This Day, October 25, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
OCTOBER 25
732: Christian forces led by Charles Martel clash
defeat the invading Moors at the Battle of Tours which is near Poitiers in
modern day France. The victory at Tours ensured that Western Europe would be
Christian. For Jews, it also meant that
the Sephardic culture would flourish for several centuries to come.
1135:
Louis VII, who “banished from the kingdom those Jews who had been converted to
Christianity and had later returned to Judaism” was crowned “Junior King of
France” today; following a Capetian custom of holding the coronation of the
heir apparent while the current monarch was still alive.
1147:
The armies of the Second Crusade (1147-49) were destroyed by the Saracens at
Dorylaeum (in modern Turkey). The Crusaders went on with fruitless campaigns
against Damascus, Syria. The Jews were
bystanders during the Crusades.
Unfortunately they fell victim to the wrath of the Islamic and Christian
combatants at various times throughout this tumultuous period. Furthermore, one cannot understand what is
happening in the part of the world best described as the “Islamic/Arab Arc” if
one does not have a sense of the period of the Crusades.
1154:
King Stephen of England died. Stephen was an inept monarch who reigned during a
period of turmoil and civil war. The first blood libel took place in during his
rule in 1144. Unlike the nobles and
monarchs of France and Germany, Stephen protected his Jewish subjects from the
kind of suffering that the Crusaders were inflicting on their European
co-religionists. Stephen reportedly did
burn the house of Jew living in Oxford but that was because the Jew refused to
contribute to the maintenance of the monarch.
While the act is inexcusable it is consistent with the greed of many of
European nobles who were in constant need of money and saw the Jews as a
cash-cow to be milked to death.
1187:
Gregory VIII, the Pope who called for the disastrous Third Crusade, began his
papacy. Each of the crusades was a disaster for the Jewish people in way or
another. On top of everything else, the
Third Crusade removed the protective hand of King Richard from England and left
the Jews to suffer under the anti-Semitic Prince John.
1268: Jucef ibn Astrug Ravaya, a Jew, was
appointed bailiff of Besala (modern day Spain). Jucef later became chief
bailiff in Aragon and Valencia. Jucef and his brother were the chief
administrators in the government of King Pedro III. Under Jucef's
administration, he and his brother were able to raise funds from within the
Jewish community to finance an invasion of Sicily.
1400: The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer passed
away. Born in 1340, Chaucer is view as
one of the great pre-Shakespearian writers.
From a purely Jewish perspective, the author of The Canterbury Tales is
slight bit on the flawed side. This is
remarkable when you consider that the Jews had been expelled from England
almost a century before Chaucer lived.
In the “Prioress’s Tale” Chaucer tells of an eight year old hymn signing
Christian boy who is murdered as he passes through the Jewish section of his
town. The boy is seized by “this accursed Jew” who cuts “his throat and casts
him into a pit.” In the end the Jewish
community is wiped out as punishment for the crime. This version of the blood libel proves that
you did need Jews around to preach anti-Semitism, that anti-Semitism was part
of the fabric of Christian civilization and that Jews are not the cause of
anti-Semitism.
1408:
In Spain, The Council of Regency,
under the inspiration of the apostate Paul de Santa Maria, reinstituted all
previous anti-Jewish legislation of Alphonso the Wise of Castile (1252-1284).
1495:
King John of Portugal who employed Abraham Zacuto, the Spanish born Rabbi who
for the lunar crater Zagust was named, as his Royal Astronomer, passed away
today.
1495:
Manuel I the Portuguese monarch who released all the Jews imprisoned by his
predecessor John II, began his reign today
1521:
“The Revolt of the Comuneros,” an uprising by the citizens of Castile against
the rule of Charles I who continued to exclude Jews from Spain and supported
the Inquisition came to an end today.
1541:
The Jews of Algeria escaped capture by the Spanish Army which gave rise to
Purim Edom
1613:
Sir Edward Coke, who in a case that involved whether Jews were protected by
English law, ruled that “All infidels are in law…perpetual enemies (for law
presumes not that they will be converted, that being a remote possibility, for
between them, as with the devils, whose subjects they be, and the Christian
there is a perpetual hostility and can be no peace,” began serving a Chief Just
of the King’s Bench today.
1622:
Dutch translator Dionies Vos, “often
known by his Latin name Dionysius Vossius who “published a Latin translation of
a tractate on idolatry from the Mishneh Torah by Maimonides, which he had
annotated” and which “was added to the List of Prohibited Books of the Catholic
Church” passed away today.
1651:
When a seven ship fleet arrived off the coast of Barbados today and demanded it
surrender, the island’s governor, Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of
Parham, under whose leadership a group of Sephardic Jews migrated to Suriname
in 1652 and “settled in the Jodensavanne area” refused saying “he knew of no
supreme authority over Englishman except the King” and announced his plans to
resist.
1669:
Portuguese born medical doctor Fernando Mendes, who according to some sources
was the physician for Queen Catherine and Charles II of England arrived in
London today after which according to
Lucien Wolf he married one of the daughters of Diego Rodrigues Marques
of London who was also the niece of “Abraham Rodriques Marques, the founder of
the Sephardi Dower Fund.
1722:
At Reims, coronation of Louis XV who
employed Hanover born Jewish businessman Liefman Calmer as his “official
purveyor.”
1734:
Rachel Pinto, the wife of Jacob Pinto, passed away today after which she was
interred at Hunt’s Bay Cemetery in Port Royal, Jamaica.
1742:
Birthdate of Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi, the Christian native of Parma who was
a noted Hebraist. After being named
Professor of Oriental Languages at the University of Parma, he delivered “His
inaugural lecture on the causes of the neglect of Hebrew study.”
1760:
King George II who had given royal assent to the Jewish Naturalization Act of
1753, which was repealed a year later by Parliament and “who had shown himself
to be so sympathetic when the Jewish representatives told him about the
sufferings of the Jews in Prague” passed
away today.
1760:
King George III counted among his Jewish subjects “a civilian commissary, army
supplier, and adjutant of the Hessian mercenary forces, that were employed by
England's King George III, Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild who
established the English branch of that famous banking house and Daniel Mendoza
was the first Jewish prize-fighter to become a champion assumed the throne of
Great Britain. (Editor’s note: The Jews of the 13 colonies would adopt the view
of their non-Jewish neighbors and see George as a modern-day Pharaoh.)
1765:
A group of Philadelphia merchants gathered in the State House to sign the
non-importation agreement to fight the hated Stamp Tax of the British
government. The merchants and other
citizens of Philadelphia agreed "not to have any goods shipped from Great
Britain until after the repeal of the Stamp Act.” “The first man to step
forward to sign his name was the president of Mikve Israel Congregation,
Philadelphia's only synagogue, Mathias Bush.”
Other
Jewish signers included Benjamin Levy, David Franks, Samson Levy, Hyman Levy,
Jr., Moses Mordecai, Michael Gratz, and Barnard Gratz.”
1786:
In Philadelphia, PA, Joseph Mordecai in a Hebrew ceremony, married Esther
"Hetty" Marache, daughter of Solomon Marache and Rebecca
"Myers" Marache after which “they moved to Virginia and on to
Charleston, SC, where they lived for many years” and had six children: Solomon
Joseph, Rebecca [Hertz], Judith, Thomas Whitlock, Harriett and Esther
"Hetty".
1786:
Rebecca Franks and Lucius Levy Solomons gave birth to Benjamin Samuel Solomons,
the husband of “Elkaleh Seixas” and father of Levy, Benjamin, Gershom and
Rebecca Solomons.
1791:
In Georgetown, SC, Bella Moses and Solomon Cohen gave birth to Abraham Cohen.
1795:
In Dassel, Germany, “Pesgen Salomon” and Nathan Joseph Dannenberg gave birth to
Betty Dannenberg, the wife of Moses Kohlberg with whom she had eight children.
1796(23rd
of Tishrei, 5557): Simchat Torah is celebrated for the last time during the
Presidency of George Washington.
1797:
In Charleston, Rabbi Abraham Azuby officiated at the wedding of Solomon Cohen
and “Miss Ella Moses Hart, the niece of the late Philip Hart.”
1800:
Birthdate of British historian and Whig MP Thomas Babington Macaulay who
advocated full civil rights for English Jews as can be seen by his support of
Robert Grant’s bill for the “Removal of Jewish Disabilities.”
http://www.jewish-history.com/occident/volume2/june1844/civil.html
1803:
Twenty-three-year-old London born Sephardic Jew Jacob da Dilva Solis, whose
great-grandfather was Solomon da Silva Solis, arrived in the United States
today marking the American being for the Solis-Cohen family.
1806:
Abraham Jacobson, the German born son of “Jacob Moses” and his wife “Reina von
Halle” gave birth to Mauriz Jacobson.
1806:
Birthdate of Johann Kaspar Schmidt (known professionally as Max
Stirner) the subject of Max Adler's first theoretical work of note, a study
"Max Stirner. Ein Beitrag zur Feststellung des Verhältnisses von
Socialismus und Individualismus
1807(23rd
of Tishrei, 5568): Simchat Torah
1811:
In Savanah, GA, today, the famous Sheftall clan gained a new member when
Emanuel Sheftall, the Savannah born son of Sara and Levi Sheftall gave burtg to
Emanuel Sheftall, the husband of Jane Sheftall.
1818:
Isaac Dreyfus, the Swiss born son of Jacob Dreyfus, and his wife Gertrude
“Julie” Dreyfus gave birth Leopold (Hirsch) Dreyfus.
1820:
Moses ben Isaac ha-Levi Hurwitz a rabbi from Krozh, Kovno Governorate the grandfather
of “Russian Jewish author and editor Lazar Lipman Hurwitz” passed away today.
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7951
1822:
Birthdate of Pressburg native Adolf Dux the cousin of Leopold Dukes who
“studied law and philosophy at the University Vienna before pursuing a career
as a writer with the Presburger Zeitung and the Pester Lloyd.
1822(10th
of Cheshvan, 5583: Abraham Touro died today in Boston at the age of 48. Born in 1774, he was the “oldest son of
Isaac Touro, Abraham was born in Newport, Rhode Island. After the death of his
father in Jamaica, he lived with his mother and siblings in the home of his
uncle Moses Michael Hays in Boston, Massachusetts. As an adult, Abraham lived
in Medford, Massachusetts. He entered into the merchant trade and insurance
business with his cousin, Judah Hays, taking over the family business when his
uncle died. Like his brother Judah, Abraham was known for his philanthropy,
contributing to, among others, the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Boston
Female Asylum, and the Boston Asylum for Indigent Boys. It was his caring and
concern for the synagogue and cemetery in Newport, however, that he truly is
remembered. In addition to the maintenance of the synagogue, he also
contributed funds and oversaw the erection of a fence around the cemetery, the
sidewalk from the cemetery to the synagogue, and maintenance and repair of the
street that would one day bear his family name.”
1829:
A day after he passed away, Hyam Emanuel was buried at the Brady Street Jewish
Cemetery.
1834(22nd
of Tishrei, 5595): Shmini Atzeret observed for the first time after the
founding of the Medical College of Louisiana which is now known as Tulane
University.
1836:
Birthdate of Hannah Conquy Abecassis, the native of the Azores “whose forced
her to marry her uncle Abraham Abecassis avoiding a marriage with a catholic
man she liked.”
1837:
This evening Rabbi Poznanski officiated at the wedding of Henry S. Cohen to
Caroline Harris, the “daughter of the late Jacob Harris.”
1839:
In Bavaria, Babeth Davidson and Herbert Hirshinger gave birth to Charlotte, NC
school board member Jay Hirshinger, the wife of Marion “Maria” Heinman Hirshinger
with whom he had three children – Herbert, Sadie and Edna – who “secured a
grant from Andrew Carnegie to establish Charlotte’s first public library in
1891.”
1841:
In Schmieheim, Kippenheim, Freiburg, Baden, Germany, Baruch Rosenstiel, the “son
of Samuel Levi Rosenstiel and Bessla Rosenstiel” and his wife Zippora Rosenstiel
gave birth to Salomon Rosenstiel, the husband of Fanny Schleicher Rosenstiel
1841:
Isaac and Julia Cohen Hart gave birth to future Detroit resident Sidney A. Hart
the husband of Fanny A. Amberg Hart and the father of Moses and Walter Hart.
1844:
In Prenzlau, Schaye Seelig Peyser and Therese Jaffe gave birth to Julius
Peyser, the husband of Doris Lownethal and father of Paula Peyser.
1845: A fire broke out at Constantinople which had consumed
the greater part of the Jewish quarter, and destroyed several Synagogues.
"Distress, starvation, and misery of all kinds prevail among the
unfortunate Jewish population."
1848: In Galicia, Dr. and Mrs. Heinrich
Franzos gave birth to author Karl Emil Franzos.
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Franzos_Karl_Emil
1848: In Aufhausen, Germany, Emmanuel Frank and Elise Reese,
the sister of Michael Reese, gave birth to Babette Reese Mandel, the wife of
Chicago businessman Emanuel Mandel, whose philanthropies and good works
included the founding of the Maxwell Street Settlement and serving as “as vice
president of the Local Board of the Council of Jewish Women.”
1848: In Galicia, which at the time was part of the Austrian
Empire, Heinrich Franzos, “a highly respected doctor” whose “family came from
Sepharidi Jews who had fled the Inquisition” and his wife gave birth to author
and journalist Karl Emil Franzos
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Franzos_Karl_Emil
1849: Rabbi Rosenfeld officiated at the marriage of L.J.
Myers of Savannah, GA and Priscilla Tobias, the daughter of Charleston, SC
resident Abraham Tobias.
1850: The Will of Frances Abrahams, the mother-in-law of John
Moses was probated today in the United Kingdom.
1853: 23rd of Tishrei, 5614):Simchat Torah
1853: The Five Academies comprising the Institute of France held
their annual meeting today. Among the
presenters was M. Holely of the Academy of Fine Arts, composer of the "Wandering
Jew" who read "an interminable discourse on Frohberger, a German
organist whom no ever heard of, and whom the writer himself acknowledge was
snuffed out by Handel.
1858: In his role as President of the London Committee of
Deputies for the Jews, Sir Moses Montefiore sends a letter to the leaders of
the American Jewish community asking that they join “with the Jews in England,
Holland and France” in seeking the support of their respective governments to
take whatever action is possible to ensure the return of Eduardo Mortara to his
parents after he had been seized by Catholic authorities so that he could be
raised in their faith.
OR
1858:
Today Sir
Moses Montefiore, the President of the London Committee of Deputies for the
Jews wrote a letter the President of the Hebrew Congregation in the United
States and others that urged the American Jewish community to join its
co-religionists in England, Holland France in seeking the support of their
government in having the Mortara child returned to his parents and to avoid any
such future seizures. It summarized the threat that the seizure Edgardo Mortara
posed to Jews and “every other denomination of faith” except the Roman
Catholics. Montefiore reiterated that this was not just a matter of religious
freedom. The behavior of the Catholic Church placed “in peril, personal
liberty, social relations and the peace of families.”
