This Day, February 17, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
February 17
1411: Musa
Celebi became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire which turned out well for a portion
of the Jewish population because during his reign the small Jewish community of
Manisa grew in size and wealth after it had been conquered by the Ottomans.
1525(24th of
Adar): Rabbi Isaac Eizik Margoliot author of Seder Gitten ve-Halizah
passed away.
1537: “Pope
Paul III” issued “a call for a general council to deal with the Reformation.”
This is the same pontiff who issued “Licet Judaei” a bull that spoke against
the blood libel.
1609:
Fifty-nine-year-old Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany who “enacted
an edict of tolerance for Jews and who issued an invitation to Jewish merchants
asking them to settle in Livorno and Pisa passed away today.
1634: After a
year’s imprisonment in the Tower of London, the Puritan leader who was an
outspoken opponent of re-admitting Jews to England, “was sentenced today to be
imprisoned during life, to be fined £5,000, to be expelled from Lincoln's Inn,
to be deprived of his degree by the university of Oxford, and to lose both his
ears in the pillory” for his attacks on dramatic performances and King Charles
I.
1649: Today,
at the Cracow diet, King John Camir “confirmed the privileges” that had been
originally granted to the Jews of Vizhany by King John III and his successors
King Michael and Ladislaus IV.
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14721-vizhainy-vizhuny-vizan-vizany
1697: Today,
Gideon Sampson’s father, Rowland Gideon, “a West India merchant” and “a freeman
of the city of London” was admitted to “the court of Painter Stainers’
Company,” “an organization of painters of metals and wood is known to have
existed as early as 1283.”
1732:
Birthdate of English dramatist Richard Cumberland who “The Jew” a comedy about
a Jewish moneylender that was first produced at London’s Drury Lane Theatre in
May of 1794. Unlike earlier English portrayals of Jewish moneylenders, in
this case, Sheva the moneylender is the benevolent hero.
1736: In
Buchau, Katherine and Samuel Wallersteiner gave birth to Hirsch Naphtali
Wallersteiner, the husband of Judith Essinger with whom he had four children.
1745: Sara
Pereyre and Aaron Nones, the Bordeaux born son of Judica and Raphael Nones gave
birth to Aaron Nones, the brother of Benjamin Nones.
1764(14th
of Adar I, 5524): Purim Katan is celebrated two days after the establishment of
St. Louis, MO, home to Kohn’s Kosher Meat and Deli Restaurant
1772:
First partition of Poland by Russia, Prussia and Austria. The
multi-parted partition of Poland would mean the demise of the Polish nation
until after World War I. Much to the disappointment of the Russians, they
acquired a large Jewish population as a result of the partition; a Jewish
population that the Russians did not want.
1774: In
Darmstadt, Germany Biene and Mordachai Salomon Reiss gave birth to Nathan
Reiss, the husband of Guthel Gottlieb with whom he had eleven children.
1776(27th
of Shevat, 5536): Parashat Mishpatim; Shabbat Shekalim
1776(27th
of Shevat, 5536): The first volume of Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire was published today.
From the
reign of Nero to that of Antoninus Pius, the Jews discovered a fierce
impatience of the dominion of Rome, which repeatedly broke out in the most
furious massacres and insurrections. Humanity is shocked at the recital of the
horrid cruelties which they committed in the cities of Egypt, of Cyprus, and of
Cyrene, where they dwelt in treacherous friendship with the unsuspecting
natives, and we are tempted to applaud the severe retaliation which was
exercised by the arms of the legions against a race of fanatics whose dire and
credulous superstition seemed to render them the implacable enemies not only of
the Roman government, but of human kind.
-
Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776)
1783(15th
of Adar I, 5543): Shushan Purim Katan
1785:
Birthdate of Nachman Kohen Krochmal, the native of Brody who interrupted his
studies to become a businessman who wrote Moreh Nebuke ha-Zeman
1791:
Birthdate of Lutgeneder, Germany native Johanna Schonholz, the wife of Lehmann
Leffman Kohlberg with whom she had seven children.
1798(1st
of Adar, 5558): Parashat Terumah, Rosh Chodesh Adar; Shabbat Shekalim
1801: An
electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when
Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by
the United States House of Representatives. Thomas Jefferson was the first
President to appoint a Jew to a Federal post. In 1801 he named Reuben Etting of
Baltimore as U.S. Marshall for Maryland. More importantly from a Jewish
perspective was the fact that Jefferson was a strong defender of the concept of
separation of church and state.
1802(15th
of Adar I, 5562): Shushan Purim Katan observed on the same day that a letter
was written to President Jefferson seeking an appointment for William S. Butler
as Midshipman in the United States Navy.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-36-02-0393
1809: Miami
University is chartered by the State of Ohio. According to recent figures a
thousand of the school’s 15,000 undergrads are Jewish and 100 of its 1,000 grad
students are Jewish. The school offers approximately 20 Jewish Studies
courses and a Major in Jewish Studies. The school hosts a robust Hillel Chapter
offering a wide variety of programs including a weekly Friday night Shabbat
services and dinner.
1812: In
Charleston, SC, Hannah Lazarus Moses and Isaac Clifton Moses gave birth to
Eliza Matilda Moses, the wife of Major Raphael Jacob Moses and mother-in-law of
Colonel Lionel C. Levy.
1815: “In
Rivarolo Mantovano by Abraham and Rosa Finzi, gave birth to Italian patriot and
parliamentarian Giuseppe Finzi.
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6126-finzi-giuseppe
1817(1st
of Adar, 5577): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1817(1st
of Adar, 5777): Twenty-five-year-old Myer Jacobs, the Philadelphia born of
Moses Jacobs married Rebecca Lazarus today.
1819:
Birthdate of historian Philip Jaffe who overcame German anti-Semitism to “one
of the most important medievalists of the 19th century.”
1826: One day
after he had passed away, 86-year-old Michael Davis was buried today at the
“Canterbury Jewish Cemetery.”
1828: Moshe
Simeon ben Joseph married Bluma bat Jacob today at the Western Synagogue
1829:
Middlesex natives Hannah Levy and Michael Emanuel gave birth to Alfred Emanuel.
1829: In Paris
James Mayer de Rothschild and Betty Salomon von Rothschild gave birth to their
second son Gustave Samuel de Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, the
“consul-general for Austria-Hungary, director of the Chemin de Fer du Nord and
the Paris-Lyons and Mediterranean Railway; member of the board of directors of
the Rothschild Hospital and Hospice and president of the Jewish Consistory of
Paris
1830: Israel
Phillips married Maria Sampson today at the Western Synagogue.
1830: David D.
Cohen married Mary Hart, “the eldest daughter of Nathan Hart” in Charleston,
SC, today.
1830: Dr. Daniel Moses Levy
Maduro Peixotto, the Amsterdam born son of Cantor Moses Levy Maduro Peixotto
and Judith van Samuel Peixotto, and his wife Rachel Lopes Mendes Peixotto gave
birth to Moses Levy Maduro Peixotto, II.
1840:
Frederick David Goldsmid, the fifth born child of Baron Isaac-Lyon Goldsmid and
the former Caroline Samuel, the daughter of Philip Samuel gave birth to their
second child Walter Henry.
1844(27th
of Shevat, 5604): Parsahat Misphatim; Shabbat Shekalim
1844: In
Alexandria, Egypt, Isacco Saul Sonnino and Georgiana Sophia Arnaud Sonnino gave
birth to Giorgio Sonnino, the husband of Elena Sonnino and the father of
Margherita Sonnino and Giorgina Sonnino.
1846:
Birthdate of Bestland, VA native Solomon W. Fleishman, the operator of
mercantile businesses in Danville and Richmond who passed away in December of
1916 leaving large bequests to several organizations including Hebrew Union
College, the Ladies’ Hebrew Benevolent Society, the Home for Confederate Women
and the Hebrew Home for Aged and Infirm.
1846: In
Finsbury, London natives Rachel Levy and Samuel Samson Genese gave birth to
Abraham Samuel Genese.
1847: In
Frankfurt, Charlotte Rothschild and Anselm von Rothschild the manager of “the
family-owned S M von Rothschild bank” in Vienna gave birth to their “eighth and
youngest child” Alice Charlotte von Rothschild
1847: Israel
Coleman married Julia Cohen at the Great Synagogue today.
1850: Yehuda
ben Aharon married Ryna bat Mikal at the Great Synagogue today.
1851(15th
of Adar I, 5611): Shushan Purim Katan observed on the same day that the Fourth
Wisconsin Legislature concluded its regular session
1852(27th of
Shevat, 5612): Five days before his 40th birthday, Hebrew Poet Micha
Joseph Levenson passed away.
1852: Two days
after he had passed away, Joseph Safir, the father of Elisabeth, Roaslia, Marie
and Markus Saphir was buried today in the Central Bohemian Region of what
became the Czech Repubic.
1853: Three
days after she had passed away, Adelaide Elkin, the daughter of Samuel and Jane
Stiebel and the wife of Isaac Benjamin Elkin was buried today at the “Balls
Pond Jewish Cemetery.”
1853: A
Hungarian tailor makes an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Emperor Franz
Josef. Jews are erroneously thought to have colluded with Italian
dissidents in the attempt.
1856(11th
of Adar I, 5616): “English tenor and composer John Braham” who received his
earliest musical training in the Great Synagogue where his father Abraham was a
chorister” and who “in 181t collaborated with Isaac Nathan on a work called
‘Hebrew Melodies” for which Lord Byron wrote the text” passed away today.
http://www.cornishwonder.com/page3.htm
1856: Heinrich
Heine passed away. The famed poet was born to a Jewish family but converted to
Christianity in 1825 seeing it as the only way to fully enter German and
European society. Reportedly Heine saw his conversion as matter of practical
convenience saying that “As Henry IV said, 'Paris is worth a mass'; I say,
'Berlin is worth the sermon.'" Heine remained ambivalent about his
decision for the rest of his life. When the Nazis decided to burn books
by Jewish authors, they included the works of Heine. Heine has prophetically
written, “Where they burn books, they will ultimately also burn people."
1857: Abel
Dreyfous, an immigrant from Belfort Alsace and Caroline Kaufman Dreyfous, a
native of Bavaria gave birth to Felix Jonathan Dreyfous in New Orleans “at the
corner of Florida Walk (then Marigny Canal) and Elysian Fields Street where”
they “for a time attempted to operate a soap factory under unfavorable
circumstatnces
1858: In
Baltimore, MD, Israel Cohen, the son of Benjamin I. and Kitty Cohen and his
wife Cecilia Eliza Cohen gave birth to Eleanor Septima Cohen whose
interest in both Jewish and
non-sectarian charities can be seen her endowment scholarships in the Medical Department of the
University of Maryland and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America as well
as her membership in the “Associated Jewish charities to which she was a liberal
contributor, the Municipal Art Society of Baltimore, the Baltimore Museum of
Art, the Maryland Historical Society, the Zionist Organization of America and
the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.” (As reported by the Maryland
Historical Society)
http://www.mdhs.org/findingaid/cohen-collection-1773-1945-ms-251
1863:
Birthdate of British political leader David Lloyd George who was the Prime
Minster of Great Britain during the last half of World War I and whose resolve
helped to bring victory to the Allies. For Jews, Lloyd George will be
remembered as the Prime Minister whose government issued the famous Balfour
Declaration. Unlike some of his wartime contemporaries, Lloyd George
remained a loyal supporter to both the letter and the spirit of the Balfour
Declaration after the Great War when it was no longer fashionable to keep the
promises made to the Jewish people.
1865: In
“Melsungen, Hessen, Germany,” Leiser and Tels Delza Speyer gave birth “Isak
Isaac Itzig Speier,” the “husband of Flora Speier” and the father of Leo
Speyer.
1866: A
correspondent for the New York Times arrived in Kai-fun-fee, the capital of
Honan where he has gone in search of the remnants of an ancient community of
Chinese Jews.
1866: In New
York City Jacob Strauss and Betty Danenbaum gave birth to Carrie Strauss, who
as Carrie Taubenhaus, the wife of Rabbi Godfrey Taubenhaus, who served as a
trustee of the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Hebrew Educational Society and was the
“first president of Brooklyn Section of the Council of Jewish Women.”
1868: Internationally
known actor Daniel Edward Bandmann , the German born son of Rebeca and Solomon
Bandman who in 1863 was well received in his English-language debut at Niblo's
Garden as Shylock made his first appearance in Britain at London’s Lycuem
Theatre today in Narcisse.
