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The line stretched all the way down the block as hundreds of Jews waited patiently, exuding an upbeat atmosphere amid chatter, friendliness, and a proliferation of Israeli flags.
By Dinah Bucholz, Jewish Breaking News
Breads Bakery, a Jewish Israeli-owned bakery on Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that sells popular Jewish breads like challah, rugelach, and its award-winning babka, saw about 30 percent of its employees break ranks to join a union and demand that the bakery stop its support for the “genocide” in Gaza.
In response to a call by Shai Davidai, a Jewish activist and former professor at Columbia University who resigned in July, Jews flocked to the bakery to show their support.
The line stretched all the way down the block as hundreds of Jews waited patiently, exuding an upbeat atmosphere amid chatter, friendliness and a proliferation of Israeli flags.
One of the supporters was long-time customer Sabrina Naimark, a Jewish woman from Panama whose brother used to work for Breads and who loves its babka and labneh. “Because of October 7th, there’s a family that has been created, and every single time we come with our flags to help companies that are being boycotted, to counter protests and celebrate Jewish pride,” said Naimark, sporting an Israeli flag on her shoulder, said. “It’s a reminder that we’re always going to be here, stronger together.”
In his online post, Davidai said, “We need to show Jewish businesses that we have their backs.” He said this is part of an initiative he founded called “Here I Am,” which shares its name with his podcast, “Here I Am With Shai Davidai.”
“It’s just nonviolent, peaceful activism,” Davidai said in an interview. “Everyone here basically came and said, ‘Here I am. There’s a problem, I got the call, and here I am to help solve it.”
“We came as a community, not just to support them financially, but to show them that the Jewish and the Zionist community is here,” he said. “Zionism is normal. We’re not these evil warmongers like we’ve been portrayed and only if we all come out of hiding together, that’s how we’re able to do that.”
“No hate, no anger, no arguments, just a show of solidarity and support,” he said.
Breaking Breads, the anti-Zionist union, denounced Breads Bakery for joining Great Nosh, a New York City Jewish food festival celebrating Jewish food that was held on Governors Island last year. “The workers refuse to participate in Zionist projects such as fundraisers that support the ‘Israeli’ occupation of Palestine, baking cookies with the ‘Israeli’ flag, and catering events such as the Great Nosh, which are connected to organizations that donate millions each year to the IDF,” the union said in a statement.
In addition to complaints about low pay, lack of respect from management, and poor working conditions, the employees demanded that the CEO, Yonatan Floman, and the founder, Gadi Peleg, denounce their native country.
In an Instagram post, Breaking Breads said, “We cannot and will not ignore the implicit and explicit support this bakery has for Israel. We see our struggles for fair pay, respect and safety as connected to struggles against genocide and forces of exploitation around the world. There are deep cultural changes that need to happen here, and we need to see accountability from upper management.”
The union may be violating labor laws, which may prohibit unions from making political demands of employers and do not offer protections to employees who make similar demands.
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