This Day, October 28, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
OCTOBER 28
97:
Emperor Nerva is forced by the Praetorian Guard, to adopt general Marcus Ulpius
Trajanus as his heir and successor. Trajan would not become Emperor until Nerva
died in January of the following year. Trajan will be remembered as the ruler
who was on the throne during the revolt in the diaspora referred to as “The
Revolt Against Trajan” that took place between 115 CE and 117 CE. It was the second of three Jewish revolts
against Rome – the first being the Great Revolt that ended with the destruction
of the Second Temple and the third being Bar Kochba’s revolt.
312:
Roman emperor Constantine, 32, defeated the army of Maxentius, a contender to
the throne, at Milvian Bridge, after trusting in a vision he had seen of the
cross, inscribed with the words, "In this sign conquer." Constantine
was converted soon after and became the first Roman emperor to embrace the
Christian faith. This was the turning
point for Christianity in Europe. With
the support of the imperial government, Christianity was able to establish
itself THE religion in Europe. It marked
a downhill slide for the Jews of Europe.
1216:
At Gloucester, the first coronation of Henry III who “exacted” from Elias of
London also known as Elijah ben Moses “no less a sum than £10,000, besides £100
a year for a period of four years.”
1138:
Fifty-two-year-old Bolesław III Wrymouth who “recognized the utility of the
Jewish in the development of the commercial interests of” Poland and whose
“tolerant regime” encourage them to settle as far east as Kiev passed away
today.
1348:
As the Black Death made its way across France, the authorities began arresting
“the Jews of the bailiwick of Amont (Haute-Saôte)” and confiscating their
property to arrest the Jews of the bailiwick of Amont (Haute-Saôte)
1516:
Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza
at the Battle of Yaunis Khan. Jews fared poorly under the rule of the Mameluks.
Without going into details about the conflicts within Islam in general, and the
role of the Mameluks in particular, suffice it to say that what was “bad news
for them” was “good for the Jews.”
1525:
Birthdate of Joachim Ulrich von Rosenfeld who “was negative and hostile towards
the Jews on “May 1542, when acting as the clerk at a meeting of the Parliament
of Bohemia he agreed to the following resolution: “Regarding the decision from
the last meeting concerning the Jews that led to the expulsion of the Jews from
Bohemia by His Majesty the King based on a request by all three ranks[5] which
has been inscribed into the records of the meeting, it is resolved that His
Majesty the King shall maintain this decision and that no Jews shall be
permitted to take residence in Bohemia now and for eternity. Those who are
found in this kingdom shall lose their head. The only exceptions shall be those
who received from the King, on the most recent St. George's Day, a Letter of
Dispensation which they can present to anybody and to those coming to pay their
debts. These Jews are to write down all their claims and hand this record to
the high bailiff of the Kingdom of Bohemia before the feast day of Saint John.
If they fail to do so before the feast day of Saint John, they shall not retain
any right on these claims.”
1549:
“Queen Bona, “the wife of Sigismund, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of
Lithuania” “ordered her governor Kimbar to assemble the Jews of Grodno to elect
a rabbi who was no relative of the Judichs, and decreed that in case this
should not be done without opposition, the opponents of the Judichs were to
elect a separate rabbi with the same rights and privileges as enjoyed by the
one chosen by that family.
1600:
James Roberts the copyright he had obtained for “The Merchant of Venice” (also
known as The Jew of Venice) to stationer Thomas Hayes “who published the first
quarto before the end of” 1600.
1636:
Harvard University is established in colonial Massachusetts. Harvard certainly
has had it share of Jewish students, graduates and faculty members. But the Jewish relationship with Harvard has
had its darker moments. “During and after World War I, American Jewry became
the target of anti-Semitism by a variety of social groups, including the Ku
Klux Klan and various immigration restriction advocates. Ivy League
universities were no exception, and several of these venerable schools moved to
restrict Jewish enrollment during the 1920s. Some Jewish students at Harvard,
the bellwether in American education, did not take admission restrictions lying
down. Nativism and intolerance among segments of the white Protestant
population were aimed at both Eastern European Jews and Southern European
Catholics. In higher education, Jews were particularly resented. By 1919, about
80% of the students at New York's Hunter and City colleges were Jews and 40% at
Columbia. Jews at Harvard tripled to 21% of the freshman class in 1922 from
about 7% in 1900. Ivy League Jews won a disproportionate share of academic
prizes and election to Phi Beta Kappa but were widely regarded as competitive,
eager to excel academically and less interested in extra-curricular activities
such as organized sports. Non-Jews accused them of being clannish, socially
unskilled and either unwilling or unable to “fit in.” In 1922, Harvard's
president, A. Lawrence Lowell, proposed a quota on the number of Jews gaining
admission to the university. Lowell was convinced that Harvard could only
survive if the majority of its students came from old American stock. Lowell
argued that cutting the number of Jews at Harvard to a maximum of 15% would be
good for the Jews. He contended that
limits would prevent further anti-Semitism. Lowell reasoned, “The anti-Semitic
feeling among the students is increasing, and it grows in proportion to the
increase in the number of Jews. If their number should become 40% of the
student body, the race feeling would become intense.” The fight against Jewish
quotas at Harvard was led by Harry Starr, an undergraduate and the son of a
Russian immigrant who established the first kosher butcher shop in
Gloversville, New York. As president of the Menorah Society, Harvard's major
Jewish student organization, Starr organized a series of meetings between
Jewish and non-Jewish students, faculty and administrators to discuss Lowell's
proposed quota. The meetings were frequently heated and painful. As Starr
recalled in an account published in 1985, which can be found at the American
Jewish Historical Society, “We learned that it was numbers that mattered; bad
or good, too many Jews were not liked. Rich or poor, brilliant or dull,
polished or crude - [the problem was] too many Jews.” Starr insisted that there
could be no “Jewish problem” at Harvard or in America. Starr observed, “The Jew
cannot look on himself as a problem.... Born or naturalized in this country, he
is a full American.” If admitting all qualified Jews to Harvard meant a change
in the traditional social composition of the student body, so be it. Starr
refused to hear any hokum about 'pure' American stock as a way to limit Jewish
admissions to Harvard. “Tolerance,” he wrote in the Menorah Journal, “is
not to be administered like castor oil, with eyes closed and jaws clenched.”
Lowell received a great deal of public criticism, particularly in the Boston
press. Harvard's overseers appointed a 13-member committee, which included
three Jews, to study the university's “Jewish problem.” The committee rejected
a Jewish quota but agreed that “geographic diversity” in the student body was
desirable. Harvard had been using a competitive exam to determine who was
admitted, and urban Jewish students were scoring highly on the exam. Urban
public schools such as Boston Latin Academy intensely prepared their students,
many of whom were Jewish, to pass Harvard's admissions test. The special
committee recommended that the competitive exam be replaced by an admissions
policy that accepted top-ranking students from around the nation, regardless of
exam scores. By 1931, because students from urban states were replaced by
students from Wyoming and North Dakota who ranked in the top of their high
school classes, Harvard's Jewish ranks were cut back to 15% of the student
body. In the late 1930s, James Bryant Conant, Lowell's successor as president,
eased the geographic distribution requirements, and Jewish students were once
again admitted primarily on the basis of merit. Harry Starr, who lived until
1992, became a national Jewish communal leader, including a term of service as
a trustee of the American Jewish Historical Society. Professionally, he became
the director of the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, which was established by a
Jewish congressman from Gloversville and which over the years has given many
generous gifts to Harvard. Harry Starr held no grudges against the university
which in 1922 he lovingly battled on behalf of his fellow Jews.
1700: In the same year that he published his second tract
which he hoped would cause Jews to convert to Christianity, Cotton Mather wrote
in his diary today about the conversion of Shalom Ben Shalomoh who had joined a
Congregational Church in London. Cotton Mather differed from other Christian
leaders. He believed that the Jews practice a theological incorrect
religion which is why sought to convince them to convert. But reason
rather than the lash or the burning stake was his method. "As a
humanitarian...he demanded that Jews should be free from religious
persecution."
1704: John Locke, the English political theorist who in
1689 “Letter Concerning Toleration” wrote that “Neither Pagan, nor Jew, ought
to be excluded from the civil rights of the commonwealth because of his
religion” passed away today.
1718: Alexander Felix (David Penso), Jacob Do Porto, and
David Machado Do Sequeira, on behalf of the Ashkenazim, leased from Captain
Chichester Phillips of Drumcondra Castle (an MP in the Irish Parliament) a plot
of land on which the Ballybough Cemetery, Dublin’s oldest Jewish burial ground,
was subsequently built.
1778: Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai ben Isaac Zerachia,
the Jerusalem native married his second wife, Rachel while studying in
Pisa. His first wife, Sarah had died
five years earlier.
1782:
In Germany “Kehle Weil” and Seligman Loeb Lindauer gave birth to Manasse
Seligmann Lindauer, the husband of Esther B. Weil with whom he had five
children.
1785:
In Germany, Rosele Katz and Bernard Weil gave birth to Esther Weil, the wife of
Manasse Seiligman Lindauer and the mother of Kehle, Juttle, Mayer, Moses and
David Lindauer.
1784: Birthdate of Sir Moses Montefiore. Born in
Leghorn (Italy) Montefiore was raised in London where he became a successful
merchant and married into the House of Rothschild. In 1824, he
"retired" from business and devoted his life to public office and
philanthropy. He was the first to hold numerous political and civic
positions in Great Britain. He was a leader of the Jewish Community in
England and throughout Europe. He was an early supporter of Jewish
settlement in Eretz Israel. Montefiore’s Windmill is a famous landmark in
Jerusalem. His 100th birthday was celebrated as a holiday in Jewish
communities in the British Isles and the Continent. He passed away in
1885.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sir-Moses-Montefiore-Baronet
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sir-moses-montefiore
1790:
In Philadelphia, “Catherine Bush” and Myer S. Solomon gave birth to Mattathias
Solomon.
1796:
In Frauenberg, France, Leyen and Abraham Lazard gave birth to Elie ben Abraham
Lazard, the “husband of Esther Cahn – Lazard and ather of Lazare Lazard;
Alexandre Lazard; Maurice Lazard; Lisa Bloch; Simon Lazard; Rosalie Rachel Aron
and Elie Lazard, II.”
Brother
of Sara Jacob; David Aron Lazard;
1805:
Birthdate of dramatist and lawyer, Jonas B. Phillips, the Philadelphia born son
of Benjamin J. Phillips, who produced
plays including “Cold Stricken,” “Camillus,” and “The Evil Eye” and who after
studying law, became the assistant district attorney for New York County.
1805(5th
of Cheshvan, 5566): One day before his seventeenth birthday, Isaac Nones, the
son of Miriam Marks and Benjamin Abraham Nones died in his hometown of
Philadelphia.
1807(26th
of Tishrei, 5568): Gutchen Sheyer, the wife of Moses Joseph Schiff passed away
today.
1813:
Samuel Levy married Judith Magnus were married at the Great Synagogue today.
1816:
Birthdate of German native Esther Liebschutz Meyers, the future Louisville
resident and mother of Joseph E. Myers.
1820:
In Ruzhyn, Ukraine, Rabbi Yisrael Friedman of Ruzhyn, the founder of the
Ruzhiner dynasty, and his wife, Sarah gave birth to Avrohom Yaakov Friedman,
the first Rebbe of the Sadigura Hasidic dynasty.
1824(6th
of Cheshvan, 5585): Fifty-five-year-old Benedict-Benedikt Moses Worms, the son
of Henriette and Moses Gabriel Worms and the “husband of Schönche Jeanette
Worms” passed away today.
1827:
One day after he had passed away, 53-year-old “Hirsch ben Yaacov” was buried
today at the Brady Street Jewish Cemetery “on the 2nd day of Rosh
Chodesh Marcheshvan, 5590.”
1828:
In Hamburg, Jacob Magner and Ulrika Hahn gave birth to Jacob Magner who was one
of the founders of several institutions in New Orleans including the
Association for the Relief of Jewish Widows and Orphans (1855), Touro Infirmary
(1868), Temple Sinai (1870) and the Harmony Club.
1829:
Birthdate of Emanuel Oscar Menahem Deutsch, the native of Silesia who worked on
Semitic studies at the British Museum where his writings on the Talmud kindled
interest among English Christians and who “acted as special correspondent to
The Times during the Ecumenical Council which met at the Vatican in 1869 and
1870.
1835:
Leon Maness Ritterband, who was born in Poland in 1809 married Benvenida Solis
today in New York today.
1836:
In Ireland, John Chapel and his wife gave birth to Monsignor Thomas John Capel,
the controversial Catholic cleric who in a show of ecumenism that was unusual
in the 19th century addressed the Young Men’s Hebrew Association at
Chickering Hall on November 12, 1884.
1836:
Birthdate of Bavarian native Simon Wolf, who after coming to the United States
in 1848 pursued a business career after which he pursued a legal career that
led him to Washington, D.C. where he “made friendships with presidents Abraham
Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, William McKinley and Woodrow Wilson” a leader of the
American Jewish community.
1839:
In, “Canterbury, Kent,” Hannah Barnard and Nathan Jacobs gave birth to Myer
Jacobs
1840:
Sir Moses Montefiore had an audience with the Sultan. Among the topics
discussed were the blood libel accusations on the island of Rhodes and in
Damascus. The Sultan later issued a public firman exonerating Jews from
anything to do with ritual murder accusations.
1840:
Birthdate “Lithuanian Jewish Yiddish-language poet and songwriter” Eliakum Zunser called by some “the father of
Yiddish poetry.”
http://www.yivoarchives.org/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=32666
1843:
In Albany, NY, “Edward and Hanah (Stern) Bendell” gave birth to Albany Medical
College trained physician Dr. Herman Bendell, the Civil War veteran and
“Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Arizona Territory.”
1844:
In Richmond, VA, Ashkenazic Jew Jacob Ezekiel and Sephardic Jewess Catherine de
Castro gave birth to Moses Jacob Ezekiel, the first Jew to attend Virginia
Military Institute and who, after serving with the Confederate Army, became a
renowned sculptor.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/03/28/121601802.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1844:
In New York City, for the first time, Mordecai M. Noah presented “his plan for
the restoration of a Jewish state in Palestine to a Christian audience” at the
Broadway Tabernacle.
1848:
In Germany, Leopold Hirsch, the German born son of Lea and Simon Seev Hirsch
and his wife Therese Tölzele Hirsch
(Wormser) gave birth to Heinrich Hirsch
1849:
In Albany, NY, Rabbi Isaac M. Wise and Therese Bloch gave birth to Leo Wise,
the husband of Pauline Goodman, who earned an LL.B from the University of
Michigan and served with the River Flotilla of the U.S. Navy during the Civil
War before becoming the publisher of several Jewish publications including “Die
Deborah” and the “American Israelite.”
