a lot of people from India on H1B visas.
Just send back a million of the H1B visa people to India, bring back the jobs from India and China, and STOP china from manipulating the US currency. Then you will see how many unemployed people will get back their jobs.
Is there an eiruv there?
I don’t understand what rights these people have that the Corporations are taking from them.
I always understood that in the U.S. you’re free to engage and succeed in any work, service, business that you desire, and find a market for where you can earn a profit or money for your work or service, as long as you do it in a legal manner.
No where was it guranteed that people or companies would actually buy the product, service or work.
You’re solely responsible to be articulate and flexible so that your work, product or service is something others desire and want to pay you what you’re asking for.
I agree that Corporations doing illlegal activities should be punished.
However, giving away jobs to the lowest cost provider is not illegal at all. It’s not even greedy as they don’t owe you anything!
Matter of fact, when was the last time you chose to buy from a more expensive provider simply because you thought that they deserve to earn more money?
Now about shipping jobs overseas, is a much larger debate. This relates to how much we want other countries to allow our products and services to be sold in their countries, so we must reciprocate and allow their cheaper products in here as well. Should we put a limit on how much? This I agree is debatable.
I don’t get why people are so upset. When people protest against the government being influenced by special interest groups, they are called “patriots” by people like Hannity and Limbaugh. When people protest the LARGEST of the “special interest” groups, they are called “crazy” and “anarchists” by the same people. LOL
I love how the entertainment media is SO ridiculously phony. What makes me laugh even harder is how many in our community are so DUMB as to believe what these entertainers say as if it were FACT. LOL
There is a reason programs by the likes of Hannity, Beck, Maddow, Olbermann, etc. are all listed as ENTERTAINMENT programming hours with the FCC. That is the same category as John Stewart’s show or Saturday Night Live.
There is a valid argument to be made here. No industry on earth has ever had such influence over our government like this one. Mortgage-backed securities, one of the 2 biggest contributors in bankrupting this nation, were created through deregulation in the earliest parts of the Bush years as a pay-off for getting him elected.
SOME (not all) of these firms are guilty of STEALING our money through quid pro quo legislation and we all know it!
To #1 - There are no frum Jews involved with this protest. Yes, there are Jews involved, but certainly not frum. I don’t think that the Jewish participation with the protestors amounts to anything substantial; and, I hope that it stays that way. There are enough problems amoung Yidden, without getting involved with this. In 1961, nearly 50% of the Freedom Riders were Yidden. They went to jail, and were beaten along with the others. Where did that get Yidden 50 years later? Yidden are hated and despised by the same people that they went to jail for, a half century ago. In addition, many of the protestors use code words such as “Wall Street” and “Goldman, Sachs”, In reality, they are referring to Jews. Those protestors are not as liberal, as they would have people believe!
i think we should apply the social security tax on everyone rich and poor without a cap. now that’s fair, right? same tax rate for everyone regardless of income level.
Sounds like communism to me. When will we learn that instead of waiting for hand outs, let’s do what our parents & grandparents did. GO TO WORK! Make our lives better not wait for government hand outs. Not waste a precious Yom Kippur in protest. Wake up Yidden, this is not our way, this is not the Torah way, this is not what Hashem wants. Shash es yomim tavo!
Social justice-oriented Kol Nidre service? Now, that’s hilarious. I haven’t had such a good laugh since… the last time I looked at the pictures of these dirty, smelly, pot smoking degenerates.