1860: An article published today based on information from the
Beirut correspondent of the Boston Traveler entitled “Affairs in Syria,”
reports that "The Anglo-American
Committee, while it retains its original name, has now among its members
leading men from the Greek, the Roman Catholic and the Jewish persuasions, and
relief is extended to men of every creed irrespective of any peculiarity of
faith…It will perhaps interest your readers to know that Dr. Nathan Marcus
Adler the Chief Rabbi of the Jews, who resides in London, has issued an address
to the Jews throughout Europe, calling upon them for liberal contributions for
the poor in Syria, and that the Rothschilds and other eminent and wealthy
Israelites are feeling much interest in the subject. Dr. Adler bases his appeal
upon the ground that Syria and Palestine is the land of their fathers, and that
as it is a land so full of holy associations connected with the past, and so
replete with hope for the future, they must rally to the aid of their Christian
brethren in the East, who are children of the same Almighty Father, and calls
upon them to give liberally as they hope to be restored to the land to which
their traditions, prophecies, and hopes, point as their future home."
1861: Isaac Goodman, who rose from the rank Private to
Sergeant during his four years with the Union Army began his service today with
the Company F of the 91st Regiment.
1861: Henriette and Abraham Berliner gave birth to Max
Berliner, the husband of Gertrud Berliner.
1862(1st of Cheshvan, 5623): As Jews observed Rosh
Chodesh Cheshvan, General U.S. Grant assumed command of the 13th
Army Corps and the Department of Tennessee, a move that would position him to
lead the Union to victory at Vicksburg.
1862: In Lithuania, Gittel Helvich Schubert and David Hersh
Shubert gave birth to Yankiel Shubert whose siblings included members of the “theatrical Shubert family”
1862: The New York Times special correspondent
traveling with the Army of the Potomac reported that the recent order relating
to sutlers have, to a great extent, cleared out the "Jews" as well as
"Gentiles," who had turned Bolivar Heights into a Chatham-street.
Bolivar Heights was the site of the Union Army’s camp. Chatham-street was a reference to a street of
that name in NYC which was the site of much of the second-hand clothing
business; a business allegedly dominated by Jews who were rumored to always taking
advantage of their Christian customers.
1862: Birthdate of Matthias Max Bernstein, the German born
physician who came to England in 1892 where became a member of the British
Medical Association and a member of the “Executive English Zionist Federation.”
1863: A writer for the Richmond Examiner proposes a plan for
stowing the population of the entire Confederacy in Richmond, and supplying
them with food. While the article is allegedly a satire, the paragraphs about
the Jews have the whiff of anti-Semitism.
Now “we approach naturally enough
the Jews, a class which includes not only the unworthy Israelites, but all who
indulge the alleged Hebraic propensity for exacting the pound of Christian
flesh and amassing riches at the expense of the life-blood of their
fellow-citizens. Such are Yankee tradesmen of whatever denomination, restaurant
keepers, confectionery and apple sellers, oyster-cellar men, proprietors of
hotels and boarding-houses, and the like. All these come under the same head,
and are to be disposed of in the same manner…I am told that the Jews, in
addition to the shop in which they are now reduced to the unprofitable business
of selling lead pencils at a dollar apiece, meerschaum pipes made out of
plaster of Paris, empty pocket-books, and rotten shoe-strings, at similar
rates, own a vast number of the best houses in the city, purchased by their
honest gains, and now filled with flour, bacon, sugar, salt, coffee, tea, corn,
meat, oats, hay, fodder, shucks and other necessaries of life. If this be true,
not a moment is to be lost in ousting them, in order to save the army and the
people from starvation. They are said to have packed away in their cellars and
garrets enough clothing, made and unmade, to furnish every respectable man,
woman and child in the Confederacy with two complete Winter suits, besides
whisky, brandy and wine enough to keep the taro-banks, cannal-pockets, Congress
and Governor Letcher supplied for nearly three months to come. These must be
obtained without delay or regard to law or peril to life or limb. My neat and
simple plan for effecting this with the required promptness, is to detail the
provost-guard, city battalion, night watch, Col. Bronner's cavalry, and any
other force that may be needed, to seize Jews, restaurant men and chattels,
expose the same to sale -- not at Yankee auction, but at a ladies' fair, to be
conducted exclusively by the poor women of the city, assisted by some honest
hospital steward (if such can be found,) and in the meantime to lodge the said
Jews, restaurant, confectionery, oyster, hotel and boarding-house men in the
exceeding capacious and patriotic flour mills of the metropolis, which are now
lying idle for lack of the wheat and confidence of our long-headed,
good-memoried country gentlemen. If the several mills do not suffice to contain
them all, plenty of room can be found in the various tobacco warehouses, which
are to be emptied in pursuance of my plan, as will be shown further on. Having
packed the Jews, foreign or native born, everyone in the mills and warehouses,
it would be cruel to forget that they have been accustomed to active,
industrious life, and to leave them a prey to idleness and their own villainous
imaginations. I propose to be guilty of no such inhumanity, but to give them
constant and laborious employment during the whole term of their incarceration.
With this view I have consulted Adjt.-Gen. Richardson, and find that he has now
in the Virginia Armory something above one thousand tons of old flints, which
he has kindly placed at my disposal. These flints must be carefully skinned by
the imprisoned Jews, and the hides thus obtained are to be sold to the Navy
Department...”
1864: During the Civil War, Philadelphian Jacob Miller began
serving with Company C of the 61st Regiment.
1865: Today, “two cousins with identical names” married “two
brothers” at the Bayswater Synagogue.
1867: In Louisville, KY, Henriette Brooks and Louis Gideon
gave birth to Columbia graduate and HUC trained rabbi Abram Gideon, the
phonetician and educator who was the Director of the Yiddish Drama Guild and
“translator for the dramas of Perez Hirshbein and the husband of Henrietta
Shoninger as well as the father of composer Miriam Gideon.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/miriam-gideon
1868: In New York City Joseph and Alida Gomez Dreyfous gave
birth to Chase School of Art and Henri School of Art trained pained Florence
Dreyfous, the sister of Adele, Gertrude and Walter Dreyfous whose watercolors “A boy” and “Mildred” were
shown “at the landmark 1913 International Exhibition of Art.”
https://www.invaluable.com/artist/dreyfous-florence-gnjnjd8b00/sold-at-auction-prices/
1868: In Bialystok, Miriam and Isaac
Rittenberg gave birth to Joseph Rittenberg who at the age of 17 arrived in New
York and who in 1895 came to New Orleans where he opened a successful loan office
and jewelry store on Rampart Street, married the former Rebecca Baron of San
Francisco with whom he has raised four children -- Tulane University student Leon,
Philip, Mildred and Ida – while serving as President of Beth Israel Congregation
as a director of the Touro Infirmary.
1869: In Illinois, Bennett and
Minnie Lewin Aaron gave birth to future Missouri resident Edward Aaron, “the
President and Chairman of the Board for Edward Aaron Corporation” and husband
of Annie Boas Aaron with whom he had two children – Bernice and Rheta.
1871: An article published today compared the methods of
Irish men and Jews who are engaged in the second-hand clothing business. The Irish rely on a network of their fellow
country men and women who work as servants in the homes of the wealthy. “The Jewish old-clothes man” works in the
street relying on his ability to trade and barter as opposed to using cash for
the purchase of items.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9C00E0DE1439E43BBC4D51DFB667838A669FDE
1872(23rd of Tishrei, 5633): Simchat Torah
1874: Esther Hannah Samuel, the daughter of Maurice Moses
Beddington and Hannah Maria Beddington and her husband Henry Sylvester Samuel
gave birth to Marguerite K. Samuel.
1875: William F.
Kintzing, the defense attorney for the three-man charge with the murder
of a Hebrew peddler in the woods at Westchester (NY) opposed the district
attorney’s motion to transfer the case from the Court of General Sessions to
the Oyer and Terminer, the court with criminal jurisdiction. Judge Sutherland ruled
that since this was a capital case, the transfer was proper, and he approved
the motion. The three would eventually be convicted of the immigrant Jewish
peddler who was supporting his children still living in Europe.
1875: The New York
World, a newspaper that supports Democrats published an attack on Jacob
Hess, a Republican and leader in the Jewish community
1877: It was reported today that New Yorker Abraham S.
Isaacs, an editor of the Jewish Messenger, plans to publish a work on Hebrew
literature.
1877: It was reported today that a volume written by Helen
Zimmern on the life and works of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing will be published in
London this fall. Lessing was the close friend of Moses Mendelssohn and wrote
“Nathan the Wise.”
1879: The Yuma Arizona Sentinel
reported today that “Pinafore Company” bound for Tucson that included
Pauline Markham had stopped in Yuma, AZ.
1879: It was reported today the Senate in Bucharest has
passed a bill that would revise the Romanian Constitution to allow for the
emancipation of the Jews by a large majority.
1880: Birthdate of Baltimore native Rachel Frank who married
Robert Skutch in 1902 and as Rachel Frank Skutch “served as president of the
Baltimore Section of the National Council of Jewish Women” and as a “volunteer
with the bureau of the Associated Jewish Charities while raising one daughter
and four sons, Alexander, Raphael and Robert, Jr.
https://www.alexanderskutch.com/uploads/7/0/1/0/70104897/1974mrsskutch.pdf
1881: Birthdate of Pablo Picasso who befriended the
Italian-Jewish painter Amedeo Modigliani.
He posed for a portrait by Modigliani and tried to help him be a
commercial success. According to a 2004
film featuring the relationship between these two artistic giants. Picasso
painted a portrait of Modigliani.
Picasso reportedly uttered Modigliani’s name on his death bed.
1881: Birthdate of Waterbury, CT, native Alfred William
Pollak the graduate of Columbia who pursued a career as a physician and author.
1882: Birthdate of Chicago native and University of Michigan
graduate Auguste Richard Frank, a stockbroker who was active in organizations
devoted to Jewish Children’s Welfare.
1882: “Mordecai Lyons,” a new play by Edward Harrigan was
scheduled to open at the Theatre Comique in New York City. The three act plays includes scenes in a
pawnbroker’s shop and a chop-house on Houston Street.
1882: In Vienna, along with Moses Schnirer, Ruben Bierer and
Peretz Smolenskin, Nathan Birnbaum founded “Kadima” the Zionist student
association whose future members would include Sigmund Freud, Isidor Schalit
and Fritz Löhner-Beda.
1882: It was reported today that “Jew” Rosa was among the
confederates of the “notorious counterfeiter” Van Rensselaer Abrams. (It has
not been ascertained if Rosa’s appellation was indicative of his religious
origins.)
1882: A review published today of “Mordecai Lyons” by Edward
Harrigan decried it is a “another ‘Jew play’” which reminds us that “when the
Jew is not honestly reproduced that he should not be reproduced at all.”
1883: “Celebrating A Fest Too Well” published today described
a Simchat Torah celebration that a group of Polish Chassidim held in room above
the crockery store owned by Bernard Levy.
When Levy heard furniture and windows breaking, he attempted to control
the group. But the abundance of liquor
and beer prevented this and Levy was forced to call the police.
1884: The Young Men’s Hebrew Association is scheduled to hold
a Montefiore centenary celebration in Chickering Hall this evening starting at
8 o’clock.
1884: “The first meeting of the organizers of the Agudath
Achim was held at the home of H. and B. Cohen at 213 Maxwell Street, east of
Halsted Street.”
1884: In New York City, Jess Seligman delivered the opening
remarks at the Young Men’s Hebrew Association “Montefiore Centenary
Celebration” which the Anglo-Jewish leader’s one hundredth birthday
1884: Baltimore’s Lloyd Street Synagogue was the scene of
special ceremonies marking the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Sir
Moses Montefiore.
1885: “The Strength of Ideas” published today contends that
“No race has ever been affected by its wars as the Jews have been affected by
the single idea that it was their duty to remain a separate people.”
1885: Birthdate of Swedish native Arthur Adams, a graduate of
a school of mining technology in Kronshtadt who was honored a “Hero of the
Russian Federation” for his role in stealing secrets about the Manhattan
Project and passing them on to his Soviet handlers.
1886: The Financial News which had been founded by Harry
Marks in 1884 began running a series of articles that exposed corruption in
local government many of which were written by Marks himself.
1886: It was reported today that Tommy Grady, who is running
against Tim Campbell for in the 8th Congressional District gave an
hour-long address to the Tenth Ward Hebrew Citizens’ Association during which
he tried “to impress his listeners that he was a friend of the” Jews. (This “courting of the Jewish vote, is yet
another example of what differentiated the Jewish American experience from life
in Europe, Asia and/or Africa)
1887: Herman De Stern, a German born English grocer was
buried today at the Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.
1887(7th
of Cheshvan, 5648): Mendl Paneth, the six-week-old Romanian born son of R'
Yechezkiel Paneth and Rebetzin Rivka Paneth passed away today.
1888:
In Konigsberg, Germany, Leiser and Peel Simora gave birth to University of
Giessen trained attorney and wounded veteran of the WWI German Army, Moshe Smoira,
the husband of Esther Horovitz and the first President of the Supreme Court of
Israel who made Aliyah in 1921 and in the 1930’s “was appointed President of
the Court of Honor of the World Zionist Organization and President of the
Association of Jewish Lawyers in Eretz Israel.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/moshe-smoira
https://web.archive.org/web/20110708080856/http://www.boeliem.com/content/1989/392.html
1889: It was reported today that Dr. Joseph Silverman and
Judge Richard O’Gorman addressed the meeting of the Young Men’s Hebrew
Association held at Chickering Hall. The
speeches were followed by a musical event featuring soprano Isabelle Rockwell
and tenor Hugo Distlehurst.
1889: In New York City, The American Hebrew reports that Dr.
Abraham Neumark "...will hold regular discourses on the Talmud and
lectures in German every Saturday afternoon." at Orach Chaim.
1889:
In Potolsky, Russia, “a grain dealer” and his wife gave birth to cabinet maker Joseph
Kastner who landed in Baltimore, MD in 1914, worked for four years in Dayton
before purchasing an iron and metal yard in Piqua, Ohio where he lived with his
wife the former Sarah Culp and was “a member of the Jewish Congregton of Piqua
and B’nai B’rith.
1890:
Birthdate of Ernst Lothar Müller, the native of Brno which was then part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire who gained game as “writer, director and proudcer”
Ernst Lothater, the brother of Hans Müller-Einigen, and husband of actress
Adrienne Gessner with whom he went into exile following the Anschluss.
1889:
Birthdate of Rose L. Lipschultz Guzik, the wife of mobster Jack “Jake” Guzik,
1891(23rd
of Tishrei, 5652): Simchat Torah
1891:
“Russia’s Grim Outlook” published today described the impact of the famine in the
Czar’s domains where it is predicted there will be increasing violence aimed at
the Jews
1891: Birthdate of Charles Coughlin. He was an American Roman Catholic priest in
Detroit and a vicious anti-Semite. In October, 1938 he began his weekly
anti-Semitic broadcasts over national radio. The program was very popular, to
say the least. He also formed the Christian Front in New York City which
carried out anti-Semitic street meetings and boycotted Jewish businesses. Those
who are critical of Roosevelt’s policies regarding European Jewry and the
apparent passivity of American Jews in response to the menace Hitler posed to
the Jews, would do well to read about American during the 1930’s when
anti-Semitism was both public and acceptable.
