Rating: 
Summary: Idyllic Iowa?
Review: You can hear Professor Harold Hill exhorting "Oh, we got trouble, right here in River City." Or, in this case, Postville, Iowa. The author, a tenured Professor of Journalism at the University of Iowa, is originally from New Jersey and came to Iowa City via San Francisco. He describes how this book came to be: "The journalist in me had come out in full force. ... I had barely scratched the surface, but clearly there was a culture clash of the strongest magnitude between two groups, both born-and-bred Americans, who rarely had the opportunity to clash. Here was a kind of experiment in the limits of diversity and community, the nature of community, the meaning of prejudice, even what it means to be an American. Postville seemed like a social laboratory, perhaps a metaphor for America. "[81]It sounded like an intriguing story - a clash between "the quiet, restrained Iowans" and "these brash, assertive Hasidic Jews," so I read the book. But the author's rendition is arguably more of a story than the story he purports to tell. Urban-transplant author Stephen Bloom makes himself a major focus of the story. As a prior reviewer noted he "reveals more about himself than the town." Although he does come around some by the end of the book, I found Mr. Bloom whiney - "Poor me, Poor me! Here I am [voluntarily] in the middle of the Iowa cornfields and not a decent bagel to be had!" Well, how about ordering some? Surely there is a website? Or ASK the local grocer to carry some of these items. (Try it - it really works!) The author bemoans his perceived non-acceptance by folks in Iowa. But one does not exactly ingratiate oneself to regional residents by referring to their home as merely " fly-over country" [217] or mocking their physical being. Of his first impression in Iowa City: "Never in my life, except Disney World, had I seen such large and such white people. As I slid into a booth, I noticed that the space between the table and vinyl bench must have been three feet wide. It wasn't just the abdominal girth of the hulking people around me, it was their necks, hands, fingers, arms. " [page 2]: " 'The Lubavitchers in Postville are very private people,' he said, as though lecturing a farm kid who couldn't understand the difference between median and average." [p. 29] Hunh? Are Farm kids less bright than City kids? Look at these comments again. Substitute any ethnic or religious group for the "hulks" and "farm kids." I found the author's attitude very distracting. Food does not just "miraculously" appear on Market shelves. It takes a lot of hard work, acumen, and savvy to operate a farm or meat processing facility. In farm country, I've seen bumperstickers that say: "Don't criticize farmers with your mouth full!" To Professor Bloom, one could add, "especially when they are paying your salary!"
Rating: 
Summary: Would you beleive what happened in this small Iowan town...
Review: If someone told you that a old time company closed it's slaughterhouse and it was later purchased by a New York Orthodox Jewish butcher only to save the town with it's worldwide sales of Kosher meat and poultry, you'll say, "no way!" Well that is what happened a few years ago and it continues to grow and prosper in Postville, Iowa [pop. 1,465]. That's one part of the story. The other is the racial divide that develops between the Jews and the locals; the story that has been going on for centuries with Jews not being able to live in harmony with other ethnic peoples. The local Christians can't understand these Jews because they are Lubavitchers, these most Orthodox of all religious Jews are not going to make it easy for the Iowans to accept them! The battle lines are drawn and our author, Stephen Bloom, is right in the middle. He is a journalist who takes us to Postville to try to find out why everyone can't get along. The locals talk to Bloom, some aware that being a Jew he might be "one of them," but they say their peace. On the otherhand, the salughterhouse owners and Jews that work for them, are not interested in getting along with Bloom nor the townsfolk. These cultures clash but the Jews, described as Hasidim, are only here for themselves and what the business will bring them. Religion is only a vehicle that assists them in their quest to praise the real King...MONEY! There is no stopping them from their goal to be the best butcher of pure kosher meat and poultry in the world and they will obtain that goal on their own and with their own, no matter what others have to say. Although their religious practices surround their lives, secular benefits appear to be their immediate rewards. Bloom lets us in to both worlds with frequent reflections on his parents, relatives and how these zealous Jews remind him of his days growing up in New Jersey. He may not be a practicing Jew but he knows more of what it is like to be one than any of Postville's natives. He allows himself into the story and it aids us in explaining how difficult it is for peoples to accept each other. Bloom as a Jew and as a member of society knows there is a better way to make this work for both sides. Some reviewers are upset that he is too involved in the book and doesn't "act Jewish enough.." Since this book is written about what actually occured and centers about a referendum to annex the plant to the town, which will result in additional taxes paid by the owners and their reluctance to try to win over the townsfolk, Bloom's catharsis is expected and appreciated. I could see the owner's reasoning to do everything themselves and not ask others to help; the locals being threatened by what they saw and what they have been told over the years about Jews and not understanding why "they" couldn't be friendly like them; and Bloom who knows what being Jewish is, could understand both sides and his book is proof of it. One negative I had was the frequent use of Jewish words without adequate explanations or definitions. I found himself going to the dictionary too often and wished Bloom had provided an appendix or glossary.
