Rabbi’s Corner – Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Edition

Dear Friends,
This Thursday we will be joining with the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition in commemorating the 99th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire which took place on March 25th 1911. Until 9/11, this tragedy was the worst workplace disaster in New York City. For more information on the events and its aftermath, let me direct you to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_fire

This year the timing of the remembrance is particularly auspicious as it is only a few days before we celebrate Pesach. On this holiday Jews celebrate their freedom from physical slavery. While such slavery has thankfully declined over time – and is in fact illegal in many countries – many people today live in a form of economic slavery, forced to work long hours for minimal pay due to external circumstances.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was instrumental in fostering awareness to the hazardous working conditions which often added injury to insult, and today’s “sweatshops” are vast improvements over those a century ago. However, regardless of occupation or working conditions, we must never lose sight of the humanity of each and every worker who help provide the goods and services on which we’ve come to rely.

To be sure some jobs are more difficult than others, but the difference between a slave and employee is in their humanity. Slaves are dispensable, fungible commodities to be bought and sold, and like the builders of the Tower of Babel inconsequential compared to their production. Having experienced such conditions in our history we should be ever vigilant to remember the human sacrifices of every worker. For once we take other people’s labor for granted, we in turn become no better than Pharaoh.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh Yuter