Will I Catch Flack From This Blog Posting?

Disclosure: I do not work for Dr. Laffa, nor do I receive remuneration of any kind from them. I am a proud Jew and ardent supporter of Israel.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve caught a lot of flack from the global (and Toronto’s in particular) very vocal Jewish communities.

On November 10 last year, I slammed one kosher restaurant in particular and most kosher restaurants in general. And if that were not enough, just last week I slammed the Hareidim in Beit Shemesh for behaving like animals. Without going into the details, I caught flack – and lots of it. And you know what? I’m fine with catching flack --- it doesn’t matter. I call a spade a spade.

Now look at my post of November 14 last year. I’ve been back only once since then. I go back last night, am sitting at the counter eating bean soup and chowing down on a piping-hot Laffa. I’m minding my own business.

“Aren’t you the blog guy, who wrote about us”, the guy behind the grill asks me. “Yup, how the heck did you know?” Who’s the guy behind the grill? None other than the restaurant’s co-owner. And then the other guy behind the grill introduced himself to me. He’s the other co-owner. And so a short conversation ensued between the three of us. It was a simple one. They thanked me for coming back. They told me how hard they work and they told me how much fun they’re having. They then adjusted their cook’s hat and returned to work the grill. Period. Duration of conversation – 2 minutes

Now, there is a picture of me on my blog, I know that. I have been to Dr. Laffa once, just once, between November 14 and last night. They deal with hundreds of people a day - and before last night have never even said two words to the guys at the grill. So how did they know I was the blog guy? They just did! I still don’t know. Let’s just say their eyes are always wide open.

There’s many things I learned from this 2-minute encounter. Here’s just a few

1. Know your customers. Yeah, it’s all well and good to make a great laffa. And it’s all well and good to be able to write a great news release. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot more to making money in a restaurant than standing behind the grill and flipping burgers. Take the time to really understand your customers – that way they will feel that they matter.

2. Love what you do. Whether you’re a street sweeper, a laffa guy or a surgeon, love what you do. I think the late Steve Jobs summed it up really well when he said “To be good at what you do, you got to first love what you do”. He’s right. Looking at the Laffa guys, it’s clear they love what they do. It shows in their attitude. It shows in their food too.

3. Be reasonable. Yeah, the guys at Dr. Laffa could raise their prices by a buck here and a buck there – their food and service is that good – but they are not. They’re keeping prices reasonable, filling their restaurant most nights and I hope are making a decent living.

4. Be humble. The guys could have told me how much money they’re making (as most entrepreneurs would have done, BS or not), how busy they are etc. etc. Nope, not these guys. They spent almost the entire two minutes we spent together telling me how they really focus on their customers – and I like that. Makes me feel good.

Oh, and if you ever go there, order a laffa. Slap these guys on the back and say hi. Shalom.

Can Anyone Answer This Question?

Anyone who knows me, knows I am a seasoned traveler. I have close to 2 million (actually 1,781,907 to be exact) Aeroplan miles on Air Canada and its partners right now. That’s a lot of flying – anyone would agree. Now granted, I don’t fly nearly as much as say a Peter Shankman, the founder of HARO (who logs about 400,000 miles a year), but my derriere has spent more than a few hours in planes.

As an aside, I love travelling, but hate flying – in other words, I love getting to my destination, but I hate getting there – but I digress.

The airline industry is a strange industry and its one where the best bed-fellows can make the fiercest of competitors. Co-opetition is the order of the day. You compete with your partners on one route and partner with your competitors on another. It is also strange that one can book on say United.com, fly on an Air Canada plane and check in at a Lufthansa desk. Sheesh --- and what happened if the airline (which one) lost my baggage? Do I call United? Air Canada? Lufthansa? Luckily that’s never happened to me – I’ll blog about if/ when it does though.

But, today I uncovered an even bigger mystery ---I’ll contact Air Canada later, but since I have tweeted this a few minutes ago (@aircanada), I’m hopeful that some astute social media type over there will respond and enlighten me.

I’m going to Denver in a few weeks --- and on Air Canada’s website, here’s the least expensive ticket I could find. Taxes, fees, charges and surcharges excluded, its $598.00. Calculating the distance between Toronto’s Pearson Airport and Denver’s Airport, (round trip) is 8440 km. Doing the division, it works out that I’ll be paying 7.085c per kilometer. Cheap or expensive? You be the judge!


So, in a moment-I-had-spare, I pretended just for a second that instead of going to Denver, I was going on Air Canada to Beijing at the exact same time. Here’s the least expensive ticket I was able to find on Air Canada’s website


Can anyone tell me what gives as to why flying to Denver is 134% more expensive as it is flying to Beijing. Dunno about you – but I’d far prefer Beijing to Denver, especially in the winter months – and to boot - it’s only $391.60 more expensive.