1892: Twenty-two-year-old German born American journalist and
Republican Party member Gustave Karger married Rachel Levison today.
1893: In Cleveland, OH, Simon P. and Pauline C. (Berman)
Burstain gave birth to Columbia graduate and JTS trained Rabbi, Abraham
Burstein, the husband of Stella Cohn who began his career leading the Inwood
Hebrew Congregation before on to other duties that including serving as “chief
of Graves Registration Bureau for the Jewish Welfare Board “in France and
Washington.
1894: In New York, The Board of Estimate and Apportionment
acted today on the provisional estimates for 1985 for charitable institutions
which included $80,000 for the Hebrew Orphan Asylum and $85,000 for the Hebrew
Sheltering Guardian Society of New York Orphan Asylum.
1894: In Newark, NJ, A mob of angry Polish and Russian Jewish
unemployed hat-makers “surrounded the non-union hat factor of J.L. Kreidel
threatening death to Kreidel and his nephew” if they did not join the union
within the next 24 hours.
1894: In a move to attract Jewish support, the Woman’s
Municipal Purity Auxiliary which is part of the anti-Tammany movement, is
scheduled to hold its meeting this afternoon at the Hebrew Institute on East
Broadway.
1895: Birthdate of Brooklyn native Emanuel “Manny” Victor
Littauer who after leading Columbia’s football team to an undefeated season in
1915 gave up the game because of his parent’s fears and joined the school’s
basketball team the following year.
1895:
“In the Shtetl of Oratov” which is now part of Ukraine the former Dvora
Krasnyanskaya and businessman “Joseph Shkolnik” gave birth to “Levi Yitzhak
Shkolnik” who gained fame as Levi Eshkol. Everybody knows the names of the
glamorous Israeli leaders – Ben Gurion, Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir, Menachem
Begin, etc. But few know the name of
Levi Eshkol. This little known Israeli
political leader succeeded Ben Gurion as Prime Minister of Israel in 1963. He was a compromise candidate of whom little
was expected. Yet he was the Prime
Minister in 1967 when Israel won its great victory over the Arab states and
Jerusalem was re-united. Born in Kiev,
Eshkol moved to Palestine in 1914. He
served in the Jewish Legion during World War I was active in the Labor Zionist
movement during the inter-war period.
His major accomplishment was the establishment of what would become
Israel’s water authority. In a parched
land, this was work of major importance.
Eshkol joined the Haganah serving as a recruiter and later as the “chief
supply officer” for it and its successor, the IDF. As should be obvious, Eshkol’s biggest
accomplishment was to serve successfully in a variety of unglamorous positions
that were vital to the establishment and growth of Israel. He died of heart attack in 1969.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/levi-eshkol
http://theprimeministers.org/biography-levi-eshkol/
http://research.haifa.ac.il/~eshkol/
1895:
Birthdate of Troy, NY poultry merchant and state officer of the Jewish War
veterans Benjamin Chuckrow who as a member of the national guard served on the
Mexican border and WW I and who was buried in the Beth Tephilah Cemetery in
Troy, NY when he passed away.
1896:
Birthdate of New York native Anna Klein Cohen, the wife of Benjamin Cohen and
the mother of Gerald Robert Cohen.
1896:
Rabbi Beisnmar is scheduled to officiate at the funeral of Brooklyn dry goods
merchant Joseph Wechsler followed by burial in Salem Fields, Cypress Hills
Cemetery.
1896(25th
of Cheshvan, 5657): Retired real estate broker Moses kind who “was a member of
Stchelberg & Co (cigar makers) and who was a Director of the Hebrew Orphan
Asylum and Mount Sinai Hospital passed away today.
1896:
The funeral for New York businessman Adolphus H. Maas who began his career in
Savannah, GA before manufacturing chemicals in Newark, will be held today at
9:30 this morning.
1897:
In Bradford, PA, founding of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association whose members
included M.A. Nusbaum, A.D. Cohn, L.J. Kreinson and E. H. Werthman.
1897:
Twenty-four-year-old NYU trained attorney Nathan Zvirin, the Minsk born son of
Gute Lubalin and Mayer David Zvirin who
was a writer for the Jewish Daily Forward married Ida Levine today.
http://yleksikon.blogspot.com/2016/08/nathan-nosn-zvirin.html
1898:
The Order Knights of Zion, also called the Western Federation of Zionists,
whose members included Max Shulman, Sam Ginsburg and George K. Rosenzweig with
offices in Chicago was organized today.
1898:
Private Samuel M. Cowen of Waterbury, Private Michael G. Greenberg of New Have
and Private Arthur S. Loeb were among the members of the 1st
Regiment of Connecticut Volunteer Artillery mustered out of federal service
today.
1898:
“The Federated Zionist Societies of the Middle West” was organized today in
Chicago.
1900:
“Campaign Trick In Illinois” published today reported that Democratic State
Committee in Illinois has asserted that the circulation of a letter connecting
Samuel Alschuler, their candidate for governor, with the saloon keepers “is
only another attempt to turn the religious element against” him and “likened it
to “the letters sent to Jews all over the state a couple of weeks ago appealing
to them to vote for Alschuler” because he is Jewish.
1900:
Birthdate of Pocahontas, VA native and Emory and Henry College alum Abram J.
Lubliner, the WW I veteran and Washington and Lee trained attorney.
1901:
Birthdate New York native and Columbia educated producer and promoter Charles
Einfeld, the husband of May Einfeld with whom he had three children – Richard,
Linda and Lisa.
https://mppda.flinders.edu.au/people/176
1902(24th
of Tishrei, 5663): Parashat Bereshit on the same day that Santa Maria Volcano
erupted in Guatemala whose population included a limited number of Jewish
immigrants from Germany “and various Middle Eastern Countries.
1903:
In Debrecen, Hungary, Yosef Weissmandl, a shochet and his wife gave birth to Chaim
Michael Dov Weissmandl, the rabbi and community leader “best known for his
efforts to save the Jews of Slovakia from extermination during the Shoah.”
1903:
Today, “at the National Farm School, at Farm School, PA, a Zionist society
called Farm School Brothers of Zion was organized” after which officers were
elected including “Vice President M.J. Nowick and Secretary Charles Horn.
1904:
Birthdate of University Alabama “three sport star” Andrew “Andy” Howard Cohen
the brother of Syd Cohen and “the New York Giant second baseman who, in 1928,
inspired the poem "Cohen At the Bat."
1904:
Birthdate of Russia native and University of Michigan trained attorney Jason
Lester Honigman who 1948 joined with co-religionist Milton J. Miller to form
the law known today as Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, was the Republican
nominee for state Attorney General in 1958
and “served as chairman and chief executive officer of a national
supermarket chain, Allied Supermarkets, from 1960 to 1968.”
1905:
In Manhattan, Samuel Fassler, the founder of Fassler Iron Works, “the son of
Abba and Chaya Fassler” and his wife Rose Fassler gave birth Benjamin Fassler
1905:
British Major-General Sir Charles Wilson passed away at Tunbridge Wells
(UK). Born in 1836, Wilson received his
first commission in the Royal Engineers in 1855. In 1864, at the instigation of
George Grove, Baroness Angela Burdett Coutts helped finance the Ordnance Survey
of Jerusalem. Volunteers were called for from the Royal Engineers to carry out
the work and Wilson who had just been promoted to the rank of Captain was
selected. The aim of the work was to lay the basis for the improvement of the
water supply of Jerusalem, which at the time was severely polluted. In addition
to producing a topographical map of the city and its immediate environs, in
1865 the survey party carried out a series of levels from the Mediterranean to
the Dead Sea, which established the relative levels of the two bodies for the
first time. While
Wilson was still in Palestine engaged on the Survey, the Palestine Exploration
Fund was founded. On Wilson’s return to England, the PEF Committee engaged him
to carry out a 'feasibility study' for proposed Survey of Western Palestine and
to identify suitable sites for future exploration. In November 1865, Wilson and
his party landed in Beirut and surveyed their way south to Palestine, planning
the Great Mosque of Damascus along the way. From January to April 1866, Wilson
carried out reconnaissance and survey work in Palestine, paying particular
attention to the archaeology and ancient synagogues of the region. In the same
year, Wilson was appointed to the Ordnance Survey of Scotland and, in 1867,
acted as Assistant Commissioner on the Borough Boundary Commission. In this
year, also, he became a member of the Committee of the Palestine Exploration
Fund. In 1868, he volunteered to take part in the Ordnance Survey of Sinai,
along with Capt. H.S. Palmer. The report of their work contains Wilson’s
chapters on the route of the Israelites and the prehistoric and Byzantine
archaeology of the region. In recognition of Wilson’s work in Jerusalem, he was
awarded the Diploma of the International Geographical Congress in 1871. Throughout his military
career Wilson remained in touch with the Palestine Exploration Fund, serving as
its Chairman during the period from 1901 to 1906. (As reported by the Palestine
Exploration Fund)
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1776079
http://www.pef.org.uk/profiles/major-general-sir-charles-william-wilson-1836-1905
1906:
Major General Georges Picquart, who risked his career when he identified
Ferdinand Esterhazy as the author of the bordereau that had been wrongly
attributed to Dreyfus was named Minister of War.
1906:
Birthdate of Reuven Borstein, the native of Taurage who made Aliyah in 1926,
after which he gained fame as Reuven Barkat.
1906:
Installation of Rabbi Jacob Meir as Hahambashi of Palestine. Six
months later In April he was deposed by the Sultan of Turkey, and Eliahu M.
Panigel was put in the position instead to oversee the orthodox community.
Jacob Meir went on to become Chief Rabbi of Salonica.
1908:
In an address on the question, "Shall the Jewish Community Organize?"
at the Free Synagogue today, the Rev. Dr. Stephen S. Wise said: “The recent
movement looking to federation is regrettably divisive, in so far as the
organization up to this time represents only one section of the Jewish
community of New York; again, the plan was hurriedly conceived and still more
hurriedly executive” and “further too many members of the conference
represented themselves rather than any considerable groups or organizations.”
1908:
It was reported today that Israel Zangwill has said he hopes “the United States
will insist upon some modifications of the treaty between” the United States
“and Russia” because “as it stands at the present time, the Jew from America is
legally denied admission into Russia” even though he carries a passport.
1909:
“Jacob H. Schiff created a Trust Fund of $50,000 to establish Teachers’
Institute” at Hebrew Union College.
1909:
Thirty-four-year-old Herbert S. Golden, the Russian born son of Berrah Golden
and Meriam Skoll and Jewish activist who was a member of numerous organizations
including the Businessmen’s Council of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropic Societies
of New York City, the Hebrew Free Loan Association and the Alliance Israelite Universelle
married Rebbeca Harris today.
1909:
It was reported today that Rabbi Wise has “denounced the action of thirteen
Jewish ministers who to Tammany Hall” and “denied that there was friendship
tween the Jews and Tammany Hall.”
1910(22nd
of Tishrei, 5671: Shemini Atzeret
1910:
Anna Voiinsky, who had been employed as collector for the Beth Israel Hospital
and the United Hebrew Charities before going to work at the Montefiore home and
who claimed she had come to Kaufman Mandel with a story about graft at the
Montefiore Home testified on her own behalf during lunacy hearings.
1911:
It was reported today “several Jews who are British subjects who had taken
refuge in the British Consulate were killed or wounded” during the fighting at
Benghazi where thousands were reportedly killed.
1911:
Today, Victor H. Elsas, son of Jacob Elsas and wife Clara Stahl who was born in
1881 in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia married Bertha A. Morse, the daughter
of Jacob R. Morse and wife Rebecca Rassesky.
1912(14th
of Cheshvan, 5673): Sixty-eight-year-old “merchant and realtor” Henry Korn
passed away today in New York.
1913(24th
of Tishrei, 5674): Parashat Bereshit
1913:
Birthdate of Avraham Yoffee, the native of Yavne’el who served as a general
during the Six Day War and as a member of the Knesset.
1914:
The first meeting of a special committee formed to alleviate the suffering of
the Jews in war-torn Europe chaired by Jacob H. Schiff is scheduled to take
place today at Temple Emanu-El.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D02E2D91430E733A25755C2A9669D946596D6CF
1914:
As part of the campaign to raise $100,000 to alleviate the suffering the Jews
in Palestine Louis Brandeis, Chairman of the Provisional Executive Committee
for General Zionist Affairs, addressed the Free Synagogue in Carnegie Hall.
1915:
“Honor Jewish Heroes” published today described a memorial service conducted by
Rabbi Tinter at Mount Zion Temple which “eighty-four German Jewish veterans of
European wars attended in their uniforms” that paid homage to those Jewish
soldiers who have died during the last year in WW I.
1915:
“No Houses Left In Sochaczew” published today described the destruction of the
Russian city where “a few bearded, ringleted Jews clad in long black cassocks
shuffle through the market place and a few Jewish women come to the big iron
town pump for water” making it seem “as though the ancient people had one more
taken up their dwelling on the ravished slopes of Jerusalem and were
shouldering again the age-long burden of their people.”
1915:
It was reported today that the sanctuary being built by “Sinai Temple in
Stebbins Avenue near East 163rd Street in the Bronx” “will cost
about $95,000” and should be ready for occupancy next summer.
1916:
According to reports by New York Times correspondent Cyril Brown who is
traveling with General Von Falkenhayn’s German forces in Romania, published
today, the “large number of Romanian Jews among the prisoners” captured by the
Germans indicates “that a considerable percentage of the Romanian Army was
composed of persecuted Jews who do not enjoy equal rights of citizenship” and
who, as one of the captives said ‘We have no vote but are compelled to fight.’”
1916:
“The charges that Jews were being discriminated against when they sought
enlistment in the New York National Guard were not sustained in a report”
compiled “by General Louis F. Stonesbury, Adjutant General to Governor Whitman
which was made public today” despite “the evidence that two Sergeants who had
direct relation with the enlistment of recruits had admitted to a distinct bias
against Jewish applicants…”
1917:
Leon Trotsky told Julius Martov and other party members who had expressed their
disgust at the way in which the Bolsheviks had seized political power,
"You are pitiful isolated individuals; you are bankrupts; your role is
played out. Go where you belong from now on — into the dustbin of
history!" To this Martov replied in a moment of rage, "Then we'll
leave!", and then walked in silence away without looking back. He paused
at the exit seeing a young Bolshevik worker wearing a black shirt with a broad leather
belt, standing in the shadow of the portico. The young man turned on Martov
with unconcealed bitterness: 'And we amongst ourselves had thought, Martov
would at least remain with us.' Martov stopped and with a characteristic
movement tossed up his head to emphasize his reply: 'One day you will
understand the crime in which you are taking part.' Waving his hand wearily he
left the hall.”
1917:
On the Julian calendar a revolt St. Petersburg marks the start of the October
Revolution which will topple the Provisional Government and bring the Bolsheviks
to power. This corresponds to November 7
on the Gregorian calendar but it explains why the “October Revolution” took
place in November.
