This Day, February 19, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
February 19
197:
Emperor Septimius Severus defeated the usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of
Lugdunum, Severus was trying to use syncretism to maintain imperial unity and
authority. Since Jews, as well as Christian, resisted this concept, the
Emperor outlawed conversion to either of these religions.
356:
Following in the footsteps of his father Constantine the Great Constantius II
closed all pagan temples. During his reign, he would also issue a series of
edicts designed to limit the economic and social activities of Jews. All of
this was part of the drive to make Christianity the state religion which would
then serve as a unifying force for the empire that was past its zenith.
607:
Boniface III is named Pope. His papacy only lasted for nine months but
during that time he “ensured that the title of ‘Universal Bishop’ belonged
exclusively to the Bishop of Rome” thus ensuring the primacy of the Pope as
head of the Catholic Church. The impact of this decision would indirectly
affect the Jews for centuries to come as they were forced to deal with Church
sponsored persecution and/or to seek Papal protection from a variety of
murderous enemies.
842:
The Medieval Iconoclastic Controversy ended, when a Council in Constantinople
formally reinstated the veneration of images (icons) in the churches. This
debate over icons is often considered the last event which led to the Great
Schism between the Eastern and Western Churches. This split continues to this
day between the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox. As those
studying in Cedar Rapids now know, many of the things done to the Jews by
Christians were by-products of these various squabbles between various
Christian sects.
1090:
In Speyer, Germany, Emperor Henry IV renewed to Rabbi Judah ben Kalonymus, the
poet David ben Meshullam, and Rabbi Moses ben Yekuthiel the pledges granted six
years earlier by Bishop Ruediger. In addition, the emperor guaranteed the Jews
freedom of trade in his empire as well as his protection. Within six years
Speyer became one of the first communities on the Rhine to be attacked. After
the attacks Rabbi Moses took it upon himself to care for and protect the
orphans created by this violence.
1229:
During the Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor signed “a ten-year
truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither
military engagements nor support from the Pope Gregory IX.” The Sixth Crusade
is remembered as one that did not result in the massive slaughter of Jews in
Europe or Palestine. Gregory is remembered as the Pope who created the dreaded
institution known as the Inquisition. During his reign, Frederick “decided to
combine the manufacturing of silk and the dying trades and to give them over to
a number of Jewish families. For many years both of these industries were
“almost the exclusive activities of Jews in Sicily, Naples, and other parts of
Italy” which were part of the Holy Roman Empire.
Martin
22
1461:
Birthdate of Cardinal Domenico Grimani who was a close enough friend of Rabbi
Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno that he recommended him to those who were looking for
a Hebrew teacher.
1539:
The Jews of Tyrnau Hungary (then Trnava Czechoslovakia) who had “first been
punished for alleged ritual murder” were expelled today. In case you
had not noticed, there seems to be an expulsion somewhere on almost every
day of the year.
1543:
Paull III issued “Illius, quo pro dominici,” the Papal Bull that enable the
Vatican to establish the House of Catechumens (Casa dei Catecumeni). The
purpose of the house, supported by Jewish taxation was solely to convert Jews.
Those sent there were subjected to 40 days of intense “instruction”. If after
that time he still refused baptism he was allowed to return to his home – few
did. Until it was abolished in 1810 around 2440 Jews were converted in Rome
alone. Other houses were set up in various Italian cities. On this same day
three Portuguese Marranos from Ferrara were burned in Rome's Campo dei Fiori.
1560:
The third volume of the Zohar was printed for the first time in Mantua, Italy
1583(27th
of Shevat): In Italy, Joseph Saralbo was burned at the stake at the command of
Pope Gregory XIII. Saralbo was accused of returning to Judaism and of trying to
convince other Marranos in Ferrara to join him. According to reports he proudly
proclaimed that he had helped 800 Marranos return to Judaism. He asked
the Jews of Rome not to mourn for him stating “I am on my way to meet
immortality.”
1594:
King Sigismund III ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is crowned King
of Sweden. Under King Sigismund’s rule, conditions for Polish and Lithuanian
Jews continued to deteriorate. Such could not be said of his Swedish
realm since there was no Jewish community in Sweden at this time.
1612:
Today in Hamburg, the senate concluded the Designatio Articulorum, darauf
sich E. E. Rath mit der portugiesischen Nation verglichen und dieselben in
Schutz und Schirm genommen with the Sephardim as a recognized and protected
corporation of persons, but it would not be until 1710, that the Ashkenazim
would secure legal protection.
1674:
England and the Netherlands sign the Peace of Westminster, ending the Third
Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New
Amsterdam to England, which renamed it New York. If the war had turned
out otherwise, comedians would have been talking about New Amsterdam Jews
instead of New York Jews. Think of Seinfeld in Dutch.
1707(17th
of Adar l, 5467): Jonah Abravanel, “a learned and highly respected” member of
the Amsterdam Jewish community passed away. [Jonah Abravanel was a fairly a
common name and this individual should not be confused with the16th century
poet who was the son of the physician Joseph Abravanel, and a nephew of
Manasseh ben Israel]
1732:
In New Rochelle, NY, Dutch born Jechiel Hays and his wife gave birth to his
sixth son David who was a grocery store owner, a veteran of the French and
Indian Wars and the American Revolutionary War whose older brother Jacob was “a
founder of the first Jewish cemetery in Chatham Square in Manhattan.
1732:
In Cambridge, UK, Johanna Bentley and Dr. Denison Cumberland gave birth to
dramatist Richard Cumberland, author of “The Jew of Magadore” and “The Jew,”
“the first playing the English theatre to portray a Jewish moneylender as the
hero of a stage production.” In 2012, the play was published as “Sheva, the
Benevolent.”
1740(22nd
of Shevat): Rabbi Jacob ben Benjamin Papiers of Frankfort author of Shev
Ya’akov passed away.
1758:
Birthdate of Austrian educator Peter Beer.
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Beer_Peter
1764:
Savannah, GA native Isaac De Lyon and Rinah Tobias, who were married in
Charleston, SC gave birth to Judith De Lyon, the wife of Moses Cohen and mother
of Rinah and Bilah Cohen who later married Joseph Abrahams with whom she had
one child – Rachel Abrahams.
1772:
Birthdate of Moses Myers, the husband of Hannah Polock whom he married in
Washington, D.C. in November of 1801.
1777:
One day after he had passed away “Moses Myers ben JudahZL” was buried today at
the “Alderney Road (Globe Rd) Jewish Cemetery.
1784:
One day after he had passed away, “Zvi ben Judah Chait” was buried today at the
“Alderney Road (Globe Rd) Jewish Cemetery.
1787(1st
of Adar, 5547): Rosh Chodesh Adar observed as James Madison takes part in the
debated in the Congress of Confederation which eventually led to the creation
of the U.S. Constitution.
https://www.amazon.com/Papers-James-Madison-Congress-Confederation/dp/B009QQDU4C
1791(15th
of Adar I, 5551): Parashat Ki Tisa; Shushan Purim Katan observed on the day
that Thomas Jefferson wrote to President George Washington concerning the
admission of the state of Vermont to Union which was historic because it was
the first state added to the original thirteen.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-07-02-0224
1799(14th
of Adar I, 5559): Purim Katan observed for the last time in the 18th
century and on the same day that President John Adams wrote to his predecessor George
Washington about the appointment of an American ambassador to France and the
foreign policy considerations surrounding the selection.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-03-02-0288
1803:
Ohio was admitted to as the 17th U.S. State
1803:
“An Act of Mediation, issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, establishes the Swiss
Confederation to replace the Helvetic Republic.”
1804:
In Charleston, SC, Reinah Abrahams Cohen Mordecai and David Cohen Mordecai gave
birth to Moses Cohen Mordecai, the grandson of Mordecai Moses Mordecai and
Zipporah deLyon and the husband of Isabel Rebecca Lyons with whom he had eight
children who was the owner of the Mordecai Steamship Line and a member of the
South Carolina Senate.
1804:
In the U.K., Moses Cantor, the son of Hannah Lazarus and Jacob Samuel Cantor
who was buried in the Brady Street Jewish Cemetery at the age of 25, was
“christened” today
1810(15th
of Adar I, 5570): Shushan Purim Katan
1810(15th
of Adar I, 5570): David Friedrichsfeld, the native of Berlin who went to
Amsterdam in 1781 to fight for the emancipation of the Jews and whose written
works included a biography of fellow Hebraist Naphtali Hirz Wessely, passed
away today.
1815:
Yitzchak Alter and Feigele Lipschitz gave birth to Abraham Mordka Alter.
1816:
Twenty-one-year-old Rachel Lopez, the Charleston SC born daughter of David
Lopez married Jacob Cohen today.
1819:
Under the influence of Rabbi Moses Münz, Rabbi Aron Chorin “recalled” Ḳin'at
ha-Emet (Zeal for Truth), a paper written on April 7, 1818, and published in
the collection Nogah ha-Ẓedeḳ (Light of Righteousness),” in which “he declared
himself in favor of reforms, such as German prayers, the use of the organ, and
other liturgical modifications. The principal prayers, the Shema', and the
eighteen benedictions, however, should be said in Hebrew, he declared, as this
language keeps alive the belief in the restoration of Israel. He also pleaded
for opening the temple for daily service.” A year later he would publish Dabar
be-'Itto (A Word in Its Time), in which he reaffirmed the views expressed in Ḳin'at
ha-Emet, and pleaded strongly for the right of Reform.
1822:
In the U.K., Helena Moses and Moses Levy gave birth to Lionel Lawson.
1823:
In Rotterdam, Sara Lit and Harry De Groot gave birth to Salomon De Groot.
1825:
Birthdate of Abraham Pereira Mendes, the native of Kingston, Jamaica who was
trained in London by Rabbi David Meldola and Rabbi D.A. de Sola and who led
several Sephardic congregations in the United Kingdom and the United States.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A03E1D71731E033A25756C0A9629C94629ED7CF
1827(22nd
of Shevat, 5587): Twenty-six-year-old Rachel Jonas, the husband Cincinnati
resident Joseph Jonas passed away today.
1834:
Jacob David Davis married Dinah Alexander at the Great Synagogue today.
1835:
Birthdate of Austrian Rabbi Moritz Güdemann who passed away in 1918.
1836:
One day afer he had passed away. “Faulkland Jones, the son of Alexander and
Janes Jones” was buried today at the “Lauriston Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1837:
Seventy-three-year-old Dutch born Asser Prins, the husband of Amelia Prins with
whom he had five children was buried today at the “Brady Street Jewish
Cemetery.”
