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YITZY Mittel, co-owner of the West Orange Bake Shop in New Jersey, is being accused of bigotry and is facing a a boycott by local Jews after a regular customer—rabbi Julie Schwarzwald—was refused an order for kosher desserts she wanted for Pride Month in June.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that Mittel’s understanding of Jewish law is that LGBT+ symbols are “antithetical to what we stand for.”

He’s now claiming that he had become “victim to intolerance” and that his bakery was being visited by “obnoxious people.”

Dan Cohen, senior rabbi of the Reform Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in nearby South Orange wrote on Facebook:

While I know this has happened in other parts of the country I hadn’t expected it here. Then I learned that the bakery in question is a kosher bakery, and as a result, the bias was coming from within our Jewish community.

Cherry-picking religious texts

Cohen addressed the argument that an observant Jew can cite Torah as the basis for their objection to serving a Pride-themed cake.

If I’m being honest, we all pick and choose which sacred texts we embrace and which we ignore. If by contrast, you CHOOSE to focus on the Biblical texts that exclude people, that denigrate others or are hurtful and judgmental, you aren’t religious. You’re simply a bigot.

When Schwarzwald went to the bakery herself to request an explanation for why the Pride order was canceled, Mittel refused to talk to her. He told JTA he had chosen not to engage because the rabbi had come during peak hours and “wanted to create a scene.”

The odd thing about this incident is that, in the past, Mittel, an Orthodox Jew, had no qualms about making rainbow cakes, and the bakery’s Facebook page features a cake made in 2016.

After that he made a similar cake. But the experience “unnerved him.”

The symbols are “a celebration of something which is against Torah,” he said. “I didn’t want to be making that cake.”

After consulting with both a rabbi and an attorney, Mittel canceled the Schwarzwald’s orders and told her to go elsewhere to find kosher Pride treats. Which she did.

Robert Tobin, above, rabbi of the Conservative B’nai Shalom in West Orange wrote in a blog post:

When we refuse basic Jewish services to members of our community who are articulating who they are, we are excluding and dividing. He highlighted the Conservative movement’s recent strides toward LGBTQ inclusion, and an interpretation of the Torah that holds that ‘humans are created in the image of God with a variety of potential gender identities and with the possibility of gender fluidity.’

David Vaisberg, senior rabbi at the independent Temple B’nei Abraham in Livingston, New Jersey, tweeted that he was “so disappointed” in the bakery, which is located in a strip mall next to a kosher Chinese restaurant.

They make great baked goods but have shown themselves to be against the LGBTQ+ in canceling orders of rainbow baked goods in Pride month.

He added was letting the bakery know why they had lost his business and advised followers to “please do the same.”

In the weeks since his decision, Mittel has received validation from the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled last month that a Colorado web designer had the right to refuse to create a wedding site for a same-sex couple.

JTA points out that the ruling expands on a 2018 decision, in which the court decided that a Colorado baker had the constitutional right, on religious grounds, to refuse to create a wedding cake for a gay couple.

U.S. conservatives are ramping up hatred against LGBT+ communities

The firestorm, says JTA, comes at a time of widespread advocacy by “political conservatives” against LGBT+ inclusion and rights—and some of that has taken place in Jewish communities.

In another New Jersey town 30 miles away, Orthodox rabbis successfully petitioned their mayor to remove four Pride flags that were flying in front of a synagogue on a central street. The mayor later apologised and put the flags back up.

If you support the Pink Triangle Trust’s mission to promote humanism, fight bigotry and fund LGBT groups, you can make a donation below. If you wish to report any typos or errors, please email freethinkered@aol.com