This Day, March 24, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
March 24
809: Harun
al-Rashid (Aaron the Upright, Aaron the Just), fifth caliph of the Abbasid
Empire who had issued a decree that Jews wear a yellow belt in 807, passed
away.
1244(18th of
Nisan): Rabbi Meir Abulafya Ha-Levi (Ramah) an opponent…
March 24
809: Harun
al-Rashid (Aaron the Upright, Aaron the Just), fifth caliph of the Abbasid
Empire who had issued a decree that Jews wear a yellow belt in 807, passed
away.
1244(18th of
Nisan): Rabbi Meir Abulafya Ha-Levi (Ramah) an opponent of Maimonides and
author of Yad Ramah passed away today.
1267: The
government of Barcelona gave the Jews permission to repair their synagogue.
1267: Louis
IX, IX who at the request of the Pope Gregory burned “24 cartload of Jewish
books in 1242, made plans to expel the Jews after confiscating their property
and ordered them to wear a “Jew’s badge” and “to listen to missionary sermons”
and his three sons “took up the Cross” for what was to be the 8th
Crusade.
1284: Hugues
de Lusignan the son of Henry of Antioch and Isabelle de Lusignan, the daughter
of king Hugh I of Cyprus, who, in one of those minor ironies of history, was
the King of Jerusalem even though the Christian Crusaders had lost control of
the city at the end of the 12th century, passed away today.
1488(13th of
Nisan): Rabbi Obadiah Bertinoro, author of a popular Mishnah commentary arrived
in Jerusalem
1564: The Pope
authorized the printing of the Talmud in Mantua on condition that the word
Talmud would be omitted from the text. From the opening years of the sixteenth
century, Mantua was a leading center of Jewish printing. A husband and wife
duo, Abraham and Estellina Conat shared equally in printing and promoting
Jewish texts. By the seventeenth century, the situation of the Jews of Mantua
had worsened as they, like Italian Jews in many other cities, were forced to
live behind Ghetto Walls.
1564: The
index of Pius IV. of Trent, which appeared today permitted the Jews to use
Hebrew and even Talmudic books, provided they were printed without the word
"Talmud," and were purged from vituperations against the Christian
religion. The expurgation of Hebrew books, thus expressly declared admissible,
was henceforth regularly undertaken before printing, either by the Jews
themselves or by Christian correctors; and this accounts for the more or less
mutilated state of reprints since the middle of the sixteenth century.
1575(3rd
of Nisan, 5335): Joseph Caro, author of the Shulchan Aruch, passed away
today at Safed.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Caro.html
1603: Queen
Elizabeth I passed away at the age of 69, having ruled since 1558. Although
Elizabethan England was supposedly Jew-free, there were several small Marrano
communities in the British Isles. In 1588, Dr. Hector Nunes, one of these
secret Jews provided the English leaders with the invaluable intelligence that
the Spanish Armada had reached Lisbon which was its first stop as it headed
north to attack England. On the other hand, Dr. Roerigo Lopez was Elizabeth’s
physician in 1586 and he ended being accused of being part of a plot to kill
the Queen. While the evidence was flimsy, it was thought better to execute him
given the many threats against her life. The fate of Lopez gave rise to
Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta. This in turn inspired Marlowe’s competitor, William
Shakespeare to write The Merchant of Venice.
1630(11th of
Nisan, 5390): Isaiah Horowitz, Shelah ha-Kadosh (the holy Shelah) passed away
in Tiberias.
http://shl2gur.tripod.com/shla.htm
1648(27th
of Adar, 5408): Seventy-six-year-old Leon of Modena a Jewish scholar, born in
Venice in 1571, of a notable French family which had migrated to Italy after
the expulsion of the Jews from France passed away today. He was a precocious
child, but, as Graetz points out, his lack of stable character prevented his
gifts from maturing. "He pursued all sorts of occupations to support
himself, viz. those of preacher, teacher of Jews and Christians, reader of
prayers, interpreter, writer, proof-reader, bookseller, broker, merchant,
rabbi, musician, matchmaker and manufacturer of amulets." Though he failed
to rise to real distinction he earned a place by his criticism of the Talmud
among those who prepared the way for the new learning in Judaism. One of Leon's
most effective works was his attack on the Kabbala, Ari Nohem, first published
in 1840, for in it he demonstrated that the "Bible of the
Kabbalists", the Zohar, was a modern composition by Moses de Leon. He
became best known, however, as the interpreter of Judaism to the Christian world.
At the instance of an English nobleman he prepared an account of the religious
customs of the Synagogue, Riti Ebraici (1637). This book was widely read by
Christians; it was rendered into various languages, and in 1650 was translated
into English by Edward Chilmead. At the time the Jewish question was coming to
the fore in London, and Leon of Modena's book did much to stimulate popular
interest. He died at Venice.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9766-leon-judah-aryeh-of-modena
1656: A group
of Marrano merchants “presented a petition to Cromwell asking for his
protection and for his permission in writing to meet for private Jewish worship
their houses without fear of molestation.”
1656: After
the outbreak of war between England and Spain, Jews living in England
petitioned Cromwell to stay insisting that they were not Spaniards but rather
Marranos. Although Cromwell chose not to officially reply to today’s request,
he permitted the community to establish a Jewish Cemetery, and for protection
during prayers. His unwritten agreement was conditioned on there being no
public Jewish worship. This is considered by many to mark the official end of
the expulsion of the Jews from England.
1664: Roger
Williams was granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island. Unlike Massachusetts,
Rhode Island was not governed as a theocracy. Rhode Island helped create the
atmosphere of toleration that would become the American model thus making the
United States a unique place for Jews to live.
1696(1st
of Nisan, 5456): Rosh Chodesh Nisa
1696(1st
of Nisan, 5456): Jüttel Schulhof, the daughter of Jokel Glogau, the wife of
Samuel Schulhoff
Mother of
Esther Samuel Liebmann; Anschel Schulhoff and Joseph Samuel Schulhoff passed
away today Berlin.
1733:
Birthdate of British theologian Joseph Priestly who 1786 published “Letter to
the Jews” in which he urged them to convert that elicited a length answer from
David Levin which led to the publication of his three volume Dissertation on
the Prophecies of the Old Testament.
1743(28th of
Adar): Rabbi Raphael Immanuel Ricchi author of Mishnat Hasidim passed away
1755: In
Binswagen, Germany, Lazarus Liebermann Baldauf and Leopold Loeb Baldauf gave
birth to Nathan Baldauf.
1756:
Bordeaux, France native Daniel Nones and Ester Alvares gave birth to Sara
Nones.
1758(14th
of Adar II, 5518): Purim
1764(20th
of Adar II, 5524): Parashat Shimini; Shabbat Parah
1766(14th
of Nisan, 5526): Ta’anit Berchorot; erev Pesach
1769(15th
of Adar II, 5529) Shushan Purim
1769: On the
same day that Jews are reveling in holiday celebrating their deliverance from
Haman, the Spanish Inquisition gained new ground as the first two parties set
out to build Spanish settlements in Alta California, an area which includes
what is now California, Nevada, Utah and portions of four other western states.
1776: In
London, Aaron Gomes Da Costa, the Portuguese born Son of Abran Gomes da Costa
and Abigail Gomes da Costa and his wife Miriam De Solomon Gomes Da Costa gave
birth to Grace Cohen, the wife of Judah Mordechai Cohen
1788: In New
York, Hannah Isaacks and Jacob Phillips who were married at Newport, RI in 1785
gave birth to Abraham Phillips.
1794: Start of
the Kościuszko Uprising. Tadeusz Kościuszko, a veteran of the American
Revolutionary War, announced the general uprising against the Russian occupiers
and assumed the powers of the Commander in Chief of all of the Polish forces.
Jews, in a Jewish regiment led by Berek Joselewicz, took part in the failed
uprising which led to the third and final partition of Poland in 1795.
1795:
Birthdate of Zvi (Zwi) Hirsch Kalischer “an Orthodox rabbi and one of Zionism's
early pioneers in Germany.” . Born in
the Polish town of Lissa that had just become part of Germany, Kalisher was
unique because he was an Orthodox Rabbi who believed that Jews develop a
practical program for returning to Eretz Israel instead of just waiting for the
coming of the Messiah. In 1860, he
published Derishat Tziyyon , his blueprint for the return to the Holy
Land. Almost forty years before the
advent of Herzl and Zionism he called for a systematic purchase of land, the
development of agriculture, the development of a self-defense force and the
need to develop viable businesses to replace the charitable institutions that
traditionally supported the Jews in Palestine.
The Reform opposed Kalisher because of the nationalist content of the
proposal. The Orthodox saw it as a form
of blasphemy. One of the practical
results of his work was the establishment of Mikveh Israel, a school located
near Jaffa, designed to teach the new generation of pioneers the scientific
agricultural skills that would enable them to reclaim the land.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/zevi-hirsch-kalischer
1796(14th
of Adar II, 5556): Purim observed for the last time during the Presidency of
George Washington.
1801:
Alexander I became Czar of the Russian Empire. He ruled until his death in
1825. His treated his Jewish subjects poorly at the beginning and at the end of
his reign. In the middle years which were marked by the wars with Napoleon,
Alexander was impressed by the loyalty of his Jewish subjects in the fight
against the French. He received unexpected help from the head of the Chabad
Chassidim. Like other Christian leaders, Alexander sought to convert the Jews
which was the source of any beneficence he might have shown them. When “killing
them with kindness” failed, he went back to killing them with starvation,
misery and impoverishment.
1807(14th of
Adar II, 5567): Purim
1807:
Birthdate of Newhuas, Germany native and New Orleans diamond and jewelry
salesman Louis Rose who traveled by wagon train through Texax before settling
in Sand Diego where he married Matilda Newman, the widows of Jacob Newman and
was known for his skill as brickmaker and tanner.
https://cbisd.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/150th_book_chapter1.pdf
1813: In
Argentina, the inquisition was officially abolished. Two months later the
Assembly passes regulations allowing freedom of practicing religion if it is
observed in one’s home.
1816: Sampson
ben Abraham married Pescha bat Shermari Solomon at the Western Synagogue.
1817: Leah and
Solomons and Aaron Jacobs gave birth to Edward Jacobs.
1817(7th
of Nisan, 5577): Rebecca Judah, the daughter of Baruch Judah and the wife of
Isaac Hays passed away today in Philadelphia.
