A hunt for the roots of mutton barbecue uncovers an often overlooked story of Kentuckys Jewish history. But the mark was made, and it was a reminder of a darker side to history. Transforming Jewish Student Life. In collaboration with the local Jewish community, Hillel, and the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, we also sponsor annual "signature" events. I asked Dan what it would mean if I had found the evidence. Some students choose to complement their major program with a minor in a related field or even in an entirely different field of interest. The city has 10 synagogues, kosher restaurants, a mikvah and multiple Jewish-owned businesses. One of the states earliest and most notable Jewish residents was Benjamin Gratz, who moved to Lexington in 1819. In one small town after another during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was common to encounter men of German-Jewish stock who had emerged as prominent citizens deeply engaged in local affairs, writes the historian Lee Shai Weissbach in his book The Jewish History of Small-Town America: The South and Beyond. Jewish population Overwhelmingly rural in its early years, Kentucky did not attract significant Jewish settlement for several more decades. It is the birthplace of some of Judaisms most distinctive ideologies and traditions the Hasidic movement emerged out of Ukraine and the country has a rich legacy of Yiddish culture. Mutton never captured the share of Americans diet that beef or pork did, and it never earned the cachet of tender lamb, despite farmers and bureaucrats trying to get sheep onto the American table. University of Kentucky Kentucky (Read more about how the FSU aliyah changed Israeli society.). In 2014, students used these awards to travel to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to conduct archival research and to attend Yiddish Farm, an immersive Yiddish language program. In 1927, Kentucky's Jewish population was reported to be 19,500, with 12,500 Jews in Louisville and triple-digit communities in Ashland, Covington, Lexington, Newport, and Hillel and other Jewish student groups are drivers for recruitment and building a Jewish student population. Jewish Sheep meat a year or more old. Papers of this time also ran the church picnic notices, often promising barbecue. Involved (13%) of Jewish adults): Characterized by high involvement in most elements of Jewish life. Dembitz was also an intellectual, writing book reviews for the. The belief that there is an international Jewish syndicate bent on world domination is nothing new. Population, percent change - April 1, 2020 (estimates base) to July 1, 2022, (V2022) . Jewish Population In addition to the research awards, students who wish to further their study of the Holocaust with experiential travel abroad may apply to the Caller-Zolondek Holocaust ScholarshipTravel Award. Most of these immigrants University Press of Kentucky, 1992). Supported by the Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence and the UK This is how he developed his mutton theory. In addition to specific courses offered by the program, students may also obtain approval from the program director to take courses from other fields provided the course subject matter is significantly relevant to the area of Jewish Studies. It doesnt give their names, but its possible they were Jonas and Sim Weil, brothers from Alsace-Lorraine who moved to Lexington in the 1880s and eventually started farming (Jonas and Sim were also among the founders of Temple Adath Israel in Lexington in 1904 where Dan was Bar Mitzvahed several decades later). When people don't know just how much the things they love are connected to the people they don't know, they have all the more reason to be scared of them or to fear them or to fuel those kinds of virulent hatred.. We learn so we can toast with a glass of bourbon or sit down to a plate of barbecue. Hebrew University demographer Sergio Della Pergola put the When asked about his religious observance in an interview, Zelensky described himself as being from: An ordinary Soviet Jewish family., PSA for US journalists writing ab Zelensky: Please dont refer to his Jewishness as faith. Ze is a post-Soviet Jew. He doesnt define himself as a Jew on basis of religion. But the Weils didnt deal in sheep specifically for any dietary or religious reasons Herschels son Walter says the family didnt keep kosher and they werent selling much mutton, let alone selling it to western Kentucky barbecues. Further, UKs Hillel intends to serve not only UK students but also other Jewish students in the Bluegrass area, including students from Transylvania University, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Centre College, and Eastern Kentucky University. Uman is a small Ukranian city with a total population of just over 80,000. I told Dan I wasnt sure I could ever find what I needed to say his theory was definitely true. The minor in Jewish Studies familiarizes students with the historical and contemporary diversity of Jewish culture, language, literature, religion, history, and philosophy. No I dont mean lamb, but m-u-t-t-o-n, MUTTON! For example, UK Hillel has a close relationship with other faith groups on campus through the Religious Advisory Staff. With larger flocks and more customers, husbanders soon developed sheep breeds that could produce plentiful, quality wool for most of their lives, then be turned into decent enough meat at the end. One or more may intersect with mutton. During the Holocaust, more than one million Jews were killed by the Nazis and local Ukrainian supporters. Thirty-one percent of Jewish households in Louisville include at least one person who is limited in their work, school, or activities by some sort of health issue, special need, or disability. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Jews immigrated to Israel. This takes both planning and funds. Data is representative of students as of the census date. WebDuring the decades of the 1840s and 1850s, Kentucky's Jewish population grew substantially as hundreds of Jewish immigrants found their way to the commonwealth. Books on Jewish Studies, The University Press of Kentucky Findings should help the Louisville Jewish community make critical decisions about the next decade of Jewish life in the region. By the 1830s, a small but growing number of Jews had settled in Louisville. Read more about whether Jews are a race, religion or ethnicity. Modern & Classical Languages, Literature & Cultures, 100 W. D. Funkhouser Bldg | University of Kentucky | Lexington, KY 40506, University of Kentucky | Lexington, Kentucky 40506. 4,505,893. 940; "Jewish Citizens PLay Prominent Part In. They have four active synagogues, a Jewish museum, two Jewish community centers, a dozen Jewish schools or kindergartens and four orphanages for Jewish children. We are proud to be the only Jewish Studies program in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to offer language courses in Yiddish, Ladino, and modern Hebrew. In hard times, eating mutton even took on the noble mantle of a patriotic chore. Their community center called Menorah opened in 2012. The Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass sponsors a number of community events and activities. Kentucky - Jewish Virtual Library You know religion didnt exist in the Soviet state, he explained. The following cities are home to Ukraines most prominent Jewish populations. WebFind JFB on YouTube! In terms of the number of Jewish people living in each state, the following ten states come out on top: New York (1.77 million), California (1.19 million), Florida (657,095), New Jersey (546,950), The Soviet Union silenced most to all of Jewish religious life, in an attempt to redefine what Judaism meant, how it looked and the way it was practiced. In addition to specific Gabe Bullard is a journalist who writes about culture, history, and media. We also offer a limited number of scholarships to support student participation in our faculty-led, summer Education abroad trip to Israel. Kentucky Jewish History - Jewish Virtual Library Their Paducah distillery became one of the largest in the country, producing 20,000 barrels of whiskey a year. President William Howard Tafts secretary of Agriculture, James Wilson, declared in 1912 that beef wasnt getting any cheaper and there is a supply of meat that people should become accustomed to eating mutton. The Owensboro Messenger compared Wilsons suggestion to Marie Antoinette telling breadless peasants to eat cake. Among the 3,300 children who live in Jewish households in Louisville, 2,200 (67%) are being raised Jewish, either exclusively or with another religion. 0.1%. In the early 1920s, Louisville had seven different congregations, several of which were Orthodox synagogues established by recent immigrants. If you are a prospective student looking for information, we recommend the Office of Undergraduate Admission. Yet the community has punched outside its weight class with its surprising, long-lasting impact on a Bible Belt city. Another early Jewish settler was Henry Hyman, who opened a tavern in Louisville called the Western Coffeehouse in 1826. Currently, Dr. Janice Kuperstein volunteers as the Faculty Advisor to Hillel, but her time is limited as her primary role at UK is to serve as the Associate Dean for Clinical Engagement and the Chair of Rehabilitation Sciences in the College of Health Sciences. Kentucky - Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern A local tells him its "because there are so many Catholics here.. Such an approach has proven very effective on other campuses; however, the students must have meaningful supervision from a professional staff member who provides guidance and facilitates resources. Though Im not Jewish, I, too, am from Kentucky. In 1927, Kentucky's Jewish population was reported to be 19,500, with 12,500 Jews in Louisvilleand triple-digit communities in Ashland, Covington, Lexington, Newport, and They allege that the new abortion law They had an existential feeling of Jewish solidarity and common fate, and Jewish pride emanating from their own and other Jews professional and cultural achievements, she noted. Were both. We are a dynamic group of 12 core affiliated faculty drawn from four colleges (Arts and Sciences, Fine Arts, Education, and Engineering). A significant portion of our JHFE request is to hire a new Director of Jewish Student Life. First established in 1996, the Jewish Studies Program and interdisciplinary minor has enjoyed a long history at the University of Kentucky. We hope to grow to having a connection with 75-100 UK students after the first year of establishing a full-time dedicated staff member to Jewish student life, with 50 of those students actively engaged and participating in regular events/programming and more growth in later years. I had a few dots Jewish communities in western Kentucky, Jewish shepherds in the bluegrass but I couldnt draw a line to mutton barbecue. WebAthletics The University of Kentucky Athletics Department is