OCTOBER28
97:Emperor Nerva is forced by the Praetorian Guard, to adopt general Marcus UlpiusTrajanus as his heir and successor. Trajan would not become Emperor until Nervadied in January of the following year. Trajan will be remembered as the rulerwho was on the throne during the revolt in the diaspora referred to as “TheRevolt Against Trajan” that took place between 115 CE and 117 CE. It was the second of three Jewish revoltsagainst Rome – the first being the Great Revolt that ended with the destructionof the Second Temple and the third being Bar Kochba’s revolt.
312:Roman emperor Constantine, 32, defeated the army of Maxentius, a contender tothe throne, at Milvian Bridge, after trusting in a vision he had seen of thecross, inscribed with the words, "In this sign conquer." Constantinewas converted soon after and became the first Roman emperor to embrace theChristian faith. This was the turningpoint for Christianity in Europe. Withthe support of the imperial government, Christianity was able to establishitself THE religion in Europe. It markeda downhill slide for the Jews of Europe.
1216:At Gloucester, the first coronation of Henry III who “exacted” from Elias ofLondon also known as Elijah ben Moses “no less a sum than £10,000, besides £100a year for a period of four years.”
1138:Fifty-two-year-old Bolesław III Wrymouth who “recognized the utility of theJewish in the development of the commercial interests of” Poland and whose“tolerant regime” encourage them to settle as far east as Kiev passed awaytoday.
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 theirproperty to arrest the Jews of the bailiwick of Amont (Haute-Saôte)
1516:Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gazaat 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 therole of the Mameluks in particular, suffice it to say that what was “bad newsfor them” was “good for the Jews.”
1525:Birthdate of Joachim Ulrich von Rosenfeld who “was negative and hostile towardsthe Jews on “May 1542, when acting as the clerk at a meeting of the Parliamentof Bohemia he agreed to the following resolution: “Regarding the decision fromthe last meeting concerning the Jews that led to the expulsion of the Jews fromBohemia by His Majesty the King based on a request by all three ranks[5] whichhas been inscribed into the records of the meeting, it is resolved that HisMajesty the King shall maintain this decision and that no Jews shall bepermitted to take residence in Bohemia now and for eternity. Those who arefound in this kingdom shall lose their head. The only exceptions shall be thosewho received from the King, on the most recent St. George's Day, a Letter ofDispensation which they can present to anybody and to those coming to pay theirdebts. These Jews are to write down all their claims and hand this record tothe 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 retainany right on these claims.”
1549:“Queen Bona, “the wife of Sigismund, the King of Poland and Grand Duke ofLithuania” “ordered her governor Kimbar to assemble the Jews of Grodno to electa rabbi who was no relative of the Judichs, and decreed that in case thisshould not be done without opposition, the opponents of the Judichs were toelect a separate rabbi with the same rights and privileges as enjoyed by theone chosen by that family.
1600:James Roberts the copyright he had obtained for “The Merchant of Venice” (alsoknown as The Jew of Venice) to stationer Thomas Hayes “who published the firstquarto before the end of” 1600.
1636:Harvard University is established in colonial Massachusetts. Harvard certainlyhas had it share of Jewish students, graduates and faculty members. But the Jewish relationship with Harvard hashad its darker moments. “During and after World War I, American Jewry becamethe target of anti-Semitism by a variety of social groups, including the KuKlux Klan and various immigration restriction advocates. Ivy Leagueuniversities were no exception, and several of these venerable schools moved torestrict Jewish enrollment during the 1920s. Some Jewish students at Harvard,the bellwether in American education, did not take admission restrictions lyingdown. Nativism and intolerance among segments of the white Protestantpopulation were aimed at both Eastern European Jews and Southern EuropeanCatholics. In higher education, Jews were particularly resented. By 1919, about80% of the students at New York's Hunter and City colleges were Jews and 40% atColumbia. Jews at Harvard tripled to 21% of the freshman class in 1922 fromabout 7% in 1900. Ivy League Jews won a disproportionate share of academicprizes and election to Phi Beta Kappa but were widely regarded as competitive,eager to excel academically and less interested in extra-curricular activitiessuch as organized sports. Non-Jews accused them of being clannish, sociallyunskilled and either unwilling or unable to “fit in.” In 1922, Harvard'spresident, A. Lawrence Lowell, proposed a quota on the number of Jews gainingadmission to the university. Lowell was convinced that Harvard could onlysurvive if the majority of its students came from old American stock. Lowellargued that cutting the number of Jews at Harvard to a maximum of 15% would begood for the Jews. He contended thatlimits would prevent further anti-Semitism. Lowell reasoned, “The anti-Semiticfeeling among the students is increasing, and it grows in proportion to theincrease in the number of Jews. If their number should become 40% of thestudent body, the race feeling would become intense.” The fight against Jewishquotas at Harvard was led by Harry Starr, an undergraduate and the son of aRussian immigrant who established the first kosher butcher shop inGloversville, New York. As president of the Menorah Society, Harvard's majorJewish student organization, Starr organized a series of meetings betweenJewish and non-Jewish students, faculty and administrators to discuss Lowell'sproposed quota. The meetings were frequently heated and painful. As Starrrecalled in an account published in 1985, which can be found at the AmericanJewish Historical Society, “We learned that it was numbers that mattered; bador 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 therecould be no “Jewish problem” at Harvard or in America. Starr observed, “The Jewcannot look on himself as a problem.... Born or naturalized in this country, heis a full American.” If admitting all qualified Jews to Harvard meant a changein the traditional social composition of the student body, so be it. Starrrefused to hear any hokum about 'pure' American stock as a way to limit Jewishadmissions to Harvard. “Tolerance,” he wrote in the Menorah Journal, “isnot to be administered like castor oil, with eyes closed and jaws clenched.”Lowell received a great deal of public criticism, particularly in the Bostonpress. Harvard's overseers appointed a 13-member committee, which includedthree Jews, to study the university's “Jewish problem.” The committee rejecteda Jewish quota but agreed that “geographic diversity” in the student body wasdesirable. Harvard had been using a competitive exam to determine who wasadmitted, and urban Jewish students were scoring highly on the exam. Urbanpublic schools such as Boston Latin Academy intensely prepared their students,many of whom were Jewish, to pass Harvard's admissions test. The specialcommittee recommended that the competitive exam be replaced by an admissionspolicy that accepted top-ranking students from around the nation, regardless ofexam scores. By 1931, because students from urban states were replaced bystudents from Wyoming and North Dakota who ranked in the top of their highschool classes, Harvard's Jewish ranks were cut back to 15% of the studentbody. In the late 1930s, James Bryant Conant, Lowell's successor as president,eased the geographic distribution requirements, and Jewish students were onceagain admitted primarily on the basis of merit. Harry Starr, who lived until1992, became a national Jewish communal leader, including a term of service asa trustee of the American Jewish Historical Society. Professionally, he becamethe director of the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, which was established by aJewish congressman from Gloversville and which over the years has given manygenerous gifts to Harvard. Harry Starr held no grudges against the universitywhich in 1922 he lovingly battled on behalf of his fellow Jews.
1700: In the same year that he published his second tractwhich he hoped would cause Jews to convert to Christianity, Cotton Mather wrotein his diary today about the conversion of Shalom Ben Shalomoh who had joined aCongregational Church in London. Cotton Mather differed from other Christianleaders. He believed that the Jews practice a theological incorrectreligion which is why sought to convince them to convert. But reasonrather than the lash or the burning stake was his method. "As ahumanitarian...he demanded that Jews should be free from religiouspersecution."
1704: John Locke, the English political theorist who in1689 “Letter Concerning Toleration” wrote that “Neither Pagan, nor Jew, oughtto be excluded from the civil rights of the commonwealth because of hisreligion” passed away today.
1718: Alexander Felix (David Penso), Jacob Do Porto, andDavid Machado Do Sequeira, on behalf of the Ashkenazim, leased from CaptainChichester Phillips of Drumcondra Castle (an MP in the Irish Parliament) a plotof 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 inPisa. His first wife, Sarah had diedfive years earlier.
1782:In Germany “Kehle Weil” and Seligman Loeb Lindauer gave birth to ManasseSeligmann Lindauer, the husband of Esther B. Weil with whom he had fivechildren.
1785:In Germany, Rosele Katz and Bernard Weil gave birth to Esther Weil, the wife ofManasse Seiligman Lindauer and the mother of Kehle, Juttle, Mayer, Moses andDavid Lindauer.
1784: Birthdate of Sir Moses Montefiore. Born inLeghorn (Italy) Montefiore was raised in London where he became a successfulmerchant and married into the House of Rothschild. In 1824, he"retired" from business and devoted his life to public office andphilanthropy. He was the first to hold numerous political and civicpositions in Great Britain. He was a leader of the Jewish Community inEngland and throughout Europe. He was an early supporter of Jewishsettlement in Eretz Israel. Montefiore’s Windmill is a famous landmark inJerusalem. His 100th birthday was celebrated as a holiday in Jewishcommunities in the British Isles and the Continent. He passed away in1885.
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 MattathiasSolomon.
1796:In Frauenberg, France, Leyen and Abraham Lazard gave birth to Elie ben AbrahamLazard, the “husband of Esther Cahn – Lazard and ather of Lazare Lazard;Alexandre Lazard; Maurice Lazard; Lisa Bloch; Simon Lazard; Rosalie Rachel Aronand Elie Lazard, II.”
Brotherof Sara Jacob; David Aron Lazard;
1805:Birthdate of dramatist and lawyer, Jonas B. Phillips, the Philadelphia born sonof Benjamin J. Phillips, who producedplays including “Cold Stricken,” “Camillus,” and “The Evil Eye” and who afterstudying law, became the assistant district attorney for New York County.
1805(5thof Cheshvan, 5566): One day before his seventeenth birthday, Isaac Nones, theson of Miriam Marks and Benjamin Abraham Nones died in his hometown ofPhiladelphia.
1807(26thof Tishrei, 5568): Gutchen Sheyer, the wife of Moses Joseph Schiff passed awaytoday.
1813:Samuel Levy married Judith Magnus were married at the Great Synagogue today.
1816:Birthdate of German native Esther Liebschutz Meyers, the future Louisvilleresident and mother of Joseph E. Myers.
1820:In Ruzhyn, Ukraine, Rabbi Yisrael Friedman of Ruzhyn, the founder of theRuzhiner dynasty, and his wife, Sarah gave birth to Avrohom Yaakov Friedman,the first Rebbe of the Sadigura Hasidic dynasty.
1824(6thof Cheshvan, 5585): Fifty-five-year-old Benedict-Benedikt Moses Worms, the sonof Henriette and Moses Gabriel Worms and the “husband of Schönche JeanetteWorms” passed away today.
1827:One day after he had passed away, 53-year-old “Hirsch ben Yaacov” was buriedtoday at the Brady Street Jewish Cemetery “on the 2nd day of RoshChodesh Marcheshvan, 5590.”
1828:In Hamburg, Jacob Magner and Ulrika Hahn gave birth to Jacob Magner who was oneof the founders of several institutions in New Orleans including theAssociation 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 onSemitic studies at the British Museum where his writings on the Talmud kindledinterest among English Christians and who “acted as special correspondent toThe Times during the Ecumenical Council which met at the Vatican in 1869 and1870.
1835:Leon Maness Ritterband, who was born in Poland in 1809 married Benvenida Solistoday 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 unusualin the 19th century addressed the Young Men’s Hebrew Association atChickering Hall on November 12, 1884.
1836:Birthdate of Bavarian native Simon Wolf, who after coming to the United Statesin 1848 pursued a business career after which he pursued a legal career thatled him to Washington, D.C. where he “made friendships with presidents AbrahamLincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, William McKinley and Woodrow Wilson” a leader of theAmerican Jewish community.
1839:In, “Canterbury, Kent,” Hannah Barnard and Nathan Jacobs gave birth to MyerJacobs
1840:Sir Moses Montefiore had an audience with the Sultan. Among the topicsdiscussed were the blood libel accusations on the island of Rhodes and inDamascus. The Sultan later issued a public firman exonerating Jews fromanything to do with ritual murder accusations.
1840:Birthdate “Lithuanian Jewish Yiddish-language poet and songwriter” Eliakum Zunser called by some “the father ofYiddish 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 MedicalCollege 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 deCastro gave birth to Moses Jacob Ezekiel, the first Jew to attend VirginiaMilitary Institute and who, after serving with the Confederate Army, became arenowned 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 forthe restoration of a Jewish state in Palestine to a Christian audience” at theBroadway Tabernacle.
