This Day, October 24, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
OCTOBER 24
51: Birthdate of Titus
Flavius Domitianus, who gained fame as the Roman Emperor Domitian. Domitian was the son of Vespasian and the
brother of Titus, all three of whom played a key role in the destruction of
Jerusalem which was one of the cornerstones of power for the Flavian
dynasty. Domitian was even more hostile
to the Jews than either of his predecessors as can be seen by his ruthless
enforcement of the ban on Romans converting to Judaism and his rigorous efforts
to collect the special taxes assessed against the Jews. His death in 96 would
not be mourned by the Children of Israel.
69: At the Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces
under Antonius Primus, the commander of the Danube armies, loyal to Vespasian,
defeat the forces of Emperor Vitellius. This victory helped to pave the way for
Vespasian to become Emperor of the Roman Empire. According to Jewish mythology, it was
Yoachanah Ben Zachai’s prediction that Vespasian would attain this goal that
led to him being able to establish the academy at Yavneh. Vespasian turned matters around Jerusalem to
his son Titus who would destroy the Temple within the year.
996: Hugh Capet, King of France who was
being treated by a Jewish physician, passed away. The king's
decision to use a Jewish doctor gave created the myth (which was believed by
many) that the Jews had killed the king.
996: Robert II, who “conspired with is vassals to destroy
all the Jews who would not accept baptism” and inspired mob violence against
the Jews including “the learned Rabbi Senior” began his solo reign as King of
France today.
1147:
After a siege of 4 months crusader knights led by Afonso Henriques defeated the
Moors and re-conquered Lisbon. According to one source, Alfonso was concerned
about his chances of defeating the Moors.
He looked to the Bible for support and comfort; something he found in
the story of Gideon where a force of 300 Israelites defeated a Midianite army
numbering 125,000. Following his
victories at Santarém and Lisbon, Alfonso allowed the Jewish population to
remain, to build synagogues and to enjoy most of the same rights as the rest of
the citizens of his realm.
1197:
After having taken Tyre and Sidon the Crusaders forces under Duke Frederick of
Austria entered Beirut today but marched back to Acre after learning that King
Henry I of Jerusalem have fallen to his death.
1273:
Coronation of King Rudolf I who in 1286 “instituted a new persecution of the
Jews, declaring them servi camerae ("serfs of the treasury"), which
had the effect of negating their political freedoms
1492: The Jews were
again accused of stabbing a consecrated wafer in Mecklenburg, Germany. Twenty-seven were burned including two
women, and all the Jews are expelled from the duchy. The spot where they were
killed is still called the Judenberg.
1558: Myles Coverdale a translator of the Bible into English who
relied on Luther’s Bible and the Vulgate but who did have some knowledge of
Hebrew as can be seen by the fact that “the name of the Diety appears in Hebrew
on the Title Page” and that Hebrew characters are used to mark the divisions of
the Book of Lamentations” received leave to settle in Geneva.
1648: The Peace of
Westphalia ended the Thirty Years War. While the Jews of Europe were not
combatants or participants in the peace talk, this treaty did have far-reaching
impact on them. The treaty brought an end to the Holy Roman Empire which
meant that the various states of Germany were able to choose their own religion
and develop on their own. The independence of the Netherlands was
recognized. The tolerant Dutch nation had already proven itself as a
hospitable for Jews and six years after the treaty European Jews would find
haven in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. According to some historians,
the treaty marked the end of the religious wars that had gripped Europe (much
to the detriment of the Jews) and marked the rise of the modern nation-state
system. While anti-Semitism would continue to be part of the European
landscape, the Jews of Europe would fare better after 1648 under a system of
national citizenship.
1663: In Caen, France, Jacques
de Lancy and Marguerite Bertrand gave birth to Etienne de Lancy, also known as
Stephen Delancey, the husband of Anna de Lancy and the father of Colonel James
de Lancy, an official of Colonial New York.
1669: William Prynne, a
lawyer, author and political leader who opposed re-admitting Jews to England
passed way. One of the pamphlets
published by Prynne that decried “their ill deportment” and “misdemeanors”
found favor with the merchants in London who claimed to oppose the admissions
of Jews on religious grounds but who were “jealous of the wealth of the
Hebrews” and did not want to compete with them for business.
1755: Birthdate of
Abraham Mordecai, the native of Philadelphia, PA, who was probably the first
Jew to settle in Alabama.
1760: In Powhatan
Country, VA, Mary Tabb and John Mayo gave birth to John Mayor, the husband of
Abigail de Hart and father of Edward, Maria, Julia and John Mayo.
1764: In Berlin, Moses
Mendelssohn and his wife gave birth to their oldest daughter, Brendel
Mendelssohn who gained fame as German novelist Dorothea von Schlegel, and the
mother of painter Philipp Veit.”
1768: In Philadelphia,
PA, Rebecca Myers-Cohen and Mathias Bush gave birth to Abraham Bush.
1777(23rd of
Tishrei, 5538): Simchat Torah celebrated on the same day that General George
Washington to Major General John Sullivan during the Battle of Brandywine, an
11 hour fight that ended with a major defeat of the Continental Army by the
British.
1799(25th of
Tishrei, 5560): Fifty-eight year old Yale graduate, ship owner and Tory
supporter Ralph Isaacs passed away today.
1780: Zipporah Levy and
Newport, RI, native Benjamin Mendes Seixas gave birth to Moses Seixas.
1781: “Abraham ben
Moses Atziplotz” was buried today at the “Alderney Road (Globe Rd) Jewish
Cemetery.”
1784: In Leghorn,
Tuscany, “Joseph Elias Montefiore and his young wife Rachel, the daughter of
Abraham Mocatta, a powerful bullion broker in London, who were in the town on a
business journey” gave birth to their first child Sir Moses Montefiore, who in
a life time that spanned more than a century, proved to be not only a great
leader of the Anglo-Jewish Community, but one of the most formidable Jews of
the 19th century. There is no
way to do justice to this great man’s life in this brief blog. You are encouraged to examine the many
sources available about this successful financier, public servant and
philanthropist whose generosity was integral source of support for the Jewish
settlers of 19th century Palestine.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/montefiore.html
1786: “Biene Reiss” and Mordechai Salomon Reiss gave birth to Joseph
Reiss.
1792: Marriage of Ruben and Roeschen Gumperz.
1795: Third
partition of Poland, between Austria, Prussia and Russia. This is an example of
the law of unintended consequences.
Russia, which had been trying to keep Jews out, now found itself with
millions of Jewish Poles as Russian citizens.
For the next hundred years the various Czars devised plans to control or
destroy the Jewish community in Russia.
The most famous example was the one-third, one-third, one-third
program. One third of the Jews would
convert, one third would immigrate and one third would die. Thus Russia would be rid of its Jews.
1802: Nathan Mayer Rothschild
became a freemason of the Emulation Lodge, No. 12, of the Premier Grand Lodge
of England today in London
1804(19th of
Cheshvan, 5565): Marx Levy Mordechai, the rabbi at Trier and husband of Eva
Lwow, who was the father of Heinrich Marx and the grandfather of Karl Marx
passed away today.
1807(22nd of
Tishrei, 5568): Shmini Atzertz
1807: Birthdate of
Prussian poet and philologist Ludwig Wihl who “advanced
the theory that Phoenician was a linguistic derivative of Hebrew, and that
Phoenicia had exercised a profound influence on the art of early Greece” but
whose refusal to be baptized “doomed” his university career.
1811: Birthdate of
Ferdinand Hiller the native of Frankfurt am Main who gained fame as composer
and director and who founded the Cologne Conservatoire in 1850 where he served
as Kapellmeister until 1884.
1816(24th of
Cheshvan, 5577): Fifty-four-year-old Moses Abrahams, the New York City born son
of Abraham Isaac Abrahams passed away today in his hometown.
1821: Joel Benjamin
married Frances Cohen at the Hambro Synagogue today.
1821: Eighty-one year
Elias Boudinot, the 10th President of the Continental Congress who was
persuaded by James Adair’s History of the American Indians that the Indians
were descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes, and that the Hebrew was the origin of
their language, passed away today. (Editor’s note – Boudinot was but one in a
long list of people who held this belief which is why some early explorers were
rumored to have included somebody with a knowledge of Hebrew among those
serving in their expeditions.)
1826(23rd of
Tishrei, 5587): Simchat Torah
1826(23rd of
Tishrei, 5587): German actor and theatrical manager Jacob Herzfeld passed away.
1828: At The Hague,
Moses de Pinto and Sara Salvador gave birth to Dutch jurist Aaron Adolf de
Pinto.
1828: Emmanuel Hart was
buried today at the “Plymouth Hoe Burial Ground.”
1831: Moses Gomes Silva
was appointed to be a Provost Marshal-General in Jamaica.
1831: In Philadelphia,
Clarissa and Joseph M. Asch gave birth to Myer Asch the dentist turned soldier
who began his service as a Second Lt. in Company H of the First Cavalry, Jew
Jersey Volunteers in 1861 and rose to the rank of Colonel, in recognition of
his valor combat and as a P.O.W. in Libby Prison before being discharged in
1865.
1834(21st of
Tishrei, 5595): Hoshana Raba
1834: Birthdate of Levi
Adler, the husband of Theresa Wile and father of Isaac Adler, the Harvard
trained lawyer and 53rd Mayor of Rochester.
1838: Eliza Matilda
Moses and Raphael Jacob Moses gave birth Israel Moses Nunez, the husband of
Anna Marie Moses Nunez who rose to the rank of Major in the CSA.
1838: Cerf Cylick
married Isabella Magnus at the Great Synagogue today.
1841: Birthdate of
Jacob Bettelheim, the Austrian-German author and writer.
1841: Birthdate of Elie
Scheid, a native of Hagenau, Alsace and founder of the Ḥebra 'Am Segullah
burial society who authored separate histories of the Jews of this hometown and
Alsace who became Baron Edmond de Rothschild’s primary assistant when he began
his work supporting the colonization of Palestine.
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13255-scheid-elie
1844: Birthdate of Karl
Lueger, the Austrian politician who exploited popular anti-Semitism to be
elected Mayor of Vienna. There are those
who contend that his successful exploitation of anti-Semitism served as a role
model for another resident of Vienna - Adolph Hitler.
1845(23rh of Tishrei,
5606): Simchat Torah observed for the first time during the Presidency of James
K. Polk
1848:
Birthdate of Wilhelm Fleiss, the native of Arnswalde who became a noted
otolaryngologist and a friend of Sigmund Freud.
1848:
Michel Goudchaux resigned as Minister of Finance after the Assembly adopted a
measure today that he interpreted as a vote implying that he was not honest.
1851: The New York
Times reported that "the emigration of Jews is on the increase in
consequence of the oppressive ukases of the Emperor."
1852: American
statesman and unsuccessful Presidential candidate Daniel Webster who served his
country as a Senator and Secretary of State passed away. While serving as Secretary of State in
President Millard Filmore’s administration, Webster actively opposed as treaty
with Switzerland that would have discriminated against American Jews trying to
do business in Switzerland. Webster and the American Jewish community enjoyed a
positive relationship as can be seen by the fact that he was asked to speak at
the Hebrew Benevolent and German Benevolent Society meeting in 1849 in New York
City. He had to turn down the invitation because of ill health but he expressed
his “respect and sympathy” who have “preserved through darkness and idolatry of
so many centuries.
1853(22nd of Tishrei,
5614): Shemini Atzeret
1853: The New York
Times reported that Dr. Raphall, a New York rabbi, will deliver a lecture
about Russia at a meeting of the Young Men's Literary Association on October
26. Tickets will cost fifty cents.
1853: When an army of
Kurds attacked the city of Al-Jazira, it was Muslims, Christians and Jews who
picked up arms to defend the city.
