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Hasidim lace into Sears over lingerie ads

Members of a religious community in Williamsburg who want to stop what they see as racy flyers from landing on their doorsteps say their pleas to halt the distribution are falling on deaf ears.

Advertisements from Sears featuring women clad in lacy or revealing undergarments or negligees have been causing dismay and outrage among devout Hasidim.

"I would be disgraced to hold it in my hand," said Rabbi Sam Weiser, an activist in the tightly knit religious community. "I understand that they want our business, but they are hurting us," said the rabbi, who has repeatedly asked Sears to stop distributing the material.

"These photos are explicit and disgusting. We don't want our children looking at them. Why can't they respect our religion?" he said.

In September, the Hasidic community, which encompasses about 15 blocks in Williamsburg, started to get similar flyers from J.C. Penney. But after the rabbi sent letters expressing concerns, the company halted distribution last month, Weiser said.

Sears, however, said the matter was beyond its control and was the responsibility of Newsday, the Long Island newspaper which circulates the print ads with its newspaper.

"Sears respects the opinions of our customers," said Kimberly Freely, manager of corporate public relations for Sears, based in the Chicago area. "We are unable to selectively distribute within each Zip Code."

Weiser said he is puzzled by the company's explanation.

"We are not asking them to stop distribution in all of the zip code [11211], we just want it stopped in our community, which is not very big," he said.

Deidra Parrish Williams, a spokeswoman for Newsday, said the company wants to accommodate the community's wishes.

"We respect our readers' preferences and our policy has been and remains to process requests for delivery changes or stops as quickly as possible," she said.

But in the case of multiple-family homes, the ads are delivered at a common entry point, not at an individual door. So Hasidic families may find it hard to avoid the objectionable flyers when they share the building with non-Hasidic families.

That doesn't satisfy Weiser.

"J.C. Penney listened to us; I don't understand why Sears cannot," he said. "It makes no sense."

http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/497232p-419125c.html