Adolf Fries

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor

You know that feeling of sitting down in a restaurant, grabbing the menu, not knowing what to order? You look over the menu items, trying to decide what you feel like; something salty, something spicy, or something old and familiar. Maybe today is the day you try something new, a dish you have never tasted before. Who knows, it may become your new favorite.

How about an Anne Frank Burger, or Adolf Fries? No, I didn’t think so. You’d lose your appetite pretty quickly.

Operators of a fast-food restaurant in Rafaela, Argentina, apologized after putting these exact items on their menu. Apparently, the apology was slow; after complaining about it for months, local Jewish organizations finally sued. The fries, which came with cheddar, bacon (of course) and green onions, were taken off the menu; the burger was renamed the ‘Anne Boleyn Burger,’ which is better but only slightly so. The apology that followed stated: “From our gastronomic venture, we apologize for the offense and the lack of sense of responsibility for the misuse of names that refer to open wounds in Humanity as a whole.”

You know they are very sorry because they used a lot of words.

At what point, I wonder, does someone decide it is a good idea to market food this way? I understand how confusion sometimes leads to awkward mistakes (Hanukkah-themed Christmas ornaments, the famous Ham-on-sale-for-Jewish-Holidays-meme, wishing someone a Happy Yom Kippur), but this is not that. It’s not a case where people were careless, or mixed up their multi-culti lore. It’s a genuine stretch, to name your fries after Hitler. Adding bacon to the fries makes it extra bizarre, and to name any food after Anne Frank is a surreal decision. I think it also serves as a reminder that when we talk about Holocaust education, we need to cast a much wider net. And if you think, oh, this is Argentina, far away, it couldn’t happen here, you’re mistaken.

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole.

So what do we do with this? Should it upset us, should it make us angry? Are we allowed to make fun of it? I mean, come on, ‘Adolf Fries?’

“Some artists argue that making light of prejudice, or turning purveyors of it into absurdities, robs hatred of power,”

Jason Zinoman wrote for the New York Times. “I’ve been persuaded by that idea, and like many secular types, a Jewish sense of humor is more integral to my identity than any religious observance. It’s also a source of pride. A resilient comic sensibility that finds joy in dark places is one of the greatest Jewish legacies — as is an ability to laugh at ourselves.”

Although Zinoman casually makes an interesting either-or statement about his Jewish identity, he’s right about one thing: laughing through our pain is allowed. When and where (or why) is a different mat- ter. It’s not always possible to explain when we can laugh at hate, when it is better for our mental health or when it’s simply so ridiculous there is no room for anger. We’re also all a little tired, aren’t we? I mean, who has the energy to get upset every single time? ‘Finding joy in dark places,’ maybe we should put that on a T-shirt. But then, Zinoman also wrote:

“Only recently have I questioned the downside of not lingering on these events. Has a coping mechanism prevented me from seeing the world clearly? Of course, one reason some Jews don’t make a bigger fuss about discrimination, one reason they feel comfortable laughing at it, is that they — we — feel safe. It’s easier to laugh at antisemitism when it happens in an unthreatening place. The feeling is: There are worse problems in the world.”

Wait a minute: does antisemitism ever happen in an unthreatening place? Isn’t any antisemitism by definition a threat? Just because someone uses words, rather than a gun, do we feel less violated? When hate is ridiculous, is it then automatically harmless?

As is so often the case, this might be one of those situations where we have to do both. Laughing does not always mean laughing it off; we can laugh, and be angry at the same time.