With antisemitism on the rise, a glimmer of hope at Jewish delis

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

With antisemitism at its highest level in recorded history, Jewish delis in the U.S. are providing a glimpse of hope, celebration and award-winning pastrami on rye sandwiches.

This August marks the 10th annual National Deli Month, celebrating last century’s New York-style Jewish delicatessens. It was launched by David (Ziggy) Gruber of the beloved Houston establishment, Kenny & Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen Restaurant and Bakery.

Since 1999, Kenny & Ziggy’s “has made it a mission to give Houstonians the ultimate dining experience by combining traditional New York deli food with contemporary cuisine. Of course, it’s in owner Ziggy Gruber’s blood, being he is a third-generation deli man, and his grandfather opened the first Jewish deli on Broadway in New York City back in the 1920s.”

Each participating deli is donating proceeds to charitable causes.

A portion of proceeds from Kenny & Ziggy’s price fixed menu is going to the Holocaust Museum of Houston. The museum is also offering anyone who purchases a National Deli Month meal one free admission ticket.

The museum, founded by Holocaust survivors, is dedicated to educating the public about the Holocaust and the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy. It also presents exhibits about American culture, including one previous exhibit about Jewish immigrants and delis.

“The story of the Jewish delicatessen is as much about immigration as it is about food,” a past exhibit of the museum’s, “I’ll Have What She’s Having,” explained. “Between 1880 and 1924, more than two million Jewish immigrants made new homes in the United States. The emergence of delis can be traced to an influx of Jewish immigrants from the Rhineland – an area of Central Europe that is part of present-day Germany – to New York City in the mid-nineteenth century. These newcomers were soon followed by Jews from Eastern Europe and the Russian Empire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

“The Jewish deli combined dishes from various regions of Central and Eastern Europe as Jews from different countries met in America. Foods such as pickles, knishes, gefilte fish, borscht, pastrami, smoked fish, bagels, babka, and rugelach began to be served under one roof for the first time. Many of these dishes are not specifically Jewish in origin, but reflect regional cuisine that European Jews adopted to fit the kosher dietary laws dictated by Jewish tradition. Over time, these foods became the hallmarks of the Jewish deli in the United States.”

The Jewish deli also relied on the emerging cattle industry – led by Texas, where “beef remains the hallmark of a classic deli sandwich.”

This year, in addition to banning the production of lab grown meat in Texas, the Texas legislature officially designated two steaks as the official steak of Texas, the Texas Strip (Senate) and the tomahawk ribeye (House), The Center Square reported. The House and Senate couldn’t agree on which cut so they chose two. The chambers also passed resolutions highlighting the significance of cattle in Texas, noting that in the late 19th century, as urban centers grew, demand for beef increased.

This spurred the era of cattle drives when Texas ranchers and cowboys moved cattle along the open range to reach train depots to transport their cattle to major urban centers like New York, where the deli was founded. The growth of the cattle industry in the U.S. coincided with a large influx of Jewish immigrants who don’t eat pork, the museum notes.

In the early 1900s, Texas also became a primary destination for Jewish immigrants fleeing Russian pogroms through the Galveston Movement. More than 10,000 arrived in Galveston, considered the “Ellis Island of the South” at the time.

The monthly recognition of delis is something to celebrate, patrons argue, at a time when antisemitism and hate crimes against Jews in the U.S. has reached an all-time high. According to a new FBI report, hate crimes against Jews account for 70% of all religiously motivated hate crimes. Antisemitic incidents increased in the U.S. after the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack against Israel.

The number of antisemitic attacks tracked by the Anti-Defamation League were the largest on record last year since it began reporting them in 1979, The Center Square reported. The majority of antisemitic attacks, 64%, occurred in 10 states, eight run by Democrats. New York, the birthplace of American delis, reported the most.

The governor and legislature have implemented significant measures to combat antisemitism in Texas and support for Israel, The Center Square has reported.

Participating National Deli Month delis are located in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Canada.

Ziggy argues the month-long celebration of delis is important, “endlessly believing the deli world is a wonderful place that should never be lost.”