Rabbi Yossi Jacobson will join his neighbors throughout Iowa and head out for caucus night tonight, as they do every four years, being the first in the nation to vote in the contentious presidential primaries.
But before that, the rabbi is keeping busy—very busy—serving up kosher food with a side of Torah and Chassidic wisdom at Maccabee’s Kosher Deli, a project of Lubavitch of Iowa, to the many visitors from around the world who have been in town this political season.
“We’ve met a lot of the Jewish students from all over America who are here running around pushing their candidates,” says Jacobson, director of Lubavitch of Iowa. “Our kosher deli fulfills an important need for Jewish volunteers and staff. Plus, for them and for everyone who visits, it’s an hour or so break away from the campaign, where they can enjoy a pastrami or corned-beef sandwich and get a d’var Torah [Torah lesson] as well.”
The restaurant is a welcome stop, where Des Moines Register food critic Karla Walsh recently raved about the “super-crunchy and tangy homemade pickles,” and gave thumbs up to the pastrami and corned-beef-on-rye sandwiches that “were freshly sliced and trumped supermarket meat-counter varieties.” She also noted that “the beautiful full-wall mural of a bustling Middle Eastern marketplace, painted gratis by local artist James Navarro, will have you hankering for more.”
Neverthless, this is one delicatessen where the food is almost secondary.
Nourishing the Soul
Noting that his “office” is a table inside the deli, Jacobson says “when people come in, we start talking. Today, everything has to happen quickly. It’s an instant world, and sometimes, you have to deliver the kedushah, the holiness, in an informal, instant way. And that’s what they have here.”
It also provides a safe space and a welcome break, according to the rabbi. Here, people from across the political spectrum can engage in daily political combat as they sit across a table, hear a few words of Torah teachings and focus on what brings them together—and not what sets them apart. “You have people from across the board who come into the deli for different reasons. There’s one thing everyone wants and needs, and that’s a good meal. And that’s the beauty of being the face of the community.
“This is the way that the message of the Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory] is reaching hundreds of people each week who don’t necessarily come because it’s kosher, but because it’s a five-star deli.”
The rabbi also keeps a pair of tefillin handy for Jewish men who want to take part in the mitzvah.
Still, Jacobson makes it clear that it isn’t just in the restaurant where he and his family interact with campaign volunteers and staff.
A group of college students who are stumping for presidential Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton have been in town for a few weeks and coming to Shabbat meals at the Jacobson home. The group of eight to 10 young people even helped make a minyan recently to ensure that a Des Moines resident who needed to say Kaddish—the memorial prayer for a loved one—got the chance to do so.
From the Republican side, Ben Carson’s campaign held a rally at Maccabee’s deli on Sunday, the day before the caucuses. According to Dr. Mark Young of Maryland, who coordinated the event, the eatery was the perfect setting.
“As an observant Jew, the task of visiting many different cities and small towns across the country and finding fresh kosher food in a nice milieu is always a daunting challenge,” he says.
Compounding the issue is identifying an eatery suitable for holding an event and meeting with friends, family and business associates. “While there were only a few of us who eat kosher regularly at the party, the food was enjoyed by Jew and non-Jew alike,” recounts Young. “It was a real Kiddush Hashem! One person at the party even had a chance to lay tefillin.”
Much earlier in the campaign, staffers from the Bernie Sanders campaign got to enjoy a little taste of Chanukah when the candidate arranged for a delivery of potato pancakes from the deli during the Festival of Lights.
Then there was the doctor from New Jersey in town to help his candidate, Republican Gov. Chris Christie. The doctor, who keeps kosher, ordered meals not just for himself but for some 20 staffers that Jacobson’s son, Laibel, delivered to a local hotel.
“I went and dropped off the food for him, and then he put on tefillin,” says the younger Jacobson. He added that they also spent a few minutes talking about the doctor’s home state since Jacobson attended rabbinic school there a few years ago.
“It’s interesting to see how many people fly in from across the country,” says Laibel Jacobson. “We get to meet all these people who come to Des Moines and are looking for kosher food, and they find an establishment here where they can get food. And they also meet people with whom they can stay for Shabbat.”
As for Monday night, Rabbi Yossi Jacobson is looking forward to going out and doing his civic duty. “People expect me to go; it’s a responsibility,” he says. “If you participate, it shows you care. Every vote counts, and we are in a critical period.”
“This is a very serious election,” he concludes. “In all my years here, I’ve never seen the thrill and the anticipation of the youth as I am experiencing this time.”
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