This Day, December 6, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"
DECEMBER 6
1060: Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary.
In 1061 Bela changed the Market Day from the traditional Sunday to Saturday
which may have been part of an attempt to remove the Jews from the commercial
activity of the kingdom. Given the anti-Jewish
decrees of his immediate successors, there is reason to believe such was the
case.
1185: Alfonso I the Conqueror, king of Portugal
passed away at the age of 76. Alfonso’s
connection with Jewish history is indirect.
Until he proclaimed himself king, Portugal was part of Spain. Alfonso’s successful secession came only
after bitter fighting between him and the Spanish. This delayed the attempts by the Spanish
monarchs to drive the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula. Also, Portugal offered
a haven for Jews and Conversos in 1492.
This haven proved to be short-lived but sometimes any port in a storm is
better than no port at all.
1285:
Birthdate of King Ferdinand IV of Castile who would earn the enmity of the
Dowager Queen for employing a Jew as his treasurer and close advisor.
1352:
Pope Clement VI who in 1342 had had a portion of Sefer Milhamot Ha-Shem, ("The Wars of the Lord") by Levi
ben Gershon (Gersonides) containing “an elaborate survey of astronomy”
translated into Latin passed away today.
1424: Don Alfonso V of Aragon grants
Barcelona the right to exclude Jews.
1496:
Isaac Abravanel completed "Ma'yene ha-Yeshu'ah" (Sources of
Salvation).
1531:
In Fondi, a Colonna fief in the southern Latium, Isabella Colonna and the
condottiero Louis Gonzaga, lord of Palazzolo, a member of a cadet branch of the
House of Gonzaga, Dukes of Mantua gave birth to Vespasiano I Gonzaga, Duke of
Sabbioneta “an enlightened ruler, educated in Greek, Latin, history, Italian
literature, the Talmud, and even Kabbalah” who “permitted the rise of the Foà printing house” which
produced Bibles and Hebrew prayerbooks, but also remained an enlightened
protector of the Jews” in one of only two Italian cities that did not create a
ghetto.
https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/pb-daily/the-fortunate-foas-of-sabbioneta
1570:
The Council of Worms issued ordinances “regulating Jewish affairs” today.
1655:
The Whitehall Conference called by Oliver Cromwell to discuss the readmission
of the Jews to England continued for a third day.
1576:
“King Stephen Bathori relieved the Jews of Brest from all taxes on account of
serious losses sustained by them through fires.”
1672:
King John II Casimir of Poland passed away. King John allowed the Jews to
continue living in the fortified city of Kamnets where they had taken refuge
during Khmelnytsky (Chmielnicki) Uprising. He also granted the Jews of
Szydlowiec several privileges including the right to make and sell whiskey.
1675:
Seventy-three-year-old John Lightfoot, the English minister who studied with
Hebraist Sir Rowland Cotton “and became the best Hebrew scholar in his nation
without speaking to a Jew” passed away today.
1766:
Sampson Gideon, the grandson of West India merchant Rowland Gideon and the son
of Sampson Gideon, the successful financier who had “ceased all connection with
the Portuguese synagogue at Bevis Marks in 1753 but never join the Christian
church,” married “the daughter of Chief-justice Sir John Eardley Wilmot” whose
surname he assumed so that he could be elevated to a peerage.
1771(29th
of Kislev, 5532): Fifth day of Chanukah observed as future U.S. President
George Washington wrote his eldest brother Samuel Washington.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-08-02-0368
1776(25th
of Kislev, 5537): As Washington’s army freezes in Pennsylvania having escaped
across the Delaware River from the British, first day of Chanukah
1779(27th
of Kislev, 5540) Third Day of Chanukah observed on the same a group of Spanish
soldiers defeated the Apaches at what is now modern Tucson, AZ.
1785:
In Buchau, Germany, Johanna Ullmann and Jacob Dreifus gave birth to Marianne
Miriam Dreifus, the wife of Israel Mayer with whom she had seven children.
1786:
In Baltimore, MD, Hannah Levy and Eleazar Lyons gave birth to Esther Lyons, the
husband of Isaac Lazarus.
1787(25th
of Kislev, 5548): Chanukah
1790(29th
of Kislev, 5551): Fifth Day of Chanukah observed on the when “Congress convened
for the first time in Philadelphia, then the capital of Pennsylvania and
America’s largest city.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/congress-convenes-in-philadelphia-dec-6-1790-232176
1792:
In The Hague,
King
William I of the Netherlands and Wilhelmine of Prussia gave birth to William II
who followed in his father’s footsteps when became king of not abrogating the
rights of the Jews gained while the French ruled the Netherlands.
1793(3rd
of Tevet, 5554): 8th Day of Chanukah
1794:
Newport, RI native Hannah Isaacks and London born Jacob Phillips gave birth
Esther Phillips, the wife of Isaac Hendricks with she had six children.
1795(24th
of Kislev, 5556): The first Chanukah Candle is kindled for the first time under
“The new Constitution of the Year III.”
1797:
In Baden Germany, “Judel Loew” and Moses Herz Wimpfheimer gave birth to Amalie
Wimpfheimer, the wife of Samuel Ottenheimer and mother of Lazarus Ottenheimer.
1798(28th
of Kislev, 5550): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1798:
In Bonfeld, Germany, Schoenle Lazarus and Lazarus Ruben gave birth to “Sara
Lazarus Ottenheimer” the wife of Lamle Strausburger with whom she had ten
children.
1806(25th
of Kislev, 5567): Chanukah and Shabbat
1808:
Issachar ben Baruch married Sarah bat Ephraim Gumprich today at the Western
Synagogue.
1809(28th
of Kislev, 5570): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1809:
Jacob Henry, the son Joel and Amelia Henry, who had been elected to the North
Carolina state legislature despite the state constitution forbidding the
“holding of public office by those who denied the "truth of the Protestant
religion" or the "divine authority" of the New Testament”
“delivered a rousing speech about religious liberty to the General Assembly.
1812:
Birthdate of Hezekiah Linthicum Bateman, the Baltimore born American actor and
manager. Bateman was the manager of Henry Irving when the British actor gained
his greatest success by playing Mathias in “The Bells” a play based on a
translation of “The Polish Jew.”
1815:
Emperor Frederick William III of Prussia closed the first Reform Temple in
Berlin.
1817:
In London, Rebecca Levy and Victor Abraham gave birth to Joseph Abraham, the
husband of Sara De Youn
1817
(27th of Kislev, 5578): Rabbi Chaim of Tchernovitz, a disciple of the Maggid of
Mezritch and of Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov passed away on the third day
of Chanukah which was also Shabbat Shel Chanukah. He authored Be'er Mayim Chayim
("Well of Living Waters"), a commentary on Torah.
1818:
In Hanover, Germany, Gershon Hirsch Treuenfels and Rachel Treuenfels gave birth
to Abraham Treuenfels the husband of Bertha Budge.
1820: US President James Monroe
re-elected. In 1850, a U.S. Senate
Committee investigated the role played by Chaim Solomon during the American
Revolution. According to a report issued
by the committee James Monroe was one of several leaders of the Revolution who
received financial assistance from Solomon.
Like the other leaders listed, Monroe did not repay Solomon proving that
while some may have talked about “pledging their fortunes” to the cause of
liberty, Solomon actually did give his fortune.
1823:
In Dessau, Germany, lyric poet Wilhelm Muller and the former Adelheid von
Basedow gave birth to German linguist and Oriental scholar Friedrich Max Müller
who challenged the claim of Nicolas Notovitch, a Russian Jew, that the Life of
Issa” was a legitimate work depicting the life of Jesus (Issa) which had Him
leaving the Galilee and studying with Buddhists and Hindus in India before
returning to Judea.
1825(26th
of Kislev, 5586): Second day Chanukah observed for the first time during the
presidency of John Q. Adams, who was technically the commander-chief of Uriah
P. Levy.
1827:
In Charleston, SC, Rabbi S.C. Peixotto officiated at the marriage of Hyam Cohen
and Mrs. Esther Moise.
1828(30th
of Kislev, 5589): Parashat Miketz; Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Sixth Day of Chanukah
1832”
Amsterdam natives Adelaide and Jacob Cohen – De Solla gave birth to Benjamin De
Solla.
1834(4th of Kislev, 5595): Dutch lawyer Jonas Daniel
Meyer passed away at the age of 54. In
Amsterdam, the Jonas Daniel Meyer Square was the center of the Jewish religious
life.
1834:
Birthdate of Dr. Hermann Senator the medical professor who was a native of
Gnesen.
1838:
In New York, Jacob Levy Seixas, the New York born son of Judith and Moses
Benjamin Seixas and his wife Hortensia Seixas gave birth to Victoria Seixas
1840:
Birthdate of S.H. Friendly, the New York native who moved to California in 1863
before settling in Eugene, Oregon where his success in business led to his
being chosen President of the Board of Trade, Mayor and eventually a member of
the Board of Regents for the University of Oregon.
1843:
Jacob Hyman married Fraces Phillips today at the Great Synagogue.
1844(25th
of Kislev, 5605): Chanukah observed for the last time during the Presidency of
John Tyler, the first Vice President to take office after the death of the
President.
1849:
Simon Hyam married Rebecca de Pass today at the New Synagogue.
1850(1st
of Tevet, 5611): Seventh Day of Chanukah; Rosh Chodesh Tevet
1850:
Birthdate of Russian native Simon Marcus, the husband of Ellen Albertine Kann.
1852(25th
of Kislev, 5613): Chanukah
1852:
In Jersey City, Jersey, the committee that had been appointed to make
arrangements for the lectures of Mr. Matthew A. Berk on “The Conditions of
Jews” decided that they would begin this week.
There will be no charge for admission, but a voluntary collection will
be taken to support the lectures. In 1846, Berk published The History of the
Jews from the Babylonian Captivity to Present the Present Time.
1854:
In New York, London born Jews Hannah and Henry cantor gave birth to Jacob Aaron
Cantor, New York attorney and political leader who served in the U.S. Congress
for one term from 1913 through 1915 and who after the death of his first wife
Julia Lewenthal married Lydia Greenbaum with whom he had three children –
Margaret, Ruth and John
1854:
In Australia, three days after the Eureka Stockade Massacre, Charles Dyte and
Henry Harris both of whom are members of the Ballarat Hebrew Congregation took
part in drafting “the Eureka Resolution.”
1855(26th
of Kislev, 5616) Second Day of Chanukah
1855(26th
of Kislev, 5616): Amschel Mayer Rothschild, the second child and eldest son of
Mayer Amschel Rothschild, passed away. On the death of Mayer Amschel in 1812,
Amschel Mayer succeeded as head of the bank at Frankfurt-am-Main, which was the
original Rothschild house in the House of Rothschild.