1818: American
statesman Henry Clay wrote: 'All religions united with government are more or
less inimical to liberty. All separated from government are compatible with
liberty.' No, Henry Clay was not Jewish. But his statement on the relationship
between government and organized religion provides a clue as to why Jews have
flourished in America and how wrong some modern politicians are in their
statements about separation of church and state.
1820:
Birthdate of Elizabeth Rachel Felix, who gained fame as Mademoiselle Rachel,
the great French Tragedienne
1820: First
public performance of Marche Funebre et De Profundis en Hebreu, a funeral march
composed by Jacques Fromenthal Halevy that had been commissioned by the
Consistoire Israélite du Départment de la Seine, for a public service in memory
of the Duke de Berry, in the Jewish community's temple. This liturgical
composition which helped launch Halevy’s career was meant to be performed by a
vocal trio and orchestra. On its engraved title page, Halevy was described as a
member of the Royal Institute of Music and a recipient of the patronage of the
King of France at the Academy of Rome. One of France's greatest composers,
Jacques Fromenthal Halevy (1799-1862), was also the son of a cantor. His
father, Elie Halfon Halevy was the secretary of the Jewish community of Paris
and a Hebrew teacher and writer as well. Musically gifted, Jacques was accepted
as a student by the Paris Conservatory at age ten and subsequently became a
member of its faculty, rising to the rank of professor in 1833. His lasting
fame was assured by his grand opera La Juive which premiered in 1835.
1822:
Birthdate of Solomon Cohn, the native of Zülz, Prussian Silesia who followed in
the footsteps of his grandfather Meshuallam Solomon Cohn of Furth and served as
a rabbi of several congregations in Germany.
1824: George
Aarons married Elizabeth Davis at the Western Synagogue.
1825(5th
of Nisan, 5585): Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apt, the son of Chaya Sara
and R Shmuel of Neustadt and the founder of the Mezhbizh/Zinkover rabbinic
dynasty passed away today.
1829: In
Hoorn, Holland, Ribca Eliezer Abendana and Mozes Aron Senior Coronel gave birth
to cigar maker Aaron Senior Coronel, the husband of Rebecca “Kitty” Coelho and
the father of Rebecca, Moses, Rachael, Samuel, Eleazer and Jacob Coronel.
1830: Joseph
ben Moses HaLevi married Esther bat Eliyakum Goetshlik HaCohen at the New
Synagogue.
1830:
Thirty-nine-year Bavarian native Jesajas Simon Schulein married twenty-nine-year-old
Ann Seuchtwanger.
1841: “Another
important step for emancipation was the law adopted today, for Galicia, which
promised certain improvements for the Jews of that province who should dress in
European costume and acquire a knowledge of either German or Polish,”
1843:
Birthdate of Sigmund Salfeld, the 1870 graduate of the University of Berlin who
in 1880 began serving as a rabbi in Mainz where he passed away in 1926 at the
age of 83.
1845(15th
of Adar II, 5605) Shushan Purim
1845: Rebecca
Cohen Hart, the New York born daughter of Catherine and Sampson Mears Isaacks,
and her husband Abraham Hart gave birth to Catherine (Kate) Hart
1847: In
London, Rabbi D.A. De Sola delivered a sermon at the Spanish and Portuguese
Synagogue, Bevis Marks, on the subject of the Irish Potato Famine which began
with the following statement, “"For devastation has gone forth through the
land, Death stalks around, with disease in its train...."
1850(11th
of Nisan, 5610): Frances Marks, the English born wife of Humphrey Mordecai
Marks and the mother of Alexander, Elia, Frederick and Isaac Marks passed away
today after which was buried in the Hebrew Benevolent Society Cemetery in
Columbia, SC.
1852: Selig
Salomon Philipp married Eveline Albu today in Berlin.
1853: In
Jerusalem, English missionaries ended up fighting instead of praying on Good
Friday. First, they “were turned out of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
because they behaved in an unseemly manner when the Procession of the Host”
passed by. Then “a missionary named Crawford preached a sermon outside the
Synagogue while the service was going on…and indulged in invectives against the
Talmud. One of the Children of Israel incensed this, hurled a dead cat” in his
face. A fight then broke out between the Protestant missionaries and the Jews
during which “it rained mud and rocks.”
1857: Boston
physician John Warren Gorham who had been nominated by President Franklin
Pierce as “the first American consul to serve in Jerusalem” arrived in that
city today after which “he set up the consulate in a rented building on Mount
Zion near the Jaffa Gate.”
1859: In
Savannah, GA, Johanna Peyser became Johanna Wessolowsky when she married
Charles Wessolowsky
1859: In
Laupheim, Germany, Samuel Heilbronner and Emilie Einstein gave birth to Pauline
Heilbronner who became Pauline Heilbronner Hirschfeld when she married Leopold
Hirschfeld with she had two children—Laura and Bella.
1860(1st
of Nisan, 5620): Parashat Vayikra; Rosh Chodesh Nisan; Shabbat HaChoedsh.
1860: In New
York, the Supreme Court granted an “order of the payment of surplus in the case
of Hebrew Mutual Benefit Society vs. Fitzpatrick.
1860: An
editorial published today that reviewed the current debate over the death
penalty stated that the legislature should refrain from discussing “What the
law of Moses says on the subject, or how far that law is binding on modern
communities; questions which they are not competent to decide” and should stick
to the question at hand – should life imprisonment replace hanging as a
punishment for murder.
1861:
Birthdate of Pyzdry, Poland native Shaina (Jane) Hyman the wife of Samuel
Hyman, the son of Mordechai Yitzchak Yam and Rose Haym, with whom she had seven
children.
1862: Judah P.
Benjamin completed his service as Secretary of War for the CSA.
1862: The
Purim Association of the City of New York was organized for the purpose of
arranging annual Purim balls. Meyer S. Isaacs, prominent New York Lawyer, civic
leader and Jewish activist, was one of the founders of the Purim Association
which lasted until 1906.
1868: In
Chicago, Therese and David Abraham Kohn gave birth to Dr. Alfred David Kohn,
the husband Esther Loeb Kohn and a member of the Chicago Board of Education.
1869:
Birthdate of Turin native and Italian politician and journalist Claudio Treves
who was forced into exile in the 1920’s.
1872(14th of
Adar II, 5632): Purim
1872: In New
York City, Jacob and Rosalie (Lebrecht) Wiener gave birth Joseph Wiener
Columbia University trained surgeon and author Joseph Wiener who was affiliated
with several hospital including German Hospital and Mt. Sinai Hospital and who
was the husband of Gertrude Strauss.
1872: Hyman
Israel, one of the wealthiest members of Beth Israel Bikur Cholim in New York
City hosted a Purim Open house at his home on 25th Street. The party included a
large number of masked young men and women including the host’s daughter, Miss
Annie Israel.
1873: Some
sources claim that today marked the birth of Georgy Rosenbloom who gained fame
as super-spy Sidney Reilly
1873:
Following a speech by Benjamin Disraeli, the government of Prime Minister
Gladstone was defeated on the issue of the Irish University Bill. Disraeli, who
was seen as a “Jew” and Gladstone alternated as leaders of British governments
during the middle decades of the 19th century.
1874: “According
to a Soviet secret police dossier compiled in 1925,” super-spy Sidney Reilly “was
perhaps born Zigmund Markovich Rozenblum today in Odessa” and “his father
Markus was a doctor and shipping agent, according to this dossier, while his
mother came from an impoverished noble family.”
1874:
According to a third source, Pauline and Gregory Rosenblum “members of a
wealthy Polish-Jewish family with an estate at Bielsk in the Grodno Governorate
of Imperial Russia” gave birth to Sigmund Georgievich Rosenblum who gained fame
as Sidney George Reilly MC known as the "Ace of Spies", who was a “secret
agent employed by Scotland Yard's Special Branch and later by the Foreign
Section of the British Secret Service Bureau.”
1874:
Birthdate of New York native and builder Joseph Gilbert, “who erected more than
18 skyscrapers in Manhattan before 1925 and who raised two children – Victor
and Helen – with his wife https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/04/19/81989007.pdf
1874: In
Budapest Cecilia Stein and Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weisz gave birth to Eric Weisz
who gained fame as contortionist, acrobat and escape artist Harry Houdini.
https://www.thegreatharryhoudini.com/
https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3711.html
1878: Proving
that Jews can be found all over the world, it was reported today that Parva, a
Brazilian city deep in the heart of the Amazon on the Equator has a population
of 35,000 that “includes a few Jews.
1878: The
Young Men’s Hebrew Union hosted an evening of culture at the Norfolk Street
Synagogue this evening that included a lecture by A. Oakly Hall on “The Great
Pertersham Will Case” followed by a musical program that included a violin solo
David Bimberg.
1878:
Birthdate of Moissaye Joseph Olgin “a Russian-born writer, journalist, and
translator” who was active in the first three decades 20th century
1878:
Birthdate of Moissaye Joseph Olgin, a Russian-born writer, journalist, and
translator in the early 20th century who founded the Morgen Freiheit, a New
York City Yiddish Newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party, among whose
stated aims was the promotion of the Jewish labor movement and the defeat of
racism in the United States.
1883: In
“Kiviska, Russia, Hersh and Brucha Schriber gave birth to Mordechai “Max”
Yohlin, the husband of Esther Pressie with whom he had six children – Betty,
Mary Rose, Harry and Sylvia – with whom, in 1925 he “immigrated to Philadelphia
where he began serving as a congregational rabbi and cantor.
https://library.temple.edu/scrc/mordechai-yohlin-family-papers
1885: Jefferson
Medical College trained medical doctor Solomon Solis Cohen, the Philadelphia
bons ons of Judith Simiah da Silva Solis and Myer Cohen married Emily Grace Nathan
da Silva Solis today.
1886(8th
of Nisan, 5626): Parashat Tzav; Shabbat HaGadol
1887:
President Grover Cleveland appointed Oscar Solomon Strauss ambassador to
Turkey. Strauss was the first American Jew to serve as an ambassador. In 1906,
President Theodore Roosevelt would appoint Strauss Secretary of Commerce and
Labor, making him the first American Jew to hold a cabinet post in the
government of the United States. The year 1887 was a busy one for the Strauss
family. That was the year that Oscar's brothers, Nathan and Isidor bought
Macy’s Department Store.