1918:
Birthdate of actor Milton Selzer.
1918:
In Brooklyn, Julius and Esther Leipzig gave birth to Isidore Leipzig who gained
game as photographer Arthur Leipzig.
1918:
“The Polish Ministry for Religious Affairs” resolved “to open a modern
rabbinical seminary at Warsaw to prepare rabbis” to serve in Poland.
1918:
In Emsworth, Hampshire, Air Commodore P.J. Wiseman and his wife gave birth to
archaeologist and biblical scholar Donald J. Wiseman who served as vice
president of the British Academy under Sir Isaiah Berlin who among other things
established the date of Nebuchadnezzar's first capture of Jerusalem as 15/16
March 597 BCE after extensively examining the Babylonian texts.
1918:
The funeral of Julius M Guinzburg, of blessed memory, the brother of Edwin,
Adolph, Fernando, Eleanor and Flora Buchbinder is scheduled to take place at
the West End Synagogue in New York City.
1919:
Winston Churchill “wrote a memorandum for the Cabinet proposing that the
Ottoman Empire should not be divided among the victorious powers, but preserved
intact, and placed under the authority of the League of Nations. Such a plan would bring an end to the concept
of a British Mandate in Palestine and would have led to the abandonment of the
Balfour Declaration pledge of a Jewish National Home.”
1919:
“The President of the Swiss Confederation expressed…his approval of the
creation of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine guaranteed by a League of
Nations” to Zionist leaders in Switzerland.
1919(1st
of Cheshvan, 5680): Parashat Noach; Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
1919(1st
of Cheshvan, 5680): David Abrahams, the Russian born son of Rachel and Joseph
H. Abrahams who was buried at B’Nai Amoona Cemetery in University City, MO
after he passed away today.
1920:
“Professor Chaim Weizmann, head of the Zionist Movement, in addressing
representatives of various synagogues in Greater London today said that the
Jews were entering Palestine at the rate of 1,200 monthly and that the number
could not be increased until proper provision had been made for the reception
of larger groups.”
1921(23rd
of Tishrei, 5682): Simchat Torah is celebrated for the first time during the
Presidency of Warren Harding and for the second time under the strictures of
the Volstead Act.
1921:
It was reported today that “President Harding has written a letter to Lee
Baumgarten, President of the Washington Hebrew Congregation, expressing his
regret that on account of his Southern journey he will not be able to attend the special service” the
congregation is holding “in honor of the 85th birthday of Simon
Wolf.”
1922:
In the Bronx, comedian “Milton Moss and the former Eva Goldstein” gave birth to
“Milt Moss, a comic actor who delivered the rueful catchphrase “I can’t believe
I ate that whole thing” in a memorable commercial for Alka-Seltzer in 1972.”
(As reported by Daniel E. Slotnik)
1923:
South Carolina graduate and Johns Hopkins Medical trained physician Milton
Weinberger, the Manning, SC,born son Rose Levi and Aaron Weinberg gave birth to
University of South Carolina graduate and Johns Hopkins Medical trained physician Milton Weinberger, the
husband who practiced medicine in Sumter, SC, married Ethel Harper today.
1923:
In Vienna, Leo Sirota and Augustine Horenstein gave birth to Beate Sirota who
gained fame as Beate Sirota Gorden, “who at 22 almost single-handedly wrote
women’s rights into the Constitution of modern Japan” (As reported by Margalit
Fox)
1924:
In Nashville, TN, David Sticklar and Hattye (Raphael) Bubis gave birth to
Vanderbilt and Columbia educated Ralph Irvin Bubis, the husband of Evelyn
Barbara Rubenstein and the father of Jan and Barry Ray Buis who served as a Lt.
Junior Grade in U.S. Navy during WW II who began his career as an account
executive with Simon and Gwyn Advertising Agency in Memphis before eventually
becoming a Director at Belden Associations Marketing Research in Dallas.
1924: The Zinoviev Letter is published in the Daily
Mail, wrecking the British Labour Party's hopes of re-election. This
document, which was a forgery, called for increased Communist agitation in
Great Britain. Zinoviev was Grigory
Zinoviev, the son of Jewish dairy farmers, who was head of the Comintern.
1925:
Today the NYT published a full-body portrait of Dorothy Brown in the operetta
"Polly" which marked the first sale by Russian-born celebrity
photographer Irving Chidnoff
1925:
“The Guardsman, an Austrian silent comedy film directed and written by Robert
Wiene and co-starring Maria Corda who rescued her husband Alexander Korda from
the clutches of Miklos Horthy, the first of Europe’s fascist anti-Semitic
dictators.
1925:
In Sosnowiec, Poland, chocolate salesman Issachar Feiner and his wife Rivka
Herzberg gave birth to Haim Feiner who gained fame as Israeli entertainer Haim
Hefer.
1926:”The
Student of Prague” “a 1926 Expressionist silent film by actor and filmmaker
Henrik Galeen” was released in Germany today.
1926:
Birthdate of New York native and holder of degrees from Queens College, CUNY
and Stanford Jean Estelle Hirsh who gained fame as Professor of Mathematics at
Purdue Jean E. Rubin the author of three books “on the axiom of choice” and “two
more on more general topics in set theory and mathematical logic” while raising
a son, mathematician and aerospace engineer Arthur Rubin, with her husband and
co-author statistician Herman Rubin.
1927:
“A house (called Brandsby Lodge and belonging to Sir Charles Wilson M. P.) with
adjoining land, at the corner of Louis Street and Chapeltown Road, was
purchased and at a meeting of the New Briggate synagogue building committee today
the decision to appoint local architect,
J. Stanley Wright was adopted – the projected cost to be £23,000.
1928(11th
of Cheshvan, 5689): NYU trained “author and physician” Jacob A. Maryson the
Vilan born son of Mary Kata and Yeruchim Maryson and the husband of fellow
physician Katherine Evseroff who in 1887
had come to the United States where he first worked in a shirt factory and
“taught English to foreigners” and was a member of “The Pioneers of Liberty
(Pionire der Frayhayt) the first Jewish anarchist organization in the United
States” passed away today.
1928: After having premiered in Denmark six months
ago, “The Passion of Joan of Arc” a silent French movie filmed by Rudolph
Maté was released today in France
1929(21st
of Tishrei, 5690): Hoshana Raba
1929:
Arthur Ruppin wrote in his diary describing the devastation the Arabs had
wrought on the settlement of Hulda in Palestine. In 1930, Hulda was resettled
as a Kibbutz by a group of young Zionist pioneers known as Gordonia, followers
of A.D. (Aaron David) Gordon.
1930:
Birthdate of American Jewish author Harold Brodkey.
1930(3rd
of Cheshvan, 5691): Parashat Noach
1930(3rd
of Cheshvan, 5691): Seventy-year-old Russian-Jewish bacteriologist
Waldemar Mordecai Wolff Haffkine passed away.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7016-haffkine-waldemar-mordecai-wolff
1930:
Northwestern University led by Guard Hyman “Hy” Crizevsky defeated Centre
today.
1930:
Several thousand people gathered in Tel Aviv to protest the “British
government’s new…policy on Palestine.”
The demonstration turned violent when the protestors marched passed the
city’s main synagogue which was surrounded by a guard of mounted officers.
Several of the people in the group who were identified as being Orthodox
resorted to violence over what they considered was a desecration of the Sabbath
by having the Jewish guards mounted on horses, a violation of halachah. At the same time a picture of Lord Passfield
was ripped to shreds by the mob.
1931:
Birthdate of Jerusalem native Joseph A. Eliash who latte settled in Ohio.
1931:
Birthdate of Queens native Miriam Levine, the daughter of “a postal worker” and
Hunter College graduate who gained fame as Miriam Bockman, the wife of Eugene
J. Bockman , who was a powerful leader in the reform wing of the Democrat
Party. (As reported by Sam Roberts)
http://thevillager.com/2018/07/12/miriam-bockman-86-manhattan-county-leader/
1932(25th
of Tishrei, 5693): A.F. Horowitz, “the founder and head of the National
Clothing Company and father of Jess Horowitz who found the A.F. Horowitz
Memorial Foundation, passed away today.
1933:
“A stern warning was addressed by the High Commissioner for Palestine to
members of the Palestine Arab Executive during an interview in which he
cautioned them to avoid clashes with the police at Jaffa Friday, when they
intend to demonstrate against alleged excessive Jewish immigration.”
1933:
It was reported today that Mrs. Samuel Halprin of Brooklyn has been re-elected
president of Hadassah.
1934:
It was announced today at a meeting of the executive committee of the National
Conference of Jews and Christians at the Hotel Roosevelt that “an instituted on
Human Relations will be organized at Williams College in August of 1935.
1934:
Senator
Byrd asked President Roosevelt today to use his influence to "correct the
condition" at Old Point Comfort, Va., where the Hotel New Chamberlin,
situated on a Federal reservation, was reported as advertising that Jews were
not welcomed as guests.
1934:
In Lynchburg, VA, “Senator Glass dispatched a telegram to Rabbi Louis D.
Mendoza of Norfolk, who had protested to both Senators and to Federal officials
regarding the Chamberlin’s advertising policy” in which the Senator said “I
think it is an any outrage for any institution enjoying government privileges
to discriminate against any religious sect.”
1934:
“Morris Rothenberg, president of ZOA is scheduled to address the Bronx Zionist District
Thirteen tonight at which time the newly elected officers of the district will
be installed.
1935:
A Zionist Committee in Locarno signed a contract with a steamship company that
would provide transportation to Palestine during 1936 for 80,000 Jews who will
be settling in Tel Aviv.
1936:
In London, Peter and Miriam Gilbert give birth to their son, Martin, the grandson
of Eastern European immigrants who gained fame as Sir Martin Gilbert, the
official biographer of Sir Winston Churchill.
As the author of over 80 volumes, he is one of the most prolific
historians of our time. As anybody who
has read his works knows, he is also one of the most reliable authorities who
turns works of history into works of literature. Yet as busy as he was, he
always had time to answer questions from his readers in the most patient and
understanding of manner.
https://www.martingilbert.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Martin-Gilbert/e/B00NBOSX4M
1936:
The Berlin-Rome Axis was formed.
This was the alliance between Hitler and Mussolini that helped paved the way to
World War II and the Holocaust.
1936:
Birthdate of Rochester, NY native Michael Gedaliah Kammen, the Pulitzer
Prize-winning historian. (As reported by Margalit Fox)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/07/us/michael-kammen-historian-of-us-psyche-dies-at-77.html
1936:
“Palestine Editor Predicts An Accord” published today described the belief of
Gershon Agronksy, the founder and editor of The
Palestine Post of Jerusalem that “Arabs definitely hope for severe
limitation of Jewish immigration and all it stands for” while “Jews hope that
nothing will be done to restrict their settlement of country” and the British
are looking “for a settlement which would make a repetition of the recent Arab
outbreak impossible.”
1936:
A review of Anti-Semitism, Historically and Critically Examined by
Swedish professor A. G. Chater was published today.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9E02EEDF153DE33BBC4D51DFB667838D629EDE
I936:
In Philadelphia, B’nai B’rith sponsored a celebration commemorating the 300th
anniversary of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, banishment from the
colony of Massachusetts which was attended by 5,000 Protestants, Catholics and
Jews before his statue in Fairmont Park.
1936:
Rabbi Henry A. Schorr the leader of Temple Adath Israel and the Jewish chaplain
at Bellevue Hospital paid tribute to his fellow Rotarian Reverend William H.
Kephart, the pastor of the North New York Congregational Church who is
observing the 40th anniversary of his ministry.
1936:
“Jewish leaders of the United States and Canada meeting” in Chicago “ today as
the Plan and Scope Committee for the 1936 National Campaign of the American
Jewish Joint Distribution Committee were informed that $2,374,062, more than
double the funds collected during 1935, has been raised so far.”
1936:
At Comiskey Park, home of the White Sox, “a successful penalty kick by Gauol
Machlis…enabled the touring Maccabee soccer team from Tel Aviv to defeat the
Illinois All Stars 1 to 0…” in front of
a crowd of 20,000 ran soaked fans. The
receipts from the game will be shared by various Chicago charities.
1936:
It was reported today that “when King Edward opens the new session of
Parliament on November 3,” his address from the throne which is really a
statement of the government’s proposals will include the measures “the Baldwin
government plans to take to ride the country of the nuisance caused by Sir
Oswald Mosley’s Fascists.
1937: “Babes
in Arms is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart
and book by Rodgers and Hart” which had opened on Broadway at the Shubert
Theatre “transferred to the Majestic Theatre” today.
1938:
Look magazine “printed a series of André Kertész’s photographs, entitled ‘A
Fireman Goes to School’ but credited them erroneously to his former boss Ernie
Prince” which so infuriated the Hungarian born photographer so much that “he
considered never working with a photo magazine again.”
1939:
In a letter dated today, “Harry A. Jung, honorary general manager of the
American Vigilant Intelligence Federation” complained to Representative Martin
Dies, Chairman of the House Committee on un-American Activities” about the
release of letters that connected his federation with “Nazi organizations.”
1939:
Mayor La Guardia
praised
the Youth Aliyah Fund which is providing financial support to send Jewish
children to Palestine. At the same time, New York’s mayor warned the members
that they must be vigilant in guarding the rights of all minorities.
1939:
In Highland Park, Illinois, Mrs. Babette Mandel, the widow of Emanuel Mandel
who was one of the founders of the Mandel Brothers store, will celebrate her 91st
birthday with her son Edwin, “her son-in-law Albert S. Lauer, two grandson,
Albert E.M. Lauer and Frank Mandel and three great-grandchildren
1940(23rd
of Tishrei, 5701): Simchat Torah
1940:
“Seven Sinners” produced by Joe Pasternak, featuring Mischa Auer and filmed by
cinematographer Rudolph Maté was released in the United States today.
1940:
General Government (the Nazi government of Poland) ended the granting of any
more visas to Polish Jews.
1940:
The Gauleiter received word that the camp at Gurs was mostly empty, and today,
it was decided to evacuate the Jews from Baden (between 6,500 and 7,500) to
Gurs as part of Operation Wagner-Bürckel.
1940:
As part of Operation Wagner-Bürckel it was decided to evacuate the Jews from
Baden (between 6,500 and 7,500) as well as 895 Jews from Karlsruhe,to Gurs
where they were locked up under French, not German, administration.
1940:
“They Knew What They Wanted,” the film version of the play by the same name
directed by Garson Kanin, the Rochester, NY born Jew and with music by Alfred
Newman the New Haven, CT son of Russian Jewish immigrants was released in the United States after having
premiered in San Francisco on October 8.
1941:
In Melbourne, Stella Campbell and David “Max” Reddy gave birth to
Australian-American singer and actress Helen Reddy.
1941(4th of Cheshvan, 5702): Romanian soldiers massacred
26,000 Jews in Odessa, which was part of the Soviet Union. The Romanians were allies of the Germans and
participated in their crimes.
1941: Jews at Tatarsk in Soviet Russia revolt
against murderous peasants and SS killing squads. The rebellion is put down by
regular German Army units, artillery, and air power. All Jews in Tatarsk are
murdered.
