This Day, December 16, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
December 16
1316:
Öljaitü, the eighth Ilkhanid dynasty ruler in Tabriz, Iran, whom the former
vizer Rashid-al-Din Hamadani the Jewish convert to Islam was found of guilty of
trying to poison, passed away today.
1431:
King Henry VI of England named King of France following the death of his
grandfather, Charles VI, King of France. Charles VI was the French king who
expelled the Jews from France.
1485:
Birthdate of Catherine of Aragon, future wife of Henry VIII and Queen of
England. This daughter of Ferdinand and
Isabella failed to produce a male heir which changed the religious face of
Christian Europe. As for the Jewish
view, Henry’s father had to promise his future Spanish in-laws that Jews would
not be permitted to live in England as a condition for marriage to Catherine.
1584:
Birthdate of John Seldon the English scholar and jurist who developed an
interest in Jewish laws and customs that led to the development of a “theory of
international law” based on seven Noahide Laws as well as a “treatise on
marriage and divorce among the Jews entitled “Uxor Ebraica.” For more see Renaissance England's Chief
Rabbi: John Selden by Jason P. Rosenblatt http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2011/12/john-selden-as-an-early-modern-maccabee/ and http://jcpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/john-selden.pdf
1558: Today, Miles Cloverdale, a translator of the Bible
into English who relied on Luther’s Bible and the Vulgate but who did have some
knowledge of Hebrew as can be seen by the fact that “the name of the Diety
appears in Hebrew on the Title Page” and that Hebrew characters are used to
mark the divisions of the Book of Lamentations” became an elder of the English
church in Geneva, and participated in a reconciling letter from its leaders to
other English churches on the continent.”
1603: A De revolutionibus manuscript of Nicolaus
Copernicus passed via Rheticus to others and was marked today by Jakob
Christmann, the Jewish born orientalist who had converted to Christianity, with
Nicolai Copernick Canonici Varmiensis in Borussia Germaniae mathematici …
1653: Oliver Cromwell became lord protector of England, Scotland
and Ireland. Regardless of what others
may have thought of him, Cromwell did work to allow the Jews to return to
England.
1684:
The first room for prayer meetings of was opened in Copenhagen which was the
home of the newly founded Ashkenazi community
1737(23rd
of Kislev, 5498): Anna Channa Isaac Brisker the wife of Itsak ben Simon Shamash
and daughter of Isaac Itsak Brisker and Sara Samuel Brisker who gave birth to
her in Amsterdam in 1702 passed away today.
1741: Birthdate of Nathan Adler, a German Kabbalist from
Frankfurt, who passed away in 1800 and is not to be confused with the British
rabbi of the same name.
1750: Birthdate of David Friedländer “the son-in-law of banker
Daniel Itzig, and a friend, pupil, and subsequently intellectual successor of
Moses Mendelssohn, who occupied a prominent position in both Jewish and
non-Jewish circles of Berlin.”
1750: Birthdate of David Friedländer, (Friedlander) a German
Jewish banker, writer and communal leader.
1760: Jacob Pinto the son of Abraham and Sarah Pinto and his first
wife, Thankful Pinto, gave birth to Yale University graduate and member of the
Continental Army William Pinto “who became a prominent West India merchant” who
“seems to have had no Jewish affiliations
1762(30th of Kislev, 5523): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Sixth
Day of Chanukah
1762: As the Jews prepared to light the seventh Chanukah candle,
in Barnstable, MA, Adino Hincley married Mercy Otis today.
1762: Final date for the Journal of the Upper House of Assembly in
the state of Georgia.
1767(25th of Kislev, 5528): First Day of Chanukah
1767: Jews begin observing Chanukah during the second month of
Lord North’s, the man who would lead England throughout most of the American
Revolution, 15 years as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
1769: Dr. John Sequeyra, scion of a distinguished Sephardic family
of physicians in England, treated George Washington's daughter
"Patsy" who was ill. Patsy was actually his step-daughter, the
child of his wife, Martha who was a widow when he married her. Patsy’s untimely death was a great personal
blow to Washington. The “Father of our
Country” had no children of his own.
1773(2nd of Tevet, 5534): Seventh Day of Chanukah
1773: As Jews kindle the 8th light of Chanukah, a group
of American patriots, the Sons of Liberty, boarded an English ship in Boston
harbor and threw its cargo of tea overboard, giving us the Boston Tea Party, a
milestone event on the way to the American Revolution.
https://www.bostonteapartyship.com/the-final-straw
1776: In Great Britain,
declaration of an official fast “to wish success
against the rebels in America.”
1778(27th
of Kislev, 5539): Third Day of Chanukah
1778:
Birthdate of Liepmann Levin, who converted and gained fame as German dramatist
Ludwig Robert and was the brother of Rahel Antonie Friederike Varnhagen,
1779(7th
of Tevet, 5540): In New York City, Isaac Abrahams and his wife gave birth to
Esther Abrahams.
1786(25th
of Kislev, 5547): Chanukah and Shabbat
1786: In
Harford, CT, as the Jews began their observance of Shabbat New York and
Massachusetts signed the Treaty of Hartford which settled the boundary disputes
between the two states but which also showed how weak the national government
was – a weakness that would lead to the creation of the U.S. Constitution.
1789: Lilie
Marx and Samuel Suss Strauss gave birth to Lammle Straus, the husband of Baden
native Zelma Hochstetter with whom he had six children.
1790:
Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Countess Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf
gave birth to their youngest son Leopold, the First King of the Belgians who
counted among his friends and advisors Senator J.R. Bischoffsheim, the
father-in-law of Baron Maurice de Hirsch.
1800(29th
of Kislev, 5561): Fifth Day of Chanukah
1800: As
the Jews prepared to kindle the sixth Chanukah candle, Alexander Hamilton wrote
to Oliver Wolcott, that either Jefferson or Burr would become the next
President – a reality that existed because both men had received the same
number of votes in the electoral college even though the voters had thought
they were voting for Jefferson for President and Burr as Vice President. (This
would be remedied by the 12th amendment to Constitution)
1803(1st
of Tevet, 5564): Seventh Day of Chanukah; Rosh Chodesh Tevet
1805(25th
of Kislev, 5566): Chanukah
1805: On
the same day that Jews prepared to kindle the second Chanukah candle, the Lewis
and Clark Expedition was trying to stay dry as rain fell on their encampment in
Oregon.
1807(15th
of Kislev, 5568): Seventy-seven-year-old Marianne Abraham who had married
Jochem David de Mets-Maarsen in 1750 passed away today in Amsterdam
1808(27th
of Kislev, 5569): Third Day of Chanukah observed on the same day that French
Forces led by Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr defeated the Spanish at the Battle
Caradedu, which was part of what came to be known as the “Peninsular War.”
1815: In
the UK, the Western Synagogue purchased the site for the Brompton Jewish
Cemetery for £400.
1816(26th
of Kislev, 5577) Second Day of Chanukah celebrated just three days after
Indiana joined the Union making this the firs Hoosier Hannukah.
1818:
Birthdate of Moritz German, the native of Nikolsburg who from 1844 until his
death in 1892 was the “cantor of the synagogue in Wroclaw” and who was the
father of “industrialist Felix German.”
1819:
Birthdate of Simon von Winterstein, the native of Prague who was a successful
businessman, member of the Imperial Council and a leader of the Vienna Jewish
Community.
1822(2nd
of Tevet, 5583): Eighth and final Day of Chanukah
1824(25th
of Kislev, 5585): Channukah
1825:
Birthdate of Bavarian native Myer Strouse who in 1832 came to the United States
where he settled in Pottsville, PA where he practiced law, served two terms in
the U.S House of Representatives as a Democrat and represented the Molly
Maguires, a secret society of coal miners feared and despised by the mine
owners.
1827(27th
of Kislev, 5588): Third Day of Chanukah
1828(10th
of Tevet, 5589) Asara B’Tevet observed for the last time during the Presidency
of John Q. Adams.
1830:
Rachel Gomes and John Messena gave birth to Esther Meseena.
1832(24th
Kislev, 5593): Kindle the first Channukah Candle
1832:
Birthdate of French painter and illustrator Jules Worms who “made his debut at
the Salon of 1859 with his painting “Dragoon Making Love to a Nurse on a Bench
in the Palace Royale” followed by “Arrest for Debt.”
http://www.rehs.com/Jules_Worms_Bio.html
1835: L'éclair (The
Lightning Flash), an opéra comique in 3 acts by Fromental Halévy was premiered
today by the Paris Opéra-Comique at the Salle de la Bourse with an orchestra
that included Jules Offenbach (born Jakob Offenbach) as a cellist.
1836(8th
of Tevet, 5597): Solomon Solomons, the Amsterdam born of Joseph and Judith
(Judy) Solomons, the husband of Alice Abrahams and the father of Caroline,
Fanny, Joseph and Emma Solomons passed away today in Charleston, SC.
1842: In
Pilsen, Bohemia, Jonas and Charlotte Goldscheider Adler gave birth to Emma
Adler who became Emma Mandl when she married Bernard Mandl with whom she had
two children – Sydney and Etta – while working on a variety of philanthropies
and “good works’ including Jewish Home Finding Society for Children, the Home
for Jewish Orphans and the Baron Hirsch Woman’s Club which founded and led as
its first president.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/emma-b-mandl
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/Mandl-Emma-B
1843: In
Pilsen, Bohemia, Jonas Adler and Charlotte Goldscheider gave birth to Emma B.
Mandl, the founder and president of the Home for Jewish Friendless and Working
Girls, the wife of Bernhard Mandl who was also a probation officer of the
Juvenil Court and President of the Baron Hirsch Ladies’ Aid Society.
1847:
Birthdate of Dorum, Germany native Justus Heyn, the husband of Manchester,
England native Caroline Franc.
1847: In
Paris, General Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy and his wife gave birth to Ferdinand
Esterhazy, the French officer who was a spy for the German and “the perpetrator
of the acts of treason for which Captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully
convicted.
1847: A
bill was introduced in the House of Commons that would have changed the oath of
office so that Lionel de Rothschild could take his seat in Parliament.
1850(11th
of Tevet, 5611): Nathaniel Samuel Jacobs, the son of Isaac and Catherin Jacobs
and the husband of Frances Russell was buried today in the “Hope Street burial
ground” on the same day he had passed away.
1851: In
Hungary, Joseph Newman and his wife gave birth to Julius Newman the long time
Rabbi at the Montefiore Congregation at Thomas and North Robey Street in
Chicago, Illinois.
1852:
Birthdate of Episcopal clergyman Professor John Punnett Peters, the well-known
archaeologist and author of both the “Hebrew Story, from Creation to the Exile”
and Hebrew Literature
1854(25th
of Kislev, 5615) Chanukah.
1854: In
Berlin, Louis Posner and his wife gave birth gave birth to “German physician
and medical writer Carl Posner.
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12305-posner-carl
1857(29th
of Kislev, 5618): Fifth Day of Chanukah
1857: Thirty-seven-year-old
Liverpool native Sir Paul Samuel married his first wife Henrietta Matilda, the
daughter of Benjamin Goldsmid Levien who gave birth to Louis, Edward, Henri,
Lydia and Randolph.
1857: In
Buetthard, Bavaria, Simon Sichel and Malie Hirsch gave birth to Portland,
Oregon Police Commissioner Sigmund Sichel, the Vice President of the First
Hebrew Benevolent Association, Grand President of B’nai B’rith’s District 4 and
husband of Sarah Solomon.
1858:
Birthdate of Yiddish singer, actor, and composer Sigmund Mogulesko.
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10917-mogulesko-sigmund-selig
1858: “Gen.
Cass and the Mortara Affair” published today examined the American response to
the Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara and the Pope’s refusal to return the child to
his parents. “Gen. Cass” is Lewis Cass, the American military leader who carved
out a successful political career that including serving as Secretary of State
under James Buchanan starting in 1857.
According to the article, Cass conceded that an injustice had been done
but that the United States could not be expected to officially interfere any
time a matter of injustice in a foreign land was brought to its attention. According to Cass “The President full
participates in the public feeling and he cannot refrain from expressing equal
surprise and pain that, in this advanced age, such unnatural practices should
be ascribed to any part of the religious world and such barbarous measures
resorted to.” Regardless of the
President’s personal feelings, he still cannot bring himself to join the
protests of other governments including England, France, Sardinia Holland and
Austria. The author of the article
wonders if Cass would intervene if the Jews were suffering at the hands of the
inquisition. [Considering the international
clamor that arose over the issue, President Buchanan’s reluctance may seem a
little mystifying to some especially when you consider that one of August
Belmont was reported to be one of his major supporters. For those who know anything about the days
leading up to the American Civil War, Buchanan’s behavior is not a matter of
anti-Semitism but merely another reflection of a President who had no will to
act no matter what the cause.]
1860(3rd
of Tevet, 5621): Eighth Day of Chanukah observed for the last time during the
Presidency of James Buchanan
1862(24th
of Kislev, 5623): Just two weeks before President Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclamation the first candle of Chanukah is kindled.