1870: In
Milwaukee, WI, Temple Emanu-E which had been formed in 1869 was formally
incorporated, making I the city’s second oldest congregation. E.M.V.
Brown was the first Rabbi to serve the congregation.
1870(16th
of Adar I, 5630): Thirteen-year-old Marcus Meyer Steppacher the Mississippi
born son of Wolf and Caroline Meyer Steppacher passed away today in
Philadelphia after which he was buried at the Mount Sinai Cemetery in
Philadelphia, PA.
1871(26th
of Shevat, 5631): Sixty-four-year-old Eleazer (Eugene) Moss, the son of John
Moss and Rebecca Lyons and husband of Mary Levy passed away today in
Philadelphia.
1871: The
victorious Prussian Army parades though Paris after the end of the Siege of
Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. Jews fought in the armies of the
victorious Prussians and the vanquished French. More importantly, the
humiliating defeat in 1871 led to World War I which in turn led to World War II
and the Shoah.
1872: In
Salisbury, MD, Simon Ulman, the Myersdale, PA born son of Joseph and Sarah
Ullman and his wife Caroline Ulman gave birth to Joseph Ulman
1872: It was
reported today that of the $528,742.47 that New York City gave to sectarian
charitable institutions in 1869 and 1870, Hebrew institutions received
$14,404.49 as compared to the $412,082.56 that went to Roman Catholic
Intuitions.
1873: In
Baltimore, MD, Moses and Rose (Levi) Moses gave birth John Hopkins grad and
University of Maryland trained attorney Jacob M. Moses, the husband of Hortense
E. Guggenheimer who was General counsel of the Sun Life Insurance Company and
active in the Jewish community as can by his serving as vice president of the
American Jewish Congress and honorary president of the Baltimore District of
the ZOA.
1874(30th
of Shevat, 5634): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1874(30th
of Shevat, 5634): Eighty-six-year-old Georgetown, SC native Divinah Cohen, the
wife of Philadelphia native Isaac Minis and the mother of France Minis passed
away today.
1874:
Benjamin Disraeli finished serving as leader of the Loyal Opposition as he
prepared to assume the role of Prime Minister following the conclusion of the
General Election in which the Conservative Party won a majority of seats in the
House of Commons.
1875:
Twenty-one-year-old Sophie Seligman became Sophie Walter when she married
Moritz Walter today.
1875: The
Israelite General Benevolent Society gave its 9th annual ball at the
Turn Hall tonight. The affair was a fundraiser to raise money for
destitute and poor Jewish families.
1876:
Birthdate of New York City native and CCNY graduate Rabbi Moses Beckhardt, a
forty-year veteran teacher in NY Public School System, a “chaplain at the
Jewish Protectotry at Hawthorne, NY” and assistant superintendent of the Hebrew
Orphan Asylum who was “connected with Beth Israel Congregation of Kingsburg for
fifteen years.
1877(4th
of Adar, 5637): Fifty-six-year-old German-born Austrian writer Salomon Hermann
Mosenthal known for his “opera libretti” passed away today.
1877: In
Hungary, Max and Regina Goldstein Englander gave birth to Henry Englander who
came to the United States in 1879, graduated from the University of Cincinnati
and HUC in 1901 who served as rabbi at several congregations staring with
Ahavath Sholom Temple in Ligonier, Indiana before pursuing a career in Judaic academia.
https://collections.americanjewisharchives.org/ms/ms0151/ms0151.html
1878: In
Remiremont, Vosage, Albert Weth, “a draper” and his wife Sophia gave birth to
“writer and critic” Leon Werth, the overage opponent of war who served as a
volunteer on the Western Front in the French Army and with his wife Suzanne
risked his life as member of the Resistance by turning their apartment into a
safe house for everything from fellow Jews on the run to downed Allied pilots
while raising his son Claude who would become a doctor.
1878: “Daniel
– The Third Ruler in the Kingdom” published today discusses why Daniel who
interpreted the inscription for the Babylonian king was referred to as the
“third ruler” when Joseph who interpreted the dream for the Pharaoh was
referred to as the “second ruler.”
1878: It was
reported today that after four years, the Young Men’s Hebrew Association of New
York City has 900 members.
1878: It was
reported today that the Gemeindebund ("Union of Judæo-German
Congregations") has been reorganized to better protect the Jewish
communities in Germany
1878: It was
reported today that more than one third of the Jews living in Amsterdam are
paupers. These 13,000 individuals are supported by the Jewish community
and the government. The Congregational Council spent 130,214 florins in
1877 to support a variety of community officials and institutions including a
Chief Rabbi, Chief Cantor, free religious schools for 1,800 boys and 600 girls,
a rabbinical college, an orphan asylum and a hospital and lunatic asylum
“considered the best in the country.”
1879: In
the United States Circuit Court, Judge Wallace and the jury began hearing the
case brought by M.L. Hiller, who identified himself as “a Prussian and a Jew”
who had become a Universalist, against the Burlington and Missouri River
Railroad Company of Nebraska for breach of contract.
1879:
Birthdate of Rostov, Russia native Samuel J. Kasindorf who in 1888 arrived in
NYC where he became a businessman and served as one of the directors of the
Young Men’s Hebrew Association Borough Park starting in 1920.
1879: In
Richmond, VA, Jacob and Huldah (Baer) Morse gave birth to Richmond College
graduate and Clark University Ph.D. Josiah Morse, the husband of Etta Ferguson
who began his career teaching at Clark College and the University of Texas
before finally become a Professor of Psychology and Philosophy at the
University of South Carolina.
1880:
“Historic Balds,” a comic look at the lack of hair among men through the ages
printed today, not that based on the story of Elisha “baldness seems to have
been considered a disgrace in remote ages…” On the other hand, the
stories of Samson and Absalom would indicate that flowing locks are not a
guarantee of good fortune or divine approval.
1880: After
having been charged with arson, Jacob Naftal, a Jewish clothing merchant, went
on trial today for his role in starting a fire at Red Bank, NY which destroyed
9 buildings. The 9 buildings, which included a store owned by the
defendant, were in the town’s business district. The trial is expected to last
for several days.
1880: “In
Kharkoff, Russia, Mordecai and Rebecca (Rubenstein) Edelhertz gave birth to
Bernard Edelhertz who in 1893 was brought to the United States where he
graduated from NYU Law School, severed as “assistant to the attorney general of
the United States” for five years, “purchased controlling interest of the
American Hebrew Magazine and served as an executive with both Cyclopedia Judaica
and the Independent American Jewish Public Company while raising two daughters
with his wife, the former Clara Greenberg.
1881:
Rabbi E.M. Meyer Rafael of Brooklyn provided his version of the conflict
between Raphael Joseffy and Matthew Arbuckle who were supposed to be
participating in an upcoming concert to provide funds for his Brooklyn
synagogue. According to Meyer, Arbuckle, one of the leading coronet players had
agreed to charge a reduced price for his performance and the Joseffy, one of
the leading pianists, had agreed to play for free. However, when
Joseffy’s secretary found out the Arbuckle was performing, the secretary said
Joseffy would not perform if a coronet was being played. Joseffy
expressed no opinion about Arbuckle. The objection would have been the
same if it had been another coronet player. The dispute could derail this
benefit event.
1881:
Seventy-four-year-old German historian Theodor Hirsch who converted to
Christianity was the cousin of historian Siegfried Hirsh, passed away today.
1882:
The description of the conditions of the Jews in Kiev and its surrounding area
provided by Russian speaking Protestant Englishman who had visited the area
were published today. According to him the homes of the Jews had been
“completely wrecked…with the…doors and windows…torn from their hinges. At
least 2,000 Jews – men, women and children – were left with nothing but the
clothes on their backs. During one 48-hour period of carnage, “numerous
defenseless young women were completely at the mercy of the mob…” The
authorities did nothing to prevent the violence and expressed sympathy for the
attackers. When some of the attackers were put on trial, “the government
prosecutor expressed sympathy with the motives” of the attackers. The light
sentences showed that the populace supported the attacks and the violence. In
some of the small towns outside of Kiev, the soldiers who were ordered to
protect the Jews actually joined the rioters.
1882: Hamilton
Disston wrote a letter from Jacksonville, FL to Mayor King of Philadelphia
offering a free 40-acre tract of land owned by Okeechobee Land and Improvement
Company of Florida to each of the 50 Jewish families fleeing Russian
persecution that are on a boat bound for the City of Brotherly Love.
1882: It was
reported today that at Kiev, Odessa, Elizabethgrad and other Russian cities
“more than 250 women were outraged by Jewbaiters during the disturbances
[“Outraged” is a euphemism for rape and “disturbances is a euphemism for
Pogrom.]
1882: It was
reported today that petroleum was poured on a Jew’s head in Odessa and that he
was then set on fire.
1882: It was
reported that at Kiev, General Dreutlen refused to protect the Jews because it
was not worth risking the lives of his soldiers to do so.
1882: It was
reported today that F.D. Moccatta has contributed £ 1,000 to the relief fund
for the Jews of Russia. He has also to contribute 1 per cent of any sum
collected within the next two years in an amount not to exceed £ 1,000,000.
[F.D. Moccatta is Frederick David Mocatta]
1883:
Birthdate of Anna Schmetterling, a native of Austria-Hungary, who became Anna
Aberbach when she married Adolf Aberbach both of whom were passengers on the
ill-fates S.S St. Louis.
1885:
Birthdate of Martha (Margarethe) Zadek the wife “writer, theatre critic,
journalist and art collector” Alfred Gold,” the mother of sculptor Marianne
Gold Lippman and the daughter-in-law of Vienna merchant Samuel Gold and Sara
Pipper.
1885: In
Hungary, Isaac and Hannah (Rocker) Brav gave birth to Columbia, JTS and Hebrew
Union College educated Rabbi Louis Brav, the husband of Viola Brav who was the
Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Lake Charles, LA and a Professor of Romance Languages
at Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin.
1887: In
Hungary, Max and Regina (Goldstein) Englander gave birth to University of
Cincinnati graduate and Hebrew Union College Rabbi Henry Englander, the husband
of Esther Straus, who joined the faculty of his rabbinic alma mater in 1910 as
a Professor of Medieval Exegetical Literature and Registrar.
http://collections.americanjewisharchives.org/ms/ms0151/ms0151.html
1887: In
Austria-Hungary, Isaac and Hannah (Rocker) Brave gave birth to Columbia
graduate and JTS and HUC trained Rabbi, Louis Brav, the husband of M. Viola
Gernsbacher who led Temple Sinai in Lake Charles, LA while teaching romance
languages at Lawrence College in Appleton, WI.
1888:
Birthdate of Otto Stern, 1943 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics.
1889:
Birthdate of Canadian native mezzo-soprano Irene Pavloska
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/02/14/107174368.pdf
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/irene-pavloska-emc/
1889: In
“Kertch (Crimea) Russia,” “Boris M. and Maria (Zengin) Piastro: gave birth to
gold medal winning violinist Josef Borissoff, the husband of Anna T.
Berezowskaya.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1943/11/03/87427489.html?pageNumber=21
1890: It was
reported that the funds raised by the concert and reception hosted by the
Seligman Solomon Society would go to the Seligman Solomon Prize Fund for the
Hebrew Orphan Asylum. The society which is was founded three years ago is
made up of those who had lived at the asylum and the late Seligman Solomon was
one of its leading patrons.
1890: United
States Commissioner John A. Shields continued to hear testimony regarding the
Sixth National Bank case, which if true, would mean that Siegmund T. Meyer and
his sons Philip and Arthur, “raided” the financial institution.
1890(27th
of Shevat, 5650): Herman Frohman a wealthy New York butcher, the husband of
Mary Frohman and the father of Henrietta Frohman, Lena Frohman Vollman, Fannie
Frohman Adler, Bertha Frohman and Rebecca Frohman passed away today.
1890: The
Hebrew Home for the Aged and Infirm of Richmond, VA led by President Henry S.
Hutzler, Vice President Philip Whitlock and Secretary and Treasurer Isaac Held
was incorporated today.
1891: In
Winnsboro, SC, Rabbi David Levy of Charleston officiated at the wedding Sam
Nathan from Denver, CO and Etta L. Wolfe,” the daughter of Saling and Sarah
Wolfe”
1891:
Birthdate of Abraham Fraenkel, the Munich native and “fervent Zionist” who
became the first Dean of Mathematics at Hebrew University.
