Postville

Ilana mentioned this book by Stephen Bloom...Postville written in 2001.  The story about a group of Hasidic Lunbavitcher group from Brooklyn.who came to Iowa to buy up an abandoned slaughterhouse and turn it into one of the largest kosher slaughterhouses in the country.

Stephen Bloom, a Jew, was fascinated and went to Postville to see how this worked.  Not well, it turned out.  I'm only 3/4 through the book but I can see how it goes.  You have the agrarian Lutheran based community in Iowa who, at first welcome the new neghbors.  But the Hasidic Jews act so arrogant and outrageous.  The won't even make eye contact with the locals, they refuse to participate in mid-American ideals of hospitality.  Rude and noisy, they have no intention of blending in at all.  They stay in their insular community and show no respect to the community.

The real conflict for the author is that the Hasidic's bad behavior is generaalized to all of Judaism.  The resentment and anger of the locals turns into hostility to "Those Jews."  None of the local people who though they may do business (shoe store, real estate) with the Lubavitchers, they really have no idea what's going on with the Hasidic families.

The author goes to see members of the Hasidic community, even spends a shabbat weekend with one of the families with his seven year old son.Their ways are rude and rigid and they make it very clear that they refuse to compromise with the community at all.  They show no respect to their neighbors and have no intention to do so.  In some ways, the author is drawn in.

But he realizes that he really has to decide what side he's on and, if I'm right, he's going to find the Hasidic community too obnoxious with their arrogant behavior and bad faith to all members of the community.  They also refused to comply with any local ordinances.  The owners make it very clear that they are doing it THEIR WAY.

But things get worse after he writes the book.   Jeiwsh organizations start taking action about conditions in the slaughterhouse.  La migra (INS) raids and charges the workers with crimes as well as threatening deportment.  The owner ends up going to jail and the company (Agriprocessors) goes into bankruptcy.  I think another Jewish organization may have bought it.

But their behavior was too extreme and it really seems like they had it coming to them.

A picture about the opening a new Yeshiva in Postville.

I'll update this if needed when I finish the book.