This Day, April 1, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
April 1
515
BCE: The Second Temple was inaugurated
in Jerusalem (As reported by Jona Lendering)
527:
Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and
successor to the throne. This was a “lose-lose” proposition for t…
April 1
527:
Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and
successor to the throne. This was a “lose-lose” proposition for the Jewish people.
When Justin I assumed the throne he adopted a policy of rigorously enforcing
the anti-Jewish laws promulgated by Theodosius including excluding Jews from
“all posts of honor” and banning the construction of new synagogues. “Justinian
began persecuting the Jews immediately after his accession” as can be seen from
the adoption of anti-Jewish legislation in the very first year of his reign.
1205:
Amalrik II King of Cyprus/Jerusalem, died. This was the period of the Crusades
when followers of Islam and Christians from Europe jockeyed for control of
Eretz Israel and Jerusalem.
1282:
In Munich, Louis II, Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, and
Matilda, a daughter of King Rudolph I gave birth to Emperor Louis IV of the Holy Roman Empire of
Germany who 1934 authorized the Duke of Guelders to receive Jews in his duchy,
where they provided services, paid a tax and were protected by the law.
1315:
Louis X “suspended the collection of the debts owed to” the Jews “which were
still outstanding from their expulsion in 1306 as part of his plan to
eventually allow the Jews to return to France.
1441:
Fifty-three-year-old, Queen Bianca, the Queen consort of Sicily who in 1415
expelled the Jews from Vizzini, passed away today
1548:
Sigismund II Augustus, the Polish King who allowed “Jews to settle in Vilna
without restriction” and who issued “the ‘Magna Cara of Jewish
Self-Government’’ “which permitted Jews to elect their own chief rabbi and
judges” began his reign as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
1557(1st
of Iyar): Iggeret Ba’alei Hayyim, a book
on zoology translated by Kalonymus was printed for the first time in Mantua,
Italy.
1662(12th
of Nisan, 5422): Isaac
ben Abraham Uziel “a
Spanish physician, poet and grammarian, born at Fez” who became rabbi of Neveh
Shalom in Amsterdam in 1610 when Judah Vega passed away died to in Amsterdam
who left behind several literary works including “a Hebrew grammar, Ma’aneh Leshon.”
1699:
In England, lawyer and MP Sir Peter Pett who along with the Bishop of Langley
and Lord Anglesey drew up a plan shortly after King Charles II returned to the
throne that would have placed the Jews in a ghetto like environment and
subjected them to special taxes, passed away today.
232
Jews Of England
1769(23rd
of Adar II, 5529): Parashat Shmini; Shabbat Parah
1740:
Leah and Joseph Tobias gave birth to Masdad Tobias, the brother of Rina, Jacob,
Judith and Joseph (II) Tobias.
1743:
In Eppingen, Germany, Schoenle Heinsheimre and Moses Heinsheimer-Regensburger
gave birth to Laemmle Heinsheimer, the husband of Kusche Karoline Maier with
whom he had five children.
1756:
Birthdate of German native Honas (Moses) Steinfurter the husband of Hina
Einstein.
1761:
Birthdate of German born Blumel Joseph, the wife of Joseph Ruben Gummersheimer
with whom she had seven children.
1766(22nd
of Nisan, 5526): Eighth Day of Pesach
1768(14th
of Nisan, 5528): Ta’anit Bechorot; erev Pesach
1771(17th
of Nisan, 5531): Third Day of Pesach
1774(20th
of Nisan, 5534): Sixth Day of Pesach,
1774:
As Jews on both sides of the Atlantic celebrated Shabbat Shel Pesach, it was
reported today that the British government had responded to the Boston Tea
Party by sending four regiments and a new Governor, General Thomas Gage, to close
the port of Boston in accordance with the recently passed act of Parliament.
1779(15th
of Nisan, 5539): First Day of Pesach
1782:
The certificate authorizing Solomon Etting of Lancaster, PA to serve as a
shochet was issued today making him the first native born American to receive
this distinction
1789(5th
of Nisan, 5549): Rachel Ritzel Heilbron, the New York born daughter of Sarah
and Moses Benjamin Franks and and her
second husband David Heilbron gave birth to Jonathan Heilbron the nephew of
Colonel Isaac Franks.
1790(17th
of Nisan, 5550): Third Day of Pesach
1793:
Birthdate of German native Isaak Loeb Ettlnger, the husband of Sara Heinsheimer
with whom he had twelve children before marrying Karolina Heinsheimer, the
mother of Isaak and Hinna Ettlinger.
1795:
In Lissa, Posen, Salomon (Shlomo) (Schlaume) Kalischer and Rahel Gutel
Kalischer gave birth Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalishcer, the husband of Henrietta
Kalishcer
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/zevi-hirsch-kalischer
1797(5th
of Nisan, 5557): Parashat Vayikra read for the first time during the Presidency
of John Adams.
1798(15th
of Nisan, 5558): Pesach.
1804:
In Charleston, SC, Rachel Moses and Moses Cohen gave birth to Zipporah Cohen
who marred Joseph Soria in 1833 in Charleston, SC.
1812(19th
of Nisan, 5572): Fifth Day of Pesach observed as President Madison wrote to
Congress in the days leading up to war with Great Britain “Considering it as
expedient, under existing circumstances and prospects, that a General Embargo
be laid on all vessels now in port or hereafter arriving, for the period of
sixty days, I recommend the immediate passage of a law to that effect.”
1815:
Birthdate of Otto Von Bismarck. A Prussian, he served as Chancellor from 1866
to 1890 making Germany into a united modern nation. His record concerning the
Jews was mixed, He was Chancellor in 1869 when emancipation legislation was
enacted removing limitations on civil rights based on religion. His personal
physician was Jewish and there were Jewish department heads in the government.
In his earlier years, Bismarck had been opposed to Jews as government
ministers. Once again, as his career drew to a close and it fit his political
needs Bismarck distanced himself from the Jews but did not adopt the rabid
anti-Semitism that appeared in Germany during the 1880's.
1817(15th
of Nisan, 5577): First Day of Pesach
1823:
In Alsace, Charlotte Aron (Loew) and Alexandre Aron gave birth to Achille Aron
1828:
In Cassel, Germany, Moses Mordecai Büdinger gave birth to Austrian historian
Max Büdinger who served as chair of the history department at the University of
Vienna from 1872 until 1902.
1829:
Jacob ben Naphtali HaCohen married Beila bat Solomon HaCohen at the Western
Synagogue.
1835:
Samuel Samuels married Esther Benjamin today at the Great Synagogue.
1840:
Lazarus Walter married Hannah Aaron at the Great Synagogue today.
1840:
Thirty-nine year old Benjamin Dores Lazarus, the son of Marks Lazarus married
Cornelia Cohen today.
1842(21st
of Nisan, 5602): Seventh Day of Pesach
1843(1st
of Nisan, 5603): Parashat Tazria; Rosh Chodesh Nisan; Shabbat HaChodesh is
celebrated on the first Saturday on which Jews and Gentiles could walk under
the Thames River thanks to the completion earlier in the week of Mar Brunel’s
Thames Tunnel.
1844:
Birthdate of Nikolai Skyrdoff, the Russian Admiral who was, strangely enough
married to “a Jewess.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/04/20/100468393.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1845:
In Trieste, Elisa Morpurgo and Giuseppe / Joseph Baron
von Morpurgo gave birth to Louise Cahen d'Anvers (de Morpurgo)
1848(27th of Adar II, 5608): Parashat Shmini;
Shabbat HaChodesh is observed during the period between the cessation of
hostilities between the United States and Mexico and the ratification of the
final peace treaty.
1852: Birthdate of Russian native Louis (Lieb) Sugarman,
the husband of Jennie Sugarman and the father of Fannie and Abraham (Abe)
Sugarman.
1852:
Fire broke out in San Francisco destroying a boarding house owned by Abraham
Abrahamsohn that boasted a “French cook, three waiters and a dishwasher.”
Abrahamsohn would have tried his hand unsuccessfully in the gold fields and as
tailor in Sacramento had made the money for the boarding house by working as a
mohel. One can only assume that there was a good sized and prolific Jewish
population in San Francisco for him to have earned enough capital from performing
ritual circumcisions. This latest setback forced Abrahamsohn to head to
Australia where he again failed as gold miner but met with modest economic
success when he returned to his original profession – baker – and began
providing food for the hungry miners.
1853:
When an apprentice named Herman who was working for a boot and shoe shop was
arrested on charges of theft that covered the last 9 months, he claimed that he
was regular selling eighty dollars’ worth of merchandize of an un-named Jew for
twenty-five dollars.
1857:
Joseph Abrahams married Betsie Mesner today at the Great Synagogue.
1858(17th
of Nisan, 5618): Third Day of Pesach.
1858:
The New York Times reported that one of the reasons for a drop in
business at the local cattle markets this week was the absence of Jewish
butchers who were observing Passover.
1860:
Fifteen-year-old Leo Loeb, the Bechtheim, Germany born son of Jeanette Joseph
and Abraham Loeb came to the United States today after which he lived in
Staunton, VA for eleven years before settling in Philadelphia where he married
Rosetta Wolf, served as the director of Commercial National Bank of
Pennsylvania and was a director of both the Jewish Exponent and Congregation
Rodef Shalom.
1861(21st
of Nisan, 5621): Seventh Day of Pesach
1861:
An English play entitled “Babes in the Wood” opened at the Winter Garden
Theatre. According to the reviewer, the
play is based on the all too common practice of the impecunious English
gentleman who borrows money from “a friendly Hebrew” for which he pays “a
liberal interest” so that he may pursue a life style that includes “a generous
supply of wine,” cigars and a marriage which all too often does not turn out to
be solution to his problems. [It would appear that 3 centuries after the
creation of Shylock, the English still are writing about the poor gentile
victimized by the Jewish moneylender.]
1861:
In Cincinnati, OH, “Lewis and Emma (Goodhart) Heinshiemer gave birth to
businessman Edward Lewis Heinsheimer, one of the first students to enroll at
Hebrew Union College which he supported for the rest of his life as can be seen
by his service as a member of the board of governors and President and who was
the husband of the former Sally Workum Freiberg and the father of Emma, Duffie
and Stella Heinsheimer.
1862(1st
of Nisan, 5622): Rosh Chodesh Nisan
1862:
In Dublin, Rae (Hyman) Cohen and Elias Cohen, the founder of the importing
business Cohen in Trbeca and “active member of the Reformed Temple” in New York
gave birth Jacksonville merchant and philanthropist Jacob Elias Cohn who
followed his brothers to post-Civil War Jacksonville, FL where they created
Cohen Brothers department store and who was the husband of Hattie Cohen with
whom he had two children – Halle and Minna.
1863:
Two days after he had passed away Alexander Isaacs, the husband of the former
Sophie Levy with whom he had had twelve children was buried today at the
“Lauriston Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1864:
In Cincinnati, the Ladies’ Hebrew Benevolent Society which was the ladies’
auxiliary of the Congregation Adath Israel was founded today.
1865(5th
of Nisan, 5625): In the waning days of the American Civil War, Sergeant Morris
Schlesinger of Philadelphia who had been wounded yesterday at Gravelly Run, VA,
died today.
1865:
Union forces defeat the Confederates at the Battle of Five Forks which
effectively sealed the fate of Robert E. Lee’s Army and therefore the
Confederacy. The rebels were forced to
abandon Richmond which would lead to the involvement of Raphael Moses, the
native of Columbus, GA who had been with Lee at Gettysburg in the bizarre
episode concerning the disposal of the Southern government’s bullion supply.
1865:
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper,
later known as Leslie’s Weekly published
a picture of the annual Purim Ball held in New York in March.
1866(16th
of Nisan, 5626): Second Day of Pesach; first day of the Omer
1866: In "Southern Jottings" published today
described conditions in Charleston, South Carolina, including the observation
that "the Hebrew element is largely represented here and speculators are
as abundant as tea stores on Vesey Street."
