{"id":142,"date":"2008-06-26T11:24:39","date_gmt":"2008-06-26T16:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/?p=142"},"modified":"2019-09-05T17:43:49","modified_gmt":"2019-09-06T00:43:49","slug":"jeer-at-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2008\/06\/jeer-at-them","title":{"rendered":"Jeer at them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yochanan Lavie, who regularly reads and comments over at failedmessiah.com<\/a>, recently shared this poem<\/a> inspired in general by the sickness<\/a> and evil<\/a> near the root<\/a> of Aaron Rubashkin’s animal slaughtering and meat processing factory in Postville, Iowa, and specifically by Rubashkin’s use of PR flacks<\/a>, paid industry “representatives<\/a>,” and the Orthodox establishment<\/a> to shill for them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’ve reposted Lavie’s poem below.<\/p>\n

“Jeer at them” with apologies to William Blake<\/strong><\/p>\n

And did the Rebbe’s feet in recent time
\nWalk upon Iowa’s fields of green?
\nAnd were the illegal Mexicanos
\nOn Iowa’s pleasant pastures screened?<\/p>\n

And did the ICE helicoptors
\nHover over our well-paid shills?
\nAnd was Crown Heights builded here
\nAmong these dark Satanic mills?<\/p>\n

Bring me my public relations flack!
\nBring me my homeless men of Texas!
\nBring me my army of wetbacks!
\nLie to my critics that afflict us!<\/p>\n

I will not cease from PR fights,
\nI will stick it to the goyishe “Man”
\nTill we have built Crown Heights
\nIn Iowa’s green and pleasant land.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Adapted from “And did those feet in ancient time<\/a>” by William Blake from the preface to his epic poem, Milton: a Poem<\/em>. In 1916, C. Hubert H. Parry composed music for the poem to be sung as a hymn called “Jerusalem” (thus Lavie’s “Jeer at them”). Wikipedia notes,<\/p>\n

The term “dark Satanic mills”, which entered the English language from this poem, most often is interpreted as referring to the early industrial revolution<\/span> and its destruction of nature.[1]<\/a><\/sup> This view has been linked to the fate of the Albion Flour Mills, which was the first major factory in London, built in 1769 by Matthew Boulton<\/a> and James Watt<\/a>. It was powered by Watt’s steam engines, and produced 6,000 bushels of flour a week. The factory could have driven independent traditional millers out of business, but it was destroyed, perhaps deliberately, by fire in 1791. London’s independent millers celebrated with placards reading, “Success to the mills of ALBION but no Albion Mills.” [2]<\/a><\/sup> Opponents referred to the factory as satanic, and accused its owners of adulterating flour and using cheap imports at the expense of British producers. An illustration of the fire published at the time shows a devil squatting on the building.[3]<\/a><\/sup> The mills were a short distance from Blake’s home.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Romantic movement which Blake helped invoke began in response to the dehumanization of industrialization, environmental devastation wrought by the intense exploitation of nature, and the loss of culture resulting from the alienation of artisans and craftsmen in the production of goods. The purpose of industrialization is to use efficiencies to lower costs, but often enough, industrialized mass production simply shifts costs away from the consumer and industry and onto the workers and the environment. Resources, both natural and human, are ruthlessly exploited resulting in environmental and social ills that ultimately cost more money to rectify than that incurred in the expense of a more humanely produced consumer good.<\/p>\n

Lavie focuses on the exploitation of “illegal workers” and “wetbacks” (terms I’d never use) to describe just one corruption within the Rubashkin enterprise. Rubashkin’s business ultimately aims to satisfy Jewish Americans insatiable and unhealthy appetite for (kosher) meat through the mechanism of industrialized mass production. The exploitation of undocumented workers is one method of lowering the costs to the consumer. Unfortunately, lowering costs doesn’t come without a price — the true costs of environmental and social ills caused by pollution and labor abuse are simply passed onto the health and welfare of society and the environment we depend on.<\/p>\n

