Ham, latkes and cultural appropriation

On Fairfax there is a Jewish deli containing a to-go bakery with gorgeous cakes, “traditional” Jewish black and white cookies, lox, and fresh bagels. Outside this eatery is quite possibly one of the greatest triumphs of Los Angeles murals, a seven panel illustration of the history of Jews in Los Angeles. There are images protesting anti-semitism, of ancient bubbies adorned in tichels and little Jewish boys donning big kippot and knee-length tzit tzit, and Jewish teenagers holding up a banner reading “Jewish youth.”

Situated in the old-school Jewish part of town near the corner of North Fairfax and Beverly Blvd., Canter’s Deli sounds like a dream come true for those who love Jewish deli foods such as corned beef sandwiches, bagels and lox, matzo ball soup, latkes, hot Kasha Knish, cheese blintzes, gefilte fish, and Hamantaschen, all of which are on the Canter’s menu.

The menu, mural, and location all make the place feel so Jewish, and therefore should make all Jewish people feel at home. But it doesn’t, because Canter’s is not kosher. Not only is the eatery unkosher, it even serves blatantly un-Jewish meals such as cheeseburgers and ham. 

It’s actually a brilliant business model: Hearty Jewish foods that halachically unobservant Jews and non-Jews alike love, without the added cost and loss of valuable customers on account of an observance of kashrut. Anyone can go in to Canter’s and order a cheese burger with a side of latkes, and some sweet Hamantaschen for dessert. Take away the bacon, ham, and cheeseburgers and you might just lose a large percentage of your clientele. This place has the best of both worlds for the majority of people living near the restaurant, which borders West Hollywood. 

However, it seems a tad contradictory to have a section of the menu with religiously symbolic foods such as latkes and Hamantaschen adjacent to the sides section which offers Honey Ham for $4.95. Contradictory actually may not be the right word, but disrespectful and flippant might be.

This is in direct contradiction with the mural, which calls for pride in Jewish heritage on the south side of the building. Where is the Jewish pride in selling out your religion to make more money?

Some more avant-garde Jews might argue a place like Canter’s possesses the ability to bring Jews and non-Jews together, through food. But, it does not. All it does is reinforce a severance between halachically unobservant people and halachically observant Jews. Do you think an anti-Semitic person in Canter’s chewing a latke is thinking of reconciling their prejudice? Probably not. It is more likely they are thinking about how long their waiter is going to take to bring them their cheeseburger. 

This whole business model borders on the recently popularized term “cultural appropriation,” which is when a mainstream culture inappropriately benefits from aspects of a marginalized culture. Sometimes the mainstream culture will change those aspects of the marginalized culture to make it more comfortable for them. But in this, they do not adapt the minority culture, they warp and pervert and assimilate it to a watered down, uncultured version of what it once was.

Of course, Canter’s deli was originally founded by Jews, and it still plays an important role in Jewish Los Angeles. I am not denying its triumph in mixing Jewish culture in to the diverse cultural landscape of Los Angeles. But, if you are looking for the kind of Jewry that Canter’s falsely boasts on its mural, you should head a bit south to Pico Kosher Deli.  You can have kosher style food, just please make it kosher.