1863:
Birthdate of George Santayana the philosopher and writer best known for the
quote “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Witty though he may have been a reading of
Chapter 25 of George Santayana: A Biography by John McCormick entitled “Moral
Dogmatism: Santayana as Anti-Semite gives one a different view of the famous
Spaniard. While it would appear that his negative view of Jews was a slowly
evolving one, starting in the late 19th century it took full form
during the 1930’s as can be seen from his reading of and comments about Lecole
des Cadavres written by “the pro-Hitler, Jew-baiting fascist Louis-Ferdinand
Celine.
1864: On
the second and final of the Battle of Nashiville , Colonel Frederick Kneifler
and his brigade of Hoosiers turned a possible defeat into victory by charging
the on-coming Rebels, “forcing them to retreat” in such confusion that they
left much of their equipment on the field of Battle.
1865(28th
of Kislev, 5629): Parashat Miketz; Fourth Day of Chanukah
1865: In
Newark, NJ, Alexander and Fannie (Fleisher): Schlesinger gave birth businessman
and philanthropist Louis Schlesinger, the co-founder of the Union Building
Company, vice president of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, board member of
Congregation B’nai Jeshurun who married the former Sophie Levy with whom he had
two sons – Alexander L. and Joel L. Schlesinger.
1866: In
Baltimore, MD, Selig G. Putzel and Sophie Neuberger gave birth to Lewis Putzel,
the University of Maryland law school graduate and Republican politician who
served in both the House of Delegates and the State Senate and was the husband
of Birdie Rosenberg with whom he had two children – Edward G. Putzel and
Margaret Ney/Hummel. (Some sources show 1867)
1866:
Birthdate of Alexander Protopopov who as Russian Minister of the Interior said
in 1916 that he believed “in equal rights for Jews” and that this would be part
of the move to abolish “everything that hinders further progress” in Russia.
1868(2nd
of Tevet, 5629): Eighth Day of Chanukah
1868: In
Romania, a shochet and his wife gave birth to writer and published Avrom
Vermont who settled in Argentina in the 1890’s when the Jewish community was in
its infancy.
http://yleksikon.blogspot.com/2016/06/avrom-vermont.html
1870:
Birthdate of Eugene Hugo Paul, the native of Jersey City, NJ, who became a
“banker and clothier in New York City as well as an officer with the Young
Men’s Hebrew Association and the Young Folks League for Aid to Hebrew Infants.
1870: Two
days after he had passed away, “Ferdinand Leopold Emanuel,” the son of Harry
and Rosalie Emanuel was buried today at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemtery.
1870: Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, founder of American Reform Judaism,
preached the dedicatory sermon at the laying of the cornerstone of the Central
Synagogue, Lexington and Fifty-Fifth Street.
1873:
Today, in Barbados, a petition was presented to the House of Assembly” where it
was requested that the Jews “be relieved of payment of taxes of £20 to £25
annually imposed by the Vestry on a house belonging to the congregation, the
small rental which was used for the upkeep of the synagogue and for the help of
poor Jews.”
1874:
“Property Exempt From Taxes” published today described the decision of Judge
Van Brunt exempting a lot adjacent to the Hebrew Free School from taxes even
though the school is only renting the property and does not own it.
1874:
Birthdate of Galicia native and Brooklyn manufacturer Louis Wiesner.
1875: “The National Assembly
nominated” Auguste Scheurer, a future ardent defender
of Dreyfus, “as a permanent Senator.”
1875: The
children from the Hebrew Orphan Asylum were taken to the Hebrew Charity Fair,
which is now in its second week. So far, the fair has raised nearly
$100,000.
1875:
The H.M.S. Malabar set sail from Egypt, bound for Portsmouth, England, with a
precious cargo stored in seven zinc boxes: 176,602 shares of stock in the Suez
Canal Company, recently sold by the Khedive of Egypt. The buyer was the British
Government, bolstered by a timely advance of 4 million [pounds] from N.M.
Rothschild & Sons in London. Spiced with intrigue and flush with flamboyant
figures, the affair has all the flair of a thriller. There have been bigger
real-estate bonanzas -- notably the $15 million deal that won the Louisiana
Purchase from France and the $7 million payment that wrested Alaska from
Russia. But none have had quite the elegance, speed and daring of the Suez
Canal transaction. It briefly established the House of Rothschild as a sovereign
state on a par with -- or perhaps even slightly ahead of -- Her Majesty's
Government. Two decades earlier, the
British were strangely myopic about the value of a proposed canal that would
unite the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. Benjamin Disraeli, then the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, dismissed the notion: ''The operation of nature
would in a short time defeat the ingenuity of man.'' For the greatest maritime
power on earth, this would prove a grave miscalculation, ceding construction of
the canal to French capital and engineers, backed by Egyptian forced labor. By
the time the canal opened in 1869, it had redrawn the map of the British
Empire. The sea journey that had stretched 10,800 nautical miles from London to
its imperial jewel, India, was slashed to 6,300 miles. Luckily for the British,
the Khedive provided the British with a chance to remedy their blunder only six
years later. A profligate borrower, addicted to luxury and Pharaonic projects,
Isma'il Pasha became hopelessly indebted and could stave off his creditors only
by selling his controlling stake in the Suez Canal Company. Very likely it was
Lionel de Rothschild, head of the British bank, who tipped off Disraeli to the
historic opportunity. The Prime Minister had to act with maximum secrecy and
dispatch, sending his private secretary to sound out Lord Lionel on the huge
advance of 4 million [pounds]. As legend has it, the reserved and circumspect
Rothschild asked, 'What is your security?'' ''The British Government,'' the
secretary replied. The tale has been embellished with other, possibly fanciful,
details -- the most common being that the financier savored muscatel grapes as
they talked, spitting out pits between rejoinders -- but the moment needs no
apocryphal adornment. With a nod, Lord Lionel had conferred upon the British
crown mastery of one of the world's principal crossroads. In retrospect, the
feat represents a high-water mark of banker power. For its services, N.M.
Rothschild exacted a steep and controversial fee: a 2 1/2 percent commission on
the advance, plus 5 percent annual interest. The Rothschilds defended these
terms, noting that they had put a considerable portion of their capital at risk
during the perilous interval before Parliament voted for payment. Hobbled by
the lumbering pace of politics and fearing a leak of information, Disraeli,
like other 19th-century statesmen, employed an elite private bank as a screen
behind which to conduct secret statecraft. The deal held up for a remarkable 81
years, binding together the outposts of the British Empire until President
Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, in a blaze of rhetoric, nationalized the Suez
Canal Company in July 1956. In a rear-guard defense of colonial privilege, the
British, the French and the Israelis pounced on Egypt in a brief but abortive
invasion that only underscored the limits of Western influence in the region.
The advent of larger vessels has somewhat diminished the canal's importance. Supertankers
now economically ship oil by the traditional route around the Cape of Good
Hope. Even so, the hundred-mile canal remains the pivot of much Middle East
commerce and diplomacy.
1876: Birthdate of Kiev native Louis Cohen, the University of
Chicago and Columbia University trained engineer whose many inventions in the
fields of “radio and cable telegraphy” included the U.S. Navy’s “Cohen
receiver” and who raised one daughter with his wife Ethel
1876(30th of Kislev, 5637): Parashat Miketz; Rosh
Chodesh Tevet; Sixth Day of Chanukah
1876: Birthdate or Russian native Isidor Leo Marrow, who in 1888
came to the United States where he rose to the presidency “underware makers”
Harwood Manufacturing Company while serving as “a director of the Israel Zion
Hospital” while raising two sons and four daughters with “his wife Rebecca.”
1877(10th of Tevet, 5638): Asara B’Tevet
1877: Rabbi Henry S. Jacobs of the 34th Street
Synagogue officiated at the funeral of Jacob Grau, the impresario. The Hebrew
Mutual Benefit Society had attended the body before the ceremony which was
attended by a large throng. Burial was at the Washington Cemetery.
1878: Sixty-seven-year-old German author Karl Ferdinand Gutzkow an
advocate for the emancipation of the Jews in his writings including “Uriel
Acost” his play that would “later become the first classic play to be
translated into Yiddish and became a longtime standard of the Yiddish theatre”
passed away today.
1878: Max Blatt and his wife gave birth to Joseph Blatt the
graduate of the University of Cincinnati and Hebrew Union College who served as
the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Columbus, GA.
1879(1st of Tevet, 5640): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Seventh
day of Chanukah
1879(1st of Tevet, 5640): Hungarian born Joachim
Pollak, passed away today Trebitsch Moravia where he had been serving as rabbi
since 1828.
1879: The
Young Men’s Hebrew Association hosted a Chanukah reception at the Academy of
Music.
that
included a series of tableaux that depicted the Jewish victory over the Syrians
1880: It was reported today that the Union Presbyterian
Church of Alexandria, VA which does not have a building in which to hold
services has accepted the offer of a local synagogue to use its facility.
1880:
Frank Leslie’s illustrated published a woodcut of Chanukah celebration hosted
by Young Men’s Hebrew Association at the Academy of Music in New York.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3c03362/
1880: In “Gilnitz, Polish Lithuania,” Joseph Jacob Altman and Leah
Oberschmieds gave birth to Rebecca Annetta Altman, the resident of
Steubenville, OH, who wrote “essays, poems, sketches and translations from
German, Hebrew and Yiddish for American Jewish newspapers and the Steubenville Herald.
1880: Birthdate of Polish native and Tulane physician Dr. Abraham
Louis Levin a three-year veteran of the Russian Army and Captain in the U.S.
Army during WW I who is best known “for his invention in 1921 of the Levin
stomach tube used in the treatment of gastro-enterological diseases.”
1881: It was reported today that the tableaus on display at the
ball sponsored by the Young Men’s Hebrew Association that “reproduced some of
the most famous scenes in the Biblical story” “were selected by Rabbis H.P.
Mendes and Henry S. Jacobs” and “carried out under the supervision of Messrs.
I. and B. Kiralfy.
1881(24th of Kislev, 5642): Kindle the first Chanukah
candle
1881: It was reported today that the Commissioners of Emigration
have sent 200 of the 250 Jewish immigrants from Russia who arrived aboard the SS Suevia to Ward’s Island. The rest of
them will be sent there in a day or two.
1882: Rabbi Gustav Gottheil of Temple Emanu-El testified before a
committee headed by Senators Boyd and Browning that was investigating “the
subjects of corners and futures and the effect which they have upon commerce
and public morals.”
1883: It was reported today that “Mme. Janauschek” will be
starring in an upcoming performance of “Zillah, the Hebrew Mother
1883: “Shall Jews Marry Christians” published today summarized the
views of Rabbi Isaac M. Wise on the subject on intermarriage of which he spoke
approvingly. To what extent the fact
that one of his daughters married an Irish Catholic influenced his attitude is
unknown.
1883: In Rochester, NY, members of Berith Kodesh are scheduled to
vote today on adopting the new English ritual for their services which they
began using at Shabbat services this past weekend.
1883: Birthdate of French film pioneer, Mix Linder.
1883: “Revision” published today described some of the changes
that can be found in the latest translation of the Old Testament. Among them is changing the garment that Jacob
gave to Joseph from a “coat of many colors” to “a tunic with long sleeves.”
1883(17th of Kislev, 5644): Sixty-six year old
Maximilien Charles Alphonse Cerfberr of Medelsheim, “a French journalist,
writer and government official” passed away today.
1884: It was reported today that vice cases were treated
differently based on religion as could be seen by the fact that, Herman
Schneider, a 28 year old Jew, was indicted and held without bail on the same
charge for which the light haired and fair skinned Frank Snyder was allowed to
post bail.
1884: Birthdate of Metz native and German trained architect Walter
Curt Behrendt who came to the United States in 1934 where he continued his
career as visiting lecturer and college professor at Dartmouth and the
University of Buffalo.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_8507461/
1885: It was reported today that the Ladies’ Fair being held at
the Metropolitan Opera House has already raised $10,000 which will got to the
Kindergarten and Industrial Schools of the Hebrew Free School Association
1885: In San Francisco, Julius C. Koosher was one of four men
arrested today on charges that they planned to assassinate 20 prominent
Californians including Leland Stanford and Charles Crocker and then blow up the
city’s Chinatown. Koosher, who is also known by the name Kowalski is a Jew who
escaped Russia after suffering unspeakable persecutions and came to the United
States where he became an agent of the Jewish Relief Society. His animosity
towards the railroads stemmed from being swindled by railway magnet Henry
Villard who had promised to pay me $600 for every family that helped become
homesteaders.
1886: In Detroit, a dispute erupted at the Commercial National
Bank between insurance man William Parkinson a Jew named Weinberger over $75
that the former owed to the latter.
1887(1st of Tevet, 5648): Sixth Day of Chanukah: Rosh
Chodesh Tevet
1887: Lieutenant Louis Ostheim, the Philadelphia native and
graduate of the U.S. Military Academy was detached to take charge of Fort Myer
in Virginia.