1941:
As of today
according to an order issued by the Nazis, all Jews were to have relocated to
the Moscow suburb of Riga. As a result, about 30,000 Jews were concentrated in
the small area known as the Moscow Forshtat by the end of October 1941.
1941:
Einsatzgruppen report to Berlin complains the local population of White Russia
was not being helpful in the various actions. “Actions” was the expression for
rounding up and murdering Jews.
Therefore the Germans themselves would have to step up efforts.
1941:
In what is described as “The Birth of the Gas Chamber,” in Germany Dr. Viktor
Brack rolled out the new plan for mass execution with "the installation of
the necessary buildings and gas plants." Eichmann approved of this method.
Such a procedure would assure a systematic method of extinguishing the Jews and
reduce incidents of public killings.
1941:
The movie of version of Poe’s “The
Tell-Tale Heart” direct by Jules Dassin, co-starring Joseph Schildkraut with
music by Sol Kaplan was released today in the United States.
1942:
Dutch resistance leader Jaap Nunes Vaz,
founder of the underground paper Het
Parool was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Sobibor.
1942: In Oszmiana, Lithuania the Nazis demand
that the community give up 400 of its 1000 Jews. The selection of the victims
is assigned to the Jewish police in the nearby city of Vilna. Vilna Ghetto
leader Jacob Gens decides to hand over Oszmiana's elderly Jews in order to save
the others.
1942: Birthdate Los Angeles native Gloria Katz, the award-winning
screen writer of the 1973 hit “American Graffiti.”
1942: Male Jews in Norway are
arrested and sent by sea to Szczecin, Poland, then by railcar to Auschwitz;
1943(26th
of Tishrei, 5704): In Birkenau, 2,500 girls from Salonica, Greece, held in
Block 25 were all gassed. They sang Hatikvah as they were marched to the death
chambers.
1943: The Germans begin the liquidation of the
corpse-burning squad at the labor camp in Janówska, Ukraine.
1943: SS chief Heinrich Himmler orders the destruction of the
collection of Jewish skulls and skeletons at the Reich Anatomical Institute at
Strasbourg.
1944:
“Two hundred persons representing civic, philanthropic and welfare
organizations in the Bronx paid tribute today at a luncheon at the Concourse
Plaza Hotel to Harry Goodwin, managing editor and part owner of The Bronx Home
News, who was selected as the outstanding citizen of the Bronx for 1944.”
1944:
Birthdate of Ronit Lentin, the Haifa born Associate Professor of Sociology at
Dublin’s Trinity College whose works include Racism and anti-racism in
Ireland and Israel and the
Daughters of the Shoah: Reoccupying the Territories of Silence http://www.worldcat.org/title/israel-and-the-daughters-of-the-shoah-reoccupying-the-territories-of-silence/oclc/44720589?tab=details and
1944:
The Romanian Army liberates Carei, the last Romanian city under Axis Powers'
occupation. During the 1920, Joel Teitelbaum had served as a rabbi in
Carei. Teitelbaum would later be named
Grand Rabbi and head of the Satmar. Liberation came too late for most of the Jews
of Romania. Over 264,000 Jews perished in Nazi death camps during World War II.
Most of the survivors fled postwar communism and emigrated to Israel or the
United States. Only 14,000 Jews, most aged over 60, live in Romania today.
1945: Jews are attacked in
Sosnowiec, Poland. Yes, the war and the
Holocaust ended in May of 1945. But
Polish anti-Semitism seems to have a life of its own.
1945:
A Haifa military court sentenced 21-year-old Joseph Morakh to five years in
prison for possession of 23 hand grenades, 20 bombs and assorted other
ammunition.
1945:
Representative Andrew L. Somers, a Democrat from New York, challenged the
British Ambassador to find out the “true facts” surrounding the sentencing of
twenty “boys and girls” in Tel Aviv.
Members of the group, who range between the ages of 15 to 20, will be
sentenced tomorrow to a total of 118 ages on weapons possession and other
charges despite the fact that, according to the Congressman, “twenty six
prosecution witnesses had failed to establish the connection between the
children and the arms.”
1945:
Lee Krasner married Jackson Pollack.
Krasner was Jewish – Pollack was not.
1946 Twenty-three former Nazi doctors are
tried at Nuremberg on charges of conducting unethical experiments on camp
inmates. The various experiments included the drinking of seawater, bone
grafting, exposure to mustard gas, and other atrocities. This is the so-called
"doctors' trial";
1946:
The Zionist Organization of America opens its forty-ninth annual convention” in
Atlantic City today with 1,500 delegates, representing more than 500,000
organized Zionist members throughout the United States, present.
1947:
The Irgun threatened to fight a “civil war” with Haganah following recent
clashes between the two organizations.
1947: The
University of Michigan Wolverines led by Fullback and Linebacker Dan Dworsky
defeated Minnesota today which was Homecoming in what was their fifth victory
in what would become a perfect season.
1948(22nd
of Tishrei, 5709): Shemini Atzeret
1948:
In Washington D.C. homemaker Louise Tillman and businessman Donald David
Epstein gave birth to poet Daniel Mark Epstein who “is more widely known for
his biographies of Nat King Cole, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Bob Dylan and
Abraham Lincoln…”
1948: A new road to S’dom was opened during the
Israeli War for Independence. In
November a military contingent made up of new immigrants would move through the
Negev and break the six month long siege of S’dom. Yes, this is the same place as mentioned in Genesis.
1949:
“Everybody Does It” a comedy featuring George Tobias with “original music by
Alfred Newman” was released today in the United States.
1951:
Fifteen hundred people attended a dinner tonight at the St. George Hotel where
members of the Madison Club honor Assemblyman Irwin Steingut “upon the
completion of thirty years as a member of the New York State Legislature.”
1952:
The Mount Vernon Symphony Orchestra is scheduled to opens its sixth season
tonight featuring violinist Mischa Elman as the soloist.
1953:
The Temple of
Truth (Congregation Beth Emeth) groundbreaking ceremony took place today
1953:”Salute
to Israel” published today described plans to honor Professor Benjamin Mazar
and President Harry S. Truman at a dinner to be held next month at the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
1954:
Birthdate of Philadelphia native and Dartmouth graduate Paul Lazarus, who among
accomplishment served as the Artistic Director of the Pasadena Playhouse and
“has directed over eighty plays and musicals.
1955(9th
of Cheshvan, 5716): Sixty-four-year-old Edward “Eddie” Jacobson, the Man from
Missouri who helped convince that other Man from Missouri, Harry Truman, to
support the creation of the state of Israel, passed away in Kansas City,
Missouri.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_09918.html
1955(9th
of Cheshvan, 5716): Sixty-four-year-old Israel Solomon Chipkin, the Vilinus
born of Jacob B. Girsh Chipkin and Hadassah Batia Mayper and holder of degrees from CCNY, Columbia and
JTS who served on the faculty of JTS and was an officer of the National Council
for Jewish Education passed away today in the Bronx after which he was buried
at the Baron de Hirsch Cemetery.
1956(20th
of Cheshvan, 5717): Sixty-year-old Leo Lazarus Honor, the Koretz, Lithuania born son Sarah and Zvi
(Hershel) Honor who in 1901 came to the United States where he earned a
Bachelor’s degree from CCNY, a Ph.D from Columbia and married Jenny Honor while
also serving on the College of Jewish Studies in Chicago and the Jewish
Theological Seminary in New York passed away today after which he was buried in
Philadelphia, PA.
1956:
David O. Selznick” the scion of Jewish family from Pittsburgh contacted
director John Huston at the Blue Haven Hotel in Tobago and enthusiastically
welcomed him to the project – filming a re-make of Farewell to Arms with a
script by Ben Hecht.
1956:
In preparation for the Sinai Campaign, the Israeli government begins to
mobilize its reserves and orders a battalion of paratroops to be ready to go
into action within four days.
1959(23rd
of Tishrei, 5720): Simchat Torah
1959(23rd
of Tishrei, 5720: Kiev native Ezra Korman “a poet, editor, and translator who
migrated to Detroit from Kiev in 1923” where he lived until he passed away
today.
https://translatingmichigan.org/yiddish-in-michigan/ezra-korman
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/10/26/89129345.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/boudin-anna-pavitt
1962:
A month after opening in the United Kingdom, “The War Lover,” the film version
of the novel by the same name with a screenplay by Howard Koch and featuring Al
Waxman was released in the United States today.
1964:
Call It Sleep, a critically acclaimed 1934 novel by Henry Roth that was
commercially unsuccessful “received a second life when it was reviewed by
literary critic Irving Howe on the front page of The New York Times Book
Review” today leading to “its paperback edition, published by Avon, to sell
over a million copies” and the novel being included on TIME magazine's 2005
list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923.”
1963:
It was reported today that Doubleday will be publishing Main Street, Italy by Irving R. Levin on November 1.
1963:
It was reported today that The National Council of Women has announced that
“schools would held for 26,000 women in thirty-five cities this year to teach
how to get equality for youngsters.”
1964:
Two days after he passed away funeral services are scheduled to held this
afternoon for Isaac Goss, the husband of Elizabeth Gross at Riverside Chapel.
1965(29th
of Tishrei, 5726): Fifty-five-year-old Eduard Einstein, second son of Albert
Einstein passed away at the age of 55.
1967(21st
of Tishrei, 5728): Seventy-eight-year-old German born Austrian author and
journalist who survived internment in Dachau and Buchenwald and resumed his
career in the United States in 1939 passed away today.
http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/ark:/99166/w6jg057t
1968(3rd
of Cheshvan, 5729): Sixty-two-year-old Naum Perel, son of Boruch and Tsilya
Perel and the husband of Evgeniya Perel passed away today.
1968:
Birthdate of American sports announcer Josh Lewin.
1969(13th
of Cheshvan, 5730): Parashat Lech-Lecha
1969:
At the Sunningdale Country Club, Rabbi Lawrence W. Schwartz, rabbi emeritus of
the Jewish Center of White Plains, officiated at the wedding of Barbara Ellen
Lederer and James Rosin, the Columbia trained attorney who served with the Army
Judge Advocate Corps for three years.
1970(25th
of Tishrei, 5731): Seventy-eight-year-old Harriet “Yetta’ Wieel Bishchoff, the
Connecticut born daughter of Jacob and Jennie L. Zuker Wiegel and the wife of
Samuel Bischoff passed away today in Los Angeles after which she was buried at
the Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, LA.
1971(6th
of Cheshvan, 5732): Ninety-four-year-old Jane “Jennie” Eckhouse Kaufherr, the
Washington, IN born daughter of Sigmund and Lena Sternberger Eckhouse and the
wife of Isador J. Kaufherr whom she married in 1898 passed away today in Miami
after which was buried in the Congregation B’Nai Jershurun Cemetery in
Elizabeth, NJ.
1973:
A second ceasefire went into effect marking the end of the Yom Kippur War.
1973:
The Soviet withdrew its threat to send troops to support the Egyptians.
1973:
After the
official end of the Yom Kippur War, General Israel Tal, serving as commander of
the southern front, received an order from Chief of Staff General David Elazar
and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan to attack Egyptian forces. Tal refused to
follow the order, insisting that it was an unethical order and requesting
authorization for the requested attack from the prime minister and the Supreme
Court. Such authorization never came. Tal won the argument, but his refusal to
follow the illegal order as a practical matter eliminated the chances of his
being nominated for the position of Chief of Staff to succeed General Elaza (As
reported by Haaretz)
1973:
“Ismail Azmy's decision to detonate a bridge over the Sweetwater Canal on
October 20 in order to stall an Israeli attack, in violation of direct orders
not to do so, led to him being relieved of his command” today.
1974: An Arab summit at Rabat Morocco put an end to
Jordanian involvement in the lands west of the Jordan River which it had seized
in 1948 and held until 1967. The Arab
governments agreed that the PLO, fresh from the murder of the Israeli athletes
at the Munich Olympics, was designated as the “sole representative’ of the
Palestinian people. This ascendancy of
extremism in the Arab world fueled Israeli support for the expansion of
settlements on the West Bank and gave impetus to Right Wing politicians seeking
to unseat the Labor Zionists.
1974:
Today, Ruby Myers, later known as Sulochana, an Indian actress from the
Baghdadi Jewish community who was one of
the highest-paid actresses of her time and even opened her own film production
studio, Rubi Pics won the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, Indian cinema’s most
prestigious lifetime achievement award, for her impact on the history of Indian
cinema.
https://jwa.org/thisweek/oct/25/1974/ruby-myers-wins-dada-saheb-phalke-award
1974:
“Moshe Leshem, the Israeli ambassador to Denmark, protested to the Danish
Foreign Ministry against Soviet distribution of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel
pamphlets in Copenhagen.”
1975(20th
of Cheshvan, 5736): Parashat Vayera
1975(20th
of Cheshvan, 5736): Rabbi Joseph M. Brandriss who served as the rabbi at Har
Tzeon Congreagation in Silver Spring, MD from 1955 to 1975 passed away today.
1975:
Pravda printed ‘a long, scathing attack on Egypt” today designed “to coincide
with President Sadat’s visit to the United States” where he was seeking to
salvage a future out of the Yom Kippur defeat.
1976(1st
of Cheshvan, 5737): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
1976(1st
of Cheshvan, 5737): Eighty-eight-year-old Piqua, OH native Florence L. Strauss,
the widow of Hugo M. Strauss, a resident of Indianapolis for 56 years and a
member of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation and the Jewish Section of the Nation
Council of Women who is not to be confused the motion picture editor Florence
L. Strauss, the Milwaukee born daughter of Sara Greenbaum and Isadore Levi and
the wife of Charles H. Strauss, passed away today.
1976:
Most of the protestors, including Vladimir Slepak, Anatoly Sharansky, Yuli
Kosharovsky, Yosef Beilin and Felix Kandel who were on their way to protest at
the Central Committee were arrested at or near their homes and charged with
“hooliganism.”
1978:
Israeli Cabinet approved "in principle," a draft compromise
peace. This was a necessary step on the
road to peace between Israel and Egypt.
1978:
“Comes a Horseman” a dark western directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring James
Caan was released in the United States today.
1979:
Funeral services are scheduled to be held today at Tempe Emanuel in New York
for S.H. Scheuer, the husband of Helen Scheuer with whom he had five children –
Richard, James, Walter, Steven and Amy – who was described as “a philanthropist
of great generosity and deep compassion whose long‐time support of the struggle
against bigotry stemmed from his deep concern for the human rights of all.”
https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/25/archives/obituary-7-no-title.html?searchResultPosition=9
1979:
Mayor Ed Koch announced today that “caricaturist Al Hirschfeld and humorist S.
J. Perelman” who had passed away on October 18 “are among the recipients of the
Mayor’s Awards for Arts and Culture.
1980: Barbra Streisand's
"Guilty," album goes #1 for 3 weeks and her single "Woman In
Love," goes #1 for 3 weeks.
