This Day, December 29, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
584
1170: Thomas Becket,
Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by
followers of King Henry II. While the
movie about Becket gives the Archbishop “all of the good lines” the reality was
a bit different, especially for the Jews.
The reign of Henry II was a good period for the Jews of England. His view that the King and not the Church was
the ultimate authority for the realm would have appeared to be the better case
for the Jews given the inimical view that the Church held of the Jewish
people. Death is always a tragedy, but
we should understand the reality of those over whom we weep as opposed to an
image created by later day dramatists and film makers.
1485: Joshua Solomon Soncino
published Sefer ha-Ikkarim (Book of Principles) at Soncino, Italy. Sefer
ha-Ikkarim ("Book of Principles") is a fifteenth century work by
Rabbi Joseph Albo, a student of Crescas. It is an eclectic, popular work, whose
central task is the exposition of the principles of Judaism. Rabbi Joseph Albo
was probably born in Aragon in 1380 and reportedly took part in the religious
debate held at Tortosa in 1413 and 1414.
His date of death is given variously as 1430 or 1444.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Albo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefer_ha-Ikkarim
1690: In Italy,
“severe earthquakes” struck the town of Ancona. They are memorialized by the
town’s Jews with the celebration of a “Purim of Ancona.” A description of the event and the special
prayers recited on that day were printed in “Or Boker” was which was published
in 1709.
1709: Birthdate of Empress
Elizabeth of Russia. The daughter of Peter the Great was an enemy of the
Jews. She reiterated and reinforced the
decrees already in existence banning Jews from the Russian Empire. Despite requests from some of her advisors
that Jewish merchants be allowed to visit the kingdom since it would enrich
Russia, Elizabeth held firm. This is yet another example of Religious zeal
over-ruling all other considerations.
According to one account, at least 35,000 Jews were forced to leave Russia
because of her. Her legacy was a Jew
Free Russia – something that would not last because of Russian greed for the
land of others.
1758: Jacob and Thankful Pinto
gave birth to Solomon Pinto, a patriot who fought in the Revolutionary War, the
husband of Clarissa Pinto and the brother of Abraham and William Pinto.
1764(5th of Tevet,
5525) Parashat Vayigash
1769(1st of Tevet,
5530): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Sixth Day of Chanukah observed on the same day that
a committee of Boston merchants wrote to Benjamin Franklin, their agent in
London concerning the decision to continue the boycott of goods from Great
Britain.
1777(29th of
Kislev, 5538): Fifth Day of Chanukah observed on the same day that George
Washington wrote to the New Hampshire legislature asking for aid for his 9,000
man force suffering under deplorable conditions at Valley Forge.
1778(10th of Tevet, 5539) Asara
B’Tevet
1778: During the American Revolutionary War, 3,500 British
soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture
Savannah, Georgia without firing a shot. Among those taken prisoner by the
British as they secured Savannah was the Jewish patriot from Georgia, Morcechai
Sheftall. “In 1778, having
proven his skill and selflessness as Commissary General of Georgia, Mordechai
Sheftall had been appointed to the post
of Deputy Commissary General to the federal troops stationed in Georgia and
South Carolina by General Robert Howe. Before the Continental Congress could
confirm his role, however, he was captured in December 1778, along with his
fifteen-year-old son, Sheftall Sheftall, in the battle to prevent Savannah from
falling to British troops. Some of the outnumbered patriots escaped by swimming
across the Savannah River, but the younger Sheftall could not swim. His father
would not abandon him. With 185 other Americans, they were captured and
imprisoned. The British interrogated the Sheftalls under great duress,
depriving them of food for two days. At one point, they were almost bayoneted
by a drunken British soldier. Still refusing to provide information about the
American's sources of supplies and refusing to renounce the patriot cause,
father and son were transferred to the dank prison ship Nancy where the British deliberately offered Mordecai no meat other
than pork, which he refused. After several months, the elder Sheftall was
paroled to the town of Sunbury, Georgia, where he was kept under close British
surveillance; his son remained on the Nancy.
At Mordecai's urging, Mrs. Sheftall took her other children to the relative
safety of Charleston. Separation from family weighed heavily on Mordecai.
Through the intervention of friends, he was finally able to arrange for his
son's parole to Sunbury under the same restrictive conditions on his own
freedom of movement. Things looked promising when American military pressure on
Savannah forced the British garrison to withdraw from Sunbury, but freedom for
the Sheftalls did not follow. Local Tories began to beat and even kill patriots
in Sunbury, especially parolees like the Sheftalls. Father and son managed to
flee on an American brig headed for Charleston and a hoped for reunion with
their family, but were captured by a British frigate and transported to
Antigua, where they remained prisoners until the Spring of 1780. In June, both
Sheftalls were paroled once more. They headed for Philadelphia, to which Mrs.
Sheftall and the children had fled, yet again, for safety. There, despite his
own financial hardships, Mordecai helped fund a new synagogue for Congregation
Mikve Israel. Mordecai spent the remainder of the war in Philadelphia, seeking
to help both the American cause and his own financial condition by financing a
privateer to capture and loot British vessels. His investment does not seem to
have paid off; on its very first voyage, the ship ran aground. In1783, when the
war ended, Mordecai returned with his wife and children to Savannah, where the
family resumed its life for several generations. The state of Georgia granted
him several hundred acres of land in recognition of his sacrifices on behalf of
independence. When he died in 1797 at the age of 62, his beloved home city of
Savannah buried him with full honors in the Jewish cemetery he created.”
1780: In Kingston, Jamaica, Abraham de Leon, the son of Ester and
Abraham de Lyon and his wife gave birth to Leah Rachel Henriques, the wife of
Abraham Quixano Henriqeus.
1780: Birthdate of Rachel De
Leon, the daughter of Spanishtown, Jamaica native Abraham Rodrigues De Leon
1786(8th of Tevet,
5547): Seventy year old “British
businessman” and descendant of “Portuguese Sephardic Jews” Joseph Salvador, a
supporter of the “1753 Jew bill,’’ the sole Jewish “director of the British
East India Company” and active supporter of the colonization of Georgia and
South Carolina where a large number of Sephardim settled including his nephew
Francis was reputed to have been “the first Jew to be elected public office”
what became the United States and the first Jew to die during the American
Revolution passed away today.
1788(30th of Kislev, 5549) Rosh
Chodesh Tevet; 6th day of Chanukah
1790: Birthdate of German
native Lea Gutkin, the wife of Abraham Kaufmann and the mother of Adelhiet,
Zibora, Amalia and Esther Kaufman.
1792(14th of Tevet,
5553): Parashat Vayechi
1796(29th of
Kislev, 5557): Fifth Day of Chanukah observed for the last time during the
Presidency of George Washington.
1798(29th of Tevet,
5559): Aaron Gomes Da Costa, the Portuguese born son of Abran Gomes da Costa
and Abigail Gomes da Costa and the husband of Miriam De Solomon Gomes Da Costa
passed away today in Londo.
1799(1st of Tevet,
5560): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Seventh Day of Chanukah
1801: Based on a deed of
conveyance of this date, Levi Solomon and Solomon Etting paid William McMechen
and John Leggett for land to be used as a Jewish cemetery in Baltimore, MD
1802: Aron Isaacson married
Mary Israel today at the Great Synagogue.
1802: In Charleston, SC,
nineteen-year-old Rinah Cohen, the daughter of Moses Cohen and Judith de Lyon
married David Mordecai.
1807(28th of
Kislev, 5568): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1809(22nd of Tevet,
5570): Savannah, GA merchant, Levy Abrahams, the former secretary of
Congregation Mikveh Israel passed away today.
1809: Birthdate of William
Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Gladstone is known
primarily as the political rival of Benjamin Disraeli and this tends to color
the view of him held by some Jews. Gladstone
was a complicated man. He began his
political career who opposed Jews sitting in the House of Commons. At considerable political risk, he modified
that position and voted in favor of removing the Christian religious
qualification as long as the number of Jews in Parliament would never be so
great as to lead Christians from their faith. Although Disraeli was raised as
an Anglican, Gladstone was suspicious of what he described as his radical
Jewish policies. Considering the level
of English anti-Semitism, Gladstone should go into the plus column.
1810(2nd of Tevet,
5571) Shabbat Shel Chanukah; Parashat Miketz
1812(26th of Tevet,
5573): Lucky Moses, the daughter of Sarah Abraham Elias and Henry Moses passed
away today.
1819(2nd of Tevet,
5571): Eighth Day of Channukah
1814: Birthdate of French
political leader and statesman Jules Simon, whose name indicates that he was of
“Jewish origin.” Simon always thought he was born on December 30, until he took
a “second look” at his birth certificate when he was being sworn in as a deputy
and saw that it was dated December 30
but said he was born “yesterday”
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F60D11FE3F5F1B738DDDA90B94D9405B8685F0D3
1815(27th of
Kislev, 5576): Third Day of Chanukah
1816(10th of Tevet,
5577): Asara B’Tevet observed for a second time, on the civil calendar in 1816.
1817: In Karlskrona, Sweden,
Aaron Abrahamson and his wife gave birth to Swedish businessman and patron of
the arts August Abrahamson who was the grandson of Aaron Abraham who had been a
member of the Berlin Academy of Art.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/peixotto-judith
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/peixotto-judith-salzedo
1824: John Meseena married
Rachel Gomes today at the Hambro Synagogue.
1829(3rd of Tevet,
5590): Miriam Eugenia Phillips, the two-year-old daughter of Abigail Siexas and
Benjamin Jonas Phillips passed away today in New York City.
1829(3rd of Tevet,
5590): Forty-nine-year-old Jacob da silva Solis, the long-born son of Bevendia
de isaac henriques Valentine and Solomon da silva Solis and the husband of
Charity Hays with whom he had seven children passed away today.
1829: Birthdate of the first
Jewish mayor of Seattle, Washington, Bailey Gatzert, the native of Darmstadt,
Germany who lived in Natchez, Mississippi before moving to Seattle where became
a successful businessman and banker.
1829: The Director of the
Paris Opera signed a contract today “specifying” Giacomo Meyerbeer’s “Robert le diable” as a
"grand opera in five acts and seven scenes."
1832: John C. Calhoun, who as
Secretary of State appointed philo-Semite Warder Cresson (and future convert to
Judaism) to serve as U.S. Consul to Jerusalem, began serving as his first term
as a U.S. Senator from South Carolina.
1832: Birthdate of Moravia
native and Cincinnati, OH “author and pioneer nation merchant” Mortiz Loth who
was instrumental in the establishment of Union of American Hebrew Congregation
and the Hebrew Union College.
1833: In Finsbury, Esther and
Joseph Moses Levy gave birth to Edward Levy who became Edward Lawson.
1837(1st of Tevet,
5598): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; 7th day of Chanukah
1837: Caroline Davis and Levy
Jacobs gave birth to Edward Jacobs.
1838: George D. and Elizabeth
Bennett Rosengarten gave birth to Adolph G. Rosengarten who rose to the rank of
Major in the 106th Regiment, a cavalry unit in the Union Army who
died at the Battle of Stone River during the Civil War.
1838: In Denmarkd, Brigitte
Simon and Hartvig Abraham Von Essen gave birth to Ida Frederikke Von Essen.
1845(30th of
Kislev, 5606): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; 6th day of Chanukah.
