[NOTE: According to the Rambam, the highest form of Tzedakah is to give someone Parnasah. YWN implores our vast readership to please read this and try and help these THOUSANDS of small-business owners before it’s too late. Many small-businesses in the NY area have already decided to close for good as they will never recover from their financial losses over the past few months!] A group of New York-based Jewish small business owners have banded together in opposition of Cuomo’s continued lockdowns. Big box stores are overcrowded and overwhelmed, and these small business believe that being allowed to reopen would alleviate that burden and provide a safer environment for shopping. Several recent viral videos highlight the claims of these owners. They ask for equal rights and the opportunity to open their businesses while maintaining proper hygiene and capacity control. New Jersey has already allowed curbside pickup for small businesses but in New York, small businesses remain shuttered. These small business owners deliver heartfelt pleas on behalf of their businesses, their families and their employees. STAY UPDATED WITH BREAKING UPDATES FROM YWN VIA WHATSAPP – SIGN UP NOW Just click on this link, and you will be placed into a group. Some of the videos from these business owners can be seen here: AN OPEN LETTER FROM A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER These are unprecedented and uncertain times. We see beloved grandparents and gedolim dying, community members laid off en masse, and young children cooped up at home, anxiously trying to process a world that seems scarier than the one they lived in last month. Our frum community is reeling, and our trademark togetherness is shattered although we are all trying to glue the fabric of our community back together via Zoom and quick curbside hellos. At the same time that the world has imploded around us, we have seen beautiful examples of our community at its finest. Hatzalah, Achiezer and myriad other organizations and individuals are performing chesed on a daily basis. New chesed initiatives, virtual Beis Medrashim, and so much more have sprung up to fill the void. With all of the global chaos, shopping (for anything other than basics) is far from many people’s minds. And for those who have been laid off or whose finances are uncertain, retail shopping should be the least of your concerns. This article is in no way intended to minimize the public health crisis that we face or the financial issues many are facing. But for anyone who is in a position to help support local business, it is more imperative than ever that you try to do so! Let me explain why… WHO WE ARE The local retailers and the many other local business owners are not just nameless, faceless business people, angling for a buck. We are your friends and your family and your neighbors. We or one of our employees sit next to you in shul. We might have sponsored your child’s little league team and we definitely supported your shul’s Chinese Auction and your school’s raffle. Our ads help finance the local papers and our businesses employ many other people. We are an “essential” part of the community. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US And now we are hurting. “Stop the Spread” has saved lives but the governor’s shutdown orders also […]
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