1891(9th of
Adar I, 5651): In Leadville, CO, Abe Oliner passed away just two months short
of his sixth birthday. Abe came to Leadville in 1885 with his father
Isaac, age 30, mother Gilla, age 25, brother Jacob, age 4 and sister Fannie,
age 2.
1891:
Birthdate of German born Israeli mathematician Abraham Halevi Fraenkel.
1894(18th of
Adar I, 5654): Sixty-three-year-old Albert S. Rosenbaum, a retired tobacco
merchant and hotel proprietor passed away today in New York. A native of
Cassel, Germany he came to the United States when he was 18 and settled in
California where he made his fortune investing in San Francisco real
estate. He moved to New York to better manage his tobacco interest.
1894:
Birthdate of Minsk native Sidney Davidson the founder of “Davidson Brothers” a
New York “underwear company, a founder, in 1939 “of the United Jewish Appeal of
Greater New York” and the husband of “the former Sarah Machilis” with whom he
had two children – Jean and Morton. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/08/10/101560339.pdf
1895: “Heine’s
Pension” published today described Heinrich Heine’s life in France beginning
with “his exile in Paris in 1831.” (Heine was the German literary figure who
converted, a decision that he later came to regret but never rectified.)
1895: In St.
Louis, Russian, Austrian, Polish, Hungarian and Scandinavian Jews who had
become naturalized citizens of the United States form the Progressive Order of
the West, a fraternal and benevolent organization. The Progressive Order's
objectives were to familiarize members with the laws, customs, and institutions
of this country; to create a fund to be used for charitable purposes, and to
provide for the payment of death benefits to the families of members. In 1898,
7 lodges were in existence in St. Louis and steps were being taken to extend
the order to other cities.
1895: It is
reported today that the Government in Germany has taken the side of the
striking tailors and seamstresses. (Considering the reactionary nature of the
German ruling class this would seem rather strange except that the owners are
described as being “mostly Jews.”)
1895: “Are
Sisters of Mercy” published today described the Temple Emanu-El Sisterhood as
one of “the pioneer of all Jewish sisterhoods: and “one of the most excellent
institutions among…Hebrew charities.”
1896: It was
reported today that Baron von Leonrod, the Bavarian Minister of Justice has
said that it would be impossible to refund the 80,000 marks that Louis Stern of
New York had left as bail even though he had received a pardon from the Prince
Regent.
1896: In
Paris, “playwright Pierre Verber and novelist Catherine Agadjanian” gave birth
to journalist and screenwriter Pierre-Gilles Veber, the father of Francis
Veber.
1896(3rd
of Adar I, 5656): Sixty-four French author Aristide Félix Cohen passed away
today.
1896: Under
the will of the late Adolphe de Rothschild, with today’s date, he “bequeathed
to the Institution for Sick Foreign Jews in Frankfort, founded in memory of his
daughter, Georgine Sara, 2,000,000 marks and to the orthodox Jewish
Congregation in Frankfort 200,000 marks, in trust, to distribute to the income
among poor Jews of good character, on the anniversaries of his death and that
of his wife.
1897(15th
of Adar I, 5657): Shushan Purim Katan
1897: It was
reported today that Professor Felix Adler is one of the speakers scheduled to
address the upcoming conference on improving housing conditions in New York
City.
1897: “Large
Gift to Orphans” published today described the offer of Emanuel Lehman to
provide “$100,00 for the endowment of an industrial and provident fund for the
benefit of graduates” who have been under the care of the Hebrew Benevolent and
Orphan Asylum Society.
1897: As
Emanuel Lehman celebrated his 70th birthday it was reported today
that “every charitable association” in New York City “in which Lehman is
interested received a handsome check from him…with an explanatory note that it
was a birthday present.
1897: Two day
after she had passed away, 86 year old Maria Jacobs, the daughter of David
Nathan and Sarah Isaacs and the wife of Aaron Jacobs was buried today at the
“Plashet Jewish Cemetery” in London.
1897: “Work of
the United Hebrew Charities” published today showed that during January 114
people had received money to be used for transportation to other parts of the
United States or Europe. During January, the UHC provided 53 free burials and
provided medical assistance to 394 people including medicine and visits to the
doctor. Finally, the UHC provided clothing, shoes, furniture, lodgings,
meals and cash to 5,422 applicants.
1898: Judge
Meyer S. Isaacs will deliver a lecture entitled “The Old Guard” tonight at
Temple Israel sponsored by the Young Men’s Hebrew Association.
1900(18th
of Adar I, 5660) Parashat Ki Tisa
1900: The Rev.
Dr. Moses J. Gries of Cleveland preached a sermon this morning at the Temple
Emanu-El which “was mainly devoted to a discussion of religious decadence among
the younger generation at Jews, who, he says, are neither deeply interested in
matters of worship nor properly instructed in the Jewish belief.”
1901: In New
Orleans, Rabbi I.L. Lencht delivered a prayer to mark the opening of the
meeting of the Jewish Women’s Council Executive Board which is being held at
the Jewish Orphans’ Home and was followed by a reception at the Harmony Club.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/02/18/117954873.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1902: In
Philadelphia, PA, Harry L. Cantor, the Lithuanian born son of Mr. and Mrs.
Samuel Lewis Cantor and his wife Rose (Cramer) Cantor gave birth to Simon “Cy” Cantor, the husband
of Pearl (Rosenblum) Cantor.
1902: The U.S.
Senate voted to ratify the purchase by the United States from Denmark of the
Danish West Indies, now the U.S. Virgin Islands where Jews had first settled in
1655 and which is the home to Congregation Beracha Veshalom Vegmiluth Hasadim
as well as the milieu for Alice Hoffman’s novel The Marriage of Opposites.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/virgin-islands-virtual-jewish-history-tour
1903: Herzl
meets Dr. Abdullah Djevdet Bey whose poetry he reviewed in the Neue Freie
Presse. Djevdet offers his help in gaining support for the Zionists in
Turkey. Leopold Greenberg reports from Egypt that it will be impossible to
obtain a Charter that will support Jewish colonization.
1904: Birthdate
of “Mrs. Rosa Brown Eisendrath” the Bonham, TX born wife “Rabbi Maurice N.
Eisendrath, the president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations who
gave up her career as a concert pianist to help her husband fulfill his
calling.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/07/04/86712588.pdf
1904: In
Akron, Ohio, 22 year old Bert A. Polsky, the son of Abram and Mollie Polsky who
worked at A.Polsky, the family owned business married Hazel Steiner who would
become a charter member and president of the Women’s Auxiliary Board of the
Akron City Hospital.
1904:
Birthdate of political scientist and historian Hans J. Morgenthau. Born
and educated in Germany, Morgenthau came to the United States in the
1930’s. He gained fame as director of the Center for the Study of
American Foreign and Military Policy while teaching at the University of
Chicago. Morgenthau was a realist and opposed the Vietnam War “because
the risks of military participation outweighed any benefits.” He was a
leader in the fight to improve the conditions of Soviet Jewry and he spoke out against
the PLO as a terrorist organization. He passed away in 1980.
1905: Grand
Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, the brother of Emperor Alexander III and
the nephew of Emperor Nicholas II who while serving as Governor General of
Moscow oversaw “the expulsion of 20,000 Jews from Moscow” was assassinated
today in Moscow.
1906: Carl
Stettauer, “who represented the United States and Great Britain in the general
distribution of the Jewish Relief Fund in Russia” met with a New York Times
reporter today at the Waldorf-Astoria where he described his visit to Russia
during which two million dollars, half of which had been raised in the United
States was spent on relieving the suffering of the Jewish population.
1907:
Birthdate of Brooklyn native Irving Philip Kartell the St. John’s University-trained
lawyer, “an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New
York from 1947 to 1953” and the Justice of the State of Supreme Court in
Brooklyn who “ruled in favor of women bus drivers in a landmark discrimination
case while raising two children –James and Karren – with his wife, the former
Leonore Sweedler.”
https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/10/obituaries/irving-p-kartell-86-new-york-state-justice.html
1908:
“Immigrant Children Unite” published today described how “nearly fifty little
immigrant children who are now on parole at the Hebrew Sheltering House for
Immigrants have become so attached to each other since their arrive in the
United States, a few weeks ago, that they have pledged themselves to keep in
communication with each other after they have left the Sheltering House for
various cities in the Middle West.”’
1909:
University of Pittsburg trained Chemical Engineer David Alter, the Austrian
born son of Haim and Golda (Jassy) Alter “who would become the owner and
publisher of the Jewish Criterion, the Jewish Times of Florida and The Jewish
Time of Baltimore and Washington D.C., married Sadie Silberstein today.
1909: “Oddest
and Oldest of Weddings Here” published today described the wedding of two
Sephardic Jews, Samuel Hanania and Rosa Penso based on the information supplied
to reporters by Ephraim, a Sephardic Jew from Turkey “who used be an official
interpreter at Ellis Island.”
1910: In
New York City, Minerva Norma (née Sugarman) Goldsmith and Israel Simon
Goldsmith gave birth to Max Goldsmith who gained fame as American cinema actor
Marc Lawrence who was a friend and acting contemporary of John Garfield.
Like Garfield, Lawrence ran into trouble during the McCarthy Period.
Unlike Garfield, Lawrence survived professionally and personally. He
passed away in 2005.
1911:
Birthdate of Oskar Koplowitz, a native of Silesia, who as Oskar Seidlin became
a noted American “literary scholar, poet and” an author of detective novels and
books for children.
1912(29th
of Shevat, 5672): Parashat Mishpatim; Shabbat Shekalim
1912: As Jews
observe Shabbat, Colonel Roosevelt, who had enjoyed support among the Jewish
population and who had appointed the first Jew to serve in the Cabinet is,
today, as promised, contemplating a run for the Presidency after having been
out of office for four years.
1913: The
Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to
become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century. William
Zorach, Max Weber, Elie Nadelman, Maurice Becket and Abraham Walkowitz were
among the Jewish artists invited to display their work.
1913: U.S.
premiere of “The Miracle,” a British silent, color film based on the play by
Max Reinhardt.
1914: “In a
142 page decision, the Georgia Supreme court denied Leo Frank a new trial” by
dismissing allegations of juror bias and the influence of spectators on the
verdict of the trial court.
1915: “Plea to
New York Jews” published today described willingness of the U.S. Navy to ship
“flour, sugar, rice and matzoth for Passover” aboard one of its vessels
provided the Jewish community can raise the funds for the supplies which will
unloaded at Jaffa.
1915: In
Rhodes Island, at Brown University, several faculty members took part in a
discussion following a lecture on Zionism delivered by Professor Richard
Gottheil of Columbia University.
1915: In
Chicago, Pia “Fannie” Brin and Solomon Brin gave birth to “Herb Brin,
pugnacious journalist, editor, poet and dogged campaigner for liberal and
Jewish causes.”
http://www.davidbrin.com/herbbrin/obituary.html
1915: Reverend
Thomas Kelly Cheyne, the former Oriel Professor of Interpretation of the
Scriptures at Oxford and who was one of the first “English scholars” to apply
“the methods of Higher Criticism” to the study of the Old Testament – a
methodology that had already become popular among some German-Jewish scholars –
passed away today. Cheyne was the author of Job and Solomon: The Wisdom of
the Old Testament, The Prophecies
of Isaiah in two volumes and work on the prophet of Jeremiah.
1916:
“Robinson Crusoe, Jr” a musical co-authored by Sigmund Romberg, co-starring Al
Jolson and produced by Lee and Jacob Schubert opened at the Winter Garden
Theatre.
1916(13th
of Adar I, 5676): Russian born Rabbi Israel Feinberg passed away today after
which he was buried at Beth Jacob Cemetery in Buffalo, NY
1916: “A
committee of those who have been active in Jewish relief work in New York City”
headed by Leo Kamaiky and Mrs. Samuel Elkeles “called upon President Wilson”
today “and thanked him for hiving set aside January 27 by proclamation as a day
when all could contribute to relieve the destitute Jews in the war zone” who
reportedly to number at least nine million souls.
1917: Rabbi
Marius Ranson is scheduled to lead services today at Temple Israel of Harlem.
1917: Dr.
Samuel Schulman is scheduled to deliver the sermon this morning at Temple
Beth-El on Fifth Avenue.