1845: Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S.
state. Considering their numbers, Jews played an active role in the affairs of
Texas at this time. Moses Albert Levy
served as surgeon-general for Sam Houston’s forces at the Battle of San Jacinto
– the victory that gave Texas her independence.
Isaac Lyons served as the surgeon –general for another Texas leader, Tom
Green. At least one Jew, Abraham Wolf,
died at the Alamo. David Kaufman fought
at the Battle of Neches, served in the Republic of Texas legislature and was
one of the state’s first Congressmen when she joined the Union. Kaufman County is named for him. With the support of Sam Houston, Henry Castro
helped settle 5,000 Germans in Texas between 1843 and 1848. Castro County and Castroville both bear
witness to the successful effort of this Sephardic Jew. During the 1850’s
Jewish congregations were established in Houston, Galveston and San Antonio. In
each case, the building of the cemetery preceded the building of the house of
worship.
1847: Seventy-two-year-old English
composer William Crotch passed away. Among his students was the Jewish composer
Charles Kensington Salman who created the musical setting for “Adonai Malakh”
(Psalm 93). Crotch drew on Biblical related themes for some of his works
including “The Captivity of Judah” and an oratorio entitled “Palestine.”
1848: One day after he had passed away,
72-year-old Joseph Emanuel was buried today at the Brady Street Jewish
Cemetery.
1848: Birthdate of Calude Reigner, the an
officer with the Corps of Royal Engineers who served two tours of duty with the
Palestine Exploration Fund where he took part in some of the first modern
surveys of Jerusalem and other parts of this part of the Ottoman Empire.
1848: In Hungary, Lena Kulka and Emanuel
Shlesinger gave birth to Sigmund Shlesinger the husband of Fannie Fleshiem who
served with “Colonel George A. Forsyth’s Company of Scouts” and fought at the
Battle of Beecher’s Island (Colorado) in 1868.
1848: In Hungary, Emanuel Shlesinger and
Lena Kulka gave birth to Sigmund Shlesinger, the husband of Fannie Fleisher, a
member of Colonel Forsyth’s Scouts during the Indian Wars in Colorado in 1868
and active member of the Cleveland, Ohio, Jewish community who served on the
Board of Directors of Tifereth Israel and was one of the incorporators of the
Cleveland Federation of Jewish Charities.
1849: Birthdate of British economist
William Cunningham the author of The Growth of English Industry and Commerce
in which he described the role of Jewish moneylenders in Medieval England and
the manner in which King John, among others, exploited them for his own gain.”
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0611FD3D5F15738DDDA00A94DA415B8884F0D3
1851: Philadelphia native Julia Levy and
Joseph Moss who had been married in New York City gave birth to Helen Moss.
1853(28th of Kislev, 5614):
Fifth Day of Chanukah
1853: Birthdate of mathematician Ferdinand
Caspary, the son of a German Jewish businessman and the grandson of a rabbi who
was raised in Glogau.
1854: In Manchester, England, Marcus and
Martha Leipziger gave birth to Dr. Henry M. Leipzieger, the Supervisor of the
Lectures of the Board of Education who founded the Hebrew Technical Institute
in 1884.
1857: In Hungary, Ignatz Mandel and his
wife gave birth to Mandel Jacob, the holder of an Master’s Degree and Ph.D from
CCNY, the Rabbi of Congregation Ansche Chesed in New York City.
1857: “A Legal Decision” published today
told the story of the son of a wealthy London Jewish banker who had fallen in
love with a Christian girl whom he was going to marry despite the father’s
threat to disinherit him. Taking
advantage of a little-known law that required Jewish fathers to support their
Christian children, the boy told his father he would become a Christian which
meant he would be “entitled to one-half of the father’s fortune.” The father sought help from lawyer who said
that for a fee of ten guineas he would tell him how to thwart the son’s
plan. Once the fee was paid, the lawyer
told the father that he could become a Christian would leave him free to
disinherit the son. The father left the lawyer without any further comment.
1860(16th of Tevet, 5621): Parashat
Vayechi
1860(16th of Tevet, 5621):
“Tamar (Terese) Ree, the Danish born daughter of Isac Hartvig Rée and Sara
Wulff von Essen and wife of Hartvig Philip Ree, passed away today at Frederica,
Denmark.
1860: The New York Times reported
that one of the manifestations of excitement shown by the Poles following the
Warsaw Conference was “a hatred of Jews and Germans that knew no bounds.”
1861: Birthdate of German mathematician
Kurt Hensel whose paternal grandmother was Fanny Mendelsohn and whose paternal
great-great grandfather was Moses Mendelsohn making him an example of the
“disappearing Jews” – an all-too-common phenomenon of the 19th and
20th centuries.
1862(7th of Tevet, 5623):
Seventy-year-old Samuel Israel Mulder who is best known for his translation of
Pentateuch, Psalms and Proverbs from Hebrew into Dutch – the first such work of
its kind.
1864(30th of Kislev, 5625):
Rosh Chodesh Tevet; 6th day of Chanukah
1864: In San Francisco, founding of
“Congregation Ohabai Shalome” at “1831 Bush near Laguna” whose members included
Joseph Schmidt, Philip Stern, Bernard Reiss and M.L. Stern.
1867: In Kiev, Sophia and
Jacob Pritzker gave birth Northwestern University trained gynecologist Dr.
Louis J. Prtizker, who served as “a captain in the Army Medical Corps in charge
of Surgery at Ft. Snelling” during WW I and who practiced for forty-five while
also serving on the faculty of his alma mater and raising two children with his
wife Sophia.
1868: Twenty-five-year-old
Rabbi Mayer Messing, the German born son of “Rabbi Joseph Messing and Fogel
Rothenstein married Ricca Naphtali today, a year after he began serving as the
Rabbi of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation.
1868(25th of Tevet,
5630): Bavarian born Indiana resident Moses Amberg, the husband of Sophia
Neumann Amberg with whom he had nine children passed away today after which he
was buried in the Jewish Cemetery of Greater Lafayette, in Lafayette, Indiana.
1870: New York City
authorities warned Jews about incompetent and unscrupulous mohalim who were
causing the deaths of many Jewish infants.
1871: In Kalvarija, Lithuania
(then part of the Russian Empire), Efraim London and his wife gave birth to
Meyer London, the Brooklyn Congressman who was one only two members of the
Socialist Party elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1871: In Memphis, TN, Max
Friedman and Tillie Marks gave birth to Lee M. Friedman, the Harvard educated
lawyer, President of the Boston Branch of the Alliance, Israelite Universelle
and treasurer of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association who also served as
secretary of the Purim Association.
1872(29th of
Kislev, 5633): Fifth day of Chanukah
1874: In Edinburgh, Scotland,
Dora and Samule Glasstone gave birth to Agnes Glasstone who died before she
reached the age of ten.
1874: Two days after she had
passed away, Miriam (Lazarus) Israel, the wife of Morris Israel was buried
today at the “Brompton (Fulham Road) Jewish Cemetery.
1874: A review of “The Travels
of the Shah of Persia” by J.W. Redhouse which uses the Shah’s diary to recount
the monarch’s 1873 tour of Europe by the Shah included a description of his
meeting with Lord Rothschild. After
praising Rothschild for his wealth, the Shah told Rothschild that “the best
thing to do would be that you should” use your money “and buy a territory in
which you could collect all the Jews of the whole world, you becoming their
chief and leading them on their way in peace, so that you should no longer thus
scattered and dispersed.” (Compare this sentiment with the Iranian -modern day
Persia- view on the Jewish state.)
1875(1st of Tevet,
5636) Rosh Chodesh Tevet, Seventh Day of Chanukah
https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=F000231
1877: Birthdate of Hyman
Somers, the son of Rubin Myers.
1878: In Lexington, KY, Jenny
Lind Goldsmith and Henry Lovenhart gave birth to Johns Hopkins trained
physician Arthur Solomon Lovenhart, the husband of Minnie Rose Goldsmith and
starting in 1908 the professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University
of Wisconsin.
1878: In New York City, the
Young Men’s Hebrew Union hosted a well-attended reception and ball in Irving
Hall which was a celebration of Chanukah.
1879: Four days after she had
passed away, 65 year old “Jessie Salmon” the daughter of John Salmon and
Catherine Polack was buried today at the “Brompton (Fulham Road) Jewish
Cemetery.
1880: Based on information
provided by London Times’
correspondent in Berlin, “the persecution of the Jews in Prussia has led to “a
Jewish traveling in a public canning a Professor, a Jewish student killing a
Christian fellow-student in duel and a Jewish merchant boxing a Christian
trader’s ears” --- “unfortunate incidents” that “were ‘preceded by some violent
act on the part of the Christian antagonist.’”
1881: In Paris, antiques
dealer Alexandre Rosenberg and his wife gave birth to Paul Rosenberg, a leading
French art dealer who was able to regain parts of his collection that had been
stolen by the Nazis.
1881: Birthdate of
Indianapolis, IN native Louis J. Borinstein, a partner and executive manager of
A. Borinstein and Company, which was founded by his father, and President of
the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation who while serving as president of the
Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and as a member of the advisory committee of
the National Rivers and Harbor Congress raised three children – Marcus, Lucille
and Robert – with his wife Eva Borinstein
1882: Isaac Samuel, the French
born son of Lyon Israel Samuel and Fleurette Baruch Weil and the husband of
Fanny Heilbronner with whom he had had five children was buried today at the
“Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1882: It was reported today
that in Russia, “the senate has decided that no court can authorize the
transfer of land to a Jew.”
1882: It was reported today
that in Russia “the railway companies have ordered the discharge of their
Jewish employees.”
1883(30th of
Kislev, 5644): Shabbat shel Chanukah; Parashat Miketz
1885: Amy and Daniel Cohen
gave birth to Pauline Cohen who died at the age of seven months after which she
was buried in the Canterbury Jewish Cemetery.
1885: In Russia, Frieda
Hirshkowtich and Rav Pinehas Dove Goldenstein gave birth to University of
Cincinnati graduate and HUC ordained rabbi, Raphael Goldenstein whose rabbinic
career began at Temple Anshe Emeth in Pine Bluff and after several stops led him
to serve Congregation Shaarai Shomayim in Lancaster PA.
1886(2nd of Tevet,
5647): Eighth Day of Chanukah
1886(2nd of Tevet,
5647): Sixty-two-year-old Levi Goldsmith, the German born Son of Seligmann
Falcke Goldschmidt and Schönchen Hinka Alexander and husband of Henrietta
Goldsmith passed away today in Philadelphia, PA
1886: Alice Suares was married
today in Alexandria, Egypt.
1888: In Chicago, Dr. Joseph
Zeisler, the Austrian born son of Isaac and Anna Zeisler and his wife Theresa
Feuchtman gave birth to University of Chicago graduate and Northwestern
University-trained dermatologist Erwin (Billy) Paul Ziesler, a WW I veteran who
was the husband of Rose A Levy and Ruth Henrietta Spiro and the father of
George William Zeisler; John Joseph Zeisler and Richard Spiro Zeisler.
1888: In New York, the Excise
Commissioners heard the protest of the Pastor of St. Ann’s Roman Catholic
Church to the granting of a liquor license to Charles Goldstein, the owner of
Webster Hall, an edifice designed to for Jewish weddings and other such social
events.