Rating: 
Summary: A Look at Multicultualisim
Review: As an expatriate Iowa Jew, I found this book fascinating from start to finish. Reading it, I was as conflicted as the author obviously was. Where should my sympathies lie? With the Jews who were once again facing a sort of persecution? With the townspeople whose culture and values were much more comprehensible to me? As more and more of our communities become multicultural, we will face increasing difficulties as people who understand little of one another are forced to live in close proximity. Is the ideal of the American "melting pot" losing ground as groups jealously guard their cultural identities? This book raises some provocative isssues.
Rating: 
Summary: A Goebbels Treat
Review: Stephen Bloom's "Postville" shows that Bloom understands very little about being Jewish. It shows his intolerance towards and embarrassment at the strangeness of Hasidic Jewish practices. Bloom presents as acceptable the Jew who is assimilationist. He does not, himself, accept differences. He is as narrowminded as the Iowa citizens of Postville and as gossipy. One criticism Bloom offered about Hasidic behavior and seemingly obvious blindness to social indelicacies was his section about the huge Chanukah menorah attached by a Hassid to a car and driven back and forth in the town. I read this as an almost hilarious Hasidic satire of Christian excesses at Christmas time--the deluge of Chritmas music, lights, greetings, etc. that we all are subjected to each December. Bloom seems to miss the Hasidic point and offers this as a sign of Hasidic folly and gauchness. Bloom seems to be, indeed, a self-hating Jew--proud of eating a ham and cheese sandwich and needing to mention this in the book as a kind of personal credential. This is ignorant. unaccepting of the Jewish (not just Hasidic) laws of kashrut. As a Jew who shows that he does not accept his own Jewishness, Bloom provides nourishment for the anti-Semite. Self-pitying (his phone calls were ignored by the director of the Kosher meat plant), seemingly without Jewish friends in Iowa City (and no wonder), his work in one-sided, prejudiced, and unacceptable, in my view.
Rating: 
Summary: Marginal Man Writes Diary
Review: This book has little to do with the objective reality of Postville, Iowa. It is in fact about American Jews OTHER than Hasidim, of whom Mr. Bloom is a prime example. The large majority of Jews in America are Sociology 101 marginal men, i.e. people with one foot firmly planted in each of two cultures. Mr. Bloom and his little family personify this phenomenon well, as does one other major character in the book, an armed robber who was born a gentile but raised a Hassid. Most of the people Mr. Bloom believes himself to be writing about, however, have no such difficulties, as they are firmly entrenched in either the Christian Iowa culture or the Hassidic way of life. Both of these cultures are rife with prescriptions and proscriptions which, while seemingly excessively ritualistic to some, function to get Mr. Bloom's style of first person obsession out of the way, and allow a person to think about more important matters, like taking care of business. The author's reaction to mistrust between the Iowa Christians and the Iowa Jews is, as is so often the case with minorities in general and Jews in particular, to engage in a self-loathing identification with the majority culture. Mr. Bloom takes the entire Hasidic community to task for minor imperfections of character in individuals, while ignoring and even defending the blatant bigotry espoused by a large number of the Christians. In sum, the book is about the final descent of an heir of the biblical children of Israel, who received God's commandments at Mount Sinai, into soulless assimilation.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting title
Review: Like one of the other reviewers, I am from the area and have visited Postville many times over the last 20 or so years. I think Professor Bloom captures the issues of small town midwest life pretty well for someone from such the coast. I found the writing first-rate and compelling. I am not a fan of the so-called "new journalism" where the author is part of the story but this volume is one of the few exceptions. His interest in his heritage, as well as his profession drive the story along. Having read many articles in local papers on the topic, I think that Professor Bloom is far more objective in his reportage than may first appear. His book is far superior to the Iowa Public Television program on the Postville culture clash.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating book!
Review: Stephen G. Bloom writes an interesting tale of two cultures. Being a former Iowan who grew up a mere 90 miles from Postville, I am amazed at how well he is able to describe small town Iowa. Being non-Jewish, I found the author's insight and perspective particularily enlightening.