1855:
Birthdate of Nina Morais Cohen—the daughter of Sabato Morais, a prominent
Orthodox rabbi and a leading exponent of traditional Judaism— who established
her own strong voice as an advocate for women's rights within Judaism and
American society. Born in Philadelphia where her father served the congregation
Mikveh Israel, Nina Morais grew up very involved in her father's work and
concerns. As a young woman she published widely on the subject of women's
rights and roles in Judaism in both the Jewish and secular press. After her
marriage to attorney Emanuel Cohen in 1885, she moved to Minneapolis, where she
became a leader in the woman suffrage movement and in the Jewish community. She
participated in the 1893 Jewish Women's Congress in Chicago and returned to
Minneapolis to found a local section of the newly formed National Council of
Jewish Women (NCJW) in 1894. She served as section president until 1907. For 13
years she drew upon her extensive Jewish education to lead study sessions for
local NCJW members in her home on Saturday afternoons (As reported by Jewish
Women’s Archives)
1856:
In Navahrudak, Hrodna Province, Belarus, Tsvi Hirsch Lamport and Esther Lamport
gave birth to Nathan Lamport, the husband of Sarah Lamport and the father of
Arthur Lamport.
1858:
The second session of the 35th United States Congress in which
Philadelphian Henry Myer Phillips served as a member of the U.S. House of
Representatives opened today in Washington, DC.
1858:
Birthdate of Ferdinand A. Weil who was buried in Savannah when he passed away.
1859: In Jamica, Robert and Rebecaa
Nunes gave birth to their “second son, Charles Alfred.”
1861:
Birthdate of Sigmund Berliner, the husband of Paula Berliner with whom he had
eight children before passing away in 1919.
1862:
In Davenport, IA, the members of Congregation B’nai Israel which had been
formed in 1861 accepted and approved a constitution and by-laws.
1863(25th
of Kislev, 5624): Chanukah
1863:
Eide and Ephraim Leib Moshewitz gave birth to Max Moshewitz.
1864:
A meeting was held in Philadelphia “which resulted in the establishment of the
first Jewish theological seminary in America. The need of such an institution
was strongly felt, as there were numerous synagogues in the country, but few
persons capable of filling the rabbinical office. The seminary was established
under the joint auspices of the Hebrew Education Society and the Board of
Delegates of American Israelites and was named Maimonides College." The
school began operating in 1867 with Isaac Leeser as its provost. The school
ceased operations in 1873 due to lack of support and funds.
1864:
In Chicago, the former Joseph Brumer and Abram Lipman, “a loan broker” gave
birth actress and playwright Clara Lipman, the wife of fellow thespian Louis
Mann.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/lipman-clara
https://www.loc.gov/item/2014637220/
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/06/23/84326976.html?pageNumber=19
1866(28th of Kislev, 5627): Fourth Day of Chanukah
observed on the same day that “Chicago water supply tunnel 3,227 m into Lake
Michigan was completed.”
1870: Birthdate of New York native Rudolph Block, the “editor of
the comic supplements of the Hearst newspapers” who under the pen name Bruno
Lessings helped to create “The Katzenjammer Kids” and raised two sons Rudolph
Jr and Arthur with his wife Verda.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/04/30/109345942.pdf
1870:
It was reported today that the Hebrew Fair has raised $75,000 so far and the
sponsors are sure that they will reach the goal of $100,000. Over 450 items
have been raffled off so far including a $200 silver service. Mrs. Joseph Steiner won a canvas on which
Constant Meyer will paint the winner’s portrait.
1871:
“In Schweinfurt, Germany, Philipp Salzer and Lina Fuchs gave birth to Gustave
Salzer, the husband of Hedwig Gtunbaum.”
1873:
In Paris, Alfred and Jeanne Neymarck gave birth to Auschwitz victim Henriette
Neymarck who became Henriette Mayer when she married Germain Lucien Mayer.
1874:
The annual meeting of the Hebrew Free School Association was held today at
Metropolitan Hall in New York. The association supports five afternoon and
evening schools with 519 students, 375 of whom were boys and 144 were girls.
1874:
In Chattanooga, TN, Bernard and Theresa (Ehrman) Stern gave birth to Western
Reserve University trained surgeon Walter G. Stern, the assistant professor of
orthopedic surgery at the Cleveland College of Physicians and Surgeon and an
orthopedic surgeon at the Jewish Orphan Asylum in Cleveland.
1874:
Mrs. P.J. Joachimsen was elected President at today’s annual meeting of the
Society of the Home for the Aged and Infirm Hebrews located on Lexington
Avenue. The number of residences has increased from 300 to 700 in the last
year. The total assets of the society
are $18,361.39. The President expressed
the hope that before the lease has expired on the current facility the society
will have built a suitable building of its own.
1875:
A fundraiser for the benefit of Mount Sinai Hospital is scheduled to be held
today at Gilmore’s Garden.
1875:
The Hebrew Charity Fair, a fund-raiser for Mt. Sinai Hospital opened tonight at
the Hippodrome, the pleasure palace erected by P.T. Barnum in Manhattan.
1875:
The sister of Abram and Aaron Dietz identified their burned bodies at the City
Morgue today. The two Jewish men were
among the victims of yesterdays Brooklyn Theatre Fire which claimed the lives
of 278 people.
1876(20th
of Kislev, 5637):
Isaac
Elijah ben Samuel Landau who began serving as a rabbi and a dayyan at Wilna in
1868 passed away today.
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9608-landau
1876:
In London, the former Adelaide Soman and Herman Klein gave birth to composer
Manuel Joachim Klein whose “five brothers included Max, a violinist; Charles, a
playwright; Herman, a music critic and music teacher; Alfred, an actor; and
Philip.
1877:
First publication of The Washington Post. In 1933, The
Post would be purchased in a bankruptcy auction by Eugene Meyer, who
restored the paper's health and reputation. Philip L. Graham, Meyer's
son-in-law, would work his way up to become publisher upon Graham's death in
1959. After Graham’s death, his widow
Katherine would take over the paper and the communication conglomerate that
would include Newsweek Magazine the Washington affiliate of CBS.
1877:
Birthdate of New York native and surgeon Dr. Henry M. Kalvin, the husband of
Pauline Kalvin with whom he had one son who served “as a physician in the Army
induction center at Grand Central Station” and “who hobby was capturing wild
animals with a lariat.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/10/05/80554814.pdf
1877:
Fifty-nine-year-old German poet and historian Theodore Creizenach, who
converted to Christianity in 1854 passed today in Frankfurt.
1878:
At 11:30 this morning, a fire broke out in the basement of the Hebrew Orphan
Asylum in New York. The fire was quickly
extinguished by the staff. None of the
50 children in the building at the time were in any danger and little damage
was sustained to the structure.
1878(10th of Kislev, 5639):
Sixty-four-year-old Dutch born French economist Louis Jean Königswarter who founded
the "Prix Königswarter" (1,500 francs), to be given every three years
by the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques for the best work on the
history of law” passed away today in Paris.
1880: It was reported today that at a meeting hosted
by Socialists in New York City where the speakers were all refugees from
political oppression in Germany, Carl Welki enumerated a list of grievances
including Prince Bismarck’s support of the attacks on the Jews.
1880: Sarah Bernhardt is scheduled to begin
performing at the Globe Theatre in Boston, MA.
1880: It was reported today that in Germany, “the
Provincial School Commission has recommended the Government to dismiss two
teachers for displaying animosity against the Jews.”
1880: “The German Anti-Jewish War” published today
described the decision of the Provincial School Commission in Germany to
recommend the dismissal of two Jews “for displaying animosity against the
Jews.”
1880: In New York, “Max Mansfeld, editor of the
Hanover Tageszeitung, delivered a
lecture” this evening at Steinway Hall on the modern persecution of the Jews in
Germany.”
1881: Today “Diamond broker” Ernest David Leverson
married Ada Esther Beddington who gained fame as the author Ada Leverson.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/leverson-ada
1882(25th of Kislev, 5643): Chanukah
1882: Mrs. Abraham Bronstein remained in the custody
of the Harlem Police today after having been arrested yesterday. Her husband, whom the police were still
seeking, remained at large. The Hebrew
Emigrant Aid Society had requested the police take the couple into custody
because they refused to leave the barracks at Ward’s Island despite the fact
that Mr. Bronstein had a job and could have provided for his family without
further assistance from the Jewish charity.
1883: Among the organizations receiving funds today
to cover expenses for the month of October were The Hebrew Shelter - $2,628. 29
and Ladies’ Deborah - $2,047.14
1884: Rabbi Louis Grossman gave his inaugural sermon
at Temple Bethel in Detroit, a congregation he would serve for 14 years.
1884: Mother Mandelbaum, the New York “fence” who
has fled to Montreal is trying to reach Germany
1884: Birthdate of Rose Schneiderman who served as New York
State Department of Labor Secretary from 1937 through 1944.
1885(28th
of Kislev, 5646): Sixty-four-year-old German physician and political reformer
Wolfgang Strassmann passed away.
1885:
Twenty-six-year-old leather decorator Mendel Planko, the Warsaw born son of
Benjamin Jacob and Rica (Cantor) Planko, who in 1880 came to the United States
where his hobbies included “the study of comparative religion” married Russian
born Sarah Ravich with whom he lived in Chicago, Illinois.
1886:
Birthdate of Chicago native and member of the Hyde Park High football and
basketball teams, Robert S. Harris who played under legendary coach Amos Alonzo
Stagg at U. of Chicago before join the Army in WW I where he served “as captain
with the Rainbow Division” and retired as Colonel after WW II.
1887:
Sigismund Schloss, the husband of Rebecca Mocatta with who he had three
children and the husband of Catherine Elkin with whom he had two children was
buried today at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1888(2nd
of Tevet, 5649): Eighth Day of Chanukah
1888:
Rabbi Henry S. Jacobs was among the clergymen who met with New York Mayor
Hewitt to plan the religious component of next year’s celebration of the
Centenary of the Inauguration of George Washington as President of the United
States.
1889:
Jacob Adler and Dinah Shtettin gave birth to Celia Feinman Adler “an American
Jewish actress known as the ‘first Lady of the Yiddish Theatre.’”
1890(24th
of Kislev, 5651): In the evening, kindle the first Chanukah light
1890:
Birthdate of Boston native and New York University educated teacher Harold
Fields the WW I Army veteran whose activities in the field of immigration
including helping “to frame the National Origins Act of 1924,” participating in
two conferences of Governor Roosevelt on immigration and working as a
“consultant” on the topic for the famous trial lawyer Clarence Darrow.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/03/31/83493361.pdf
1890:
Plans for the upcoming performance of “Ein Konigreich um ein Kind” sponsored by
the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Orphan Asylum were published today.
1890: The New York Times reported that Baron
Hirsch is considering a plan to settle Russian Jews in agricultural settlements
in Argentina. Hirsch has sent a commission to the South American republic to
investigate the feasibility of the plan to which he is reportedly willing to
spend $20,000,000 to bring it to a successful conclusion.
1891:
In Eisenheim, Bavaria, Karoline and Leopold Scholoss gave birth to Bruno Henry
Sloss
1891:
Twenty-eight-year-old Maurice Enriquez, a native of Smyrna and the son of
Joseph Enriquez married to Wilma Fuchs, the daughter of Hermann Fuchs and
Charlotte Mandel.
1891:
Birthdate of Boston native and NYC businessman David E. Victor who “organized
the Association of Army and Navy Stores.”
1891:
“Some Tales of Two Cities” published today described common threads between New
York City and Charleston, S.C. including the move of New York literary critic
Rufus Griswold following his second marriage to Charlotte Myers, a wealthy and
prominent Jewess with whom he “enjoyed” a tempestuous relationship.