1887: In Germany, Moritz Falkenstein and Cäcilie Falkenstein gave
birth to Harry Falkenstein, the husband of Esther Falkenstein and father of
Edith Falkenstein who was murdered at Auschwitz in 1943 at the age of 55.
1889: Dr. Anton Zolki, a Jewish “journeyman dentist” attacked Dr.
C. H. De Lamater while the being treated for a dental problem.
1889: A large contingent from the B’nai B’rith is expected to
attend the events this evening at the “Hebrew educational fair” being hold at
the American Institute Building.
1889: “Foreigners In The Trades” published today reiterates the
stereotypes among immigrants including “the Chinamen who seem to be able to do
little else besides washing lines” and Jews who continue to involve themselves
“in callings in which compound interest figures prominently.” (Another way of
calling Jews moneylenders and usurers)
1891: In Munich, Joseph Schülein, the son of Joel (Julius)
Schülein and Jeanette Schülein and Ida Schülein gave birth to Kurt Schülein
1891: Plans were published today for the construction of a new synagogue
to be built at Plainfield, NJ to serve the Jews of that town as well as the
Jews living in North Plainfield, Bound Brook and Somverville.
1892(27th of Kislev, 5653): Third Day of Chanukah
1892: Rabbis Theodore Guenzburg, David Chan and Henry S. Jacobs
led services this evening which part of the jubilee exercises celebrating the
50th anniversary of Rodeph Shalom in New York City which featured a
sermon by Dr. Gustav Gottheil, the Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El.
1892:
"How They Regard Ham. Views of Local Rabbis on
Mr. Rosenburg's Expulsion” published today described the results the Brooklyn
Eagle found when it visited local rabbis after “Hyman Rosenberg was expelled as
rabbi of Beth Jacob synagogue for eating ham.” “While George Taubenhaus, rabbi
of Beth Elohim stated, "I do not believe my congregation would expel me if
I ate ham", Baith Israel's rabbi Friedlander responded, "While there
are some differences between the reform and orthodox Jews, I do not think it is
the place for any Jewish minister to eat ham. The reformers do not so strictly
observe the old Mosaic Law, but it does not seem to me a good example for a
rabbi to set to his congregation."
1893: Birthdate of Vladimir Golschmann, the Paris born son of
Russian parents and conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from 1931 to 1957.
https://www.naxos.com/person/Vladimir_Golschmann/31777.htm
1894: At Temple Emanu-El Rabbi Silverman “gave the third of the
series of sermons on ‘Answers to Jewish and Christians Inquirers,’” entitled
“The Essential Basis for a Religion of Humanity.”
1894: A list published today of the officers of the New York
Hebrew Mutual Benefit Association included M.D. Michaels as President and
Philip Benjamin as Treasurer.
1894: Funeral services were held today for Abraham Keyser, a
retired grocer who had originally been buried in a grave without a marker
because nobody knew who he was when he mysteriously passed away.
1894: It was reported today that Sir Julian Goldsmid, “a member of
the House of Commons for the South Division of St. Pancreasa” presided at a
meeting of the Russo-Committee where “communications” were shared that the Czar
had taken steps to modify “actions taken under the May Laws” and the laws
regarding the expulsion of Jews from Russian
1895: After being closed yesterday, the Educational Fair, a
fundraiser sponsored by prominent New York Jewish families re-opened today. So
far the fair has raised almost $100,000.
1895: It was reported that a near riot broke in front of the
Thalia Theatre where a concert given by “The Hebrew Mechanics’ Association
under the management of Max Hirsch’s dramatic agency.
1895: It was reported today that the opening night of the second
season of concerts at the Arion Society’s concert hall included Louis Blumberg
playing “Max Bruch’s transcription of the old Jewish prayer, Kol Nidre.”
1896: Isaac Aaron Levin, the Lithuanian born son of Aba Ascher
Levin and Golda Reizel Margolis and his wife gave birth to Byrdie Levin who
became Byrdie Cohen when she married Israel Cohen.
1896: Solomon Schechter left England bound for Egypt and Palestine
so he could study Hebrew manuscripts including those in the Geniza at Cairo.
Although there were reports of the Geniza dating back to the 1750’s, Agnes and
Margaret Smith, known as the Westminster Sisters, were the ones who saw it in
1896 and told Schechter about what would become the greatest literary treasure
trove found in Jewish history. Schechter’s involvement would vault him to a
leading spot among Jewish intellectuals which led to his becoming the President
of the Jewish Theological Seminary; a position from which he would try to
rescue Judaism from the extremes of radical reform and stultifying orthodoxy.
1897: West Point graduate Harry J. Hirsch was promoted to the rank
of First Lieutenant in the 18th Infantry of the United States Army
today.
1897: In Philadelphia, founding of the “Doreshe Da’ath Society
which was “organized for the encouragement of the study of Jewish history and
literature” and whose members including Henry M. Speaker and Arthur A. Dembitz.
1898: In Rochester, NY, Sophia Ellis and Harris Davidson gave
birth to Baltimore City College and Maryland Institute of Design trained artist
and portrait painter Morris Davidson the director of the Morris Davidson School
of Art and the husband of Anne Davidson with whom he had two children – Lucy
and Eric.
https://www.askart.com/artist/Morris_Davidson/100354/Morris_Davidson.aspx
1898(3rd of Tevet, 5659): Eighth Day of Chanukah
1898(3rd of Tevet, 5659): Seventy-six-year-old Bavarian
native Abraham Leopold Bechoefer, who in 1848 came to the United States where
he married Rebecca Goldsmith with whom he had eight children and owned a
successful “mercantile business in Woodbury” before he retired and settled in
Altoona, PA passed away today after which he was buried in the Mount Sinai
Cemetery.
1898: In London, Emma and Karl Kirchberger gave birth to their
daughter author Amy Blank, the wife of Rabbi Sheldon Blank, the Nelson Glueck
Professor of Bible at HUC and the editor of the Hebrew Union College Annual for
six decades, as well as the author of books like Jeremiah: Man and Prophet
and Prophetic Thought
1900(24th of Kislev, 5661): Kindle the first Chanukah
Candle
1900: M.D. Gottlieb presided over a meeting of “about 500 young
Jews, some of whom saw service in the Spanish War at the Sixty-ninth Regiment
Armory’ where they enrolled in an organization which it is hoped by its
promoters” including Emil K. Fireinan “will be admitted to the National Guard
of the State” of New York.
1900: Last day on which the Barge Office was used as the
processing station for immigrants, including tens of thousands of Jews,
entering the United States through the port of New York. This was the second
time that the Barge Office was used for this purpose. It had been temporarily
re-opened due to a fire at Ellis Island, the place most people think of as the
entry point to America.
1901: In Philadelphia, Edward Sherwood Mead, a professor of
finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Emily (née
Fogg) Mead, a sociologist who studied Italian immigrants gave birth to
anthropologist Margaret Mead who in the
late 1940s was involved in a project financed by the American Jewish Committee
that studied 128 Jewish immigrant families living in New York City” one of the
main findings of which was that the mother in these families was, “intensely
loving but controlling to the point of smothering, and engendering guilt in her
children through the suffering she professed to undertake for their sakes.”
1901: Arnold Schonberg began serving as the Music Director of
Berlin’s "Überbrettl" today.
1902: “The Roumanian Question “published today discussed a note
the State Department addressed to Roumania concerning her outrageous
international procedures touching her Jews” but also raised objections for the
United States being a dumping ground for immigrants, including Jews from
Roumania, who have deliberately kept their citizens from succeeding in their
native country.
1903(27th of Kislev, 5664): Third Day of Chanukah
1903: In Rochester, NY, the District Council of Zionists is
scheduled to hold a Chanukah Concert today.
1903: Mayor-elect George B. McClellan and his wife are scheduled
to attend tonight’s session of fair in the Grand Central Palace sponsored by
the Order of the Daughters of Jacob who raising fund “to build a home for aged,
poor Jews.”
1903: Twenty-seven-year-old Louis Bernstein, the CCNY educated son
of Henry Louis Bernstein and Jennie Whitestone who became President of the
Music Publisher’s Protective Association, married Enid Wolf today.
1903: As of today, the balance in the account of The Educational
League for the Higher Education of Orphans with headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio
which had been organized in 1896 whose members included Rabbi Moses J. Gries of
Cleveland, Rabbi Leo M. Franklin of Detroit, Michigan, Rabbi Tobia Schanfarber
of Chicago, Illinois, Rabbi Abram Simon of Washington, D.C. and Rabbi Louis
Wolsey of Little Rock, Arkansas stood at $5,989.69.
1904: At tonight’s meeting of the American Conference on
International Arbitration meeting in Carnegie Hall, Oscar Straus delivered a
speech in which he “sketched the history of arbitration up to the establishment
of the permanent court at the Hague” and said “we have assembled tonight to
give voice to the true grandeur of Nations believing…that permanent peace is
the only true diplomacy befitting civilized States.”
1905(18th of Kislev, 5666): Parashat Vayishlach
1905: In Kiev, the Czar’s forces crush the four-day old Shuliavka
Republic whose founders had called for an end to pogroms aimed at Jews.
1905: It was reported today that “many wealthy Jews are leaving”
Warsaw because “of the raids on their residences by bands of revolutionary
coreligionists” who call themselves “Anarchist.”
1905: A review Balthasar Huebmaier – The Leader of the Anabaptists
by Henry C. Vedder published today noted that while he served as “preacher in
the Cathedral of Regensburg” he “took part in persecuting the Jews.”
1905: “Arnold Kohn, Vice President of the State Bank and a member
of the National Committee which is raising the two-million dollar fund for the
relief of the suffers by Russian massacres” today “received a number of
letters” including ones from Messrs. Perelmutter and Kligman providing the
“details of the atrocities” at Kishinev.
1905: In Salonika, which was then a part of the Ottoman Empire
Isaac Carasso and his wife gave birth to Daniel Carasso who founded what would
eventually become Dannon Yoghurt.
1906(29th of Kislev, 5667): Fifth Day of Chanukah
1906: “Prior to the actual ceremonies” dedicating the new building
of the Young Women’s Hebrew Association” the entire building on Lexington
Avenue was “thrown open to the inspection of a large audience.
1907: As the debate over Sunday Closing laws intensified in New
York it was reported today that Rabbi Mendes “said that the Jews ought not
claim any special privileges; that they should abide by the laws of the country
in which they live” a view not held by Jewish merchants who were losing two
days of business because they were closed on Saturday in observance of the
Jewish Sabbath.
1908: Three years after beginning his teaching career in the
Chemistry Department of the University of Pittsburg, 27-year-old Professor
Alexander Silverman, the Pittsburgh born son of Phillip and Hannah Silverman
married Elrose Reizenstein today in Pittsburg.
1908: Birthdate of New York native Louis “Lou” Spindell, who
played for CCNY from 1928 to 1930 before moving on to the American Basketball
League.
1909: Confirmation of Rabbi Chaim Bidjarano’s election as Chief
Rabbi of Adrianople.
1909(4th of Tevet, 5670): Seventy-nine-year-old Lina
Morgensten, the German feminist activist who was the wife of Theodor
Morgenstern and the mother of Olga Morgenstern passed away today.
1909(4th of Tevet, 5670): Mrs. Schosche Malke Kiwowitz
passed away today.
1910: “The old s tone mansion on Eagle Avenue just north of 161st
Street, which for years has been occupied by the Hebrew Infant Asylum, has been
sold to a builder a improvement.”
1911(25th of Kislev, 5672): Chanukah
1911: Seventy-three-year-old Rabbi Moses A. Schreiber passed away
today in New York City.
1911: Educational institutions in Jaffa raise funds for the
Ottoman Navy League.
1911: Celebration of the 25th anniversary of the first Jewish
colony in Argentine. The colony was made up of 200 families from
Constantinople. By mid-1917, Ashkenazim made up 80% of the Jews in
South and Latin America, the other 20% being Sephardim.
1912: It was reported today that Julius J. Franks had presided
over an informal meeting of the Judeans at the Hotel Majestic where “recent
books of Jewish interest were discussed including Michael Hellprin and His Sons
and Life of Benjamin Disraeli and where Dr. H.G. Enelow “declared that a
complete account of the Jewish race” in the United States “was still to be
written.”
1913: Birthdate of Lipa Zabrowsky, the native of Vilnius who made
Aliyah in 1920 and gained famed as Aryeh Ben-Elizer, the member of Irgun who
became an MK.
1913: The Supreme Court of Georgia heard the appeal of Leo Frank
for a new trial following his conviction for murdering Mary Phagan.
1913: Charlie Chaplin began his
film career at Keystone for $150 a week.
1913(17th of Kislev, 5674): Sixty-six-year-old Albert
Wolfson, the son of jurist Isaac Wolfson, a liberal lawyer who was courageous
enough to defend Friedrich Geffcken, an opponent of the Iron Chancellor and who
was denied a seat in the Hamburg Senate because he was Jewish, passed away
today.