a 22-sport program dedicated to competing at the highest level nationally and in the Southeastern Conference, while enriching the lives of its nearly 500 student-athletes both during and after their time at UK and honoring the deep connections it shares with its fans, the Commonwealth of I grew up divorced from the Louisville Jewish community. Many Soviet Jews experience suggested that Jewishness was akin to race: a vague yet inescapable reality, explained researcher and writer, Izabella Tabarovsky, in a journal article. By Gabe Bullard an warned me his theory was 99 percent bullshit. More fanciful than factual, not entirely either. The coal company did not appreciate the Applemans largesse, and swore out a criminal complaint against the couple for criminal syndicalism. The four most common barriers to participation in the Jewish community cited by Jewish adults in Louisville are not knowing many people (41%), a lack of confidence in Jewish knowledge (29%), a lack of interesting activities (21%), and the cost of participation (20%). Religious diversity in our town generally meant various denominations of Christian and families like mine who didnt go to church and who a friend once described as lapsed. Christianity, active or lapsed, seemed to be the default. 20,239 are undergraduates and 6,005 are graduate students. Based on the experience of our colleagues in other faith-based student organizations, we believe it is essential to have a dedicated professional staff member to guide the committed core group of students to broaden their appeal and reach to other students. The most recent Ukrainian census was in 2001 the next census was scheduled to take place in 2020 but was postponed to 2023, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. An Israelite Benevolent Society founded in 1832 dissolved after only four years. All CMJS and SSRI publications are housed in ScholarWorks. Jewish Studies - Minor | Academics - University of Kentucky Arab and Jewish Women in Kentucky: Stories of Accommodation and Audacity Get Your Passport Ready: Jan Fernheimer & Paul Chamberlin Introduce the Year of the Middle East Listen Although the hospital has a kosher kitchen and mezuzahs on every door, and has been supported financially by the local Jewish community, it has served primarily non-Jews. Lets suppose this glut of sheep to say nothing of the governments pleas did lead to shorn old ewes landing in the barbecue pit. For a complete list of approved courses please refer to the UKY bulletin. The answer for him and creator Stan Lee is complicated, Why travel to Poland? We're in a pretty scary time in the United States right now, Fernheimer says. We expect that the Director of Jewish Student Life would facilitate recruitment and engagement through planning similar events with Jewish students. Harry and Bina Appleman, who owned a general store in Evarts, decided to give away 24-pound bags of flour to striking miners in 1931. Interest in Kentuckians increases the farther they get from their home state, and we get used to a certain level of curiosity. Was that exclusively the work of Welsh settlers, or, as Dan wondered, could there be more to the origin story? From Fall 2016 onward, the census date will be October 15th for Fall terms and March 15th for Spring terms. Barbecue mutton and the John Prine song Paradise are two of our more well-known cultural markers. Its where Mitch McConnell rallies his partys faithful with jokes about his opponents, and where I once witnessed a heckler mark the end of a moment of silence by yelling youre terrible at a sitting governor. The 2021-22 Study of Jewish Louisville provides a comprehensive portrait of the community's 14,200 Jews; their families; their Jewish attitudes, behaviors, and affiliations; their Many of these companies eventually moved into distilling. After reading or watching a few, a different picture of Kentuckys history emerges one thats been overlooked outside of projects like the oral history and the occasional book: Jewish settlers helped build Paducah, Owensboro, and many other cities and towns along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Today, its hard to calculate Ukraines Jewish population accurately and estimates range from 49,000 to 400,000. Twenty-six percent of Jewish households in Louisville include someone who belongs to a synagogue, independent. Financial Aid information is reflective ofthe previous academic year when submitted (i.e. We believe that a dedicated staff member in the position of Director of Jewish Student Life would be available for these types of meetings and recruitment. We want to make an authentic little town. The Most Unbelievable Conspiracy Theories Page 6 24/7 At UK, we are aware that many of our Jewish students are engaged in fraternities, sororities, and other extra-curricular groups that include Jewish students who are currently unaffiliated with Jewish life on campus. Looking for space to expand their flocks, shepherds went west, first to Ohio, then Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. But there is a connection to so much else. In 2014, students used these awards to travel to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to conduct archival research and to attend Yiddish Farm, an immersive Yiddish language program. More stories like Halperns earlier stories, going back another century undoubtedly exist, waiting to be written or found. Situated in the heart of the Bluegrass, Lexington is home to a rich and flourishing Jewish community with more than 100 