1892:
In New Orleans, Elkin and Ida (Runkel) Moses gave birth to Tulane trained
engineer and member of the Y.M.H.A Walter B. Moses, the consulting engineer for
the Jewish Children Home the Treasurer of the Louisiana Engineering Society and
the husband of Josephine Harpman Noar.
1892:
The trial of Pastor Hermann Ahlwardt, the leading anti-Semite who is charged
with slandering Herr Loewe, the Jewish arms manufacturer, continues today. A
representative of the army testified that while some the new Loewe rifles
required repair, the number was not unusual for such weapons contrary to
Ahlwardt’s charge that the Jews had bribed the army to accept faulty weapons.
1893(27th
of Kislev, 5654): Third Day of Chanukah
1893:
Birthdate of Brooklyn native and Brooklyn School of Law trained attorney Max
Lawrence Kane, a member of the school board in Brooklyn and an officer of the
East New York Jewish Center.
1893:
“The Walsh School Plan” published today described a proposal that would have
allowed a certain amount of the funds intended for the public schools to be
diverted to parochial schools where the money would be used to fund the
teaching of secular subjects.
1894:
According to reports published today the fund raiser at the Lexington Avenue
Opera House raised $2,000 for the Monte Relief Society.
1894:
Today the twelve Jewish members – Max J. Lessauer, Jacob H. Schiff, Simon
Sterne, James Speyer, Isaac H. Klein, Julius Sternberg, Julius J. Frank, E.W.
Bloomingdale, A.C. Bernheim, Dr. A. Jacobi, Henry Rice and Professor E.R.A.
Seligman - of the Committee of Seventy,
a political reform group that took on the Tweed Ring, “sent regrets to the
Committee of the Union League Club which had invited them to attend tonight’s
reception for the Governor-elect and the Mayor-elect.
1895:
“Young Men’s Hebrew Association” published today described the latest lecture
sponsored by the Jewish organization delivered by Dr. Solis Cohn on “Judaism, a
Living Force.”
1895:
Birthdate of Max Kadushin, the native of Minsk who became a successful American
Rabbi in the Conservative Movement.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10C16FC355D11728DDDAD0A94DF405B8084F1D3
1895:
Two days after he had passed way, Abraham Abraham, the son of Victor Abraham
and Rebecca Levy was buried today at “The Walnut Hills Jewish Cemetery in
Cincinnati, Ohio.”
1895(19th
of Kislev, 5656): Abraham Frederick Ornstein, the son of Phineas Ornstien and
the father of Philip Ornstein who was the rabbi at the Portsea (Portsmouth)
Congregation and the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation passed away today in Cape
Town, South Africa.
1895:
Today, New Yorkers displayed “no excitement over the fact that” Hermann
Ahlwardt “the zealous anti-Semitic agitator had come to their city where “he
has awakened no interest and cause no stir.
1895:
In his sermon today, Dr. W.W. Rainsford of St. George’s Church preached a
sermon in which he sought “to correct some grave misconceptions as to the
condition of the Jews at the coming of Christ” saying they “were not a nation
of ignorant, irreligious and immoral people” and that they “were always religious
and patriotic” “given to high ideals of morality and civic virtue.”
1896:
Dr. of Jurisprudence Ernst Oppenheimer, the Hanover born son of Louis and
Anna Oppenheimer and his wife Clara Amalie Oppenheimer gave birth to Kurt
Leopold Alfred Oppenheimer.
1896: In Manhattan Morris (Moishe) Gershovitz and
his wife the former Rosa Bruskin gave birth to their old child Israel
Gershovitz who gained fame Ira Gershwin the Pulitzer Prize winning lyricist who
collaborated with his brother Georger Gershwin to and then after his brother’s
untimely death went to collaborate with several music masters including Jerome
Kern and Harold Arlen.
1897:
Émile Duclaux, the Director of the Pasteur Institute and a Dreyfusard wrote to
president Scheurer-Kestner with respect to the secret documents that led to
Dreyfus's conviction: "such investigative proceedings are unworthy of a
republic."
1897:
The defense by Dr. Maurice H. Harris of Harlem’s Temple Israel the concept of
God presented in what Christians called the Old Testament published today ended
with the statement that “the essential idea of God as against the earlier
beliefs – that He is just and not partial, that He is the ‘power making for
righteousness’ and that therefore, morality is inseparable from religion –
these vital truths were caught and for all time by the prophets of Israel.”
1898:
In Richmond, VA, Simon Wolf “delivered the oration” at today’s meeting of the
“Sixteen Council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations
1898:
When the Reichstag convenes today it will have to deal with several contentious
issues and factions including “the anti-Semites” who “are clamoring for
measures against the Jews.”
1898: Birthdate of West Prussia native Alfred
Eisenstaedt, “father of photojournalism who was one of the first to use the
35mm camera.
http://www.cctvcamerapros.com/Alfred-Eisenstaedt-Camera-Photography-s/392.htm
http://life.time.com/alfred-eisenstaedt/
1899:
Birthdate of Vilna native Joseph Buloff, the Yiddish actor and husband of Luba
Kadison whose American career began when he was brought to the United States in
1927 as a replacement for Paul Muni.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1985/02/28/issue.html
1900:
Birthdate of New York native and Columbia University trained economist Asher
Achinstein who married Martha Levitsky after the death of his first wife, Betty
Comras.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-09-23-1998266065-story.html
1901:
The Mount Sinai Hospital and Training School properties, on the east side of
Lexington Avenue, Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Streets, have been sold,
through Brokers Henry D. Winans May, to David H. Hyman
1902(6th
of Kislev, 5663): Parashat Veyetzei observed as the National Council of Jewish
Women are holding their convention in Baltimore, MD.
1903(17th
of Kislev, 5664): Fifty-six-year-old
Chaim Boas Rabinowitz, the “Spanish Consul-General in Russia passed away
in Warsaw.
1903:
It was reported today that “the Order of the Daughters of Jacob will give a
fair in the Grand Central Palace to raise money to build a home for aged, poor
Jews.”
1904(28th
of Kislev, 5665): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1904:
Baum, the St. Louis born son of Jacob and Yetta Baum who worked for the G.
Mathews Metal Company before establishing the Baum Metal Company in Austin, TX
married Bessie Littman today after which they had four children – Gerald,
Marcus, Minette and Edward.
1904:
Birthdate of Regina Alsterova, who was transported from Prague to Terezin in
1942 and then to Auschwitz in 1944 where she was murdered at the age of 39.
1905:
It was reported today that the Jews of Perth Amboy, NJ, have raised more than
$1,200 for the relief fund that is provided assistance to the Jews suffering
from the most recent wave of anti-Semitic attacks in Russia.
1905:
The resolution aimed at seeking relief for the Jews of Russia introduced by
Congressman Goldfogle which was published today ended with “Be it further
resolved that the President of the United States is hereby respectfully
requested, if he finds it not incompatible with the public interests, to use
such good and friendly offices with the Russian Government as the traditional
and unbroken friendship between the two nations may justify as may secure such
by the Russian Government as may tend to prevent recurrence of such outrages in
the future.”
1906:
Abraham “Abe” Reuef the political boss of San Francisco was indicted today.
1907(1st
of Tevet, 5668): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Sixth Day of Chanukah
1907:
General Boufal, the new Governor General said to he was “bending every energy
to restore absolute quite in Odessa” where there have been reports of
anti-Jewish disorders.”
1908:
In Milan, Ing. Nino Sacerdoti and Margherita Donati, daughter of Lazzaro
Donati, gave birth to “Italian insurer and university professor” Piero
Sacerdota.
1909:
Morris and Rose Gershwin gave birth to Frances “Frankie” Gershwin, the younger
sister of George, Ira and Arthur Gershwin and the wife of Leopold Godowsky, Jr.
1909: In response to the complaints by the Alliance
Israelite Universelle on behalf of the Jews in Fez, the Sultan calls for the
chief rabbis, then tells them the Jews will never again have to suffer
injustice again, and that Sabbaths and festivals will be respected.
1910: Birthdate of Jersey City native Mortimer
Taube, the holder of a B.A. from U. of Chicago and Ph.D from UC, Berkley the
innovator in the field of information who was listed as one the “100 most
important leaders” in his field during the 20th Century.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/09/07/96717746.pdf
1911: With the passing of Leopold Seligman, it was
reported today that Isaac Seligman, the head of the London branch of the family
business and James Seligman of J & W Seligman & Co. are the two
surviving brothers of the banking clan that played a key role in helping the
Union afloat financially during the darkest days of the Civil War.
1911: Birthdate of Jersey City native Walter “Walt”
Wallace Singer who played football and baseball at Syracuse University with his
twin brother Milton before going to a career in the NFL with the New York
Giants.
1912(26th of Kislev, 5673): Second Day of
Chanukah
1912(26th of Kislev, 5673): Rabbi Abraham
J. Schiff passed away today in New York.
1912: In Washington, DC the Ninth Convention of
Rivers and Harbors Congress which Jacob A. Cantor attended as a delegate from
New York came to a close.
1912: Rabbi Rappaport is scheduled to deliver the
sermon tonight at services at the Chicago Hebrew Institute led by Cantor
Millard with the assistance of “a trained choir.”
1913(7th of Kislev, 5674): Parashat
Vayetzei
1913: Jane Adams of Hull House who will deliver an
address on internationalism and Oscar Strauss are scheduled to speak at the
Free Synagogue in Carnegie Hall this morning.
1914: The part that the Jews are taking in the
European war was discussed tonight at the meeting of the Judeans at the Hotel
Majestic” where they had as their guests the delegates to the sixth semi-annual
council of the Eastern Council of Reform Rabbis including Dr. Henry M.
Leipziger who presided at the meeting
and announced that the general topic would be "The Jew as a Citizen in the
Country of His Domicile."
1915(29th of Kislev, 5676): Fifth Day of
Chanukah
1915(29th of Kislev, 5676): Sixty-nine
year old Sarah (Sally) Maness Ritterband, the fifth child of Benvenida Solis
and Leon Ritterband passed away today in New York City.
1915: A Denial of charges there is discrimination
against Jews at the West Point Military Academy was made in a letter written by
Secretary Garrison to Representative Walter M. Chandler of New York.
1915: The evening, an open forum will be held in the
auditorium of the Educational Alliance on “The Second Generation in Jewish
Farming.”
1916(11th of Kislev, 5677):
Eighty-nine-year-old portrait painter Barnett Samuel Marks the Cardiff, Wales
born son of watchmaker and Jewish community leader Mark Lyon Marks and Ann
Michael, passed away today
1916: Dr. Cyrus Adler who had succeeded Dr. Solomon
Schechter as head of the Jewish Theological Seminary after his unexpected
demise in 1915, “delivered as short address” after Kaddish had been recited in
Schechter’s memory at a synagogue located at JTS on West 123rd
Street.
1917: “A contribution of $100,000 from the
Rockefeller Foundation topped the list of pledges turned in” today by those
“who are raising the five million dollars fund for Jewish war relief and
welfare work among Jewish soldiers and sailors.
1917: During World War I, British forces entered
Hebron as Allenby continued his advance on Jerusalem.
