Remember that post I wrote about the Lulav and Esrog for Succot? The one that is on the right side bar that rotates every once in a while? And remember how I wrote how big of a scam it is? Well the NYTimes finally got on that shit this weekend. Of course they wouldn’t ACTUALLY report news and admit there was a scam. Buuut….
“We rely way too much on other countries,” said Levi Zagelbaum, who distributes them from Brooklyn all over the country. “We shouldn’t allow this to happen again. But people have to understand that was our cheapest source.”
Of course 1 man, in Hassidic Brooklyn, is in control of the palm fronds.
The lulav industry, such as it is, relies primarily on longstanding connections, with the largest suppliers closely guarding their source of the palm fronds. Mr. Zagelbaum said consumers would have to pay $10 more this year for the palm fronds, which are typically sold with the other symbolic plants for anywhere from $50 to $300.
Occupy Wall Street, you may want to add this to your list of demands…
Mr. Ekstein does not worry about any of that. Thanks to the farmers here, he has his own small but steady supply of American-grown palm fronds. A member of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar Hasidic sect, which believes the state of Israel should be created only by God, Mr. Ekstein does not buy religious items from Israel. The fronds from Egypt, he said, are inferior to the varieties he can procure here. In his community, nobody will blanch at paying $70 or $80 for the palm frond alone. (Via the NyTmes)
Yuuupp. Fuckin’ bullshit. Of course he’s going to say his fronds are the leafiest, most fertile fronds. But it’s not even like Hassidim are allowed to read the NYTimes.
Enjoy shaking your $50 Jewish bouquets.
