Cyclist’s Moving Moment in Iowa

Some 12,000 riders from cycling clubs all over the United States joined RAGBRAI – the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, which passed through Postville on Friday.

For the past 45 years, this non-competitive bicycle ride organized by The Des Moines Register has been making the route for about a week and hundreds of miles, this time passing through Postville for the first time.

The town of Postville enthusiastically prepared to welcome them with a reception of food and entertainment along the main street.

Particularly excited were the bochurim of Chabad’s Yeshivas Kayitz in Postville and members of the Chabad community in the city who went out in search of Mivtzoim.

Dozens of Jewish men stopped to put on tefillin and Jewish women received Shabbat candle-lighting kits.

Jews and non-Jews alike stopped and were amazed at the sight of Chassidic Jews in the middle of Iowa, some stopping by the kosher stand to purchase sandwiches.

Cyclists inquired about the life of Chassidic Jews here, some of them asked to be photographed to show their family and friends to show they met Lubavitchers in the middle of Iowa.

A couple of Bar Mitzvahs were celebrated by men ages 19 and over, who had never before put on Tefillin.

A particularly moving moment was when a Jew said that Thursday was his father’s yahrzeit and this is an opportunity for him to say Kaddish. He stood on the street corner, emotionally saying Kaddish with a minyan.