This Day, May 10, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
May 10
70:
During the Siege of Jerusalem, Titus, the commander of the Roman legions and
the son of Emperor Vespasian, opens a full-scale assault on Jerusalem and
attacks the city’s Third Wall to the northwest.
1013:
After three long years of fighting…
May 10
70:
During the Siege of Jerusalem, Titus, the commander of the Roman legions and
the son of Emperor Vespasian, opens a full-scale assault on Jerusalem and
attacks the city's Third Wall to the northwest.
1013:
After three long years of fighting which destroyed the cities of Jaen,
Algecrias, Malaga and Valencia, the Muslim Berber tribesmen from North Africa
took over the city of Cordoba, replacing the Umayyad Arabs. This shift in power
did not have a negative impact on the Jewish population of Moorish Spain as
they continued to play a similar role in the more decentralized world of the
Berbers.
1267:
A Church synod, meeting in Vienna, ordered Jews to wear distinctive garb.
1293:
King Dinis I of Portugal who resisted pressure from
the clergy to apply the anti-Semitic restrictions of the Fourth Council of the
Lateran and “maintained a conciliatory position” regarding his Jewish subjects
“advanced the interests of the Portuguese merchants, and set up by mutual agreement
a fund called the Bolsa de Comércio, the first documented form of marine
insurance in Europe,” which was approved today.
1427: All Jews were ordered expelled from
Berne, Switzerland. Expulsions of Jewish communities continued unabated
throughout the 15th century: Treves, 1419; duchy of Austria, 1421; Cologne,
1424; Zurich, 1436; archbishopric of Hildesheim, 1457; Schaffhausen, 1472;
Mayence, 1473; Warsaw, 1483; Geneva, 1490; Thurgau, 1491; Spain, Sicily,
Sardinia, Lithuania, 1492; Mecklenburg and Arles, 1493; Portugal, 1497;
Nuremberg 1499; Provence, 1500.
1484(15th
of Iyar): First auto-da-fe was held in Saragosa, Spain.
1484:
The Inquisitor at Saragossa, General Gaspar Juglar was found dead, possibly the
victim of a poisoning. This happened shortly after the first auto-de-fe took
place in the city.
1529:
Suleiman the Magnificent launched his campaign to secure control of
Hungary. The campaign would lead to the
unsuccessful siege of Vienna in the fall which would mark the high-water mark
of Turkish attempts to take control of Europe with all that that would mean for
Christians, Moslems and especially Jews.
1634:
William Prynne, an opponent Jews settling in England was pilloried for a second
time as part of his punishment for opposing the production of plays.
1655:
The British capture Jamaica from Spanish opening the door for Jews to settle in
the island colony.
1682(2nd
of Iyar, 5442): The largest auto da fe was held in Lisbon: One hundred and
seventeen persons were judged within three days, including a ninety-one year
old woman.
1682(2nd
of Iyar, 5442): Abraham Lopez Pereira and Isaac da Fonseca were burned at the
stake.
1754(18th
od Iyar, 5514): Lag B’Omer
1722:
Birthdate of Mathias Bush, the native of Prague who came to “New York in the
1740’s” before moving on to Philadelphia where he became a naturalized citizen
in 1749, married into the Gratz family, became a leading merchant, a supporter
of the American Revolution and the patriarch of the Bush clan that included
Solomon Bush who rose to the rank of Lt. Col. In the Continental Army.
1774:
Abraham Solomon married Elizabeth Low at Marblehead, Massachusetts. Solomon was Jewish, a fact reinforced by the
fact that he signed his name in Hebrew on the muster roll so that he could
receive his pay while serving in the Continental Army.
1774:
The reign of Louis XV for whom Hannover born Jewish businessman Liefman Calmer
became the official purveyor came to an end today.
1774: Louis XVI begins his reign as King of
France. Basically, Louis followed the
policy of his predecessors when it came to the Jews of France. “The established, finance ally comfortable
Sephardim of Bordeaux, Bayonne and Marseilles” enjoyed the privileges granted
by Louis XV. “These privileges had been
purchased with a ll0, 000-livres payment in honor of his coronation.”
The
Ashkenazi community of Alsace suffered the abuse and taxation that had been
their lot since the days of Louis XIV.
Of course, part of this difference in treatment may have been caused by
the fact that Alsace was Germanic province that France had taken as a spoil of
war. The French were always suspicious
of those living in this border province, Jew and non-Jew alike.
1785:
Joseph Abrahams arrived in Savannah, GA today after which in January of 1791 he
married the widow of Moses Cohen, nee Judith de Lyon.
1789(14th
of Iyar, 5549): Pesach Sheni
1789:
Birthdate of Jared Sparks, the American historian, Unitarian Minister and
President of Harvard who “became interested in Haym Solomon’s career and
validated the importance of the Jewish businessman to the American revolution
when he wrote “that Salomon’s associations with Robert Morris ‘were very close
and intimate and that a great part of the success that Mr. Morris attained in
his financial schemes was to the skill and ability of Haym Solomon.’”
1792(18th
of Iyar, 5552): Lag B’omer
1792:
Asher Jacobs married Esther Israel at the Great Synagogue today.
1797(14th
of Iyar, 5557): Pesach Sheni observed for the first time during the Presidency
of John Adams.
1799:
French troops under Napoleon make one last assault in their futile attempt to
conquer Acre. If the assault had
succeeded would history have been changed?
Would Bonaparte have honored the grandiose statements about making
Palestine a home for the Jews? Given his
“inconsistency” in other areas, it would probably have depended on his needs at
the time.
1801:
Birthdate of Paul Tulane the businessman whose endowment paved the way for the
renaming of the university which was originally known as the Medical College of
Louisiana to Tulane University whose many Jewish graduates include Professor
Stephen Whitfield. As of 2009, Tulane’s
Jewish population ranked number 9 in a list of 30 private universities. Tulane
is home to a Jewish Studies program that has been led by the distinguished
author and educator Professor Brian Horowitz.
http://tulane.edu/liberal-arts/jewish-studies/
1801:
American involvement in the Middle East would begin when the Barbary Pirates of
Tripoli (North Africa, not Lebanon) declares war against the United States in
what became known as the First Barbary War.
American Jews first became involved in the area when Colonel David
Franks negotiated a treaty with Morocco back in 1786. Jewish involvement would continue when
President Madison sent Mordecai Manuel Noah to negotiate with Tunisia based
Barbary Pirates for the release of imprisoned American sailors in 1813. The appointment of Noah “helped establish a
tradition of appointing American Jews to Middle Eastern diplomatic posts. (For more about this fascinating intersection
of American and Jewish history see Power, Faith and Fantasy by Michael
B. Oren.)
1807:
Netherlands native David Cromelien and his wife Adeline Cromelien gave birth to
Leon Cromelien.
1808:
The Westphalian chief of police, a French official named Savagner, entered “The
Green Shield.” The Green Shield was both
the home and the business center for Rothschild in Frankfurt. Savagner and the troopers, who accompanied
him, searched the premises looking for proof that Rothschild was plotting with
Whilhelm.
1810(6th
of Iyar): Rabbi Joshua Ha-Kohen Perahyah, author of Vayikra Yehoshua passed
away today
1813:
In Hamburg, Philipp Benjamin Schwabe, a Jewish merchant, and his second wife,
Rosalie Levi gave birth Gustav Christian Schwabe a German-born British
“merchant and financier who funded companies such as John Bibby & Sons,
Harland and Wolff and the White Star Line.”
At the age of six, Schwabe and his family “were forced to convert to
Lutheranism.”
1815:
Gabriel Oppenheim married Elizabeth Davis at the Great Synagogue today.
1815:
Samuel Solomons married Sophia Davis at the Hambro Synagogue today.
1816:
Birthdate of Joseph Mayer Montefiore, the native of London and nephew of Sir
Moses Montefiore who was a member of the Board of Deputies and treasurer of the
Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue which he eventually served as warden.
1829:
Two days after he had passed away, “watch maker, optician and jeweler” David
Davis, the husband of Elizabeth Lazarus and father of Aaron Davis was buried
today “at the Brady Street Jewish Cemetery” in London.
1837:
As the Panic of 1837 (a 19th century version of the 20th
century Great Depression) worsens banks in New York fail and unemployment
reaches record levels. Some Jews prospered during this period while others
struggled. Isaiah Moses, a South Carolina merchant and planter was forced to
borrow money from Beth Elohim’s charity fund, Karen Kayemet to help maintain
his lifestyle. On the other hand August Belmont, representing the Rothschilds,
arrived in New York during the Panic. He used his newly created August Belmont
& Company to reform and improve the business interests of the House of
Rothschild over the next five years.
1838:
Sixty-one year old Heinrich Marx, the father of Karl Marx, who unlike his was
Prussian patriot and monarchist and who became a Lutheran because the law
forbade Jews to hold positions in the legal system passed away today.
1839:
Ernestine Jaffé and Schiee Jaffé gave birth to Alwine Waldenburg
1842:
In Rhenish Palatinate, Jacob Sulzbacher and Regine Schwartz gave birth to Louis
Sulzbacher, the husband of Pauline Flersheim and the United States for the
Western District of Indian Territory and “first continental American appointed
as Associate Justice of the newly created Supreme Court of Puerto Rico in
1900.”
1843:
Birthdate of Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler, leader of the Reform Movement in the United
States. Born and educated in Germany, Kohler came to the United States in
1869 to serve as Rabbi at Congregation Beth El in Detroit. The following
year he married the daughter of Dr. David Einhorn, the Rabbi at Congregation
Beth El in New York and the leading Reform rabbi of his day. Kohler
followed his father-in-law in that position and supported his views when he
helped write the 1885 Reform Platform. He was elected President of
Hebrew Union College and died in 1926.
1844:
In Odessa, of Henriette Halperson and Charles Joachim Ephrussi, a trader in
wheat “who founded a bank, Ephrussi & Co” gave birth to French banker and
horse breeder Michel Ephrussi the half-brother of banker Ignace von Ephrussi,
the older brother of banker Maurice Ephrussi and the husband of “Belgian-born
Amélie Wilhelmine Liliane Beer, a niece of composer Jacob Liebmann Beer,” who
“was a close business associate of the Rothschild in Paris” and was injured
when he fought a duel with a French anti-Semite.
1846(14th
of Iyar, 5606): Pesach Sheni
1849(18th
of Iyar, 5609): Lag B'Omer
1849:
Bernard Sondheim served with the Tenth Regiment of New York State Militia when
it quelled the Astor Place Riot, also known as the Forrest-Maready Riots, a
unique outbreak of public violence caused by competing fans of two different
thespians.
1852:
In Krumbach, Deutschland, Elias Landauer, the German born son of Raphael Löb
Landauer and Lucia Pessel Landauer and his wife Karoline Kehle Landauer gave
birth to Isidor Landauer
1855:
A group of Jews who have converted to Christianity are scheduled to meet
tonight at the
Asbury
Methodist Episcopal Church in Manhattan under the auspices of the American
Hebrew Christian Association.
1859:
In Washington, DC, Amlia Technor and Samuel Brei, gave birth to Isidore Bien, the husband of Pauline
Jacobs Bien and the father of Morris and Walter Bien.
1860(18th
of Iyar, 5620): Lag B’Omer
1860:
Lewis Collins married Martha Cohen today on the first day during the counting
of the Omer on which Jews can marry.
1861:
Secretary of War Cameron and President Lincoln officially accepted Major
Mordecai's resignation thus ending a 38 year military career of what was at
that time, the highest ranking Jewish officer in the U.S. Army.
1863:
Birthdate of Rotterdam native and University of Leyden trained Amsterdam
physician Herman Pinkhof who “in 1895
found the society for the Promotion of the Interests of Judaism in Holland” of
which he became president in 1898.
1864:
Alfred A. Rinehard, a Captain serving with Company of the 148th
Regiment was wounded at Po River, Virginia.
