8/30/2023 0 Comments Jacob fink naked![]() Jacob Fink, Henry’s son, was a local lawyer who served as mayor, judge, and school board member. He also served on the local school board. Aaron Meyers was elected tax collector, treasurer, and served as mayor from 1878 to 1880. Jews have long played important civic roles in Helena. ![]() Sam became a successful men’s clothier, with his store The Stag. Sam Ciener came from Hungary, and settled in Helena because his brother Joe was already living there. Jewish families from Eastern Europe came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Joseph Solomon also became a successful cotton broker. His son Edward joined him in the business. Harry Grauman owned a store in nearby Marvell, before opening the Grauman Cotton Company in Helena in 1909. Pete Goldsmith became one of the largest cotton factors in the state. Many of these merchants eventually got involved in the region’s staple crop, cotton. In 1909, there were twenty-two Jewish owned businesses in town. By 1880, Jews dominated the retail trade. He later opened a clothing store called “The Leader” and started a wholesale dry goods operation with his brother Lafe. Their brother David Solomon worked with the department store and also grew spinach on his farmland. His brother Phillip opened a department store that became the biggest in town. Joseph also built a five-story office building in downtown, which was then the tallest structure in the area. He eventually purchased a number of area farms and was instrumental in building the first concrete highway in the area, which connected Helena to the river crossing. Joseph Solomon got involved in the grocery business, and later in the cotton industry. Moses and Pauline’s children played an important role in Helena’s development. They later bought a playground for the town’s Black residents. When Pauline died in 1903, the family donated a playground to the city in her honor. Moses Solomon and his wife Pauline were the patriarch and matriarch of the family. The Solomon family has been prominent in Helena ever since. Other important Jewish families like the Mundts and the Solomons first arrived in the 1860s. Aaron Meyers came in the 1860s, and started a wholesale and retail grocery business. Henry Fink came in 1862 and opened a large mercantile store in Helena. Several Jewish immigrants settled in town during this time, including many families that would sink deep roots into this fertile land. ![]() The 1860s was a crucial decade in the history of Helena’s Jewish community. In 1867, they founded a congregation, which they named Beth El (House of God). Most of the men owned dry goods stores or other retail establishments. Census indicates that most all of the Jewish residents of Helena were born in Prussia or other parts of what would soon be Germany. Many of these Jewish immigrants worked as traveling peddlers before settling in market towns like Helena. In the decade before the Civil War, the Jewish community in Helena continued to grow, as Jews from central Europe settled in towns along the Mississippi river. No matter what their intention, they make you think and return to see their films again and again.Jews were in Helena by the 1840s in 1846, a small group of Helena Jews borrowed a Torah from Cincinnati for the High Holidays. Is this a foretelling of the rise of Nazism, of intellectuals who really didn't understand the appeal of fascism to the common man, or a surreal portrait of someone who sells out. One doesn't always know what is in the Coen brothers minds. Michael Lerner was brilliant as the requisite man behind the desk that is the feature of 40's noir. John Turturro is captivating as the hack writer who talks about his love for the common man, but just really doesn't know the common man and really doesn't care about them. John Goodman is brilliant in this film and he seems to do his best work for the Coens. The Coen brothers also seem to get the best performances out of an actor that I have seen. It is almost as if every frame is a painting. His can frame a scene to the point that you could pause the film and just soak in the texture and color and realism. But turning off the visual would deprive you of the great cinematography of Roger Deakins. You can almost turn off the visual and just listen and be enchanted and know you are listening to a Coen brothers film. Great dialog is a feature of their films, and this one has some of the most memorable I have heard. First, is the great dialog written by the brothers. They have written and produced some great homages to the film noir era of Hollywood, and this film is no exception. The Coen brothers have come a long way from their start with an 8mm camera.
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