Angel’s Boycott Ends

 

For nearly an entire month, the chareidi community in Israel has unanimously avoided consuming items from Angel’s bakery, the famous and most prominent bakery providing bread for the community. After Angel’s director Omer Bar-Lev chose to demonstrate opposite the home of Rabbi Gershon Edelstein during a protest against the yeshiva students [called ‘parasites’ by some demonstrators], chareidim on social media initiated a boycott of Angel’s products, causing a sharp reaction from the public.

Neither Bar Lev nor Angel’s saw fit to apologize for the demonstration, instead claiming that the boycott was ineffective and that they did not intend to apologize for Bar-Lev’s actions as that would be “surrendering to the boycotters.” Despite Angel’s claims, there was a significant drop in orders from the company and many stores with Angel franchises elected to leave the franchise rather than lose customers.

In the wake of Rabbi Edelstein’s passing, Bar Lev and Yaron Angel, the owner of the Angel bakery’s enterprises, decided to pay a condolence call on his family as well as offering a written apology, ending the boycott with an apparent victory for the chareidim.

In the letter to “the family of Rabbi Edelstein and his adherents” signed by Yaron Angel, he states what was already known but not declared by the company until now- that Omer Bar-Lev attended the demonstration as a private person and not in his office as Angel’s director. Angel admits that “we should have clarified this immediately after the demonstration and expressed our remorse” but claims that “we thought that this would embroil the company in political matters which we have avoided for decades. However this silence was interpreted as a further insult [ to the chareidi community] for which we are deeply pained and offer heartfelt apologies.”

Angel insists that “no insulting terms or actions were initiated by the company, its workers or anyone associated with the company.” He also stresses the longstanding relationship with the chareidi community as well as the fact that many chareidim are employed by the company. He concludes that the company’s silence should not have been misinterpreted as agreeing to the criticism levelled at the chareidi community and requests their forgiveness.

The letter and the condolence visit will apparently lead to the end of the boycott against Angel products. Avi Ravina, the journalist who instigated the boycott, said Sunday that “the goal was to prove the power of the chareidi community as a consumerist force. In future other companies will think twice before they interfere in such a divisive political issue. This was a very easy protest for the community, nobody had to do much, the community said its own thing.”