1888: Santa Clause will
distribute toys to the 600 children at the Christmas Party being held today at
the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in New York City.
1888: The Metropolitan Opera
House in New York City will the site of tonight’s theatrical and musical
productions the proceeds of which will go to the Young Men’s Hebrew
Association.
1889: Six hundred youngsters
attended an evening of entertainment in the chapel of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum
sponsored by the Seligman Solomon Society.
1889(6th of Tevet,
5650): One day after his 78th birthday, Rabbi Ludwig Philippson
whose works included “an annotated German translation of the TaNaCh” and who
was the son of Moses Philippson and the
father of geologist Alfred Philippson passed away at Bonn
1889: The officers and
managers of the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society hosted a reception in honor
of state Senator Jacob A. Cantor and Assemblyman Joseph Blumenthal.
1889: The Jaffa to Jerusalem
Railway Company (Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jérusalem et
Prolongements) was founded in Paris with Bernard Camille Collas, a French
lighthouse inspector, as the first director.
1889: It was reported today
the one of the highlights of this year’s New York theatrical season was Edwin
Booth’s portrayal of Shylock in “The Merchant of Venice.”
1890: In San Rafael, CA, “a
grocer” and his wife gave birth to Alfred C. Blumenthal who gained fame as
“wealthy real estate operator A.C. Blumenthal who was known to his theatrical
friends in Hollywood and New York as “Blumey.”
1890(18TH of Tevet,
5651): Sixty-five-year-old Henry S. Henry, a native of Ramsgate, England, who
was the founder of H.S. Henry & Son, commission merchants who was active in
several charitable Jewish organizations passed away today at his New York home.
1890: Sgt. Jack Trautman, who
could have retired but chose to stay with his men, fought at Wounded Knee, SD
today with such courage that he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
1891: According to Emmanuel
Lehman, the Treasurer for the Transportation Fund for Russians, as of today the
fund has raised $82, 842.73 to aid Jews trying to flee the Czar’s realm.
1891(28th of
Kislev, 5652): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1891(28th od
Kislev, 5652): Sixty-eight-year-old Abraham Hays, the husband of Fanny Hays and
the father of Kokomo, IN native Emma Eckhouse, the wife of Moses Eckhouse.
passed away today.
1891: Sixty-eight-year-old
German mathematician Leopold Kronecker, who converted to Christianity in the
last year of his life, passed away today.
1892(10th of Tevet,
5653): Asara B’Tevet
1892: A fire broke out at the
four-story brick building at 3 Mechanic Alley the ground floor of which is
occupied by tailor shop owned by three Jews, Samuel, Isaac and Harris
Goldstein.
1893(20th of
Tevet, 5654): Adolf Jellinek passed away. Born in 1821, he was an Austrian
rabbi and scholar who became a preacher at the Leopoldstädter Tempel in Vienna
in 1856.
1893: In Newark,
NJ, Max Boxer made bail on charges of misusing the United States mail when he
sent a postcard to Abraham Kursek, a Jewish poultry and fish merchant
threatening to shoot him and his son-in-law if he did not vacate his stall on
Prince Street. The two men were business
competitors.
1893: In New
York, Judge McAdam granted an injunction prevent Joseph Jaffa from
publishing the picture of Rudolph Marks,
a Jewish actor who is studying law at the University of the City of New York,
as part of a contest that he is promoting without the plaintiff’s permission.
1894: In Vienna, Alfred Sachs,
the son of Eduard Elkan Sachs and Babette Sachs, and his wife Therese Sachs
gave birth to Marie Schmeichler, the wife of Dr. Robert Schmeichler.
1894: In
Leicester, UK, Jacob Alfred Jacobs and Eleanor Sophia Jacobs gave birth to
Montague Jacobs, the husband of Iris Annie Jacobs with whom he had two sons.
1894: A two-week revival of “Quite an Adventure,” a one-act comic opera by
Edward Solomon, came to an at the Savoy Theatre in London.
1895: Based on
statements of Samuel Schafer published today the Hebrew Fair which closed last
week has raised $165,000 and that when all contributions are tallied the amount
raised will reach approximately $175,000.
Approximately $100,000 will go to the Educational Alliance with the
balance going the Hebrew Technical Institute.
1895: “Judaism
And Its Spirit” published today provides a detailed review of The Spirit of
Judaism by Josephine Lazarus one of the sisters of Emma Lazarus.
1895: Arthur
Scholem and Betty Hirsch Scholem gave birth to Werner Scholem, German political
leader, member of the Reichstag during the Weimer Republic and the brother of
Gershom Scholem. Werner would die in
Buchenwald.
1895: An armed
column “crossed into the Transvaal and headed for Johannesburg” which marked
the start of the Jameson Raid whose participants included Solomon Barnato
“Solly” Joel one of three sons of Joel Joel and Kate Isaacs who made “a fortune
in diamond and gold mining in South Africa,
1896(24th
of Tevet, 5657): Seventy-two-year-old Jacob ben Moses Bachrach, the son of R'
Moses Bacharach and Sheina Bacharach and the husband of Reva Bachrach, the
editor of Hebrew works including “the Turim of Jacob ben Asher” passed away
today in Bialystok.
http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/brisman/item/8237
1897: The House
Committee of the Home and Hospital for Jewish Incurables is scheduled to meet
this afternoon in London.
1897: The
“Russo-Jewish Conjoint Committee” of the Board of Guardians is scheduled to
meet this afternoon.
1897: The Chovei
Zion Association is scheduled to meet this evening at Bevis Marks.
1898: In
Jerusalem, Esther Epstein and Simcha Mandelbaum gave birth to the University of
Nebraska alum and Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary trained rabbi,
Albert Naphttoli Mandelbaum, the husband of Leah Gordon and starting in 1922
the spiritual leader of Congregation of Sons of Abraham in Albany, NY who was a
national director of Keren Hayesod and a director of the Albany Jewish
Community Center.
1898: Richard J.
H. Gottheil, a professor of languages at Columbia University and a leader in
the early American Zionist movement gathered together a group of Jewish
students from several New York City universities to form a Zionist youth
society. The society was called Z.B.T., which most people know as Zeta Beta Tau
fraternity.
1899(27th
of Tevet, 5660): Sixty-six-year-old Hermann Rosenwald, the German born son of
Bendix and Vogel Rosenwald and the husband of Jeanette David with whom he had
three children – Bendix, Gustave and Ida – passed away today.
1900(7th
of Tevet, 5661): Parashat Vayigash
1900: In his review of Arabia: The Cradle of
Islam by Samuel W. Zwemer , George Warner described Arabia as “a vast
territory, little known and yet the cradle not Islam alone but of the Hebrew
race” as well.
1900: “To-day is
"Hospital Saturday," when the citizens of Jewish faith make
contribution to the cause in the synagogues; while to-morrow is "Hospital
Sunday," when it is the privilege of the Christian to do a similar service
for the afflicted through the church offerings.”
1901: The Jewish National Fund
(JNF) was founded. “The Jewish National
Fund is the caretaker of the land of Israel, on behalf of its
owners - Jewish People everywhere.” After several false starts, the
delegates to the Fifth Zionist Congress passed a motion that a fund to be
called Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael) should be established,
and that "the fund shall be the property of the Jewish people as a
whole". The purpose of the fund
would be to be purchase land in the land of Palestine that would belong to the
Jewish people. The JNF's first
undertaking was the collection of £200,000.
One of the delegates immediately pledged £10 in memory of Zvi Hermann
Schapira who had been one of the prime mover’s behind the creation of the JNF.
Theodore Herzl made the second donation and his aide, the third. And with this,
the dream of a national fund--and a Jewish Homeland--became a reality.
1903(10th of Tevet,
5664): Asara B’Tevet
1903: Plans were agreed on
tonight by the “Grand Masters of six leading Jewish fraternities” to make the
call of intervention to prevent the massacre of the Jews of Kishineff on
Russian Christmas into a national, America, movement.
1903: “The London
correspondent of The Jewish Daily News” today “cabled an interview with
a Kishineef refugee” who passed through London on his way to America and
described the situation in that city “as very serious” and “that a massacre is
looked upon as inevitable, that the Jews of Kishineff are awaiting their faith
with the stoic despair of convicts doomed to be executed…”
1904: Birthdate of Wooldridge,
NY native and Union College graduate Samuel G. Engel the pharmacist and drug
store owner turned “screenwriter and producer” who gave us such films as “My
Darling Clementine,” the romanticized biopic about Wyatt Earp.
1905: The Jewish Chronicle
reported that “the brothers Gomez de Costa in Hackney, West Indies, would not
receive their sister in their house for a year because she had married an
Ashkenazi Jew.
1905: The Jewish Chronical
reported that a “Proselyte Board” has been formed in Johannesburg “consisting
of congregational delegates and Rabbis and that no proselytes would be admitted
to the community unless they received a vote of two-thirds of those present at
the meeting.
1905: As of today, it was
reported that the fund to help the Jews suffering from the Massacres in Russia
had reach $1,217,000.
1906(12th of Tevet,
5667): Parashat Vayechi
1906: “Praises Schiff’s
Scheme” published today described Lord Rothchild’s “scheme for a Jewish
settlement near Galveston, TX because, among other things “if Jews are to be
sent out of Russia” especially at a time like this, “it is much better to send
them where work is available than to where their hands would remain idle.”
1907: Birthdate of Brooklyn
native and Wharton graduate Herbert K Baskin, the vice president in charge of
the Bankers Trust Company “on Broadway near 24th Street and
recipient of awards “from the American Jewish Community and the UJA who was the
husband of “the former Betty Maxine Schwartz.”
1908: Louis A. Hensheimer, a
member of the baking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Company spent his last day “at
his desk” prior to undergoing surgery for appendicitis.
1908: Birthdate of Magnus
Alfred Pyke, the native of Paddington who was educated in Canada who returned
to England, where among other things he served as the Chief Chemist at Vitamins
Ltd in Hammersmith and Manager of Distiller Ltd’s yeast research laboratory in
Scotland from 1949 to 1973.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-magnus-pyke-1558840.html
1909: Birthdate of Johtje
(pronounced YO-tya) Vos, a Dutch woman who along with her husband hid three
dozen Jews from the Nazis during World War II.
In addition to which they provided assistance to an unknown number of
Jews escaping through part of the Netherlands from 1940 through 1945. Mrs. Vos moved to Woodstock, NY in 1951 and
passed away at the age of 97 in 2007.
She never saw herself as a Righteous Gentile or a particularly brave
person.
1910(28th of
Kislev, 5761): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1910: “The subject of
“Immigration” is scheduled to be discussed today in what is the first of twelve
lectures arranged by The Committee on Education of the Jewish Community to be
delivered on alternating Thursday evenings, four of which will with deal with
“Communal Jewish Problems” and eight of which will deal with “Jews in Many
Lands.”
1910: Constantin C. Arion, who
as the Rumanian Minister of Foreign Affairs would say that his “Government
would grant rights to the Jews in accordance with the peace treat” and that the
Government “would completely abolish Article 7 of the Rumanian Constitution”
which states that “Jews in Rumania are aliens and that naturalization is only
possible for them individually” began serving his first term as Minister of
Religion and Public Instruction today.. (Editor’s Note – Going back to the
Congress of Berlin, Rumanian government were always promising to emancipate the
Jews living in the country and always failing to do so.)
