The Chareidi community in Israel has unanimously abstained from eating anything from Angel’s Bakery, the renowned and most well-known bakery supplying bread for the community, for nearly a full month.
Chareidim on social media started a boycott of Angel’s goods in response to the director Omer Bar-Lev’s decision to demonstrate in front of Rabbi Gershon Edelstein’s house during a protest against the yeshiva students, whom some protesters referred to as “parasites,” which sparked a strong response from the general public.
Neither Bar Lev nor Angel felt the need to express regret for the demonstration, instead asserting that the boycott was ineffective and that to do so would be “surrendering to the boycotters.”
Despite Angel’s claims, there was a significant decline in orders from the company, and sales fell significantly.
Following Rabbi Edelstein’s passing, Bar Lev and Yaron Angel, the owners of the Angel bakery’s businesses, made the decision to visit Rabbi Edelstein’s family and send a letter of apology, putting an end to the boycott and giving the chareidim what appeared to be a victory.
Omer Bar-Lev attended the demonstration as a private individual rather than in his office as Angel’s director, as stated in the letter signed by Yaron Angel.
This information was previously known but had not been publicly disclosed by the firm.
However, Angel maintains that “we thought that this would embroil the company in political matters, which we have avoided for decades.
We should have clarified this immediately after the demonstration and expressed our regret.”
However, this silence was perceived as an additional insult [to the Chareidi community], for which we are truly sorry.
Angel emphasizes the company’s longstanding ties with the Chareidi community and the fact that many Chareidim are employed by the company.
He insists that “no insulting terms or actions were initiated by the company, its workers, or anyone associated with the company.”
He comes to the conclusion that the company’s silence was not an endorsement of the criticism leveled at the Chareidi community, and he begs their pardon.
It appears that the letter and the sympathy visit will cause the boycott of Angel products to halt.
The purpose of the boycott, according to the journalist who started it, Avi Ravina, was to demonstrate the Chareidi community’s strength as a force for consumerism.
Other businesses will think carefully in the future before getting involved in such a contentious political matter.
The community’s protest was really simple; no effort was required, and the community spoke out on its own.
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