"Banquet in honor of the Delegates to the Council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, July 11, 1883."

The Trefa Banquet

In 1883, Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, president of Cincinnati's Hebrew Union College, invited both traditionalists and reformers to celebrate the rabbinical seminary's first graduating class and the 10th anniversary of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. To the surprise and chagrin of the more traditional attendees the banquet fare included a variety of forbidden foods, horrifying some guests and causing many to walk out. The banquet is now commonly referred to as "The Trefa (unkosher) Banquet."