1917: Birthdate of ice cream mogul Irvin Robbins,
the back part of Baskin & Robbins. According to family legend the Canadian
born entrepreneur used money from his Bar Mitzvah to fund the start of the
legendary “31 Flavors.”
1917: Finland declares independence from Russia.
With the establishment of an independent state of Finland, Jews living in
Finland were finally granted rights of full citizenship, something that had not
been possible under Swedish and Russian rule.
1918: Based on reports received by the Jewish Press
Bureau today in Stockholm, so far “956 victims of the anti-Jewish outbreak in
Lemberg, Galicia have been buried.
1918: The committee of inquiry appointed by the
Polish Liquidation Committee to examine the events surrounding the riots in
Galicia “has arrived at a full agreement with the Jewish Council as regards” to
the procedures it will follow.
1918: Today, the government order 17,000 “Galician
war refugees to leave Bohemia.
1919(14th of Kislev, 5680): Parashat
Vayishlach
1919: In Albany Park (Chicago), the bazaar sponsored
by the Sisterhood of Temple Israel is scheduled to begin this evening.
1919: Birthdate of Philadelphia native television
producer Jerome Toobin, the husband of television news anchor Marlene Sanders
and the father of CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
1919: Birthdate of Paul de Man, the Belgian born
literary critic who, after his death, we found to have been a Nazi collaborator
and an anti-Semite.
1920(25th of Kislev, 5681): Chanukah
1920(25th of Kislev, 5681):
Eighty-eight-year-old Ottilie Bondy, the wife of Ignaz Israel Bondy and
daughter of Alois and Johnanna Jeiteles passed away in München, Bayern,
Deutschland.
1920: Twenty-two-year-old Edwin Herbert Samuel, the
eldest son of Sir Herbert Samuel, the British High Commissioner to Palestine
married Hadassah Grosovsky who was born and educated in Palestine.
1920: Birthdate of American Jazz great Dave Brubeck,
the non-Jew who created “The Gates of Justice.”
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/reviews/Brubeck.html
1921: Birthdate of George Frederick Beurling,
Canada’s leading pilot during WW II, who lost his life in a plane crash in 1948
while flying as a volunteer for the Israeli Air Force.
1922:
Birthdate of Benjamin Gilman of New York who served in the House of
Representatives from 1973 through 2003.
1922: The Sinai Center Players are scheduled to
perform “The Magic Touch,” a two act play this evening at the Sinai Social
Center accompanied by the Sinai Symphony Orchestra.
1922: Birthdate of Abdallah Hay Simon, the Baghdadi
born Jew who became the longtime chairman of the Seagram Chateau & Estate
Wines Company was a commanding figure in the American wine trade and a leading
importer of fine Bordeaux to the United States.
1923(28th of Kislev, 5684): Fourth Day of
Chanukah
1923: Calvin Coolidge, who while Vice President had
supported the Congressional endorsement of the Balfour Declaration, gave his
first State of the Union Address today.
1923: Winston Churchill whose relationship with the
Jewish people is well documented by Sir Martin Gilbert lost his seat in
Parliament in today’s General Election.
1923: In today’s General Election, Liberal MP Edward
Albert Lessing won his seat in the Commons.
1924: Labor leader Samuel Gompers collapsed today in
Mexico City “while attending a meeting of the Pan American Federation of Labor.
1925: “Quotas totaling more than one million dollar”
which are “to be a part of the Jewish fund of fifteen million dollars for use
in aiding suffering” Jews in Europe “were accepted today at an all day
conference by representatives of five
states – Georgia, Western Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Eastern
Tennessee.
1925: “Dr. Samuel Schulman, rabbi of Temple Beth-El,
Fifth Avenue and Seventy-sixth Street, discussed Ludwig Lewisohn's
"Israel" from the pulpit today.
1926: Jan Ciechanowski, Polish Minister to the
United States, speaking at the Brooklyn Jewish Centre, 667 Eastern Parkway, on
"The Present Situation in Poland," said tonight that order had been
restored in that country, that trade treaties had been effected and that
unemployment had been greatly reduced, so that the country seemed destined to
play an important part in European affairs.
1927: Birthdate of Chicago born, Yale
educated James Emanuel “Jim” Fuchs the winner of bronze medals in shot put at
the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics passed away today in New York.
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/sports/18fuchs.html
1928: Sir Harry
Charles Luke completed his service as the acting Chief Secretary to the
Government of Palestine.
He had previously served as Assistant Governor of
Jerusalem and was appointed a member of the Haycraft Commission which was
established by Herbert Samuel to investigate the cause of the riot which
started in Jaffa in May of 1921.
1929: In Brooklyn, garment workers Julius
Silverstein and the former Lee Lastfogel gave birth to “Emmy Award-winning
documentarian” Morton Silverstein. (As reported by Anita Gates)
1929: “The annual Who’s Who issue of the American
Hebrew” that lists those who have performed outstanding for the Jewish People
in 1929 includes names you would expect including Henry Morgenthau, Jr, Bernard
Baruch, Sidney Hillman and David Sarnoff and others you would not expect like
John D. Rockefeller who was “cited for his activity in financing a School of
Religion at the University of Religion at the University of Iowa where
Professorships of Protestantism, Catholicism and Judaism have been
established.”
1930(16th of Kislev, 5691): Parashat
Vayishlach
1930: Seventy-year-old Moritz Low, the Czech born
son of Daniel and Helen Low,the husband of Kamilla Low and the father of eight
children, some of whom perished in the Holocaust passed away today.
1930: “The work of the Jewish Educational
Association was descried in a report issued today by Israel Unterberg,
president of the organization which will hold its ninth anniversary dinner at
the Hotel Commodore.
1930: The Jews should seek to reach a direct
understanding with the Arab masses and thus diminish the Palestine government's
function as the arbiter of Jewish-Arab interests, Professor Albert Einstein
said today.
1931(26th of Kislev, 5692): Second Day of
Chanukah
1931: A World Islamic Conference opened in Jerusalem
under the Mufti who had succeeded in characterizing the Jews as the enemy of
Islam in Jerusalem.
1931: In its Sunday edition, the New York Times
reported on plans by Jews throughout the world to celebrate the upcoming 100th
anniversary of the birth of Baron Maurice de Hirsch on Wednesday, December 9.
1932: Today Herman G. Handmaker, the Louisville born
son of Julius Handmaker and Agnes (Jacobstein) Handmaker, the lawyer and member
of the Kentucky State House of Representatives married Esther Marie Jacobson
1933: Amid waving Nazi flags, Dr. Hans Luther, the
German ambassador to the United States addressed 20,000 people in Madison
Square Garden attending a Nazi propaganda event “German Day.”
1933: U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey
rules that the novel Ulysses by James Joyce was not obscene. The novel features Leopold Bloom a Jewish
advertising agent.
1934:
As a result of decision made today in Geneva, Germany agreed that any Jews
living in the Saar Basin Territory as of December 3 would be able to “leave the
territory within a year after the establishment of a definitive regime by the
plebiscite after giving six months’ notice of that intention” and that during
the coming year Germany promised that that there would be no “discrimination
because of race or religion.” (They must
have had their fingers crossed because they sure did not mean it)
1935:
“The Synagogue Council of America, representing practically all shades of
Jewish religious thought in” the United States, appealed today "to the
moral forces of the world to defend the rights of religious minorities in
Germany against the forces that seek to destroy them.”
1936:
Nearly one thousand people attended the at the Hotel Biltmore celebrating the
90th anniversary of the Central Synagogue where Governor Herbert H.
Lehman told the attendees that he deplored “the present age as one of ‘expiring
faith and religious indifference’” and “called upon American Jewry to take a
leading part in a revival of faith in God that, couple with the scientific
advances of today, would ‘effect a solidarity in human society expressed in
terms of universal justice and peace.’”
1936:
“Hats Off” which marked Samuel Fuller’s “first credit as a screenwriter” was
released in the United States today.
1936:
While speaking at a dinner tonight “marking the 25th anniversary of
the Mizrachi Organization of America” Senator Royal S. Copeland “sharply
criticized” Great Britain “for failing to suppress Arab demonstrations against
Jews in Palestine.”
1936:
Seventy-year-old to
John Dickson-Poynder, the first Baron Islington who in 1922 and 1930 condemned
the mandate in Palestine because he said it favored the Jews whom he described
as “undesirable” passed away today.
1937(2nd of
Tevet, 5698): Eighth Day of Chanukah
1937(2nd of
Tevet, 5698): Eighty-seven-year-old clothing merchant Charles David Axman, the
New York born son of David and Savina Axman and the husband of social activist
Sophie Cahn Axman passed away today.
1937: The
Palestine Post reported on the visit to Damascus of the Nazi German youth leader
Baldur von Schirach, accompanied by a large entourage. There was little doubt
that the Syrian Arab youth seemed to be particularly vulnerable to this latest
Nazi effort to spread their propaganda throughout the entire Middle Eastern
area. Shots were fired at the Beit Alfa and Kfar Baruch settlements.
1937:
The Jerusalem Post’s leading
economists found it rather strange that while the Palestine government's highly
satisfactory yearly budget of £6,900,000 was due in most part to the
participation of Jewish capital and investment, the official policy was marked
by apathy and an almost total lack of encouragement for further progress in
investment and economy. On the contrary, the government was slowing down
further successful development by a continuous curtailment of the Jewish
immigration and a half-hearted struggle against the Arab terror.
1938: William
Cooper of the Yorta Yorta tribe and members of the Australian Aborigines League
were denied entry to the German Consulate where they had come to protest the
persecution of the Jews by the Nazis.
1938:
Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, Foreign
Minister Hachirō Arita, Army Minister
Seishirō Itagaki, Naval
Minister Mitsumasa Yonai, and Finance Ministry Shigeaki Ikeda decided to prohibit the expulsion
of the Jews in Japan, Manchuria and China despite the growing alliance with
Nazi Germany.
1938:
Fourteen-year-old Ernest Stock and his ten year old sister leave Frankfurt to
stay with friends in Alsace, France.
Ernest’s mother sent the children out of the country following
Kristallnacht, a night which was made double horrific for the Stocks because
Ernest’s father was arrested and taken to Buchenwald. In response to the
worsening situation in Germany following Kristallnacht, the mother of 14 year
old Ernest Stock sent her son and his 10-year-old sister Lotte to family
friends who lived in Alsace, France.
1939:
As an example of its policy of blocking all Jewish escape routes in Central
Europe, the British Foreign Office warns Bulgaria that if it ships its Jews to
Palestine, the British will "expect the Bulgarian government to take the
immigrants back."
1939:
Ernest Gruening began serving as the 7th Governor of the Alaska
Territory; a job he would hold for fourteen years.
1939:
Israeli pioneers including members of “Kvutzat Krit” enjoyed a holiday to
celebrate Kibbutz Kfar Menahem.
1940(6th
of Kislev, 5701): Seventy-one-year-old artist and author Ernest Peixotto, the
scion of San Francisco Sephardic Jews who used his artistic skills while
serving with the AEF during WW I passed away today.
https://bancroftlibrarycara.wordpress.com/ernest-clifford-peixotto-1869-1940/
https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2015/12/01/world-war-i-artist-ernest-peixotto/
1940:
In Chicago
Hyman
Reznick and Sheindel Reznick gave birth to Naomi (nee Reznick) Blumberg
1941(16th
of Kislev, 5702): Jews read Parshat Vayishlach on what would prove to be the
last Shabbat before the United States entered WW II and the world changed
forever.