1866: Under the simple heading of “Nathan Meyer
Rothschild of London” the New York Times published a lengthy article
tracing the history of the family from its earliest beginning to its present
prominent role in the world of finance as well as the role of other Jews in the
financial growth that has occurred in Great Britain since “the days of the
South Sea bubble.”
1869(20th of Nisan, 5629): Sixth Day of Pesach
observed during the Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson.
1870: “April Fool” published today traces the origins of
April Fool’s Day in which the author claims that the prophet Haggai “makes
allusion to it in the third chapter of his book.” He also contends that Solomon
recognized “the fool” in his writings and even references a specific day for
fools in the 29th verse of the 17th chapter of Proverbs,
“The fool has his day and the simple man his season…”
1870(10th of Nisan, 5631):
Shabbat HaGadol
1870: Sixty-two year old
physician and author Moses Philippson passed away today in Breitenfeld.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0016_0_15700.html
1871:
"Green Street Synagogue” was founded today by a small group of Jews in
Baltimore, Maryland.
1872:
Sixty-two year old Rose Jacobs, the wife of John Jacobs and the mother of Julia
Jacobs was buried today at the “West Ham Jewish Cemetery.”
1872:
Birthdate of Conrad Gröber, the Catholic cleric whose eventual opposition to
the Nazi regime did not include opposition to the Holocaust.
1872:
Today, the United States Postal Department authorized the establishment of a post
office in the community which would eventually be known as Seligman, MO.
1873:In
Islington, London, Abraham Aloof, the son of Judah and Grace Aloof, and Mesoda
Aloof gave birth to Judah Aloof who
passed away at the age of three months.
1874:
Birthdate of Kuppenheim, Germany native Max Dreyfus who at the age of 14 came
to the United States where he became a successful musical publisher.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/max-dreyfus-mn0001008543
1874(14th of Nisan, 5634): The New York
Times reported that “this evening the Jewish festival of ‘Pesach’ or the
Passover will be inaugurated with the observances and ceremonies incident to
its celebration. This festival is one of the most important in the Hewish
calendar and was instituted to commemorate the miraculous deliverance of the
children of Israel from the vile system of slaver imposed upon them during
their sojourn in the land of Egypt. The festival begins at sundown this evening
and continues for eight days…and is distinguished from all festivals by the
banishment of all leavened bread from the houses of the pious Israelites…”
1875:
Actress “Polly” Richards gave birth to, Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace
whose works were banned in Germany
“because of rumors that the writer was of Jewish extraction” – a charge
vehemently denied by his daughter Mrs. Frere Reeves.
1875: In Hackney, London, Buena David Belasco
and Eliezer Isaac Ventura gave birth to Samuel Eliezer Ventura.
1876: It was reported today that I.S. Nathans,
a Jew who has become an Episcopalian has been authorized by his church to lead a
mission to convert the Jews of New York which the church number at 110,000.
1876: Sigmund Dringer, an Austrian born Jew,
had acquired 4,000 tons of scrap iron and 1,700 tons of car wheels said to be
worth one hundred thousand dollars. This
made Dringer the largest scrap medal dealer in the United States supplying
foundries and rolling mills from Boston to Cincinnati.
1880(20th of Nisan, 5640): Sixth Day
of Pesach
1880:
This morning, Shearith Israel, located at West 19th Street near 5th
Avenue in New York City, celebrated the 150th anniversary of its
consecration with special services led by Rabbis Nieto, Lyon and Pereia-Mendes.
1881:
Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Jerusalem.
1881:
Today marked the beginning of a three month exodus of Jews from Russia that
would include “not less than 225,000 Jewish families” or “over a million
souls.”
1881:
“Le tribut de Zamora, an opera in
four acts” with a libretto by Adolphe d’Ennery premiered today “at the Opéra's Palais Garnier.”
1882:
A blood libel in Tisza Eszlar, Hungary began. On April 1,“A week and a half
before Easter, a fourteen year old Catholic housemaid, Esther Solymossy, left
her employer’s home to buy paint. She did not return.” When a weeklong search
failed to turn up any evidence of the missing girl, two prominent Hungarian
anti-Semites named Onody and Istoczy began making claims about “ritual murder”
forcing the local sheriff to pursue this blatantly false line of accusation.
Fifteen Jews were ultimately charged and tried for "murder" for which
there was no real evidence. After a year of futile effort, the fifteen were
acquitted.
1883:
In New York, David Holtz and Pauline Moses, whom he had known for a brief time,
were engaged to be married.
1883:
Birthdate of Rumanian native Emil Armin, the grandson of a sofer who in 1905
came to the United States where he joined his brother, enrolled in night art
classes after which he became a leading American painter.
http://www.chicagomodern.org/artists/emil_armin/
https://richardnortongallery.com/artists/emil-armin
1884:
In Galveston Morris and Nettie Lasker gave birth to their second child and
first daughter Florina Lasker “the chairman of the National Council of Jewish
Women’s immigrant aid section,” the co-author of Care and Treatment of the
Jewish Blind in the City of New York” and a board member of the ACLU.
1884:
In Cincinnati, OH, Isabella and Edward Johaan Schaar gave birth to University
of Cincinnati trained chemical engineer and President of Chicago’s Maxwell
House was an active member of the ZOA.
1884:
In Peoria, Illinois, Elizabeth and Isaac Slawitsky gave birth to Lt. Gen.
Samuel T. Lawton, the John Marshall Law School trained attorney who “served om
France with the 122nd Field Artillery which saw combat duty in the
St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns.”
1886:
In Philadelphia, PA, the former Sophie Muhr and David Stern, gave birth to
University of Pennsylvania trained lawyer turned journalist and newspaper
publisher David Stern, the husband of Juliet Stern and supporter of FDR who is
best known as the owner and publisher of the Philadelphia Bulletin and the New
York Post and the owner of Philadelphia radio station WHAT.
1886:
Birthdate of Vitebsk native and University of Maryland trained physician
Benjamin Pushkin, who practiced in Baltimore while serving on the faculty of
his alma mater.
1887:
Birthdate of Leonard Bloomfield an American linguist whose influence dominated
the development of structural linguistics in America between the 1930s and the
1950s. He is especially known for his book Language published in 1933 that
described the state of the art of linguistics at its time. Bloomfield was the
main founder of the Linguistic Society of America.
1888(20th
of Nisan, 5648): Sixth Day of Pesach
1888:
Three days after his death composer and pianist Charles-Valntin Alkan was
buried today in the “Jewish section of Montmartre Cemetery, Paris,” in a tomb
which would later be the burial site for his sister Celeste and which was “not
far from the tomb of his contemporary Fromental Halévy.”
1888:
At Temple Beth-El in New York, Rabbi Kaufman Kohler delivered a lecture
entitled “The Wandering Jews.”
1889:
Caroline and Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman gave birth to Eustace Seligman.
1889:
Birthdate of Bryn Mawr grad and pioneering psychiatrist Sadi Muriel Baron, the
wife of Dr. David Raskind and the mother of Dr. Richard Raskind who gained fame
as Dr. Renee Richards.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/Baron-Sadi-Muriel
1890:
Three Russian Jewish immigrants – Ed Myers, Isadore Lowenstein and Ike Edeliman
– have been charged with arson and are locked up the Central Police Station in
Louisville, KY.
1890:
Nathan Birnbaum, a leader of Kadima and the publisher of the journal
Selbst-Emanzipation created the term Zionism. Birnbaum was actually a Zionist
before Herzl popularized the concept. Unfortunately, Birnbaum was not able to
find a "home" in the movement as it grew. In a total role reversal he
advocated the development of the Jewish community in the Diaspora, Yiddish
instead of Hebrew and orthodoxy over secularism.
1890:
Fifty women formed The Beth El Society of Personal Services was formed with the
intent of lessening the burden being placed on the United Hebrew Charities.
1892:
Grover Cleveland addressed a large crowd of Russian Jews in New York City.
1892:
In Great Britain, Mr. Balfour told the House of Commons that the British
Ambassador in St. Petersburg had based his expectation that a large number of
Jews would be coming to the UK because he believed that the United States was
about to put an end to the immigration of Jews from Russa.
1892:
In Brooklyn, the Republican faction opposed to Ernst Nathan sent out a call for
meeting.
1893(15th
of Nisan, 5653): First Day of Pesach
1893:
According to “the books of the Jewish shelter on Leman, Street, White Chapel,”
London, today marked the start of the expulsion of Polish Jews that would
totally 38 by the end of the month.
1893:
Meyer Lyask received an order warning “him to quit his lodgings in the village
of Gmina (Poland) within seven days.
1893:
Nathan Straus, Isidor Straus and Simon F. Rothschild bought out Joseph
Wechsler’s interest in Wechsler and Abraham and renamed the store Abraham and
Straus which at that time had 2,000 employees.
1893:
German’s celebrate the 78th anniversary of the birth of Otto Von
Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor who changed the face of Europe in ways too
numerous to mention here.
http://forward.com/articles/138986/bismarck-s-bayonets/
1894:
Professor Felix Adler delivered a lecture on “The Influence of Woman” at the
Music Hall in New York City.
1894:
“Over In Camden” published today described the purchase by the Sons of Israel
of “a portion of the New Camden Cemetery for use as a cemetery for Jews in the
New Jersey city.
1894:
It was reported today that there may have been a period of time when the Queen
Insurance Company of New York did not insure Jews
1894:
“All Fool’s Day” published today attributed to the origins of April Fool’s Day
as being tied to the fact that Noah made the mistake of “sending the dove out
of the ark before the water had abated on the first day of the month” on the
Jewish calendar which correlates “our 1st of April.” Since then people would be sent on “fool’s
errands” on this date in the foolish manner of Noah sending out the dove.”
1894:
“Godfathers and Godmothers” published today described the origins of this
popular custom among Christians but for which “doubtless” began with the Jews.
1895:
Interview with Alphonse Daudet, French anti-Semitic writer, for whom Herzl
translated an article. Herzl unfolds his views on the Jewish question, which
produce a deep impression on Daudet. Daudet feels that Herzl should write a
novel about his ideas.
1895:
First appearance of The "American Jewess," the first English-language
publication published by and for American Jewish women.
1895:
In Columbia, “George Henry Issacs, an English Jew originally from Jamaica” and
his wife gave birth to Jorge Isaacs Ferrer whom Isaac Goldberg described as “a
half-Jew” who is “Spanish America’s most famous novelist.”
1896(18th
of Nisan,5656): Fourth Day of Pesach
1896(18th
of Nisan, 5656): Hirsch Relkin, the Belarus born son of David Relkin and the
husband of Sarah Rubenstein with whom he had 18 children passed away today in
Kaunas.
1896:
It was reported today that the recent benefit production of “The Heart of
Maryland” raised about two thousand dollars for the Hebrew Orphan Asylum who had
just celebrated 21 years of service to the Congregation.
1896:
The funeral for Rabbi Aaron Wise is scheduled to be held this morning at Rodeph
Sholom, at Lexington and 63rd Street in Manhattan
1896:
“Promises For Peddlers” published today described a meeting between 1,000
pushcart vendors led by Abraham Benowitz, President of the Fish Peddlers’
Association and New York leaders including Mayor Strong and President Teddy
Roosevelt of the Police Board to discuss plans for how their business would be
conducted on Hester Street on the Lower East Side.
1897:
Birthdate of Harry Joseph Passon, the brother of Herman and Nathan Pass and who
“along with friends Eddie Gottlieb and Hughie Black organized a basketball team
sponsored by the South Philadelphia Young Men’s Hebrew Association which became
known by the acronym SPHAS.”
https://sabr.org/research/harry-passon-philadelphia-baseball-entrepreneur
1897:
“Rights of Hebrew Americans” published today described the efforts of
Congressman Fitzgerald of Massachusetts to have the Secretary State ensure that
American Jews are not discriminated by the Czar’s government when they are
doing business in Russia. (Congressman Fitzgerald is the grandfather of JFK)
1897(28th
of Adar II, 5657): Sixty-four year old Bavarian born Isaiah Frankel who settled
in Oskaloosa, IA where he opened a “a little store” which grew into a larger
establishment and a bank and was known as “devoted orthodox Jew” passed away
today.