1855: In Germany David
J. Meyerhardt and his wife the former Esther Marks gave birth Max Meyerhardt
the husband of Nettie Watson, the father of Jennie, Julia, Max and Louis
Meyerhardt who became a Judge in Georgia.
1856: Birthdate of Sir
Stuart Samuel, the brother of Sir Herbert Samuel. ”
He was educated at Liverpool Institute and University College School, London”
and “was a member of the banking firm of Samuel Montagu and Company.” “Sir
Stuart…was president of the Board of Jewish Deputies” and “headed the
commission of inquiry sent by the British government to Poland to investigate
the anti-Jewish excesses in 1919.”
1858: Two
days after she had passed away, Eliza Stiebel, the daughter of Jacob Abraham
and Rebecca Daniel Mocatta and the wife of Sigismund Stiebel was buried today
at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1861:
Birthdate of Lithuanian native and Columbia trained physician Robert Abrahams
1862(30th
of Tishrei, 5623): On Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, Abraham Lincoln continues his
quest to find winning generals by replacing Don Carlos Buell with William S.
Rosecrans for his failure to pursue the Confederates after the Battle of
Perryville.
1863:
Birthdate or Rumanian native Arnold Josef Rose, the Vienna trained violinist
who “in 1881 he made his first appearance, at a concert of the Vienna
Philharmonic Society, in Goldmark's violin concerto, and shortly thereafter
received an engagement as solo violinist and leader of the orchestra at the
Hoftheater.”
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12829-rose-arnold-josef
1868: In
Chicago, Bertha Sternberg and Nathan Friedman gave birth to University of
Cincinnati graduate and HUC ordained rabbi, William S. Friedman, the husband of
\ Juliet Freyhan who began serving Congregation Emanuel in Denver in 1890 and a
cofounder of the National Jewish Hospital in Denver.
1869:
Elizabeth Samuel was buried today at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1869: Upon
returning to America in 1869, violinist and pianist Jeanne, Selma Franko Sam Franko, Rachel Franko
and Nahan Franko performed the same concert
today at Terrace Garden in New
York that it had first performed at New York’s Steinway Hall.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/franko-jeanne
1870: In Algiers under the leadership of
Adolphe Cremieux, France granted French citizenship to all Algerian Jews. Prior to this date, citizenship was conferred
on individual Jews based on their application.
Algeria had been taken over by the French and this move was part of the
French program of colonization. Approximately 50,000 Jews gained French
citizenship in this way.
1872(22nd of
Tishrei, 5633): Shemini Atzeret
1873: In Philadelphia,
PA, “Jacob and Betty (Rebecca) Bacharach” gave birth to Harry Bachrach, the
Republican Mayor of Atlantic City and Postmaster serving under Presidents
McKinley and Roosevelt and founder of the “Jewish Community Center in Atlantic
City who was the husband of Hattie Bacharach and the brother of Benjamin
Bacharach, the President of Beth Israel Synagogue and Congressman Isaac
Bacharach who “represented the Second District of New Jersey” for almost twenty
years.
1874: According to a
travelogue published today, most of the establishments for money changing in
Bayonne, France are owned by Jews.
1875: “The Wild
Huntsman” published today provides a brief summary of the legend of the
Wandering Jew, one of those canards which has helped to fan the flame of
anti-Semitism for centuries. This mythic
figure supposedly refused the suffering Jesus a drink of water from a horse
trough or refused to provide shelter for the Virgin Mary and Jesus when they
were fleeing to Egypt. Regardless, “in
some countries” he is now seen “as kind of personification of Jews” in general.
1877: In Ronnenberg,
Germany, Simon and Henrietta Seligman gave birth to Frantz Seligman, the husband
of Erna Seligman.
1877: “Receiving Stolen
Goods” published today described a scheme to buy stolen cloth that has landed
Louis Lazarus, the owner of second-hand clothing store and his son in Samuel in
the Tombs.
1878: At the home of
the bride in Charleston, SC, Rabbi Levy officiated at the marriage of Emil
Eckstein of Savannah, GA and Fannie Livingston.
1879: Birthdate of
Sydney G. Gumpertz, the native of San Raphael, CA, who won the Congressional Medal of Honor
during WW I.
https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/sydney-g-gumpertz
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sydney-g-gumpertz
1879: In Providence,
Rhode Island, the Unitarians are holding a convention where they are “discussing
the subject of Monotheism’ and have concluded that the only true monotheists
are the Jews, Moslems and the Unitarians. They feel that the Trinitarian belief
of Christians moves them away from true monotheism.
1880: Birthdate of
Rochester, NY native Haskell Harold Marks a Jeweler and Republican member of
the New York State Assembly.
1880: In Grodno, Joseph
and Ida (Shapiro) Weinstein gave birth to “Zionist leader” Solomon J.
Weinstein, who in 1896 came to the United States where he became a member of the
New York Produce Exchange, married Fannie Grohn, and was active in numerous
Jewish organizations including the American Zion Commonwealth, the Palestine
General Mortgage Bank and Temple Beth Elohim.
1880: Fifty five year
old Oswald Hönigsmann an Austrian lawyer and parliamentarian who spoke out on
behalf of the emancipation of the Jewish people passed away today.
1880: In Russia , Ada
and Louis Landman gave birth to American Reform Rabbi Isaac Landman who “was
editor of the ten-volume Universal Jewish Encyclopedia,” “the first Jewish
chaplain in the United States Army to serve on foreign soil” during World War I
and a leading anti-Zionist.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/landman-isaac
1881: Three days after
he had passed away, Russian born Marcus Spero, the husband of Leah Spero, with
whom he had three children – “Eamanuel, Harriet and Esther – was bred today at
the “West Ham Jewish Cemetery.”
1882: Birthdate of
“Skalat, Austria” native Maurice Oliver Magid, the 1905 graduate of the Cornell
University Medical College who “was the attending gynecologist to the New York City
Correction Hospital and associate gynecologist to the Bronx Hospital.
1883(23rd of
Tishrei, 5644): Simchat Torah
1883: Police arrested
Aaron Hammer and Moses Rauch, two Jews whose celebration of Simchat Torah got
so rowdy that Bernard Levy felt the need to call the authorities for
protection.
1883: Jews throughout
the world celebrated the 99th birthday of Sir Moses Montefiore.
1883: “Mr. Oscanyan’s
Varied Show” published today included a description of that part of the lecture
the Turkish born American writer gave about the conditions of “the Jews of the
East” with whose persecution he commiserated.
1884: Sir Moses
Montefiore celebrated his one hundredth birthday, an event that was marked with
celebration throughout much of the world including a letter from Queen Victoria
to the successful businessman, philanthropist and humanitarian.
1884: Services are to
be held “simultaneously” at four o’clock this afternoon at synagogues in the
United States to mark the 100th birthday of Sir Moses
Montefiore. The speeches delivered
during these services will be given to the Anglo-Jewish statesman on November 8
“which corresponds with the 24th of October in the Jewish calendar.
1884: Montefiore
Hospital which was founded in 1884 by leaders of New York's Jewish community as
the Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids at Avenue A and East 84th Street in Manhattan”
“accepted its first six patients today on Moses Montefiore's 100th birthday.”
1884: “A Home for
Hebrew For Orphans” published today provided a complete description of the
newly opened Hebrew Orphan Asylum. The
four story building on the corner of 10th Avenue and 136th
Street is designed to accommodate 1,000 children of both sexes and was built at
a cost of $60,000.00.
1886: It was reported
today that the Wendell Phillips Literary Society is scheduled to “give a
dramatic entertainment” at upcoming fundraising event sponsored by the Hebrew
Sheltering Guardian Society.
1886: The Independent
Hebrew Citizens’ Association of the Tenth Ward endorsed “Tommy” Grady who is
running for seeking to represent the Eighth District in Congress.
1886: Today, New York
businessman Henry Schloss, the Adrian, Michigan born son of William J. and
Hannah Schloss, the President and general manager of Castle Braid Company and
President of Eltsac Realty Corporation in Brooklyn married Isabella Frankfield
with whom he had three children – William, Alfred and May.
1886: Forty-three year
old Herman W. Hellman, the Bavarian born husband of Trevino born Ida Heimann
“was elected President of the Congregation B’nai B’rith” today in San
Francisco.
1887(6th of
Cheshvan, 5648): Sixty-six year old Charlotte Beyfus the wife of Abraham Oppenheim
and the granddaughter of Meyer Amschel Rothschild passed away today.
1887: “The Religion of
Humanity” published today provides a summary of the Dr. Kaufmann’s recently
delivered addressed entitled “What is Judaism?”
Kohler feels that Judaism is a religion of humanity and that “It is the
Jew’s mission to stand by that religion of human which teaches the unity of the
Cosmos in God, the spirit of truth and the social unity of man as based upon
his God’s childship.”
1888: Birthdate of Lviv
native Marek Weber, the successful “German violinist and bandleader” who fled
Nazi Germany where his work was labeled “degenerate” and came to the United
States where he was featured as the “Waltz King” on NBC radio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62vpXVUS-Jw
1888: “Starving and
Freezing” published today described the plight of the Polish Jewish farmers in
Ramsey County, North Dakota. The seventy
families who came from Chicago two years ago and settled 18 miles from Devils
Lake have lost everything as a result of an early frost that wiped out their
Wheat crop this year.
1889: The Young Men’s
Hebrew Association began its 16th season tonight with a program at
Chickering Hall in NYC.
1889: “Thinks Job A
Poetic Myth” published today described a skirmish in the battle between those
who read the Bible literally and those who think it is subject to
interpretation – a schism that was found in both 19th century
Judaism in Christianity. In this case,
it was a Presbyterian Minister, E.L. Curtis who “startled his orthodox
congregation” by asserted that the Book of Job “was only a parable and the
other persons mentioned were but the creatures of poetical fancy.”
1891: In Russia, where
the onset of winter has worsened the effects of the famine, two or three riots
broke out aimed at the Jews.
1892: After spending
three months at A.B. Simpson College “an institution where converted Jews are
trained for missionary work thirty three year old Isaac Hertzfeld was baptized
today – a an action that he would later publicly renounce.
1892: The New York Times described a change
“in the future career” of Baron Hirsh, “who having devoted his youth to
accumulating millions is now devoting his old age to philanthropy.” One example of this was the Baron’s decision
to donate all of his “turf winnings,” a sum of 14,500 English pounds, to
“deserving English charities.”
1893: The will of David
James, the well-known Anglo-Jewish actor left £15,000 to various legatees and
provided that his widow should receive the interest on the remaining £30,000
with the principle reverting to various Hebrew charities at the time of her
death or re-marriage whichever comes first. (Smith’s birth name was Belasco,
which he dropped as he developed his acting career)
1893: “Mr. Mansfield As
Shylock” published today reviewed the latest New York production of The
“Merchant of Venice” which featured Richard Mansfield in the role of Shylock.
Unlike Edmund Kean who played Shylock as a Biblical figure, Mansfield portrayed
him as a character from the Middle Ages who “loves his daughter” but “hates his
enemy with deadly bitterness
1894: Professor Willis
J. Beecher delivered a lecture “The Old Testament as a Whole, “ the second in
his series on the “Study of the Old Testament.”
1895: “Correct Spelling
of Barnato’s Name” published today speculated on the correct spelling of the
diamond mine mogul wondering if it was “Barney” or Barnie” a point rendered
moot by the fact that his name is “Barnett which is a common surname among
Christians and Jews.”
1896: In New York, the
Hebrew Institute Literary Society hosted a debate on the abolition of capital
punishment tonight.
1896: The teachers and
pupils of the Kaminsky Conservatory of Music performed at the Hebrew Institute
tonight.
1896(17th of
Cheshvan, 5657): Seventy-eight year old Sir Albert Abdullah David Sassoon, the
son of David Sassoon, who was a leading merchant in Baghdad who settled in
Bombay where his business success reportedly made him “one of the richest men”
in the city, passed away today.