1941: The Final Solution comes to Tunisia as French
President Petain allows the Germans to take control of this section of North
Africa.
1941: As a Japanese task force steams towards Pearl
Harbor Jews gather in their synagogues to hear Parashat Vayishlach.
1941: At West Side Institutional Synagogue, Rabbi
Emanuel Lifschitz reassured his congregation that although “World society is
standing at the crossroads in the grip of a titanic struggle raging between the
forces of good and evil, it is most heartening to know that in the midst of
such tension throughout the nation, men and women and children of every faith,
color and creed from every walk of life will rededicate themselves – their very
souls – to the Bible.”
1941: At Temple Rodeph Sholom, Rabbi Hyman J.
Schachtel “asserted that the finding of the Gallup poll that interest in
religions was declining was ‘misleading, because many are religious who are
uninterested in the institutions of religion.’”
But they would also hear sermons relating to the war being fought in the
rest of the world; but a war in which the United States was not involved,
because as the isolationists told us, we were protected by the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans which created a giant moat.
1941: At Shaare Zedek, Rabbi Morris Goldberg
asserted, “We must not pause in our struggle until we ourselves are willing to
be a blessing unto those very forces against which we are fighting. While at
the Montefiore Synagogue Rabbi Jacob Katz forecast, “From the present world war
will come equality of nations and there not be too much difference in the
standards of living amongst all the nations of the world. Judeo-Christian ethics will not be the object
of destruction because they will have become the object of international social
legislations.
1941: At Temple Ansche Chesed, Rabbi Joseph Zeitlin
spoke approvingly of the economic sanctions on Japan:
1941: At the West End Synagogue Rabbi Louis Newman
stuck a strident note when he declared that “to restore the ‘good old days’ ‘we
must work and if need be, die in the combat to protect and regain the liberties
of freeman, the people of Israel included, if not for ourselves, then for our
posterity.”
1942: Today, “. A group of villagers from around
Ciepielów near Radom including Piotr Skoczylas and his 8-year-old daughter
Leokadia were burned alive by a police battalion” because they had sheltered
Jews.
1942: Today, “another barn full of people was set on
fire in nearby Rekówka, and 33 Poles saving Jews were burned alive including
the families of Obuchiewicz, Kowalski, and 14 Kosiors”
1942: The Germans locked 23 Poles
suspected of helping Jews in a cell. They then burned it to the ground.
1942:
In Parczew, Poland, the Germans undertook a four-day manhunt for hidden Jews.
1942:
Germans in Salonica steal all the marble tombstones so they can line a swimming
pool for their soldiers.
1942:
In New York City, premiere of “Cat People,” a horror film produced by Val
Lewton whose Jewish parents had converted to Christianity and edited by Mark
Robson.
1943:
Birthdate of Richard Anthony Goldman, the adopted son of Charles and Tillie
Goldman, “whose investor’s eye for spotting battered neighborhoods prime for
rejuvenation led him to help revive SoHo in Manhattan in the 1970s and South
Beach in Florida in the ’80s.” (As reported by Leslie Kaufman.
1943:
In one of the last major Italian
deportations, 212 Jews from Milan and Verona were sent to Auschwitz. In
all, out of a population of 35,000 before the war, approximately 8500 Jews were
killed. An estimated 2000 Jews fought with the partisans, five of them winning
Italy’s highest medals for bravery.
1944:
A Liberty ship bearing the name of the late Isaac Mayer Wise was launched this
afternoon at the St. John's River Shipbuilding Company yards, with his son,
Rabbi Jonah B. Wise of the Central Synagogue of New York City, as the principal
speaker on the christening program.
1944:
Birthdate of Arnon Milchan, the native of Rehovot, Israel whose multi-faceted
career led him to become one of Hollywood’s leading movie producers.
1945:
In London, premiere of “The Rake’s Progress” a comedy starring Lili Palmer
1945:
In a speech delivered at the commencement exercises of Hebrew University, Dr.
Judah B. Magnes, president of the university, “declared that the aims of Jews
in Palestine, namely the establishment of a national home, could not be
achieved by acts of terrorism. He urged
passive resistance rather than the resort to force.”
1945:
Former Iowa Senator Guy Gillette, Judge William S. Bennet of New York and
Representative Andrew L. Somers of Brooklyn, leaders of the American League for
A Free Palestine held a press conference during which they expressed the belief
that the committee’s approach to solving the problem of displaced Jews in
Europe and the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine had had a positive
effect on changing British policy. In
discussing their aims they stated that “The Hebrews of Europe must be saved at
once.”
1946:
Birthdate of Asbury Park, NJ native and Goddard College, JTS and Columbia
University trained historian of religion Daniel Boyarin
http://nes.berkeley.edu/Web_Boyarin/BoyarinHomePage.html
1946:
“Kings County Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz” left by plane today for Basle,
Switzerland where he will be attending the 22nd World Zionist
Congress.
1947:
Members of the Haganah and Arab soldiers clash.
1947:
“Usually informed sources expressed today the hope that Britain would use her
influence with Bong Abdullah of Trans-Jordan to help bring about a partition of
Palestine without an outbreak of serious fighting.”
1948:
On the second day of Operation Assaf carried Israeli forces captured another
important position, thus completing all the operation's objectives. However,
the Israelis met stronger resistance at another position (which was not
captured) and were forced to stop their advance when they hit a minefield in
another location. On the same day, the Egyptians counter-attacked the captured
positions from their main positions in the west, with an infantry battalion, a
tank company and some accurate artillery. The attack came very close to
breaking the Israeli defenders but broke off at dusk. The IDF’s Operation Assaf
was designed to clear Egyptian troops from the Western Negev.
1948:
Representatives of Israel and Iraq sign a cease-fire agreement. The Iraqi
troops were the largest contingent of troops from an Arab state with no
contiguous border with Israel to take part in the war aimed at crushing the
Jewish state. The Iraqi failure to
defeat the Jews of Israel led to their attacking their own Jewish population
forcing them to flee. Most of the
refugees came to Israel.
1949:
Demobilized Palmach soldiers founded Gan Yoshiya, a moshav near the Green
Line. It was named in honor of the
Anglo-Jewish leader Josiah Wedgewood.
1950:
In Brooklyn, Ann Jacobie and Sol Michael Ripps, the owner and operating of a
dry-cleaning service in Manhattan gave birth to Hunter and York colleges
trained painter and sculptor Rodney Ripps two of whose works “Untitled” and
“The Meadow” are part of “the permanent collection at the Brooklyn Museum under
their Contemporary Arts Wing.”
https://www.cia.edu/news/stories/artist-ryder-ripps-brings-web-world-into-the-gallery
1951(7th
of Kislev, 5712): Forty-seven-year-old Joseph Edward Bromberg, the movie and
stage actor passed away today “not long after the Hollywood blacklist had
destroyed his career.
http://web.archive.org/web/20070611201736/http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/the/pdf/thebromb.pdf
1953:
Laura Kugler, the wife of Victor Kluger – one of those who helped who helpd to
hide Anne Frank and her family – passed away today
1953: Mordechai
Maklef completed his service as Chief of Staff of the IDF.
1953:
After five years, “Nabokov finished” his masterpiece Lolita which Baron George
Weidenfeld, “a life-long Zionist” published in the United Kingdom.
1953:
At Ben-Gurion’s insistence, Moshe Dayan was appointed Chief of Staff of the
IDF.
1953:
Thanks to a “major addition” the Hebrew Home for the Aged expanded its capacity
to 165 while the “medical panels provide care at no charge to residents.”
1954:
In Highland Park, Illinois, Newton Minow, and his wife, Josephine (Baskin)
Minow gave birth to Martha Minow the 12th Dean of Harvard Law Schol.
1955: New York psychologist Joyce
Brothers won "$64,000 Question" on boxing
1955:
The board of directors of the Motion Picture Association of America is
scheduled to view “The Man With Golden Arm,” a movie about a dope addict
“produced and directed by Otto Preminger.
1956(2nd
of Tevet, 5717): 8th day of Chanukah
1956:
In Chattanooga, TN, the former Ruth Sulzberger “the Jewish daughter of
long-time Times publisher Arthur Hays
Sulzberger and granddaughter of Times
owner and publisher Adolph Ochs” and Ben Hale Golden, who was not Jewish and
who was President and Publisher of the Chattanooga
Times, gave birth to Harvard and Columbia trained writer Arthur Sulzberger
Golden, the author of Memoirs of a Geisha, husband of Trudy Legg and father of
Nays and Tess Golden.
1956(2nd
of Tevet, 5717): Eighty-two-year-old French economist Albert Aftalion who co-founded the academic
journal Revue économique in 1950 passed away today.
1956:
“Hollywood or Bust” a comedy produced by Hal B. Wallis, starring Jerry Lewis
and featuring Maxie Rosenbloom was released today in the United States.
1958: “The
Night Circus,” for which Karl Bernstein served as press representative ended
its
Broadway run at the John Golden Theatre.
1959: ABC
broadcast “In Memoriam,” an episode The Rebel directed by Ivrin Kershner.
1960(17th
of Kislev, 5721): Fifty-six-year-old Russia born Hunter College graduate Mrs.
Lillian Plotkin Alpert who had worked in the New York public school system and
who raised one son, Arnold, with her husband, Phillip Alpert, “an appraiser of
antique furniture passed away today at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx.
1961(28th
of Kislev, 5722): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1961: “El
Cid” a sweeping historic epic set in medieval Spain produced by Samuel Bronston
with a screenplay premiered in London this evening.
1962:
Birthdate of journalist and professor of communications Anya Schiffrin the wife
of Nobel Prize-winning economist and author Joseph E. Stiglitz.
1964(1st
of Tevet, 5725); Rosh Chodesh; Eighth Chanukah
1964(1st
of Tevet, 5725): Eighty-year-old “stove manufacturer and philanthropist”
Bertrand Berthelot Kahn passed away today in his hometown of Cincinnati, OH.
1965(12th
of Kislev, 5726): Sixty-nine-year-old “Rose Pesotta (1896–1965) was an
anarchist, feminist labor organizer and vice president within the International
Ladies' Garment Workers' Union passed away today.”
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/KCL05928.html
1966:
Zvi Dinstein was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense.
1967:
In Flushing, Queens, real estate developer Maury Aptatow and the former Tamara
“Tami” Shad, the daughter of music producer Bob Shad gave birth to
director/producer Judd Apatow.
1967:
In Eugene, Oregon Danna (née Wilner), a writer and instructor at Portland
Community College, and Dr. Benson Schaeffer, a child psychologist gave birth to
actress Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer.
1967:
When Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz removed the heart of a brain-dead baby and implanted
it into the chest of a baby with a fatal heart defect, he became the first
doctor to perform a human heart transplant in the United States.