1898:
In New York, Boris Sidis, Ph.D., M.D. and Sarah Mandelbaum Sidis, M.D. gave
birth to child-prodigy and math wizard, William James Sidis
1898:
Birthdate of Joseph A. “Joe” Alexander the Syracuse native and three-time
All-American guard on the Syracuse University football team who “was the first
player signed by the original New York Giants” and who went on to a successful
medical career when his playing days were over.
1898:
Louis and Clara Asia Parnes gave birth to Paul Parnes the husband of Fay Parnes
and the father of William and Arlene Parnes.
1898:
Moses Samuel Zuckermandl who was the rabbi at Pleschen, Prussia “was appointed
lecturer at the Mora-Leipziger Foundation at Breslau” today.
1898(9th
of Nisan, 5658): Sixty-eight year old German lawyer Hermann Makower who also
served as President of the Board of the Jewish Community of Berlin passed away
today.
1899(21st
of Nisan, 5659): 4th day of Pesach and Shabbat
1899(21st
of Nisan, 5659): Three weeks short of the third anniversary of the death of her
husband, Baron Maurice de Hirsch; sixty-five year old Clara Hirsch, the
Baroness de Hirsch passed away today in Paris. The daughter of Belgian banking
family, she knew the personal tragedy of loss when her daughter died in infancy
and her son died at the age of 31. She
threw herself into a variety of charitable efforts and after her husband’s used
the family fortune to provide for a myriad of causes including settle Russian
Jews in agricultural communities and establishing training schools for young
girls so that they could learn a trade and be self-supporting.
1899:
Philip Michael Ritter von Newlinski, a Polish nobleman whom Herzl wanted to use
his contacts with the Ottomans to promote the Zionist cause, dies in
Constantinople.
1899:
In “Closing of the Schools” published today, “Vox Populi” defends the decision
of the school board closing the schools at this time of the year since it
coincides with Easter and Passover which means that Christian and Jewish
students would not be in school. Such a
decision is not an unwarranted intrusion of religion in public education but an
acknowledgement that in the United States we enjoy religious freedom that enables
to honor the customs of Christians and Jews.
1899:
Despite a total lack of evidence, Leopold Hilsner was sentenced death today in
Polna, Bohemia in another case of a Blood Libel. His sentence was later
commuted and in 1916, Hilsner received a full pardon. It should be noted that
his life was saved thanks to the activities of T.J. Masark, Czech patriot and
the first president of an independent Czechoslovakia.
1899:
Austrian author Karl Kraus an advocate of Jewish assimilation and a critic of
Theodor Herzl renounced the “faith of his fathers” today.
1900:
Birthdate of Baltimore, MD native Esther Lazarus, the holder of an MSW from the
University of Pennsylvania and Ph.D from the University from the University of
Chicago whose career in social and welfare services included serving as the
first training director of the Baltimore Department of Public Welfare and
serving as the Director of the Baltimore Department of Social Services while
also being the wife of Albert D. Goldman whom she married in 1938.
https://archivesspace.ubalt.edu/repositories/2/resources/47
1900:
As of today, the library of the Educational Alliance, formerly known as the
Hebrew Institute, had “28,152 books in circulation.”
1900:
A memorial service was held this morning at Temple Beth-El to mark the passing
Rabbi Isaac M. Wise where Rabbi Samuel Shulman led the congregation in the
recitation of Kaddish and delivered a special in which he noted “that memorial
service was being held on the anniversary of the death of the Baroness Clara de
Hirsch saying: ‘Let us combine in though the memory of the mental and spiritual
emancipator and the benefactress whose work was worldwise.’”
1900:
The executors of the estate of Abraham Wolf, a partner in the banking firm of
Kun, Loeb & Co turned the estate over to the trustees Mrs. Addie Kahn and
her son Gilbert W. Kahn
1901:
It was reported today that Louis Kahn “driving the famous black pacer George
Wallace” and Nathan Straus driving the
bay gelding Alvis were among those competing at the Speedway over the weekend.
1902(23rd
of Adar II, 5662): Sixty-five year old David Oppenheimer, the German born son
of Lob and Bina Oppenheimer and the husband of Johanna Oppenheimer passed away
today in New York City.
1902:
“Leo Fresh, the
well-known auctioneer, called at the police barracks tonight and stated that a
fine hen, which he had been fattening for the Jewish Passover, had been stolen
by a woman who lives at 83 Jenkins Street.”
1902:
Birthdate of Russian native and Cincinnati, OH raised
Philip “Cincy” Sachs, the basketball coach for Lawrence Institute of
Technology, the Detroit Gems and the Detroit Falcons.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/sachsph99c.html
1903:
Birthdate of Chess Champion Salo (Salomon) Landau, the Galician native who died
in Auschwitz.
1903:
All entries must submitted to the office of the Educational
Alliance by today for those who want to
enter an essay contest conducted by
The Woman’s National Alliance where contestants are to write on ways to
heighten observance of the Sabbath that has a $25 dollar prize.
1903:
Herzl meets McIlwraithe, the legal adviser of the Khedive. Herzl presents the
Zionist proposal. McIlwraithe promises that the government will make a
counter-proposal.
1904(16th
of Nisan, 5664): Second Day of Pesach; first day of the Omer
1904(16th
of Nisan, 5664): Eighty year old Gustav Freund, the husband of Rosa Fruend
passed away today in Vienna.
1904:
Benjamin Franklin Lindas, he St. Louis born son of Severt and Catherine
(Leonard) Lindas, and Washington University trained attorney went into the real
estate business “a partner of in the firm of F.H. Wood and Co.”
1905:
Tonight, over a thousand Jews watched as two Torah scrolls were carried to the
First Zolyner Congregation Anshe Sefard from the home of Sigmund Yokel, the
President of the Congregation. After a brief ceremony during which the scrolls
were placed in the Holy Ark, “the marchers celebrated at a big banquet.”
1905:
The New York Times reported that the third edition of “The Seder
Service,” a Haggadah prepared by Mrs. Phillip Cowen and published by her
husband is now in available.
1906:
Birthdate of Nusyn Glass the Polish born actor who gained fame as Ned Glass
known for his portrayal of Uncle Moe in “Bridgette Loves Bernie.”
1906:
Professor Ivan Michaelovitch Zanchevsky , the Rector of the university in
Odessa, who has been “charged with organizing the student militia which
defended the Jews during the massacres last November” is scheduled to “be place
on trial before the Senate.
1907(17th
of Nisan, 5667): Third Day of Pesach
1908:
Birthdate of Abraham H Maslow, renowned psychologist and Brooklyn native who
was the oldest of seven children of Russian Jewish immigrants. In a manner
typical of this immigrant generation, Maslow's parents pushed him to succeed
academically. Maslow studied law at CCNY and Cornell. He then married his
cousin Bertha and enrolled at the University of Wisconsin where he began his
study of psychology earning his doctorate in 1931. Maslow is most famous for
developing his Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow was a professor at Brandeis from 1951
until 1969. He died in 1970. In examining Maslow's life and work, one
commentator found a connection between Maslow's Jewish background and his
scientific work. Just as Judaism tries to bring order of a chaotic world, so Maslow
sought to develop a unifying structure that would enable people to bring order
to their chaotic lives.
"Human
nature is not nearly as bad as it has been thought to be." Abraham Maslow.
1909:
Birthdate of Abner Biberman. Born in Milwaukee, Biberman gained fame as an
actor and movie director. His films included “Gunga Din,” “Bridge At Saint Luis
Rey,” “Winchester 73” and “Viva Zapata.” His oriental appearance made him a
natural for the role of the Japanese officer in several war movies made during
WW II, the most famous of which was “Back to Bataan.” He passed away in June,
1977.
1910:
“Miss Sadie American of New York reached London” today “accompanied by her
mother for the purposed of attending, on behalf of the Council of Jewish Women
of New York, the International Conference on the White Slave Trade.”
1910:
It was reported today that “the will of Amelia Alexander Kaufman, who died on
February 19 at the Hotel Premier” showed she had “left $1,000 each to Mt. Sinai
Hospiital, the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum the Montefiore Home, the
Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews, the Unite Hebrew Charities and the Beth
Israel Hospital and $500 each to the Machzikel Talmud toran and the North
American Relief Society for the Indigent Jews of Palestine.”
1911:
At least a thousand Jews were threatened with expulsion from Moscow.
1912(14th
of Nisan, 5672): Ta’anit Bechorot observed for the last time during the
Presidency of William Howard Taft.
1912(14th
of Nisan, 5672): For the first time, the Patriotic League of America sponsored
a Seder tonight at Tuxedo Hall for Jewish soldiers and sailors stationed in the
New York metropolitan area.
1912(14th
of Nisan, 5672): Sixty-one year old Felix Pinner, the Berlin born son of “Sara
and Isidor Lewin Pinner passed away today in his hometown.
1912(14th
of Nisan, 5672): In what appeared to be a classic SNAFU, 17 Jewish soldiers on
Governor’s Island were assigned to guard duty tonight meaning that they could
not attend the Seder at the Tuxedo. This was in direct violation of The Secretary
of War’s had order that all soldiers in the New York area would receive a
furlough to celebrate the holiday. When authorities found out about the mistake,
they corrected it so the soldiers could attend the Seder.
1913:
Mrs. Moses L. Purvin was elected President and Mrs. Benjamin Auerbach was
elected Vice Presidents at the annual business meeting of The Chicago Woman’s
Aid which will “continue its policy of having paintings of Chicago artists on
view in the Library of the Sinai Centers
1913:
“The regular meeting Ladies Society of B’nai Sholom Temple Israel” took place
this evening where the attendees he a program on “Our Holidays” that included a
presentation on Passover by Mrs. Carrie H. Geil.
1913:
“New York fruit merchant” Joseph Kozinsky and his wife gave birth to Frank
Kozinksky who would change his name to Frank King and along with his brothers
Maury and Herman King Productions, the film company that had the courage to
hire blacklisted writers during the McCarthy Era.
1914:
Birthdate of Philip Yordan, the native of Chicago and law school graduate who an
Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story for Broken Lance and who
worked to thwart the effects of the infamous Hollywood Blacklist system.
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/apr/09/guardianobituaries.film
1915:
Sam Lazarus and Annie Stein Lazarus gave birth to Jacob Mendel Lazarus who
would be buried, for a Jew, in the unlikely location of Valdosta when passed
away more than nine decades later.
1915:
Based on a resolution adopted today in Chicago, Orthodox Jews will be able to
exercise their franchise in the upcoming elections scheduled for April 6, the
last day of Passover. Since the Orthodox cannot write on the holiday, the
resolution empowered judges and clerks of the election to mark the ballots for
the observant Jews.
1915(17th
of Nisan, 5675): Third Day of Pesach
1915(17th
of Nisan, 5675): Sixty-seven year old printer and journalist Adolph Ungar, the
Cologne born son of Loeb and Adelheid Ungar and the husband of Henrietta Ungar
passed away today in Chicago.
1915:
In Berlin an anti-war protest was held led by Rosa Luxemburg, an act for which
she was imprisoned.
1915:
As “The Mule Corps swears allegiance to the British army” Jabotinsky refuses to
serve “because its duties only involve transportation” and does not fulfill his
demand for the establishment of a fighting legion.
1916:
The Federation of Rumanian Jews dedicates the new Jewish Home for
Convalescents, which formally opens today at Grandview, Rockland County as a
permanent memorial to the work of Dr. Solomon Schechter. Schechter was the
noted Hebrew scholar and head of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America,
who died on November 20, 1915.