1848:In Germany, Leopold Hirsch, the German born son of Lea and Simon Seev Hirschand 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 ofMichigan and served with the River Flotilla of the U.S. Navy during the CivilWar before becoming the publisher of several Jewish publications including “DieDeborah” 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 YoungMen's Literary Association at Academy Hall, No. 663 Broadway, at which time hedelivered a lecture enititled “Russia” The speaker was introduced by IsaacSeligman, the who was serving as chairman. Raphall described the gains in powerthat Russia has made in the last 150 years and the territorial aspirations ofthe current rulers. He also describedthe history and the plight of the Jews living in that land. Mr. Mosely Lyon followed Rabbi Raphall to thelectern where he delivered an address on the purpose of the Hebrew Young Men’sLiterary Association.
1853:Issac and Freida Slaughter gave birth to Louisville resident Louise SlaughterMeyers, 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 whowas in charge of the medical department in the Philippine Islands during theSpanish-American War.
1857: "Defaulting Farmers" published todaytakes issue with the notion thatthe farmer is not only possessed of"sturdy virtues that enoble humanity" but also the backbone of thenational economy. In fact, the "western farmer has no more nobleness ofsoul than a Wall Street stock gambler or a Chatham street Jew." The term"Chatham Street Jew" was extremely derisive. It referred to thefact that the lucrative trade in used clothes on Chatham Street on the LowerEast was dominated by Jews where Christians were sure that they were beingvictimized by the sharp business practices of "the Tribe of Judah."
1858: RH Macy & Co opened its first store on SixthAvenue in New York City. Gross receipts for the day totaled $11.06. The Straus family, which had been leasingspace in Macy's to operate a chinaware department, the store's most profitablesection, acquired Macy’s in 1896 and turned it into one of the country’sleading department stores. One sign ofthe change came when they relocated thestore to its Herald square location at 34th Street and Broadway in New York.
1858: At a thousand people attended tonight’s banquet andball which was a fundraiser for the Jew’s Hospital.Benjamin Nathan, the President of Hospital Board provided over the event whichwas attended by Mayor Tilman. Rabbi J.J.Lyon recited the blessings before the meal began and Rabbi Kramer chanted theGrace After Meal. Mr. Nathan told the attendees that the hospital had treated747 patients since its opening, all but 73 at no charge and that the treasurywas 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 tothe priesthood by Bishop Boone in the mission school chapel, later known as theChurch of our Savior in Hongkew”
1862:Moses P. Arnold, who was promoted from Sergeant to First Sergeant, began hisservice with Company A of the 172nd Regiment.
1862:Philadelphian Ferdinand K. Strouse began serving with Company E of the 151stRegiment.
1862:Philadelphian Israel Marks began serving with Company E of the 151stRegiment
1863:Philadelphian Levi Arnold who had risen to the rank of Sergeant in Company F ofthe 143rd Regiment “transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps” today.
1864: TheCouncil of the Academy decided to award Russian-Jewish sculptor Mark Antokolskiwith the Small Silver Medal for the "Tailor" also known as “TheJewish Tailor.”
1867:Maimonides College “the first Jewish theological seminary in America” openedtoday in Philadelphia, PA. Isaac Lesser,Sabato Morais, Marcus Jastrow, Aaron S. Bettelheim, L. Buttenwieser and WilliamH. Williams were the members of the faculty with Lesser doubling as theschool’s provost. The school closed in December of 1873, reportedly due to lackof financial support which may be explained by the economic hard times that thecountry was suffering a the time.
1869:In Cold Springs, NY, Morris and Dora (Tobias) DeLee gave birth to Dr. JosephBolivar DeLee, the grandson of a French Army Surgeon who was a pioneer in thefield of obstetrics.
https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdfplus/10.2105/AJPH.78.10.1353
1870(3rdof Cheshvan, 5631): Sixty-three-year-old Prague-born physician Gottfried S.Schmelkes who earned his medical degree in 1837 after which he joined the staffof the Jewish hospital “Töplitz (Teplitz), Bohemia, where he worked until hepassed away today.
1870: President JacobPisa presided over tonight’s meeting of the Young Democratic Jews’ Associationof the Second Assembly District in New York.During the meeting which was held on Mott Street, the Jewish politicalorganization endorsed the local and state candidates supported by “the Young Democracybut did not make any endorsement of Congressional candidates.
1872:In San Francisco, Jacob Altman and Dora Posner gave birth to Aaron Altman, agraduate of the Ecole Natioale des Beaux Arts in Paris, the recipient of theWilliam Alvord Medal at the California School of design in 1890 and anAssistant professor of Sketching and Perspective at the California School ofdesign 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 CornellUniversity Medical College graduate Isidor Ginzburg, the husband of Rose Peryand contributor to several publications including the Jewish Daily Forwardand Hadoar who wrote severalbooks including Jewish Philosophers and Poets of the Middle Ages
Ginsburg,Isidor (Isser) (1872-1947)
1873(7thof Cheshvan, 5634): Immanuel Oscar Menahem Deutsch, a German oriental scholar,passed away today. Born in 1829 atNeisse, Prussian Silesia (now Nysa, Poland) he studied theology and Talmud atthe University of Berlin. “In 1855 Deutsch was appointed assistant in thelibrary of the British Museum. He worked intensely on the Talmud andcontributed no less than 190 papers to Chambers' Encyclopaedia, in addition toessays in Kittos and Smiths' Biblical Dictionaries, and articles inperiodicals. In October 1867 his article on The Talmud, published in theQuarterly Review, made him known. It was translated into French, German,Russian, Swedish, Dutch and Danish. He died at Alexandria on 12 May 1873.HisLiterary Remains, edited by Lady Strangford, were published in 1874, consistingof nineteen papers on such subjects as The Talmud, Islam, Semitic Culture,Egypt, Ancient and Modern, Semitic Languages, The Targums, The SamaritanPentateuch, and Arabic Poetry
1874:Birthdate of St. Louis native Robert Henry Polack who became a successfulbusinessman in New Orleans where he served as an officer of the Jewish WelfareFund.
1874:In Hamburg Jewish merchant Jacko Emden and Mathilde Kann gave birth to chemistand art collector Max James Edmen, the husband of Gertrude Helene AnnaSternberg who despite his conversion to Christianity fell afoul of the NaziAryanization laws.
1874:Rabbi Benjamin Artom officiated at the wedding of Mr. Isaac Abecassis of Lisbonand 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 thirdchild, Leo Emanuel Ullman, the husband of Blanche McKee Heller.
1876:Birthdate of Spandau, Germany native and social worker Clara Israel who “wasthe first female magistrate in Prussia.”
1876:In Ohio, Hannah Rice and Samuel Goodman gave birth to Ohio State graduate andJefferson Medical College trained surgeon and obstetrician Sylvester JacobGoodman, a Major in the United States Army Medical Corps during WWI and surgeon at the Jewish Infant Home ofOhil.
1877:“Early Christian Greek Story” published today provide a summary of Abrahamthe Jew and the Merchant Theodore printed by Combefisius from a manuscript, copies of which are in theNational 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 inCohoes, 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 SamuelBaum, 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 6thStreet who is contributor “to various Jewish and general organizations inAustin.
1880:Birthdate of Elizabethgrad native and Russian and German trained mechanical andelectrical engineer Abraham Useem who settled in Los Angeles
1881:It was reported today that “the question of Jewish emigration to America isstill a subject of concern to the Russian government.” To that end thegovernment will make another attempt “to turn the Jews into peasant farms andsettle them in the provinces of Kherson and Ekaterinoslav.”
1881:John A. Goldberg appeared in Essex Market Court where he denied the charges ofMrs. Amelia Goldberg that she was his wife and that he had deserted her. He presented evidence that he had obtained adivorce from her from a Rabbi while they were living in England because she hadbeen unfaithful. He also producedevidence that he had provided her with financial assistance when she came tothe 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 withheaven” for $150.
1883:The 9th annual meeting of the Board of Relief of the United HebrewCharities was held this morning at a house on St. Mark’s Place.
1884:In Dolina, Poland, Anna and Leopold Kirschenbaum, gave birth to journalistJacob Kirschenbaum the husband of Bessie Popper and the worked for a number ofpublications including the Jewish World in Cleveland, OH, the Jewish MorningJournal and the Der Americana for which he served drama critic.
1884:It was reported today that a reception was held at Ramsgate yesterday to honorSir Moses Montefiore on his 100th birthday; “an anniversary that wascelebrated throughout Europe.”
1885:It was reported today that Jonas Loeb, a prominent Jewish merchant in Georgiais insolvent since he has liabilities of $64,000 and assets of $10,000. Litigation has already been threatened by hiscreditors.
1886: The Statue of Liberty, a gift from thepeople of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland. TheJewish poetess Emma Lazarus wrote "The New Colossus" in 1883 for anart auction "In Aid of the Bartholdi Pedestal Fund." While France hadprovided the statue itself, American fundraising efforts like these paid forthe 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,
Withconquering limbs astride from land to land;
Hereat our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
Amighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Isthe imprisoned lightning, and her name
Motherof Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glowsworld-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
Theair-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep,ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
Withsilent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Yourhuddled masses yearning to breathe free,
Thewretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Sendthese, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
Ilift my lamp beside the golden door!"
1886:Social reformer and future Presidential candidate addressed the United HebrewGeorge Club.
1886(29th of Tishrei, 5647): JosephUllman, the German born son of Rosa and Hayim Simon Uhlmann and the husband ofSarah Ullman passed away today in Baltimore.
1888: The “Jewish Agriculturists’ Aid Society ofAmerica,” whose members would include Morris Weil, Maurice W. Kosinski andEdward Rose was “organized today in Chicago, Illinois.
1888: Birthdate of Hungarian anti-Semite TiborEckhardt, the head of the Association of Awakening Magyars during the 1920’swhose members “bombed a charity ball organized by the Jewish women of Csongradin which several people were killed.” (Editor’s Note – this is just anotherexample of the anti-Semitism that was so common during the inter-war yearswhich made the Holocaust possible.)
1888: Joseph Navon the driving force behind theJaffa-Jerusalem railway “received a 71-year concession from the Ottomanauthorities that also gave him permission to extend the line to Gaza and Nablus
1888: Rabbi Leon Harrison delivered an addressentitled “Is it a Misfortune to be a Jew?” at Temple Israel on Greene Avenue inBrooklyn.
1888: The NewYork Times reviewed Life of Lord Beaconsfield by T.E. Kebble.
1888: “The Jewish-Americans” published today citesinformation that originally appeared in the JewishMessenger to question why New York City has not produced a “distinctlyAmerican-Jewish congregation. The cityhas all manner of synagogues for Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, etc.Jews but none that is uniquely American.
1889: President Henry Rice presided over the 15thannual meeting of The United Hebrew Charities held its at Temple Emanu-El inNew York City where he said that “in the las ten years the disbursements of thesociety have more than doubled” noting that “in 1879 the total reliefdistributed amounted to a little more than $35,000 and that during the pastyear the Treasurer has expended more than $72,000.”
1889: Edwin Booth, the great Shakespearian actorplayed Shylock and Helena Modjeska played his daughter Portia in tonight’sperformance 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 arescheduled to address those attending the a meeting of the Young Men’s HebrewAssociation at Chickering Hall.
1890: Three days after he had passed away, “SamsonAsher Samson,” the son of Asher and Amelia Samson and the husband of the formerEva Nathan was buried today at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1891: Twenty-nine-year-old “banker and manufacturer BenajaminWolf, the Philadelphia born son of Amelia Mayer and Elias Wolfe, a member ofWolf, Brothers and Company, the treasurer of the Standard Machine Company and a member of Rodef Shalom Congregation marriedFredora Kahn today after which he became a member of the NYS, and “a Lt. Col. onthe Governor’s Staff of Pennsylvania.”
1892: Carl Stettauer, a German-born leather merchantand his wife gave birth to Eleanor Joan Clara Nathan, the wife of Harry LouisNathan, the Labour Party MP from Bethnal Green North East who became BaronNathan of Churt and who was the “first Woman Member of Metropolitan WaterBoard, 1937–46 and a Member of Home Office Committee of Enquiry into ClosingHours 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 theNazis 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, inthe Aldgate Pump section of London's East End,” a cabinet maker and his wifegave birth to Gershon Mendeloff who gained gamed Ted “Kid” Lewis the twicecrown World Welterweight Champion “who is often ranked among the all-timegreats.”
http://www.ibhof.com/pages/about/inductees/oldtimer/lewisted.html
1894: “No Man Controls The Hebrew Vote” publishedtoday provides the view of Dr. Joseph Silverman the rabbi at Temple Emanu-Elthat the “Hebrew vote” does not exist and that it is the “child of thepolitician’s active brain. Jews do asthey please in politics.” The Jew “is aJew in the synagogue but elsewhere he is an American citizen, and most of allat the ballot box.”(Silverman was decrying the trivializing of the electoralprocess with politicians seeking to divide voters by ethnic and religious lines)
1895: Andre Lebon the Minister of Colonies whointervened on behalf of Dreyfus while he was imprisoned on Devil’s Islandcompleted his service as Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts and Telegraphs.