1914(28th of Kislev, 5675): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1914: “The Senate’s debate today on the Immigration was largely
devoted to the question of Jews from Russia, specifically an amendment offered
by Senator Thomas of Colorado, suggested by Louis Marshall., “intended to
extend the exemption to those not literally persecuted because of their
religion but simply discriminated against in the statutes of their countries.”
1915: Albert Einstein published
his "General Theory of Relativity.”
1916(21st of Kislev, 5677): Parashat Vayeshev
1916: Birthdate of Emily Frankel Putzel, the resident of Baltimore
and the wife of Lewish Putzel with whom she had one daughter, Carol Joan Putzel
Moeller.
1916: In response to a request made by the Joint Distribution
Committee sermons are scheduled to be delivered in every synagogue and temple
throughout America “exhorting the congregants to support the plans for the
relief of Jewish war sufferers” that are being made for 1917.
1917(1st of Tevet, 5678): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Seventh Day of
Chanukah; in the evening kindle the eighth candle
1917(1st of Tevet, 5678): Dina Salzenstein who had
married medical student turned banker Sol S, Iser, the Fort Recovery, OH born
son of Fannie Steinfeld and Gottlieb Kiser in 1889 passed away today.
1917: The Anshe Emes Religious School is scheduled to hold a
“Chanukah entertainment” this afternoon.
1917: Tonight, Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein told members of the
International Synagogue meeting at the Mount Morris Theatre that “The men who
fought under Judas Maccabean have left their descendants among us at Yaphank at
every other” Army “camp in the United States, on the soil of France or wherever
else a good Jew may find himself. From
them the Jews of the world look for a good, a glowing and a glorious report.”
1917: At Temple Emanu-El, Dr. Joseph Silverman” predicted “that
the fall of Jerusalem would probably cause a change in the ancient Jewish
ritual of worship” because “the holidays of the Jewish calendar are of the
joyous sort. With the possible exception
of the observance held by the orthodox Jews on the anniversary of the fall of
Jerusalem, there is not a melancholy note in our ritual. Now that the ancient city has been captured
by the British forces, I imagine that this melancholy ceremony will now be and
abandoned and the occasion turned into one of praise and thanksgiving.”
(Editor’s note – One wonders what term he would use to describe Yom Kippur.)
1917)1st of Tevet, 5678): Dina Salzenstein, the first
wife banker Sol S. Kiser, the Ohio born son of Fannie Steinfeld and Gottlieb
Kiser, whom she had married in 1889 passed away today.
1917(1st of Tevet, 5678): During World War I, Naaman Belkind was
hung by the Turks as a spy. Naaman Belkind was born in 1889. The nephew of Bilu founder Israel Belkind
and the son of Bilu pioneer Shimshon Belkind, Naaman Belkind was born in Eretz
Yisrael. Bilu was founded in 1882 and was a pre-Herzl Zionist movement. Bilu is
an acronym based on a verse from Isaiah (2:5), "Beit Ya'akov Lekhu
Ve-nelkha/Let the house of Jacob go!" BILU's founders believed that
the time had come for Jews not only to live in Israel, but to make their living
there as well. He grew up in the Bilu
community of Gedera, and was later employed in the wine cellars of Rishon
LeTzion. Along with his cousin Avshalom Feinberg and his brother Eytan, Belkind
joined the Nili espionage group, which was formed in 1915 to assist the British
against the Turkish authorities. The group encountered much opposition to its
operations, in part from the British themselves, but largely from the members
of the Yishuv, who regarded the espionage as subversive and endangering Jewish
settlements. Nili's independence from mainstream Zionist politics also lent it
a controversial nature, but the group maintained its activities. In September,
1917, Belkind set out for Egypt to look into the circumstances regarding
Feinberg's death earlier that year. Caught by Bedouin in the Sinai, he was
handed over to the Turks and brought to Damascus. Shortly after, the principal
Nili figures were arrested and the group incapacitated. Belkind was convicted
of spying and was hanged along with Nili leader Yosef Lishansky. He was later
re-interred in Rishon LeTzion.
1917: In London, Herbert Samuel one of the highest-ranking Jews in
the British political firmament wrote a
letter to his son stating that “The fall-or rather the liberation-of Jerusalem
has caused much emotion in this country.
I have received dithyrambs from all sorts of people, mostly strangers.”
1917: The New York Times
reported Jacob Schiff’s announcement that The New York Jewish community
had just successfully completed its first $5 million campaign for Jewish war
relief, its share of a $10 million national campaign. In making the
announcement Schiff commented, “Fifty-two years ago, when I came to this
country, I don’t believe the combined wealth of American Jewry was equal to
$5,000,000. See where we have arrived; see where our unity and strength have
brought us.”
1917: The Un-Christian Jew a story of Jews in the United
States, by Lawrence Sterner was among the books found on today’s “Latest
Publications” list.
1917: It was reported today that “many inquiries have been
received by the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society of America from
Jewish refugees in the countries along the Eastern front asking for news or
relatives and friends in” the United States and that many of them have been
located and are now in communication with relatives and friends in Europe.”
1917: It was announced tonight “that the 150 Jews in Sing Sing
Prison had contributed $200” to the five-million-dollar fund being raised for
Jewish war relief and that they “wished to give their earnings for the rest of
the year” to the fund, a move that Rabbi Samuel Buchler, the visiting chaplain
at Sing Sing will seek to get approved by the State Superintended of prisons.
1917: In Baltimore, MD, two hundred leaders of Zionist
organizations from the United States and Canada including the Canadian
Federated Zionist Societies, presided over by Rabbi Stephen Wise began to make
plans for “the re-assimilation of the promised land that will include the
creation of $100,000,000 fund” a million of which was raised in pledges this
evening.
1918: In Philadelphia, at a meeting of the American Jewish
Congress, plans were formulated to send a delegation of Jews to the Versailles
Peace Conference which will push the claims of the Jews for full civil and
political right in all lands.
1918: Rabbi Hyman Gerson Enelow wrote today from LeMans, that he
is charge, for the present, of the center for the Jewish Welfare Board that has
been established in the French city which “is going to be known as embarkation
camp” through which a large number of Jewish soldiers will pass through on
their way back to the United States.
1918: In New York City, two Jewish immigrants from Russia, garment
business owner Meyer Gendel and his wife “Anna (Alpert) Gendel, who had been a
seamstress on the Lower East Side of Manhattan before and who was arrested for
hitting a nonunion worker with an umbrella during a long strike at the Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory” gave birth to Columbia University trained “art critic” and
photographer Milton Gendel. (As reported
by Richard Sandomir)
1919(24th of Kislev, 5680): In the evening, kindle the
first Chanukah light
1919: It was reported today that “with the coming of sunset this
evening will begin…the world world-over, the celebration of Chanukah or the
Festival of the Dedication. Although
rated in the traditional calendar as a minor festival, Chanukah, which is also
known as the Feast of Lights is of major significance, as it commemorates one
of the most heroic and far-reaching victories for the fatherland and the
faith.”
1920: President Morris Handle and Recording Secretary Herman Natal
send out invitations inviting their co-religionists to “attend the celebration
of the organization of Congregation Beth-El in Camden, NJ.
1920: Rabbi Hyamson delivered a lecture on his experience in
Poland and Lithuania at today’s meeting of the New York Board of Ministers
which was held at Temple Emanu-El
1921: It was reported today that “the late Lazarus Kohns, the
brother-in-law of the late Isidor Straus and of Nathan and Oscar S. Straus,
left an estate which has been appraised as worth net almost $525,000.”
1922(26th of Kislev, 5683): Sixty-four-year-old
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda the father of the Modern Hebrew Language succumbed to TB in
Jerusalem today.
http://www.zionism-israel.com/bio/E_Ben_Yehuda_biography.htm
1922: SS Albert Ballin was an ocean liner of the
Hamburg-America Line which was named after Albert Ballin was launched today.
1922: Lord “Curzon decided that he would
remain at the Conference of Lausanne over the Christmas holiday in order to
expedite the conference’s conclusion
1922: Gabriel Narutowicz, President of
Poland was assassinated by a right-wing nationalist. The right-wingers derided him as the
“President of the Jews.”
1922: Birthdate of Isidore Cohen, the
native of Brooklyn who became a world-renowned violinist who was a member of
both the Juilliard String Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio.
1923: Birthdate of Menahem Pressler a
German-born pianist who fled to Palestine before settling in the United States
where among other things he has spent 60 years on the faculty of the Jacobs
School of Music at Indiana University
1924: Birthdate of Nissim Ezekiel, the
native of Bombay who was an Indian Jewish poet, playwright, editor and
art-critic.
1925: Today, Grover Moscowitz was
nominated by President Calvin Coolidge, to a seat on the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of New York.
1926: It was announced today that “three
thousand dollars in cash was given to the Brooklyn Federation of Jewish
Charities by members of the Master Plumbers’ Association” at a meeting at the
Hopkinson Mansion where Harry Lewis director of the association delivered an
address.
1927: In Germany, premiere of “Family
Gathering in the House of Prellstein” starring S.Z. Sakall, Sig Arno, Ilka
Grüning, Fritz Spira and Max Ehrlich.
The latter two would not be able to escape the Holocaust.
1927: In Brooklyn, Russian immigrants
Fritzie and Sold Adler gave birth to NYU trained author, playwright and poet”
Warren Adler whose most famous work may been the novel The War of the Roses
which turned into a very successful movie and who was the “founder of the
Jackson Hole Writer’s Conference” in Wyoming.
1928: “The Jews of America have not done
their full duty to establish Palestine as the national Jewish homeland, Dr.
I.M. Rubinow, executive director of the Zionist Organization declared” this
“afternoon at a conference of more than 100 east side Jewish organizations”
meeting “at the Hotel Pennsylvania” where plans were made for the dive of the
United Palestine Appeal in the east side and Harlem, which will begin in
January.”
1929: “Sir Boyd Merriman, counsel for
the Jewish case before the British Commission of Inquiry” meeting in Jerusalem,
“announced this morning that an Arab witness who had testified on behalf of the
Jews…and whose cross-examination had not been completed had sent a letter
saying he had been suddenly compelled to leave the country, and in order not to
do injury to his compatriots he would not appear again.”
1930(26th of Kislev, 5691):
Second Day of Chanukah
1930: An Arab mob attempted to prevent
Jewish settlers from plowing land near Herzlia. British police came from Tel
Aviv and arrested the Arabs at which point the Jews went back to their farm
work.
1930: “Six Jewish laborers were
sentenced today to three weeks’ imprisonment for participation in an unruly
unemployment demonstration at Ness Ziona, near Jaffa.”
1931: As German spirals into political
chaos the Social Democratic Party (SPD) with the Allgemeiner Deutscher
Gewerkschaftsbund, the Reichsbanner and workers' sport clubs formed The Iron
Front an anti-Nazi, anti-monarchist paramilitary organization designed to
“counter the right-wing Harzburg Front.”
1932: “Narcotics” co-starring Peter
Lorre and directed by Kurt Gerron who along with his wife would gassed at
Auschwitz in 1944 was released today in Germany.
1932: “The Half-Naked Truth” a comedy
produced by Pandro S. Berman, with music by Max Steiner was released in the
United States by RKO.
1933: In address at the fourth annual
Maccabean Festival held in Madison Square Garden to celebrate Chanukah, Samuel
Untermeyer charged the German Ambassador, Dr. Hans Luther, with “insincerity
and hypocrisy.” “Mr. Untermyer said the
activities of the Friends of New German and other Nazi organizations
constituted a ‘criminal conspiracy against the sovereignty and neutrality of
our country’ and that the purpose of these organizations was to propagate
German national socialism which that ‘American citizens are to propagate on
American soil the disenfranchisement of Jewish American citizens.”
1933: In Washington, DC, Philip Sylvan
Peyser and Helene Hattendorf gave birth to Charles Alan Peyser.
1934(10th of Tevet, 5695):
Asara B’Tevet
1934: In Camden, NJ, Congregation
Beth-El hosted its annual dinner and installation of congregational officers’
ceremony.
1934: David Jacob Sandweiss, the
University of Michigan trained physician married Freda Levin today
1935: Having lost his job as a
mathematics professor in Germany because he was Jewish, sixty year old Issai
Schur was invited to the Mathematical Seminars Conference in Zurich.
1935: It was reported today that portrait
painter Harry Solon, the San Francisco
born son of Bertha and Meyer Solon, has sailed from Argentina to resume his
work in the United States after a four year stay in Buenos Aires where he
enjoyed great success.
1936: Magistrate Jeannette G. Brill will
deliver an address entitled “Everyday Problems” at the annual luncheon of the
metropolitan branch of the Women’s League of the United Synagogue of America
being held today at the Hotel Commodore in New York City.
1936: Pianist Rudolf Serkin is scheduled
to be a guest today at the Cecilia Musical School “where piano students will
play for him.”
1936: The Pope created Emmanuel Suhard,
who would write “a public protest against the deportation of the Jews of Paris
in 1942” was created Cardinal Priest of S. Onofrio.