1917: “The
Women’s Proclamation Committee, the national women’s organization for Jewish
relief” today “sent to the Joint Distribution Committee for Jewish War Relief a
check for $3,000, its monthly contribution to the great 1917 fund being raised
here for destitute Jews in the warring countries.”
1917: At
Temple Emanu-El, Dr. Silverman is scheduled to deliver a sermon on “Sacredness
of Life: Thou Shalt Not Murder” at Saturday morning services.
1917: “A young
girl refugee” who “is a native Mihailovo Poland, a village about forty miles
from the German border” “who after three months efforts succeeded in getting
out Poland” and escaping to the United States made a statement from her uncle’s
home on Seventh Avenue that “The Jews in that part of Russian Poland which is
now occupied by Germans thought, before the war that the Russians were hard
taskmasters. Now, they go down on their
knees every night and pray for the return of the Russians; they do so covertly,
though for if they were caught they would be beaten or imprisoned.”
1917: General
James Rowan O’Beirne, the Civil War and Medal of Honor winner who served as
Superintended of Immigration in the 1890’s who opposed Jess Seilgman’s efforts
to gain admittance to the United States for the 86 Jewish passengers aboard the
SS Marsala passed away.
1918: Jacob H.
Schiff, head of the special committee of the American Jewish Relief Committee
that arranged the plan whereby the workers of the International Ladies' Garment
Workers' Union will forego the holiday on Washington's Birthday and give their
day's earnings to the Jewish war sufferers announced that almost no factory
organized by the ILGU would be open and that many owners would be paying time
and half or double time.
1918: Rabbi
Stephen S. Wise announced that the Palestine Restoration Fund now totals more
than $800,000 of which $250,000 was collected in New York.
1918:
Saul J. Cohen, editor The Maccabean, the official Zionist journal
received a cable from Israel Zangwill, founder of the Jewish Territorial
Organization, saying that he has altered his position following the issuance of
the Balfour Declaration and “now looks toward Palestine as the land of the
Jews.”
1918: Morris
Rothenberg, Chairman of the Zionist Committee of New York presided over a
meeting of Zionists at the Casino Theatre who had gathered to honor the memory
of Dr. Jechiel Tchlenow who died last month in London.
1919: Norman
Hapgood, President of the League of Nations Association, Judge Julian W. Mack,
Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, Max Pam and Dr. Benzion Mossinson are the guests of
honor at a kosher banquet scheduled to be held this evening at the Morrison
Hotel as part of the Zionist Convention being held in Chicago.
1920:
Birthdate of Bella Levy, of blessed memory, a pillar of the Little Rock Jewish
Community and the wife of Manford Levy.
1921: Herah
Lerner, his wife Elka and their daughter who had been born two days ago while
aboard a ship bringing these Jews to the United States arrived in New York.
1921: After
having been informed by the New York World that “the Protocols of the Elders of
Zion, which he has been reprinting with anti-Semitic commentary in his own
newspaper the Dearborn Independent, are a forgery” Ford said he did not
care replying "The only statement I care to make about the Protocols is
that they fit in with what is going on. They are sixteen years old, and they
have fitted the world situation up to this time. Indeed they do."
1922: In
Chile, Mary Grisel Lehmann (née Bissett) and Andrew William Lehmann, a mining
engineer, gave birth to Professor Andrew George Lehmann
1922: Two days
after he had passed away, 67-year-oldAbraham Shapiro, the husband of the former
Sarah Jacobs with who he had had eight children, was buried today at the “East
Ham Cemetery.”
1923(1st
of Adar, 5683): Parashat Mishpatim; Rosh Chodesh Adar; Shabbat Shekalim
1923: “The
plan to have the Rev. Dr. Oscar Haywood, national lecturer of the Ku Klux Klan
explained to a Jewish congregation the purposes of that organization…came to an
end” today “when Louis Mischkind, the Rabbi of the Tremont Temple” in the Bronx
sent a telegraph today canceling the invitation after the Board of Trustees had
insisted on the withdrawal of the invitation.
1924: A bazaar
sponsored by the People’s Relief “Ort” of America which will raise funds for
Jews of Central and Eastern Europe continued for a second day at the Grand
Central Palace.
1924: Boston
College alum Samuel E. Paulive, the Kalvaria, Lithuania born son of Morris J.
and Sarah I. Paulive, the President of the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, the
secretary of Congregation Emanu-El in Chelsea, MA and Republican Party activist
married Miriam Cauman today in Brookline, MA
1925: In York,
PA, Dorothy and Joseph Rosenmiller gave birth to Joseph Lewis Rosenmiller, Jr.
“who earned a fortune building a chain of radio stations and then donated tens
of millions to promote causes that he felt traditional philanthropies largely
ignored, like voting rights and the empowerment of domestic workers…” (As
reported by Leslie Kaufman)
1925, Florence
Prag Kahn won a special election, becoming the fifth woman and first Jewish
woman to serve in the United States Congress.
https://jwa.org/thisweek/feb/17/1925/florence-prag-kahn
1925:
Birthdate of Libby Drescher Isaacs (Leiba bat Shmuel) who was buried in Durham,
NC when she passed away in 1982.
1925: Harold
Ross and Jane Grant founded The New Yorker magazine. Numerous Jewish
writers and artists have contributed to the sophisticated journal. These
include two cartoonists – Jules Feifer and Roz Chast as well as such authors as
Dorothy Park and S.J. Pearlman.
1926: In
Brooklyn, “Joseph and Sarah Postel, who ran an egg and dairy products store”
gave birth to Miriam Postel the future wife of diamond cutter Max Weinstein
with whom she had two sons – movie-men Harvey and Bob Weinstein.
1927: David T.
WIlentz, the Attorney General of New Jersey who prosecuted Bruno Hauptmann and
his wife gave birth to Robert Wilentz, the longest serving Chief Just of the
New Jersey Supreme Court.
1928(26th
of Shevat, 5688): Fifty-year-old Bertha Strauss Sternberger, the Mayesville, SC
born daughter of A.A. and Emelia Weinberg Strauss and the wife of Emanuel Sternberger
with whom she had two children, Emelia and Blanche and who is the name sake for the Bertha S.
Sternberger Elementary School in Greensboro, NC passed away today in
Greensboro.
1928(26th
of Shevat, 5688): Sixty-four-year-old Polish born Nathan Lapowswki, the husband
of Eva Lapowski, the father of Errold and Gerome Lupowski and the brother of
Samuel Lapowski who was the grandfather of C. Douglas Dillon, JFK’s Secretary
of the Treasury, passed away today in El Paso, TX, having moved there from
Colorado City.
1928:
Birthdate of Bronx native Erwin “E.M.” Nathanson the author and novelist best
known for writing The Dirty Dozen which provided the inspiration for one
of the most famous WW II movies.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/em-nathanson-dead-dirty-dozen-881401
1929: In
New York, Benjamin Max and Mollie (Friedman) Potok gave birth to Chaim Potok, a
graduate of Yeshiva University, who was ordained as a Conservative Rabbi after
studying at The Jewish Theological Society. He earned a PhD at the
University of Pennsylvania. He decided to become a writer after reading Evelyn
Waugh's Brideshead Revisited in 1945. He was fourteen years old, and all
he had read were magazines and pulp fiction. He wanted to read a serious adult
book, and he chose Brideshead Revisited at random from the public
library. He later said about reading it, "I found myself inside a world
the merest existence of which I had known nothing about. I lived more deeply
inside the world in that book than I lived inside my own world."
Potok’s work draws on his own life’s experiences – Judaism (The Chosen, The
Promise,) and a stint as an Army Chaplain serving in the Far East (The
Book of Lights) – as well as the conflicts he faced including becoming an
artist despite family and cultural opposition (My Name Is Asher Lev and The
Gift of Asher Lev). His success stems from many factors. One is
that he opened doors to worlds that people did not know existed i.e. Chasidic
Judaism and the Orient. The second is that he dealt with larger issues
such as how a minority culture copes with a majority culture, how to temper
brilliance with humanity, and the challenge of effective parenting in changing
world, to name but a few.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/chaim-potok
http://potok.lasierra.edu/Potok.biographical.html
1929: In
Tocopilla, Chile, Jaime Jodorowsky Groismann, “a merchant” and reportedly an
abusive husband and his wife Sara gave birth to filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky
Prullansky.
1929: Fannie
Brice is scheduled to appear tonight at 9 p.m. on WABC
1930: “The
Vagabond King,” a musical operetta, produced by Adolph Zukor, written by Herman
J. Mankiewicz and co-starring Lillian Roth was released in the United States
today.
1930: Herman
Bernstein was appointed the U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary to Albania today.
1930: “Sol M
Strock, the newly elected chairman of the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Board
of Director told the annual meeting of the Seminary’s Philadelphia branch”
about a soon to be launch $5,000,000 endowment fund campaign. (As reported by
JTA)
1931(30th
of Shevat, 5691): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1931(30th
of Shevat, 5691): Fifty-five-year-old Jacob Eskolsky, the Mir Russia, Poland
born son of Anna Stald and Dov Ber Berl Eskolsky and the husband of Rebecca
Mullin Eskolsky with whom he had two children, Michils and Rose, passed away
today in New York City.
1931: Masonic
services are scheduled to be held this afternoon by the St. Cecile Lodge at the
Plaza Funeral Home for 65-year-old comedian Louis Mann who passed away on
February 15, 1931.
1932: Irving
Berlin and Moss Hart’s musical "Face the Music" premiered in New
York.
1932: Senator
Norris, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee appointed Senators
Robinson, Schall and Ashurst to a subcommittee to hear people “who have
protested the appointment of Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo to the Supreme Court.
1933: German
author and socialist Oskar Graf, the husband of Mirjam Sachs and brother-in-law
of Jewish journalist Manford George traveled to Vienna ostensibly to deliver a
lecture but actuality to begin a self-imposed exile.
1933: The
first edition of Newsweek makes its appearance. In 1961, America’s
“perennially #2 newsweekly” will be purchased by Katherine Graham’s Washington
Post Co.
1934(2nd
of Adar, 5694): Parashat Terumah
1934: “Deficit
In Exports Shocks the Nazis” published today described how the Nazis are
blaming the first drop in exports in January, which is the first drop in four
years” on the anti-German boycott organized by the Jews instead of looking at
their own economic policies and the changing economic conditions brought on by
the continuing worldwide depression.
1935(14th of
Adar I, 5695): Purim Katan
1935: While
speaking before 400 members and guests of the West End Synagogue who were
holding a dinner at the Waldorf Astoria which “marked the end of the
congregation’s four-day celebration of its 90th anniversary,” “Judge
Irving Lehman of the Court of Appeals declared that it was essential to extend
the activities of the synagogue to meet changing social conditions.”
1936: “A
vigorous attack on anti-Semitism was made today by Premier Koscialkowski in a
speech to the Sejm introducing the budget” today in Warsaw.
1936: S. N.
(Samuel] Nathaniel) Behrman's "End of Summer" premiered in New York.
1937: Banker
Samuel M. Bomzon took the stand at the restaurant racked trial today that
involved payments to gangsters Louis Beitcher and Arthur (Dutch Schultz)
Flegenheimer. (Editor’s note: They all are not Talmud scholars)
1937:
Bronislaw Huberman, the violinist and founder of the Palestine Symphony
Orchestra, received a rousing tribute at a concert here tonight with the
Concertgebouw, under the auspices of the Society for Art for All.
1938: In New
York, Evelyn D. and Jacob Levi gave birth to artist Josef Lev
http://www.wrgallery.com/josef_levi.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Levi#mediaviewer/File:Josef-Levi-Self-Portrait-2011.jpg
1938: The
Palestine Post reported that Austria had capitulated to the German
ultimatum and appointed pro-Nazis to the cabinet, marking the effective end of
the country's independence.
1938(16th
of Adar I, 5698): Sixty-seven-year-old Joseph B. David, the Louisville born
“son of Theobold and Adelaide (Strauss) David” and husband of Emma Siesel who
practiced law in Chicago where he was a Special Assistant City Attorney before
serving several terms as on the Superior Court of Cook County, first as a judge
and then as Chief Justice.
https://prabook.com/web/joseph_b.david/1394345
1938: The
Palestine Post reported that there was a major, festive ceremony when the
District Commissioner, Mr. Keith Roach, opened Kalia, the first hotel and
health resort on the Dead Sea, with the keys handed to him by Major T.C.
