BROOKLYN, NY — On the morning in August 2005 when Sam Habib and Cindy Gluck opened their first Dunkin’ Donuts, they awoke at dawn to make sure that the glazed fritters and French crullers were out on the counter. Then Mr. Habib sneaked off to the neighboring mosque to pray, and Ms. Gluck, panicky about the prospects of their new venture, went to the back of the store to cry.
United on the Issue of Pork
BROOKLYN, NY — On the morning in August 2005 when Sam Habib and Cindy Gluck opened their first Dunkin’ Donuts, they awoke at dawn to make sure that the glazed fritters and French crullers were out on the counter. Then Mr. Habib sneaked off to the neighboring mosque to pray, and Ms. Gluck, panicky about the prospects of their new venture, went to the back of the store to cry.
Mr. Habib, a bearish 47-year-old with a warm smile, is a Muslim immigrant from Egypt, and Ms. Gluck, 34, is a slim, petite Orthodox Jew from Borough Park, Brooklyn. Both had sunk their entire savings into buying the franchise, on a busy stretch of Church Avenue at East 17th Street in Flatbush.
It was a terrifying gamble. The two had known each other only a few months when Mr. Habib, who says he dreamed for decades of running a Dunkin’ Donuts, asked Ms. Gluck, a real estate broker he had met while looking for a location, to join him in business. He knew she was an Orthodox Jew but said he didn’t care.
Technically, Ms. Gluck is a silent partner, owner of just 49 percent of the business, but as Mr. Habib is quick to point out, there is nothing silent about her.
“I let him make all the decisions,” Ms. Gluck said.
“Really?” Mr. Habib replied, with raised eyebrows.
Sam Habib, whose first name is short for Essam, arrived in New York in 1982 with only the change he had in his pocket. He sold his return ticket home to pay rent and went to work in the kitchens of Brooklyn restaurants.
Cindy Gluck (her real name is Hindy) grew up in Hasidic Williamsburg, in a family that she says were so poor, they often couldn’t afford to eat. At 20, she was married off to a man of her parents’ choosing; four children later, she went into real estate to try to make some money.
“I had never met a Muslim before,” Ms. Gluck said the other day, sitting with her partner in the small office at the back of the Church Avenue store, a space heavy with the aroma of baking croissants. “The first thing I wanted to know was: ‘What kind of Muslim are you?’”
Mr. Habib chimed in with a laugh: “All her friends told her that she should be careful that her crazy terrorist Arab partner doesn’t put bombs in her packages.”
Under the ground rules the pair worked out before making their partnership official, Ms. Gluck takes off Saturdays to celebrate the Sabbath, and Mr. Habib worships at the mosque every Friday. The doughnuts come from a kosher bakery in Borough Park. On Jewish holidays, Mr. Habib technically owns the entire business because Ms. Gluck is not allowed to earn money on those days.
And there is one edict they both obey. “Neither of us is allowed to enjoy the profits of the pork,” Ms. Gluck said. Any money the business makes on the sale of bacon, sausage or ham — foods that are forbidden in both their religions — is split and given away, hers to her synagogue and to Israel, his to the workers as bonuses.
The pair’s hard work has paid off; last year they opened a second franchise, on Flatbush and Sixth Avenues in Park Slope.
Both partners are married and have four children of exactly the same ages: 5, 8, 10 and 12. Mr. Habib has taught Ms. Gluck a few words of Arabic, and she has taught him how to say “good night” in Hebrew.
Mr. Habib often says a business partnership is like a marriage, and he acts accordingly; when he travels home to Egypt, he brings Ms. Gluck little gifts.
“You brought me that Muslim dress,” she recalled.
“It wasn’t a Muslim dress,” he replied with exasperation. “It was, I don’t know, a Nefertiti style or something. Ask my wife.”
Because of a contract dispute, Mr. Habib and Ms. Gluck are in the process of selling the stores back to Dunkin’ Donuts, but they will operate both for the next few months. And when their doughnut days are done, they plan to continue working together.
“She’s Jewish and I’m Muslim,” Mr. Habib said. “That doesn’t stop us from creating a business.”
bochur
very nice
just wondering...
Am I the only one who finds this exceedingly strange???????????
Moshe C
very nice, big kiddush hashem.
a writing bubby
No It is exceedingly strange and one has to wonder at the reason that it was posted on this website, though it is fully understandable why the media used it.
I fear that we are desensitizing to such
an extent that we no longer recognize
that which should be strange and foreign to us as yidden.
I assume that owning the shops is o.k. halachically, it is the description of fraternization betweeb the man and woman, muslim or otherwise which should be uncomfortable for us to read about and certainly uncomfortable for us to post.
conc
it was interesting, ok. BUT we have to decide if we want this kind of website being considered as something that represents Chabad. Was there a reason that we need to know about this? What does it do for us?
It was entertaininly interesting to find out that someone from a very sad home made a more responsible home life for herself and stayed some level of yiddishkeit, but it was more weird than anything else.
bb
fraternization??? it’s a business.
who are we dealing with?
Although many muslims are not terrorists, we must remember almost all of them hate Israel. I also agree with "a writnig bubby" and "just wondering".
esty
very nice
miami beach bum
Im just trying to figure out one thing. If pork is sold in the store, why do they have to get the doughnuts from a kosher bakery in Boro Park????????????
chaya
very weird.and yes, it’s just business, but there are millions of business partners to choose from!
ex ch guy in biz
yeah, tre definitely is something weird going on here. for some reason one dosent feel comfortable. cant quite put my finger on it but bubby definitely has a point.
again, nothing necessarily wrong, it just feels uneasy about the whole thing.
(CHI) mobile phone user
I dont get it….
BobbyCohen
lets call a spade a spade and forget political correctness, this is called playing with fire.