1896: The funeral of Moses Kind is scheduled to beheld at his home at 49 West 96th Street in Manhattan this morning.
1896: In Charleston, SC, Rabbi B.A. Elzas officiatedat the wedding of Sam Feinstein and Carrie Rice.
1897(2nd of Cheshvan, 5658): “After ashort illness,” Marie Benecke, the wife of Charles Victor Benecke and the “eldest daughter of the late FelizMendelssohn 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 fashiondesigner Edith Heath. During her long career in Hollywood, Head’s costumes wonher 35 Oscar nominations. She won 8 ofthe bronze statuettes. She died inOctober of 1981.
1897: “A meeting of the North London Jewish Literaryand Social Union” is scheduled “to be held in the hall adjoining the DalstonSynagogue” 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 Jaffatoday and traveled by train to Jersualem.”
1898: Kaiser William II (Prussia) visited pre-state Israel and met withHerzl. At this time Eretz Israel was part of the Ottoman Empire. The Kaiser was trying to gain the Turks as anally. He also sought to make himself theEuropean protector of Jerusalem. Herzlwas disappointed by the lack of commitment on the part of the Kaiser. Much ofthis was due to the opposition of German Liberal Jews, bankers, and his foreignminister Bernhard von Bulow to the Zionist movement.
1898:Philip S. Golderman, a Color Sergeant with the 203rd NY Infantry waspromoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.
1898:During the Spanish-American War, Sam Steinberg of Texas who had been servingwith 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 withCo. 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 servingwith 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 withthe Regimental Ban, Co. M 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out ofservice.
1898:During the Spanish-American War, Charles C. Jacobs of Texas who had beenserving 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 servingwith 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 servingCo. 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 servingCo. M 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service.
1898:During the Spanish-American War, Max Blumberg of Texas who had been servingwith 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 servingwith 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 servingwith 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 servingwith the Hospital Corps of Co. M 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered outof service.
1898:During the Spanish-American War, Harry Friedman of Texas who had been servingwith 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 servingwith the Hospital Corps of Co. M 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry was mustered outof service.
1898:During the Spanish-American War, Edward Seelig of Texas who had been servingwith 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 servingwith 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 theCourt should make every investigation necessary to enlighten its members andplace the whole truth in evidence.”
1900:Seventy-six-year-old German linguist and Oriental scholar Friedrich Max Müllerwho challenged the claim of Nicolas Notovitch, a Russian Jew, that the Life ofIssa” was a legitimate work depicting the life of Jesus (Issa) which had Himleaving the Galilee and studying with Buddhists and Hindus in India beforereturning to Judea.
1900:“The Jewish Purim” published today examines the origins of this minor festivaland concludes that “an examination of the tradition and mode of celebrating thefeast renders it probable that Purim is nothing but a more or less disguisedform 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 UnitedHebrew of Charities presided over by Henry Rice during which the “resignationof Vice President Henry S. Allen who has served in that office for twenty-oneyears was accepted” with a vote of thanks for his years of service.
1902:Opening of the ZionistAnnual Conference at which The Anglo-Palestine Company is sanctioned. It willbegin operations in summer
1902:NYU trained physician Henry Roth, the Hungarian born son of Edward and Johanna (Neulander) Roth who wasthe consulting physician at Rockaway Beach Hospital and clinical professor ofsurgery at Fordham University Medical School who was “author of numerousarticles on surgical subjects” and a member of Temple Rodoph Sholom marriedRebecca Low today.
1903:The engagement of Israel Zangwill to Edith Aryton was made public. Edith Aryton’s father is one of the best-knownelectrical engineers in England. Her mother is a noted scientist in her ownright and the daughter of Levi and Alice Marks, a Jewish family from Portsea.
1904:“Russian Reserves Riot” published today claims that “there have been noanti-Jewish riots strictly speaking “at Mohileff-on the-Dnipper because theattacks on the houses and the shops of the Jews was the result of drunken armyreservists expressing their anger because Jews “are fleeing abroad” leavingChristians to fill the ranks of the army.
1905(29thof Tishrei, 5666): Parashat Bereshit
1905:While campaigning for re-election, District Attorney Jerome delivered three speechesto “distinctly Jewish audiences” where he “told about his action in regard tothe prosecution of those responsible for the outrage at the funeral of ChiefJoseph”
1906:In Russia, Sergei Witte “induced the Czar to issue a manifesto proclaimingfreedom of speech, press and person” the day before pogroms broke out in “200places in Russia” including Odessa.
1907:“London is all agog today over the mysterious disappearance of a young Russiangirl, Miss Barbara Lapoukhin” who may have been kidnapped by members of theBlack Hundreds as an act of revenge against her father who, while serving asDirector the St. Petersburg Police “played a notable and very honorable part inexposing the machinery by which the pogroms or raids against the Jews had beenorganized.
1907:It was reported today that Leon Lakski, the son of Marks and Caroline Laski hasbeen appointed as the “receiver in the bankruptcy of the Edward A. BradenCompany, theatrical managers.”
1907:In Washington, DC, “a number of organizations” and throng of “hundreds of themost notable men in public life” will march to the home Simon Wolf as part ofthe celebration of his seventieth birthday is being celebrated today.
1908:Birthdate of Przeminsk native Samson Schwartz who was deported to Auschwitz in1942
1908:As part of the Wright Brother’s tour of Europe being managed Jewish bornAmerican 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 Dramatrained playwright and screen writer Albert Malz, the husband of MargaretLarkin, whose fame as one of the Hollywood Ten overshadowed his accomplishmentincluding writing the Oscar nominated script for the super-patriotic “Pride ofthe Marines.”
1909:Birthdate of Brest-Litovsk native Josef Gingold, the violinist, concertmasterand 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, theSecretary of Commerce and Labor under President Roosevelt, has tendered hisresignation.
1911:The Chancellor of the Exchequer met with a group of Jews to discuss “theInsurance Bill” today.
1911:“In a letter to the Jewish Morning Journal” said “that if Russia refuses toaccede” to the conditions concerning the treatment of Jews he will support the“abrogation of the Treaty with Russia” and advised Jewish organizations to passresolutions on the subject and send them to their congressmen.
1912: As the election campaign of 1912 comes to anend, Oscar Straus sends a telegram denying that he had ever been connected withR. H. Macy or Abraham and Straus.
1913: MendelBeilis was acquitted. The Beilis Trial (Russia) took place after aChristian boy was found dead near a brick factory in which Mendel Beilisworked. On
1913:In Wroclaw, Wrocław County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, Rabbi Dr. MaxSalzberger, the Montevideo born “son of Rabbi Dr. Moritz Salzberger and AnnaSalzberger” and his wife Frieda Salzberger gave birth to future Ben Shemenresident Josef Ernst Gavish.
1914: In New York City, Daniel and Dora(Press) Salk gave birth to the first son, Dr. Jonas Edward Salk, the Americanmedical researcher who developed the first vaccine against polio. In one of those ironic twists of fate, boththe first and the second polio vaccines were developed by Jewish Doctors.
1914:“Governor Names Mercy Committee” published today provided a list of those namedby Martin Glyn to take the lead in providing aid to those who have been madedestitute by the war including Adolph S. Ochs, Samuel Lewisohn and Oscar S.Straus.
1914:Ileana Schapira, the daughter of Mihail Schapira, a prominent Jewishindustrialist was born in Bucharest, Romania.As Ileana Sonnabend, she became a legendary gallery owner who had an eyefor the art that nobody else wanted. Shedied in 2007 at the age of 92.
1914:In New York City, with Governor Martin Glynn at his side Jacob H. Schiffdelivered a speech at the National Theatre in support of the Governor’sre-election
1914:In New York, Mayor Mitchell expressed his displeasure with the recommendationthat Charities Department should be placed under a board whose members would benominated by the Jewish, Protestant and Catholic charitable institutions thatreceive some $5,000,000 from the city through this very department.
1915:“Dr. De Sola Pool, rabbi of the Portuguese Synagogue” addressed “a gathering ofstudents of the Menorah Society” today where he “described the conditions ofthe Jews in Palestine as affected by the European war.”
1915:Henry M. Toch presided over tonight’s dinner at the Ritz-Carlton given by theDirectors of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association in honor of Felix M. Warburgwho is beginning his 8th year as president of the organization.
1916:In the Bronx, Louis and Libby Galenson gave birth to Dr. Eleanor Galenson, “apsychoanalyst whose research demonstrated that children are aware of sexualidentity in infancy, even earlier than Freud had propounded…” (As reported byDennis Hevesi)
1916(1stof Cheshvan, 5677): Parshat Noach; Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
1916:In Washington, attorney Simon Wolf, the friend of several Presidents beginningwith Lincoln and a President B’nai B’rith celebrated his 80thbirthday today which “was made occasion of a notable demonstration and scoresof friends in all parts of the country, united in doing him honor” including“Terence Vince Powderly of the United States Immigration Service” who wrote aspecial poem to mark the moment.
1916:Mrs. Samuel Elkeles the President of the National Jewish women’s organizationfor war relief said “that enthusiasm had been awakened wherever the appeals thecommittee 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 withBattery “F” of the Field Artillery asking for help from Simon Wolf so he couldbe furloughed to the Reserves. When heenlisted in 1913, he said that nobody was look to him for “support” but now hehas found out about the desperate condition of his family in Kalios, Russia andhe 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 theconversion of Jews to the Christian faith as adopted by last week by theEpiscopal General Convention at St. Louis.
1917:During the New York City Mayoral election in which Morris Hillquit was acandidate, the New York Timespublished a “sarcastically title” article “Rich Mr. Hillquit, Poor Man’sCandidate” “tried to play up ‘the capitalistic corporation lawyer living inluxury’; point out that the rent for Hillquit’s apartment was two thousanddollars a year; that he owned a big seven passenger automobile.”
1917:A National Special Assembly of the Jews of the United States which had beencalled 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 meansto 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 thecontrol of the German Army “Jews are fined or arrested for forgetting to bow toGerman officers or not getting out of their way on the pavements,” are notallowed 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 inother pleasures and games.”
1917:It was reported today that the Jewish Board for Welfare Work in the UnitedStates of Army of which Colonel Harry Cutler of Providence is the Chairman hasissued an appeal to the Jews of United States “to raise a fund of $1,000,000within 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 inthe U.S. Army with Jews making up 40% of the men at Camp Upton, 16% of the meanat Camp Meade and 7% of the mean at Camp Dix.
1917:Nearly one thousand Jews representing their co-religionist throughout theUnited States met at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue where, among otherthings they adopted “a resolution whereby a committee of ten prominent Jews wasappointed to urge President Wilson to extend the work of the Belgian ReliefCommission to Poland, Lithuania and similar war stricken countries.”
1918:Rabbi Hyman Gerson Enelow who was touring the Western Front as a member of theOverseas Commission of the Jewish Welfare Board wrote today that “it is a realprivilege to move about among the men.“They are all glad to see me” because “it means to them that they arenot forgotten by the Jewish community and that they get a chance to talk overtheir difficulties nand problems.
1918(22ndof Cheshvan, 5679): During the Post-World War Influenza Pandemic, fifty-nineyear old Leopold S. Kahn, the “dwarf performer known as Admiral Dot when he waswith P.T. Barnum, passed away. Before he would marry Lottie Naomi Swartwood, afellow performer, she had to convert to Judaism so that they marriage could beperformed by a rabbi.
1918(22ndof Cheshvan, 5679): Twenty-four-year-old Sol Henry Miller passed away today inDenver after which he was buried at Mt. Nebo Memorial Park in Aurora, CO.
1918: Czechoslovakia gains its independence. Therewere almost four hundred thousand Jews living in the part of theAustro-Hungarian Empire that became Czechoslovakia. This meant Jews were about 2.5% of the newrepublics population. The Jewishpopulation in that part of Czechoslovakia known as Bohemia traced its rootsback to the tenth century. Most of theJews of the Central European nation would perish in the Holocaust.