1838(24th
of Shebat, 5598): Matilda de Mitz the wife of Levy Salomons and daughter-in-law
of Solomon Salmons and the mother of three sons and three daughters passed away
today.
1839:
Birthdate of Esther Levy, the wife of Abraham Hoffnung and the mother of
Caroline Hoffnung.
1843:
A committee of representatives, including eight from the Great Synagogue, met
under the chairmanship of Isaac Cohen in the Vestry room in Duke's Place
1843:
In Madrid, Salvatore Patti and Salvatore Patti gave birth to Adelina Patti, the
19th century opera star who was discovered by Jewish impresario Max
Maretzek.
1846(23rd
of Shevat, 5606): Penzance native James Jacob Hart, “her Majesty’s consul the Kingdom
of Saxony” passed away today in London.
1848:
Thirty-year old Emanuel Nunes Carvalho and Caroline A. Carvalho gave birth to
Isaac Woolf Nunes Carvalho
1850:
In Hamburg, Emma Simon and Louis Bernheim gave birth to German historian Ernst
Bernheim who would lose his position when he fell afoul of the Nazi racial
laws.
1854:
In Charleston, SC, W.J. Jacobi, Esq., married Hester E. Hertz, “the eldest
daughter of the late Jacob Hertz.”
1856:
During the current session of the New York Legislature,today Mr. Brooks gave
notice that he planned to introduce a bill "to increase the number of
trustees of the Jews Hospital" in New York City.
1857:
Moses Polydore Millaud, the French banker who owned La Presse “hosted a
banquet for the Goncourt brothers, but later that year he was faced with
financial difficulties and sold the newspaper to Felix Solar.”
1858:
Birthdate of mechanical engineer Ernest D. Lowy, the native of London who
married Henrietta Solomon, the daughter of Joseph Solomon in 1886 and whose
activities in the Jewish community included serving as a Warden of the West
London Synagogue and a member of the Jewish Board of Guardians.
1861:
As part of his reforms, Czar Alexander II abolished serfdom. Although the Jews
were not directly affected by the emancipation of the serfs, they benefited
from other reforms initiated by Alexander II including putting an end to the
drafting of Jews into the Russian Army and the opening of some educational
institutions and occupations to the Jews of Russia. This gave rise to the
masklim movement in Russia. Unfortunately, all of this came to an end
when the Czar was assassinated in 1881 which led to Pogroms and reactionary
regimes.
1863:
“The Doom of Memphis” published today described the desperate economic
conditions in Memphis including the fact that many of the city’s prominent
businessman have joined the retreating Rebel Army and their homes have been
occupied by “military Generals or Hebrews, who have turned them into Sutlers'
establishments.
1863:
After graduating from Albany Medical College Herman Bendell rejoined the Union
Army today “as a surgeon with the 86th New York Volunteer Infantry.”
1867:
In New York City, Robert Weeks Nathan and Anne Augusta Florance gave birth
Annie Nathan who married Dr. Alfred Meyer and gained fame as Annie Nathan
Meyer, a founder of Bernard College and American author whose works included Women’s
Work in America and Helen Brent, M.D.
1868:
In New Orleans, Rachel Wolff and Benjamin Rosenberg, pioneer in the shoe industry
and founder of B. Rosenberg and Sons, gave
birth to Ephraim Rosenberg, the husband of Jessie Hillborn and the founder of
the real estate firm of Rosenberg and Rowan as well as president of both the
Knight Land and Oil Development Company and the River and Rail Terminal Company
who was active in the affairs of Touro Synagogue, Touro Infirmary, the Jewish
Orphan’s Home and the Young Men’s Hebrew Association.
1869:
Birthdate of Pollnoi, Germany, native Ludwig Beer who was buried in Hong Kong’s
Happy Valley Jewish Cemetery.
1870:
In Brooklyn, Congregation Beth Elohim which had been conducted services in “the
traditional manner” adopted a moderate reform ritual in its worship.
1871:
In Philadelphia, PA, Barbara Myers and Meyer Guggenheim gave birth Rose
Guggenheim, who was first married to Albert Loeb with whom she had three
children and then to Samuel M. Goldsmith followed by Charles E. Quicke.
1871:
“Abraham’s Sacrifice” which was published today included a description of
Rembrandt’s relationship with the local Jewish population including the fact
that after the death of his wife, the Dutch painter “retired to an old house on
the Rue des Juifs in Amsterdam.”
1871:
In Portsmouth, England, Kate Emanuel and Philip Magnus gave birth to Lucy Amy
Magnus.
1874:
In Helena, AR, Simon and Vera (Cohen) Seelig gave birth to Harvard graduate and
Columbia trained physician Gabriel Seelig, the husband of Clover Hartz who
served as Professor of Clinical Surgery at Washington University School of
Medicine and director of surgery of the Jewish Hospital in St. Louis while
rising to the rank of Colonel of Medical Corps of the United States Army during
World War I.
1875(14th
of Adar I, 5635): Purim Katan
1875:
In Portland, OR approval of ordinance 1602 which extended the limit on
permission for interments at the “Hebrew Cemetery” which was an exemption from
Ordinance 934 which prohibited interments within the city limits.
1876:
Australian native Martha May Cohen and Louis Samuel Cohen gave birth Rex David
Cohen
1877:
Birthdate Moritz Kahn who in 1942 was transported from Darmstadt to Terezin
where he was murdered.
1879:
Birthdate of Philadelphia native, Walter Abraham Kohn, the University of
Pennsylvania trained electrical engineer who was an “officer of the Alliance
Israelite Universelle.”
1881:
Seventeen-year-old Marion Calisch, the Hebrew teacher at Professor Felix
Adler’s Kindergarten at 45th and Broadway disappeared today.
1882:
President Isaac Marx addressed the opening session of annual convention of the
Grand Lodge of the order Kesher Shel Barzel, District Number 1. During his
speech, Marx expressed remorse at the recent death of President Garfield and
concern for the plight of the Jews of Russia. Marks praised the work of
the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society in aiding the Russian Jews. He suggested that
the Order should emulate the action of the Free Sons of Israel and make a
generous contribution to HIAS.
1882:
It was reported today that in the upcoming session of Parliament, the
Opposition plans to pepper Prime Minister Gladstone with “taunts and jibes”
over his denunciation of the Bulgarian atrocities while remaining silent about
the Russian persecution of the Jews. The difference they claim has
nothing to do with the Jews and everything to do with the fact the Turks are
weak and the Russians are strong.
1882:
In London, the Lord Mayor’s relief fund to aid the Jews of Russia has reached
£50,000.
1882:
Reverend Jacob Freshman addressed a large gathering this afternoon at Cooper
Union on the subject of “Hebrew and Christian Unity.” Freshman, the son
of a rabbi, had converted to Christianity. The meeting was part of a
movement “looking toward the converting and Christianizing of the Jews.”
1882:
In St. Petersburg, Count Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev, the Russian Minster of the
Interior told a Rabbi that the government would neither encourage nor oppose
the emigration of the Jews.[This statement does not conform with reality.
The Russian government was committed to the one-third, one-third, one-third
policy: One third of the Jews would convert; one-third would emigrate;
one-third would die.]
1883:
Birthdate of Kiev native Abraham Lassen who in 1899 came to the United Sates
where he earned a master’s degree from Northwestern and a Doctorate from JTS
who was a founder of Congregation B’nai Zion in Chicago which he served as
rabbi for twenty-one years while raising his son Ben with his wife Anna.
1885:
In Budapest, Emil Oppenheim, the Pest, Hungary, born son of Hermina and J.
Samuel Oppenheim and his wife Anna Oppenheim gave birth to Margit Oppenheim,
the sister of Maria Oppenheim.
1886(14th
of Adar I, 5646): Purim Katan
1886:
In Polonoya, Ukraine, Rhoda and Nathan Isaac Sharfman gave birth to Harvard
trained lawyer Isaiah Leo Sharfman, the husband of Minnie Shikes whose varied
career included serving as a professor of law and Science at the Imperial
Pei-Yang University in Tientsin, China and professor economics at the
University of Michigan where he was active in the Menorah movement
1887:
Rabbi Alexander Kohut of Ahawath Chesed is scheduled to host a reception for
members of his congregation at his home in Beekman Place
1887:
In Poland, “Gedalie and Sarah (Block) Wohl gave birth Dr. Michael Gershon Wohl,
the husband of Rose B. Gillerson and the
professor of pathology and hygiene at Temple Med School in Philadelphia who
moved on to Creighton Medical College In Omaha, NE where he was on the faculty
while serving at Methodist and Nicholas Senn Hospitals in Omaha.
1888:
In Amsterdam, and Adriana Rosa Gustaaf Wertheim Enthoven gave birth to pianist
Rosalie Marie Wertheim who gave “secret conferences in cellars” during the Nazi
occupation of the Netherlands.
1889:
Three days she had passed away, 62 year old Julia Angel, the daughter of Philip
and Blumer Isaacs, the wife of Edward Angel with whom she had had six children
was buried today at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1891:
In Rochester, NY, Benjamin and Sarah Kail Lazarus gave birth to Joseph Hyman
Lazarus, the brother of Max and Isaac Lazarus.
1892:
Birthdate of Elinor Fatman Morgenthau, the wife of Secretary Treasury Henry
Morgenthau and a friend and Hyde Park neighbor of Eleanor Roosevelt.
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/morgenthau-elinor
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12237013
1894:
“Huxley on the Bible” published today provides a detailed review of Science
and Hebrew Traditions, a collection by Thomas H. Huxley. (Huxley was a 19th
century scientist who was an enthusiastic advocate of Darwin’s Theory of
Evolution)
1894:
Birthdate of Kovno native Velvi-Dovid who in 1912 came to the United States
where e gained fame as labor organizer and author Williams Abrams.
1894:
The United Hebrew Charities was one of the recipients of money given to New
York charities by the Distribution Committee of the Citizens’ Relief Committee
when it met today in the office of J. Pierpont Morgan.
1895:
Birthdate of Kaunus, Lithuania native, Haganah and Jewish Legion veteran and University
of London trained jurist Yitzhak Olshan, who made Aliyah in 1912, headed in the
commission investigating the Lavon Affair and served as President of the
Supreme Court of Israel from 1954 to 1965.
1896:
Birthdate of Konigsberg, East Prussia native musical child prodigy Werner R.
Heymann, the younger brother of poet Walther Heymann who continued his
composing work during the Hitler by writing for Hollywood films which earned
him four Oscar nominations in the 1940’s.