1853:
“Russia.; Delivered before the Hebrew Young Men's Literary Association”
published today described Rabbi Raphall’s appearance before the Hebrew Young
Men's Literary Association at Academy Hall, No. 663 Broadway, at which time he
delivered a lecture enititled “Russia” The speaker was introduced by Isaac
Seligman, the who was serving as chairman. Raphall described the gains in power
that Russia has made in the last 150 years and the territorial aspirations of
the current rulers. He also described
the history and the plight of the Jews living in that land. Mr. Mosely Lyon followed Rabbi Raphall to the
lectern where he delivered an address on the purpose of the Hebrew Young Men’s
Literary Association.
1853:
Issac and Freida Slaughter gave birth to Louisville resident Louise Slaughter
Meyers, the wife of Joseph E. Meyers and the mother of Sidney, Stuart, Florine,
Melvin and William Meyers.
1854:
Birthdate of Philadelphia native Colonel Daniel Mitchell Appel, the surgeon who
was in charge of the medical department in the Philippine Islands during the
Spanish-American War.
1857: "Defaulting Farmers" published today
takes issue with the notion that the farmer is not only possessed of
"sturdy virtues that enoble humanity" but also the backbone of the
national economy. In fact, the "western farmer has no more nobleness of
soul than a Wall Street stock gambler or a Chatham street Jew." The term
"Chatham Street Jew" was extremely derisive. It referred to the
fact that the lucrative trade in used clothes on Chatham Street on the Lower
East was dominated by Jews where Christians were sure that they were being
victimized by the sharp business practices of "the Tribe of Judah."
1858: RH Macy & Co opened its first store on Sixth
Avenue in New York City. Gross receipts for the day totaled $11.06. The Straus family, which had been leasing
space in Macy's to operate a chinaware department, the store's most profitable
section, acquired Macy’s in 1896 and turned it into one of the country’s
leading department stores. One sign of
the change came when they relocated the
store to its Herald square location at 34th Street and Broadway in New York.
1858: At a thousand people attended tonight’s banquet and
ball which was a fundraiser for the Jew’s Hospital.
Benjamin Nathan, the President of Hospital Board provided over the event which
was attended by Mayor Tilman. Rabbi J.J.
Lyon recited the blessings before the meal began and Rabbi Kramer chanted the
Grace After Meal. Mr. Nathan told the attendees that the hospital had treated
747 patients since its opening, all but 73 at no charge and that the treasury
was now empty. Lionel Goldberg read the list of donations which totaled
$12,000.
1860:
Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky who had converted in 1855 “was ordained to
the priesthood by Bishop Boone in the mission school chapel, later known as the
Church of our Savior in Hongkew”
1862:
Moses P. Arnold, who was promoted from Sergeant to First Sergeant, began his
service with Company A of the 172nd Regiment.
1862:
Philadelphian Ferdinand K. Strouse began serving with Company E of the 151st
Regiment.
1862:
Philadelphian Israel Marks began serving with Company E of the 151st
Regiment
1863:
Philadelphian Levi Arnold who had risen to the rank of Sergeant in Company F of
the 143rd Regiment “transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps” today.
1864: The
Council of the Academy decided to award Russian-Jewish sculptor Mark Antokolski
with the Small Silver Medal for the "Tailor" also known as “The
Jewish Tailor.”
1867:
Maimonides College “the first Jewish theological seminary in America” opened
today in Philadelphia, PA. Isaac Lesser,
Sabato Morais, Marcus Jastrow, Aaron S. Bettelheim, L. Buttenwieser and William
H. Williams were the members of the faculty with Lesser doubling as the
school’s provost. The school closed in December of 1873, reportedly due to lack
of financial support which may be explained by the economic hard times that the
country was suffering a the time.
1869:
In Cold Springs, NY, Morris and Dora (Tobias) DeLee gave birth to Dr. Joseph
Bolivar DeLee, the grandson of a French Army Surgeon who was a pioneer in the
field of obstetrics.
https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdfplus/10.2105/AJPH.78.10.1353
1870(3rd
of Cheshvan, 5631): Sixty-three-year-old Prague-born physician Gottfried S.
Schmelkes who earned his medical degree in 1837 after which he joined the staff
of the Jewish hospital “Töplitz (Teplitz), Bohemia, where he worked until he
passed away today.
1870: President Jacob
Pisa presided over tonight’s meeting of the Young Democratic Jews’ Association
of the Second Assembly District in New York.
During the meeting which was held on Mott Street, the Jewish political
organization endorsed the local and state candidates supported by “the Young Democracy
but did not make any endorsement of Congressional candidates.
1872:
In San Francisco, Jacob Altman and Dora Posner gave birth to Aaron Altman, a
graduate of the Ecole Natioale des Beaux Arts in Paris, the recipient of the
William Alvord Medal at the California School of design in 1890 and an
Assistant professor of Sketching and Perspective at the California School of
design who had two pictures accepted at the Paris Salon in 1896.
http://www.askart.com/artist/Aaron_Altmann/4399/Aaron_Altmann.aspx
1872:
In Russia, Selde Cohen Ginzberg and her husband gave birth to Cornell
University Medical College graduate Isidor Ginzburg, the husband of Rose Pery
and contributor to several publications including the Jewish Daily Forward
and Hadoar who wrote several
books including Jewish Philosophers and Poets of the Middle Ages
Ginsburg,
Isidor (Isser) (1872-1947)
1873(7th
of Cheshvan, 5634): Immanuel Oscar Menahem Deutsch, a German oriental scholar,
passed away today. Born in 1829 at
Neisse, Prussian Silesia (now Nysa, Poland) he studied theology and Talmud at
the University of Berlin. “In 1855 Deutsch was appointed assistant in the
library of the British Museum. He worked intensely on the Talmud and
contributed no less than 190 papers to Chambers' Encyclopaedia, in addition to
essays in Kittos and Smiths' Biblical Dictionaries, and articles in
periodicals. In October 1867 his article on The Talmud, published in the
Quarterly Review, made him known. It was translated into French, German,
Russian, Swedish, Dutch and Danish. He died at Alexandria on 12 May 1873.His
Literary Remains, edited by Lady Strangford, were published in 1874, consisting
of nineteen papers on such subjects as The Talmud, Islam, Semitic Culture,
Egypt, Ancient and Modern, Semitic Languages, The Targums, The Samaritan
Pentateuch, and Arabic Poetry
1874:
Birthdate of St. Louis native Robert Henry Polack who became a successful
businessman in New Orleans where he served as an officer of the Jewish Welfare
Fund.
1874:
In Hamburg Jewish merchant Jacko Emden and Mathilde Kann gave birth to chemist
and art collector Max James Edmen, the husband of Gertrude Helene Anna
Sternberg who despite his conversion to Christianity fell afoul of the Nazi
Aryanization laws.
1874:
Rabbi Benjamin Artom officiated at the wedding of Mr. Isaac Abecassis of Lisbon
and Miss Helena Ben Saude of the Azores.
Among the many guests were J.O. Bradford, Paymaster General of the U.S.
Navy and his wife.
1876:
In Cleveland, OH, Emanuel Ullman and Sara Mayer gave birth to their third
child, Leo Emanuel Ullman, the husband of Blanche McKee Heller.
1876:
Birthdate of Spandau, Germany native and social worker Clara Israel who “was
the first female magistrate in Prussia.”
1876:
In Ohio, Hannah Rice and Samuel Goodman gave birth to Ohio State graduate and
Jefferson Medical College trained surgeon and obstetrician Sylvester Jacob
Goodman, a Major in the United States Army Medical Corps during WWI and surgeon at the Jewish Infant Home of
Ohil.
1877:
“Early Christian Greek Story” published today provide a summary of Abraham
the Jew and the Merchant Theodore printed by Combefisius from a manuscript, copies of which are in the
National Library at Paris and the library in Turin.
1878:
In Albany, NY, Mollie Barnett and Ferdinand M Aufsesseer gave birth to Albany,
NY, resident Moses F. Aufsesseer, the President of Star Woolen Company in
Cohoes, NY, the husband of Ethel Levy and president of Congregation Beth Emeth.
1878:
In St. Louis, MO, Yetta and Jacob Baum gave birth to Austin, TX resident Samuel
Baum, the husband of Bessie Littman with whom he had four children – Gerald,
Marcus, Minnette and Edward and the founder and owner of Baum Metal Company located on East 6th
Street who is contributor “to various Jewish and general organizations in
Austin.
1880:
Birthdate of Elizabethgrad native and Russian and German trained mechanical and
electrical engineer Abraham Useem who settled in Los Angeles
1881:
It was reported today that “the question of Jewish emigration to America is
still a subject of concern to the Russian government.” To that end the
government will make another attempt “to turn the Jews into peasant farms and
settle them in the provinces of Kherson and Ekaterinoslav.”
1881:
John A. Goldberg appeared in Essex Market Court where he denied the charges of
Mrs. Amelia Goldberg that she was his wife and that he had deserted her. He presented evidence that he had obtained a
divorce from her from a Rabbi while they were living in England because she had
been unfaithful. He also produced
evidence that he had provided her with financial assistance when she came to
the United States even though he was under no obligation to do so.
1882:
Harris Udovitch is out on bail after having been arrested for assaulting Mrs.
Louis Cohen during his thwarted attempt to buy Louis Cohen’s “credit with
heaven” for $150.
1883:
The 9th annual meeting of the Board of Relief of the United Hebrew
Charities was held this morning at a house on St. Mark’s Place.
1884:
In Dolina, Poland, Anna and Leopold Kirschenbaum, gave birth to journalist
Jacob Kirschenbaum the husband of Bessie Popper and the worked for a number of
publications including the Jewish World in Cleveland, OH, the Jewish Morning
Journal and the Der Americana for which he served drama critic.
1884:
It was reported today that a reception was held at Ramsgate yesterday to honor
Sir Moses Montefiore on his 100th birthday; “an anniversary that was
celebrated throughout Europe.”
1885:
It was reported today that Jonas Loeb, a prominent Jewish merchant in Georgia
is insolvent since he has liabilities of $64,000 and assets of $10,000. Litigation has already been threatened by his
creditors.
1886: The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the
people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland. The
Jewish poetess Emma Lazarus wrote "The New Colossus" in 1883 for an
art auction "In Aid of the Bartholdi Pedestal Fund." While France had
provided the statue itself, American fundraising efforts like these paid for
the Statue of Liberty's pedestal. In 1903, sixteen years after her death,
Lazarus' sonnet was engraved on a plaque and placed in the pedestal as a memorial.
“The New Colossus”
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With
conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here
at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A
mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is
the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother
of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows
world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The
air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep,
ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With
silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your
huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The
wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send
these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I
lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
1886:
Social reformer and future Presidential candidate addressed the United Hebrew
George Club.
1886(29th of Tishrei, 5647): Joseph
Ullman, the German born son of Rosa and Hayim Simon Uhlmann and the husband of
Sarah Ullman passed away today in Baltimore.
1888: The “Jewish Agriculturists’ Aid Society of
America,” whose members would include Morris Weil, Maurice W. Kosinski and
Edward Rose was “organized today in Chicago, Illinois.
1888: Birthdate of Hungarian anti-Semite Tibor
Eckhardt, the head of the Association of Awakening Magyars during the 1920’s
whose members “bombed a charity ball organized by the Jewish women of Csongrad
in which several people were killed.” (Editor’s Note – this is just another
example of the anti-Semitism that was so common during the inter-war years
which made the Holocaust possible.)
1888: Joseph Navon the driving force behind the
Jaffa-Jerusalem railway “received a 71-year concession from the Ottoman
authorities that also gave him permission to extend the line to Gaza and Nablus
1888: Rabbi Leon Harrison delivered an address
entitled “Is it a Misfortune to be a Jew?” at Temple Israel on Greene Avenue in
Brooklyn.
1888: The New
York Times reviewed Life of Lord Beaconsfield by T.E. Kebble.
1888: “The Jewish-Americans” published today cites
information that originally appeared in the Jewish
Messenger to question why New York City has not produced a “distinctly
American-Jewish congregation. The city
has all manner of synagogues for Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, etc.
Jews but none that is uniquely American.
1889: President Henry Rice presided over the 15th
annual meeting of The United Hebrew Charities held its at Temple Emanu-El in
New York City where he said that “in the las ten years the disbursements of the
society have more than doubled” noting that “in 1879 the total relief
distributed amounted to a little more than $35,000 and that during the past
year the Treasurer has expended more than $72,000.”
1889: Edwin Booth, the great Shakespearian actor
played Shylock and Helena Modjeska played his daughter Portia in tonight’s
performance of “The Merchant of Venice” at the Broadway Theatre.
1890: Dr. Robert Collyer, Dr. Maurice H. Harris,
Oscar Straus, Joseph Blumenthal and Seth Low, the President of Columbia are
scheduled to address those attending the a meeting of the Young Men’s Hebrew
Association at Chickering Hall.
1890: Three days after he had passed away, “Samson
Asher Samson,” the son of Asher and Amelia Samson and the husband of the former
Eva Nathan was buried today at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1891: Twenty-nine-year-old “banker and manufacturer Benajamin
Wolf, the Philadelphia born son of Amelia Mayer and Elias Wolfe, a member of
Wolf, Brothers and Company, the treasurer of the Standard Machine Company and a member of Rodef Shalom Congregation married
Fredora Kahn today after which he became a member of the NYS, and “a Lt. Col. on
the Governor’s Staff of Pennsylvania.”
1892: Carl Stettauer, a German-born leather merchant
and his wife gave birth to Eleanor Joan Clara Nathan, the wife of Harry Louis
Nathan, the Labour Party MP from Bethnal Green North East who became Baron
Nathan of Churt and who was the “first Woman Member of Metropolitan Water
Board, 1937–46 and a Member of Home Office Committee of Enquiry into Closing
Hours of Shops (Gowers Committee), 1946–49.”
https://london.fandom.com/wiki/Eleanor_Joan_Clara_Nathan
1893: Birthdate of Karl Frakas, “Austrian actor, cabaret performer, refugee from the
Nazis and the husband of Anny Han who passed away in his native Vienna.
https://www.discogs.com/artist/706103-Karl-Farkas
1894: “In the now demolished Umberston Street, in
the Aldgate Pump section of London's East End,” a cabinet maker and his wife
gave birth to Gershon Mendeloff who gained gamed Ted “Kid” Lewis the twice
crown World Welterweight Champion “who is often ranked among the all-time
greats.”
http://www.ibhof.com/pages/about/inductees/oldtimer/lewisted.html
1894: “No Man Controls The Hebrew Vote” published
today provides the view of Dr. Joseph Silverman the rabbi at Temple Emanu-El
that the “Hebrew vote” does not exist and that it is the “child of the
politician’s active brain. Jews do as
they please in politics.” The Jew “is a
Jew in the synagogue but elsewhere he is an American citizen, and most of all
at the ballot box.”(Silverman was decrying the trivializing of the electoral
process with politicians seeking to divide voters by ethnic and religious lines)
1895: Andre Lebon the Minister of Colonies who
intervened on behalf of Dreyfus while he was imprisoned on Devil’s Island
completed his service as Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts and Telegraphs.
