Treyf in Iowa

Postville, a quiet town of 1500 in rural Iowa was the scene of an interesting experiment in Jewish-American life. Agriprocessors, the largest of America’s glatt kosher meat packers established their biggest slaughterhouse there. Imagine the black hat managers and shochets (kosher slaughterers) rubbing shoulders with the farmers and small town folks and bringing in immigrant laborers to do the dirtier jobs. It was a new type of inter-cultural experiment in a rather unlikely setting. Indeed it provided the subject matter for Prof. Stephen Bloom’s book: Postville: A Clash of Culture in Heartland America. But this tale of culture clash between Lubavitchers and rural Iowans has been superseded by a far more important conflict.