1896:
Birthdate of Lodz native Benjamin Raczkowski Harris, the chemical engineer and
WW I veteran who while attending the University of Chicago was elected to Sigma
XI “on the nomination of the Department of Science for evidence of ability in
research work in science.”
1897:
Birthdate of silent screen star Alma Rubens, the San Francisco native whose
mother was Irish Catholic and whose father was Jewish.
1897(17th
of Adar I, 5657): In New York, Simon Goldenberg, the husband of Mary Goldenberg
and member of Temple Beth El who left an estate of $200,000 in real property
and $100,000 in personal property passed away today.
1897:
Mrs. Rolla Hewitt who has said that “she had a mission” which was to “convert
every Jew” at Woodbine disappeared from her home at Sea Isle City, NJ.
1898:
“It is said that the taking of testimony” in the trial of Emile Zola “will be
concluded tonight.” There are only five or six more witnesses to be
heard.
1898(27th
of Shevat, 5658): Five-year-old Tina Fein passed away at the Hebrew Orphan
Asylum.
1898:
Birthdate of “ophthalmologist and medical historian” Dr. Samuel L. Saltzman,
the Keene, N.H. native and graduate of “Yale Sheffield Scientific School and
then New York Medical College” who
served the Israeli Army as volunteer during the War for Independence and was
the husband of Rose Salzman with whom he had two children – Suzanne and
Jonathan.
https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/18/archives/dr-samuel-saltzman-eye-surgeon-historian.html
1898:
“Grant Allen’s Book on God” published today provides a review of The
Evolution of the Idea of God: An Inquiry Into the Origins of Religion by
Grant Allen in which the author say, “The only people who ever invented or
evolved a pure monotheism at first hand were the Jews. It is the peculiar
glory of Israel to have evolved God. The mistake Jews make, is to believe
that Abraham…was always a monotheist…and that monotheism was smitten out at a
single blow by the genius of…Moses at the moment of the Hebrew exodus from
Egypt.”
1899:
It was reported today that in the past year the Gemilath Chasodim Committee
lent $68,110 to 3,917 needy families comprised 19,000 individuals. The
American Hebrew described the committees practicing of providing small
loans as “The Help that Helps.”
1899:
The resignation of Morris I. Schamberg, D.D.S., MD who had enlisted in Company
D of the 1st Pennsylvania on June 14, 1898 and who rose to the rank
of 1st Lieutenant and Acting Surgeon for his work at the Military
Hospital at Ponce and the U.S. Military Hospital at San Juan, was accepted
today.
1899:
Rabbi Gustav Gottheil delivered a sermon entitled “Was Christ a Christian?”
today at Temple Emanu-El.
1900: “The 37th
Convention of District No. 4 of the Independent Order of B’Nai B’rith continued
for a second day in San Francisco.
1900:
The former Jane Silver, the wife of Henry Woolf with whom she had had seven
children was buried today at the “Plashet Jewish Cemetery” in London.
1900:
Birthdate of Morris Glassman, the native of Russia, who despite having never
gone to college played two years for the Columbus Panhandles alternating
between defensive lineman and offensive end.
1901(30th
of Shevat, 5661): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1901:
“A musicale” is scheduled to “be given by a section of the Women’s Philharmonic
Society” which is part of “the efforts of the Educational Alliance…to inculcate
a love of music of the higher order among the residents of the lower east side”
many of whom are Jewish immigrants.
1902:
Oscar S. Straus, Second Vice Chairman of Executive Committee of the National
Civic Federation known as the Arbitration Committee of Thirty-Six hosted a
dinner this evening following the committee’s first meeting following which Mr.
Straus said he “was delighted with the results of the conference.”
1903:
Birthdate of Louis Slobodkin, the sculptor and award-winning illustrator of
children’s books who was the father of “pioneering ecologist” Lawrence
Slobodkin.
1904:”
Russia’s Exclusion of Jews” published today described how Congressman Goldfogle
had been denied a visa to visit Russia by the Consul General at the Russian
Embassy in Paris last summer because he was Jewish and only relented when he
found out the Goldfogle was a Congressman.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/02/19/117938103.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1905:
“Reign of Terror in Warsaw” published today provided a report on conditions in
that Polish city from a manufacturer who had just come back to New York which
described the Russian soldiers as acting like “wild beasts” and said that “a
dangerous feature of the situation is the fanatical national spirt” exhibited
by the Poles which have led to attacks on Germans, Jews and any hoses “that do
not contain crucifixes.
1906:
In Russia, the government “authorized” a meeting of the Jewish Congress to be
held on March 5.
1906:
“Another Anti-Jewish Riot” published today described an anti-Jewish riot which
had begun on February 18 “in Vietka, a town of 6,000 inhabitants near Gomel”
which has left a large part of the town “in flames.”
1907(4th
of Shevat, 5667): Parashat Bo
1907(4th
of Shevat, 5667): Sixty-one-year-old Democratic political leader Reuben Trier,
“an ex-Assemblyman from Essex County and a member of the first Board of Works
of Newark” who was a prominent member of “Jewish societies” and the father of
“three daughters” passed away today.
1908:
Despite his compliance with the demand by Henry W. Blumberg that Emanuel W.
Krulewitch, a contractor and builder, “employ Jewish workmen on half the job”
at St. Nicholas and Convent Avenues, the Carpenters’ and Joiners’ Union
continue to interfere with his constrcution operation requiring police
protection.
1909:
“Paul M. Warburg of Kuhn, Loeb and Company has been elected a member of the
Board of Trustees of the Title Guarantee and Trust Company.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1909/02/19/101816476.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0]
1909:
Auguste Leon Luzatto Pasha, the director-general of the Banque d’Egypte, passed
away. Following his death, his heirs sold his home to the Curciel family
– the Jewish family that owned Egypt’s largest department store chain.
1909:
Birthdate of Enrico Donati the Italian economics student who became a leading
surrealist painter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/arts/26donati.html
https://www.artsy.net/artist/enrico-donati
1910(10th
of Adar I, 5670): Parashat Tetzaveh
1910:
It was reported today that “Jacob H. Schiff, who has been honored by the
Japanese Government for his engineering of the Russian war loans” spoke at the
dinner given by the Japan Society Society of New York “in honor of Ambassador
Yasuya Uchida and his wife the Baroness.”
1911:
One day after she had passed away Ryna Mary Genn was buried at the “Belfast
Jewish Cemetery” in Northern Island.
1912(1st
of Adar I, 5672): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1912(1st
of Adar I, 5672): In Joplin, MO, 69-year-old Albert Cahn who earned the rank of
Captain while serving the Civil War passed away today.
1912:
Birthdate Brooklyn native of Saul Kaplan who gained fame as composer Saul Chaplin
the husband of Betty Levin whom he married after his divorce from Ethel
Schwartz and collaborated with Sammy Kahn before going on to win four Oscars
his work on the scores and orchestrations for An American in Paris
(1951, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and West Side Story
(1961).
1913: In
Chicago, E.M. Newman is scheduled to deliver the first in a series of new
“traveltalks” starting with Holland.
1914:
Today, the “Black Hundreds continued their campaign again the Jews of Kiev in
spite of the fact that the allegation of ritual murder against the Jewish
tailor Pashkoff of Fastoff were disapproved” when “the Christian boy
Taranthevitch who had been reported” was found alive.
1915:
During World War I, The Battle of Gallipoli began as Allied forces attack the
Turks. The Battle of Gallipoli took place on the Turkish Peninsula at the
Dardanelles. The idea was to break the stalemate on the Western Front and
at the same time open the Dardanelles to Allied ships carrying supplies to the
Russians. If the attacks had been executed as planned, World War I might
have ended in 1915 or 1916 which would have meant a lot less bloodshed, no
Russian Revolution and no Versailles Treaty. The Battle of Gallipoli saw
the appearance of the Zion Mule Corps – the first all Jewish fighting unit to
operate in World War I. The Zion Mule Corps paved the way for the Jewish
Legion in the British Army. The Zion Mule Corps was one of the progenitors of
the modern I.D.F.
1915:
Birthdate of New York City native Fred Freiberger the “television writer and
producer” who spent two years in POW camp during WWII after having been shot
down while serving with the Eighth Air Force.
http://articles.latimes.com/2003/mar/07/local/me-freiberger7
1915:
It was reported today that there were more than 60, 000 pupils attending the
schools operated by the Alliance Israelite Universelle in Palestine, Turkey,
Algeria, Egypt and other parts of Asia Minor at an annual cost of $400,000.
1915:
Among those listed today as contributors to the American Jewish Relief
Committee for Sufferers from the War are the Jewish Federation of Ft. Wayne,
Indiana, the Ladies’ Auxiliary Society of Harrisonburg, VA, Beth Israel
Congregation of Clarksdale, MS and Temple Emanuel of San Francisco, CA.
1915:
It was reported today that “Talaat Bey, Minister of Marine, Finance and
Interior in the Turkish Cabinet and the leader of the Young Turks Party was a
graduate of a school operated by the Alliance Israelite Universelle.
1916:
William Phillips, the Third Assistant (US) Secretary of State wrote to Simon
Wolf that in compliance with the wishes of President Wilson, the American
government had requested permission from the British to ship Passover flour to
those in territory occupied by the Germans and the Austrians, but the British
had rejected the request saying that the Austrians and Germans had adequate
supplies to meet the need. (This was not anti-Semitism. One of the
few things the Allies had going for them at this point in WW I was the blockade
of the Central Powers and they resisted any attempt to ship any kind of goods
to the enemy.)
1916:
A meeting held this afternoon at the Republican Club in New York, proponents of
a constitutional amendment banning “the sale of intoxicating liquors” faced off
against opponents of such a measure including Charles M. Bryan of Memphis who cited
the Jews as an illustration of a “race which had indulged in the moderate use
of liquors without its virility” saying “The Jewish people have been drinking
liquor moderately since Pharaoh had them working on the pyramids” and “when you
consider what the Jews have done I ask you if that is your idea of
degeneration?”
1917:
According to reports first published in Geneva, “the representatives of
American Jewish societies who came to Germany to arrange an opening of
communication between Polish Jews and relatives in America and for the sending
of relief funds conferred with General von Ludendorff” who is called “the real
boss” of Germany before the plans were finally approved.
1917:
An interview was conducted today at Rotterdam with “a Pole who has just arrived
from Warsaw” in which he said, “There is also a very strong propaganda in full
swing against the Jews, and measure of an outrageously unlawful kind have been
put in force against them” by their new German masters.