years of history. Enrollment & Demographics | Institutional Research, There was very little opportunity for Jewish community, religious practice, or even bare-bones cultural expression.. Harper brand of whiskey. WebHere is a virtually complete list of persons identifiable as Jews in America by 1800, the result of a thorough search of manuscript materials and published literature for the names of Jews who lived in America (including Canada up to 1783) 1995] Kentucky's JewishHistory 259 That was enough to get the interest of Dans colleague. Scion of a prominent Jewish family in Philadelphia, Gratz became one of Lexingtons leading citizens during the 19th century. WebSource: Ira M. Sheskin & Arnold Dashefsky, United States Jewish Population, 2022, in Arnold Dashefsky & Ira M. Sheskin, Eds., American Jewish Year Book, 2023, (Cham, SUI: Forthcoming Springer, 2023). Minors that are a good fit with this program: University Registrar | September 2022. Not until 1842 did Louisville Jews establish a lasting congregation, the first in the state. Interesting choice by the Guardian. Ulysses Grant, in 1862, issued his General Order No. Such activities require planning that simply cannot be placed on Hillels student leadership. The cultural communion is part of the South. Nobody knows the definitive story of barbecue mutton. Jewish identity didnt exist in the Soviet Union, because it couldnt, Gal Beckerman of The Atlantic wrote. A strong Office of Jewish Student Life, including Hillel, will directly impact the latter two pillars. Students from 105 countries are represented at this school, with the majority of the international students coming from China, India, and South Korea. Church picnics across western Kentucky serve the dish. *The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. See racial/ethnic breakdown for all students. Could there have been some kosher influence on this tradition? Twenty-seven percent of Jewish households and 30% of Jewish individuals reside in the Northeast region (eastern Jefferson County and Oldham County), and the remaining 27% of Jewish households and 31% of Jewish individuals reside in the remainder of the Louisville area. Its part of the country. 11 in response to fears that Jewish merchants were running a black market in cotton during the Civil War. If you have difficulty accessing the data within this or any dashboard, or if you need other assistance, please contact us. Eating is a complicated activity that reveals who we are and where we come from, an activity that defines our race, gender, class, religion.. The minor in Jewish Studies familiarizes students with the historical and contemporary diversity of Jewish culture, language, literature, religion, history, and philosophy. Southern Jewish history reminds us of our nations racial and religious diversity. In the 1880s, Dembitz served four years as the Louisville city attorney. Harper bourbon. University of Kentucky Faculty Racial/Ethnic Demographics: There are approximately 17,250 female students and 12,736 male students at UK. Community Organizations. In the future, This is an experience Ukraines Jewish President, Volodomyr Zelensky, said he shared about his own identity. Thirty-nine percent of Jewish adults in Louisville have been to Israel at least once. Jewish Studies offers its undergraduates several opportunities to futher their research and language skills with Undergraduate Research Awards. A search through the interviews reveals only a few mentions of sheep, and just one mention of a Jewish family raising them the Weils. In addition, our virtual presence through social media is limited due to relying on students to maintain and promote messaging. Home | University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences Additionally, the University has agreements of collaboration with Haifa and Ben Gurion Universities. We learn so we see that the differences we imagine arent anything to fight over. To be a Jew from the time of Stalin onward was to have a stamp in your internal passport that marked you as such (just as a Ukrainian or Latvian national identity was also indicated). As the University expands the scope of diversity and inclusivity efforts, plans are underway to provide space for the Office of Jewish Student Life within the Universitys new Student Center. In Shelbyville, Moses Ruben left the bulk of his estate to establish a trust fund that supports local projects and charities. THE BITTER SOUTHERNER 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. University of Kentucky Kuperstein, Janice (PI) Without dedicated outreach to these groups, current participation is rare. Most of the lambs went to an abattoir in New Jersey, run by a man who Walter says he may have been named after. There is an active Hillel which hosts a number of student events. Gratz served on Lexingtons first city council in 1832 and was a director of the first two banks established in the city. It doesnt claim they inspired or invented it; it just wasnt pork and the pitmaster didnt cook beef. 'A Big Blue Family': Jewish Students Find Community at UK In 1913, the Evansville Press, just over the river from Owensboro in Indiana, ran a piece bylined Uncle Sam.. UK Racial-Ethnic Breakdown of Graduate Students. University of Kentucky | Lexington, Kentucky 40506 | Pat Bosley, co-owner of the Moonlite Barbecue Inn in Owensboro a mutton purveyor par excellence has a few more details. As Weissbach writes, the outward migration of Jews who grew up in small towns accelerated greatly in the latter decades of the twentieth century, and in most cases it was not counterbalanced by the arrival of new settlers.. The candidate we seek will have a masters degree in Jewish Studies, Community Leadership, or a related course of study or experiences. The theory rattled in my head after I moved. Data will be updated approximately 2-3 months after the census date, following submission to CPE and IPEDS. They regularly plan faith-based and interfaith-based activities to engage students. 