1896: The funeral of Moses Kind is scheduled to be
held at his home at 49 West 96th Street in Manhattan this morning.
1896: In Charleston, SC, Rabbi B.A. Elzas officiated
at the wedding of Sam Feinstein and Carrie Rice.
1897(2nd of Cheshvan, 5658): “After a
short illness,” Marie Benecke, the wife of Charles Victor Benecke and the “eldest daughter of the late Feliz
Mendelssohn Bartholdy” passed away at Norfolk Lodge in the United Kingdom
1897:
Birthdate of Edith Claire Posener, the daughter of Max Posener and Anna E.
Levy, the Searchlight, Nevada who would gain fame as award winning fashion
designer Edith Heath. During her long career in Hollywood, Head’s costumes won
her 35 Oscar nominations. She won 8 of
the bronze statuettes. She died in
October of 1981.
1897: “A meeting of the North London Jewish Literary
and Social Union” is scheduled “to be held in the hall adjoining the Dalston
Synagogue” where the Right Honorable Earl Beauchamp will open a debate on
‘Religious Education in the Board Schools.’”
1898: Theodor Herzl “docked at the port of Jaffa
today and traveled by train to Jersualem.”
1898: Kaiser William II (Prussia) visited pre-state Israel and met with
Herzl. At this time Eretz Israel was part of the Ottoman Empire. The Kaiser was trying to gain the Turks as an
ally. He also sought to make himself the
European protector of Jerusalem. Herzl
was disappointed by the lack of commitment on the part of the Kaiser. Much of
this was due to the opposition of German Liberal Jews, bankers, and his foreign
minister Bernhard von Bulow to the Zionist movement.
1898:
Philip S. Golderman, a Color Sergeant with the 203rd NY Infantry was
promoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Sam Steinberg of Texas who had been serving
with Co. C, 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Jake Waixel of Texas who had been serving with
Co. J, 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Gus G. Nussbaum of Texas who had been serving
with Co. L, 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Joseph Levy of Texas who had been serving with
the Regimental Ban, Co. M 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of
service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Charles C. Jacobs of Texas who had been
serving with Co. M 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, H.S. Hyneman of Texas who had been serving
with Co. F 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Harry Ferlman of Texas who had been serving
Co. D 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Herman H. Blum of Texas who had been serving
Co. M 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Max Blumberg of Texas who had been serving
with Co. C 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service at Galveston
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, William Rosing of Texas who had been serving
with Co. C 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Solomon Gordon of Texas who had been serving
with Company K 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Gus L. Berkman of Texas who had been serving
with the Hospital Corps of Co. M 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out
of service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Harry Friedman of Texas who had been serving
with Co. E 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Charles Fischl of Texas who had been serving
with the Hospital Corps of Co. M 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out
of service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Edward Seelig of Texas who had been serving
with Co. C, 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service.
1898:
During the Spanish-American War, Sam Steinberg of Texas who had been serving
with Co. C, 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service.
1898:
“At today’s session of the Court of Cassation in the Palace of Justice,
Alphonse Bard concluded his report of the Dreyfus case” and “said that the
Court should make every investigation necessary to enlighten its members and
place the whole truth in evidence.”
1900:
Seventy-six-year-old German linguist and Oriental scholar Friedrich Max Müller
who challenged the claim of Nicolas Notovitch, a Russian Jew, that the Life of
Issa” was a legitimate work depicting the life of Jesus (Issa) which had Him
leaving the Galilee and studying with Buddhists and Hindus in India before
returning to Judea.
1900:
“The Jewish Purim” published today examines the origins of this minor festival
and concludes that “an examination of the tradition and mode of celebrating the
feast renders it probable that Purim is nothing but a more or less disguised
form of the Babylonian festival of the Sacaea or Zakmuk.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1900/10/28/102620856.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1901:
Over two hundred people attended this evening’s annual meeting of the United
Hebrew of Charities presided over by Henry Rice during which the “resignation
of Vice President Henry S. Allen who has served in that office for twenty-one
years was accepted” with a vote of thanks for his years of service.
1902:
Opening of the Zionist
Annual Conference at which The Anglo-Palestine Company is sanctioned. It will
begin operations in summer
1902:
NYU trained physician Henry Roth, the Hungarian born son of Edward and Johanna (Neulander) Roth who was
the consulting physician at Rockaway Beach Hospital and clinical professor of
surgery at Fordham University Medical School who was “author of numerous
articles on surgical subjects” and a member of Temple Rodoph Sholom married
Rebecca Low today.
1903:
The engagement of Israel Zangwill to Edith Aryton was made public. Edith Aryton’s father is one of the best-known
electrical engineers in England. Her mother is a noted scientist in her own
right and the daughter of Levi and Alice Marks, a Jewish family from Portsea.
1904:
“Russian Reserves Riot” published today claims that “there have been no
anti-Jewish riots strictly speaking “at Mohileff-on the-Dnipper because the
attacks on the houses and the shops of the Jews was the result of drunken army
reservists expressing their anger because Jews “are fleeing abroad” leaving
Christians to fill the ranks of the army.
1905(29th
of Tishrei, 5666): Parashat Bereshit
1905:
While campaigning for re-election, District Attorney Jerome delivered three speeches
to “distinctly Jewish audiences” where he “told about his action in regard to
the prosecution of those responsible for the outrage at the funeral of Chief
Joseph”
1906:
In Russia, Sergei Witte “induced the Czar to issue a manifesto proclaiming
freedom of speech, press and person” the day before pogroms broke out in “200
places in Russia” including Odessa.
1907:
“London is all agog today over the mysterious disappearance of a young Russian
girl, Miss Barbara Lapoukhin” who may have been kidnapped by members of the
Black Hundreds as an act of revenge against her father who, while serving as
Director the St. Petersburg Police “played a notable and very honorable part in
exposing the machinery by which the pogroms or raids against the Jews had been
organized.
1907:
It was reported today that Leon Lakski, the son of Marks and Caroline Laski has
been appointed as the “receiver in the bankruptcy of the Edward A. Braden
Company, theatrical managers.”
1907:
In Washington, DC, “a number of organizations” and throng of “hundreds of the
most notable men in public life” will march to the home Simon Wolf as part of
the celebration of his seventieth birthday is being celebrated today.
1908:
Birthdate of Przeminsk native Samson Schwartz who was deported to Auschwitz in
1942
1908:
As part of the Wright Brother’s tour of Europe being managed Jewish born
American Hart O. Berg, “Wilbur Wright began training the first student pilot,
Count Charles de Lambert.”
1908:
Lenz Sherry and Bernard Maltz gave birth to Columbia and Yale School of Drama
trained playwright and screen writer Albert Malz, the husband of Margaret
Larkin, whose fame as one of the Hollywood Ten overshadowed his accomplishment
including writing the Oscar nominated script for the super-patriotic “Pride of
the Marines.”
1909:
Birthdate of Brest-Litovsk native Josef Gingold, the violinist, concertmaster
and long-time instructor at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
1910:
It was reported in Washington, D.C. tonight that U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Oscar Straus, the
Secretary of Commerce and Labor under President Roosevelt, has tendered his
resignation.
1911:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer met with a group of Jews to discuss “the
Insurance Bill” today.
1911:
“In a letter to the Jewish Morning Journal” said “that if Russia refuses to
accede” to the conditions concerning the treatment of Jews he will support the
“abrogation of the Treaty with Russia” and advised Jewish organizations to pass
resolutions on the subject and send them to their congressmen.
1912: As the election campaign of 1912 comes to an
end, Oscar Straus sends a telegram denying that he had ever been connected with
R. H. Macy or Abraham and Straus.
1913: Mendel
Beilis was acquitted. The Beilis Trial (Russia) took place after a
Christian boy was found dead near a brick factory in which Mendel Beilis
worked. On
1913:
In Wroclaw, Wrocław County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, Rabbi Dr. Max
Salzberger, the Montevideo born “son of Rabbi Dr. Moritz Salzberger and Anna
Salzberger” and his wife Frieda Salzberger gave birth to future Ben Shemen
resident Josef Ernst Gavish.
1914: In New York City, Daniel and Dora
(Press) Salk gave birth to the first son, Dr. Jonas Edward Salk, the American
medical researcher who developed the first vaccine against polio. In one of those ironic twists of fate, both
the first and the second polio vaccines were developed by Jewish Doctors.
1914:
“Governor Names Mercy Committee” published today provided a list of those named
by Martin Glyn to take the lead in providing aid to those who have been made
destitute by the war including Adolph S. Ochs, Samuel Lewisohn and Oscar S.
Straus.
1914:
Ileana Schapira, the daughter of Mihail Schapira, a prominent Jewish
industrialist was born in Bucharest, Romania.
As Ileana Sonnabend, she became a legendary gallery owner who had an eye
for the art that nobody else wanted. She
died in 2007 at the age of 92.
1914:
In New York City, with Governor Martin Glynn at his side Jacob H. Schiff
delivered a speech at the National Theatre in support of the Governor’s
re-election
1914:
In New York, Mayor Mitchell expressed his displeasure with the recommendation
that Charities Department should be placed under a board whose members would be
nominated by the Jewish, Protestant and Catholic charitable institutions that
receive some $5,000,000 from the city through this very department.
1915:
“Dr. De Sola Pool, rabbi of the Portuguese Synagogue” addressed “a gathering of
students of the Menorah Society” today where he “described the conditions of
the Jews in Palestine as affected by the European war.”
1915:
Henry M. Toch presided over tonight’s dinner at the Ritz-Carlton given by the
Directors of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association in honor of Felix M. Warburg
who is beginning his 8th year as president of the organization.
1916:
In the Bronx, Louis and Libby Galenson gave birth to Dr. Eleanor Galenson, “a
psychoanalyst whose research demonstrated that children are aware of sexual
identity in infancy, even earlier than Freud had propounded…” (As reported by
Dennis Hevesi)
1916(1st
of Cheshvan, 5677): Parshat Noach; Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
1916:
In Washington, attorney Simon Wolf, the friend of several Presidents beginning
with Lincoln and a President B’nai B’rith celebrated his 80th
birthday today which “was made occasion of a notable demonstration and scores
of friends in all parts of the country, united in doing him honor” including
“Terence Vince Powderly of the United States Immigration Service” who wrote a
special poem to mark the moment.
1916:
Mrs. Samuel Elkeles the President of the National Jewish women’s organization
for war relief said “that enthusiasm had been awakened wherever the appeals the
committee had gone” as could be seen by the $200 hundred dollars Mrs. J. I.
Peyser of Washington, D.C. had sent to the offices in New York.
1916:
A letter was written today from a soldier at Camp Wilson, Texas serving with
Battery “F” of the Field Artillery asking for help from Simon Wolf so he could
be furloughed to the Reserves. When he
enlisted in 1913, he said that nobody was look to him for “support” but now he
has found out about the desperate condition of his family in Kalios, Russia and
he needs to be able to send them money.
1916:
In his sermon today at Temple Rodolph Sholem at Lexington and 63rd,
Rabbi Rudolph Grossman severely criticized “the resolution urging the
conversion of Jews to the Christian faith as adopted by last week by the
Episcopal General Convention at St. Louis.
1917:
During the New York City Mayoral election in which Morris Hillquit was a
candidate, the New York Times
published a “sarcastically title” article “Rich Mr. Hillquit, Poor Man’s
Candidate” “tried to play up ‘the capitalistic corporation lawyer living in
luxury’; point out that the rent for Hillquit’s apartment was two thousand
dollars a year; that he owned a big seven passenger automobile.”
1917:
A National Special Assembly of the Jews of the United States which had been
called for by Felix M. Warburg, Chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee,
is scheduled to be held in New York today “for the purposed of devising means
to reach the $10,000,000 goal for Jewish war relief set for 1917.”
1917:
It was reported today that in those part of Russia which are now under the
control of the German Army “Jews are fined or arrested for forgetting to bow to
German officers or not getting out of their way on the pavements,” are not
allowed to walk on the pavement “when they see a German officer on it,” and are
“abducted for forced State labor” and “to assist officers in hunting or in
other pleasures and games.”
1917:
It was reported today that the Jewish Board for Welfare Work in the United
States of Army of which Colonel Harry Cutler of Providence is the Chairman has
issued an appeal to the Jews of United States “to raise a fund of $1,000,000
within the next few weeks to be used in the welfare work among the soldiers,
both at home and abroad.”
1917:
It was reported today that there are more than fifty thousand Jews serving in
the U.S. Army with Jews making up 40% of the men at Camp Upton, 16% of the mean
at Camp Meade and 7% of the mean at Camp Dix.
1917:
Nearly one thousand Jews representing their co-religionist throughout the
United States met at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue where, among other
things they adopted “a resolution whereby a committee of ten prominent Jews was
appointed to urge President Wilson to extend the work of the Belgian Relief
Commission to Poland, Lithuania and similar war stricken countries.”
1918:
Rabbi Hyman Gerson Enelow who was touring the Western Front as a member of the
Overseas Commission of the Jewish Welfare Board wrote today that “it is a real
privilege to move about among the men.
“They are all glad to see me” because “it means to them that they are
not forgotten by the Jewish community and that they get a chance to talk over
their difficulties nand problems.
1918(22nd
of Cheshvan, 5679): During the Post-World War Influenza Pandemic, fifty-nine
year old Leopold S. Kahn, the “dwarf performer known as Admiral Dot when he was
with P.T. Barnum, passed away. Before he would marry Lottie Naomi Swartwood, a
fellow performer, she had to convert to Judaism so that they marriage could be
performed by a rabbi.
1918(22nd
of Cheshvan, 5679): Twenty-four-year-old Sol Henry Miller passed away today in
Denver after which he was buried at Mt. Nebo Memorial Park in Aurora, CO.
1918: Czechoslovakia gains its independence. There
were almost four hundred thousand Jews living in the part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire that became Czechoslovakia. This meant Jews were about 2.5% of the new
republics population. The Jewish
population in that part of Czechoslovakia known as Bohemia traced its roots
back to the tenth century. Most of the
Jews of the Central European nation would perish in the Holocaust.
1919:
The Congress voted to override President Wilson’s of the Volstead Act, the law
which would give the United States “Prohibition.” One of the families to profit from this was
the Bronfmans, the Canadian liquor barons.
1919:
In Philadelphia, for the second day in a row, the Public Ledger published “excerpts from the first English language
translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
1920:
Fifteen days after address the World Brotherhood Congress in Washington where
“he urgedthe organization to go on record as protesting against ‘the outrages
and inhumanities being practiced on Jews in other countries, Simon Wolf
celebrated his 84th birthday.
1920:
In Akron, OH, nursing assistant Lillian Rabinowitz and plumber Albert Kessler
gave birth to Leonard Cecil Kessler “the author and illustrator of hundreds of
children’s books for early readers that celebrated the ordinary (“I Have Twenty
Teeth — Do You?”) and the not-so-ordinary (“Mr. Pine’s Purple House”) (As
reported by Penelope Green)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/books/leonard-kessler-dead.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Obituaries
1921:
Birthdate of old Vilnus native Rachel Margolis, the WW II partisan, turned
biology professor and Holocaust preservationist.
http://sites.keene.edu/cohencenter/rachel-margolis-lithuanian-partisan-and-survivor/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/women-of-courage-rachel-margolis-2236081.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/women-of-courage-rachel-margolis-2236081.html
1921:
The Washington Hebrew Congregation is scheduled to host “a special service” in
honor of the 85th birthday of Simon Wolf.”
1921:
Birthdate of Frederick Mayer, the native of Freiburg and son of a recipient of
the Iron Cross who enlisted in the U.S. Army the day after Pearl Harbor was
attacked and parachuted back into Germany as an agent for the O.S.S. (As
reported by Eric Lichtblau)
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/world/europe/frederick-mayer-jew-who-spied-on-nazis-after-fleeing-germany-dies-at-94.html?hpw=undefined&rref=obituaries&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0
1921:
The Tuschinski Theatre, the “crowning achievement” in the career of Dutch
businessman Abraham Icek Tuschinski “opened its doors in Amsterdam today.”
1922: Birthdate of Gershon Kingsley a Jewish
German-American composer, most famous for composing the early electronic pop
song Popcorn. He led the First Moog Quartet and was the first person to use the
Moog synthesizer in live performance.
1922:
March on Rome Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and take
over the Italian government with the assistance of the Catholic Church; pope
Pius XI declares that "Mussolini is a man sent by divine providence."
According to Michele Sarfatti’s new book, The Jews in Mussolini’s Italy as
reviewed in The Forwards Jews were so
well integrated into Italian society that by 1922 when Mussolini took power,
they were in every branch of government, including the military, and were
represented all across the political spectrum. There were Jews who at first
adhered enthusiastically to Mussolini’s program, others were among the first to
organize antifascist activities, as well as many who hoped to remain neutral.
The range of activities of Italian Jews extended from academics and
professionals all the way to shop keepers and panhandlers. What emerges is a
heterogeneous population that professed varying degrees of religious identity
and many different levels of assimilation. But anti-Semitic sentiment in Italy,
as Sarfatti shows, can be traced far back. As he argues, the leftovers of the
medieval Catholic anti-Judaism provided fertile grounds for anti-Jewish
nationalism, which in turn fed Fascist anti-Semitism. In 1934, Benito Mussolini
famously declared that “there has never been anti-Semitism in Italy.” A mere
four years later, after abandoning his Jewish mistress of 27 years, he passed
his infamous racial laws. The rise of an anti-Semitic ideology escalated with
Italy’s colonial war in Abyssinia of 1935. The Fascists first developed the
concept of “Difesa della razza” (“defense of the race”) in dominating the black
population of the African colony. At this early stage, this doctrine had
parallels only in Nazi Germany and was completely absent in the rhetoric of
Fascist movements, from Spain to Hungry, Romania and Poland. Based on newly
discovered documents and an abundance of statistical data, the book
demonstrates that, contrary to popular belief, Mussolini’s policies toward the
Jews were independently conceived and implemented, and not — as some have
argued — a late concession to Hitler’s war against the Jews. Despite Il Duce’s
alliance with Hitler, “only” about 7,000 Italian Jews (16.3% of the Jewish
population) died in Nazi death camps. Moreover, documented instances of
Italians risking their lives to save Jews abound—a fact that reinforced the
perception of Italians as “brava gente” (“good people,” the kind who helped
preserve Jewish lives). Sarfatti maintains that the seeds of anti-Semitism were
present in the Fascist regime since its inception, though anti-Semitism was not
yet official policy. With a multitude of documented examples, the book follows
the anti-Semitic crescendo in both official political discourse and practice.
As early as 1934, the office of the Interior Ministry pressed for the
replacement of Ferrara’s mayor: “It has been brought to our attention that the
local citizenry feels displeasure to have a mayor of the Israelite religion at
the head of the city’s administration. Therefore, it is desirable that he be
replaced with a Catholic mayor.” In 1938, the Italian dictator passed and
enforced the racial laws, in many respects even more restrictive than
anti-Jewish legislation in Nazi Germany, and Italy became an officially
anti-Semitic country. Sarfatti stresses that Mussolini was never pressured by
Hitler regarding racial policies. Italians on the whole did not protest the
laws until their lethal consequences became clear. By 1943, the Fascists began
confiscating Jewish property and rounding up Jews for deportation, and abruptly
many of those who had not protested against anti-Jewish laws rushed to save
Jews.
1922:
Edison Brothers Stores, Inc, got its start today “when brothers Sam, Harry,
Mark, Irving, and Simon Edison—most of whom had previous experience in the shoe
business working for others—opened their first shoe store, Chandler's, in
Atlanta, Georgia.”
1923:
In Lawrence, Massachusetts, Samuel Joseph Bernstein the son of “Dina and Judah
Bernstein” and his wife Jennie Charna Bernstein gave birth to Shirley Anne
Bernstein, the younger sister of “music man” Leonard Bernstein.
1923:
Birthdate of David Aronson a native of Lithuania who became “a leading Boston
Expressionist.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/top-expressionist-the-rebel-son-of-a-rabbi-dies-at-91/
http://www.puckergallery.com/artists/aronson/aronson_publications.html
https://news.artnet.com/people/painter-david-aronson-dies-at-91-315171
1924: Statements by Jewish citizens, including Louis
Marshall, Herbert H. Lehman, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, Morris Hillquit, S.C.
Lamport and Nathan Straus Jr in which they gave their view on the election were
made public today.
1925: Hungarian trained rabbi
Alexander Sandor Wiesel, the University of Alabama alum and the son of Sally
Moses and Benny Wiesel who served as the rabbi for Agudath Israel in
Montgomery, AL before moving on to Agudath Achim in Shreveport, LA where
he was an activist Zionist married Mary Botko today in Montgomery, AL.
1926:
In Los Angeles, 25 year old May Weiss, the New York born daughter of Regina and
Frederick Margareten and her husband Morris Weiss gave birth to Richard Allan
Weiss.
1927:
“Fabulous Lola” a silent comedy with music by Artur Guttmann was released by
Parufamet in Germany today.
1927:
It was reported today that Henri Torres, the defender of Sholom Schwartzbard
has been invited to United States “to address a meeting to be arranged by the
American Jewish Congress.”
1928:
“According to an announcement made the American Advisory Committee led by
Chairman Felix Warburg, Emanuel Hertz of New York City “have given steel book
sections to house from 12,000 to 14,000 books at the Hebrew University in Palestine
which includes “the original manuscript of Professor Alberts Einstein’s ‘Theory
of Relativity’” and “a collection of books and brochures on the Dreyfus case
presented by Professor David Simonsen of Copenhagen,:
1928(14th
of Cheshvan, 5689): “Theodore Rieanch, famous French Jewish lawyer, historian
and archaeologist, one of the foremost authorities on comparative religion and
Hellenic literature” died at today in Paris at the age of 68. “He was a brother
of Solomon Reinach, President of the Alliance Israelite Universelle. Among his
many literary works were “a history of the Jews from the Dispersion to our
times,” Short History of Christianity and a French translation of the
works of the Josephus, the Jewish first century Jewish historian.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F40D1FFD3958127A93C2AA178BD95F4C8285F9
1929: “The Palestine
Emergency Fund” grew “to $2,003,648.49 with the receipt of additional
contribution over the week-end, Chairman David A. Brown announced today and “he
said that the Jews of New York City had contributed $698,388.20.”
1930: “Calling the
recent British action relative to the Jews in Palestine ‘a breach of honor and
good faith,’ to the United States Government, delegates at the annual
convention of Mizrachi meeting in Baltimore tonight “adopted a resolution
appeal to President Hoover to take cognizance of the situation and express his
opinion on it.”
1931: In New York, Morris
Mendelsohn, “a salesman for a company that imported candy from Europe” and his mother
the former May Albert gave birth to “Everett I. Mendelsohn, a Harvard professor
who as a scholar of the history of science explored how science’s evolution has
been influenced by historical and cultural trends and vice versa…” (As reported
by Neil Genzlinger)
https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/people/everett-mendelsohn
1931: Sixty-nine year old George Washington
Ochs-Oaks the son of Bertha and Julius Ochs a member of the Ochs family of New
York Times whose varied career included serving as newspaper reporter, a member
of the New York National Guard during WW I and Mayor of Chattanooga, TN is
scheduled to be buried today “in Mount Sinai Cemetery at Frankford, PA beside
his wife who died 18 years ago” following services at Temple Emanu-El in New
York City.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/10/27/98065235.html?pageNumber=25
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=22878
1932:
“Lord Camber’s Ladies” a British murder mystery directed by Benn W. Levy who
co-authored the screenplay was released today.
1932:
“Mental illnesses of a serious nature ae often caused by deformities, Dr.
Jacques W. Maliniak, president of the Society of Plastic and Reconstructive
Surgery, said” tonight “in opening the society’s first annual session at the
New York Academy of Medicine.”
1933(8th
of Cheshvan, 5694): Parashat Lech Lecha
1933(8th
of Cheshvan, 5694): Seventy-eight-year-old “builder, real estate operator and
Democratic leader of the Seventh Ward Morris Levy, the husband of “the former
Annie Rothschild” with whom he had “five daughters and four sons” who was a
member of the Daughters of Israel and the Daughters of Jacob passed away in New
York.
1933:
Ohio State University led by Team Captain Sid Gillman defeated Northwestern in
Columbus Ohio today.
1933:
“The Kennel Murder Case” directed by Michael Curtiz was released in the United
States today by Warner Bros.
1934:
“The decline of public interest in Sir Oswald Mosley was demonstrated tonight
when the leader of the British Fascists addressed a crowd of 6,000 in the vast
Albert Hall.
1934:
Racial
and religious considerations should play no part in the coming elections. Rabbi
Louis I. Newman said yesterday morning at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, 7 West
Eighty-third Street.
1935:
“The necessity for all synagogues to act together was emphasized by four
speakers” – Charles P. Kramer, Harry N. Wessel, Rabbi Samuel Shulman and Rabbi
Gustav F. Falk – “tonight at the semi-annual meeting of the Greater New York
committee of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations” at Temple Emanu-El.”
1936(12th
of Cheshvan, 5697): Ninety-year old Moses Hirsch Landau, the father of Jacob
Landau, the founder and managing director of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,
passed away today in New York. (As reported by JTA)
1936(12th
of Cheshvan. 5697): Seventy-one-year-old Hattie Kahn Carb, the Washington, DC
born daughter of Solomon and Anna Madeline Graff Kahn and the widow of “real
estate pioneer” Isadore Carb and a
member of Temple Beth-El passed away today in Fort Worth after which she was
interred in the Hebrew Rest Cemetery.
1936:
“The third annual Night of the Stars benefit presentation to raise funds for
Jewish emergency needs abroad was held in Madison Square Garden tonight” and
according to Chairman Harold Jacob had raised $75,000.
1936
It was reported today that Rabbi Leo M. Franklin of Detroit protested the
appeal by Joseph Lewis an Alabama born Jew who became head of the Freethinkers
Association to denounce Yom Kippur as “the most degrading and humiliating day
in all the superstitious annals of religion.”
1937,
The Palestine Post reported that some
50,000 out of the 400,000 trees in the Balfour Forest were burnt by Arab
arsonists who used cotton-waste bombs, soaked in paraffin. From a historic point of view, this was no
mere act of arson. By the end of the 19th
centuries vast swaths of Eretz Israel were treeless waste or swamps. The JNF made reforestation a major part of
its plan. In burning these trees, the
terrorists were not just starting a forest fire. They were showing a determination to reject
improvement and modernization.
1937: The
Palestine Post reported that the two chief rabbis, Dr. Isaac Herzog and
Rabbi Jacob Meir, issued a manifesto asking for a national moderation and
discipline on the part of Jews in responding to the intensified Arab terror
campaign. The manifesto was issued in
response to reports of Jews attacking Arabs during this attempted “reign of
terror.”
1937:
As Arab violence continued, 12 shots were fired a police patrol car in Lydda
shattering the windshield wounding three Arab policemen.
1938:
“Suez,” a biopic about the building of the canal featuring J. Edward Bromberg,
Joseph Schildkraut, and Maurice Moscovitch was released in the United States
today by 20th Century Fox.
1938: Germany
expels “some 18,000” Jews with Polish citizenship to the Polish border. Poles
refuse to admit them; Germans refuse to allow them back into Germany. Seventeen
thousand are stranded in the frontier town of Zbaszyn, Poland.
1938:
“All male Polish Jews living in Karlsruhe were deported to Poland.”
1938:
Today, “during the so-called Polish Intervention” sixty year old Bernhard
Maissner (also known as Bejrich Bernhard Majzner), the husband of Regina Rivka
Richter, was deported to Bentschen, in Poland which was the first step on the
trip to his murder at Treblinka
1938:
Birthdate of Aharon Abuhatzira the native of Morocco who moved to Israel in
1949 where he pursued a career in politics that included serving in the Knesset
and as Mayor of Ramla.
1939(15th
of Cheshvan, 5700): Parashat Vayera
1939:
“Palestine and the United States were put nearly on a par as countries
receiving refugees from Greater Germany since the Nazi persecutions began in
1933, in estimates made public by Sir Herbert Emerson, the director of the
Intergovernmental committee on Political Refugees.”
1940:
Birthdate of television writer and producer Susan Harris (née Spivak) who
created a raft of sitcoms the most famous of which may be “Golden Girls.”
http://www.museum.tv/eotv/harrissusan.htm
1940:
Mussolini’s Italian army cross Albania and invades Greece. The Greek army
included 12,000 Greek Jews which fought fiercely and stopped the Italian
advance. Between 510 and 615 Greek Jewish soldiers from Salonica were killed.
1940:
Following the German occupation of France, the Vichy regime no longer offered a
safe haven to Jeanne Mandello the German Jewish photographer living in Paris
and her husband Arno Grünebaum.
1940: German
occupiers in Belgium pass anti-Semitic legislation.
1941:
Today, Warrant Officer Jozef Gabčík (Slovak) and Staff Sergeant Karel Svoboda
(Czech) were chosen to carry out the British operation code-named Anthropoid
aimed at the “assassination of Schutzstaffel (SS)-Obergruppenführer and General
der Polizei Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich
Main Security Office, RSHA), the combined security services of Nazi Germany,
and acting Reichsprotektor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.”
1941:
The Land Is Bright dramatic play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber opened on
Broadway at the Music Box Theater today.
1941: In
Kovno, Lithuania, 27,000 Jews who were assembled in Democracy Square must pass
before an SS officer named Rauca, who signals life or death for each. 9200 of
the Jews - 4300 of them children - are sent to their deaths at pits at the
nearby Ninth Fort. (Friedlander, in The Years of Extermination puts the number
at 10,000)
1941(7th
of Cheshvan, 5702): Lithuanian born Yiddish poet Yehudis Glaz-Shteyn died today
in the Kovno Ghetto.
http://yleksikon.blogspot.com/2015/08/yehudis-glaz-shteyn.html
1941:
Eichmann noted "in view of the approaching final solution of the European
Jewry problem, one has to prevent the immigration of Jews into the unoccupied
area of France."
1942:
Two thousand elderly and sick Jews were deported from Plonsk to Auschwitz.
Three more transports, each carrying 2,000 Jews, left from Plonsk for Auschwitz
in the next six weeks
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/this_month/october/15.asp
1942: Jewish Warsaw Ghetto
leaders ask Jan Karski, a Polish Catholic working for the underground, to tell
the Polish and Allied governments: "We are helpless in the face of the
German criminals....The Germans are not trying to enslave us as they have other
people; we are being systematically murdered....Our entire people will be
destroyed...."
1942: The SS issues a secret
directive that mittens and stockings confiscated from Jewish children at death
camps be gathered and sent to SS families.
1942: The Nazis deported 2,000
children and 6,000 adults from Cracow for shipment to Belzec.
1942:
SS directive orders all children's mittens and stockings to be sent from the
death camps to the SS families.
1942: Sixteen thousand Jews are murdered at
Pinsk, Poland.
1942: Mieczyslaw
Gruber, a Jewish former soldier in the Polish Army, escapes with 17 others from
a Nazi POW camp on Lipowa Street in Lublin. The group will later establish a
partisan group in the forest northwest of the city.
1943: “More than 1,200
friends and admirers of Ben Bernie, orchestra leader and radio favorite”
attended the funeral of “the Old Maestro” at Temple Rodeph Sholom where Rabbi
Louis I. Newman “who conducted the service praised Bernie for his “generosity
and selfness” after which he recited “When I Am Dead” written by Chaim Nachman
Bialik.
http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poem/item/3343/auto/AFTER-MY-DEATH
1944: Thirty-nine-year-old
Czech journalist Josef Taussig “was transported today with his parents one
other relative to Auschwitz on the last train from Theresienstadt.”
1944: Thirty-four-year-old
German author H.G. Adler “was deported to Niederoschel, a subdivision of
Buchenwald” two weeks after his wife who was a doctor and his mother-in-law
were gassed at Auschwitz.
1944: “Hippopotamus:
Profile of a Great Custodian” by Nathan Ausubel published today described as
“the true story” of the late Abraham Solomon Freidus, “the man who built up the
Jewish Room of the New York Public Library” was published in today’s Morning
Freiheit Magazine Section.
1944: The last transport train from Theresienstadt
arrived at Birkenau with 2,038 Jews. Of them 1,589 would find their fates in
the gas chambers. Also 164 Jews from Bolzano arrived at the same time and 137
of them would be gassed immediately.
1944(11th of Cheshvan, 5705): A train from
Bolzano, Italy, reaches Auschwitz with 301 prisoners. Of these, 137 are
immediately gassed.
1944(11th
of Cheshvan, 5705): Forty-seven-year-old actor and director Kurt Gerron was
gassed today along with his wife upon their arrival at Auschwitz.
1944:
Hannah Senesh, a member of the British Army was tried for treason in Budapest
today by her Facist captors in direct violation of the Geneva Convention.
1944: Birthdate of actor Dennis Franz, known best
for his role as Detective Sipowicz on
NYPD Blues.
1945: Birthdate of Sandy Berger, National Security
Advisor to President Clinton
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/06/us/a-trusted-adviser-and-a-friend-samuel-richard-berger.html?searchResultPosition=2
1945:
With only eight days left before voters go to the polls to elect the Mayor of
New York, Judge Goldstein, the Republican-Liberal-Fusion nominee trails the
favored candidate, William F. O’Dwyer. Goldstein had been a lifelong Democrat
and according to some, his candidacy was based on the belief that he could draw
Jewish votes away from O’Dwyer, the Democrat Party candidate and thus improve
the chances of the third candidate, Newbold Morris. (Hey it can’t all be Talmud
and Torah)
1946:
More than two thirds of the 300,000 eligible voters participated in today’s
election in Palestine for the 79 delegates to the 22nd World Zionist
Congress scheduled to open on December 9 in Basle, Switzerland.
1947:
English solicitor Sir David Napley and his wife the former Leah Rose Saturley
gave birth to their second daughter Penelope Susan
1947:
During an interview in New York, Moshe Pomrok, a member of the Palestine
Maritime League, described the steps taken to establish a maritime industry in
Palestine in the eleven years since the Arabs closed the harbor of Jaffa as
part of their “down to the sea” movement.
Accomplishments have included the building of a harbor at Tel Aviv,
establishment of a maritime training school at Haifa, and attempts to develop
interest among Jewish youth in being part of the fishing industry. The league is now trying to gain support for
a New York to Haifa shipping line based on a potential annual booking of 50,000
to 80,000 passenger a year plus a large import trade
1947:
Dalton Trumbo, who wrote the screenplay for “Exodus” was held in contempt by
the HUAC
1948:
Dr. David De Sola Pool, the rabbi at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue and
Dr. Louis Finkelstein, the President of JTS will officiate at the funeral for
Rabbi Judah Magnes
1948:
In the evening, Operation Hiram, which was designed to secure the Upper Galilee
began. Named after the biblical King
Hiram of Tyre, the goal was to secure the Upper Galilee as far as the northern
boundary of the Palestine Mandate. The IDF is facing a Palestinian military force
that does not consider itself bound UN Truce Agreements as well as regular Arab
troops including units of the Syrian Army. The sixty hour operation was successful in securing part of Israel’s
border
1948: Israeli forces clear the Egyptians from the
Mediterranean coastal plain to an area south of Yad Mordechai.
1948: In the aftermath of the Kfat Etzion Massacre,
the IDF 89th Commando Battalion conquered the village of al-Dawayyim
which was supposed to the home of those responsible for the massacre of the
Jews.
1948: Following their failed attempt to destroy the
state of Israel, Egyptian forces retreated “southward from the Israeli city of
Ashdod.”
1948:
The flag of Israel was adopted by the government, five months after the
country’s establishment. However, the flag, which depicts a blue Star of David
on a white background between two horizontal blue stripes, first appeared some
50 years before becoming a national symbol.,At the core of the flag is the Star
of David, which can be traced back to the medieval era where it was used for
decorations, ornaments and protective amulets. Not until the 17th century did
the hexagram begin to represent the Jewish community as a whole. In fact, the
Jewish quarter of Vienna was formally distinguished from the rest of the city
by a boundary stone having the Star of David on one side and the Christian
cross on the other.,In the 18th century, the Star of David represented the
Jewish people in both religious and political contexts. It was only a century
later that it became an international symbol when in 1891, the Zionist Movement
used the Star of David to create a flag almost identical to the one we are
familiar with today. During the first Zionist congress in 1897, which discussed
the establishment a homeland for Jews in Palestine, several flags were
considered to represent the Jewish people internationally. One of them was
Theodor Herzl’s design which had seven gold stars and represented the 7-hour
work quota. Another design was put forward by Morris Harris, a member of the
Zionist group Hovevei Zion, who used his awning shop to design a suitable
banner and decorations for the reception. His mother Lena Harris sewed the
flag. It was made with two blue stripes and a large blue Star of David in the
center. Ultimately, Herzl’s design failed to garner support and the latter was
adopted instead as the official Zionist flag during the second international
Zionist congress in 1898. Regarding the design of the flag, at the time, the
Star of David seemed to be the obvious choice. However, the blue stripes were
inspired by those of the Talit, the Jewish prayer shawl. Some controversy has
surrounded the meaning of these stripes with certain people arguing that they
secretly represent the Nile and the Euphrates rivers, the borders of the
Promised Land as described in the Bible. However, all relevant sources indicate
that the Talit was the sole inspiration behind the “stripes.” In a turn of
events, the flag with the symbol that was once used to identify Jews during the
Nazi era at its core, has recently become the largest national symbol in the
world. In 2007, a flag measuring 660 by
100 meters and weighing 5.2 tons, was unfurled near the ancient Jewish fortress
of Masada, breaking the world record for the largest flag. (As reported by
Daniel Bensadolin)
1949(5th
of Cheshvan, 5710): Sixty-two-year-old Lithuanian born Rabbi Adolph Coblenz,
who served Chizuk Amuno Congregation in Baltimore from 1920 to 1947 passed away
today.
1949(5th
of Cheshvan, 5710): Fifty-seven-year-old Herman “Kay” Kamen born Herman Samuel
Kominetzky to Russian-Jewish parents in Baltimore who introduced the first-ever Mickey Mouse
watch and who during his seventeen association with The Walt Disney Company
created a Mickey Mouse advertising bonanza “died in plane crash over Spain”
today.
https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/kay-kamen/
1950:
The Jack Benny Show starring Jack Benny aired for the first time on
television. The show ran for 15 years
which is an exceptionally long run in the world of television. Thus, the Jewish comedian Jack Benny proved
to be a star in all entertainment medium – radio, film and television.
1950:
After 13 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre, the curtain came down on
“Burning Bright,” produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein
1950:
Three years after its original release, “The Sin of Harold Diddlebock,” a
comedy featuring Lionel Stander and Julius Tannen was re-released in the United
States today.
1951:
Franz Bilbo is scheduled to serve as the conductor at the “concert in tribute
to Leopold Prince who died on August 17” given by the City Amateur Symphony
Orchestra at the Museum of Natural History in New York City.
1951:
Fifty-nine-year-old actress Mady Christians, who had left her native Germany
because of the rise the Nazis and the treatment of the Jews and ended up being
one of the few non-Jews to be Blacklisted, in part for her friendship with such
people as Lillian Hellman, passed away today.
1952:
The Jerusalem Post reported that John
Blandford of UNRWA admitted that 881,600 Palestine refugees were eating out of
the relief money planned for development and there was little progress in
resettlement. The US, Britain, France and Turkey asked the UN for additional
funds to be added to the sums already allocated. The Arab states worked
diligently to create the “Arab Refugee” problem. While Israel was busy absorbing refugees from
all over the world (including Arab states), the Arabs kept the brethren penned
up in camps in Gaza and other border areas.
1952:
The Jerusalem Post reported that a
well with a capacity of 88,800 gallons of water per hour was discovered near
Beersheba. This is the same Beersheba where wells were dug in Biblical
times. The discovery of an additional
water source in the Negev was big news.
1953:
Anna Malin conveyed title to the Temple Israel property in Leadville, CO, to
Steve J. and Anna Malin
1953:
“Fritz Mahler conducted his first concert with the Hartford Symphony in a
program that featured the Boston Symphony’s principal cellist, Samuel Mayes,
premiering Kabalevsky’s Concerto for Cello.”
1954:
“Justice Douglas Compares Israel and U.S. Immigrant Absorption” published today
described a speech in which the Supreme Court Justice “linked Israel’s problem in absorbing
immigrants from many lands with the traditional “melting pot” role of the
United States in assimilating people of many races and cultures.” (As reported
by JTA)
1954:
“The Rainmaker” a play by N. Richard Nash (born Nathan Richard Nusbaum) opened
on Broadway at the Cort Theatre.
1954:
“Carmen Jones” the film version of the 1943 stage production directed and
produced by Otto Preminger and based on a libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II was
released today in the United States.
1955:
“After a border incident with Egypt around the Auja al-Hafir demilitarized
zone, Golani was tasked with leading Operation Volcano, an attack on the
Egyptian army in the area and the largest military operation at the time since
the 1948 war”
1955:
In response to a raid by Egyptian forces on “a small Israeli outpost at
Be’erotayim” two-hundred paratroopers commanded by Ariel Sharon attacked the
Kuntilla outpost.
1956:
The curtain came down an Off-Broadway production of a Kurt Weill musical
“Johnny Johnson” directed by Stella Adler.
1956:
Having won their opening game in September, Sid Gillman’s Los Angeles Rams lost
for the fourth straight week, this time against the Detroit Lions.
1956:
The University of Miami Orchestra performed “New England Triptych” a
symphonic composition by William Schuman for the first time.
1956:
Having exhausted all other options, the Israeli Cabinet agrees that IDF forces
will cross the Egyptian border and attack in the Sinai Peninsula.
1956:
Units of the 202nd Paratroopers Brigade moved “in a long column to
the Israeli-Egyptian border.”
1957(3rd of Cheshvan, 5718): Ernst Gräfenberg a
German-born physician and scientist who is known for developing the
intrauterine device (IUD), and for his studies of the role of the woman's
urethra in orgasm, passed away today in New York City. Born in 1881 at Adelebsen, Germany, he
studied medicine at Göttingen and Munich. “He began working as a doctor of
ophthalmology at the university of Würzburg, but then moved to the Department
of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Kiel, where he published
papers on cancer metastasis (the "Gräfenberg theory"), and the
physiology of egg implantation. In 1910 Gräfenberg worked as a gynaecologist in
Berlin, and by 1920 was most successful, with an office on the Kurfurstendamm.
He was chief gynecologist of a municipal hospital in Britz, a working class
Berlin district, and was beginning scientific studies of the physiology of
human reproduction at Berlin University.
During the First World War, he was a medical
officer, and continued publishing papers, mostly on human female physiology. In
1929 he published his studies of the "Gräfenberg ring", the first IUD
for which there are usage records. When Nazism assumed power in Germany,
Gräfenberg, a Jew, was forced in 1933 to resign as head of the department of
gynecology and obstetrics in the Berlin-Britz municipal hospital. In 1934, Hans
Lehfeldt attempted to persuade him to leave Nazi Germany; he refused, believing
that since his practice included wives of high Nazi officials, he would be
safe. He was wrong, and was arrested in 1937 for having smuggled out a valuable
stamp from Germany. Margaret Sanger ransomed him from Nazi prison, and he was
finally allowed to leave in 1940, whereupon he went to the US and opened a
practice in New York City.
1958:
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli becomes Pope and takes the name Pope John XXIII. John
XXIII had worked to save Jews during the Holocaust. As Pope he worked to improve relations with
the Jewish People.
1958(14th
of Cheshvan, 5719): Eighty-eight year old Judah Jacobson, the son of Sarah Leah
Jacobson and Abraham Moses Jacobson, and the husband of Sarah Rose Jacobson
with whom he had six children passed away today in North Babylon, NY after
which he was buried in Farmingdale, NY.
1958: Edgar
D'Arcy McGreer completed his service as Canada’s Ambassador to Israel.
1959:
Funeral services are scheduled to be held to at “The Riverside” for Arthur
Stern, the Controller of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York and the
husband Charlotte Stern.
1959:
“Samuel Engel Elected President of Brandeis Institute of California” published
today described the elevation of the famed 20th Century Fox movies
producer to leadership position of this educational facility located on a 2,000
acre campus near Los Angeles under the direction of Dr. Shlomo Bardin.(JTA)
1961:
After 795 performances on Broadway the curtain came down on “Fiorello!” the
Pulitzer Prize musical with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, music by Jerry Bock and
a book co-authored by Jerome Weidman.
1962:
Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich got married today “and shortly afterwards
decided to write songs exclusively with each other — a decision that
disappointed Barry's main writing partner, Artie Resnick.”
1964:
Over 10,000 people attend a rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden, the
earliest large scale public demonstration for Soviet Jews.
1965:
In Chicago, Sharyn and Walter Gertz gave birth to Jami Gertz, the sister of
Michael and Scott Gertz, who was raised in Glenview and plays Muff on Square Pegs.
1965:
Nostra Aetate, the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church with
Non-Christian Religions" of the Second Vatican Council, was promulgated by
Pope Paul VI; it absolves the Jews of the alleged killing of Jesus, reversing
Innocent III ’s declaration from
760 years ago. In short, Pope Paul VI announces that ecumenical council has
decided that Jews are not collectively responsible for the killing of Christ.
1967:
Noel Harrison’s recording Leon Cohen’s “Suzzane” “entered the Billboard Hot 100
chart at number 86” today.
1968(6th
of Cheshvan, 5729): Eighty-nine-year-old Fanny Pearlstine, the South Carolina
born daughter of Amelia and Alfred Abraham Strauss, the wife of Thomas Louis
Pearlstine passed away today in Charleston.
1969(16th
of Cheshvan, 5730): Sixty-two-year-old Esther Helmann Lazar, the San Francisco
born daughter of Florence and Sidney Meyer Ehrman and the wife of Claude Lazard
passed away today in Oakland, CA after which she was interred at the Home of
Peace in Colma, CA.
1970(28th
of Tishrei, 5731): Fifty-nine-old-year St. Joseph, MO native and Yale alum
Samuel Block who moved to Chicago in 1936 after graduating from Harvard Law,
joined the firm known as Jenner and Block developed an expertise in anti-trust
and securities litigation passed away today.
1970:
“The Twelve Chairs” a comedy directed and written by Mel Brooks was released in
the United States today.
1972(20th
of Cheshvan, 5733): Parashat Vayera
1972(20th
of Cheshvan, 5733): Russian born, American chemist and engineer Isaac Bencowtiz
who served in the in the Infantry during WW II and became one of the “Monuments
Men” in 1946 passed away today.
https://www.monumentsmenfoundation.org/the-heroes/the-monuments-men/bencowitz-capt.-isaac
1972:
In St. Paul, MN, Marvin Levine, a CPA and Harriet Levine, a high school
guidance counselor gave birth to Anthony Michael “Tony” Levine, a three-year
starter for Minnesota at wide receiver and member of the Minnesota Fighting
Pike in the Arena Football who went on to pursue a career in coaching that
included 4 seasons as the head coach at the University of Houston.
1972(20th
of Cheshvan, 5733): Seventy-two-year-old Reuben I. Isaacson, “the retired
president of the Donmoor Knitwear Company” and “chairman of the board of the
Jewish Reconstructionist College in Philadelphia who was the husband of “the
former Lillian Schnur” and the father of Naomi Becket and Judith Jupiter passed
away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/29/archives/reuben-i-isaacson.html
1972(20th
of Cheshvan, 5733): Sixty-five-year-old Sidney I. Cole, the founder of
Industrial Erectors, Inc., “chairman of the board of the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations” and the husband of “the former Sally Brilliant” with whom
he had two children, passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/30/archives/sidney-coledies-a-reform-leader-chairman-of-the-american-synagogue.html?searchResultPosition=2
1973:
During the Yom Kippur “most of the heavy fighting ended” today although
intermittent fighting on a small scale would continue into January of the
following year.
1973:
Rabbi Max Hausen officiated at the wedding of Rachela Lea Subel and Joseph Saul
Solomon at the Main Line Reform Temple.
1973:
“ Israeli and Egyptian military leaders meet to implement the cease-fire at
Kilometer 101 marker in the Sinai. It is the first meeting between military
representatives of the two countries in 25 years.” (JTA)
1973(2nd
of Cheshvan. 5734): Eighty-nine-year-old Pearl Trost, the Ohio born daughter of
Nannie and Emil A. Cohn, the wife of Phillip Solomon Trost and the mother of
Phillips Solomon Trost, Jr. who worked for the Curtis Publishing
Company and was president of the Society for Crippled Children. passed away today in Miami.
1974:
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, John Lee Bottom “a lapsed Catholic” and his wife
Arlyn the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Russia and Hungary gave birth to
actor Joaquin Phoenix.
1974:
In Detroit, MI,
Meg
(née Goldman), a writer, and writer-director Lawrence Kasdan gave birth to
director Jacob "Jake" Kasdan, the brother of Jon Kasdan and the husband
of Inara George.
1975:
“The 37th issue of the samizdat “Chronicle of Current Events” was circulated in
the USSR” today.
1976:
Maria Slepak appealed to Senator Kennedy on behalf of Boris Chernobilsky and
Iosif Ahs.
1976:
Funeral services are scheduled to be held today in Indianapolis for eighty-eight-year-old
Florence Strauss, the Piqua, OH, member of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation
and the widow of Hugo M. Strauss who is
not to be confused with “motion picture editor” Florence Strauss, the New York
City born daughter of Sara Greenbaum and Isadore Levi and the wife of Charles
H. Strauss who was a scenario writer for Goldwyn Pictures.
1977:
The Jerusalem Post reported that the
US had bluntly told the Arab States that Israel had demonstrated significant
flexibility on procedures for the reconvening of the Geneva Peace Conference
that it is now up to the Arabs to respond in kind.
1978:
“My Life,” a song by Billy Joel was released today.
1981:
“A front-page article in the Washington Post falsely reported that Leon Bass
“liberated Buchenwald with an all-black unit.”
1981:
Today, Leon “Calvin” Murray, the Ohio State running back who would later
convert to Orthodox Judaism was re-signed by the Philadelphia Eagles who had be
drafted him and then release him earlier in the year.
http://www.aish.com/sp/so/From-Rose-Bowl-to-Rashi-My-Unique-Journey-to-Judaism.html?s=mm
1982:
In the following article entitled “Operetta: ‘Shulamth’ by Goldfaden” the
author notes that “it is just 100 years ago this year that
Yiddish theater opened in America, according to its historians, and that the
one Yiddish theater that is celebrating it is doing so most appropriately with
a performance of Abraham Goldfaden's operetta ''Shulamith,'' first performed
here in 1882, with Boris Thomashevsky.
The
revival, at the Norman Thomas Theater on East 33d Street at Park Avenue, is an
elegant and tuneful production, certainly an eye-opener to one who has never
before seen this work by Goldfaden, who is regarded as the founder of modern
Yiddish theater. It is strikingly staged by Ben Bonus, its director, on a set
that dramatically recreates the rocky mountains of ancient Israel. Mr. Bonus,
who is a hardy Yiddish theater annual in New York, is presenting it in
association with the Yiddish Musical Theater of Israel, headed by Israel Walin,
who conceived the setting. The biblical tale of Shulamith tells of the
beautiful daughter of a sage and tribal leader who falls in a well while
wandering through the barrens. She is rescued by a handsome prince, Avisholom (in
English, Absalom). They vow to marry, but before they do, Avisholom meets a
princess, Avigael (Abigail), and marries her. The death of their two children
is attributed to the prince's breaking of his pledge to Shulamith and he leaves
his wife to find her, which he eventually does, working the plot to what might
be called a happy ending. ''Shulamith'' has, to modern ears, a distinctively
operatic quality about it. It was, in years past, a popular Yiddish musical,
but a serious one that sought to uplift as well as to entertain. It lends
itself to the form of a Greek tragedy, a theatrical influence that is brought
out in this production. This is the show for which Goldfaden wrote two of his
best-known and longest-lived songs, ''Raisins and Almonds'' and the ''Bridegroom
Song.'' The cast has two most attractive leads with voices that reflect
operatic training. Zoya Amen, in the title role, did indeed sing in opera in
Russia until immigrating to Israel three years ago, and Ino Toper, who plays
the Prince, appeared in opera in Russia and in Israel. Raquel Yossiffon, as the
unfortunate princess, is a powerful theater presence. Peisach Burstein, who has
a lifetime of Yiddish theater behind him and came to America at the invitation
of Thomashevsky, plays Shulamith's father and evokes a genuine sense of the
bewildered sage. Demion Akhan, who has worked Broadway and Off Broadway but
never Yiddish theater until now, introduces a sprightly comic element to this
romantically sober work. Even more light, and more anachronistic, is the
intermittent telling of the story in English by two young people. Felix Fibich,
the choreographer, leads his dancers through creations that mirror the pastoral
setting of the musical. Michael Stackler conducts the orchestra. The costumes
and stage design by I. Van contribute much to the mood of the show.
''Shulamith'' comes out of the Yiddish theater past, and it is a must, even
with its imperfections, for those with with any feeling for this theater, which
expressed the aspirations of a public that years back had few other outlets to
express their hopes.
1986:
After Barry Levenson’s Red Sox lost the World Series, he “was wandering around
an all-high supermarket looking for the meaning of life,” in “the wee hours”
when he had the inspiration for what became The National Mustard Museum located
in Middleton, Wisconsin.
https://mustardmuseum.com/the-mustard-museum/
1987:
Today, the Russian government of Mikhail Gorachev exonerated poet and essayist
Osip Mandelstam of charges made in the 1930’s that he was guilty of
“counter-revolutionary activities”; a charge that led to his imprisonment and
mysterious death in the Gulag in 1938.
1988(17th
of Cheshvan, 5749): Eighty-four year old Andrew Howard “Andy” Cohen the New
York Giant second baseman who in 1928 provided the inspiration for “Cohen At
the Bat” – a parody of “Casey at the Bat that ended with “Then from the stands
and bleachers the fans in triumph roared, And Andy raced to second and the
other runner scored; Soon they took him home in triumph, midst the blare of
auto honks, There may be no joy in Mudville, but there’s plenty in the Bronx” –
passed away today
1988:
“Shalom,” a cultural society was formed in Moscow.
1990(9th
of Cheshvan, 5751): Ninety-nine-year-old Maurice B. Hexter, the native of
Cincinnati, Ohio and former executive vice president of the Federation of
Jewish Philanthropies who first went to Jerusalem in 1929 to help with the
rebuilding following destructive Arab riots passed away today. (As reported by
Glenn Fowler)
1991(20th
of Cheshvan, 5752): Seventy-eight-year-old Sylvia Fine, the widow of Danny Kaye
and a noted producer, lyricist and composer in her own right, passed away
today. (As reported by William Grimes)
1995:
During an opposition rally in Jerusalem’s Zion Square, a photographic montage
was circulated showing Rabin in a Nazi uniform.
1997(27th
of Tishrei, 5758): Eighty-two-year-old Paul Jarrico (born Israel Shapiro) the
blacklisted screenwriter passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/30/arts/paul-jarrico-82-blacklisted-screenwriter.html
1997:
In a second letter sent today Holocaust denier David “Irving threatened to sue
John Lukacs for libel if he published his book, The Hitler of History without
removing certain passages highly critical of Irving’s work.”
1997:
In a letter with today’s date, Holocaust denier David “Irving threatened to sue
John Lukacs for libel if he published his book, The Hitler of History
without removing certain passages highly critical of Irving's work” – a threat
that delayed the publication of the book in the United Kingdom.
1998(8th
of Cheshvan, 5759): Seventy-one-year-old James Goldman the screenwriter and
playwright whose most noted work may have been “The Lion in Winter” and who was
the brother of William Goldman, passed away today in New York.
1999:
The
United Cigar Manufacturing Company building located in York, PA which was home
to the firm owned Jacob Wertheim and his son investment banker and chess patron
Maurice Wertheim was add to the NRHP today.
2000: The Battered Immigrant Women
Protection Act introduced by Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky became law.
This act works to assist immigrants who are victims of domestic violence by
providing legal protections that can aid them in escaping violent situations
and securing court protection. Immigrant women are particularly vulnerable
because they often must rely on the legal residence status of their abusers.
The Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act helps immigrant victims of domestic
violence take control of their lives without fear of deportation. Jan
Schakowsky was elected to represent the 9th Congressional District of Illinois
in 1998 after eight years of service in the Illinois State Assembly. Throughout
her political career, Schakowsky has worked for economic and social justice,
sought an end to violence against women, and worked for a national investment
in healthcare, public education and housing needs. (JWA)
2000:
The BBC broadcast “King Death” the 5th episode of “A History of
Britain is a documentary series written and presented by Simon Schama.”
2001:
The New York Times
features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or on topics of special Jewish
interesting including The Death of Comedy by Erich Segal and The
Brother: The Untold Story of Atomic Spy
David Greenglass and How He Sent His Sister, Ethel Rosenberg, to the Electric
Chair by Sam Roberts.
2001(11th
of Cheshvan, 5762): St.-Sgt. Yaniv
Levy, 22, of Zichron Yaakov was killed by Palestinian terrorists in a drive-by
machine-gun ambush near Kibbutz Metzer in northern Israel. The Tanzim wing of
Arafat's Fatah faction claimed responsibility for the murder.
2001(11th
of Cheshvan, 5762): Ayala Levy, 39, of
Elyachin; Smadar Levy, 23, of Hadera; Lydia Marko, 63, of Givat Ada; and Sima
Menahem, 30, of Zichron Yaakov were killed when two Palestinian terrorists,
members of the Palestinian police, armed with assault rifles and expanding
bullets, opened fire from a vehicle on Israeli pedestrians at a crowded
bus-stop in downtown Hadera. About 40 were wounded, three critically. The
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
2001(11th
of Cheshvan, 5762): Listening to the horror unfold over his cellphone, Asher
Kilgor heard the staccato fire of Palestinian gunmen cutting down his fiancée,
Sima Menachem, on her way home from work today. In an interview with the Jerusalem
Post following the terrorist attack, Kilgor said “he was waiting at a bus
stop here for her return from her job as a secretary in a law office in the
nearby city of Hadera. Ms. Menachem's 8-year-old daughter was waiting with him
at the bus stop. ''She always took the 1:55 p.m. bus from Hadera,'' Mr. Kilgor
said. ''At 2:30, I called her and she told me that the bus was late, then she
called back to say that she would take a taxi.'' ''Two minutes later, I got
another call, and all I heard was shots and screams,'' Mr. Kilgor continued.
''I think she called to tell me something was happening. I heard bursts of
gunfire. I shouted into the phone until the call was disconnected. I called
back, but the phone was not in service. I called the police station, and they
said there had been an attack in Hadera.'' Ms. Menachem was one of four Israeli
women killed when two Palestinian gunmen in a sport utility vehicle opened fire
with M-16 rifles near a bus stop on Hadera's main street, riddling dozens of
commuters and pedestrians with bullets. The gunmen, from the militant group
Islamic Holy War, were killed by the police. More than 30 people were injured
in the attack. Ms. Menachem, 30, had met Mr. Kilgor, 33, a police officer, four
years ago. They moved in together, raising two daughters from her first
marriage and a third of their own in this picturesque hill town overlooking the
Mediterranean. They had planned to marry in a month, but instead Mr. Kilgor
stood grief-stricken today at Ms. Menachem's wreath-covered grave. Surrounded
by her wailing sisters and mother, Ms. Menachem was buried here today. They
remembered her as a dynamic woman with an easy laugh who liked to dress well,
and most of all loved to be at home with her children. ''You were a victim of
the terrible price in blood exacted by life here,'' a sister said in her
farewell. The other victims were also killed on their daily rounds. Lidya
Marko, 63, was heading home from a dental appointment. Smadar Levy, 23, a
medical secretary, was on her way to work. Ayala Levy, 39, was returning from
her job as an assistant kindergarten teacher. The seats at the bus stop where
they died were covered with memorial candles and flowers today. Bullet holes
still scarred the bus shelter, but pockmarks left by the bullets in a nearby
library building had already been filled in an effort to erase traces of the
attack and get back to normal as quickly as possible. Across the street, Oz
Zahavian, 24, sat in his health and beauty aids shop. He had seen it all from
his seat, he said, and it was hard to go back to business as usual. ''I keep
seeing the pictures in my head,'' he said. ''Teenage girls hit in the legs and
chest, a girl whose leg was shattered, and someone crying: 'I want to walk. I
don't want to be a cripple.' 'The shock waves of the attack emptied downtown
Hadera today.” There were few people on the sidewalks, and traffic was light.
''It's impossible to get back to normal the next day, if at all,'' Mr. Zahavian
said.
2001:
“Delivering Milo” starring Anton Yelchin in the title role was released to by
Hanover House in the United States.
2001:
“Donnie Darko” a sci-fi film that premiered at Sundance ten months ago starring
Jake Gyllenhaal and Maggie Gyllenhaal and featuring Seth Rogen was released in
the United States today.
2002(22nd
of Cheshvan, 5763): A Palestinian suicide bomber from Nabulus “killed three
Israelis and himself today when his explosive blew up at a gas station.”
2003:
At the “Visas For Life” Reception at the U.S. State Department, Colin Powell
met with Abigail Endicott and Robert Kim Bingham to honor their father Hiram
Bingham IV who as U.S. Vice Consul defied government orders and saved a large
number of refugees from the Nazis and the Holocaust.
2003:
Illinois attorney Stuart Levine is the guest of honor at a lavish reception
hosted by the “Friends of Israel Defense Force.” In 2008, Levine will plead guilty to a
variety of charges and became a key witness in a major political bribery trial.
2003:
The incumbent mayors of most cities and towns were voted back into office in
today's municipal elections, but the Likud lost control of several important
cities, including Bat Yam, Rosh Ha'ayin, Dimona, Hod Hasharon, Eilat and Kiryat
Malachi.
2003:
The BBC Reports that an organization in Israel has gained rabbinical approval
to train pigs to guard Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
2003: Colin
Powell meets Abigail Endicott and Robert Kim Bingham to honor their father
Hiram Bingham IV, who did so much to rescue people from Hitler’s Europe, at the
"Visas For Life" Reception, State Department
2004: The World Jewish Film Festival, the
first of its kind in Israel and the Jewish world opens in Tel Aviv.
2005:
Newspapers reported that response to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
call for Israel to be "wiped off the map" has been uniformly negative
2005: As part of the Plame Affair Lewis Libby vice
president Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, is indicted by federal prosecutors.
Libby resigns later that day. Valerie Palme and Lewis Libby are both Jewish.
2005: “The Weatherman” a mid-life crisis dark comedy
produced by Steve Tisch with music by Hans Zimmer was released in the United
States by Paramount Pictures.
2006: An exhibition in Abbot Hall Art Gallery in
England, “David Bomberg: Spirit in Mass” came to an end.
2006: Bettye Ackerman who played Dr. Maggie Graham
in the medical television series “Ben Casey” and who was the wide of Sam Jaffe
suffered a stroke today.
2006(6th of Cheshvan, 5767): Red Auerbach, the man
many believe was the greatest professional basketball coach of all times,
passed away. (As reported by Matt Schudel)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2006/10/29/auerbach_pride_of_celtics_dies/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/28/AR2006102801102.html
2007: Premiere performance of Jay "Bluejay" Greenberg's Violin
Concerto at Carnegie Hall.
2007: New York’s Erez Safar
celebrates the launch of his new website called Shemspeed (www.shemspeed.com) with a
gala event in Los Angeles.
2007: The Sunday New York Times features reviews of the following books by Jewish
authors and/or that featured Jewish topics including The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross, Musicophilia: Tales of
Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks who was dubbed "the poet
laureate of medicine" by the New
York Times, a biography of Ervin
Nyiregyhazi entitled Lost Genius: The Curious and Tragic Story of an
Extraordinary Musical Prodigy by Kevin Bazzana, Gentlemen of the Road
by Michael Chabon author of The Yiddish Policemen’s Union one of the dumbest books ever written at least
by a Jewish author on a Jewish topic.
2007: The
Washington Post features reviews of the following
books by Jewish authors and/or that featured Jewish topics including Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
by Dr. Oliver Sacks, The Museum
of Dr. Moses by Joyce Carol Oates, In Among the Righteous: Lost Stories From the Holocaust's Long Reach Into
Arab Lands, Robert Satloff’s search throughout the Middle East for
evidence that Arabs helped Jews during World War II. "Satloff's efforts to
tell the story of Arab behavior -- both complicity and heroism -- during the
Holocaust are important."
2007: The
Chicago Tribune reports on the controversy surrounding the introduction of Mishkan
T’filah, the new prayer book for the Reform Movement in an article entitled
“Prayer book ignites debate” featuring an interview with Rabbi Peter Knobel ,
the Evanston, Illinois rabbi who heads the rabbinical group that publishes the
movement’s liturgy.
2007: In “New Orleans
sees resurgence of Jewish life in
Hurricane Katrina Aftermath,” published today Anshel Pfeffer describes
conditions in the Crescent City two years after if endured the worst aquatic
disaster since the days of Noah:
http://www.bethisraelnola.com/media/haaretz.pdf
Michael Weil, executive director of the Jewish Federation
of New Orleans estimates that over the last two years since Katrina, at least
400 Jews have moved to the city to take part in its rebuilding, in a resurgence
of Jewish life in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
About 30 percent of newcomers to New Orleans are Jewish. "We made a survey
and we found out that these newcomers can be categorized in two profiles. There
are the opportunists, carpetbaggers, lawyers, engineers, damage-assessors who
realize this is the time to make money here. But there are also many idealists,
people who believe in Tikkun Olam and see this as there chance to make a
change. Most of them are young people in their twenties and thirties, singles
and couples, very few with children." About 9500 Jews lived in New Orleans
before Katrina, and their numbers were dwindling. A third of them left the city
after the storm and now the Jewish population stands at 6700, including the
newcomers. The rebuilding efforts have also lead to a newfound enthusiasm for
Jewish community life and about 70 percent of Jews in New Orleans are currently
affiliated in some way with Jewish organizations, a very high number relative
to most cities in the United States. To attract more Jews to the area, the
federation has put together a package of incentives, modeled in part on the sal
klita (absorption benefits) given to Olim in Israel. It includes 3000 dollars
in moving grants, 2500 in rental assistance and an interest-free loan of 15
thousand for those purchasing or renovating a home or starting a business.
Newcomers are also given free membership to all Jewish organizations and
synagogues during their first year. "We are also getting funding now so we
can offer newcomers with children a free Jewish education at our day school
here" says Weil. Since the program began in August, there have already
been 170 enquiries. Weil, a former research fellow and policy planner at the
Jewish People Policy Planning Institute in Jerusalem, has been on the job for a
year and was in Israel last week leading a UJC mission from New Orleans. He
wants other communities around the world, struck by disaster to be able to
learn from New Orleans experience and there have already been talks with Kiryat
Shmona municipality. "Our policy has been not to hang around waiting for
someone else to help us out, and not to wait for billions of federal money to
come in but to change the rules of the ballgame. We made the switch from a
declining community and became an emerging one." Sarina Pollack, a lawyer
from Chicago, is an example of the new kind of New Orleans Jew. She arrived
with a UJC group to give assistance after the storm and ten months ago came to
live. "I was offered a job here at a law firm dealing with damage and
property cases" she says, "and jumped at the opportunity. I think at
lot of people like me are interested in coming here. We've led easy lives and
the most we could have done is give money donations, this is a real opportunity
to give something with our own sweat and do the kind of Tikkun Olam we only
learned about before." New Orleans is predominantly a Reform community
with 4 temples. The city also has a Conservative synagogue and two Orthodox
ones which will probably unite in the future and two Chabad centers. As part of
the apparent Jewish renaissance in the city, a new Orthodox Rabbi will be
appointed at the Beit Yisrael Synagogue on Sunday. For many outsiders, New Orleans has the image
of a hedonistic, licentious Mardi Gras city, hardly the place for observant
Jews, but Rabbi Uri Topolosky, who arrived from Riverdale three months ago is
certain that he can attract young Orthodox families to his new community. Beit
Yisrael was established 104 years ago but in recent decades it was a declining
congregation with less than a hundred members and only about 25 arriving on any
particular Shabbat. The synagogue was flooded during Hurricane Katrina,
submerged under ten feet of water and its Torah scrolls and holy books were
destroyed. Half its members left the city following the storm. "We are now
rebuilding the community" Topolosky said, "and we already have ten
new members. I believe Orthodox Jews will come here because this is the kind of
place where you have a real opportunity make a change and be a part of defining
the community. In a big community, things are set out and defined for you. This
is a special place for Jews, even the fact that we are now using a room lent to
us in the Reform temple which is a very rare thing for an Orthodox community,
while we look for a new place to rebuild our synagogue shows how special Jewish
life is here."
2008: In Little Rock, Arkansas, Bat Mitzvah of
Rochel, daughter of Rabbi Pinchus and Estie Ciment. The Lamplighters provide yet another spark –
Mazel Tov.
2008: Rabbi Yehuda Amital retired as Rosh Yeshiva of
Yeshivat Har Etzion
2008: Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein, the son of Rabbi
Aharon Lichtenstein officially assumed the position as Co-Rosh Yeshiva at
Yeshivat Har Etzion
2009: Stephen Friedman completed his four year term
as “Chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.”
2009: Morris Dickstein discusses and signs Dancing
in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression at Politics and
Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C.
2009: The Hyman
S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival comes to a close on, with the
presentation of the annual Gerald L. Bernstein Memorial Lecture, "Current
Israeli Myths and Realities: The Way to Peace," by Howard M. Sachar,
author of A History of Jews in the Modern World.
2009: Astronomers
said today that a race halfway across the universe had ended in a virtual tie.
And so the champion is still Albert Einstein — for now. The race was between
gamma rays of differing energies and wavelengths spit in a burst from an
exploding star when the universe was half its present age.
2009(10th of Cheshvan, 5770): Just months
before celebrating his 100th birthday British epidemiologist Jeremy
N. Morris passed away today. (As reported by Dennis Hevesi)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/health/research/08morris.html
2010(20th of Cheshvan, 5771): Seventy-six-year-old
Ehud Netzer, “one of Israel’s best-known archeologists who unearthed King
Herod’s tomb near Bethlehem three years ago, died today after being injured in
a fall at the site.(As reported by Ethan Bronner)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/world/middleeast/30netzer.html
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-me-ehud-netzer-20101106-story.html
2010(20th of Cheshvan, 5771): Eighty-seven-year-old
actor Robert “Bob” Ellenstein the son of two-time Mayor of Newark Meyer
Ellenstein, passed away today in Los Angeles.
http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-robert-ellenstein-20101104-story.html
2010: Center
for Jewish History and Leo Baeck Institute is scheduled to present: Chamber
Music of Mozart, Brahms and Schubert that will include a web-based essay on the
lives of Jews in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries with material drawn
from the archives of the Leo Baeck Institute.
2010: Jonathan
D. Sarna is scheduled to deliver an address entitled Ulysses S. Grant and the
Jews: A New Look at Tulane University sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program.
2010: A team
from The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid (IsraAID) will leave
Israel today to assess the progress of IsraAID's programs in Haiti, as well as
present its work in an exhibit using the IDF hospital tent in the upcoming
Jewish Federation General Assembly in New Orleans. The team is going despite the current cholera
outbreak.
2010: Debbie Rosenbloom and her husband David Levin
are among those taking part in the first Israeli version of the Susan G. Koman
Walk for the Cure.
2011(30th of Tishrei, 5772): Rosh Chodesh
Cheshvan
2011: Wendy Perron, the Editor in Chief of Dance
Magazine, is scheduled to lead a panel delving into the Diaspora of Israeli
Dance as part of Fall for Dance DanceTalk, a free pre-performance panel
discussion series. Panelists include Zvi Gotheiner, Saar Harari, Neta
Pulvermacher, and Noa Wertheim. The panel will explore the many ways that the
Israeli aesthetic is influencing dance internationally and how it has impacted
these choreographers.
2011: Louis B. James is scheduled to present “Poison,”
Deville Cohen’s first solo exhibition in New York City.
2011: Israel prepared to send emergency aid to
Thailand today, in response to violent flooding that has killed 377 since July.
2011: Hundreds of Palestinians clashed with the IDF
and security forces in a number of locations in the West Bank
2011: “Did you see my Alps? A Jewish love story” is
scheduled to end it run at the Forum of Swiss History in the town of Schwyz
today.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/a-jewish-love-affair-with-the-alps/30049650
2012: The Yeshiva University Museum is scheduled to
sponsor a symposium titled “The Mystery and History of the Eruv.”