1887:
Birthdate of Prague native Karl Arnstein the aeronautical engineer best known
for being the chief designer for the lighter than air air-craft USS Akron and USS Macon
1889: Meier
Selig Goldschmidt Selma Cramer the daughter of Salomon Cramer and Therese
(Röschen) Oppenheimer today.
1889: Twenty-three-year-old
Frankfurt, Germany native Meir Selig Goldschmidt married Selma Cramer, the daughter
of Salomon Cramer and Therese (Röschen) Oppenheimer.”
1891(14th of
Adar II, 5651): Purim
1891: In South
Carolina, Joseph F. Brannon married Rebecca Cecilia Wolfe today.
1892(25th
of Adar, 5652): Fifty-four-year-old Moses Mehrbach, a native of Bavaria and the
husband of Carolyn Meyer passed away today in New York.
1892(25th
of Adar, 5652): Sixty-eight-year-old German native and winemaker Samuel Lachman,
the founder of Samuel Lachman & Sons, the husband of Henriette Lachman and
father of Albert Lachman; Rebecca W. Metzger and Henry Lachman passed away
today in San Francisco.
https://www.jmaw.org/lachman-jewish-wine-california/
1894:
Birthdate of Brooklyn native Dr. Frederic D. Zeman the Columbia trained
physician and WWI veteran who was a geriatric specialist and husband of “the
former Madeleine Arnold.”
1894: The Don
Quixote Club will give a benefit performance tonight at the Manhattan Athletic
Club Theatre to raise funds for the United Hebrew Charities.
1894: “Rights
of Foreign Jews in Russia” published today described an order issued by the
Russian Minister of the Interior to the police that they are not to interfere
with activities of foreign Jews who have “proper passports” in their
possession. The order was issued in response to pressure from various
governments whose Jewish citizens have complaint about ill-treatment and
expulsion by the Czarist government.
1894: The New York Times stated erroneously that
on Friday, March 23, “with the setting of the sun the Hebrew Feast of the
Passover began.” (The first Seder would not come until the evening of April 20,
with the first day of the holiday falling on April 21.)
1895(28th of
Adar, 5655): Babet Karl, the aunt of wealthy real estate lawyer Abraham Stern
passed away today in New York.
1895:
Professor Felix Adler delivered a lecture this morning at the Carnegie Music
Hall entitled “The New View of Childhood and Its Effects on Education.”
1896:
Birthdate of Lower East Side native Moses Polakoff, the WW I Navy veteran and
NYU trained attorney who worked in the United States Attorney’s office before
going into private practice where some of his most notorious clients were Lucky
Luciano and Meyer Lansky.
1897: It was
reported today that during the month of February the United Hebrew Charities
had received 3,306 applications for assistance on behalf of 11,020 people. Jobs were found for 611 people and 466 people
were seen by either doctors or nurses. The charity raised $19,253.40 during
February and spent $11,736.53.
1897:
Birthdate of Wilhelm Reich. He was a Jewish-Austrian psychiatrist,
psychoanalyst, and author, who was trained in Vienna by Sigmund Freud. He
passed away in 1957.
1897:
“Theatrical Notes” published today described Oscar Hammerstein’s decision
revamp his production of “Greater New York.”
1898: Hertig
and Seamon have donated the use of the Harlem Music Hall to the Ladies’
Auxiliary of the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society for tonight’s charity event
that will benefit the Society and the Montefiore Home.
1899: It was
reported today that Rabbi Joseph Silverman attributes “the long life and
freedom from epidemics enjoyed” by the Jews “to their Mosaic laws. “To the Jew his religion is a philosophy of
life” and the Jew “is the only real cosmopolitan” who “can live in any country
and enjoy health in every climate.”
1899: The Jewish Messenger reported that
Congregation Orach Chaim opened its new sanctuary. "An ornament to
Manhattan in general and to the inhabitants of E. 51st in particular, is the
handsome new edifice of this synagogue. The only thing that mars the beauty of
the structure is the $15,000 mortgage. It would be, indeed, permissible even
for the most ultra-orthodox to learn from Roman Catholic neighbors not to
dedicate a place of worship in the presence of a mortgage."
1900(23rd
of Adar II, 5660): Sixty-eight-year-old “Austrian scholar and author Solomon
Joachim Chayim Halberstam, the son of Isaac Halbestram, passed away today.
1901: After a
half of a dozen speakers including attorney Clarence Darrow and social worker
Jane Adams addressed a meeting that heard about the outbreak of anti-Semitic
attacks in Chicago, “the Chicago Protective League was organized” today “to
demand that the police protect the Jews.”
1902(15th
of Adar II, 5662): Shushan Purim
1902(15th
of Adar II, 5662): Poet and author Salomon Mandelkern who was born at Mlynov,
Volhynian Governorate in 1846 passed away today in Vienna. Mandelkern, whose
son Israel lived in New York, had translated the works of several American
writers including Henry W. Longfellow into English.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0013_0_13144.html
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10351-mandelkern-solomon-b-simhah-dob
1903: Sarah
Alexander, the daughter of Henry Woolf and Sarah Jane Asher and the wife of
Oscar Alexander with whom she had had nine children was buried today at the
Plashet Jewish Cemetery in London.
1903:
Birthdate of “Polish novelist and educator Igor Newerly” who was imprisoned by
the Nazis for his efforts to rescue Jews – efforts which earned him
commendation from Yad Vashem.
http://db.yadvashem.org/righteous/family.html?language=en&itemId=4044056
1904: It was
reported today that referee Hamilton Odell has selected the Hebrew Technical
Institute will receive the residue of the $600,000 the estate of lace importer
Simon Goldenberg following the death of his widow Mary Golden, in part because
Goldenberg had consider making a revision of his will so he could leave the
institute a large amount of money.
1905: The
Constitution Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of B’nai B’rith ended its
weeklong meeting in New Orleans.
1905: In
Brooklyn, Yollie and Nathan Prichip gave birth to CCNY graduate Jack Stanley
Prichep, the NYU trained dentist who was active in the ZOA.
1906(27th
of Adar, 5666): Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudi
1906: It was
reported today that a private funeral is scheduled to be held for 8-year-old
Julius C. Morgenthau, Jr. the son of Julius C. Morgenthau and Regina L. Rose.
1906: It was
reported today that seventy-seven-year-old Edward Bloch who had passed away on
March 22 is scheduled to buried tomorrow at the United Jewish Cemetery in
Cincinnati, OH.
https://www.belskiemuseum.com/Abram-Belskie.asp
https://americanart.si.edu/artist/abram-belskie-332
1907: A
meeting of the Executive Board of the Romanian Central Relief Committee was
followed today by two mass meetings in synagogues of the east side at which it
was decided to request President Roosevelt to take action to relieve the
situation in Moldavia.
1908: Albert
Lowy, the husband of Gertrude Lindenthal with whom he had had eight children
was buried today at the Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.
1909(2nd
of Nisan 5669): Sixty-two-year-old Bavarian born, Virginia raised political
leader Herman Myers, the Mayor of Savannah, GA passed away today.
1909(2nd
of Nisan, 5669): Fifty-five-year-old German architect Alfred Messel whose most
famous work was the Wertheim Department store on Leipziger Platz and who became
a Protestant in 1899 passed away today.
1910:
Birthdate of Gyula Ortutay, the anti-fascist political leader who while serving
as the country’s Minister of Religion and Education in 1947 “visited Jewish
grammar schools and in a brief address to the students, expressed sympathy and
understanding for the sufferings of the Jews under previous pro-Nazi regimes,
but pleaded for “forgiveness and cooperation in the reconstruction of Hungary.”
1911:
Birthdate of Tyler Kent, the anti-Semitic son of an American diplomat who used
his position as cypher clerk to steal and share secret documents the
anti-Semitic Right Club, that if exposed would have helped destroy efforts by
FDR and Churchill to fight the Nazis before America entered WW II.
1911: Reports
reached the West of the massacre and looting of Moroccan Jews.
1911: Harry
Lapidus, the president of the Omaha (Neb) Fixture Supply Company and Minnie K.
Kooler Lapidus gave birth to Earl A. Lapidus, the U.S. Naval Graduate who rose to the rank of
Lieutenant before dying in the South Pacific during WW II.
1912: The
Jewish Theological Seminary of America held its “Thirteenth Biennial Meeting”
today.
1912:
Birthdate of Isaac Edward Lending, the son of Bronx owner of a textile
trimmings business who reversed the order of his name to Edward Issac Lending –
the name he used as a journalist and a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
1913(15th
of Adar II, 5673): Shushan Purim
1913(15th
of Adar II, 5673): Forty-six year old Viennese native Dr. Maximilian Max Reiner
the son of Agnes and Dr. Michael Reiner and husband of Paula Reiner passed away
today in Italy.
1914: Today,
Morris Gintzler, the Hungarian born son of Emil and Saly Gintzler, and his wife
Rose Gintzler gave birth to Dorothy Helen Gintzler who became Dorothy Helen
Perlberg when she married Charles Perlberg with whom she had two daughters –
Rose and Jane.
1915: In Lynn,
MA, Ann and Israel Sack gave birth to Albert Milton Sack the “prominent New
York antiques dealer and the author of a guidebook to early American furniture
that became the bible for a generation of weekend antiquers and a standard for
professional collectors.”
1915: Among
those listed today as contributors to the fund of the American Jewish Relief
Committee were the Calgary, Alberta, Jewish Relief Committee, Congregation
House of Israel, Hot Springs, AR; the Sunday School of the Hebrew Bible Class
Association, Newport News, VA and the Ladies Temple Sisterhood of B’nai
Jeshurun, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1915: An
eyewitness account of the Austrian surrender of Przemsyl to the Russians sent
from Petrograd to London today described the destruction of fortification but
reported that except for the outskirts, “town itself” most of whose occupants
were Jews who had stayed during the fight was “intact.” (Editor’s note – The Jews stayed because they
had not place to go and they were subject to anti-Semitic outburst by those on
both sides of the fight.)
1915: The Jews
are among the many groups fleeing Constantinople today based on a fear of
Russian invasion of the Ottoman capital.
1916: Final
arrangements were completed today “for the bazaar for the benefit of the Jewish
war sufferers of Europe” which opens tomorrow in the Grand Central Palace” and
“is one of the largest undertakings yet attempted by the Jews of New York to
raise funds for the relief of their suffering co-religionists in Europe.
