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Comment by cdubzzz | Hacker News Reader

Damn. Very sad to read this. I have been using B&H for IT hardware purchases for work to lessen reliance on Amazon a bit and their service has been great.

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Sad to hear this about a company run by Orthodox Jews. This is a company that visibly keeps the Sabbath by refusing to take online orders from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.

The Hebrew Bible, which I guess they honor in the breach, calls upon people to treat immigrants with respect MORE THAN TWICE AS MANY TIMES as it calls on people to love God.

Grumble. I have to find a new vendor.

May I explain my statement "I have to find a new vendor"?

As a matter of personal principle, I try to place my business and spend my money with vendors who treat their staff with respect.

I relied on BHPhotoVideo.com's visible adherence to a principle of Judaism (shutting off their shopping cart during the hours of Sabbath in New York City where they are based) as evidence of the business's commitment to treating workers respectfully.

The Sabbath commandment in the Hebrew Bible (Exodus 20:8-10) is about respect for workers. Specifically, it's about letting all workers -- even immigrants -- take a rest. It reads "Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns."

I assumed BH's obeying the letter of this commandment kinda sorta spilled over into other sorts of respect for "the alien resident in your towns." Guess not. Too bad.

I'm not sure how the religion of the owner of the company factors in here. If they were atheist would that change the situation?

It's ironic (or perhaps hypocritical) that the business owners strongly adhere to their religion's standards for the Sabbath and holidays but not its standards for the treatment of people. There is no atheist belief system to be inconsistently applied.

To be fair, B&H is well known for following Jewish customs very zealously - their website won't even take orders during the Sabbath, for instance.

I understand that, but I fail to see how it has any bearing on the story.

They just explained why. They're very religious, they believe strongly in their religious text, and yet they've been accused of violating one of the teachings of that text. It doesn't matter what religion they support, what matters is that they're violating one of its tenants.

> If they were atheist would that change the situation?

Yes. Atheists aren't well known for making women ride in the back of buses and banning them from public places.

Granted the skeptic community had a lot of issues with women also, but they are completely different issues.

Why do you have to find a new vendor? This story has little to no information and you certainly don't have multiple sides to the story. New York is extremely hostile when it comes to collecting settlements and fines of retail establishments. There are stories of restaurants getting railroaded by inspectors to the point where it's clearly a kickback operation.

I'd stick with BH through this. Warehouse bathrooms are notoriously disgusting and race has nothing to do with it. Tribalism of this kind of stuff is pathetic.

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