This Day, January 20, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
January 20
250: Emperor
Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Decius
reign came during a fifty-year period (235-285) that was marked by “crisis,
confusion and deterioration throughout the Roman Empire. In what appea…
January 20
250: Emperor
Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Decius
reign came during a fifty-year period (235-285) that was marked by “crisis,
confusion and deterioration throughout the Roman Empire. In what appears
to have been an attempt to assert imperial authority, Decius “ordered the
entire population of the empire to report to authorities and prove its loyalty
by sacrifice, a libation or some similar sign of participation in the cult of
the emperor.” Apparently, the early Christians would not participate as a
matter of religious scruple and suffered accordingly. For reasons that
are unclear, Jews were exempt from the decree. This could have been
because the Jews were not seen as posing any threat since they had been defeated
in three uprisings by Roman forces, the last of which had taken place more than
a century ago in what had become a backwater of the imperial domain.
1191: Even
though his army was only 12 miles from Jerusalem, Richard the Lionheart decided
not to lay siege to the city due to bad weather and fear that his army might be
trapped by another force of Muslims coming to relieve the siege. This
timidity cost Richard his best shot at capturing the Holy City and sealed the
fate of the Third Crusade as another Christian defeat.
1205: Joseph
ibn Shoshan who had succeeded his father as Nasi of the Jewish Community in
Toledo passed away today.
1265: In
Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting held by
Simon de Montfort in the Palace of Westminster. He is also remembered as
the anti-Semite who expelled the Jews from Leister.
1343: Robert
of Anjou “known as Robert the Wise” who was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem
and who employed Judah ben Moses Romano the Italian Jewish philosopher and
translator of sections of Dante’s Divine Comedy passed away today.
1320: Duke
Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland. During his reign the Jews continued
to be governed under the terms of The General Charter of Jewish Liberties known
as the Statute of Kalisz issued by the Duke of Greater Poland Boleslaus the
Pious in 1264. “The statute granted exclusive jurisdiction over Jewish matters
to Jewish courts and established a separate tribunal for matters involving
Christians and Jews. Additionally, it guaranteed safety and personal liberties
for Jews such as freedom of religion, trade, and travel.” The statute was
ratified by several Polish kings whose reigns lasted until the middle of the 16th
century. While many people who only know about “modern Polish history”
see Poland as a land of anti-Semitism, at one time it was a home governed by
those with a benign attitude toward the Jewish people.
1466 (3rd of
Shevat): Leon ben Joshua completed the manuscript of Sefer ha-Tadir, a work
that included Aramaic and Hebrew texts of the Scroll of Antiochus.
1488: In Ingelheim, near Mainz, Andreas Münster and his wife gave birth to German mapmaker and “Christian Hebraist” Sebastian Münster, “a disciple of Elias Levita “who edited the Hebrew Bible accompanied by a Latin translated” and who “in 1537 published a Hebrew Gospel of Matthew which he had obtained from Spanish Jews he had converted.”
1569: Miles Cloverdale, a translator of the Bible
into English who relied on Luther’s Bible and the Vulgate but who did have some
knowledge of Hebrew as can be seen by the fact that “the name of the Diety
appears in Hebrew on the Title Page” and that Hebrew characters are used to
mark the divisions of the Book of Lamentations” passed away today.
1663: Founding
of Dyhernfurth, a town in Prussian Silesia, whose first Jewish resident was the
printer Shabbethal ben Joseph Bass who established a Jewish cemetery in 1689.
1667: The
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth cedes Kiev, Smolensk, and “the left bank” of the
Ukraine to Imperial Russia in the treaty of Andrusovo. This marked
an end to fighting that had begun in 1654 and included the Chmielnicki Uprising
which was so devastating to the Jews of Poland. This treaty marks the
decline of Poland that will ultimately end at the end of the 18th
century with the final partition of Poland. The quality of life for the
Jewish people would also slide downward until it ended in the morass of the
Pale of Settlement.
1702:
Thirty-eight-year-old “court Jew” Jehuda Jost "Judah Berlin"
Liebmann, the son of Eliezer Liebman and Merle Lippman Ashker and the husband
of Malké Hameln and Esther Samuel Liebmann passed away today in Berlin.
1707:
Seventy-five-year-old Cardinal Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch who advised the
King to repopulate Hungary with Catholic Jews from Germany and who “held that
the Jews could not be exterminated at once but must be weeded out by degrees as
bad coin is gradually withdrawn from circulation passed away today. To
that end he called for the enforcement of the decree by the Diet of Pressburg,
“imposing double taxation on the Jews” and deny them right to “engage in
agriculture” or “to own any real estate.”
1780:
Birthdate of Bohemia native Abraham Block the son of Jacob Block and husband of
Frances Isaiah Isaacs whom he married in New York and with whom he had 13
children all of whom were born south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
1780(13th
of Shevat, 5540): Samson Mears Isaacs, the New York City born son of Jacob
Isaacs passed away today less than a month after he had been born.
1782:
Birthdate of Archduke John of Austria who helped Moses Sachs submit his
“program for the settling of Jews as farmers in the land of Israel under
Austrian protection” to the Austrian government which in turn submitted it the
Ottomans who rejected it.
1790(5th
of Shevat, 5550): At Reggio, Italy, Israel Benjamin Bassani, the local Rabbi
whose poetic talents found expression in both Hebrew and Italian and who was
the son of Isaiah Bassani passed away today.
1790: French
born Barbe Levi, the wife of Jacques Goudchaux with whom she had nine children.
1791(15th
of Shevat, 5551): Tu B’Shevat
1795: Benjamin
Hirsh, the father of Catherine, Ann, Joel, Michael and Woolfe Benjamin, was
buried today in the UK.
1797: In Bucks
County, PA, Mary Vastine and Josiah Lunn gave birth to Alice Lunn.
1803: In
Germany, Johanna Jacob and Louis B. Neumond gave birth to Jacob Neumond, the
husband of Clara Kahn with whom he had six children and Sophie Hirsch with whom
he had once child.
1805 Catherine
Williams and Hugh Morse gave birth to Esther Morse.
1810(15th
of Shevat, 5570): Parashat Beshalach; Shabbat Shirah; Tu B’Shevat
1812: In
Charleston, SC, Deborah Cohen and Israel Moses gave birth to Raphael J. Moses,
a “fifth generation South Carolinian.
1812: In
France, Fleurette Baruch Weil and Lyon Israel Samuel gave birth to Lambert
Samuel, the husband Leopoldine Friedberger and father of Helene, Victor,
Maximilian, Solomon, Matilda and Adelaide Samuel.
1813: In
Charleston, SC, Rabbi E.N. Carvahlo officiated at the wedding of Hannah Hart
and Joseph Depass.
1819: In
Oglethorpe County, GA, Jacob and Matilda Steward Phinzy gave birth to cotton
merchant and University of Georgia trustee Ferdinand Phinzy, who married Anne
Barrett Phinzy after the death of Harriet Phinzy and who was a convert to
Methodism.
1820:
Birthdate of Schwegenheim, Germany native and future Louisiana resident Marx
Baer, the husband of Mariane Dreyfus Baer with whom he had two children –
Stella and Anna.
1824: In
Liverpool, England, Sarah and Lyon Samson gave birth to Sampson Samson.
1826: In
London, Jestina Montefiore and Benjamin Cohen gave birth to Lionel Benjamin
Cohen the husband of Henrietta Rachel Solomon and Bertha Salomon, with whom he
had one child, Florence Justina Cohen.
1828(4th
of Shevat, 5588): Fanny Etting, the York, PA born daughter of Elijah Etting and
the wife of Robert Taylor whom she married in 1793 passed away today.
1830: In
Rockenhausen, Germany, Benedict and Rosina Seligman Kahnweiler gave birth of
Fridoline Kahnweiler the wife of merchant Adam Gimbel.
1834:
Birthdate of Adolph Frank, the native of Klotze who in 1862 “received his
doctorate in chemistry from the university in Göttingen” whose many scientific
contributions led to him being award “The John Scott Medal of the Franklin
Institute in 1893.”
1842: In the
Mile End district of East London, Elizabeth Solomon and Naphtali Hart gave
birth to Jane Hart.
1845: Lazarus
Fels, the German born son of Simon Joseph Fels and his wife Susannah Fels gave
birth to Bertha Fels who became Bertha Rosenthal when she married Gustav
Rosenthal with whom she had four daughters – Bella, Carrie, Bertha and Susan –
and who was the sister of Joseph Fels, the famous soap manufacturer.
1848(15th
of Shevat, 5608): Tu B’Shevat observed for the last time during the reign of
King Frederick VIII of Denmark who passed away today.
1850:
Nathaniel Magnus married Dinah Levy in the United Kingdom today.
1853(11th
of Shevat, 5613): Forty-eight-year-old pharmacologist Jonathan Pereira, author
of Elements of Materia Medica, passed away today in London.
1857:
Birthdate of Andre Crémieu-Foa, the Paris born French cavalry officer who
fought a series of duels in 1892 after the Libre Parole published a
series of articles “on the preponderance of the Jewish element in the French
Army.” Among those whom he fought (and wounded) was Edoard Drumont, the
notorious anti-Semite and editor of the paper.
1857:
Birthdate of “journalist and Anglo-Jewish historian” Lucien Wolf.
1859(15th
of Shevat, 5619) Tu B’Shevat
1859:
Birthdate of Lucius Nathan Lattauer, the native of Gloversville, NY who after
graduating from Harvard became the Crimson’s first head football coach and then
went to become a successful businessman and member of Congress.
http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/resources/mvgw/bios/littauer_lucius.html
1860: In
Arnhem, Liepman Phillip Prins and his first wife Henrietta Prins-Jacobson gave
birth to their third child, artist Benjamin Liepman Prins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Prins#/media/File:Prins_benjamin-after_labour.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Prins#/media/File:Prins1.JPG
1861: Esther
Lewis, the daughter of Elizabeth and Jacob Philipson and her husband Alexander
Lewis gave birth to Laura Lewis who died in infancy.
1862: In
Lemberg, Austria,Rabbi Chaim ha-Kohen Rapport and his wife gave birth to
Solomon Rapporot who studied musical studies in Prague and in Baltimore at the
Peabody Institute and served as the cantor at Oheb Sholom Congregation in
Newark, NJ before assuming the same position at Congregation Shaaray Tefilla in
New York City.
1863: Two and
half years after Jews in Sweden were given the right to buy “real estate in
rural areas”, an ordinance was adopted that allowed “intermarriage between Jews
and Christians.
1865:
According to a report written today German and English Jews have a monopoly on
the cotton trade in New Orleans because they are men without "any country
or local attachment" or conscience.
1865: As
Sherman’s Army marched north to join forces with General Grant, the 27th
Ohio Infantry Division including Private Jacob C. Cohen took part in a
reconnaissance that led to the Salkehatchie River, S.C.,
1866(4th of
Shevat): Rabbi Asher of Tiktin, author of Birkat Rosh, passed away today.
1868:
Birthdate of Louis-Lucien Koltz the native of Paris who was a nephew of wealthy
silk dealer Victor Kloz and who was the “French Minister of France during World
War I.”
1869(8th
of Shevat, 5629): Sixty-one-year-old Leopold Schott, the German born son of
Rachell and Aaron Schott and the husband of Sara Schott with whom he had three
children – Anna, Stella and Moses.
1872: One day
after he had passed away, 72-year-old “master jeweler” and “general clothes
dealer” Isaac Isaacs, the husband of Fanny Isaacs with whom he had had five
children was buried today at the “Plymouth Hoe Burial Ground.”