1917:
Professor Richard Gottheil of Columbia University introduced Major General
Leonard Wood to the members of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity tonight “on
preparedness and the obligations of alien-born citizens to their adopted country
with regard to service in the army in war or peace.”
1917:
In Bavaria, Elsa Haas, the daughter of Joseph and Ida Schulein and her husband
Dr. Alfred Haas gave birth to
1917:
“A declaration signed by sixty-eight Jewish citizens issued in support of the
letter which Oscar S. Straus recently wrote to the British and French
Ambassadors at Washington in which Mr. Straus contended that a majority of the
Jews of the United States sympathize with the cause of Allies was issued” today
“under the caption,” ‘A Declaration by American Jews.’”
1917:
Birthdate of Melville “Mel” Shavelson who gained fame a writer, director and
producer of dozens of films featuring such stars as Lucille Ball, Jimmy Cagney
and Frank Sinatra. He was nominated for two Oscars and created two Emmy
Award-winning television series, "Make Room for Daddy" and "My
World and Welcome to It."
https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/384/writer-director-producer-mel-shavelson-dies-at-90/
1917:
Baron Alexander Gunzberg sent a cable from Petrograd to Louis Marshall in New
York in which he wrote that the new Government be publishing “a decree canceling all laws and paragraphs
adversely affecting Jews” and that the “Russian Jewry, liberated from the yoke,
in grateful appreciation of never-failing helpfulness stretch out their hand to
their free-born American bretheren.”
1917:
As leaders work on the plans for the calling of “The American Jewish Congress”
a special meeting of the Executive Committee was held today in New York where
the a resolution was adopted setting the rules for calling a meeting the
Congress on September 2, 1917.
1918(19th
of Nisan, 5678): Fifth Day of Pesach
1918:
In New York, one hundred thousand people are expected to participate in the
celebration of the establishment of the Provisional Jewish government in
Palestine which will include parades and a mass meeting in Carnegie Hall that
will include a speech by Dr. Stephen S. Wise.
1918:
Chaim Weizmann, the head of the Zionist Commission, arrived in Palestine. The
Commission had been established by the British to help carry out the promises
of the Balfour Declaration. The Commission actually arrived before the war had
ended and the Mandate had been established. The British had intended that the Commission
be its official contact with the Jewish community (Yishuv) and help in setting
policies concerning post-war settlement and development including immigration.
Unfortunately, this positive start did not pre-sage a continuation of British
support during the inter-war period.
1918:
Following the capture of Jerusalem in December of 1917, the 7th
Indian Division relieved the 52nd Division which had been
transferred to the Western Front.
1918:
Three days after he had passed away, 18 year old Sidney Benjamin Flaum, a
“rifleman with the 17th Battalion” and the son of Maurice and Phoebe
Flaum was buried today at the “Plashet Jewish Cemetery” in London.
1918:
One day after she had passed away, the former Esther Van Praag, the wife of
David Abrahams and the mother of Sarah Abrahams was buried today at the “West
Ham Jewish Cemetery.”
1918(19th
of Nisan, 5678): Isaac Rosenberg, a leading Anglo-Jewish poet, is killed on
April Fool’s Day while fighting on the Western Front.
1919:
In Grodno, Yitahak and Dvora Livni gave birth to ham "Eitan" Livni
who made Aliyah in 1925, served with the Irgun and became a Likud MK.
1919:
Birthdate of Jabr Muadi, the Israeli Druze politician who served in the Knesset
for three decades from 1951 to 1981
1920:
The emergence of the Nazi Party. (This happened on the anniversary of the day
that Haman published his decree of extermination of the Jews.)
1920:
Jewish merchant Henry Dix wrote to Mrs. Israel Unterberf, the President of the
Young Women’s Hebrew Association about a gift he proposed giving to the
association of a property he owned at Mt. Kisco as well as the establishment of
trust fund for maintain the property.
1921:
In the United Kingdom, Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett, completed his
service as First Commissioner of Works and began serving as Minister of Health
in a cabinet headed by David Lloyd George.
1921:
Beth El Hebrew School, “the second of a series of Hebrew schools to be
established in the Bronx under the auspices of the New York committee of School
Extension of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations” which has a capacity
for five hundred students and is led by principal Louis E. Goldstein opened
today.
1921: Marius Ranson who has been serving as
assistant to Dr. Schulman at Temple Beth-El is scheduled to become the Rabbi at
Temple Beth Emes in Albany, NY today
filling a pulpit at the congregation that has been vacant since the
death of Rabbi Eli Mayer.
1921:
The United Relief Organization of Brownsville and East New York’s campaign to
raise fifty thousand dollars “for war relief work” is scheduled to come to an
end today.
1921:
In “Upholds Palestine Plan; Churchill Tells Arabs that Balfour Declaration Must
Stand,” published today described“further details of Winston Churchill’s visit
to Jerusalem.” Churchill met with a delegation of Arab Congress which had been
held much earlier in Haifa and which “asked for the withdrawal of the Balfour
declaration. Churchill declared…that the government was determined to keep to
the Balfour declaration in both of its parts, namely, the establishment of the
Jewish national home and the protection of the non-Jewish population.” Later,
when he met with a Jewish delegation, Churchill concluded his remarks “by
saying that the British taxpayers could not bear the expense of the establishment
of the Jewish national home and that Jews must therefore make greater efforts
to obtain the necessary funds.”
1921:
Lightweight Leach Cross (Louis Charles Wallach) fought his 140th
bout in Los Angeles.
1922:
Sir Edgar Speyer “and his remaining partner in the London bank dissolved Speyer
Brothers.
1923:
In Danzig, Dr. Alexander Dushman, “a hero of the Revolution whom Stalin senet
to the gulag in Sibera and his wife who was a pediatrician gave birth to Soviet
tank commander David Dushman who liberated Auschwitz and went on to be a
trainer for the Soviet fencing team.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/obituaries/david-dushman-dead-auschwitz-liberator.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57379704
1923(15th
of Nisan, 5683): Pesach I
1923(15th
of Nisan, 5683): Eighty-one-year-old Miriam Maduro Davis, the New York born daughter
of Dr. Daniel Moses Levy Maduro Peixotto and Rachel Lopes Mendes Peixotto and wife
of Michael Marks Davis with whom she had seven children passed away today.
1924:
Otto Preminger’s theatrical career began today when he “appeared as a furniture
mover in Reinhardt's comedia staging of Carlo Goldoni's ‘The Servant of Two
Masters.’
1925:
Amid much pomp and circumstance, Hebrew University was opened in Jerusalem on
Mount Scopus. Chaim Weizman beamed with pride as he saw his 25 year old dream
come to life. Lord Arthur Balfour, of Balfour Declaration Fame, represented the
British government. Much of the funding came from the American philanthropist
Felix Warburg. The first chancellor of what this first class educational
institution was Dr. Judah Magnes, a native of San Francisco. The cornerstones
had originally been laid in 1918 when fighting was still going on between the
British and Turkish forces in Palestine. Talk about Jewish optimism and
dedication to learning.
1925:
Chanina Karchevsky, “The Tel Aviv Nightingale,” conducted the Gymnasisa
Herzliya Choir in what has been termed an “unforgettable performance” on Mt.
Scopus at the ceremony marking the dedication of Hebrew University.
1925:
Birthdate of Bialystok born and University of San Francisco grad Sala Galanta
who gained fame as Sala Burton, the wife of Congressman Phillip Burton whom she
followed in office when he passed away.
http://dictionary.sensagent.com/Sala%20Burton/en-en/
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B001158
1926(17th
of Nisan, 5686): Acting giant Jacob Pavlovich Adler passed away
in New York City. Born in Russia in
1855, he was a dominate figure in the Yiddish Theatre in Odessa, London and New
York City. A name unknown to most, he is remembered as the father of the actor
Luther Adler and Stella Adler who coached Marlon Brando.
1926:
JTS graduate Samuel Benjamin, the Jerusalem born son of Sarah Stampfer and
Mordecai Brown and the husband of Hanna Mirsky began serving as the rabbi of
B’nai Israel Congregation in Jacksonville, FL>
1926:
Hebrew Book Day is mounted in Tel Aviv.
1926:
Brown University graduate, NYU trained attorney and JTS ordained Rabbi Samuel
Benjamin, the Jerusalem born son of Mordecai and Sarah Benjamain and the husband of Hannah Mirsky who began
his Rabbinic career took at Anshe Emes in Cleveland began serving as the leader of B’nai Israel
in Jacksonville today
1927:
The HaShomer HaZair kibbutzim and training groups establish a national
organization in Haifa called "HaKibbutz Artzi" - "National
Kibbutz". The Kibbutz Artzi is a federation comprising 85 kibbutzim
founded by the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement. In 1998 it numbered around
20,000 members and its entire population (including children, candidates,
parents of members etc.) totaled approximately 35,000.
1928:
Birthdate of Herbert G. Klein newscaster and President Richard Nixon’s press
secretary.
1928:
Konrad von Preysing, a Catholic prelate who would play a key role as an
anti-Nazi activist during World War II was made a canon today.
1929:
In Chicago, Morton David Chan and Julia Elizabeth Cahn gave birth to Mary
Elizabeth Cahn who became Mary Elizabeth Wolf when she married Stephen Louis
Wolf.
1929:
In New York City, Abraham Gribetz,, an executive vice president of the Hebrew
Loan Society and Ida (Heller) Gribetz gave birth to Columbia and NYU trained
attorney and U.S. Navy veteran Judah Gribetz, the one-time Deputy Mayor of New
York for Governmental Relations, the author of The Timetable of Jewish History
and husband of Jessica Shapiro with whom he had three children – Sidney, Marion
and Sarah.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011ME5E3A/?tag=prabook0b-20
1930:
Today, the first of three civilian mathematicians whom William Friedman, a
senior civilian in the Army’s Intelligence Service who would play a vital role
in cracking the Japanese codes in WW II, reported for duty.
1930:
“Blue Angel” a movie that was
filmed simultaneously in English and German versions” directed by Josef von
Sternberg, with a script co-authored by Robert Liebman
1930:
In Melbourne, Australia, a group of Jews interested in forming a “Liberal
Community” met for the first time.
1931(14th
of Nisan, 5691): Fast of the First Born; erev Pesach
1931:
Today Nazi SA paramilitaries stood outside of the Nathan Israel Department
Store in Berlin holding signs that read “Germans! Defend yourselves! Don’t buy
from Jews.”
1931:
Birthdate of Rolf Hochhuth. This non-Jewish German playwright wrote The Deputy
which portrayed the role of the Pope during the Holocaust.
1932:
“The Miracle Man” with a script co-authored by Samuel Hoffenstein was released
in the United States today.
1932:
Adolph Eichmann joined the Nazi Party
1932:
The New York Times described the closing day activities at the
Maccabiad. “An emotional crowd of 25,000 watched the conclusion of the first
Jewish Olympics…The Palestine High Commissioner participated in the ceremonies
as did other officials and representatives of foreign governments. There were
tears in the eyes of many as the exhibits reached their close. Among the
Maccabee displays were those of scouting, gymnastics, motorcycling, bicycle
riding and horseback riding led by Abraham Shapiro, the hero of Petch Tikva…A
procession of 5,000 Maccabeans led the way to the graves of Achad Ha’Am , Maz
Nodeau and the victims of Arab riots, where wreaths were placed. …The
procession marched through the main streets of Tel-Aviv” before dispersing at
the “Herzlia Gymnasium where the march of the Maccabeans had begun.”
1933:
In Brooklyn, Philip Weinstein, a garment industry work, and “the former Shirley
Bisnoff, a homemaker and jazz pianist” gave birth to Stanley Alan Weinstein who
gained fame as Sam Weston, “the father of G.I. Joe” action figure.
1933:
German violinist (and non-Jew) Adolf Busch repudiated Germany altogether and in
1938 he boycotted Italy.
1933:
Nazi Germany began its persecution of Jews by boycotting Jewish businesses.
