(JTA) — A rabbi in Jackson, Miss., said he was slurred, sworn at and thrown out of a local restaurant because he was Jewish.
Rabbi Ted Riter of the Beth Israel Congregation told the local media that an employee at the restaurant, Wraps, asked him if he wanted “a full size or a Jewish size” when he ordered a Greek salad. When the rabbi asked the employee what he meant by that, the employee responded, “Small; everybody knows that.”
Riter said the employee asked if he was Jewish and then told him to leave, accompanied by swearing and anti-Semitic slurs.
The restaurant owner, who identified himself as John, said the rabbi “didn’t know exactly what he wanted, and we offered him our services, and that’s the extent of it,” according to the Clarion-Ledger newspaper. He also said the rabbi “disrespected” the business.
Witnesses inside the restaurant verified the rabbi’s version, WAPT News reported.
Riter, the synagogue’s interim rabbi, has lived in Jackson since July and said he has visited the establishment before with no trouble.
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