1865(14th
of Iyar, 5625): Pesach Sheni
1865:
As the Confederacy crumbled at the end of the Civil War, Judah P. Benjamin
completed his terms as the third and last Secretary of State of the CSA.
1865:
In New York, “John F. and Bertha May Manges” gave birth Columbia College of
Physicians and Surgeons trained doctor and husband of Julia Hirschhorn who was
the consulting physician at Mt. Sinai Hospital and the Hebrew Orphan Asylum as
well as a “contributor to several medical journals on the subject of clinical
medicine.
1866: Ion Ghica who
“was a valuable ally for Yiddish theater in Bucharest” and “on several
occasions expressed his favorable view of the quality of acting, and even more
of the technical aspects of the Yiddish theater” completed his service as Prime
Minister of Romania today.
1866:
In Vilna, Boruch M. Friederman and his wife gave birth to Solomon Jacob
Friederman who was ordained by Rabbi Isaac Eichanan Spector in Kovno before
serving as the rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Jerusalem and Congregation Kol
Israel in New York City.
1866:
Birthdate of Belarus native Lev Rosnberg who gained fame as Leon Bakst a
Russian painter and scene- and costume- designer who revolutionized the arts he
worked in” and who in 1893 produced a self-portrait that hung in the Sate
Russian Museum in, St. Petersburg.
He
passed away in 1924.
1868:
“Mr. Disraeli and Judaism” published
today summarized the view expressed by The Jewish Chronicle that
Benjamin Disraeli has been a Christian since he was either five or six years
old at which time a friend of Disraeli’s father took young Benjamin to a church
in Hackney where he was baptized.
1868:
Abraham Nathan married Katherine Lyons today at the Great Synagogue.
1868:
In Medina, NY, Levi Adler and Theresa Wile gave birth to Harvard trained
lawyer, Isaac Adler, the “53rd Mayor of Rochester, NY” and the
husband of Cora Barnet with whom he had four daughters.
1869:
The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United
States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah)
with the golden spike. When the Union Pacific, one of the two companies
building the railroad, entered Utah the Auberach brothers (Fred, Sam and
Theodore) opened tent stores in Bryan, Wyoming and Promontory, Utah to meet the
needs of the burgeoning population. The Auberachs were so successful that they
opened a permanent store in Ogden, Utah in 1869 and Salt Lake City in 1873.
1872:
In Cincinnati, OH, Louis and Setta (Bamberger) Rothenberg gave birth University
of Cincinnati graduate and Medical College of Ohio trained physician Samuel Rothenberg
the President of the United Jewish Social Agencies in Cincinnati and director of
the Department of Obstetrics at the Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati who married
Cora Oettinger in 1901.
1872: Birthdate of Marcel Mauss, “a French
sociologist best known for his role in elaborating on and securing the legacy
of his uncle, Émile Durkheim and the Annee Sociologique and the author of The
Gift. He passed away in 1950.
http://www.aaanet.org/committees/commissions/centennial/history/092mauss.pdf
1873:
Myer Stern the President of the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society and
a trustee of Temple Emanu-El was among the mayor’s nominees for Commissioners
of Charities and Correction in New York City. Born in 1824, Stern came to the
United States at the age of 16 and has lived in New York since 1847. “A large, robust vigorous-looking man with a
rather pleasant expression,” Stern is a Reform Democrat who had the support of
the Republicans when he ran for the State Senate.
1873: Amelia Strauss, the Charleston, SC born
daughter of Fannie and Bendix Abraham Weinberg and her husband Alfred Abraham
Strauss gave birth to Isaac Calhoun Strauss.
1873:
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a patent for their unique manner of manufacturing
jeans.
1874:
Birthdate of Moses Schorr, a Polish Rabbi, Polish historian, politician, Bible
scholar, Assyriologist and orientalist who died in Soviet prison camp in 1941.
1877: Romania declares itself independent from
Turkey. Under the Treaty of Berlin
signed in 1878, the Jews of Romania were to receive full citizenship.
1877:
The will of Henry Grass, a New York clothier who died in April, was filed in
Surrogate’s Court today. The estate was
valued at $75,000. The will opened with an invocation “In the name of the God
of Israel, Amen.” Grass left $300 to his
niece Jetha and a thousand dollars to the daughters of his brother Abraham “on
condition that they ‘marry according to the Jewish law.’” He left $100 bequests to the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum , Mount
Sinai Hospital and the Hebrew congregation on 57th street between 1st
and 2nd avenues. He left one
third of the residue of the estate to his wife Rebecca and the remainder was to
be divided equally among his six children.
1879:
Today’s “Foreign News” column reported that there had been a massacre of Jews
in Satschcheri in the Caucuses. At the beginning of April the body of a child
was found in the woods. Seven Jews were accused by the Christian villagers of
having killed the child and then having hid the body as part of their Easter
Sacrifice. The accused were taken before
a local Judge who dismissed the charges after “a medical witness” testified
that the child had died of natural causes and that the wounds on the body “were
the work of wild animals. The Jews
celebrated their deliverance with a party which was interrupted by a an axe
wielding Christian mob. The mob, which
had been incited by an Orthodox Priest broke into the house killing six of the
Jews and injuring many more.
1879(17th
of Iyar, 5639): Seventy-five year old Russian Hebrew scholar Benzion Berkowitz
known for his study of the Targum Onkelos passed away today at Wilna.
1879:
Based on information provided by a correspondent for the Neue Zilricher
Zeitgung it was reported today that in the first week of April the Jews of
Satschcheri had been massacred after the body of a Christian child had been
found in the woods. Seven Jews were accused by the Christian villagers of
having killed the child and hidden the body to be used in a holiday sacrifice.
The district judge dismissed the charges because the medical witness said the
child had died of natural causes and the wounds on the body had been inflicted
by wild enemies. Ax-wielding Christian villagers attacked the Jews who were
celebrating their deliverance, killing at least six and wounding several more. The correspondent claimed that the local
Greek Orthodox priest had incited the attack.
1881: Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Wasilkow and Konotop, Russia.
1881:
In Pittsburgh, of Jacob Isadore Affelder and Catherine "Kate"
Affelder gave birth to Case School of Applied Science graduate Harry /Fleishman
Affelder, the Cleveland “envelope manufacturer and husband of Rhoda E. Affelder
who was the father of Lewis Jacob Affelder and Ruth Jane Hexter Goodfriend.
1882:
Alliance, a Jewish agricultural settlement, was founded in New Jersey. Alliance
was financed by Alliance Israelite Universelle headquartered in Paris. It was
part of a movement to have Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe settle away
from major metropolitan areas in the United States and Great Britain.
1883:
Birthdate of Eugen Leviné, the Russian born, German educated communist
revolutionary.
1883:
Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Craiova, Rumania.
1883:
Josephine and 27 year old Henry Morgenthau, Sr. were wed today in New York City
1885(25th
of Iyar, 5645): Seventy-three year old composer and conductor Ferdinand Hiller
whose star pupil was Max Bruch the non-Jew who composed the cello elegy for Kol
Nidrei passed away today.
1885(25th
of Iyar, 5645): Sixty year old Russian author Grigori Isaacovich Bogrov whose
first work, Memoirs of a Jew, “portrayed the vicissitudes of his life and
surroundings.’”
1885:
“Welcoming a New Rabbi” published today described the first service conducted
by Rabbi Alexander Kohut at Temple Ahavath Chesed. The Hungarian native had replaced another
Hungarian native, Adolph Huebsch who passed away last October. In his opening
sermon, Kohut paid tribute to his new home, promised to be an apostle of peace
and spoke so movingly of his predecessors that some of the congregants were
moved to tears.
1886:
Birthdate of Andritz native and
“Austrian auto salesman” Jakob Werlin, “an honorary SS Lead and Hitler’s
primary interface with Daimler-Benz Company “ protected “the safe of Bimbo, the
Jewish wife if William Haspel, the head of Daimler Benz during WW II.
1887:
Birthdate of Indianapolis, IN, born attorney Leo Kaminsky who was active in
B’nai B’rith and the Reform movement.
1888(29th
of Iyar, 5648): Sixty-five year old Michael Heilprin passed away.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7500-heilprin-michael
http://www.jewish-history.com/civilwar/heilprin.html
1888:
In Vienna, Gábor Steiner, “a Viennese impresario, carnival exposition manager,
and inventor, responsible for building the Wiener Riesenrad” and his wife gave
birth to Maximilian Raoul Walter Steiner who gained fame as Max Steiner was
born in Vienna and supposedly studied under Mahler. He came to the
United States in the 1930's, a composer for films who
produced musical themes for such films as “Casablanca,” “The Caine
Mutiny,” “The Summer Place” and most famous of all “Tara’s Theme,” the award winning
score “Gone With the Wind.”
http://www.hollywoodsgoldenage.com/moguls/max-steiner.html
1890:
It was reported today “the upper house of the Prussian Diet has adopted a
resolution calling upon the government to remedy the evils arising from the
large number of Jews in the public schools”
by excluding “the juvenile Jews while still taxing the adult Jews for
the cost of public education.
1890:
“Complaining of the Jews” published today described the reaction of Her von
Gosler, the Minister of Public Instruction in Prussia to proposals that Jewish
children be excluded from public schools.
He said that “such an attempt would force the nation in a position
leading to disruption instead of union.”
To him, this is a matter of educational policy and not subject to
“political demand.”
1891:
Simon Dalsheimer and Bertha Hofmann gave birth to Hugo Dalsheimer, the husband
Helen Miller with whom he has two sons, Roger and George, who was President of
the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland from 1960 to 1967.
1891:
In Poltava, Russia, Louis Benjamin and Cyril Dora (Bulkin) Zlatkovski gave
birth to University of Minnesota trained attorney and WW I U.S. Army veteran
Harry William Davis the husband of Ida Miriam Blehert who practiced law in
Duluth, MN where he President of the Duluth Zionist District, Director of the
Duluth Hebrew Brotherhood and trustee of Temple Emanuel in Duluth.
1891:
“Tories Not So Happy Now” published today described the rising fortunes of the
Liberal Party which is due in part to a return of the Jews to this political
party. “Under the glamour of Disraeli’s
example it became quite the fashion for” Jews to join the Conservative Party.
Now, as Jews are confronted with “outside persecution” they recall the debt
they owe to the Liberal Party. Among
those leading the change are Baron de Stern and H.S. Leon, the son of
clockmaker who has reportedly amassed a fortune of 15 million dollars and has
sought to be a leader of the Anglo-Jewish community.
1891:
The increase of this week’s issue of The Hebrew Standard from 16 to 24 pages is
reported to be permanent. The Hebrew
Standard “is now the largest Jewish paper published in the United State. “It is
intended to be a Jewish family paper” without any congregational affiliation.
1891:
Nearly three hundred Jewish children were vaccinated today the Bureau of
Contagious Diseases.
1892:
“Strikes Turn Into Riots” published today described the violent attacks on the
Jews of Lodz by workers who have been on strike since May Day. After attacking
the mills where they had worked the strikers turned their wrath on the Jewish
community which actively defended itself.
Local authorities could not quell the disturbance, but the military
units called in showed their sympathy with the rioters and did not defend the
Jews.
1893:
Three people escaped being asphyxiated today at a tenement on Eldridge Street
which is occupied by Jewish immigrants from Russia.
1893:
In can only be described as a “starting” development, it was reported today
that the Russian government to hold a meeting of Rabbis in the Autumn to
discuss “the Jewish question.” This comes in the wake of the governments
announced plan for expelling a million and half Jews living in the Polish part
of the Russian Empire.
1894:
Today, “in the shtetl of Byaroza-Kartuskaya, a teacher in a cheder and his
wife, who “ran a dry goods store and a factor for making rye kvass, gave birth
to poet and Yiddishist Kadia Molodowsky who settled in the United States in
1935 where she lived with her husband Simcha Lev and wrote with such skill that
in 1971 she was “a recipient of the Itzik Manger Prize for Yiddish letters.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/molodowsky-kadya
1895:
In “Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, “Aaron Brode, drapery traveller, and his wife
Jane, née Magid, immigrants from Kovno (Kaunas), Lithuania “ gave birth to
their second son, Sir Israel Brodie, the Jews’ College and Oxford educated
rabbi who served “as a British Army Chaplain in France from 1917 to 1919,
worked as a congregational rabbi in Australia in the inter-war years and “as an
army chaplain in France, was one of the last evacuees from Dunkirk.”
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/brodie-sir-israel-9586
1895:
“Meeting of Jewish Woman’s Council” published today described the groups plans
for holding a fundraising fair in December and a request from London to assist
in establishing schools for Russian Jews who have moved to Jerusalem.
1895:
Birthdate of Oskar Klein who was murdered at Jajdanek in 1942
1895:
Birthdate of Laura Maria Buntenbach-Kugler, the wife of Victor Kugller who was
one of those who helped to hide Anne Frank and her family.
1896(27th
of Iyar, 5656): Lea "Lisette" Koppel Waldstein, the wife of Ephraim
Walstein and the mother of Sophie and Zadok Waldsein, passed away today in
Munich.
1896:
Birthdate of Philadelphia native Myer Feinstein, the “president of the Penn
Federal Savings and Loan Association and chairman of the board of the Central
Mortgage Company who was past president of the UJH and the “first American to
receive the Shield of Award” and the husband of the former Rosaline Berman with
whom he raised a son and a daughter.
https://www.jta.org/archive/myer-feinstein-noted-jewish-leader-dies-in-phildelphia-was-69
1897:
In New Orleans, Prague native Reform Rabbi Maximilian Heller, the son of Simon
Heller and Mathilde Kassanowitz and Ida Annie Heller gave birth to Ruth Heller
who was the wife of George Lion Cohen and Albert Steiner.
1897:
Two days after he had passed away, 43 year old John Solomons was buried today
at the “Plashet Jewish Cemetery” in London.
1898(18th
of Iyar, 5658): Lag B’Omer
1898:
First Sergeant Frank Wolf of Lincoln, Sergeant Henry Jacob of Bellwood and
Privates William Assenheimer, William J. Koopman, Eugene Meyer and Guy D.
Solomon, of Omaha, were among those who joined the United States military when
the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry was mustered into the Army.
1898:
Twenty-two-year-old NYU trained attorney Benjamin Franklin Spellman, the New
York born son of Michael and Amelia (Franklin) Spellman married Rae Grace
Freedman today in New York City.
1898:
In London Alfred Mond, 1st Baron Melchett and his wife Violet Goetze gave birth
“to their only son Henry Ludwig Mond, 2nd Baron Melchett” who
“having been brought up in the Church of England” “reverted in the 1930s to his
family’s original Judaism and became a champion of Zionism.”
1898:
Privates James W. Rosenberger and Tylor H. Rosenberger both of Winchester were
among those who joined the U.S. Military when federal government began the
process of mustering the 2nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry in the
service of the United States.
1898:
Birthdate of Bialystok native Jacob Perlman who came to the United States in
1912, earned all three of his college degrees at the University of Wisconsin
and went to become a world class economist.
1898:
In what was the part of the Russian Empire, Ethel Appel Kaufman and Joseph
Kaufman gave birth of Chaya Kaufman who gained famed as Ariel Durant the wife
of Will Durant with whom she “was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General
Nonfiction in 1968 for Rousseau and Revolution, the tenth volume of The
Story of Civilization and “presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by
Gerald Ford.”
1899:
Memorial services honoring the late Baroness Hirsch are scheduled to be held at
the Hebrew Institute and Temple Emanu-El
1899:
In Richmond, VA, Rachel and Jacob Levy Ezekiel gave birth to “agrarian
economist” Mordecai Ezekiel, the holder of a BA from U. of MD, an MA from the
University of MN and a Ph.D from Brookings Institute who was instrumental in
creating the New Deal’s Agriculture Adjustment Administration.
1899:
Birthdate of composer Dimitri Tiomkin. Born in Russia, Tiomkin
worked in lived in Western Europe before coming to the United States
in the 1930's where enjoyed an almost unparalleled career writing scores
for film productions. His credits include everything from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, to Giant, to The High and The Mighty and the Guns of Navaronne. One of his classic was the theme for the
1952 classic western, High Noon. He won an Oscar for that one and
Tex Ritter gained musical immortality for singing it. His biggest
contribution to television was theme for Rawhide.
He passed away in 1979, yet another Jew who helped create popular American
culture.
1900:
Birthdate of Russian born author and journalist Herman Ehrenreich who in 1910
came to the United States where he attended NYU and became the drama critic of
The Forward while writing such Yiddish books as Lands and People and A
World Without Jews 1900: Austrian Prime Minister
Ernest von Koerber delivered his “Language Bill” Speech which was entirely
different than the one he had asked Herzl to write for him. Herzl responded to this apparent slight by
asking if the Prime Minister only valued his “secretarial services" or
that he thought that Herzl wants “a decoration or something like that?” In
fact, Herzl only wrote the speech as way of getting the Prime Minister to help
him arrange a meeting with the Sultan of Turkey so that he could make a
presentation on the benefits of creating a Jewish home in Palestine
1901: The Jewish Comment reported today that Massachusetts State
Legislature had rejected Samuel Hyman Borfosky bill exempting “persons
observing the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath from any penalty for
keeping shops open or for performing secular business and labor on the first day
of the week” which in the days of Sunday Closing Laws would have meant that
Jews could close on their Shabbat and not lose a day’s business since they
would be open on Sunday.
1902:
Birthdate of Joachim Prinz, the Prussian born Rabbi who came to the United
States in 1937 where he became a leader of the Zionist and Civil Rights
movements.
1902:
In Pittsburgh, of silent film director Lewis J. Selznick and his wife gave
birth to producer David O. Selznick, the son-in-law of
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0510.html
1902:
Birthdate of Antaole Litvak director of the film Anastasia
1903:
Birthdate of philosopher Hans Jonas. Born and educated in Germany, Jonas would
move to Eretz Israel 1933, join the British Army, serving as a combat soldier
for five years, return to Israel to fight at the age of 45 as soldier in the
War for Independence before moving to Canada and the United States where he
wrote and taught until his death in 1993.
1903:
Zionists are scheduled to conduct a house-to-house campaign today in New York
to raise funds for those victims of the anti-Semitic riots that began in
“Kishineff” in April.
1904:
In Amsterdam, Aron Belinfante and Georgine Antoinette Hesse gave birth to
Frieda Belinfante the Dutch-American cellist and conductor who was a member of
the Dutch resistance during WW II.
1905:
“A dispatch…from Odessa says it is reported there that thirteen Jews have been
killed in riots at Melitopol, in the Government of Taurida, South Russia.
1905:
“The Associate Press is informed” that 15 of the 18 people killed at Kieff from
May 6 through May 7 were Jews.
1906:
Birthdate of New York mobster Abe "Kid Twist" Reles
1907:
Birthdate of James Joseph Packman, the native of Biala, Poland who came to the
United States in 1910 and served as he managing editor of The Milwaukee
Sentinel, the Newark Star Ledger and the San Francisco Call-Bulletin.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/packman-james-joseph
1908:
“The movement among the Jews of” New York City “to urge a general observance of
the Jewish Sabbath by shopkeepers and merchants took definite form” tonight
when members of the Sabbath Observance Association and took steps that would
lead to a “boycott all Jewish bakers within a certain section of the east side
who do not agree to close shop on Saturday.
1909:
David Hirshberg and his wife gave birth to WW II Navy veteran Albert Simon Hirshberg
who gained fame as sports journalist Al Hirshberg who co-authored Jimmy Piersall’s
autobiography Fear Strikes Out which was ground-breaking for its time because
it dealt with mental illness of a major league baseball player.
1909:
It was reported today that there is still a possibility that the million dollar
bequest by the late Louis A. Heinsheimer may be given to six New York City
Charities on condition that they form a federation. Alfred M. Heinsheimer, the residuary legatee
under the will, is trying to find a way to accomplish the descendant’s desires despite
the fact that Louis Stern, President of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum has expressed
his continued opposition to the creation of such a federation.
1910:
In Sheffield, England, Julius Isaacs, the Lithuanian born son of Isaac and
Sarah Postawelsky and his wife Matilda (Tillie) Isaacs gave birth to “Albert
Edward (Teddy) Isaacs.”
1911:
In Brooklyn Rabbi Hyman Goodekowitz and his wife gave birth to Rabbi Alexander
David Goode the Washington, DC raised graduate of the University of Cincinnati
and Hebrew Union College and holder of a Ph.D from Johns Hopkins who was the
husband Al Jolson’s niece Teresa Flax who gained fame as on the Four Chaplains
aboard the Troopship Dorchester.
1911:
In Berlin, medical student Michael Kaufman and his wife Lala Rabinowitz
Kaufman, a daughter of Sholem Aleichem gave birth to New York school teacher
Bel Kaufman best known for writing Up the Down Staircase.(As reported by
Margalit Fox)
1912:
Today “revolution in Paraguay was defeated after government troops overcame the
rebels” at a time when a large number of Sephardi families from the Ottoman
Empire were joining the small group of Ashkenazim who had settled there at the
end of the 19th century.
1913(3rd
of Iyar, 5673): On Shabbat, Samuel Straus who had served as an “Indian agent”
passed away in Chattanooga, TN.
1913:
In Cincinnati, OH, The Board of Governors of Hebrew Union College is scheduled
to host an “exercise” in honor of Dr. Koffman Kohler’s 70th birthday
in chapel of the Hebrew Union College Building.
1913:
Seventieth birthday of Dr. Kaufmann Kohler who for twenty-four years was Rabbi
of Temple Beth-El, at Fifth Avenue and Seventy-sixth Street and is now Honorary
Rabbi of that congregation.
1914(14th
of Iyar, 5674): Pesach Sheni
1914:
Following yesterday’s proclamation, the U.S. observed the first official
Mother’s Day which falls on the second Sunday of May.
1914(14th
of Iyar, 5674): Sixty-three year old Israel Dov Frumkin who moved to Palestine
at the age of 9 and was an earlier developer of modern Jewish culture including
the revival of Hebrew as a modern language as can be seen by his work the
newspaper Havatzelet passed away
today in Jerusalem.
1914(14th
of Iyar, 5674): Fifty-nine-year-old New York native Louis Seigman Ehrich, the
husband of Cornelia C. Sampson Ehrich and the father of William, Louis, Adeline,
Joseph, Selena and Cornelia Ehrich passed away today after which he was buried
at the Beth Elohim Cemetery in Georgetown, SC.
1914:
Benjamin “Benny” Snyder murdered Philip “Pinchy” Paul “at the behest of ‘Joe
the Greaser,’ and east side rival of ‘Dopey Benny’ Fein. (All of these colorfully named characters are
Jewish gangsters)
1915:
“Dramatically asserting his innocence of the murder of Mary Phagan and with
impassioned declaration that ‘he was to die for the crime of another,’ Leo M.
Frank was today sentenced by Judge Ben H. Hill in the General Court to hang on
June 22.”
1915:
After weeping silently, the wife of Leo Frank “screamed, collapsed and sank
limp in her chair” after he husband was resentenced to death in an Atlanta
courtroom “for a crime of which a great majority of his countrymen believe him
to be innocent and for which he was never fairly tried.”
1915:
It was reported today that “Warsaw has 60,000 refugees, a third of them Jews.”
1915:
The International Congress of Women at which “Rosika Schwimmer’s proposal for a
Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediate between the belligerents was adopted”
came to a close today in The Hague.
1915:
It was reported today that “a Warsaw rabbi” has “assured” Robert Crozier Long,
“an author and special correspondent for the Associated Press” who has toured
“the war-devastated districts of Poland” “that 100,000 Jews from the towns of
Lodz, Piotrkow and Lowicz were without homes” with “many thousands huddled in
the tottering fragments of cottages while 10,000 are shivering in the abandoned
trenches and terraced Russian dugouts at Skaryszom.”