Less than a month after coming to power, the War Against the Jews began in
earnest. This puts the lie to those who portray Hitler's policies against the
Jews as only being an incidental part of his plans and programs.
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/this_month/april/03.asp
http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%206078.pdf
1933:
At Lauphehim, members of the SA enforced the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses
“positioned themselves in front of Jewish shops in order to intimidate
potential customers and prevent them from entering” while the windows were
broken in at least one shop.
1933:
As part of the Nazi boycott against Jewish businesses, uniformed men “placed
themselves in front of Jewish shops in Cologne” to prevent customers from
entering.
1933:
In response to the Nazi boycott, in Cologne Jewish merchant Richard Stern, who
had fought in the First World War, distributed a leaflet against the boycott
and placed himself wearing his Iron Cross near the SA-poster in front of his
shop.
1933:
In Berlin “SA paramilitaries” carrying signs that read “Germans! Defends
yourselves! Don’t buy from Jews!” “blocked the entrance to a Jewish owned
shop.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Nazi_boycott_of_1933#/media/File:SA_Jews.jpg
1933:
In Constantine, Algeria, Abraham Cohen-Tannoudji and Sarah Sebbah gave birth to
French physicist, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize.
1934(16th
of Nisan, 5694): Second Day of Pesach; 1st day of the Omer.
1934:
In the last twelve months, ending today, the Joint Distribution Committee spent
$1,011,330 “in connection with program of aid to the German Jews.”
1934:
Chevrolet ended its sponsorship of the Jack Benny Program. Benny continued the
show with General Tire as the sponsor.
1934:
In Mishnietz, Poland Nechama Laska and Hiam Yehuda Giladi gave birth to Israel
Giladi
1935:
The New York Times reported that “the
American team is favored to retain the track and field title in the Jewish
world games which open tomorrow…The strongest challenge for the Americans is
expected to come from the German, French, Czech and Austrian teams.
1935:
“Storm Over the Andes” an adventure film co-authored by Dore Schary was
released in the United States today.
1935:
Democratic leader General Hugh S. Johnson denounced “Father Charles Coughlin,
comparing the Catholic priest to Adolf Hitler” because of the anti-Semitic
pronouncements on his radio show
1935:
Anti-Jewish legislation in the Saar region was passed.
1935:
Israelitisches
Familienblatt (Israelite Family Paper) began appearing in Berlin and became the
organ of the Reichsvertretung
1936:
French conservatives condemned French Socialist leader Léon Blum because of his
Jewish ancestry and his strongly anti-Nazi orientation. A popular slogan at the
time condemned the future French premier: "Better Hitler than Blum."
1936:
“An injunction suit against Cantor David Katzman was filed in the Supreme
Court” today “ by the First American Rumanian Congregation” that seeks to
restrain the can from breaking a contract to officiate during the Passover
holidays in the plaintiff’s synagogue…and going the Laurel-in-the-Pines Hotel
at Lakewood, NJ.”
1936:
One hundred ninety Jewish exiles from German who had boarded the Cunard White
Star line Berengaria at Cherbourg and Southampton arrived in New York today.
1937:
Birthdate of Sylvia Rafael, the Pretoria native who made Aliyah in 1963 and
became an agent for Mossad.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-bio-reveals-triumphs-trials-of-mossads-most-famous-female-agent/
1937:
The Palestine Post reported on the festive opening of a new road
connecting Hadar Hacarmel and Mount Carmel in Haifa. The new road was 3,100
meters long and 10 to 15 meters wide - the asphalt width was six meters. It was
expected that this new road would help to develop Mount Carmel.
1937:
The Palestine Post reported that according to the Palestine Review Jews
contributed financially at least four times as much to the Arab economy as
Arabs returned to the Jews.
1937:
The Palestine Post reported that a provision was made in the Pension
Ordinance for officials in the Civil Service to retire, under special
circumstances, on attaining the age of 50.
1938:
Fritz Löhner-Beda, the Bohemian born librettist, lyricist and writer was
arrested and deported to Dachau Concentration Camp.
1938:
“Number 111” a thriller directed by Steve Sekely was released in Hungary today.
1939:
The Spanish Civil War came to an end marking another victory for fascism. Oddly
enough, despite the support Franco got from Hitler and Mussolini he remained
neutral during WW II, which proved quite advantageous to the Allies. As far as
Franco’s treatment of the Jews, the record appears too mixed but consider the
following as one piece of the puzzle.
1939:
At the age of 13, Raul Hilberg who would gain fame as Dr. Raul Hilber a world
renowned Holocaust scholar fled Austria with his family a year after the Anschluss,
for France, where they embarked on a ship to Cuba. From Cuba the family would
make their way to the United States, where Hilberg, after serving with the U.S.
Army in Europe would come home and build his academic career.
1939:
U.S. premiere of “Dodge City,” a western directed by Michael Curtiz, produced
by Hal Wallis with music by Max Steiner.
1940:
Birthdate of Bucharest native and mechanical engineer Paul Schwartz, the
president of the Jewish Community of Bucharest and vice president of the
Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania was named a Knight of the Order of
Industrial and Commercial Merit by the President of Romania in 2009.
1940:
The Institut für deutsche Ostarbeit (Institute for German Work in the East) was
founded to study Polish Jewry.
1940:
Shanghai, China, accepted thousands of Jewish refugees.
1941:
A ghetto was established at Kielce, Poland. German overseers of the ghetto
renamed some of the streets. New names were Zion Street, Palestine Street,
Jerusalem Street, Moses Street, Non-Kosher Street, and Grynszpan Street.
1941:
In Iraq, Rashid Al led a successful anti-British, pro-Nazi coup that would lead
to the pogrom known as the Farhud in June that was the beginning of the end for
the ancient Jewish community in that Arab country.
1941(4th
of Nisan, 5701): German troops executed 250 members of a Jewish youth group in
Subotica, Yugoslavia, who have been carrying out acts of sabotage.
1941:
A men's annex was established at the Ravensbrück concentration camp located in
Germany,
1941:
Seven Warsaw Jews smuggled themselves into Bratislava, Slovakia, and from there
to safety in Palestine.
1941:
A pro-Axis officer clique headed by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani seized power in Iraq,
and prepared airfields for German use.
1941:
The Farhud, a pogrom aim at the Jews of Baghdad “inspired by both the Nazis and
the Grand Mufti of Jersualem, Haj-Amin Al Husseini, began today.
1941:
The first Croatian concentration camp began operation, at Danica. Four more
Croat camps were opened, at Loborgrad, Jadovno, Gradiska, and Djakovo.
1941:
Lillian Hellman's "Watch on the Rhine", premiered in New York City. A
native of New Orleans, Hellman's father was "of German Jewish
ancestry." Hellman was a staunch supporter of the Communists. Many
right-wingers mistakenly took her ancestry and her political beliefs, tied them
together and used Hellman as an example of the Jewish/Communist Conspiracy to
overthrow America.
1941
Bess and Rubin “Honest Joe” Goldestein gave birth to Eddie Goldstein whom
Dallas knew as swap shop owner “little Honest Joe King Edward.”
1941:
Birthdate of Bonnie Sherr Klein, the Philadelphia native and Stanford graduate
who went to Canada with her husband Michael Klein as part of an anti-war
protest where she developed into a filmmaker and social activists.
1942:
Sobibór death camp was nearly operational; gassings would begin in May.
1942:
At the beginning of the first week in April, more than 4400 Jews died of
starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto
1942:
At the beginning of April, the first transports of Jews arrive at the camp at
Majdanek, Poland, which will begin gassing Jews later in the year.
1942:
During the first week of April, Sunday Times of London published, but
did not highlight news items about the Nazi executions of 120,000 Romanian
Jews..
1942:
During the first week of April, Jews were mocked and hanged at Mlawa, Poland.
1942:
The Nazis deported 965 Slovakian Jews to Auschwitz.
1942:
In occupied Poland the Nazis created the Łachwa Ghetto when the town's Jews were forcibly moved into a new ghetto consisting of two
streets and 45 houses, and surrounded by a barbed wire fence. The ghetto housed
roughly 2,350 people, which amounted to approximately 1 square meter for every
resident.
1943:
By the beginning of April, Nazi killing squads had murdered almost two million
Jews in Eastern Europe.
1943:
Starting in the first week of April, the Germans forced Jewish prisoners to
burn the bodies of 600,000 Jews exterminated at Belzec.
1943:
During the first week of April, the Germans launched an offensive against
Jewish partisans active in the Parczew Forest, Poland.
1943:
During the first week of April, Resistance members derailed a death train in
Belgium.
1943:
Pope Pius XII complained that Jews are demanding and ungrateful.
1943:
Dr. Julian Chorazycki, a former captain in the Polish Army and a leader of
inmate resistance at the Treblinka death camp, took poison when the camp's
deputy commandant discovered the stash of currency Chorazycki had planned to
use to buy small arms.
1944:
Having lost 95 bombers, in last night’s attack on Nuremberg, which was the
worst single night of loss since the bombing campaign, leaders of the RAF
consider how to continue their attacks.
(This should serve as a reminder that it is only in hindsight, that
victory over the Nazis seemed inevitable.)
1945:
On Easter, Jan M. Komski, who was not Jewish, was among the 20,000 prisoners
marched from Hersbruck to Dachau
1945(18th
of Nisan, 5705): Fourth Day of Pesach
1945(18th
of Nisan, 5705): Twenty-seven year old Karel Švenk, the Czech entertainer who
:was one of the first artists to be deported to Terezin in 1941 died today en
route to Mauthausan.
http://www.thelastcyclist.com/about-terezin/remembering-karel-svenk/
1945(18th
of Nisan, 5706: Ninety-six year German immigrant Isaac Wolfe Bernheim, the
founder of I.W. Harper, the premium bourbon whiskey passed away today.
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Schmieheim/IWBernheim.html
1945:
Father Giuseppe Girotti, a Catholic theology professor at the Saint Maria della
Rose Dominican Seminary of Turin, who acted to save many Jews by arranging safe
hideouts and escape routes from the country died at Dachau. He had been
arrested and sent to the camp after having been betrayed by an informer and
caught in the midst of helping a wounded Jewish person. It is reported that
while in Dachau, he continued to write his unfinished commentary on the
biblical book of Jeremiah.
1946:
It was reported today that Ian Morris Heilbron was to be “the first
non-American to honored with the Priestly Medal.
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/priestley/recipients/1945heilbron.html
1946:
Sholom J. Kahn reviewed Star of the Unborn by Franz Werfel.
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/star-of-the-unborn-by-franz-werfel/
1947:
The first Jewish immigrants disembark at the port of Eilat. Eilat is a port the
southern end of Israel on the Gulf of Aqaba. Ben-Gurion was determined to make
this part of the new state of Israel. The tale of the race for Eliat in 1948 is
a tale of daring-do that would worthy of Rambo or James Bond. Ben Gurion
realized how important this southern port would be to the development of trade,
among other things. The reality has exceeded his vision.
1948:
As the military situation for the Yishuv reaches a crisis status, Ben Gurion
holds an urgent meeting with his senior Jewish Agency colleagues and forces
them to adopt “a single blow offensive.”
1948:
Arabs attacked Beit Alpha, a kibbutz near the Gilboa Ridge, with mortars.
1948:
The first major report of Ralph Asher Alpher’s work describing the Big Bang
Theory appeared in the periodical Nature.
1948:
During Operation Nachshon, three large convoys broke through the blockade of
Jerusalem bringing food and arms to the beleaguered Jewish population.
1949:
Mordechai Maklef wаѕ appointed Head οf one of tһе General Command Departments
in the IDF.
1950(14th
of Nisan, 5710): Shabbat Hagadol
1950:
At sundown, Israelis sit down to celebrate the second Pesach since the creation
of the state of Israel. A Seder is being held on Mt. Scopus for the 118
Israelis taking care of the Hadassah Hospital and Hebrew University campus that
have been cut off from the rest of Jewish Jerusalem. The climaxing word of the
Seder “Next Year in Jerusalem” take on special meaning for the 80,000 newly
arrived immigrants who will be eating their Matzah and Maror in transit camps.