1896: The University of
Wisconsin football team led by first year head coach Philip King, a Jewish
native of Washington, DC defeated Grinnell today.
1897(28th of
Tishrei, 5658): Eighty-three year old Yetje Hangjas, “the eldest sister of
Simon Dejong passed at Haarlem, Holland.
1897: Phoebe Myers,
“the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gershon Myers” married Ellis Moses “the
eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Moses” at the Western Synagogue.
1897: The Young Zion
Institute is scheduled to hold a “public meeting at the Cannon Street Road
Hall” today.
1897: At the Great
Synagogue in London, Rabbi Singer is scheduled to deliver an address “at the
annual thanksgiving service for the children who enjoyed” the support “of the
Jewish branch of the Children’s Country Holiday Fund.”
1898(8th of Cheshvan,
5659): Daniel Levy Maduro Peixotto died at
Guantanamo, Cuba, from the effects of fever contracted during the
Spanish-American war. A member of a prominent
Sephardic family that had settled in New York, this son of Moses Levy Maduro
Peixotto volunteered to join the U.S. Army at the outbreak of the war with
Spain serving “with the Third United States Volunteer Infantry, first as first
lieutenant and acting quartermaster, and then as captain of Company D. At the
time of his death he was military governor and provost marshal of Guantanamo.”
1898: Ralph
Disraeli was buried today in Buckinghamshire, UK.
1898;
Following the end of the Spanish-American War the 2nd Nebraska
Volunteer Infantry including Sergeant Charles of North Platte, Private Elmer
Heller of Omaha, Corporal Samuel Jacoby and Private Joseph Meitner both of
Chadron, Private Joseph Wolf of Lincoln and Private Louis Abel of Norfolk were
among those mustered out today.
1899:
Birthdate of Warsaw native Anatol Stern, the poet turned screenwriter who
survived the Gulag, lived in Palestine before returning to his native land
where he died at the age of 68.
1900(1st
of Cheshvan, 5661): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
1900:
Samuel Alschuler, the Democratic candidate for Governor of Illinois” who is
Jewish “said today that he had been informed of a circular letter being sent
out ostensibly addressed to saloon keepers and urging support of the Democratic
ticket on account of the well-known hostility to liquor and liquor dealers”
expressed by the Republican candidate for governor.
1901:
According to advance copies of the registration lists received today in the
office of the New York Times “Oscar S. Straus, the ex-Minister of the United
States” the native of Bavaria who had served under both President Cleveland and
President McKinley has not registered to vote.
1901: Hyman
Pearlstone, the Buffalo, TX son of Barny and Lena Catsok Pearlstone and his
wife Mable Roxanne Pearlstone gave birth to Lorraine Mildred Budner the wife of
William Charles Budner.
1902(23rd
of Tishrei, 5663): Simchat Torah
1902: Herzl had another
meeting with Lord Rothschild and an appointment in the British Foreign Office.
1903: It was reported
today that “The American Jewish Year book for the year 5664 (which began September
22, 1903)…has been issued. This fifth
annual volume, which is 316 pages in length, was edited by Cyrus Adler. Ninety-six pages are devoted to the annual
report of the Jewish Publication Society.
While the volume contains a great deal of information about Jewry there
is no description of the Zionist Convention held at Basel or the Pogrom at
Kishinev. The former “was held too late
to be included. The latter will be covered
in a special pamphlet issued by JPS.
1904: After premiering
in London, “The Cinglee” a musical containing “additional material by Paul
Rubens opened in New York at the Original Daly’s Theatre where it ran for 33
performances.
1904: In New Yor, City cigar maker Barnett Hart and
Lillian Solomon gave birth to producer, director and playwright Moss Hart. Hart achieved success both on Broadway and in
films. One of Hart’s most famous cinematic triumphs was “Gentlemen’s Agreement”
which he produced. One of his greatest
Broadway triumphs came at the end of his career when he served as director for
“My Fair Lady.” He was married to Kitty
Carlisle. Unbeknownst to many of her
fans, the sophisticated Ms. Carlisle was actually Catherine Conn, a Jewess from
New Orleans whose mother was an aggressive social climber. Hart himself passed away in 1960. You can read more about the fascinating life
of Moss Hart in his autobiography, Act I.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Moss-Hart
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/moss-hart/
1905: Birthdate of
French Trotskyist leader Pierre Frank.
http://www.marxists.org/archive/mandel/1984/04/frank.htm
1906: Birthdate of
fencer Theodore Lorber who finished in seventh place at the 1932 Los Angeles
Olympics.
1906: In Vienna,
“Edmund von Motesiczky, “a talented cellist and keen huntsman” and “Henriette
von Lieben who came from one of the most wealthy and cultured families in the
Habsburg Empire” gave birth to painter Marie-Louise von Motesiczky.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-marie-louise-von-motesiczky-1337146.html
1907: The Chase
National Bank listed a loan for $40,000 to Stella M. Rothschild in it petition
to to have Judge Holt modify its restraining order in a case against Mayer and
Co.
1908(29th
of Tishrei, 5669): Sixty-nine year old Solomon Sonneschein, the Moravian born
rabbi who married Rosa Sonneschein in 1864 and whose last pulpit was at Temple
B’nai Yeshurun in Des Moines, IA passed away today.
1908: As litigation went
forward in the case of the contested will of the late Sigmund Rosenwald, today
McLaughlin and Stern filed a petition on behalf of Mrs. Ella Rosenwald who
claimed to be Sigmund’s widow stating she
was a “widow and one of the next kin of the above-named decedent: and “that the
will offered for probate was not the last will and testament of Mr. Rosenwald”
and that the will have had been produced by fraud” perpetrated by Mathilde
Goldberg, Benno Neuberger and Benno Rosenwald.
1908: The New York Times publishes an interview
with Israel Zangwill entitled “Israel
Zangwill’s Serious Purpose,” in which the Jewish author discusses his views
on the literary worlds of the United States and Great Britain and the reaction
to his “The Melting Pot.”
1909: As interest in
the New York City elections increased Rabbi Stephen Wise delivered as sermon
this morning on “The Civic Duty of the Hour” at the Free Synagogue in which he
said “the time was fraught with danger to Jewish people of New York because of
the visit to Tammany Hall by thirteen rabbis who saw themselves as “the
self-appointed representatives of the Hebrew Community” in New York and he went
on to deny that was an “friendship” between the Jews and Tammany saying “no
decent self-respecting, law-abiding Jews asks for help or support or favor in
any form from Tammany.”
1910(21st of
Tishrei, 5671): Hoshana Rabah
1910: Birthdate of
Julius Pike, the tackle for the University of Maine “Blackbears” who was team
captain in 192 when the team finished “with a record of 5-1-1.."
1910: Birthdate of Yoel
Zussman, the native of Krakow who became the fourth President of the Supreme
Court of Israel.
1910: Archaeologist Max
von Oppenheim, a member of the famous German-Jewish banking family requested to
be allowed to leave the diplomatic service so that he could work on the
excavation at Tel Halaf which he asked his father to finance.
1910: The Oscar
Hammerstein production Victor Herbert’s “Naughty Marietta” opened its
pre-Broadway run in Syracuse, NY.
1911: “Penrose Against
Russia,” published today reported that Senator Penrose has described
“discrimination by the Russian Government against American Hebrews as an
assault on American principles and traditions” and that he has assured a
delegation of Jews from Philadelphia “that he agreed with their contention that
the violation of their treaty rights as American citizens was not a proper
subject for an arbitration tribunal but should result in the passing of a
resolution by Congress denouncing the present treaty.”
1912: Joseph Grosberg,
the Russian born son Jacob Grosberg and founder of a chain of grocery stories
in upstate New York and his wife Rachel (Rae) Kadisky gave birth to their
second daughter Rosalind “Rozzie” Grosberg.
1912: “Oscar S. Straus,
Secretary of Commerce and Labor in President Roosevelt's Cabinet, and Bull
Moose candidate for Governor of New York, speaking to-night at the Central
Armory as "a humble messenger of the Progressive movement," brought
to Cleveland Bull Moosers the message that "Progressivism is marching on,
and as it marches forward is sweeping the bosses out and bringing back the rule
of the people."
1913(2erd of Tishrei,
5674): Simchat Torah
1913: The men
associated with Marcus M. Marks in the work of the Educational Alliance have
called a meeting for this evening to express their support for his candidacy as
President of the Borough of Manhattan on the “Fusion ticket.”
1914(4th of
Cheshvan, 5675): Parashat Noach
1914(4th of
Cheshvan, 5675): Rabbi Samuel R. Gordon passed away today in Houston, TX.
1914: Dr. J. L. Manges
and Dr. Schmarya Levin are scheduled to address tonight’s meeting hosted by the
New York chapter of Hadassah at the Young Women’s Hebrew Association building
where they will seek ways to alleviate the threat faced by the Jewish settlers
in Palestine resulting from the start of the World War.
1914: The American Jewish Relief Committee was
established by Jacob H. Schiff, Louis Marshall, and Felix Warburg. It soon
combined with the Central Relief Committee founded by Orthodox leaders and the
People's Relief Committee representing labor, into one organization the
American Joint Distribution Committee. The “Joint” would become a vital force
in providing aid to Jews caught up in the hostilities of World War I which had
begun in August of 1914.
1915: In Manchester,
UK, Mr. and Mrs. Neville Laski gave birth to English author Marghanita Laski.
1915: “More than 1,000
persons witnessed the laying of the cornerstone of the new Sinai Temple near
East 163rd Street, the Bronx” which was done in a formal manner by
Adolph Lewis who used a silver trowel with his name engraved on it to “spread
the mortar” following with they heard a speech by “Rabbi J. Leonard Levy of
Pittsburgh who talked of the place the Jews occupies in American life.”
1915: “A memorial
service for Jewish soldiers who have lost their lives in the European war was
held” tonight “at Mount Zion Temple on West 119th Street under the
auspices of the German-Jewish Military Society.”
1915: “To Aid Jewish
Charities” published today described plans for “a meeting of the council of
Jewish Communal Institutions of which Leo Arnstein is President will be held in
New York at the end of October or early in November to consider the
desirability of establishing a Bureau of Philanthropy to act as a central
investigating body for the study of social problems affecting the Jewish
community in New York numbering more than 1,000,000.”
1915: The American
Jewish Conference which was scheduled to open today in Washington, DC did not
meet due to a clash between different factions in the Jewish community
represented, respectively, by Louis Marshall and Louis Brandeis who said the
conference “would be futile because the conference would purport to be an
assembly authorized to express the will of the Jewish people, whereas it would
in fact have not such mandate and would lack the necessary support of the Jews
of America without which its action would be ineffective.”
1915: Today, twenty-three-year-old Leo Alexander,
the son of Niles, OH scrap iron dealer Abraham Alexander and Rose Alexander who
took over the family business when his father passed away and who was a member
of Anshe Emeth married Kate Lavine, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Barnett Lavine of Cleveland, Oh
1915: In a letter
written today, “Sir Henry McMahon, then His Majesty's High Commissioner in
Egypt, promised the Sharif of Mecca, Husayn ibn Ali, to ‘recognize and support
the independence of the Arabs within the territories proposed by him (Sharif of
Mecca)’” -- territories that included the Arabian peninsula, Syria, Lebanon,
Iraq Transjordan) and Palestine a portion of which was Tel Chai “an
agricultural community settled by Jewish workers from Metulla in 1907.
