Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Affection for Dogs

Ruby was extremely fond of dogs, was frequently accompanied by several of the dogs he owned, and—according to testimony at his March 1964 trial—referred to his dogs as his “children.” He became extremely incensed when he witnessed the maltreatment of any of his animals.

Religious Interests

Reared in the Jewish faith, Ruby was not especially devout but maintained ties to Rabbi Hillel Silverman’s conservative temple, attending services twice daily for the prescribed eleven months following his father’s death in 1958 to recite the traditional memorial prayer; he otherwise attended services only on the Jewish high holy days and was unfamiliar with Hebrew. Ruby was sensitive to his identity as a Jew, forbidding his comedians from telling jokes directed at Jews or Jewish practices and physically fighting persons who made derogatory remarks about his ethnic origins; he was also reportedly deeply upset that an advertisement insulting President Kennedy appeared above a Jewish-sounding name.

Physical Activities and Violence

In Dallas, Ruby maintained an exercise regimen at the YMCA, the Carousel, and his apartment (where he kept a set of weights), and was acutely concerned about his weight, health, baldness, and general appearance. Because he served as his own unofficial club bouncer, he physically attacked patrons on about fifteen occasions since 1950 using his fists, a blackjack, or pistol-whipping, and on many other occasions ejected troublesome customers by force, often throwing them down the Carousel stairs. Beyond his clubs, Ruby repeatedly beat non-patrons with his fists, including a man who called him a “kike Jew” (knocking out a tooth), a man kicked in the face from behind, and a 1958 assailant at the Vegas whom he disarmed, beat almost to death, and threw down the stairs; in another 1958 Vegas incident he knocked down and humiliated a man six feet three inches tall and weighing 230 pounds, and he also severely beat a heavyweight boxer who had threatened him. Violent episodes in 1962 and early 1963—including the February 1963 beating of Don Tabon, for which Ruby was acquitted—were documented by patrons and a doctor who visited the Carousel repeatedly between August and November 1963. Ruby rarely used firearms in disputes (exceptions being a reported pistol chase of Joe Bonds shortly before Bonds’s 1954 conviction and Larry Crafard’s account of an incident about a week before the assassination involving AGVA official Earl Norman), although his gun was frequently accessible when he carried large sums of money; friend and fellow bouncer Buddy Turman observed that Ruby “picked his shots,” often targeting drunks, women, or otherwise defenseless victims.