1873: Birthdate
of Rabbi Dov Ber Boruchoff, the native of Vilna who in 1905 came to the United
States where he was an active member of the American Jewish Congregation and
Mizrachi.
https://kevarim.com/rabbi-dovber-boruchoff/
1874: In
Russia. Abraham Paykel who would become a tailor in Sheboygan, WI and his wife
gave birth to Bertha Paykel Wasserman, the wife of Samuel H. Wasserman and
mother of seven sons and seven daughters who died at the age of 50 after losing
a painful battle with cancer.
1876: It was
reported today that when Mme. Rothschild’s physician told her that despite all
of his skill, he could not make her young again, she replied, “No doctor, I
don’t ask to me made young again; I only ask to continue to grow old.”
1877: Captain
Levy of the Third Brooklyn Precinct arrested James L. Manker tonight after he
tried to spend a two-dollar bill that had been altered to make it appear that
it was a ten dollar bill. According to police Mr. Manker has done this to
other merchants prior to tonight. Mr. Manker professes to be a devout
Methodist who writes sermons for M.L. Rossvally “a converted Jew who publishes
a weekly paper called The Hebrew Evangelist and Converted Jew.”
1878: In
Cairo, Egypt, Moise Cattaui and Ida Rossi gave birth to Edgar Cattaui
1878: In a
case of Jew versus Jew, Mark Arnsteat was arraigned at the Essex Market Police
Court on charges of keeping a disorderly house. The charge was based on a
complaint filed by his neighbor David Rosenbaum.
1879:
According to a an article published today “the project proposed some time” ago
“in Great Britain by leading Jews of the country to by Palestine is said to
have been completed. The Rothschilds, Motefiores and other prominent and
wealthy financiers have entire confidence, it is reported, in the success of
the undertaking, are moving energetically towards its early achievement.” The
article continues with a description of the country of which it says “Those
familiar with Palestine will not regard it as specially desirable, for its main
features are not very attractive.” The article concludes with “So much
has been said for generation of the Jews regaining possession of Jerusalem,
that it is agreeable to think that they are like to do so at last. They
certainly deserve Jerusalem.” [Editor’s note – I cannot find any other
reference to this project. If anybody with an expertise in Anglo-Jewish
history has information to share, please do so.]
1879: The
Executive Board of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations began meeting in
Cincinnati, Ohio, today. Fifteen congregations have joined the union of
Reform Congregations in the last 6 months. A resolution was adopted
instructing the Board of Delegates on Civil and Religious Rights the
feasibility of working with Jewish organizations in Europe that are encouraging
their co-religionists to take up agrarian pursuits which they follow if they
settle in the American West and South. [This was part of a plan to
encourage Jews to settle in places other than the large cities of the
Northeast.]
1880: Samuel
and Hannah Heller Sanger gave birth to Eli Sanger, the brother of Carrie, Alex,
Asher and Charles L. Sanger.
1883: In Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Julius and Alice Pepperberg gave birth to
University of Nebraska graduate and geologist Leon J. Pepperberg, the husband
of Rachel F. Carns and the father of Leon E. Pepperberg.
http://archives.datapages.com/data/meta/bull_memorials/021/021007/pdfs/970_firstpage.pdf
1883: Sixty-eight-year-old John William Colenso, the native of
Cornwall who while serving as Bishop of Natal translated three books of the
TaNaCh into Zulu and was convicted of heresy for publicly denying “the Mosaic
authorship of the Pentateuch” and declaring “that Jeremiah was the author of
the Book of Deuteronomy.”
1884:
In Mobile, AL, founder of the Fidelia Club whose members included E.E.
Bernheimer, E.E. Richard, H.W. Leinkauf and Jonas S. Markenstein.
https://www.cardcow.com/659010/fidelia-club-government-street-mobile-alabama/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/421227371386754019/
1886:
The Prince of Wales formally opened the Mersey Tunnel which had been built
under the direction of Samuel Isaac.
1887:
In New York City, Anna Linter and Adolph Hershkopf gave birth to CCNY graduate
and Columbia trained attorney Bernard Hershkopf the husband of Sonia Armsburg who
was associated as counsel in many important cases in the U.S. Supreme Cour
including the Oregon School Law Cases, N.Y. Rent Law Cases, and Federal Estate
Tax Cases.”
1887:
Four days after he had passed away, 69-year-old Zaleg Walsh the husband of
Friederika Walsh was buried today at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1891:
Birthdate Ukrainian native Moishe Elman who gained fame as violinist Mischa
Elman.
http://www.thirteen.org/publicarts/violin/elman.html
1891: A
meeting of clergymen that included Rabbis Gottheil, de Sola Mendez, Perira
Mendez and Jacobs, Rabbi A. M. Radin was pointed Visiting Chaplain making him
the first Rabbi chosen to minister to the needs of Jews incarcerated in the
reformatories of New York City.
1891(28th
of Tevet, 5650): Seventy-three-year-old Lazarus Rosenfeld, a long-time leader
of Temple Emanu-El and the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphans Asylum passed away
today in New York.
1892: It was
reported today that a mob at Kasehan, Hungary, attacked a Jewish school “and
completely wrecked it.”
1892: One day
after he had passed away, 89-year-old Lazarus Phillips the son of Phillip
Phillips and the husband of Ester Rodrigues and Leah Rodrigues was buried today
at the “West Ham Jewish Cemetery.”
1892:
It was reported today that representatives of the Jewish Colonization Society,
headed by Baron Hirsch are being sent to Mexico and Brazil for “the purpose of
selecting land” that would be suitable “for establishing large colonies of
Russian Jews.” These two countries have shown themselves to be receptive to
such a venture which is fortuitous since Argentina, which had been the site for
such settlements, has development an “anti-Semitic sentiment.”
1892:
At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first official basketball game
is played. Basketball proved to be extremely popular with Jews living in
large urban eastern areas. There was such an abundance of Jewish participants
that it was referred to as the “Jewish sport.” On commentator observed
that “no other sport so required ‘the characteristics inherent in the
Jew…mental agility, perception…imagination and subtlety…If he Jew had set out
deliberately to invent a game which incorporates those traits indigenous in
him…he could not have had a happier inspiration than basketball.’ Describing
the Jewish domination, this commentator concluded ‘ever since Dr. James A.
Naismith came up with a soccer ball, two peach baskets and a bfright
idea…basketball players have been chasing Jewish athletes and never quite
catching up with them.’”
1893:
It was reported today that the body of the late Mrs. Charles Harris is being
prepared for shipment to Cleveland. The twenty-four-year-old Jewess was a
part of a prominent Jewish Cleveland family, named Fieldheim.
1893:
As of today, Henry W. Curtis of Hoenninghaus & Curtis, wholesale
milliners said that Moses and Julia Levy who owned a millinery store on
Broadway owed his firm $6,783.52
1895:
The Sultan is credited with having issued an order to the Governors of
Jerusalem and Beirut ordering them to remove all of the restrictions that had
been placed on Jews trading in Syria. The Sultan also has declared that
the Jews “shall enjoy the same rights, religious and otherwise, as any of the
people in the empire.”
1895:
It was reported today that the Minuet a la Coeur will be danced for the first
time in New York City at the upcoming ball sponsored by the Young Ladies and
Gentlemen’s League of the Montefiore Home.
1895:
It was reported today that Deputy Boeckel, “the blatant Jew baiter” addressed a
meeting of Social Democrats in Berlin which is seen as a sign that the
anti-Semites and the Social Democrats are joining forces.
1896:
In Russia, W. and Ida (Lapin) Cahanoff gave birth to Syracuse University trained
journalist and member of the Intelligence Department as a member of AEF during
WW I Samuel Cahan, a member of the faculty of the Department of Journalism at
Syracuse University and the New York State News direcot of the United Jewish
Campaign.
1896:
In New York, Hadassah “Dorah” Bluth and Eliezer Birnbaum gave birth to Nathan
Birnbaum who gained fame as comedian George Burns who was part of the first
wave of American Jews who found success in making us laugh. The sound of
laughter has been with us since the outset of Jewish history. Remember,
Sarah laughed when she heard that she was going to give birth to a son
https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Burns
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/comedian-george-burns-dies-at-age-100
1896:
It was reported that Dr. Joseph Silverman believes that the Jew is a victim of
“Social Ostracism.” While “the hand of fellowship is extended to the
Mohammedan, the Buddhist and others…there seems to be a universal bar against
the Jew.”
1897:
The Hebrew Orphan Asylum hosted its 14th annual charity ball at the
Academy of Music in Brooklyn.
1897:
One day after she had passed away, eighty-five year old Perla Sheftall
Solomons, the Georgia born daughter of Moses and Elkali Bush Seftall and the
wife of Lizar Solomons and the mother of Cecilia Solomons Abrahams was buried
today at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah, GA.
1897:
At 304 Meeting Street in Charleston, SC, Rabbi B.A. Elzas officiated at the
wedding of Dora Rice and Theodore Solomons.
1898:
In Stepney, Sara and David Solomons gave birth to Pvt. John Solomons of the
Royal Warwickshire Regiment who was killed at the age of 19 during the Third
Battle of Ypres, also known as Passchedndaele.
1898:
It was reported today that a thousand students gathered at the Panetheon
shouting anti-Zola and anti-Jewish slogans. The police broke up the
demonstrations, but they re-grouped in various parts of the Latin Quarter.
1898:
It was reported today that Emile Zola has already begun preparing his defense
which will include calling a handwriting expert among his 250 witnesses.
1898:
It was reported today that students tried to burn an effigy of Emile Zola in
Algiers. The police arrested five students whose friends then attacked
the police in an effort to free them.
1898:
It was reported today that there have been anti-Jewish demonstrations in
Toulouse, Marseilles, Nantes and Rouen.
1898:
Birthdate of NYC native and WW I veteran Milton Dewey Cohn, the vaudevillian
turned social worker.
1898:
It was reported today that the 15th annual ball of the Hebrew Orphan
Asylum Society was a financial success that will provide funds for a technical
school to be built at the asylum’s facility.
1898:
During today’s Cabinet meeting in Paris, the Minister of the Interior described
the measures that have been taken to prevent further street demonstrations by
anti-Dreyfus and anti-Zola forces.
1898:
It was reported today that Isaac Greenblatt who owns a shoemaker’s shop is the
President of an orthodox synagogue on East Broadway which also serves as a
burial and mutual aid society and has assets of thousands of dollars
1898:
“Penuchle And Orthodoxy” published today described a dispute between Isaac
Rabinowitz and his co-religionists over his failure to attend religious
services and his penchant for playing a card game when gambling was strictly
forbidden.
1899:
It was reported today that Simon Wolfe, the former U.S. Minister to Turkey
believes that the future of the Jews in America is a bright one. “Never in the
history of Judaism in ancient or modern times has the outlook for the Jewish
people been more flattering than in these United States.”
1900(20th
of Shevat, 5660) Parashat Yitro
1900:
As the Jews observed Shabbat, Grand Admiral Alfred von Tripitz received the
contingency plans he had requested or a naval blockade and an armed invasion of
the United States” that included occupying parts of New England, which when
added to what we know from the Zimmerman telegram (see Barbara Tuchman), it
would appear that the Kaiser aimed to dismember the United States in a future
conflict.
1901:
In Cincinnati, Ohio, Max Zilzer, “a Hungarian-born German stage and film actor
who died in 1943 while being interrogated by the Gestapo and his wife gave
birth actor Wolfgang Zilzer “who often appeared under the stage name Paul
Andro.”
1901:
It was reported today that Rabbi F.L. Cohen “mentioned that more than 800 Jews
had taken part in the campaign in South Africa” in the sermon he delivered at
“the special services held at the Great Synagogue in Aldgate for Jews serving
in the regular and auxiliary forces.”
1901: “Scheme
For and Against Jewish Colonization In Palestine” published today reported that
allegedly because of the “recent exodus of Jews from Russia and Romania,” “the
Sultan of Turkey has just re- promulgated…a decree” that prohibits Jews from
acquiring land in Palestine and that forbid Jews, including pilgrims and
merchants from remaining “in Palestine for longer than three months.”
1901: Five
days after his 25th birthday, Morris Weinberg, the Russian born son
of Gabriel and Rivka (Sapir) Weinberg who “organized The Day in New York
City and served as its first President, married Dora Rubin today in Newark, NJ.
1902:
Herzl writes to Israel Zangwill and Joseph Cowen and describes the financial
plans regarding Turkey.
1902:
In Charleston, SC, Rabbi J. J. Simenhoff officiated at the marriage of Morris
Kramer and Etta Bernstein.
1903:
Tonight, at the Irving Place Theatre Ferdinand Bonn, the German actor who had
made his debut in “Nathan the Wise,” a play about Jewish merchant played both
Napoleon and Isidor Kalmus, “the loyal Jewish horse trader, Isidor Kalmus, who
is the hero in “Edles Blut” or “Noble Blood.”
1904: The Jewish Museum was established when Judge Mayer
Sulzberger donated 26 ceremonial art objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary
of America as the core of a museum collection.
1905:
Birthdate of Isaac “Ike” Danning, the native of Los Angeles who played catcher
for the 1928 St. Louis Browns and was the younger brother of Harry Danning who
played catcher for the New York Giants.
1906:
It was reported today that the delegates to the Algeciras Conference have
agreed to exclude matters related to “religious subjects” – an agreement that
will not exclude the “Jewish Question” since it “can come up not as a religious
issue” but as one pertaining to the “protection of the subjects of the Sultan.”
1906:
It was reported today that Rabbi Isaac Kaplin of Congregation B’nai David of
Rochester who had received a package filled with dynamite and gunpowder
yesterday had “received an anonymous letter a month ago” saying he must curb
his expressions of “sympathy for the persecuted Jews in Russia.”
1906:
The Women Workers for the Self Protection of the Jews in Russia are scheduled
to give a bazar and ball in the Grand Central Palace tonight with proceeds
going “to the fund for the assistance of the Jews of Russia.”
1906:
“Home Life in the Ghetto” published today provided a review of the Contrite
Hearts by Herman Bernstein a tale by an author “whose short stories of
Jewish life have already attracted attention” which provides a certain
credibility to this longer effort that “deals with the tragedy of a simple
Jewish family led by Reb Israel an “honest and God-fearing man of highs
standing in the synagogue.”
1907:
Birthdate of Polish native Herman Meyer Pekarsky, who came to the United States
in 1921, earned a B.A. from the University of Michigan eventually settling in
Newark in 1945 where he served as the Executive Director of the Jewish
Community Council in Essex County.
1908:
Elie Nessim was married today in Cairo.
1908:
Rabbi Chaim Fishel Epstein and his wife gave birth to Ephraim Epstein, the
husband of Louise Gorodinsky who was the Rabbi of Congregation Shaare Zedek in
St. Louis for thirty-five years.
1909:
Founding of the Jewish Farmers of America
http://jewishfarmersofamerica.wikispaces.com/
1909: “Much
excitement was aroused by a discussion of sectarian teaching in the public
schools at this afternoon's session of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations in Mercantile Hall.”
1910: Friends
of Vladimir Burtsev, the Russian revolutionary and author, learned from him
today the information he plans to reveal during his visiting to United States
including the fact that Czar Nicholas “is not shielded from knowledge or
conditions as some suppose” and that “all the massacres of the Jews were with
his connivance and by his actual orders.”
1910: The
Russian Symphony gave their second performance of the year at Carnegie Hall
where Maude Allan was introduced to New Yorkers.
1911: Michael
Newman, “a produce dealer” and his wife Luba whose “father had been a cantor in
Russia” gave birth to Oscar nominated conductor and director Emil Newman, the
brother of composers Alfred Newman and Lionel Newman, the father of composers
Maria, David and Thomas Newman and the uncle of songwriter Randy Newman.
1911: I.L. Blout,
Jacob Eisemann, Rabbi Abram Simon and Simon Wolf of Washington were listed as
delegates to the 22nd council of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations that came to a close yesterday.
1912: Writing
in The Outlook, a periodical that reflected his efforts toward social
reform, Dr. Lyman Abbott, a celebrated liberal theologian who supported the
progressive policies of Theodore Roosevelt, advises an inquirer that he is
under no moral obligation to admit Jewish pupils to his school.
1913: Austrian
steel tycoon Karl Wittgenstein passed away. He was the grandson of Moses
Meyer-Wittgenstein, a successful Jewish businessman and the son of Herman
Wittgenstein who converted before Karl’s birth. This was an all-too-common tale
in 19th century Europe.
1913: Among
those expected to attend the 23rd Biennial Council of the Union of
American Hebrew Congregations in Cincinnati are J. Walter Freiberg, Jacob H.
Schiff, Julius Rosenwald, I.W. Bernheim, Adolph S. Ochs and Harry Cutler.
1913: The next
regular meeting of the Junior Auxiliary of the Mother’s Aid of the Chicago
Lying-In Hospital and Dispensary is scheduled to be held in the vestry rooms of
the Isaiah Temple/
1914(22nd
of Tevet, 5674): Sixty-two-year-old German born composer and pianist Emil
Liebling who settled in Chicago in the 1870’s and who spent the rest of his
career performing and composing the United States passed away today.
1914:
“The Yellow Ticket” a play that tells the story of Russian Jewess who is trying
to get see her dying father when Jews are restricted to their homes” opened at
the Empire Theatre.
1915: In
Chicago, a resolution is scheduled to be introduced at a joint session of the
American Hebrew Congregations and the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods
praising “President Wilson’s neutral attitude toward the war.”
1915: Johanna
Kohler, the wife of Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler, daughter of Rabb David Einhorn, the
sister of Mathilde Hirsch and the sister-in-law of Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch is
scheduled to speak today the at the national meeting of the American Hebrew
Congregations in Chicago.
1915:
Birthdate English journalist and publisher Harold M. Harris, the husband of
Josephine Byford and WW II officer in the intelligence service whose literary
clients included the famous novelist Frederick Forsyth.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-harold-harris-1460659.html
1915: Martin
Grove Brumbaugh who in 1916 “issued a proclamation to the people of
Pennsylvania call up them to set aside January 27 as a day on which to make
donations for the relief of the Jewish people in the various countries at war”
began serving as the 26th Governor of Pennsylvania
1916(15th
of Shevat, 5676): Tu B’Shevat
1916(15th
of Shevat, 5676): Yossel (Joseph) Ben YItzchock Halevi, Levitsky, the husband
of Sara Weechha bat Abram Tzvi Levitsky, who had settled in the United Kingdom
at the turn of the century and who had made Aliyah before the start of WWI
passed away today during the siege of Jerusalem after which he was buried on
the Mount of Olives.
1916:
At Clinton Hall, the Committee for the Relief of Jewish War Suffers hosted a
meeting “to celebrate” Mayor Mitchell’s “recovery from his recent illness and
return to public duties” at the end of which the may expressed their appreciation
for his saying of the Jewish population, “Of all the races that come from
Europe, the Jews stand out for their response to civic duty and
responsibility.”
1917(26th
of Tevet, 5677): Parashat Vaera
1917(26th
of Tevet, 5677): Avshalom Feinberg passed away. He was one of the leaders of
Nili, a Jewish spy network in Ottoman Palestine helping the British fight the
Ottoman Empire during World War I passed away today. Born in 1889 at Gedera,
Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire Feinberg studied in France. He
returned to work with Aaron Aaronsohn at the agronomy research station in
Atlit. Soon after the beginning of war, Aaronson founded the Nili underground
along with his sister Sarah Aaronsohn, Feinberg and Yosef Lishansky. In 1915
Feinberg travelled to Egypt and made contact with British Naval Intelligence.
In 1917, Feinberg again journeyed to Egypt, on foot. He was apparently killed
by a Bedouin near the British front in Sinai, close to Rafah. His fate was
unknown until after the 1967 Six-Day War when his remains were found under a
palm tree that had grown from date seeds in his pocket to mark the spot where
he lay. In 1979 a new Israeli settlement in the Sinai Peninsula, Avshalom was
named after him. Although it was abandoned following the Camp David Accords, a
new village by the same name was founded in Israel in 1990.
1917:
At Temple Israel in Harlem, Rabbi M.H. Harris is scheduled to deliver a Shabbat
morning sermon on “Miracles.”
1917:
Rabbi Samuel Schulman will deliver the sermon at Temple Beth-El on Fifth Avenue
at Sabbath Services which are scheduled to begin at 10:30.
1917:
Rabbi Silverman is scheduled to deliver a sermon this morning at Temple
Emanu-El on “Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep It Holy.”
1918:
This afternoon at the first session of the United Synagogue Conference meeting
at the Jewish Theological Seminary Dr. Jacob Kohn, Dr. Cyrus Adler, Rabbi Elias
Solomon and Rabbi Samuel Kohn were among the speakers who discussed “The Jews
in the Small Community,” “What Jewish Womandhood Can Do to Strengthen
Traditional Judaism” and “The Synagogical Problems of New York.”
1918:
Among the contributions listed today by The Central Committee for the Relief of
Jews Suffering Through the War were $121 from Green Bay, Wisconsin, $200 from
Sedalia, MO, and $143 from Freemont, Nebraska. (Editor’s note: These
contributions from distant and small communities show the connection that Jews
felt for their suffering brethren all across the country)
1919:
“Opposed a Jewish Republic” published today described adoption of a resolution
by the First Jewish Labor Congress “favoring a free republic in Palestine where
he Jews will have no more rights than any other people until, by immigration or
otherwise, they become the majority.”
1920:
Parisian born Jewish journalist and politician Louis-Lucien Klotz completed his
service as Minister of Finance in the government of George Clemenceau during
which “he was responsible for negotiating reparations from Germany.”
1920:
In New York, Esther (Solomon) Landau and Max Landau gave birth to film producer
and production executive Ely A. Landau who won a Peabody Award for “Play of the
Week.” (As reported by Eric Pace)
1920(29th
of Tevet, 5680): General Alfred Mordecai, Jr. passed away.
http://www.collectnobel.com/Civil_War_Gillmore_Medal_to_Jew.html
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=42847189
1920
(29th of Tevet, 5680): Italian sculptor and painter Amedeo Modigliani passed
away.
http://www.modigliani-foundation.org/
1920:
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded today. The ACLU's stated mission
is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed
to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United
States." The ACLU is not a Jewish organization but Jews
have been associated with it since its founding. For example, Louis Brandies
was a mentor to co-founder Roger Baldwin and Felix Frankfurter was among its
founding members. As a defender of the rights of minorities, the ACLU has
continued to attract Jewish support.
1921:
Louis and Hannah Kahn sold “the seven-story San Salvador apartment house at 2
West 98th Street on plot located on the southwest corner of Central
Park West.
1922:
In Berlin, the former Sarah Aaronson and Herman Mankiewicz gave birth to
screenwriter Dan Mankiewicz whose works included the scripts for the popular
television series “Ironsides” “Star Trek” and “Marcus Welby,”
1923:
Birthdate of David M. Lee, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1996.
1924:
In Brooklyn, Joseph and Ethel Price Pockriss gave birth to Lee Julian Pockriss
who wrote the music for midcentury pop hits like “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie
Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” “Catch a Falling Star” and “Johnny Angel.” (As
reported by Anita Gates)
1924:
Bernard Semel, Reuben Branin, Philip Wattenberg, Sigmund Thau and William Edlin
headed a committee that is hosting a public reception in honor of Dr. Osias
Thon, the chief Rabbi of Cracow, who is visiting New York City.
1924:
In Sydney, Australia, “the Jewish sporting community” is scheduled to host “a
combined sports picnic at Lane Cove” today which is the first of its kind in
the country’s history.
1925:
“The biennial convention of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and its
affiliated groups of temple sisterhoods and brotherhoods opened today at the
Hotel Statler” in St. Louis, “with more than 1,500 delegates from 273
congregations” in attendance.
1926:
“Ford Loses New Move In Suit For Libel” published today reported that “a motion
by counsel for Henry Ford to strike out of the complaint of Herman Bernstein,
who is suing Mr. Ford for $200,000 for libel, several quotations from the
Dearborn Independent which were alleged to libel the Jews was denied by the
Federal Judge” who rejected the argument that “a member of a class cannot sue
for libelous attack upon the class if he is not personally referred to, or
special damage claimed.”
1927:
Featherweight Harry Blitman fought and won his twelfth bout leaving him with a
record of 12 – 0 to date.
1928:
As of today, a special committee of the Board of Trustees of Congregation
Emanu-El whose members include Ben Altheirmer, Philip J. Goodhart, Judge Irving
Lehman and Henry M. Toch is soliciting members of the congregation for
contributions that will support the work of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations and the Hebrew Union College.
1928:
Birthdate of Brooklyn native and actor Martin Landau who first gained fame in
the television hit Mission Impossible before carving out a career on the
Big Screen as a character actor.
1929:
This afternoon at the Free Synagogue, Dr. Stephen S. Wise officiated at the
funeral services for “late Sophie Irene Loeb, noted author and leader in child
welfare work” after which she was interred at the congregation’s Westchester
Hills Cemetery. (As reported by JTA)
1929:
In Benton Harbor, Michigan, attorney Abraham Lincoln Johnson and Edythe
Mackenzie (Goldberg) Johnson gave birth to Arthur Stanton Eric Johnson, all
whose “four grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants” and who gained fame
Emmy winning comic actor Arte Johnson who was a mainstage on “Rowan and
Martin’s Laugh-In.” (As reported by
Daniel E. Slotnik)
1929:
In Brooklyn, Schapiro, an investment broker, and the former Julia Neshick gave
birth to Hebert Elliot Schapiro “a writer and teacher whose idea to create a
stage play from the collected essays of poor city kids resulted in a hit
musical, “The Me Nobody Knows.” (As reported by Bruce Weber)
1930:
Mrs. Ida B. Wise Smith, national vice president of the W.C.T.U. announced today
in Cedar Rapids, IA “that she was going to carry the fight” against alcohol
“into the Holy Land, Syria and Egypt” and that she has “accepted an invitation
to address a gather of prohibitionists in Jerusalem” next month. (Editor’s note
– this item qualifies because this blog is written in Cedar Rapids, IA and
because all of the stories from this era about the conflict between Arabs and
Jews, who would have thought that the “wets” and the “drys” were duking it out
in Palestine.)
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/01/21/100991563.html?pageNumber=14
1931:
“1914” a film “that focuses on the leadership of the Great Powers in the days
leading up to” WW I directed and produced by Richard Oswald and filmed by
cinematographer Mutz Greenbaum premiered in Berlin “at the Tauentzien-Palast”
today.
1932:
In a Letter-To-The- Editor published in the New York Times, Frank P. Chisholm
wrote that “Negroes lost a friend” with the passing of Julius Rosenwald. “No
group of people feels more keenly the death of Julius Rosenwald than the Negro.
Since 1910, when Booker T. Washington became his friend, some of Mr.
Rosenwald's most notable gifts were made to raise the status of the American
Negro.”
1932:
Mayor Jimmy Walker (who wasn’t Jewish) appointed Maurice Deisches (who was
Jewish) to the Board of Higher Education.
1932:
“You Don’t Forget Such a Girl” a romantic comedy directed by Fritz Kortner and
written by Hans Wilhelm was released today in Austria and Germany.
1933:
Birthdate of U.S. diplomat Morton Isaac Abramowitz.
1933:
“Ecstasy” a drama starring Hedy Kiesler, who would later be known as Hedy
Lammar” was released in Czechoslovakia today.
1934:
“Cy Kaselman scored 17 points to lead the Philadelphia Sphas to victory over
the Newark Bears in the American Basketball League.” (As reported by Bob
Wechsler)
1935:
Today was designated as Palestine Day by the Zionist Organization of
America. Over 400 cities and towns throughout the United States planned
on observing the event with a series of meetings and dinners.
1935:
“The Catskill Mountain Region of the United Synagogues of America will be
organized” today “ “when fifty representatives of twelve communities in that
section gather here at Congregation Ahavoth Israel.”
1935(16th
of Shevat, 5695): Seventy-year-old Zemach Shabad, the native of Vilnius who
combined a medical career with political and communal activities that including
helping to found YIVO, the Institue for Jewish Research.
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Szabad_Tsemah
1935:
Governor James Allred proclaimed today as Palestine Day in Texas in recognition
of the progress “that has been recorded in the modern reconstruction of the
holy land.”
1936: It was
reported today that the educators, division of ORT under the leadership of B.
Charney Valdeck has made plans to raise $500,000 “to finance the work of
rehabilitating and training Jews of Central and Eastern Europe.”
1936:
Seventy-year-old King George V, who as Prince George had celebrated Passover
while visiting Palestine in 1882, who was entertained by Sophie Tucker when she
toured England in 1926, who had been honored with the planting of a Jubilee
Forest in 1935 and whose passing was mourned by British Jewry in the Great
Synagogue in Aldgate, passed away today.
1936: It was
reported today that police in Munich “have proceeded systematically to
invalidate the passports of Jews living in the city” by going from house to
house and seizing the documents and the stamping them “invalid for foreign
countries.”
1937: Franklin
D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for his second term as President of the United
States. He is the first the first president to be inaugurated on January 20.
During his second term FDR would continue with many of his New Deal policies
which were popular with a majority of Jewish voters. Also, during his
second term, he would nominate Felix Frankfurter to serve on the Supreme Court
to replace Justice Cardozo. FDR’s second term would also see the continuing
rise of the Nazis and the outbreak of WW II in Europe. While he opposed
the Nazis, he had to move cautiously given the strong isolationist sentiment in
the United States. He has been strongly criticized for his failure not to allow
more Jews to enter the United States. During the St. Louis Affair,
Roosevelt’s government gave strict orders that the ship should not be allowed
to dock in the United States.
1938: In New
York City. Mildred Rickman and Leroy Solomon gave birth to Michael Jay Solomon,
“the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of the Truli Media Group, Inc., which he
founded in 2010.”
1938:
The Palestine Post reported that David Bialo, a Jewish employee of the
Public Works Department, displayed great presence of mind and averted serious
injury to himself and his four colleagues when he seized a bomb thrown into
their car and hurled it into the roadway. The assailant was later recognized
and arrested. Two Arabs were sentenced to death for carrying arms and
ammunition and firing at police. The Post's leading article reminded the
authorities of the many shooting outrages in Jerusalem's Rehavia, Talpiot and
other quarters and asked for greater vigilance.
1938(18th
of Shevat, 5698): Zvi Hirschkahn, the author who wrote under the name of Zevi
Hirsh Cohen, who in 1926 came to the United States where he earned a Ph.D from
Dropsie and wrote for The Day passed away today in New York City.
1939:
Hitler proclaimed to the German parliament his commitment to exterminate all
European Jews
1940(10th
of Shevat, 5700): Parashat Beshalac
1940:
In Philadelphia, PA, the former Beatrice Rubin and Benson Schambelan gave birth
theatre director to Isaac Hillel “Ike” Shmabelan (As reported by Bruce Weber)
1941: Third
inauguration of FDR as president of the United States
1941
(21st of Tevet, 5701): Three Jews, Icek Brona, Ita Kinster and Abram
Szmulewicz, died from hunger and cold in the Lodz Ghetto.
1941:
Two thousand more Jews died of hunger in the Warsaw Ghetto.
1942(2nd of Shevat, 5702): Sixty-five-year-old University of
Cincinnati gradate and Hebrew Union College ordained Rabbi, Solomon Lowenstein,
the Philadelphia born son of Diana Newmayer and Levi Lowenstein and the husband
of Linda Berger who was the Secretary of the National Conference of Jewish
Charities in the United States, and a member of the Editorial Board of Jewish
Charity suffered a fatal heart attack today.
1942:
In Berlin, a meeting took place at the Wannsee Villa to discuss the
implementation of the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” – the
annihilation of European Jewry which became known as the Wannsee Conference.
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/this_month/january/05.asp
http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%206487.pdf
1943:
The father of Henri Krascuki “was arrested on charges of sabotage” today and
interned at Drancy internment camp” which would be his last stop in France
before being shipped to Birkenau where he was gassed
1943: Fifty-eight-year
Leopold Pick old was deported today from Terezin to Auschwitz where he was
murdered
1943: A train from Theresienstadt arrived at Auschwitz. Of
the passengers, 160 women and 80 men were sent to the barracks. The remaining
1,760 Jews were sent to the gas chambers. Of those from the barracks, only 2
would survive beyond the next six weeks of labor. These were all Jews who were
already deported to Theresienstadt in 1941 from their homes throughout Austria
and Czechoslovakia.
1943: In a
letter to the reich minister of transport, SS chief Heinrich Himmler requests
additional trains so that the "removal of Jews" from across Europe
can be speeded up. “If I am to wind things up
quickly, I must have more trains.”
1944(24th
of Tevet, 5704): Seventy-two-year-old Wharton graduate Samuel Stuart Fleisher,
the Philadelphia born son of Cecilia Hofheimer and Simon B. Fleisher, the vice president
of S.B. and B.W. Fleisher manufactures of worsted yarn, and amateur artist
whose works were displayed at American Art Society Exhibition in 1903 who also
served Director of the Jewish Foster Home and Orphan Asylum and a member of the
Board of Trustees of the Jewish Chautauqua Society passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1944/01/22/83963263.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1944: The
80,000 Jews still living within the Lodz ghetto were faced with the catastrophe
of inevitable starvation.
1944: The
Nazis deported 1,155 Jews from the transit camp at Drancy, France, to
Auschwitz.
1944: Today
Otto Blumenthal was sent, at his own request, to the "old people's
ghetto" Theresienstadt since he had heard that his sister had been sent
there in July 1942. When he arrived at Theresienstadt he found that, although
his sister had been there, she had died six months earlier. Blumenthal himself
died at Theresienstadt after suffering from pneumonia, dysentery and
tuberculosis.
1944: Hélène
Falk and Albert Samuel the parents of resistance leader “Raymond Aubrac's whom
he had tried unsuccessfully to convince to leave for Switzerland, were arrested
in France, deported to Auschwitz Concentration Camp by convoy No. 66 today and
died there.
1944: The
former Erzsebet Salomon, the wife of Hungarian photographer André Kertész
became a naturalized American citizen weeks before her husband reach the same
status.
1945 (6th of
Shevat, 5705): The Germans shot 4200 Jews at
Auschwitz.
1946:
In Tel Aviv, Abraham and Zipora Hirschfeld gave birth to Yeshiva University
graduate and animal rights advocate Rachel Hirschfeld.
1947:
Professor Johan J. Smertenko, the vice chairman of the American League for a
Free Palestine, who had been denied entrance into England last week because of
his pro-Zionist views, charged today “that the British Government has attempted
to stifle free discussion of its policy in Palestine.”
1947:
Today, “on the eve of the British government’s conference in London on
the…Palestine situation” Congressman Jacob Javits of New York expressed support
for “sending a special Congressional mission to Palestine to foster the
establishment of a democratic commonwealth there.”
1948(9th
of Shevat, 5708): Sixty-eight-year-old archaeologist Ernst Emil Herzfeld whose
work included excavation and analysis of what is believed to “Esther’s Tomb”
and was forced to leave Germany because of his “Jewish ancestry” passed away
today
http://www.asia.si.edu/archives/finding_aids/herzfeld.html
1948: A memorandum written today from State Department’s policy
staff led by George F. Kennan forecast that “Ultimately the U.S. might have to
support the Jewish authorities by use of naval units and military forces...It
is improbable that the Jewish state could survive over any considerable period
time in the face of the combined assistance which be forthcoming for the Arabs
in Palestine from the Arab States and in lesser measure from their Moslem
neighbors."
1949:
Harry S. Truman, the man who was so proud of his role in the creation of the
state of Israel was inaugurated as President of the United States.
1949:
In the midst of the Jewish state’s fight for birth and survival, we find the
struggle between the secular and religious members of the government coming to
a head over the question of the importation of non-kosher meat. The cabinet
voted to place the importation of meat under the joint control of the Ministry
of Commerce and the Ministry of Religion. This effectively meant that
only kosher meat would be brought into Israel. More importantly, this
“compromise” showed the disproportionate strength of the religious parties in
Israel’s fractured political structure.
1949:
U.S. premiere “A Letter to Three Wives” directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, produced
by Sol C. Siegel, written by Vera Caspery, with music by Alfred Newman and
co-starring Kirk Douglas.
1950(2nd
of Shevat): Philologist Judah Gur passed away today.
1950:
In Toronto, “a fire broke out at the Phillips Garment Company today which was
owned by Phillip Chikofsky that claimed the lives of nine workers several of
whom had survived the Holocaust and was reminiscent of the Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory Fire.
1950:
A recording of "I Said My Pajamas (and Put On My Pray'rs)” a popular song
with music by George Wyle and lyrics by Edward Pola first reached the Billboard
Best Seller chart today
1950:
Birthdate of Edward Hirsch, the Chicago native who nine books of poems
including The Living Fire:
New
and Selected Poems published in 2010.
1951:
Birthdate of Shelley Berkley, member of the House of Representatives from the
first district of Nevada. Born Rochelle Levine, Berkley is the
first Jewish woman and the second Jew elected to the House of Representatives
from Nevada.
1951:
Birthdate of Hungarian born conductor Ivan Fischer.
1952:
Birthdate of Paul Stanley lead singer “Kiss.”
1953:
Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated for his first term as President of the
United. Eisenhower would be confronted with one of the greatest challenges of
his presidency during the Suez Crisis of 1956.
1953(4th
of Shevat, 5713):
Aaron Goldberg, the paternal grandfather of famed historian
Sir Martin Gilbert passed away at the age of 93. Born in Poland when it was
part of the Russian Empire, he came to Great Britain in the last decade of the
19th century. He was preceded in death by his wife, Annie (of
blessed in memory) who passed away in 1950 at the age of 78.
1953:
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Knesset condemned Soviet
anti-Semitism by a vote of 89 to six. The government warned Israeli Communists
and their press against backing the current Soviet anti-Jewish campaign. Over
300 Jews were reported to be fleeing East Germany to Western Berlin. The arrest
of Dr. Lajos Stoeckler, leader of the Hungarian Jewish community, spread fears
among the local Jews. The newly organized Hadassah cardio-surgical department
carried out the first two completely successful delicate heart operations.
1953:
In Brooklyn, the Pauline Stolofsky and Seymour Epstein, a New York City
groundskeeper gave birth to financier and convicted sex trafficker and sex
offender Jeffrey Epstein.
https://beyondthedash.com/obituary/jeffrey-epstein-1076483132
1955:
In France, the first government headed by Pierre Mendès France “fell.”
1955:
In the revolving door politics of the French Fourth Republic Pierre Mendès
France formed a second government.
1955: An exhibit at the Boston Public Library includes ceremonial
objects, photographs and mementos of early Boston Jews.
1956:
Birthdate of Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and political analyst whose mother
was Jewish and whose father was Catholic.
1957:
Jewish composer Morton Gould's "Declaration" premieres in
Washington DC
1961(3rd
of Shevat, 5721): Sixty-four-year-old Kovno native Oscar Straus Caplan, a “Judge in
Chicago’s Municipal Courts for more than a quarter of century and after
retirement “a part-time instructor at the University of Miami Law School who
was the husband of Sarah Caplan and the father of Mitchell Caplan passed away
today.
1961:
John F. Kennedy was inaugurated President of the United States. The first
Roman Catholic U.S. President, Kennedy had received overwhelming support from
Jewish voters. He appointed Abraham Ribicoff as Secretary of H.E.W. and
Arthur Goldberg as Secretary of Labor. His administration provided
support for the still fledgling state of Israel.
1961:
As the “official photographer for Kennedy’s presidential inaugural gala” Philip
Stern, the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, raced “around Washington to
five white-tie balls” snapping “memorable images, including Sinatra’s lighting
the triumphant president’s cigarette.”
http://www.philsternarchives.com/archive/jfk/inaugural-gala-book/
http://www.faheykleingallery.com/photographers/stern/personal/stern_pp_frames.htm
1962(15th
of Shevat, 5722): Tu B’Shevat
1962(15th
of Shevat, 5722): Ninety-nine-year-old Stella Heinsheimer Freiberg who was
equally devoted to the cause of Reform Judaism and to raising the level of
culture in Cincinnati, Ohio passed away today.
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/freiberg-stella-heinsheimer
1963: 83-Year-old Rosina Lhevinne performed with the New York
Philharmonic
http://jwa.org/thisweek/jan/20/1963/rosina-lhevinne
1963:
Birthdate of Yishay Levi, the native of Rosh HaAyin and brother of Nati Levi,
whose first album “Hafla with Ben Mohes” helped to make him “a superstar in
clubs all over Israel.”
1965;
Francisco Franco met with Jewish representatives to discuss the legal status of
the Jewish community in Spain. It was the first such meeting since 1492.
1965:
Rabbi Judah Schachtel of Houston's Congregation Beth Israel delivered the
inaugural prayer for President Lyndon B. Johnson in Washington, D.C.
1966: “The
Ghost and Mr. Chicken” a comedy with a script by Everett Greenbaum was released
in the United States today.
1969: Twenty
days after his seventy-third birthday, “English pianist, composer and music
publisher” Maurice Jacobson, the husband of Constance Suzannah Wasserzug,
“appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio program Desert Islands Discs” two
years before he was appointed an Officer of the British Empire.
1969(1st
of Shevat, 5729): Rosh Chodesh Shevat
1969(1st
of Shevat, 5729): Sixty-eight-year-old Frances Goldman Ross, the winner in 1964
of the JTS annual leadership award and the wife of Hyman J. Ross, a senior
partner of Astor and Ross and the mother of Patricia G. Weis passed away today
in the Bronx.
1969(1st
of Shevat, 5729): Eighty-seven-year-old New York born CCNY lacrosse player
Henry J. Silverman the husband of the former Sophia Schreiber with whom he had
four children -Nathan, Dorothy, Estellle and Rosa – who was the retired
assistant principal, chairman of heal education and dean of men at Jamaica High
School passed away today in Miami Beach.
1969: David
Dubinsky received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
1969: Sheldon
Cohen completed his term as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.
1972(4th
of Shevat, 5732): Forty-year-old Rabbi Michael Goulston who was ordained in
1963 after which he filled the pulpits at the Southport New Synagogue and the
Middlesex New Synagogue now known as the Mosaic Reform Synagogue before serving
as the assistant minister of the West London Synagogue.
1972: “To Find
a Man” a comedy produced by Mort Abrahams, Irving Pincus and Peter L. Skolnik,
written by Arnold Schulman and with music by David Shire was released in the
United States today.
1973: An
“attack on a transit camp in Austria for Jewish immigrants from Russia” was
thwarted today and three Arab terrorists were arrested in Vienna.
1974(26th
of Tevet, 5734): Eighty-two-year-old author and founding editor of Broom Harold Albert Loeb, the son of
Albert Loeb and Rose Loeb/Goldsmith passed away today in Marrakesh after which
he was buried in New York City.
1974: BBC One broadcast
the first episode of “John Halifax, Gentlemen,” a television series or which
Scottish writer Jack Tobias Ronder, “the grandson of Lithuanian Jews who fled
their homeland in 1885 due to persecution in Tsarist Russia” wrote the scripts.
1975: At
Westminster Hospital in London Sir James Goldsmith and “his third wife Lady
Annabel Vane-Tempest Steward gave birth to their middle child Frank Zacharias
Robin “Zac” Goldsmith, the Conservative MP who lost in his bid to be elected
Mayor of London.
1975: Michael
Ovitz started Creative Artist Agency.
1975:
Birthdate of Shortstop David Eckstein. Eckstein is not Jewish but for
some reason he was selected to the Jewish All-American team.
1975: In “One
of a Golden Dozen,” published today, Time remembers the career of the
late Richard Tucker who passed away last week at the age of 60 on the eve of
the 30th anniversary of his debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,912704,00.html
1976: PBS
broadcast the first episode of “The Adams Chronicles” written by Millard
Lampell today.
1977(1st of
Shevat, 5737): Rosh Chodesh Shevat
1977: “Soviet
television premieres an hour long anti-Zionist documentary Traders of Souls,
which specifies the names and addresses of Vladimir Slepak, Yosef Begun,
Anatoly Sharansky and Yuli Kosharovsky.”
1977:
Inauguration of Jimmy Carter, the President who would broker the Camp David
Peace Accords.
1978:
The Jerusalem Post reported that after Egypt broke off the political
negotiations held in Jerusalem, US President Jimmy Carter warned that the
Middle East might have lost 'a precious opportunity for the historic settlement
of the long-standing conflict an opportunity which may not come again in our
lifetime.' He asked both Israel and Egypt to maintain the momentum for peace.
In Jerusalem Premier Menachem Begin said that the future of negotiations
depended on the expected meeting of the US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance with
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
1978(12th
of Shevat, 5738): Eighty-eight-year-old Carrie Unterberg, the New York born daughter
of Ignatz Margareten and Regina Rebush Rivka Hana Margareten, the wife of
Morris Unterberger and other of Sarella Grant; Judith Gomperts and Jerome
Unterberger passed away today in Miami, FL.
1979(21st
of Tevet, 5739): Parashat Shemot
1979:
Birthdate of Rob Bourdon drummer with Linkin Park.
1980:
Tight end Randy Grossman earns his final championship ring as the Steelers win
Super Bowl XIV.
1981(15th
of Shevat, 5741): Tu B’Shevat
1981:
At his inauguration Ronald Reagan chose to use his mother’s worn Bible when
taking the oath of office. He placed his hand on one of her favorite verses, II
Chronicles 7:14: “If my people which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then
will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Reagan had received 39% of the Jewish vote which was unusually high for a
Republican candidate.
1981:
Stuart Eizenstat completed his service as White House Domestic Affairs Advisor.
1983:
In New York, Michael Bloomberg and Susan Brown gave birth to Georgina Leigh
Bloomberg
1984:
“Scandalous” a comedy based on play by Larry Cohen who wrote the script along
with Rob Cohen who was also the director was released today in the United
States and the United Kingdom.
1988(1st
of Shevat, 5748): Rosh Chodesh Shevat
1988(1st
of Shevat, 5748): Eighty-five-year-old Baron Philippe de Rothschild whose
exciting life that included being a Grand-Prix race-car driver, movie producer,
war hero and wine grower reads more like fiction passed away today with only
one flaw – his money and power almost did save him and his daughter from the
Shoah and proved unable to save his first wife from being murdered at
Ravensbruck concentration camp.
1988:
The Minister of Police said today that he had no immediate plans to use
emergency powers to impose curfews in Arab East Jerusalem or order striking
shops there to open.
1989: Inauguration of George H.W. Bush as President of the
United States. During the Gulf War, Bush convinced the Israelis not take
military action against Iraq. For the first time in its history, the
Israelis entrusted their security to forces other than the IDF when they
allowed Patriot Batteries to respond to attacks by Scud Missiles. At the end of
his Presidency, Bush granted pardons to all of those involved in the
Iran-Contra Affair including Elliot Abrams.
1991: Like Israelis, today Palestinians used the first quiet
moment after Iraqi missile attacks on Friday and Saturday to stockpile for
further siege. But unlike the Jews, the Palestinians say they welcome the
missiles, because they believe Israel deserves to be attacked, and because, one
way or another, they think war will help create a Palestinian state.
1991(5th
of Shevat, 5751): Eighty-three-year-old German born, British physiotherapist
who created a method of rehabilitation and therapy known as the Bobath concept
in 1948 and her husband and colleague ninety year old Karel Bobath passed away
today.
http://www.bobath.org.uk/about-us/the-founders-and-history/
1991:
Mike
Burstyn, who portrays Mayer Rothschild in the Off Broadway revival of "The
Rothschilds," left today so that he could be in Israel as the war with
Iraq continues to take its toll on the Jewish state.
1992(15th
of Shevat, 5752): Tu B’Shevat
1992(15th
of Shevat, 5752): Ninety-three year old Arthur Maurice Fishberg, the New York
born son of Maurice and Bertha Cantor Fishberg and husband of Irene Levin who served as the clinical professor of medicine at Mount
Sinai School of Medical and clinical professor at NYU while conducting
“extensive” research into “cardiovascular and renal diseases” passed
away today.
1992: “On the
fiftieth anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, the site was finally opened as
a Holocaust memorial and museum.”
1993: Sandy
Berger began serving as United States Deputy National Security Advisor.
1993:
In an unusual break with international practice, the mostly Muslim republic of
Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia has decided to establish an embassy in Jerusalem,
not Tel Aviv, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said today. The announcement came
during a three-day visit here by Askar Akayev, President of the former Soviet
republic, and was praised by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. "I believe this
is what has to be done by all countries that have diplomatic relations with
Israel," Mr. Rabin said after meeting Mr. Akayev. Most nations, including
the United States, do not recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital on the
grounds that its status should be determined in an Arab-Israeli peace
settlement. Only El Salvador and Costa Rica maintain embassies in Jerusalem, with
other nations preferring Tel Aviv.
1995:
Today, “the Legislative Council passed an ordinance that established the
Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden Corporation which had been founded as the
Kadoorie Agriculture Aide Association by Lord Lawrence Kadoorie and Sir Horace
Kadoorie.
1995:
A memorial service is scheduled to be held at the Aspen Chapel in Aspen, CO to
honor the late Oklahoma City real estate developer and civic leader Monte H.
Goldman.
1996(28th
of Tevet, 5756): Parashat Vaera
1996(28th
of Tevet, 5756): Eighty-eight-year-old Sidney R. Korshak, the labor lawyer with
alleged connections to the Chicago mob and Hollywood insider whose career was
the opposite of that of his brother Marshall passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/22/us/sidney-korshak-88-dies-fabled-fixer-for-the-chicago-mob.html
1997:
William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton was inaugurated for his second term as
President of the United States. Clinton’s second term would be dominated
by his affair with a young Jewess named Monica Lewinsky. Towards the end
of his term, he would attempt to broker a peace agreement between the
Palestinians and the Israelis by holding a series of meetings with Prime
Minister Barak and Chairman Arafat. The efforts failed because Arafat would
accept the deal because he said he would be signing his death warrant. At the
end of the term, Clinton would cause another minor scandal with his pardon of
Marc Rich.
1998
(22nd of Tevet, 5758): Zevulun Hammer, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel passed
away. A Sabra, Hammer was born in Haifa in 1936. He studied at Bar
Ilan University. He began his parliamentary career in 1969. He
chaired several different Knesset committees and was head of the National
Religious party.
1998
(22nd of Tevet, 5758: Seventy-four-year-old statistician and psychologist Jacob
Cohen passed away today.
http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/04/04708608/0470860804-2.pdf
1999: Shaul
Amo was made Minister without Portfolio today.
2000: Today,
“Israel’s attorney general ordered a criminal investigation into possible tax
evasion by President Ezer Weizman” which “was the first criminal investigation
of an Israeli president.”
2000: “Germany
asked the Greek Supreme Court to dismiss a lower court ruling that it owes $30
million to survivors of 218 people who were killed by Nazis in the village of
Distomo on June 10, 1944” because it says the issue of reparations was closed
with a 1960 compensation treaty with Greece.
2001: Stuart
Eizenstat completed his service as U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.
2001: In a
move that “stunned law enforcement officials,” President Clinton granted a
last-minute pardon to Marc Rich, the commodities trader who had evaded
prosecution for 18 years and his former partner, Pincus Green, who have lived
in Europe since they fled the United States during an investigation into their
oil-trading activities that led to a 1983 indictment on 51 counts of tax
evasion, racketeering and violating sanctions against trading with Iran. An
amazing number of Jews sent letters urging this action or attesting to Rich’s
great qualities including a former head of Mossad.
2001: Sandy
Berger completed his service as the 19th United States National
Security Advisor.
2001: Richard
J. Danzig completed his service as United States Secretary of the Navy.
2002: The
New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including Kafka Americana by Jonathan
Lethem and Carter Scholz and Home Lands: Portraits of the New Jewish
Diaspora by Larry Tye
2002: Today, a
senior Israeli military official said Palestinian officials considered to be
close to Chairman Yassar Arafat had begun to talk among themselves about
replacing him. But he said it was unlikely that they would act as long as Mr.
Arafat had some international support and continued receiving financial backing
from the European Union and Arab states. ''They won't move until they know they
are going to be successful,' he said. ''It's like Julius Caesar and Brutus.''
Top Palestinian officials insist that loyalty to Mr. Arafat has not wavered.
2002:
“Returning Mickey Stern,” co-starring Tom Bosley was released in the United
States today.
2002: During a
visit to Israel, today, former President Bill Clinton called on the
Palestinians and Israelis to keep working for peace. When talking about
attempts by his administration bring peace to the two parties, Clinton but
placed “the blame for his peace initiative's failure squarely on Mr. Arafat,
the Palestinian leader.’ ''’Chairman Arafat missed a golden opportunity,’'' Mr.
Clinton said in a speech here tonight, ruing Mr. Arafat's rejection of a peace
proposal made at Camp David in 2000.”
2003:
The seven crewmembers of the ill-fated space shuttle Columbia woke up to the
song, Hatishma Koli (Will you hear my voice?)
http://www.jewishjournal.com/jewgyver/item/the_re-launch_of_ilan_ramon_20110926/
2003
(17th of Shevat, 5763): Caricaturist Al Hirschfeld passed away in New York at
age 99.
2004(26th
of Tevet, 5764): Eighty-nine-year-old political activist Roberta Garfield Cohn,
the widow of John Garfield, passed away today.
http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jan/26/local/me-cohn26
2005
(10th of Shevat, 5765): Israeli civilian Gabriel Dwait, a 27 year old immigrant
from Ethiopia drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. Hezbollah would use his corpse
as a bargaining chip in an exchange with Israeli authorities in 2007.
2005
(10 Shevat 5765): The Hon. Dame Miriam Louisa Rothschild, British zoologist,
entomologist and author passed away at the age of 96. (As reported by Douglas Martin)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/25/science/25rothschild.html?_r=0
2005:
George Bush is sworn in for his second term as President of the United
States. Bush saw himself as an unabashed foe of anti-Semitism and a
supporter of Israel’s security needs.
2006(20th
of Tevet, 5766): Eighty-two-year-old Alan Budin, the husband of Helen Budin
with whom he had three children – Jerry, Shellie and Gail—passed away today,
2006:
Larry Franklin, the Pentagon analyst who admitted conveying classified
information to staffers of the pro-Israel lobby (AIPAC) and to Israeli
officials, was sentenced to 12 years of prison and a $10,000 fine at the US
District Court in Alexandria Virginia. Larry Franklin, a mid-level civilian
employee in the Iran desk at the Pentagon, passed on classified information to
Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman who were on the staff of Aipac as well as to
Naor Gilon, the former political officer at the Israeli embassy in Washington.
2007(1st
of Shevat, 5767): Parashat Vaera; Rosh Chodesh Shevat
2007:
On the same day that it was reported that “Israel had transferred $100 million
in Palestinian tax revenues to the office of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud
Abbas, as part of a plan to bolster him and keep money out of the hands of the
Hamas government” former President Carter defended his recent book Palestine:
Peace Not Apartheid which others says is so “unfairly critical of Israel” that
“14 members of an advisory board to his Carter Center have resigned in
protest.”
2008:
The Sunday New York Times book section featured reviews of Mark
Scroggins’ The Poem of a Life a biography of poet Louis Zukofsky
who as “a child of immigrant Jewish parents on the Lower East Side recited
Yehoash’s Yiddish translation of Longfellow’s “Hiawatha” on street corners to
gangs of Italian boys.”; Geraldine Brooks’ People of the Book, a novel
based on “the centuries-old Hebrew codex known as the Sarajevo Haggadah”; Fred
Wander’s The Seventh Well “a novel about the camps by a survivor of
Auschwitz and Buchenwald”; Into The Tunnel: The Brief Life of Marion Samuel,
1931-1943 by Götz Aly; The Jew of Home Depot And Other Stories
by Max Apple; Revolution in the Mind: The Creation of Psychoanalysis by
George Makari; as well as an essay entitled “The Story of The Night”
that answers the question “How did a Holocaust memoir rejected by 15 publishers
and largely ignored by readers go on to sell 10 million copies?” and a
retrospective look at The Best and the Brightest by the late Jewish
author David Halberstam which thirty-five years ago this week,
in January of 1973, was the No. 1 nonfiction title on the best sellers list.
2008:
The cover story of The New York Times Magazine features Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke of whom the author writes “grew up in the small
town of Dillon, S.C., at the tail end of the segregation era (in high school he
wrote a schoolboy’s novel about whites and blacks coming together on the basketball
team). His father and his uncle ran a local drug store. Folks trustingly called
them Dr. Phil and Dr. Mort. Ben, who skipped first grade, was obviously smart
from the get-go. He played the saxophone, just as Greenspan did, and waited
tables two summers and worked construction another. The Bernankes were
observant Jews, and Ben’s folks fretted when he got into Harvard that if he
strayed from home he might wander from his religious teachings. It was never a
risk. Judaism is important to Bernanke, though, as with other personal
subjects, he does not discuss it.” Bernanke succeeded Arthur Greenspan who was
also Jewish as head of the Federal Reserve. In addition to which “Bernanke’s
first exposure to monetary policy was reading the works of Milton Friedman, the
Nobel laureate,” who was also Jewish.
2008:
In “Abandoned Torah, Adopted, Is Revived,” published today Julius Charkes
describes the amazing story of how a Torah that had survived the Holocaust, was
rescued by a group of American students who saw it in the window of Polish pawn
shop and brought to the United States to be restored by a Jerusalem-based
sofer.
2009:
Jack Markell completed ten years of service the Treasurer of Delaware.
2009:
Jack Markell was sworn in as the 73rd Governor of Delaware.
2009:
Tony Blinken began serving as the National Security Advisor to the Vice
President, Joe Biden.
2009:
Eric Edelman completed his term as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.
2009: The Yeshiva
University Museum presents “From Black Death to AIDS: Epidemics and Their
Impact on Culture,” an Exhibition Tour and Panel Discussion that examines the
impact of disease in shaping culture featuring Doctors Ruth Oratz and Liis-anne
Pirofski medical practitioners with backgrounds in the history of science and
art history who will facilitate this enlightening discussion blending arts,
literature, science and history.
2009:
Barak Obama is sworn in as President of the United States with several Jewish
leaders in attendance including his political confidant and senior adviser,
David Axelrod and newly appointed White House Chief of Staff Rahm
Emmanuel.
2009:
IAF planes struck a Kassam rocket launcher in the Gaza Strip this evening;
hours after two incidents of gunfire and mortar shell fire were reported
against IDF troops in the area.
2009: “Topol in 'Fiddler on the Roof': The Farewell Tour” with Chaim
Topol playing Tevye opened today in Wilmington, Delaware.
2010: The 19th
annual New York Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to present “Herskovits at the
Heart of Blackness’ that centers around the work of the late Melville J.
Herskovits,a Jewish anthropologist, who traced Black cultural roots directly
back to Africa. His work instilled pride in many African Americans and helped
to fuel the Black Power movement.
2010:
The 10th annual Atlanta Jewish Festival is scheduled to present a
screening of “The Seven Days.” A follow-up
to the acclaimed 2004 drama To Take a Wife, “The Seven Days” takes place
as missiles threaten to rain down on Israel during the Gulf War and “revisits a
large Moroccan Jewish family rubbed raw by the unexpected death of the eldest
brother.”
2010:
Bar-Ilan University hosts "Unforgettable Hebrew Women,” a conference that
features a presentation of Ruti Glick’s research into the life of Hannah
Szenes.
2010(5th
of Shevat, 5770): Avrom Sutzkever, died today at the age of 96. He was not only
a great Yiddish poet but is acknowledged as being one of the great poets of the
20th century.
http://www.forward.com/articles/123891/
http://yiddishkayt.org/2012/01/sutzkever/
2011:
The New York Premiere of “Vera Klement: Blunt Edge” is scheduled to take place
today at the New York Jewish Film Festival.
2011:
Alison Vodnoy is scheduled to appear in a woman show “In Rehearsal” at the
Minneapolis Jewish Humor Festival.
2011: The
European Division of the Library of Congress is scheduled to present a book
talk by author Anna Porter entitled “The Ghosts of Europe: Journey through
Central Europe’s Troubled Past and Uncertain Future
2011(15th
of Shevat, 5771): Tu B’Shevat
2011:
The 14th Street Y invites everybody to wear something green “as we
all go green together.” The 14th Street Y is using Tu B’Shevat to
focus on issues of greening and sustainability. Several other Jewish
organizations have turned what is The New Year of the Trees into a holiday
focusing on what in the 70’s was called ecology and now is called the green movement.
2011: The
New York Times featured reviews of The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman
and A Stranger On The Planet by Adam Schwartz
2011(15th
of Shevat, 5771): Sonia Peres, or Sonia Gal as she preferred to be called in
recent years, passed away in her sleep today at age 87.
2011: The
findings of a three-year investigation were published today in an expansive
report, titled "The Truth Left Behind: Inside the Kidnapping and Murder of
Daniel Pearl." Using "vein matching" technique the investigators
were able to verify that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was, in fact, the man who
beheaded Pearl.
2011: A new
monument was unveiled today in eastern Canada marking the country's decision to
turn away a steamship carrying Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939.
The luxury liner MS St. Louis was first turned away by Cuba, then the United
States and finally Canada before returning to Europe just before the outbreak
of war. Of the 900 German Jews aboard, almost a third died in the Holocaust.
The sculpture by Daniel Libeskind, called the Wheel of Conscience and unveiled
in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is the centerpiece of a $476,000 national project
aimed at educating Canadians. "It tells the story of a tragedy, a dark
period of Canadian history, where anti-Semitism and anti-immigration policies
led to the murder of hundreds of people and the suffering of hundreds of
others," said Libeskind. The large memorial is a steel cylinder tipped on
its side, with four spinning gears on its face. The words hatred, racism,
xenophobia and anti-Semitism appear on each gear. A map showing the voyage of
the ship is etched on the edge of the cylinder. The Halifax sculpture was
commissioned by the Canadian Jewish Congress. "We are here to speak
for those whose voices were lost, and for those thousands of survivors who came
to Canada after the war ... who wore their agony as undergarments beneath their
everyday attire and helped to build this country," said Bernie Farber,
head of the Canadian Jewish Congress. Both Libeskind and Farber are children of
Holocaust survivors.
2011: A film
about a Briton, Sir Nicholas Winton, who organized mass evacuations of children
to save them from being sent to their deaths in Nazi concentration camps had
its world premiere today in Prague, the Czech capital.
2011: The
Talmud will be translated for the first time into Italian thanks to an official
collaboration between the Italian government and the Italian Jewish community.
A protocol launching "Project Talmud" was signed today in Rome by
cabinet ministers, the president of Italy's National Research Council, the
president of the umbrella Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) and Rome's
chief rabbi
2012: In New
Orleans, LA, Congregation Gates of Prayer is scheduled to celebrate
Brotherhood/Sisterhood Shabbat.
2012: “Minyan
in Kaifeng: A Modern Journey to an Ancient Chinese Jewish Community” is
scheduled to be shown at Temple Beth Ami in Rockville, MA.
2012: “Making
Trouble,” a documentary that tells the story of six of the greatest female
comic performers of the last century—Molly Picon, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker,
Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, and Wendy Wasserstein – is scheduled to be shown
this morning as part of the Minneapolis Jewish Humor Festival.
2012:
The Leo Baeck Institute is scheduled to present “Topography of Terror: A New
Documentation Center on a Historic Site” featuring Dr. Andreas Nachama,
director of the “Topography of Terror” documentation center.
2012:
The Premier Screening of “Wilfrid Israel – The Savior From Berlin” film took
place at the auditorium of Kibbutz Hazorea, Israel
http://www.wilfridisraelfilm.org/
2012: The
chief of the U.S. military held closed talks with the Israeli Defense Minister
Ehud Barak and the Israeli army’s chief of staff today in an effort to
coordinate responses to Iran’s nuclear program. (As reported by The Washington
Post)
2012: “Beasts
of the Southern Wild” an American fantasy drama film directed by Benh Zeitlin
who co-authored the script and helped write the music was shown for the first
time at the Sundance Film Festival.
2013:
Ariel mayor and former MK Ron Nachman who passed away at the age of 70 is
scheduled to be buried today.
2013(9th
of Shevat, 5773): Seventy-year-old Larry Selman passed away today.
2013: An
exhibition entitled “Sh’ma/Listen: The Art of David Gelernter” is scheduled to
come to an at the Yeshiva University Museum
2013: At
the Tricycle, UKJF Members are scheduled to see an exclusive, one-off
opportunity preview of the award-winning new Israeli feature drama, Policeman
2013:
The Minneapolis Jewish Humor Fest is scheduled to present “Laughter Yoga
Workshop” with Esther Ouray and “The History of Ha!” with David Misch
2013:
Erica Strauss is scheduled to perform the role of Mimi in the Cedar Rapids
Opera Theatre production “La Boheme.”
2013:
The New York Times features reviews
of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers
including POEMS 1962-2012 by Louise Glück, Black Dahlia and White
Rose by Joyce Carol Oates and Goldberg Variations by Susan Isaacs as
well as an interview with author Jared Diamond.
2013:
President Barak Obama is scheduled to be officially sworn in as President of
the United States. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, President Obama has shown
his support for the state of Israel by continuing to fully fund all defense
commitments most important of which the money that goes to the Iron Dome.
2013: Tony
Blinken completed his service as National Security Advisor to the Vice
President and began serving as Deputy National Security Advisor.
2013:
Graveside services are scheduled to held be held at Mt. Sinai Cemetery for
Ethel Dimot the author of The Hidden Injury and the widow of Max Dimot
for whom she edited the second edition of his Jews God and History
2013: The
Baltimore Ravens defeated the New England Patriots in the AFC
Championship. The Patriots are owned by Robert Kraft, the owner who once
got the NFL to change a game time so that it would not conflict with Yom
Kippur. The Ravens wore a patch honoring the memory of the late Art
Modell. Modell was the first owner of the Ravens as well as being a
Jewish philanthropist.
2013:
Naftali Bennett’s Bayit Yehudi faced new charges of extremism today after a
religious Zionist website revealed that one of the party’s candidates called
for returning Gush Katif evacuees to the Gaza Strip and rebuilding dismantled
West Bank settlements.
2013:
Shin Bet security agency operatives and Negev police arrested two brothers from
a Bedouin village on suspicion of planning to carry out terror attacks on
Israeli cities, the agency reported today. Two Jewish Israelis, one of them an
IDF soldier, were also arrested on suspicion of providing the brothers with
stolen IDF weapons in exchange for drugs.
2014:
Israel’s Energy and Water Resources Minister Silvan Shalom is scheduled to
begin a visit to the United Arab Emirates s head the Israeli delegation to the
World Future Energy Summit that in Abu Dhabi.
2014:
The 12th annual Gigantic Used Book Sale at Beth El Hebrew
Congregation in Alexandria, VA is scheduled to come to an end.
2014:
“The Jewish Cardinal” and “Ana Arabia” are scheduled to be shown at the New
York Jewish Film Festival.
2014:
"People, Book, Land — The 3,500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People and
the Land of Israel,” will not open today in Paris as scheduled because UNESCO
cravenly gave into objections voiced by the Arab League. “Abdulla al Neaimi,
President of the Arab group in UNESCO, had sent a letter to Irina Bokova,
president of UNESCO, saying that there was "deep worry and great
disapproval" about the exhibit because it showed that Israel and the
Jewish people have an ancient connection.”
