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/NorthernIowan
February 8, 2018
@NorthernIowan
Volume 114, Issue 35
northerniowan.com
Opinion 3 Campus Life 4 Sports 6 Games 7 Classifieds 8
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Future of Facebook 3
Theater review 4
Same, Same, Different 5
Overwatch league stage one wrap 6
The Jewish community in the cedar valley
NICOLE BAXTER Staff Writer
From the battered bricks of Main Street to the metallic menorah on the side of the synagogue in Waterloo, the inf luence of the Jewish people is deeply rooted in the cultural bedrock of the Cedar Valley, with a presence dating back over 100 years. However, despite their contribution to the development of local businesses and establishments, the Jewish
population has gone largely unnoticed over the years. Today, there is one central synagogue, Sons of Jacob (SOJ), to accommodate the entire Jewish population in Black Hawk county. The other closest centers of worship for Jews are in Iowa City and Mason City. Francesca Soans, associate professor of communication studies, co-directed “Waterloo: A History of Place,” a documentary that focuses in part on the history of SOJ Synagogue.
“I think the Jewish history in Iowa is generally not known, with the exception of maybe Postville,” Soans said. “But, the Jewish community has been in Iowa for a very long time, and Waterloo certainly since the mid-19th century. So, there is a rich history there that is not known.” In spite of this rich history, the number of Jewish families in the area has shown a sharp decrease over time. Alluding to the former grocery and clothing shops owned by Jews, which used to be common in the downtown area, Soans attributes the shrinking Jewish community to older generations passing away and younger generations choosing not to carry on the family business. Sarah Stokes, vice president of the SOJ board, esti-
COURTESY PHOTO
Erin Maidan, a Jewish Lay leader, discusses the Jewish community’s impact and influence in the Cedar Valley.
mates the current community size to be roughly 80 to 100 families. The official temple membership is about half the size, at around 40 families, according to Stokes. Still, the Jewish community in Cedar Falls and
Waterloo remains active and engaged in both religious practices and social justice movements, and their impact can largely be felt throughout the Cedar Valley.
and father managed to survive in a cellar with fake Christian IDs. Faludi talked about how her father, Steven, assumed different roles throughout his life before becoming a transgender woman. From forging a VISA to becoming a stylish photographer, Steven Faludi was constantly changing identities. Eventually, Steven found his true identity, and sent an email to his daughter Faludi explaining that he had undergone a transformation, and was now Stefanie Faludi. “We live in the age of identity,” Faludi said. “An identity, like refuge, can be what we seek or what we guard.” Faludi said that she felt
that her book was necessary to write, as writing is her way of figuring out her life. According to Faludi, it was because of her alienation with her father during her life that made it easier to break the ice with her father’s interview. She said that her ‘journalistic nature’ helped her get the story. “And I began to act less like a prosecutor and more as a witness,” Faludi said. One UNI student in attendance at Faludi’s lecture was criminology major Sami Davis. According to Davis, the lecture was not quite what she was expecting.
Pulitzer Prize winner visits UNI AMELIA DUAX Staff Writer
UNI’s Kamerick Art Building was packed with people, some of whom ended up sitting on the floor, to see
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Susan Faludi’s lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. Faludi’s lecture, titled, “In The Darkroom of Identity and Refuge: A Daughter’s Account,” is the fifth in GABRIELLE LEITNER/Northern Iowan
the Meryl Norton Hearst Lecture Series. Faludi has written multiple books, such as “Backlash,” “The Terror Dream” and “Stiffed.” Her lecture was centered around her most recent book, “In The Darkroom.” Faludi is an American journalist and feminist. Her story focused on numerous events from her and her family’s past experiences in Hungary. The lecture’s main themes were refuge and identity; Faludi’s great grandparents sought refuge from Nazis taking Jews to concentration camps in 1942. According to Faludi, her great grandparents died in the camps, but her grandparents
See COMMUNITY, page 2
See FALUDI, page 4
CEDAR VALLEY PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
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