Tuloch, Chairman of the Kalia Health Resort Company.
1938: The
Palestine Post reported that Mohammed el-Rab, a Palestinian Arab, was
executed at the Acre prison, one week after his arrest and an immediate
Military Court trial, for possession of a loaded automatic gun and ammunition.
1938(16th
of Adar I, 5698): David I Aaron passed away today after which he was buried at
Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob Cemetery in McKees Rocks, PA.
1938: In
Vienna, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency issued a “reassuring” statement “to the
effect that the change in government would not alter Dr. Schuschnigg’s toward
the Jews” – statement which must have helped quell the fears in Austria “that
Jewish alarm may start a flight of capital.”
1939: U.S.
premiere of “The Three Musketeers,” a musical comedy co-starring the Ritz
Brothers as “the Three Lackeys,” Joseph Schildkraut as “King Louis XIII” and
Binnie Barnes (whose father was JewishP as “Milady De Winter.”
1939: U.S.
premiere of “Gunga Din,” a film set in the days of the Raj starring Sam Jaffe
as “Gunga Din” with a score by Alfred Newman.
1940: “Castle
on the Hudson” a movie set in Sing Sing Prison directed and produced by Anatole
Litvak and starring John Garfield was released today in the United States.
1940:
Birthdate of Dennis Gamsy a South African cricketer who played in two Tests in
1970.
1941(20th
of Shevat, 5701): Sixty-eight-year-old Oscar J. Greenwald, the Philadelphia
born son of Ben Greenwald and the former Julia Gimbel and the grandson of Adam
Gimbel, the founder of Gimbel’s who was a vice president and director of Gimbel
Brothers department store as well as a director of the First Wisconsin National
Bank was found dead in his bed today at his country home near Milwaukee, WI.
1941(20th
of Shevat, 5701): Rabbi Max Leavitt passed away today in Annapolis.
1942: It was
reported from Quisling’s Norway “that religious circles were concerned by the
increase of anti-Jewish agitation” and that “it was expected that when the new
‘social rationing system’ is introduced the Jews would be put into a special
category and forbidden to buy certain foodstuffs.”
1942(30th
of Shevat, 5702): Rosh Chodesh Shevat
1942(30th
of Shevat, 5702): Forty-six year old Berlin born and University of Berlin
trained physician Dr. Manfred M. Zachart , a WW I veteran of the German Army
“who was a leader among the German refugees” in New York and, since 1936,
president of the German Jewish Congregation, passed away today at his residence
at the Hotel Seminole.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1942/02/18/85268165.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1943(10th of Adar II, 5703):
Fifty-three-year-old Victor Atler, the Jewish socialist who was a leader of the
Bund was executed today on charges of spying for Hitler. The execution
was carried out with Stalin’s approval.
1943: Dutch
churches protested against Seyss-Inquart’s persecution of Jews. The Austrian
born Seyss-Inquart became Reich Commissioner
of the Netherlands in May, 1940.The Dutch churches were protesting against
"the forced sterilization of Jewish partners in mixed-marriages. For
once, the Germans relented and ended this one form of inhumanity. At the end of
the war Seyss-Inquart was arrested and charged with war crimes in Nuremberg. At
his trial it was pointed out that of the 140,000 Dutch Jews, only 8,000 survived
in hiding and only 5,450 came home from camps in Poland and Czechoslovakia.
Seyss-Inquart was found guilty and hanged on 16th October 1946.
1944:
Fifty-eight-year-old Franz Kaufman the German jurist who was baptized as a
child but treated as Jew under Nazi racial laws and who worked with an
underground group that aided Jews during the Holocaust was murdered at
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.
1944: U.S.
premiere of “Phantom Lady” a film noir directed by Robert Siodmak.
1945: U.S.
premiere of “Objective Burma” a war movie set in the jungles of southeast Asia
produced by Jerry Wald, with music by Franz Waxman, featuring George Tobias as
“Cpl. Gabby Gordon)
1945: Nicholas
George Winton, the Englishman who organized “the rescue of 669 mostly Jewish
children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II in an
operation later known as the Czech Kindertransport” “was promoted to war
substantive flying officer” in the RAF. Winton, who was later knighted,
was not Jewish. He was a decent human being who, unlike so many others,
did the right thing during “the long, dark European Night.”
1946:
Birthdate of Steve Grossman the Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts
and the former President of Grossman Marketing Group, a
family-owned marketing company based in Somerville, Massachusetts. From 1992 to
1997, he was the chair of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and from
1997 to 1999 he was the chair of the Democratic National Committee. Grossman
received his Bachelor's from Princeton University, and his MBA from Harvard
Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. He is married to Barbara Wallace
Grossman, a Professor of Theater at Tufts University, and they have three
children.
1947: “Rabbi
Philip S. Bernstein, the adviser on Jewish affairs to General Joseph T.
McNarney in Germany and to General Mark Clark in Austria, said today that he
had made a personal appeal to British officials to expedite the movement of
Jewish displace persons to Palestine.
1947: “The
deportation ship Empire Rival left Haifa this morning carrying 800 would-be
Jewish immigrants to Palestine to internment camps in Cyprus which Jews in
Palestine staged “a one-hour strike” in protest to this latest deportation.
1948: “Arch of
Triumph,” a film version of the novel by the same named produced by David Lewis
and directed by Lewis Milestone who as co-authored by screenplay was released
today in the United States.
1948: In the
aftermath of today's coup in which the ruler of Yemen was assassinated,
"the Jews were accused of murdering two young Muslim girls and throwing
their bodies down a well." This Arab-world version of the blood
libel led to the leaders of Yemen's Jewish community being beaten and
imprisoned while a mob looted and robbed those living in the Jewish Quarter.
1949: Chaim
Weizmann was sworn in as the first president of Israel. The election took place
in Jerusalem, a city that had been under siege by the Arabs and almost
lost to the invading enemy. The election of a President of the state of
Israel was one of the first items of business for the Knesset which was holding
its first meeting in Jerusalem. Weizmann was elected by a vote of 83 to
15. In Israel, the President is a figurehead. The Prime Minister
holds the political power. The election of Weizmann was recognition for
his long, untiring decades of service to the Zionist cause. One of his
proudest accomplishments was getting the British Government of adopt the
Balfour Declaration which gave international recognition and approval
to the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The President of
Israel is called "Nasi" a term which means ruler or
prince. In the early centuries of the Diaspora it had been
a honorific title applied to the heads of various Talmudic academies and
Jewish communities. To give you some idea of the esteem in
which Weitzman was held, he was the first person to be called a Nasi in
almost 1500 years.
1949: “Caught”
a “film noir” directed by Max Ophüls, with a screenplay by Arthur Laurents was
released in the United States today.
1950(30th
of Shevat, 5710): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1950(30th
of Shevat, 5710): Sixty-nine-year-old Arthur Lee Kramer, the Louisville born
son of Julia Weill and Maurice Kramer and the husband of Camille Estelle Harris
who was a University of Texas trained attorney and Dallas department store
owner passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/02/18/89725373.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1950: “When
Willie Comes Marching Home” a comedy “based on the 1945 short story When Leo
Comes Marching Home by Sy Gomberg” and with music by Alfred Newman was released
in the United States today.
1951(11th
of Adar I, 5711): Parashat Tetzaveh
1951(11th
of Adar I, 5711): Sixty-five-year-old Pressburg born Austria-American movie
producer Arnold Pressburger, father of Fred Pressburger, passed away today in
Hamburg while the “shooting of his last-produced film, 'Der
Verlorene' was underway.”
1951: “I'd
Climb the Highest Mountain” a movie version of the novel with the same name
with a score by Sol Kaplan was released in the United States today
1952: Dolph
Schayes took the floor tonight in the first of what would be a record 706 games
played without a miss.
1953: The
Jerusalem Post reported that in a statement read to the Knesset, Prime
Minister David Ben-Gurion stressed that the recent bombing of the Soviet
Legation in Tel Aviv was no justification for a rupture of diplomatic relations
with the Soviet Union. The Soviet action was the culmination of "a
campaign of defamatory propaganda against the State of Israel, the Zionist
Movement and World Jewry which had been proceeding for a long time."
Holland agreed to represent Israeli interests in Moscow.
1955: Pinchas
Lavon resigned as defense minister in Israel after Prime Minister sided with
Shimon Peres and Moshe Dayan who “had testified against Lavon” during what is
known as “the Lavon Affair,” “a failed Israeli covert operation” in Egypt.
1957: In the
Larchmont, NY home of Mr. and Mrs. Herman M. Adler, Rabbi Aaron Eiseman
officiated at the wedding of Barbara Ruth Adler and Wharton School graduate
Harry Edward Berlin.
1957: In his
study at Temple Emanu-El Senior Rabbi Julius Mark officiated at the wedding of
Clarice Dorothy Stein, and Brooklyn Law School graduate Sol I Smithline.
1957: The Suez
Canal re-opens marking the end of the Suez Crisis that had started in October
of 1956.
1957: This
afternoon at the Carlton House, Rabbi Nathan A. Perlman of Temple Emanu-El
officiated at the wedding of occupational therapist Joan Zimmerman and UNC
graduate Frank Richard Schwartz, a U.S. Army Korean War Veteran.
1957(16th
of Adar I, 5717): Eighty-one year old Edward Mose “Max” Baker, the Erie, PA
born son of “Isaac and Bertha (Einhorn) Baker” and graduate of the University
of Chicago who did not become a rabbi despite being the nephew of Rabbi Emil
Hirsch, but instead took over his brother-in-law’s brokerage when he passed away in Cleveland where he
served as vice president of the Stock Exchange, co-founded the Federation of
Jewish Charities and a leader of the Republican Party.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/02/18/84952699.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
https://case.edu/ech/articles/b/baker-edward-mose-max
1958: The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
(CNC) which was co-founded by Sydney Silverman held its “first public meeting
at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, UK.”
1958: Time
published “Historical Notes: Diary of Anne Frank – The End”
The diary
of 15-year-old Anne Frank ended abruptly when the Nazis broke into her family's
hiding place in Amsterdam. What happened next? Of the last days of one of the
world's best-known modern heroines, little was known except that she had died,
like millions of other Jews, in a German concentration camp. To fill out the
chronicle of her short life, West German Publisher S. Fischer last year
assigned Author Ernst Schnabel to search the German and Dutch archives and
interview survivors of the camps who might have known her. In Paris Le Figaro
Littéraire printed excerpts from Schnabel's findings, to be published as a book
in the U.S. this fall. Anne, her sister Margot, and her father and mother were
first taken to Westerbork prison in The Netherlands, then shipped by cattle car
to Auschwitz. Recalls a woman fellow prisoner: "The doors of the cars were
opened violently, and the first thing we saw at Auschwitz was the garish light
of the searchlights trained on the cars . . . The voice of a loudspeaker dominated
all others; it bellowed: 'Women to the left, men to the right!' I saw them go
away: Mr. Van Daan, Mr. Dussel, Peter, Mr. Frank." The men never saw the
women again. The women were told that trucks were ready to take the small
children and the sick to the prison. But those who fought their way into the
trucks never reached the camp; they vanished from-the face of the earth. At
Auschwitz, Anne's long hair was clipped and her eyes seemed to grow larger and
larger as she grew thinner. Her gaiety disappeared but not her indomitable
spirit. The women were divided into groups of five and, though the youngest of
her group, Anne became its leader, partly because she was efficient at
scrounging necessities. When during cold weather she and the others were
reduced to sackcloth smocks, Anne found somewhere a supply of men's long
underwear. She even magically produced a cup of coffee for an exhausted
prisoner. Most of the adults tried to armor themselves against reality:
"Who bothered to look at the flames billowing up from the crematory? When,
suddenly, an order came to barricade the neighboring block, who was disturbed?
We well knew that they were being readied for the gas chamber, but we were too
well-trained to worry about it. We no longer heard anything, saw anything."
