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SCREENING SCREENING
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mezuzah or tefillin to arrive in
Philadelphia has quadrupled,
from a few weeks to up to four
months. “Before COVID ... generally I
would say a month [wait] would
be fine. Now I tell people I can’t
guarantee anything,” Gross said.

Jerusalem Israeli Gift
Shop in Philadelphia is facing
similar issues, with products
from Israel arriving up to six
weeks later than anticipated.

Owner Rachel Gabay usually
orders honey from kibbutzim
to sell to customers for Rosh
Hashanah. This year, the honey
didn’t arrive before the holiday.

“It’s very frustrating,”
Gabay said.

Gross said that Judaica
businesses in New York and
New Jersey that he works with
aren’t having better luck.

The shortages are due in
part to an increase in demand
for durable goods — items that
can be kept and used for over a
year, such as appliances, furni-
ture and mezuzahs — and a
decrease in the use of services,
such as dining in restaurants
and seeing movies in theaters.

According to Israeli-
American Temple University
economics Professor Joseph
Friedman, “Because people
are spending more on durable
goods than on services, there is
a very fast-increasing demand
and expectation to produce.”
Rabbi Betzalel Katkovsky,
co-owner of Tagim Sofer
Services in Northeastern
Philadelphia, which produces
and checks mezuzahs, has
noticed that more people
moved during the pandemic,
increasing the demand for
mezuzahs to be ordered and
installed. The Wall Street
Journal found in a May 2021
report that more than 7 million
American households moved
in 2020 — 500,000 more than
in 2019. One house may require
up to 15 mezuzahs.

However, not only are
manufacturers unable to keep
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM CALL (215) 887-0877
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Mezuzahs from Mezuzah and
More Rabbi Betzalel Katkovsky is one
of Pennsylvania’s only soferim
and is co-owner of Tagim Sofer
Services in Northeast Philadelphia.

Courtesy of Rabbi Betzalel Katkovsky
up with the demand for goods,
but distribution has slowed
significantly, Friedman said.

Labor shortages are mainly
to blame, with low-wage
workers quitting over poor
working conditions and
pay. Friedman said there are
20-30,000 fewer heavy truck
drivers on the road than before
the pandemic.

For Judaica stores in the
United States, labor shortage
problems are two-fold, as
ongoing labor disputes in
Israel, from where most of their
products are sourced, prevent
goods from being shipped
promptly. Longshoremen have
been in labor disputes with
management for the better part
of 30 years, Friedman said.

“There’s a huge backlog
of ships outside of the ports
needing to be loaded and
unloaded,” he said. “There’s
always a problem with who is
in charge of the port, whether
it’s labor unions or port
management.” Mezuzahs and other Judaica
that require the work of a sofer,
a scribe — such as sifrei Torah
and tefillin — have their own
specific complications.

All soferim are freelancers,
Gross said, and rely solely
on commissions for income.

Mezuzahs take a long time to
make, sometimes up to five or
six hours, and yield smaller
profits compared to larger
projects. Soferim are therefore
choosing to work on larger
projects, such as inscribing
Torah, which can pay $25,000,
though it takes nine months to
complete. These larger projects
are a more reliable source of
income. These labor trends are here
to stay, Friedman said.

“From what I can tell, it’s
nothing that can be solved any
time soon,” he said.

To combat the supply chain
obstacles, Friedman said that
businesses can have products
shipped by air, rather than sea.

Judaica is lighter than other
products and, while ordered in
bulk, still takes up less space
than is necessary to be trans-
ported by ship.

However, air freight is
much more expensive than
sea freight. Even with smaller
packages, businesses can feel
the cost.

Because of COVID, fewer
customers are coming through
Gabay’s store. Though they
remain loyal to her, they have
begun ordering products
online, and Gabay has had to
ship items across the region,
having to choose to increase
prices or pay extra for shipping.

Gabay has avoided raising
the prices of her products.

Because she, like many other
Judaica shop owners, buys in
bulk, she has avoided buying
products with inflated prices
and has kept her prices the
same. Wit h
C h a nu k a h
approaching, she’s waiting for
the other shoe to drop. The
next time she buys from her
distributor, she’ll likely have to
raise her prices.

Katkovsky has been proac-
tive in keeping his business
JEWISH EXPONENT
■ Tefillin from Mezuzah and More
afloat. With mezuzah shipping
delays impacting him, he’s
relied more on house visits to
inspect mezuzahs, a task that
takes much less time than his
role as a sofer.

Gross also has pivoted from
relying on mezuzahs to make
a profit. He began selling more
megillot around Purim this
year, which can sell for at least
$850. For now, the Judaica
businesses have survived not
only due to sustained demand,
but because they have loyal
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This message is sponsored by a friend of
Nat’l Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases
Association of Delaware Valley
customers. Customers know
about supply chain shortages
and are willing to be patient.

“They know we’re all in the
same boat together,” Gabay
said. l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
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