1936: “The Catholic bishopric of Berlin”
protested today against the libeling of the Church and its clergy by the
official National Socialist Party newspaper, the Angriff which published an
article that said that “Jews and Catholics are in league to combat racial
purity” and showed “a photograph of a meeting of rabbis and Protestant pastors
in Riverside Memorial Church.”
1936(2nd of Tevet, 5697): 8th
Day of Chanukah
1937: Stan Francis, the Program Director
the Associated Broadcasting Company Limited in Toronto wrote Louis Herman
asking him to come to Francis’ office so that discuss the recording of his
radio company.
1937: The
Palestine Post reported from London that the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Ormsby
Gore, told the House of Commons that in Palestine leading Arab notables were
murdered by Arabs, which was "terrorism of Arabs by Arabs."
This form of Arab violence has continued down to our own times. In many ways,
the current Arab leadership are the survivors of their own intra-communal
violence.
1937:
The Palestine Post reported that Jews
in the Old City of Jerusalem were surprised when ordered to pay for the costs
of the 20 supernumerary constables appointed to guard them from frequent
attacks by their Arab neighbors. Talk about adding insult to injury. This
was almost as bad as when the Jews had to pay for cleaning up the broken glass
after Kristallnacht.
1937:
Birthdate of Morris Dees Jr., co-founder of the Southerner Poverty Law Center.
Dees is not Jewish but his father Morris Seligman Dees Sr. was named after a
Jewish Merchant in Montgomery whom Grandpa Dees admired. Joe Levin (no
relation) who is Jewish was the other Co-Founder of Southern Poverty Law
Center.
1938:
In Rome, “the Cabinet under the leadership of Premier Benito Mussolini today
decided to create a special board for the purchase, management and resale of
property owned by Jews in excess of the maximum allowed under the law approved
on November 10.” (Editor’s Note – so much for the quaint notion that the
Italian fascists were not anti-Semites.)
1938:
Today, Ambassador Joseph Kennedy who had made a special trip back from London
to the United States was today “particularly outspoken in his condemnation of
Jewish persecution in Germany which he has called ‘the most terrible thing I
have ever heard of.’”
1939: Girls in Lodz were seized to clean
a latrine using their own shirts. When done, the Nazis wrapped the woman's
faces with these same shirts. By this time Jewish population of Warsaw and Lotz
has risen to over 1,000,000.
1939: The Nazis excluded
the Jews from all employment benefits.
1939: Jewish girls in Lódz, Poland, who have been impressed for
forced labor, are forced to clean a latrine with their blouses. When the job is
complete, the German overseers wrap the filthy blouses around the girls' faces.
1940: It was reported today that Willie Rubenstein had scored ten
points for the New York Jewels when they went down to defeat in an American
Basketball League game against Philadelphia.
1941(26th of Kislev, 5702): Second Day of Chanukah
1941: Today, The American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born
and spokesmen for Ukrainian, Hungarian and Jewish groups extolled the blessings
of American life and promised their utmost aid to preserve it against the new
order of the Axis Powers.
1941: Isidore Newman who was training with the SOE “received a
postcard from the Jewish Chaplain congratulating him on his promotion” to 2nd
Lieutenant
1941: In Romania, the government dissolved the Federation of the
Unions of the Jewish Communities
1941: Hans Frank, governor-general of Occupied
Poland, notes in his diary that some 3,500,000 Jews live in the region under
his control.
1941:
The second of the three-day murder of Jews in Skede, Latvia in which almost
3,000 Jews, mostly women and children were murdered.
1942: A Jewish ghetto is established in
Kharkov, Ukraine.
1942:
Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination be deported to
Auschwitz.
1942(8th
of Tevet, 5703): David M. Bressler, who was widely known for his activities in
Jewish, State and municipal relief and in charity organizations, died this
afternoon at the office of his physician to which he had been taken from his
office at 75 Maiden Lane after he had suffered a heart attack. Mr. Bressler,
son of Julius and Sarah Rothenberg Bressler, was born in Germany on May 1,
1879, and came here in 1884. He rendered service to thousands of immigrants
whom he helped to settle throughout the country. Outstanding was his work as
director of the Industrial Removal Board during the first decade of the
century. He directed immigrants from the Eastern States to communities in the
South and Middle West and provided them with the opportunities for their
Americanization. By his plan, as he described it himself, he avoided
over-crowding of New York and other large Eastern cities and organized the
Jewish community of America to divert the stream of Jewish immigration. The
Removal Office thus was a clearing house for Jewish immigrants and prevented
congestion at the port of entry. Among the many charity drives which he
conducted was the United Jewish campaign of New York that raised more than
56,000,000 in 1926. After a campaign that lasted but a little more than a
month, the goal was exceeded by $656,000. Another drive conducted by Mr.
Bressler as national chairman was the Allied Jewish campaign of 1930. The plan,
commended by President Hoover, was conceived in Washington, where Mr. Bressler
was one of 800 representative Jews from all parts of the United States, who
mapped out the details of the campaign. Mr. Bressler's philanthropic and social
service career covered more than forty years. During that time he served many
agencies. He extended his chief field of Jewish activities, to State-wide
efforts when Governor Lehman appointed him a member of the New York State
Planning Board in 1934, and when he became a director of Sydenham Hospital.
Previously, Governor Lehman had made him a member of the Appeal Board of
Unemployment Insurance, and in 1931 he was named vice chairman of the National
Council of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, of which Felix M.
Warburg was chairman. Mr. Bressler attended City College, the Jewish
Theological Seminary and the New York Law School. He was admitted to the bar in
1900, and from 1900 to 1917 was general manager of the Industrial Removal Board.
While he centered his business interests on insurance, he also served in a
voluntary capacity as board member of the American Hebrew Congregations, the
American Jewish Committee, the Palestine Economic Corporation, the Federation
for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies and the National Refugee
Service. As a member of a survey commission appointed by the Joint Distribution
Committee, Mr. Bressler went to Europe in 1922 and 1929 to study the situation
of Jews there and published several reports on his observations. He was
chairman of the New York War Sufferers Campaign in 1922 and 1926 and served in
1930 as national co-chairman of the Allied Jewish Campaign of the Joint
Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Palestine. He was a Mason and
a member of B'nai B'rith and the Metropolitan Club.
1943:
Two days after he had passed away, funeral services are scheduled to be held
this morning at Temple Emanu-el is New York for fifty-eight-year-old
New York born and Columbia trained gynecologist Samuel H. Geist, the husband of
Juliet Beecher Geister and father of Joyce B. Jacobson
1943:
Birthdate of producer Steven Boncho, creator of several hit shows including
Hill Street Blues, LA Law and NYPD Blue.
1943:
In an example of Himmler’s belief in the “final solution to the Jewish
question, he told a group of Kriegsmarine commanders today, “I have basically
given the order to also kill the wives and children of these partisans, and
commissars. I would be a weakling and a criminal to our descendants if I
allowed the hate-filled sons of the sub-humans we have liquidated in this
struggle of humanity against subhumanity to grow up.”
1944(30th
of Kislev, 5705): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; in the evening light 7 Chanukah candles
1944(30th
of Kislev, 5705): Fifty-five-year-old Philip Guedalla the British barrister,
author and unsuccessful candidate for Parliament died today while serving as a
Squadron Leader with the RAF. "History repeats itself. Historians repeat
each other."
1944:
As part of Ben-Gurion’s plan for breaking the power of the Irgun and the Stern
Gang, Eliahu Golomb who had called the clash between the Yishuv and these
groups “a struggle between Zionist democracy and Jewish Nazism” held a secret
meeting with Nathan Friedman-Yellin one of the leaders of the Stern Gang. Friedman-Yellin would only agree to halt
attempts to assassinate Churchill and not much more.
1944:
As the Battle of the Bulge began, Captain Bert Katz, who would become a leader
of the Cedar Rapids Jewish and business committees, was one of those facing the
unexpected onslaught of Hitler’s Panzers. Among other Jewish soldiers who faced
down Hitler’s last gasp attack was J.D. Salinger and Leste Milton Bornstein the
father of author and Ambassador Michael Oren.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-battle-of-the-bulge
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/philip_guedalla.html
1945: It “was disclosed tonight in the publication of
correspondence between” Foreign Secretary Ernest “Bevin and S.S. Silverman,
Laborite Member of Parliament” that “Bevin has given his assurance that the
British Government has no intention of evading its obligations in the setting
up of a Jewish national home under the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate for Palestine.”
1945: Theatrical producer Billy Rose who returned to the
United States “today aboard a transatlantic Clipper after an eight-week
business trip during which he visited Jewish refugee camps in Germany and
Vienna” urged that the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation
Administration’s $400,000,000 program for Poland be held up “until they clean
house.”
1946(23rd
of Kislev, 5707): Award winning 83 year old American artist Albert Sterner, the
London born son of Julius and Sarah Sterner passed away today.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=940CEFDB1F3AEE3BBC4F52DFB467838D659EDE
1946:
Birthdate of Manhattan native and Sarah Lawrence College graduate Dori Levine,
who gained fame as Emmy award winning actress Dori Brenner.
http://variety.com/2000/scene/people-news/dori-brenner-1117796509/
1946:
It was reported today that Lazarus Joseph said it was “the duty of every
American citizen, Christian or Jew, black or white” to help in “the
rehabilitation of 1,500,000 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.
1946:
In France, Leon Blum named Premiere.
1947(3rd
of Tevet, 5708): Forty-eight-year-old Romanian born and Harvard trained lawyer,
Nathan R. Margold who worked “as an attorney for minority groups including the
NAAC and various Indian tribes with claims against the Government’ before
serving as the Solicitor General for the Interior Department because he shared
an interest in Indian affairs with Secretary Ickes passed away today while
serving as a Judge of the Municipal Court in Washington, D.C. (Some sources
show his date of death as December 17)
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/12/17/104391750.pdf
https://legallegacy.wordpress.com/2017/07/21/july-21-1899-birthdate-of-nathan-ross-margold/
1947:
Capitol record released a recording “You Were Meant for Me” a popular song with
lyrics by Arthur Freed first published in 1929.
1948:
Egypt charged that the Jews announced a new attack on the garrison at Faluja.
1949:
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion announced that Jerusalem will be become the
capital of Israel on January 1, 1950.
1950:
Birthdate of “Claudia Lynn Cohen, a high-profile gossip reporter for television
and newspapers who was a frequent subject of the gossip columns herself, partly
because of her marriage to, and remunerative divorce from, the billionaire
businessman Ronald O. Perelman”.(As reported by Margalit Fox)
1952:
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi “assumed the office of President of Israel and continued to
serve in the position until his death on April 23, 1963.
1952(28th
of Kislev, 5713): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1952(28th
of Kislev, 5713): Seventy-six-year-old Etta Karesh Levin, the wife of Julius
Levin and the mother of Sidney L. Levin passed away after which she was buried
in KKBI Cemetery in Charleston, SC.
1952:
The Jerusalem Post reported that
the extraordinary meeting of the Israeli-Jordanian Mixed Armistice Commission
broke down with each side accusing the other of border violations. Israel
accused infiltrators of firing at the guards and stealing arms and ammunition.
Jordan complained that Israel had laid mines and attacked the Arab Legion post
in the Mount Scopus area.
1952:
Birthdate of Susan Estrich, graduate of
Harvard Law, and “liberal” foil on FOX News.
1953(10th of Tevet, 5714): Asara B’Tevet
1953: Birthdate of “Héctor Timerman, a former
Argentine foreign minister who was charged with treason in 2013 for his role in
negotiating an agreement with Iran relating to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish
community center in Buenos Aires” (As reported by Daniel Politi)
1954: Birthdate of Bright Kanyontore Rwamirama
Ugandan State Minister for Animal Industry who represented his government at
the 2012 ceremony commemorated the raid on Entebbe that took place at the Old
Entebbe Airport where Yonatan Netanyahu lost his life saving those who were
threatened with death by Palestinian terrorists.
1954: “There's No Business Like Show Business”
produced by Sol C. Siegel, with songs by Irving Berlin and a screenplay by
Phoebe and Henry Ephron was released in the United States today by 20th
Century Fox.
1955(1st of Tevet, 5715): Rosh Chodesh
Tevet; Seventh day of Channukah
1955: In Detroit, Rabbi Benjamin H. Gorrelick is
scheduled to deliver a sermon on “The Unfailing Lights of Freedom” while Cantor
Judah Goldring chants a late Sabbath service this evening dedicated to Hanukah.
1955: In Queens, the former Jacqueline Boklan, “the
daughter of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Russia” and Alfred G. Paulson
gave birth to NYU and Harvard trained billionaire hedge fund owner John
Paulson, the husband of Episcopalian Jenny Zaharia and the father of Danielle
and Giselle Paulson.
1955 After 888 performances the curtain came down at
the Belasco Theatre on the original Broadway production of “Fanny” a musical
with a book by S.N. Behrman and lyrics and music by Harold S. Rome.
1957: “In a letter dated today, the "Steering
Committee of Temple Sinai," a small group of Temple Emanuel members who
felt that the close family atmosphere of the Temple had been lost and that
religious observance had become more conservative over the years, informed the
secretary of the board of Temple Emanuel that they intended to create a second
Reform congregation in Worcester.