Anyone want to join me in Beijing? Just let me know. Who knows – if there’s enough of us, we may even get a bulk discount --- and if anyone can tell me Air Canada’s rationale behind this seemingly non-sensical pricing strategy --- well, I’ll send you to Denver – seems to be a more valuable ticket.

What happened in Israel --- A disgrace

For the record - I am proudly jewish, and very pro-Israel. Now that the formalities are out of the way, last week’s disgrace in Beit Shemesh in Israel has really made my blood boil.

You know how to get 3 opinions? Well, put 2 jews in a room. It’s only a joke – not a particularly funny one. It’s ironic and in many respects, (sadly) true. For a race as small in number as the jews, it’s tragic when jews riot, and throw stones at one another to prove a point .

The news from Beit Shemesh is pretty grim. From all the reports I’ve read, it seems some ultra-orthodox fanatics (called “Haredim” in Hebrew) spat on an eight year old modern orthodox girl, Naama Margolis because they deemed her dress to be inappropriate. It’s about as sad as the story that I read a few weeks ago, where the ultra-orthodox jewish man, asked a women to move to the back of the bus they were both riding as he was getting distracted --- and who knows, maybe even sexually aroused. Oh please … give me a break. This is 2012 now --- not the stone age. The women can sit where she wants on the bus, and you can too – and if you don’t like it buddy – get the hell off and take another bus.

Back to the spitting incident --- and if you get offended easily, you may want to stop reading this article now and write me a nasty comment … and I’m OK with that.

Question 1: Was the girl spat on
I’ve been in PR for many years, 16 to be precise and I know not to believe everything I see, read or hear. (There’s a concept of spin, you know). But when all reports I have read confirm the girl was spat on, I must believe it – after all, I have not read anything to the contrary. Spitting has no place in society today. It’s stone-age mentality, at least a millennium past its prime. Saying that spitting is disgusting would be paying this despicable act a compliment.

Question 2: If the girl was spat on, what gives the spitter the right to do something as lowly as that?
The million dollar question. Someone has no right to spit on another – and I don’t care what the circumstances are. It’s like the guy who only beats his wife only when he snorts a pound of coke and then gets a pardon from the law. Beating your wife is wrong, (no less wrong than a wife say, beating her husband) and so is spitting wrong. Period. Perhaps a better way was to chat to Naama’s parents --- better to attract bees with honey than vinegar, no? No report made mention of any goodwill among the different factions. Another point: I’m no Rabbi. Nor am I a Torah Scholar of much accomplishment. But, I have learned a thing or two from my esteemed Rabbi, (Rabbi Michalowicz of Westmount Community Shul) over the years.

First, as Jews, we must be accountable to our G_d and second, being the light unto nations, and with no less than 613 commandments, we must hold ourselves to a higher moral and ethical standard than the other nations.

Animals spit at one another. Jews? No! So-called “religious” jews? Certainly not

Does our G-d say that we should spit on others who irritate us, or even defy the law? I know not!

Does our God, say that we’ll be the light unto nations, by spitting on others who irritate us, or even defy the law? I know not!

This spitting incident only vilifies us, making us even more hated on the world’s stage. Haredim, what are you thinking??? There’s enough anti-semitism without you adding fuel to the fire.

Question 3: If the girl was spat on, and the spitter did have a right to spit on her, did she indeed deserve this
I think Naama’s mom summed it up well … “The exclusion of women from the public sphere makes my blood boil. They (haredim) are trying to take us back to dark eras; this is a grave injustice." And you know what? I agree. Make no mistake, I go to orthodox shul, (where the men and women sit separately) and for the most part follow orthodox doctrines, but the haredim have taken it way too far this time. No-one deserves to be spat on, least of all an eight year old girl. Shame on you haredim.

Want to know what you haredim should have done? Followed an example from Rabbi Finkel, Rosh Yeshiva of the great Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva:

A non-religious Israeli couple was married for 12 years and could not have children. They were distraught and decided to seek counsel from the renowned Rosh Yeshiva. It was a hot summer day and the couple knocked on the door. The woman was wearing her typical summer attire and was not modestly dressed.

Rebbetzin Finkel opened the door and greeted the couple. "How wonderful that you came to meet my husband!" Then she turned to the wife and warmly said, "You know, my husband is a great scholar – he learns all day. When I go in to speak with him, I wear a shawl out of respect. Why don't you come with me and see if I have one for you, too. I think I even have a perfect piece of jewelry to match. And we'll go in together to speak to him." They entered his study and told the rabbi why they had come. Rabbi Finkel had great difficulty talking due to the debilitating effects of Parkinson's. He mustered his strength and said to the woman, "You and I have a lot in common. We both know what suffering is." He began to sob, along with Rebbetzin Finkel. Then the couple started crying. Rabbi Finkel spoke with the couple for a while, offering words of comfort. He then took their names, and vowed to pray for them.

And you know what I’m doing now?? I’m praying that you haredim behave like humans and not like animals.

Peace.