"Two months before the November 1972 election, Ed Mezvinsky stole a precious day from his strenuous congressional campaign to chant the "Haftarah" during Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) services at a synagogue in Iowa.
The son of a Russian immigrant, he had learned this ancient practice as a youngster who rode a Greyhound bus 30 miles from his home in Ames, Iowa for regular Hebrew and religious lessons in Des Moines.
A smooth blend of the traditions of his parents, Abe and Fannie, and an innate facility for the politics of people-power that shaped his future, Ed Mezvinsky was sworn in this week as the first Jewish congressman from Iowa.
Unlike the other eleven Jewish members of the 93rd Congress, Mezvinsky, 35, does not represent a constituency of high Jewish concentration. In his southeastern Iowa district, less than one tenth of one percent of his constituents share his faith.
The new congressman believes that religion played no vote-getting or vote-losing role in his 16,000-vote victory over eight-term incumbent Fred Schwengel.
"I wasn't elected because I am Jewish, nor because I'm not," he told me during an exclusive interview at Washington, D.C.'s Mayflower Hotel. "I was elected because I appeal to voters as a change in the right direction — as a person whom they can trust, and with whom they can communicate."
Rep. Mezvinsky believes congress is the place where he can best "do something worthwhile with my life." He has carved out a big job for himself. He has pledged to his constituents that he will be an "outreach congressman" — seeking out their needs and concerns.
"I want the people of the First Congressional District of Iowa to know that they have a representative in congress," he adds. "We have set up three district offices to serve the people and plan to institute a mobile office in the near future."
He went on to say: "My parents brought me up with the idea that one had to do something positive with his life. They encouraged me to strive always to do my best, to give my life both dignity and meaning."
Ed Mezvinsky's father, who died in 1982, came to the U.S. in 1910 from a Ukrainian village near Kiev and "represented what is best in the nature of mankind, serving as a model for others to follow. And I'm trying to raise my children accordingly."
Ed Mezvinsky's classmates recall that he was a standout member of the Ames High School state championship basketball and track teams. Never weighing more than 165 pounds, he was named all-state football end.
"It was kind of crazy in a way," the still-lanky Mezvinsky laughs. "There I was at 165 pounds, when my job was blocking and trying to run through linebackers and tacklers who weighed 220 pounds or more . . . . And people tell me that politics is hard!"
A graduate of the University of Iowa in Iowa City, he received his Masters Degree in political science and his law degree from the University of California.
He also had worked in Washington, DC as a legislative assistant to Iowa's Rep. Neal Smith, and received a presidential commendation for his work in the areas of pure foods and traffic safety. In 1967, he returned to Iowa City to practice law. In 1968, he ran a successful campaign for the state legislature, serving one term before running for Congress.
Now, Ed Mezvinsky sheepishly wonders what his father would have thought if someone had told him 50 years ago that his youngest son would be a congressman.
"You know, my dad used to try to 'sell' me at his grocery store for eleven cents a pound," Ed Mezvinsky quips. "I wonder if he thinks I'm worth more than that now?"
* * * *
Today, 37 years later, Ed Mezvinsky — with a keen sense of pride — tells me: "And if my father had been present at the recent exchange of vows between his grandson, Marc, and Chelsea Clinton, my new daughter-in-law, he (Dad) might have concluded that his eleven-cent investment is enjoying most handsome returns.
"As for myself, I hope and believe that Chelsea and Marc will always be each other's best friend, cherish each other and use their care, love, talents and abilities for the betterment of society."
Trude B. Feldman has been contributing editor for WorldTribune.com for the past 12 years.
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