1951:
Following the issuance of an order by David Ben Gurion, the “Central Institute
for Coordination” or Mossad became operation under directorship of Reuven
Shiloah.
http://www.mossad.gov.il/Eng/About/ReuvenShiloach.aspx
1952:
The Jerusalem Post reported that
an acceptable formula had been reached at the London External Debts Conference
on the eventual Israel-German reparations agreements. At The Hague, however,
the German reparations delegation announced that it had no authority to assume
any commitments towards Israel or World Jewry's representation. A woman who
refused to accept a $10,000 inheritance from her sister, who died abroad, was
charged with infringing Israel's financial regulations.
1952:
“Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick” produced by William Perlberg and co-starring
Dinah Shore was released in the United States today.
1952: The Jerusalem Post reported that the
deepest well in Israel, 565 m., was dug at Karkur and had produced 360 cu.m. of
excellent water per hour.
1952(6th
of Nisan, 5712): Hungarian born dramatist and novelist Ferenc Molnár passed
away today in New York.
http://archives.nypl.org/the/21724
1953(16th
of Nisan, 5713): Second Day of Pesach; First Day of the Omer
1953:
One day after premiering in New York City, “Fear and Desire” “directed,
produced and edited by Stanley Kubrick” with a script by Howard Sackler was
released in the rest of the United States today.
1953:
In New York City Irene “Kelly” Kellerman, “an art teacher” and “Sonny
Sonnenfeld, a lighting salesman, educator, and architectural lighting designer”
gave birth to Barry Sonnenfeld director of the comedies “Men In Black” and
“When Harry Met Sally.”
1955(9th
of Nisan, 5715): Sixty-six year old David Kass, the New York born son of Ida
and Abraham Kass who was the founder and “President of the Overland Trading
Company, Director of the Trade Bank of New York, President of Congregation
Kehilath Jeshurun and husband of Sadie Kass with whom he had two daughters –
“Helen Joy and Babette” passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1955/04/02/93736812.pdf
1957:
Birthdate of Representative Peter Deutsch, from Florida’s 20th Congressional
District.
1957:
First Jewish immigrants to arrive by ship disembarked at Eilat.
1958:
U.S. premiere of “Teacher’s Pet” a romantic comedy produced by William Perlberg
with a script by Fay and Michael Kanin.
1959:
An IDF drill for calling up the reserves turned into a fiasco that became known
as The Night of the Ducks.
1961(15th
of Nisan, 5721): First Day of Pesach and Shabbat observed for the first time
during the Presidency of JFK.
1962:
At the Plaza, Dr. Julius Mark, the senior rabbi of Temple Emanu-El officiated
at the wedding of Marjorie Hyman and Jay Michael Pidto.
1962:
At the Plaza, Cantor Aaron Caplow officiated at the wedding of Diane Cecile
Weiss and Dr. Maurice Mufson.
1962:
At Abalon Kosher Caterers in the Bronx Rabbi Selig Auberach, the father of the
bride assisted by Rabbi Morton Berman and Cantor Ephraim Rosenberg officiated
at the wedding of Ruth Auberbach and Edward Lebowitz.
1962:
At Temple Beth El, in Stamford, CT, rabbis David W. Pearlman and Ehren Kranz
official at the wedding of Sandra Motyl and Stephen Barry Levine.
1962:
Two days after he had passed away funeral services are scheduled to be held
today at Temple Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan for seventy-two year old Boston
native and New York University educated teacher Harold Fields the WW I Army
veteran whose activities in the field of immigration including helping “to
frame the National Origins Act of 1924,” participating in two conferences of
Governor Roosevelt on immigration and working as a “consultant” on the topic
for the famous trial lawyer Clarence Darrow.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/03/31/83493361.pdf
1964(19th
of Nisan, 5724): Fifth Day of Pesach observed during the Filibuster designed to
kill the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
1964:
Fifty Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish clergymen in Westchester County
sent a message today to Premier Khrushchev urging that synagogues and Jewish
seminaries be reopened and that imprisoned synagogue leaders be freed. They
also asked that a ban on the baking of matzoh in state bakeries be lifted.
1965:
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets which is the home of Field Street Great
Synagogue founded in 1899, was created today.
1965(28th
of Adar II, 5725): Helena Rubinstein US cosmetic manufacturer passed away. Her
age was not accurately determined, but she was reported to be 89 at the time of
her death.
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/rubinstein-helena
1967(20th
of Adar II, 5727): Parashat Shimin; Shabbat Parah
1968(3rd
of Nisan, 5728): Russian physicist Lev D Landau passed away at the age of 59.
He won the Nobel Prize in Physics for the year 1962 for his pioneering theories
of condensed matter, especially liquid helium He is also admired for a prolific
series of textbooks on theoretical physics, co-authored with E. M. Lifshitz.
1969:
Holocaust survivor Fred Kort opened Imperial Toy Corp. on Seventh Street in
downtown Los Angeles. His inaugural product: the hi-bounce ball. Kort's sons
from his first marriage, Jordan, Steve and David, all joined their father's
business.
1972(17th
of Nisan, 5732): Third Day of Pesach and Shabbat
1973:
In Castro Valley, CA, Elaine Maddow (née Gosse) and Robert B. “Bob” Maddow gave
birth to MSNBC anchor and news personality Rachel Maddow whose paternal
grandfather was from an Eastern European Jewish family named Medwedof but who
is herself not Jewish.
1973:
In Rabbi Soloveitchik’s Talmud shiur at Yeshiva University we completed
learning the first chapter of Talmud Bavli Tractate Hullin. The Rav gave a dvar
Torah at the Siyyum. He explained the meaning of the recitation of the hadran
alakh, the prayer that promised upon the completion of learning a Talmud
chapter or Tractate that we would return to study you – speaking to the text –
again.
1974:
The Interim Report of the Agranat Commission published today “called for the
dismissal of a number of senior officers in the IDF and caused such controversy
that Prime Minister Golda Meir was forced to resign.”
1975(20th
of Nisan, 5735): Sixth Day of Pesach
1976(1st
of Nisan, 5766): Rosh Chodesh Nisan
1976(1st
of Nisan, 5766): Eighty-two year old NYU trained lawyer Charles Marks, the
supporter of the YMHWHA and the controversial State Supreme Court Justice who
presided over the Malcom X murder trial and who was the husband of “the former
Beatrice Engelhart Rubin” and the father of three children – Howard, Lester and
Lucille – from his first marriage to the former Paula Unger passed away today
1976(1st
of Nisan, 5736): Eighty-four year old Max Ernst “the self-taught German-painter
who formed a Dada group in Cologne, Germany, with other avant-garde artists and
pioneered a method called frottage, in which a sheet of paper is placed on the
surface of an object and then penciled over until the texture of the surface is
transferred” passed away today.
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-ernst-max.htm
1976:
“Looking at the Law” featuring attorney Neil Lewis Chayet debuted today on WBZ.
1977: The Jerusalem Post reported that the
visit to Israel of the French foreign minister, Louis de Guiringaud, ended with
"normalization," if not an improvement of strained relations.
1977:
The Jerusalem Post reported that while visiting Washington King Hussein
of Jordan declared that he was ready for a "full peace" with Israel,
but would never give up East Jerusalem.
1977:
The Jerusalem Post reported that the ambitious Netivei Ayalon highway
system in Tel Aviv had been revised owing to enormous expenses.
1977:
“Raggedy Ann
& Andy: A Musical Adventure” an animated feature film with the voices of
Didi Conn as “Raggedy Ann,” Arnold Stang as “Queasy and Sheldon Harnick as
“Barney Beanbag” was released today in the United States.
1977:
U.S. premiere of “Hot Tomorrows” directed and produced by Martin Brest and
starring Ken Lerner
1977(13th
of Nisan, 5737): Ninety-year old Newark, NJ native and JTS ordained Rabbi,
Eugene Kohn a disciple of Mordecai Kalan and leader of the Reconstructionist
movement passed away today.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/kohn-eugene
https://opensiddur.org/profile/eugene-kohn/
1978:
Rafael Eitan was promoted to the rank of General and was appointed by Ezer
Weizman to be the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.
1978:
CBS broadcast the final episode of “The Bob Newhart Show,” a sitcom co-starring
Suzanne Pleshette, the daughter of Jewish immigrants.
1980(15th
of Nisan, 5740): Jews observe Pesach for the last time during the Presidency of
Jimmy Carter.
1981:
In London, the annual meeting of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison
Committee continued to meet for a second day.
1981:
An Israeli communique said today that one Israeli soldier had been wounded in
the fighting in southern Lebanon.
1982:
“Efim Goldberg, of Riga, was warned to stop teaching Hebrew.”
1982(8th
of Nisan, 5742): Eighty-two year old Jack I. Poses the “president and founder
of Parfums D'Orsay Company, a founder of Brandeis University and a sponsor of
the Poses School of Fine Arts at Brandeis” passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/04/obituaries/jack-i-poses-founded-parfums-d-orsay-co.html
1982:
It was reported today that “289 Jews had left the Soviet Union in March.”
1982:
In trucks and vans loaded with furniture and farm equipment, most Jewish
settlers completed their departure from northern Sinai yesterday, leaving
behind a hard core of several hundred militants who vowed to defy the deadline
imposed by the army for leaving the area.
1984:
The long-term efforts of Arnold Resincoff, a Conservative Rabbi and former
military chaplain, to convince the United States Department of Defense to
participate in the national annual program for the Days of Remembrance of the
Victims of the Holocaust took a significant step forward today when “Secretary
of Defense Caspar Weinberger signed a memorandum to the military services,
urging the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other military commanders
to participate in the annual program for the first time”
1987:
Opening of the New York Antiquarian Book Fair whose offereings have included
The ''Twenty Four Books of the Holy Scriptures,'' the first edition in English
of what was for generations the standard Jewish-American Bible, translated and
annotated by Rabbi Isaac Leeser and published in Philadelphia in 1853 ($1,750)
and the first complete, corrected, printed film script of ''The Wizard of Oz,''
dated May 4, 1938, in its original blue wrappers from the files of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ($7,500).
1988:
“Beetlejuice” with music by Denny Elfaman and co-starring Winona Ryder, which opened
theatrically in the United States today earned $8,030,897 in its opening
weekend.
1989(25th
of Adar II, 5749): Parashat Shmini; Shabbat HaChodesh
1991(17th
of Nisan, 5751): Third Day of Pesach
1991:
Ehud Barak began serving as Chief of the General Staff of the IDF during a time
when the first Oslo Accords were being implemented and the negotiations were
going forward that would lead to a peace treaty with Jordan.
1991: Birthdate of California native, University of
Chicago graduate and Steve Bannon acolyte Julia Aviva Hahn “an editor for
Breitbart News and Special Assistant to President Donald Trump who is the
granddaughter of Harold Honickman whose net worth in 2002 was estimated to be
“$850 million” and who had multi-million dollar stock portfolio of her own when
she joined the White House State.
1992:
Daniel Goldin begins serving as the Administrator of NASA making him the first
Jew to serve as head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
1993:
Five months after premiering in the United States, “Toys” a “fantasy comedy
directed by Barry Levinson” who co-produced and co-wrote the script, filmed by
cinematographer Adam Greenberg and with music by Hans Zimmer was released today
in Australia.
1994:
“Clifford,” a comedy co-starring Charles Grodin and co-produced by Larry
Brezner was released today in the United States.
1994: WW II
veteran and Harvard graduate Donald Mayer Blinken, the New York born son of
Ethel Horowitz and Maurice Blinken and the father of Secretary of State Antony
Blinken began serving as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary.
1996: In
“Challenging a View of the Holocaust,” published today Danita Smith discusses
the new information provided by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen in "Hitler's
Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust."