But Anne Frank did, right up to the end. Said a survivor: "I can still see
her standing by the door, watching a group of naked young gypsy girls being
shoved along to the crematory. Anne watched them, weeping. And she also wept
when we filed past Hungarian children waiting, twelve hours naked under the
rain, for their turn to enter the gas chamber. Anne cried: 'Look at their
eyes!' She wept when most of us had no tears left." On Oct. 30, 1944,
there was a selection of the youngest and strongest to be sent to the
concentration camp at Belsen. Single file, the undressed women were ordered
into a hall where, seated behind the glare of a searchlight, a doctor chose
this one for Belsen, that one for the gas chamber. "Anne's face remained
unchanged, even in the cruel light of the projector. She took Margot's arm and
they came forward. I can see them now, stripped naked. Anne turned her serene
face toward us; then they were led away. It was impossible to see what happened
behind the light, and Mrs. Frank cried: 'The children! My God! My God!' "
In the hell of Belsen, Anne and Margot Frank lasted scarcely five months. They
both became ill. Margot was in a coma for several days and was found, fallen
from her bunk, dead. Anne was so sick that no one told her of Margot's fate.
Says a fellow prisoner who watched: "Several days later she died
peacefully, in the certitude that death was not a calamity.
1959:
Birthdate of Arhey Deir, the Moroccan born Israeli political leader of
Shas.1961: Premier in Italy of “Esther and the King” a Biblical epic film based
on the Book of Esther, starring Joan Collins whose father was Jewish in the
title role.
1961: Funeral
services are scheduled to be held for Regina Schiff, the wife Arthur Schiff and
mother of Morton Schiff who was a devoted member of the Society of Jewish
Science and “in her life exemplified in her life all its high teachings.”
1962(13th of
Adar I, 5722): Eighty-five-year-old Berlin born conductor Bruno Walter
whose home has been America since 1939 “when the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie
Hall and a National Broadcasting Company studio became his workshops” passed
away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/02/18/113414871.pdf
1963: The
Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan which is credited with sparking the
modern feminist movement was published today.
https://jwa.org/thisweek/feb/17/1963/betty-friedan
1965(15th
of Adar I, 5725): Eighty-six New York native “Paul Joseph Sachs, the first
associate director of the Fogg Museum and a Harvard professor” and husband of
Meta Pollak with whom he had three daughters – “Elizabeth Pollock Weiss,
Cecilia Robinson and Marjorie Pickhardt Wilson -- passed away today.
http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~art00010
1965:
Birthdate of actor Michael Benjamin Bay who “was raised Jewish” by his adoptive
parents.
1965: Today,
Jurek Becker “handed a 111 pages long scenario for what became the “Film Jakob
the Liar,” a clever Holocaust film which Robin Williams would remake, over to
DEFA Studio, “the state-owned cinema monopoly the German Democratic Republic.
(Communist East Germany)
1966: “The instrumental of the first version of the “Good
Vibrations” was recorded today by the Beach Boys, whose drummer was Hal Blaine,
the son of Meyer Belsky and the former Rose Silverman.
1967: It was reported today that “the community relations
committee of the Atlanta Jewish Community is scheduled “to meet to consider a
policy state by the boards of trustees of Agnes Scott colling reaffirming a
long-standing policy of only hiring Christians for the faculty at the women’s
school” in light of the fact that “institution has a number of Jewish students
“whom the faculty has always encouraged to join Jewish organizations such as
the Hillel at nearby Emory University”
and that as Charles F. Wittenstein said “it is difficult to understand why a
religious test is required of teachers of such non-religious subjects as
French, English literature and mathematics.
1969(29th of
Shevat, 5729): Levi Eshkol, third Prime Minister of Israel, died
suddenly. In one of the great ironies of history, it was the
mild-mannered Eshkol and not any of his more flamboyant contemporaries who led
the Israeli government during the June 1967 War that resulted in the
re-unification of Jerusalem.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/eshkol.html
http://research.haifa.ac.il/~eshkol/
1969: Golda
Meir sworn in as Israel's 1st female prime minister. Goldie Mabovitch (who
later Hebraized her name to Golda Meir) was a Russian immigrant living in
Milwaukee. In 1918 she wanted to join the Jewish Legion, a British unit
organized to fight the Turks in World War I. Mrs. Meir made Aliyah and
eventually became a major political figure in the Zionist Community and
later in the state of Israel. Her description of being in
Moscow for Simchat Torah after the creation of the state of Israel is a moving
story. She served as Foreign Minister and following the death of
Levi Eshkol became Prime Minister. She led the country through the
trying days of the Yom Kippur War and its aftermath. By the time
Anwar Sadat made his memorable trip to Israel, Mrs. Meir was no longer in the
government. When the two adversaries met she is reported to have
said, "Long after we have forgiven you for killing our sons, we will be
working to forgive you for turning our sons into killers." This
modern Devorah took no pleasure in being involved in so many military
adventures.
1970(11th of
Adar I, 5730): Shmuel Yosef or S.Y. Agnon (Hebrew: שמואל
יוסף עגנון;
born Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes) passed away. Agnon was the first Hebrew
author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. He won the prize in 1966.
Since this is beyond my area of expertise, included find this canned summary.
“Shmuel Yosef Agnon was born in Galicia in 1888. He immigrated to Jaffa in 1908
but spent 1913 through 1924 in Germany. In 1924 he returned to Jerusalem, where
he lived until his death in 1970. A prolific novelist and short-story writer
from an early age, Agnon received numerous literary awards, including the
Israel Prize on two occasions. Called "a man of unquestionable
genius" and "one of the great storytellers of our time," S.Y.
Agnon is among the most effusively praised and widely translated Hebrew
authors. His unique style and language have influenced the writing of
subsequent generations of Hebrew authors. Much of his writing attempts to
recapture the lives and traditions of a former time, but his stories are never
a simple act of preservation. Agnon's tales deal with the most important
psychological and philosophical problems of his generation. "Via realistic
and surrealistic modes," writes the New York Times, "Agnon has
transmuted in his many words the tensions inherent in modern man's loss of
innocence, and his spiritual turmoil when removed from home, homeland and
faith." An observant Jew throughout most of his life, he was able to
capture "the hopelessness and spiritual desolation" of a world
standing on the threshold of a new age. Extolled for his "peculiar
tenderness and beauty," for his "comic mastery" and for the
"richness and depth" of his writing, it is S.Y. Agnon's contribution
to the renewal of the language that has been seminal for all subsequent Hebrew
writing.” Some of his works that have been translated into English include A Book That Was Los : And Other Stories.; A dwelling place of my
people : sixteen stories of the Chassidim; A Guest for the Night; Gollancz, A Simple Story; Agnon's Aleph Bet Poems; The Bridal Canopy; Days of Awe : A
Treasury of Jewish Wisdom for Reflection, Repentance, and Renewal on the High
Holy Days;In the Heart of the
Seas : A Story of a Journey to the Land of Israel.; Present at Sinai : The
Giving of the Law : Commentaries Selected by S.Y. Agnon; Shira; Twenty-one stories.
1970: One
Jordanian and two Iraqis were arrested today when they tried to hijack an El Al
plane at the Munich Airport.
1972:
President Richard Nixon begins his historic trip to China. This major
diplomatic breakthrough was orchestrated by White House advisor Henry Kissinger
who would become the first Jewish Secretary of State.
1973(15th
of Adar I, 5733): Parashat Tetzaveh; Shushan Purim Katan
1974: It was
reported today that 35,000 Jews were permitted to emigrate to Israel in 1973
and 32,000 in 1972.
1976: The
Second World Conference of Jewish Communities on Soviet Jewry opened today in
Brussels despite protests from the Soviet Union to the Belgian Government.
1977: In
“Imperial Germany’s Jewish Banker” published today A.J.P.Taylor reviewed Gold
and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder, and the Building of the German Empire by
Fritz Stern
1977: In New
York City, the first Conference on Feminism and Orthodoxy comes to a close. The
two day meeting led to the founding of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance
1978(10th
of Adar I, 5738): Eighty-four-year-old Sadye “Sadie” Feinberg Cohen, the
daughter of Barnett and Dora Kriss Feinberg and the wife of Samuel Cohen passed
away today after which she was buried in the Acacia Cemetery in Ozone Park.
1979(20th
of Shevat, 5739): Seventy-two-year-old lyricist Al Stillman (born Albert
Silverman) who wrote such hits as “Home for the Holidays” and “Chances Are”
passed away today.
http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C282?exhibitId=282
1980(30th
of Shevat, 5740): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1980(30th of Shevat, 5740): Fifty-seven-year-old
“composer, conductor and arranger Jerry Fielding, the Pittsburgh born son
Russian Jewish immigrants Esther Hiram Feldman who career included three Oscar
nominations and being Blacklisted while raising two daughters, Claudia and
Elizabeth, with his wife Camille, passed away today. https://web.archive.org/web/20081111194153/http://www.spaceagepop.com/fielding.htm
1981: In
“Yiddish Book Collection Grows in New England,” Michael Knight described the
work of the Yiddish Book Exchange.
1981: In Los
Angeles, Dennis Levitt, the news director for the Pacifica Radio and Jane
Gordon gave birth to Joseph Gordon-Levitt an American actor best known for his
role as Tommy Solomon on “3rd Rock from the Sun.”
1982(24th of
Shevat, 5742): Lee [Israel] Strasberg, father of method acting passed away at
the age of 80. Strasberg also enjoyed a career as an actor with one of
his most roles coming at the end of his life when he played the “Meyer Lansky”
figure in The Godfather Part II.
https://www.biography.com/actor/lee-strasberg
1983: “Local
Hero” a British comedy with music by Mark Knopfler was released today in the
United Kingdom.
1984(14th
of Adar I, 5744): Purim Katan
1984: “The
Right Stuff” the movie version of the book by the same name directed by Philip
Kaufman who also wrote the screenplay and produced by Irwin Winkler and Robert
Chartoff was released throughout the United States after a limited release
three months earlier.
1984: In
Holland, PA, Mark and Harriet Levin gave birth to Michael Levin who as a 22
year old member of the IDF’s Paratroopers Brigade “was killed in action in the
Second Lebanon War, during the first round of fighting in the Lebanese town of
Ayta ash-Shab.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/03/AR2006080301539.html
1985: Martin
Eli Segal “served as the General Chairman of the “Night of 100 Stars II, the
first AIDS benefit held by the Actors’ Fund of American.
1985: David
Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” was performed for the final time during its
initial Broadway run.
1987: In
“Warsaw Journal: An Album of the Doomed” published today, Michael T. Kaufman
examined the “art of Auschwitz.”
1987: Aulcie
Perry Jr., a former basketball player who had become an Israeli citizen and was
hailed as a sports champion in Israel, went on trial today on charges of
conspiracy to import heroin, importation of heroin and possession of heroin
with intent to distribute. The 6-foot-10-inch Perry, who holds a dual
citizenship, joined the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team in Israel in 1977 and
helped bring it a European Cup championship that year and in 1979. He remained
on the team until 1984. Perry's cousin, Kenneth Johnson, 29, who was charged
with Perry, pleaded guilty earlier this month and is awaiting sentencing.
1988: The
United States announced that it is planning to change ambassadors to Israel
next summer. According to State Department officials, William A. Brown,
currently ambassador to Thailand, will replace Thomas R. Pickering, who has
served in Tel Aviv since 1985. Mr. Pickering is scheduled to return to
Washington to become Under Secretary of State for management. The State
Department also plans to replace Morris Draper, the Consul General in
Jerusalem, with Philip C. Wilcox Jr., a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State who
deals with Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. The Consul General in Jerusalem
has something approaching ambassadorial status. He reports directly to the
State Department, not to the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv, a situation
that reflects Washington's refusal to recognize Israeli sovereignty over
Jerusalem.
1988: A dozen
Israeli playwrights, poets and other intellectuals made an urgent appeal to the
Government tonight to ''talk peace with the Palestinians.'' Amos Oz, the
Israeli novelist, started and ended his address to the group with the words,
''What was, will not be again.'' Seventy New York writers, artists and
performers sent a telegram expressing their support to the Israeli Playwrights'
Association, a gesture welcomed by Israelis here who feel support from abroad
can put effective pressure on the Government. Among the signers were Erica
Jong, Allen Ginsburg, Grace Paley, Gloria Steinem, E. L. Doctorow, Arthur
Miller, Norman Mailer and Susan Sontag.
1988: The
violence in the occupied territories continued today, as Israeli soldiers shot
and killed one Palestinian and wounded at least three others while dispersing
riots in the West Bank village of Shuyukh, near Hebron, an army spokesman said.
''The army was trying to clear a roadblock, when they were attacked with rocks,
stones and bottles,'' the spokesman said. ''They were in a life-threatening
situation, so the commander and one officer shot at the legs of the
protesters.'' ''Sometimes you don't get exactly where you aim,'' he said.
''They were aiming at the legs.''