1917:
According to reports from the Russkaya Volya now published by the London Mail,
“the Minister of the Interior proposes to past into law by means of Paragraph
87 of the Constitution without parliamentary sanction a measure for the partial
relief of Jewish disabilities” which “is intended to remove all restriction
preventing Jews from entering freely into trade and commerce, contracting for
building of railways and found new limited companies.”
1917:
At Temple Emanu-El, Dr. Enelow is scheduled to deliver a talk on “The Jewish
Element in the Teachings of Jesus” followed by the “Daily Noon Service.”
1918:
In London, “celebration of the inauguration of the Palestine Workers’ Fund and
the fiftieth anniversary of the birthday of David Jochelman, a proponent of the
Territorialist point of view.
1918:
Birthdate of Benjamin Miedzyrzecki, the Warsaw native who would survive the
Warsaw Ghetto and after coming to the United States would change his name to
Benjamin Meed. Meed would parlay eight dollars into a successful import-export
business and become a leading advocate for Jewish Holocaust survivors before
passing away at the age of 88 in 2006
1918:
In Providence, R.I, toy manufacturer Harry Hassenfeld who with his brothers
formed what became Hasbro Industries, the creator of the G.I.Joe action figure
and homemaker Marion Frank Hassenfeld gave birth to University of Pennsylvania
grad and husband of Sylvia Kay Merrill Lloyd Hassenfield who followed in his
father to lead the toy manufacturing giant.
1911:
In St. Louis, MO, Adeline Mordecai Graber, the St. Louis born daughter of Emily
Touro Nathan and Lewis Winthrop Nathan and her husband, dentist Joseph Jay
Graber gave birth to her second son Lewis Joseph Graber.
1919:
“Get Home For Passover” published today reported that “instructions have been
sent to all commanding officers in the United States informing them that
furloughs are to be granted from noon April 14 to midnight April 16 in other
that Jewish men may attended Passover services at their homes or in nearby
towns.”
1920(30th
of Shevat, 5680): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1920:
Jews in London celebrated “the inauguration of the Palestine Worker’s Fund.
1921(11th
of Adar I, 5681): Parashat Tetzaveh
1921:
Rabbi Max Drob is scheduled to deliver the Anniversary Sermon during Shabbat
services when the Washington Heights Congregation celebrates its tenth
anniversary.
1921:
“Citizenship Week” which The Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society of
America created at the behest of Congressman Isaac Siegel came to an end today.
1921:
In Minneapolis, MN, Abraham Levy and Rose Shapiro, “Jewish immigrants from
Lithuania and Russia” gave birth to birth to Leonard Bernard “Butch” Levy the
who played college and pro-football, wrestled professionally and was active in
the Jewish community
http://web.archive.org/web/20150726165642/http://m.startribune.com/obituaries/11600316.html
1922:
Birthdate of Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, a Roman Catholic who grew up in a Jewish
neighborhood in Warsaw, battled both the Nazis and Communists, survived
Auschwitz and was given honorary Israeli citizenship for his work to save Jews
during World War II.” (As reported by Rick Lyman)
1922:
Ed Wynn became the first talent to sign as a radio entertainer. Born in
1886, Wynn started out as a haberdasher. He starred in the Ziegfield
Follies in 1915 and 1916. He translated his success in vaudeville to
radio and later to both movies and television. In this way, he
was part of a long line of Jewish comedians who made the same trek
including George Burns, Jack Benny and Eddie Cantor. Wynn was the father
of character actor Kennan Wynn. He passed away in 1966.
1923:
Birthdate of Long Island City native Marshall Baer, the lyricist best known for
his work on “Once Upon A Mattress.”
1924(14th
of Adar I, 5684): Purim Katan
1924:
Bessie Cushing and Dr. Benjamin Sachs gave birth to Tikvah Sachs Portnoi, the
husband of Henry Portnoi and the mother of Rebecca Mae Portnoi Cohen all of whom
were buried at the Beth El Cemetery in West Roxbury
1924:
Birthdate of Ukrainian native and noted chess player David Bronstein.
1925:
In Germany, premiere of “Peter the Pirate,” a silent movie filmed by
cinematographer Rudolph Mate and produced by Erich Pommer who although not
Jewish fled Germany rather than live under the Nazis.
1926:
According to reports received at the headquarters of Viennese Hakoach, “the
champion soccer team of Europe composed entirely of Jews” matches between this
team and the American soccer teams will play this April and May.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1926/02/20/104201116.html?pageNumber=10
1926:
Authorities are continuing to search for the robbers who attempted to break
into Oheka Cottage, the home of Otto Kahn in Palm Beach, FL.
1927:
Isadore “Izzy” Zarakov, a member of Zeta Beta Tau who lettered at Harvard in
football, hockey and baseball “scored two goals” in a Harvard victory over
arch-rival Yale in hockey. (As reported by Bob Wechsler)
1927(17th
of Adar I, 5687): Georg (Morris Cohen) Brandes passed away at the age of
85. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1842, Brandes gained fame as a critic
and literary historian. Among those whose careers he affected were Henrik
Ibsen and Friedrich Nietzsche. Brandes was an outspoken critic of
Herzl, but he switched to a pro-Zionist position with the issuing of the
Balfour Declaration
1928
In St. Mortiz, the II Olympic Winter games during which speedskater Irving
Jaffee “finished fourth in the 5000 meter skate” which was the best showing by
American in the event to date, came to an end today.
1928:
The Ogden Standard-Examiner reported to that “Rabbi Hyman Sharfman has arrived
in Ogden, Utah from West Virginia where he will “take charge of the “Brith
Shalom (Covenant of Peace) Synagogue.
http://exhibits.usu.edu/exhibits/show/congregationbrithsholem/rabbisofcbs/rabbihymansharfman
1928(Shevat
28 5688): Fifty-two-year-old
Rabbi Nison Yablonsky, the Stavisky, Poland born son of Ezriel and Annie Dvorah
Yablonsky and husband of Celia Klebansky who came to the United States in 1922
where he became “Professor of Talmud and Codes at the Hebrew Theological
Seminary of Chicago” passed away today.
https://kevarim.com/rabbi-nisson-yablonsky/
1929:
Colonel Frederick H. Kisch, chairman of the Zionist executive told those
attending a luncheon hosted by real estate division of = the Federation for the
Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies that “30,000 of the 150,000 Jews now
living in Palestine depended on agriculture for a livelihood” and that there
was positive signs for the establishment of a textile industry in Palestine.
1930:
Stein Brothers, furriers, owned by Harry and Saul Stein filed for bankruptcy
today in the Southern District of New York.
1930:
In Queens, Walter Martin Frankenheimer, a “stockbroker of German Jewish
descent” and his wife Helen Mary Sheedy, an Irish Catholic gave birth to
director John Frankenheimer who “was raised in his mother’s religion.” (Editor’s note – good thing he was born in
the U.S. In Germany, the Nazis would
have put him in a box car.)
1931:
Birthdate of Dr. Meir Rosenne, the native of Jassy, Romania who immigrated to
Palestine in 1944 and becameone of Israel’s most distinguished jurists and
scholars of international law.
1932:
A subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to hold hearings
today where those who opposed the nomination of Judge Cardoza to the Supreme
Court, including O.R. Miller of Albany,
could
testify.
1932:
“An immediate favorable report on the nomination of Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo
as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States was approved
unanimously today by a Senate Judiciary subcommittee.”
1934:
Birthdate of Michael Applebaum, the Newark born student of violinist of Efrem
Zimbalist who reportedly had him change his name to Michael Tree, the name
under which he founded the Guarneri String Quartet.
1934:
The Menorah Writers and Artists Committee, “an organization of the women
members of the Menorah Association” is scheduled to host a performance of “By
Your Leave” at the Morosco Theatre” the proceeds of the ticket sales, under the
supervision of Mrs. Jacob Eiseman “will go toward the cultural and education
work of the association and the publication of the Menorah Journal” which is a
“quarterly publication of the society.”
1935:
Publication of “Brown Shirts in Zion” by Robert Gessner in The New Masses
http://www.unz.org/Pub/NewMasses-1935feb19-00011
1935: Clifford Odets' "Awake and Sing,"
premieres in New York City at the Belasco Theatre. The play explores the
experiences of one Jewish family during the Great Depression. The original
production starred Luther and Stella Adler. The play tells the story of the
impoverished Berger family and their conflicts as the parents scheme to
manipulate their children's relationships to their own ends, while their children
strive for their own dreams.
1936:
“When Knights Were Bold,” a musical comedy produced by Max Schach was released
in the United Kingdom today.
1936:
“Major General Sir Neill Malcom…the League of Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees Come From Germany…said tonight that he hoped to work ‘in perfect
cooperation’ with Sir Herbert Samuel and his associates in their new drive to
help the Jews in Germany.”
1936:
A manifesto adopted “at Toronto by leading representatives of all Christian
denominations in Canada” denounced “the Nazi Government’s treatment of Jews,
‘non-Aryan’ Christians and ‘various Gentiles’” and “urging Canada to provide a
haven for a ‘reasonable number’ of ‘selected’ refugees from Germany if the flow
of exiles from that country does not cease.”
1936:
Before sailing for England, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, the son of the late
President issued a statement declaring “that class hatred” had “caused the
persecution of the Jews in Germany.”
1936:
It was reported today “that in the future, refugee work would be conducted by
an organization working under the plan recently proposed by a British
delegation headed by Sir Herbert Samuel, whereby 100,000 Jews would be
expatriated from Germany over for years at an estimated cost of fifteen million
dollars…”
1937:
During the Arab Uprising, violence comes to Tiberias a city known, until now,
for peaceful relations between Arabs and Jews. After a week of an Arab boycott
in Tiberias, Erev Shabbat, the Jews retaliated by boycotting Arab fish
mongers. Arab youths began pelting Jews walking in the town with oranges
and then escalated to throwing stones. As the Jews retreated to the
town’s Jewish quarter, the clashes became more intense as Revisionists who were
passing through town in two buses stopped to come to the aid of their
co-religionists. Arabs in the hills above Tiberias began firing shots
into the town and at least one Jew was stabbed in the back while another had
his head split open with a stone. By the time the British intervened,
thirty Jews and thirty Arabs were “slightly injured and two Jews were seriously
hurt.”
1937:
After premiering in the United Kingdom, “The Man Who Could Work Miracles”
directed by Lothar Mendes, produced by Alexander Korda, with music by Mischa
Spoliansky and filmed by cinematographer Harold Rosson was released today in
the United States.
