Jake Rifkin

In 1910, Louis Rifkin traveled to the United States from Russia with his ten-year-old son, Jake, and settled in Memphis, Tennessee. Without the boy’s mother, who either remained in Russia or separated from her husband after arrival, Joseph placed Jake in a boarding house, where the boy reportedly “fell into bad habits.” In 1912, after Jake appeared several times before the Memphis juvenile court, the local B’nai B’rith lodge petitioned the Home in New Orleans to admit the boy.

Later the same year, after initially expressing reluctance about the Home’s ability to address the needs of an “apparent delinquent,” and the fact that Jake had two living parents, the board admitted Jake to the Home. 

Jake remained in the Home until 1915, when he was discharged to the oversight of the Memphis B’nai B’rith. He enlisted in the Army in 1917, and served as a private with the 114th Field Artillery in France during World War I. In 1918, the Home honored the military service of its alumni, including Jake, by raising a flag bearing 31 stars. Jake was honorably discharged from military service the next year.

Jake returned to Memphis, once working as a clerk in the Palace Hotel, before moving to Dallas around 1950. He earned a reputation as a gambler, playing dice and betting on horses, sporting events, and according to some, “anything.” He became friends with Jack Ruby, with whom he shared an apartment for a short time. Rifkin’s relationship with Ruby, who later assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of President John F. Kennedy, caused the FBI to interview Rifkin in its 1963 investigation of Kennedy’s murder, which was included in the report issued by the Warren Commission.

Rifkin returned to Memphis, where his reputation as a gambler followed him. In 1965, the police raided the Veterans of World War I Club, where they confiscated $2300 in large bills. Although the club insisted that its members were having “just a friendly $1 and $2 limit” poker game, Jake was arrested and charged with professional gambling. As reported in the Memphis press, police said Jake had earlier worked as a professional gambler in Lake Tahoe, Nevada and Hot Springs, Arkansas. Efforts to find the outcome of Jake Rifkin’s prosecution have been unsuccessful.

Jake died in 1972 at age 73. He was buried with military honors in Baron Hirsch Cemetery in Memphis. 

Jake’s gambling reputation outlived him. His gambling and relationship with Jack Ruby were mentioned at least six times in the 1979 report issued by U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations.