This Day, January 31, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
January 31
314: Sylvester
I whose name is “the Israeli term for New Year’s night celebrations” began his
papacy
“The Israeli
term for New Year’s night celebrations, “Sylvester,” was the name of the
“Saint” and Roman Pope who reigned during the Counci…
January 31
314: Sylvester
I whose name is “the Israeli term for New Year’s night celebrations” began his
papacy
“The Israeli
term for New Year’s night celebrations, “Sylvester,” was the name of the
“Saint” and Roman Pope who reigned during the Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.). The
year before the Council of Nicaea convened, Sylvester convinced Constantine to
prohibit Jews from living in Jerusalem. At the Council of Nicaea, Sylvester
arranged for the passage of a host of viciously anti-Semitic legislation. All
Catholic “Saints” are awarded a day on which Christians celebrate and pay
tribute to that Saint’s memory. December 31 is Saint Sylvester Day – hence
celebrations on the night of December 31 are dedicated to Sylvester’s memory.
(As reported by Jewlicious)
439:
Promulgation of the Code of Theodosius II in the Byzantine Empire. This was the
first imperial compilation of anti- Jewish laws since Constantine. Jews were
prohibited from holding important positions involving money including judicial
and executive offices and the ban against building new synagogues was
reinstated. Theodosius was the Roman emperor of the East (408–450) The Code was
readily accepted as well by Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III (425-455).
579: The reign
of Khosrow I (or Chosroes I) who “protected the rights of Christian and Jewish
minoirites” when he “destroyed Antioch” in 540 came to an end today.
1253: Henry
III of England ordered that Jewish worship in Synagogues must be held quietly
so that Christians should not have to hear it when passing by. In addition,
Jews were not to employ Christian nurses or maids, nor was any Jew allowed to
prevent another Jew from converting to Christianity.
1266: During a
revolt by Muslims, the siege of Murcia came to an end today when the city
surrendered when it surrendered to James I of Aragon who “forced Nachmanides
(Rabbi Moses ben Nachman) to participate in a public debate, with the Jewish
convert to Christianity, Pablo Christiani” after which Nachmanides was forced
to flee from Spain because he did not back down and won the debate.
1419: Pope
Martin V issued a Bull that abolished the oppressive laws promulgated by
antipope Benedict XIII and granted the Jews those privileges which had been
accorded them under previous popes.
1493: Jews
fleeing Spain were no longer allowed to enter to enter Genoa. During the
previous year Jews fleeing Spain were allowed to land in Genoa for three days.
As of this date the special consideration was cancelled due to the “fear” that
the Jews may introduce the Plague.
1504: France
ceded Naples to Aragon. Jews had lived in Naples in comparative freedom but
began to suffer persecution when the French conquered the kingdom in
1495. Conditions worsened when the Spanish began to rule the southern
Italian land and by 1541 the Jewish community ceased to exist.
1674(24th of
Shevat): Rabbi Abraham Auerbach of Coesfeld, Germany instituted an annual fast
in commemoration of his expulsion on this date.
1684(Shevat,
5444): Benedict (Baruch) Nehamias de Castro, who was so successful in
practicing medicine in his hometown of Hamburg “that in 1645 he was appointed
physician in ordinary to Queen Christina of Sweden” passed away today.
1738: Aaron
Gutterez a merchant selling rum, wine, sugar and lime juice advertised under
his own name for the first time in South Carolina.
1788: Charles
Edward Stuart the leader of the Jacobite force whose invasion had caused panic
among many of London’s financiers, except most notably Sampson Gideon” who
provided the government with money and support, were defeated today at the
Battle of Culloden which ended a major threat to the Hanovarian English
monarchy passed away today.
1795:
Alexander Hamilton, the native of Nevis who according to some was the son a
Jewess Rachel Levine and who attended the island’s Jewish school before leaving
for North America, completed his six years of service as the first United
States Secretary of the Treasury.
1796: In
Kingston, Jacob Bueno Henriques and Sarah Henriques gave birth to Joseph
Gutteres Henriques who settled in London where he married Eliza Henriques with
whom he had two children.
1800: New York
native Moses Myers and Eliza Judah gave birth to Abram Myers.
1812: In
London, Isabel and Isaac Lyon Goldsmid gave birth to Frederick David Goldsmid,
the MP for Honiton and husband of Caroline Samuel with whom he had nine
children.
1813:
Birthdate of Dutch physician, pharmacist and philanthropist, Samuel Sarphati.
“One of the great Amsterdammers of the 19th century,” Sarphati, was a promoter
of public housing, an organizer of municipal services such as garbage
collecting, and the builder of a bread factory that provided better and cheaper
bread for the city. He also built the Amstel hotel. Sarphati is seen by Dutch
history as a great philanthropist. Nobody ever knew he was Jewish—until the
Germans authorities changed the name Sarphati Street into “Muiderschans”.
1820(15th
of Shevat, 5580): Tu B’Shevat is observed for the last time during the
Presidency of James Madison.
1828(15th
of Shevat, 5588): Tu B’Shevat
1828: Abraham
Joseph married Eliza Wolf in the United Kingdom
1830:
Birthdate of James G. Blaine, the unsuccessful Republican candidate for U.S.
President who while serving as Secretary of State was presented with “a
petition signed by 413 Jewish and Christian leaders including John and William
Rockefeller, calling for an international conference on the Jews and
Palestine.”
1830: In South
Moravia Löbl Strakosch and Julia Schwarz gave birth their daughter Josefina
Strakosch.
1838: In
Charleston, SC, Rabbi Poznanski officiated at the marriage of Samuel Sampson to
Catherine Goldsmith, “the only daughter of the late Isaac Goldsmith.”
1842(20th
of Shevat, 5602): Seventy-seven-year-old Emanuel Deutz who had been serving as
Chief Rabbi of France since 1810 passed away today.
1842: In St.
Mary’s, Camden Country, GA, Lieutenant Levi Charles Harby married Leonora R.
D’Lyon the daughter of Levi S. D’Lyon of Savannah, GA at the residence of Dr.
Francis O. Curtis.
1845: The
government Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler permission to leave Hanover so that he
could move to London and assume the position of Chief Rabbi.
1845: In Winnsboro,
SC, German-Jewish immigrants Betty Goldberg and George M. Leventritt gave birth
to CCNY graduate, NYU trained attorney and supporter of Tammany Hall David
Leventitt, the husband of Matilda Lithauer whom he married in 1868, the father
of Olivia, Walter R., and Leo L.Lithauer, who served as a member of the New
York State Supreme Court and who was so highly regarded that funeral services
were conducted by Rabbis Nathan Krass, Josep Silverman and Hyma G. Enlow and
who honorary pallbearers including
Benjamin Cardozo, Daniel Frohman, Lewis Marshall and Adolph S. Ochs.
1846: After
the Milwaukee Bridge War, Juneautown and Kilbourntown were incorporated to form
the modern city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Four years prior to this, the families
of Solomon Adler, Isaac Neustadt, and Moses Weil settled in the city. As
proof of the vibrancy of the young community, during the 1840’s the first Rosh
Hashanah services were held at the home of Henry Newhouse and the first Yom
Kippur Services were held in a building containing Pereles grocery store.
For more about the history of the Jews of Milwaukee consider a visit to the
Jewish Museum of Milwaukee or reading "One People, Many Paths: A History
of Jewish Milwaukee," by John Gurda.
1841(9th
of Shevat, 5601): German Jewish music teacher Moses Budinger who “edited the
Jewish ritual for festivals with a grammatical commentary in Hebrew and the
penitential prayers with a commentary” passed away in Cassel today.
1848: Lazarus
and Sara Straus gave birth to Nathan Straus the wealthy American businessman
and philanthropist who owned R.H. Macy and Company and Abraham and Straus. Born
in Otterberg, Germany, Strauss moved to the United States with his family in
1854 where they first settled in Georgia before moving to New York City after
the Civil War where young Nathan worked in his father’s firms L Straus
& Sons. In the 1880’s he began a life of philanthropy and public
service that included leading the fight against tuberculosis and a major effort
to improve the public libraries. His philanthropy extended to developing
a Jewish homeland in Eretz Israel following his first visit to the area in
1912. His support is memorialized by the fact that a street in the
Jerusalem is called “Rehov Straus” and that the modern Israeli city of Netanya,
founded in 1927, was named in his honor
1849: One day
after he had passed away, Joshua bar Jacob was buried today at the “Brady
Street Jewish Cemetery.”
1851(28th of
Shevat, 5611): David Spangler Kaufman passed away. Born in 1813, Kaufman
was the first Jewish United States Congressman from Texas. No other Jewish
Texan served in Congress until Martin Frost in 1979. He was born in Boiling
Springs, Pennsylvania. After graduating with high honors from Princeton College
in 1830, he studied law under John A. Quitman in Natchez, Mississippi, and was
admitted to the bar. He began his legal career in Natchitoches, Louisiana, five
years later. In 1837 Kaufman settled in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he practiced
law and participated in military campaigns against the Cherokee Indians. He was
wounded in an encounter in 1839. Between 1838 and 1845 he was a member of the
Republic of Texas's congress. He served in the Republic's House of
Representatives from 1838 to 1842 and was Speaker of the House in the last two
years. He was a member of the Texas Senate from 1843 to 1845, when president of
Texas Anson Jones named him chargé d'affaires to the United States in February
1845. After the Texas Annexation,
Kaufman represented the Eastern District (District 1 of Texas in the United
States House of Representatives from 1845 to 1851. While in Congress, Kaufman
argued unsuccessfully that Texas owned lands that are now parts of New Mexico,
Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, and Oklahoma. He encouraged Governor of Texas Peter
Hansborough Bell to have Texas troops seize Santa Fe, New Mexico, which never
occurred. He also played a role in the Compromise of 1850, as one result of
which the national government assumed the debts of the former republic. Kaufman
was a Freemason and a charter member of the Philosophical Society of Texas. He
died in Washington, D.C. while attending the Congress, and was originally
buried in the Congressional Cemetery there. In 1932 his remains were moved to
the State Cemetery in Austin, Texas. Kaufman County, Texas and the city of
Kaufman, Texas are named for him.
1853: In
Woodville, MS, Jacob Schwartz and Judith Morritz Schwartz gave birth to Lazarus
“Lazar” Schwartz, the husband of Texan Sophia Weyl Schwartz with whom he had
three children – Lucille, Edgar and Florence.
1856: F.W.
Evans delivered a lecture tonight entitled "Shakerism" during which
he described numerous similarities in the beliefs and/or practices of the
Shakers and those of the Jews. This positive view Jews may be one of the
reasons that systemic European style anti-Semitism never took firm root in the
United States.
1858: Emanuel
Dreifuss, the Wurttemberg, German born son “of Aron Dreifuss and Breunla
Dreifuss” and his wife Friederika Dreifus gave birth to Rosa Dreifuss
1859: In
Moravia, Austria, merchant Bernhard L. Deutsch and Elsie Wiener gave birth
University of Vienna trained historian Rabbi Gotthard Deutsch, the acting
President of Hebrew Union College who lectured on Jewish history at the
University of Chicago and was “an editor and chief contribution the Jewish
Encyclopedia” but whose legacy is marred by his opposition to the United States
entering WW I because of affection for Germany.
1860: In
Prague, Simon Heller and Mathilde Kassanowitz gave birth to Maximilian Heller,
the Rabbi at Temple Sinai in New Orleans who was the husband of Ida Annie
Heller and Professor of Hebrew and Hebrew Literature at Tulane University in
New Orleans who led Zion Congregation in Chicao and
Congregation Beth El in Houston before accepting the pulpit at the prestigious Temple
Sinai in New Orleans and who was a supporter of Zionism which was unusual for a
Reform Rabbi at that time.
http://collections.americanjewisharchives.org/ms/ms0033/ms0033.html
1860: In Prague,
“well-to-do wool merchant Simon Heller and Mathilde Kassowitz” gave birth to
HUC trained rabbi and University of Cincinnati Phi Beta Kappa graduate Maximillian
Heller, the husband of Ida Annie Marks, the father of Cecile, Isaac, Ruth and
Rabbi James Heller,
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/478
1863: In
Marietta, GA, Barnet Phillips, the son of Isaac and Sarah Phillips and his wife
Josephine Phillips gave birth to Henry Myers Phillips
1863:
Birthdate of Landstuhl, Germany native Lazarus Reinheimer, the husband of
Karoline Klien and the father of Ludwig Reinheimer.
1864(23rd
of Shevat, 5624): Fifty-one year old Bavarian lawyer Fischel Arnheim whose
legal reputation led to his election four times to the Bavarian Legislature
from the cities of Hof and Munchberg.
1864(23rd
of Shevat, 5624): Fifty-five year old Rabbi Michael Sachs who was enlightened
enough to be “one of the first Jewish graduates from the modern universities”
but who “so strongly opposed the introduction of the organ into the Synagogue
that he retired from the Rabbinate rather than acquiesce” which led him to a
literary life that included a new translation of the Bible passed away today.
1865: The
House of Representatives passed the 13th Amendment today paving the
way for it to be sent to the States for ratification.
1866(15th
of Shevat, 5626): Tu B’Shevat
1866: In
Highville, PA, Rudolph H. Kauffman the Creswell, PA born son of Anna and Isaac
Kaufman and his wife Ann Kauffman gave wife to Alice Funk Gramm
1869:
Birthdate of Hungary native Morris Newfield who in 1894 came to the United
States where he graduated from Hebrew Union College, became the rabbi at
Temple Emanu-El, married Leah Ullman, the daughter of Samuel Ullman, with whom
he raised four children, Emma, Mayer, Lena and John Newfield
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/newfield-morris
http://americanjewisharchives.org/publications/journal/PDF/2007_59_01_02_doc_langston.pdf
1869: One day
after he had passed away, 78 year old Edward Van Weerden, the husband of
Caroline Van Weerden was today buried in the “West Ham Jewish Cemetery.”
1870:
Birthdate of German author Dr. Eduard Fuchs whose works included Jews in
Caricature and who was “violently attacked by the Nazi regime” and forced to
flee Germany “because his second wife, the former Grete Alsberg was a Jewess.”
1876: In the
village of Longdowns, Cornwall, Thomas and Jane Hocking Spargo gave birth to
John Spargo, the author of The Jews and American Ideals in which he “attacked
the problem of anti-Semitism and exposes the un-American nature and its
positive danger to American ideals and institutions.”
https://www.amazon.com/Jew-American-Ideals-John-Spargo/dp/1543140858#reader_1543140858
1871: It was
reported today that the Russian government has issued an imperial decree
exempting Jews from military service once they reach the age of 32.
Christians are exempt once they reach the age of 23. Any Jew who converts will
not have to serve in the military – another example of “proselytism by main
force.”
1874: In the
United Kingdom, start of the general election in which Benjamin Disraeli’s
Conservatives would win a majority of the seats in the House of Commons.
1881: As of
today, the books of the Board of Endowment of the Grand Lodge of the order
Kesher Shel Barzel, District No.1 showed a deficiency of $2,996.36 which would
later be attributed to embezzlement by President Oettinger.
1881: In
London, Minna and Anton Dunkelsbuhler gave birth to George Dunkelsbuler.
1881: Three
days after she had passed away, 85-year-old Hannah Simmons was buried today at
“Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1881: In St.
Louis, MO, Jacob D. and Sarah (Hirsch) Goldman gave birth to Harvard graduate
Alvin D. Goldman, the President of Lesser-Goldman Cotton Company, the director
and chairman of the executive board of the St. Louis Compress CO and husband of
Balance Lesser who was a supporter of the Y.M.H.A, the Jewish Hospital of St.
Louis and Temple Shaare Emeth.
1884(4th
of Shevat, 5644): Thirty-nine-year-old German orientalist Siegfried Goldschmidt
who fought in the Franco-Prussian War and died today of spinal consumption
before he could assume his duties as a professor at the University of
Strasburg.
1885(15th
of Shevat, 5645): Shabbat Shirah and Tu B’Shevat
1885:
Twenty-one-year-old pianist Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler made “her New York debut
came today with a performance of Anton Buinstein’s Concerto in D Minor
1886:
Birthdate of Yehuda Leyb Schwarzmann who gained fame as Lev Shestov a Russian -
Jewish existentialist philosopher. The Kiev native fled to France in 1921
seeking to escape the society created by the Bolsheviks after the Russian
Revolution. He lived in Paris until his death in 1938.
1890: In Cape
Town, SA, Karel Lodewyk Kramer and Anna Maria Elizabeth Kramer gave birth to
Albert Kramer the husband of Elizabeth Francis Kramer.
1890: Henry A.
Jackson, the Secretary of the Emigration Commission received a letter from
Charles Frank, the Superintendent of the United Hebrew Charities attesting to
the ability of Moses Gershonfeldt to be able to provide for his wife and four
children who were being held at Ward’s Island because Commissioner Stephenson
had arbitrarily denied them admission even though Moses, a butcher who earned
$12 a week and his son Joseph who earned $9 a week had come to his office,
described their financial condition and sought to leave with his wife and
remaining children whose passage he had paid so that the family could be
reunited.
1891:
Twenty-nine-year-old “Edward Lawrence Levy” won “the first British amateur
weight lifting championship today.
1891: During
the Congressional Investigation of the management of the Barge Office, Colonel
John B. Weber the former Superintendent Weber testified as to how the United
Hebrew Charities had offered to care for a poor Englishwoman that Dr. Drum and
the “powerful and wealthy Episcopal church” had to turned its back on leading
Weber to say that he “prayed if he was to be born again he should be born a
Jews for then he would have somebody to care of him if he should ever be in
need.”
1892: In New
York City, Meta and Mechel Iskowitz gave birth to Edward Israel Iskowitz the
orphan who was raised by his grandmother Esther Kantrowtiz and gained fame as
Eddie Cantor.
1892: It was
reported today that six members of the senior class at Rutgers are studying
Hebrew, “the study of which is increasing in” the United States.
1892:
Birthdate of Moritz Guttman the native Kleinsteinach who fought in the German
Army during WW I.
1892: Rabbi
Henry S. Jacobs of B’nai Jeshrun officiated at the funeral of Benjamin Russak
which was held at his home and followed by burial at Cypress Hills. The police
were on hand to deal with the large number of carriages that brought a throng
of the city’s leading business leaders and prominent members of the Jewish
community.
1892: Charles
Spurgeon, the English Reformed Baptist Minister who expressed his disgust for
the Czar’s treatment of his Jewish subjects, passed away. “If I had all the
health and strength that could fall to the lot of man, I should be quite unable
to express my feelings on reading of Russia’s intolerance of the Jews…The Czar
is greatly injuring his own country by driving out God’s ancient people.
No country can trample with impunity.”
1892: “The
Russian Exiles” published today described efforts by the Jewish community to
meet the needs of the swelling tide of immigrants that is arriving from
Europe. According to the United Hebrew Charities 62,574 Jews arrived in
New York last with five-sixths or 54,194 of them coming from Russia. The
total included 26,891 men, 16,393 women and 19,290 children. Only 195 of
the immigrants were sent back to Europe by the U.S. government while 46,029
have remained in the city with the rest having been provided transportation to
other cities.
1893: The
Jewish community of Philadelphia is scheduled to host a charity ball today to
which President-elect Grover Cleveland was invited by A.E. Greenwald and
Chapman Raphael.
1893: “L’Amico
Fritz” Mascagni’s second opera is scheduled to be performed at the Music Hall
tonight under the direction of Walter Damrosch with the proceeds going to the
Hebrew Educational Institute.
1893: Charles
Frohman “signed a contract” today” under which his comedians will open at the
Garden Theatre” in September.
1893: In
Indianapolis, Harry and Hannah (Schiff) Efroymson gave birth to Abram
Efroymson, a member of the United States Army Field Artillery during WW I and
President of the Terminal and Refrigeration Corporation who was leader of the
Cleveland Jewish community and the husband of Sylvia Spira with whom he had two
children – Alan and John.
https://prabook.com/web/abram_b.efroymson/1054688
1894:
Birthdate of Brooklyn native and NYU trained otolaryngologist Max Rabbiner, the
husband of “the former Eva Ruttenberg.”
1894:
Birthdate of Otto Gunstling who was transported from Prague to Ujazdow to
Majdanek where he was murdered in 1942.
1895:
Birthdate of New York native Alfred Augustus Haldenstein, the Chemist who
earned a B.S. from Columbia in 1915.’
1895:
Thirty-two-year-old Pittsburgh, PA attorney Joseph Stadfeld, the New York City
born son of Moritz and Sophie (Spier) Stadtfeld and member of Rodef Shalom
Congregation married Carrie Edmundson today in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1895: Isaac
Spectosky of the Hebrew Institute was among those who attended today’s meeting
of the Federation of East Side Workers.
1896: In
Philadelphia PA, the American Jewish Historical Society held the final day of
it fourth annual conference during which Dr. Cyrus Adler present a paper on
“Notes on the Inquisition in Mexico and the Jews”; Max Kohler presented a paper
on “The Jews and the American Anti-Slavery Movement” and Professor Morris
Jastrow presented a paper on “Documents Relating to the Career of Colonel Isaac
Franks.”
1896: In
Charleston, W.Va., Rosa and Lewis S. Strauss gave birth to Lewis Lichtenstein
Strauss, the financier and husband of Alice Hanauer who worked with Herbert
Hoover on providing food relief during World War, became a Rear Admiral in the
Navy and served as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.
1897: Dr. Emil
G. Hirsch was among those who attended a conference of South Side Charities in
Chicago, Illinois.
1897: Two days
after she had passed away, Fanny Lyons, the daughter of Henry and Maria Nathan
and the wife of Aaron Lyons with whom she had had four children was buried
today at the “Plashet Jewish Cemetery” in London.
1897: Rabbi
Gustav Gottheil preached a sermon entitled “Rights and Wrongs of Rich and Poor”
at Temple Emanu-El this morning.
1897: The
Jewish Socialists’ Convention continued its meeting for another day at the
Walhalla Hall on Orchard Street.
1897:
Professor Richard J.H. Gottheil “delivered the fifth and last course of his on
‘The Geography of Palestine’ at Temple Emanu-El” this evening. Gottheil
is the son of the congregation’s rabbi and the college professor who helped
found Zeta Beta Tau.
1897:
Twenty-four-year-old Montgomery, Alabama native I.O. Schiff, the son of Rabbi
Abraham J. Schiff and a member of the New York firm of Schiff Bros. married
Stella Newmark with whom he had three children – Ruth, Stanley T. and Roslyn
Schiff.
1898: It was
reported today that Mrs. Esther Wallenstein has been elected President of the
Hebrew Infant Asylum Association and that Maurice Untermyer has been elected
Vice President
1898: It was
reported today that arrangements are being completed for a debated between
representatives of the Jewish Technical School, the Hebrew Institute and the
Young Men’s Hebrew Association.
1898: It was
reported today that Rabbi Gustav Gottheil views newspapers “as the recorders
and distributors of the world’s daily history” which provide information that
will break down prejudice.
1898: It was
reported today that the committee that is trying to building the first Jewish
hospital in Brooklyn has selected four potential sites. The committee’s
officers are: President – Robert Strahl; Vice President – Sigmund Wechsler;
Secretary – Charles Levy
1899: In
Jerusalem, Goldie and Pincus Barsel gave birth to Rabbi Solomon Barsel, the
husband of Rae Shapiro Shelow who served Congregation B’nai Jershurum in
Philadelphia.
1899: The
seventh annual meeting of the Hebrew Free Loan Association was held this
evening at the Educational Alliance on East Broadway
1899: It was
reported today that the officers of the Union of Jewish Religious Schools are:
President-Richard Gottheil; Vice Presidents – Miss Julia Rachman and Dr.
Kaufmann Kohler; Honorary Treasurer – A.F. Hochstader; Honorary Secretary –
Rabbi Stephen O. Wise
1899: Daniel
P. Hays presided over a dinner given by the Judeans to honor Dr. Cyrus Adler
who is the newly elected President of the American Jewish Historical Society.
1900(1st
of Adar I, 5660): Rosh Chodesh Adar I
1900: “Jacob
Oppenheimer, sold for a client, a four-story flat on Lexington Avenue for
$25,000.
1901(11th
of Shevat): On the Jewish calendar, anniversary of the expulsion of the Jews
from Colmar, Germany which occurred in 1519 or 5720.
1902: Edwin
Thanhouser, the Baltimore born son of Samuel and Julia Thanhouser and actor who
went on to start the Thanhouser Film Coporation in New Rochelle, NY and the
former Gertrude Homan gave birth to Lloyd Tanhouser.
1903(3rd
of Shevat, 5663): Parashat Bo
1903: Today,
Louis S. Gottlieb, the business manager for the Grand Theatre Company said that
“the purpose of his company was to furnish dramatic entertainment for the
better class of east side Jews, who still find it easier to listen to plays” in
Yiddish “than to plays in English.”
1903: “Three
Jewish families from Roumania” who spoke only Spanish” landed today at Ellis
Island and through an interpreter, Ephraim Navon, explained that they “were the
descendants of Jewish who had been driven out Spain during the reign of
Ferdinand and Isabella.”
1904: In
Germany, Samuel and Malchen Jeselsohn gave birth to Albert Jeselsohn
1904: Twenty-nine-year-old
Aaron Rauzin, the Grodno, Russia born son of Mechel and Amelia Rauzin who would
settle in Savannah, GA where he served on the police force and organized the
Mutual Insurance Company of Georgia and the Mercantile Bank and Trust Company, today
married Ana Helfant with whom he had four children – Albert, Julius, Miriam and
Moses—while serving as the director of the Jewish Educational Alliance.
1905: The
Correspondent for the Daily Mail telegraphed a report of the violent outbreak
in Warsaw in which he noted that the “Jewish shops have been the special mark
for plunder.”
1906:
Birthdate of Benjamin Frankel, the London born composer who was “the son of
Polish-Jewish immigrants.”
http://www.musicweb-international.com/frankel/
1906: “School
Principal’s Answer” published today described the hearing held today by
District School Board No. 39 to determine if Principal Frank Harding’s
references to Christ last December at an assembly at Public School 144 were an
attempt to proselytize students at the school in a neighborhood “inhabited
almost entirely by Jews” as first alleged by a student Augusta Herbert.
1906:
“Cossacks Massacre Jews” published today described the attacks on the Jews of
Gomel by Cossacks whose efforts “to obtain evidence of revolutionary activity”
degenerated into an orgy of drunken looting and murder.
1906: Maurice
Arnoff and Adolf Spiegel of Temple El Chaim officiated at the wedding of
Solomon Levin who manufacturers wax images and Mollie Mogilewsky, the daughter
of east side banker Rubin Mogilewsky which was held at the Attorney Street
Synagogue.
1906: The
engagement of Benjamin Mogilwesky, the son of east side banker Rubin Mogilewsky
to Rebecca Thomas as announced today.
1907: “Miss
Hook of Holland” a two-act musical comedy “with music and lyrics by Paul
Rubens” who co-authored the book “opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre” today
where it would run for 462 performances.
1908: It was
reported today that Vladimir K. Stoleschnikoff, one of the early leaders of
“The Will of the People,” a Russian revolutionary organization who maintained
“close relations with the radical wing of the Russian Jewish community” has
passed away passed away in Mobile, AL.
1909:
Birthdate Yosef Burg, “a seminal Israeli political figure who was a Cabinet
Minister for 35 years as a head of the religious Zionist movement…” (As
reported by Deborah Sontag)
1910:
Birthdate of Giorgio Perlasca, an Italian who, with the collaboration of
official diplomats, posed as the Spanish consul-general to Hungary in the
winter of 1944, and saved 5218 Jews from deportation to Nazi Germany death
camps in eastern Europe.
https://jfr.org/rescuer-stories/perlasca-giorgio/
1910: Today,
Alphonse Weiner was appointed to the Board of Education in New York.
1910:
Birthdate of Omaha native and Creighton University trained attorney Ephraim
Louis Marks.
https://archives.nebraska.edu/agents/people/1553
1911(2nd
of Shevat, 5671): Sixty-seven-year-old Paul Singer, a leading German Marxist
and a co-chairman of the Social Democratic Party passed away.
1911: Julian
Mack began serving as a justice on the Seventh Court of Appeals
1912: It was
reported today that “The State Department professes complete ignorance of the
source or authority of the bill reported to have been introduced in the Russian
Duma proposing the exclusion of American Jews from the empire and providing for
increased duties on American goods entering Russian ports.”
1913(23rd
of Shevat, 5673): Sixty-year-old Alfred Cohen, a “Councillor at the Supreme
Court of Justice, passed away today in Munich.
1913: Moses
and Beila Scheindlinger gave birth to Samuel Scheindlinger, the graduate of NYU
Law School and Manhattan resident who served as a Commissioner of Deeds.
1914(4th
of Shevat, 5674): Parashat Bo
1914(4th
of Shevat, 567) Forty-five-year-old “painter and etcher” the Charlotte, NC born
son of Johanna and Bernard Koopman and the husband of Louise Lovett Osgood
passed away today.
https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/koopman-augustus
1914: In a
letter to the German press, Dr. Paul Nathan, the distinguished German Jewish
leader, replied to accusations leveled against him by Zionists “including
certain well-known Jews” in the United States in which he “emphatically denied
that the lion’s share of the capital for the New Technical College and other
institutions in Palestine has been contributed by Americans” saying that the Americans had subscribed
$160,000, the Russian had subscribed $100,000 and the Germans $100,000 and that
since the Germans and the Americans have an “equal financial” interest in the
college, the Germans are entitled to advance their contention that German, and
not Hebrew, should be the language of instruction.
1915:
Birthdate of Altoona, PA native Maurice Howard “Babe” Patt the Carnegie Tech tight end who played
professionally the NFL Detroit Lions and Cleveland Rams before spending WW II
in the U.S. Navy.
http://blaircountysportshof.com/maurice-patt/
http://blaircountysportshof.com/wp-content/uploads/1989-Maurice-Patt.pdf
1915: “New
Jewish Magazine” published today described the publication by the
Intercollegiate Menorah Association of the first issue of The Menorah
Journal a bi-monthly under the guidance of editor in chief Henry Hurwitz
which includes the following articles: “A Call to the Educated Jew” by Louis
Brandeis; “Jewish Students in European Universities” by Harry Wolfson; “The
Jews in War” by Dr. Joseph Jacobs and “Days of Disillusionment” by Samuel
Strauss.
1915: In
Atlanta, GA, “the jury in the case of Dan S. Lehon, C.C. Tedder and Arthur
Forman charge with subornation of a perjury in an effort to obtain a new trial
for Leo M. Frank, convicted of the murder of Mary Phagan, brought in a verdict
of not guilty at 1:50 this afternoon.”
1915: “If Leo
Frank obtains his freedom from the United States Supreme Court, it was
announced today that Solicitor Dorsey would make an effort to have him indicted
by the Grand Jury on one of two other charges” and that “Solicitor Dorsey said
he intended to fight the case to the bitter end.”
1915: “Another
batch” of refugees from Palestine have arrived at Alexandria aboard “the United
States warship Tennessee which has been fitted up as transport” and have
provided information that shows “the inability of the Turks to anything that is
effective against Egypt
1915: It was
reported today that “the Russian Government is now seeking to re-establish the
autocracy as it existed before granting of the constitution” and has returned
to its practice of organizing demonstrations against the Jews.
1915:
“Refugees who have arrived in Egypt from Palestine report that conditions go
from bad to worse” with “relations between the German and Turkish officers have
reached a stage of acute tension.”
1916: While
developments today with respect to the nomination of Louis D. Brandeis to be an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court did not change the rather general
opinion among Senators that the nomination would be confirmed, it became more
apparent that confirmation would not be accomplished without a struggle.
1916: It was
reported today that New York Assemblymen Nathan Perlman and Myer Levy were
among those who attended the dance held “by the Madison Republican of the
Twenty-Sixth Assembly District for the benefit of war sufferers.”