2012(12th of Cheshvan 5773): Fifty-nine-year-old Larry
Bloch “who built the Wetlands Preserve in TriBeCa into an influential rock club
and a hub of environmental activism” passed away today. (As reported by James
C. McKinley, Jr)
http://www.jambands.com/news/2012/10/29/larry-bloch-1953-2012/#.UnGQuJ0o6po
2012: Erika Dreifus reviewed The Curse of Gurs by
Werner L. Frank.
https://www.erikadreifus.com/2012/10/from-my-bookshelf-the-curse-of-gurs-by-werner-l-frank/
2012: The JCC of Northern Virginia is scheduled to host
The Ruth Spector Memorial Mah Jongg Tournament.
20212 “Forty Years on the Bimah,” a retreat organized by
Leah Novick “the oldest woman rabbi” opened today at Mount Madonna Center.
2012: The Kobi Arad Band is scheduled to present “a
jazz tribute show as part of the City Winery's 'Klezmer Brunch' series to the
legendary Jewish-Moroccan mystic Baba Sali.”
2012: The New York
Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special
interest to Jewish readers including the recently released paperback edition of
Louis D. Brandeis: A Life by Melvin I. Urofsky
2012: The Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana is
scheduled to present The Tzedakah Award to the Bart Family at a brunch in New
Orleans, LA.
2012: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the murder
of Yitzhak Rabin “one of the worst crimes of the new age,” during his opening
remarks to the weekly Cabinet meeting today.
2012: The government unanimously approved a plan to
bolster fortifications for all Israeli localities between 4.5 km and 7 km of
the Gaza Strip, according to Israel Radio, as ongoing rocket fire from the
Hamas-run enclave once again forced southern residents into bomb shelters.
2012: In anticipation of superstorm Sandy the 14th
Street Y closed today at 4 pm. http://forward.com/articles/165072/jewish-neighborhoods-in-sandys-crosshairs/
2012: Egyptian
authorities confiscated some 1.7 million documents reportedly proving Jewish
ownership of land and assets in Cairo. The documents were reportedly about to
be shipped out of the country to Israel, in what the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram is
calling “the most dangerous case of security breach in history.” The documents
were found in 13 large cases, ready to be transported to Jordan and from there
to Israel, Egyptian media reported today
2013: In the UK, The Wiener Library an
evening with Thomas Harding, author of Hans and Rudolf: The German Jews and
the Hunt for the Kommandant of Auschwitz.
2013: The Jewish National Fund National
Conference being held in Denver, CO, is scheduled to come to an end.
2013: Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman is
among those scheduled to perform at Good Shepherd Church in NYC.
2013: The “Red
Alert” siren was heard early this morning in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council
and in communities in the Gaza belt. Residents reported hearing several
explosions, as the Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted at least two
rockets that were fired by Gaza terrorists towards southern Israel.
2013: Gaza-based terrorists fired four
rockets at southern Israel early this morning. The Iron Dome anti-missile
system intercepted one of the rockets, and the other three exploded in open
areas. There were no physical injuries or damages.
2013: Today Cory Feldman released his first memoir, Coreyography
which details his early life as a child actor all the way up to the death of
Corey Haim and also discusses his struggles with addiction and as a victim of
Hollywood child sexual abuse
2013: Women of the Wall presented a list of
16 conditions today under which it would move its monthly prayer service to a
third, egalitarian section of the Western Wall’s Plaza
2014:
The “core exhibition of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews” is
scheduled to open today.
2014:
The reconstructed ceiling of the destroyed wooden Gwozdziec Synagogue is
scheduled to be unveiled today.
2014:
The Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival is scheduled to
host The Bernard Wexler Lecture on Jewish History featuring Martin Goldsmith,
author of Alex’s Wake: A Voyage of Betrayal and a Journey of Remembrance
2014:
The University of Connecticut is scheduled to host the Louis J. Kuriansky Annual Conference: The Dangerous Neighborhood of the
Middle East, with Dr. Bruce Hoffman and Dr. Michael Rubin
2014:
Jeffrey Burds, associate professor of history at Northeastern University is
scheduled to deliver The Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Annual Lecture speaking
on “Communist Collaborators and German Occupation in the Soviet Union during
the Holocaust, 1941-43.”
2014:
“Support for Hamas and for armed struggle against Israel is gaining popularity
in the Palestinian territories, a new survey showed today, despite languishing
rehabilitation efforts in the war-battered Gaza Strip. (As reported by Avi
Issacharoff)
2014:
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today lashed out at international
condemnation of plans to build new housing in East Jerusalem, voicing his own
unique view that “the criticism, and not the building, was pushing peace
further away.” (Based on reports by Joshua Davidovich)
2015:
Due to have heavy storms, 15,000 homes in Israel without power and the traffic
light system in parts of Tel Aviv have cease function. (As reported by Raanan
Ben Zur and Gilad Morag)
2015:
The funeral was held today for Richard Larkin, the American who had made Aliyah
and worked to improve relations between Moslems and Jews but ironically was
murdered by a terrorist while traveling on a bus in Jerusalem.
2015:
In Atlanta, GA, The Breman Museum is scheduled to host a tour of “Historic
Oakland Cemetery’ which will included an exploration of “the history, burial
customs, and symbolism found throughout the Jewish Grounds of this powerful
city landmark.”
2015:
“Besa: The Promise” is scheduled to be shown tonight at the Jewish Arts &
Film Festival of Fairfield County, Ct.
2015:
In Little Rock, Lubavitch of Arkansas is scheduled to host the first session
“Journey of the Soul – exploring its journey through life, death and beyond.”
2015:
The 16th Annual Rutgers Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to begin
tonight.”
2015:
An opening night gala is scheduled to be held this evening marking the opening
of the 29th Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles.
2015:
The portrait of radio host Joan Hamburg was unveiled tonight at Sardi’s.
2015:
The American Sephardi Federation is scheduled to present “Dennis Shasha one of
the editors of Iraq’s Last Jews, who will present recollections from
this remarkable collection of first-person accounts.”
2016:
“Jew Vs. Malta” a play inspired by Marlowe’s “The Jew of Malta: is scheduled to
open at The Club at LaMaMa.
2016:
“The daily newspaper Haaretz
announced that senior columnist Ari Shavit will take a “time out from his
journalistic work” amid sexual assault allegations.” (As reported by Sharon
Bareket)
2016:
“Finding Babel” is scheduled to open in New York.
http://thejewniverse.com/2016/in-search-of-persecuted-writer-isaac-babels-legacy/
2016:
Homecoming weekend is scheduled to begin at Tulane University, home of the
Jewish Studies Department chaired by Dr. Brian Horowitz whose newest book is Vladmir
Jabotinsky: Story of My Life
2016:
Tulane Hillel is scheduled to host a Homecoming reception at its Broadway
facility while Tulane Chabad is scheduled to host a four course Shabbat dinner.
2016:
Ephraim Sneh, the son of Moshe Sneh was among those who disputed the veracity
of the list of Israeli leaders who listed as KGB in an article published today
in Yediot Acharonot.
2017(8th
of Cheshvan, 5778): Parashat Lech-Lecha;
2017:
The Maccabeats are scheduled to perform a Havdalah Concert at the Watford
Colosseum in London.
2017:
Holocaust survivor George Levy Mueller whose “father and uncle were arrested
and taken to Sachsenhausen Concentration
Camp after Kristallnacht is scheduled to tell his tale of survivor at the
Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
2017:
At Oxford Rabbis Michael or Tracey Rosenfeld-Schueler are scheduled to a lunch
just for “Undegrad Freshers”
2017:
“ShabbatUK” which involved more than 100,000 people in 100 communities in 2016
is scheduled to continue for a second and final day.
2017:
The Oxford University Jewish Society, Jonah Dov Cowen is scheduled to lead a
session on Pirkei Avot followed by Ma’ariv and a musical Havdalah led by Bertie
Green
2018:
The New York Times features reviews
of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers
including Kafka’s Last Trial: The Case of a Literary Legacy by Benjamin
Balint and the recently released paperback edition of A Bold and Dangerous
Family: The Remarkable Story of an Italian Mother, Her Two Sons and Their Fight
Against Fascism by Caroline Moorehead
2018:
The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is scheduled to host a
screening of “NANA,” “a feature-length transgenerational documentary” in which
“filmmaker Serena Dyamant retraces the Auschwitz survival story of her
grandmother, Maryla Michalowski-Dymamant.”
2018:
At part of the “Home: Lens on Israel” series, the Temple Emanuel Streicker
Center is scheduled to open the photographic exhibition “Moroccan Jews Outside
Haifa.”
2018:
“The 2018 Conference on Jews and Conservatism” which included a tribute to the
late Charles Krauthammer is scheduled to be held today in New York City
https://www.jewishleadershipconference.org/2018-conference/agenda-2018-3/
https://www.jewishleadershipconference.org/2018-conference/agenda-2018-3/
2018:
“Budget airline Wizz Air” is scheduled to launch “ a regular flight from Luton
to Eliat” today.
2018:
The Center for Jewish History, American Jewish Historical Society, YIVO
Institute for Jewish Research & American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic
Orchestra are scheduled to host “Broadway performer Alexandra Silber” and
“Leonard Bernsteins eldest daughter, Jamie Bernstein, as she discusses her new
book, Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein
2018:
After two months, “Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin” is schedule to close at
59E59Theatres in New York.
2018:
“The Criminal Complaint and Supporting Affidavit” that include the 29 charges
filed against Robert Bowers for his role in the Shabbat Massacre in Pittsburgh
which has claimed the lives of at least people attending services is scheduled
to be released at nine o’clock this morning.
2019:
The Oxford University Jewish Society is scheduled to host a D & D (Dine and
Discuss) where attendees will examine the challenge of balancing “Jewish
identity with a secular environment.”
2019:
The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center is scheduled to host musical program
marking the opening of the Barbra Streisand Exhibition in the Bernard Museum.
2019:
“Synonyms,” an award-winning film directed by Nadav Lapid is scheduled to be
shown at the Quad Cinema as part of the New York Film Festival.
2019:
In Palo Alto, CA, Congregation Etz Chayim is scheduled to host “East Bay author
Judy Vasos talking about the commemorative stones/plaques in front of Nazi
victims’ homes in Europe, with short film” which is an event sponsored by the
S.F. Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society.
2019:
The YIVO Institute is scheduled to host a screening of “Who Will Write Our
History,” a documentary based on the book by Samuel Kassow.
2019:
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is scheduled to host the “What You
Do Matters 2019 New York Tribute Dinner.”
2019:
Choreographer Ella Rothschild is scheduled to begin servings as “BAC Space
Resident Artist.
2020: “The Health Ministry said they urge all 75,000 members of the
teaching staff expected to be back at work on" November 1st to
get tested without the need for a doctor's referral using testing centers that
are expected to be operational starting this morning
2020: The
Streicker Center is scheduled to welcome Avi Mayer, AJC’s Managing Director of
Global Communications, and Holly Huffnagle, AJC’s US Director for Combating
Antisemitism, for a discussion of the findings AJC report with Manya Brachear
Pashman and Seffi Kogen, co-hosts of AJC’s weekly podcast, People of the Pod,
which will air the conversation in a special episode later in the week.
2020:
The AST Institute of Jewish experience is scheduled to host Professor Alma
Rachel Heckman “as she discusses her new book, The Sultan’s Communists:
Moroccan Jews and the Politics of Belonging.
2020:
The Streicker Center is scheduled to host online Dr. Eric Cline speaking on
Biblical Conundrums: From the Exodus to the Ten Lost Tribes.”
2020:
“The Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa” is scheduled to
present “Ethnomusicologist Judith Cohen talking about Ladino Sephardi songs,
why this repertoire was traditionally sung by women and the women portrayed in
these songs.”
2020:
The Leo Baeck Institute is scheduled to host Peter Jelavich, a Professor of
History at Johns Hopkins lecturing on Berlin Alexanderplatz by Bruno
Alfred Doblin.
https://programs.cjh.org/event/lbi-book-club-2020-10-28
2021: Streicker Center is scheduled host on conversation
with Bret Stephens and Peter Beinart on “Is Anti-Zionism Antisemitic?”
2021: “The Rise of the Designer Deli” published today
describes how in New York in the wake of the pandemic the traditional purveyors
of lox and bagels are giving way to a new form of eatery.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/style/deli-new-york.html
2022: Kan Kol Hamusika is scheduled to broadcast a Young
Artist in Concert featuring David Roth, violin; Idan Hayat, viola;Zohar Izhack,
cello; Dani Dvorkin, piano and Tomer Rubinstein, piano.
2022: In Palm Beach Gardens, Temple Judea is scheduled to
host a unique “Pet Shabbat” outdoors in its parking lot, “weather permitting.
2022: In Sudbury, MA, Congregation B’nai Torah is
scheduled to present online “Domestic Violence Awareness Shabbat.”
2022: In a testament to the resiliency of “small town
Jewry,” in Waterloo, IA Rabbi Kushner is scheduled to hold services at Sons of
Jacob Synagogue.
2023(13th of Cheshvan, 5784): Parashat Lech
Lecha
2023: The Nashville Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to
host a screening of “Stay With Us.”
2023: Because of the Hamas attacks, the Eden Tamir Center
will not be hosting “The Chamber of Music” concert as previously planned.
2023: “Pocketful of Miracles” which tells the story of Aviva Kempner’s
mother Helen Cielsa Covensky is scheduled to be screened this evening at the
Avalon Theatre in Washington, DC
2023:
As October 28 begins in Israel, “air raid sirens sound across central Israel,
including in Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva, Lod, Rishon Lezion, Holon,
Rehovot and many other cities” where “heavy rocket fire” from Gaza threatens an
untold number of innocent civilians, limited IDF ground raids into Gaza
continue,” “a new front in the war may be opening as the IAF intercepts a drone
which may have originated from “the Red Sea area,” in an apparent reference to
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. and anti-Semitism continues to rear its
ugly head at college campuses in the United States, including, unbelievably at
my alma mater Tulane University.
(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)
2024:
In Metairie, LA Congregation Beth Israel is scheduled to host a Conversational
Hebrew class.
2024:
The Israel Defense and Security Forum is scheduled to host a 30-minute briefing
on the “War in Israel, hosted by Moshe Davis.”
2024:
The AJHS is scheduled to present in partnership with the Natan Fund, the Jewish
Book Council, and Hadassah “Lessons from Henrietta Szold’s Legacy” with Award-winning
author Francine Klagsbrun as she discusses Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and the
Zionist Dream, her new biography of Henrietta Szold, the founder of
Hadassah and a Zionist trailblazer, with moderator Felicia Herman in
celebration of this book receiving a Natan Notable Book Award from the Natan
Fund in partnership with the Jewish Book Council.
2024:
As October 28th begins in Israel, an
unprecedented wave of anti-Semitism that has included Hamas supporters
calling for Zionist passengers on a New York subway to raise their hands,
sweeps the United States and the Hamas held hostages begin day 387 in captivity
while Israelis brace for more rocket attacks by Hezbollah, Iran and terrorists
based in Iraq (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)
