A letter of explanation regarding the name change of Hakadosh BBQ by the Pitboss:
A lot of hubbub has surrounded my recent decision to rename my prized 4700lb Texas made BBQ Smoker and I would like to set the story strait. Three
of my four babies were named on Sukkot. Asher Elimelech had his bris
followed by a huge Gemstone catered lunch at Orach Chaim nearly six
years back. Three years later my second son Yoav Oz was named again
during Sukkot at his bris (which I did myself=) followed by a Seussian
inspired -Green Eggs & "Ham" bbq breakfast in the Sukkah at my HQ in
Yonkers, the Lincoln Park Jewish Center. While my third son (Nadiv
Israel) was still incubating within my wife who was on bedrest at
Columbia Pres Hospital at the time, the name Hakadosh
BBQ came to one of my guests in between zmirot during 1st night's dinner, inspired in the sukkah surrounded by a feast of friends enjoying a phenomenal bottle of good ol' southern bourbon. From the moment
the name left Benji's lips, I knew it was what I wanted to name my new
smoker - an 18ft "Stalker" model bbq rig made in Houston Texas by the
ever so talented guys at
Gator Pits. Over the 10 months to follow, the
very nature of my business would take wild expansionary turns resulting
in the pitcrew we currently have servicing the NYC area with pop-ups and
the weekly Sunday street fairs.
H'kBBQ was never meant to be the name
of any business as we operated then and still under the dual titles of
"got cholent? Inc", our Shabbat oriented wing as well as Gemstone
Catering, our on and offsite boutique catering branch. I took on the
name on facebook and twitter as part of our ever active online marketing
and left it at that. Ten months of work in and around the metro area
and we never heard so much as a peep. In fact the name, at least for
those who got the pun, was generally received with great humor and
praise. Our most recent pop-up in Philadelphia however, a fundraiser
for the Kohelet Yehiva and their Yoetzet program, proved to be a game
changer as it seems that angry mail began pouring into the STAR-K
offices aghast in outrage and condemnation for what was viewed as the
trivialization - chas v'chalila - of the The Name of The Holy One,
Blessed Be He. This matter was brought to my attention just before our
competing this past weekend, also under the team name Hakadosh BBQ in
the Long Island Kosher BBQ Competition and quite honestly left me
unsettled all Shabbas long. My epiphany came while meeting and speaking
with one of the judges charged with scoring booth names and designs.
He too found himself offended by what he deemed as irreverence of God's
name and scored us accordingly, which as an aside cost us 1st place and
the Grand Champion trophy. This judge struck me as good man, mamish,
and I had deeply offended him. I left the corporate world so that I
could do something I love and literally bring greater joy to people.
We cater weddings, bar/bat Mitzvahs, meals and kiddushes for Shabbat and
work with dozens of charitable and worthy organizations facilitating
many of their fundraising events. Every one of these gigs in some way
works towards the goal of making this world of ours an ever so slightly
better place. The answer, in my eyes, was crystal clear.
I am in the
business of making people be b'Simcha, not offending their deepest
beliefs and personal paths towards praising daily The Almighty. I'd
like to see my part in bringing the Southern traditions of my youth to
NY streets as a Kiddush Hashem and not the very opposite. With that
said, it is the mutual opinion of the Vaad HaRabonim of Baltimore, aka
the STAR-K, and myself that we find a better suited name for my budding
business now, rather then waiting to offend even more people in the
weeks and B'sD years to come. This is by no means an OU/Jezebel sort of
scandal. Nor has their been any sort of intimidation, ultimatums or
threats of any kind by the STAR-K. I am happy with having the quality
and authenticity of my food speak for itself and don't need any gimmicks or
shock marketing to get people to follow and frequent our pop-ups, street
fairs and events. I am sorry to those whom I have offended and look
forward to continuing to bring NYC and surrounding areas the best damn
BBQ they've ever experienced.