1911: Camille Erlanger’s L’aube rouge premiered at Rouen, France.
1911(8th of Tevet, 5672):
Seventy-one-year-old Arnold Tanzer, the associate editor of the Nation
passed away today in New York City.
1911: The Chamber of Commerce
of Salonica rendered a decision that Jewish porters do not need to work on
Shabbat.
1911: At its meeting today,
“the Board of Trustees of B’nai Jeshurun” “decided to recommend” to the
congregation that the hire Rabbi Joel Blau who is now leading Congregation
Shaari Zedek in Brooklyn.
1911 Mrs. Leopold de Rothschild
was among those receiving the “Award of the Order of Mercy” today.
1912(19th of Tevet,
5673): Sixty-six-year-old grain merchant Emanuel Steinhardt passed away today
in New Orleans.
1912: In Newark, NJ, Esther
Taubenhaus and her husband gave birth to Tulane Medical School graduate Dr.
Leon Taubenhuas, “the director of community of health services at Beekman
Downtown Hospital and a specialist in emergency medicine” who with his wife Barbara
raised two daughters.
1912: A Hebrew School was
founded today in Schenectady New York.
1912: U.K. premiere of “The
Miracle” a British silent film based on a play by Max Reinhardt.
1913(30th of
Kislev, 5674): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Sixth Day of Chanukah
1913(30th of
Kislev, 5674): Rabbi Louis A. Alexander passed away today in Dorchester, MA.
1913: In Australia first
showing of “The Miracle” a British silent film based on a play by Max Reinhardt
who helped write the script for the film.
1914: In Rochester, NY, Oliver
Bachrach of Baltimore delivered a lecture on the prophet Jeremiah at The Jewish
Chautauqua Society Convention.
1914: “Looking to the War’s
End” published today described the views of Bernard Baruch’s father, Dr Simon
Baruch on what a post-war world would look like including that “perhaps in a
decade or fifty years” the United States and Germany, joined by other countries
now at war” will join “together to subdue the Tartar and the yellow man and
then we shall have a real peace.”
1915: “The People’s Relief
Committee, which is also co-operating with the American Jewish Relief
Committee, expects to raise $100,000 today.”
1915: Today in New York, “at
the monthly meeting of the Hebrew Congregation of the Deaf and Dumb mutes”
Sephardic Rabbi Albert J. Amateau used sign language to make an appeal to the
140 members for contributions to the $5,000,000 fund which the American Jewish
Relief Committee is attempting to raise for Jews suffering through the war”
which met with an immediate contribution of $250 dollars and a small box filled
with jewels.
1915: Today, Dr. J.L. Magnes
addressed a crowd of jewelry industry employees and persuaded them to subscribe
to a contribution of $10,000 and to create a committee under the Chairmanship
of Leopold Stern which will raise $100,000 from among Jewish jewelry workers.
1915: “Today is tag day for
the benefit of Jewish sufferers through the war and by night the committee” in
charge “expects to have distributed one million tags and to have collected
$50,000.”
1915: “A special feature” of
today, which is Tag Day, “will be sight-seeing cars filled with actors and
actresses from the Yiddish theatres which will tour the city stopping a various
tagging pints to entertain the crowds.”
1915: It was reported that M.
Maldwin Fertig, the president of The Young Men’s Hebrew Association, has said
the campaign to raise funds for a new facility in the would continue until it
has reached its goal of $85,000.
1916: The piano duo of Rose
and Ottilie Sutro played their version of Max Bruch’s Concerto for Two Pianos
in A-flat minor for the first time with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
1916: It was reported today
that the survivors of Baltimore lawyer Moses R. Walter are his wife, the former
Bertha Ulman, and his children Clementine Walter, Valerie Walter, Raphael
Walter, Albert Walter and Mrs. Robert Walkingshaw of Seattle, WA>
1917(14th of Tevet,
5678): Parashat Vayehci
1917: Rabbi Samuel Schulman is
scheduled to deliver the sermon this morning at Temple Beth-El on 5th
Avenue.
1917: It was reported at The
Hague today “that leading Jewish financiers of Germany refused to support the
German war loan unless the German Government” refrained “from all opposition to
the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine independent of any Turkish
control.”
1917: When Representative
Julius Kahn of California spoke tonight at the dinner session of the Fifth
Annual Convention of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association meeting at
Columbia he “was applauded when he urged that universal compulsory military
service be enacted in law” because “there was no prospect that wars would cease
at the end of this war, and every reason to fear that wars would continue in
the future as they had in the past.’ (Editor’s Note- the Jewish Congressman did
not see WW I as the “war to end all wars” and was calling for peace time
conscription – something that would not come to fruition until the year prior
to the attack at Pearl Harbor.)
1917: Tonight, “speaking at a
benefit at Cooper Union for the needy Jewish journalists and writers fo the
warring countries, Dr. J. L. Magnes predicted that the Jewish people would
survive their present sufferings stronger than ever and assert a stronger
influence on the religious and political life of the nations.”
1917: Tonight, at the
Sixty-ninth Regiment Armory more than $6,000 was raised at the Zionist Ball
which was held to raise funds “to be used in re-establishing the Jews in
Palestine.”
1917: Today “Famous
Players, Feature Play, Oliver Morosco Photoplay, Bosworth, Cardinal, Paramount
Pictures Corporation, Artcraft, and The George M. Cohan Film Corporation” “were
incorporated into one entity called the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation” with
Adolph Zukor as President and Jesse L. Lasky as Vice President.”
1918: Rabbi Hyman Gerson
Enelow, who was in France serving as representative of the Overseas Commission
of the Jewish Welfare Board wrote today that for three weeks he has been
visiting various military camps using an automobile lent him by a Colonel in the
Army and while he has found the experience to be “a great privilege” if also
feels that “if he Jewish work here does not improve much in point of
organization, I may go in as an army chaplain.”
1918: During the
Freedom Wars, Lithuania's government called for volunteers to defend the
Lithuanian state. Of the 10,000 volunteers who responded more than 500 of them
were Jews. Altogether more than 3000 Jews served in the Lithuanian army between
1918 and 1923.
1918: The Zionist Organization
of America held a reception tonight at the Hotel McAlpin for Judge Julian W.
Mack, Jacob de Haas and Colonel Harry Cutler “on the eve of their departure for
Paris as representatives of the Zionist Congress recently held in Philadelphia”
where 300 attendees hear a message that the delegates hope to come back “with
the message that Zion (a Jewish homeland in Palestine) had become a fact.”
1918: Solomon Sufrin is
scheduled to speak at “a special convention of the Federation of Rumanian Jews
of America” being held at the University Settlement on Eldridge Street.
1919: According to a cable
received in Washington, D.C. today, “Dr. Carfinas, the Jewish Zionist Deputy of
the Greek Parliament protested to the Greek Senate in the name of Universal
Brotherhood against the crimes committed on Jews in certain countries of
Eastern Europe and requested the Minister of Foreign Affairs to voice the
protest to the civilized world.”
1919(7th of Tevet,
5680): In Boston, MA, Ralph and Tillie Gotenberg Kublin gave birth to professor
of history Dr. Hyman Kublin, the WW II Navy veteran and the wife of Pearl Baru
Kublin.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kublin-hyman
1920: One of two dates in FSB
archives for the death of Alexander Dubrovin, the founder of the anti-Semitic
journal Russkoye Znamya who helped
organized “the pogroms of the Black Hundreds.”
1921(28th of
Kislev, 5682): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1921: In Tulsa, OK, Mr. and
Mrs. Samuel Friedman gave birth to Staley Friedman the author of Martin Buber:
The Life of Dialogue which “marked the first effort to explain and popularize
the humanistic and religious concepts Martin Buber.” (As reported by Paul
Vitello)
Maurice S. Friedman,
Biographer of Martin Buber, Dies at 90 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
1922(10th of Tevet, 5683):
Asara B'Tevet
1922(10th of Tevet, 5683): The
Chief Rabbi of Alexandria, Rodolfo Compagnano, passed away
1923(21st of Tevet,
5684): Parashat Shemot
1923: Birthdate of Shlomo
Venezia, the native of Thessaloniki, Greece who survived Auschwitz and wrote Inside
the Gas Chambers: Eight Months in the Sonderkommando at Auschwitz
1923: According to an
announcement made today by Dr. Nathan Ratnoff, the President of the American
Jewish Physicians’ Committee, “a modern medical college and hospital will soon
look down on Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives” on eight acres of land purchased
for $50,000.
1924(2nd of Tevet,
5685): Eighth Day of Chanukah
1924: It was reported today
that that Rabbi Nathan Krass has taken issued with a speech given y Dr. Charles
W. Eliot saying that the catch phrase “the melting post,” “like all catch
phrases has been superficially conceived or erroneously interpreted.”
1924: In Boston, real estate
agent “Frederick Yankelovich and the former Sadie Mostow” gave birth to
pollster Daniel Yankelovich. (As reported by Robert D. McFadden)
1925: Thirty-two-year-old
University of Chicago trained attorney Susan Brandeis, the Boston born daughter
of Associate Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Alice Goldmark Brandeis
married Jacob H. Gilber today.
1925: “A $10,000 trust fund to
provide scholarships for young men and women of the United States to study at
the Hebrew University” was “established by Louis Gollin, the manager of the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in St. Louis.”
1926: It was reported today
that the percentage of school children suffering from trachoma has been reduced
from 70% to 12%.
1927: Following its premiere
performance last night Alexander Tansman’s “Second Concerto for piano and
orchestra was performed again tonight in Boston.
1927(5th of Tevet, 5688): Seventy-five-year-old University of Virginia alum and Episcopal
convert Samuel Fox II, the Richmond, VA
born son of Ellen and Samuel Fox Mordecai, the great-great-grandson of
German born Jewish merchant Moses Mordecai and the great-grandson of Jacob
Mordecai who was an assistant professor of law at Wake Forest College before
being name senior profess at Trinity College Law School which became Duke
University passed away today.
https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/mordecai-samuel-fox-ii
1928: Der Oytser (The
Treasure), a play in Yiddish by Sholom Aleichem directed by Aleksei Dikiy
premiered today.
1928(16th of Tevet, 5689):
Eight-year-old German born Leopold Stern, a philanthropist and Republican Party
activist “known as the dean of diamond importers in America” passed away today.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9D07EFDC1031E33ABC4850DFB4678383639EDE
1928: “The fourth national
labor convention for Palestine held under the auspices of the national labor
committee for the Organized Jewish Workers in Palestine opened tonight in New
York. Abraham Shiplacoff, chairman of
the national committee gave the welcoming address to the five hundred
delegates. Among the visitors was David
Bloch, Mayor of Tel Aviv and Israel Merminsky general secretary of the
Palestine Federation both of whom have been visiting the United States for the
last ten days.
1929(27th of
Kislev, 5690): Third Day of Chanukah
1929: Birthdate of Feigele
Peltel who as Vladka Meed used her flawless Polish and Aryan good looks to
smuggle pistols, gasoline for firebombs and even dynamite to the Jewish
fighters inside the Warsaw Ghetto, and who after the war became an impassioned
leader in the national effort to educate children about the Holocaust (As
reported by Joseph Berger)
1929: In Warsaw, Rabbi Brachya
Lieberman, a notable Gerrer Hasid and wife gave birth of Rabbi Simcha Binem
Lieberman who survived the Warsaw Ghetto uprising as well as Treblinka, Dachau
and Theresienstadt.