1915: British High
Commissioner, Henry McMahon
reached an agreement with Abdulla
Hussein of the Hashemi family, trading a revolt against Turkey for Arab
independence everywhere except Eretz-Israel. This agreement, which was in
direct contradiction with the Sykes-Picot treaty, was like the Balfour
Declaration - vague and ambiguous. Many of the problems that we face in the
Middle East today can be traced back to the various deals (many of which were
dishonest to say the least) made by the British and the French as they sought
to break the back of the Turkish Empire and defeat Germany through the “back
door.”
1915: Today,
twenty-three year old Niles, OH scrap iron dealer Leo Alexander, the son of
Rose and Abraham Alexander, married Kate Lavine, the Cleveland, OH daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Barnett Lavine.
1916: In Nashville, TN,
Maurice Sanditen, the Lithuanian born son of Abraham Jacob Sanditen and Dina
Glike Sanditen and his wife Myrtle gave birth to Stanley Leon Sanditen
1916: In New York,
Louis Marshall presided over a meeting where the remarks by Republican
Presidential candidate Charles Evans Hughes about “the treaty relations with
Russia” “were received with great applause” in a section of the city “where the
Jewish population is large.”
1916(27th of
Tishrei, 5677): Sixty-six year old Antonie (Toni) Amalia Liebermann, the
daughter of Ferdinand and Fanny Reichenheim and the wife of Professor Dr. Carl
Theodor Liebermann passed away today in Berlin.
1917: Felix Frankfurter
is acting as Secretary for the Labor Commission President Wilson sent to
Arizona to settle “the big copper strike” which is threatening the manufacture
of munitions that rely on the metal.
1917(8th of
Cheshvan, 5678): Forty-eighty-year-old Helen Goldman Bechhoefer, the
Pennsylvania born daughter of Bernhard and Henrietta Siegel Goldman and the wife
of Charles Bechhoefer pass away today after which she was buried in the Mount
Zion Temple Cemetery in St. Paul, MN.
1917: As part of the
final push to publish the Balfour Declaration, Ronald Graham writes Lord
Balfour, “Almost every Jew in Russia is a Zionist, and if they can be made to
realize that the success of Zionist aspirations depends on the support of the
Allies and the expulsion of the Turks from Palestine, we shall enlist a most
powerful element in our favor.”
1917: It was reported
today that 113 year old Ethel Polansky gave one dollar and 109 year old Nissen
Rosenstein, the oldest man in New York State gave five dollars towards the
purchase of a Liberty Bond by residents of the Home of the Daughters of Jacob
in New York City.
1918: “The Intermountain Jewish News (IJN)” reported
today that 27 year old Denver native Sergeant Morris Fishel had passed away at
Camp MacArthur six days ago and had been buried at Mt. Nebo Memorial Park in
Aurora, CO.
1918: Sarah Friedman, of blessed memory, the wife of
Hyman Friedman is scheduled to be buried today in New York City.
1918: Two days after he had passed away, 82 year old
Leopold Bloch, the son of Samuel and Theresia Bloch and the husband of Rosa
Bloch was buried in his home town of Vienna.
1918: Hyman Gerson Enelow, a member of the Overseas
Commission of the Jewish Welfare Board who was touring the war zone wrote today
“I have been to some places where one sees the boys going and coming from the
trenches. Everywhere they are they are
glad to see a Rabbi and hear a kind word.
It makes them feel they are not forgotten.” In the hospitals “the
doctors and nurses do all they can” and “they appreciate a Rabbi if they never
did before.”
1919(30th of Tishrei, 5680): Rosh Chodesh
Cheshvan
1919: A reception is scheduled to be given tonight at
Cooper Union for Samuel Charney, the 35 year old critic who writes under the
pen name of “Samuel Nigger” and who has just returned from Vilna where he saw
Polish soldiers killed seventy “Jewish citizens” after which they stole “their
property.”
1920: In Manhattan, Sidney Donheiser and Bertha Younger
gave birth to Julius Stuart Younger, the virologist who “was the last surviving
member of the original three-man research team assembled by Dr. Jonas Salk”
that found the Polio Vaccine.(As reported by Sam Roberts)
1920: The Tri-City Conference of Social Workers which had
opened last night with concert held its business meeting to at the Young
Women’s Hebrew Association on West 110th Street.
1920: The Intercollegiate Zionist Association, the League
of the Jewish Youth, the Intervarsity Menorah, Young Judea, Y.W. H.A., Y.M.H.A
and the Teachers’ Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary arranged today’s
Friedlander Memorial Meeting “to honor the memory of Dr. Israel Friedlander”
who was ‘slain by bandits” while delivering aid to Jews in the Ukraine in the
Great Hall of City College where more than three thousand young and men heard
addresses by Dr. John Finley, Dr. Judah L. Magnes, Ruth Dressler and Leon
Hoffman.
1920: David de Sola Pool resigned as a member of the
Executive Committee of the Jewish Welfare Board today.
1920: “In the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, Abraham
Seldin, a dentist from Bessarabia” and the “former Laura Ueberal,” a native of
Vienna gave birth to Donald Way Seldin, the driving force behind “what is now
the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center” and an expert witness in
the trial of Nazi doctors who worked at Dachau.(As reported by Sam Roberts)
1920: Dr. Cyrus Adler presided over “the Annual Meeting
of the Jewish Welfare Board which was held at 2 p.m. today at the Jewish
Center…in New York City.”
1920: Today marked the end of the election of delegated
for 23rd annual convention of the ZOA which is scheduled to begin on
Thanksgiving Day, November 25, in Buffalo, NY.
1921(22nd of Tishrei, 5682): Shmini Atzeret
1921: Today marked the beginning of The American Jewish
Relief Committee’s campaign to raise $14,000,000 in four months for relief and
reconstruction to meet the emergency cause by the Russian families and economic
stagnation in many parts of Central Europe.”
1922(2nd of Cheshvan, 5683): Fifty-seven year
old Meir Selig Goldschmidt, the son Clementine Fuld and Selig Meir Goldschmidt
and the husband of Selma Cramer passed away today.
1923:
Birthdate of British born American poet Denise Levertov. Her pedigree is of interest since it provides
a picture of the fate of European Jews.
Her mother was Welsh. Her father
was an Anglican parson. In point of fact, he was an immigrant from Germany who
had been raised as a Chasidic Jew before converting to Christianity.
1923:
In the Bronx, Betty and Dr. Lee Fisher gave birth to Edwin Zalmon Fisher, a
cartoonist whose work was a regular feature in The New Yorker magazine.
http://edfischer.com/cartoons.html
1924: Birthdate of Gusta Dynerova, who was shipped from
Prague to Ujazdow in 1942 where she was murdered.
1924: “Moon of Israel,” a silent film epic based on the
story of the Israelites in Egypt , directed by Michael Curitz, produced by
Arnold Pressburger and starring Maria Corda, who saved her husband, the famous
movie mogul Alexander Korda from Horthy’s Hungarian fascists, was released
today in the United States.
1925:
In Brooklyn Max and Beatrice Feldstein gave birth to Albert “Al” Bernard
Feldstein “who took over a fledgling humor magazine called Mad in 1956 and made it a popular, profitable and enduring wellspring
of American satire.” (As reported by Bruce Weber)
1926:
Suffering from acute appendicitis and having ignored medical advice that he
have immediate surgery, Harry Houdini performed at the Garrick Theatre despite
having a fever of 104 °F (40 °C).
1926:
Following what would be his last performance, Houdini was taken to the Grace
Hospital in Detroit.
1927:
At Temple Sinai in Chicago, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise and Clarence Darrow debated
“Is Zionism a Progressive Policy for Israel and America? Wise argued the affirmative and Darrow the
negative. Darrow, the famous defense
lawyer “had many Jewish friends and denounced anti-Semitism” but like so many
of his generation (Jew and non-Jew alike) “he never supported a separate
homeland for Jewish people.
1928:
In Hungary anti-Semitic violence that had begun at the universities “continued
today in Budapest, Debreczin, Pech and other large towns.”
1928: “From the platform where "Abraham Lincoln
sixty years ago appealed for the right to worship God as we see fit," the
Rabbinical Board and cooperating Jewish congregations of Greater New York made
a plea” tonight “ for religious tolerance and protested against manifestation
of religious intolerance in Soviet Russia.”
1929:
Birthdate of Daniel Donald Dorfman “a highly visible financial journalist whose
televised market reports could send a stock soaring — or plummeting — but whose
career was tarnished by accusations of insider trading.” (As reported by
Margalit Fox)
1929:
Birthdate of Moroccan native Yehonatan Yifrah who made Aliyah in 1951 and went
on to serve as “secretary of the Sderot Workers Council” and an MK from 1969 to
1973.
1929:
On what is known as Black Thursday, a record number of shares are traded on the
NYSE as stock prices tumble, only to rebound when Richard Whitney steps on the
floor and dramatically purchases large blocks of Blue Chip stocks. This provides only a brief respite on the
road to Black Tuesday when the bottom fell out of the market marking the start
of the worldwide Great Depression with all of its negative consequences
including the rise of Hitler. The money
for Whitney’s dramatic purchases was provided by the three leading New York
Bankers, none of whom were Jewish.
1930:
Birthdate of Elaine Feinstein poet, novelist, short-story writer,
playwright, biographer and translator who was born in Bootle, Lancashire. She
was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge. She holds an honorary doctorate
from the University of Leicester. She has worked variously as an editor for
Cambridge University Press (1960-62), as Lecturer in English at Bishop's Stortford
Training College (1963-6), as Assistant Lecturer in English Literature at the
University of Essex (1967-70), and as a journalist. She contributes to many
periodicals, including the Times Literary Supplement, and was Writer in
Residence for the British Council in Singapore and Tromsoe, Norway. Elaine
Feinstein's first volume of poetry, In a Green Eye, was published in
1966. Her later work has been influenced by the poetry of Marina Tsvetayeva, a
poet whose work she has translated from the Russian. She received a
Cholmondeley Award in 1990. Her first novel was The Circle (1970),
which, like much of her early work, explores themes of female identity seen
both inside and outside the family unit. Later novels, such as The Survivors
(1982), draw on her knowledge of 20th-century European history and an awareness
of her own Jewish heritage. Her most recent novel is The Russian Jerusalem
(2008).She is the author of a number of plays for television including “Breath,”
televised by the BBC in 1975, and “The Diary of Country Gentlewoman,” a
twelve-part series (based on Edith Holden's novel) produced by ITV in 1984. She
has also written radio plays, including “Foreign Girls” (1993) and Winter
Meeting (1994), and is the author of several biographies, among them
studies of the singer Bessie Smith and the writer D. H. Lawrence and a portrait
of the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, published in 2001. Her book, Anna of
all the Russias: The Life of a Poet under Stalin (2005) is a biography of
Anna Akhmatova. Elaine Feinstein is a Fellow of the Royal Society of
Literature, and was elected on to the Council of the Royal Society of
Literature in 2007. She lives in London. Her most recent poetry collection is Talking
to the Dead (2007), dedicated to the memory of her husband, Arnold.
1930: “The Virtuous Sin,” directed by George Cukor was
released in the United States today.
1930: British Labour Party MP Harry Gosling passed away
today opening the way for Barnett Janner to seek this seat in constituency that
had a large Jewish population – something did help the Jewish politician in his first campaign but helped him to gain
the set in the next general election.
1931: With Sid Gillman playing end, OSU lost to
Northwestern today.
1932: Rufus D. Isaacs, “the last member of the Liberal
Party to serve as Foreign Minister” and “the second practicing Jews to be a
member of the British cabinet” appeared on the cover of Time magazine, which in
its day was sign of being a significant figure in the world.
1933: Nazis pass a law against “Habitual and Dangerous
Criminals” that justifies placing the homeless, beggars, unemployed and
alcoholics in concentration camps. (Jewish Virtual Library)
1934: According to “official government figures published
today,” “in the month of September 4,535 Jewish immigrants entered Palestine”
of which “459 families were listed in the capitalist category while 1,158
families came as workers.”
1934: The wandering steamer Velos, bearing 318 Jews, mostly under
24 years of age, has found temporary anchorage in Salonika, Greece.”
1935: “Rendezvous” a spy movie set in WW I produced by
Lawrence Weingarten with a screenplay co-authored by Bella and Samuel Spewack
co-starring Binnie Barnes, the daughter of George Barnes, an Anglo-Jewish
policeman was released today in the United States by MGM.
1935: Final day for the publication of the American Hebrew
and Jewish Tribune.
1935(27th of Tishrei, 5969): Abraham
"Abe" Landau, a henchman of gangster Dutch Schultz succumbed to his
wounds today.
1935: In Montreal, Abie Baine was knocked out in a bout
for the Montreal Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Title.
1935: Mussolini’s Fascist Italian Army invaded Ethiopia. This act of naked aggression helped to make
Mussolini a pariah among many Europeans.
In turn, this pariah status helped to drive Mussolini into an alliance
with Hitler that had disastrous results for Italian Jews. Strange as it may sound, the road to
Auschwitz for Italian Jews went through Addis Abba.
1936(8th of Cheshvan, 5697): Parashat Lech-Lecha
1936(8th of Cheshvan, 5697): Isidore Abramowitz passed
away today after which he was buried at the United Hebrew Cemetery in Richmond
(Staten Island) NY.
1936: “Lawrence Marx, chairman of the 1936 campaign of the
Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies, announced today
that leaders in 115 trades and professions had accepted executive posts in the
federation's campaign to raise $3,000,000 to meet the deficit of its ninety-one
affiliated social welfare agencies.”
1936: “The Labor Court at Berlin decided today that a National
Socialist maid order by her employer to in a Jewish-owned shop has the right to
leave immediately and that the employer must continue to pay her wages until
the expiration of the legal notice term.”
1936: In Poland, “anti-Semitic riots in which four Jewish students
were injured seriously led to the temporary closing of the University of Lwow
Polytechnic School today.” (Editor’s note – According to some, the rampant
anti-Semitism in pre-WW II Poland, is one of the under-studied aspects of
events that led up to and helped make possible the Final Solution)
1936: As part of the “purge of Jewish influences” on “German
Kultur” it was reported today that “several German composers received orders to
write new music to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ to replace that by Felix
Mendelssohn.”
1936: Bronislaw Huberman, founder of the Palestine Symphony
Orchestra told the Times he had just conferred with Arturo Toscanini on
arrangements for the opening concert of the PSO which will be conducted by
Toscanini. The symphony has seventy
members most of whom are refugees from various European countries where they
were leading performers. The concert is
schedule for December and is the first of a series of scheduled performances.
1937:
The Palestine Post reported that
Avinoam Yellin, Senior Jewish Education Officer succumbed to his wounds
inflicted by an Arab terrorist. The entire Yishuv mourned this outstanding
national leader. The Palestine Police offered a £1,000 reward for information
leading to the arrest of Yellin's assassin.
1937:
The Palestine Post reported that two
Arabs were killed and two others wounded by unknown persons, believed to be
Jewish, in Haifa and Jerusalem.
1937:
The second season of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra begins today in Tel Aviv
under the direction of Hans Wilhelm Steinberg.
1937:
Two days after he had passed away, funeral services were held today for “seventy-eight
year old Frank Heino Damrosch, the German born son of “conductor, violinist and
composer” Leopold Damrosch and “the former Marie Helene Von Heimberg” a leading
opera singer and the husband of “Hetty Mosenthal” who pursued a career in business
and served as a “lieutenant in the National Guard” before devoting himself to
the field of music which included the found of the Institute of Musical Art”
followed by private burial services.
1937:
“I’ve Got the Tune,” “an American radio opera with words and music by Marc
Blitzstein” was broadcast for the first time with Bernard Hermann as the
conductor.
1937:
The Los Angeles Times reported today
that “studio moguls” (many of whom were Jewish) grew so worried about the
increased activism of their stars” (many of whom were Jewish) “that they were
considering inaugurating ‘a squelch campaign against anything savoring of
political activities’” which would include a clause prohibiting such behavior
in future contracts.
1938:
In the wake of the Munich Agreement and its appeasement of Hitler, “French
Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet carries out a major purge of the Qui d'Orsay,
sacking or exiling a number of anti-appeasement officials such as Pierre Comert
and René Massigli”
1938:
In what would prove to be one more step on the road to WW II and the Shoah, “at
a "friendly luncheon" in Berchtesgaden, German foreign minister
Joachim von Ribbentrop tells Józef Lipski, the Polish ambassador to Germany,
that the Free City of Danzig must return to Germany, that the Germans must be
given extraterritorial rights in the Polish Corridor, and that Poland must sign
the Anti-Comintern Pact.”
1939: The Jewish Big Band Leader Benny Goodman
recorded "Let's Dance"
1939: Jews in Wloclawek, Poland, are required
to wear a yellow cloth triangle identifying them as Jews
1940(22nd
of Tishrei, 5701): Shemini Atzert
1940(22nd
of Tishrei, 5701): Seventy-one-year-old Leopoldine Rothschild, the German born
son of Stella and Wilhelm Benjamin Rothschild passed away today in London
1940:
Birthdate of Rehovot native Yossi Sarid who served as an MK from 1974 through
2006 and was a columnist for Haaretz.
https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=126
1940:
In Brooklyn, Jack Meltzer and the former Kitty Talber gave birth to actor and
preservationist Daniel Meltzer.
1940:
In what should have been a moment of national shame, Marshall Philippe Petain,
the Head of State of Vichy France shook hands with German Chancellor Adolf
Hitter.
1941(3rd
of Cheshvan, 5702): Two days after his 55th birthday, Yiddish author
Shmuel Lehman died in the Warsaw Ghetto today.
http://yleksikon.blogspot.com/2017/05/shmuel-szmil-lehman.html
1941:
Six thousand work passes were distributed in Vilna. This meant 4,000 Jews
without work passes would be sent to their doom in Polna. They were hunted down
by the Lithuanians. Among the dead were 885 children.
1941 Sixteen thousand Odessa, Ukraine, Jews are force-marched
out of the city toward Dalnik, where they are bound together in groups of 40 to
50 and shot, at first in the open and later through holes drilled in the walls
of warehouses. Three of these structures are set ablaze and a fourth is
exploded by artillery fire.
1941: Twenty thousand Jews fell into Nazi hands at
Kharkov.
1941(3rd
of Cheshvan, 5702): As part of the Odessa Action, an additional 16,000 Jews
were taken from Odessa and sent to Dalnik. In Dalnik, they were all shot in
ditches; machine gunned down, or burned alive in warehouses.
1941:
Sixty-five year old Gershon Lichtenstein “was deported
1942:
The Jews of Lichtenstein were deported.
1942:
Étienne Szabo, the husband of Violette Szabo, one of those murdered by the
Nazis at Ravensbruck, was mortally wounded while “leading his men in a
diversionary attack on Qaret el Himeimat at the beginning of the Second Battle
of El Alamein.
1943:
The comic strip “Lois Lane” began appearing in the Sunday editions of the
Cleveland Plain Dealer along with “Superman,” creations of Jerry Siegel and Joe
Shuster today.
1944:
Allied airman classified as Terrorflieger ("terror aviators") who had
been shipped to Buchenwald which was unusual because Western POWs to a
concentration camp, were not executed today as had been planned due to the
intervention of Luftwaffe officers.
1945:
The UN officially came into existence today upon ratification of the Charter by
the five permanent members of the Security Council—France, the Republic of
China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States—and by a
majority of the other 46 signatories. Whatever one’s view of the UN is, it must
be remembered that this organization played a key role in the creation of the
state of Israel and unlike its predecessor, the League of Nation, it has not
witnessed the start of a World War.
1946:
Julius Hochman, who has just “returned from a four-month investigation in
Europe of conditions among the Jews, on behalf of the American Ort Federation”
declared at today’s luncheon in the Astor Hotel that “the morale of the Jews
stranded in displace persons camps in Europe is breaking.”
1947:
In Brooklyn, Moshe Teitelbaum, the Grand Rebbe of the Satmar Chasidim and “Leah
Meir, daughter of Rabbi Hanoch Heinoch Meir of Karecska” gave birth to “Aaron
Teitelbaum, “one of the two Grand Rebbes of Satmar and the chief rabbi of the
Satmar community in Kiryas Joel.”
1947:
Birthdate of actor Kevin Kline whose father was Jewish but whose mother was not
and who appeared in such films as The Big Chill and Sophie’s Choice.
1947:
Members of the Haganah attacked forty members of the Irgun who were posting
“propaganda posters.” Two members of the Haganah were wounded during the fight
that took place fifteen miles south of Tel Aviv.
1948(21st
of Tishrei, 5709): Hoshana Raba
1948:
“Israeli forces belonging to the Givati Brigade captured Deir ad-Dubban in a
northward push in Operation Yoav.”
1948:
Operation Ha-Har, a week-long successful “campaign to expand the Jerusalem
Corridor as far as the western foothills of the Judean Mountains” came to an
end today.
1948(21st
of Tishrei, 5709): Seventy-two year old Rustem Vambery, the jurist who had
opposed the Communists and Fascists and was the son of Armin Vambery, the
biographer of Theodor Herzl, passed away in New York today.
1948:
The IDF launched Operation Hiram and captured the entire upper Galilee, driving
the ALA, and Lebanese army back to Lebanon, and successfully ambushing and
destroying an entire Syrian battalion.] The Israeli force of four infantry brigades
were commanded by Moshe Carmel
1949:
“George McGhee, Assistant Secretary of State, conferred today with Israeli
Ambassador Eliahu Elath for 35 minutes on the recent attacks on Jews in Iraq”
which Elath said has led to “no less than 2,000 Jews” being held “in Iraqi
concentration camps.”
1952:
The Arab Liberation Movement became the only party in Syria. For those who keep asking what happened to
the Moslem/Arab world, they might want to consider this entry. While Israel was working to develop democratic
institutions from the very birth of the nation, its northern neighbor was set
on a course of one-party totalitarianism
1952(5th
of Cheshvan, 5713): Sixty-one year old WW I Army veteran and noted composer
Frederick Jacobi the San Francisco born son of “wholesale wine merchant,
Frederick Jacobi Sr. and Flora Brandenstein (daughter of tobacco wholesaler
Joseph Brandenstein), whom Frederick Sr. had married in 1876” and the husband of Irene Schwarcz who was “also
known and best remembered as a composer of works with Judaic themes” whose
“interest in this genre began with a 1930 commission from Congregation Emanu-El
of the City of New York for a Sabbath evening service” passed away today.
https://www.milkenarchive.org/artists/view/frederick-jacobi/
1952:
The Jerusalem Post reported that the
German Chancellor, Dr. Konrad Adenauer, defended the presence of former Nazis
in his Foreign Ministry by claiming that they were irreplaceable and
indispensable. It was things like this that caused many Israelis and Jews
living elsewhere to want to reject any reparation payments by the West German
government. As far as they were
concerned, the new Germans were the old Germans in disguise.
1952:
The Jerusalem Post reported that the
Jerusalem District Court ruled that according to the Nationality Law, a child
whose father is Israeli and whose mother rejected Israeli citizenship, for both
herself and her child, is nevertheless a citizen of Israel. The question of “who is a Jew” has taken on
many guises and shapes from ancient to modern times.
1953(15th
of Cheshvan, 5714): Parashat Vayera
1953(15th
of Cheshvan, 5714): Sixty-one year old lifelong New Yorker Fred Ahlert, the law
school graduate turned composer and songwriter whose hits included “I’m Gonna
Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” “Walking My Baby Back Home” and
“Where the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day” passed away today.
http://www.jazzbiographies.com/Biography.aspx?ID=1
1954:
Birthdate of Tampa, FL native Martin “Marty” Baron the former editor of the
Boston Globe who, in case of Jew as a Jew, was portrayed by Lev Schreiber in
the film “Spotlight” and who became the editor of the Washington Post in
December, 2012.
1954:
Two days after she had passed away, funeral services are scheduled to be held
for eighty-six year old Kovno native Selma (nee Zena) Kamaiky, the widow of
Leon Kamaiky with whom she had three children – Miriam, Rebecca and Israel who
waa member of the board of director of H.I.A.S. , a leader of in the Women’s
Division for forty years and a director of the Federation of Jewish Women’s
Organizations
1954:
Birthdate of Congressman Brad Sherman, representing California’s 27th
District in the House of Representatives.
1954:
In San Diego, the city-wide B.I.G (Bonds of the Israel Government) banquet
scheduled to be held at the El Cortez Hotel will feature a performance by Jan
Peerce, a top tenor of the Metropolitan Operan and a speech by Alex Lowenthal
of Pittsburgh, National Chairman of “Cash Sales for the Israel Bond Drive.
1956:
In Tel Aviv, “Dr. Rozelia Ruth Garti, a pediatrician who came to Israel from
Sofia. Bulgaria, in 1949” and Hayim Baltsan, the journalist, author and founder
of founder of the ITIM news agency gave birth to “concert pianist Astrith
Baltsan.”
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/baltsan-astrith
https://www.musiccathedra.com/astrith-baltsan-english
1956:
As the Israelis, French and British worked on plans for what will become known
as the Suez Campaign or the One Hundred Hours War, the British negotiators made
it clear to the Israelis that they must move towards the Canal so that the
British and French would have an excuse to intervene. The Israelis primary point of interest was
seizing Sharm el-Sheik which would open the Straits of Tiran. The Israelis said they would move to take the
Mitla Pass in the central Sinai and the British conceded that this would suffice
for their needed “fig leaf.”
1957:
It was reported today that Dr. Jacob Philip Rudin, the rabbi for Temple Beth El
in Great Neck, L.I. has been chosen to serve as President of the Central Conference of
American Rabbis, replacing Dr. Israel Bettan who passed away on August 5.
1957:
The trustees announced the appointment of Dr. Jack Henry Schulman of Cambridge
University, England to a new chair in chemical metallurgy established by the
International Nickel Company.”
1958(10th
of Cheshvan, 5719): Eighty-four-year-old “writer, theatre critic, journalist and art
collector” Alfred Gold the Vienna born son of merchant Samuel Gold and Sara
Pipper, the husband of Martha Zedek and father of sculptor of Marianne Gold who
moved his gallery to Paris from Germany after the Nazis came to power before
moving to New York after the Nazis conquered France and published "The
most stupid of all races - dialogues and comments - a reckoning with Nazi
Germany" passed away today in New York.
1958:
“Torpedo Run,” a WW II submarine movie directed by Joseph Pevney was released
in the United States by MGM.
1959:
Birthdate of Yakov Kreizberg, the Russian born American orchestra conductor.
1960:
“The Alamo” a one-sided costume drama about the fight in Texas co-starring
Laurence Harvey and featuring a score by Dimitri Tiomkin was released today in
the United States.
1960(3rd
of Cheshvan, 5721): Sixty-three year old Maud Emily Kahn Marriott “the daughter
of Otto Herman Kahn, an American financier, collector, philanthropist and
patron of the arts, who was well known for his ability to entertain celebrities
and dignitaries” and Addie Wolff Kahn who married John Charles Oakes Marriott
in 1920 passed away today.
1961:
Italian premiere of “El Cid,” on which Michał Waszyński served as Executive
Producer.
1961:
United Artists released “The Manchurian Candidate,” with a screenplay by George
Axelrod, the son of a Russian-Jewish immigrant and a score by David Amram.
1962:
The recording of “Piano, Strings and Bossa Nova,” an album by composer Lalo
Schifrin was completed today.
1962:
“The Manchurian Candidate” directed by John Frankenheimer who co-produced the
film with George Axelrod, the author of the screenplay, with music by David
Amram and co-starring Laurence Harvey was released in the United States today
by United Artists.
1964:
The “Tokyo” Summer Olympics where the Soviet Union Volleyball team led by
Georgy Mondzolevski won a Gold Medal, came to an end today.
1966:
In the old Soviet Union, Arkady
(Aron) Abramovich, “a state office manager,” and his wife gave birth to “Russian
Oligarch”, Roman Abramovich whose grandfather Nahim Abramovich was sent to
Siberia and died in the Gulag in 1942.
https://www.forbes.com/profile/roman-abramovich/#411d24f6134a
1966:
Simon and Garfunkel’s album “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme” “was released
today by Columbia records.
1968(2nd
of Cheshvan, 5729): Seventy-two-year-old NYU trained attorney and veteran of
the AEF Louis A. Green, a senior partner in the brokerage firm of Stryker and
Brown and a trustee of the Federation of the Jewish Philanthropies of New York
who raised a daughter and a son, Assemblyman S. William Green with his wife
Evelyn passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/10/25/89347452.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1970(24th
of Tishrei, 5731): Bereshit
1970:
Birthdate of actor Adam Goldberg who was featured in Saving Private Ryan
1971:
In Hacienda Heights, CA, Valerie Bourret, a “Jewish American,” and
French-Canadian Dale Bourret gave birth to Caprice Bourret who gained fame as
an actress and model, including her role in introducing the Wonderbra.
https://www.capricebourret.com/
1973: As the Yom Kippur War was coming to an end, Israeli troops
were 65 miles from Cairo and 26 miles from Damascus. While the Arabs scored major victories early
in the conflict, the Israelis turned things around and the aggressors were
actually worse off from a military point of view at the end hostilities than
they were when the shooting started.
However, the military victory did little to heal the aching Israeli
psyche or ease the sense of loss over those who fell in defense of the Jewish
homeland. The IDF death toll stood at 2,522. These losses were over three times the number
suffered during the Six Day War.
Furthermore, as Yigal Yadin pointed out, this was the first war in which
fathers and sons went into action at the same time. It was also the first time where the IDF
casualty list included fathers and sons.
The war proved once again that the Arabs nations could fight and lose,
time after time and still exist. For
Israelis, the wars were beginning to seem interminable and there was no margin
for error. All they had to do was lose
once and the state would cease to exist.
The Yom Kippur War showed just how dependent Israel was on the United
States for its military and economic wellbeing.
The war further heightened Israel’s sense of isolation as Third World
countries caved into the Arab Petro-Power and broke off diplomatic relations
with the Jewish state. Strangely enough,
the Egyptian ability to cross the Suez Canal would provide Sadat with a sense
that he had redeemed his country’s national honor and provide him with the
impetus to negotiate the Camp David Peace Accords. At the same time, the sense of malaise that
would grip Israel as a result of the Yom Kippur War would provide some of the
momentum that would end the Labor-Zionist control of the Israeli government and
bring Begin and his Right Wing nationalist forces to power.
1973:
“A second cease-fire was put into effect, but fighting continued between Egypt
and Israel as a result of which the Soviet Union threatened the United States
that it will send troops to support the Egyptians. (As reported by JTA)
1973:
Colonel Giora "Hawkeye" Epstein “downed three more MiG-21s west of
the Great Bitter Lake.”
1974(8th
of Cheshvan, 5735): Sixty-six year David
Fyodorovich Oistrakh, the Ukrainian born violinist, passed away.
1976: First Jewish film & TV festival
1976:
“The Seven-Per-Cent Solution,” a mystery directed and co-produced by Herbert
Ross, written by Nicholas Meyer and co-starring Alan Arkin and Joel Grey was
released in the United States today.
1976: The cabinet resolved, without prejudging the
charges against Asher Yadlin concerning
improper conduct in the management of Kupat Holim that it could no
longer delay the appointment, and named Director-General of the Treasury Arnon
Gafni as governor of the Bank of Israel
1977: Menachem Begin completed his term in office as
Communications Minister of Israel.
1977: The political party founded by Yigal Yadin
joined the government formed by Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Begin had won an upset victory over the Labor
Zionist who had governed the country since 1948. Yadin believed that by joining the new
government he could help fashion a much need policy of social reform and play a
key role in future negotiations with the Arabs.
He based this second hope on the key role he had played in negotiating
the cease fire with the Jordanians in 1948.
Much to his bitter disappointment, Yadin would find that his plans for
social reform would fall victim to Ariel Sharon’s need for money to finance his
plan for an expansion of settlements in the West Ban.
1977:
The Democratic Movement for Change (DASH), which had won 15 Knesset seats in
the last election, joined Menachem Begin in a new coalition with Meir Amit, the
retired Major General, serving as minister of transport and communication. He
would resign within a year.
1978(23rd
of Tishrei, 5739): Simchat Torah
1979:
One person was injured today when terrorists set off a bomb in the bus terminal
in Tel Aviv.
1979:
Ruth “Polsky booked Simple Minds into Hurrah for a show today, where the band
were filmed by The Old Grey Whistle Test, giving them crucial UK TV exposure/”
1980:
“It’s My Turn” “a romantic comedy” written by Eleanor Bergstein with a title
song written by Michael Masser and Carole Bayer Sager and co-starring Charles
Grodin was released in the United States today by Columbia Pictures.
1980:
The first national US tour of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: “The Demon
Barber of Fleet Street” started today in Washington, D.C.
1980:
“Leningrad refuseniks Lev Furman, Yuli Karolin and Isaac Kogan sent a telegram
expressing their sympathy to the Jews of France in connection with the attack
on the rue Copernic Synagogue in Paris.”
1981:
Birthdate of American fashion designer Zac Posen who as a child reportedly
stole yarmulkes to use as materials for dresses he made for dolls.
1981(26th
of Tishrei, 5742): Forty-three year old Raffaele Efraim Pacifici, the son Rabbi
Reuven Pacifici who died at Auschwitz, passed away today at Kfar Saba.
1981:
Seventy-nine year old law school graduate and pharmacist turned world chess
champion Alexander Kervitz passed away today.
1982:
Today, in New York, “at the Park East Synagogue” Rabbi Arthur Schneier
officiated at the wedding of Harvard MBA Michael Scharf, the “son of Mr. and
Mrs. Aaron Scharf” and “Fiona Vivienne Lunzer” one of the five adult daughters
of Ruth and Jack Lunzer, whose collection of Hebrew books were “the basis of the Valmadonna Trust
Library.”
1982:
NBC began broadcasting “Little Gloria…Happy at Last” a miniseries based “on the
book by Barbara Goldsmith” the wife of actor Jonathan Goldsmith, produced by
Scott Rudin and co-starring Martin Balsam.
1983: Following a lengthy and
intense debate within the Conservative movement, the Jewish Theological
Seminary (JTS) faculty senate voted 34-8 to admit women to the JTS Rabbinical
School on. The favorable vote was facilitated by the decision of several JTS
faculty members who opposed the innovation not to participate in the vote. In
1977 the seminary's chancellor, Gerson Cohen, had appointed a Committee for the
Study of the Ordination of Women as Rabbis. Despite the 1979 committee's final
report, which recommended ordination for women by a vote of 11 to 3, tensions
within the JTS and the movement delayed a positive vote until 1983.( Editor’s
Note – “The next fall, in September 1984, 23 women entered JTS as members of
the seminary's first class to include female rabbinical students. In the spring
of 1985, Amy Eilberg, who was already studying at JTS when women's ordination
was approved, became the first woman ordained as a rabbi by the Conservative
movement.”)
1984: “Tribute to Arthur Schwartz Fills Theatre With His Music”
published today described the concert at the Majestic Theatre honoring composer
Arthur Schwartz whose most celebrated melody was “Dancing in the Ark who had
passed away on September 4.
1984: An off-Broadway production of “Pacific Overtures,” “a
musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by John Weidman”
opened at the Promenade Theatre where it ran for 109 performances.
1986: In Toronto, Sandi Graham (née Sher) who was Jewish and
Dennis Graham gave birth to Canadian rapper, songwriter, and actor Aubrey Drake
Graham who “was raised by his mother in Toronto's predominantly Jewish area of
Forest Hills (and attended Forest Hills P.S. and Forest Hills Collegiate)
1986(21st
of Tishrei, 5747): Hoshanah Rabah
1986:
“Soul Man” a controversial comedy produced by Steve Tisch was released today in
the United States.
1988: The Summer Paralympics where the Israeli volleyball team led
by Hagai Zamir won a silver medal came to a close today.
1989: Mordecai “Shehori acted as page turner for Vladimir
Horowitz” on the first day of what “turned out to be the famous pianist’s final
recording session.”
1993: The Art Institute of Chicago presents the work of Israeli
photographer Michal Rovner
1993(9th of Cheshvan, 5754): “Two IDF soldiers, Staff Sgt. (res.)
Ehud Rot, age 35, and Sgt. Ilan Levi, age 23, were killed by a Hamas Iz a-Din
al Kassam terrorist squad. The soldiers entered a Subaru with Israeli license
plates outside a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, whose passengers were
apparently terrorists disguised as Israelis. Following a brief struggle, the
soldiers were shot at close range and killed. Hamas publicly claimed
responsibility for the attack”
1994: A revival of “Mother,” the teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky was
featured on the PBS Great Performances series today
1996: Actress Rena Shere Sofer played the role of Lois Cerullo on
General Hospital for the last time.
1997(23rd of Tishrei, 5758) Simchat Torah
1999: Bruce Fleischer won the EMC Kaanapali Classic.
1999: “None of the Above” published today reviewed The Big Test
The Secret History of the American Meritocracy by Nicholas Lemann.
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/24/books/none-of-the-above.html
1999: The New York Times
includes reviews of the following books by Jewish authors: The Play Goes On:
A Memoir by Neil Simone and In Search of American Jewish Culture by
Stephen Whitfield, one of Tulane University’s most illustrious graduates and
AEPi’s most illustrious “brother.”
2000: Following its original Broadway opening on May 23, “Proof”
costarring Ben Shenkman as “Hal” transferred to the Walter Kerr Theatre today.
2001: Benefit Premiere for the NYC Theatrical Release of the
controversial movie “Trembling Before G-d” at Film Forum.
2001: The sale of Fox Family Worldwide, Inc. to The Walt Disney
Company which Haim Saban had announced in July was completed today.
2002: “Broken Wings” directed by Nir Bergman was released today in
Israel.
2003(28th of Tirshrei, 5764): Three Israelis were killed
and two wounded early this morning when at least one Palestinian gunman entered
a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip and opened fire, Israeli security
officials said.”
2004: Eight months after premiering at the Berlin International
Film Festival, “Walk on Water,” an Israeli film starring Lior Ashkenazie and
directed by Eytan Fox was first shown in the United States today.
2004: The New York Times book section featured reviews of books by
Jewish authors and/or on Jewish topics including Kaufman & Co.: Broadway
Comedies by George S. Kaufman with Edna Ferber, Moss Hart, Ring
Lardner and Morrie Ryskind, The Roads to Modernity: The British, French, and American Enlightenments by Gertrude Himmelfarb, Any Place
I Hang My Hat by Susan Isaacs and Chronicles Volume One by
Bob Dylan, an
autobiography of the life of Robert Zimmerman
2004:
Temple Judah in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, sponsored its annual Big Dinner fund
raising activity. For once, the city of Cedar Rapids was awash with real
corned beef and Dr. Brown's Cream Soda. “Es, es mien kinder; es.”
2004:
The Jerusalem Post reported
that approximately 140,000 Muslim worshippers attended Ramadan
prayers on the Temple Mount on the previous Friday afternoon. Considering
the violence of the Intifada, it is rather amazing that Israel was willing to
risk this large a gathering. It speaks well of the Israelis that they
were willing to run the risk so that others, even those who oppose its very
existence, might celebrate their religious observances.
2005
(21 Tishrei 5766): Hoshana Rabbah
2005:
“The Luddite from York University” published today described the antics of
David Noble, who teaches at Canada’s third largest university. As reported by Steven
Plaut) [This item is an example of the anti-Semitism that has cropped up on
college campuses in North America.]
2006:
In her first weekly column which is called "Breaking the Sound
Barrier" Amy Goodman wrote, "My column will include voices so often
excluded, people whose views the media mostly ignore, issues they distort and
even ridicule]
2006(2nd
of Cheshvan, 5767): Eighty-seven year old Sally Lilienthal the peace activist
who founded Ploughshares Fund passed away today. (As reported by Patricia
Sullivan) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/26/AR2006102601603_pf.html
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Sally-Lilienthal-founder-of-the-Ploughshares-2486670.php
2006(2nd
of Cheshvan, 5767): Eighty-eight year old “ Benjamin Meed, a leading advocate
for Jewish Holocaust survivors who in the decades after the war gathered them
together by the tens of thousands, reuniting people with friends, neighbors and
family members presumed to have been lost forever, died today at his home in Manhattan. (As reported by Margalit
Fox)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/obituaries/26meed.html?pagewanted=print
2007:
“Third World Love” celebrates the release of its fourth album, “New Blues,”
with a performance of Jerusalem’s Yellow Submarine.
2007:
Marianne Pearl, the widow of Daniel Pearl, dropped her lawsuit “seeking damages
against al-Qaida and Pakistan’s largest bank.
2007:
Terrorists went on a shooting spree in an attack on the West Bank in and around
the Ariel junction, seriously wounding one IDF soldier. Hamas and Fatah both claimed they were each
responsible for the attack.
2008:
Opening of Fall Chavurah (SLIID), hosted by CeRTY of Central Reform
Congregation, in St. Louis.
2008: At New York University Etgar Keret joins Todd
Hasak-Lowy, professor of Hebrew Language and Literature at the
University of Florida, for a fiction reading and conversation with NYU
professor Matthew Rohrer.
2008(25
Tishrei, 5769): Sixty-five year old “ Rabbi Moshe Cotel, an acclaimed pianist
and composer whose works were often infused with themes emanating from his deep
Jewish roots, a weave of influences that only later in life led him to the
pulpit, passed away today at his home in
Manhattan. (As reported by Dennis Hevesi)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/03/arts/music/03cotel.html?_r=0
2008:
Gottschalks, a department store chain founded by German Jewish immigrant Emil
Gottschalk in 1904 as a dry goods store in downtown Fresno, California, “was
delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE officials stated that the value
of the stock was too low to continue to be listed, and that its average global
market capitalization had remained below $25 million for 30 straight trading
days.”
2008:
BBC broadcast “American Fervour,” episode three in “The American Future: A
History” a four-part documentary series written and presented by Simon Schama.
2009(6th
of Cheshvan, 5770): Norma Fox Mazer, an award-winning novelist for young people
whose work helped illuminate many dark corners of adolescence, exploring
subjects like poverty, betrayal, abandonment and loss, passed away at her home
in Montpelier, VT at the age of 78.
2009:
At the Hyman S.
& Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival a program entitled “SLAM! An
Evening of Spoken Word Poetry” featuring Jake Marmer who “merges poetry and
performance into philosophically viral mixtures like existentialist dancehall,
talmudic jazz poetry and personalized bop apocalypse.”
2009:
In Jerusalem, Khan Theatre presents "Happiness," a comedy written and
directed by Michael Gurevich. The show won two Israeli Theatre Awards for 2004:
Best Director and Best Choreography.
2010:
The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including My Year of Flops: The A.V. Club
Presents One Man’s Journey Deep Into the Heart of Cinematic Failure by
Nathan Rabin and The False Friend by Myla Goldberg
2010:
The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington is scheduled to conduct “A
Walking Tour of Old Town Alexandria” that will enable participants to learn
about the long and storied Jewish history of this Virginia’s city, from the
1850s to today including the sites of two former synagogues and several Jewish
businesses along King Street-including some that show traces of past Jewish
owners.
2010:
Max Weinreich Center at YIVO along with Hunter College and the Posen Foundation
are scheduled to present: A Conference on the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of
Simon Dubnow The day-long conference on the life and career of the renowned
historian will include a look at "Dubnow on the East European Jewish
Past," "Dubnovism in the 20th Century" and "Dubnow and
Jewish Ideologies of His Time." Dr.
Brian Horowtiz of Tulane University is scheduled to be one of the presenters.
2010(16th
of Cheshvan, 5771): Ninety-eight year old “Joseph Stein, the Tony Award-winning
author of “Fiddler on the Roof” and more than a dozen other Broadway musicals,
died today in Manhattan. (As reported by Anita Gates and Bruce Weber)
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E6DF153DF935A15753C1A9669D8B63
2011:
A Dramatic Reading entitled “The Civil War at 150 United By Faith, Divided by
War: Jews and the Civil War” is scheduled to take place tonight at the Hyman S.
& Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival at the Washington DC JCC.
2011:
A new memorial honoring 14 Jewish chaplains who died in the service of the
United States is scheduled to be dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery.
2011:
Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Apple Inc.'s Jobs,
was published by Simon & Schuster, only several weeks after Jobs' death
after which it became “an international best-seller, breaking all records for
sales of a biography.”
2011:
Mayor Carolyn Goldmark Goodman greeted President Obama at the McCarran Airport
and “gave him one of her luck mayor chips as a gift” signifying that she did
not share her husband’s (and former Mayor) displeasure with remarks the President
had made about the city.
2011:
In a tale of two Jews in the city of Chicago, incoming Cubs president of
baseball operations Theo Epstein arrived at Wrigley Field this morning to meet
some of the team's employees and check out his new digs while Mayor Rahm
Emanuel was forced to defend the decision to arrest two nurses who remained in
Grant Park after the 11 pm closing time as part of the Windy City’s local
version of the national protest against economic inequality.
2011:
An IDF soldier was arrested by Military Police today on suspicion of leaking
information to right-wing elements over military activities in the West Bank.
2011:
In “Ruth Weiss: Beat ‘Goddess’ True Innovator of Poetry & Jazz” Lourdes
Acevedo described the life and impact of the beat generation poetess.
http://www.hercircleezine.com/2011/10/24/ruth-weiss-beat-goddess-true-innovator-of-poetry-jazz/
2012:
The Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation is scheduled to sponsor a lecture by
Thomas E. Mann entitled “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: The Clash Between Our
Constitutional System and Political Extremism.”
2012:
Professor Stefanie Schüler-Springorum (Center for Research on Antisemitism,
Technical University, Berlin) is scheduled to deliver a lecture, “The Witness
and the Holocaust - Oral Testimonies and Historical Knowledge” in London, UK.
2012:
The Annual Conference of the Program Directors of Reform Judaism that has been
meeting in Denver, CO, is scheduled to come to an end.
2012:
Today, President Shimon Peres accused Palestinians of using aid donations to fund
their rocket campaign against Israel.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/peres-charges-that-palestinians-use-aid-to-keep-firing-rockets/
2012:
More than 60 rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza have hit southern Israel
in the last 24 hours, striking several homes and injuring three. Between late
last night and late this morning Israel Air Force planes hit four of what the
Israel Defense Forces said were rocket launching sites, as well as a tunnel
used for smuggling terrorists into Israel, according to statements issued from
the IDF. The rockets and mortar shells began falling on southern Israeli
communities late last night and have continued through the day today.
2012:
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and the Jewish
Community Center of Northern Virginia are scheduled to host a lunch where
attendees can question Tim Kaine, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from
Virginia about his views and policies
2013:
The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center is scheduled to co-host
the Chicago book launch of Against A Tide of Evil by Dr. Mukesh Kapila.
2013:
The Center for Jewish History is scheduled to present Fritz Stern and Elisabeth
Sifton, authors of No Ordinary Men who will lead a discussion about Dietrich Bonhoeffer
and Hans Von Dohanyi.
2013:
The RAC is scheduled to observe Food Day with a webinar that will feature
special guests, Seth Goldman, President and TeaEO of Honest Tea; and Rabbi Mary
Zamore, editor of "The Sacred Table: Creating a Jewish Food Ethic,”
discussing the various challenges within our global food system, and how we can
apply our Jewish values to conscious eating, and the concept of “food with
integrity.”
2013:
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said today that a "civil war" has
erupted in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Global Jihad elements that have
attempted to drag Israel into the conflict (As reported by JPost Staff)
2013:
Los Angeles premiere of “The Pin,” a love story about two Jewish teenagers
hiding in a barn in Lithuania during WW II.
2013:
IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz announced that Colonel Rasan Alian has
been appointed to commander the Golani Brigade making him the first Druse
officer to hold the position.
2014(30th
of Tishrei, 5775): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
2014:
“The Obama administration this week refused Israel defense minister’s requests
to meet several top national security aides, still miffed over negative
comments he made about Secretary of State John Kerry’s Mideast peace efforts
and nuclear negotiations with Iran, US officials said today. “
2014:
The Eden-Tamir Music Center is scheduled to host a piano recital by Tom
Zalmanov as part of its “The Future Generation Series.”
2014:
The police arrested three Palestinians who were throwing rocks and fireworks at
them after the conclusion of prayers on the Temple Mount.
2014:
The Women at the Wall celebrated Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan today and their first
ever Bar Mitzvahu using a miniature Torah scroll that they had “snuck” in the
Kotel plaza.
2014,
In Canada, “Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts is presenting An
Evening with Jeffrey Tambor, the multi-award winning actor of film, television,
and Broadway.”
2014:
Temple Judah is schedule to host its first Musical Shabbat of the season along
with addition of the Caster/Barnum baby naming
2014:
Nick Kotz is a former reporter for The Washington Post and The Des Moines
Register is scheduled to discuss The
Harness Maker’s Dream: Nathan Kallison and the Rise Of South Texas at the
Hyman S & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival.
2014:
An untold number of Jews are scheduled to join in a unique Shabbat experience –
ShabbatUK
2015: Tamar Ettun’s first solo exhibition at the Fridman
Gallery is scheduled to come to a close.
2015: The JCCNVA is scheduled to host “Blue Like Me: The
Art of Sinoa Benjamin” which traces the artist’s “roots in the Bene Israel
community where she grew up.”
2015: Israel is scheduled to go on “winter time” meaning
2am becomes 3am
2015(11th of Cheshvan, 5776): Shabbat
Lech-Lecha
2015(11th of Cheshvan, 5776): Ninety-six year
old “Earl Raab, longtime executive director of the Jewish Community Relations
Council, an intellectual, a prolific writer and a leader in Jewish life for
more than 50 years” passed away today.
https://www.jweekly.com/2015/10/30/earl-raab-iconic-figure-in-jewish-community-dies-at-96/
2015(11th of Cheshvan, 5776): Rabbi Haim (Howie) Yehiel Rothman, who died today of
injuries he sustained during a deadly terror attack at a Jerusalem synagogue
almost a year ago, was laid to rest in the evening in an emotional ceremony at
the capital’s Givat Shaul cemetery.
2015: In New Brunswick, NJ, Congregation Poile Tzedek
which had been “declared a National Landmark in 1995” and three Torah scrolls
were consumed by fire while one other Torah was saved when Rabbi Mykoff “raced”
into the burning building and retrieved the holy scroll.
2015: “Thousands of left-wing Israelis turned out in Tel
Aviv tonight for a rally condemning the government of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu for what they called its poor response to the current security
situation” and demanding that Netanyahu resign.
2016(22nd of Tishrei, 5777): Shemini Atzeret
2016: The Stephen Wise Free Synagogue is scheduled to host
a Tot Simchat Torah
2016: In the evening, start of Simchat Torah celebration
2016: A Code Red alarm sounded just before 7:00 a.m.
“warning of an impending rocket attack” from Gaza.
2016: “Palestinian officials announced a year-long
campaign to commemorate 100 years since the “crime” of the Balfour Declaration,
official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported today.”
2017: It was announced today that “the new Holocaust
memorial in Westminster will be built by the British architect Sir David Adjaye
and Israeli designer Ron Arad.”
2017: “Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit spoke at the
Kohelet Forum Conference at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, in Jerusalem”
2017: Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots
against Hollywood and America by University of Southern California professor of
history Steven J. Ross “which illustrates how Nazi agents operated in LA” is
scheduled to be released by Bloomsbury Press today.
2017: In Beachwood, Ohio, Georgia Tech professor of
history Jonathan Schneer is scheduled to lecture on “Ministers at War: Winston
Churchill’s War Cabinet 1940-45” which should shed some light on the men who
enforced the White Paper even after the war in Europe had ended and the Prime
Minister who at the end of war reneged on his promise to Chaim Weizmann.
2017: As “part of the series German-Jewish History in the
Now: The Contemporary Relevance of German-Jewish History” presented by the Leo
Baeck Institute ‘historian Michael Brenner (University of Munich/American
University) and Gavriel Rosenfeld (Fairfield University), are scheduled to
discuss what factors and what actors contributed to the collapse of a fragile
pluralism in the 1930s, and what that means for our own democracy.”
2017: At the Bard Graduate Center, Andrea M Berlin is
scheduled to present “The Great Revolt and its Jewish Afterlife” which is part
of the Leon Levy Foundation Lectures.
2017: Peninnah Schram, a professor emerita at Yehshiva
University is scheduled to lecture on “Have I Got A Story For You: Exploring
the Jewish Oral Tradition” at the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center.
2018: “Down With the Butchers! The Radical Symbolism of
Kosher Meat in the Works of Morris Winchevsky, Y.L. Gordon and Mendele Mocher
Sforrim,” a lecture by Julia Fermentto-Tzaisler “that will focus on the
literary intersection between kashrut, social injustice and the concept of the
modern Jewish protest” scheduled for this afternoon at the YIVO Institute for
Jewish Research has been postponed.
2018:
The sixth Pianos Festival is scheduled to open at the Jerusalem Theatre.
2018:
The first session The Jewish Learning Institute’s course “Wrestling with Faith”
is scheduled to begin this evening.
2018:
“Dispute Over Nazi Victim’s Art” published today described how the art world is
dealing with Holocaust stolen art seventy-five years after the end of the
Shoah.
2018:
This Place is a global art project that explores the complexity of Israel and
the West Bank through the eyes of twelve internationally acclaimed
photographers. The participating artists are Frédéric Brenner, Wendy Ewald,
Martin Kollar, Josef Koudelka, Jungjin Lee, Gilles Peress, Fazal Sheikh,
Stephen Shore, Rosalind Solomon, Thomas Struth, Jeff Wall, and Nick Waplington opened
at DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague, after which it is scheduled to be
shown at several museums including The Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
2018:
“The Disabled Receiving Cutting-edge Care in Haifa,” a photographic exhibition
that is part of the Streicker Center’s “Home: Lens on Israel” series is
scheduled to come to an end today.
2019:
The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is scheduled to host “a
screening of the new animated adaptation of The Tattooed Torah, beloved
children’s book by Marvell Ginsburg” followed by a reception, and Q&A with
members of the film’s production team.
2019:
“The Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies” is scheduled to
facilitate a discussion with journalist and author Tom Segev about A State
at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion, his new book on the founder of
Israel.
2019:
Rabbi Daniel Lehman is scheduled to be inaugurated “as the eighth president of
the Graduate Theological Union in Berkley.”
2019:
The two day long 43rd annual Robert S. Hartman Institute Conference
is scheduled to come to an end at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah
2019:
In Danville, CA, Beth Chaim Congregation is scheduled to “Navigating the
Challenge to Jewish Identity” during which visiting Professor Tomer Persico
talks about “loyalty, tribalism and religion.’
2020:
(6 of Cheshvan, 5781): Parashat Noach
2020:
At Teferith Israel, Scarlett Katz is scheduled to be called to the Torah as a
Bat Mitzvah.
2020:
Congregation Beth Am is scheduled to host a screening of Life Will Smile, a 40-minute
2017 documentary about a Greek island where every Jew survived World War II. In
Greek with English subtitles
2020:
The Office of Cultural Affairs of the Consulate of Israel in New York is
scheduled to co-sponsor Molissa Fenley’s celebrated solo, "State of Darkness,”
performed by a new generation of dancers, including former Batsheva Dance
Company member, Shamel Pitts.
2020:
Yom HaAliyah, recognizing immigration to the Jewish State of Israel is
scheduled to begin at sundown.
2020:
Based on the statements of Brig. Gen. Nissan Davidi, the head of the IDF Home
Front Command coronavirus task force “by the end of next week Israel will have
2,800 investigators working to break chains of coronavirus contagion across the
country and by the end of next month the country will be carrying out 100,000
tests per day.”
2021:
In partnership with the Jewish Book Council, JCC Association, and Reboot, this
JFest event is scheduled to host Laura Arnold Leibman, author of the National
Jewish Book Award-winning The Art of the Jewish Family, in conversation with
Juliet Simmons, creator of Reboot’s “What Would You Bring” initiative.
2021:
The Alliance for Jewish Theatre’s virtual conference is scheduled to begin
today.
2022:
The Streicker Center is scheduled to present Dr. Eric Goldman lecturing on “The
Coming of Age of American Jewry: A Study Through 1940’s and 1950’s Film.”
2022:
JWI's 5th International Conference on Domestic Violence in the Jewish
Community. "Responding to the Moment: Cultivating Resilience, Healing,
Innovation, and Culture Change" is scheduled to open virtually today.
2022:
The Streicker Center is scheduled to host “Beginner’s Hebrew,” a “ course
instead for students with little to no background in Hebrew.”
2022:
Mike Brown is scheduled to “My Indy Jewish Life: With Marc Summers.”
2022:
The Alliance for Jewish Theater’s virtual conference is scheduled to come to an
end today.
2022:
Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in the trial of Donald Trump on
charges of tax fraud during which during which Allen Weisselberg the CFO of the
Trump Organization will be a witness for the prosecution.
2023:
YESOD is scheduled to to host a lecture by Rabbi Burton Visotzky, Emeritus
Professor of Midrash and Interreligious Studies, The Jewish Theology Seminary
on “Postbiblical History: Exile and Diaspora.”
2023:
As part of its “Jewish Values and Strategy in Wartime” series Tikvah is
scheduled to host a lecture by Dr. Michael Doran on “What is Iran’s Strategy?”
2023:
The Streicker Center is scheduled to host a lecture by Martin Kaufman on “How
to Read the Guide for the Perplexed.”
2023:
Lockdown University is scheduled to host a lecture by Trudy Gold on “Basel,
Herzl and the Jewish State.”
2023:
Temple Judea is scheduled to host a “Stand With Us – Special Briefing” via Zoom.
2023:
As October 24 begins in Israel, Hezbollah continues to threaten Israel’s
northern border as can be seen by yesterday’s drone attacks, “tent cities are
going up in Ramat Gan and Eliat to accommodate the growing number of evacuees”
which is now thought to number 200,000, “the state educational system is
grappling with an unprecedented and quick-changing situation, including tens of
thousands of displaced students, massive staff shortages and inadequate access
to bomb shelters” and it has been reported that “British intelligence services
have concluded that the deadly blast in the car-park of a hospital in Gaza was
caused by a rocket fired towards Israel from inside the Strip, Rishi Sunak has confirmed
to MPs.”
(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)
