false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172145428m/142826.jpg 142826 2 Postville, Iowa (population 1,478), seems an unlikely place to find a sizable Jewish population, let alone an ultra-Orthodox Lubavitcher population. It is, after all, in the heart of pork country, and the world headquarters of the Lubavitchers is far away in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. But when the Hygrade meat processing plant, just outside Postville, went belly-up, threatening the town with decline, Sholom Rubashkin bought it and turned it into a glatt kosher processing plant, complete with shochtim and a rabbinical inspectorate. By the late 1980s, "Postville had more rabbis per capita than any other city in the United States, perhaps the world."<p> The enterprise was a huge international success, with its kosher meats exported even to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The Jewish population grew to 150, and they were rich. The town was saved, and the people were grateful. All's well that ends well? Not quite. The Hasidim kept to themselves, did things their own way, and basically had no interest in integrating into Postville. And why would they? Their laws are strict, their mission clear, their community defined by race and religion. They are not interested in watermelon socials or coffee klatches at the diner. Their little boys do not swim with their little girls, are not educated together, and do not go on play dates with goyim. Small-town Iowans, on the other hand, are very friendly. They know each other's news, they support each other's businesses, they wish each other Merry Christmas, they want you to feel at home. They don't like that the new townspeople stomp up the street hunched over, talking in a foreign language and looking straight through them when greeted. They really don't like it when one of the newcomers drives around town with a 10-foot candelabra strapped to his car playing music at full volume for eight consecutive winter nights. They don't actually know about menorahs or Hanukkah.<p> Into this comes secular Jew Stephen Bloom, a professor at the University of Iowa. By the time he arrived in Postville, the town was riven along religious lines. One of the townspeople was running for mayor on the sole platform of annexation of the land on which the plant stood. Rubashkin was threatening that he'd shut the plant and leave if that came to pass. Bloom closely considers both sides, and the result is a wonderful book. It is a fascinating tale of culture clash in the American heartland: the John Deere cap meets the black fur hat. It is a book about identity and community and what it means to be American. It covers all the things you aren't supposed to talk about at the dinner table--religion, politics, and even sex. It is full of suspense: Will the plant be annexed? Will the Jews leave? And it is also Bloom's exploration of his own sense of belonging. <I>--J. Riches</I> 1230412 2000 Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America total:230|5:46|4:103|3:66|2:7|1:8| 230 862 322 59 4 1 false false Sat Dec 13 00:45:36 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 00:45:52 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2002 Fri Oct 02 19:54:14 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 20:02:30 -0700 2009 1
Now, after the fall of Agri-Processors (kosher meat plant), it gives even more perspective as to why t...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Apr 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 14:58:56 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 07 12:07:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jun 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 09:01:11 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 17:36:12 -0700 2009
Now, as journal...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jun 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 09:57:03 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 07:31:24 -0700 2009
This book ended up being more a memoir about author Ste...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Apr 19 16:23:40 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 10:27:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 01 16:10:12 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 02 00:23:38 -0700 2008
Postville was a rather homogeneously German-American town when a Hasidic Jew bought a derelict building on the outskirts a...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 28 13:21:42 -0800 2007 Fri Jan 04 10:37:16 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 11:01:29 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 11:08:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 08 08:58:27 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 25 06:41:49 -0700 2009
I have read reviews talking about it being dated material, too much memoir not enough journalistic...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Nov 13 11:16:51 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 24 18:08:46 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 19:52:24 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 06:10:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 15 21:11:30 -0700 2008 Sun Nov 02 21:31:15 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2001 Wed Nov 18 07:22:34 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 18 07:39:12 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Wed Apr 30 07:32:53 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 07:41:53 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon Jun 30 10:45:13 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 05 10:47:05 -0700 2008
The author, a Reform Jew, explores his own culture and faith during a series of encounters with the ultra-conservative Lubovitch Jews who had recently settled in Postville, Iowa to run an enormous meat-packing plant.

...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 09 10:10:35 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 17 06:47:32 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Nov 11 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Oct 17 14:58:16 -0700 2008 Tue Nov 11 10:01:38 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 17 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 22:12:09 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 22:15:38 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jul 14 16:30:37 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 16:31:33 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=142826