1997: “--Lancit
Media Entertainment, Ltd. (Nasdaq: LNCT), a leading creator and producer of
high quality children's and family programming, today announced that Susan L.
Solomon has been named Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive
Officer of the Company, effective immediately.”
1998: “Israel
today formally accepted a 20-year-old United Nations Security Council
resolution calling on it to withdraw from Lebanese territory. But the Israelis
said any pullback would be made only on the condition that Lebanon assume
control over the region and prevent its use for attacks on Israel.”
1999(15th
of Nisan, 5759): Final Pesach of the 20th century.
1999:
Publication of “A Spiritual Life: A Jewish Feminist Journey” by Merle Feld.
1999:
In Denmark, premiere of “The One and Only,” a Danish romantic comedy directed
by Susanne Bier.
2000:
Marvin Miller is inducted into The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and
Museum.
2001:
The New York Times featured books by Jewish authors and/or of special
interest to Jewish readers including “Stet: A Memoir” by Diana Athill.
2001:
Six days after she was killed by Palestinian gunfire, 10 month old Shalhevet
Pass was buried today.
2001(8th
of Nisan, 5761): Forty-two year old Dina Guetta was stabbed to death by a
terrorist today on Ha’atzmaut Street.
2002:
In response to the increasing violence or Arab terrorists that climaxed with
the suicide bomber murdering 30 people at a Seder in the Park Hotel, the IDF
made preparation for Operation Defensive Shield.
2002
(19th of Nisan, 5762) Fifth day of Pesach
2002(19th
of Nisan, 5762) Tomer Mordechai, 19, of Tel-Aviv, a policeman, was killed in
Jerusalem, when a Palestinian suicide bomber driving toward the city center
blew himself after being stopped at a roadblock. The Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
2002:
“Using doctored pictures purportedly from the Hubble telescope, NASA ‘proved’
that the Moon was made of green cheese an expression that came from a fable
that Reb Meir,Rashi, the Iraqi Rabbi Hai Gaoan and the Petrose Alponsi an
apostate Spanish Jew helped to popularize.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_is_made_of_green_cheese
2003:
“A rumor that” Chilean television personality Mario Luis Kreutzberger
Blumenfeld known to his public as “Don Francisco had died surfaced around the
New York and New Jersey area. The rumor proved false, but sent many of his fans
into a panic until it was revealed as an April Fool's joke.”
2003(28th
of Adar II, 5763): Late in the evening, sixty-two year old Robert M. Levine, Gabelli Senior Scholar in
the Arts and Sciences, Director of Latin American Studies, and professor of
history at the University of Miami, died after a determined and ever-optimistic
fight against cancer.
2003(28th
of Adar II, 5673): Eighty-eight year old Edward L. “Ed” Kweller who played
college basketball for Duquesne before playing two years as professional in the
pre-war National Basketball League passed away today.
2004(10th
of Nisan, 5764): One-hundred-one year old Colonel Aaron Bank, a veteran of the
OSS and founder of the “Green Berets” passed away today(As reported by Richard
Goldstein)
2004:
A revival of “Sly Fox” a comedy by Larry Gelbart featuring Richard Dreyfus
opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre today.
2005(21st
of Adar, 5765): Sixty-eight year old composer and song writer Jack Keller, the
Brooklyn born son of Mal and Reva Keller who worked with fellow Jewish artists
Carole King, Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield and whose musical skills ranged
from writing the theme music for television hits like “Bewitched” to writing
country and western music for Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn passed away today in
Nashville, TN.
2005:
Lewis Wolff was among those purchasing the Oakland Athletics baseball team
today
2005: A
sign was dedicated today in Deadwood, South Dakota by the Deadwood Historic
Preservation Commission in conjunction with the Jewish American Society for
Historic Preservation which records information about the purchase of Hebrew
Hill and some of those buried there.
2006(3rd
of Nisan, 5766): In an interesting calendar coincidence, April Fool’s Day
coincides with the reading of the first portion from the Book Vayikra (There’s
a sermon topic in there some place)
2007:
The Sunday Washington Post reviewed two books designed to “untangle Biblical
tales” that have just appeared in paperback: “David and Solomon In Search of
the Bible's Sacred Kings And the Roots of the Western Tradition” by Israel
Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman and “Jesus and “Yahweh: The Names Divine”
by Harold Bloom.
2007:
The New York Times reviewed books by Jewish authors and/or of special
interest to Jewish readers including the recently released paperback edition of
“Jesus and Yahweh: The Divine Name” by Harold Bloom.
2007:
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of the US Representatives addresses the
Knesset in what is her first address to a foreign government legislature. She
is the highest ranking American woman to speak before the Knesset.
2007:
Based on stories in the secular press, the world of Kashrut is alive and well. The
Washington Post featured an article entitled “A Doughnut Shop's Change
Leaves a Hole” that tells about the consequences of four Dunkin Donut stores in
the Washington area to give up their kosher certification. The Chicago Tribune
featured an article entitled “China Firms Clamor To Go Kosher: Businesses covet
certification that lets them tap $150 billion market.”
2007:
“Gefilte Fish Chronicles” airs at 7 p.m. on New York’s Channel 13. The DVD has
its own website
2007(13th
of Nisan, 5767): Eighty-two year old Abraham Louis Limmer who gained fame as
Lou “Boomie” Limmer the major league first baseman who overcame the effects of
having broken his neck and suffered temporary blindness “while sliding into
third base in the Western League” to play for the Philadelphia Athletics in
1951 and 1954 passed away today.
2007(13th
of Nisan, 5767): Ninety-four year old Rabbi Josef Hirsch Dunner passed away
today.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/jul/03/guardianobituaries.religion
2007:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel received an honorary doctor of philosophy
degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem "in recognition of her
lifelong dedication to the principles of democracy and in appreciation of her
warm and constant friendship for the people and State of Israel."
2008:
The 92nd Street Y presents “The Year of Living Biblically,” featuring author
A.J. Jacobs who discusses his most recent book, The Year of Living Biblically,
in which he recounts his fascinating, enlightening and delightfully strange
year trying to follow all 613 commandments in the Bible.
2008:
In Washington, D.C., Sidney Blumenthal, a former advisor in the Clinton White
House, discusses and signs “The Strange Death of Republican America: Chronicles
of a Collapsing Party” at a Barnes & Noble book store.
2008:
Idina Menzel “kicked off her 2008-2009 "I Stand Tour" in support of
her new album performing 4 sold out legs.”
2008:
Shlomo “Benizri was convicted of accepting bribes, breach of faith, obstructing
justice, and conspiracy to commit a crime for accepting favors worth millions
of shekels from his friend, contractor Moshe Sela, in exchange for inside
information regarding foreign workers scheduled to arrive in Israel.”
2008(25th
of Adar II, 5768): Radio broadcaster and actress and Shosh Atari passed away at
the age of 58 after suffering a serious illness. Atari was born in Rehovot, and
grew up in the central town. She spent her military service in Army Radio, and
after her discharge from the Israel Defense Forces worked at Channel 1
television. In the 1970s Atari joined Israel Radio as a presenter. In the
1980s, she became one of the stars of Reshet Gimmel radio, where she hosted
popular music chart shows, and other programs with Tony Fine as her editor.
Atari was also famous as the moderator on the "Pitzuhim" game show on
the Israel's educational TV channel. At the end of the 1990s the broadcaster
joined Lev Hamedina Radio. A few years ago Atari underwent a kidney transplant
operation after suffering from a kidney illness. Following the operation she
moved again to Reshet Gimmel, but then returned to broadcast a daily program on
Lev Hamedina radio. The broadcaster also performed on the stage at the Be'er
Sheva theatre. In 2004, Atari's book "Secrets and Lies" was
published. In 2007 she returned to television, starring in the "It's all
honey" drama series on Channel 2.
2008(25th
of Adar II, 5768): Actor Mosko Alkalai, 77, died of respiratory failure.
Alkalai was hospitalized and underwent surgery in Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical
Center several weeks ago but was unable to recover. Winner of the Israeli Film
Academy's 2003 Lifetime Achievement Awards, Alkalai graced the stage and silver
screen in a career spanning 21 years, appearing in dozens of theater plays and
motion pictures. He also took part in various public activities and was the
chairman of the Israeli Union of Performing Arts a member of the Israeli Arts
Council and a member of the Israeli Film Academy.
2009: Avigdor
Lieberman replaced Tzipi Livni as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
2009:
Yitzhak Aharonovich replaced Avi Dichter as Minister of Internal Affiars.
2009:
The Center for Jewish History, PEN, Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate
General of Israel in New York and Blue Metropolis International Literary
Festival co-sponsor a PEN World Voices entitled “Evolution/Revolution: Meir
Shalev in Conversation with Daniel Menaker” featuring Israeli writer Meir
Shalev the author of more than 16 highly praised works, spanning fiction,
non-fiction and children's books and Daniel Menaker, the former Random House
Editor-in-Chief.
2009:
In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Temple Judah hosts a congregational meeting as it begins
a search for its next Rabbi.
2009:
The Centennial Conference for Urban Sustainability opens at the Tel Aviv
Performing Arts Center.
2009:
A new exhibition by the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw that has brought
together photos and documents depicting the rich history of 1,000 years of
Jewish life in Poland goes on display today at the European Parliament in
Brussels and will run nearly a week.
2009(7th
of Nisan, 5769): Marcos Moshinsky “a Mexican physicist of
Ukrainian and Jewish origin whose work in the field of elementary particles won
him the Prince of Asturias Prize for Scientific and Technical Investigation in
1988 and the UNESCO Science Prize in 1997” passed away today.
2009:
“Picturing the Shoah,” a film festival sponsored by YIVO that explores how
movies have represented the Holocaust from radical, provocative, and unexpected
angles opens with a showing of “Schindler’s List.”
2010:
An exhibition entitled “From Dream to Reality: Zionism and the Birth of Israel”
presented by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is scheduled to come to an
end today.
2010:
An exhibition entitled “Folk Art Judaica by Herman Braginsky” presented by
Yeshiva University Museum featuring carved ritual objects made of fine and aged
woods, including tzedakah boxes, Torah pointers, mezuzot, dreidels, Torah arks,
spice containers, and other works created by self-taught craftsman Herman
Braginsky who was born in 1912 and passed away in 1999 is scheduled to come to
an end today2010: A ceremony officially classifying the Machpelah Cave in Hevron as
a National Heritage Site is scheduled to be held today, as tens of thousands
visit the city for a Hol Hamo'ed celebration 2010: The New York Times
features a review of “Jenniemae & James: A Memoir in Black & White” in
which Brooke Newman writes about her father, the famous mathematician James
Newman,” the son of Jewish immigrants “who
“had an I.Q. of 175.”
2010: During a visit to Damascus,
Democratic Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
reiterated US misgivings about the flow of weapons through Syria to Hizbullah
and told reporters the US view is that this is "something that must
stop" for there to be peace.
2011:
Eatliz, one of Israel’s leading alternative rock bands, is scheduled to perform
at the City Winery in New York City.
2011:
The Arizona Diamondback hired former basketball front office maven Jerry Krause
as a scout today.
2011:
“Nora’s Will” and “Anita” are two of the films scheduled to be shown at the
Westchester Jewish Film Festival.
2011: A loud explosion was heard outside the house of opposition leader
Tzipi Livni today. The blast was apparently a result of a firecracker thrown at
the security stand outside Livni's Tel Aviv home. Livni was not at her house
when the explosion occurred.
2011: Residents from all over Israel reported that they felt an
earthquake this afternoon. Israel's
Geophysical Institute said the earthquake, which occurred over 800km from
Israel, was mostly felt in the north of Israel, including the towns of Safed
and Nahariya. At the same time as residents in Israel reported buildings
shaking, a deep 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck in the sea 76 miles (120 km)
east-northeast of Iraklio, a town on the Greek island of Crete, on Friday, the
US Geological Survey said.