1916: In a
sign of the non-sectarian nature of the fund raising efforts on behalf of the
Jews of Europe, it was reported that Senator Boise Penrose and Congressman
William S. Vare were among those who spoke at the Philadelphia Mass Meeting
organized by the American Jewish Relief Committee.
1916: Sendel
and Riva Grynszpan, the parents of Herschel Grynsapan (the alleged assassin of
Ernst von Rath) gave birth to their third child and second daughter, Esther.
1916: As a
measure of the worsening conditions in Russia, “many commercial and technical
associations have adopted resolutions declaring the restrictions placed up the
Jews are the reason for Russia’s commercial backwardness.”
1916: Among
those who paid tribute to Dr. Joseph Jacobs “the noted Jewish scholar and
editor of the American Hebrew” who passed away yesterday were Cyrus L.
Sulzberger, “Dr. Frank H. Vizitelly, the scholar and author associated with Dr.
Jacobs in many of the publications issued by Funk and Wagnalls” and Louis
Marshall.”
1916(26th
of Shevat, 5676): German born, and German educated baker Max Oscher who came to
the United States “forty-five years” ago where formed several baking companies
in the Max Oscher Company passed away today at his home in Manhattan.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/02/02/100188345.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1916: “The
National Jewish Workmen’s Committee on Jewish Rights announced” today “that it
will submit to Congress document expositing atrocities practice on the Jews in
the warring countries of Europe.”
1917: In a
move that will bring the United States into World War I, Germany announces it
will resume its policy of allowing U-Boats “attack any and all ships, including
civilian passenger carriers, said to be sighted in war-zone waters” – a
practice popularly referred to as “unrestricted submarine warfare.”
1917: As the
debate over immigration continued to rage across the American political
spectrum, Max J. Kohler, the son of Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler wrote today that “No
doubt a very large portion of the thoughtful and patriotic citizens of our
country hope that Congress will sustain the President’s veto of the Immigration
bill and particularly is that true of those who, like the Jewish citizens of
the United States, love our hallowed American precedent of right of asylum for
the persecuted…
1918(18th of
Shevat, 5678): Dr. Jechiel Tchlenow, the Moscow physician who was a major
leader of the Zionist movement passed away. In 1917, Tchlenow had come to
London “where he took an active part in the diplomatic negotiations that have
resulted in official declarations by Great Britain” favoring the creation of a
Jewish homeland in Palestine.
1919:
Birthdate of Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier in major
league baseball when he played with the Brooklyn Dodgers. . Robinson was
befriended by Hank Greenberg, the Jewish slugger who had had to deal with
bigotry during his career. According to Jonathan Eig, the only friends
that Robinson had in Brooklyn during his first year “were Jewish people.” “The
Jewish community clearly recognized a kindred spirit here, someone who had to
prove himself. The war had just ended, [and] anti-Semitism was running high.
Blacks and Jews both, after the war, felt they had some work to do to establish
more respect."
1920(11th
of Shevat,5680): Parashat Beshalach
1920: “More
than $300,000 was contributed or pledged towards the million-dollar campaign of
the Brooklyn Federation of Jewish Charities which was started” tonight “with a
dinner at the Hotel Pennsylvania.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/02/01/118254311.html?pageNumber=2
1921: The
Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Victor Berger who had been convicted
of violating the Espionage Act and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. In
overturning the conviction, the Supreme Court found that the presiding Judge,
Kennesaw Landis (the future Baseball Commissioner) had improperly presided over
the case after the filing of an affidavit of prejudice.
1922: In New
York City, playwright and movie producer Frank Mandel, the San Francisco born
son of Emanuel and Caroline Carrie Mandel and his wife Alice Wallerstein Mandel
gave birth to Alfred M. Mandel
1923: In Long
Branch, NJ, “Isaac Barnett Mailer, an accountant born in South Africa” and the
former Fanny Schneider gave birth to Pulitzer Prize winning author Norman
Mailer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/books/11mailer.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/10/books.booksnews
1923: Birthdate
of Budapest native and Israeli “caricaturist and illustrator” Yaakov Farkash,
the survivor of Buchenwald and Dachau who served with the 7th
Armored Brigade during the War for Independence who is known by his pen name “Ze’ev.”
1924:
Birthdate of Marion Ruth Abitz, the wife of Irving Abitz
1924: In
Pontiac, Michigan, Fannie Ester Blustin and Philip Taubman gave birth to mall
developer Adolph Alfred Taubman.
1925:
Birthdate of Charles Eliot Silberman, the native of Des Moines, Iowa, who
gained fame as “a journalist whose books addressed vast, turbulent social
subjects including race, education, crime and the state of American Jewry.” (As
reported by Margalit Fox)
1926: In
Washington, DC, Cecil David Kaufman, the Detroit born son of Cora and Saul
Harris Kaufmann and his wife Isabelle Kaufmann gave birth to Edmund I. Kaufman.
1926: After
The Joint Board’s contract with the furriers in New York expired today, Ben
“Gold led a massive furriers’ strike.”
1927: “The
Intercollegiate Menorah Association ended its three-day conference with a
dinner at the Hotel Commodore tonight after announcing its plans to establish
the Menorah Foundation” the aim of which is “to foster research and exact
knowledge and humanistic interpretation of whole filed Jewish experience and
expression, past and present.”
1927: Mrs.
Anna Moskowitz Kross chairman of the city-wide women’s division announced the
appointment of seventeen sectional chairman tonight who will help raise
$250,000 as part of United Palestine appeals fund raising effort to rebuild the
Jewish homeland.
1928: Nathan
Straus, prominent philanthropist, celebrated the eightieth anniversary of his
birthday today at his home, 580 West End Avenue. He will spend the day
quietly with members of his immediate family. Among those sending
congratulatory communications are President Calvin Coolidge and New York City
Mayor Jimmy Walker. While Straus has gained great honor for his humanitarian
efforts, he was proud of his business acumen and some of his unique
accomplishments which, according to him, included the introduction of rest
rooms and medical care employees. His philanthropic contributions in
Palestine were made with the understanding that they would be available to all
regardless of race, religion, creed or nationality. Everybody knows about
his support of Jewish settlers, but how many people are aware of the fact that
he gave funds that were to be used by Arabs so that they buy modern
agricultural equipment? How many people known that when Palestine was
struck by an earthquake, and Arabs were the chief victims, he sent a
substantial sum earmarked for their use?
1928: Mrs.
Hertha Fuerth Lasker, a Viennese artist who was married last August to Edward
Lasker, one of the leading chess players in the United States and a cousin of
Albert Lasker, former Chairman of the United States Shipping Board, was a
passenger on the Hamburg-American liner which arrived in New York tonight.
1929: Stalin expelled Leon
Trotsky Russia. Trotsky took refuge in Turkey.
1930: The
Golden Ring, a romantic operetta, set in Tel Aviv, premiered at the National
Theatre on Second Avenue in New York City.
1930: The
trial of Simcha Hinkas, the Jewish policeman charged with leading a Jewish
crowd which killed a family of Arabs in Jaffa on Aug. 25, 1929 continued today
in Jaffa with the prosecution presenting what it considered to be its strongest
witnesses.
1930: The Times “reported from Jerusalem today
that the Palestine government” has proposed the establishment of an
“agricultural bank…with a capital of $2,500,000.”
1931: “The
Last Parade” produced by Harry and Jack Cohn was released today in the United
States.
1931: Dr.
William H. Hechler, a Protestant clergyman and teacher who was an early
supporter of Theodore Herzl and his Zionist program passed away today at the
age of 86. Among other things, Hechler arranged for Herzl to meet Kaiser
Wilhelm in those pre-war days when it was thought that the German monarch could
persuade the Ottomans to support a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
1932: The
New York Times reported that Miss Freda Berson of Warsaw who is one of the
best discus throwers in Poland and Miss Heda Bienenfeld of the Vienna Hokah, an
outstanding Austrian swimmer will be competing in the upcoming Maccabiah.
1932: In
Boston, Samuel Joseph Bernstein and Jennie Bernstein gave birth to Burton
Bernstein, the younger brother of musician Leonard Bernstein.
1933(4th
of Shevat, 5693): Heinrich Oppenheimer, the German born physician who moved to
Britain where he pursued a medical career and, after obtaining an LL.B combined
his two areas of interest to produce “The Criminal Reasonability of “Lunatics:
A Study in Comparative Law” and “The Rational for Punishment” passed away today
in Nice.
1933: In
Baltimore, MD, homemaker Pauline Maimon and “cobbler” Robert Mower gave birth
to Johns Hopkins Medical school graduate Morton Maimon Mower, “an
entrepreneurial cardiologist who helped invent an implantable defibrillator
that has saved many lives by returning potentially fatal irregular heart
rhythms to normal with an electrical jolt” and the husband of Toby Kurland
Mower with whom he had two children. (As reported by Richard Sandomir)
1933: On the
day after they had dined together in Washington Friedrich Wilhelm von Prittwitz
und Gaffron resigned as the German Ambassador to the United States and told German-Jewish
Lion Feuchtwanger not to return to Germany.
1934:
Birthdate of “Alfred Appel Jr., a scholarly expert on Vladimir Nabokov, whose
lecture course he attended at Cornell and the author of wide-ranging
interpretive books on modern art and jazz.” (As reported by William Grimes)
1934(15th of
Shevat, 5694): Tu B'Shevat
1934: Zionist
District No. 29 is scheduled to host “a gala Palestine celebration of Chamisha
Asar Beshavat” this evening at the Burnside Manor in the Bronx.
1934: Jacob
Landau is scheduled to deliver a lecture on “Germany As I Saw It” “at the fifth
anniversary celebration of the Jersey City Jewish Community Center this
evening”
1934: Dr.
Sidney S. Goldstein is scheduled to deliver a lecture on “The Translation of
the Ideals of Social Justice Into Social Action” at this afternoon’s meeting of
the New York Board of Jewish Ministers.
1935 (27th of
Shevat, 5695); David Trietsch, an expert on the agriculture and economy of
Palestine, as well as “one of the founders of the Zionist movement” passed away
today. The 65-year-old native of Germany died of heart failure at Rmat
Ayim, near Tel Aviv. Trietsch believed that a Jewish homeland would be
created through “practical colonization” as opposed to political
negotiations. When the Ottomans sought to halt Jewish settlement in
Palestine, Trietsch supported the settlement of Jews in Cyprus so that they
would be poised to move to Palestine quickly as soon as there was a change in
the political climate.
1935: “The
Good Fairy” a romantic comedy directed by William Wyler and produced by Carl
Laemmle, Jr. premiered in New York City.
1935: In
Croatia, Mane and Helen Hochwald gave birth to Branko Hochwald, who would come
to United States in 1944 where he gained fame as Raymond B. Harding, the leader
of New York State’s Liberal Party. (As reported by Robert D. McFadden)
1936: In New
York City, “celebration of the 25th anniversary of the appointment
of Julian Mack to serve as a federal judge.
1936: In Los
Angeles, “celebration of the 20th anniversary of Edgard J. Magnin
serving as the rabbi of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple.”
1936: “The
suffering of the Jews in Germany has brought into focus the necessity for an
all-inclusive brotherhood of Jews and Gentiles in the city and nation,”
according to the 1935 Report of the Greater New York Federation of Churches
which was made public today.
1937: In “A
Short Survey of the History of Music” published today, Richard Aldrich reviewed
A Short History of Music by Alfred Einstein which had been translated
from the German language.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/01/31/118952592.html?pageNumber=93
1937: Five
days after he had passed away, eighty-six-year-old sculptor Ephraim Keyser, the
of Moses Keyser and Betty Preiss whose works included “busts of Sidney Lanier,
Cardinal Gibbons, Dr. Daniel Gilman, and Henry Harland” and a “statute of
Major-General Baron De Kalb” for the United States Government which was
“erected at Annapolis, MD” was laid to rest today.
1937: In
Baltimore, MD Ida (née Gouline) and Benjamin Charles Glass, a record store
owner, gave birth to composer Philip Morris Glass
1937: Ben-Zion
Mossinson of Tel Aviv delivered an address at New York’s Rodeph Sholom entitled
“Is There A Solution for the Jewish Problem?”
1938: Muriel Rukeyser established herself as a poet
of enduring impact with the publication of U.S. 1, her second book of
poems.
https://jwa.org/thisweek/jan/31/1938/muriel-rukeyser
1938: The
Palestine Post reported that three large Arab bands abducted nine Arab
supernumerary policemen from their police post near Acre and shot their
corporal dead in cold blood. The Arab policemen were disarmed and beaten,
warned to leave the force and released. At another police post in the South
arms and ammunition were stolen.
1938: The
Palestine Post reported that Romania officially denounced the Minorities
Treaty into which it had entered upon gaining independence at the Peace
Conference at Versailles, and claimed that the Jewish question was now "a
purely internal matter" over which the League of Nations had no more
jurisdiction. This meant that Romania now felt free to implement still more
severe anti-Semitic discriminatory measures.
1938: The
Palestine Post reported on the rise of anti-Jewish feelings and vandalism
in Yugoslavia including the fact that "local Nazis" had smashed the
windows out of the Sephardic synagogue of Belgrade.
1939: “During
the parliamentary debate” today in Budapest “on the anti-Jewish bill, the
president of the Association of Hungarian Industrialists, Alexander Knob, said
Hungarian economic life would be gravely endangered by ‘proletarization’ of
6,000 to 7,000 Jews.”
1940: In New
York, Dr. Eugene Hevesi, a Hungarian-born leader in the American Jewish
community who served as foreign affairs secretary for the American Jewish
Committee and as representative to the United Nations for several Jewish NGOs
and his wife gave birth to Alan Hevesi, the New York Democrat who served as
Comptroller of New York City and State Comptroller for the state of New York.
He is also the brother of New York Timesman Dennis Hevesi who creates literary
gems for the obituary page.
1940: In
Davenport Iowa, Morris and Gertrude Kalina Margolin gave birth to Emmy award winning
actor, director and screenwriter Stuart Margolin who was best known for the
role “ Angel Martin” the scruffy con man who was a regular on the “Rockford
Files.
1941(3rd
of Shevat, 5701): Twenty-four-year-old Bulla (Bubbles) Blumenson was killed by
enemy action today after which she was interred at the Rainham Jewish Cemetery.
1941: Three
thousand Jews were taken from their villages and moved into the Warsaw Ghetto.
Another 70,000 Jews would be uprooted and moved into the Warsaw Ghetto by the
end of March.
1941: U.S.
premiere of “Come Live With Me” starring Hedy Lamar.
1941:
Birthdate of Leningrad native Lev M. Bergman, the Israeli mathematician “most
known for the Bregman divergence named after him.”
1942 (13th of
Shevat, 5702): Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah passed away in New York. Wife of the
fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneerson, and mother of the
sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah lived through the
upheavals of the first half of the 20th century. She fled the advancing front
of World War I from Lubavitch to Rostov, where her husband passed away in 1920
at age 59. In 1927, she witnessed the arrest of her son by Stalin's henchmen
the night he was taken away and sentenced to death, G-d forbid, for his efforts
to keep Judaism alive throughout the Soviet empire. After Rabbi Yosef
Yitzchak's release, the family resettled in Latvia and later, Poland; in 1940,
they survived the bombing of Warsaw, were rescued from Nazi-occupied city, and
immigrated to the United States.
1942:
Einsatzgruppe A commanding officer, Franz W. Stahlecker, sent a detailed report
about activities in the Baltic and White Russian countries. It stated that
between July 23 and October 15, 1941, 135,567 Jews were killed. Eichmann sent
out a letter making official the conclusions of the Wannsee Conference,
"The evacuation of the Jews . . . is the beginning of the final solution
of the Jewish problem."
1942: By the
end of January, at least 160,000 Jews were living in the Lodz ghetto.
1943(25th
of Shevat, 5703): Fifty-nine-year-old Elizabethgrad native and Brooklyn trained
lawyer Leon Dashew, the husband Esther Dashew and father of Ruth, Stanley and
Betty Dashew passed away today.
1944: “Former
Justice Joseph M. Proskauer, president of the American Jewish Committee,
telegraphed today to Associate Justice Frank Murphy of the Supreme Court that
"the formation of the National Committee Against Nazi Persecution and
Extermination of the Jews will be commended by right-thinking men of all faiths
and creeds."
1944: At a
meeting attended by two hundred women “the leaders of six noted Jewish
organizations today characterized unity among its various groups as the
solution to rebuilding and preserving Jewish life after” World War II.
1945(17th of
Shevat, 5705): Fritz Freund, husband of Mathilde Freund, died at Buchenwald
just three months before the camp was liberated. In the first decade of
the 21st century Mathilde Freund would sue France’s government owned
railroad, Societe National des Chemins de Fer Francais over its role in the
deportation of her husband and thousands of other French Jews to the death
camps.
1946: Having
resigned from the RAF Mordechai "Modi" Alon returned to Palestine and
enrolled as an architecture student at the Technion. Allon would gain fame as
one of the first fighter pilots in the IAf and the first one to shoot down an
enemy aircraft.
1946: In
Brooklyn, Edward Drosnin, an accountant and Evelyn (Freed) Drosnin gave birth
to Columbia educated journalist Michael Drosnin, the author of The Bible
Code in which he wrote that “references to historical and contemporary
events were secretly encoded in the Old Testament.”
1946: “The
citation for Captain Isidore’s MBE that concluded ‘For his courage and devotion
to duty during his two clandestine missions in Occupied France, it is
recommended that Captain Newman be appointed a Member of the Order of the
British Empire (Military Division)’ was gazetted today.”
1947: In the
House of Commons, during a debate about Britain marinating the Mandate in
Palestine, Churchill, leading the Opposition, calls for the Government to end
the Mandate. Two weeks later, the Labor Government will adopt this as
policy.
1948:
Birthdate of poet Albert Goldbarth.
1948: J D Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Banana
Fish" appears in New York City.
1949: After
hearing Churchill’s speech in Parliament denouncing the logic of the Labor
Government’s policy towards Israel and calling for recognition of the new
Jewish state, Sir Simon Marks, a leading Jewish businessman and philanthropist,
wrote to the former PM assuring him that Chaim Weizmann would find great
comfort in his words.
1949: The U.S.
which had recognized Israel on a de factor basis on May 15 recognized Israel on
a de jure basis today.
1950: In
Larchmont, drama critic Walter Kerr and author Jean Collins Kerr gave birth to
John Kerr, “an editor, literary muse and confidant for a generation of Freudian
scholars and the author of A Most Dangerous Method, the book that became
the basis for a play and a movie directed by David Conenberg about the famous
feud between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung
1950:
President Truman revealed that he had ordered the Atomic Energy Commission to
develop the hydrogen bomb. This decision might have been called Dueling
Jewish Physicists. On one side was Dr. Oppenheimer, father of the A-Bomb
who opposed building the hydrogen bomb. On the other side was Dr. Teller
who had worked on the A-Bomb and favored building the H-Bomb. Teller won
out. Oppenheimer’s opposition was one of the causes of him losing his
security clearance during the 1950’s. This was an injustice that Teller did not
support, and that President Kennedy would rectify.
1951:
Birthdate of Dr. Harold Alan Pincus, the Vice Chair of the Department of
Psychiatry at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and
father of Zachary Pincus-Roth the Princeton educated writer and journalist.
1952(4th
of Shevat, 5712): Fifty-nine-year-old Jacob Landau, the Vienna born founder of
the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and the husband of Ida Bienstock Landau passed
away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/02/01/93344105.pdf
1952(4th
of Shevat, 5712): Seventy-eight-year-old Herbert Loeb, Sr., “the son of Rosa
and Adolph Loeb” and husband of Rose Regenstein Loeb passed away today in
Chicago.
1954: In
Detroit, Rabbi Joseph Segal officiated at the wedding of Wayne State University
graduate Eva Zaretsky and Harvard Law School graduate Morton Koppel, which was
held in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Irving Solomon, the uncle and aunt of the
bride.
1954: In
Copenhagen, father, Marcus Melchior, who “helped orchestrate the escape of over
7200 Danish Jews during the Nazi occupation of Denmark, and served and the
country's chief rabbi until his death in 1969” and his wife gave birth Rabbi
Michael Melchior, who made Aliyah in 1986 and served as an MK and cabinet
official
1955(8th
of Shevat, 5715): Egyptian authorities hanged two Jews in Cairo – Dr. Moshe
Marzouk and Samuel (Shmeul) Azar – who had been found guilty of spying for
Israel. Eight other Jews had been given long prison sentences for the
same reason.
1957: Martin
Landau married Barbara Bain today.
1958:
Lieutenant General Haim Laskov is serving as IDF Chief of Staff as the
Egyptians and Syrians prepare to form the United Arab Republic which will
increase the threat faced by the Jewish state.
1959: Today in
Atlanta, GA, “Theo Lippman, Jr., a writer at the Baltimore Sun, and Madeline
Mabry Lippman, a retired school librarian for the Baltimore City Public School
System gave birth Northwestern University trained journalist and award-winning
author of detective stories Laura Lippman the wife of to David Simon, another
former Baltimore Sun reporter, and creator and an executive producer of the HBO
series The Wire.
1960: At the
Park Avenue Synagogue, Rabbi Judah Nadich and Cantor David Putterman officiated
at the marriage of Rhoda Marilyn Nurenberg and Arthur Lewin, WW II veteran and graduate
of Syracuse University.
1960: In
Queens, at the Forest Hills Jewish Center, Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser officiated at
the marriage of Barbara Blumstein and Jack Barry Kolbrener.
1960: World
Sephardi Federation meets in Madrid, Spain. Some members complain they did not
want Spain to be the site of the meeting, as they did not want to return to
Spain for any reason.
1960: Songwriter Adolph Green married actress/singer
Phyllis Newman in New York City.
1960(2nd
of Shevat, 5720): Seventy-eight year old C. Lew Gallant, the Latvian born son
of Abraham and Jennie Kaplan Gallant passed away today after which he was
buried at the Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol Cemetey in Laude, MO.
1960: At the
Savoy Hilton, Rabbi Richard Sternberger officiated at the marriage of Lisa
Geffen and Wayne State University law student Barry M. Grant.
1961: David
Ben-Gurion resigned as premier of Israel.
1961: A
3.5-kilometer tract of land southwest of Mount Kidod was chosen today as the
site for the city of Arad.
1961: Joseph
Rosenstock returned to the Met today to conduct Tristan und Isolde.
1963(6th
of Shevat, 5723): Romanian born Ida Greenberg Zuckerman, the wife of Samuel
Zuckerman and the mother of Max, Benjamin and George Zuckerman passed away
today in Schenectady, NY after which she was buried in the Albany Hebrew
Tailors Cemetery in Albany, NY.
1965: CBS
broadcast the first episode of “For the People” a “legal drama” created by
Stuart Rosenberg, produced by Herbert Rodkin and starring William Shatner and
Howard Da Silva.
1966(10th
of Shevat, 5726): Fifty-eight-year-old Syracuse native “Jehudah M. Cohen” who
awas ordaing at the Jewish History of Religion and served as a regional
director for Hillel passed away today in Los Angeles.
1967(20th
of Shevat, 5727): Seventy-year-old sculptor, Virginia Morris Pollak, the wife
of Leo Pollak passed away today.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9901E4DF1439E53BBC4953DFB466838C679EDE
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/pollak-virginia-morris
1968: At
sunset, all non-Israeli military units gave up the search for the INS Dakar, an
Israeli submarine that had been first been reported missing on January 26.
1969: An
advisory committee for the special study of institutional investors whose
members included Chicago attorney Milton Cohen, the former director the
S.E.C.’s special study of securities markets is scheduled to meet with the
director of the study for first time today.
1970: After
546 performances on Broadway, the curtain came down Howard Sackler’s “The Great
White Hope.”
1970(24th
of Shevat, 5730): Seventy-six-year-old Samuel Feldman, the husband of Stella
Feldman of Long Beach, NY, passed away today in Miami Beach.
1970: In
Washington, DC, “Judith Plotz, an English professor at The George Washington
University, and Dr. Paul Plotz, researcher at the National Institutes of
Health” gave birth to “David Plotz, an American journalist and is currently the
CEO of Atlas Obscura, an online magazine devoted to discovery and exploration”
who is married to Hanna Rosin, “a co-founder of Slate magazine’s DoubleX.
1971(5th
of Shevat, 5731): Yiddish actress and author Tsili Adle who also performed under
the name of Tilsi Faryman who wrote (with the assistance of Yankev Tikman)
Tsili adler dertseylt (Celia Adler explains) which may have been the
inspiration for the film “Tsili” passed away today.
1972(15th
of Shevat, 5732): Tu B’Shevat
1972(15th
of Shevat, 5732) Eighty-eight-year-old Czechoslovakia native and NYU trained
attorney Samuel Berger, the World War II veteran and Republican political
activist who was a noted art collector and the uncle of painter Adolph
Gottlieb, passed away today.
1973(28th
of Shevat, 5733): Sixty-two-year-old Manchester born Sir Edgar Abraham Cohen, the
graduate of Balliol College, Oxford, who began his career at the Board of Trade
in 1932 and was knighted in 1955 passed away today.
1973: U.S.
premiere of “Steel Yard Blues” produced by Julia Phillips
1974: Linda
McCartney and her husband “appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone today, making her the only person to have taken a photograph, and to
have been photographed, for the front cover of the magazine.”
1974(8th of Shevat, 5734): Hilda Winifred
Lewis (nee Maizels), the Whitechapel born historical novelist who was the wife
of Dr. M.M. Lewis, the Director of the Institute of Education at the University
of Nottingham, the sister of Montague Maizels and Miriam Wright and
sister-in-law of Professor Samson Wright passed away today.
1974 (8th of
Shevat, 5734): Samuel Goldwyn, a major force in the creation of the
motion picture industry, passed away at the age of 91. The evolution of
Goldwyn’s name is microcosm of the experience of European Jews who came to
America. Born Schmuel Gelbfisz, he changed his name to Samuel Goldfish
when he moved to Great Britain because that sounded more English. After
he moved to America he went into partnership with two Broadway producers whose
names were Selwyn. In naming their partnership they combined their two
last names to create Goldwyn. Sam liked the American sound of it so much
that he changed his name for the third and last time. What is amazing is
the role that this Jewish immigrant from Poland played in creating modern
American culture. Among other things, he discovered that quintessential
American hero, Gary Cooper and won the Oscar for best picture with his
production “The Best Years of Our Lives.” Goldwyn may have been. When
Louis B Mayer a former partner turned commented on Goldwyn’s death he said,
“The reason so many people turned up at his funeral is that they wanted to make
sure he was dead." However, Goldwyn’s last production marked him as
a man of moral fiber. In his final film made in 1959, Samuel Goldwyn brought
together African-American actors Sidney Poitier Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis,
Jr. and singer Pearl Bailey in a film rendition of the George Gershwin Opera, Porgy
and Bess. The film won three Oscars. Samuel Goldwyn's lack of English
language skills led to many of his malapropisms being frequently quoted such
as:
- "A verbal
contract isn't worth the paper it's written on."
- "Include me
out."
- "What we need
now is some new, fresh clichés."
- "Anyone who
would go to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined!"
- "Every
director bites the hand that lays the golden egg."
- "Flashbacks
are a thing of the past."
- "A wide
screen just makes a bad film twice as bad."
1978: Israel
turned 3 military outposts in the West Bank into civilian settlements
1978: The
Jerusalem Post reported that Defense Minister Ezer Weizmann left for Cairo
for the second round of the interrupted military discussions. One of his
specific aims was reported to be to influence the Egyptians so that they would
modify their position of "not giving up even one inch of Sinai."
1979(3rd of
Shevat, 5739): Celia Adler passed away today at the age of 89. Known as
the “First Lady of the Yiddish Theatre” she was part of Jewish theatrical
dynasty that included her parents, Jacob and Dinah Shtettin, her half-sister
Stella Adler and her half-brother Luther Adler.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F40B16F73B5D12728DDDAB0894DA405B898BF1D3
1980: The New
York City Ballet premiere of “Fancy Free,” a ballet by Jerome Robbins “took
place today.”
1980:
Seventy-three-year-old Irving Loeb Goldberg “assumed senior status” on the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
1981:
Jean-Marie Lustiger was enthroned as Archbishop of Paris. He had been
born Aaron Lustiger and converted at the age of 13 in 1940. His mother
died at Auschwitz.
1982: NBC
broadcast “World War III,” a mini-series directed by Boris Sagal.
1984(27th
of Shevat, 5744): Seventy-six-year-old Polish born and Columbia grad Ben-Zion
Bokser the JTS ordained Rabbi whose academic posts including serving as
Professor of Homiletics at JTS and who wrote such tomes as “Jews, Judaism, and
the State of Israel” while raising two children – Miriam and Baruch – with his
wife Kallia Halpern Bokser, passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/02/obituaries/ben-zion-bokser-76-a-rabbi-and-professor.html
https://opensiddur.org/profile/ben-zion-bokser/
1986:
“Youngblood” a dramatic film edited by Stephen E. Rivkin who would later gain
fame for his “work on the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’” was released in the
United States today.
1986: “Down
and Out in Beverly Hills” a comedy directed and co-produced by Paul Mazursky
and co-starring Bette Midler and Richard Dreyfus was released today.
1987: In
“Poignant Look-back At Holocaust In 'Beloved'” published today Kevin Thomas
reviewed Manfred Kirchheimer’s “We Were So Beloved.”
http://articles.latimes.com/1987-01-31/entertainment/ca-2432_1_german-jews
1987: As more
information came out about what would be known as The Iran-Contra Affair,
Yaacov Nimrodi, said today that Israel's Defense Ministry had approved the sale
of $50 million worth of Israeli-made weapons to Iran almost two months before
the first reported American request for Israel's help in approaching Teheran.
1988(12th
of Shevat, 5748): Eighty-year-old, Blanche Leo Ullman, the daughter of Leo
Emanuel Ullman and Blanche Heller passed away today in her hometown of
Richmond, VA.
1988: A Jewish
settler was severely burned today when his car was firebombed in an area near
the Ofra settlement north of Jerusalem.
1988: “Still
Haunted by Covenant” published today provides a look at the state of Yiddish
literature through reviews of The Penguin Book of Modern Yiddish Verse and
Selected Poems of Yankev Glatshteyn.
https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/31/books/still-haunted-by-covenant.html
1988: ABC
broadcast the first episode of “The Wonder Years” a comedy-drama co-created by
Neal Marlens and narrated by Daniel Stern.
1989:
Birthdate of Israel Bar-On “an Israeli singer, who won Israel's Kokhav Nolad (A
Star is Born) song contest in 2008.”
1990(5th
of Shevat, 5750): Eighty-eight-year-old NYU trained attorney Yitzhak Isidore
Halpern, the New York City born son of Moses and Runia Halpern passed away
today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/02/obituaries/isidore-halpern-88-brooklyn-lawyer-dies.html
1990: Yuval
Ne'eman resigned from the Knesset today and was replaced by Gershon Shafat.
1992: Tonight’
performance of the Gershwin musical "Crazy for You" at the Shubert
Theater is a benefit designed to raised funds for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center.
1992: Harvard
trained attorney Michael Boudin, the son of poet Jean Roisman and attorney
Leonard Boudin and the “brother of Weather Underground member Kathy Boudin,
completed his service as “Judge of the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia.
1993: In
“Prague’s Jewish Heritage” published today Ruth Ellen described “the monuments
in the old Jewish quarter” which under the Communist regime “were maintained by
the state” and which are now a
popular attraction that “attracts more than a million visitors a year.”
1993:
Broadcast of the first episode of Barry Levinson’s “Homicide: Life on the
Street” co-starring Yaphet Kotto and Richard Belzer.
1993: The
Dallas Cowboys, who had counted on the play of Alan Veingard during the regular
won Super Bowl XXVII even though he had been “declared inactive for the game.”
1994(19th
of Shevat, 5754): Eighty-seven-year-old Esther Polinsky, the St. Louis born
daughter of Philip and Lottie Polinsky, and the wife of Ben Weisman with whom
she ahd tow children – Harry and Sandra – passed away today after which she was
buried at the Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol Cemetery in Ladue, MO.
1995(30TH
of Shevat, 5755) Rosh Chodesh Adar I
1996: Alan
Binder completed his service as the 15th Vice Chairperson of the
Federal Reserve.
1996 (10th of
Shevat, 5756): Mathematician Gustave Solomon passed away at the age of
65.
1997: “Meet
Wally Sparks” a comedy written by and starring Rodney Dangerfield was released
in the United States today.
1997: “Waiting
for Guffman” with a screenplay co-authored by Eugene Levy who also co-starred
in the comedy along with Bob Balaban was released in the United States today.
1999: The
New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or topics of
special interest to Jewish readers including Playing For Keeps: Michael
Jordan and the World He Made
by David Halbestram and The Burden of Responsibility: Blum, Camus, Aron and the French Twentieth Century by
Tony Judt.
2000: “Three
Israeli soldiers were killed today in southern Lebanon as Iranian-backed
guerrillas continued to escalate their attacks during a lull in peace
negotiations between Israel and Syria, Lebanon's power broker.”
2001: “Despite
objections on both sides of the border, Egypt has agreed to start supplying
Israel with natural gas next year, a deal totaling $3 billion that will
continue until at least 2012.”
2002: For the
second time in a year Tayibe was the target of a terrorist attack which this
time Hamas claimed credit.
2003: Israeli
forces shot and killed a Hamas terrorist during a gun battle in Jenin while
continuing operations against terrorist in and around Hebron.
2004: “Talmud:
in the Art of Ben-Zion and Marc Chagall,” an exhibit at the Center Art Gallery
at Calvin College that brings together the Biblical work of two of the most
important Jewish artists of the 20th Century that features 18 intaglio prints
by Ben-Zion and 25 color lithographs by Marc Chagall comes to an end.
2004: Joelle
Fishman, the daughter of Jewish immigrants who was born in 1946, “addressed the
Communist Party’s conference on the 2004 elections in New York.
2005: “At least
15,000 Ethiopian Jews, many living in hovels near the Israeli Embassy in Addis
Ababa, will be brought to Israel by the end of 2007 under an accelerated
immigration process, the Israeli government said today.”
2006: Alan
Greenspan completed his last term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve today
2007: Haim
Ramon was convicted of “indecent assault” and sentenced to community service.
2007: The
Times of London reported that Lord Levy (Michael Levy) the Prime Minister's
personal friend and fundraiser, is the second person close to No 10 Downing
Street to be questioned by police under suspicion of perverting the course of
justice in the ongoing cash-for-honors investigation.
2007: The
Jerusalem Post reported that the recently launched Yad Vashem Farsi site
has been well received by the target audience. Since the Persian site went
on-line last week, some 11,000 hits have been recorded, including 2,242 visits
from Iran. That figure is just 1,000 hits short of the total number of visits
the Yad Vashem Web site received from Iranians in the whole of 2006
2008: June
Muriel Brown “made history by being the first and so far only actress to carry
an entire episode single handed in the history of British soap, with a
monologue looking back over her past life, dictated to a cassette machine for
her husband Jim to listen to in hospital following a stroke.”
2008: Avi
Geffen performed at Bush Hall in London.
2008: In
Manhattan, the 92nd St Y presents “Praise, Grumble, Schmooze,
Lament: The Voices of 21st Century Jewish Poetry.” The program features
readings by established and emerging Jewish poets, including Alicia Ostriker,
Rodger Kamenetz, Robin Becker, Jacqueline Osherow, Dan Bellm, Patty Seyburn,
Philip Terman, Scott Cairns, Jay Michaelson and Richard Chess.
2008: The
Washington Post featured a review of Sacha Baron Cohen the
Unauthorized Biography: from Cambridge to Kazakhstan by Kathleen Tracy
2008: It was
announced that Neil Diamond will appear at the upcoming Glastonbury Festival in
the UK.
2009: The 92nd
St Y presents a musical evening featuring the Tokyo String Quartet and
Jerusalem born pianist Benjamin Hochman.
2009: The
Jewish Federation of Howard County (MD) presents Yom Hadash Community Concert.
2010:
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) said today that Israel would allow
the ultra-Orthodox community to continue to run their private bus lines
segregated by gender but could not officially recognize the practice on public
bus lines. The minister was responding to a petition sent by the Israel
Religious Action Center and a women's rights group to the government and to the
Egged and Dan transportation companies. Katz declared in his response that
Israel does not disapprove of buses which separate between men and women to
accommodate the Hardi community, but that segregation could not become
institutionalized.
2010: The
New York Times
featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to
Jewish readers including Blood and Faith: The Purging of Muslim Spain by
Matthew Carr and 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction
by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
2010: The
Tenth Herzliya Conference is scheduled to open this afternoon on the Campus of
the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya in Israel.
2010: The
Israel Center of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, the Harry & Rose
Samson Family Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Museum Milwaukee invite
the Jewish community to attend “Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: A Jewish Night
at the Museum” which will include a tour of the “Dead Sea Scrolls and the
Bible” exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum and recitation by Museum
President and CEO Daniel Finley of the real story of how the exhibit came to
the Museum.
2010: Opening
session of The Tenth Herzliya Conference, “Israel‘s primary global policy
annual gathering, drawing together Israeli and international participants from
the highest levels of government, business, and academia to address pressing
national, regional and world strategic issues.”
2010: An
exhibition at the Krasdale Gallery in White Plains, NY, entitled “Pages de
Guerre” featuring the works of Avigdor Arikha comes to an end.
2010(16th of
Sh'vat, 5770): David V. Becker, a pioneer in using radioactive materials to
diagnose and treat thyroid disease and an expert on the thyroid damage caused
by the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in 1986, passed away at his
home in Manhattan. (As reported by Mathew Wald)
2011: Dr. Ron
Taffel is scheduled to present a program entitled “Childhood Unbound: Confident
Parenting in a World of Change” at the 92nd Street Y in NYC.
2011: “A
cornerstone laying ceremony was held for four apartment buildings with a total
of 24 homes that are the beginning of the new Jerusalem community of Beit Orot
on the Mount of Olives Ridge.”
2011: Rami
Feinstein is scheduled to present a concert featuring songs from his two
albums—a combination of rock, folk, and funk- in Jerusalem.
2011: NYC
based Israeli choreographers Deganit Shemy and Netta Yerushalmy, are scheduled
to perform this evening in an event intended to raise funds for the 1st
Contemporary Israeli Dance Festival in New York, coming in June 2011.
2011: Last day
for submitting recipes for the 2011 Man-O-Manischewitz Cook-Off.
2011: The
Jerusalem Post reported today that “The Sundance independent film festival
over the weekend followed the Oscars and Golden Globes in recognizing the
Jewish and Israeli contribution to world cinema by handing out awards to two
Israeli filmmakers. The world cinema dramatic screenwriting award went to Erez
Kav-El for his film, Restoration. Talya Lavie received an Inaugural Sundance
Institute Mahindra Global Film-making award which recognizes and supports
emerging independent filmmakers from around the world.
2011:
Right-wing activists have exploited Facebook's protocol that prohibits
organizations from opening personal profiles to report and block the profiles
of several leftist groups, Haaretz learned on today. The move, initiated
by activists linked to the far-right leader Baruch Marzel, has thus far led to
the blocking of the profile pages of left-wing groups including Machsom Watch,
Yesh Gvul, and Anarchists against the Wall.
2011: Grad
rockets landed near the cities of Netivot and Ofakim in the western Negev
today, causing damage to a car and leading to four people being treated for
shock. One rocket hit Netivot, which is 9 miles east of Gaza, and the second
exploded in Ofakim, 15 miles from Gaza.
2011: American Sephardi Federation presents an evening with
Edwin Black author of “The Farhud: Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the
Holocaust.”
2011:
Thanks to the efforts of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation
and the British Christian Zionist Movement an appropriate tombstone was placed
what had been the unmarked gravesite of Reverend William Henry Hechler, a
Protestant clergyman who was an early ally of Herzl and a supporter of the
establishment of a Jewish home in Palestine.
2012:
“Jewish Soldiers in Blue Gray” is scheduled to be shown at the Southwest
Florida Jewish Film Festival in Fort Meyers, FL.
2012: “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg” is scheduled to be shown at Beth
Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto, Canada.
2012: Alan Zweibel will be signing copies of Lunatics, a
novel, he co-authored with Dave Barry, following his scheduled interview with
Mo Rocca at Buttenwieser Hall at the 92nd Street Y.
2012:
Iran's "evil" leaders cannot be allowed
to obtain nuclear weapons, President Shimon Peres said today, calling the
Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions the world's single most important issue
2012:
Turnout for the Likud party's primary elections was
unusually low today. By mid-afternoon, only 14 percent of eligible voters had
cast their ballot to elect a new party leader and central committee.
2013(20th of Shevat, 5773): Seventy year old
children’s author Diane Wolkstein passed away.(As reported by Paul Vitello)
http://www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=65378
2013: PBS is scheduled to broadcast a documentary entitled
“Space Shuttle Columbia: Mission of Hope” which ”tells the remarkable true
story of Colonel Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, and the miniature Torah
scroll he carried from the depths of Hell to the heights of Space.”http://www.bethelnj.org/sites/default/files/flyers/IlanRamon-PBS.pdf
2013: “Cartoonists Against the Holocaust: Art in the Service of
Humanity” is scheduled to come to an end today.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/nyregion/a-review-of-cartoonists-against-the-holocaust-in-new-rochelle.html?_r=0
2013: Award-winning, bestselling author Edwin Black is scheduled
to chronicle the centuries of intersection between Islam and Jewry that led to
the Farhud pogrom in Baghdad in 1941 and the ensuing Arab-Nazi alliance in the
Holocaust in a major address at Fordham University this evening. ”Black's
presentation is based on his recent bestselling and critically acclaimed book, The
Farhud: Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust
2013: Rabbi Gil Marks, “noted chef and cookbook author” is
scheduled to deliver a lecture “From Schmear To Eternity” at Agudas Achim in
Iowa City.
2013: Composer Phillip Glass turns 75.
http://forward.com/specials/forward-50-2012/philip-glass/?no-mobile-redirect
2013: The Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) was once again the
beneficiary of a winter storm today as rain poured down upon the Land of
Israel, causing power outages around the country.