1915:
According to reports “just received by Provisional Executive Committee for
General Zionist Affairs” in New York City, “an international loan” to which
American Jews were major contributors has “saved the large orange-raising
industry of the Jewish colonies in Palestine” which “represents an investment
of $3,000,000” and twenty years of hard work.”
1915:
Birthdate of Ostrow, Poland native Israel I. Blumenfeld, a survivor of the
Warsaw Ghetto who in 1952 arrived in the United where he served as the
executive director of the western region of Histadrut.
1915:
A summary of the manifesto recently issued by distinguished Russians protesting
again persecution of the Jews of Russia during the war” the full text of which
had been published in the Jewish Chronicle of London was published in the
United States today ending with a declaration by “members of the Duma, members
of the Imperial Council, Princes and distinguished professors and letterateurs”
that “we are sure that the disappearance of all kinds of persecution of the
Jews and their complete emancipation so as to be our equal in all rights of
citizenship will form one of the conditions of a really constructive imperial
policy.”
1916:
Elchanan Harkavy, the Polish born son of “Josef Chaim Harkavy and Chaya-Leach
Gabovitch Harkavy and his wife Zlara Zerstin Harvkay gave birth to Tilly
(Taibe) Amcis (Harkavy)
1916:
It was reported today that Isador Herschfield who is returning from Europe
where he has been investigating “the distribution of Jewish relief funds”
raised in the United States will be “able to give valuable advice as to the
best use to be made of money raised in the future” and well as provide comfort
to many living in New York since he has several thousands of letters from those
living in the war zones addressed to friends and family in the United States.
1916:
According Max J. Klein, when he applied for membership in the Second Field
Artillery tonight, “he was told that there no vacancies in the regiment and he
and the other 12 Jewish applicants were not sent for medical examinations while
several other applicants all of whom were Jewish were sent for the medical
examinations which were the next step in joining the unit.
1917:
Rabbi Nathan Krass, a member of the American Jewish War Relief Commission
“announced that he had raise $100,000 for Jewish war relief work” during his
recent lecture tour.
1917:
“Ex-President Taft applauded vigorously” tonight” at a dinner sponsored by the
American Jewish Friends of Free Russia “when Jacob H. Schiff…praised Theodore
Roosevelt for his efforts, while President, to bring the Russian autocracy to a
realization of the wrong committed against their Jewish subjects.”
1917:
The Jews of Amsterdam held a meeting today where “a resolution was passed
hailing the American Jewish Congress and similar movements in Russia and other
countries as the beginning of an organization comprising the entire Jewish
people for the formation of legitimate representation at the peace conference.
1917:
On the last day of the British War Mission’s visit to Washington A.J. Balfour,
the Secretary of State for Foreign Affiars, spoke with Justice Brandeis this
afternoon, possibly about the establishment of “a Zionist Republic in
Palestine” – a subject “that the British do not desire to discuss too fully in
the present disturbed situation.” (That “disturbed situation is also called
World War I)
1917:
“Jacob Biliikopf, Executive Director of the $10,000,000 campaign of the
American Jewish Relief committee in Behalf of the Jewish War Sufferers in
Europe announced” tonight that $1,000,000 has already been pledged.
1917(18th
of Iyar, 5677): Lag B’Omer
1917(18th
of Iyar, 5677): In Philadelphia, PA, “communal worker” L.G. Pape passed away
today.
1918:
Importer and Turkish Army Veteran Robert Franco, the Smyrna born son of Rahamim
and Sol Franco who in 1912 came to the United States who he served as the
President of the Sephardic Educational Institute and the President of the Spanish
Hebrew Charity Society married Rose Cory today.
1918:
It was reported today that “the Kehillah has just published the Jewish Communal
Register” which “provides some interesting facts regarding the Jews in New
York.”
1919:
Birthdate of Daniel Bolotsky, who gained fame as “Daniel Bell, the writer, editor, sociologist
and teacher who over seven decades came to epitomize the engaged intellectual
as he struggled to reveal the past, comprehend the present and anticipate the future.”
(As reported by Michael T. Kaufman)
1920(22nd
of Iyar, 5680): Sixty-one year old Clarence Isaac de Sola, the “son of Cantor
Abraham de Sola and Esther de Sola and husband of Belle Maud de Sola with whom
he had four children passed away today passed away today in Boston after which
he was buried in his native Montreal.
http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/de_sola_clarence_isaac_14E.html
1920:
Four days after she had passed away Leah Hopter, the wife of Alexander Hopter
who died on the same day she had, was buried today at the “East Ham Jewish
Cemetery.”
1920:
Luigi Luzzatti, the second Jew to serve as Prime Minister of Italy completed
his service as the treasury minister “in the second incarnation of the Nitti
cabinet” today.
1921:
Eugen Schiffer began serving at the Minster of Justice for the second time.
1922:
Birthdate of David Joshua Azrieli, CM, CQ the “Canadian builder, designer,
architect, developer and philanthropist.”
http://www.haaretz.com/business/1.603922
1923:
Funeral services are scheduled to be held today at the Central Synagogue on
Lexington for Marx Ottinger, a twenty-five year member and leader of the Hebrew
Orphan Asylum.
1923:
In Vienna, at tonight’s session of the World Conference of Jewish Women, Dr.
Kahn, the German delegate “stated in her report on emigration that as a result
of pogrom and various persecutions “3,300,000 Jews migrated from Eastern Europe
from 1881 till 1922 of whom 2,630,000 went to America” and that “the situation
of the Eastern European Jews has become desperate, owing to the restriction of
American immigration.”
1924:
Dr. Kaufmann Kohler, President Emeritus of Hebrew Union College at Cincinnati,
Honorary President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and known as
one of the greatest Jewish scholars of America, celebrated his eighty-first
birthday at his home at 2 West Eighty-Eighth Street among a gathering of
relatives, friends and scholarly disciples. .
1925(16th
of Iyar, 5685): Seventy-year old Sir Isidore Newman passed away today in
England
https://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib2_1221577973
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41335896?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
1925:
“Judaism’s Future in America” published today provides a review of American
Judaism: The Religion and Religious Institutions of the Jewish People in the
United States: A Historical Survey by Joseph Leiser,
1925(16th
of Iyar, 5685): Seventy-year-old Isidore Spielman, the London born son of
Marian and Adam Spielman and husband of Emily Sebag-Montefiore with whom he had four children – Ferdinand,
dora, Maude, Harold and Adelaide – who was , a Warden of the New West End
Synagogue, founder and Secretary of the Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition and
President of the Jewish Historical Society of England who also served Secretary
and Director of Fine Art Committees including those for the Paris exhibition in
Paris and the Exhibition of Early Flemish Art in Bruges passed away today.
1926:
Rabbi Stephen S. Wise is scheduled to receive Zeta Beta Tau’s Gottheil Medal “for distinguished service to
the cause of Judaism” this evening at the Hotel McAlpin
1926:
“Jew and Gentile” published in today in Time
magazine provided the following portrait of the American Jewish Community in
the middle of the Roaring 20’s which had come to include a genteel form of
anti-Semitism at America’s leading universities
On
the upper end of Manhattan Island there are arising some gorgeous, massive
buildings in an Americanized Byzantine manner— rigid facades; a squatty dome;
ornate yet severe decoration. They represent the first independent stand on
education ever taken by Jewry in the 2,000 years of its exile. Out of the Rabbi
Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary has grown the Yitzchok Elchanan Yeshivah,
in which there will be the first Jewish college ever established in the U. S.,
equipped to grant "the same academic degrees as other American colleges in
a background thoroughly Jewish and thoroughly American in spirit." Such an
institution has become more and more inevitable, for a reason implicit in
remarks made last week by Gustavus A. Rogers, Manhattan lawyer, who addressed 60
prominent Jews at the Bankers' Club: "We will cater ... to the Jews who
have been barred from Christian schools for non-scholastic reasons." There was simple fact in Mr. Rogers'
assertion that U. S. universities— he named Columbia, Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown
and Princeton — discriminate against Jews in accepting matriculants. Polite
evasion by those institutions notwithstanding—except in Columbia's case —
Jewish undergraduates form an element in the undergraduate bodies which, if it
has not occasioned official discrimination, is a subject for much restless
discussion and action among Gentile undergraduates, and this constitutes, for
the Jews, discrimination of a most definite sort—exclusion from clubs,
preference in athletics, elections, etc. It has seemed to many Gentiles high
time that the Jews, with their plentiful resources, relieve themselves of
embarrassment by building their own colleges, just as they have their own
churches, dwelling colonies (e. g., Long Beach, L. I.), and even hotels (e.g.,
the Hotel Libby, at Delancey and Chrystie Streets, Manhattan, which opened
formally last week for Jews only). Another speaker at the Bankers' Club
gathering—met to discuss a music festival to be held this month in Madison
Square Garden to raise a fifth of the five millions needed to build the
Yeshivah— was Adolph Lewisohn, one of the most intelligent and effective
workers on human relationships in the U. S. He referred to the Yeshivah as
"the salvation of Judaism," where Jews could acquire a college education
in Jewish surroundings and without breaking the Sabbath and other holy days. He
said that his own grandsons had been excluded "by one of the East's
largest universities." There was a tinge of irony in Mr. Lewisohn's
position, whether the grandsons had been excluded for social or for academic
reasons. He came to this country from Germany as a lad of 16, in 1865. His
brother Leonard was already here and the two built up a big mercantile
business, Lewisohn Bros. In 1868 they began specializing in metals, particularly
copper, and soon led in world markets. Leonard died in 1902. Adolph, now 77, is
one of the world's greatest mining and industrial potentates. He sent his son,
Sam Adolph, to Princeton ('04) and to Columbia Law School ('07), then took him
into the firm, now Adolph Lewisohn & Sons. As wealth accumulated he entered
philanthropy in the educational and artistic fields. He housed the Columbia
School of Mines with a gift of $300,000. He assisted the College of the City of
New York to form a German library, to build an athletic stadium. He collected
paintings—Blakelock, Bellows and other moderns as well as Rembrandt, Titian,
Dürer—and put them where they could be enjoyed by the people as well as
himself. Now his grandsons, because of the pressure of an affluent Jewish
population, are uncomfortable in surroundings to whose peace and prosperity he
has contributed much. He hears of requests from the colleges to the heads of
preparatory schools to "leave the Jews out" when they fill their
quotas of certificate scholars. But Adolph Lewisohn understands the nature of
social irony, and instead of berating the Gentiles, he has simply noted their
frame of mind and thrown his weight behind a movement to supply the people of
his race and creed with an institution which, without in turn discriminating
against other creeds, will put the children of Israel on an equal educational
footing with their Gentile countrymen.
1926:
Following the success of the original in 1925, the second incarnation of
Rodgers and Hart’s Garrick Gaieties under the direction of Philip Loeb opened
today.
1926:
Large contributions towards the campaign to save the Franc by voluntary
subscriptions are being made by French Jews. Louis Dreyfus contributed the
amount of 500,000 Francs today. The Union of Presidents of Jewish Societies in
Paris has announced its first contribution of 6,335 Francs.
1926:
New light upon the life, achievements and opinions of Walter Rathenau, late
German Jewish statesman who was killed by anti-Semites, is contained in two
volumes of the writings of Rathenau and documents pertaining to his life,
released here today. The volumes contain about eight hundred letters of
Rathenau and cover a period of forty years. The volumes contain material
hitherto unknown in which Rathenau emphasized his loyalty to Germany and
Judaism.
1927:
In Berlin, Sali and Alex Friedlander gave birth to HUC trained rabbi, Dr.
Albert Hoschander Friedlander, the refugee from Nazi Germany who began his
career at Temple B’nai B’rith in Wilkes-Barre PA and who eventually moved to
England where served as the rabbi of the “Wembley and District Liberal
Synagogue and as senior rabbi of the Westminster Synagogue staring in 1971.