1981(27th
of Tishrei, 5742): Eighty-three-year-old Ariel Durant, the daughter of Russian
Jews Joseph and Ethel Kaufman, the wife of Will Durant with whom she “was awarded
the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1968 for Rousseau and
Revolution, the tenth volume of The Story of Civilization and “presented
with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Gerald Ford”
1982:
The BBC broadcast the final episode of “Smiley’s People” featuring Maureen
Diane Lipman in the role of Stella Craven.
1983:
NBC broadcast the first episode of “Bay City Blued” “created and produced by
Steven Bochco.”
1983(18th
of Cheshvan, 5744): Sixty-nine-year-old Pittsburgh native and University of
Pittsburgh graduate Martin S. Kramer, the former chairman and CEO of Gimble
Brothers passed away today in Boca Raton, FL
1983:
The Gilman Paper Company which Isaac Gilman founded in 1884 in what was
Fitzdale, VT but which changed its name to Gilman in the 1920’s has named a new
president to replace the late Charles Gilman, Jr, the brother of Howard Gilman
who will continue to served chairman and chief executive.
1984:
An off-Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Pacific Overtures” opened
today at the Promenade Theatre.
1984:
Ellen Bottomley Fiedler, the widow of Arthur Fiedler who she had had “three
children – Johanna, Deborah and Peter—“passed away today.
1986(22nd
of Tishrei, 5747): Shemini Atzeret
https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2009-08878-001
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/guttman-louis
1987:
Today Beth Jacob Congregation which had founded in 1985 broke ground for its
new synagogue at Mendota Heights, MN.
1959(23rd
of Tishrei, 5720): Eighty-year-old Polish born, Columbia trained dentist, Dr.
Anna Pavitt Boudin “a founder and the first president of the Women’s American
ORT, an organization for the rehabilitation and training of displaced Jews” and
the “widow of Louis B. Boudin, a labor lawyer and authority on constitutional
law” passed today in the New York Infirmary.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/10/26/89129345.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/boudin-anna-pavitt
1989:
Day two of what would prove to be the final recording session of Vladimir
Horowitz.
1990:
The XIV Dalai Lama and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi met during the historic
Jewish-Buddhist dialogue in Dharamsala, India.
1991:
Seymour Hersh was sued for libel today for material in The Samson Option:
Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy.
1991(17th
of Cheshvan, 5752): Alfred Morris, the son of Polish Immigrants whose career in
hairstyling began at the age of 20 led him to open “the Morris School of
Hairdressing, followed by the Morris School of Beauty Culture in Portman Square
which became the diploma awarding London Institute of Hairdressing.”
1992:
After 245 performances Neil Simon’s Jake’s Women was performed for the last
time at the Neil Simon Theatre.
1992:
Latvia adopts its first constitution in the post-Soviet period. There are
approximately 11,000 Jews living among 2.5 million Latvians. Jews have lived in Latvia since the 17th
century. There were approximately 90,000
Jews living in the Baltic republic at the outbreak of WW II. There were approximately 320 left on Latvian
soil at the end of the war. The
President of Latvia has publicly apologized for the role Latvians played in the
decimation of the Jewish populace.
1993:
David Berger was elected as member of the Canadian Parliament for Saint-Henri
--- Westmont daoy.
1994:
Birthdate of Scottsdale, AZ native bronze medal winning pair figure skater
Madeline Aaron, the sister of champion figure skater Max Aaron.
1995(1st
of Cheshvan, 5756): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
1995(1st
of Cheshvan, 5756): Ninety-three-year-old
Pauline Singer, the Belfast, Ireland born daughter of Joseph Morris Cohen and
Lilian “Leba” Rubin Cohen, the wife of Gabe Singer and the mother of Phyllis
Singer Fleet passed away today in Tallahassee, FL after which she was buried at
the Oakview Cemetery in Albany, GA.
1995:
In Washington, Prime Minister Rabin countered Arab slogans by declaring, “There
are not ‘two Jerusalems.’ There is only
one Jerusalem. For us, Jerusalem is not
subject to compromise, and there is no peace without Jerusalem. Jerusalem, which was destroyed eight times,
where for years we had no access to the remnants of our Temple, was ours, is
ours and will be ours – forever.”
1996:
The first community bar mitzvah is held in Beijing for Ari Lee, the son of
community founders Elyse Silverberg and Michael Lee.
1996:
“When We Were Kings” an Academy Award winning boxing documentary featuring
Norman Mailer was released in the United States today.
1997:
Greville Janner “was created a life peer as Baron Janner of Braunstone, of
Leicester in the County of Leicestershire” today.
1997:
In a letter sent today Holocaust denier David “Irving threatened to sue John
Lukacs for libel if he published his book, The Hitler of History without
removing certain passages highly critical of Irving’s work.”
1998: The New York Times included reviews of two books by Jewish authors: Too
Good To Be Forgotten: Changing America in the '60s and '70s by
David Obst and King of the World: Muhammad
Ali and the Rise of an American Hero by David Remnick.
2000:
Today, in Vienna, “the second building of the Jewish Museum was opened in
Judenplatz with the unveiling of the Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial to the
Austrian Jews who perished in the Holocaust.”
2001(8th
of Cheshvan, 5762): Seventy-five-year-old Harry Gerard Bissinger II, the
husband of Eleanor Lebenthal Bissinger and brother of Eli Kaufman passed away
today.
2002(19th
of Cheshvan, 5763): Senator Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash in
northern Minnesota along with his wife, daughter and five others, just 11 days
before Election Day. The anniversary of Wellstone’s death should serve to
remind us that by the end of the 20th century Jewish political
leaders were no longer confined to major metropolitan areas with significant
Jewish populations. In Minnesota, the
heart of the American heartland, there were actually Jewish senators who came
from both the Republican and the Democratic Party. This achievement is all the more remarkable
when one remembers that a United States Senator could use the word “Kike” in a
speech on the Senate Floor in the 1940’s and get away with it.
2002:
“Roger Dodger” a comedy co-starring Jesse Eisenberg and featuring Ben Shenkman
was release in the United States by Artisan Entertainment.
2002: In “Jews rank high among winners of Nobel,
but why not Israelis?” published today, Shule Kopf examines reasons for Jewish
over-representation among Nobel Laureates and the future of Jewish
intellectualism.
2003(29th
of Tishrei, 5764): Parashat Bereshit – the Torah cycle begins again
2003:
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested at Novosibirsk airport by the Russian
prosecutor general's office on charges of fraud.
2004:
Former ALP minister Barry Cohen describes
his belief that the Australian Labor Party is becoming anti-Semitic in an
article appearing in The Age. Barry
Cohen was arts minister in the Hawke government. The article is quoted in
attempt to give American Jews a sense of the Jewish community “down under.”
It's
a sepia-toned family portrait taken in the late 1930s of Mendel and Mindel
Kozerwoder and their children Itzek, Charna, Malka, Mania, Yidel, Moishe and
baby Faigele. There's nothing unusual about it but it is very precious to me,
for they are all members of my family who, with one exception, perished in the
crematoriums of Chelmno and Auschwitz. Clasped in the hands of my great-uncle
is a photograph of my grandparents, Moishe and Zelda Kozerwoder. Itzek, the
only survivor, gave me the photograph after I returned from a visit to Poland,
during which I went to the villages of Pajcczno and Dzialoszyn, from which my
grandparents departed in the late 1890s. Their travels took them to England,
South Africa (where my father was born) and finally to Australia, just after
the outbreak of World War I. The photo is the only image I have of the many
members of my family who were murdered by the Nazis. When I look at it, my
emotions range from gut-wrenching pain to seething rage. It has ensured that I
belong to that school of Jewish resolve whose motto is "never again”.
There is nothing special about what happened to me and my family. Many Jewish
families suffered the same fate. I became aware of the Holocaust in 1944 as the
Allied armies swept across Europe and liberated the death camps. I was only
nine years old but I can still recall the pain I felt as I watched the
newsreels of the emaciated survivors and the mountains of corpses. oon
afterwards I was sent to boarding school to prepare for my bar mitzvah. There
was a noticeable shortage of synagogues in the country town of Griffith, NSW,
where I was born and where my father was the local dentist. My introduction to anti-Semitism commenced
on my first day at school. The school sergeant refereed three fights between
myself and classmates who called me "a dirty f---ing Jew". I was
lucky. Bloody noses and black eyes were nothing compared to what happened to
those members of my family who did not have the prescience to depart Europe as
my grandparents had done. t didn't, however, make it easier to ignore the
taunts and the occasional vicious remark that came at the most unexpected
moments and from the most unexpected quarters. Like most Jews in a
predominantly Christian society, I developed a defense mechanism to cope. Humor
was one weapon. Knowing the history and roots of anti-Semitism was another. So,
too, was the pride in seeing the survivors of the Holocaust recreating a Jewish
nation for the first time in 2000 years. he survivors of the camps, a million
Jews expelled from Arab countries and idealists from all over the Diaspora
overcame the combined Arab military forces to ensure that not only did Jews
have a haven, but one that was free and democratic. Israel has remained that
way, in stark contrast to its Arab neighbors. ustralia is probably the least
anti-Semitic country in the world, but what happened to my family made a deep
impression on me. I became obsessive about discrimination; be it fighting for
civil rights in the US, or against apartheid or the appalling treatment of our
indigenous people was, however, an armchair critic mouthing off endlessly about
what the government should do. Then a friend hit a sensitive nerve. "What
are you doing about it?" he asked. It wasn't difficult to decide. I knew
the enemy was on the political right: Nazis, fascists, conservatives, whether
from the extreme right that led to the Holocaust or the social exclusion
practiced by the genteel middle class. In 1964 I joined the ALP. Not that the
Labor Party of the early 1960s was a beacon of light, for there were many ALP
members still steeped in the White Australia philosophy and indifferent to the
suffering of Aborigines. But those who spoke up about such injustices were
almost all from the ALP. By the time I arrived in Canberra in 1969 as the MP
for Robertson I felt at home in the company of those led by Gough Whitlam, who
forced the Labor Party to change. However, I can still recall the wry amusement
my opposition to apartheid caused colleagues. I was accused of being obsessive
on the question of racism and to that charge I plead guilty. I became deeply
involved in the fight for Aboriginal rights and to this day one of the proudest
moments of my life was to be one of a small group of "yesterday's heroes,
looking frail and aged", who were brought on stage at the Reconciliation
Conference in Melbourne in 1997 to be honored for our work in the 1967
referendum. I have often been asked if my being Jewish was ever an issue during
my 20 years in Federal Parliament. Not to the best of my knowledge. I cannot
recall a single anti-Semitic remark from either side of the House. That did not
mean that everyone agreed with my views on Israel. Nor did I expect them to.
However, while my views remain the same, the Labor Party's these days are very
different. The Labor Party has always had Palestinian supporters but they used
to have little influence on the party's policy. They were more than
counter-balanced by the influence of then ACTU president Bob Hawke. In the
immediate aftermath of the Yom Kippur War and before my first visit to Israel I
attended a meeting he addressed in Sydney. I have not heard a more passionate,
nor better informed, defense of Israel or more scathing indictment of its
opponents. Convinced that MPs could understand Israel's problems better if they
went there, I organized a series of delegations. By the time I retired in 1990
more than half the ALP caucus had visited Israel. But gradually, Labor's Left
and more extremist elements, such as the Greens and Democrats, became
increasingly shrill in their denunciation of Israel. I found out what Israel
was up against when representing Australia at Inter-Parliamentary Union
conferences from 1973 until 1981. Created to foster peace and democracy, the
union was dominated by communist dictatorships, Third World
"democracies" and the 22 Arab countries. Every IPU conference devoted
a major part of its sessions to denouncing Israel. It was a mirror image of the
UN, whose obsession with Israel was aptly illustrated by Israeli ambassador Abba
Eban when he said: "If a resolution was put before the UN that the earth
was flat and that Israel caused it, 145 would vote for it, five against with 45
abstentions." That trend has infected the ALP. The handful of
pro-Palestinian supporters has grown steadily as the party has become dominated
by the education mafia; former public servants and party union apparatchiks.
Plenty will say: "Why shouldn't the Labor Party support the
Palestinians?" No reason, providing the case they put is not based on the
lies spouted by the Palestinian propaganda machine. Nowhere is Israel subjected
to more criticism than in Israel. Demonstrations in excess of 100,000 are
regularly held in Rabin Square. Supporters of the Peace Now movement have
protested in support of Palestinians. In contrast, when Jews have been
massacred by terrorists there have been wild celebrations in the Arab streets.
How can any social democrat ignore such barbarism? There are Labor MPs who are
vigorous supporters of Israel but their numbers are diminishing and they are
being drowned out by the more vociferous members of Labor's hard Left. When
Australian Jews respond to the grotesque exaggeration about Israel, we are
accused of being part of the "Jewish lobby". Israel's opponents in
Australia now include those who support the Palestinians not for ideological
reasons but because of the increased number of Arab voters in their
electorates. This trend reached a crescendo in the aftermath of September 11.
For me September 11 was the clearest demarcation ever between good and evil.
Yet many Australians could not contain their glee that at last "the Yanks
had got their just deserts". I have never been able to fathom the vicious
anti-Americanism that permeates so much of Western society. Despite all their
faults, Americans have been the one constant bastion against totalitarianism of
the right and left. Does anyone doubt that fascism and communism would have
been defeated without the US? From the left's point of view, the triumph over
communism has been America's greatest crime. The disintegration of the Soviet
Union and the revelation that matters were far worse than even the Americans
had claimed, forced the left to face up to the fact that for decades their
defense of tyrants such as Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Castro et al was inexcusable.
There were no apologies, however. Being on the left means never having to say
you're sorry or admit you're wrong. This goes a long way to explaining their
attacks on George Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard, while ignoring the
monstrous crimes of the Assads, Saddams, Gaddafis and other Arab despots. The
war on terrorism and the war on Iraq have given the left a new lease on life.