1938(18th
of Adar I, 5698): Parashat Ki Tisa
1938(18th
of Adar I, 5698): Sixty-one-year-old Edmund Georg Hermann Landau a German
Jewish mathematician who worked in the fields of number theory and complex
analysis passed away. Born in 1877, he married Marianne Ehrlich, the
daughter of Nobel Prize winner Paul Ehrlich.
1938:
In Brooklyn, Frances and Sam L. Rich gave birth to Judith Rich who married
Charles S Harris and gained fame as psychologist Judith Rich Harris. (As
reported by Katharine Q. Seelye)
1939(30th
of Shevat, 5699): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1939(30th
of Shevat, 5699): Seventy-one-year-old Adolph Buchler, the Hungarian born and
educated professor at the Rabbinical College in Vienna and the “principal of
the Jews College in London since 1906” passed away tonight.
1939:
The sixth annual observance of Brotherhood Week which is sponsored by the
National Conference of Jews and Christians and which has been endorsed by
President Roosevelt began today.
1940:
General Sikorski, the Premier of the Polish Government in exile, “declared
today that Poland” which is home to over two million Jews “was determined to
live again as an independent state.”
1941:
The Nazis raided Koco Amsterdam and seized 425 young Jews who were sent to
Beuchenwald. Koco was described as an isolated Jewish section in
Amsterdam. This roundup was part of a week of violence aimed against
the 70,000 Jews of this Dutch city. On February 9, Dutch Nazis
sparked the first anti-Jewish riots in Amsterdam. Although there was
considerable damage and destruction, the Jews along with many of the Dutch
countrymen fought back. After the arrests on the 20th, tens of thousands
of Dutch men and women went on strike in protest. The
stunned Nazi occupiers struck back brutally and crushed the strike.
However, this would not be the last time that the embattled people of Holland
worked to protect their Jewish fellow countrymen.
1942(1st
of Adar, 5702): In the Dvinsk Ghetto (Latvia), Chaya Mayerova was murdered for
trading a bit of cloth with a non- Jew for a two-kilogram bag of flour. The
entire Jewish population was gathered to witness the execution. There were over
11,000 Jews living in Divinsk when the war broke out. By 1970 there were
fewer than 2,000. Divinsk should be remembered for more than this tragic
entry. It was the home to one of the sages of the 19th and
early 20th century Rabbi Meir Simcha HaKohen. Reb Meir was not
just a Talmudist whose learning was so great that Chaim Nachmann Bialik called
him “a walking encyclopedia.” He was also a man of courage. During
World War I, Reb Meir refused to leave Divinsk even though it was in a combat
zone. If there were only nine Jews left in the town, he said he must
remain so there would be a minyan. Reb Meir supported Zionism but in 1906
he turned down an offer to be the Rabbi in Jerusalem. The people of
Divinsk convinced them that Divinsk needed him more than Jerusalem so he stayed
with his kinsman. It is important to remember the texture of the
civilization that the Holocaust sought to destroy. What was lost was so
much more than a cold listing of numbers will ever convey.
1942: Judge Jonah Goldstein officiated at the
wedding of Selma Hymes and Dr. Henry Taeni, formerly of Nice, France who was a
member of the Paris Bourse and is now “associated with Abraham Co., members of
the NYST.
1942:
During WW II, the Japanese bombed the northern Australian city of Darwin making
the threat of invasion of the island/continent very real
1943:
Brotherhood Week which is sponsored by the National Conference of Jews and
Christians and which has been endorsed by President Roosevelt with a statement
that opened with the line “We are fighting for the right of men to live
together as members of one family rather than as masters and slaves” began
today.
1943:
As Major General Henning von Tresckow contemplated when and where to
assassinate Hitler, the German dictator “flew to his ‘field headquarters’ near
Vinnitsa today.
1943:
German tanks under Brigadier General Buelowius attacked the U.S. Army at the
Kasserine Pass in Tunisia. This little-known battle was the first contest
between the German Army and the U.S. Army. The Americans took a real
beating, and it took them months to recover. There are those who think
that World War II was a string of victories for the Americans. Such was
not the case. The precarious nature of the war as well a streak of
anti-Semitism helps to explain why Roosevelt did not “do more to help the
Jews.” This is not a defense of FDR; merely an attempt to provide
historic context for his behavior.
1943:
In Queens, the former Jean Zuckman and Sun Chemical Corporation executive
Eugene Robert Jacobson gave birth to Ellen Rose Jacobson who gained fame as “Ellen
Levine, Good Housekeeping’s first female top editor, whose keen sense of what
American women wanted from a magazine also led her to success as Hearst
Magazines’ editorial director and Oprah Winfrey’s partner in creating an
instant newsstand hit…” (As reported by Ed Shanahan)
1944:
In Kensington, London, Rex Harrison and actress Lilli Palmer (Lilli Marie
Peiser, the daughter Dr. Alfred Peiser, “a German-Jewish surgeon and Austrian
Jewish actress Ross Lissman) gave birth playwright and novelist Carey Harrison.
1945(6th
of Adar, 5705): Seventy-four-year-old New York born and NYU trained physician
Dr. Henry P. Hirsch, the former head of the medical department of the New York
Post Office who was the husband of the former Carrie Rice and father of Jerome
and Frank Hirsch passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/02/20/84629375.html?pageNumber=19
1945:
Edward "Eddie Jacobson" opened a menswear store in Kansas City, MO.
1945:
Battle of Iwo Jima begins. There were approximately 1,500 Jewish Leathernecks
among the 70,000 Marines who fought in this climactic battle of the war in the
Pacific. On the 60th anniversary of the start of the battle Sam
Bernstein, a 20-year-old (Jewish) Marine corporal at the time of the battle
reminisced about the fight. “I thought it appropriate to spotlight some news
and information about the Jews who fought and died in the five-week battle
between 70,000 American Marines (1,500 of which were Jewish) and an unknown
number of deeply entrenched Japanese defenders. “Bernstein chuckles when he
remembers the Tootsie Rolls he put in his cartridge belt. I chose Tootsie
Rolls because they wouldn't melt and they were just the size of a bullet.
At the same time, I strapped on three or four bandoliers full of
ammunition. Still, if the officers had known what I was doing,
they probably would have shot me instead of the Japanese! He does not
chuckle when he remembers the two men who were killed in his foxhole. Or the
day he helped the Jewish chaplain bury some Marines.” The Jewish Chaplain was
Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn, assigned to the Fifth Marine Division who was the
first Jewish chaplain the Marine Corps ever appointed. Rabbi Gittelsohn was in
the thick of the fray, ministering to Marines of all faiths in the combat
zone. His tireless efforts to comfort the wounded and encourage
the fearful won him three service ribbons. When the fighting was
over, Rabbi Gittelsohn was asked to deliver the memorial sermon at a combined
religious service dedicating the Marine Cemetery. Unfortunately, racial
and religious prejudice led to problems with the ceremony. What happened next
immortalized Rabbi Gittelsohn and his sermon forever. It was Division Chaplain
Warren Cuthriell, a Protestant minister, who originally asked Rabbi Gittelsohn
to deliver the memorial sermon. Cuthriel wanted all the fallen
Marines (black and white, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish) honored in a single,
nondenominational ceremony. However, according to Rabbi Gittelsohn's
autobiography, the majority of Christian chaplains objected to having a rabbi
preach over predominantly Christian graves The Catholic chaplains, in keeping
with church doctrine opposed any form of joint religious service. To his credit,
Cuthriell refused to alter his plans. Gittelsohn, on the other hand, wanted to
save his friend Cuthriell further embarrassment and so decided it was best not
to deliver his sermon. Instead, three separate religious services were
held. At the Jewish service, to a congregation of 70 or so who attended,
Rabbi Gittelsohn delivered the powerful eulogy he originally wrote for the
combined service:
"Here
lie men who loved America because their ancestors’ generations ago helped
in her founding. And other men who loved her with equal passion
because they themselves or their own fathers escaped from oppression to
her blessed shores. Here lie officers and men, Negroes and Whites,
rich men and poor, together. Here are Protestants, Catholics, and
Jews together. Here no man prefers another because of his faith or
despises him because of his color. Here there are no quotas of how
many from each group are admitted or allowed.
"Among these men there is no discrimination. No prejudices. No
hatred. Theirs is the highest and purest
democracy! Whosoever of us lifts his hand in hate against a brother,
or who thinks himself superior to those who happen to be in the minority,
makes of this ceremony and the bloody sacrifice it commemorates, an empty,
hollow mockery. To this then, as our solemn sacred duty, do we the
living now dedicate ourselves: To the right of Protestants,
Catholics, and Jews, of White men and Negroes alike, to enjoy the
democracy for which all of them have here paid the price.
"We here solemnly swear this shall not be in vain. Out of this and
from the suffering and sorrow of those who mourn this, will come, we
promise, the birth of a new freedom for the sons of men everywhere."
Among Gittelsohn's listeners were three Protestant chaplains so incensed by the
prejudice voiced by their colleagues that they boycotted their own service
to attend Gittelsohn's. One of them borrowed the manuscript and, unknown
to Gittelsohn, circulated several thousand copies to his regiment. Some
Marines enclosed the copies in letters to their families. An avalanche of
coverage resulted. Time magazine published excerpts, which wire services
spread even further. The entire sermon was inserted into the
Congressional Record, the Army released the eulogy for short-wave broadcast to
American troops throughout the world and radio commentator Robert St. John read
it on his program and on many succeeding Memorial Days. In 1995, in his last
major public appearance before his death, Gittelsohn reread a portion of the
eulogy at the 50th commemoration ceremony at the Iwo Jima statue in Washington,
D.C. In his autobiography, Gittelsohn reflected, I have often wondered
whether anyone would ever have heard of my Iwo Jima sermon had it not been for
the bigoted attempt to ban it.
1946:
The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Jewish Problems met with Chancellor
Leopold Figl today in Vienna.
1947:
“Wingate Is Honored By Palestine Jews” published today described how saplings
were planted on the JNF land at the foot of Mt. Gilboa marking the start of a
memorial forest named for the late Maj.Gen. Orde Charles Wingate who was
supportive of the Zionist cause when stationed in Palestine during the 1930’s
1948:
“Arthur Creech Jones, British Colonial Secretary, told the Palestine Commission
today that Britain would be prepared to "discuss" the possibility of
allowing the United Nations to import arms into the Holy Land for the equipment
of militia.”
1949:
U.S. premiere “The Clay Pigeon,” a film noir “directed by Richard Fleischer and
written by Carl Foreman.”