1916: In New
York, “The Central Committee for the Relief of Jews Suffering Through the War”
received word today that a successful meeting had been held last night at B’nai
Emuno Synagogue in St. Louis where “many wept when Rabbi Masliansky and Rabbi
Abranowitz described “the sufferings of the Jews in the war zones.”
1917: Based on
reports that the political and religious emancipation of the Jews are about to
be removed along with “the passport restrictions which have rendered it
impossible for American Jews to travel in Russia” the U.S. “State Department
has already received a number of applications from American Jews” wishing to go
to Russia.
1917: In an
interview given today, Dr. Israel Friedlaender, the Professor of Biblical
Literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary predicted that as a result of the
Russian Revolution there would be a “great diminution in the volume of Jewish
emigration from Russia to the United States and the return of many thousands of
recent emigrants” to Russia “which now offers them the liberty in search of
which they had fled” to the United States and “Russian-American Jews” would
“play a great part in the industrial upbuilding of their native land.”
1917:
According to a letter from Oscar S. Straus published today, “Now that the
magnificent uprising of democracy in Russia appears to have opened a new and
glorious future for that country with equal rights for the oppressed
nationalities, Jewish sentiment in America in favor of the Allied cause may be
safely counted upon to become unanimous.”
1917:
Birthdate of Brooklynite Alex Steinweiss, the son of women’s shoe designer and
a seamstress, who as “an art director and graphic designer…brought custom
artwork to record album covers and invented the first packaging for
long-playing records.” (As reported by Steven Heller)
1918: At the
Free Synagogue in Carnegie Hall, Dr. Wise is scheduled to speak on “Vies and
uses, Right and Wrong, of Friendship and Love.”
1918: Samuel
Bayer was elected President today “at a special meeting of the Board of
Directors of the Uptown Talmud Torah.
1918:
Congressman Julius Kahn is scheduled to address the Institutional Synagogue
meeting at Mt. Morris Theatre on “American In and After the War.”
1918:
“Resolutions were adopted” today at the annual meeting of the Trustees of Mt.
Sinai Hospital “complimenting Geroge Blumenthal, the President, on the
successful execution of the duties of the various offices he has held with that
institution during the last twenty-five years.”
1918: In Chicago, Ida and Abe "Melech" Levin give birth to Joseph B. Levin.
1919: On the
Upper West Side of Manhattan, North Carolina native Louis Heilbroner, the
founder of a successful “chain of men’s clothing stores” and Helen Heilbroner
gave birth to American economist Robert Heilbroner, the author of some twenty
books, best known for The Worldly Philosophers published in 1953, which
is a survey of the lives and contributions of famous economists, notably Adam
Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/12/obituaries/robert-heilbroner-writer-and-economist-dies-at-85.html
1919: Alvey A.
Adee, the Second Assistant Secretary wrote to Dr. Pierre Siegelstein, the
President of the Rumanian Hebrew Aid Society that the State Department had
“received a message…from the Union of Native Jews of Rumania” in Bucharest
asking that Rumanian Jews in America do everything in their power to “send
money, food, underwear, clothing and shoes” because “misery is very great with
all.
1920:
Birthdate of Cracow native Mieczyslaw Pemper, the concentration camp inmate who
actually compiled what came to be known as “Schindler’s List.” (As reported by
Douglas Martin)
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/world/europe/19pemper.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8578020/Mietek-Pemper.html
1920: The
annual convention of Sigma Epsilon Delta Fraternity whose member incuded Samuel
Hess, Ben Horn, and Milton Bermas to place today in New York City.
1921(14th
of Adar II, 5681): Purim
1921: The
Chief Rabbinate of Palestine was established under the British Mandate. The
first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Palestine was the scholar and sage, Rabbi
Abraham Isaac Kook Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook was one of the leading intellectual
and religious leaders during the Yishuv period.
1921: “The
Palestine Bazar” organized by the Manchester Branch of the Jewish National Fund
Commission for England for which Winston Churchill, MP acted as patron was
scheduled to come to an end today.
1921: Winston
Churchill’s train arrived in Gaza, the first large town he would visit on his
trip to Palestine.
1922: “Ludwig
II” a silent biopic directed by Otto Kreisler was released today in Austria.
1922: In
Bradford, Yorkshire, Eava Samuel and Abraham Ludman gave birth to Jeffrey
Ludman who passed away before he reached the age of three months.
1922: In an
attempt to calm Arab fears over Jewish immigration to Palestine, Churchill
“approved a proposal from Sir Herbert Samuel that Jewish immigration would be
limited by the ‘economic capacity’ of Palestine to absorb newcomers.” Of
course, Churchill saw that Palestine would have a growing economic capacity
given the improvements brought about the Jewish settlers.
1923: In
Baltimore, MD, Robert Debuskey, “a wine salesman” and “Freda (Blaustein)
Debuskey gave birth to Basil Merle Debuskey the press agent who was a major
influence on the productions of Joseph Papp.
(As reported by Neil Genzlinger)
1924: In
Cincinnati, OH, Goldie and James S. Auer gave birth to Rita Claire Weil, the
wife of Gordon A. Weil, Jr. with whom she had three children.
1924: In
Philadelphia, Samuel Feld and Edna Rosenfeld gave birth to Norman Noah Feld,
the native of Philadelphia and WW II veteran who gained fame as actor Norman
Fell whose most lasting role came as Mr. Roper in the television hit “3’s
Company.”
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/16/nyregion/norman-fell-74-actor-known-for-tv-role.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-norman-fell-1191859.html
1924:
Birthdate of Michael Hamburger the native of Berlin whose family settled in the
United Kingdom in 1933 where he attended Oxford, served in the British Army
during WW II after he which he pursued an academic career which was noted for
his translation of the works of several authors from German into English.
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/jun/11/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries
1925: Today “the
Central Education Committee (Tsentrale Bildungs Komitet or TSBK), the Vilna
branch of the Central Yiddish School Organization (Tsentrale Yidishe Shul
Organizatsye or TSYSHO) and the Vilna Education Society (Vilner Bildungs
Gezelshaft or VILBIG) met to discuss Nochum Shtif’s memorandum,” “in which he
outlined and a plan for an academic
Yiddish institute and library” which they approved in a brochure entitled, Di
organizatsye fun der yidisher visnshaft (The Organization of Yiddish Scholarship,
Vilna, April 1925).
1926: “The New
York Board of Jewish Ministers” under the leadership of Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach
met at Temple Emanu-El today and “endorsed the appeal to raise $50,000 for the
New York Public Library” where “a collection of rare material depicting the
history of Jews in Oriental countries” is about to go on display.
1926: Mrs.
Joffe of the Women’s Branch of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of
America wrote a letter today to arrange for out of town students studying in
New York to be placed in homes at no charge where they will “be furnished all
meals during the coming Passover holidays.”
1927: “Out of
the Mist” a silent film produced by Karl Freund and featuring Vladimir Sokoloff
as “Poleto” was released today in Germany.
1927: The
“campaign workers for the Brooklyn Federation of Jewish Charities” met at the
Unity Club on Bedford Avenue where “Supreme Court Justice Mitchell May,
President of the Federation” said “that a recent influx of Jews into Brooklyn
had increased the demands on the Federation” and it as announced that so far
$125,000 had been raised in the drive to raise $2,500,000.
1928:
Birthdate of Bronx native and Iowa Hawkeye alum Melvin “Mel” Rosen who went
from being a successful collegiate middle-distance runner to being the highly
successful track coach at Auburn University.
http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=140
1929: “Purposes
of the Ort campaign, for industrial reconstruction among Jews in Russia and
Eastern Europe were outlined and the means of raising a $1,000,000 fund for
this work discussed at a meeting this afternoon in the home of Felix Warburg,
1,109 Fifth Avenue”
1930: The
administrative committee of the Jewish Agency met today in London.
1930: It was
reported today that the 111th of the birth of Dr. Isaac W. Wise,
founder of the Reform Judaism in America will be honored by simulations
exercises in New York on March 29 which is Shabbat.
1931: “The
eleventh annual session of the New Jersey Conference of the National Council of
Jewish Women end today” in Asbury Park, NJ, “with installation of Mrs. Wilbur
Spiro of Hoboken as president.
1932:
Birthdate of New York native and Yale graduate Lawrence Jerome Schniderman, the
Harvard trained physician and husband of pianist Barbara Goldman with whom he
had four children –Rob, Claudia Heidi and Tanya.
1933: “The
Enabling Act (German: Ermächtigungsgesetz) an amendment to the Weimar
Constitution that gave the German Cabinet – in effect, Chancellor Adolf Hitler
– the power to enact laws without the involvement of the Reichsta passed in
both the Reichstag and Reichsrat today and was signed by President Paul von
Hindenburg later that day.
1933: Three
weeks after premiering in New York City, “King Kong” with music by Max Steiner
premiered on the West Coast today in Los Angeles.
1934: “Once to
Every Woman” a movie version of short story by the same name with a script
co-authored by Jo Swerling was released in the United States today.
1935: In
“Maimonides Holds a Message” published today R.L. Duffus says that “out of a
century remembered chiefly for its wars, its cruelties and its men of blood and
iron came on the great religious thinkers of all time” Moses ben Maion, better
known as Maimonides, the Jew who was born eight hundred years ago in Spain.
1935: Edward
M.M. Warburg, the son of Felix M. Warburg and William Rosenwald of
Philadelphia, one of the co-chairmen of the UJA addressed “a dinner tonight at
which the Jews of Boston began to raise one hundred thousand dollars toward the
$3, 250,000 sought by the United Jewish Appeal for the relief of European
Jews.”
1936(1st of
Nisan, 5696): Rosh Chodesh Nisan
1936: Polish
Charge d’Affaires Wladyslaw wrote a letter to Dr. Cyrus Adler explaining that
his country’s newly adopted Slaughter Reform Bill, which put an end to kosher
slaughtering was really just a way to “adjust the abnormal conditions existing
in the Polish cattle meat industry” which are caused by the differences in the
way Christians and Jews consumer meat.
1936: Mrs. Leo
Sulzberger is scheduled to president over today’s open meeting of the New York
section of the National Council of Jewish Women is being held in the synagogue
at Welfare Island.
1936(1st
of Nissan, 5696): Sixty-five-year-old Maryville, MD native Hattie Kahn, the
wife of Adolph Kahn and a national director of the National Council of Jewish
Women passed away today in Miami Beach.
1936: The
House of Commons discussed a proposal for setting up a Legislative Council in
Palestine that would give the Arabs control over the future of Jewish
immigration into Palestine i.e. the end of such immigration and the Zionist
dream. Churchill delivered a stirring speech against the proposal.
1937: The Palestine Post reported that in London
the Secretary for the Colonies, Mr. Ormsby-Gore, was asked in the House of
Commons what steps had been taken to prevent any future Arab disturbances and
why Palestinian Jews were not allowed the same right of self-defense as enjoyed
by the British people.
1937: “The
work of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem may help to bring about a better
understanding between the two racial groups of the Palestine Population,
Professor Hugo Bergman,” the chair of the modern philosophy department and
rector of the university “declared” tonight “at a dinner given in his honor by
the American friends of the Hebrew University at the Waldorf-Astoria” in NYC.
1937: The Palestine Post reported that The High
Commissioner, Sir Arthur Wauchope, visited the Jezreel Valley and discussed
matters of security at Merhavia and Balfouria. An announcement was later made
that over 700 supernumerary constables would be re-enlisted for service in the
north of the country.
1938: “More
than 450 persons attended a luncheon today at the Hotel Astor marking the
opening of the Greater New York campaign of the United Palestine Appeal, the
$4,500,000 national campaign for the settlement in Palestine of Jews of
Germany, Austria, Poland, Rumania and other lands.”
1938: “Joseph
Buerckel, Nazi leader from the Saar, who is in charge of the Anschluss
plebiscite in Austria, April 10, opened the plebiscite campaign tonight with a
speech delivered, at the Vienna Konzerthaus” which consisted mainly of an
“incitement against the terrorized Austrian Jews.”
1939:
“Wuthering Heights” the movie version of the novel by the same name directed by
William Wyler, produced by William Wyler, with a script co-authored by Ben
Hecht and music by Alfred Newman premiered in Hollywood tonight.
1939: New York
Governor Lehman praised Young Judaea “on its thirty-first anniversary
celebration” taking place this month.
1939: In
response to “Britain’s threat to stop land purchases by Jews in Palestine,”
“Hadassah…contributed $25,000 today to the Jewish National Fund ‘to assure the
immediate purchase of land areas now held under option in the Jewish National
Home.’”
1940: An
hour-long production of “June Moon” co-authored by George S. Kaufman
co-starring Jack Benny and Benny Rubin was presented today.
1941: After
receiving a transit visa from the United States, poet Anna Seghers, her
husband, László Radványi and their children left France where they could no
longer stay because of the Nazi occupation for America today.
1941: In
Chicago, Ester Huff and William Masser gave birth to Michael William Masser,
the Chicago born stockbroker turned popular music composer.
1942: “In
order to make more space for the incomings transports” to Izbica ghetto, today “2,200
local Jews were sent to the Belzec death camp…”
1942: “To the
Shores of Tripoli” a paean to Patriotism featuring Max “Slapsie Maxie”
Rosenbloom with music by Alfred Newman was released in the United States today.
1942(6th of
Nisan, 5702): Agronomist and journalist Joel Shubin, who was “an alleged
Communist International representative to the American Communist Party” and the
Soviet Deputy Minister of Agriculture” passed away today either from “lung
disease” or as the victim of a political liquidation.
1943:
Deportation of the Jews from the pre-war territories of Bulgaria to Treblinka.
1943: In
Berne, “a well-informed said today” that “the Vichy regime has resumed the
shipment of Jews to Eastern Europe” as can be seen by “a contingent of 2,500
foreign Jews” having been placed in cattle cars without food for the five or
six day trip from “a camp near Lourdes” to Poland
1943: “The
annual national service ward of Phi Epsilon Pi Fraternity for work essential to
Jewish life in America was given today to former New York Governor Lehman who
hos is the director of the Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation
Operations.”
1944(28th of
Adar, 5704): In Markowa, a patrol of German police came to the house of
Wiktoria and Józef Ulm, where they found 8 Jews, members of the Szall and
Goldman families. First the Germans executed all the Jews. Then they shot down
pregnant Wiktoria and her husband. When the 6 children began to scream at the
scene of dead bodies of their parents, Jozef Kokott, a German policeman (killed
them. Markowa was a Polish village near Lancut. During World War II many
families hid their Jewish neighbors to help them survive the Holocaust. It is
estimated that at least 17 Jews survived the war in Markowa. Seven members of the Weltz family were hidden in a barn of
Dorota and Antoni Szylar. Jakub Einhorn was hidden by Jan and Weronika
Przybylak and the Jakub Lorbenfeld family was hidden by Michal Bar. Two girls
from Reisenbach family were initially hidden by Stanislaw Kielar, before
joining the rest of 5 members of the family in the house of Julia and Józef
Bar. Righteous Gentiles came in all shapes and sizes. Some were industrialists
called Oksar and others were simple peasants who showed real courage.
1944: An
unidentified Turkish Jew who was an eyewitness to the event, reported to the
United States government that on this date the Germans had deported all the
registered Jews of Athens.
1944:
Following the refusal of Elias Barzilai, the Chief Rabbi of Athens, to provide
the Germans with a list of Jews, “the Germans lured Jews into Beth Shalom
Synagogue” today with an offer of “free matzoth for Pesach.”
1944: Shlomo
Venezia and his family were deported from Thessaloniki to Athens before being
shipped to Auschwitz.
1944: In
occupied Rome, the Nazis executed more than 300 civilians in the Ardeantine
Caves Massacre.
1944: As the
Nazis assert control over Hungary, President Roosevelt warns the Hungarians “to
refrain from anti-Jewish measures.” (As reported by the Jewish Virtual Library)
1944: Two
British constables were killed in Tel Aviv and three others were killed in
Haifa when a bomb exploded at the Criminal Investigation Department
headquarters in Haifa. These and other attacks conducted tonight were believed
to be the work of the Stern Gang and were condemned by The Tel Aviv Municipal
Council and the Federation of Jewish Labor.
1945: A train
carrying 200 Jewish women, exhausted from a death march from Neusalz, Poland,
arrived at Bergen-Belsen, Germany.
1945: The
Arabs held protest demonstrations at the same time that their leaders rejected
a compromise that would have rotated the position of Mayor of Jerusalem among
members of the Jewish, Arab and British communities. The Jews had agreed to the
compromise even though 61 per cent of the city’s population was Jewish.
1946: New
York’s “Governor Dewey gave his full support” today “to the current $35,000,000
campaign of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York in a special message
telephone from Albany to a meeting of the UJA’s Council of Organizations at the
Waldorf Astoria Hotel.”
1947:
Birthdate of Minneapolis native and Northwestern University-trained journalist
Alan Wiseman, the husband of sculptor Beckie Kravetz.
1947: Dr.
Nahum Goldman is scheduled to leave Palestine today for London and New York so
that he can begin planning for the upcoming meeting of the special sessions of
the United Nations that has been called to deal with the problem of Palestine.
1948(13th
of Adar, 5708): Ta’anit Esther and Erev Purim
1948:
Seventy-four year old Russian philosopher and author Nikolai Berdyaev whose The
Meaning of History “credits the Jews with being the first people to
contribute the concept of ‘historical’ to world history thereby discharging
‘the essence of their specific mission’” and further contended that Jews did
not merely grasp “the significance of the past and present” but “were also the
first people to link these up with the future” as can be seen in The Book of
Daniel which “is one of the first well-defined expressions of the true
philosophy of history.
1948: It was
announced today the Israel “Rogosin, president of the Beaunit Mills, Inc., has
been appointed chairman of the $600,000 fund raising campaign of the American
Memorial to Six Million Jews of Europe, Inc.” which plans to erect “a memorial
as a symbol of brotherhood and peace on Riverside Drive, in New York City.”
1949: It was
reported in Tel Aviv today that “possession of four or five ancient Hebrew
scrolls believed to date back to the pre-Christian era may be a point at issue
in the Syrian-Israeli armistice talks…”
1949: Today,
“the Israeli Foreign Ministry is making a determined bid to convince the Soviet
bloc countries that recent restrictions on the departure of Jews to Israel are
incompatible with their strong support for the new state in the United Nations.”
1950(6th of
Nisan, 5710): Harold Joseph Laski an “English political theorist, economist,
author, and lecturer, who served as the chairman of the Labour Party during
1945-1946” passed away.
1950(6th
of Nisan, 5710): Thirty-four-year-old Brooklyn born NYU basketball star Simon
Boardman who was appointed “director of physical education at the Atlantic City
Technical High School after his service in WW II passed away today, leaving his
wife Harriet and his mother Rose to mourn his passing.
1950: An
Israeli government official “said today that Jordan suddenly broke off
negotiations on a five-year non-aggression pact” between the two countries
which was close to completion. “Earlier today, a high diplomatic source in
Beirut reported the break in negotiations had been forced by the resignation
last week of Jordan’s Premier Tewfik Abul Huda.”
1952(26th of Adar, 5712): Stella Kaufmann Mundheim, the Pittsburgh born daughter of Morris and Betty Wolf Kaufmann, the wife of Samuel Mundheim, the president of Stern Brothers Department Store whom she married in 1905 and the mother of Louis Mundheim Gerstenfeld and the mother-in-law of Reform Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld passed away today after which she was buried in the Washington Hebrew Congregation Cemetery.
1952: The Jerusalem Post reported that the
atmosphere at the opening of the Hague reparations talks between world Jewry
and West Germany was "official, cool and tense." The German
delegation claimed that their willingness to make reparations was restricted by
Allied legislation.
1952: The Jerusalem Post reported that in
Jerusalem a man who escaped from a mental home was shot and killed by an Arab
Legion sentry near the Jaffa Gate. Infiltrators murdered Mordecai Harkabi, a
watchman from Hadera.
1953(8th
of Nisan, 5713): Archie L. Cohn, the husband of Edith Cohn passed away today in
New York City.
1954:
Birthdate of actress Donna Pescow, the Brooklyn native who played “Annette” in
the disco classic “Saturday Night Fever.”
1955(1st
of Nisan, 5715): Rosh Chodesh Nisan
1955(1st
of Nisan, 5715): Eighty-year-old Polisn native Martha Esther Cahn, the daughter
of Rachel and Moses Isaac Binon and the wife of Edward Cahn passed away today.
1955: “Man
Without A Star” a movie version of a novel by the same name produced by Aaron
Rosenberg and starring Kirk Douglas was released today in the United States.