2014:
Police and IDF soldiers were combing the city of Eilat, searching for evidence
of rocket explosions in the city, after many residents called police saying
that had heard two loud explosions. The explosions occurred at about 7 PM local
time. Police suspect that rockets were fired at the city, possibly from Sinai,
and were searching for the exploded rockets (As reported by David Lev)
2014:
Canada supports Israel for strategic reasons but also because it is the correct
thing to do, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said today, delivering an
overwhelmingly pro-Israel speech to the Knesset. (As reported by Lazar Berman)
2015:
“The Outrageous Sophie Tucker” and “The King of Nerac” are scheduled to shown
at the New York Jewish Film Festival.
2015: Lassana
Bathily, a native of Mali and practicing Moslem who has lived in France since
2006, was made a citizen of France today as a reward for being the “hero” who
“helped hostages at a Jewish supermarket hide during last week’s Paris
attacks.”
2015: In “Say
It Like It Is” published today, Thomas L. Friedman takes the Obama
administration to task for characterizing the current of attacks as being
“Violent Extremism” and refusing to connect to Radical Islam.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/21/opinion/thomas-friedman-say-it-like-it-is.html?_r=1
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/charlie-hebdo-of-course-it-is-islam-114277
2015: Diana
Cohen Altman, Executive Director of the Karabakh Foundation; and Rauf Mammadov,
MBA, head of US operations for the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic
(SOCAR) are scheduled to present “ALI-Azerbaijan: From 5th Century
Jewish Migration to a Strong Modern Day Partnership with Israel” is scheduled
to be presented at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia in Fairfax,
VA.
2016(10th
of Shevat, 5776): Ninety-five-year-old “Dr. Herbert L. Abrams, a radiologist at
Stanford and Harvard universities and a founder of International Physicians for
the Prevention of Nuclear War, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for its
work in publicizing the health consequences of atomic warfare” passed away
today.
2016: The
Temple Emanu-El Skirball Center is scheduled to host a question and answer
center featuring Karl Rove and David Axelrod moderated by Jeff Zucker.
2016(10th
of Shevat, 5776): Seventy-three-year-old sports lawyer Michael H. Goldberg
passed away today.
2016(10th
of Shevat, 5776): Ninety-year-old “British publishing giant Lord George
Weidenfeld” passed away today.
http://www.aish.com/jw/s/-Lord-George-Weidenfelds-Legacy.html?s=mm
2016: “Ben
Zaken” and “Tomorrow We Move” are scheduled to be shown at the New York Jewish
Film Festival and Bennry Safdie premiered today at the Sundance
2017: Hours
after President Trump took his oath today, the Justice Department issued an
opinion saying that his appointment of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as a
senior White House adviser would be lawful despite a federal anti-nepotism
law.”
2017: Jason
Dov Greenblatt the son of Hungarian Jewish refugees and NYU trained attorney
who “was
the executive
vice president and chief legal officer to Donald Trump and The Trump
Organization” begam serving as Special Representative for International
Negotiations.
2017: Gary
Cohen began serving as the 11th Director of the National Economic
Council today
2017: “Person
to Person” starring Tavi Gevinson and Abbi Jacobson and featuring Ben
Rosenfield and Benny Safdie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival today.
2017: Rabbi
David Saperstein completed his services as United States Ambassador-at –Large
for International Religious Freedom – a post which he was the first Jew to
occupy.
2017(22nd
of Tevet): On the Jewish Calendar, the day was designated as holiday following
the miracle of 5558 (1798) an unexpected rain that put out fire when a mob
tried to burn down the Roman Ghetto.
2017: Rabbi
Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los
Angeles, is scheduled to offer a prayer at President-elect Donald Trump’s
inauguration today.
2017 Anthony
Blinken completed his service as the 18th United States Deputy
Secretary of State.
2017:
Eighty-nine-year-old Washingtonian Charles Brotman, the son of Russian-Jewish
immigrants is scheduled to participate in NBC’s coverage of the inauguration
after having received an e-mail “from the Trump team that after having” served
as the announcer for 11 presidents staring with Dwight Eisenhower, he was being
replaced.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/fired-inauguration-announcer-gets-new-job-for-day/
2018(4th
of Shevat, 5778): Parsahat Bo
2018: “A small group
of demonstrators protested against Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit this
evening as he was attending prayers at his local synagogue to say Kaddish, the
Jewish mourning prayer, drawing strong condemnation.”
2018: LaunchHouse
and the Cleveland Jewish News are scheduled to present the 7th Annual
LaunchHouse Bootstrap Bash.
2018: “Thousands of
residents of the southern city of Ashdod protested today against the closure of
businesses in the city on Shabbat.”
2018: In Jerusalem, Kehillat Ramot Zion is
scheduled to host “In the footsteps of the
piyyutim of Rav Avraham Ibn Ezrav.”
2018: “Defense
Minister Avigdor Liberman said today he had banned Israel’s chief Sephardic
rabbi and two other rabbis from participating in military events, after they
spoke out against the integration of female soldiers.”
2018: In
London, JW3 is scheduled to host the final screening of “The Women’s Balcony,”
an Israeli comedy.
2019: In OT,
Robert Kraft’s New England Patriots defeated Kansas City to win the AFC
championship and a trip to the Super Bowl.
2019: Based on
tapes made by the Jupiter, FL, police department, before today’s Super Bowl
Game, Robert Kraft engaged in a sexual act with a woman at the Orchids Asia Day
Spa for which he paid one hundred dollars.
2019: The
Yeshiva University Museum is scheduled to host Marna Chester’s “Paper-Art
Workshop for Tu B’Shevat.
2019: YIVO is
scheduled to host a conference on “Yiddish Anarchism: New Scholarship on a
Forgotten Tradition.”
2019: In
Amherst, MA, the Yiddish Book Center is scheduled to host a screening of
“Itzhak.”
2019: Limmud
Seattle is scheduled to come to an end today.
2019: In
Atlanta, the Breman Museum is scheduled to host “Zine Making – Creative
Workshop for Teens.”
2019: The New York Times features reviews of
books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The
Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New
Frontier of Power by Shoshanna Zuboff and the recently released paperback
edition of The Power, a novel by Naomi Alderman and Hippie Food: How
Back-to-the-Landers, Longhairs and Revolutionaries Changed the Way We Eat by
Jonathan Kauffman.
2020: The
LSJS, March of the Living and the Sir Martin Gilbert Learning Center are
scheduled to host an evening chaired by Rabbi Raphael Zarum during which
Professor Shirli Gilbert is scheduled to lecture on “Displaced Jews: Renewal In
The Shadow of the Holocaust.”
2020: On MLK
Day, Kippah wearing members of Agudas Achim carrying their own banner, are
scheduled to take part in today’s third annual Martin Luther JR. Rally and
Peace March in Iowa City.
2020: As part
of the MLK Day National Day of Service, in Palo Alto, CA, the Oshman Family is
scheduled to sponsor “more than 25 hands-on service projects addressing issues
such as poverty, hunger, homelessness, aging, the environment and more.”
2020: “The Day
After I’m Gone” and “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” are scheduled to be shown
at the New York Jewish Film Festival.
2021: Thirty-four-year-old
Georgetown and LSE graduate Thomas Jonathan Ossoff, the Georgia born son of
Australian immigrant Heather Fenton and publisher Richard Ossoff and the
husband of Dr. Alisah Sara Kramer with whom he had one child, Eva Beth, began
serving as the U.S. Senator from Georgia.
2021: Jewish
Family Services of Columbus, OH is scheduled to host “Urban Zen” led by Deborah
Forsblom.
2021: The
Illinois Holocaust Museum is scheduled to host “Coffee with a Survivor” during
which Second Generation Speaker Gail Rapoport Levin tells the story about how
her mother played mandolin in the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz.
2021: B’nai
Jeshurun Congregation is scheduled to host via Zoom the Sisterhood Book Group
discussing The Book of V.” by Anna Solomon.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/books/review/the-book-of-v-anna-solomon.html
2021: The East
Bay International Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to host a screening online
of “May Me However.”
2021: In Cedar
Rapids, Temple Judah is scheduled to host the first session of “Together and
Apart: The Future of Jewish Peoplehood.”
2021:
President-elect Joe Biden who has selected Janet Yellin to serve as Secretary
of the Treasury and Anthony Blinken to serve as Secretary of State and Vice
President-elect Kamala Harris whose husband, attorney Douglas Emhoff, is Jewish
are scheduled to take their oaths of office today.
2021:
A year after the first confirmed case of Covid-19 was reported, more than
400,000 Americans have passed away and most Jewish institutions have altered
their functions to meet the needs of their communities while conforming to
practices health officials have called for to limit the further spread of the
“Angel of Death.”
2022:
The Jewish Heritage Center is scheduled to present online Charles Gallagher
discussing his gripping new book, Nazis of Copley Square: The Forgotten
Story of the Christian Front, “which provides a crucial missing chapter in
the history of the American far right and tells a grim tale of faith perverted
to violent ends, and a warning for those who hope to curb the spread of
far-right ideologies today.”
2022:
Under One Tent and the Jewish Book Council are scheduled to present online comedian
and USC professor Wayne Federman discusses his book, The History of
Stand-up: From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle which chronicles the evolution
of comedy from its earliest, pre-vaudeville practitioners to the Borscht Belt
to present-day comedians of HBO and Netflix.
2022:
The Lappin Foundation is scheduled to host a discussion with the cast of
“Terezin: Children of the Holocaust,” a “film that follows a day and night in
the lives of six children imprisoned at Terezin during the Holocaust.”
2022
The Miami Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to host screenings of “Plan A” and
“The Princess Bride.”
2022:
Lockdown University is scheduled to present a webinar with Trudy Gold lecturing
on “Freud and the Complexities of Jewish Identity.”
2022:
The Streicker Center is scheduled to host Carl Bernstein as he discusses his
new memoir, Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom,
2022:
The Sir Martin Gilbert Learning Center is scheduled to host “Destination:
Death,” a presentation that marks the 80th anniversary of the
Wannsee Conference that will feature “Lady Esther Gilbert, widow of Sir Martin,
reading excerpts from his books that place the Wannsee Conference in context.”
2023:
“The Americans and the Holocaust traveling exhibition” is scheduled to open
today at the Chattanooga Public Library in Chattanooga, TN.
2023:
A screening of “The Spy Behind Home Plate” is scheduled to take place at the
Carroll Arts Center in Westminster, MD.
2023:
Kan Kol Hamusika is scheduled to broadcast a Young Artists Concert featuring “Tom
Zalmanov - Winner of the 2022 spring competitions of the America Israel
Cultural Foundation.”
2023:
Based on previously published information there is still turmoil in Israel over
the proposed changes to the judiciary and the attempt to find a position for Shas
leader Aryeh Deri in the Netanyahu government.
2024:
The Miami Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to host the “Southeast U.S. Premiere”
of “Remembering Gene Wilder.”
2024:
The Eden Tamir Music Center is scheduled to host a concert featuring “The Ben
Haim Trio” and which “evacuees” can attend by using specially discounted
tickets.
2024:
The New York Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to host a screening of “Looking
For Chloe,” “a documentary portrait of the Jewish Egyptian designer Gaby Aghion
(1921–2014), founder of the French fashion house Chloé.”
2024
(10th of Shevat, 5784): Parashat Bo
For
more see https://downhomedavartorah.blogspot.com/
2024: As January 20th begins in Israel,
the Hamas held hostages begin day 106 in captivity. (Editor’s note: this
situation is too fluid for this blog to cover so we are just providing a
snapshot as of the posting at midnight Israeli time.)