1929: Roger W. Straus
addressed the Chicago Conference of Temple Brotherhoods at their Chanukah
Dinner which was being held at the Palmer House Hotel. Mr. Straus, a New Yorker, is the son of the
late Oscar S. Straus and President of the National Federal of Temple
Brotherhoods which, has 22,000 members.
In his speech, Mr. Straus connected the meritorious service of many
members in the World War with the valor of the Maccabees in issuing a call to
show the same kind of dedication in combating “the corrosive, brutal theory of
materialism and thereby to serve again our religion, our country and humanity.”
1929: Lt. Governor Herbert H.
Lehman of New York, Rabbi Samuel H. Goldenson of Pittsburgh, Joshua Kantrowitz,
Ben Altenheimer and Jean Wise will address the Third Annual Chanukah Dinner
sponsored by the Metropolitan Conference of Temple Brotherhoods which is being
held at the Astor Hotel in New York City.
1930: In Cleveland, Ohio,
Bernard Gottesman, an insurgent agent born in Hungary and his wife the former
Virginia Weitzner gave birth to Irving Isadore Gottesman “a pioneer in the
field of behavioral genetics whose work on the role of heredity in schizophrenia
helped transform the way people thought about the origins of serious mental
illness.” (As reported by Erica Goode)
1931: The first
Hebrew-language feature-film "Oded Hanoded" - "Oded the
Wanderer", directed by Chaim Halahmi, premiered in Tel Aviv.
1931: Funeral services are
scheduled to be held at the Riverside Memorial Chapel for Amson e. Hacker, the
husband of the former Flora Livingston.
1932: It was reported today
that by eliminating the military parade at the inauguration of Governor Lehman,
the State of New York will save $22,000…”
1932: It was reported today
that Associate Judge Irving Lehman of the Court of Appeals, brother of the
Governor-elect Herber H. Lehman will administer the oath of office as Mayor to
Surrogate John P. O’Brien in his court room at noon on December 31. (Editor’s
note - Lehman was Jewish. O’Brien was not)
1932: Eighty-year-old
“Reverend Samuel Walter Gamble internationally known for his reproduction of
the lost Hebrew calendar” and who “lectured and wrote on religious subjects,
especially on arguments based on the Hebrew called to prove Sunday and not Saturday
was the ancient and true Sabbath” passed away today in Long Beach, CA.
1932: “S. Howard Cohen,
president of the Board of Elections, testified for an hour and a half today
before the Federal grand jury, which is investigating charges of frauds alleged
to have been committed in this city in the November election.”
1933: “Flying Down to Rio,”
featuring a score by Max Steiner and songs by Gus Kahn was released in the
United States.
1934: Birthdate of Brooklyn
native and Phi Beta Kappa graduate Roberta Karpel who after marrying Robert
Silman gained fame as award winning author Roberta Silman.
1934: Today, in Chicago, at
“joint session of the American Economic Association and the American
Sociological Society” “Professor Karl Pribram of the Brookings institute
described ‘a unified program of unemployment’ which included a national scheme
of unemployment insurance that would deal with normal, season and technological
unemployment…”
1935(3rd of Tevet,
5696): The widow of Barond Edmond James de Rothschild, Adelheid
(known as Adélaïde) passed away today, 12 months after the Baron had died.
1936: At
a dinner at the Hotel Astor, the national service award of the Phi Epsilon
Fraternity “consisting of a scroll and a check for $100” was given to Rabbi
Stephen S. Wise for being the man “who has made during the year the most
distinctive contribution to the creative life of the Jewish people.”
1936:
While testifying today before the Peel Commission Moshe Shetrok cited a
well-known letter from Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald to Dr. Chaim Weizmann
promising Jews “a proportionate share of employment on public work in
Palestine” in connection “with his allegation that the Palestine government
does discriminate against Jews in public works including the railways, ports
and civil services where a virtual Arab monopoly has been created.
1937: William Dodd completed
his term as U.S. Ambassador to Germany.
Dodd was the first U.S. Ambassador appointed to serve as after Hitler
came to power. (For more see, In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson)
1937: The Palestine Post reported that the General Council for Palestine
Jews (Va'ad Leumi) decreed that in view of certain developments, the council
was the sole body authorized to reach an agreement with the Arabs.
1937: The British press
reported that the Foreign Office had become increasingly alarmed at the extent
of Arab and Moslem opposition to Palestine's partition. It had not yet decided
whether to appoint a new Palestine Commission, expected to implement the plan,
as agreed upon with the Mandatory Commission of the League of Nations.
1937: Heavy fines and prison
sentences were imposed on German Jews, accused of illegal ritual slaughtering
practices.
1938: “In Hell’s Kitchen,”
Irving Sperling, “a jewelry salesman” and “Cecile (Shavitz) Sperling gave birth
to “convicted drug dealer” Herbert Sperling.
(As reported by Sam Roberts)
1938: In Berlin, “officials at
the Ministry of Finance would neither confirm nor deny the report” “that the 20
per cent capital levy” imposed on the Jews “as a fine for the assassination of
Ernest von Rath…is to be increased to 30 per cent.”
1939: “Destry Rides Again”
produced by Joe Pasternak and featuring Mischa Auer “as Boris Callahan, the
henpecked Russian” was released in the United States today.
1939: U.S. premiere of “The
Hunchback of Notre Dame produced by Pandro S. Berman with a script by Sonya
Levien and Bruno Frank and music by Alfred Newman.
1939: “Balalaika” a movie
version of the English musical directed by Reinhold Schunzel and produced by
Lawrence Weingarten was released in the United States today.
1940(29th of
Kislev, 5701): Fifth day of Chanukah
1940(29th of
Kislev, 5701): Forty-six-year-old Dov Hoz the native of Orsha who was one of
the founders of the Haganah and the “founder and CEO of Aviron was killed in an
automobile accident today.
https://streetsofisrael.wordpress.com/2014/06/
1941(9th of Tevet, 5702): Tullio Levi-Civita passed away. Born in 1873, Levin-Civita was an Italian
mathematician who was one of the founders of absolute differential calculus
(tensor analysis) which had applications to the theory of relativity. In 1887,
he published a famous paper in which he developed the calculus of tensors. In
1900 he published, jointly with Ricci, the theory of tensors Méthodes de
calcul differential absolu et leures applications in a form which was used
by Einstein 15 years later. Weyl also used Levi-Civita's ideas to produce a
unified theory of gravitation and electromagnetism. In addition to the
important contributions his work made in the theory of relativity, Levi-Civita
produced a series of papers treating elegantly the problem of a static
gravitational field. On September 5,
1938 the Racial Laws were passed in Italy which excluded all those of Jewish
background from universities, schools, academies and other institutions. Levi-Civita
was dismissed from his professorship, forced to leave the editorial board of Zentralblatt
für Mathematik, and prevented from attending the Fifth International
Congress of Applied Mechanics in the United States. He wrote to a former
student in May 1939 “I live as a
retired person and I do not move; except in summer, however, if my personal
conditions allow me to move. As you maybe know, Jews have been completely
expelled from Italian cultural life; in particular, I will not participate in
the "Volta Congress" and will not be in Rome in September”. In the last years of his life, in spite of
his moral and physical depression, Levi-Civita remained faithful to the ideal
of scientific internationalism and helped colleagues and students who were
victims of anti-Semitism; thanks to him, many of them found positions in South
America or in the United States.
1941(9th of Tevet, 5702): A
Jewish physician from Prague, Czechoslovakia, Dr. Karol Boetim dies of spotted
typhus while treating patients at a Gypsy camp near the Lódz (Poland) Ghetto.
1942: “The Russian People”
co-starring Luther Adler is scheduled to open at the Guild today.
1942: “Sweet Charity,”
co-authored by Irving Brecher and co-starring Philip Loeb is scheduled to open
at the Mansfield Theatre.
1942: Today Jan Komski and
three comrades, Mieczyslaw Januszewski, Boleslaw Kuczbara, and Otto Küsel,
participated in one of the most famous escapes in the history of Auschwitz. This
escape was significant because it was among the first to be organized by the
illegal camp resistance movement, and with the help of the local population.
“In the morning of Dec 29, 1942, a two-wheel cart drawn by two horses passed
the gate at Auschwitz in the afternoon. It carried Kuczbara, dressed in a
stolen SS uniform. Alongside walked three inmates, seemingly being escorted by
the SS-man. They aroused no suspicion as Otto Küsel was known to all the
Blockführers (SS Block Commanders). When they reached the check point at the
border of the big sentry chain, Kuczbara showed the guards a cleverly forged
pass. His uniform and the pass convinced them to allow the cart and the
prisoners through. The men simply walked out of the camp. They made it to the village
of Broszkowice where they met a resistance woman who gave them civilian
clothes. They spent the night at the home of Andrzej Harat, who actually rented
the apartment above them to an SS officer.
Mr. Komski eventually reached the city of Krakow, where he was arrested
in a routine roundup as he was sitting on a train awaiting departure for
Warsaw. Any escaped prisoner would have been hanged very soon after his return
to Auschwitz. But, Komski was not recognized and his identity papers now bore a
different name.”
http://www.remember.org/komski/jan-komski.html
1943(2nd of Tevet,
5704): Eighth Day of Chanukah
1943: “A series of statements
and affidavits detailing numerous acts of Anti-Semitism and desecration of
Protestant churches and Jewish Synagogues in Washington Heights, was issued today
by the Eastern regional office of the Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai
B'rith.”
1944: As he attempted to
negotiate a life-saving deal with the Nazis, Rudolf Kastner found himself
trapped in Vienna and unable to return to Budapest – a situation that would not
change until March of 1945.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bird-stein-gans
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/gans-bird-stein
1945(25th of Tevet,
5706): Parashat Shemot
1945 (25th of
Tevet, 5706): Seventy-three-year-old University of Pennsylvania trained lawyer
Samuel W. Salus, the member of both houses of the state legislature and
Republican Party leader who was the husband of Ada R. Salus, the father of
Arthurs S. Salus and the grandfather of Samuel W. Salus II passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/12/30/109349549.pdf
http://www.house.state.pa.us/BMC/Bios/PDF/2242.PDF
1945: Just before
dawn today British Sixth Airborne Division troops threw a cordon around Ramat
Gan a town of 10,000 and searched every part of it, looking for terrorists who
blew up police and military installations in near-by Tel Aviv and Jaffa
Thursday night. Authorities arrested
more than 800 men between the ages of 16 and 40 making this the largest action
of its kind in Palestine.
1946: In Palestine, Major
Paddy Brett and three non-commissioned officers serving in the British Army
were flogged by attackers alleged to have been members of the Irgun.
1947: Five Jewish doctors
driving back to Jerusalem from Hadassah Hospital came under attack from Arab
gunman. The doctors found sanctuary with a nearby Jewish family while their
attackers burned their car.
1947: "The 29th of
November", a ship filled with "illegal" Jewish immigrants, was
driven off the coast of Eretz Israel by the British. The ship was named in honor of the date when
the U.N. approved the partition resolution that effectively created the Jewish
state of Israel.
1947: Two ships with 7,000
immigrants are boarded by British forces before they can reach the coast of
Palestine. The Jewish Agency wants to avoid confrontation with the British,
knowing that immigration will open on 1 February 1948. Ben Gurion gives orders
that there has to be no resistance.
