Traffic. If that’s the real problem then no community would ever consider building the kind of supersized structure that Wal-Mart proposes to build in Monsey. We’d all still be shopping in mom/pop operations and overpaying for the goods they provide. This seems obvious to me.
Progress in one area sometimes entails compromise in another. And as always all the pros and cons always have to be evaluated. And traffic is indeed a big concern, not just for religious Jews but for everyone. But is traffic really one of the main concerns? I tend to doubt it. True, it is not a great plus to have to worry about traffic patterns in an already congested traffic area, especially in communities where there are a lot of children. But these things can be worked out in ways that will provide the least disruption and reasonable safety. So what’s really behind the mass protest by the religious Jews of Monsey planned against Wal-Mart? I think it is pretty much entirely religious in nature.
Monsey, New York as most religious people know is an enclave of mostly religious Jews. It began as a suburban refuge for mostly wealthy Chasidim who wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of living in the concretized environments typical of their neighborhoods in Brooklyn. They saw an open and wooded environment that was sparsely populated and started moving there in droves. In very short order Monsey became a community of Chasidim.
They had the best of both worlds. An idyllic suburban community of mostly large luxurious homes on huge tracts of land while at the same time living an almost cloistered existence... free from the influences of the city streets and semi-pornographic billboard ads. Their children were now completely sheltered and breathing clean country air.
Over time other religious neighborhoods developed including non Chasidic Yeshiva neighborhoods and modern Orthodox ones. The attraction for them was pretty much the same but for the Modern Orthodox the cloistered lifestyle was not what they were interested in.
Wal-Mart is now proposing the building of a huge ‘supercenter’ on Route 59 which if I understand correctly is the main highway leading into Monsey. Indeed this would seem to have the potential to dramatically alter the landscape there.
But as the New York Times reports the problem seems to be primarily one of a religious nature. Those who are behind the protest say they do not want the influences that go along with a facility like this in their ‘backyard’. As one member of the community put it:
“The reason a lot of us came to live in Monsey is because we wanted to raise our families in a safe place, away from the influences of the outside world…”
And for a community like this, it is a real concern. But Wal-Mart to its credit has made a concerted effort to be sensitive to the needs of the community there. For example, popular magazines that sometimes feature scantily clad female celebrities will be covered up. From the article:
“Philip H. Serghini, a public affairs manager for Wal-Mart, has visited the community of 28,000, most of them Hasidic Jews, at least six times since October. He has met in private with about two dozen rabbis to explain the company’s proposal…” and “…he had asked the rabbis to prepare a list of concerns, which he has yet to receive, in an effort to “comport to the local mores.” Wal-Mart is also considering creating a way for rabbis to provide feedback to the store on a regular basis, he said.”
Personally I have never been a fan of Wal-Mart type stores. I never shop there. And I appreciate the concerns often cited about the environmental impact of such a facility. I also understand but do not agree with organized labor’s objections to Wal-Mart. (Those objections are usually against the sincere wishes of the very constituency they claim to represent, the workforce. The jobs they provide are quickly snapped up. There are always far more applicants than available jobs when these stores are built.) And stores of this type do tend to increase traffic congestion, and probably will in this already congested area. These are all legitimate things to consider.
I also understand the religious concerns of the Chasidic residents. They are legitimate too. But those concerns are problematic for two reasons. It is only one segment of the community that objects to it and Wal-Mart seems to want to accommodate their concerns.
But that doesn’t seem to be enough. The fear is that despite Wal-mart’s best efforts, the culture that these residents want to be sheltered from will seep through.
So a huge protest is being organized. And of course that is their civil right. But what of the rights of those who do not see Wal-mart in that way? Why should the silent majority of non Jews, or secular and Modern Orthodox Jews be denied the opportunity to conveniently shop in a store like that? True, Monsey is 90% Orthodox. But they are not the only suburb that will be served. What about the non-Jewish neighbors in some of the surrounding suburbs? When looked at this way, Monsey’s residents become a minority. And the majority will now have to suffer at their hands.
This is a city in United States of America, not a city like Bnei Brak in Israel. While it is very nice to be able to live in a community that is 90% Frum in the US, the Orthodox Jewish citizens must be sensitive to the needs and desires of their neighbors. They cannot insist that their influence extend beyond their own immediate area because of a desire to shelter their children form a culture on which the majority of Americans see nothing wrong.
If they succeed in thwarting Wal-Mart’s plans, that will be precisely what they will be doing. It will be a tyranny of the minority imposed on the majority. Now the truth is I don’t really know people from the surrounding suburbs want Wal-Mart there either. And if nobody really wants it, “if they build it… they won’t come” …to turn a popular phrase. I’m sure that Wal-Mart knows this. They would not be so foolish to build a store that nobody will want to shop at.
There is also this. The fact is that these communities tend to over shelter children anyway. As a result their children are ill prepared to face the real world when they are suddenly exposed to it. And they will be exposed to it… a lot sooner than any parent would like to believe. Instead of over sheltering their children as if the world outside of Monsey didn’t exist it, would it not be wiser to better prepare them for the time that they will encounter it by themselves... be it age 11 or 17? At some point all that sheltering will be gone. They will encounter the culture, be it on a billboard or stolen moments on an internet website.
I’m not saying that allowing a child to go into a Wal-Mart is the best way to prepare a child for the outside world. But since Wal-Mart is willing to work with the community on this issue, I could think of a lot worse ways of first encountering it.