1927:
“The Bordellos of Algiers” with music by Artur Guttmann was released in Germany
today.
1928:
Birthdate of Alfred Gilbert Aronowitz, an American rock journalist best known
for introducing Bob Dylan and The Beatles in 1964.
1929(30th
of Nisan, 5689) Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1929: A joint memorandum to the Mandatory
Government by the chief rabbis, the National Council and Agudat Israel demands
a halt of all construction work carried out by Muslims near the Western Wall.
1930:
Birthdate of Chicago native and Washington University Ph.D. Samuel
Halperin who taught political science at
Wayne State University who went to be an influential “legislative specialist”
with HEW while raising two children – Elan and Deena – with his wife Marlene
Epstein Halperin.
1931:
Today, after having received “menacing letters warning Jewish traders to leave
Mexico with 24 hours,” a Jewish delegation left a petition with President Rubio
“drawing attention to the desperate position of the Jews of Mexico” and
requesting he issues an order to end the “anti-Jewish boycott.” (JTA
1932:
Mayor Jimmy Walker was the final speaker today at the opening session of the 32nd
annual convention of the Rabbinical Assembly of the Jewish Theological Seminary
of America.
1933(14th
of Iyar, 5693): Pesach Sheni
1933(14th
of Iyar, 5693): Fifty-eight year old operatic soprano Selma Kurz lost her
battle with cancer and passed away today in Vienna.
http://www.operavivra.com/artists/sopranos/selma-kurz/
1933:
Ezriel Carlebach “attended as an observer the central book-burning on
Opernplatz in Berlin, where his books were thrown into the fires
1933: Books deemed of "un-German
spirit," most of them Jewish, are burned on Unter den Linden, opposite the
University of Berlin, and throughout Germany. More than 20,000 volumes are
destroyed, including works by John Dos Passos, Thomas Mann, Karl Marx, Ernest
Hemingway, Upton Sinclair, Émile Zola, H. G. Wells, André Gide, Sigmund Freud,
Maxim Gorky, Helen Keller, Friedrich Forster, Marcel Proust, Jack London, and
Erich Maria Remarque. Among those who witnessed the burnings were Sinclair
Lewis, Eve Curie and Bella Fromm.
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/this_month/may/02.asp
1933:
Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife had already moved to Southern France when his
works were burned during today’s book burnings in Germany. The famous novelist
had been forced to flee because he was Jewish, because he was an out-spoken
critic of the Nazis and because he was friend with such decadents as Bertol
Brecht.
1933(14th
of Iyar, 5693): Seventy-three year old Samuel “Frenchie” Marx the French born
tailor who was the husband of Minnie Marx and the father of The Marx Brothers
passed away today in Los Angeles, CA.
http://www.marx-brothers.org/biography/parents.htm
1934:
A shopkeeper In the Yorkville section of Manhattan complained today that he had
applied for membership in the German-American Protective Alliance so that he
might put the blue German eagle of "the DAWA" in his window, but that
his request had been refused because he was a Jew.”
1935:
After premiering in Los Angeles last month “Bride of Frankenstein” produced by
Carl Laemmle, Jr with music by Franz Waxman opened in New York City.
1935:
Two days after he had passed away, funeral services were held today for sixty-eight year old Vilna born American journalist I. Leon
Dalidansky who in 1906 came to the United States where wrote for the Jewish
Daily News while raising two children – Cecilia and Ezra – with his wife Mary
followed by burial “at Mount Judah Cemetery in Brooklyn.”
1936(18th
of Iyar, 5696): Lag B’Omer
1936(18th
of Iyar, 5696): Seventy-two year old Emilie Eisler, the daughter of Catherine
and Samuel D. Klauber and the wife of Juris Doctor Alois Eisler passed away
today in Moravia.
1936:
Today is Mother’s Day which is being observed “by thousands of Jews in the
United States by purchasing trees to be planted in Palestine in honor of Jewish
mothers” – a plan that was promoted by Hadassah.
1936:
The 80th anniversary of the founding of Congregation Beth Israel
Anshei Emes in Brooklyn “was celebrated at dinner” tonight “at the Hotel St.
George attended by more than 100 members and guests” including Rabbi Stephen S.
Wise, Justice Edward Lazansky of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court
and Harold L. Turk, president of the Congregation.
1937:
In Manhattan Maxine Dubin and advertising salesman Henry Koenig gave birth to
Arthur Lee Koenig who gained fame as “avant-garde playwright, Arthur Kopit.”
(As reported by Anita Gates)
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/03/theater/arthur-kopit-dead.html
1937:
HMT Dunera, the ship which was the nautical vehicle of “an infamous care of
wartime…injustice” when it was used by the British to deport 2,542 detainees
classified as ‘enemy aliens’” the largest contingent of which “2, 036
anti-Nazis most of whom were Jewish refugees” to Australia under the most
barbaric conditions imaginable, was launched today.
1938(9th
of Iyar, 5698): Sixty-eight year old “Taub (Yona) Margalit, the Bialystok born
daughter of Elijah and Sarah Golda Bloch” and the wife of Moshe Dov Bear
Margalit passed away today it “Petah Tikvah, Israel.
1938(9th
of Iyar, 5698): Author and Zionist leader Alter Druyanow passed away today.
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Druyanow_Alter
1939:
In Glasgow, thirty-three French featherweight Maurice Holtzer ended his fifteen
year pugilist career with a loss on points today.
1940:
During World War II, British forces occupied Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland,
as part of Operation Fork. The British
took the action to forestall seizure of the neutral island-nation by the Nazis. The Anglo-Jewish sailors and marines who were
part of the occupation force found that city contained a small Jewish
population but no synagogue. By Yom
Kippur the disparate groups of Jews had coalesced into a semblance of a
community. About twenty five Jewish soldiers from England, Scotland and Canada
gathered with eight Jewish refugees and Hendrik Ottósson to observe the most
solemn day on the Jewish calendar.
1940:
Birthdate of Parisan Dora Frydenzon (née Skurnik) the daughter of Polish Jews
who had fled to France in 1936 and who would survive the war thanks to the
efforts of Alfred Le Guellec.
1940:
The Germans invaded the Low Countries and France putting an end to the so
called Phony War. The Blitzkrieg would bring the Holocaust to the
existing Jewish populations of these nations as well as to the untold thousands
of Jews who had sought refuge in the West since the rise of Hitler during the
1930's.
1940:
Today’s Nazi bombing of Antwerp meant that Leo Bretholtz’s hernia operation was
canceled leading to his discharge from the hospital and arrest and imprisonment
at St Cyprien.
1940:
This morning President Roosevelt met with six of his closest advisors including
Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr.
1940:
Author and illustrator Hans Rey was at his desk in Avranches touching up a page
of “Fifi” as the Nazis were invading France and the Benelux countries. Unbeknownst to Rey, this major military
catastrophe would trigger events that would send him and his wife on race against
death that would lead them through southern France and ultimately to the United
States.
1941:
In London, “the Great Synagogue” was destroyed today.
1941:
As Axis forces drive into Egypt, Churchill receives secret word of a new threat
to the Jews of Palestine. Hitler is
pressuring Turkey to allow German troops to cross their borders threatening
Palestine from the North. Churchill
reminds his new Colonial Secretary, Viscount Cranborne of his previous support
of arming the Jews for self-defense and urges him to get done all that he
can. Realizing the danger of a pincer
attack, the British now encourage the Jews to build fortifications on the crest
of Mount Carmel so that they can respond to attacks from the north and the
south.
1941
(12th of Iyar, 5701) In Suresnes, France, Aaron Beckermann was the first Jew in
France to be shot for resistance.
1941:
Raymond Raoul Lambert wrote in his diary: "In view of the persecutions
being initiated by the new order in France, against foreigners in general and
foreign Jews in particular, in light of what has happened elsewhere, in view of
the racist laws and the 'Commission on Jewish Affairs' being run in Vichy from Berlin,
I wonder whether this collaboration won't bring about a yet more rigorous
Statut [the anti-Jewish laws of
1941:
Tonight, during the Blitz, the Luftwaffe destroyed the boardroom of the
Bayswater Synagogue and completely destroyed London’s “Great Synagogue” and the
“1870 Central Synagogue.”
1941:
Following tonight’s Blitz that destroyed the Great Synagogue of London, “Sandys
Row Synagogue” which had been founded in the 1850’s “by workingmen of Dutch
Ashkenazi background, employed as cigar makers, diamond cutters and fruit
traders” became the oldest surviving Ashkenazi synagogue in London
1942(23rd
of Iyar, 5702): Seventy-four year old Joseph M. (Joe) Weber, the Weber in the
burlesque team of Weber and Fields, the husband of the former Lily Friedman,
the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Friedman passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1942/05/11/85536919.pdf
1943:
“A Bundist member of the Polish government in exile, Szmul Zygielbojm,
committed suicide in London to protest the lack of reaction from the Allied
governments. In his farewell note, he wrote:
"I
cannot continue to live and to be silent while the remnants of Polish Jewry,
whose representative I am, are being murdered. My comrades in the Warsaw ghetto
fell with arms in their hands in the last heroic battle. I was not permitted to
fall like them, together with them, but I belong with them, to their mass
grave. By my death, I wish to give expression to my most profound protest
against the inaction in which the world watches and permits the destruction of
the Jewish people."
1943:
Famous actor Ralph Bellamy read from “They Burned the Books” by Stephen Vincent
Benet to a thousand people who gathered in front of the New York Public Library
“as part of the nation’s observance of the tenth anniversary of the burning of
books in Germany.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F30815FC3E581B7B93C3A8178ED85F478485F9
1943:
This afternoon, in cooperation with the Council on Books in Wartime, New York
radio station WQXR will broadcast “Books Never Die” to mark the 10th
anniversary of the first mass Nazi book burning. The broadcast will include a
message from Republican Presidential candidate Wendell Willkie and addresses by
Sinclair Lewis, Eve Curie and Bella Fromm who were in Germany at that time.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F7071FFF3E581B7B93C2A8178ED85F478485F9
1943: Two
Jews were successfully smuggled out of Dobele, Latvia, and hidden in a haystack
1944:
In Shorewood, WI, “Louise M. (née Ogens), an educational researcher, and Norman
S. Abrahams, a lawyer” gave birth to director, producer and screenwriter James
S. Abraham, the colleague of the brothers Jerry and David Zucker and the
husband of Nancy Cocuzzo.
1945:
At Theresienstad, Herman Rosenblat “was scheduled to die in the gas chamber at
10:00 A.M. But at 8: A.M. he “heard
shouts, and saw people running in every which way” because the Russians had
liberated the camp. Rosenblat went to
find his brothers who had also survived the last Nazi attempt at genocide.
(Herman Rosenblat wrote the “fictitious memoir” Angel at the Fence.)
1945:
Theresienstadt was liberated by the Soviet Army. Located in the Czech
town of Terezin (Theresienstadt was its German name), the ghetto gained some
measure of fame as a show place where the Nazis brought representatives of the
International Red Cross to show how well the Jews were being treated in the
Third Reich. Eventually most of the Jews of Theresienstadt met the same
fate as others in the various Death Camps. Sadly, after the liberation
there was an outbreak of typhus which raged until August, claiming even more
victims. There is a collection of children's art and from this strange
ghetto entitled I Thought I Never Saw Another Butterfly.
1946:
“A Night in Casablanca” starring Groucho, Harpo and Chico Marx, with music by
Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby and a script co-authored by Joseph Fields was
released today in the United States.
1946:
“In Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, Maurice Julius Lipman, a
tailor and Zelma Pearlman gave birth to award winning British actress, writer
and supporter of Israel, Maureen Diane Lippman the wife of dramatist Jack
Rosenthal an the mother of Amy and Adam
Rosenthal.
1947(20th
of Iyar, 5707): Parashat Emor
1947(20th
of Iyar, 5707): Sixty-nine year-old Dr. Louis Kaufman Anspacher, New York
writer and lecturer, died of a heart attack in a hotel room in Nashville, TN
today while returning from Los Angeles on a vacation motor trip.