1919:The Congress voted to override President Wilson’s of the Volstead Act, the lawwhich would give the United States “Prohibition.” One of the families to profit from this wasthe Bronfmans, the Canadian liquor barons.
1919:In Philadelphia, for the second day in a row, the Public Ledger published “excerpts from the first English languagetranslation 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 outragesand inhumanities being practiced on Jews in other countries, Simon Wolfcelebrated his 84th birthday.
1920:In Akron, OH, nursing assistant Lillian Rabinowitz and plumber Albert Kesslergave birth to Leonard Cecil Kessler “the author and illustrator of hundreds ofchildren’s books for early readers that celebrated the ordinary (“I Have TwentyTeeth — Do You?”) and the not-so-ordinary (“Mr. Pine’s Purple House”) (Asreported 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, turnedbiology 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” inhonor of the 85th birthday of Simon Wolf.”
1921:Birthdate of Frederick Mayer, the native of Freiburg and son of a recipient ofthe Iron Cross who enlisted in the U.S. Army the day after Pearl Harbor wasattacked and parachuted back into Germany as an agent for the O.S.S. (Asreported 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 Dutchbusinessman Abraham Icek Tuschinski “opened its doors in Amsterdam today.”
1922: Birthdate of Gershon Kingsley a JewishGerman-American composer, most famous for composing the early electronic popsong Popcorn. He led the First Moog Quartet and was the first person to use theMoog synthesizer in live performance.
1922:March on Rome Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and takeover the Italian government with the assistance of the Catholic Church; popePius XI declares that "Mussolini is a man sent by divine providence."According to Michele Sarfatti’s new book, The Jews in Mussolini’s Italy asreviewed in The Forwards Jews were sowell integrated into Italian society that by 1922 when Mussolini took power,they were in every branch of government, including the military, and wererepresented all across the political spectrum. There were Jews who at firstadhered enthusiastically to Mussolini’s program, others were among the first toorganize antifascist activities, as well as many who hoped to remain neutral.The range of activities of Italian Jews extended from academics andprofessionals all the way to shop keepers and panhandlers. What emerges is aheterogeneous population that professed varying degrees of religious identityand 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 themedieval Catholic anti-Judaism provided fertile grounds for anti-Jewishnationalism, which in turn fed Fascist anti-Semitism. In 1934, Benito Mussolinifamously declared that “there has never been anti-Semitism in Italy.” A merefour years later, after abandoning his Jewish mistress of 27 years, he passedhis infamous racial laws. The rise of an anti-Semitic ideology escalated withItaly’s colonial war in Abyssinia of 1935. The Fascists first developed theconcept of “Difesa della razza” (“defense of the race”) in dominating the blackpopulation of the African colony. At this early stage, this doctrine hadparallels only in Nazi Germany and was completely absent in the rhetoric ofFascist movements, from Spain to Hungry, Romania and Poland. Based on newlydiscovered documents and an abundance of statistical data, the bookdemonstrates that, contrary to popular belief, Mussolini’s policies toward theJews were independently conceived and implemented, and not — as some haveargued — a late concession to Hitler’s war against the Jews. Despite Il Duce’salliance with Hitler, “only” about 7,000 Italian Jews (16.3% of the Jewishpopulation) died in Nazi death camps. Moreover, documented instances ofItalians risking their lives to save Jews abound—a fact that reinforced theperception of Italians as “brava gente” (“good people,” the kind who helpedpreserve Jewish lives). Sarfatti maintains that the seeds of anti-Semitism werepresent in the Fascist regime since its inception, though anti-Semitism was notyet official policy. With a multitude of documented examples, the book followsthe anti-Semitic crescendo in both official political discourse and practice.As early as 1934, the office of the Interior Ministry pressed for thereplacement of Ferrara’s mayor: “It has been brought to our attention that thelocal citizenry feels displeasure to have a mayor of the Israelite religion atthe head of the city’s administration. Therefore, it is desirable that he bereplaced with a Catholic mayor.” In 1938, the Italian dictator passed andenforced the racial laws, in many respects even more restrictive thananti-Jewish legislation in Nazi Germany, and Italy became an officiallyanti-Semitic country. Sarfatti stresses that Mussolini was never pressured byHitler regarding racial policies. Italians on the whole did not protest thelaws until their lethal consequences became clear. By 1943, the Fascists beganconfiscating Jewish property and rounding up Jews for deportation, and abruptlymany of those who had not protested against anti-Jewish laws rushed to saveJews.
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 shoebusiness working for others—opened their first shoe store, Chandler's, inAtlanta, Georgia.”
1923:In Lawrence, Massachusetts, Samuel Joseph Bernstein the son of “Dina and JudahBernstein” and his wife Jennie Charna Bernstein gave birth to Shirley AnneBernstein, the younger sister of “music man” Leonard Bernstein.
1923:Birthdate of David Aronson a native of Lithuania who became “a leading BostonExpressionist.”
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 LouisMarshall, 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 weremade public today.
1925: Hungarian trained rabbiAlexander Sandor Wiesel, the University of Alabama alum and the son of SallyMoses and Benny Wiesel who served as the rabbi for Agudath Israel inMontgomery, AL before moving on to Agudath Achim in Shreveport, LA wherehe 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 andFrederick Margareten and her husband Morris Weiss gave birth to Richard AllanWeiss.
1927:“Fabulous Lola” a silent comedy with music by Artur Guttmann was released byParufamet in Germany today.
1927:It was reported today that Henri Torres, the defender of Sholom Schwartzbardhas been invited to United States “to address a meeting to be arranged by theAmerican Jewish Congress.”
1928:“According to an announcement made the American Advisory Committee led byChairman Felix Warburg, Emanuel Hertz of New York City “have given steel booksections to house from 12,000 to 14,000 books at the Hebrew University in Palestinewhich includes “the original manuscript of Professor Alberts Einstein’s ‘Theoryof Relativity’” and “a collection of books and brochures on the Dreyfus casepresented by Professor David Simonsen of Copenhagen,:
1928(14thof Cheshvan, 5689): “Theodore Rieanch, famous French Jewish lawyer, historianand archaeologist, one of the foremost authorities on comparative religion andHellenic literature” died at today in Paris at the age of 68. “He was a brotherof Solomon Reinach, President of the Alliance Israelite Universelle. Among hismany literary works were “a history of the Jews from the Dispersion to ourtimes,” Short History of Christianity and a French translation of theworks of the Josephus, the Jewish first century Jewish historian.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F40D1FFD3958127A93C2AA178BD95F4C8285F9
1929: “The PalestineEmergency Fund” grew “to $2,003,648.49 with the receipt of additionalcontribution over the week-end, Chairman David A. Brown announced today and “hesaid that the Jews of New York City had contributed $698,388.20.”
1930: “Calling therecent British action relative to the Jews in Palestine ‘a breach of honor andgood faith,’ to the United States Government, delegates at the annualconvention of Mizrachi meeting in Baltimore tonight “adopted a resolutionappeal to President Hoover to take cognizance of the situation and express hisopinion on it.”
1931: In New York, MorrisMendelsohn, “a salesman for a company that imported candy from Europe” and his motherthe former May Albert gave birth to “Everett I. Mendelsohn, a Harvard professorwho as a scholar of the history of science explored how science’s evolution hasbeen influenced by historical and cultural trends and vice versa…” (As reportedby Neil Genzlinger)
https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/people/everett-mendelsohn
1931: Sixty-nine year old George WashingtonOchs-Oaks the son of Bertha and Julius Ochs a member of the Ochs family of NewYork Times whose varied career included serving as newspaper reporter, a memberof the New York National Guard during WW I and Mayor of Chattanooga, TN isscheduled to be buried today “in Mount Sinai Cemetery at Frankford, PA besidehis wife who died 18 years ago” following services at Temple Emanu-El in NewYork 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 whoco-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 ReconstructiveSurgery, said” tonight “in opening the society’s first annual session at theNew York Academy of Medicine.”
1933(8thof Cheshvan, 5694): Parashat Lech Lecha
1933(8thof Cheshvan, 5694): Seventy-eight-year-old “builder, real estate operator andDemocratic leader of the Seventh Ward Morris Levy, the husband of “the formerAnnie Rothschild” with whom he had “five daughters and four sons” who was amember of the Daughters of Israel and the Daughters of Jacob passed away in NewYork.
1933:Ohio State University led by Team Captain Sid Gillman defeated Northwestern inColumbus Ohio today.
1933:“The Kennel Murder Case” directed by Michael Curtiz was released in the UnitedStates today by Warner Bros.
1934:“The decline of public interest in Sir Oswald Mosley was demonstrated tonightwhen the leader of the British Fascists addressed a crowd of 6,000 in the vastAlbert Hall.
1934:Racialand religious considerations should play no part in the coming elections. RabbiLouis I. Newman said yesterday morning at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, 7 WestEighty-third Street.
1935:“The necessity for all synagogues to act together was emphasized by fourspeakers” – Charles P. Kramer, Harry N. Wessel, Rabbi Samuel Shulman and RabbiGustav F. Falk – “tonight at the semi-annual meeting of the Greater New Yorkcommittee of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations” at Temple Emanu-El.”
1936(12thof Cheshvan, 5697): Ninety-year old Moses Hirsch Landau, the father of JacobLandau, the founder and managing director of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,passed away today in New York. (As reported by JTA)
1936(12thof Cheshvan. 5697): Seventy-one-year-old Hattie Kahn Carb, the Washington, DCborn daughter of Solomon and Anna Madeline Graff Kahn and the widow of “realestate pioneer” Isadore Carb and amember of Temple Beth-El passed away today in Fort Worth after which she wasinterred in the Hebrew Rest Cemetery.
1936:“The third annual Night of the Stars benefit presentation to raise funds forJewish emergency needs abroad was held in Madison Square Garden tonight” andaccording to Chairman Harold Jacob had raised $75,000.
1936It was reported today that Rabbi Leo M. Franklin of Detroit protested theappeal by Joseph Lewis an Alabama born Jew who became head of the FreethinkersAssociation to denounce Yom Kippur as “the most degrading and humiliating dayin all the superstitious annals of religion.”
1937,The Palestine Post reported that some50,000 out of the 400,000 trees in the Balfour Forest were burnt by Arabarsonists who used cotton-waste bombs, soaked in paraffin. From a historic point of view, this was nomere act of arson. By the end of the 19thcenturies vast swaths of Eretz Israel were treeless waste or swamps. The JNF made reforestation a major part ofits plan. In burning these trees, theterrorists were not just starting a forest fire. They were showing a determination to rejectimprovement and modernization.
1937: ThePalestine Post reported that the two chief rabbis, Dr. Isaac Herzog andRabbi Jacob Meir, issued a manifesto asking for a national moderation anddiscipline on the part of Jews in responding to the intensified Arab terrorcampaign. The manifesto was issued inresponse to reports of Jews attacking Arabs during this attempted “reign ofterror.”
1937:As Arab violence continued, 12 shots were fired a police patrol car in Lyddashattering 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 Statestoday by 20th Century Fox.
1938:Germanyexpels “some 18,000” Jews with Polish citizenship to the Polish border. Polesrefuse to admit them; Germans refuse to allow them back into Germany. Seventeenthousand 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 BernhardMaissner (also known as Bejrich Bernhard Majzner), the husband of Regina RivkaRichter, was deported to Bentschen, in Poland which was the first step on thetrip to his murder at Treblinka
1938:Birthdate of Aharon Abuhatzira the native of Morocco who moved to Israel in1949 where he pursued a career in politics that included serving in the Knessetand as Mayor of Ramla.
1939(15thof Cheshvan, 5700): Parashat Vayera
1939:“Palestine and the United States were put nearly on a par as countriesreceiving refugees from Greater Germany since the Nazi persecutions began in1933, in estimates made public by Sir Herbert Emerson, the director of theIntergovernmental committee on Political Refugees.”
1940:Birthdate of television writer and producer Susan Harris (née Spivak) whocreated 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 armyincluded 12,000 Greek Jews which fought fiercely and stopped the Italianadvance. Between 510 and 615 Greek Jewish soldiers from Salonica were killed.
1940:Following the German occupation of France, the Vichy regime no longer offered asafe haven to Jeanne Mandello the German Jewish photographer living in Parisand her husband Arno Grünebaum.
1940:Germanoccupiers 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 Anthropoidaimed at the “assassination of Schutzstaffel (SS)-Obergruppenführer and Generalder Polizei Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (ReichMain 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 onBroadway at the Music Box Theater today.