1959: U.S. premiere of “The Gazebo” produced by
Lawrence Weingarten featuring Carl Reiner as “Harlow Edison,” Mabel Albertson
as “Miss Chandler,” Martin Landau as “The Duke” and Robert Ellenstein as “Ben.”
1959: “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” a film
adaptation of the novel by the same name directed by Henry Levin, with a script
co-authored by Walter Reisch and music by Bernard Hermann was released today by
20th Century Fox.
1960: “Wildcat,” a musical with lyrics by Carolyn
Leigh and music Cy Coleman opened at the Alvin Theatre.
1964(11th of Tevet, 5725): Fifty-year old
Israeli born and JTS ordained rabbi Lt. Col. Mei Engel who left his
congregation to serve as a chaplain in the United States Army during World War
II and who was the husband of “the former Myra S. Wachtel and the father of
David and Raphael Engel, passed away today in Saigon where he was organizing “a
religious education program” and distributing “supplies and literature
furnished by the National Jewish Welfare Board.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/12/17/118544932.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1965: Funeral services are scheduled to be held for
Dr. Irving Bruskin, D.D.D. the husband of the former Elizabeth Rice and the
president -elect of The Dental Society of New York are scheduled to be held
today followed by interment at Mt. Hebron Cemetery.
1966(3rd of Tevet, 5757): Eighty-one-year-old
Alexander Trachtenberg the native of Russia who earned a master’s degree from
Yale and was a leader in the Socialist Party of America as the CPUSA as well as
the founder of International Publishers passed away today.
1966(3rd of Tevet, 5757):
Sixty-two-year-old “Dr. Solomon Wind, rabbi, educator and author” the Rabbi
Isaac Elchanan Theological ordained cleric and husband of the former Lillian
Silber with whom he raised two children – Rachelle and Rabbi Israel Wind – who
“was an instructor in Jewish history and assistant librarian at Stern College”
passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/12/17/121596600.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1967(14th of Kislev, 5728): Parashat
Vayishlach
1967(14th of Kislev, 5728): Seventy-year-old to NYU
trained lawyer George M. Eichler, the Hoboken born son of Morris and Julia
Eichler, “a state deputy attorney general in New Jersey” and “general counsel
for the New Jersey Motor Bus Association” who was the husband of “former Sally
Jacobs,” with whom he had one son and daughter passed away today
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1967/12/17/93227969.pdf
1968(25th of Kislev, 5729): Chanukah
1968: Birthdate of Peter Orszag, an American
economist, who was VP with Citigroup and Director of the Congressional Budget
Office.
1968: “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” with songs by the
Sherman Brothers – Richard and Robert -- was released in the United Kingdom
today by United Artists.
1968: The Spanish government officially voided the order of
expulsion of 1492.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=950CE1D71730E034BC4F52DFB4678383679EDE
1969: Release date for “Cactus Flower” a film that would not have
been made if it weren’t for the Jews – director Gene Saks, writers Abe Burrows
and I.A.L. Diamond, actor Walter Matthau and actress Goldie Hawn.
1969: Elimelekh Rimalt began serving as Communications Minister.
1969: Release date for the film version of “Hello Dolly” starring
Walther Matthau and Barbra Streisand and written and produced by Ernest Lehman
with music by Jerry Herman.
1970(17th of Kislev, 5731): Fifty-five-year-old Oscar
Lewis, the history who changed his major to anthropology at the behest of his
brother-in-law Abraham Maslow passed away today.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9E06EFDF1E30E337A2575BC1A9649D946190D6CF
1970: Eighty-three-year-old Mrs. Bessie Levy who along with her
late husband Albert Warner, “one of the four founding brothers of Warner
Brothers” had given “$1.5‐million to
build new wing at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach, where they spent the
winters” passed away today at her home in Hampshire House.
https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/17/archives/mrs-albert-warner.html?searchResultPosition=1
1970: U.S. premiere of “Puzzle of a Downfall Child direct by Jerry
Schatzberg who also co-authored the script.
1970: The movie version of Erich Segal’s novel Love Story directed
by Arthur Hiller was released in the United States today.
1971: “Never Underestimate Power of a Woman Even at Princeton”
published today described the life at an Ivy League elite school experienced by
future civil rights attorney Abby Rubenfeld, the daughter of Milton Rubenfeld,
the WW II war hero who in 1948 was one of the founders of the IAF.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9803E2DF173DEF34BC4E52DFB467838A669EDE
1971: The Bangladeshi Liberation War, during which Henry Kissinger
shaped U.S. policy so that it favored Pakistan, came to an end today with
Bangladesh winning its independence which would appear to have the so-called
foreign policy expert on the wrong side of history.
1972: At Cambridge, MA, Rabbi Israel Kazis officiated at the
wedding of Mrs. Geraldine Warburg Kolenberg, the widow of Arthur Kohlenberg and
granddaughter of Felix Warburg and Dr. Louis Zetel, a clinical professor of
medicine at Harvard Medical School.
1973: “Hell Up in Harlem,” a sequel to “Black Caesar” directed by
Larry Cohen who co-produced the film with Samuel Z. Arkoff, a Jewish native of
Iowa, was released today in the United States.
1973: “Papillion” a French prison film co-starring Dustin Hoffman
and with music by Jerry Goldsmith was released in the United States today.
1974(2nd of Tevet, 5735): Eighth Day of Chanukah
observed for the first time during the presidency of Gerald Ford, who replaced
the disgraced Richard Nixon after the Watergate Scandals.
1975: CBS aired the first episode of “One Day at a Time” the
popular sit-com starring Bonnie Franklin as Ann Romano that lasted for nine
years.
1975: “Philiip H. Dougherty, advertising columnist for the New
York Times was the guest of honor” tonight “at a dinner of the Advertising, Broadcasting
and Communications division of the Anti-Defamation League.”
1976(24th of Kislev 5737): First Chanukah Candle
kindled for the last time during the Presidency of Gerald Ford.
1978: In Jerusalem, 22 people including five Americans were
injured by a bombing on a bus.
1979: More than 800 guests attend special
ceremonies to mark what Mayor Edward I. Koch has proclaimed as
"Congregation Orach Chaim 100th Anniversary Day.”
1979:
First broadcast of the made for television “An American Christmas Carol”
starring Henry Winkler.
1979(26th
of Kislev, 5740): Kindle the first Chanukah Candle
1979(26th
of Kislev, 5740): Seventy-two year old Judge Murray I. Gurfein, the New York
born son of Louis and Rose Gurfein and husband of the former of Eva Hadas who
was part of the prosecution team at the Nuremberg War Crime trials and who was
most famous as the Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit, who rejected the Nixon Administration's attempt to bar The New York
Times from publishing the Pentagon Papers in 1971” passed away today.(As
reported by Robert D. McFadden)
1980:
“Representatives of the authorities in Moscow” visited “the unofficial
kindergarten for Jewish children in Moscow” and ordered “the teachers to close
it and send the children home.
1980:
Funeral services are scheduled to be held this morning at Temple Emanu-El in
Yonkers for Samuel Bross, , the stepfather of Rabbi Stephen Pinsky.
1981:
Defense Minister Ariel Sharon flew to the newly annexed Golan Heights today for
a meeting with military commanders amid reports of Syrian troop alerts across
the border.
1981:
Eighty-one-year-old Victor Kugler, one of those who helped to hide Anne Frank
and her family passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/17/obituaries/victor-kugler-81-hid-anne-frank.html
1982:
Sofia Cosma, a Jewish concert pianist who defied long odds to rebuild her
career after seven years in Soviet prison camps played pieces by Chopin, Haydn
and Rachmanioff at first concert at the 92nd Street Y.
1982:
1984:
At the East Park Synagogue in New York, Rabbis Arthur Schneier, Hillel Friedman
and Marshall T. Meyer officiated at the wedding of Emily Ione Meyer, a daughter
of Arlene Meyer Cohen of New York and Greensboro, N.C., and the late John H.
Meyer, and Joshua Mark Sacks, a son of Mr. and Mrs. David G. Sacks of Larchmont,
N.Y.
1984(22nd of
Kislev, 5745): Sixty-six-year-old “Harold P. Manson,
director of the office of Academic Affairs of the American Friends of the
Hebrew University and the husband of “Mrs. Natanya Neumann Manson, a member of
the Martha Graham Dance Company” passed away today
https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/25/archives/mrs-harold-p-manson.html
1984:
“Diamonds” a revue with music by Cy Coleman, Betty Comden and Adolph Green
opened Off Broadway at the Circle in the Square Downtown theatre today.
1984:
William G. Blair described a rent strike that is continuing at 4-6 East 65th
Street, properties which had formerly belonged to the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations are across the street from Temple Emanu-El
1986:
In “Altheimer Praised for Fostering Study in Agriculture Field” Bruce Kinzel
described the contribution of Benjamin Joseph Altheimer Sr. the Pine Bluff born
Jew to the activity which has historically been the economic backbone of the
Razorback state.
1987(25th
of Kislev, 5748): Chanukah
1987:
U.S. premiere of “Broadcast News” directed, produced and written by James L.
Brooks co-starring Albert Brooks.
1988:
“Rainman,” directed by Barry Levinson, starring Dustin Hoffman and music by
Hans Zimmer was released today in the United States.
1989:
“Lesléa Newman publishes the groundbreaking children’s book, Heather Has Two
Mommies”
http://jwa.org/thisweek/dec/16/1989/leslea-newman
1990(29th
of Kislev, 5751) Fifth Day of Chanukah
1990:
The New York Times reported that last week, Dr. John Strugnell, a
Harvard divinity professor, was dismissed as chief editor of the scrolls after
having called Judaism "a horrible religion" in an interview published
in November in a Tel Aviv newspaper. Several colleagues, who said they were
horrified at the remarks, attributed them to Dr. Strugnell's "mental
condition" and to a drinking problem. A spokesman for Harvard said Dr.
Strugnell, a Roman Catholic, was being treated in a hospital, but he wouldn't
say where or why.
1991: The U.N. General Assembly rescinded its 1975 resolution
equating Zionism with racism by a 111-25 vote.
1992: The body of IDF Sergeant Nissim Toledano, who had been
kidnapped by Hamas, was found today.
Toledano had been stabbed to death while his hands were bound.
1992: The Bangor Daily News reported that Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin told a stunned and angry nation…that he would “strike pitilessly” against
Muslim fundamentalists who kidnapped and killed and Israeli trooper. But he promised Israel would not abandon the
U.S. – sponsored Mideast peace talks.
1992: Israel ordered deportation
of 415 leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad from the West Bank and/or Gaza after
escalating terrorist activity.
1992 (21st of Kislev, 5753): Simon M. Jaglom, a
New York businessman and financier, died today at New York University Medical
Center. A Manhattan resident, he turned 96 last Saturday. A native of Ukraine,
he moved to what was then the Free State of Danzig, where he became general director
of the Ministry of Foreign Trade. He went to London in 1937 to establish a
business and came to this country two years later. He became president and
later chairman of the New York Commodities Corporation and the Overseas Barters
Corporation and continued to head both concerns until last month. He was a
longtime supporter of Israel and Jewish causes. He was a past president of the
American-European divisions of the United Jewish Appeal and of the Organization
for Rehabilitation Through Training. He and his wife donated a wing to the Tel
Aviv Museum.
1993: The New York State Legislature elected G. Oliver Koppell “to
fill the unexpired term of New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams.
1993: The West End revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd”
transferred to the Lyttleton Theatre.
1994: Tower Airlines, which has several flights from New York to
Tel Aviv reported today that that someone, probably an employee, had cut
electrical wires on three cargo planes and two or three passenger planes at
Kennedy International Airport in October and early November, disabling
monitoring systems. Terrorist activity,
which would be of special concern to those on flights to Israel, has been ruled
out as a cause.
1994: “Speechless” a comedy with music by Marc Shaiman was
released today in the United States today.
1995: Rabbi Ronald B. Sobel officiated at the wedding of Ruth
Goldestein Israels and William Rosenwald.
The bride is an 82-year-old graduate of Hunter College. The groom is the 92-year-old son Julius
Rosenwald, the longtime chairman of Sears, Roebuck & Company
1996: At Temple Israel, In Rabbi Charles Sherman is scheduled to
officiate at the funeral for New York born and Columbia trained attorney
Benedict I, Lubell, “the founder of the Tulsa-based Lubell Oil Company and
philanthropist who was the husband of Norma Rubenstein, the father of John
Lubell and Ann Lubell Margolis and the son-in-law of “New York textile
executive Jacob A. Rubenstein.