1947:
Today “Twelve German generals, including Wilhelm List and Maximilian von
Weichs, were indicted at Nuremberg on charges of war crimes.”
1948:
“In an attempt to see if war with Transjordan could be averted, the Jewish
Agency sent one of its most formidable negotiators, Golda Meir, on a second
secret mission to King Abdullah of Transjordan.
In a mission that would credit to James Bond, Mrs. Meir traveled at
night disguised in the robes of an Arab woman.
Mrs. Meir offered a plan along the lines of the U.N. approved partition
plan. Abdullah wanted the Jews to drop their
demand for free immigration and give up their aspirations for a state. Instead, the Jews could have autonomy under
Jordanian rule with Jewish representation in a Jordanian parliament.
Considering the lack of democracy in Jordan, this offer was a rather a hollow
one in terms of power sharing. As to the
substitution of autonomy instead of sovereignty; this would be consistent with
the traditional Moslem view of Arab-Jewish relationships. The Jews would be accepted as long as they
would always accept a second class position.
1948:
Tzfat (Safed) was secured by the Haganah. Located in the
northern Galilee, Tzfat is one of the four holiest cities for Jews
in Israel. It has been the home to Jewish mystics for
centuries; a center for the study of Kabbalah and the place where Lecha Dodi
was created. Tzfat was the scene of fighting in April and May 1948
as the Arabs sought to destroy the Jewish community before the end of the
Mandate. Tzfat had a small Jewish population and matters were not helped
by the departing British commander who turned the keys of the police station
(with its arms) which was the local citadel to the Arab insurgents. The
Palmach and the Hagana prevailed despite being outnumbered and
outgunned. Most of the Arab population fled when Jewish victory seemed
imminent. According to the Churchill's biographer Martin
Gilbert, "With the invasion of Palestine by regular Arab armies
believed to be imminent...many Arabs felt prudence dictated their departure
until the Jews had been defeated and they could return to their
homes." And thus began the "Palestinian Refugee
Problem" that is with us to this day.
1948: Since she could not reach Ramot Naphtali, Lorna
Wingate, the widow of Order Wingate flew over the settlement in a Piper Cub and
dropped a Bible into the compound. The note attached to it read,
"This bible accompanied Wingate on all his campaigns and inspired
him. Let represent a covenant between us - in victory or defeat, now and
forever
1948: Units of the Moslem Brotherhood were driven back
after they had attacked Kefar Darom
1948: Samuel J. Borowsky, the national president of
Histadruth Ivrith of America announced that “a one-man presentation of
Shakespeare’s “Othello” is scheduled to be given on May 15 by WW II Jewish
Brigade veteran Ben-Astar, the Israeli actor and director.
1949: It was announced today, that, thanks to the efforts
of the Joint Distribution Committee, the International Refugee Organization and
the Canadian Jewish Congress, “some 300 Jewish refugees trapped in Shanghai
will be flown to Canada by Alaska Airlines, Inc.”
1950:
The Mediterranean coastal district of Israel is reported to be fighting an
outbreak of polio.
1951(4th
of Iyar, 5711): Despite being surrounded by enemies on all sides, dealing with
the challenge of absorbing tens of thousands refugees and host of other
problems, Israel celebrates Yom HaAtzmaut
1951:
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, escorted by high ranking Israeli officials,
journeyed to West Point this morning and placed a wreath on the grave of Col.
David (Mickey) Marcus, who was killed in 1948 while serving with the Israeli
forces during the war in the Holy Land.
1952:
Temple Israel in Akron, Ohio lays the cornerstone for its new addition.
1953(10th
of Iyar, 5713): Henry M. Powell, the New York City born son of Eva Powell and
Civil War veteran Andrew Powell and graduate of Columbia “who was a prominent tax
lawyer for than fifty years” and the husband of Hazel Felleman Powell with whom
he raised one daughter, Myrtle Powell Levinson, suffered a fatal heart attack
today.
1953:
Birthdate of John Diamond, the native of Hackney, London, who became a biochemist
and fashion designer who was the husband of television personality and author
Nigella Lawson.
http://web.archive.org/web/20091216113301/http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/tribute/diamond/2603916
1953(10th
of Iyar, 5713): Seventy year old Belfast born, American composer and orchestra
leader Harry Rosenthal passed away today in Beverly Hills.
1955(18th
of Iyar, 5715): Lag B’Omer
1955:
Birthdate of Greenwich, CT native Christopher James "Chris" Berman,
“also known by the nickname Boomer, the American sportscaster who anchors
SportsCenter, Monday Night Countdown, Sunday NFL Countdown, Baseball Tonight,
U.S. Open golf, the Stanley Cup Finals and other programming on ESPN and ABC
Sports.”
1958(20
of Iyar, 5718): Parashat Emor
1958(20th
of Iyar, 5718): Fifty-year-old Richard Weil, Jr. the Manhattan born son of Minnie
and Dr. Richard Weil Sr. the grandson of Isidor Strauss, the co-founder of Macey’s
and the husband of Arlene Burns Weill with whom he had two children – Richard
III and Maratha who served with Paratroops during World War II and the former
President of Macy’s New York as well as the former vice president of R.H. Macey
and Co. Inc, suffered a fatal heart attack today.
1959:
Betty and Dr. Jacob Levin gave birth to attorney Lawrence “Larry” Levin, the
husband of Sandee Levin and the co-creator of the Iowa Kosher for Passover Care
Package.
1959(2nd
of Iyar, 5719): Seventy four year old Petrikov, Russia native Max Zaritsky, the
son of a rabbi and husband of Sophie Zaritsky who in 1906 came to the United
States where he rose the Presidency of the United Hatters, Cap and Millinery
Workers International Union passed away today.
https://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w6h995qg
https://www.jta.org/1959/05/12/archive/max-zaritsky-leading-american-jewish-labor-leader-dead-was-74
1960:
Following the closure of the Broadway production of
Flower Drum Song the eighth musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and
Oscar Hammerstein II “a U.S. national tour began today in Detorit.
1960(13th
of Iyar, 5720): Seventy-year old Maurice Schwartz, the Russian born American
actor who founded the Yiddish Art Theatre passed away today.
1961(24th
of Iyar, 5721): Fifty-six year old Cleveland born Lloyd H. Feder, the husband
of Lillian Feder and father of Suzie Bloom of Louisville, KY passed away today
in his hometown.
1964:
“Treblinka was declared a national monument of martyrology today during an
official ceremony attended by 30,000 people.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciszek_Duszeńko#/media/File:Treblinka_memorial.jpg
1965:
It was reported today the Senator Jacob Javits has said that the upcoming
Republican Primary should choose a Republican candidate for Mayor and not get
involved with selecting a “fusion candidate.”
1966:
In an example of how the Arab-Israel conflict was entwined in the Cold War,
Soviet Prime Minister Kosygin arrives in Cairo where he will convince Nasser
“that a mutual defense pact between Cairo and Damascus (guaranteed by Moscow)
would be in the best interest of all concerned. Israel enjoyed no such
reciprocal relationship with the United States or her western allies which
reinforced the Israeli notion that in any crisis, Israel would be facing
millions of armed Arabs backed by the military might of the Soviet Union.
1967:
Funeral service are scheduled to held today for eighty-one-year old Alfred E.
Lyon, former chairman of the board and president of Philip Morris, Inc, the
husband of Dorothy Lyon and the father of David Lyon.
1968(12th
of Iyar, 5728): Eighty-one year old George Frankenthaler, a former State
Supreme Court Justice and New York County Surrogate passed away today. An accomplished lawyer, Frankenthaler was so
highly respected that both President Franklin Roosevelt and Governor Thomas
Dewey urged to seek election to the State Supreme Court. In 1948, Frankenthaler who was a Republican
became the first non-Democrat to be elected to the Surrogate’s Court in over
half a century. Active in several Jewish charities, he had served as President
of the 92nd Street Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association.
1968(12th
of Iyar, 5728): Ninety-four year old Samuel Bloomingdale, the son of Lyman
Bloomingdale and Hattie Collenberger who was the
husband of Rita Goodman and the Columbia educated businessman who “upon the
death of his father in 1905, became with his two brothers, owner of
Bloomingdale Brothers Department Store” passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/05/11/77304407.pdf
1970(4th
of Iyar, 5730): Yom HaZikaron
1972(26th
of Iyar, 5732): Edward Henry Pinto, the London born son of a cigar merchant and
WW I veteran who was the Joint Managing Director of Compaction Ltd and author
of Treen and Other Wooden Objects passed away today.
1973:
At Ramat Gan, writer and poet Yehonatan Geffen and Nurit Makover gave birth to
rock start Aviv Geffen
1974(18th
of Iyar, 5734): Lag BaOmer.
1975:
“The Other Side of the Mountain” a biopic directed by Larry Peerce, son of
Cantor Jan Peerce, produced by Edward S. Feldman and with a screenplay by David
Seltzer was released today in the United States.
1977:
Final broadcast of “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” Norman Lear’s hugely popular
spoof of that uniquely American mainstay of daytime broadcasting – the Soap
Opera.
1978(3rd
of Iyar, 5738): Yom HaZikaron
1980(24th
of Iyar, 5740): Parashat Behar-Bechukotai
1980(24th
of Iyar, 5740): One day before her 94th birthday, Adele Ginzberg was
an influential figure in the Conservative Movement as wife of the famed Louis
Ginzberg, professor of Talmud at the
Jewish Theological Seminary, and an active member of the National Women’s
League of the United Synagogue passed away today.
1981:
In “From Genesis to Jesus Christ Superstar, published today, Paul Kresh
described the veritable explosion of recent recordings of Biblical literature
that have been recorded for the mass market including, Abba Eban reading Psalms
and Ecclesiastes, Theodore Bikel reading ''Poetry and Prophecy of the Old
Testament'' Claire Bloom’s reading
“Ruth,” Claude Rains and Claire Bloom reading “The Song of Songs,” supply Howard Sackler's clever condensation
and direction of the Book of Job, with Herbert Marshall suffering beautifully
as the severely tested servant of God, surrounded by a large cast including
Martin Balsam as Elihu, Clarence Derwent as Eliphaz (one of Job's
non-comforting comforters), and Joseph Holland awesomely cosmic as the Voice
Out of the Whirlwind. (Editor’s note –You have to be of a certain age to appreciate
the star quality of the performers. Also
in an age of downloading, i-pods, etc., it is difficult to appreciate the
technological and social significance of these works.)
1981:
Final broadcast of Season 6 of “One Day At A Time” starring Bonnie Franklin
1981:
In “The Final Solution in Argentina,” Anthony Lewis reviews Prisoner Without
A Name, Cell Without a Number by Jacobo Timerman
1983:
Eighty-five year old Herbert Benjamin, Communist Party leader turned small
businessman, passed away today in Rockville, MD.
1983: Birthdate of Tiberias native Moshe Peretz,
the popular singer and composer married to Yarden Gozland and father of
Michaela, Noam and Guy who fell afoul of Israeli tax laws.
1984:
NBC broadcast the final episode of season two of “Family Ties,” a sit com
created by Gary David Goldberg.
1983:
ABC broadcast the final episode of “Laverne and Shirley,” a sitcom whose
creators included Lowell Ganz and which co-starred David Lander as “Squiggy.”
1986(1st
of Iyar, 5746): Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1988:
NBC broadcast the last episode of “Crime Story” co-starring Joseph Wiseman and
Ted Levine, a self-described “Hill-Billy Jew.”
1989(5th
of Iyar, 5749): Yom HaAtzma’ut
1991:
U.S. premiere of “The Switch” based on a George Axelrod play, starring Ellen
Barkin under the management of Executive Producer Arnon Milchan.