1941:InKovno, Lithuania, 27,000 Jews who were assembled in Democracy Square must passbefore an SS officer named Rauca, who signals life or death for each. 9200 ofthe Jews - 4300 of them children - are sent to their deaths at pits at thenearby Ninth Fort. (Friedlander, in The Years of Extermination puts the numberat 10,000)
1941(7thof Cheshvan, 5702): Lithuanian born Yiddish poet Yehudis Glaz-Shteyn died todayin 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 EuropeanJewry problem, one has to prevent the immigration of Jews into the unoccupiedarea 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 Auschwitzin the next six weeks
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/this_month/october/15.asp
1942:Jewish Warsaw Ghettoleaders ask Jan Karski, a Polish Catholic working for the underground, to tellthe Polish and Allied governments: "We are helpless in the face of theGerman criminals....The Germans are not trying to enslave us as they have otherpeople; we are being systematically murdered....Our entire people will bedestroyed...."
1942:The SS issues a secretdirective that mittens and stockings confiscated from Jewish children at deathcamps be gathered and sent to SS families.
1942: The Nazis deported 2,000children and 6,000 adults from Cracow for shipment to Belzec.
1942:SS directive orders all children's mittens and stockings to be sent from thedeath camps to the SS families.
1942:Sixteen thousand Jews are murdered atPinsk, Poland.
1942:MieczyslawGruber, a Jewish former soldier in the Polish Army, escapes with 17 others froma Nazi POW camp on Lipowa Street in Lublin. The group will later establish apartisan group in the forest northwest of the city.
1943: “More than 1,200friends and admirers of Ben Bernie, orchestra leader and radio favorite”attended the funeral of “the Old Maestro” at Temple Rodeph Sholom where RabbiLouis I. Newman “who conducted the service praised Bernie for his “generosityand selfness” after which he recited “When I Am Dead” written by Chaim NachmanBialik.
http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poem/item/3343/auto/AFTER-MY-DEATH
1944: Thirty-nine-year-oldCzech journalist Josef Taussig “was transported today with his parents oneother relative to Auschwitz on the last train from Theresienstadt.”
1944: Thirty-four-year-oldGerman author H.G. Adler “was deported to Niederoschel, a subdivision ofBuchenwald” two weeks after his wife who was a doctor and his mother-in-lawwere 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 theJewish Room of the New York Public Library” was published in today’s MorningFreiheit Magazine Section.
1944: The last transport train from Theresienstadtarrived at Birkenau with 2,038 Jews. Of them 1,589 would find their fates inthe gas chambers. Also 164 Jews from Bolzano arrived at the same time and 137of them would be gassed immediately.
1944(11th of Cheshvan, 5705):A train fromBolzano, Italy, reaches Auschwitz with 301 prisoners. Of these, 137 areimmediately gassed.
1944(11thof Cheshvan, 5705): Forty-seven-year-old actor and director Kurt Gerron wasgassed today along with his wife upon their arrival at Auschwitz.
1944:Hannah Senesh, a member of the British Army was tried for treason in Budapesttoday by her Facist captors in direct violation of the Geneva Convention.
1944: Birthdate of actor Dennis Franz, known bestfor his role as Detective Sipowicz onNYPD Blues.
1945: Birthdate of Sandy Berger, National SecurityAdvisor 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 ofNew York, Judge Goldstein, the Republican-Liberal-Fusion nominee trails thefavored candidate, William F. O’Dwyer. Goldstein had been a lifelong Democratand according to some, his candidacy was based on the belief that he could drawJewish votes away from O’Dwyer, the Democrat Party candidate and thus improvethe chances of the third candidate, Newbold Morris. (Hey it can’t all be Talmudand Torah)
1946:More than two thirds of the 300,000 eligible voters participated in today’selection in Palestine for the 79 delegates to the 22nd World ZionistCongress scheduled to open on December 9 in Basle, Switzerland.
1947:English solicitor Sir David Napley and his wife the former Leah Rose Saturleygave birth to their second daughter Penelope Susan
1947:During an interview in New York, Moshe Pomrok, a member of the PalestineMaritime League, described the steps taken to establish a maritime industry inPalestine in the eleven years since the Arabs closed the harbor of Jaffa aspart 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 developinterest among Jewish youth in being part of the fishing industry. The league is now trying to gain support fora New York to Haifa shipping line based on a potential annual booking of 50,000to 80,000 passenger a year plus a large import trade
1947:Dalton Trumbo, who wrote the screenplay for “Exodus” was held in contempt bythe HUAC
1948:Dr. David De Sola Pool, the rabbi at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue andDr. Louis Finkelstein, the President of JTS will officiate at the funeral forRabbi Judah Magnes
1948:In the evening, Operation Hiram, which was designed to secure the Upper Galileebegan. Named after the biblical KingHiram of Tyre, the goal was to secure the Upper Galilee as far as the northernboundary of the Palestine Mandate. The IDF is facing a Palestinian military forcethat does not consider itself bound UN Truce Agreements as well as regular Arabtroops including units of the Syrian Army. The sixty hour operation was successful in securing part of Israel’sborder
1948: Israeli forces clear the Egyptians from theMediterranean 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-Dawayyimwhich was supposed to the home of those responsible for the massacre of theJews.
1948: Following their failed attempt to destroy thestate of Israel, Egyptian forces retreated “southward from the Israeli city ofAshdod.”
1948:The flag of Israel was adopted by the government, five months after thecountry’s establishment. However, the flag, which depicts a blue Star of Davidon a white background between two horizontal blue stripes, first appeared some50 years before becoming a national symbol.,At the core of the flag is the Starof David, which can be traced back to the medieval era where it was used fordecorations, ornaments and protective amulets. Not until the 17th century didthe hexagram begin to represent the Jewish community as a whole. In fact, theJewish quarter of Vienna was formally distinguished from the rest of the cityby a boundary stone having the Star of David on one side and the Christiancross on the other.,In the 18th century, the Star of David represented theJewish people in both religious and political contexts. It was only a centurylater that it became an international symbol when in 1891, the Zionist Movementused the Star of David to create a flag almost identical to the one we arefamiliar with today. During the first Zionist congress in 1897, which discussedthe establishment a homeland for Jews in Palestine, several flags wereconsidered to represent the Jewish people internationally. One of them wasTheodor Herzl’s design which had seven gold stars and represented the 7-hourwork quota. Another design was put forward by Morris Harris, a member of theZionist group Hovevei Zion, who used his awning shop to design a suitablebanner and decorations for the reception. His mother Lena Harris sewed theflag. It was made with two blue stripes and a large blue Star of David in thecenter. Ultimately, Herzl’s design failed to garner support and the latter wasadopted instead as the official Zionist flag during the second internationalZionist congress in 1898. Regarding the design of the flag, at the time, theStar of David seemed to be the obvious choice. However, the blue stripes wereinspired by those of the Talit, the Jewish prayer shawl. Some controversy hassurrounded the meaning of these stripes with certain people arguing that theysecretly represent the Nile and the Euphrates rivers, the borders of thePromised Land as described in the Bible. However, all relevant sources indicatethat the Talit was the sole inspiration behind the “stripes.” In a turn ofevents, the flag with the symbol that was once used to identify Jews during theNazi era at its core, has recently become the largest national symbol in theworld. In 2007, a flag measuring 660 by100 meters and weighing 5.2 tons, was unfurled near the ancient Jewish fortressof Masada, breaking the world record for the largest flag. (As reported byDaniel Bensadolin)
1949(5thof Cheshvan, 5710): Sixty-two-year-old Lithuanian born Rabbi Adolph Coblenz,who served Chizuk Amuno Congregation in Baltimore from 1920 to 1947 passed awaytoday.
1949(5thof Cheshvan, 5710): Fifty-seven-year-old Herman “Kay” Kamen born Herman SamuelKominetzky to Russian-Jewish parents in Baltimore who introduced the first-ever Mickey Mousewatch and who during his seventeen association with The Walt Disney Companycreated 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 ontelevision. The show ran for 15 yearswhich is an exceptionally long run in the world of television. Thus, the Jewish comedian Jack Benny provedto 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,” acomedy featuring Lionel Stander and Julius Tannen was re-released in the UnitedStates today.
1951:Franz Bilbo is scheduled to serve as the conductor at the “concert in tributeto Leopold Prince who died on August 17” given by the City Amateur SymphonyOrchestra at the Museum of Natural History in New York City.
1951:Fifty-nine-year-old actress Mady Christians, who had left her native Germanybecause of the rise the Nazis and the treatment of the Jews and ended up beingone of the few non-Jews to be Blacklisted, in part for her friendship with suchpeople as Lillian Hellman, passed away today.
1952:The Jerusalem Post reported that JohnBlandford of UNRWA admitted that 881,600 Palestine refugees were eating out ofthe relief money planned for development and there was little progress inresettlement. The US, Britain, France and Turkey asked the UN for additionalfunds to be added to the sums already allocated. The Arab states workeddiligently to create the “Arab Refugee” problem. While Israel was busy absorbing refugees fromall over the world (including Arab states), the Arabs kept the brethren pennedup in camps in Gaza and other border areas.
1952:The Jerusalem Post reported that awell with a capacity of 88,800 gallons of water per hour was discovered nearBeersheba. This is the same Beersheba where wells were dug in Biblicaltimes. The discovery of an additionalwater source in the Negev was big news.
1953:Anna Malin conveyed title to the Temple Israel property in Leadville, CO, toSteve J. and Anna Malin
1953:“Fritz Mahler conducted his first concert with the Hartford Symphony in aprogram 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 todaydescribed a speech in which the Supreme Court Justice “linked Israel’s problem in absorbingimmigrants from many lands with the traditional “melting pot” role of theUnited States in assimilating people of many races and cultures.” (As reportedby JTA)
1954:“The Rainmaker” a play by N. Richard Nash (born Nathan Richard Nusbaum) openedon Broadway at the Cort Theatre.
1954:“Carmen Jones” the film version of the 1943 stage production directed andproduced by Otto Preminger and based on a libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II wasreleased today in the United States.
1955:“After a border incident with Egypt around the Auja al-Hafir demilitarizedzone, Golani was tasked with leading Operation Volcano, an attack on theEgyptian army in the area and the largest military operation at the time sincethe 1948 war”
1955:In response to a raid by Egyptian forces on “a small Israeli outpost atBe’erotayim” two-hundred paratroopers commanded by Ariel Sharon attacked theKuntilla 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 lostfor the fourth straight week, this time against the Detroit Lions.
1956:The University of Miami Orchestra performed “New England Triptych” asymphonic composition by William Schuman for the first time.
1956:Having exhausted all other options, the Israeli Cabinet agrees that IDF forceswill cross the Egyptian border and attack in the Sinai Peninsula.
1956:Units of the 202nd Paratroopers Brigade moved “in a long column tothe Israeli-Egyptian border.”
1957(3rd of Cheshvan, 5718): Ernst Gräfenberg aGerman-born physician and scientist who is known for developing theintrauterine device (IUD), and for his studies of the role of the woman'surethra in orgasm, passed away today in New York City. Born in 1881 at Adelebsen, Germany, hestudied medicine at Göttingen and Munich. “He began working as a doctor ofophthalmology at the university of Würzburg, but then moved to the Departmentof Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Kiel, where he publishedpapers on cancer metastasis (the "Gräfenberg theory"), and thephysiology of egg implantation. In 1910 Gräfenberg worked as a gynaecologist inBerlin, and by 1920 was most successful, with an office on the Kurfurstendamm.He was chief gynecologist of a municipal hospital in Britz, a working classBerlin district, and was beginning scientific studies of the physiology ofhuman reproduction at Berlin University.
During the First World War, he was a medicalofficer, and continued publishing papers, mostly on human female physiology. In1929 he published his studies of the "Gräfenberg ring", the first IUDfor 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 ofgynecology and obstetrics in the Berlin-Britz municipal hospital. In 1934, HansLehfeldt attempted to persuade him to leave Nazi Germany; he refused, believingthat since his practice included wives of high Nazi officials, he would besafe. He was wrong, and was arrested in 1937 for having smuggled out a valuablestamp from Germany. Margaret Sanger ransomed him from Nazi prison, and he wasfinally allowed to leave in 1940, whereupon he went to the US and opened apractice in New York City.
1958:Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli becomes Pope and takes the name Pope John XXIII. JohnXXIII had worked to save Jews during the Holocaust. As Pope he worked to improve relations withthe Jewish People.
