Council Bluffs, Iowa: History & Stories of the Jewish Midwest

Our History. Our Stories. Our Mishpocha. George Burns said, "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city." Council Bluffs, Iowa mishpocha (families in Yiddish) were an exception. Whether they shared DNA or became acquainted while elbowing for lean corned beef at Diamond Butcher, the Jewish community -- immigrants from Eastern European cities like Bialystock, Kamenets-Podolsk, somewhere between Minsk and Pinsk, fictitious-sounding to our modern ears -- created a kinship which has lasted five generations. Like other Jewish communities in America, Council Bluffs' refugee families, small business owners and professionals made shul a hub of Jewish life. It provided youngsters the opportunity to attend Sunday school, Hebrew school and become adults through Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. Camaraderie and friendships grew through volunteer and social organizations like Hadassah and B'nai B'rith. Family-owned stores were their lifeblood, helping owners thrive and the community survive back when a handshake was a form of currency. To some, the concept of Jews in Iowa sounds like a punchline. At its peak, the Jewish community included roughly 300 families. Today, five original families remain. The last of the Council Bluffians. What's left? Stories. As novelist Umberto Eco said, "To survive, you must tell stories." Though the Jewish community faded like an aged Polaroid, Council Bluffs history has been revived. In these pages, descendants share, in striking detail, memories of idyllic days; sepia snapshots, a love letter to their ancestors.