1993: “Belushi
Is No Stranger To a Bar Owner’s Role Despite the Movie Image” published today
described how Judd Hirsch was replaced during the Broadway run of
“Conversations With My Father,” a play that “presents the saga of a first
generation of American Jews who came of age in the Depression and were
assimilated at a high price during and after World War II.”
1994 (6th of
Adar, 5754): Yuval Golan who was stabbed on December 29, 1993 by a
terrorist near Adarim in the Hebron area he died of his wounds.
1996: In
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue
supercomputer in a chess match. Kasparov’s mother is Armenian and his father is
Jewish.
1998(21st
of Shevat, 5758): Eighty-nine-year-old Pauline Endler Loeb passed away today
after which she was interred at the Jewish Cemetery in Morgan City, LA.
1998(21st of
Shevat, 5658): Seventy-eight-year-old Atlantic City, NJ and WW II Bob Merill
the composer and lyricist who work includes “Hannah…1939” a musical about a
Jewess “in Prague on the eve of WWII” passed away today.
https://web.archive.org/web/20121226090809/http://www.thebobmerrill.com/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-bob-merrill-1145818.html
1999(1st
of Adar, 5759): Rosh Chodesh Adar is observed for the last time in the 20th
century.
1999(1st
of Adar, 5759): Sixty-nine-year-old actress Shirley Stoler, the Brooklyn born
daughter of “Russian Jewism immigrant owners of a used furniture store who
appeared on Broadway, in films and on day-time soaps passed away today.
2000: “Daring
single-handedly to alter a calendar that is as politically sensitive as
everything else here, Interior Minister Natan Sharansky decreed today that
''summer time'' will be longer this year by 34 days.”
2001: At the Library of Congress of an exhibition entitled
“Herblock’s History: Political Cartoons from the Crash to the Millennium” which
presents works by cartoonist Herb Block, who chronicled the nation’s political history
and caricatured twelve American presidents from Herbert Hoover to Bill Clinton
comes to an end.
2002:
“A suicide bomber detonated an explosive packed with shrapnel among the diners
in the outdoor food court of a West Bank settlement tonight, killing himself
and two Israelis and injuring 30 others, at least six of them seriously.”
2003(15th
of Adar I, 5763): Seventy-eight-year-old art dealer Felix Landau passed away
today (As reported by Eric Pace)
2004: Daniel
Hendler was named best actor at the 54th Berlin International Film
Festival for his role in “Lost Embrace,” a film about a young Argentine Jew
directed by Daniel Burman.
2005: Today,
in the wake of the bankruptcy of Sunbeam Products, Ron Perelman filed a lawsuit
against Morgan Stanley, claiming that Morgan had defrauded him by knowingly
misleading him about the financial condition of Sunbeam Products. The
Sunbeam acquisition was only one in a long series of such deals in which this
Jewish philanthropist and businessman had engaged in over the past four decades
starting with the purchase of Esslinger Brewery in 1961. He and his father
bought the company for “$800,000, then sold it three years later for a $1
million profit.”
2006:
Thousands of mourners gathered at the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv this morning
to pay their final respects to Shoshanna Damari, who lay in state on the stage
until the memorial service began shortly before noon. During the memorial
service President Moshe Katsav said "One can say of her that she was the
voice of Israel," he said. "We have lost her, but not her songs.”
2006: Israel's
hopes for an Olympic medal took a blow when ice dancer Galit Chait fell during
the compulsory program of the Pairs Ice Dancing competition.
2006: In
“Early Simon, Dressed by Mizrahi” published today Ben Brantley reviewed a
“torturous new revival of Neil Simon’s ‘Barefoot in the Park.’”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/17/theater/reviews/17park.html?_r=0
2007: Shabbat
Shekalim – The Sabbath of the Shekel.
2007: Ninety-six-year-old
Maurice Papon, the Vichy official convicted of “complicity in Nazi crimes
against humanity” died today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/world/europe/18papon.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
2007:
Celebration of Fred Rodgers birthday: a brand plucked from the flames of the
Holocaust and pillar of the Jewish community.
2008: Final
performance of “Fabrik: The Legend of M. Rabinowitz” at the Urban Stages Theatre
in Manhattan. This adult puppet show traces the life of Moritz
Rabinowitz, a Polish Jew sent to Norway by his family to escape pre-World War
II pogroms, who became a successful businessman before ending up at
Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin.
2008: The
Sunday Los Angeles Times book section featured reviews of The Bad Wife Handbook by
Jewish poet Rachel Zucker and The Life of the Skies by Jonathan Rosen
2008:
An exhibition entitled “Sosúa: A Refuge for Jews in the Dominican Republic”
opens at The Museum of Jewish Heritage.
2008:
An exhibition entitled “To return to the land…” Paul
Goldman’s Photographs of the Birth of Israel opens at The Museum of Jewish
Heritage. Hungarian-born photojournalist Paul Goldman fled to the
British Mandate of Palestine in 1940, where he chronicled the events leading
up to the foundation of the State of Israel.
2009:
In Manhattan’s East Village, the fourth and final part of a four part series
The Comedy and Kabbalah of Relationships featuring Rabbi YY Jacobson
2009:
At New York University, Professor Yoram Peri, head of the Chaim Herzog
Institute for Media, Politics and Society at Tel Aviv University delivers a
public lecture entitled "New Leadership in Israel and the Peace Process."
2010:
The CJH is scheduled to co-sponsor “Music in the Age of the Wittgensteins,”
featuring a performance by the Phoenix Chamber Ensemble.
2010:
In Arkansas, Bella Levy, wife of Manford Levy, celebrates her 90th
birthday. Bella is an Ashes Chayel in the truest sense of the word.
All who know are blessed by the experience.
2010: The heads of various medical associations held an
emergency meeting today, and the president of the Israel Medical Association( IMA)
Dr. Leonid Eidelman, said the organization would not hesitate to carry out its
threat to strike if necessary, in its escalating battle with Deputy Health
Minister Yaakov Litzman should its Scientific Council be transferred to the
ministry.
2010: According to JTA, “lawyers for the estate Adrian Jacobs
added J.K. Rowling's name to a lawsuit it filed in the High Court of England
last June -- some 12 years after Jacobs died penniless in Nightingale House, a
home for elderly Jews in south London. Adrian Jacobs, an art collector, lawyer
and accountant who made millions on the stock market before going bust, wrote a
children’s book in 1987 titled The Adventures of Willy the Wizard: No. 1
Livid Land.” The suit claims that Rowling plagiarized ideas for her fourth
book, the best-selling “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2000), from
"Willy the Wizard No. 1."
2011:
A job fair, held
in conjunction with the Orthodox Union Job Board, is scheduled to take place at
Sasson v’ Simcha Hall located in Brooklyn.
2011:
Gainsbourg, “the boldly imaginative and wildly entertaining biopic of
Jewish French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, one of the most iconic and
diversely talented music artists of the 20th Century” is scheduled to be shown
at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.
2011: Foreign
Minister Avigdor Lieberman attempted to dispel rumors that relations between
him and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had soured, saying today that
"our relations are intact." "I spoke to the prime
minister," after vetoing Uzi Arad, Netanyahu's choice for ambassador to
London, Lieberman said. "We'll keep working together."
2011: A
Lebanese military court convicted a man of spying for Israel and sentenced him
to death late today. Amin al-Baba was found guilty of giving Israeli
intelligence agents information in return for money. He was also found guilty
of entering an enemy state. Al-Baba, who was sentenced late today, had
been spying for Israel from 1997 until his 2009 arrest. The new sentence brings
the number of people sentenced to death for spying for Israel to nine.
2011: “A Night
of Outrageous Comedy” with Julie Goldman is scheduled for tonight at the
Washington DCJCC.
2011: Foreign
Minister Avigdor Lieberman attempted to dispel rumors that relations between
him and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had soured, saying on Thursday that
"our relations are intact." "I spoke to the prime
minister," after vetoing Uzi Arad, Netanyahu's choice for ambassador to
London, Lieberman said. "We'll keep working together."
2011: Israel
Defense Forces soldiers shot and killed three Palestinians near the Gaza Strip
border zone today, said Palestinian medics who recovered the bodies. An IDF
spokesperson confirmed that the troops had opened fire after observeing the
Palestinians approaching the security fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip
attempting to plant explosives. A spokesman for the armed wing of the
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine - a small group that only
rarely carries out attacks - sent a text message to reporters identifying one
of the men as a member of the group “killed during a mission carried out by our
military wing."
2011: The
Washington Post featured a review of Heart of the City: Nine Stories of Love
and Serendipity on the Streets of New York by Ariel Sabar, the son Yona
Sabar, a Kurdish Jewish scholar, linguist and researcher.
2011: Last
Damage, the fifth crime novel by Sophie Hannah, the daughter of Norman and
Adele Geras was published today.
2012(24th
of Shevat, 5772): Seventy-seven-year-old “Peter Novick, a history professor at
the University of Chicago who stirred controversy in 1999 with a book
contending that the legacy of the Holocaust had come to unduly dominate
American Jewish identity” passed away today (As reported by Dennis Hevesi)
2012: Rabbi
Y.Y. Rubinstein is scheduled to deliver a Friday night talk entitled “True
Love..How to Find It and Keep It” at the Magen David Sephardic Congregation in
Rockville, MD.
2012:
Following Carlebach Services and dinner, Dr. Jerry Muller, Professor of History
and Chair of the Department of History, Catholic University of America,
Washington DC is scheduled to deliver a lecture entitled “Capitalism and the
Jews” as part of the Scholar-In-Residence Weekend at Tifereth Israel in
Washington, DC.
2012: Opening
session of LimmudLA
2012: Tali Yehoshua-Koren, the wife of the Defense Ministry's
representative to India who was moderately injured in the attack on Israel’s
embassy in New Delhi gave a testimony to police, which may change previously
held assumptions about the attack and its perpetrator, the Times of India
reported today. Yehoshua-Koren gave the testimony in hospital before returning
to Israel in an air ambulance. She told police that the bomb exploded a full 30
to 40 seconds after it was attached to her car, and that the perpetrator was
dressed in black, and riding a black motorcycle.
2012:
Palestinian terrorists fired an RPG at IDF forces stationed near the Gaza
border fence today, according to the IDF Spokesman's Office.
2013:
The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including Four New Messages by Joshua
Cohen and the recently released paperback editions of In Our Prime: The
Fascinating History and Promising Future of Middle Age by Patricia Cohen
2013:
Professor Brian Horowitz is scheduled to deliver the opening remarks of two day
conference at Tulane University – “Jewish Secular Utopias and Distopias in
Central and Eastern Europe”2013: The Toronto Jewish Film Society is scheduled
to present “The Barber of Stamford Hill” and “The 10th Man” at the
Miles Nadel JCC.
2013:
“Six Million and One” is among the movies scheduled to be shown at the final
night of the 17th Denver Jewish Film Festival.
2013:
In “Online Battle Over Sacred Scrolls, Real-World Consequences” published in
print today, John Leland describes the efforts of Raphael Haim Gold”s less than
honorable attempts “to advance his father’s views about the Dead Sea Scrolls.”
2013(7th
of Adar, 5773): Seventy-seven-year-old Israeli entertainer Shmuel
"Shmulik" Kraus passed away.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-musician-shmulik-kraus-dies-at-77/
2013:
A Knesset panel will launch an independent investigation into the jailing and
suicide of Mossad agent Ben Zygier, following growing calls for an official
accounting of the case, the committee said tonight.
2013:
A delegation of Israeli security officials visited Cairo to discuss the
security situation in the region with their Egyptian counterparts today, the
second such trip in less than a week.
2014:
The Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia Cultural Arts Department in
Fairfax is scheduled to hold auditions for the one-act family theatre
production of “Cinder-Rachella,” an original play with music that celebrates
Israeli culture through the eyes of the iconic fairytale Princess
2014:
“Broken Lines,” a film about “Jake, a working class Jewish boy…and his fiancée
Zoe” is scheduled to be shown for the first time at as part of the UK Jewish
Film Festival.
2014:
Naftali Bennett reportedly told American Jewish leaders today that Israel wants
more control over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a holy site that has long been
a contentious point with the Muslim world.