But this time it has a new twist, a distinctly anti-Semitic one. It surfaced
immediately after September 11 and was summed up in comments by Sydney
Morning Herald columnist Alan Ramsey, who suggested that the cause of
September 11 was America's Middle East policies and their failure to rein in
the Israelis. This has been repeated ad nauseam by one left/liberal commentator
after another. Israeli scientist Haim Harari nailed this nonsense in a speech
earlier this year: "The millions who died in the Iraq-Iran war had nothing
to do with Israel. The mass murder happening right now in Sudan, where the Arab
Muslim regime is massacring its black Christian citizens, has nothing to do
with Israel. The frequent reports from Algeria about the murders of hundreds of
civilians in one village or another by other Algerians have nothing to do with
Israel. Saddam did not invade Kuwait, endanger Saudi Arabia and butcher his own
people because of Israel . . . The Taliban control of Afghanistan and the civil
war there had nothing to do with Israel. I could go on and on." Anyone who
believes that "reining in the Israelis" will bring peace and
prosperity to the Middle East should change their medication. The ranting and
raving, common among the extreme right, has been taken up with gusto by the
left. When it started to infect the social democratic wing of the Labor Party I
became extremely worried. There will be those in the ALP who will say "our
policies support Israel's right to exist, so what are you complaining
about?" That's not good enough. Not for me. I'm sick of the calumny heaped
on Israel - most of which is a pack of lies. I'm sick of Labor leaders making
all the right noises to Jewish audiences while an increasing number of
backbenchers launch diatribes at Israel. When the likes of Labor MP Tanya
Plibersek rise in the House of Representatives and call Ariel Sharon "a war
criminal" and Israel a "rogue state", or Opposition whip Janice
Crosio makes the absurd claim that Israeli forces had destroyed Bethlehem,
Nablus and the Jenin refugee camp, I want to hear more than stony silence from
those in the Labor Party who say they support Israel. Some do. Most don't. How
long is it since any Labor leader gave the sort of passionate and accurate
defence of Israel we used to hear from Hawke or Kim Beazley? I don't want
even-handedness when it ought to be obvious to all but the blind that there is
no moral equivalence between a country that seeks to defend its citizens from
thousands of terrorist attacks, and the terrorists themselves. I want to hear
Labor MPs stand up and be counted. I want to see an end to well-known Labor
identities marching behind banners equating Israel with Nazism. Silence on
these issues isn't good enough for me. If people want to criticize Israel, fine
- plenty of Israelis do. But let it be reasoned criticism, and if they want
even-handedness let them also berate the Arab world for its denial of basic
human rights for any of its citizens. Let's hear the Labor feminists take the
Arab nations to task for their abominable treatment of women. Let's hear those
Labor supporters, who are so loud in their denunciation of homophobia, demand
an end to the barbaric treatment of gays. Let's also hear civil rights
activists bemoan the lack of basic freedoms available to most of the 300
million Arabs in the 22 Arab countries. There will be some who will argue that
I am exaggerating; that the evidence is sparse; that this typical Jewish
paranoia. Not at all. It came from the horses' mouths, and the head horses at
that. Before the Iraq war one of the most senior NSW right-wing MPs told me:
"I understand and support Israel's position, but in my group, I'm the only
one."Soon after I told a Labor legend: "Anti-Semitism is now rampant
in the Labor Party." I expected a vigorous denial. His response confirmed
my worst fear: "I know," he said. For better or worse my character
and life were shaped by the anti-Semitism I experienced as a boy and a young
man. I was proud to belong to a party that fought all forms of prejudice. Not
any longer. The Australian Labor Party can choose any path it likes. So can I.
2004(10th
of Cheshvan, 5765): Eighty-six-year-old Newark, NJ native “Bernard Morris
“Bernie” Weiner, the Kansas State University offensive lineman who played two
years of professional football with the Brooklyn Dodgers passed away today.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WeinBe20.htm
2005
(22 Tishrei, 5766): Shemini Atzeret.
2005:
The New York Times featured reviews
of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish interest
including "Team of Rivals," Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “look at Lincoln
through his relationships with his former political rivals turned cabinet
members…”
2006:
Andy “Bachman, a graduate of University of Wisconsin–Madison with a 1996
rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College, became Beth Elohim's first new
senior rabbi in 25 years” today.
2006
(3 Cheshvan 5767): Fifty-four-year-old
Robert Rosenberg, author, poet, Internet pioneer and journalist, died of cancer
in Tel Aviv.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/journalist-robert-rosenberg-dies-at-54-1.203476
2006:
One day before her 70th birthday Deborah Poritz, the first female
Chief Just of the New Jersey Supreme Court, resigned her postion.
2007:
In New York the Center for Jewish History sponsors a showing of a Russian
language film directed by Paul Loungin entitled “Roots” “This farcical comedy
follows the exploits of a Jewish con-artist who turns a small town in
provincial Ukraine into a fake site of heritage tourism for unsuspecting
Americans.” Olga Gershenson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Judaic
and Near Eastern Studies at University of Massachusetts-Amherst, leads a
discussion of the film after the showing.
2007:
New York’s Erez Safar celebrates the launch of his new website called Shemspeed
(www.shemspeed.com) with
parties at Hamaabada in Jerusalem and the Knitting Factory in New York.
2007:
French President Nicolas Sarkozy honored Avner Shalev director of Israel’s Yad
Vashem Holocaust memorial with a Legion of Honor award.
2007(13th
of Cheshvan, 5768): Ninety-six-year cellist Harvey Shapiro passed away today.
http://www.juilliard.edu/journal/remembering-master-cellist-and-teacher-harvey-shapiro
2008:
The Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company presents a production “Chaim’s Love Song”
by Martin Chernoff at the Hillcrest Center in Saint Paul, MN.
2008(26th
of Tishrei, 5769): Ninety-four-year-old Estelle Reiner the mother comedic
talent Carl Reiner and the mother of Rob Reiner passed away today.(As reported
by Bruce Weber)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/movies/30reiner.html
2009: In Cedar Rapids, Iowa the Hadassah Donor
Dinner features Temple Judah’s own Murray Wolfe, an award-winning playwright,
who will read from his just completed one-man autobiographical play, “My Name
is Moses Volvovic.” Murray’s many interests and accomplishments mark him as the
epitome of the term Renaissance Man
2009:
A revival of Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” opened at the Nederlander
Theatre.
2009(7th
of Cheshvan, 5770): Ninety-three-year-old landscape architect Lawrence Halprin
passed away today. (As reported by Douglas Martin)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/arts/design/28halprin.html
2009:
Having missed the first ten games of the season, Mathieu Schneider “made his
Canucks debut today in a 2-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers.
2009:
The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including The Book of Genesis by R.
Crumb and the recently released paperback edition of The Journey by H.
G. Adler; translated by Peter Filkins
2009:
The Washington Post featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or
of special interest to Jewish readers including Trotsky: Downfall of a
Revolutionary by Bertrand M. Patenaude
2009:
At The Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival Deborah Bodin
Cohen reads from her new children's picture book, "Nachshon, Who Was
Afraid to Swim: A Passover Story" (illustrated by Jago),
2010: The Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation is
scheduled to hosts its Hall of Fame Induction Dinner Gala in Southfield,
Michigan, where they will honor the MJSF Hall of Fame Class of 2010, including
George Cantor (of blessed memory), Richard "Hap" Foreman, Richard
Goldberg, and Larry H. Sherman. The honors will continue with the Jewish News
Athletes of the Year and Bill Hertz Scholarship winners, Alvin Foon
Humanitarian and Book of Life awards.
2010:
Capitalism and the Jews by Jerry Z. Muller is scheduled to be the
featured volume at tonight’s sessions of The Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein
Jewish Literary Festival.
2010:
The New York Times featured a review of Super Sad True Love Story by
Gary Shteyngart who said, “These days, you can call me a Russian writer,
American writer, Jewish writer, lefty writer. I don’t care. Anything is good,
as long as it’s part of the big soup of literature.”
2010:
Ehud Netzer “an
Israeli architect, educator and archaeologist,” who was leaning against a
railing at the dig at Herodium was
seriously injured when the railing collapsed.
2010:
Thirty-nine-year-old
Joshua Frydenberg, a graduate of Bialik College in Melbourne who is Australia’s
first Jewish lawmaker for the federal Liberal Party paid homage in his maiden
speech to all of his family members who perished during the Holocaust and one
who survived – his great-aunt Mary Frydenberg.(As reported by JTA)
2010:
A report in the French daily Le Figaro late today revealed new
information on the military wing of Hezbollah’s structural make-up, with
details on the guerrilla group's 10,000 operatives and arsenal of some 40,000
rockets. The report also focused on Syria's role in Hezbollah operations, in both
manufacture and transportation of rockets. According to the Le Figaro
report, which quoted anonymous officials in the French Defense Ministry and
Western intelligence sources, Hezbollah has three units dedicated to the
transportation and maintenance of its rocket arsenal.
Hezbollah’s Unit 100 reportedly deals with deployment and training, and making
sure the missiles reach their final destinations, in various camps located
within 150km from Israel's northern border. As has been widely reported, Le
Figaro noted that Iranian officers are responsible for training Hezbollah
guerrilla fighters.
2011: Theo Epstein was introduced today as the head of baseball operations
for the Chicago Cubs. Under Epstein’s leadership, the Boston Red
Sox finally won a World Series for the first time since 1918. The Cubs hope
that the Jewish baseball executive will end their draught which dates back to
1908. This is a miracle that even Moses might not be able to pull off.
2011:
The Intimate Grammar, a cinematic adaptation of David Grossman's book of the
same name, is scheduled to be shown at The Hyman S & Freda Bernstein Jewish
Literary Festival in Washington, D.C.
2011:
“Ben-Gurion: A Political Life” by Shimon Peres with David Landau is scheduled
to go on sale in the United States.
2011:
A day-long Symposium, “Jews in Britain: Medieval to Modern” is scheduled to
take place at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA.
2011:
The friends, family and fans of Sir Martin Gilbert celebrate the 75th
birthday of this remarkable man. His career is a tribute to his drive,
intellect and artistic skills. The
grandson of Eastern European immigrants, he became the official biographer of
Sir Winston Churchill. He has found time
to write over 80 volumes that are rock solid history written with the flair of
a novelist while teaching and serving the public as a member of the Commission
of Inquiry on the Iraq War. At the same
time, he has not comprised his personal values describing himself “as a proud
practicing Jew and a Zionist.”
2011: Today, Israeli police forces raided three
buildings in Jerusalem allegedly being used by Palestinian militants for
illegal activities.
2011: Today, Turkey finally accepted Israel's
earthquake aid, two days after a devastating temor hit eastern Turkey, and
following a number of rebuffed Israeli government offers of assistance.
According to a Foreign Ministry spokesman, the Turks made a request through
Israel's embassy in Ankara for Israel to send mobile homes to the devastated Van
province where the earthquake hit. The Defense Ministry chartered a civilian
747 plane tonight to take seven mobile homes to Turkey
2012:
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is scheduled to perform at Carnegie Hall.
This “one-night performance” will be under the baton of Zubin Mehta and will be
followed by a “black –tie benefit supper at The Plaza.” (The IPO has come a
long way since Leonard Bernstein conducted them in Tel Aviv as the artillery
boomed during the War for Independence in 1948
2012:
Over 100,000 worshippers are expected visit Rachel’ Tomb to mark the
anniversary of her death. (The actual anniversary falls on Shabbat this year so
the observance has been move to Thursday to avoid desecrating the Sabbath)
2012:
Jewish
Historical Society of Greater Washington is scheduled to sponsor a lecture Dr.
Jack Minker, “Saving Soviet Scientists during which he will discuss his new
book , will discuss his new book, Scientific Freedom and Human Rights:
Scientists of Conscience during the Cold War.
2012:
As we celebrate the 76th birthday of Sir Martin Gilbert, his family,
friends and multitude of admirers pray for his a refuah shlemah while standing
in awe of the support being given to him by his loving wife during these trying
times
2012:
Despite a Gazan mortar shell exploding in an open field near the Eshkol
Regional Council Area this morning, a tense quiet prevailed in the South as an
informal cease-fire brokered by Egypt appeared to be holding. The cease-fire
followed two days of intense violence which saw some eighty rockets and mortar
shells fired from the Gaza Strip into the western Negev.
2012: An earthquake and tsunami could cost Israel NIS 100
billion to NIS 150b., Home Front Defense Minister Avi Dichter said today. Speaking
at a meeting of economic officials convened as part of a five-day earthquake
preparedness drill, Dichter said he was referring to a possible scenario in
which thousands of Israeli would be killed.
2012: The NBA announced today that David Stern will be
retiring as league commissioner in 2013.
Adam Silver will be replacing him in the top job.
2012: “The Tragedy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and
Hans von Dohnanyi” published today.
2012: Britain
favored execution over Nuremberg trials for Nazi leaders
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/26/britain-execution-nuremberg-nazi-leaders
2012: Nicolas Rapold reviewed “Orchestra of Exiles” which
“retraces the world-renowned violinist Bronislaw Huberman’s heroic feat of
organizing an orchestra far from the genocidal scourge of the Nazis”
2013:
“One Chance” an English biopic directed by David Frankel and produced by Simon
Cowell which had first been seen at the Toronto International Film Festival was
released in the UK today by The Weinstein Company headed by Bob and Harvey
Weinstein.
2013:
Guest artists Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor are scheduled to perform at Rutgers
University
2013:
At Rutgers University, Dr. Jeff Friedman is scheduled to facilitate a
discussion “on reconstructing historical dance works with differently gendered
casting.”
2013:
The Edin-Tamar is scheduled to host “Excellence-The Future Generation” which
will also be broadcast on Kol Israel.
2013:
The Jewish National Fund Conference is scheduled to begin in Denver, CO.
2013:
A supposed
makeshift grenade was thrown at an Israeli bus transporting students to schools
this morning
2013:
The Republican Jewish Coalition called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-NV) and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) to advance a
new sanctions bill against Iran through the Senate toward final approval. The
coalition could not appeal to any Republican Jewish senators since there are
none. (The House has one Jewish
Republican member)
2013(21st
of Cheshvan, 5774): Eighty-three-year-old Viennese native Paul Reichmann, the
Canadian real estate mogul who made and lost a fortune passed away today. (As
reported by Jonathan Kandell)
2014:
In Fairfax, VA, Major General Jeff Jacobs is scheduled to be the speaker at
Congregation Olam Tikvah’s fifth annual Military Shabbat.
2014:
In conjunction with the Chief Rabbi’s Shabbat UK, the Central Synagogue in
London is scheduled to host a special Shabbat service followed by “Just One
Shabbos Communal Lunch”
2014:
The JCC of Northern Virginia is scheduled to host “Fall Comedy,” an “evening of
comedic storytelling with Annabelle Gurwitch, a Jewish mother, a passionate
environmentalist and a reluctant atheist.”
2014:
“Zero Motivation,”a “comedic portrait of everyday life for a unit of young,
female Israeli Soldiers” is scheduled to be shown at the Twin Cities Jewish
Film Festival.
2014:
Jerusalem’s Japanese Cultural Festival is scheduled to come to an end today.
2014:
The Coe College Concert Band & Jazz Band under the direction of William S.
Carson is scheduled to perform tonight in Cedar Rapids.
2014:
“Finance Minister Yair Lapid admitted today that Israel was experiencing a low
point in its relationship with the US, saying “there is a crisis with the Americans,
and it must be dealt with like a crisis.” (As reported by Itamar Sharon)
2014:
Regardless of your interest, celebrate the birthday of Sir Martin Gilbert’s
birthday by reading any one of his marvelous books including Churchill and
the Jews, In Ishmael’s House and the classic Israel: A History
2014(1st
of Cheshvan, 5775): Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan – Noah
2014:
When James Levine lifts his baton and gives the downbeat to begin Mozart’s “Le
Nozze di Figaro” tonight at the Metropolitan Opera, it will be his 2,500th
performance with the company — a conducting record unmatched, and never even
approached, in the history of the Met. (As reported by Michael Cooper)
2015:
Steven Nadler the
William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy and Evjue-Bascom Professor in the
Humanities at the University of Wisconsin- Madison whose books include Spinoza:
A Life which won the Koret Jewish Book Award is scheduled to deliver a
lecture on “Why Was Spinoza Excommunicated?” at Agudas Achim Congregation in
Coralville, IA.
2015:
The
America-Israel Cultural Foundation is scheduled to honor the best of Israeli
culture at its 76th Anniversary Celebration!