1947(16th of Tevet, 5708):
Moshe Rembach, a Jew who had been working for Barclays Bank since it opened in
1918, was shot and killed by Arab gunman at the entrance to bank.
1948(27th of
Kislev, 5709) Third day of Chanukah
1948(27th of
Kislev, 5709): Seventy-year-old British composer Harry Farjeon whose father was
Jewish but whose mother was not passed away today.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/garlands/farjeon.htm
1948: It was reported today
that Dr. Edwin J. Cohn of the Harvard Medical School has been chosen to deliver
the 1949 Julius Stieglitz Memorial Lecture at the University of Chicago.
1948: Israeli troops pushed
deep into the Sinai and established a base at Abu Ageila, 20 miles west of the
border between Egypt and Israel.
1948: As Israeli forces
finally were driving out the Egyptian invaders, the United Nations called for a
cease fire between the Jewish state and the Arab aggressor in the Negev.
1948: Israel responded to the
UN call for a ceasefire in the Negev by saying it will continue fighting until
Egypt agrees to peace talks while the British government, in a move that shows
its pro-Arab and anti-Jewish bias, insists that Israel accept the UN call for
an immediate ceasefire.
1948: Ralph Bunche urges the
Palestine Conciliation Committee to begin its work.
1949: After premiering in
October, “The Reckless Moment” directed by Max Ophüls, produced by Walter
Wanger and music by Hans J. Salter was released throughout the United States
today.
1950: In New York Melanie
(Shroder) and Polish-born violinist Roman Totenberg gave birth to Judge Amy
Totenberg.
1952(11th
of Tevet, 5713): Beryl Rubinstein composer and piano virtuoso
passed away at the age of 54. A native
of Athens, Georgia, Rubinstein was the son of a rabbi.
1952: The Jerusalem Post reported
that Israel protested to the West on its intensified supply of arms to the Arab
states. Britain offered to sell jet planes to Israel, and in an equal number to
each separate Arab state, and this would obviously give the combined Arab
forces great superiority.
1952(11th of Tevet,
5713): “Yiddishist” Smuel Leshtsinski passed away today after being in an
automobile accident in New York.
http://yleksikon.blogspot.com/2017/06/shmuel-leshtsinski.html
1953: Today, Lawrence
Ottinger, Chairman of the Board of the United States Plywood Corporation wrote
to the NYT questioning the forecast of a recession by “top economists”
published in the Times because, as he said “the prognostications of this group,
with once exception were unanimously wrong in 1929” the year of that marked the
start of the Great Depression.
1953: Yosef Serflin replaced
Yosef Sapir as Minister of Health
1953: Yosef Sapir replaced Yosef Serline as Minister of
Transportation
1954: In New York, premiere of “Animal Farm” with music by Mátyás
Seiber.
1955:
Barbra
Streisand makes her first recording, "You'll Never Know" at age 13
1955: In a speech to the
Supreme Soviet, Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev condemns Israel as a tool of
imperialist states used to threaten its Arab neighbors.
1956: North Philadelphia born
University of Pennsylvania trained attorney completed his service as Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
1956: Birthdate of Yehudit
Ravitz, the native of Beersheba who “is one of the most successful and famous
Israeli rock musicians, with a career spanning over thirty years.”
1957: Singer Steve Lawrence,
born Sydney Liebowitz in Brooklyn, married fellow entertainer Eydie Gormé. He
was Jewish. She was not.
1957: In Piscataway, NJ,
physicist Norman Rudnick and his wife Selma gave birth to multi-talented writer
Paul M. Rucnick whose first play was “Poor Little Lambs.”
http://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/16/theater/theater-rudnick-s-poor-little-lambs-of-yale.html
1958(18th of Tevet,
5719): Seventy-five-year-old Helen Ranshoff Iglauer, the daughter of Joseph and
Minnie Frieberg Ranshoff, the wife of Arnold
Iglauer gave birth to University of Cincinnati graduate of and Medical College
of Ohio trained physician Samuel Iglauer, whom she married in 1906 and with
whom she had two children – Charles and Helen – passed away today after
which she was buried in the Walnut Hills Jewish Cemetery in Evanston, OH
1959(28th of
Kislev, 5720): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1959: Stanley M. Isaacs, the
minority leader of the City Council tonight “demanded the abolition of New York
City’s Slum Clearance Committee” and “as an alternative called for the removal
of Robert Moses as its chairman.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/12/30/80569416.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1959: Bari-Ilan University
Holds First Commencement Services published today describes the baccalaureate
activities at one of Israel’s newest institutions of higher education.
1960: The Israeli cabinet
appointed a full committee “to examine the possibility of settlement in the
northeastern Negev desert and the Arad area.”
1961(22nd of Tevet,
5722): Sixty-six-year-old Adelaide Cohen, Baroness Cohen, the London born daughter
of Sir Isidore Spielmann and Emily Sebag- Montefiore, the wife of Lionel Cohen,
Baron Cohen and mother of Elizabeth Adelaide Samuel; Hon. Leonard Harold Cohen
and Hon. Hugh Lionel Cohen passed away today.
1961: Having divorced her in
1959, today Billy Rose remarried Joyce Mathews.
1961: Jerry Herman’s
off-Broadway musical “Madame Aphrodite” opened at the Orpheum Theatre.
1962(2nd of Tevet,
5723): Parashat Miketz; Eighth Day of Chanukah
1962(2nd of Tevet, 5723): Eighty-one-year-old Eva Leo
Fox, the New York born daughter of Max and Caroline Seelig Leo and wife William
Fox who
“founded the Fox Film corporation in 1915” whose name lives on as the “Fox” in
Fox Network News.
1964(24th of Tevet,
5725): Seventy-two-year-old Samuel P. Halpern, the Romanian born son of Jacob
and Clara Sarah Halpern and the husband of Etta Halpern passed away today in
Minneapolis, MN.
1965: After premiering in
Tokyo, “Thunderball,” four film in the James Bond series featuring Leonard
Sachs was released today in the United Kingdom.
1965(6th of Tevet,
5726): Ninety-five-year-old Avraham Shapira, the husband of Liba Rochel Shapira
passed away today in Petah Tikva,
1965(6th of Tevet,
5726): Seventy-two-year-old German born biographer and novelist Dr. Manford
George who arrived in New York as penniless refugee and resuscitated his career
as the editor of Aufbau, a German
weekly, passed away today.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9804EEDD103BEF34BC4953DFB766838D679EDE
1966: Elliot Gould and Barbra
Streisand gave birth to actor Jason Gould.
1966(16th of Tevet,
5727): Centenarian and more, Bessie Abelson, the wife of Abraham Abelson passed
away today after which she was buried in the Talmud Torah Plot of the Home of
Peace Memorial Park in East Los Angeles.
1967:
Birthdate of Evan Seinfeld actor, director and heavy metal bassist in the bands Biohazard
and Damnocracy
1968: Israeli commandos
destroyed 13 Lebanese airplanes.
1969: NBC broadcast the 16th
episode of Melville Shavelson’s “My World…and Welcome to it.”
1971: After premiering in the
UK in November, “Straw Dogs” starring Dustin Hoffman, produced by Daniel
Melncik, with a screenplay by David Zelag Goodman and music by Jerry Fielding was
released in the United States today.
1971: Birthdate of Jay Fiedler, quarterback for the
Philadelphia Eagles.
1972(24th of Tevet,
5733): Fifty-two-year-old “Milton L. Kaplan, president and general manager of
King Features Syndicate since 1968,” the husband of “the former Doris Willens”
and the father of Jeffrey, Daniel and Andrew Kaplan” passed away today.
1973: In New York City,
novelist Leslie Epstein, the head of the Creative Writing Program at Boston
University and the former Irene Goldman baseball executive Theo Epstein who
broke the World Series draughts at Boston and at Chicago for the Cubs and whose
grandfather Philip and great-uncle Julius won the Oscar for writing the
screenplay for “Casablanca.”
1973: An apparent terrorist
plot was foiled when authorities detained two Arabs at the airport in London.
1973: While Prime Minister
Golda Meir was not averse to some form of territorial compromise to gain peace
with the Arabs, she said today that Israel would not descend from the Golan,
will not partition Jerusalem and will not allow the distance from Natanya to
the border be a mere 18 kilometers.
1974: “Soviet Jewish physicist
and activist Alexander Voronel arrived in Israel.”
1975: Today’s TIME magazine
cover story name Schwester, who had been named a “Worthy of Jerusalem” in 1974
by Mayor Teddy Kollek, as one of the world’s “living saints” which came as no
surprise since “numerous publications had already called her the “Jewish
Florence Nightingale” because of “her decades of selfless devotion to patient
welfare.”
1975(25th of Tevet,
5736): Eighty-eight year old Julius Borentstein “a native of Rachov
in Russian Poland, who fled Tsarist
military service and came to the United States where went from working in the
garment industry to becoming a builder in the Bronx and worked to ensure “the
survival of Jewish cultural life by helping to bring the YIVO Institute to New
York from Vilna at the outbreak of WW II while raising two daughters – Esther
and Sonya – with “his wife, the former Sarah Saltzman” passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/30/archives/julius-borenstein-yivo-institute-head.html
1976: Howard Metzenbaum began
serving his second, non-consecutive term of office a U.S. Senator from Ohio.
1977: The
Jerusalem Post reported that the Knesset endorsed the peace plan, as
drafted by Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and presented to the US and Egyptian
President Anwar Sadat, by 64 to eight votes with 40 abstentions. More than
1,000 settlers from the administered territories protested against the plan
outside the Knesset's gates.
1977: Poland was reported to
be seeking to renew relations with Israel that had been severed during the 1967
war.
1979(9th of Tevet,
5740): Parashat Vayigash
1979(9th of Tevet,
5740): Eighty-five-year-old Siegfried Isak Wolff, the Aurich, Germany born son
of Regina ad Isaac Wolff and the husband of Kaethe Kate Wolff passed away today
in New York City.
1980: Refusnik Yona Kolchinsky
was scheduled to be called up for service in the Soviet army.
1980(22nd of Tevet,
5741): Eighty-one-year-old Nadezhda Mandelstam the Russian writer and widow of
Osip Mandelstam passed away today.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1981/mar/05/nadezhda-mandelstam-18991980/
1981(3rd of Tevet,
5742): Seventy-one-year-old Milton H. Mostel, the brother of Zero Mostel passed
away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/31/obituaries/milton-h-mostel.html
1981: A Committee to
Safeguard Jewish Culture in the USSR was established today “in Paris by the
writers Raymond Aron, Simone de Beavoir, Samuel Beckett, Edmond Jacobs, Pierre
Emmanuel, Michelle Leiris and Elie Wiesel, the philosopher Vladimir
Jankelevitch, the jurists, Daniel Jacoby and Louis Pettiti, the journalist Jean
Cathala and Professor Jean-Oierre Vernant.”
1982(13th of Tevet,
5743): Movie producer Sol. C. Siegel
passed away. His cinematic productions
included “High Society,” “No Way to Treat A Lady” and “Alvarez Kelly.”