1958(14thof Cheshvan, 5719): Eighty-eight year old Judah Jacobson, the son of Sarah LeahJacobson and Abraham Moses Jacobson, and the husband of Sarah Rose Jacobsonwith whom he had six children passed away today in North Babylon, NY afterwhich he was buried in Farmingdale, NY.
1958: EdgarD'Arcy McGreer completed his service as Canada’s Ambassador to Israel.
1959:Funeral services are scheduled to be held to at “The Riverside” for ArthurStern, the Controller of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York and thehusband Charlotte Stern.
1959:“Samuel Engel Elected President of Brandeis Institute of California” publishedtoday described the elevation of the famed 20th Century Fox moviesproducer to leadership position of this educational facility located on a 2,000acre campus near Los Angeles under the direction of Dr. Shlomo Bardin.(JTA)
1961:After 795 performances on Broadway the curtain came down on “Fiorello!” thePulitzer Prize musical with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, music by Jerry Bock anda book co-authored by Jerome Weidman.
1962:Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich got married today “and shortly afterwardsdecided to write songs exclusively with each other — a decision thatdisappointed Barry's main writing partner, Artie Resnick.”
1964:Over 10,000 people attend a rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden, theearliest large scale public demonstration for Soviet Jews.
1965:In Chicago, Sharyn and Walter Gertz gave birth to Jami Gertz, the sister ofMichael 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 withNon-Christian Religions" of the Second Vatican Council, was promulgated byPope Paul VI; it absolves the Jews of the alleged killing of Jesus, reversingInnocent III ’s declaration from760 years ago. In short, Pope Paul VI announces that ecumenical council hasdecided that Jews are not collectively responsible for the killing of Christ.
1967:Noel Harrison’s recording Leon Cohen’s “Suzzane” “entered the Billboard Hot 100chart at number 86” today.
1968(6thof Cheshvan, 5729): Eighty-nine-year-old Fanny Pearlstine, the South Carolinaborn daughter of Amelia and Alfred Abraham Strauss, the wife of Thomas LouisPearlstine passed away today in Charleston.
1969(16thof Cheshvan, 5730): Sixty-two-year-old Esther Helmann Lazar, the San Franciscoborn daughter of Florence and Sidney Meyer Ehrman and the wife of Claude Lazardpassed away today in Oakland, CA after which she was interred at the Home ofPeace in Colma, CA.
1970(28thof Tishrei, 5731): Fifty-nine-old-year St. Joseph, MO native and Yale alumSamuel 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-trustand securities litigation passed away today.
1970:“The Twelve Chairs” a comedy directed and written by Mel Brooks was released inthe United States today.
1972(20thof Cheshvan, 5733): Parashat Vayera
1972(20thof Cheshvan, 5733): Russian born, American chemist and engineer Isaac Bencowtizwho served in the in the Infantry during WW II and became one of the “MonumentsMen” 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 schoolguidance counselor gave birth to Anthony Michael “Tony” Levine, a three-yearstarter for Minnesota at wide receiver and member of the Minnesota FightingPike in the Arena Football who went on to pursue a career in coaching thatincluded 4 seasons as the head coach at the University of Houston.
1972(20thof Cheshvan, 5733): Seventy-two-year-old Reuben I. Isaacson, “the retiredpresident of the Donmoor Knitwear Company” and “chairman of the board of theJewish Reconstructionist College in Philadelphia who was the husband of “theformer Lillian Schnur” and the father of Naomi Becket and Judith Jupiter passedaway today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/29/archives/reuben-i-isaacson.html
1972(20thof Cheshvan, 5733): Sixty-five-year-old Sidney I. Cole, the founder ofIndustrial Erectors, Inc., “chairman of the board of the Union of AmericanHebrew Congregations” and the husband of “the former Sally Brilliant” with whomhe 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 althoughintermittent fighting on a small scale would continue into January of thefollowing year.
1973:Rabbi Max Hausen officiated at the wedding of Rachela Lea Subel and Joseph SaulSolomon at the Main Line Reform Temple.
1973:“ Israeli and Egyptian military leaders meet to implement the cease-fire atKilometer 101 marker in the Sinai. It is the first meeting between militaryrepresentatives of the two countries in 25 years.” (JTA)
1973(2ndof Cheshvan. 5734): Eighty-nine-year-old Pearl Trost, the Ohio born daughter ofNannie and Emil A. Cohn, the wife of Phillip Solomon Trost and the mother ofPhillips Solomon Trost, Jr. who worked for the Curtis PublishingCompany 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 wifeArlyn the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Russia and Hungary gave birth toactor Joaquin Phoenix.
1974:In Detroit, MI,Meg(née Goldman), a writer, and writer-director Lawrence Kasdan gave birth todirector Jacob "Jake" Kasdan, the brother of Jon Kasdan and the husbandof Inara George.
1975:“The 37th issue of the samizdat “Chronicle of Current Events” was circulated inthe USSR” today.
1976:Maria Slepak appealed to Senator Kennedy on behalf of Boris Chernobilsky andIosif Ahs.
1976:Funeral services are scheduled to be held today in Indianapolis for eighty-eight-year-oldFlorence Strauss, the Piqua, OH, member of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregationand the widow of Hugo M. Strauss who isnot to be confused with “motion picture editor” Florence Strauss, the New YorkCity born daughter of Sara Greenbaum and Isadore Levi and the wife of CharlesH. Strauss who was a scenario writer for Goldwyn Pictures.
1977:The Jerusalem Post reported that theUS had bluntly told the Arab States that Israel had demonstrated significantflexibility on procedures for the reconvening of the Geneva Peace Conferencethat 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 laterconvert to Orthodox Judaism was re-signed by the Philadelphia Eagles who had bedrafted 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” theauthor notes that “it is just 100 years ago this year thatYiddish theater opened in America, according to its historians, and that theone Yiddish theater that is celebrating it is doing so most appropriately witha performance of Abraham Goldfaden's operetta ''Shulamith,'' first performedhere in 1882, with Boris Thomashevsky.
Therevival, at the Norman Thomas Theater on East 33d Street at Park Avenue, is anelegant and tuneful production, certainly an eye-opener to one who has neverbefore seen this work by Goldfaden, who is regarded as the founder of modernYiddish theater. It is strikingly staged by Ben Bonus, its director, on a setthat dramatically recreates the rocky mountains of ancient Israel. Mr. Bonus,who is a hardy Yiddish theater annual in New York, is presenting it inassociation with the Yiddish Musical Theater of Israel, headed by Israel Walin,who conceived the setting. The biblical tale of Shulamith tells of thebeautiful daughter of a sage and tribal leader who falls in a well whilewandering through the barrens. She is rescued by a handsome prince, Avisholom (inEnglish, Absalom). They vow to marry, but before they do, Avisholom meets aprincess, Avigael (Abigail), and marries her. The death of their two childrenis attributed to the prince's breaking of his pledge to Shulamith and he leaveshis wife to find her, which he eventually does, working the plot to what mightbe called a happy ending. ''Shulamith'' has, to modern ears, a distinctivelyoperatic 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 lendsitself to the form of a Greek tragedy, a theatrical influence that is broughtout in this production. This is the show for which Goldfaden wrote two of hisbest-known and longest-lived songs, ''Raisins and Almonds'' and the ''BridegroomSong.'' The cast has two most attractive leads with voices that reflectoperatic training. Zoya Amen, in the title role, did indeed sing in opera inRussia until immigrating to Israel three years ago, and Ino Toper, who playsthe Prince, appeared in opera in Russia and in Israel. Raquel Yossiffon, as theunfortunate princess, is a powerful theater presence. Peisach Burstein, who hasa lifetime of Yiddish theater behind him and came to America at the invitationof Thomashevsky, plays Shulamith's father and evokes a genuine sense of thebewildered sage. Demion Akhan, who has worked Broadway and Off Broadway butnever Yiddish theater until now, introduces a sprightly comic element to thisromantically sober work. Even more light, and more anachronistic, is theintermittent telling of the story in English by two young people. Felix Fibich,the choreographer, leads his dancers through creations that mirror the pastoralsetting of the musical. Michael Stackler conducts the orchestra. The costumesand 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, evenwith its imperfections, for those with with any feeling for this theater, whichexpressed the aspirations of a public that years back had few other outlets toexpress their hopes.
1986:After Barry Levenson’s Red Sox lost the World Series, he “was wandering aroundan 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 locatedin Middleton, Wisconsin.
https://mustardmuseum.com/the-mustard-museum/
1987:Today, the Russian government of Mikhail Gorachev exonerated poet and essayistOsip Mandelstam of charges made in the 1930’s that he was guilty of“counter-revolutionary activities”; a charge that led to his imprisonment andmysterious death in the Gulag in 1938.
1988(17thof Cheshvan, 5749): Eighty-four year old Andrew Howard “Andy” Cohen the NewYork Giant second baseman who in 1928 provided the inspiration for “Cohen Atthe Bat” – a parody of “Casey at the Bat that ended with “Then from the standsand bleachers the fans in triumph roared, And Andy raced to second and theother runner scored; Soon they took him home in triumph, midst the blare ofauto 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(9thof Cheshvan, 5751): Ninety-nine-year-old Maurice B. Hexter, the native ofCincinnati, Ohio and former executive vice president of the Federation ofJewish Philanthropies who first went to Jerusalem in 1929 to help with therebuilding following destructive Arab riots passed away today. (As reported byGlenn Fowler)
1991(20thof Cheshvan, 5752): Seventy-eight-year-old Sylvia Fine, the widow of Danny Kayeand a noted producer, lyricist and composer in her own right, passed awaytoday. (As reported by William Grimes)
1995:During an opposition rally in Jerusalem’s Zion Square, a photographic montagewas circulated showing Rabin in a Nazi uniform.
1997(27thof Tishrei, 5758): Eighty-two-year-old Paul Jarrico (born Israel Shapiro) theblacklisted 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 sueJohn Lukacs for libel if he published his book, The Hitler of History withoutremoving certain passages highly critical of Irving’s work.”
1997:In a letter with today’s date, Holocaust denier David “Irving threatened to sueJohn Lukacs for libel if he published his book, The Hitler of Historywithout removing certain passages highly critical of Irving's work” – a threatthat delayed the publication of the book in the United Kingdom.
1998(8thof Cheshvan, 5759): Seventy-one-year-old James Goldman the screenwriter andplaywright whose most noted work may have been “The Lion in Winter” and who wasthe brother of William Goldman, passed away today in New York.
1999:TheUnited Cigar Manufacturing Company building located in York, PA which was hometo the firm owned Jacob Wertheim and his son investment banker and chess patronMaurice Wertheim was add to the NRHP today.
2000: The Battered Immigrant WomenProtection Act introduced by Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky became law.This act works to assist immigrants who are victims of domestic violence byproviding legal protections that can aid them in escaping violent situationsand securing court protection. Immigrant women are particularly vulnerablebecause they often must rely on the legal residence status of their abusers.The Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act helps immigrant victims of domesticviolence take control of their lives without fear of deportation. JanSchakowsky was elected to represent the 9th Congressional District of Illinoisin 1998 after eight years of service in the Illinois State Assembly. Throughouther political career, Schakowsky has worked for economic and social justice,sought an end to violence against women, and worked for a national investmentin healthcare, public education and housing needs. (JWA)
2000:The BBC broadcast “King Death” the 5th episode of “A History ofBritain is a documentary series written and presented by Simon Schama.”
2001:The New York Timesfeatures reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or on topics of special Jewishinteresting including The Death of Comedy by Erich Segal and TheBrother: The Untold Story of Atomic SpyDavid Greenglass and How He Sent His Sister, Ethel Rosenberg, to the ElectricChair by Sam Roberts.
2001(11thof Cheshvan, 5762): St.-Sgt. YanivLevy, 22, of Zichron Yaakov was killed by Palestinian terrorists in a drive-bymachine-gun ambush near Kibbutz Metzer in northern Israel. The Tanzim wing ofArafat's Fatah faction claimed responsibility for the murder.