1955: Eighty-year-old
Martha Esther Cahn, the daughter of Rachel and Moses Isaac Binion and the wife
of Edward Cahn
1955(1st
of Nisan, 5715): Rosh Chodesh Nisan
1955(1st
of Nisan, 5715): Terrorists threw hand grenades and opened fire on a crowd at a
wedding in the farming community of Patish, in the Negev, killing a young woman
and wounding 18 others.
1955: United
States Customs officials seize copies of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl"
because it was obscene.
1955(1st
of Nisan, 5715): Three days after celebrating her 80th birthday,
Martha Esther Cahn, the daughter of Rachel and Moses Isaac Binion and wife of
Edward Cahn with whom she had three children – Alma, Ruth and Joshua – passed
away today.
1956: In
Brattleboro, VT, Kitty Prins Shmulin and “George J. Shumlin, a third generation
American who was Jewish, and descended from Russian immigrants” gave birth to
Peter Elliott Shumlin, the 81st Governor of Vermont.
1956: Actress
Rita Gam, to Yale Graduate and WW II Marine Corps veteran “Thomas H. Guinzburg,
the son of Harold K. Guinzburg, publisher of the Viking Press” began their
“European wedding trip.”
1956: In
Detroit, Frederic Henry Ballmer, the Swiss born “manager at the Ford Motor
Company” and Beatrice Dworkin, whose Jewish family had come from Belarus gave
birth to Steve Ballmer, Vice President of Microsoft.
1957(21st
of Adar II, 5717): Seventy-six-year-old Lithuanian born author Bernard
Abrahams, aka Avrom-Be Shmuolvits, who spent two years in London before moving
to South Africa in 1901 where he wrote Mayne zibetsik yor, oytobyografye (My
seventy years, autobiography) passed away today.
1958: Seventy-eight-year-old
Seumas O’Sullivan the husband of Irish artist Estella Francis Solomons the
daughter of Maurice Solomons “an optician whose practice in 19 Nassau St.,
Dublin, is mentioned in Ulysses” and the brother-in-law of Bethel
Solomons, a physicians who was a supporter of the 1916 Easter Rising.
1959(14th
of Adar II, 5719) Purim
1960: An
English production of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s “Flower Drum
Song” opened today in London’s Palace Theatre where it “ran for 464
performances.
1961(7th
of Nisan, 5721): Ninety-year-old Brooklyn born Columbia law school grad
Mitchell May whose political career included serving as a member of the House
of Representatives and serving 18 years as a Justice of the New York Supreme
Court.
https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=M000276
1961:
Birthdate of Jamaica, Queens NY native and Yale University Ph.D. Jeffrey I.
Herbst, the former President of Colgate University and President of the
American Jewish University in Los Angeles who is the husband of Sharon
Polansky, the father of Matthew, Spence and Alna Herbst and the brother of
Susan Herbst, the 15th President of the University of Connecticut
and the first women to hold that position.
1961: “Town
Without Pity” starring Kirk Douglas and with music by Dimitri Tiomkin was
released in West Germany today.
1961(7th
of Nisan, 5721): Fifty-six-year-old New York born Harvard graduate Manfred I.
Behrens, Jr., the husband of the former Marjorie Wortman, with whom he had two
children – Jill and Manfred, 3rd – who was one of the country’s
leading authorities on retailing” and a trustee of the Jewish Board of
Guardians passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/03/25/118030498.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1964: “The
Fall of the Roman Empire” produced by Samuel Bronston and with a score by
Dimitri Tiomkin was released today in the United Kingdom.
1965: In
Chicago, “Lynn Straus and news anchor Walter Jacobson gave birth to Brown
University trained actor Peter Jacobs best known for his portrayal of “Dr.
Chris Taub.”
1965: “The
Sucker” a comedy directed by Gérard Oury was released in France today.
1965:
Shlomo-Yisrael Ben-Meir began serving as Deputy Minister of Health.
1965: Rabbi
Saul Leeman of Cranston and Rabbi William G. Braude were among those marching
from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
http://jwa.org/media/what-i-learned-in-alabama-about-yarmulkes
1968: This
afternoon Suzie Burger, a 7 1/2-year-old artist, helped dedicate the new Henry
Kaufmann Building at the 92d Street Young Men's-Young Women's Hebrew
Association.
1969(5th
of Nisan, 5729): Seventy-eight-year-old Neville Laski, the British jurist who
was the brother of Harold Laski passed away today.
1969:
Birthdate of Munir Amar, the Druze general and Head of the IDF Civil
Adminsitration whose life was cut short at the age of 47 in a tragic plane
crash.
1970: “King: A
Filmed Record... Montgomery To Memphis” a documentary produced by Ely Landau
and Richard J. Kaplan, directed by Sidney Lumet and Joseph L. Mankiewicz and
co-starring Paul Newman was released today in the United States today.
1970: “It
Takes A Thief” which had co-starred Malachi Thorne in its first two seasons
completed its run in prime time television.
1971: ABC
broadcast the final episode of “The Young Lawyers” a legal drama starring Lee
J. Cobb and with music by Lalo Schifrin.
1972: An
estimated 50,000 mourners accompanied Rabbi Chaim Meir Hager’s aron to its
final resting place. He had been revered as Vizhnitzer Rebbe for 35 years.
1972: Nine
days after premiering in New York City, “The Godfather” produced by Albert S.
Ruddy and co-starring James Caan and featuring Abe Vigoda was released across
the United States today.
1973(20th of
Adar II, 5733): Seventy-four-year-old award-winning Israeli novelist Haim Hazaz
passed away. A native of the Ukraine, he made Aliyah in 1931. His only son,
Nahum died during the War of Independence. Hazaz spent the last decade of his
life in Talbiya.
1974(1st
of Nisan, 5734): Rosh Chodesh Nisan
1974: Henry
Kissinger arrived in Moscow for a four-day visit.
1974(1st
of Nisan, 5734): Seventy-eight-year-old Alexander Raymond Katz, the Hungarian
born “painter and muralist’ who in 1910 came to the United States where he
studied at the Art Institute in Chicago and gained fame as being “among the
first Jewish artists to receive the approval of Orthodox rabbis for his
interpretive handling of such subjects as the Ten Commandments” while raising
two children, Joan and Donald, with his wife “the former Elsie Engel” passed
away today.
https://www.artsy.net/artwork/alexander-raymond-katz-shabbat
1975: Eliyahu
Moyal replaced Jabr Muadi as Deputy Minister of Communications.
1976(22nd
of Adar II, 5736): Just 22 days after his 79th birthday, Vienna born
Dr. Ignaz Maybaum, a WW I veteran of the Austrian Army and former rabbi at Frankfurt-on-the-Oder,
Bingen and Berlin who “came to Britain in 1939 with his wife and children” and
served as Assistant Minister at West London Synagogue in 1958 and the first
rabbi of Edgware and District Reform Synagogue” while lecturing in Comparative
Religion at the Leo Baeck College passed away today
1977: The Jerusalem Post reported that a Haifa
Labor Court ordered the striking Haifa and Ashdod port workers to return to
work, but they were still debating whether to respond to the court's orders.
1977: The Jerusalem Post reported that five
hundred and eleven out of 566 members of the Herat's Central Committee voted
for Menachem Begin to head the party's list for the forthcoming Knesset
elections.
1977: The Jerusalem Post reported that leading
Israeli scientists gathered at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot to protest
against the latest wave of Soviet persecution of Jews in the Soviet Union.
1979(25th
of Adar, 5739): Shabbat HaChodesh
1979(25th
of Adar, 5739): Eighty-year-old Sir Jacob Edward Cohen, founder of the Tesco
supermarket chain passed away.
1979(25th
of Adar, 5739): Sixty-three-year-old British actress Yvonne Mitchell passed
away today in London
1979(25th
of Adar, 5739): One person was killed, and 13 people were injured, most of them
lightly, when an explosive charge blew up in a trash can in Zion Square in
Jerusalem.
1980: During
the Presidential campaign, “Regan on Israel” by William Safire published today
provided a snapshot of the Republican presidential nominee’s view on that
subject.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1980/03/24/issue.html
1981(18th
of Adar II, 5741): Eighty-four-year-old Nathaniel Lawrence Goldstein who served
as New York State Attorney General from 1943 to 1954 passed away. A Republican, he teamed with Thomas E. Dewey
to break the Democratic hold on Albany.
1981: Today
Saudi Arabia rejected a suggestion by the Israeli opposition leader Shimon
Peres that he would try to explore the possibility of peace with the Saudis if
his Labor Party wins the Israeli general elections on June 30. The official
Saudi press agency quoted Information Minister Mohammed Abdo Yamani as saying
the nation ''rejects allegations in the enemy's press to implicate the kingdom
in positions contrary to its present and future policies.'' Mr. Abdo Yamani
said the remarks were meant for local consumption in Israel during the
campaign. ''The peace we want is not that which Peres and Begin want,'' he
said, referring to Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel. ''The peace we
support is based on rights, justice, international law and the resolutions of
the United Nations.''
1981: In “About
Education; Nature vs. Nature: Psychologist Urges Active Intervention,” published
today Dr. Reuven Feuerstein the clinical psychologist seving as director of the
Youth Aliyah Research Insitute, professor of psychology at Tel Aviv University
and adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University, explains his unique views on
mental health including the concept of intelligence. “Heredity, shemeredity!
You have to do something” is his answer to the endless argument over whether
disadvantaged children do poorly in school because of inherited traits or
because of their environment. The human organism is an open system, very
plastic. It can be changed and modified. The question is whether educators have
the will, the confidence to do something.”
1983: “The
City Council committee on consumer affairs held today the second hearing in
City Council history on kosher food prices and recommended that the city’s
Department of Consumer Affairs and State Attorney General Robert Abrams
investigate widespread charges of price fixing in Kosher-for-Passover products.
(JTA)
1984(20th of
Adar II, 5744): Ninety-three-year-old Sam Jaffe who performed with Cary Grant
in Gunga Din, with Marilyn Monroe in Asphalt Jungle and Charlton Heston in Ben
Hur (amongst other accomplishments) passed way.
http://www.mtv.com/artists/sam-jaffe/biography/
1984(20th
of Adar II, 5744): Seventy-one-year-old Judah Cahn, “the founding rabbi of the
Metropolitan Synagogue of New York and past president of the New York Board of
Rabbis” passed away today. (As reported by David Bird)
http://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/26/obituaries/judah-cahn-founding-rabbiof-metropolitan-synagogue.html
1985: Today’s
New and Noteworthy list of books includes several tomes by Jewish authors and/or
o special interest to Jewish readers: Femineity by Susan Brownmiller; The
March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, by Barbara W. Tuchman; The
Zimmerman Telegram by Barbara Tuchman; Freud and His
Followers by Paul Roazen
1986(13th of
Adar II, 5746): Reb Moshe Feinstein, a leading expert on Halachah, passed away
21 days after celebrating his 91st birthday.