2011: Britain's first Jewish ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould and his
wife Celia had their first sabra baby girl today. Baby Rachel Elizabeth was
born early this morning at the Lis Maternity Hospital in the Tel Aviv Medical
Center. We are both incredibly happy and
proud new parents," Gould said. "We are very grateful for the
fabulous care we've received and all the mazel tovs we've been sent."
2011: “Lillian Bassman: Lingerie,” is scheduled to be published by
Abrams today.
2012:
The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including ‘Enemies: A History of the
FBI’ by Tim Weiner and ‘Mudwoman’ by
Joyce Carol Oates.
2012:
Aluf Ram Rothberg, commander of the Israeli Navy reportedly “ordered senior
commanders to prepare for a complex, 10-day exercise in Italy with the US and
Italian navies” as part of an April Fool’s Day prank that got out of hand.
2012: Anthony Russell, “an exciting new talent in the world of
Yiddish music” is scheduled to perform at Temple Beth Emeth in Brooklyn.
2012: “Footnote” and “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” are two of the
films scheduled to be shown at Hartford Jewish Film Festival.
2012(9th of Nisan, 5772): Eighty-year old “Edmund L.
Epstein the literary scholar who saved Lord of the Flies” passed away
today. (As reported by Bruch Weber)
2012: “Spinozium” is scheduled to take place today at Theatre J in
Washington, DC.
2013(21st
of Nisan, 5773): Seventh Day of Pesach; Reform Jews recite Yizkor
2013(21st
of Nisan, 5773): Seventy-year old William H. Ginsburg, the California civil
lawyer who was thrust into the national spotlight when he represented Monica
Lewinsky, passed away today.
2013:
Those visiting the symphony bar are scheduled to have a chance to “experience
Leopold Bloom's passage through Dublin in a dramatic episode from James Joyce’s
masterwork Ulysses.”
2013:
In New York, Larry Schwartz and Beth Sandweiss are scheduled to offer a course
in Jewish mindfulness which is designed to integrate the knowledge and practice
of Judaism with mindfulness practice and key ideas that support that practice.
2013:
Beginning this morning, Israel “was hit by strong winds and dust” which led to
“high levels of air pollution causing breathing complications.” (As reported by
Yoel Goldman
2013:
In Ancient Fear Rises Anew Lisa Abend describes the resurgence of anti-Semitism
in Hungary.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F30D15FD385911738DDDA00894DC405B8585F0D3
2014:
The Hebrew Language Table at the Library of Congress is scheduled to co-sponsor
a presentation by Professor Gabriel Weimann entitled “Terrorism in Cyberspace:
The Next Generation.”
2014: Episodes 3, 4 and 5 of “The Story of the Jews with Simon
Schama,” are scheduled to be shown this evening.
http://www.thirteen.org/13pressroom/tca-tour/the-story-of-the-jews-with-simon-schama/
http://www.iptv.org/series.cfm/23708/story_jews_with_simon/ep:101
2015: The Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia is
scheduled to host “Its Yiddish Time” with Alex Lieberman.
2015: “Woman in Gold” is scheduled to open today in U.S.
theatres.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/as-woman-in-gold-premieres-meet-the-man-who-battled-for-the-klimt/
2015: “Joy of Life: Paintings by Dolorosa Rubens Margulis”
is scheduled to open at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust
Education.
2015: “Jewish Oklahomans” by Phil Goldfarb, Ed Harris and
Katherine Frame was filed today.
2015:Anna Sapir Abulafia, the wife of historian David
Afulafia, was appointed the Professor of the Study of the Abrahamic Religions
in the faculty of theology and religion at Lady Margaret Hall, University of
Oxford tday
2015: In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the
establishment of New York City’s Landmarks Law, architectural historian and
preservationist Samuel D. Gruber is scheduled to lecture on “Synagogues of New
York: History, Architecture, and Community” at the Center for Jewish History.
2015: Ninety-three year old “James Venture, one of the
last survivors of the infamous Train de Loos, which carried French resistance
fighters, Communists and Jews from a prison in the northern French village of
Loos to concentration camps in Germany in September 1944”
passed away today.
2015: The second and final episode of “The Dovekeepers” a
fictional account of the final days at Masada is scheduled to be shown on CBS.
2016: Kate Hinz, daughter of Stephanie
and Daniel Hinz and Ben Binder,
son of Janice Binder, begin their B’Nei Mitzvah weekend by helping to lead
Friday night services at Temple Judah in Cedar Rapids, IA.
2016:
“Beyond the Balcony: the Works of Michal Nachmany is scheduled to open today in
New York City.
2016:
In Fairfax, VA, the “First Friday Boaok Group” is scheduled to discuss Honeydew
by Edith Pearlman.
2017(5th
of Nisan, 5777): Parashat Vayikra
2017(5th
of Nisan, 5777): Fifty-four year old Amy Barnum, the wife of Joel Barnum with
whom she raised three daughters – Emma, Sasah and Gail – and daughter Jack and
Bette Kozlen of Omaha who was a pillar, in the truest sense of that term, of
the Jewish community in Cedar Rapids and a driving force behind the Traditional
Services at Temple Judah passed away today in what can only be described as a tragic
loss for all of us.
https://www.cedarmemorial.com/Obituary/2017/Apr/Amy-M-Barnum/
2017:
For the second time this week Arab terrorists struck in Jerusalem today when
two teenaged boys were stabbed in the Old City.
2017:
In Buenos Aires, 91 year old Holocaust survivor Eugenia Unger, who usually
displays the number tattooed on her arm by the Nazis, covered it with her
Shabbat clothes and her talit when she celebrated her bat mitzvah today.
(JTA/TOI)
2017:
Bob Dylan finally received “his Nobel Literature diploma medal…during a small
gathering this afternoon in a hotel” in Stockholm, Sweden. (As reported by
David Keyton)
2017:
In New Orleans the Jewish Children Regional Services is scheduled to host its
annual gala “Jews Roots of Past, Present and Future, honoring the former and
current leadership of JCRS.
2017:
The Seattle Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to host a showing of “Past Life,”
“a suspenseful, twisty, true tale from Israeli master Avi Nesher.”
2017:
Sixty-eight year old Rabbi David Saperstein, who “for the law two years served
as the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom” is scheduled
to “return to the Union of Reform Judaism’s senior staff” today.
2018:
The New York Times published books by
Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The
Return of Marco Polo’s World: War, Strategy and American Interests in the
Twenty-First Century by Robert D. Kaplan and (((SEMITISM))):Being Jewish
in America in the Age of Trump
by
Jonathan Weisman
2018(16th of Nisan, 5778): Second day of
Pesach; First Day of the Omer
2018:
In Jerusalem, the Tower of David is scheduled to host a performance of “Jerusalem
in My Heart” which tells “the story of Nissim, a Jew who is coming to Israel
from Spain on his way to the Western Wall
2018:
“The Kushners Saw Redemption in the White House. It Was a Mirage” published
today described the relationship of the family of Donald Trump’s Jewish
in-laws.
2019:
In Tel Aviv, 18 Bar Kochva is scheduled to be the site for the monthly “Women
Wine and Wisdom”
where
the women of Israel’s largest city “join together to explore inner freedom
based on lessons from Passover and to celebrate Rosh Chodesh Nisan.”
2019:
The Tel Aviv LGBTQ Center is scheduled to host “Everything you wanted to know
about Israeli elections but were afraid to ask” a non-partisan event with
appearances by Anat Nir, Idan Roll and Merav Ben Ari.
2019:
The Center for Jewish History and the American Jewish Historical Society are
scheduled to present a conversation with journalist Peter Beinart and Yale
Professor Jason Stanley, the author of How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us
and Them
2019:
At Tifereth Israel in Des Moines, IA, the Iowa Jewish Historical Soceity is
scheduled to host “Memories and Melodies of Auschwitz,” “featuring Schindler’s
list survivor Celina Karp and pianists Alex Biniaz-Harris and Ambrose Soehn,
“composers of ‘Melodies of Auschwitz.’”
2019:
The Yeshiva University Museum is scheduled to host curator Ilona Moradof’s tour
of “Kindertransport – Rescuing Children on the Brink of War” which illuminates “the
organized rescue efforts that brought thousands of children from Nazi Europe to
Great Britain in the late 1930s.”
2020:
Hillel@Home is scheduled to host Amar’e Stoudermire, “he former NBA star and
owner of a kosher organic farm as he talks about diversity in Jewish life.”
2020:
In a “Zoom class HaMaqom,” Rabbi Stuart Kelman is scheduled to conduct “an
inclusive discussion about death and dying, focusing on Jewish laws and traditions.”
2020:
The London School of Jewish Studies is scheduled to host an on-line class with
Rabbi Barry Kleinberg lecturing on “From the Sages, Thought and Law: Rav Kook.”
2020:
On-line, the Streicker Center is scheduled to host Hadar Orshalimy speaking on
“Jazz by Jewish Composers.
2020:
“Tightrope: American Reaching for Hope” scheduled for today at the Illinois
Holocaust Museum has been cancelled due to the Pandemic.
2020:
“Sephardic Communities: Preserving Holocaust History through Artifacts, Archives,
and Research” sponsored by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
scheduled to take place tonight at Florida Atlantic University has been
canceled due to the Pandemic.
2020(7th
of Nisan, 5780): On the Hebrew calendar Yahrzeits for the Jews of York who
rejected “an invitation to baptism” and committed mass suicide and Rabbi
PInchas Zelig of Lusk.
2021(19th
of Nisan, 5781): Fourth Day of Pesach
2021:
NFTY Northeast whose “area encompasses five NFTY regions, including Northeast,
New York, Garden Empire, Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic” is scheduled to present
online, an “Open Space for Youth Professionals.”
2021:
Temple Israel of Boston is scheduled to present online “Passover Cooking Across
the Diaspora” with culinary historian Sara Gardner.
2021:
The Contemporary
Jewish Museum and Yiddish Book Center are scheduled to present SFSU professor
Rachel Gross and U. of Chicago professor Jessica Kirzane talking about the
evolution and importance of matzah balls and their connection to Jewish
identity.
2021:
Under an agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades which is set to go into effect today,
travelers who have received a full dose of one of the European-approved
COVID-19 vaccines will not have to take two PCR (polymerase chain reaction)
tests before traveling from one of the countries to the other and will not need
to enter quarantine upon arrival.
2022:
In Ross, CA, Ross Alternative Works and Ross Valley Players are scheduled to
present “The Packrat Gene,” a play about three generations of Jewish women
working through their personal and cultural history and possessions.
2022:
In Columbus, OH, Congregation Tifereth Israel is scheduled to begin its
Scholar-In-Residence Weekend with a lecture by Dora Horn on “Technology,
Memory, and the Past that Lives Within the Present.”
2022:
In Brookline, MA, Andrew Tanner is scheduled to lead “Om Shalom Yoga Shabbat.”
2022:
Lockdown University is scheduled to host a webinar on the parsha of the week
with Rabbi Yonason Shippel
2022:
In Beachwood, OH, Temple-Tifereth Israel is scheduled to host a Jazz Shabbat.
2022:
April Fool’s Day
https://aish.com/april-1st-and-the-jews/
https://www.hebrewpod101.com/blog/2018/03/19/how-to-celebrate-april-fools-day-in-hebrew/
2023:
Salomon and Daughters is scheduled to take part in the MoCCA Arts Festival, New
York City's largest independent comics and cartoon art festival
2023:
Israelis brace for the possibility of more post-Shabbat demonstrations by those
opposed to the proposed Judicial reform laws.
2023:
Lockdown University is scheduled to host a webinar with Professor David Peimer
lecturing on Satire vs. Evil, Part 1: Kurt Weil/Brecht, Hitler's Mein Kampf.
2023:
Alisa Weilerstein is scheduled to the first installment of “Fragments” today at
Zankel Hall.
2023(10th
of Nisan, 5783): Shabbat HaGadol; for more see https://downhomedavartorah.blogspot.com/