2001(11thof Cheshvan, 5762): Ayala Levy, 39, ofElyachin; Smadar Levy, 23, of Hadera; Lydia Marko, 63, of Givat Ada; and SimaMenahem, 30, of Zichron Yaakov were killed when two Palestinian terrorists,members of the Palestinian police, armed with assault rifles and expandingbullets, opened fire from a vehicle on Israeli pedestrians at a crowdedbus-stop in downtown Hadera. About 40 were wounded, three critically. TheIslamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
2001(11thof Cheshvan, 5762): Listening to the horror unfold over his cellphone, AsherKilgor 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 JerusalemPost following the terrorist attack, Kilgor said “he was waiting at a busstop here for her return from her job as a secretary in a law office in thenearby city of Hadera. Ms. Menachem's 8-year-old daughter was waiting with himat the bus stop. ''She always took the 1:55 p.m. bus from Hadera,'' Mr. Kilgorsaid. ''At 2:30, I called her and she told me that the bus was late, then shecalled back to say that she would take a taxi.'' ''Two minutes later, I gotanother 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 ofgunfire. I shouted into the phone until the call was disconnected. I calledback, but the phone was not in service. I called the police station, and theysaid there had been an attack in Hadera.'' Ms. Menachem was one of four Israeliwomen killed when two Palestinian gunmen in a sport utility vehicle opened firewith M-16 rifles near a bus stop on Hadera's main street, riddling dozens ofcommuters and pedestrians with bullets. The gunmen, from the militant groupIslamic Holy War, were killed by the police. More than 30 people were injuredin the attack. Ms. Menachem, 30, had met Mr. Kilgor, 33, a police officer, fouryears ago. They moved in together, raising two daughters from her firstmarriage and a third of their own in this picturesque hill town overlooking theMediterranean. They had planned to marry in a month, but instead Mr. Kilgorstood grief-stricken today at Ms. Menachem's wreath-covered grave. Surroundedby her wailing sisters and mother, Ms. Menachem was buried here today. Theyremembered 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 ofthe terrible price in blood exacted by life here,'' a sister said in herfarewell. The other victims were also killed on their daily rounds. LidyaMarko, 63, was heading home from a dental appointment. Smadar Levy, 23, amedical secretary, was on her way to work. Ayala Levy, 39, was returning fromher job as an assistant kindergarten teacher. The seats at the bus stop wherethey died were covered with memorial candles and flowers today. Bullet holesstill scarred the bus shelter, but pockmarks left by the bullets in a nearbylibrary building had already been filled in an effort to erase traces of theattack and get back to normal as quickly as possible. Across the street, OzZahavian, 24, sat in his health and beauty aids shop. He had seen it all fromhis seat, he said, and it was hard to go back to business as usual. ''I keepseeing the pictures in my head,'' he said. ''Teenage girls hit in the legs andchest, a girl whose leg was shattered, and someone crying: 'I want to walk. Idon't want to be a cripple.' 'The shock waves of the attack emptied downtownHadera 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. Zahaviansaid.
2001:“Delivering Milo” starring Anton Yelchin in the title role was released to byHanover House in the United States.
2001:“Donnie Darko” a sci-fi film that premiered at Sundance ten months ago starringJake Gyllenhaal and Maggie Gyllenhaal and featuring Seth Rogen was released inthe United States today.
2002(22ndof Cheshvan, 5763): A Palestinian suicide bomber from Nabulus “killed threeIsraelis 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 Powellmet with Abigail Endicott and Robert Kim Bingham to honor their father HiramBingham IV who as U.S. Vice Consul defied government orders and saved a largenumber of refugees from the Nazis and the Holocaust.
2003:Illinois attorney Stuart Levine is the guest of honor at a lavish receptionhosted by the “Friends of Israel Defense Force.” In 2008, Levine will plead guilty to avariety 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 intoday's municipal elections, but the Likud lost control of several importantcities, including Bat Yam, Rosh Ha'ayin, Dimona, Hod Hasharon, Eilat and KiryatMalachi.
2003:The BBC Reports that an organization in Israel has gained rabbinical approvalto train pigs to guard Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
2003: ColinPowell meets Abigail Endicott and Robert Kim Bingham to honor their fatherHiram 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, thefirst of its kind in Israel and the Jewish world opens in Tel Aviv.
2005:Newspapers reported that response to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad'scall for Israel to be "wiped off the map" has been uniformly negative
2005: As part of the Plame Affair Lewis Libby vicepresident 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 comedyproduced by Steve Tisch with music by Hans Zimmer was released in the UnitedStates by Paramount Pictures.
2006: An exhibition in Abbot Hall Art Gallery inEngland, “David Bomberg: Spirit in Mass” came to an end.
2006: Bettye Ackerman who played Dr. Maggie Grahamin the medical television series “Ben Casey” and who was the wide of Sam Jaffesuffered a stroke today.
2006(6th of Cheshvan, 5767): Red Auerbach, the manmany 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 ViolinConcerto at Carnegie Hall.
2007: New York’s Erez Safarcelebrates the launch of his new website called Shemspeed (www.shemspeed.com) with agala event in Los Angeles.
2007: The Sunday New York Times features reviews of the following books by Jewishauthors and/or that featured Jewish topics including The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross, Musicophilia: Tales ofMusic and the Brain by Oliver Sacks who was dubbed "the poetlaureate of medicine" by the NewYork Times, a biography of ErvinNyiregyhazi entitled Lost Genius: The Curious and Tragic Story of anExtraordinary Musical Prodigy by Kevin Bazzana, Gentlemen of the Roadby Michael Chabon author of The Yiddish Policemen’s Union one of the dumbest books ever written at leastby a Jewish author on a Jewish topic.
2007: TheWashington Post features reviews of the followingbooks by Jewish authors and/or that featured Jewish topics including Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brainby Dr. Oliver Sacks, The Museumof Dr. Moses by Joyce Carol Oates, In Among the Righteous: Lost Stories From the Holocaust's Long Reach IntoArab Lands, Robert Satloff’s search throughout the Middle East forevidence that Arabs helped Jews during World War II. "Satloff's efforts totell the story of Arab behavior -- both complicity and heroism -- during theHolocaust are important."
2007: TheChicago Tribune reports on the controversy surrounding the introduction of MishkanT’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 themovement’s liturgy.
2007: In “New Orleanssees resurgence of Jewish life inHurricane Katrina Aftermath,” published today Anshel Pfeffer describesconditions in the Crescent City two years after if endured the worst aquaticdisaster since the days of Noah:
http://www.bethisraelnola.com/media/haaretz.pdf
Michael Weil, executive director of the Jewish Federationof New Orleans estimates that over the last two years since Katrina, at least400 Jews have moved to the city to take part in its rebuilding, in a resurgenceof Jewish life in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
About 30 percent of newcomers to New Orleans are Jewish. "We made a surveyand we found out that these newcomers can be categorized in two profiles. Thereare the opportunists, carpetbaggers, lawyers, engineers, damage-assessors whorealize 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 achange. Most of them are young people in their twenties and thirties, singlesand couples, very few with children." About 9500 Jews lived in New Orleansbefore Katrina, and their numbers were dwindling. A third of them left the cityafter the storm and now the Jewish population stands at 6700, including thenewcomers. The rebuilding efforts have also lead to a newfound enthusiasm forJewish community life and about 70 percent of Jews in New Orleans are currentlyaffiliated in some way with Jewish organizations, a very high number relativeto most cities in the United States. To attract more Jews to the area, thefederation has put together a package of incentives, modeled in part on the salklita (absorption benefits) given to Olim in Israel. It includes 3000 dollarsin moving grants, 2500 in rental assistance and an interest-free loan of 15thousand for those purchasing or renovating a home or starting a business.Newcomers are also given free membership to all Jewish organizations andsynagogues during their first year. "We are also getting funding now so wecan offer newcomers with children a free Jewish education at our day schoolhere" says Weil. Since the program began in August, there have alreadybeen 170 enquiries. Weil, a former research fellow and policy planner at theJewish People Policy Planning Institute in Jerusalem, has been on the job for ayear and was in Israel last week leading a UJC mission from New Orleans. Hewants other communities around the world, struck by disaster to be able tolearn from New Orleans experience and there have already been talks with KiryatShmona municipality. "Our policy has been not to hang around waiting forsomeone else to help us out, and not to wait for billions of federal money tocome in but to change the rules of the ballgame. We made the switch from adeclining community and became an emerging one." Sarina Pollack, a lawyerfrom Chicago, is an example of the new kind of New Orleans Jew. She arrivedwith a UJC group to give assistance after the storm and ten months ago came tolive. "I was offered a job here at a law firm dealing with damage andproperty cases" she says, "and jumped at the opportunity. I think atlot of people like me are interested in coming here. We've led easy lives andthe most we could have done is give money donations, this is a real opportunityto give something with our own sweat and do the kind of Tikkun Olam we onlylearned about before." New Orleans is predominantly a Reform communitywith 4 temples. The city also has a Conservative synagogue and two Orthodoxones which will probably unite in the future and two Chabad centers. As part ofthe apparent Jewish renaissance in the city, a new Orthodox Rabbi will beappointed at the Beit Yisrael Synagogue on Sunday. For many outsiders, New Orleans has the imageof a hedonistic, licentious Mardi Gras city, hardly the place for observantJews, but Rabbi Uri Topolosky, who arrived from Riverdale three months ago iscertain that he can attract young Orthodox families to his new community. BeitYisrael was established 104 years ago but in recent decades it was a decliningcongregation with less than a hundred members and only about 25 arriving on anyparticular Shabbat. The synagogue was flooded during Hurricane Katrina,submerged under ten feet of water and its Torah scrolls and holy books weredestroyed. Half its members left the city following the storm. "We are nowrebuilding the community" Topolosky said, "and we already have tennew members. I believe Orthodox Jews will come here because this is the kind ofplace where you have a real opportunity make a change and be a part of definingthe community. In a big community, things are set out and defined for you. Thisis a special place for Jews, even the fact that we are now using a room lent tous 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 Jewishlife is here."
2008: In Little Rock, Arkansas, Bat Mitzvah ofRochel, daughter of Rabbi Pinchus and Estie Ciment. The Lamplighters provide yet another spark –Mazel Tov.
2008: Rabbi Yehuda Amital retired as Rosh Yeshiva ofYeshivat Har Etzion
2008: Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein, the son of RabbiAharon Lichtenstein officially assumed the position as Co-Rosh Yeshiva atYeshivat Har Etzion
2009: Stephen Friedman completed his four year termas “Chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.”
2009: Morris Dickstein discusses and signs Dancingin the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression at Politics andProse Bookstore in Washington, D.C.
2009: The HymanS. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival comes to a close on, with thepresentation of the annual Gerald L. Bernstein Memorial Lecture, "CurrentIsraeli Myths and Realities: The Way to Peace," by Howard M. Sachar,author of A History of Jews in the Modern World.
2009: Astronomerssaid 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 betweengamma rays of differing energies and wavelengths spit in a burst from anexploding star when the universe was half its present age.
2009(10th of Cheshvan, 5770): Just monthsbefore celebrating his 100th birthday British epidemiologist JeremyN. 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-oldEhud Netzer, “one of Israel’s best-known archeologists who unearthed KingHerod’s tomb near Bethlehem three years ago, died today after being injured ina 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-oldactor Robert “Bob” Ellenstein the son of two-time Mayor of Newark MeyerEllenstein, passed away today in Los Angeles.
http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-robert-ellenstein-20101104-story.html
2010: Centerfor Jewish History and Leo Baeck Institute is scheduled to present: ChamberMusic of Mozart, Brahms and Schubert that will include a web-based essay on thelives of Jews in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries with material drawnfrom the archives of the Leo Baeck Institute.
2010: JonathanD. Sarna is scheduled to deliver an address entitled Ulysses S. Grant and theJews: A New Look at Tulane University sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program.
2010: A teamfrom The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid (IsraAID) will leaveIsrael today to assess the progress of IsraAID's programs in Haiti, as well aspresent its work in an exhibit using the IDF hospital tent in the upcomingJewish Federation General Assembly in New Orleans. The team is going despite the current choleraoutbreak.
2010: Debbie Rosenbloom and her husband David Levinare among those taking part in the first Israeli version of the Susan G. KomanWalk for the Cure.
2011(30th of Tishrei, 5772): Rosh ChodeshCheshvan
2011: Wendy Perron, the Editor in Chief of DanceMagazine, is scheduled to lead a panel delving into the Diaspora of IsraeliDance as part of Fall for Dance DanceTalk, a free pre-performance paneldiscussion series. Panelists include Zvi Gotheiner, Saar Harari, NetaPulvermacher, and Noa Wertheim. The panel will explore the many ways that theIsraeli aesthetic is influencing dance internationally and how it has impactedthese 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 toThailand today, in response to violent flooding that has killed 377 since July.
2011: Hundreds of Palestinians clashed with the IDFand security forces in a number of locations in the West Bank
2011: “Did you see my Alps? A Jewish love story” isscheduled to end it run at the Forum of Swiss History in the town of Schwyztoday.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/a-jewish-love-affair-with-the-alps/30049650
2012: The Yeshiva University Museum is scheduled tosponsor a symposium titled “The Mystery and History of the Eruv.”