2013: Mt
Hermon will be closed to the public today as well. Hermon Administration has
announced another 20 cm of snow at the bottom of the ski lift. 40 cm have piled
up at the bottom of the ski lift since the beginning of the current storm
2014(30tth of
Shevat, 5774): Rosh Chodesh Adar I
2014(30th
of Shevat, 5774): Fifty-two-year-old humanitarian Anne Heyman passed away
today. (As reported by Douglas Martin)
2014: Eighty-five-year-old
Mike Flanagan who had an Irishman serving with the British army who
participated in the liberation of Bergen-Belson and who “smuggled two Cromwell
tanks to the Haganah in 1948” passed away today.
2014: After 20
years, David Stern stepped down as Commissioner of the NBA.
2014: It was
reported by Israel’s Channel 2 News tonight that the Israeli government
secretly channeled 148 million shekels (over $42 million) to the local city
councils that administer settlements across the West Bank in recent years, to
“compensate” them for city taxes they did not receive because of a
government-imposed settlement-building freeze in 2009-2010.
2014: The Iron
Dome missile defense system shot down at least one of two Grad rockets fired at
Eilat from the Sinai Peninsula this evening.
2015: The
Eden-Tamir Music Center is scheduled to present “Chamber Music for Flute,
Bassoon and Piano featuring Esti Rofe, Mauricio Paez and Ana Kaiserman.
2015: In
Olney, MD, Shaare Tefila is scheduled to host its Fourth Annual Comedy Night of
“Sweet Laughter.
2015(11th
of Shevat, 5775): Shabbat Shirah
2015(11th
of Shevat, 5775): Eighty-six-year-old CBS news producer Sandy Socolow passed
away today.
2016: Radio
Kol Hamusica is scheduled to broadcast “one piece by Israeli composer Emanuel
Vahl” this afternoon.
2016: Laura
Apelbaum is scheduled to host a panel discussion on “Soviet Jewry: The Movement
that United Our Jewish World” in Rockville, MD.
2016(21st
of Shevat, 5776): Ninety-two year-old historian Elizabeth Eisenstein the author
of The Printing Press as an Agent of Change passed away today.
2016: The New York Times featured reviews of
books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The
Poetry of Yehuda Amichai edited by Robert Alter, Divergent Paths: The
Academy and the Judiciary by Richard A. Posner and Thomas Murphy
by Roger Rosenblatt.
2017(4th
of Tevet, 5777): On the Jewish calendar, yahrzeit of the Moroccan born
Sephardic Rabbi, Yisrael Abuchatzeira, known as the “Baba Sali” who is buried
in Netivot.
2017: Israeli
singer/songwriter Noa Fort is scheduled to perform at the Cornelia Street Café.
2017: In the
UK, “Denial” is scheduled to be shown for the last time at JW3.
2017: Gil
Shwed, the CEO of Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point, the winner of the
Israel Prize in technology and innovation spoke “at the Cybertech Israel
Conference and Exhibition in Tel Aviv” today.
2017: Today,
“at least 17 Jewish community centers across the United States were targeted
with bomb threats in the third wave of such mass disruption this month.” (JTA)
2018(15th
of Shevat, 5778): Tu B’Shevat
2018: “A Walk
With Mr.Heifetz,” a play based on violinist Yashac Heifetz’s concert in
Palestine in 1926 is scheduled to begin performances at the Cherry Lane
Theatre.
2018: The
University of Iowa Hillel and Congregation Agudas Achim are scheduled to Tu
B’Shevat Seder at Brix Cheese Shop and Wine Bar.
2018: At
Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, NY, architect and art historian, Bruce Levy
is scheduled to deliver a lecture on Jewish Architects including “Kahn,
Eisenman and Liebeskind.”
2018: Roman
Abramovich’s Chelsea Football Club which “has launched a new campaign aimed at
raising awareness of anti-Semitism to it players, fans and staff” is scheduled
to play a Premier League against Bournemouth today
2019: An
interfaith discussion during which a Biblical topic is examined “through
looking at texts from three Abrahamic traditions” is scheduled to take place at
Oxford University.
2019: The
Streicker Center is scheduled to host “Across the (Political) Divide), a candid
and constructive “about Israel across the Aisle.”
http://emanuelstreickernyc.org/events/across-the-political-divide/
2019(25th
of Shevat, 5779): On the Jewish calendar Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter
http://www.aish.com/dijh/Shevat_25.html
2019: The
American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled to host “a panel to celebrate
the publication of Marc Dollinger’s Black Power Jewish Politics: Reinventing
the Alliance in the 1960s with the author and special guests Including
April Baskin (The Union for Reform Judaism), Cheryl Greenberg (Trinity
College), Ilana Kaufman (The Jews of Color Field Building Initiative) and Rivka
Press Schwartz (Associate Principal, SAR High School and Fellow, Shalom Hartman
Institute of North America).
2019: Yiddish
New York’s “2018 Visual Arts Exhibition curated by Deborah Ugoretz and Tine
Kindermann” at the City Lore Gallery is scheduled to come to an end today.
http://www.yiddishnewyork.com/visual-arts-exhibition/
2019(25th
of Shevat, 5779): Ninety-three-year-old Harry Bibring, the Vienna born son of
clothing store owner, who along with his sister was one of those rescued by the
Kindertransport passed away today.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/holocaust_survivors_gallery_03.shtml
https://www.holocaust.org.uk/remembering-harry-bibring
https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/kindertransport-survivor-harry-bibring-dies-aged-93/
2020:
In Brookline, MA, Temple Ohabei Shalom is scheduled to host Shabbat 500, “a
mega Shabbat dinner event for Boston’s young adult community.
2020:
In Los Altos Hills CA, Congregation Beth Am is scheduled to “Embracing
Perfection”
“a talk by Rabbi Mark Borovitz of Beit T’Shuvah, a Jewish-based residential
addiction treatment center in L.A., about struggling with the desire to be
perfect.”
2020:
In Boston, The Vilna Shul is scheduled to host Havurah on the Hill where
attendees can “hear from film director Cellin Gluck about Chiune Sugihara, a
Japanese diplomat (sometimes called the Schindler of Japan) and his life
leading up to, as well as after, his decision to issue over 2,000 visas to
Jewish refugees in Kaunas, Lithuania, resulting in saving the lives of over
6,000 people.”
2020:
“Incitement” directed by Yaron Zilberman with a screenplay by Yaron Zilberman,
Ron Leshem and Yair Hizmi is scheduled to open today in the United States.
2021:
The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including Religion and the Rise of
Capitalism by Benjamin Friedman and the “children’s book” Nicky and
Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued by Peter
Sis.
2021:
In Atlanta, GA, The Breman Museum is scheduled to host “Bearing Witness:
Unforgettable Stories from the Holocaust” featuring Manuela Mendels Bornstein
telling the story of how “her family survived the Holocaust while hiding in
Vichy, France.
2021:
In London, the Sir Martin Gilbert Learning Centre is scheduled to host
Professor Shiri Gilbert (no relation) speaking on “Displaced Jews: Renewal in
the Shadow of the Holocaust.”
2021:
The American Sephardi Federation is scheduled to host episode six of “Sephardi
Culinary History, a new show that combines chef and scholar Hélène
Jawhara-Piñer’s fascination with food studies and flair for creating delicious
cuisine.
2021:
In recognition of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day, March of the Living UK
and the London School of Jewish Studies are scheduled to present a half-day of
online innovative Holocaust education. This includes a walk through the
Ringelblum Archive exhibition at the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical
Institute in Warsaw with Dr. Samuel Kassow, a range of sessions with March of
the Living UK’s first-class educators, plus a very special keynote event;
Professor Deborah Lipstadt, in conversation with Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum.
2021:
“The “Drive-By Tu BiShvat” event is scheduled to take place in the parking lot
of the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood, OH.
2021:
On the 221st anniversary of Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary
of the Treasury and the first “Jewish” Secretary of the Treasury completing his
service to the country, Janet Yellin, the first woman and the first Jewish
woman to hold the position of Secretary of the Treasury begins her fifth day on
the job.
2022:
The American Sephardi Association is schedule to present a virtual tour of the
Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Or Yehuda.
2022:
Final showing of Karin Bar’s work “This is My Lover Letter to New York” which
as been appearing all month on a billboard in the heart of Times Square thanks
to ZAZ.
2022:
President Herzog is expected to meet
members of UAE’s small but growing
Jewish expat community and to visit Expo 2020, the world's fair in Dubai, where
Israel has hosted a series of events at its national pavilion. (YNET)
2023: The Illinois Holocaust Museum is scheduled to present on online “From
Generation to Generation: Exploring a Holocaust Survivor's Special Relationship
with his Granddaughter” featuring survivor Sam Harris and his granddaughter
Jessica Kreamer.
2023: The Exhibition “Violins of Hope” is
scheduled to open at the Bernard Museum of Judaica at Temple Emanu-El.
2023: LBI is scheduled to present a conversation
with Viennese native and 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist for fiction Lore Segal
and Uri Berliner in which they will discuss “life, literature and history.”
2023: Conductor and pianist Daniel Barnboim is
scheduled to step down today as the general music director of the Berlin State
Opera.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/arts/music/daniel-barenboim-resignation-berlin.html
2023: The Streicker Center is scheduled to host a
conversation with Abe Foxman, the former direct of the ADL and Richard Hurowitz
the author of In the Garden of the Righteous.
2023: Based on previously published reports two
of those wounded in the erev Shabbat terrorist attack are still being treated
at the Hadassah Mount Scopus hospital and a third victim is still being treated
at the Shaare Zedek hospital.
2024: The Sir Martin Gilbert Learning Centre is
scheduled to host “Cashing Out:
World War II and the Flight of Nazi Treasure”
during which Professor Neill Lochery “will cover the riveting history of the
race to intercept the stolen assets before they disappeared, and before the
will to punish Germany was replaced by the political considerations of the
fast-approaching Cold War and will recount the flight of the Nazi-looted
riches—the last great escape of World War II—and the Allied quest for justice.”
2024: The meeting of the ADL South Central
Executive Committee is scheduled to take place today.
2024: LBI is scheduled to present “The Leave to
Land traveling exhibition which was authored by Clare Weissenberg and was based
on materials collected through The Kitchener Camp Project, a unique online
resource that brings together archival records and family treasures to build a
moving and compelling picture of this unlikely sanctuary in the Katherine and
Clifford Goldsmith Gallery followed by “a live panel discussion with Barbara Birch (President and CEO at ORT
America), Emary Aronson (LBI Board Member and Chief Knowledge Officer and
Senior Advisor to the CEO at Robin Hood), and Ronnie Wolf (Senior Adviser of
the Leave to Land Exhibition) and moderated by Frank Mecklenburg (Mark M. and
Lottie Salton Senior Historian at the Leo Baeck Institute).”
2024:
As January 31st begins in Israel, the Hamas held
hostages begin day 117 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.)