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Jewish Philadelphians have adopted their own BDS campaign – as in, Boycott Delicatessens that are Politically Shabby.

If the Jewish version of BDS takes flight, then fans of Vice President Kamala Harris must shun Hymie’s Deli in Bala Cynwyd forever. Not to mention the McDonald’s in Feasterville, Bucks County, where former President Donald J. Trump dropped in for a photo shoot. In Philly’s Queen Village, Trumpsters must now evade the Famous 4^th Street Deli.

The original BDS movement created by the anti-Israel crowd stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.

Some of my brethren gave the term “silly season” new meaning, which refers to a phrase for election campaigns. The owner of Hymie’s, arguably the most popular deli in the Philadelphia region, sinned by allowing Trump’s presidential campaign to film a commercial there where three Jewish women bewail the growth of antisemitism and opposition to Israel. In the process, one patron sighs an “oy vey” and another woman dishes on antisemitism and gripes how “Israel is under attack.”

“I never voted Republican in my life, but I am voting for Trump. At least he will keep us safe,” she adds. Her two friends say “Amen.”

I do not argue that the ad is offensive. It is beyond offensive. However, this is a case of dumb and dumber. The ad signals a new low for its sponsor, the Republican Jewish Coalition, and what is dumber is a segment of the Jewish community’s punishment of the deli’s themselves.

“I will never set foot there again,” said Sheva Golkow, 67, who has patronized Hymie’s since she was a child, according to The Forward website. “This is opening your restaurant to promote someone who promotes hate and division everywhere, but particularly aimed at Jews.”

“It’s a Shonda for Jews to frighten other Jews,” added Rachel Ezekiel-Fishbein, 60, who canceled her plans to dine at Hymie’s one night after she spotted the ad. She charged that the ad presented Jewish women as caricatures, and claimed that the Republican Jewish Coalition, which sponsored the ad, engaged in fear mongering, the Forward reported.

As part of his restaurant romp, Trump worked a McDonald’s drive-through on Street Road in Lower Southampton Township, two miles north of my residence in Northeast Philadelphia. Two days later, the chain pulled Quarter Pounders from 20 percent of its stores in America after a deadly E. coli outbreak, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Coincidence?

Then last Wednesday (Oct. 23), Harris picked up a pastrami on rye at the Famous 4^th Street Deli and hobnobbed with local Democratic leaders, where the vice president thanked Mayor Cherelle L. Parker for “just reminding people of what is at stake both for this beautiful city and for the state, and for our country.” Philly’s voter turnout is often notoriously low, so if Parker can spur enough turnout then her efforts might tip the state for Harris and other Democratic candidates.

Soon Facebook poster Marsha, a Jewish conservative, wrote, “Someone commented they saw the tent and thought the deli was being fumigated. I should have commented that it needs to be fumigated after Kamala was there.” I wonder if Marsha’s remark will open up a BDS drive for Republicans.

We can hope…not, that is.

Just how petty can anyone get? We can envision a horde of huffy Jews scurrying out of Hymie’s or 4^th Street just as Elaine chased out diners at Poppy’s restaurant because Poppy declares his opposition to abortion. (Okay, maybe not so huffy.) Seinfeld captured Jerry’s attitude toward this exodus in another episode when he urged on Newman and Kramer: “To the Idiot-mobile!!!!” And to aptly sum up his reaction to BDS: “It’s stupid.”

Because owners Louis Barson and Al Gamble allowed access to, respectively, Donald and Kamala, are we going to drive them to relieving themselves on some stranger’s couch, as Poppy did? I’m sorry, but all these guys did was supply the settings for the commercial and the rally. This BDS compares to disbarring an attorney for representing an unpopular criminal suspect, and it is an axiom that everyone is entitled to legal representation.

This is no sacrifice for these pampered suburban Jewish liberals (okay, maybe not so pampered). However, If they crave chicken matzoh ball soup, they can merely cross the street and patronize Murray’s, another longtime fixture along Montgomery Avenue.

Besides, by now it turns out that plenty of political conservatives have made a point of filling the empty seats, if any are left. Barson told an Inquirer reporter that he has lost no business.

Both the election and the war have spawned a tidal wave of sideshows, and the Jewish concept of BDS just makes these conflicts here and abroad that much dumber. I speak as a center-left Jew who has already voted for Harris via a mail-in ballot. With mixed feelings.

This is the first time I can recall when a presidential election is so agonizing for American Jews, the vast majority of whom usually vote for Democratic candidates. Israel as an election issue was always way in the background since support for Israel was bipartisan. Roughly 75 percent of American Jews embraced Democratic policies like civil rights, health care and gun safety laws, so it was natural to vote Democrat.

After women’s rights, Israel is now a close second for contentious issues, even though the media downplay it. Harris and most Democrats have essentially been helpful to Israel since the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre when terrorists breached the Gaza/Israel border. However, Democrats are being pressured by pro-Arab factions who threaten to abandon Harris at the polls on Tuesday because of her backing of Israel. If she is elected, she could undermine Israel if Palestinian supporters coerce her to back down.

Some Jewish voters have said they will vote for Trump because of his staunch support for Israel when he was president, and they probably will go through with it. Trump has said he will stay out of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s way in continuing with his much-derided response to Hamas and Hezbollah’s attacks, and his plans to expand West Bank communities and even annex that area. For the record, I do not understand what the Israeli government is trying to do, and I am resisting the temptation to even speculate.

BDS Jewish-style is probably unnecessary and can boomerang. I expect Harris to sweep Pennsylvania and most other battleground states, and Democrats will retake control of the House of Representatives. The outcome for the Senate is hardly predictable. When the smoke clears, Democrats will hold anywhere between 47 to 53 seats, and I am not optimistic that Democrats will have the 50 votes necessary to form a majority, with a Vice President Tim Walz presiding to break ties. In case my predictions are wrong, I am already searching for excuses.

Said boycott could turn off voters because the idea is so idiotic – just as idiotic as the commercial. The Jewish people should focus their contempt on the content of the ad.

Besides, we have not heard of either Hymie’s or 4^th Street confronting an E. coli outbreak in the aftermath.