1992(7th
of Iyar, 5752): At New York City's Algonquin Hotel, Sylvia Syms finished
singing her last song, raised her right arm to acknowledge the audience's
standing ovation, and collapsed of a heart attack. (As reported by Stephen Holden)
http://jwa.org/thisweek/may/10/1992/sylvia-blagman-syms
1992:
In “Israel Commemorates Start of the Holocaust,” published today Jed Stevenson
describes the surprising choice for the commemorative medal that the Israelis
have made this year.
1995:
“A Little Princess,” a World War I drama co-produced by Dalisa Cohen and Amy
Ephron, filmed by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki at Barry Levinson’s
Baltimore Studios and co-starring Eleanor Bron was released today.
1995(10th
of Iyar, 5755): Eighty-six year old Steffie Spira, the German actress and
Communist whose Jewish father Fritz Spira died today in Berlin.
1996(21st
of Iyar, 5756): Seventy-seven year old architect Zelma Wilson who moved to
Paris after her husband screenwriter Michael Wilson was blacklisted passed away
today.
http://articles.latimes.com/1996-05-14/local/me-4057_1_michael-wilson
1996:
“Original Gangstas” directed by Larry Cohen was released today in the United
States.
1996:
“Twister,” a combination a romantic comedy disguised as a disaster film
co-starring Jami Gertz and featuring Joey Slotnick was released today in the
United States.
1998:
The New York Times featured reviews
of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers
including “The Time of Our Time” by Norman Mailer and the recently
released paperback edition of “The Memory of All That: The Life of George
Gershwin” by Joan Peyser.
1999(24th
of Iyar, 5759): Sheldon Allan "Shel" Silverstein passed away. Born in
Chicago in 1930, Shel Silverstein gained fame as a poet, songwriter and
author. He wrote the lyrics to the
Johnny Cash hit, “A Boy Named Sue.” The Grammy Winning song was written in
response to a bet that Silverstein couldn’t write a country and western hit
during a bus ride back to Los Angeles, or so goes the legend. He authored several books including “The
Missing Piece,” “A Light in the Attic,” “Where the Sidewalk Ends” “Falling Up” and “The Giving Tree.” These works are often referred to as
children’s literature, but anybody who has read them knows that they transcend
that genre and speak to readers of all ages.
2000(5th
of Iyar, 5760): Yom HaAtzmaut
2000:
Four days after he had passed away, funeral services are scheduled to be held
today for 87 year old WW II Army veteran Joseph Sheftall, the Russian born son
of Benjamin and Hoda Sheftall, the husband of Willma Shetall and the father of
Fred and Steven Shefall who “began his career as a business agent for local 325
in Brooklyn, New York” before he emerged as an important force in the labor
movement.
2001:
Having obtained a search warrant, D.C. police search Chandra Levy’s Washington
apartment looking for clues as to her whereabouts.
2001:
Publication of a review of William G. Dever, What Did the Biblical Writers Know
and When Did They Know It?” a must read tome.
http://www.dts.edu/reviews/william-g-dever-what-did-the-biblical-writers-know-and-when-did/
2002(28th
of Iyar, 5762): Yom Yerushalayim
2002(28th
of Iyar, 5762): Ninety-two year old sociologist and author The Lonely Crowd
David Riesman passed away today
http://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/footnotes/mayjun02/indextwo.html
2002:
Operation Defensive Shield which had been launched following the “Passover
Massacre” came to an end.
2003(8th of
Iyar, 5763): Dr. Leonard Michaels, author and professor of English at the
University of California at Berkley, passed away.
2004: Two days
after she had passed away, funeral services are scheduled to be held at “The
Riverside” for 92 year old Silvia Paulson, the of wife of the late Martin
Friedlander and Philip Paulson who was a “scholar, teacher and lover of life.
2004: “The
Palestinian Authority said today that it would begin holding its first
municipal elections late this summer, in a bid to stem public anger over
corruption and mismanagement” while Prime Minister Sharon is pursuing his own
plan to withdraw Israeli soldiers and settlers from territory heavily populated
by Palestinians” despite opposition from his own Likud Party. (As reported by
James Bennet)
2005(1st
of Iyar, 5765): Rosh Chodesh Iyar
2005: Meg
Wolitzer, the Brooklyn born “daughter of novelist Hilma Wolitzer (née Liebman)
and psychologist Morton Wolitzer” “was a guest on NPR's program Fresh Air”
where she discussed her novel The Position
2005: Today,
speaking on Army Radio, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said that “withdrawal from
the Gaza Strip will not be called off under any circumstances rebuffing
suggestions by Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom that the pullout should be
canceled if Hamas wins parliament elections this summer.”
2006(12th of
Iyar, 5766): Eighty-four year old
Abraham Michael "A.M." Rosenthal passed away. The Canadian native began his career with the
New York Times in 1943. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in
1960 and served as executive editor from 1977 until age requirements forced him
to leave the post in 1988. (As reported
by Robert D. McFadden)
2006: Results
show that Elliot Yamin, was among three people who named as the top three
finalists for American Idol
2007: “Less
than two months before his death, Joel Siegel spoke before the C.E.O.
Roundtable on Cancer, an association of corporate executives that was formed
when former President George H. W. Bush asked corporate America to do something
"bold and venturesome" about cancer. Bush and his wife Barbara were
in the audience when Joel spoke at the Essex House in New York City. He began
and ended his presentation by saying, "I want to thank you for what you
are doing for cancer patients."
2007: An
exhibit of works by local artists Paula Christie and A.D. Lane at the Etz Chaim
Synagogue. Crete’s only Synagogue, comes to an end. Etz Chaim was rededicated
in 1999.
2007: The Film
Society of Lincoln Center’s retrospective entitled “The Magic of Paul Mazursky”
comes to an end. He is probably best remembered
for directing the 1969 sexual spoof, “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.”
2008: Early
this morning the IDF confirmed air strikes on Hamas police stations in the Gaza
Strip, killing five Hamas operatives hours after a fatal barrage of mortar
shells fired by Palestinian gunmen killed one man in a Kibbutz in the western
Negev.
2008: At the
Jerusalem Cinematheque, a screening of “Faithful City” \ קריה נאמנה. Made
in 1952, the film deals with children survivors of the Holocaust who came to
Israel on the eve of the war of independence full of fears and problems.
2008: As part
of its Israel at 60 Celebration,
the 92nd Street Y hosts a Yom Ha'Atzmaut Spring Dance Marathon.
2008: Egyptian
Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said during a parliamentary conference that he
"would burn Israeli books myself if found in Egyptian libraries."
2009: Mark
Strauss, a Holocaust survivor, signs copies of his new novel, “Four Plus Five” at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Bookstore.
2009: As part of the LABA Festival
The 14th Street Y, a Jewish Community Center in the East Village, presents a
screening of “Water Marks,” a documentary film
by Yaron Zilberman, produced by Yonatan Israel.
2009: The Washington Post featured reviews of books by Jewish
authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including “The Third Reich
at War” by Richard J. Evans and “Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue
American Foreign Policy by Leslie H. Gelb
2009: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish
authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including “Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal
Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace” by Ayelet Waldman “Conversations with Frank
Gehry” by Barbara Isenberg and three books by Amy Krouse Rosenthal – “Little
Oink,” “Spoon” and “Yes Day.”
2010:
An exhibition entitled “The Works of
Mordechai Rosenstein” is scheduled to open at the Fine Family Art Gallery and
the Katz Family Mainstreet Gallery of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of
Atlanta (MJCCA).
2010: “Forward 50,” a panel discussion featuring recent Forward 50
Honorees is scheduled to take place at the Historic 6th & I
Synagogue in Washington, D.C.
2010:
President Barack Obama announced at the
White House that he is nominating U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the
Supreme Court. If Kagan is confirmed, it would be the first time that the
nine-member Supreme Court would have three Jews and three women on the bench.
2010: “The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
invited Israel to become a member of the organization.”
2010:
Israel Air Force planes bombed two
targets in the southern Gaza in the early hours today warning in retaliation
for a rocket attack on Saturday night, the army said. for maintaining peace and
quiet in the Gaza Strip."
2011:
Jews and Baseball: An American Love
Story is scheduled to be shown at the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati,
Ohio.
2011: Professor Brian Horowitz is scheduled to give a talk at a
conference entitled, In the Mirror’s Reflection: The Encounter between Jewish
and Slavic Cultures in Modernity at U.C.L A.
2011: Rabbi Eliezer Diamond is scheduled to present a lecture “Do We Mean
What We Pray, Do We Pray What We Mean?” at Congregation Beth El in Bethesda,
MD.
2011: In “An Insider Views China, Past and Future,” Michiko Kakutani
reviewed On China by Henry Kissinger, the first Jew to serve as U.S.
Secretary of State.
2011(6th of Iyar, 5711): Ninety-one year old broadcast executive
Burt
Reinhardt, who served as President of CNN in those early years when it was
changing the face of television news, passed away today in Marietta, GA. (As
reported by Dennis Hevesi)
2011(6th of Iyar, 5711): Yom Ha’atzmaut, , יום העצמאות, Israel
Independence Day, is observed. Yom
Ha’atzmaut is normally celebrated on the 5th of Iyar, the
anniversary of the day on which Israel declared its independence. Since 2004, if the 5th of Iyar
falls on a Monday, which it did in 2011, the festival is postponed until
Tuesday. http://www.biblicalzionist.com/facts.htm
2011: On Independence Day, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported that
Israel had a population of 7,746,000, 75% of which is Jewish. In the past year 178,000 babies were born and
24,500 immigrants made aliyah
http://www.biblicalzionist.com/facts.htm
2012:
The Jewish American Heritage Parade is scheduled to take place this morning in
Albany, NY.
2012:
“The Jewish Woman In
America: 1654-2012,” a course that will study the vital contributions
that Jewish women have made to American Jewish life, from the time of the first
Sephardic arrivals to New Amsterdam in 1654, down to the present sponsored by
the Board of Jewish Education of Atlantic and Cape May Counties is scheduled to
begin tonight in Margate, NJ.
2012:
Chabad of Iowa City is scheduled to sponsor a Lag Ba'Omer BBQ in West Branch,
Iowa, which is the home of the Herbert Hoover Memorial Library. Jews will
remember Hoover as the President who appointed Justice Benjamin Cardozo to the
Supreme Court giving the U.S. two Jewish Supreme Court Justices at a time of rising
anti-Semitism.
2012:
At the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center Howard Reich, jazz
critic for the Chicago Tribune and son of Holocaust survivors, is scheduled to
moderate a panel discussion where American and foreign born Jewish GIs reflect
on their wartime experiences, and the impact their religious affiliation had on
their time in the service
2012:
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is scheduled to present the Sidney Krum
Young Artists Concert Series Spring Concert including the great masterpiece of
Jewish music, “Shlomo”, a Hebrew rhapsody for cello by Ernest Bloch
2012:
Jazzrael - a Festival of Israeli Jazz and World Music featuring the Avi Avital
Trio is scheduled to take place at Joe’s Pub in New York City.
2012:
At the Wiener Library in London, Professor Carrier Tarr is scheduled to present
a lecture on Secularism, difference and the family as portrayed in Roschdy Zem’s film “ Mauuvaise foi” which “is a
comedy that revolves around the consequences of the secular Jewish heroine’s discovery
that she is pregnant, and the increasingly problematic decision she and her
equally secular Arab-Muslim boyfriend take to keep the baby and tell their
not-so-secular families.”
2012:
New York's kosher law, which regulates the labeling and marketing of kosher
food, does not violate the Constitution's First Amendment, a federal appeals
court ruled. The three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Manhattan ruled today in a constitutional challenge to the New York State Kosher
Law Protection Act of 2004. Previously, kosher was defined legally as
“according to orthodox Hebrew religious requirements.” Several butchers
challenged the law in a 1996 suit. (As reported by JTA)
2012:
David Rakoff was featured on This American Life's live broadcast,
"Invisible Made Visible" from the Skirball Theater, NYU.