2015:
“The grand mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, the Muslim cleric
in charge of the Al-Aqsa Mosque said in an Arabic interview with Israel’s
Channel 2 “that there has never been a Jewish temple atop the Temple Mount and
that the site has been home to a mosque since the creation of the world.” (As
reported by Ilan Ben Zion)
2015(12th
of Cheshvan, 5776): Fifty-eight-year-old historian David Cesarani passed away
today. (As reported by Margalit Fox)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/books/david-cesarani-holocaust-historian-dies-at-58.html
2015:
In Jerusalem, the JDC Archives is scheduled to host “Matzo Wars: Jews,
Communism and Ethnicity in 1946 Hungary.”
2015:
Dr. Melvin Urofsky, the author of Louis D. Brandeis: A Life was the
featured speaker at luncheon sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society
“celebrating the Centennial of the appointment of the first Jewish Justice to
the Supreme Court.”
2015:
Rainstorms and thunderstorms struck most parts of Israel forcing the closure of
Sde Dov Airport in Tel Aviv and resulting in at least one fatality when when a
wall collapsed at construction site in Padres Hanna killing a 20 year old
worker
2015:
“The Jewish Thought of Emil L. Fackenheim: Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust, Israel”
is the topic for Beth Tikvah Conference scheduled to take place today in
Toronto, Canada.
2015:
The Center for Jewish History in partnership with the International Center of
Photography; co-sponsored by American Jewish Historical Society, Leo Baeck
Institute, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research are scheduled to host a symposium
on the life and work of photographer Roman Visniac.
2015(12th
of Cheshvan, 5776): Seventy-one-year-old British historian Lisa Anne Jardine
passed away today.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/25/renowned-historian-lisa-jardine-dies-aged-71
2015:
The New York Times features reviews
of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers
including Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry by Paul
Goldberger, Doom To Succeed: The U.S.-Israel Relationship From Truman to
Obama by Dennis Ross, America’s Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the
Federal Reserve by Roger Lowenstein and The Courage To Act: A Memoir of
a Crisis and Its Aftermath by Ben S. Bernake
2016(23rd
of Tishrei, 5777): Simchat Torah
2016:
Nimer Basssem Abu Amar, a 15 year old from Lakiya, a predominately Bedouin
village in southern Israel, was shot and killed near Mount Harif while working
on the border fence with Egypt.
2016:
It was announced today that Shawn Levy would be the director “Uncharted” a
movie version the game that is a project of Avi Arad.
2016:
A meeting held today in the House of Lord “at which a member of the audience
won applause for claiming that Jews were to blame for the Holocaust” marked the
start of a campaign by Baroness Jenny Tonge who demanded “that the UK
government apologize for the Balfour Declaration
2016:
Eightieth anniversary of the birth historian Sir Martin Gilbert Z"L whose
memory is cherished by so many, but none so much as Lady Esther Gilbert.
2016:
As the stars come out marking the end of Simchat Torah, The World Series which
was a creation of Barney Dreyfuss and will provide an opportunity for Theo
Epstein to break a second “jinx” and World Series drought is scheduled to start
in Cleveland.
2017:
The Leo Baeck Institute is scheduled to host Jack Jacobs (CUNY), Jonathon
Catlin (Princeton), and Liliane Weissberg (Penn) discussing how the Frankfurt
School’s analysis of antisemitism illuminates contemporary racism as part of
the series on “German-Jewish History in the Now: The Contemporary Relevance of
German-Jewish History.”
2017:
Yeshiva University Museum and the American Sephardi Federation are scheduled to
host a lecture by Daniel Leisawitz, Muhlenberg College in which he will seek to
answer the question “What language did the Jews of Rome speak before
Judeo-Roman?”
2017:
In Des Moines, IA, Gail Richards is scheduled to receive the first Woman of
Honor Award from the Jewish Federation.
2017:
The Sydney Jewish Museum is scheduled to host “Music in the Camps” during which
Andy Bromberger will examine the role of music in the Nazi Concentration Camps
where for example “Yiddish songs were sung in Eastern European camps, classical
and Jewish music was performed at Theresienstadt and specific orchestras, like
the ‘Girls Orchestra’ in Auschwitz and the Jazz Big Band in Buchenwald were
established.”
2017:
The Oxford University Jewish Society is scheduled to host Rabbi Daniel Lichman
lecturing on “What, or Who is Torah in Progressive Judaism?” where he “the
impact that late twentieth-century critiques of enlightenment thinking might
have on the Progressive Jewish approach to Torah.”
2017:
In New Orleans Chabad and Hadassah are scheduled to join forces for the Mega
Women’s Challah Bake 200.
2017:
At the Bard Graduate Center, Andrea M Berlin is scheduled to present “Material
Culture and Rabbinic Isolation: A Cultural Ecology Perspective” which is part
of the Leon Levy Foundation Lectures.
2018:
In London, JW3 is scheduled to host the last two screenings of “The Wife.”
2018:
Shalom Hanoch is scheduled to perform at the Sherover Theatre on the second day
of the Jerusalem Theatre Piano Festival.
2018:
Eva Schloss, the “stepsister of Anne Frank” is scheduled to speak tonight “at
the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts” this evening.
2018:
The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center is scheduled to host “Winston Churchill
and the Jews” in “Ambassador Ido Aharoni” and “Edwina Sandys, Churchill’s
79-year old granddaughter” will discuss the relationship of the Prime Minister
with the Jewish people.
2018:
Coe College is scheduled to host the final session of “Tragedy and Heroism:
Three Historical Novels of Leon Uris” presented by Steve Feller, B.D. Silliman
Professor of Physics.
2018: In Des Moines, IA, Beaverdale Books is scheduled to
host a book signing for Barbara Feller, the Hebrew teacher par excellence,
author of the newly released Road to Waubeek: Discovering Jay G. Sigmund
2018: The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
is scheduled to host a panel discussion on “the Immigration Crisis: How We Can
Make A Difference” this evening
2018: 82nd anniversary of the birth of
historian Sir Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill and
a patient correspondent who wrote over 80 books but left us with “one more
still to go.” (Editor’s note – best way to celebrate his birthday is treat
yourself to reading one of his volumes)
https://www.martingilbert.com/
2019: “On the Anniversary of the Tree of Life Shooting,
The Temple Emanu-El Steicker Center is scheduled to host Bari Weiss as she
“proposes ten ideas for the Jewish future” in what she sees as “an affirmative
plan for the next chapter in Jewish history that will light a fire in our
community.”
2019: In Charlottesville, VA, at the Vinegar Hill Theatre,
Aviva Kempner, the creator of “The Spy Behind Home Plate” is scheduled to lead
a discussion moderated by a Virginia Film Festival Advisory Board member.”
2019(26th of Tishrei, 5780): Ninety-five year
old NYU trained attorney Maurice Nyman Jadjari, the son Sephardic Jews Hyman
and Sadie Nadjari and the husband of Joan Boskey who gained famed as a
“prosecutor of corruption in New York City’s criminal justice system in the
1970s whose indictments and convictions were defended by crime-weary New
Yorkers as the work of a zealous crusader, but often dismissed by courts that
criticized his tactics” passed away today. (As reported by Robert D. McFadden)
2019: Today the Red Sox hired 36-year-old Chairm Bloom as Chief Baseball
Officer.
2019: In Cedar Rapids, IA, the Homecoming Showcase Concert
under the director Bill Carson, a pillar of the Jewish community is scheduled
to take place today at Coe College.
2019: 83rd anniversary of the birth of
historian Sir Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill and
a patient correspondent who wrote over 80 books but left us with “one more
still to go.” (Editor’s note – best way to celebrate his birthday is to treat
yourself to reading one of his volumes. An even better way to celebrate is to
read two!)
https://www.martingilbert.com/
https://us11.campaign-archive.com/?u=3584d425d1a527634f4ca6967&id=abd4349fd0&e=8453bb29d7
2020:
The New York Times featured reviews
of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers
including The Standardization of Demoralization Procedures by Jennifer
Hofman and Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
2020:
The annual conference of the Alliance for Jewish Theatre is scheduled to open
on-line today.
2020:
Kol Emeth is scheduled to present a screening of “Children of the Inquisition,”
a “2019 documentary about the current-day descendants of Jews forced to
convert/flee during the Spanish Inquisition.”
2020:
The Contemporary Jewish Museum is scheduled to present about Harry Houdini’s
“childhood as the son of a poor Hungarian Rabb, his great escapes and his rise
to international fame.
2020:
The Jewish Federation is scheduled to host its Plenary session this evening.
2020:
In London, the friends and family of Nicky Liss, the rabbi of Highgate United
Synagogue and the Chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue
are preparing celebrate the simcha of his natal day.
2020:
Sir Martin Gilbert Day – marking the anniversary of the birth of Martin
Gilbert, Winston Churchill’s official biographer whose eighty books proved that
history could be written about in a literate manner and who was never too busy
to answer the most innocuous inquiries from his readers.
https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/reference/websites/sir-martin-gilbert-learning-centre/
https://www.martingilbert.com/
2021:
The civil trial that starts today that centered on the anti-Semitic violence in
Charlottesville, in which the 24 defendants, including 10 organizations, are a
collection of white supremacists, neo-Nazis, Klan sympathizers and other
adherents of extremist ideology, will examine whether the far-right organizers
had plotted to foment violence.
2021:
“History and Its Harsh Lesson Gives These Graphic Novels Their Material”
published today includes a review of On Tyranny Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth
Century: Graphic Edition illustrated by German cartoonist Nora Krug whose 2018 breakout, the graphic memoir
“Belonging: A German Reckons With History and Home,” uneasily examines her
grandfather’s Nazi past (which she uncovered) and dodges nothing, facing
whatever she can know.
2021:
The Streicker Center is scheduled to host an evening with David Rubenstein Chairman
of the Board of both the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Council
on Foreign Relations, and author of The American Experiment which “, “explores
the dynamic arc of a young country constantly reinventing itself with
ingenuity, popular energy and faith — even in the face of setbacks and
suffering.” (As reported by Hillary Chute).
2022:
Publication of The Sassoons: The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an
Empire by Joseph Sasoon.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/20/books/review/the-sassoons-joseph-sassoon.html
2022:
Eighty-sixth anniversary of the birth historian Sir Martin Gilbert, the
collector and publisher of The Churchill Papers which earned him the
sobriquet as “the master of Churchill History” and whose works on so many
topics are still available thanks to the efforts of Sir Martin Gilbert Learning
Centre and the efforts of his widow and Holocaust historian Lady Esther Gilbert.
https://www.martingilbert.com/
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sir-martin-gilbert
https://sirmartingilbertlearningcentre.org/
2022:
Maccabi is scheduled to meet PSG in Parc De Princes today before returning to
Sammy Ofer for the group's closing match against Benfica on November 2.
2022:
The American Sephardi Federation is scheduled to present an “episode of our
Exclusive Authors Series with Judith Roumani discussing her new book Francophone
Sephardic Fiction: Writing Migration, Diaspora, and Modernity.
2022(30th
of Tishrei, 5783): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
2023:
Temple Judea is scheduled to hold its “Adult Confirmation Class” for those
planning on being confirmed on May 3.
2023:
As part of its “Jewish Values and Strategy in Wartime” program Tikvah is
scheduled to host a lecture by Dr. Dara Horn on “Jewish Poetry in Dark Times.”
2023:
JDC is scheduled to host an Israel Emergency Briefing” at noon eastern time.
2023:
Lockdown University is scheduled to host a lecture by Philip Rubenstein on
“Switzerland: Handmaiden to Hitler, Part 1.
2023:
The Museum at Eldridge Street is scheduled to host on Zoom for another
installment of its Cinema Chats series during which Rolling Stone film critic
David Fear and moderator Lucy Shahar will discuss this beautiful contemplative
drama, “The Quiet Girl.”
2023:
“Bettinger’s Luggage” a play set in
Delancy Street in 1974 that follows Jewish patriarch Lou Bettinger and his
hapless son, is scheduled to be performed for the last time at the AMT theatre
in New York.
2023:
The Algemeiner’s 10th annual gala featuring Natan Sharansky, actor
Dean Caine and Irit Tratts for which Bernard-Henri Levy is serving as honorary
chairman
is scheduled to take place today in New York
City.
2023:
The Streicker Center is scheduled to host NYT columnist David Brooks as he
discusses his latest book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others
Deeply and Being Deeply Seen.
2023:The
Neighborhood: An Urban Center for Jewish Life and Jewish Book Council are
scheduled to host a conversation between Peter Orner (Still No Word From You)
and Sara Lippmann (Lech) about memory, inherited memory, and the persistent
coexistence of past and present in the Jewish literary imagination moderated by
Melissa Kirsch, deputy editor at The New York Times.
2023:
As October 25 begins in Israel, the IDF is confronted with continued attacks by
Hezbollah on the northern border and more attempts by terrorist to infiltrate
Israel from the sea while according to
one Israeli citizen “Tel Aviv, once a vibrant city pulsating with excitement
and innovation, is now reduced to a haunting ghost town, its streets devoid of
life, its air thick with tension.”
(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)
2023:Eighty-seventh
anniversary of the birth historian Sir Martin Gilbert, the collector and
publisher of The Churchill Papers which earned him the sobriquet as “the
master of Churchill History” and whose works on so many topics are still
available thanks to the efforts of Sir Martin Gilbert Learning Centre and the
efforts of his widow and Holocaust historian Lady Esther Gilbert. Celebrate by
reading one of his eighty tomes which are so informative and so readable.
https://www.martingilbert.com/
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sir-martin-gilbert
https://sirmartingilbertlearningcentre.org/
2024(23rd
of Tishrei, 5785): Simchat Torah; for more see Weekly Torah Reading / Weekly Torah Portion and This Day ... In Jewish History
2024:
In Little Rock, Chabad led by the ultimate Lamplighter Pinchas Ciment is
scheduled to hold Simchat Torah services followed by “a hot kiddush brunch will
be served Stuffed cabbage, Deli roll.”
2024:
Eighty-eighth anniversary of the birth
historian Sir Martin Gilbert, the collector and publisher of The Churchill
Papers which earned him the sobriquet as “the master of Churchill History”
and whose works on so many topics are still available thanks to the efforts of
Sir Martin Gilbert Learning Centre and the efforts of his widow and Holocaust
historian Lady Esther Gilbert.
https://www.martingilbert.com/
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sir-martin-gilbert
https://sirmartingilbertlearningcentre.org/
2024:
In Coralville, IA during Simchat Torah Services Congregation Agudas Achim is scheduled
to honor Peter Rubenstein as Chatan Torah for his reading of the Torah and honor
Lisa Heineman as Kallah Bereshit for her work in revitalizaing the Adult Education
Program.
2024:
As October 25th begins in Israel, an
unprecedented wave of anti-Semitism that has included Hamas supporters
calling for Zionist passengers on a New York subway to raise their hands,
sweeps the United States and the Hamas held hostages begin day 384 in captivity
while Israelis brace for more rocket attacks by Hezbollah and terrorists based
in Iraq (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)
