July 8

1099: In a
move reminiscent of Joshua at Jericho, during the First Crusade 15,000 starving
Christian soldiers march in religious procession around Jerusalem as the Muslim
defenders look on. This seemingly desperate move is part of the preparati…

JUNE 20

840: Louis the Pious,
King of the Franks and the Holy Roman Emperor by virtue of being the son of
Charlemagne. When it came to dealing with his Jewish subjects, Louis followed
in the footsteps of his father. During his reign charters were issu…

Ten years ago today, I moved from Cleveland, Tennessee to Chicago, Illinois. And what a ride it has been!Four dwelling places, two churches, six different employers (including my present one), two very minor surgeries and one major surgery, nine years…

JUNE 22

217 BCE:
Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeated Antiochus III at the Battle of Raphia. The Battle of Raphia, also known as the Battle of Gaza, was part of the
ongoing power struggle between the Seleucids and the Ptolomies for the land
mass that included…

JUNE 19

325: Promulgation of the Nicene Creed. The
creed dealt with various splits among the various Christian groups and only
dealt in a tangential manner with matters pertaining to Jews. The creed altered
the method for selecting the date of Easter….

JUNE 15

1215:  King John of England puts his seal to the
Magna Carta.  The Great Charter which is
supposed to be one of the cornerstones of English and American rights contains
the following reference to the Jews: “If anyone who borrowed fro…

JUNE 13

823:
Birthdate of Charles the Bald, who as Holy Roman Emperor refused to comply with
anti-Semitic edicts of Amulo, the Archbishop of Lyon.  In doing so, Charles was following in the
footsteps of his grandfather Charlemagne who had also re…