With all the attention on Rubashkin’s disgusting labor practices, it’s also time to remind folks how Rubashkin has regularly sought to lower standards whether it be in food safety<\/a>, worker safety<\/a>, humane treatment of animals<\/a>, and the pollution of the environment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Might the Rubashkin travesty revive the nascent Jewish movement that aims to place renewed emphasis on Jewish and humane values in the Kosher Food Industry? You can do your part by supporting hekhsher tzedek<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yochanan Lavie, who regularly reads and comments over at failedmessiah.com, recently shared this poem inspired in general by the sickness and evil near the root of Aaron Rubashkin’s animal slaughtering and meat processing factory in Postville, Iowa, and specifically by Rubashkin’s use of PR flacks, paid industry “representatives,” and the Orthodox establishment to shill for . . . → Continue reading: Jeer at them<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,20],"tags":[58,59,60],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-yiddishkeit","category-poetry","tag-william-blake","tag-evil-in-our-midst","tag-romanticism","odd"],"yoast_head":"\nJeer at them • Aharon's Omphalos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2008\/06\/jeer-at-them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jeer at them • Aharon's Omphalos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yochanan Lavie, who regularly reads and comments over at failedmessiah.com, recently shared this poem inspired in general by the sickness and evil near the root of Aaron Rubashkin’s animal slaughtering and meat processing factory in Postville, Iowa, and specifically by Rubashkin’s use of PR flacks, paid industry “representatives,” and the Orthodox establishment to shill for . . . → Continue reading: Jeer at them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2008\/06\/jeer-at-them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Aharon's Omphalos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/aharonium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/aharonium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-06-26T16:24:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-06T00:43:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/aharons-omphalos.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1257\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1487\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aharon N. 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Varady","date":"October 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"My friend Brian and I viewed BLADE RUNNER (henceforth, BR2049) last Thursday. Our discussion, animated by a bit of delirium on my part (dehydration plus lack of sleep), helped to process my lingering combination of amazement and disappointment following end credits. (I'll give a half-hearted spoiler alert now -- the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/art\/film"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Blade-Runner-2049-trailer-breakdown-14.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Blade-Runner-2049-trailer-breakdown-14.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Blade-Runner-2049-trailer-breakdown-14.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Blade-Runner-2049-trailer-breakdown-14.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Blade-Runner-2049-trailer-breakdown-14.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Blade-Runner-2049-trailer-breakdown-14.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2725,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2017\/04\/on-the-meaning-of-mimouna","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":2},"title":"On the Meaning of Mimouna","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"April 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2007, Dr. Yigal Bin-Nun wrote a provocative article in Haaretz \u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5 on the origins of the Moroccan Jewish post-Passover festival of Mimouna. In the article, Bin-Nun speculates that Mimouna was a Judaized festival originally derived from local customs celebrating gods of Fortune. I wish to present an alternate thesis\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mythology"","block_context":{"text":"Mythology","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/yiddishkeit\/mythology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Praveen-Gupta-DSC04926-CC-BY-SA.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Praveen-Gupta-DSC04926-CC-BY-SA.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Praveen-Gupta-DSC04926-CC-BY-SA.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":366,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2008\/10\/the-eye-that-blinds","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":3},"title":"The Eye that Blinds","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"October 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Years ago on mog.com, I wrote about Claus Cordes' cover art for Klaus Schulz's 1983 album Audentity, the new wave punk slit glasses shown in the film Big Trouble in Little China (1986), and the specialized glasses worn by Geordi La Forge, the blind engineer played by LeVar Burton in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mythology"","block_context":{"text":"Mythology","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/yiddishkeit\/mythology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Redon.cyclops.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Redon.cyclops.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Redon.cyclops.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Redon.cyclops.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":619,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2009\/01\/hobbits-jews-and-romantics-in-the-woods","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":4},"title":"Hobbits, Jews, and Romantics in the Woods","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"January 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a few notes on the film Defiance. My housemate and I caught a free screening courtesy of gofobo.com and the Ritz East. The film is based on the 1993 book by Nechama Tec, Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, and it is an excellent story told well. Had it been a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jewish lumbermen, Ruthenia (Roman Vishniac)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/roman-vishniac-ruthenian-jews-1024x653.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1282,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2012\/06\/on-the-interconnectedness-of-all-of-life-an-ecology-of-oneness-in-the-tanna-dbei-eliyahu","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":5},"title":"On the Interconnectedness of All of Life: An Ecology of Oneness in the Tanna d’bei Eliyahu","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"June 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I want to share one of the most beautiful Jewish ecology quotes I learned while reading through the curricular material while teaching at Teva Learning Center in (now Teva Learning Alliance) in the fall of 2010. The quote: \"The whole world of humans, animals, fish, and birds all depend on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Judaica"","block_context":{"text":"Judaica","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/yiddishkeit"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Oyster_mushroom_Pleurotus_ostreatus_mycelium_in_petri_dish_on_coffee_grounds.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Oyster_mushroom_Pleurotus_ostreatus_mycelium_in_petri_dish_on_coffee_grounds.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Oyster_mushroom_Pleurotus_ostreatus_mycelium_in_petri_dish_on_coffee_grounds.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Oyster_mushroom_Pleurotus_ostreatus_mycelium_in_petri_dish_on_coffee_grounds.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2971,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions\/2971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}