The Jews of Iowa bear their citizenship in the Republic and in the commonwealth with dignity and honor…It gives me great pleasure to say for the Jews of Iowa that they are potent factors in our business, faithful defenders of peace and order and staunch advocates of all the principles of good government.
–Albert Cummins, Governor of Iowa 1902-1908
There may be no better role model for this week’s Ames born Bar Mitzvah Eli Starobin than the first Iowan Jew, a Parisian Sephardi named Alexander Levi who arrived in Dubuque August 1833.
A traditionalist, Levi nevertheless opened a general store advertising ‘Prime Pork and First Rate Bacon’. His business acumen and strong character led him to serve as Justice of the Peace in Dubuque. Along the way, he opened a gold mining company and founded two synagogues. He and his wife Minette were highly regarded around town with Alexander becoming the first foreigner to be naturalized in Iowa receiving his United States citizenship in 1837.
Anti-semitism rarely appears in the plains at the time. Quite the opposite, an odd bit of philo-semitism can be found in the August 29, 1839 copy of The Iowa Sun.
“The unexcelled beauty of the daughters of Israel might be traced to the legend that Jesus the Jew gave his last glance upon them, and, as they were not as stubborn in denouncing him, the rays of light which rested upon his face reflected upon them and they remained beautiful forever.”
No argument here. On the subject of Jewish women, a common 19th century Iowan-Jewish joke went something like ‘A man who had married a Jewess shortly afterwards joined the Temperance Society, and never dared to kiss his wife from that day because he considered himself prohibited by the pledge from meddling with ‘Jew lips’ (julips.)’ Maybe you had to be there.
The only bit of religious discomfort Alexander Levi seems to have faced from his new neighbors emerged as a result of a Jewish man who converted to Christianity to marry a ‘society lady prominent in church circles’. The couple’s home became the social center of Dubuque. Due to ‘miscalculated economy or reckless lavishness’, the husband resorted to a bit of financial chicanery which upset his creditors and landed him in county lockup where he received no visitors from his new church.
Alexander Levi was approached by two Christian men of the cloth who deeply respected Levi as a man of integrity. Nevertheless they attacked his former coreligionist saying they ‘never thought the Jew would prove so tricky, that they now believed some of the horrible tales told about the Jews and that henceforth they would look out’.
Unable to hold his tongue, Levi reproached the pastors. ‘When the man was still Jewish, he had never once been the subject of any impropriety. But the minute he joined you, he was compelled to please a society who could be contented with anything but his Jewishness. Thus he was no longer responsible for his deeds as a Jew. Hence, in this case you are the defendants, and all the more honor for those Jews who continue as such.’
May we merit to see such moral courage return among our people as was present in 19th Century Iowa.
From pastoral beginnings in Ames to Aichi-ken’s picturesque peninsula and now Tokyo, our Bar Mitzvah boy, nay man, Eli knows a thing or two about being Judaism’s unelected representative to people who have never met a Jew before. Like his Iowan forebear Alexander Levi, Eli never fails to rise to the occasion in serving as the epitome of what the Jewish community can hope for in our young people. Mazal Tov to the entire Starobin family on Eli’s Bar Mitzvah and on raising such a wonderful son.
Services
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, May 24th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Behar
Bar Mitzvah of Eli Starobin
Saturday, May 25th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Lecture by Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi Eliezer Lawrence
Permission to Believe: Encountering Doubt as a Radical Act of Faith
Friday, May 31st
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Lecture: 8:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 7th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Bamidbar
Kiddush sponsored by the Sloyer Family in honor of the birth of Mila Sakura
Saturday, June 8th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Shavuot Eve – Cheesecake and Class (in that order)
Lecture and discussion on the origins of anti-semitism and the current landscape
Four kinds of sliced, Cholov Yisroel cheese. Six kinds of non-CY kosher cheesecake.
Tuesday, June 11th
Services: 6:30pm
Dinner: 7:00pm
Class: 8:00pm
Shavuot Morning
Wednesday, June 12th
Services with Yizkor: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 14th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Nasso
Bat Mitzvah of Miya Bavli
Saturday, June 15th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 21st
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Beha’alotcha
Bar Mitzvah of Jeremy Epstein
Saturday, June 22nd
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 28th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Friday Night and Shavuot Dinner Reservations can made on our website: https://jccjapan.jp/shabbat-meals-sign-up/
Events
Sephardic Jewish Cuisine Cooking Class
In this intimate setting, limited to just 12 participants, you’ll have the opportunity to master the secrets of two mouthwatering dishes: Tagine and Tunisian cigars.
SOLD OUT (sign up for the waiting list below)
Sunday, June 2nd
10:00am – 2:00pm
Materials Fee: 2,000 JPY
Violins and Hope
From the Holocaust to the Symphony Hall: a photographic journey documenting the man and work of Israeli master luthier (violin maker) Amnon Weinstein who set up a project to restore violins that survived the concentration camps and ghettos of the Holocaust, even when their owners often did not.
Sunday, June 23rd
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Event Registration Page: https://jccjapan.jp/event-registration/
If you have an idea for an event or a topic you would like to share with others, please visit our website: https://jccjapan.jp/event-committee-inquiry/
Announcements
Mazal Tov once more to Nina and the entire Tischler family on an incredible and memorable Bat Mitzvah. Otsukaresama deshita!
Scholar-in-Residence: On Friday night, May 31st at 8:00pm, visiting Rabbi Eliezer Lawrence will present a lecture titled ‘Permission to Believe: Encountering Doubt as a Radical Act of Faith’. Through the mystical teachings of Hasidic masters the Ba’al Shem Tov, Rabbi Nachman and the Post-Modernist Rav Shaga”r, we will explore how doubts and struggles with core Jewish beliefs can actually be the building blocks to an even deeper rootedness in spirituality.
Friday night, May 31st will also be the overseas Bar Mitzvah of the Alper Family who are flying all the way in from Austin, Texas to celebrate with us. Please consider attending service and signing up for dinner so that we can show them a little Southern (Shibuya-ku) Hospitality.
Class in Japanese: Would you like to learn about an archaeological study of Israel? Nihongo-ga wakarimasuka? Prof. Keiji Hirakawa is a rare Japanese who has been digging in Israel over 34 years. His first encounter with Israel was in 1983 when he engaged in ethnographic research about the people’s lives, food, and religions there. He will give his talk “ISRAEL: Over the Sea Galilee (イスラエル―ガリラヤ湖をめぐって―) on June 11th from 1:00pm about the research findings based on his study over the site, Ein Gev and his experiences with the local people near the Sea of Galilee. The lecture is a JIFA event but JCJ members are welcome to attend. Admission is free.
Shavuot is almost upon us and the subject of the Leil Tikkun Shavuot lecture has finally arrived: Anti-Semitism. While a more uplifting topic might be more appropriate, given recent events it behooves us to learn more about the historical origins of anti-semitism and what we can do to combat the rising tide of Jew hatred today. On the plus side, cheesecake!
Yiddish Club with Jack Halpern: Please contact Jack at jack@cjki.org if you are interested to join. All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced. Much more than just language, the club’s monthly meetings explore Yiddish culture as well.
Shabbat Behar
Candle Lighting: 6:28pm
Havdala: 7:31pm