2014:
“The Knesset Law Committee voted to advance a bill today that would allow a
much wider circle of state rabbis to conduct conversions.” (As reported by
Haviv Rettig Gur)
2014:
“A lawyer for the elderly art collector whose $1.4 billion-worth of works were
seized by German police two years ago said he is in negotiations with six
claimants who are seeking items stolen from them or their families by the
Nazis.” (As reported by Amanda Borshel-Dan)
2015: The
Center for Jewish History is scheduled to sponsor a lecture by Dr. Rakhmiel
Peltz on “Planning for the Jewish Future: Standards for Yiddish in the 20th
and 21st century.”
2015: Stuart
Cohen of Bar-Ilan University is scheduled to deliver a lecture on “Generals
Wearing Yarmulkes. Does the Israel Defense Force Face a Threat of Dual
Authority?” at FIU.
2015: Beth
Goldman is scheduled to start her new position at NYLAG, who replaced Yisroel
Schulman who had “stepped down amid a federal investigation in his alleged
accounting irregularities.”
2016: Eight
days before he would pass away, ninety-year-old Alfred E. Mann “abruptly
stepped down as chairman” of MannKind Corporation.
2016: Sayed
Kashua is scheduled to discuss his new book Native: Dispatches from an
Israeli-Palestinian Life at the 92nd Street Y.
2016: Bo’i
Kalah: Here Comes the Bride an exhibition featuring “12 sensational bridal
gowns reflecting Jewish cultural and family traditions from around the world”
is scheduled to open at the Skirball Center.
2016: Bella
Meyer is scheduled to speak on “Marc Chagall: Reflections of a Granddaughter”
at the YIVO Institute for Jewish History.
2016: “Kurt
Weill, the talented Jewish composer who was the most successful composer in
Germany prior to his fleeing Nazi Germany, is scheduled to be the subject of a
rare cabaret performance by singer Bremner Duthie and a jazz trio this evening
at the Marigny Opera House in New Orleans, LA. (As reported by Alan Smason)
2017: At the
University of Iowa, Hillel is scheduled to host its Shabbat Alumni Dinner for
what some might call the Hebrew Hawkeyes.
2017: “The
Women’s Balcony” and “Germans and Jews” are scheduled to be shown at the 27th
Annual San Diego Jewish Film Festival.
2017: Limmud NY is scheduled to open today with a
noontime lunch followed by programs on “A Brief History of Contemporary Jewish
A Cappella, Niggun and Transformation and Jewish Moral Frameworks in a
Multi-Cultural World
2017(21st of Shevat, 5777: Eighty-five-year-old
Tulane drop-out Theodore Lowi the Cornell University Professor and
ground-breaking political scientist and historian passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/us/theodore-lowi-dead.html?_r=0
2018: In London, “Rothschild and Sons” is scheduled to take
place this evening.
https://mailchi.mp/jewishnews/audiences-are-singing-the-praises-of-rothschild-sons?e=025a365fe8
2018: The Jackson Hole Jewish Community is scheduled to
host “Havd’Challah” where attendees bid farewell to Shabbat with “hot toddies
and challah.”
2018: While defending his country’s new law about the
Holocaust at the Munich Security Conference “Polish Prime Minister Mateusz
Morawiecki said today that alongside Poles, Jews were also responsible for
perpetrating the Holocaust.” (As reported by Tamar Pileggi)
2018: “Israeli figure skaters Alexei Bychenko and Daniel
Samohin made an impressive showing at the Olympic finals today with the veteran
Bychenko racking up a rare top 10 finish in a strong field.”
2018(2nd of Adar, 5778): Parashat Terumah
2019: The New York Times featured reviews of books
by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Wedding
Guest by Jonathan Kellerman and the recently released paperback edition of Who
We Are and How We Got Here” Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past by
David Reich and We Crossed A Bridge and It Trembled: Voices From Syria
by Wendy Pearlman.
2019: The Illinois Holocaust Museum is
scheduled to host a screening of “The Zookeeper’s Wife” followed by a
discussion “led by Dr. Elliot Lefkovitz, faculty member, Spertus Institute and
History Professor Emeritus, Loyola University.”
2019: In Amherst, MA, the Yiddish Book Center
is scheduled to host a screening of “Stefan Zweig,” a biopic about “the year of
exile in the life of…one of the most read German-language writers.”
2019: In San Francisco, WinterFest 2019, the
Jewish Film Institute's weekend-long showcase of Jewish films from around the
world is scheduled to come to an end.
2019: In Berkley, CA, the Ashkenaz Music and
Dance Community Center is scheduled to host the Levoná Ensemble, a “Bay Area
Band” that “blends Jewish Arabic and flamenco music.”
2019: In Bethesda, MD, the Bethesda Jewish Congregation is
scheduled to host “An Evening of Ladino Music with Susan Gaeta and Gina Sobel,”
a “concert featuring the music of Spanish Jews expelled from their homeland
during the Spanish Inquisition” with proceeds of the benefit going to support
“the Cuba America Jewish Mission programs in Cuba.”
2020: In Scottsdale, AZ, Congregation Beth Tefillah in
partnership with the Aleph Society, is scheduled to host the final day of the
Soul Conference whose speakers includes Rabbis Simon Jacobson, Arthur Kurzwell
and Pinchas Allouche.
2020: In Cincinnati, OH, the 2020 Jewish and Israeli Film
Festival is scheduled to host a screening of “Family in Transition,” a
documentary “about how the lives of a family in small-town Israel change
completely after their father announces that he's transitioning to become a
woman.”
2020: The Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival is scheduled
to host a screening of “The Rabbi from Hezbollah” which “explores the
incredible story of a Lebanese Muslim member of Hezbollah who transformed into
an ultra-Orthodox Jew, living in Israel, and one of the country’s top
international agents and spies.”
2020: On President's Day, The Breman Museum is scheduled to
be open from 10 – 5 at a time when staff and visitor are thinking of the
welcome letter from George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation of the City of
Savannah” which is part of the Mickve Israel Records at The Georgia Historical
Society” and which contains the bold statement where he declares “I rejoice
that a spirit of liberality and philanthropy is much more prevalent than it
formerly was among the enlightened nations of the earth; and that your brethren
will benefit thereby in proportion as it shall become still more extensive”
2020: Roni Gal-Ed, “one of the world’s finest oboe players”
is scheduled to play “two concerts with Jupiter at the Good Shepherd
Presbyterian Church.
2020: The full squad of Theo Epstein’s Chicago Cubs is scheduled
to report for Spring training today.
2020: President’s Day,
officially the third Monday of February, celebrates all U.S. presidents. For
more about Jews and American Presidents see http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/presquote.html and http://www.jewishpost.com/archives/news/united-states-presidents-and-the-jews-from-george-washington-to-george-bush-1.html
2021: In
Pepper Pike, OH, B’nai Jeshurun Congregation is scheduled to host the first
session of “Purim Art with Marjorie Falk where attendees can learn about the
art of “mask making.”
2021: The
London School of Jewish Studies is scheduled to host Simon Goulden who will be
continuing his exploration into the history of Anglo-Jewry as he looks at the
period 1656-1870.
2021: The 21st
annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to begin today.
2021: The
Streicker Center is scheduled to host a presentation by multi-talented Tiffany
Haddish, the author of the New York Times bestseller The Last Black Unicorn.
2021: The
National Museum of American Jewish History for which Mitchell Levin is an
“official content provider” is scheduled to Christopher Silver, the Segal
Family Assistant Professor in Jewish History and Culture at McGill University
as he “discusses the prominent role of Jewish musicians in North Africa.”
2021:
Award-winning filmmaker Aviva Kempner is scheduled to talk about her
documentaries that depict underknown American Jewish heroes including Gertrude
Berg, Moe Berg, Hank Greenberg and Julius Rosenwald “who fought against
anti-Semitism, fascism, sexism and racism from the baseball stadium to Sears,
to television and the movie screens.
2021: The
American Sephardi Federation is scheduled to present “The Persian Experience,”
a disusion with Roya Hakakian, the author of Journey From the Land of No.
2021: The
Combined Jewish Philanthropies and Temple Emanuel of Newton are scheduled to
present online a discussion about President Joe Biden with Evan Osnos, the
author of Joe Biden: The Life, the Rus and What Matters Now.
2021: Art/Break,
a series of virtual studio visits organized by Asylum Arts and Meislin Projects
is scheduled to host a visit with Israeli artist Eli Singalovski.
2021: The
Jewish Community Library is scheduled to present Henry Michalski as he talks
about his new book Torn Lilacs about his Polish parents’ tribulations
during/after the Holocaust, subtitled “A True WWII Story of Love, Defiance and
Hope.
2022: The Leo
Baeck Institute, Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide & Crimes
against Humanity (CUNY) & Skirball Dept of Hebrew & Judaic Studies
(NYU) are scheduled to present “Where Do I Belong?”: Holocaust Survivors Return
to Vienna - Live on Zoom”
2022: As part
of the JWA book club talk events “popular middle-grade authors Emily Barth
Isler and Aimee Lucido are scheduled to discuss the possibilities and pitfalls
opened up by writing for a young audience.”
2022: The
American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled to present a conversation with
journalist Julie Salmon and Neal Shapiro, the President and CEO of WNET.
2022: The
Illinois Holocaust Museum is scheduled to present a talk by Jonathan Kaufman,
author of The Last Kings of Shanghai
2022: The
Center for Jewish History and AJHS are scheduled to present a discussion about
Marc Wortman’s new book, Admiral Hyman Rickover: Engineer of Power.
2022: The YIVO
Institute is scheduled to present “in person and livestream on Zoom,” An
Evening of Yiddish Theater in Translation: Celebrating Nahma Sandrow's 'Yiddish
Plays for Reading and Performance.'”
2022: Today, President Tayyip Erdogan's chief foreign policy adviser Ibrahim Kalin
and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Ona are scheduled to complete a two day trip
to Israel which is taking place “prior to President Herzog’s planned visit” to Turkey.
2022: “The
coronavirus cabinet is meeting to decide on the fate of the remaining COVID
restrictions with Prime Minister Bennett indicating he would like to see them
lifted in order to allow tourism back into the country and help struggling
businesses.”
2022: The
exhibition “Leave to Land: The Kitchener Camp Rescue, 1939” is scheduled to
open at the Weiner Holocaust Library.
https://wienerholocaustlibrary.org/exhibition/leave-to-land-the-kitchener-camp-rescue-1939/
2023: The
Cinema Village is scheduled to present the world premier of “Stars,” that is
based on the play Israeli playwright Doron Braunshtein.
2023: In
Waterloo, IA, Rabbi Kushner is scheduled to lead the last Friday service for
Sons of Jacob Congregation in its long-time home on Mitchell Avenue.
2023: At
Temple Judea it is a Strauss family affair as Rabbi Feivel and Cantor Abbe are
scheduled to usher in Shabbat.
2023: Kan Kol
Hamusika is scheduled to broadcast an Ensemble Finale with Barak Schossberger,
Mark Karlinsky - Violins; Leikie Glick, Yoni Gertner - Violas and Gali Knaani, Lia Perlov – Cellos.
2023: Kerem
Shalom of Concord, MA is scheduled to present online “Shabbat Around the Table”
with Cantor Rosalie Gerut.
2023: Israel
continues to have deal with internal dissension resulting from proposed changes
in laws relating to the Judiciary while dealing with an additional external
threat from Iran whose leader has threatened to damage the country’s offshore
oil operations.
2024: A
screening of “Pocketful of Miracles,” Aviva Kempner’s most personal film: “the
inspirational story of her mother and uncle’s incredible survival during World
War II, told in their humorous and moving testaments given to the Shoah
Foundation in 1997.”
2024: The
Eden-Tamir Center is scheduled to host “Toscanini Quartet, Ensemble in
Residence and Friends.”
2024: In
Saratoga, CA, this afternoon, Congregation Beth David is scheduled is to
present a discussion by Architect Paul Feudenthal on the Mishkan, the portable
sanctuary constructed by Moses as a place of worship for the Hebrew tribes
during the period of wandering before they entered the Promised Land using “a
model he built from the description in Exodus.”
2024: JCCSF
and Heavy Lemon are scheduled to present a concert by Black Ox Orkesta, the Montreal-based
avant-folk band that performs old-new Jewish diasporic music, featuring Yiddish
vocals and Eastern European and North African sounds.
2024 (8th of
Adar I, 5784): Parashat Terumah
For more https://downhomedavartorah.blogspot.com/
2024: As
February 17th, begins in Israel, the Hamas held
hostages begin day 134 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.)