1968(15th
of Kislev, 5729): Eighty-eight-year-old Rabbi Eliezer Premesky, the Lithuanian
born son of Yaakov and Pearl Predmesky and husband of Esther Premesky with whom
he had three children who had been the “spiritual leader of the Bronx Tremont
Hebrew School, a member of the presidium of the Rabbinical Board of New York”
and executive vice President of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United
States and Canada passed away today. Most important of all, he was among those
who marched in Washington in 1943 in a public demonstration demanding
government action to “help save the Jews of Europe.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/12/09/76914705.pdf
1972(1st
of Tevet, 5733): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Sixth Day of Chanukah
1973:
Gerald Ford, who as President promised Prime Minister Rabin that he would honor
all commitments that had been made to Israel, became Vice President of the
United States today.
1974(22nd
of Kislev, 5735): Two Israelis were injured when terrorists raided Rosh Hanikra
Kibbutz.
1975(2nd
of Tevet, 5736): Parashat Miketz; 8th day of Chanukah
1977: The
Jerusalem Post reported that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s declaration that
as peace with Israel was forthcoming, he was not concerned about being isolated
in the Arab world. Consequently, Egypt had severed diplomatic ties with Syria,
Iraq, Libya, Algeria and South Yemen.
1977:
In London, Prime Minister Menachem Begin announced that while Israel would
refuse to consider the establishment of a PLO-dominated state on the West Bank,
it wished to solve the problem of the Palestine Arabs “in justice and dignity.”
1978:
Seventy-seven-year-old Adolf Dassler, the founder of Adidas who was an early
member of the Nazi Party and the Hitler Youth who was “declared a Belasteter,
the second most serious category of Nazi offenders, which included profiteers”
but whose “status to Mitläufer (follower),
relieving him of most of his civil disabilities” passed away today.
1981:
Philip C. Habib, President Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East, arrived
in Israel tonight from Saudi Arabia. The Government said he would meet Foreign
Minister Yitzhak Shamir in Jerusalem on Monday.
1981:
Birthdate of Haifa native and mentalist Lior Suchard.
1981:
Prisoner Without A Name, Cell
Without A Number by Jacobo Timerman and Zuckerman Unbound by
Philip Roth are among the twelve books chosen by the New York Times Book Review to the best books published in the
country during the preceding year.
1982:
It was reported that “The U.S. failure to start negotiations for the withdrawal
of Israeli, Syrian and Palestinian forces from Lebanon is worrying senior
Reagan Administration officials. They said that because of the impasse it was
now virtually impossible that the troops would leave by the end of the year,
the date set by the State Department.”
1982:
It was reported that “Israel cleared a close Lebanese ally of any involvement
in the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee
camps near Beirut last September. The state commission investigating the
massacre said it had no evidence that forces of Maj. Saad Haddad, leader of a
Lebanese Christian militia, had participated in the killings.”
1983(30th
of Kislev, 5744): Rosh Chodesh Tevet
1983: A bomb planted on a bus in
Jerusalem explodes, killing 6 Israelis
1985: In Santa
Monica, California to Jody and Taylor Kasch film and t.v. actor Joseph Maxwell
“Max Kasch.
1985:
“Spies Like Us,” a comedy directed by John Landis, co-produced by Brian Grazer,
with a screenplay by Lowell Ganz and music by Elmer Bernstein was released in
the United States today by Warner Bros.
1987:
“On the eve of a Gorbachev-Reagan summit 250,000 marched in support of Soviet
Jews. Among them were 50,000 Jews from
the Washington area’s Jewish community. (As reported by Jewish Historical
Society of Greater Washington)
1987:
The Counterlife by Philip Roth, The Embarrassment of Riches An
Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age by Simon Schama and More Die of Heartbreak by Saul Bellow are among the twelve
books chosen by the New York Times Book Review as the best books
published in the country during the preceding year
1988(27th
of Kislev, 5749): Yigal Cohen, the native of Tel Adashim and a member of the
Palmach’s first brigade who was a Likud MK passed away today.
1988: Yassar Arafat meets with “prominent
American Jews” in Stockholm, Sweden.
1989(8th
of Kislev, 5760): Eighty-seven year old composer Samuel E. Feinberg, the New
York son of a cantor passed away today.
https://www.songhall.org/profile/Sammy_Fain
1990:
“The End of Innocence” directed by Dyan Cannon who co-starred in the film along
with Rebecca Schaeffer was released in the United States today.
1990:
In Los Angeles, premiere of “Edward Scissorhands” co-starring Winona Ryder and
Alan Arkin with music by Danny Elfman
1991(29th
of Kislev, 5752): Seventy-four-year-old Hungarian political leader György Aczél
(born Henrik Appel) passed away today in Vienna.
1991:
“Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” directed by Nicholas Meyer who
co-wrote the screenplay and co-starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy was
released in the United States today.
1991(29th
of Kislev, 5752:
Charles
A. Levine, who became aviation's first trans-Atlantic passenger in 1927 when he
sponsored an attempt to beat Col. Charles A. Lindbergh to Europe, died today at
Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington. He was 94 years old and had moved to
Washington from New York City this fall. Mr. Levine flew into history with
Clarence D. Chamberlin at the controls of a monoplane designed by Giuseppe
Ballanca and owned by Mr. Levine, then a millionaire businessman. Their
225-horsepower craft, named Columbia, had been ready for weeks. But the race to
be the first to fly the Atlantic was lost to Colonel Lindbergh when a suit
filed by one of Mr. Chamberlin's would-be co-pilots, Lloyd Bertaud, marooned
the Columbia in its hangar at Roosevelt Field on Long Island. Mr. Levine got a
sheriff's attachment quashed hours after Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St. Louis,
lifted off from the same airfield. Lindbergh's arrival in Paris on May 21
astounded the world and overshadowed the Chamberlin-Levine venture. (As
reported by Wolfgang Saxon)
1991:
Four months after premiering in the United Kingdom, “Young Soul Rebels” a film
that marking the acting debut of future Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo was
released in the United States today.
1992:
Kissinger: A Biography by
Walter Isaacson is among the nine books chosen by the New York Times Book Review as the best books published in the
country during the preceding year
1993(22nd
of Kislev, 5754): Mordechai Lapid and his son Shalom Lapid, age 19, were shot
to death by terrorists near Hebron. Hamas publicly claimed responsibility for
the attack.
1995(13th
of Kislev, 5768): Seventy-eight-year-old Georgia Tech Melvin Krazenberg who
specialized in the history of technology passed away today. (As reported by
Lawrence Van Gelder)
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/09/us/melvin-kranzberg-78-historian-of-technology.html
http://www.vqronline.org/essay/technology-history-and-culture-appreciation-melvin-kranzberg
1995: Today,
Dennis Ross, the chief Middle East mediator in the United States State
Department, held talks with President Hafez Assad of Syria to assess his
reactions to initiatives for peace talks made by Prime Minister Shimon Peres.
Mr. Ross returned to Jerusalem later in the day to talk with Mr. Peres. Details
were not immediately known, though the Israeli coordinator of talks with the
Arabs, Uri Savir, cautioned at the outset that "there is curiosity, but I
wouldn't say any great expectations at this stage."
1995: Prosecutors
filed charges of premeditated murder against Yitzhak Rabin's confessed assassin
today as Israel marked the end of the 30-day mourning period for the slain
Prime Minister. In addition to the murder charge against Yigal Amir,
indictments filed by the District Attorney at Tel Aviv District Court also
charged Mr. Amir's brother Hagai and their friend Dror Adani with conspiring to
kill Mr. Rabin and to attack Palestinian Arabs. The only other charge brought
so far was against a soldier, Sgt. Arik Schwartz, who was indicted by a
military court on Monday for supplying stolen arms and ammunition to the Amirs.
1996(25th
of Kislev, 5757): Chanukah
1996(25th
of Kislev, 5757): Eighty-one-year-old Alex Schoenbaum, the Ohio State
University football player who founded Shoney’s Restaurant chain passed away
today.
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/15/us/alex-schoenbaum-81-founder-of-shoney-s-restaurant-chain.html
1998:
The New York Times list of the Best
Books of 1998 contains the following works about Jewish related subjects or by
Jewish authors including Titan:
The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow and To End A War by Richard Holbrooke.
1998:
The New York Times book section
featured a review of Hot Seat:
Theater Criticism for the New York Times-1993 by Frank Rich.
1999:
Ninety-four-year-old Martha Dickie Sharp Cogan “the guardian angel of European
children” during WW II and one gutsy lady, passed away today.
http://web.archive.org/web/20060226072617/http:/www.brownalumnimagazine.com/storydetail.cfm?ID=2628
1999(27th of Kislev, 5760): Third Day of
Chanukah
1999(27th of Kislev, 5760): Two days
after his eighty-second birthday “British author and screenwriter” Alexander
Baron, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrant Barnett Bernstein, a disillusioned
leftist from the1930’s and member of the Pioneer Corps during WW II which led
him to fight in Italy, Normandy, Northern France and Belgium and whose works in
included From the City, from the Plough, The Lowlife and the
script for the BBC’s six episode dramatization of Daniel Deronda passed
away today.
2000:
Emmy award winner Werner Klemperer passed away.
Oddly enough, Klemperer gained his greatest fame as Col. Klink, the
German head of a POW Camp on the television hit Hogan’s Heroes.
2001: A fire and
subsequent fire-fighting efforts severely damaged the roof, ceiling, mural
paintings and decorative plasterwork of the Beth Hamedrash Hagadol in New York
City.
2001:
Eight-six-year-old Dover native and Petty Officer aboard HMS Thraser, Thomas
William Gould who was one of only three Jewish recipients of the Victoria Cross
during WW II passed away today.
2001(21st
of Kislev, 5762): Ninety-five-year-old Brooklyn native Alexander Sidney “Sid”
Roth, the “All-American guard” on the 1938 Cornell football team and varsity
lacrosse player who is the namesake for “the Sid Roth Award” given annually to
Cornell’s “most valuable lineman” passed away today.
2002(1st
of Tevet, 5763): Seventh Day of Chanukah; Rosh Chodesh Tevet
2002:
Actress Winona Ryder (born Winona Laura
Horowitz) was sentenced to community service as part of a probationary
term for stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from a Saks Fifth
Avenue store in Beverly Hills.
2002:
U.S. premiere of “Analyze That” directed by Harold Ramis, co-produced by Barry
Levinson and co-starring Billy Crystal and Lisa Kudrow.
2003:
“Responding to criticism from Jewish groups, European lawmakers and others, a
European Union institute has made available the text of a previously withheld
report that lays a major share of the blame for the much-noted rise in
anti-Semitic incidents in Europe with Arab and Muslim extremists.”
2004: As a result of a lawsuit growing out of the
attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, a federal jury ruled in
favor of developer Larry Silverstein giving him an additional $1.1 billion from
nine insurers, declaring the attack to be two "occurrences"
2004:
“In Good Company” a comedy in which experience triumphs over youth directed,
produced and written by Paul Weitz was released today in the United States.
2005:
Malcolm Rifikind completed his service as Shadow Secretary of State for Work
and Pensions.
2005:
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations announced that Algeria
prevented the release of a statement by the UN Security Council condemning
Monday's suicide bombing in Netanya.