2012(12th of Cheshvan 5773): Fifty-nine-year-old LarryBloch “who built the Wetlands Preserve in TriBeCa into an influential rock cluband a hub of environmental activism” passed away today. (As reported by JamesC. McKinley, Jr)
http://www.jambands.com/news/2012/10/29/larry-bloch-1953-2012/#.UnGQuJ0o6po
2012: Erika Dreifus reviewed The Curse of Gurs byWerner 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 hostThe Ruth Spector Memorial Mah Jongg Tournament.
20212 “Forty Years on the Bimah,” a retreat organized byLeah Novick “the oldest woman rabbi” opened today at Mount Madonna Center.
2012: The Kobi Arad Band is scheduled to present “ajazz tribute show as part of the City Winery's 'Klezmer Brunch' series to thelegendary Jewish-Moroccan mystic Baba Sali.”
2012: The New YorkTimes featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of specialinterest to Jewish readers including the recently released paperback edition ofLouis D. Brandeis: A Life by Melvin I. Urofsky
2012: The Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana isscheduled to present The Tzedakah Award to the Bart Family at a brunch in NewOrleans, LA.
2012: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the murderof Yitzhak Rabin “one of the worst crimes of the new age,” during his openingremarks to the weekly Cabinet meeting today.
2012: The government unanimously approved a plan tobolster fortifications for all Israeli localities between 4.5 km and 7 km ofthe Gaza Strip, according to Israel Radio, as ongoing rocket fire from theHamas-run enclave once again forced southern residents into bomb shelters.
2012: In anticipation of superstorm Sandy the 14thStreet Y closed today at 4 pm. http://forward.com/articles/165072/jewish-neighborhoods-in-sandys-crosshairs/
2012: Egyptianauthorities confiscated some 1.7 million documents reportedly proving Jewishownership of land and assets in Cairo. The documents were reportedly about tobe shipped out of the country to Israel, in what the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram iscalling “the most dangerous case of security breach in history.” The documentswere found in 13 large cases, ready to be transported to Jordan and from thereto Israel, Egyptian media reported today
2013: In the UK, The Wiener Library anevening with Thomas Harding, author of Hans and Rudolf: The German Jews andthe Hunt for the Kommandant of Auschwitz.
2013: The Jewish National Fund NationalConference being held in Denver, CO, is scheduled to come to an end.
2013: Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman isamong those scheduled to perform at Good Shepherd Church in NYC.
2013: The “RedAlert” siren was heard early this morning in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Counciland in communities in the Gaza belt. Residents reported hearing severalexplosions, as the Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted at least tworockets that were fired by Gaza terrorists towards southern Israel.
2013: Gaza-based terrorists fired fourrockets at southern Israel early this morning. The Iron Dome anti-missilesystem intercepted one of the rockets, and the other three exploded in openareas. There were no physical injuries or damages.
2013: Today Cory Feldman released his first memoir,Coreyographywhich details his early life as a child actor all the way up to the death ofCorey Haim and also discusses his struggles with addiction and as a victim ofHollywood child sexual abuse
2013: Women of the Wall presented a list of16 conditions today under which it would move its monthly prayer service to athird, egalitarian section of the Western Wall’s Plaza
2014:The “core exhibition of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews” isscheduled to open today.
2014:The reconstructed ceiling of the destroyed wooden Gwozdziec Synagogue isscheduled to be unveiled today.
2014:The Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival is scheduled tohost 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 theMiddle East, with Dr. Bruce Hoffman and Dr. Michael Rubin
2014:Jeffrey Burds, associate professor of history at Northeastern University isscheduled to deliver The Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Annual Lecture speakingon “Communist Collaborators and German Occupation in the Soviet Union duringthe Holocaust, 1941-43.”
2014:“Support for Hamas and for armed struggle against Israel is gaining popularityin the Palestinian territories, a new survey showed today, despite languishingrehabilitation efforts in the war-battered Gaza Strip. (As reported by AviIssacharoff)
2014:“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today lashed out at internationalcondemnation of plans to build new housing in East Jerusalem, voicing his ownunique view that “the criticism, and not the building, was pushing peacefurther away.” (Based on reports by Joshua Davidovich)
2015:Due to have heavy storms, 15,000 homes in Israel without power and the trafficlight system in parts of Tel Aviv have cease function. (As reported by RaananBen Zur and Gilad Morag)
2015:The funeral was held today for Richard Larkin, the American who had made Aliyahand worked to improve relations between Moslems and Jews but ironically wasmurdered by a terrorist while traveling on a bus in Jerusalem.
2015:In Atlanta, GA, The Breman Museum is scheduled to host a tour of “HistoricOakland Cemetery’ which will included an exploration of “the history, burialcustoms, and symbolism found throughout the Jewish Grounds of this powerfulcity 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 begintonight.”
2015:An opening night gala is scheduled to be held this evening marking the openingof 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 ofthe editors of Iraq’s Last Jews, who will present recollections fromthis remarkable collection of first-person accounts.”
2016:“Jew Vs. Malta” a play inspired by Marlowe’s “The Jew of Malta: is scheduled toopen at The Club at LaMaMa.
2016:“The daily newspaper Haaretzannounced that senior columnist Ari Shavit will take a “time out from hisjournalistic work” amid sexual assault allegations.” (As reported by SharonBareket)
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 theJewish Studies Department chaired by Dr. Brian Horowitz whose newest book is VladmirJabotinsky: Story of My Life
2016:Tulane Hillel is scheduled to host a Homecoming reception at its Broadwayfacility 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 veracityof the list of Israeli leaders who listed as KGB in an article published todayin Yediot Acharonot.
2017(8thof Cheshvan, 5778): Parashat Lech-Lecha;
2017:The Maccabeats are scheduled to perform a Havdalah Concert at the WatfordColosseum in London.
2017:Holocaust survivor George Levy Mueller whose “father and uncle were arrestedand taken to Sachsenhausen ConcentrationCamp after Kristallnacht is scheduled to tell his tale of survivor at theIllinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
2017:At Oxford Rabbis Michael or Tracey Rosenfeld-Schueler are scheduled to a lunchjust for “Undegrad Freshers”
2017:“ShabbatUK” which involved more than 100,000 people in 100 communities in 2016is scheduled to continue for a second and final day.
2017:The Oxford University Jewish Society, Jonah Dov Cowen is scheduled to lead asession on Pirkei Avot followed by Ma’ariv and a musical Havdalah led by BertieGreen
2018:The New York Times features reviewsof books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readersincluding Kafka’s Last Trial: The Case of a Literary Legacy by BenjaminBalint and the recently released paperback edition of A Bold and DangerousFamily: The Remarkable Story of an Italian Mother, Her Two Sons and Their FightAgainst Fascism by Caroline Moorehead
2018:The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is scheduled to host ascreening of “NANA,” “a feature-length transgenerational documentary” in which“filmmaker Serena Dyamant retraces the Auschwitz survival story of hergrandmother, Maryla Michalowski-Dymamant.”
2018:At part of the “Home: Lens on Israel” series, the Temple Emanuel StreickerCenter is scheduled to open the photographic exhibition “Moroccan Jews OutsideHaifa.”
2018:“The 2018 Conference on Jews and Conservatism” which included a tribute to thelate 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 Lutonto Eliat” today.
2018:The Center for Jewish History, American Jewish Historical Society, YIVOInstitute for Jewish Research & American Friends of the Israel PhilharmonicOrchestra are scheduled to host “Broadway performer Alexandra Silber” and“Leonard Bernsteins eldest daughter, Jamie Bernstein, as she discusses her newbook, Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein
2018:After two months, “Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin” is schedule to close at59E59Theatres in New York.
2018:“The Criminal Complaint and Supporting Affidavit” that include the 29 chargesfiled against Robert Bowers for his role in the Shabbat Massacre in Pittsburghwhich has claimed the lives of at least people attending services is scheduledto be released at nine o’clock this morning.
2019:The Oxford University Jewish Society is scheduled to host a D & D (Dine andDiscuss) where attendees will examine the challenge of balancing “Jewishidentity with a secular environment.”
2019:The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center is scheduled to host musical programmarking the opening of the Barbra Streisand Exhibition in the Bernard Museum.
2019:“Synonyms,” an award-winning film directed by Nadav Lapid is scheduled to beshown 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 authorJudy Vasos talking about the commemorative stones/plaques in front of Nazivictims’ homes in Europe, with short film” which is an event sponsored by theS.F. Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society.
2019:The YIVO Institute is scheduled to host a screening of “Who Will Write OurHistory,” a documentary based on the book by Samuel Kassow.
2019:The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is scheduled to host the “What YouDo Matters 2019 New York Tribute Dinner.”
2019:Choreographer Ella Rothschild is scheduled to begin servings as “BAC SpaceResident Artist.
2020: “The Health Ministry said they urge all 75,000 members of theteaching staff expected to be back at work on" November 1st toget tested without the need for a doctor's referral using testing centers thatare expected to be operational starting this morning
2020: TheStreicker Center is scheduled to welcome Avi Mayer, AJC’s Managing Director ofGlobal Communications, and Holly Huffnagle, AJC’s US Director for CombatingAntisemitism, for a discussion of the findings AJC report with Manya BrachearPashman 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 AlmaRachel 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 onBiblical Conundrums: From the Exodus to the Ten Lost Tribes.”
2020:“The Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa” is scheduled topresent “Ethnomusicologist Judith Cohen talking about Ladino Sephardi songs,why this repertoire was traditionally sung by women and the women portrayed inthese songs.”
2020:The Leo Baeck Institute is scheduled to host Peter Jelavich, a Professor ofHistory at Johns Hopkins lecturing on Berlin Alexanderplatz by BrunoAlfred Doblin.
https://programs.cjh.org/event/lbi-book-club-2020-10-28
2021: Streicker Center is scheduled host on conversationwith Bret Stephens and Peter Beinart on “Is Anti-Zionism Antisemitic?”
2021: “The Rise of the Designer Deli” published todaydescribes how in New York in the wake of the pandemic the traditional purveyorsof 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 YoungArtist 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 tohost a unique “Pet Shabbat” outdoors in its parking lot, “weather permitting.
2022: In Sudbury, MA, Congregation B’nai Torah isscheduled to present online “Domestic Violence Awareness Shabbat.”
2022: In a testament to the resiliency of “small townJewry,” in Waterloo, IA Rabbi Kushner is scheduled to hold services at Sons ofJacob Synagogue.
2023(13th of Cheshvan, 5784): Parashat LechLecha
2023: The Nashville Jewish Film Festival is scheduled tohost a screening of “Stay With Us.”
2023: Because of the Hamas attacks, the Eden Tamir Centerwill not be hosting “The Chamber of Music” concert as previously planned.
2023: “Pocketful of Miracles” which tells the story of Aviva Kempner’smother Helen Cielsa Covensky is scheduled to be screened this evening at theAvalon 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 anuntold number of innocent civilians, limited IDF ground raids into Gazacontinue,” “a new front in the war may be opening as the IAF intercepts a dronewhich may have originated from “the Red Sea area,” in an apparent reference toIran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. and anti-Semitism continues to rear itsugly head at college campuses in the United States, including, unbelievably atmy alma mater Tulane University.
(Editor’snote: this situation is too fluid for this blog to cover so we are justproviding a snapshot as of the posting at midnight Israeli time)
2024:In Metairie, LA Congregation Beth Israel is scheduled to host a ConversationalHebrew class.
2024:The Israel Defense and Security Forum is scheduled to host a 30-minute briefingon the “War in Israel, hosted by Moshe Davis.”
2024:The AJHS is scheduled to present in partnership with the Natan Fund, the JewishBook Council, and Hadassah “Lessons from Henrietta Szold’s Legacy” with Award-winningauthor Francine Klagsbrun as she discusses Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and theZionist Dream, her new biography of Henrietta Szold, the founder ofHadassah and a Zionist trailblazer, with moderator Felicia Herman incelebration of this book receiving a Natan Notable Book Award from the NatanFund in partnership with the Jewish Book Council.
2024:As October 28th begins in Israel, anunprecedented wave of anti-Semitism that has included Hamas supporterscalling 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 captivitywhile Israelis brace for more rocket attacks by Hezbollah, Iran and terroristsbased in Iraq (Editor’s note: thissituation is too fluid for this blog to cover so we are just providing asnapshot as of the posting at midnight Israeli time)