1987: In New
Haven, CT, Dr. Ira and Karen Zeid gave birth to major league pitcher Joshua
Alexander ("Josh") Zeid who played college ball at Tulane University
where majored in English.
1988(6th
of Nisan, 5748): Fifty-six-year-old artist Mary Ellen Mendes, the daughter of
Milton and Muriel Rosenbluth and the wife of Jonathan de Sola Mende with whom
she had two children passed away today in Bethesda, MD after which she was
buried in Kings County, NY.
1989: A
videotape version of the 1960 production of “Peter Pan” a musical by Mark
"Moose" Charlap, with additional music by Jule Styne, and most of the
lyrics written by Carolyn Leigh, with additional lyrics by Betty Comden and
Adolph Green was broadcast today.
1991: Rabi
Laurence Kotok officiated at the wedding of Nancy Anne Stein and David Mark
Woolf at the North Country Reform Temple.
1991(9th
of Nisan, 5751): Ninety-eight-year-old Mildred Guckenheimer Abrahams Kuhr, the
Savannah, GA born daughter Abe Simon Guckenheimer and Fannie Dub Guckenheimer
who married Paul T. Khur after the death of Edmun Hezekial Abrams and the
mother of Marion Cecile Abrahams Mendel passed away today after which she was
buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery North.
1991: Mr. and
Mrs. Sam Witchel of Scarsdale N.Y. have announced the engagement of their
daughter Alexandra Rachelle Witchel to Frank Hart Rich Jr.., a son of Mr. Rich
and Mrs. Joel Fisher, both of Washington. A June wedding is planned. Ms.
Witchel, 33 years old and known as Alex, is a reporter in the news department
of The New York Times. She writes the "On Stage, and Off" column. Mr.
Rich, 41, has been the chief drama critic of The Times since 1980.
1992: “Jakes
Women” written by Neil Simon and directed by Gene Saks opened at the Neil Simon
Theatre.
1993: Award
winning author John Hersey passed away. While most of the world remembers the
non-Jewish Hersey for his writings about Hiroshima, many Jews remember him for
his epic novel, The Wall. It was one of the first and finest books to be
written about events during the Holocaust. In this case, The Wall,
portrayed the events leading up to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
1993: Ezer
Weizman was elected President of Israel. The nephew of Chaim Weizman enjoyed a
distinguished military career before entering politics. He flew for the RAF
during World War II and was one of the founders of what would become the
Israeli Air Force. He played an instrumental role in developing it into one of
the finest military units of its kind in the world.
1994(12th of
Nisan, 5754): Fast of the First Born observed since the 14th Nisan is on
Shabbat
1996: In “The
Jew Who Fought to Stay German” published today famed Israeli author Amos Elon
uses the recent publication of Victor Klemperer’s "Diaries 1933-1945"
to review this unique literary work and to examine the world in which this
“disenfranchised German Jew” struggled to survive as he came to grips with the
reality the “real” Germany despites his best efforts to deny that reality.
1998: Today
Howard Epstein “was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for the New
Democratic Party representing the provincial riding of Halifax Chebucto.”
2000: Pope
John Paul’s visit to “the Holy Land which included a trip to Yad Vashem “where
he bowed his…in a long silence that filled the cold dark Hall of Remembrance”
continued today
2001: “Inherit
The Wind” the controversial play co-authored by Jerome Lawrence is scheduled to
have its final performance at the Sheffel Theatre of the Topeka (Kansas) Civic
Theatre & Academy.
2002(11th
of Nisan, 5762): Seventy-four-year-old Noble prize winner Cesar Milstein and
husband of Celia Prilleltensky passed away today in Cambridge, England.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1984/milstein-bio.html
2002: The New York Times included a review of The
Good, The Bad &The Difference: How to Tell Right from Wrong in Everyday
Situations by Randy Cohn, a Jewish author born in Charleston, South
Carolina.
2003(20th
of Adar II, 5763): Eighty-eight-year-old Academy award winning screenwriter
Philip Yordan passed away today in La Jolla, CA.
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/apr/09/guardianobituaries.film
2004(2nd
of Nisan, 5764): Eighty –three-year-old former Congressman Joshua Eilberg
passed away today.
http://articles.latimes.com/2004/mar/27/local/me-eilberg27
2005: Paula Abdul
“was fined US$900 and given 24 months of informal probation after pleading no
contest to misdemeanor hit-and-run driving in Los Angeles.”
2005:
Broadcast of a re-union episode of Krovim
Krovim an Israeli television sitcom.
2006: The
Japanese Foreign Ministry “issued a position paper” today “that there was no
evidence the Ministry imposed disciplinary action on Chiune Sugihara, the
Japanese diplomat who defied his government while serving in Lithuania by
issuing thousands of transit visas to Jews enabling them to escape the Nazis.
2006: Lily
Elstein held the first concert at the former Mivtahim Inn in Zichron Yaakov
which she purchased January of 2006.
2006: Hazel
Josephine Cosgrove, Lady Cosgrove, completed her service as a Senator of the
College of Justice.
2007: In Reich
Star published today reviewed biographies of Leni Reifensthal written
respectively by Juregen Trimborn and Steven Bach.
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/books/review/James.t.html?searchResultPosition=2
2007: The
United Nations said today that Saudi Arabia had barred entry to a
Washington-based Israeli journalist Orly Azoulay, traveling with Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon despite assurances the Saudi mission in New York gave the
United Nations last week. (As reported by Warren Hoge)
2008: Time features an article
entitled “Israel’s Secret War” which describes the “invisible battle being
waged in the West Bank as Israel uses a mailed fist and a network of
Palestinian informers to stop suicide bombers before they can reach their
targets.” As one IDF officer said, “Our people sleep comfortably because the
IDF is putting in a huge effort in the West Bank to prevent terror.”
2008: The New
Yorker published “The Region of Unlikeness” by Rivka Galchen.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/03/24/the-region-of-unlikeness
2008: The 92nd
Street Y presents “A Festival of Hebrew Literature,” with David Grossman, Etgar
Keret, Meir Shalev and Zeruya Shalev.
2008: Edmund
“Levy was elected by the Supreme Court justices to serve on the Judicial
Selection Committee in place of the court's Vice-President Eliezer Rivlin.”
2009: The
Princeton Program on Judaic Studies presents “A Celebration of Tel Aviv at 100”
featuring talks by Todd Hasak-Lowy (University of Florida) on “Tel Aviv's
Accelerated History,” and Alona Nitzan-Shiftan (Technion) on “Architecture from
the Sand” and a ‘screening of the first two installments of the new Israeli
documentary "Tel Aviv," with creators Modi Bar-On and Anat Zeltser.
2009: In an
event co-sponsored by the Embassy of Israel, Israeli writer and filmmaker Etgar
Keret, author of the short story collections “The Nimrod Flipout” and “The Bus
Driver Who Wanted To Be God and Other Stories,” as well as creator of the
award-winning film "Malka Red-Heart," discusses the relationship
between the short story and film as part of the Nextbook series at the D.C.
Jewish Community Center.
2009: An
effort to auction off bankrupt Agriprocessors has been continued to next week
after two days of bidding failed to yield an offer acceptable to the largest
creditor.
2009: Senior
Labor minister Isaac Herzog announced his support for party leader Ehud Barak's
bid to bring the center-left Labor into a coalition headed by Prime
Minister-Designate Benjamin Netanyahu
2010: The
Knesset's State Control Committee is scheduled to hold a special hearing today
to discuss the cabinet's decision to delay proceeding on a rocket-resistant
emergency room for Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon while a new location is sought
to avoid tampering with old graves.
2010: The
Center for Jewish History is scheduled to present “From Black Market to Dinner
Table: International Clandestine Aid and Its Hungarian Jewish Recipients in the
1950s” as part of its graduate seminar program.
2010: Israel
will continue building in all of its Jerusalem municipality and a construction
plan that raised questions during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's current
trip to Washington is nothing new, Netanyahu's spokesman said in a statement
today.
2010: The Washington Post featured a review of a
memoir entitled "Devotion" by Dani Shapiro, a successful writer
who’grew up with difficult parents: a father whose devotion to Judaism was the
only sustaining force in a disappointing life, and a bitter, angry mother.’
2010(9th of
Nisan, 5770): Ninety-three-year-old pharmaceutical executive and patron of the
arts Mortimer D. Sackler passed away today. (As reported by Bruce Weber)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/business/01sackler.html
2011: Prof
Mandy Merck, Royal Holloway, University of London is scheduled to deliver a
talk entitled “Charlotte loves Harry – Ethnic stereotypes and Jewish jokes in
Sex and the City” at the Wiener Library,in the UK.
2011: “The
Book of Mormon” the musical that earned Josh Gad a Tony Award nomination as
best leading actor in a musical opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.
2011: Ely
Levine is scheduled to give a lecture at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
entitled "Building in the Bible:From Babel to Bathsheba." Levine, a
visiting professor at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, "will discuss how
the study of ancient architecture has shed light on biblical mysteries."
2011: Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not leave for Russia today as planned due to
the terrorist attack in Jerusalem yesterday.
2011: YIVO
Institute for Jewish Research and American Society for Jewish Music presented
“The Most Musical Nation: Jews and Culture in the Late Russian Empire.”
2011: The
British Foreign Office confirmed today that a UK national, Mary Jane Gardner,
died in yesterday's terrorist attack at a Jerusalem bus stop, the Associated
Press reported. The 59-year-old woman was critically injured in the blast and
succumbed to her wounds the same day at Haddasah-Ein Kerem Medical Center.
Thirty-nine others were injured in the attack; two are still in serious
condition.
2011: The
Israeli Air Force struck targets in the Gaza Strip in the early hours today, a
day after Palestinian militants fired about a dozen rockets and mortars across
the border.
2012: Ricky
Ullman’s final performance “as the character Alex in the New Group's production
of "Russian Transport" Off-Broadway in New York.”
2012: Shabbat
of the “Sabbath Manifesto” is scheduled to end this evening.
