Our dive into the IJN archives — for this week 98 years ago — transports us to a time when the IJN was still called the Denver Jewish News, and when Denver’s West Colfax neighborhood was a hub of Jewish life, with merchants lining the busy thoroughfare. Among the ports of call appears to be a Rabbi J. L. Rosenblum, who ahead of Sukkot was offering lulavs and etrogs for sale.
Denver Jewish News, Oct. 9, 1924
In 1924, much of Denver’s West Colfax Jewish community was still located in the original settlement, under and near the Colfax Viaduct. So it’s no surprise that Rabbi Rosenblum address is right at the heart of it, at Colfax between Morrison and what is now called Mile High Stadium W Circle. The address is reminiscent of a time when West Side Jews performed tashlich not at Sloan’s Lake, but at the Platte River.
Rabbi Rosenblum boasts “I have in my possession Esrogim from Eretz Israel Lulvin and Haddasim.” It’s something worth boasting about — would it have been easy to import from what was then Mandatory Palestine all the way to Denver? We’re sure that those in the market for the Four Species would have been thrilled to see Rabbi Rosenblum’s advertisement in the Jewish News.
It’s heady to imagine festive yontif Jews, holding their sets of Four Species, strolling along West Colfax. It must have been a sight to behold!
This online feature explores the IJN’s new digital archive, discovering the news of the week, years ago.