37.99% of UK students come from out of state, and 1.43% come from out of the country. Here is a virtually complete list of persons identifiable as Jews in America by 1800, the result of a thorough search of manuscript materials and published literature for the names of Jews who Community in Ukraine - World Jewish Congress Ukraine is home to one of the worlds largest Jewish communities and its historical roots run deep. Zelensky has suddenly shot into the spotlight, triggering a sequence of questions and discussions about his upbringing, religion and faith. Hillels current active membership of more than 30 students represents a small fraction of the Jewish students on campus, but many of our Jewish students are not currently affiliated with any Jewish organizations. Together they form a unique fingerprint. The Most Unbelievable Conspiracy Theories - 24/7 Wall St. Jewish Stay in the know and feel smarter about all things Jewish. For the few hundred-thousand that stayed, including Ukraines current President Volodmyer Zelensky, Jewish life began to take shape in new ways. Overview | University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences He couldnt find the source, and neither could I, but it isnt out of the realm of possibility. Now, in his Jewish student life has a long history at UK, with a Hillel campus presence dating back to 1938. Kyiv is Ukraines capital city of almost 3 million people and is home to about 110,000 Jews, according to JTA, and half a dozen active synagogues. Jewish The university hosts the Jewish Kentucky Oral History Project. UK Racial/Ethnic Breakdown of Undergraduates. I called Ferris, and she hadnt heard of anything that would connect mutton to the Jewish populations of western Kentucky. For those that remained, the end of the Soviet Union allowed some air to enter Jewish communal life, explained Gal Beckerman. One Paducah Jew, Cesar Kaskel, decided to lobby the government directly, traveling to Washington, D.C. where he was able to meet with President Lincoln. In 1877, a newspaper in Owensboro noted the proliferation of Jewish-owned stores, claiming that the city owes much of its commercial reputation to the vim and enterprise of this class of people. Henry Wallerstein opened a mens clothing store in Paducah in 1868. Its likely there were other Jewish farmers who werent in the Jewish Agricultural Society the 1910 document is a membership list, not a census. Kentucky-Israel Cooperation - Jewish Virtual Library WebSearch by expertise, name or affiliation. In Paducah, five of the six wholesale liquor firms in 1894 were Jewish owned. In addition to offering a minimum of 4-5 courses each semester, we also sponsor the Annual Zantker Lecture Series with a minimum of five invited speakers (this year we'll have five plus we're hosting a two-day symposium focused on Kentucky Jewish History April 12-13, 2018), and the Luckens graduate essay competition and prize. The interdisciplinary minor in Jewish Studies provides students with the opportunity to become acquainted with the culture, language, literature, religion, history, and philosophy of the Jewish people from antiquity to the present. Eighty percent of Jewish adults in Louisville feel some sense of emotional attachment to Israel, including 20% who feel very attached. Dolphs son Joseph Wile kept the business open until it was the last department store located downtown before it finally closed in 1992. QuickFacts Kentucky. To round out our vision for robust Jewish student life on campus, including a living-learning community, President Capilouto is leading fundraising efforts to establish a privately-funded Hillel house on or near the Universitys campus. In addition to holding public office, Kentucky Jews have contributed significantly to the larger communities in which they lived. Holiday (41% of Jewish adults): Characterized by having their highest level of participation in holiday observances and other activities that do not necessarily require involvement in organizations. In addition to the research awards, students who wish to further their study of the Holocaust with experiential travel abroad may apply to the Caller-Zolondek Holocaust ScholarshipTravel Award. The sheep got old, and meat with that many years behind it needs to be slowly cooked in order to reach the level of tenderness diners prefer (mutton is a term for the flesh of any sheep thats over one year old anything younger is usually sold as lamb). This experience will include work helping to build, index, and make accessible the growing Kentucky Jewish Heritage Oral History repository. Ukraines Jewish President, Volodomyr Zelensky, Read more about how the FSU aliyah changed Israeli society, Russias claims that Ukraine needs to be denazified., TikToker Niki Weinstock is shedding light on the joys of Jewish life. They also created a, Kentucky Jews have long played leading roles in the political and civic life of the state. QuickFacts provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more. Temple Adath Israel, a Reform congregation.