1983(23rd of Tevet, 5744):
Seventy-three-year-old Morris N. Kertzer who had served as a rabbi at
congregations in the Bronx and Larchmont passed away today. (As reported by Ari
L. Goldman)
1985: “The Jew Who Spied for
the Nazis” published today provided a review of Arrows of the Almighty: The Most
Extraordinary True Spy Story of World War II by Michael Bar-Zohar which
tells “the tragic true story of Paul Ernst Fackenheim
1985: HBO’S “Head Office,” a
comedy directed and written by Ken Finkelman and co-starring Rick Moranis was
released today in the United States.
1986: Eighty-one-year-old
actress Grete Moseheim who went to England after the rise of Hitler because her
father, Markus Mosheim was Jewish passed away today in New York.
1987: Tonight police arrested
financial consultant and retired Marine Corps Colonel, Jonathan de Sola Mendes
the husband of “the former Mary Ellen Rosenbulth and the grandnephew of Rabbi
H. Pereira Mendes and Rabbi Frederic de Sola Mendes,and “charged him with
first-degree manslaughter” for having
bludgeoned his father-in-law to death this evening in the victim’s Park Avenue
apartment after they allegedly had quarreled over a collection one hundred rare
books.
1988: William Andreas
Brown, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, presented his credentials today.
1989(1st of Tevet,
5750): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Seventh Day of Chanukah
1992: The
Southwestern Bell Corporation and Clal Industries of Israel will jointly bid
for control of Israel's national telephone company, Clal said today. Clal and
Southwestern Bell International Development will bid for a controlling interest
in Bezeq, the Israeli telecommunications concern. The Israeli Finance Minister,
Abraham Shohat, recommended this month that the Government sell its 75 percent
stake in Bezeq but no deadline was set. The five-month-old Labor Government has
vowed to speed privatization but has yet to sell any of the big
Government-owned enterprises. The former Likud Government sold 25 percent of
Bezeq shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 1990.
1993: Yuval Goldan was
stabbed today by a terrorist near Adarim in the Hebron area.
1993: “Ghost in the Machine” a sci-fi horror film
produced by Wesleyan University grad Paul Schiff, the Bethesda born son of
Charlotte and Edward Schiff was released today in the United States.
1993: The last edition of Hadashot was published today.
1995(6th of Tevet, 5756): Composer Shlomo
Yoffe died in Beit-Alpha.
1995: The family of Yigal Amir, the man
who murdered Prime Minister Rabin celebrated the wedding of Vardit Amir and
Yithak Cohen in Tel Aviv.
1996(19th of Tevet, 5757):
Seventy-five-year-old Leonard “Lenny” Rader, who played basketball at LIU with
his “twin brother Howard before going on to play professionally passed away
today.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/players/r/raderle01n.html
1997(30th of Kislev, 5758) Rosh
Chodesh Tevet
1998(10th of Tevet, 5759): Asara B'Tevet
1999: “The Hurricane” boxing biopic
co-starring Live Schreiber was released today in the United States.
1999: In an op-ed article in the Wall Street Journal, Ira Stoll
criticized a speech Rabbi Yitz Greenberg gave last November at the United
Jewish Communities’ General Assembly in Chicago.
2000(3rd of Tevet, 5761):
Eighth Day of Chanukah
2000: “Israelis and Palestinians wrangled
today over an 11th-hour compromise peace proposal by the Clinton administration
as new violence broke out.”
2001(14th of Tevet, 5762):
Parashat Vayechi
2001(14th of Tevet, 5762):
Eighty-five-year-old San Francisco born physician and president of the Jewish
Home, Julian Davis, the husband of Audrey Davis and the father of James and
Keith Davis passed away today.
https://www.jweekly.com/2002/01/04/dr-julian-davis-dies-jewish-home-president/
2002: The New York Times featured books reviews of books by Jewish
authors and/or about subjects of Jewish interest including the paperback
edition of Middle Age: A Romance, by Joyce Carol Oates
2003: Russian Interior
Ministry and FSB units seized 4,376 copies of Blowing up Russia: Terror from
within printed in Latvia and purchased by Alexander Podrabinek's Prima
information agency, which had passed customs control and were being trucked
from Latvia to Moscow for retail delivery
2004(17th of Tevet, 5765):
Chemist Julius Axelrod passed away.
Axelrod was a co-winner of the Noble Prize for Chemistry in 1970.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/axelrod.html
2004: In “Putting a
Still-Vexed Play in a Historical Context” published today A.O. Scott examines
“The Merchant of Venice” and its most famous character, Shylock.
2004: “The Merchant of Venice”
directed by Michael Radford who “believed that Shylock was Shakespeare's first
great tragic hero” and which “begins with text and a montage of how the Jewish
community is abused by the Christian population” was released today in the
United States 3 weeks after opening in the United Kingdom.
2005: A suicide bomber
detonated an explosive device at an IDF checkpoint on the West Bank. An IDF soldier and two Palestinians were
killed in addition to the bomber.
2005: Alice Loeb, daughter of Ernst Loeb
and wife of John Strugnell passed away today in Grasse, France, two days after
celebrating her 85th birthday.
2005(28th of Kislev, 5766): Day
4 of Chanukah
2005(28th of Kislev, 5766):
Ninety-five-year-old architect Armand P Bartos passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/arts/10bartos.html?_r=0
2006: The Jewish Daily Forward, featured a review of Jewish Ireland in the Age of Joyce: A
Socioeconomic History by Cormac Ó. Gráda. “Gráda’s new economic chronicle, “traces the
history of the Jews in Ireland from 1079, when they first arrived, up until the
present day. The book’s main focus is the Jewish community from the 1870s
through the 1940s, roughly during the Ulysses author’s lifetime. While
much has been written about the Jewishness of James Joyce’s Leopold Bloom, one
of the most famous characters in all of literature, few know anything about the
remarkable community in Ireland that inspired Joyce to create him.”
2007:
The Chicago Tribune features a review
of People of the Book, Geraldine Brook’s new novel that follows the
tortuous path of the Sarajevo Haggadah.
2007:
The Chicago Tribune reported that the
47,000 square foot property housing Streit’s, the last matzo factory on New York’s Lower East Side, is going on the
marked for $25 million in part of the city that is becoming increasingly
gentrified. The factory will keep
producing matzo until the owners build a new one in about a year, probably in
New Jersey.
2008:
In “Anatomy of a Scam,” Time magazine
offers a pictograph description of a Ponzi scheme as it reports that “…Bernard
Madoff was arrested for allegedly bilking investors out of up to $50 billion in
a Ponzi scheme described as one of history’s largest swindles.”
2008:
“The U.S. Treasury gave GMAC of which Jacob Ezra Merkin served as the
Non-executive Chairman of GMAC $5 billion from its $700 billion Troubled Asset
Relief Program (TARP).”
2008: The stars of the hit Broadway musical “Irving Berlin’s
White Christmas” – Stephen Bogardus, Kerry O’Malley, Jeffry Denman &
Meredith Patterson ring The Closing Bell at the NYSE in celebration of the
holiday season. “Irving Berlin’s ‘White
Christmas,’” a new musical stage reinvention of the classic film, is now
playing a limited engagement on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre.
2008(2nd
of Tevet, 5769): Eighth Day of Chanukah
2008: A bottle of flammable liquid was hurled at Temple Sholom one of Chicago's
oldest synagogues. The building caught fire but did not suffer “major damage.”
2008
(2 Tevet 5769): Irit Shitrit, a 36-year-old mother of four who had sought
shelter in a bus station was killed by a rocket in downtown Ashdod. Her sister was one of eight other civilians
injured in the attack.
2008
(2 Tevet 5769): First Staff Sgt. Lutfi Nasraldin, 38, from the Israeli Druze
village of Daliyat al-Karmel was killed when two mortar shells landed in the
brigade headquarters near Nachal Oz.
2008
(2 Tevet 5769) Hani al Mahdi a 27-year-old construction worker, from the Bedouin village
of Aroer was killed when a Palestinian Grad missile exploded near a
construction site in the coastal town of Ashkelon.
2009:
In Jerusalem, Yellow Submarine (Tzolelet Tzehubah) hosts Elan Bar Lavi, the Mexican/Jerusalemite guitarist, back in Israel
after an American and Mexican tour.
2009:
Opening session of International Conference on Conservative Judaism: Halakhah,
Culture and Sociology at The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.
2009: Israel’s Supreme Court ruled today that a major
access highway to Jerusalem running through the occupied West Bank could no
longer be closed to most Palestinian traffic.
2009: “The New Israeli Foundation for Cinema & TV
announced today special funding to devlop scripts based on the stories of
Shalom Aleichem.”
2009(12th of Tevet. 5770): Eighty-three-year-old
journalist Janina (née Lewinson) Bauman, the wife of “socialist and philosopher
Zygmunt Bauman” passed away toay.
https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/jan/26/janina-bauman-obituary
2009: Mathieu “Schneider was waived by the Vancouver
Canucks” today.
2009(12th of Tevet, 5770): Eighty-three-year-old “David
Levine, whose macro-headed, somberly expressive, astringently probing and
hardly ever flattering caricatures of intellectuals and athletes, politicians
and potentates were the visual trademark of The
New York Review of Books for nearly half a century, died today in
Manhattan.” (As reported by Bruce Weber)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/arts/design/30levine.html
2010(22
Tevet): In the yearbook of the Meisel Synagogue in Prague, the 22nd of Tevet is
designated as the date on which to commemorate the escape of Yosef Thein from
the gallows in the Hebrew year 5383 (1622).
2010:
“Judaism and Social Justice: What Can We Contribute to the Discourse in the Age
of Globalization?” and “Brotherly Love: Joseph Revisited,” a session that will
use close reading techniques to explore the opening of Vayeshev (Genesis 37)
and gain a deeper appreciation of the complexity of the text and its surprising
insights into the story of Joseph and his brothers, are two of the programs
scheduled to be presented at today’s meeting of the Limmud Conference.
2010: Perez Hilton broke the news earlier today that not
only is Natalie Portman who starred in “Black Swan” along with three other
Jewish actresses all playing ballerinas (Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder and Barbara
Hershey), now engaged to marry her choreographer from “Black Swan,” but that
she is also pregnant. For those wondering about Millepied's ethnic origins, he
is French, but not Jewish.
2010(22nd
of Tevet, 5771): Rabbi Menachem Zeev
“Wolf” Greenglass, a Chabad kabbalist and educator who exchanged hundreds of
letters over the years with the Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneersohn,
died in Montreal today at the age of 94. Greenglass was a founder of the Rabbinical
College of Canada in Montreal after escaping Europe during the Holocaust and
taught there for decades. He gave his final lecture on the Chabad philosophical
treatise Tanya in 2007. Greenglass was born in Lodz, Poland, to parents who
followed the Alexander Chasidic dynasty. In Poland, Greenglass became close to
Rabbi Zalman Schneersohn, a descendant of the first Lubavitcher rebbe, and then
enrolled in the Otwock Lubavitch yeshiva, where he met Menachem Mendel
Schneersohn, the son-in-law of the then current Lubavitcher rebbe. When World
War II broke out, Greenglass headed for Vilna and was among those who received
later transit visas from the Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara, who saved
thousands of Jews. Greenglass crossed Russia by rail, went by boat to Japan
from Vladivostok and then to Shanghai before reaching Canada. Once there,
Chabad tasked him to open schools, including Montreal's Beth Rivkah Girls
School, and work with Jewish children in the Montreal public schools. During
that time, Greenglass continued a correspondence with Schneersohn, who had
become Chabad's rebbe, and who wrote to him in 1954 that "without an
intellectual appreciation for the truth … one cannot expect a student to always
be in total acceptance." Greenglass also maintained a lengthy
correspondence with the Jerusalem mystic Rabbi Yeshaya Asher Zelig Margaliot.