2006:
A panel of rabbis gave permission today for same-sex commitment ceremonies and
ordination of gays within Conservative Judaism, a wrenching change for a
movement that occupies the middle ground between orthodoxy and liberalism in
Judaism.
2006(15th
of Kislev, 5767): Photojournalist Leonard Freed passed away at the age of 77.
Born to immigrant parents in Brooklyn, Freed often chose subjects related to
his Jewish ancestry, including a study of Orthodox Jews around the world
published in 1980.
2006(15th
of Kislev, 5767): Robert Rosenblum, an influential and irreverent art historian
and museum curator known for his research on subjects ranging from Picasso to
images of dogs, passed away at the age of 79 at his home in Greenwich Village.
2006:
Jerry Stiller entertains at the Center for Jewish History’s Board of Overseers
and Board of Governors dinner.
2006:
The New York Times publishes Alex Witchel’s latke recipe.
http://www.marthastewart.com/348886/potato-pancakes
2006:
CBS broadcast the 1st episode of the 9th and final season
of “The King of Queens” co-starring Jerry Stiller.
2007:
As part of Chanukah festivities, the Givatayim Theatre stages a festival of
children’s plays including “Stories of Itamar and of Ruthie” and a new musical,
“Puss in Boots” directed by Adi Leviathan
2007(26th
of Kislev, 5768):
Eighty-four-year-old
“Murray Klein, who helped transform Zabar’s from a typical Jewish delicatessen
on the Upper West Side of Manhattan into a culinary and cultural landmark, died
today in Manhattan. (As reported by Julia Moskin)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/07/nyregion/07klein.html?_r=0
2007:
Israel’s Radio Kol Chai reported today, that in response to a request by
France’s Chief Rabbi Yosef Sitruk, Shimon Peres has agreed to keep Shabbat
this week (for the first time in his life) as part of an outreach campaign by
European rabbis.
2008:
In Cedar Rapids, Jewish Book Month Shabbat at Temple Judah is usurped by a gas
leak that causes those who braved the snow flurries and frigid temperatures to
go home early. It was the first time in
the history of Cedar Rapids that more than a minyan gathered, and the Torah was
not read.
2008
(9 Kislev): Yahrzeit of Rabbi Dovber of Lubavitch, the son of and successor to
the founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman·of Liadi.
2008:
In Washington, D.C., Itzhak Perlman performs with the National Symphony
Orchestra at the Kennedy Center.
2008:
Tonight, Arabs fired rockets into Ashkelon and Sderot. IAF aircraft then carried out two air-strikes
against Palestinian rocket-launching squads in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian
sources reported that two terrorists were injured in the second attack, one of
them critically. Over 20 Kassam rockets and mortar shells pounded the western
Negev over the weekend as Palestinian terror factions in the Gaza Strip
intensified their attacks on Israel.
2008:
Today, Egyptian police found a massive arms cache in Sinai, according to the Falastin
al-Youm news Web site.
2008:
Today, The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund warned that Gaza's
severe cash shortage might cause local banks to collapse.
2009(19th
of Kislev): Ninety-seven year old attorney and WW II veteran Leonard Rubenfeld
passed away today.
2009
(19 Kislev): The 19th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev is celebrated as the
"Rosh Hashanah of Chassidism." It was on this date, in the year 1798,
that the founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi
(1745-1812), was freed from his imprisonment in Czarist Russia. More than a
personal liberation, this was a watershed event in the history of Chassidism,
heralding a new era in the revelation of the "inner soul" of Torah.
For more about the Lubavitch view of their leader see http://www.arjewishcenter.com/library/article_cdo/AID/63817
2009
(19 Kislev):
Yom
Hillula (יום הילולא) of the
Maggid of Mezritch, the successor of the Baal Shem Tov. Rabbi Dov Ber of
Mezeritch passed away in December of 1772. For more
see www.JewishEncyclpolida.com or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggid_of_Mezritch
2009:
The 20th Washington Jewish Film Festival includes screenings of a
documentary entitled “Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist” and “Filmed
by Yitzhak,” a documentary composed of hitherto unseen 8mm movies filmed by
Yitzhak Rabin during the 1960’s that include images from his years as Israel’s
Ambassador to the United States.
2009: The 24th
Annual New York Israeli Film Festival includes screenings of “A History of
Israel Cinema, Part I” and “Adam Resurrected” starring Jeff Goldblum.
2009: Ensemble a
la Carte, featuring bassoonist Robin Gelman, holds its fifth annual concert, at
Congregation Sha'are Shalom, in Leesburg, Virginia.
2009:
Writer, composer, actor, director, and producer Mel Brooks is among those who
receives 32nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors this evening in
Washington, D.C.
2009:
The Israeli Cabinet voted to appoint Yehuda Weinstein as the next Attorney
General of Israel.
2009:
David Mamet's "Race" opened tonight at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in
New York.
2009:
After 12 previews and 65 performances a revival production of David Mamet’s two
character play “Oleanna”closed at Broadway’s John Golden Theatre.
2010:
American Sephardi Federation and Yeshiva University
Museum in collaboration with the Sephardic Music Festival are scheduled to
present a program entitled Sepharad: Voices From Across the Strait as part of
the Sephardic Music Festival Scholar Series.
2010:
Ezra Klein, The Washington Post and Newsweek
economics and domestic affairs columnist, is scheduled to speak at Northern
Virginia Hebrew Congregation in Reston, VA.
2010: The Jewish Study Center of Washington is scheduled to offer
a course entitled “Biblical Themes in Literature, Opera, Art and Film” which
will trace the use of biblical themes across a wide variety of Western cultural
masterpieces, old and new, with examples including John Milton's poetic drama
"Samson Agonistes" (1671), Rembrandt's painting "The Binding of
Isaac" (1635), Arnold Schoenberg's opera "Moses und Aron" (1932)
and Cecil B. DeMille's movie "The Ten Commandments" (1956).
2010(29th of Kislev, 5711): Lester Ziffren, 85, an attorney and civic leader who was
devoted to his alma mater, UCLA, and many other causes, died today of natural
causes at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his family said. “After
earning his law degree in 1952 from UCLA, Ziffren served as a deputy attorney
general from 1953 to 1959 under California Atty. Gen. Pat Brown.
Ziffren then formed a law firm with two brothers, Leo Ziffren, an
entertainment lawyer, and Paul Ziffren, who would chair the 1984 Los Angeles
Olympic Organizing Committee. (Paul died in 1991 at 77.) Later, Lester Ziffren
became a partner in the prominent local firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. An
administrative corporate attorney, he continued practicing law until a few
years ago. Born in 1925 in Davenport, Iowa, Ziffren was the youngest of six
children. His mother, who spoke only Yiddish, ran the family's grocery
store. During World War II, he did
intelligence work in Paris for the Army, said Mimi Ziffren-Adams, his only
child. He also received his bachelor's degree from UCLA, where he later chaired
the National Advisory Council of the Neuropsychiatric Institute. Ziffren also
served on the board of the UCLA Foundation and UCLA's School of Medicine and
Center on Aging. In 1971, he became the youngest president elected to head
Temple Israel of Hollywood, The Times reported at the time. He was a founding
board member and benefactor of the Skirball Cultural Center and served in
leadership roles on boards affiliated with Hebrew Union College, Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center and the Los Angeles Opera.
2010(29th of Kislev, 5711): In Cedar Rapids, IA, Rose
Becker passed away at the age of 92.
2010(29th of Kislev, 5711): Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said, "you were always on the
front line," in remarks at Haifa Police Chief Asst.-Cmdr. Ahuva Tomer’s
funeral in the military cemetery in Haifa after
she succumbed to her severe burns injuries on Monday morning, 4 days
after rushing into an inferno in the Carmel mountains to try and rescue
passengers on-board an Israel Prison Service bus that had been trapped in the
flames near Kibbutz Bet Oren.
2010:
A 14-year-old resident of Usfiya was arrested today
on suspicion of throwing a piece of charcoal from a water pipe into a forest
clearing near the village on Thursday morning, witnessing the ignition of a
large fire and running away leading to the Carmel Forest inferno.
2010; At Temple Reyim in Newton, MA, Amy Eilberg met for the first
time with Sally Priesand, the first Reform female rabbi, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso,
the first Reconstructionist female rabbi, and Sara Hurwitz, considered by some
to be the first Orthodox female rabbi. They and approximately 30 other women
rabbis lit Chanukah candles and then spoke about their experiences in an open
forum.
2010: Brian Emanuel Schatz begins serving as the 11th
Lt. Gov. of Hawaii.
2011: The New Orleans Jewish community is scheduled to kick off
Jewish Book Month today with a noon-time program at the Uptown JCC.
2011: “Who Shot My Father? The Story of Joe Alon” a documentary
about the Israeli Air Force Attaché who was murdered in 1973, is scheduled to
be shown at the 22nd Washington Jewish Film Festival
2011: Finance Minister
Yuval Steinitz welcomed an announcement that discussions between medical
residents and the Finance Ministry had produced positive results and a final
draft agreement had been drawn up.
2012: The Center for Jewish History and the Jewish Book Council
are scheduled to present “Culture Brokers: Publishing – The Book Trade” in
which a distinguished panel explores “Jewish participation in the dramatic
changes that transformed the book publishing industry in the post-War era from
a sleepy "gentlemen's club" into a dynamic and tumultuous industry.”
2012:
The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is scheduled to present a
speech byNoted Holocaust scholar and Northwestern
University faculty member, Dr. Peter Hayes entitled "What Took So
Long? The Wrangle Over Holocaust
Restitution Since 1945."
2012: The JCC of Northern Virginia is scheduled to sponsor “Wine
While We Wrap,” a fundraiser that lowers the holiday stress level by allowing
shoppers to enjoy a l’chaim while Chanukah helpers wrap their gifts.
2012: Sources in the European Union today played down a report in
the Hebrew daily Maariv that Europe was seeking to pass a series of harsh
sanctions against Israel following Jerusalem’s announcement last week of plans
to expand settlement construction.
2012: Coming out of a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she and Netanyahu had
“agreed to disagree” on the issue of West Bank settlements.
2013:
The Edent-Tamir Music Center is scheduled to host a noon-time concert featuring
the Young Master Pianists of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance
Conservatory.
2013:
The day after he passed away, eighty-five-year-old Major General Danny Matt
“was buried at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv.”
2013:
“Strudel in Tehina” is scheduled to be shown at the Jerusalem Jewish Film
Festival.
2013:
Temple Judah hosts its popular Musical Shabbat featuring Shir Yehuda.
2013:
Submission deadline for The #MakeItHappen micro-grants initiative (As reported
by JTA)
2013:
Ninety-five-year-old Irish cricketer Louis Jacobson who was “a right-handed
batsman from Dublin” passed away today.
http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/26/26789/26789.html
http://www.cricketireland.ie/news/article/death-of-louis-jacobsen
2013:
Both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas are committed to continuing peace talks, despite grumblings over
a lack of visible progress in almost five months of negotiations, US Secretary
of State John Kerry said today
2014:
The Jewish Folk Arts Festival Chanukah Concert Dedicated to Human Rights is
scheduled to take place at Temple Beth Ami in Rockville, MD.
2014:
Lewis Black is scheduled to perform at the Music Box in Atlantic City, NJ.