1997: Janet
Rosenberg was elected President of Guyana, making her the first American-born
woman to be elected president of any country. Although she had been involved in
the country's governance for over half a century, she was only elected
president after her husband's death. Rosenberg is considered by many in Guyana
to be the mother of the nation. A documentary film, Thunder in Guyana,
has been made about her life. Rosenberg was born in Chicago in 1920. In 1943,
she married Cheddi Jagan, a Guyanese dental student. When Rosenberg was 23, the
couple moved to the then-colony of British Guiana. Together, in 1950, the
couple founded the People's Progressive Party, the colony's first modern
political party. In 1953, Guyana held its first universal election. Rosenberg
was elected minister and deputy speaker of parliament, the first woman to hold
those positions. Although Jagan was elected prime minister, his government was
deposed by Winston Churchill after only 133 days. Both Jagan and Rosenberg were
at times jailed and placed under house arrest. Jagan was elected as prime
minister in both 1957 and 1961, but intervention by the U.S. and Britain kept
him out of office until free and fair elections were held in 1992. Jagan was
again elected to lead Guyana, and served as Guyana's president until his death
in 1997. Following Jagan's death, Rosenberg was elected as President, a
position she held until resigning due to ill health in August 1999. She is
considered by the Guyanese as the mother of their nation.
1998(27th of Kislev,
5759): Third Day of Chanuka
1998: “The Prince of Egypt,” an
animated film based on the Book of Exodus and the life of Moses, co-produced by
Jeffrey Katzenberg, with a screenplay co-authored by Nicholas Meyer, music by
Hans Zimmer and Stephen Schwartz and featuring Jeff Goldblum as “Aaron” and
Ofrz Haza as “Yocheved” was released in the United States today.
1999: “Letter to an Expecting
Parent” by Yehuda Lev published today provides advice for Prime Minister Tony
Blair and his wife Cherie.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/articles/item/letter_to_an_expecting_parent_19991217
2000: “Israelis and Palestinians
appeared to edge closer today to resuming peace negotiations after an overnight
meeting between Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and Yasir Arafat, the
Palestinian leader.”
2001(8th of Tevet, 5646): Helmut
Flieg the German-Jewish writer who used the pseudonym of Stefan Heym passed
away.
2001: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors
and/or about subjects of Jewish interest including The Hidden Hitler by
Lothar Machtan; translated by John Brownjohn. Notes translated by Susanne
Ehlert, Heidegger’s Children: Hannah
Arendt, Karl Löwith, Hans Jonas, and Herbert Marcuse by Richard
Wolin, One Scandalous Story:
Clinton, Lewinsky, and Thirteen Days That Tarnished American Journalism by Marvin Kalb and Silent Night: The Story of the World War I
Christmas Truce by Stanley Weintraub. (Yes one of the best Christmas stories ever
written has a Jewish author.)
2002: In what some saw as a move
designed to protect his position as the leader of the Palestinians Yasir
Arafat, sought to distance himself unequivocally from Al Qaeda in an interview
published today, warning Osama bin Laden to stop justifying attacks in the name
of Palestinians even though those same Palestinians cheered when Iraqi Scuds
fell on Israel.
2003: “Israel developed a risky
plan in 1992 to assassinate Saddam Hussein at a funeral but shelved it after
five Israeli soldiers were killed while training for the mission, according to
news reports today.”
2003: “Israel's deputy prime
minister said today that Israel should prepare to make concessions with a
''grand, one-sided move'' if peace talks with the Palestinians should fail.”
2004(4th of Tevet,
5765): Louis J. Herman, the son Canadian Cantor Samuel Herman, who became the
Cantor of Congregation Beth El at Camden, NJ, in 1957, passed away today – a
death that was mourned by, among others, his son David who is “a Rabbi in
Baltimore MD, and is the executive director of Maryland Friends of Boys Town
Jerusalem, a school for disadvantaged youth in Israel.”
2005: After premiering at the 2005
Cannes Film Festival in May, “Free Zone” directed by Amos Gitai and starring
Natalie Portman was released today on a limited basis in the United States.
2005: “Hoodwinked” a computer
animated comedy film produced by Maurice Kanbar premiered today in Los Angeles.
2005: The US House of
Representatives passed a resolution that conditioned future financial aid to
the Palestinian Authority on the exclusion of Hamas from the upcoming
parliamentary elections next month.
2005: Representative Henry Waxman announced,
“he would introduce a bill to the U.S. House of Representatives that would lift
the ban on federal money for subway tunneling in his congressional district.”
2005: Soer Trondelag became the
first province in Norway to bar the purchase of Israeli goods when the
provincial board voted to impose a boycott.
A board representative from the far-left Red Electoral Alliance said she
hopes the boycott will spread to other Norwegian provinces. The Norwegian national government has not
imposed or called for any such boycott.
2006(25th of Kislev, 5767): First
Day of Chanukah
2006: In Boston on the first day of
Chanukah, Rob Tannenbaum and his pal David Fagin, who fronts the New York band
the Rosenbergs, came to Boston with his latest Jewish-themed act, “Good for the Jews.” The duo performs
songs such as the sarcastic "Good to be a Jew on Christmas" and
"Jdate," an ode to the popular dating website.
2006(25th of Kislev, 5767): Rabbi
Yehosuha Yagel, who headed the Midrashiyat Noam Yeshiva High School since its
founding in 1945 passed away at the age of 91. Midrashiyat Noam, located in
Pardes Hannah, was the first yeshiva high school in the country and has become
on of the flagship yeshivas of religious Zionism in Israel. Yagel received the President’s Prize for life
achievement in education in 1998.
2007: The Association for Jewish
Studies (AJS) opened its 39th annual conference.
2007: The Sunday Washington Post featured reviews of books by Jewish
authors and/or on topics related to Judaica including a marvelous text entitled
How To Read The Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now by Professor
James L. Kugel, The Year of Living
Biblically by A.J.
Jacobs, Churchill and the Jews by Martin Gilbert and Henry James: The
Mature Master by Sheldon M. Novick.
2007: The Sunday New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish
authors and/or on topics related to Judaica including Prince of Darkness:
Richard Perle by Alan Weisman, Love Falls by Esther Frued great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud and Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black by South African author Nadine Gordimer, both
of whose parents were Jewish.
2007: The New York Times features an article
on conflicts surrounding Gerard Schwarz’s tenure as conductor of the Seattle
Symphony where he “is known for his fund-raising and civic involvement, but
where he has made enemies and generated ill will among the players.”
2007:
Julius Shulman attended a showing of his architectural photography at the Los
Angeles Public Library.
2008: Mort Gerberg presents “Last Laughs: Cartoons
About Aging, Retirement...and the Great Beyond” at the Washington DCJCC.
Longtime New Yorker cartoonist Mort Gerberg has assembled an all-star
cast of gifted and popular cartoonists including George Booth, Roz Chast, Frank
Modell, JB Handelsman, Sidney Harris and Jack Ziegler to join him in this
exclusive collection confronting, illuminating and celebrating the
inevitabilities of life. Everything from cloning to cryogenics and more is
tackled with humor and pathos. Mort Gerberg’s cartoons have appeared in The
New Yorker, Playboy and The Huffington Post, as well as in syndicated newspaper features and on television. He has
written, illustrated or edited nearly forty books, including his textbook, Cartooning:
The Art and the Business, More Spaghetti, and Joy
in Mudville: The Big Book of Baseball Humor.
2008 (19 Kislev, 5769): Celebration of Yud-Tes Kislev, the 19th of Kislev. “The 19th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev
is celebrated as the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidism. It was on this date, in the
year 1798, that the founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi
was freed from his imprisonment in Czarist Russia. For Chassidim this event is
more than a personal liberation. They
see this as a watershed event heralding a new era in the revelation of the
‘inner soul’ of Torah. This is also the celebration of the birthday of Avraham
Elimelech ben Yosef Dov, the Coca Chef
2008: Award winning Israeli-born photographer, Michal Chelbin delivers a lecture at New
York’s School of Visual Arts Amphitheater followed by a book signing
2008: Andy Statman joined the Flecktones
in a concert at the Kimmel Center in Phildelphia. The venue was named in honor
of Sidney Kimmel.
2008: The Israeli version of “Big Brother,” a reality show alternately beloved
and reviled by Hebrew speakers, wrapped up today in exactly the manner in which
it was broadcast all season: as a ratings juggernaut.
2008: After having lost $3million
dollars in Ascot Partner, The New York Law School filed a suit against Ascot
partners and Ezra Merkin charging him with “recklessness, gross negligence and
breach of fiduciary duties” contending that Merkin was running “a feeder fund”
for Bernie Madoff
2009: In Cedar Rapids, IA, Hadassah Book Club meets at the home of
Charlene Wolf to discuss Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner.
2009: Professor Ari Y. Kelman discusses his new book, "Station
Identification: A Cultural History of Yiddish Radio in the United States,"
as part of the Nextbook series' 2009 season being held at the D.C. Jewish
Community Center.
2009: Jonathan Sheehan of UC Berkeley is the Keynote Speaker at workshop
entitled "The Bible and Secularism" at The Katz Center for Advanced
Judaic Studies in Philadelphia, PA.
2009: Iran
test-fired its most advanced ballistic missile, capable of hitting Israel and
parts of Europe.
2009:
US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was name Time magazine’s
“Person of the Year” for 2009 today.
2009:
Today Jon Scheyer “scored 24 of a career-high 36 points in the first half to
lead Duke past Gardner-Webb. He shot 11-of-13 and hit a career-best seven
3-pointers while grabbing eight rebounds and getting nine assists.”
2009:
The third annual Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism opens today in
Jerusalem.
2009:
Britain’s Supreme Court declared today that it was illegal for a Jewish school
that favors Jewish applicants to base its admission policy on a classic test of
Jewishness – whether one’s mother is Jewish.
2009: Today approximately 400 El Al
passengers had to wait for almost seven hours in a grounded airplane in a U.S.
airport due to a fuel leak.
2010:
The Center for Jewish History is scheduled to present the” Chamber Music of
Barber, Britten and Brahms” featuring the Phoenix Chamber Ensemble.
2010:
Janis Spindel is scheduled to present a program entitled “Men and the City:
Where Are all the Men in New York?” at the 92nd St Y in, of course,
New York City.
2010:
A judge has ordered members of the family that owned a kosher meatpacking plant
in Iowa to pay more than $2 million after defaulting on financial agreements
with one of their former banks.
2010(9th
of Tevet, 5771): Ninety year old violinist and concert master Eric Rosenblith
passed away.
2010(9th
of Tevet, 5771):
Irwin
M. Abrams, a longtime professor of history at Antioch College, a pioneer in the
field of peace research and a global authority on the Nobel Peace Prize, died
today at the Friends Care Center, just a block away from the house on Xenia
Avenue where he had lived for almost 60 years. He was 96. Irwin was born in San
Francisco in 1914. He graduated from Lowell High School in December 1930 at the
age of 16. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and
a master’s degree and PhD from Harvard University. In 1936–37, Irwin traveled
to Europe to do research for his dissertation. It was a formative experience.
He met many outstanding leaders and scholars of the international peace
movement and delved into previously unknown source materials.
2010:
Starting today the Galilee will be hosting its first annual international
ornithological festival.
2010:
Judith Malina’s production of “Korach” “a new play based on the Biblical
account of Korach, ‘the first recorded anarchist in history,’ opened at The
Living Theatre in New York.
2011:
A brunch honoring Rabbi Eric Yoffie is scheduled to take place at today’s
session of the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial.
2011:
Andrew Fastow, the CFO of Enron, was released from prison camp today where he
had been serving time for the financial chicanery that destroyed the company
and, among other things, so distorted the economy in California that brought
about a recall election that paved the way for Arnold Schwarzenegger to become
that state’s chief executive.
2011:
Before delivering the keynote address at the Union for Reform Judaism
conference in Maryland today, President Obama met with Defense Minister Ehud
Barak. The Defense Ministry said in a statement that in the 30-minute-long
meeting, the two discussed regional issues and the challenges facing the Middle
East, the United States and Israel. Barak thanked Obama for strengthening the
security ties between Israel and the United States during his term.
2011: President
Obama told a gathering of Reform Jewry not to let anyone challenge his record
of support for Israel, which he said was "unprecedented." "
2011: The
High Court of Justice ruled today to reject a petition asking to delay the
second stage of the prisoner exchange deal brokered with Hamas to release
kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.
2011: In an interview
published today, “renowned Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt says that
American and Israeli politicians who invoke the Holocaust for contemporary
political purposes are engaging in ‘Holocaust abuse,’ which is similar to
‘soft-core denial’ of the Holocaust.”
2012: In “Martin Baron’s
Plan to Save The Washington Post” Paul Starobin described the plans that “a
bespectacled and scruffily bearded Jewish boy from Tampa” for the “hometown”
newspaper of the nation’s movers and shakers.
https://newrepublic.com/article/111173/martin-barons-plan-save-washington-post-invest-metro-coverage
2012: Monni Must,
acclaimed photographer and author of Living Witnesses: Triumph Over Tragedy,
a portrait book trilogy that captures the lives and experiences of over 400
Holocaust survivors is scheduled to appear at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and
Education Center.
2012: The Third
Israeli-Russian & International Russian Émigré Film Festival sponsored by
the Russian American Cultural Center is scheduled to take place in New York
City.
