This Week

Insight

Remember
When

.1

Holding Strong

From the pages of the Jewish News for
this week 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50
years ago.

Observant Iowan hopes tolerance can survive town's divisive election.

Jeannie Weiner of West Bloomfield
was elected the Jewish Community
Council's second woman president.

JENNIFER NARDINI
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Postville, Iowa
aron Goldsmith is back where he started — on a
city council in a seat that was given to him, chal-
lenged by some of his neighbors and finally
returned by voters in this small town that drew
wide national attention a decade ago when a kosher meat-
packing plant opened here.
The embattled councilman, a Lubavitch Chasid, endured
months of gossip and a flurry of anti-Semitic hate mail
while trying to hold on to his seat.
But on April 24, the voters of Postville, Iowa, came out in
force to show their support for the town's first Jewish council
member. Nearly 52 percent of Postville's 1,047 registered voters

A

daughter, Tracey Schager — who had hoped to be appoint-
ed to the seat — ran against Goldsmith.
The days after the election, Goldsmith says now, brought
a sense of relief.
"Neighbors got back to being neighbors again, and there
was a bounce in everyone's step," he said. "People said the
air just felt friendlier."
Today, Jews and gentiles alike stop Goldsmith on the
street to shake his hand and say they're glad he won.
And the support wasn't limited to Posrville.
"I got a flood of international calls from some very influ-
ential rabbis, who told me that the positive impact of this
election is being felt worldwide," Goldsmith said, pointing
to framed articles about him on his wall.
Diversity is a new buzzword for Postville, whose 2001
census showed a 54 percent jump in ethnic populations
from 10 years ago, the largest increase in Iowa.

Home For Immigrants

The town was primarily white and Christian until
1988 when a kosher meatpacking plant opened, bring-
ing chasidic families to the rural region — along with
job-seeking immigrants from Mexico, Eastern Europe,
the Philippines and elsewhere.
Mayor Hyman welcomed Goldsmith's addition to
the council, saying, "he's an incredible asset for us,
for our diverse population, and it did my heart good
to see that the people of Postville agreed."
The election gained national attention as the town
polarized around questions of race and religion.
Some saw Postville's Jews as standoffish, while others
considered the townspeople bigoted.
The town already had been the subject of wide-
spread
outside attention, including a book by
A Minneapolis television station tapes candidate Aaron Goldsmith
University
of Iowa professor Stephen Bloom. In
voting in an election for an open city council seat in Postville, Iowa,
Postville:
A
Clash of Cultures in Heartland America,
on April 24, as his two children, Rochel, 8, and Moishy, 10, look on.
Bloom
contended
that the chasids' insular ways don't
Goldsmith, a chasidic Jew, won the election.
"work at all in a tiny, cohesive town of 1,500, where
people depend on one another to survive."
Goldsmith said he's glad to be able to get back to city
cast ballots during the special election, choosing Goldsmith by
business and his own company, Transfer Master Products,
a comfortable 325-216 margin.
which
manufactures adjustable beds.
"It's amazing. Usually we get about 5 percent coming out
One
of Goldsmith's goals is helping Postville's immigrants
for a council vote," Postville Mayor John Hyman said.

rt

Welcome Relief

Why all the interest?
Goldsmith became the center of a political controversy on
Dec. 26, when the city council, by a 4-1 vote, appointed him
to fill a vacancy created when Arlin Schager resigned from
the council. Schager circulated a petition challenging
Goldsmith's right to the seat, saying officeholders should be
elected rather than appointed and that citizens should
"decide for themselves who they wanted for a councilperson."
The petition forced a special election in which Schager's

6/22

2001

26

move toward owning their own businesses and homes. "I
want to see this town revitalized, by not only welcoming these
people to town but helping them to make the next step —
taking pride in their part in the community," he said.

All is calm in Postville now, but the divisiveness could
return as the November general election nears. Goldsmith is
undecided about whether he'll seek the full term.
"I'm taking it a day at a time right now," he said. "This
whole process took a big toll on me." For now, he said, "the
only goal I have is to finish what I started — energizing the
city and moving it forward."

❑

1991

1981

President and Mrs. Reagan extend-
ed birthday greetings to Rabbi
Mordecai Kaplan, founder of the
Reconstructionist movement.
Detroiter Lester Rynek scored a
hole-in-one at Western Country Club
during the Furniture Club outing.

1971

Detroiter Mrs. Ira Scho became histo-
rian of the Department of Michigan
Jewish War Veterans Auxiliary.
Landmark Properties began the
development of a 15-story Sheraton
Motor Hotel near Northland in
Southfield.
Jeffrey Rycus of Southfield received
the Military Chief of Information
Merit Award from the Navy for a book
on the first cruise of the USS Durham.

1961

A bill was introduced in the
Belgian senate to grant a 10 percent
disability rating to all persons in
Belgium who had been arrested and
held during the Nazi regime as
political prisoners.
The board of directors of the
Jewish Community Center in
Detroit decided to introduce some
activities on Saturday afternoons.
Detroiter Gary Boren graduated
from the UCLA Law School with
highest honors.

1951

The Weizmann Institute of Science
in Rehovot, Israel, received a
$25,000 grant for cancer research
from the Damon Runyan Fund.
The first class of cantors to be
trained in a school for cantors on
American soil graduated from the
Hebrew Union College School of
Sacred Music in New York.
Detroiter Mrs. Louis Tatken was
elected president of the Congregation
Shaarey Zedek Sisterhood.
— Compiled by Sy Manello,
editorial assistant