1950(2nd
of Adar, 5710): Fifty-three-year-old Galicia native Yoysef-Menakehm Holender
(Tsuker) passed away today in France.
http://yleksikon.blogspot.com/2015/12/yoysef-menakhem-holender-tsuker.html
1951:
Birthdate of Chicago native Jerry Salz, “the art critic for New York Magazine
who won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism” in 2018
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that
Israel US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles invited Israel to join his new
Middle Eastern Defense Organization. (Note: If this is the organization that
would be known as CENTO, neither the United States nor Israel would ultimately
join the organization.)
1953:
The Jerusalem Post reported that Pravda, the official Communist party
newspaper, charged that Israel was joining NATO and allowing the US to build
military bases on its territory. (This was pure propaganda designed that was
part of the shift in Stalin’s foreign policy.)
1953:
The Jerusalem Post reported that The State Comptroller's Report for
1951-1952, prepared under the supervision of the Comptroller, Dr. Siegfried
Moses, marked a definite improvement of the Israeli Civil Service.
1953(4th
of Adar, 5713): Seventy-nine-year-old Abraham Adelberg passed away today after
which he was buried at the Mount Hebron Cemetery, in Flushing, NY.
1954:
Today, author Judith Krantz “wore a headdress of white lilacs and hyacinths”
when she married producer and screenwriter Steve Krantz with whom she had to
sons – Tony and Nicholas. (As reported by Douglas Martin)
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/obituaries/12krantz.html
1954:
“New Faces,” a 1954 American film adaptation of the musical revue New Faces of
1952, directed by Harry Haorner, co-written by Melvin Brooks and co-starring
Robert Clary (Robert Max Widerman) was released in the United States today.
1956:
The Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America dedicated a community center in New
York, with impressive ceremonies. Speakers included Judge Jonah J. Goldstein
and the late Judge Edgar J. Nathan, Jr. The Brotherhood Memorial Post presented
the colors (flags).
1957:
Recording today of “Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella” with music by Sammy Fain and
lyrics co-authored by Irving Kahal.
1959:
The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence. Jewish settlement in Cyprus
dates back to Biblical times. In the first century, the Jews of Cyprus
rebelled against the Romans. In modern times, Cyprus was the site for the
camps housing Jews who tried to run the British blockade and enter Eretz Israel
before 1948. For more about the Jews of Cyprus, you might want to read Place
of Refuge: A History of the Jews in Cyprus by Stavros Panteli.
1960:
In Bloomington, the dedicatory weekend for new Moses Montefiore began today.
1963:
Following his conviction for the 1962 murders of two New York City police
detectives, Jerry “the Jew” Rosenberg began serving his sentence today. By the
time he died in 2009, he would have set a record for length of incarceration in
the state of New York.
1963(25th
of Shevat, 5723): One day after his 87th birthday, Gustave Falk, the
son of Ferdinand and Jeanette Falk, the husband of Marguerite Falk and the
brother of Arnold, Myron and Gertrude Falk, passed away today after which he
was buried in Hebrew Rest Cemetery #2 in New Orleans, LA.
1964:
In Brooklyn, Richard Brown Lethem and Jewish political activist Judith Frank
Lethem gave birth to best-selling author and MacArthur Fellowship recipient
Jonathan Lethem.
1964:
Paul Simon wrote "The Sounds of Silence," the song which, in a year
and a half, will catapult him and Art Garfunkel to stardom as Simon and Garfunkel.
1965(17th
of Adar I, 5725): Fifty-six-year-old corporation and banking attorney, Leonard
H. Cohn the son of Mrs. Sadie Cohn passed away today in Newark, NJ.
1965:
Seventy-four-year-old Captain Koreshige Inuzuka who was the head of the
Japanese Imperial Navy's Advisory Bureau on Jewish Affairs from March 1939
until April 1942 and who established the Japan-Israel Association of which he
was the President, in 1952, passed away today. (He was rather complex when it
came to the Jews. But in one of those great ironies of history, he was
given a silver cigarette case by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis in the United
States for his help in rescuing Jewish refugees from the Hitler’s Europe)
1966(29th
of Shevat, 5726): Parasha Mishpatim;
Shabat Shekalim
1966(29th
of Shevat, 5726):Seventy-seventy year old Yiddish poet and editorial staff
member for the Jewish Forward Nachum Yud who was born in Russia in 1888 and to
come the United States in 1916 passed away today
1967:
An article published in the American Journal of Cardiology described an
electronic device capable of recording arterial pulsations and the mechanical
events of the heart without actually making contact with the chest wall.
This device was the product of combined efforts led by Dr. Aaron Valero who
brought together the clinical medical staff at Rambam Hospital and the
engineers at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. Dr. Valero
organized and put together teams from the two institutions, which he headed up.
This unique cooperation led to the first product of the soon to be established
Biomedical Engineering Department of The Technion - Israel Institute of
Technology. It was an electronic device capable of recording arterial
pulsations and the mechanical events of the heart without actually making
contact with the chest wall.
1969(1st
of Adar, 5729): Rosh Chodesh Adar is observed for the first time during the
Presidency of Richard Nixon.
1970(13th
of Adar I, 5730): Seventy-three-year-old Otto Heller, the Prague born British
cinematographer passed away today.
1970(13th
of Adar I, 5730): Fifty-four-year-old multi-talented actor Jules Munshin passed
away today.
1971:
In Urbana, Illinois, astrophysicist Jacob Shaham and cytogeneticist Meira
Diskin gave birth to violinist Gil Shaham who was the sister of pianist Orli
Shaham.
1972(4th
of Adar, 5732): Parashat Terummah
1972(4th
of Adar, 5732): Fifty-one-year-old New York City native and professor of
chemical engineering at CCNY, Dr. Stanley Katz, the husband of “the former Dr.
Lillian Handman” with whom he raised two sons – Phillip and Andrew – and WW II
Army veteran who “was known for original work in applying mathematical
techniques such as probability methods to the solution of engineering problems”
passed away today.
1972:
Birthdate of Calgary native and great-grandson of Russian Jewish homesteader
Ezra Isaac Levant, University of Alberta trained attorney turned controversial
right-wing journalist and commentator whose law degree would seem to have stood
him in good stead when you consider all of the litigation he has faced over the
years.
1973(17th
of Adar I, 5733): Hungarian born violin virtuoso Joseph Szigeti passed away at
his home in Switzerland.
1973:
“S'13, Unit 707, and Sayeret Tzanhanim commandos jointly raided guerrilla bases
in Nahr al-Bared and Beddawi today in Operation Bardas 54–55 during which about
40 guerillas were killed and 60 wounded, and a Turkish military trainer was
taken prisoner.
1975(8th
of Adar, 5735): Sixty-six year old Ukrainian native Natan Zabre, a WW II
veteran of the Red Army and Yiddish author passed away today in Kiev.
http://yleksikon.blogspot.com/2016/06/natan-zabare.html
1976(18th
of Adar I, 5736): Seventy-four-year-old seamstress Ruth Rosenfeld Taffel, the
widow of Frank Taffel passed away today.
1976:
In Brussels, The Second World Conference of Jewish Communities on Jewry which
was attended by over 1,000 delegates from over 32 countries including Prime
Minister Golda Meir came to an end.
1977(14th
of Adar I, 5559): Purim Katan
1978:
The Jerusalem Post reported that, two Arab terrorists assassinated
Youseff el-Sibaei, the editor of the semi-official Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper
at the Larnaca Hilton hotel, in Cyprus and took 11 Egyptian hostages to the
local airport in an apparent reaction to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's peace
initiative.
1978:
One Arab died and another was injured by a terrorist bombing at Hebrew
University in Jerusalem.1978: The Jerusalem Post reported that US
President Jimmy Carter defended his offer of jet fighters to "staunch,
friendly Arab allies." In his comment, Defense Minister Ezer Weizman said
that the worst effect of the aircraft sale proposed by the Carter
administration was the fact that it put Israel together with Egypt and Saudi
Arabia in a "package deal."
1980:
“A chamber orchestra version” of “Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards,
an orchestral piece composed in 1979 by Steve Reich” was performed today at
Carnegie Hall.
1980(2nd
of Adar, 5740): Nathan Yellin-Mor the Lehi leader who became a pacifist passed
away.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0021_0_21240.html
1984:
CBS began broadcasting a television
miniseries based on Sidney Shelton’s Master of the Game starring Dyan
Cannon (Samille Dian Friesen)
1985:
The first episode of EastEnders, a British soap opera featuring “Clare Moody”
was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One
1986:
Robert Badinter completed his service as French Minister of Justice began
serving as President of the Constitutional Council of France.
1986:
Rabbis William Cohen and Haskell are scheduled to officiate at the funeral of
sixty-three year old decorated WWII veteran and longtime resident of the
Greater Hartford CT area Samuel Keyser who owned the Westland Market and was a
member of Beth David Synagogue.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18119743/samuel-keyser-obituary-hartford/
1988(1st
of Adar, 5748): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1988:
A memorial service is scheduled to be held tonight at 8 P.M. at Beth Am, The
People's Temple in Manhattan to honor Rabbi Israel Raphael Margolies, of
blessed memory who passed away earlier this week at the age of 72. Rabbi
Margolies had served at Temple Emanu-el in Engelwood, N.J. at Beth Am, The
People's Temple in Manhattan. He “frequently called for equality for minority
group members and for women. He was a supporter of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. and once marched alongside him in a civil rights parade in Englewood.”
1989(14th
Adar I, 5749): Purim Katan
1989:
After 99 performances the curtain came down on the off-Broadway production of
Wendy Wasserstein’s “The Heidi Chronicles” at Playwrights Horizons.
1989:
“The Twisted Road to Auschwitz” published today provided a review of Why Did
the Heavens Not Darken?: The Final Solution in History by Arno J. Mayer.
1990:
The Soviet Union, under heavy pressure from Arab countries, has rejected an
appeal from the Bush Administration to allow direct flights for Soviet Jews
from Moscow to Israel, Administration officials said today. American and
Israeli officials said that in the absence of such flights, thousands of Soviet
Jews were in effect trapped in the Soviet Union at a time of rising
anti-Semitism.
1990(24th
of Shevat, 5750): Fifty-nine-year-old Kenyon College graduate and producer
Gabriel Katzka, the Brooklyn born son of attorney and Broadway show backer Emil
Katzka passed away today.
1992:
“The Lost Language of Cranes,” a made-for-television film based on the novel of
the same name by David Leavitt was released today.