2014:
The Hava Nagiggle & JW3 Jewish Comedian of the Year Competition 2014 are
scheduled to take place this evening at the UK Jewish Comedy Festival.
2014:
Shabbat Va-yishlach
2014:
According to a poll published today by Channel 2 “almost two-thirds of Israelis
do not want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lead the next government.
2014:
“A plane flying from Tel Aviv to Philadelphia was forced to make an emergency
landing in Rome today after two passengers and 11 members of the crew were
taken ill.”
2015:
The funeral for “former Mertz leader, long-term MK and journalist Yossi Sardi”
is scheduled to take “place at 3 p.m. at the cemetery in Kibbutz Givat
Hashlosha, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.”
2015:
The Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia is scheduled to host The Ruth
Spector Memorial Maj Jong Tournament.
2015:
The Leo Baeck Institute is scheduled to present a lecture by theatre scholar
Wendy Arons on “Exile in the Spotlight: Kurt Hirschfeld and German- Language
Theater at the Schauspielhaus Zurich.”
2015:
The Chicago YIVO Society is scheduled to celebrate “the memory of music teacher
Sarah Lazarus with a concert featuring multi-instrumentalist Michael Alpert.
2015:
For the second time in two days, today, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired at
an IDF vehicle along the strip between the Jewish state and the
“Hamas-controlled territorty.”
2015:
Jewish Book comes to and end for 5776/2015
2015:
In the evening, kindle the first Chanukah light.
2015:
In Cedar Rapids, members of Temple Judah are scheduled to gather this evening
to usher in Chanukah by eating the creations of the “Latke King” – Brian Cohen
2015:
The New York Times featured reviews
of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers
including The 613 by Archie Rand, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times
of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik and Dietrich
& Riefenstahl: Hollywood, Berlin and
a Century in Two Lives by Karin Wieldand
2015:
The New York Times list of the 100
most notable works for 2015 published today included The Complete Works of
Primo Levi, edited by Ann Goldstein, The Crime and the Silence:
Confronting the Massacre of Jews in Wartime Jedwabne by Anna Bikont,
Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari
Berman, Jonas Salk: A Life by Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs and Killing a
King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel by Dan
Ephron
2016:
In cooperation with the Center for Jewish History, the American Joint
Distribution Committee is scheduled to host “The Flavor of Jewish Life: An
Exploration of Cooking, Culture and International Connection” featuring
Danielle Rehfeld, the chef and founder of The Inherited Plate.
2016:
“The 90 Minute War” and “Land of the Little People” are scheduled to be shown
at the 10th Annual Other Israel Film Festival
2016:
Despite the objection of some Jewish groups and leaders, “Richard Spencer who
recently railed against Jews at an alt-right conference in Washington, DC
during which audience members gave Nazi salutes” is scheduled “to speak at a
private event on the Texas A&M Campus today” – an event that the school
said it had no choice but to allow to take place even though a spokesman “said
that the university did not agree with Spencer’s views.
2016:
Today, the Israeli military “posted a map of southern Lebanon to Twitter on
which it marked Hezbollah positions, infrastructure and armaments along a
section of the Israeli border.”
2016:
In Memphis, TN, Temple Israel is scheduled to host “We’re All In This Together:
The Art of Embracing Life While Preparing for the End of Life” which will
include a discussion of Jewish burial and mourning customs as well as views on
reincarnation, resurrection and the afterlife.
2017:
In Cedar Rapids, IA, the Hadassah Book Club is scheduled to discuss Don’t Ever
Look Back by Daniel Friedman.
2017:
In Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum completed her service as Mexico’s “Chief of
delegation of Tlalpan” today.
2017:
Today “WNYV” which had launched the Jonathan Channel in 2013 “announced that
Jonathan Schwartz” was “being on leave pending investigations in allegations of
inappropriate conduct.”
2017:
Lisa Heineman is scheduled to lecture “on the subject of Holocaust memorials in
German, Polish and Israeli settings” at the University of Iowa.
2017:
The URJ Biennial is scheduled to open today in Boston, MA.
2017:
The Maccabeats are scheduled to appear at Bergen Performing Arts Center in
Englewood, NJ.
2017:
Jewish Book Month, an annual event that provides us with a chance to
contemplate Jewish books and the lives of authors such as James Kugel whose
works included the innovative How to Read the Bible and In The Valley
of The Shadow, continues today.
2018(28th
of Kislev, 5779): Fourth Day of Chanukah
2018:
“Yiddish New York, an annual, month-long celebration of Yiddish music, language
and culture, is proud to collaborate with City Lore on this year’s art
exhibition, which is scheduled to begin today.
2018:
Authors Lauren Groff and Jonathan Lethem are scheduled to talk about new books
tonight at the 92nd Street Y.
2018:
“The Young Friends of the Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival and
award-winning
filmmaker
Yoni Brook are scheduled to host “an evening of shorts, latkes, and vodkas”
featuring screenings of “The Love Letter,” “The Outer Circle,” “Shabbos Kallah”
and “Who Sank Your Ships?”
2018:
The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series is scheduled to present “Sweet Is
Thy Voice: The Song of Songs in Concert.”
2018:
In Iowa City, Rabbi Avremel and Chaya Blesofsky are scheduled to host Chabad’s
Community Chanukah Party.
2019:
The USCJ Convention is scheduled to open today in Boston.
2019(8th
of Kislev, 5780): Eighty-two-year-old Ron Liebman, the Manhattan born son of
Murray and Grace (Marx) Liebman and husband of actress Jessica Walter whose six
decade career as an actor including a Tony Award winning performance as Roy
Cohn passed away today. (As reported by Neil Genzlinger)
2019:
In Los Altos, CA, Congregation Beth Am is scheduled to host “Argentinian Rabbi
Shabbat” with a service led by “Rabbi Robert Graetz and Hernán Rustein of the
IberoAmerican Institute for Reform Rabbinical Education” followed by a
community dinner.
2019:
In San Francisco, Congregation Emanu-El is scheduled to host a dinner and
discussion with “Rabbi Jill Jacobs of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human
Rights.”
2019:
In Atlanta, the Bremen Museum is scheduled to present “The Role of Influence in
Photography” during which “Phillip Mosier, one of Atlanta’s leading
photographers will share how the work and influence of Lisette Model, an
Austrian-born American who taught photography at the New School for Social
Research, shaped the direction of two of the greatest photographers of the
twentieth-century, Diane Arbus and Vivian Maier.”
2019:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau for
the first time, tor the first time today at which time she will “participate in
a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation,
whose purpose is to preserve the authenticity of the site.”
2020:
The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including V2 by Robert Harris, What
Becomes A Legend Most: A Biography of Richard Avedon by Philip Gefter,
and Max Jacob: A Life in Art and
Letters by Rosanna Warren
2020:
The ADL’s In Concert Against Hate is scheduled to take place this evening.
2020:
The Other Israel Film Festival is scheduled to host a screening of “Golda.”
2020:
The Pfeffer Family Forum is scheduled to host “Lessons from Elie Wiesel for
Today.”
2020:
The Harvard University Hillel is scheduled to present Israeli film director Avi
Nesher as he discusses the reignited controversy surrounding his 1984 film
“Rage & Glory” (“Za’am v’Tehila”) following its restoration by the Israel
Film Archive and the Jerusalem Cinematheque.
2020:
The Oshman Family JCC is scheduled present four panelist discussing their
experience s Jews of color, sharing strategies to combat prejudice and how to
move from being welcomed to belonging.
2020:
The Mandel JDS Head of School Jay Leverman is scheduled to moderate the Global
Chanukah event in which attendees learned about Chanukah tradition from around
the world.
2021:
The London School of Jewish Studies is scheduled to host a special free siyum
event to celebrate of year of studying the writings and ideas of Rabbi Sacks of
blessed memory.
2021:
New Lehrhaus and PJCC are scheduled to present “Food Fights: Authority and
Authenticity in American Jewish Food” during which SFSU assistant professor
Rachel Gross explores “shifting ideas about who is an authority on Jewish food
and what counts as Jewish food in the U.S.
2021:
The Asiyah Jewish Community is scheduled to present online “rabbinic intern Sam
Tygiel…investigating Jewish stories of myth, magic and wonder.”
2021:
The National Library of Israel is scheduled to host a lecture by Professor
Carole Fink on “the Unexpected Arrivals: Soviet Jews in West Berlin 1972-1989.”
2021(2nd
of Tevet): Eighth Day of Chanukah
2021:
The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History is scheduled to host
virtually “Miracle on the Mall” during which Broadway
star Adam Kantor of Rent, Fiddler on the Roof, The Band’s Visit, and
Avenue Q is scheduled to jong celebration to help honor our Board and
Benefactors
Broadway
star Adam Kantor of Rent, Fiddler on the Roof, The Band’s Visit, and Avenue Q
joins our celebration to help honor our Board and Benefactors
2021:
David Barnea, the Chief of Mossad is scheduled to meet with “senior U.S.
officials in Washington which are expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear program.”
(As reported by Itamar Eichner)
2021:
In New Orleans, JNOLA is scheduled to celebrate The Festival of Lights.
2022:
Dr. David E. Kaufman is scheduled to deliver the final lecture on “The Modern
Jewish Experience: An Historical Overview, Pt. 1” at the Streicker Center.
2022:
The American Sephardi Federation is scheduled to present live on zoom a session
of the exclusive authors series with Alan Verskin: Vision of Yemen.
2022:
In Cedar Rapids, IA, Temple Judah’s board is scheduled to me today.
2022:
The Indiana Jewish Historical Society is scheduled host The Indiana Synagogue
Mapping Project, a virtual presentation with Dr. Wendy Soltz.
2022:
The Center for Jewish History is scheduled to a conversation with Natalie
Livingstone, the author of The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Women of the
World’s Most Famous Dynasty.
2022:
Naomi Miller is scheduled to lecture on “A Bissel Yiddish” a virtual offering
of the Streicker Center.
2023:
Lockdown University is scheduled to host Liz Hirsh Naftali, Orna Neutra and Lee
Sassi on “Baring Testament to the October 7th Massacre.”
2023:
Temple Judea is scheduled to host its annual Sisterhood Dinner.
2023:
The Jewish Community Center Meeting is scheduled to take place this evening at
the Goldriing-Woldenberg JCC in Metairie, LA.
2023:
In New York, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun is scheduled to host Johnathan
Haidt lecturing on “The Great Rewiring: What phone-based childhood has done to
our children and how parents and schools can partner to protect them.”
2023:
Jewish Book Month sponsored by the Jewish Book Council is scheduled to come to
an end.
2023:
The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History is scheduled to host a
screening of “Eight Crazy Nights” at the Khyber Pass Pub.
2023:
In the second lecture in the series "Emmanuel Levinas with Beloved Poets
and Writers" at Yedidya Synagogue in Jerusalem Rabbi Daniel Epstein is
scheduled to discuss the significance of
the meeting following the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas and Martin Buber.
2023:
Lockdown University is scheduled to host a lecture by Jeremy Rosen on “Making
Sense of the Bible: Can its Ancient Text be Relevant Today?”
2023:
As December 6 begins in Israel, the Hamas held
hostages begin day 61 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)