Additionally, I think that crownheights info needs to be much more discerning in what they allow to be posted onto their site. a) It is presumed to be a chabad website, just by virtue of its crown heights name and connecture, is this the image that we are eager to pertray? And what about our youngsters, is this an ideal to allow?
yitzie
you people should stop being such bigotted, cloisterous, tribal **** and realize that the only way people are going to stop killing each other is if you put aside these sick segregationist ideals. What is wrong with hanging out with a non-jew? He happened to have been born to a non-jewish family and you happened to have been born to a jewish family, there was no choice involved so there is no reason to hold anything at all against them. Whoever knew that chabad were so intollerant?!!
Whats Wrong
Yitzie: Whats wrong is that the Torah tells us its wrong. Why are we not allowed to eat Bishul Akum and Pas Akum – so that we don’t get to comfortable with them and end up being like them.
straightforward
i don’t think it’s the non-jew part of it, as much as it’s a woman portrayed to be frum hanging out with a male, and spending extensive time with him.
dismayed
i wonder if she consulted a rav?
This Shabbos and yom tov partnership is questionable,
as well as a heter to sell pork, even if u use the profits for tzedaka….??
rabbidov
I feel some of the concerns are correct. The article mentions that "Ms. Gluck takes off Saturdays to celebrate the Sabbath". This is all good and well, but if the store is still open on Shabbos, this is prohibited. She may not be there, but her business is still open on Shabbos and she is making money from it. Can one get a heter from a rov since it is a partnership? Maybe, but that is very hard to allow and should not be promoted as acceptable or normal. This behavior seems contrary with what frum jews, especially Chabad should be promoting.
response to yitzie
Yitzie: "Esav sone es yakkov" non-jews hate jews dont argue with that
Devorah
Straightforward:so what are you saying that you will never work with someone the opposite sex to you? sorry to tell you but that is a near impossibility ive been working with males for quite a few years and there have been no halachic questions at all!
Anonymous
I dont like the way Mr. Habib said its like a marriage! is it even alowed for her to work with a non-jew? im pretty sure there is a halacha….
Reb Gedalia
this is a shanda and a busha. to touch and laugh and be so close is never mutar.
r. g.
there are things in this story that definatly have a problem with. 1. the changing the name – i know a lot of ppl do it, but it does say that one of the things bnei yisrael were praised for in mitzrayim was NOT changing their names. hmm. 2. why sell pork at all? giving tzedakah from the profits of pork is still considered "benefitting from non-kosher in any way" – this is NOT okay, (if not in actual technical terms then for sure in spirit). 3. sam calling it like a marriage was weird. very weird. and the presents? remember this is the new york times… ppl will be reading it in different terms. i have absolutely no problem with women in the workforce with male collegues, but to be on such close terms – ich. and i know u will say "shes married for heavens sake!" but still. 4. e/t anybody above me had a problem with.
i dont know. i congratulate her on a successful business and wish hindy much hatzlacha but i definitly came out of this story uninspired and a bit turned off. something is not right.
Is that bacon kosher?
Why is this article important enough to post? This NY Times article is published just before the Annapolis Israel Palestinian conference. The article shows that even petite Hasidic Jewish women and bearish Muslim men can find common ground and make money. They can find sooo much common ground that they even found a ‘religiously acceptable way’ to sell pork products – note the Jew gives her money to Israel while the Muslim gives it to employees.
So if a Hasidic from Williamsburg and a Muslim from Eygpt can reach such an agreement, then so can Israel and the Palestinians. That is if the Palestinians are given 51% control of Israel.
Just another day at the New York Times.
BrookAve
Something smells fowl about this cozy relationship, like chicken shwarma on a spit. My humble business advice to the new age couple: If you want to succeed…..one squirt of jelly and you make a profit, two squirts you are out of business.
wtvr
that was the weirdest thing i read on this website i mean come on…. its actually really sad!!
gal down unda
this article is pretty random, and it’s sad to see these two "business" partners, laughing, kidding around with each other,and buying presents for each other….it’s great that we’re so tolerant of muslims, but their relationship is begining to scare me…
Pentax
Thank you Yiztie you make a great
point that many people are scared of
or just racist.
ex ch guy in biz
rabbidov
please learn amirah lenochri.
having said that, i repeat: this whole situation smells bad
anonymous
there seem to be many issues at play in this situation. 1) the fact that she is not only working with a male but she is actually his business partner this involves an emotional relationship in many ways. 2) he is a goy 3) the many halachic questions that are involved with keeping the store open on shabbos and selling tarfus. this whole story creates a sticky situation that is unpleasant in many ways. and to the person that says "well, she’s married." that’s a much bigger problem than if she was a single girl. being married has far worse implications than being single as far as halacha is concerned!
wondering?
Is she married? Because they wrote Ms.and not Mrs.
Extremly disapointed in Crown Heights
A. Ms can mean married or unmarried and B. you all sound like a bunch racist jerks.
No wonder the rest of America look at Chabad in Crown Heights as a problem. You present yourselves as believing that the moshiach has already come and died (yes, like the christians believe Yoshke was the moshiach and he died) and you can’t even have dialogue or friends who are not Jewish.
Your concern over her closeness with this man only reflects on yourself. Do you think that you would be overcome with lust for your business partner of the opposite gender? That is truly unfortunate. Don’t put your issues on this woman.
And, by the by, this is an appropriate place to put this article. In Jewish News. Or do you never want to hear about anything going on outside of Eastern Parkway and Kingston Ave?
How very closed minded of you.
Perhaps you should ask yourself, WWRD? What Would the Rebbe Do? He would welcome a dialogue between cultures, not shun it.
Oh and you aren’t her husband, it’s their decision on what they choose to do, not yours! (thank G.d!)