A traveling museum exhibit from The Alexander Levi Heritage Project

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Jewish Dubuquers of Note:

Dubuque's Jewish  community had war heros and football heros! 

Lt. Aaron Liepe, US Army,   shown here with his wife, Norma, is a decorated WWII aviator who shot down Japanese Zeros over China as one of the Flying Tigers. Liepe, who earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, completed more than 50 combat missions in the Far East, destroying two enemy planes in aerial combat! (from http://www.jewishwarheroes.org)

Read about Max Kadesky, All Big Ten and a member of Howard Jones'  legenday 1922 Iowa Hawkeyes.   (Just an example of his talent: in the 1922 Purdue-Iowa game, Iowa outgained Purdue 369-15 in net rushing yards as the Hawkeyes shut out the Boilers 56-0! Max Kadesky took one of three Iowa interceptions and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown that gave Iowa a 34-0 lead! (from Finn and Leistikow, Hawkeye Legends, Lists and Lore, The Athletic History of the Iowa Hawkeyes, Sports Publishing LLC, 1998)

Coming soon: a taped account by 84-year old Rose Gansco Jaffe (1882-1967) born in Riga and raised in the port of Libau on the Baltic Sea (now Latvia, then an area called Kurland, belonging to Germany).

In this 1965 recording made by her son, Woodrow Jaffee, Rose recalls with remarkable clarity events from her emigration and her early life as a "new American" and recounts her 1901 marriage to Alex Jaffee and the couple's move to Dubuque.

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Tee shirt logo from Dubuque's Jewish Family Reunion, August 23-24,  2008

(Note: the Dubuque Jewish Family Reunion was funded by Temple Beth El and through donations, and did not receive any public funding.)

Dubuque and Kashrut

One of the most difficult things for pioneer Jews to do was to observe the Jewish dietary laws of Kashrut.  In many case the first families performed shechita themselves  (a ritual procedure involving compassionate slaughtering of animals according to Jewish Law) and prepared their household's meat according to religious requirements, in order to ensure that the meat was Kosher.

As communities grew, Rabbis often performed shechita, which, ideally should be  done by someone learned and pious; thus, it was not uncommon for Rabbis to be listed as butchers in early city records.

Dubuque has long had a  special relationship with the law of kashrut.

According to an 1863 article in The Occident, ( the first Jewish subscription magazine, edited by Isaac Leeser and "devoted to the diffusion of knowledge on Jewish life and ritual") that year, as part of the official chartering of its first congregation,  the Jewish community in Dubuque installed its first paid Shochet.  (An interesting note: from the late 1800s through the 1920s, Dubuque's Jewish community was large enough to support 7-10 kosher meat markets!)

For years, in addition to its regular business, the Dubuque Packing Company (known locally as The Pack) ran the world’s largest kosher meat packing operation. Supervised by teams of onsite  Rabbis and Shochetim,  the company supplied beef, veal and lamb to retail outlets nationwide!

Prior to the 1960s most of The Pack's Shochetim and their families lived in Dubuque and had their own minyan (prayer quorum) and mikveh (ritual baths). Later, they commuted from Chicago; working Sunday through Thursday and returning to the Chicago before Shabbat began at sundown on Friday. (Many of these learned and pious Shochetim had dual careers -- several were Rabbis, one was a lawyer, another a college professor!)

Kashrut, Postville, Iowa and Ethics

Lately, Iowa and kashrut have been in the news again - as a result of coverage of the unethical, unsafe and inhumane operations at the AgriProcessor's plant in Postville. Recent debate has focused on the idea that - to be kosher - not only must an animal be humanely treated, but the workers handling the animal must also be treated ethically.

For a lengthy but interesting look at the emergent "eco-kosher"and hecksher tzedek movement check out this story from the October 9th 2008 food supplement in The New York Times.

The Pack...

Jewish "Ham" Henny Youngman shown with the Pack's president at the time, Mr R.C.Wahlert.