2010:
Liverpool marked the death of Avi Cohen with a period of applause before their
Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Cohen had been declared
legally dead the day before after being involved in fatal motorcycle accident.
2010:
Leah Berkenwald published her “Top 10 Moments for Jewish Women in 2010”
http://jwa.org/blog/top-10-moments-for-jewish-women-in-2010
2011:
Those viewing tonight’s scheduled screening of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi
creation, 2001: A Space Odyssey at the San Francisco MOMA will find their
viewing experience enhanced if they wear the Dreidel Vision Goggles available
at the Jewish Museum for a mere $3.00
2011: Rav
Gav is scheduled to appear at Greek Themed International night sponsored by
HipJLM (Heneni International Programs: Jerusalem).
2011: Mrs. Raize Guttman is scheduled to
present “Challah for a Kallah,” an interactive Challah class which will cover
everything from the hashkafa to the halacha of baking challah as well as
learning how to make new and interesting challah shapes.
2011: An 8-year-old girl who became the symbol of a recent public struggle
against gender segregation and religious extremism returned to school today,
for the first time since a violent incident that sparked a nation-wide protest
movement. Na'ama Margolese turned into a household name last week after Channel
2 broadcasted a segment in which the young girl's described being spat on and
accosted by ultra-Orthodox men over what they deemed to be her indecent
apparel.
2011: Israel's population stands at 7.836 million, the Central Bureau of
Statistics (ICBS) indicated today as part of its year-end survey.
2012: The Rishonim String Quartet is
scheduled to perform at the Eden-Tamir Music Center.
2012: “I Wish” is scheduled to be shown
at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.
2012: The Millinery Center Synagogue is
scheduled to host a Kumzitz Melaveh Malka featuring Singer Songwriter Dov
Shurin along with Kabalistic Insights in Judaism with Reb Yitzchak Ring
2012(16th of Tevet, 5773): On
the final Shabbat of 2012, Jews read Vayehi, the final parsha of Bereshit.
2012: After reports were made public
today by the PA that there had been nine deaths due to the swine flu, “a
spokesman for the Israeli health ministry said officials were monitoring the
situation in the West Bank, but so far are not taking any action.”
2012: It was reported today that “Ron
Dermer, an adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is set to replace
Michael Oren as Israel’s ambassador to the United States, an Israeli newspaper
reported.”
2013(26th
of Tevet, 5774): Ninety-two-year-old “Rabbi Mordecai Chertoff, a former foreign
news editor of The Palestine Post and survivor of the February 1948 bombing of
the paper’s Jerusalem office” passed away today.
2013: The New York Times featured reviews of
books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Just
Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil by Paul Bloom and Correspondences:
A Poem and Portraits by Anne Michaels and Bernice Eisenstein.
2013:
In the Bronx, the Sholem-Aleichem Cultural Center is schedule to host a
“Yiddish Event.”
2013:
“Like Father, Like Son” and “Brokeback Mountain” are scheduled to be shown at
the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.
2013: At
least five Katyusha rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel. Two of
the rockets fired this morning exploded near the northern town of Kiryat
Shemona; others reportedly landed in Lebanese territory. No injuries or damage
were reported in Israel. The Israeli military returned fire in the direction of
the rocket launches. (As reported by JTA and Forwards)
2013: “In
Week 17 of the 2013 NFL season, Julian Edelman became the third Patriots player
in team history to catch over 100 passes in a season today in the Patriots'
34–20 win over the Buffalo Bills
2013:
Immigration from France and other Western European countries was up
dramatically in 2013, but immigration from the US was down, according to
figures released today by the Jewish Agency for Israel. (As reported by Gavriel
Fiske)
2014:
The Palestinians are scheduled to submit their UN Security Council statehood
resolution to a vote today.
2014:
“The Farewell Party” and “Boyhood” are scheduled to shown at the Jerusalem
Jewish Film Festival.
2014:
Marc Trestman, the only Jewish head coach in the NFL was fired today after two
seaons.
2014:
“Aryeh Deri of the Shas party offered his resignation to the ultra-Orthodox
party’s steering council of rabbis today, a day after the publication of
footage of the party’s late former spiritual leader criticizing Deri and
praising his arch-rival Eli Yishai, the former leader of the party.” (As
reported by Stuart Winer and Tamar Pileggi
2014:
An Egyptian court today ban an annual festival in honor of Yaakov Abu Hatzira a
Moroccan rabbi whose tomb is in the Nile Delta province of Beheira, south of
Alexandria.”
2014:
Yuri Kissin, “who immigrated to Israel from Russia in 1990 and is a graduate of
Tel Aviv University” is scheduled to sing the title role when the Jerusalem
Opera performs “Figaro” today.
2015(17th
of Tevet, 5776): Forty-two-year-old Neil Gandler, “a Jewish tech entrepreneur
who lived out of rental cars’ was shot and killed today by two burglars “while
sleeping in a rented car in a gym parking lot during a failed robbery attept.
2015:
The Israel Air Force Flight Academy Air Show/Graduation and Airshow/Misdar
Knafaim (Wings Ceremony) is scheduled to take place today at the Chatzeirim Air
Force Base near Beer Sheva.
2015:
In Jerusalem, Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld is scheduled to speak on “Wherefore Art
Thou Modern Orthodoxy?”
2016(29th
of Kislev, 5777): Fifth Day of Chanukah
2016:
YNY is scheduled to come to an end with an “amazing Student Concert.”
2016:
In Little Rock, AR, Governor Hutchinson is scheduled to “deliver Chanukah
greetings a the Public Menorah Lighting sponsored by Chabad Lubavitch.
2016:
“Operation Wedding” is scheduled to be screened with “The Chop,” the winner of
the Pears Short Film Fund at UKJF at JW3, the Jewish Community Centre London.
2016:
The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington is scheduled to host its
New Year’s Klezmer Concert this evening.
2016:
Citing “high prices as one reason for the lack of success in Israel,” “Gottex
Brands, also known as Zara Group Israel, which holds the GAP franchise in
Israel” announced today that it “will shut down its seven stores in Israel in
2017.”
2016:
In Memphis, TN, Temple Israel is scheduled to host Shabbat Chanukah services
followed by a special congregational dinner.
2017:
The Exhibition “1917: How One Year Changed The World” which has opened in New
York at the American Jewish Historical Society on September 1 is scheduled to
come to a close today. (As reported by Julia Klein)
2017: Today, in a game against the Arizona Coyotes,
Zach Hyman scored the fifth shorthanded goal of his career, which is the third
most by a Leaf’s player in their first three NHL seasons.”
2017:
In Jerusalem, Jodi and Gavin Samuels are scheduled to host a Shabbat Dinner
that will include a presentation by “guest speaker, Michael Bassin.”
2018:
In Rochester, NY, the JCC CenterStage Theatre is scheduled to present a
performance of “Big Wigs.”
2018:
After having arrived yesterday on his first ever official to the country, Prime
Minister is scheduled to spend Shabbat in Brazil today.
2018:
In Washington, DC, Theatre J is scheduled to present “Talley’s Folly,” a
“Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy” about Matt Friedman, a “middle-aged Jewish
accountant.
2018:
The Illinois Holocaust Museum is scheduled to a “Survivor Talk” by George Levy
Mueller.
2018(21st
of Tevet, 5779): Parashat Shemot - As the secular world prepares to celebrate a
New Year, Jews begin reading “a new” book of the Torah as they start with
Shemot.
2019:
The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including Genius & Anxiety: How Jews
Changed the World, 1847-1947 by Norman Lebrecht and the recently released
paperback edition of The Life of Saul Bellow: Love and Strife, 1965-2005 by
Zachary Leader.
2019:
JCC and Chabad of Contra Costa are scheduled to host the public menorah
lighting at Alamo Plaza.
2019:
Final performance of “The Sorceress” Avrom Goldfaden’s 1870’s operetta which is
produced by the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene is scheduled to take place
at he Museum of Jewish Heritage.
2019:
In the evening, in Coralville, IA, Agudas Achim is scheduled host their annual
Chanukah Party complete with latkes, sour cream, apple sauce and whole lot more
fun.
2019:
In Brookline, MA, New England Yachad is scheduled to host the “Teen and Adult
Chanukah Party.
2019:
In London, JW 3 is scheduled to host the first screening of “Spider in the
Web.”
2019(1st
of Tevet, 5780): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Seventh Day of Chanukah
2020:
Hadar is scheduled to present “Rising Song Intensive,” a one-day virtual
seminar for people of all musical
backgrounds…”
2020:
The 3-day long December Institute presented by NFTY Northeast is scheduled to
come to an end today.
2020:
Judaism Your Way in Colorado is schedule to continue its virtual cooking
classes with instructions in how to make Mandelbrot
2020:
YNY is scheduled to host a Lunchtime concert with London’s Fran & Flora
(Francesca Ter-Berg and Flora Curzon) \ one of the British capital’s most
sought-after bands followed by an evening concert with “The Nigunim Trio (Frank
London, Lorin Sklamberg & Rob Schwimmer).”
2020:
The FIDF is scheduled to host the Head of the Lebanon Department in the IDF
Intelligence Corps lecturing on “The Northern Border: Exposed.”
2020:
Today “Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai is scheduled to announce his entry into
national politics and the formation of a new party ahead of Israel's upcoming
elections for parliament, Hebrew media outlets reported yesterday.”
2021:
Israel’s first shipment of Pfizer’s anti-COVID pill is scheduled to arrive
today.
2021:
In Columbus, OH, Congregation Tiferith Israel is scheduled to host the final
session of the year of Judaism 101 with Rabbi Braver.
2021: The
EcoMotion and PLANETech communities are scheduled to to present Sustain the
Chain - Supply Chains and logistics in a Climate Senstine World at the Herzog
Tower in Tel Aviv.
2021:
Iowa State is scheduled to play today in the Cheez It Bowl which arguably may
be the only Kosher game of the bowl season, since its namesake snack cracker is
officially Kosher Dairy.
2022:
The Center for Jewish history and the Polish Cultural Institute of New York are
scheduled to host one of three spoken
word performances by Artistic resident Zunna Hertzberg, the creator of the
installation “Mechitza: Individual and collective Resistance of Women During
the Shoah.”
2022:
Yiddish New York is scheduled to come to an end today with a symposium on
“Klezmer: Musical Fusion and Allusion.”
2022:
The Award Ceremony and Gala Concert with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Noam Zur is scheduled to take place at the Jerusalem Theatre’s
Henry Crown Auditorium.
2023:
Kan Kol Hamusika is scheduled to broadcast a “Special Concert Recital for Viola
and Piano” featuring violist Leikie Glick and pianist Michell Buskova.
2023:
Lockdown University is scheduled to host a d’var Torah by Rabbi Shippel on the
Parsha of the Week.
2023:
As December 29 begins in Israel, the Hamas held hostages begin day 84 in captivity. (Editor’s note: this situation is too fluid
for this blog to cover so we are just providing a snapshot as of the posting at
midnight Israeli time
