As anyone who’s lived in New York knows, street harassment is often, unfortunately, a part of everyday life. Some instances, like the 100+ sexually harassing catcalls documented by Shoshana B. Roberts and Rob Bliss, are indicative of something serious and genuinely troubling. Others are just…well, annoying as hell.
Take, for example, Chabad’s “Hey, are you Jewish?” guys. Using a process they refer to as “bageling” (seriously) Orthodox Jewish emissaries will often stand on street corners, profiling potential yids, and pestering them as they walk past in the hopes that the unfortunate passer-by will stop and acquiesce to whatever seasonally appropriate ritual the Lubovitchers are foisting. Most Jews I know just ignore this mild – and in the face of much worse examples, truly insignificant – type of harassment, and continue on their merry way. But after watching how Brooklynite Joshua Wolff handles his hassidic haranguing, I think I’ve got a new tactic to try. Yes, it involves running, but not necessarily “away.”
Presumably this video was filmed sometime around the High Holidays. You’ll see why in a sec.
He’s out of breath from blowing on a ram’s horn at full speed. I’m out of breath from laughing ’til my sides hurt. Everyone walks away happy.
Seems like a fair trade to me.
Probly not the worst punishment a Jew has ever suffered for being Jewish…