2013:
“No Place On Earth” is scheduled to open at the Catamount Film and Arts Center
in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
2013(1st
of Sivan, 5733): Rosh Chodesh Sivan
2013(1st
of Sivan, 5733): Eighty-eight year old author Morris Renek passed away today.
(As reported by Daniel Slotnik)
2013:
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust & Genocide and the Pears
Institute for the Study of Anti-Semitism are scheduled to present “Sanctioned
Laughter: Humour, War and Dictatorship in Twentieth Century Europe.
2013(1st
of Sivan, 5773): Sixty-one year social activist Barbara Brenner passed away
today. (As reported by Denise Grady)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/us/barbara-brenner-breast-cancer-iconoclast-dies-at-61.html?_r=0
2013:At
more than 100 Jewish day schools in 38 cities around the world, parents and
children are gathering across six continents to study Torah together as part of
a joint initiative of global Jewish unity, called Generation Sinai.Tens of
thousands of parents and children will be studying the same section of the Torah
on the same day in their individual schools as part of one integrated
international campaign which began in South Africa.
2013:
Clashes erupted at Jerusalem’s Western Wall plaza early this morning, as
thousands of ultra-Orthodox teenagers attempted to prevent the Women of the
Wall from holding their monthly egalitarian prayer session at the site.
2014: Sarah Cohen is scheduled to be called the Torah as a
Bat Mitzvah at Agudas Achim in Coralville, Iowa.
2014: “Zeitgeist” is scheduled to be shown at the 22nd
annual Toronto Jewish Film Festival.
2014: “Kidon” is scheduled to be shown at the National
Center for Jewish Film’s 17th annual Film Festival.
2014: In honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, the New
World Symphony is scheduled to present an evening of music by celebrated Jewish
American composers at Miami Beach, FL.
2014: Thousands marched in Afula tonight in commemoration
of 19 year old Shelly Dadon whose body was found earlier this month “in what is
believed to be a nationalistically motivated killing.”
2014: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his wife and two
sons left for a week-long state visit to Japan tonight
2015: “Mr. Kaplan,” “The Kindergarten Teacher” and “His
Wife’s Lover” are scheduled to be shown on Mother’s Day at the 18th
Annual Film Festival sponsored by the National Center for Jewish Film’s.
2015: ZUSHA, a “folk/world-soul band of ‘neo-Hasidic
hipsters’” is scheduled to make its DC-area debut today.
2015: The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington
is scheduled to conduct an “in-depth tour of sites
related to Jewish history and military heroes, including the Confederate
Memorial by Sir Moses Ezekiel (seen here) and the Challenger and Columbia Space
Shuttle Memorials.”
2015: As part of the Krum Concert Series, young artists
are scheduled to perform works by Mieczyslav Weinberg, a Jewish composer whom
Shostakovich considered exceptional but who was ignored by the Soviet musical
establishment.
2015:
The New York Times features reviews
of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers
including Timur Vermes’ Look Who’s Back, a novel about Hitler in which
“the first mention of the Jews doesn’t arrive until after Page 50” and Freedom
of Speech: Mightier Than the Sword by David K. Shipler who won the Pulitzer
Prize for General Non-fiction in 1987 for Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a
Promised Land.
2016:
The Consulate General of Israel and the 92nd Street Y is scheduled
to a host a Yom Hazikaron or Memorial Day Serving “honoring the soldiers who
have their lives in defense of the State of Israel and the victims of terrorist
attacks.”
2016:
In Philadelphia, PA, The National Museum of American Jewish History is
scheduled to host an evening with “filmmaker Artemis Joukowsky who will share
excerpts from his upcoming documentary, Two Who Defied the Nazis, about Martha
and Waitstill Sharp, an American social worker and Unitarian minister who
provided aid to refugees fleeing Nazi persecution.”
2016:
In New York, the Upper West Side’s annual five day celebration of Israel is
scheduled to begin with “Sharim Vezochrim: Songs and Remembrance for Yom
Hazikaron with Moshe Bonen” at JCC Manhattan.
2016:
Effective today, the archives of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater
Washington are scheduled to be closed until September, 2016 while historic
synagogue museum moves locations.
2017:
New York Times columnist Samuel G. Freedman and historian Jenna Weissman
Joselit, the author of Set in Stone: America's Embrace of the Ten
Commandments are scheduled “to explore the impact of the ancient biblical
code on American culture.”
2017:
Donniel Hartman is scheduled to deliver a lecture on “Jewish Identity,
Belonging and Community” sponsored by the Shalom Hartman Institute of North
America and B’nai Jeshurun.
2017:
The Oxford University Jewish Society is scheduled to host “hotdog and movie
night” that will also include veggie burgers.
2017:
“Ben-Gurion, Epilogue” is scheduled to have its premiere showing at the 2017
East Bay International Jewish Film Festival.
2017:
“Between Myth and Reality,” an exhibition of the works of Anglo-Israeli
sculptor and artist Chaim Stephenson is scheduled to come to an end today.
2018: “An Act of God” is scheduled to open at Le Petit
Theatre in New Orleans
2018: The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is scheduled to
host a presentation by Holocaust survivor Albert Garih.
2018: “Saving Neta” and “Assumed Identity” are scheduled
to be shown at the Washington Jewish Film Festival.
2018: “Falling Backward” and “The Invisibles” are
scheduled to be shown at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival.
2018: After having been “selected by the Arizona Cardinals
in the first round in the 2018 NFL Draft” Quarterback Josh Rosen “signed four
year deal worth $17.84 million with an $11 million signing bonus.”
2018: Approximately 20 Iranian rockets were fired at
Israeli positions in the Golan Heights today which brought about a response
from IAF jets.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/09/iran-fires-20-rockets-syria-golan-heights-israel
2018: The American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled
to present ‘20th Century American Jewish
Stardom: Between Eddie Cantor and Sophie Tucker.”
2019:
In New Orleans, Gates of Prayer is scheduled to host its annual meeting and
installation of congregation officers.
2019:
Today the Frida, the mother Israeli r Itay Steinberg Z”L the gifted
photographer who was killed at the age of 21 while rescuing one of his comrades
during the 2006 war in Leanon “took part in an international exhibition in
Venice Italy, to display the art that she said was created together with her
son’s energy and legacy.” (As reported by Yaakov Lappin)
2019:
In Lafayette, CA, Temple Isaiah is scheduled to host “Yom HaAtzmaut Shabbat
featuring Isaiah’s Adult Choir.”
2019:
The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center is scheduled to host Jerusalem of Gold an
evening marking Israel’s 71st birthday that includes a performance
and remarks by “Shuli Natan, followed by an extended Oneg with a DJ and Israeli
food.”
2019:
This afternoon, The American Sephardi Federation is scheduled present a
performance of Nabucco, an opera by Verdi which “was made famous with the
Hebrew Chorus ‘Va Pensiero” and starring David Serero starring as Nabucco.
2019:
Erev of Shabbat is a double portion of joy for the friends and family of Larry
Levin who is celebrating a Milestone Natal Day.
2020:
“On the Sunny Side of the Street: The Songs of Dorothy Fields” scheduled for
today as part of the Molly Blank Concert Series has been postponed by the
Breman Museum.
2020:
Via Zoom the Jewish Community Library is scheduled to host a “Virtual Drop-In
Book Club” featuring a discussion of On Division by Goldie Goldbloom.’
2020:
UK Jewish Film is scheduled to host the final on-line screening of “Redemption.
2020The
retrospective exhibition Eli Content: So Much I Gazed on Beauty that features
highlights from his idiosyncratic oeuvre from the past forty years is scheduled
to come to a close today at the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam.
2020:
The American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled to host through Zoom a
“Virtual Class: Soapbox Yoga.”
2020:
Based on figures published last night, in Israel as of this morning the
national virus death toll has reached at least 247
2020:
While the Commandment to Honor thy father and mother preceded Wilson’s first
proclamation of Mother’s Day in 1914, it serves as a reminder the “All Women
are Mothers in the House of Israel.
2020:
For at least Betty Levin today’s Mother Day celebration should be enhanced by
the celebration of the natal day of her youngest offspring, Larry Levin.
2020:
The exhibition “Zoya Cherkassky: Lost Time” is scheduled to come to a close
today.
2021(28th
of Iyar, 5781): Yom Yerushalayim – celebration of the reunification of
Jerusalem
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/yom-yerushalayim-jerusalem-day/
2021:
Today, as part of Jewish American Heritage Month, members of the Congressional
Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations—U.S. Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz
(D-FL 23) and Brenda Lawrence (D-MI 14)—are scheduled to discuss the importance
of America’s Black and Jewish communities coming together to combat stereotypes,
prejudice, and hate in all forms.
2021:
The London School of Jewish Studies S&P Sephardi Senior Rabbi Joseph Dweck
and Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum are scheduled to continue their discussion into the
Ten Commandments during which they will be looking at the seventh commandment,
'Do not commit adultery' and will ask, is this the same for men and women?
2021:
Hebrew College is scheduled to present an art exhibit, “Faith in Isolation
Expressed.”
2021:
The JCC Literary Consortium and JCCs across the national are scheduled to
present Judy Batalion as she talks about her new book, The Light of Days:
The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos.
2021:
The Israel Medical Association called for a 24-hour strike along with several
protests starting today at 7 a.m., over fears that 600 doctors employed during
the pandemic will lose their jobs in just under two months because funding
won’t be renewed. (As reported Nathan Jeffay)
2021:
After two years at the Center for Jewish History, the Scholars Working Group
“Hear Their Cry:” Understanding the Jewish Orphan Experience is scheduled to
present a talk with two group members about their new books.
2022:
City Winery Atlanta, WABE and The Breman are scheduled to present Sounds Like
ATL with Beth Schafer, Mercury Orkestar, and Book Club, hosted by Joe Alterman
of Neranenah
2022:
The American Sephardi Federation is scheduled to present “Between Baghdad and
Asia,” a talk that “that traces the history of Baghdadi Jews in from its
earliest beginning until the present, “exploring the relevance of these
communities both to Baghdad and the larger Jewish world.”
2022:
The Weizmann National Museum of American Jewish History is scheduled to host a
“conversation” with Brian Lamb, the founder of C-SPAN and Howard Mortman,
author of When Rabbis Bless Congress:
The Great American Story of Jewish Prayers on Capitol Hill
2022:The
Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center is scheduled to offer the international
English-language premiere screening of the first two episodes of “The Beauty
Queen of Jerusalem,” the most lavish-ever Israeli TV epic, with the Ermoza
family on hand to discuss beauty, history and the ties that bind.
2023:
YIVO is scheduled to host a lecture by David G. Roskies and David Stromberg on Isaac Bashevis
Singer’s “Gimpl tam” which was
published on March 30, 1945, in the obscure Yiddish-language journal Idisher kempfer, about a month before the Nazi surrender.
2023: The archivist for the
Forward is scheduled to lead a guided to of “Pressed” by a reception and Q and
A at the University of Pittsburgh.
2023: The Sir Martin Gilbert
Learning Center is scheduled to host a lecture by Professor Adam D. Mendelsohn
on “What was it like to be a Jewish Soldier in the American Civil War?”
2023: The Sephardic Jewish
Film Festival is scheduled to host the NY premier of “Matchmaking” and the U.S.
premiere “Black Notebooks: Vivian.”
2023: In Columbus, OH,
Congregation Tifereth Israel is scheduled to hold its annual meeting which will
be preceded by a minyan and the annual memorial service.
2023: A two day symposium on
“New Directions in the Study of the Roma Genocide” organized by the Weiner
Library and the University of Cambridge is scheduled to begin today.
2023: The Museum at Eldridge
Street is scheduled to host a virtual program “Open Space on the Lower East
Side .”
2023: The party never ends
as the friends and family of Larry Levin go from celebrating Lag B’Omer to celebrating
the natal day of this mensch and purveyor of Pesach delicacies.
2023: In the wake of the IDF
having removed three Islamic Jihad commanders from the face of the earth, Israelis, especially those
along the border, of brace for an escalation in attacks by terrorists.
