By Joel H. Cohen
NEW YORK –Jared Kushner recently bounded happily into the Oval Office to share a plan he’d developed that he believed would protect Trump holdings from competition.
He cited a controversy in Brooklyn, New York, involving two kosher pizza restaurants. The owner of the older, established restaurant contended that by moving across the street and offering similar fare, the newcomer was violating hasagat gevul, an ancient Talmudic law prohibiting unfair competition that threatened the livelihood of another.
The same approach, Jared said, could be tried anywhere a Trump Property or enterprise was “there first,” even Mar-a-Lago.
President Trump said he was delighted with his son-in-law’s idea and would personally appoint “real” rabbis to the beth din, the rabbinical court that would mediate any such case. He was confident that the rabbis would invoke the hasagat gevul principle (“I don’t mind telling you it’s a great principle,” the president commented. “Believe me. Great.”) He predicted the rabbis would surely rule in favor of the established Trump property.
But supporters of the idea should be cautioned: both parties have to agree to submit their dispute to a beth din, and its findings are only suggested resolutions, not binding arbitration.
Furthermore, the Brooklyn pizza case had a mixed resolution, and (no great surprise) Talmudic authorities have argued over hasagat gevul for decades, perhaps centuries. In the United States, in particular, there’s the question of whether the Halachic principle conflicts with Americans favorable view of unrestricted competition, plus the possibility it may violate antitrust statutes
Whatever the location, authorities question whether the new business qualifies as legitimate competition or is unfairly damaging to another’s livelihood. Some believe that, while one may open a rival business, it may not actively pursue people who are known to be regular customers of the first proprietor.
Some authorities question whether it’s a violation if the new competitor only decreases the profits of the earlier establishment. Another question is whether the new establishment will prevent owners of the first from enjoying as much as others in the same economic class. Yet another consideration: whether the new establishment actively goes after the customers of the earlier establishment.
But enthusiasm of fans of the Jared plan was not diminished. Hearing the delighted reaction the President, who hadn’t had much good news to celebrate of late, Sean Spicer, Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Reince Priebus broke into a spontaneous hora.
Whether their enthusiastic dancing was premature is yet to be determined.
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San Diego Jewish World assures readers who are new to freelance writer Joel Cohen’s “Just Kidding” columns that they are satirical and should not be taken seriously.