1992(15th
of Adar I, 5752): Eighty-five-year-old Valdimir Pozner, the Parisian born son
of Russian Jewish parents living in exile who was writer and anti-Fascist who
spent WW II in California passed away today.
https://www.ft.com/content/67eab48e-25b8-11e5-bd83-71cb60e8f08c
1993(28th
of Shevat, 5733): Eighty-three-year-old In Northwestern University undergrad
David Lionel Bazel, the Superior, Wisconsin born son of “Lena (Krasnovsky) and
Israel Bazelon, a general store proprietor” who began his legal career by
reading law and eventually reaching the position of “Senior Judge of the United
States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit” passed away today
1994
(8th of Adar, 5754): Zipora Sasson, five months pregnant, was killed on the
trans-Samaria highway in an ambush by shots fired at her car. The terrorists
were members of HAMAS.
1994(8th
of Adar, 5754: Fifty-seven educator and MK Yitzhak Yitzhaky passed away today.
1995(19th
of Adar I, 5755): Israeli Rabbi Shlomo Averbach passed away at the age of 84.
1995:
Poet Kenneth Koch wins the Bollingen Prize.
1995
1997(12th
of Adar I, 5757): Leo Rosten passed away at the age of 88. Born in
1908, Rosten was an amazingly prolific writer on a variety of topics.
While best known for his writings on Jewish topics - The Joys of Yiddish,
Treasury of Jewish Quotations and Hooray Yiddish - he also wrote
such works as Religions In America and Captain Newman, M.D. (As
reported by Margalit Fox)
1999:
Actor Dennis Franz receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1999:
Today in an obituary in Aufbau, Anson
Rabinbach “characterized George L. Mosses German Jews Beyond Judaism as
his most personal book.
1999:
In New York, the Museum of Jewish Heritage features an exhibit entitled “A
Living Memorial to the Holocaust” featuring artifacts, documents, photographs,
videos and film clips are included in exhibitions on the Holocaust and on
Jewish life before and after World War II.
2000(13th
of Adar I, 5760): Parashat Tetzaveh
2000(13th
of Adar I, 5760): Eighty-nine-year-old Warsaw born British artist Josef Herman
who left Poland in the 1930’s because of anti-Semitism who captured ordinary
people on canvas in an extra-ordinary manner passed away.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/feb/22/guardianobituaries
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Herman
2001(26th
of Shevat, 5761): Eighty-seven-year-old director and producer Stanley Kramer
passed away. (As reported by Rick Lyman)
2002(7th
of Adar, 5762): In what “was the most lethal attack on Israeli soldiers…in more
than 16 months of fighting,” tonight Palestinian terrorists escaped after
killed six Israeli soldiers.
2003:
Iranian officials announced that they had released the five last remaining Jews
imprisoned in the city of Shiraz. The men: Dani (Hamid) Tefillen; Asher
Zadmehr; Naser Levy Hayim; Farhad Saleh and Ramin Farzam, where the last 5 out
of 13 Jews on trial for spying for the "Zionist regime" and
"world arrogance." Ten of the men were convicted and sentenced to
prison. Since their sentencing in July 2001, five had already been quietly
released.
2004:
Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal was awarded an honorary knighthood in recognition
of a "lifetime of service to humanity."
2005:
Fred Rodgers, who just celebrated his birthday on February 17, joined his
sister Hilda for her 85th birthday. Fred is a pillar of the Jewish
community in Cedar Rapids. He and his sister were two of those who were
not lost in the European Holocaust, Baruch Ha'shem.
2006:
The New York Times Book Section features a review of Barney Ross
by Douglas Century. “
2007(1st
of Adar, 5767): Rosh Chodesh Adar
2008:
Veteran broadcast journalist Daniel Schorr discusses his new book, Come to
Think of It: Notes on the Turn of the Millennium, at a luncheon event at
the Woman's National Democratic Club in Washington, D.C.
2009:
It was reported today that all ten members of Yisrael Chala's family had been
flown from Yemen to Israel. Two months earlier, two firebombs had been
thrown into the courtyard of the family's home.
2009: In New York City, the American Friends of Tel Aviv
University and the Simon Wiesenthal Center co-host a lecture by Professor Dina
Porat, head of the Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism
and Racism at Tel Aviv University entitled "Anti-Zionism and
Anti-Semitism: Which is the chicken and which is the egg?"
2009:
Israeli Andy Ram will be allowed to compete in a
Dubai tennis tournament next week after the Arab country said today that it
would permit the seventh-ranked doubles player to enter the country.
2009: In Manhattan, the exhibition of the Valmadonna Trust Library
at Sotheby’s comes to an end. “A Lifetime’s Collection of Texts in
Hebrew, at Sotheby’s” explains the significance of this collection and
provides a useful description of the importance that the printed word plays for
Jews and Judaism.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/books/12hebr.html?pagewanted=all
2010:
In Jerusalem, Beit Avi Chai presents "Kalabbat Shabbat" featuring
Kobi Arieli.
2010: The opening of the opera "La Juive" (The Jewish
Woman) at St. Petersburg's Mikhailovsky Theater was postponed from last night
to tonight by a bomb threat that proved to be false, according to the ITAR-TASS
news agency.
2010: Omri Caspi, the first Israeli to play in North America's
National Basketball Association, will participate in a special Friday-evening
service and Shabbat meal this evening with hundreds of members of the Los
Angeles Jewish community, ahead of the Sacramento Kings' game against the Los
Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.
2010: The Washington Post features a review of Making
Toast: A Family Story by Roger Rosenblatt.
2011: The Matchmaker a coming-of-age drama directed by Avi
Nesher that “tells the story of a relationship between an Israeli teen and a
Holocaust survivor who makes ends meet by brokering marriages” is scheduled to
be shown at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.
2011: A documentary entitled Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray
is scheduled to be shown at the 21st Annual San Diego Jewish Film
Festival.
2011:
President Shimon Peres called Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas today to discuss the failed United Nations resolution condemning
Israeli settlement building.
2011:
The family of kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier
Gilad Shalit marked the 1,700th day of his captivity today along with hundreds
of supporters in front of the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem.
2011: Canadian born professional tennis player Sharon Fichman was
the runner-up in the Copa Colsanitas Tournament in Bogotá, Columbia.2011(15th
of Adar I, 5771):
Sanford C. Sigoloff, a Los Angeles-based turnaround
expert nicknamed “Mr. Chapter 11,” who also did what he could for employees
when they were fired, passed away today at the age of 80. (As reported by Mary
Williams Walsh)http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/business/25sigoloff.html
2012(26th of Shevat, 5772): Ninety-year-old “Ruth
Barcan Marcus, a philosopher esteemed for her advances in logic, a
traditionally male-dominated subset of a traditionally male-dominated field”
passed away today. (As reported by Margalit Fox)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/us/ruth-barcan-marcus-philosopher-logician-dies-at-90.html
2012: The New York Times featured reviews of books by
Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including “What We
Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” by Nathan Englander and ‘Liebestod:
Opera Buffa With Leib Goldkorn’ by Leslie Epstein.
2012: LimmudLA is scheduled to come to an end at Costa Mesa.
2012:
The IDF is planning to deploy an Iron Dome battery in
the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area for the first time as part of a drill simulating
a missile attack, Ynet learned today.
2012:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the 38th
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem
today.
2012: Funeral services are scheduled to be held this morning for
Dr. Ethel Stark, “the conductor of the first women's symphony orchestra of
Montreal and the first woman to conduct at Carnegie Hall in New York” followed
by burial at the Spanish & Portuguese Congregation Cemetery.
2013: Kobi Kablek is scheduled to
present “Failure and Memory: How the Rescue of Jews During the Holocaust is
Depicted in Post-War German Film” at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC
2013: YIVO is scheduled to present “It Was a
Long Time Ago, and It Never Happened Anyway: Russia and the Communist Past”
featuring author David Satter.
2013: In Iowa City, Iowa, the Bijou Theatre is
scheduled to present “The Rabbi’s Cat,” a film that tells the tale of a talking
cat owned by a rabbi.
2013: “Uproar Over Netanyahu’s Ice Cream Is
Welcome in One Parlor” described how Prime Minister spent $2,700 on ice cream
including his favorite, pistachio. (As reported by Isabel Kershner)
2014: “Putzel” is scheduled to be shown at the
DPJCC's 14th Annual Jewish Film Festival
2014: The Center for Jewish History is
scheduled to present “Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews.”
2014: Palestinian Arab teenagers hurled rocks
at an Israeli car just outside the Samaria community of Eli this afternoon.
While the victims of the attack are shaken, no one was hurt. (As reported by
Tova Dvorin)
2014: The JCC of Northern Virginia is scheduled
to host Bob Budoff’s “Analysis of Current Developments in Israel and the Middle
East.”
2014: In “The Last of the Monuments Men” published
today, Emily Greenhouse recounts her meeting with Harry Ettinger the “last bar
mitzvah boy I Karlsruhe German” who in his own word is “the only healthy living
monument man left.”
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-last-of-the-monuments-men
2014:
After much disagreement among the coalition, The Knesset's Special Committee
for the Equal Sharing of the Burden Bill, headed by Knesset Member Ayelet
Shaked, convened this evening to vote on the most dramatic article in the
much-debated bill, which concerns the imprisonment of haredim who dodge
military or civil service (criminal sanctions). (As reported by Moran Azulay)
2015:
Marvin Pinkert, Executive Director, Jewish Museum of Maryland is scheduled to
deliver a lecture on the “Civil War in Maryland Through a Jewish Lens” at the
Lilian & Albert Small Jewish Museum in Washington, DC.
2015:
Services are scheduled to be held at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home on
Madison Avenue for “Singer-songwriter Lesley Gore, who topped the charts in
1963 at age 16 with her epic song of teenage angst, “It’s My Party,” and
followed it up with the hits “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” and the feminist anthem “You
Don’t Own Me.” (As reported by JTA and Times of Israel)
2015(30th
of Shevat, 5775): Rosh Chodesh Adar
2016:
Twenty-one-year-old Tuvia Yanai Weissman who was stabbed to death yesterday in
a supermarket was buried today on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. “A soldier in the Nachal infantry brigade, he
is survived by his wife and 4-month-old daughter.”
2016(10th
of Adar I, 5776): Eighty-three-year-old Tel Aviv born actor Yossi Graber passed
away today in Tzrifin, Iisrael.
2016: An exhibition “WOMEN: New Portraits Annie
Leibovit” is scheduled to come to a close in Zurich.
