Jerry Greenfield - the Poster Child of the American Jew

Jerry Greenfield (left) and Ben Cohen (VIN)

Even though it is certified Kosher by the Kof-K, I have never had Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Not for political reasons. But simply because I’ve never had the opportunity. Plus the fact that I’m not much of an ice-cream lover. It is my understanding, however, that it’s quite good.

The two founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, are Jewish. They represent, I believe, exactly the reason so many Jews are abandoning their Judaism. Which, in a nutshell, is a widespread ignorance of what Judaism really is.

While I’m pretty sure both Ben and Jerry have identified themselves as Jews and have not consciously abandoned their Jewish identity, if they truly understood what it means to be a Jew, they might very well abandon it. If one looks at some of the values they cherish, one can see that those values are the opposite of authentic Jewish values, which are, of course, based on the Bible we call the Torah.

I bring this up in light of the following AP story published at VIN:

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield is leaving the ice-cream brand after 47 years, saying that the independence it once had to speak up on social issues has been stifled by parent company Unilever. In a letter Greenfield said the following:

“For more than 20 years under their ownership, Ben & Jerry’s stood up and spoke out in support of peace, justice and human rights, not as abstract concepts, but in relation to real events happening in our world.”

“(At) a time when our country’s current administration is attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women and the LGBTQ community.”
“Standing up for the values of justice, equity, and our shared humanity has never been more important, and yet Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced…”

One may recall that the controversy erupted when Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, reversed the brand’s decision to disallow its franchise from operating in Judea and Samaria. That was the kind of ‘social justice’ they pursued. They have also been at the forefront of supporting Palestinians in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Greenfield felt that he could no longer allow his values to be violated and resigned as a spokesman for the company he co-founded.

When Jews focus only on values that are either common to secular culture — or worse, are opposed to Jewish values, how does that make them remotely Jewish other than by the happenstance of birth? It is true they are technically Jewish for that reason and always will be, no matter how far removed they are from their Jewish mandate and roots. But they are not living as Jews. Declaring themselves Jewish by embracing ‘social justice’ (in this case for Palestinians in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria) does not make them any more Jewish than embracing a particular sport. Just because social justice for Palestinians is more altruistic than baseball does not make it any more Jewish.

Jerry Greenfield is probably a nice guy, but he is nonetheless the poster child of the American Jew who dedicates his life to social justice and to no other aspect of Judaism. They might be proud of that dedication and consider it the epitome of Judaism. But pursuing social justice is not uniquely Jewish. You don’t have to be Jewish to oppose racism. If I recall correctly, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was not Jewish.

If your children pursue social justice, they need not call it Judaism. For them the main thing is the justice itself. And if your children are not particularly inclined to pursue social justice, there may be nothing distinctly Jewish in their lives to identify with. So why bother?

And what about Jerry Greenfield’s claim to be pursuing social justice in this case?

Is supporting Palestinian claims to the land without the context of Israel’s legitimate claim - really pursuing social justice?

Is opposing security measures that make life so difficult for Palestinians in Judea and Samaria without considering the massive numbers of Palestinian suicide bombings over the past 50 years - really pursuing social justice?

Is supporting Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza without the context of the October 7^th massacre – really pursuing social justice?

Without considering the needs of your own people, is that really pursuing social justice, or is it pursuing selective social justice? Being either clueless about Jewish rights and needs -  or worse, not caring - is not a Jewish trait.

Add to this the treatment of the Bible as an outdated book that espouses immoral mandates (by the cultural standards of the day), and there is nothing Jewish about you, denials to the contrary notwithstanding.

So yes: Jerry Greenfield is the poster child for the American Jew who is ignorant of the biblical values that define his people and substitutes the cultural values of the day. But calling them Jewish doesn’t make them so.

I’ve got news for Mr. Greenfield: the values he calls Jewish and projects onto the Jewish people will lead to the extinction of American Jewry as he knows it. And sadly, it is already happening.

Comments to this post can be made at Emes Ve-Emunah II where it is cross-posted