The Trefa Banquet was a dinner held on July 11, 1883, at the Highland House restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio. [1] It was organized in honor of the ordination of the first graduating class of Hebrew Union College and the eighth annual meeting of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. The menu included dishes that did not conform to Jewish dietary law (kashrut). The banquet came to symbolize disputes over religious practice within American Reform Judaism that contributed to the emergence of Conservative Judaism. [2]
Hebrew Union College, established in 1875 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, ordained its first four graduates in July 1883. The ordination coincided with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations’ annual convention, which met in Cincinnati from July 10 to 12.. A banquet was held for both occasions at the Highland House, a Cincinnati venue on Mount Adams that hosted political and social gatherings until its demolition in 1895. [3]
Approximately 215 people attended. The cost was defrayed by wealthy Jewish residents of Cincinnati, among them Julius Freiberg, a business partner and neighbor of Samuel Levy, whose wife was the daughter of Jacob Ezekiel, secretary of the board of Hebrew Union College. [4] The program included a multi-course French-style meal with live orchestral music.
The menu excluded pork but included several foods prohibited by Jewish dietary law, among them clams, crabs, shrimp, and frog legs. Meat and dairy were also served in the same meal—for example, meat courses alongside ice cream—and the meat itself was probably not kosher. [2] [4] [5] At the time, many Reform Jews did not eat pork but disregarded other dietary restrictions, such as the prohibition on shellfish. [4] [5]
Newspaper coverage immediately after the banquet did not report controversy. TheCincinnati Enquirer and Rabbi Wise's TheAmerican Israelite described the program, menu, and attendees and did not record any objections to the inclusion of non-kosher food. [6] [7] [8] The banquet was mentioned briefly in reports on the meeting of the Council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, which also did not reference any controversy. [9] [10] [11]
Criticism first appeared in the Jewish press outside Cincinnati. Rabbi Sabato Morais of Philadelphia condemned the event in a letter to the editor of the American Hebrew dated July 16. [12] Morais did not use the name "Trefa Banquet", and its first use is unknown. News of the Trefa Banquet was reported widely in the Jewish press. [4] : 35 The Jewish Record, Jewish Tribune, and Jewish Herald also expressed disapproval. The American Israelite noted that banquet attendees displayed no dissatisfaction. [13]
Banquet attendee Henrietta Szold, commented in a letter, published in The Jewish Messenger on July 27, that the number of attendees who objected to the meal was "surprisingly small. …Two rabbis left the table without having touched the dishes, and I am happy to state that I know of at least three more who ate nothing and were indignant but signified their disapproval in a less demonstrative manner." [4] In 1941, the last living attendee of the banquet, David Philipson, recalled rabbis leaving in protest, though later historians have noted inaccuracies in his account. [4] [14]
Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, president of Hebrew Union College, denied involvement in planning the menu. [2] [15] In response to criticism, he argued that dietary laws were no longer binding. [2] [5] Accounts of Wise’s own practice note that his food observance was frequently inconsistent, and that he readily changed or revised his views. [4] : 39
In later accounts, the banquet was portrayed as symbolic of disagreements within American Judaism over the observance of Jewish law. David Philipson claimed outrage over the banquet was a key turning point in the formation of Conservative Judaism as an alternative to the Reform movement. [4] : 30 He linked the event to the eventual founding of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1886, which became central to Conservative Judaism. [1] However, other sources stated that dissatisfaction among traditionalist congregations within the Union of American Hebrew Congregations predated the banquet, and that the event was used to justify withdrawal rather than causing it. [4] : 43 [16]
On January 7, 2018, a group of Reform Jews in the San Francisco Bay Area, including members of the Illuminoshi qv, an organization of Jewish food professionals, organized an event titled "Trefa Banquet 2.0." The program included a lecture by a professor of Jewish history on the original Trefa Banquet of 1883 and a meal prepared by Jewish chefs that featured non-kosher dishes. [17]
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)The occasion was the 'Trefa Banquet 2.0.'