Rating:
Summary: The Pleasure of Discovering Hypocrisy in Others
Review: The most interesting analysis to be found in this book is not Bloom's view of the culture clash, but the reader's interpretation of Bloom. On some level, Bloom's vivid descriptions of the details of kosher cattle slaughter are analagous to the presentation given in the Nazi propaganda film, "The Eternal Jew." Few people have ever witnessed the actual slaughter of cattle, kosher or otherwise, and to have their first and only description or view of a slaughter to be inextricably linked with Jewish law and culture is to unfairly burden the Jews with the fact that most of humanity are meat-eaters, and all of animal slaughter, kosher or not, has a repulsive aspect, particularly for the uninitiated. I sense a certain delight on Bloom's behalf when he finds a religious Jew being a hypocrite. Such a discovery helps to free him from any sense of guilt that he has failed to live his own life, or direct his childrens' lives, in a more religious fashion. After all, those so-called religious people are no better than him, and some considerably worse, right? Please don't confuse me with THESE Jews, Bloom seems to be saying; please let me apologize for them (and what I see of them in myself) by appearing embarassed by them. That business about using a sheet with an embroidered hole to perform sex is mythical; I don't know why Bloom has so poorly reseached his subject matter. But I would suggest that if Bloom really studied the great books and wisdom of his forefathers, he would find a depth of profundity and joy that would completely overshadow any embarassment he has concerning a few Jews with archaic customs and ocassionally neurotic behaviors. For those who are interested in exploring the mind of a confused, secular Jew in modern America, this is a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Coulda been a Contender
Review: Of course, every writer comes to the keyboard with his/her own preudices.But the detached writer--the true artist--suspends those biases in favor of an accurate portrayal of fact. Others just skim the surface, conveying their impressions. But sans context,such reportage is at the very least grossly distorted. Bloom, a nonreligious ..., seems to have come to this work with absolutely no background research...except perhaps memories of Fiddler on the Roof. But,like the Chasid on the cover of the book, Tevye was not a Lubavitcher (and possibly not even a chasid) So, what could have been an interesting essay about the "meeting of cultures" is instead a hatchet job. And once again, Jews are 'the other' . We already know too well where that leads.
Rating:
Summary: A poorly-balanced presentation
Review: I had very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it's an interesting tale about what happens when two equally insular -- but very, very different -- cultures clash with each other. On the other hand, it would have been better if Professor Bloom had not allowed his own secular hostility toward the Hasidim to obscure his objectivity. Bloom came to this project ill-prepared on the Jewish end, in that he knew nothing about Hasidism before he went to Postville. Like many secular Jews, he had an overly-idealized expectation of all Hasidim as perfect saints and sages. The disillusionment set in with his very first contact, the bombastic personality of Sholom Rubashkin (manager of the kosher slaughterhouse). Bloom takes an immediate dislike to Rubashkin because, as he later admits, "Bits of Sholom reminded me of my own father" (p. 159). This personality conflict then colors Bloom's entire view of Hasidic culture for the rest of the book. A journalism professor he may be, but an objective sociologist he is not! Bloom paints the entire Hasidic community as a bunch of loud, boorish, backward bigots. While it is true that there are prejudices among some of the Hasidim he interviews, there are equally bigoted attitudes among the gentiles. But Bloom doesn't handle this with much balance. He is able to see both good and bad in the Postville farmers, but, when it comes to the Hasidim, he reports mostly negative incidents, and repeatedly uses buzzwords like "atrocious," "primitive," and "stifling" to put down the entire Hasidic culture as bad. With the bigotry of the Iowans, however, he doesn't make such blanket value judgements. In fact, he seems to want to like them IN SPITE OF the sometimes blatant prejudices that many of them have against Jews. When asked by Postville farmers if he is Jewish, Bloom reluctantly says yes, but is very quick to distance himself from the Hasidim, lest they think he is one of "them." Is it any wonder that the Hasidim, in turn, grow to distrust him? Bloom's research was lopsided in other ways, too. While he seems to have interviewed just about every gentile in town, he only visited a small number of Hasidic families, then extrapolated from that limited experience onto the entire community. In those few Hasidic homes he did visit (and then only briefly), he went in with a defensive attitude about his own secularism that got in the way of ever understanding the culture from its own POV. As a result, some of his statements are just plain wrong. A "Shabbos goy" is not a non-observant Jew, the chant "aye-aye-aye!" in Hasidic songs is not a mystical name of God, nor is it bad luck to name a child after a deceased relative. These and other glaring bloopers only serve to underscore that fact that Professor Bloom often does not know what he is talking about, and only succeeds in perpetuating further misunderstandings. In the end, he comes down on the side of the locals in a political dispute, because, in his words, "It was finally time for the pleasant, accepting Iowans to stand up to the Hasidim" (p. 320). But many of the Iowans described in this book were not very pleasant or accepting at all. The old-timer Postville society was just as closed to outsiders as the Hasidim were, only in different ways. Just because the locals are more soft-spoken and polite to your face doesn't mean they are any less prejudiced behind your back. (Interestingly, Bloom likes Sholom Rubashkin's father Aaron, who talks more softly than his son. Low voice volume seems to be a big priority with the professor.) Bloom severely criticizes the Hasidim for not mixing socially with the Iowans. But he seems to miss the double standards of the Iowans themselves, who complain that the Jews don't shop locally, while, at the same time, shunning and harrassing the locals who sell to Jews by shouting "Jew lover" at them on the streets. That's "atrocious" behavior, too, if you ask me. My conclusion: If you want a book which explores the nature of prejudice (including that of its author) and how it can divide a town against itself, then this is an interesting read. Just don't rely on it for the details and meanings of Hasidic customs or beliefs, because in that area, it misses the mark.
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