2016(10th
of Adar I, 5776): Ninety-three-year-old Samuel Willenberg, the last survivor of
the uprising at Treblinka passed away today.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35623492
2016:
In Washington, DC, Temple Sinai is scheduled to host an evening of Jewish A
Cappella with Six13.
http://www.templesinaidc.org/worship/music
2017: The
New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including the recently released paperback
edition of A Perfect Life by Eileen Pollack and The Year of Lear:
Shakespeare In 1606 by James Shapiro as well as a list of “17 Great Books About
American Presidents for President’s Day Weekend” that included Washington: A
Life by Ron Chernow, Wilson by A. Scott Berg, No Ordinary Time. Franklin and Eleanor
Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin and Master of
the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson,” by Robert A. Caro.
2017: Ninety-three-year-old Russian
mathematician and one-time dissident Igor Shafarevich whose writings such as
“Russophobia” stamped him as an assignment passed away today.
2017: At the Jewish Museum, final showing the
exhibition “Scots Jews: Photographs by Judah Passow.”
https://jewishmuseum.org.uk/exhibitions/scots-jews-photographs-by-judah-passow/
2017: “The one and only black tie, Oxford JSoc
Ball” is scheduled to take place this evening at the Oxford Town Hall.
2017: “Zero Motivation” is scheduled to be
shown on the final night of San Diego Jewish Film Festival.
2017: Zerach Greenfield is scheduled to lead a
hands-on workshop on “The Making of Tefillin” this morning at Limmud NY
2017: In New York, the curtain is scheduled to
come down on the final performance of “Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill: A
Musical Voyage.”
2017: In Atlanta, GA, the Breman Museum is
scheduled to host an afternoon with Benjamin Hirsch who will describe
Kristallnacht as seen through the eyes of a six year old and then recount the
travels with four of his siblings on a Kindertransport to France that
ultimately led to his arrival in Atlanta.
2017: Avner Avraham, Exhibition Curator and
former Mossad agent; Orit Shaham Gover, Chief Curator of Beit Hatfutsot—The
Museum of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv; Ariel Efron, Media Creative Director,
Gallagher and Associates; Ellen Rudolph, Executive Director, Maltz Museum of
Jewish Heritage, Cleveland are scheduled to attend the opening of “Operation
Finale” an exhibit at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
depicting the capture and trial of Adolf Eichman.
2018: The Illinois Holocaust Museum and
Education is scheduled to celebrate President’s Day by admitting student’s and
children at half price and “showing the hologram of Holocaust survivor and
museum President Fritzie Fritzshall.
2018: The Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players
which was bounded by Jens Nygaard who directed the Washington Heights YW-YMHA
concerts for 25 years, and which includes violinist Itamar Zorman is scheduled
to perform “Mostly Italian-Swiss Gems” today.
2018: In the United States celebration of
President’s Day which Jews could observe by remembering their unique connection
with the nation’s chief executives starting with George Washington and the Jews
of Newport but also including but not limited to, Franklin Pierce who “signed
an Act of Incorporation establishing Washington Hebrew Congregation”, Abraham
Lincoln who made it possible for Rabbis to serve as chaplains in the U.S. Army
for the first time, U.S. Grant who contributed to the building fund for Adas
Israel and attended the congregation’s dedication, Teddy Roosevelt who
appointed the first Jew to serve in the Cabinet, to Woodrow Wilson who
appointed the first Jew to serve on the Supreme Court, to Herbert Hoover who
appointed the second Jew to serve as an Associate Justice, to Donald Trump, the
first President to have Jewish grandchildren (and this does not include FDT,
HST and so many more)
2018: “Night of Heroes” is scheduled to take
place in London. https://www.nightofheroes.co.uk/
2019: JW3 is scheduled to host a screening of
“Forgotten Soldier,” a documentary about Dutch businessman Sally Noach.
2019: In Stanford, CA, General Amos Yadlin, the
Director of Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies is
scheduled to discuss “Israel’s security challenges in 2019.”
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/israels-national-security-challenges-2019-tickets-52819822511
2019: Laney College is scheduled to host a
screening of “Marshall” a film about NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall teaming up
with Sam Friedman to defend a black chauffeur in Connecticut from charges “of
sexual assault and attempted murder” by a white, “wealthy socialite” in case
tried against a background of racism and anti-semitism.
2019: The University of California Botanical
Garden at Berkley is scheduled to host a lecture on Ethnobotanical Insights
into Biblical Life and Languag
2019: The Emanu-El Streicker Center is
scheduled to host Rabbi David Wolpe speaking about “Immigration” as part of the
“Modern Matters: Ancient Jewish Wisdom Series.
2020: The JCCSF is scheduled to host a
screening of “The City Without Jews,” a “1924 silent film, set in an Austrian
city that enacts a law forcing Jews to leave” which is also a Violins of Hope
event featuring an original live score by violinist Alicia Svigals and pianist
Donald Sosin.”
2020: In London, JW3 is scheduled to host the
penultimate screening of “The Other Story.”
2020: The Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival
is scheduled to host screenings of “My Name Is Sara” and “Gentlemen’s
Agreement.”
2020: The 21st annual Sacramento
Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to begin today.
2020: In Cincinnati, the 2020 Jewish and
Israeli Film Festival is scheduled to host a screening of “Working Woman.”
2020: The Streicker Center is scheduled to host
“Taking On White Nationalist Violence” Roberta Kaplan (lead counsel on the Supreme
Court case that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage) and Karen Dunn (a
former federal prosecutor in Virginia), the legal action — filed against a
broad range of neo-Nazis, white supremacists and affiliated hate groups —
expose the individuals and organizations driving the wave of white supremacist
hate and dismantles the infrastructure at the center of their movement
2020: The Center For Jewish History is
scheduled to present a discussion The Promised Land by Mary Antin “led by Lauren Gilbert, Senior Manager for Public
Services at the Center for Jewish History.
2020: Seventy-fifth anniversary of the start of the Battle of Iowa Jima
where 1,500 Jews were among the thousands of Marines of whom it was said,
“Uncommon valor was a common virtue.”
2021: Temple Beth Israel of Waltham is scheduled to present online
“Shabes In Upper Remety: TBI’s Hollender Memorial Tish” featuring “Hankus
Netsky and members of the New England Conservatory’s Jewish Music Ensemble.”
2021: Kan Kol Hamusika is scheduled to broadcast, live, an “Excellence –
Young Artists in Concerts” with Zarifa Alkhazova, Anastasia Dziadevych, Noa
Kapelyushnik and Julia Gurvitch “playing
pieces for violin and piano.
2021: In River Hills, WI, Dr. Gary P. Zola, the scholar-in-residence at
Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun is scheduled to deliver Kabbalat Shabbat
sermon on “Profiles in American Jewish Courage.”
2021: Kerem Shalom is scheduled to present “Shabbat Around the Table”
with Cantor Rosalie Gerut, leading candle-lighting, singing, prayers,
discussing the Torah parsha and remembering our loved ones with the Kaddish
prayer.”
2021: In Pepper Pike, OH, B’nai Jeshurun Congregation is scheduled to
host a noontime “Historical Introduction to the Laws of Purim with Rabbi Noah
Bickart” followed later in the evening by an “ATID Masquerade Shabbat Dinner.
2021: The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to begin screenings
online of “200 Meters” which tells the story of a Palestinian father journeying
to reach his hospitalized son and “Antisemitism,” a film that traces “centuries
of insidious hatred, this substantive inquest reveals the evolution of
anti-Semitism in France.”
2021: While much of the U.S. copes with unusual amounts snow, Israelis
appear to be poised to enjoy the layer of white stuff which yesterday fell
unexpectedly in Jerusalem and its environs.
2022: As part of it’s the Best of Chamber Music series, the
Edin-Tamir Center is scheduled to host
“Schubertidade,” with violinist Sergey Ostrovsky, cellist Kirill Mihanovsky and
pianist Julia Gurvitch.
2022: Congregation Beth Am is scheduled to host a screening of “Not
Going Quietly,” the 2021 “that follows Ady Barkan, a powerhouse activist with
Lou Gehrig’s disease, on a national campaign for health care reform.”
2022: Despite ominous warnings of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, based
on previously published statements as of today, “most
Israelis living in the country, thought to number around 10,000 to 15,000
people, including Israeli Ukrainians, and Ukrainian Jews for that matter, are
in no hurry to leave, with few believing that a Russian invasion is imminent.”
(YNET)
2022 (18th of Adar I, 5781): Parashat Ki Tissa (When you take)
2023: The Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County is scheduled to have
a showing of the film, Farewell, Mr. Haffmann, a film set in 1941 Occupied
Paris.
2023: The National Library of Israel is scheduled to present a lecture
by Dr. Karin Sczech on “The Bakery of Erfurt's Jewish-Medieval Community: An
Excavated Element of Jewish-Medieval Heritage.”
2023: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish
authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Pirate
Enlightenment: Or the Real Liberatalia by David Graeber, the son of
“self-taught working class Jewish intellectuals,” Ruth Rubinstein and Kenneth
Graeber.
2023: The Museum at Eldridge Street is scheduled to host “Activism on
the Lower East Side Building and Walking Tour.”
2023: “The
Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood will host its 14th annual indoor
triathlon today.
2023: Today a Torah scroll
donated by UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is scheduled be brought to
Abu Dhabi’s Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue, in a dedication ceremony at that
country’s first-ever built “purpose built” Jewish house of worship.
2024: In
Metairie, LA, Chabad is scheduled to host a lecture by Colonel Yaron Buskila a
(res) IDF officer who was very involved in the immediate response to the
attacks on October 7and who “is traveling to share his experiences and his
vision for the safety and security of Israel and its people.”
2024: In
another lecture in the online lecture series "Darkness and Light in
Literature" sponsored by Agnon House, participants are scheduled to read
together with Dr. Eric Glassnerin the biblical story of the mistress on the
hill, and through it we will discuss light and darkness, civil wars, tribalism
and unity.
2024: In the United States, Presidents Day the
third Monday of February, celebrates all U.S. president, including such
household names as John Tyler who intervened on behalf Commodore Uriah P. Levy,
James Garfield who protested against a Russian pogrom and Benjamin Harrison “who
appealed to the Czar to stop his mistreatment of the Jews.” (As reported by
Denis Brian in The Elected and the Chosen)For more about Jews and American
Presidents see http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/presquote.html and http://www.jewishpost.com/archives/news/united-states-presidents-and-the-jews-from-george-washington-to-george-bush-1.html
2024: As
February 19th, begins in Israel, the Hamas held
hostages begin day 136 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.)