2012: The last
performance of “Bad Jews” a comedy by Joshua Harmon is scheduled to have its
final performance at the Roundabout Underground’s Black Box Theater. (As
reported by Charles Isherwood)
2012: The New York Times featured
reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers
including Marc Blitzstein: His Life, His Work, His World by Howard
Pollack and The Polish Boxer by Eduardo Halfon
2012: Rabbi Shaul Praver
of Temple Adath Israel in Newtown is scheduled to officiate at the funeral of six-year-old
Noah Pozner, the first grader who was the youngest person killed in the
massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School
2012: “Amour” is
scheduled to be shown at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.
2012:
The JCNVV is scheduled to present a performance of “Clever Rachel,” a Moses
Goldberg’s dramatic adaptation of a book by Debby Waldman.
2012: Foreign
Minister Avigdor Liberman formally submitted his resignation from the
government to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning, ending a
turbulent term as the country’s top diplomat.
2013:
MoMA is scheduled to host the North American premiere of “Footsteps in
Jerusalem.”
2013:
The San Diego Center for Jewish Culture is scheduled to host The Holocaust
& Churches in Nazi Germany: Examples of Complicity & Resistance
2013:
Weather permitting, the “Stranger by the Lake” is scheduled to be shown at the
Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.
2013:
IDF Master Sgt. Shlomi Cohen a resident of Afula who was killed “in a
cross-border attack” from Lebanon yesterday, was buried in Haifa today.
2013: “
An
association of American professors with almost 5,000 members has voted to
endorse an academic boycott of Israeli colleges and universities, the group
announced today, making it the largest academic group in the United States to
back a growing movement to isolate Israel over its treatment of Palestinians.”
2014(24th
of Kislev, 5775): In the evening kindle the first Chanukah light.
2014:
Arthur and Shirley Sotloff, the parents of Steven Sotloff, an American-Israeli
journalist murdered by the Islamic State in September, are scheduled to
celebrate the first night of Hanukah this week by lighting the Chabad center’s
outdoor public menorah-lighting in Miami. (As reported by Justin Jalil)
2014:
The 16th Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to start today.
2014:
In Coralville, IA Agudas Achim is scheduled to host a Chanukah Party – the last
one under the leadership of Rabbi Jeff Portman.
2014:
US Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to assist in the lighting this year of
the Hanukkah menorah on the ellipse in front of the White House. (As reported
by JTA)
2014:
Police arrested Benzi Gopstein, “the head of extreme anti-assimilation group
Lehava” and nine others this morning “amid suspicion’s that they incited
violence and acts of terror. (As reported by Stuart Winer)
2014:
Israel’s channel 10 news reported tonight that tomorrow, the EU is
“temporarily” removing “Hamas from its list of designated terrorist
organizations.”
2014:
“The Central Elections Committee announced today that the budget allocated for
the March 17 elections would stand at NIS 242 million ($62.04 million), NIS 5
million ($1.28 million) less than for the run-up to the polls in January 2013.”
2014:
American actress Sarah Silverman is scheduled to attend the 16th Jerusalem
Jewish Film Festival
2015(4th
of Tevet, 5776): On the Jewish calendar “Yahrzeit of Rabbi Joshua Isaac
Shapira, a leader of 19th century European Jewry known by the nickname Reb
Eisele Charif.”
http://www.aish.com/dijh/Tevet_4.html
2015(4th
of Tevet, 5776): On the Jewish calendar Yahrzeit of HaRav Moshe Zev of
Bialystock, zt”l, author of Marot Hatzovot and Agudat Aizov and “the founder of
Gemilat Chassadim Beit Medrash, Bialystok’s most prominent Torah center.”
2015:
It was reported today that “the billionaire casino magnate and Republican donor
Sheldon Adelson is behind the mysterious purchase of The Las Vegas
Review-Journal for $140 million”
2015:
Temple Emanu-El is scheduled to host a screening of “Stateless” a moving about
Soviet Jews who were stranded in Italy in 1988 “followed by a Q&A with
Producer/Director Michael Drob and Kiev-born human rights and LGBTQ activist
Yelena Goltsman, who stars in the film.”
2016:
Today “a busload of East Midwood members and at least 500 other people filled
the auditorium of the 1 Police Plaza to honor EMJC’s Rabbi Emeritus, Dr. Rabbi
Alvin Kass, the legendary Chief Chaplain of the NYPD, on his 50 years of
service.
http://www.emjc.org/honoring-rabbi-emeritus-dr-rabbi-alvin-kass-50-years-service-nypd/
2016:
“On the Map” a film that “tells the against-all-odds story of Maccabi Tel
Aviv’s 1977 European Championship, which took place at a time when the Middle
East was still reeling from the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the 1972 Olympic massacre
at Munich, and the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight from Tel Aviv” is
scheduled to be shown for the last time at the Cinema Village.
2016:
Today, King Mohammed VI of Morocco at the rededication ceremony of the Ettedgui
Synagogue in Casablanca, Morocco,
2016:
The Skirball Center is scheduled to host Human Rights Shabbat with “civil
rights advocate Roberta Kaplan, who represented Edie Windsor in “the landmark
Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor that resulted in DOMA being
declared unconstitutional.”
2017:
In London, JWE3 is scheduled to host a screening of “Menashe,” the first
Yiddish-language feature film that has been made in several years.
2017(28th
of Kislev, 5778): Parashat Miketz; Fourth Day of Chanukah.
2018:
In London, the Jewish Museum is scheduled to host a talk by Kindertrasnport
“Kid” Ruth Barnett who “was four years old when she arrived in Britain with her
brother.”
2018:
The Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines is scheduled to host a screening of
“1945” the award winning movie that tells the story of “two Jewish survivors of
the Holocaust who arrive in a Hungarian village in August 1945, and the
paranoid reactions of the villagers, some of whom fear that these and other
Jews are coming to reclaim Jewish property.”
2018:
In London, “Artist-in-residence Tommy Berry” is scheduled to work in the
gallery space creating works based on the survival story of Kindertransport
survivor, Bea Green and her son Paul Green” at the Jewish Museum.
2018:
“Jonathan Brent, Executive Director and CEO of YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research, is scheduled to speak about the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Collections
Project, begun in 2015, to conserve and digitize YIVO's entire prewar library
and archival collections located in NYC and Vilnius, Lithuania, reuniting them
through a dedicated web portal.
2018:
“With Israelis bracing for expected consumer price increases” and “proposed
cuts to the Welfare Budget, it was reported by “Latet” that there are more than
two million Israelis including a million children defined as poor, a number
which differs with the National Insurance Institute’s findings by approximately
one half million. (As reported by Telem Yahav)
2018:
In a sign of the time moment, in Cedar Rapids Temple Judah is scheduled to host
a member of the CRPD who will “conduct safety awareness training, including
active shooter training.”
2018:
Jewish Silk Road Tours Inc. in partnership with Bukharian Jewish Congress of
USA and Canada, Center for Traditional Music and Dance are scheduled to host a
walking tour of several neighborhoods in Queens, NY that will include a visit
to the Bukharian Jewish Museum to increase understanding of the Silk Road and
Burkharian Jewish culture and as lunched catered by the Bukharian Restaurant.
2019:
In London, JW 3 is scheduled to host a screening of “Citizen K.”
2019:
The Streicker Center is scheduled to “a conversation with Andrea Bocelli”
during he will talk about “the man, the artists” and “the music.
2019:
The Sonoma County Jewish Community Center is scheduled to host the “Friendship
Circle Chanukah Party.”
2019:
Award winning pianist Roman Rabinovich is scheduled to perform with the Jupiter
Symphony Chamber Players at the Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church.
2019:
It was reported today that Israeli boutique hotel chain Brown, together with IT
Company Aman Group, has won a tender to open a hotel at Ben Gurion Airport.
2020(1st
of Tevet, 5781): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Sixth Day of Chanukah
2020:
This evening the Jewish Federation of the Corridor is scheduled to host an
Iowa-wide candle lighting on Zoom which is designed to connect communities
across Iowa from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River in a lighting of
the Chanukah candles!
2020:
The Illinois Holocaust Memorial is scheduled to host “Coffee with a Survivor” –
Eric Balustein who “will discuss why he swapped identities with another inmate
at Buchenwald - and how he endured the camp.”
2020:
In London, the Jewish Museum is scheduled to host Caludia Mendoza, the Joint
CEO of the Jewish Leadership Council as part of its 8 Digital Nights of Hanukah
2020:
The Boston Synagogue is scheduled to present “Movie Night” with a screening of
“The Hebrew Hammer.”
2020:
Temple Etz Chaim is scheduled to present online, “The Hanukkah Story Today: The
Ways the Hanukkah Story Speaks to Us Now” which is part of the Metrowest Boston
celebration of the holiday.
2020:
Several San Francisco Bay Area JCCS are scheduled to host online “Theodore
Bikel’s The City of Light” in which Aimee Ginsburg Bikel talks about her late
husband’s life and singing-acting career,
and the couple’s book, which is anchored by a childhood Hanukkah story
Theodore wrote shortly before his death” as well as “a rare Hanukkah recording
by Bikel.”
2020:
Young Jewish Columbia is scheduled to host its Chanukah Program.
2020:
B’nai Jeshurun with the help of ATI is scheduled to bring back a fun-filled
evening of trivia prizes for Hanukkah.
2020:
“This year’s Festival des Andalousies-Atlantiques which will be virtual with
the Festival’s original dynamic and world-class artists” is scheduled to end
this afternoon.
2020:
In Palm Beach Gardens, FL, Temple Judea is scheduled to host a Lunch and Learn
with Rabbi Feviel Strauss who will be discussing Theodor Herzl as part of the
Great Jewish Leaders series.
2020:
Israelis awaken to a mixed bag of news on the Pandemic front including the
reassuring reports that vaccine distribution will begin at several hospitals
this Sunday and the cautionary report that Israel may have to tight coronavirus
restrictions to “prevent another general lockdown as cases surge nationwide.”
2021:
Temple Emanuel of Newton is scheduled to present, online, a book talk with
Rabbi Michelle Robinson and Ruth Cope, author of Losing Larry, A Mother’s
Journey Through Grief.
2021:
The Klezmatics, the award-winning klezmer group is scheduled to return to the
SFJazz Center where it will perform music “from the 2006 album of songs largely
written by Woody Guthrie.”
2021:
The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History is scheduled to host,
online, a conversation with Michael W. Twitty, “a living history interpreter,
culinary historian, and food writer dedicated to teaching, documenting, and
preserving the African American culinary traditions of the historic South and
beyond whose next book, Koshersoul (HarperCollins), will be released in 2022
and focuses on his culinary journey as a Jew of African descent.”
2021:
Prime Minister Naftali’s three-day quarantine which was necessitated by the
fact that “a person who was on his flight back from the UAE has tested positive
for COVID-19” is scheduled to come to an end today. (As reported by Itamar
Eichner)
2021:
Based on previously published reports the UAW, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Finland
France and Sweden are now on the “list of red countries that Israelis are
forbidden to visit…” (As reported by Nina Fox)
2022:
In Boston, the Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture is scheduled to
present “LatkePalooza and Trivia Night.”
2022:
In Waterloo, IA, Congregation Sons of Jacob is scheduled to host a Kosher
pre-Hannukah Potluck followed by a service in Doran Hall.
2022:
In Berkley, CA, Peet’s Theatre is scheduled to host a performance of “Remember
This: The Lesson of Jan Karski,” “a play in which actor David Strathairn
portrays a Polish World War II hero and Holocaust witness who risked his life
to report about the Warsaw Ghetto, only to be met with inaction and disbelief.”
2022:
In Newton, MA, Temple Emanuel is scheduled to host Yisod’s Latke and Vodka Shabbat.
2022:
In San Francisco, Congregation Sh’ar Zahav is scheduled a “Klezmer Shabbat,” “with
appetizers, drinks, singing, dancing and performances by Cantor Sharon
Bernstein, Josh Horowitz, Cookie Segelstein, Frank London and Bruce Bierman.”
2023(4th
of Tevet, 5784): Parashat Miketz
For
more see https://downhomedavartorah.blogspot.com
2023:
In Philadelphia, PA the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History is
scheduled to host a 30th anniversary screening of “Schindler’s
List.”
2023:
In Coralville, IA Agudas Achim is scheduled to host a “Facilitated Conversation
on Israel” this afternoon.
2023:
In Warsaw, The Bund is scheduled to begin a three day celebration of the 35th
Jubilee of its existence. (JTA)
2023:
As December 16 begins in Israel, all mourn the deaths of hostages Yotam Haim,
Samar Fouad Talalka and Alon Shamriz who were mistakenly killed by IDF forces in a part of Gaza that
has seen heavy fighting in the last couple of days and the threat from Hamas
continues as can be seen by the firing of rockets in the Jerusalem and Beith
Shemesh area while the Hamas held hostages begin day
71 in captivity. (Editor’s
note: this situation is too fluid for this blog to cover so we are just
providing a snapshot as of the posting at midnight Israeli time)