2012: “The
Syrian Bride” is scheduled to be shown this evening at Tifereth Israel’s
Israeli Movie Night in Washington, DC.
2012: “The
Flood” is scheduled to be shown at the 16TH Annual Hartford Jewish Film
Festival
2013: Join
Beyhan Cagri Trock, author of The Ottoman Turk and the Pretty Jewish Girl:
Real Turkish Cooking is scheduled to teach a class featuring “authentic,
delicious Sephardic and Turkish family recipes” at the Lorinda
"Annie" Hooks Demo Kitchen
2013: The Trio
Sefardi is scheduled to provide an afternoon of music that focuses on the
traditions of Pesach at the Abraham Lincoln Hall.
2013: The
Jewish Cardinal, a French television film directed by Ilan Duran Cohen was broadcast
for the first time today on RTS Deux
2013: Visitors
to the Weiner Library in London will have the opportunity to view the
exhibition Wit's End: The Satirical Cartoons of Stephen Roth', a compilation of
the works of the “Czech Jewish artist whose cartoons lampooned fascist
dictators and put a wry spin on political events during the Second World War.”
2013: IDF
soldiers fired a Tammuz missile at a Syrian army position in Tel Fares, from
which shots were fired both that day and the previous day across the border
into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
2013: Ben
Zygier, the alleged Mossad agent also known as Prisoner X who committed suicide
in Ayalon Prison in 2010, was arrested for passing sensitive information to
Hezbollah that led to the arrests of two informants within the ranks of the
Shi’ite organization, Der Spiegel reported on today.
2014:
Reform Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, the Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professor of
Liturgy, Worship and Ritual at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion in New York, is scheduled to speak on “Christianity and Judaism: God’s
Double Helix Through Time” at Loyola University in New Orleans.
2014:
“Dancing in Jaffa” is scheduled to be shown at the Northern Virginia Jewish
Film Festival.
2014:
Maestro Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra are scheduled to
present a benefit performance at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in
Palm Beach.
2014:
Majn Alef Bejs, “a book on Yiddish published by a Polish Jewish group
has won first prize in the non-fiction category of the Bologna Children’s Book
Fair which is scheduled to open today.
2014: “For the
second time in as many weeks, Economy and Religious Affairs Minister Naftali
Bennett came under fire today over an accusation that he has been using his
position to funnel money to associates.”
2014: The
results of a new survey of anti-Semitic attidues presented at a news conference
today organized by the Action and Protection Foundation headquarters “showed up
to 40 percent of respondents accepted some anti-Semitic attitudes. (As reported
by JTA)
2014: Today “a
woman complained that Silvan Shalom had sexually harassed her at work more than
15 years before” which led to an investigation that was closed because the
statute of limitations had been reached even though other women came forward with
similar charges
2015: In La
Jolla, CA, the Lawrence Family JCC is scheduled to host “Turning Inward: Jews
and American Life, 1965-Presentish.”
2015: “London-based
attorney Christopher Marinello, who works for the Rosenberg family,” “a Jewish
family trying to retrieve a long-lost Matisse painting (Seated Woman) looted by
the Nazis said” today that “a deal had been signed with the German government
for its restitution.”
2015: The 5th
J Street National Conference is scheduled to come to an end.
2015:
William Brumfield is scheduled to deliver at lecture on the “The Jewish Moment
in Russia” at Tulane University.
2015:
The 16th Street Book Club is scheduled to discuss A Pigeon and a
Boy by Meir Shalev, translated by Evan Fallenberg
2015:
Today, at a Simon Wiesenthal Center Dinner, Harvey Weinstein, the co-founder of
Miramax “urged Jews in the fight against anti-Semitism to “stand up and kick
these guys in the ass.” (JTA)
2015(4th
of Nisan, 5775): Eighty-six-year-old Israeli diplomat and ministerial adviser
Yehuda Avner passed away today in Jerusalem.
2016:
Ninety-eighth anniversary of the birth of Joseph B. Levin aka Yosef Dov ben
Avraham Elimelech without whom, literally, this blog would not exist.
2016:
The Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia is scheduled to host “The
Music and Life of Irving Berlin.”
2016:
The Jews in the American South is scheduled to be in Beaufort, South Carolina
visiting with Mayor Billy Keyserling, “the grandson of Lithuanian immigrants”
who escaped from Czarist Russia and graudate of Brandies University who has
been active in state politics for several decades.
2016(14th
of Adar II, 5776): Purim
2016(14th
of Adar II, 5776): Sixty-six-year-old television comedy writer Garry Shandling
who was best known for “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/arts/television/28stei.html
2016:
Ninety-four year old former MK Esther Herlitz, the native of Berlin who was
Israel’s first female ambassador passed away today.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-first-female-ambassador-passes-away-at-94/
2017(26th
of Adar, 5777): Seventy three year old Columbia University grad Paul Novograd,
“the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe” who had reluctantly closed
the Claremont Riding Academy ten years ago passed away today. (As reported by Sam Roberts)
2017:
In Memphis, TN, Temple Israel is scheduled to turn Shabbat into a family affair
with a Ruach Preneg followed a by a “L’dor Vador Shabbat Service.”
2017:
Former Penn State President Graham Spanier was convicted today for his role in
“hushing up the suspected child sex abuse” by a Penn St assistant football
coach.
2017:
Approximately 5,000 “Israelis and foreigners got filthy and battled through
miles of obstacles” today took part in Israel’s first “Mud Day” race in Tel
Aviv.
2017:
Kibbutz Beit Oren is scheduled to host “Believe Fairy Festival,” Israel’s first
“fairy festival.”
2018:
Iowa City author and photographer Ina Loewenberg is scheduled to sign copies today
of her new memoir A Life à la Carte at Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa
City.
2018:
“The Chop” and “The Cousin” are scheduled to be shown at the New Jersey Jewish
Film Festival.
2018:
The 92nd Street Y is scheduled to host a performance this evening of
“Irving Berlin: American.”
2018:
Members of USY are scheduled to follow in the footsteps of Rabbi Abraham Joshua
Heschel by “praying with their feet” as participants in the #MarchForOurLives
rally in Washington, DC.
2018:
One hundredth anniversary of the birth of Joseph B. Levin, who in one of those
calendar coincidences was Bar Mitzvahed on Shabbat HaGadol which is observed
today in 2018.
2018(8th
of Nisan, 5778): Parashat Tzav and
Shabbat HaGadol;
2019:
The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including Spies of No Country: Secret Lives
at the Birth of Israel by Matti Friedman and Savage Feast: Three Generations,
Two Continents and a Dinner Table (A Memoir with Recipes) by Boris Fishman.
2019:
The AIPAC Policy Conference, where the self-important gather, is scheduled to
open today in Washington, DC.
2019:
For the first time since the arrest of Robert Kraft, Pats owner, the NFL owners
are scheduled to begin their annual meeting.
2020:
In the midst of the darkness of the pandemic, friends and family of Ilan Caplan
prepare celebrate that consummate physician and sweet singer of song, Dr. Ilan
Caplan who has brought light to so many.
2020:
Bidud Beyachad: The London School of Jewish Studies Torah Show with Rabbi Dr.
Raphael Zarum is scheduled to begin on line today at noon
2020:
The Streicker Center is scheduled to present on line this evening Martin
Kaufman’s discussion of Nachman of Breslov.
2020:
Warren Klein (Currator of the Bernard Museum of Judaica at Temple Emanu-El)
takes is scheduled to host a virtual tour of the Barbra Streisand Exhibition
and answers questions along the way... via Zoom Video Conferencing
2020:
Boston Jewish Film is scheduled to present an on-line screening of “Code of the
Freaks” this evening.
2020:
“The San Francisco Freedom Seder,” the “24th annual multicultural seder hosted
by JCRC, JCCSF and Congregation Emanu-El” scheduled for this evening has been
canceled due to the Pandemic.
2020: Today Israelis should get some idea of how
Yuli Edelstein will respond to the ruling by the Supreme Court that he “must
hold by tomorrow to elect a speaker of the Knesset.”
2021:
JCCSF is scheduled to present chef and cookbook author Jake Cohen demonstrating
his recipe for matzo tiramisu and offering Passover tips, followed by optional
30-minute conversation for 20- and 30-somethings, with loneliness/connection
expert Kyla Sokoll-Ward.
2021:
Jason Harris of the podcast “Jew Oughta Know” and director of Osher Marin JCC’s
Taube Center for Jewish Peoplehood is scheduled to talk, virtually, about
whether the Exodus from Egypt is myth or grounded in historical fact.
2021:
As par of the Jewish Gateway’s”Torah for Everyone” series, Rabbi Bridget Wynne
is scheduled to explain virtually “how and why the traditional Haggadah story
differs from the Exodus story.”
2021:
In Columbus, OH, Tifereth Israel is scheduled to present Rabbi Josh Warshawsky
leading “Music as Midrash; Exploring Passover Through Song.”
2021:
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston is scheduled to
present online “Israeli Society and the Holocaust: A Work in Progress” which is
“led by Rachel Korazim, will explore the development of the Holocaust narrative
in Israel from the early days, still under British Mandate all the way to
recent years.”
2021:
If the exit polls taken by Israel’s three main television channels are
harbinger’s of realty, as of today “Benjamin
Netanyahu is on course to form the next government - if he can persuade his
former ally Naftali Bennett to join his coalition.
2021:
Oshman Family JCC and Bina are scheduled to present Tova Birnbaum and Zoe
Fertik leading a learning seder to familiarize people with the texts and
rituals.
2021:
Boston Jewish Film is scheduled to present, online, a screening of “Rain in Her
Eyes.”
2022:
“After weeks of grinding war” a senior Russian general appeared to be admitting
today that it had failed in its attempt to conquer Ukraine which is led by its
Jewish president Volodymy Zelenskyy.
2022:
Runners, including Ukrainian refugee Valentyna Vereteska, prepared to run in
tomorrow’s Jerusalem Marathon.
2022:
Terrorists attacked a bus near Ofra today.
2023:
Based on previous announcement effective today, American Airlines is scheduled
to discontinue its Miami to Tel Aviv service.
2023:
A demonstration organized by the Defend Israeli Democracy London group which is
“being staged to show opposition to the policies of the coalition government of
Benjamin Netanyahu who is visiting the United Kingdom is scheduled to “place
from 8am until 6pm in central London…” (As reported by Lee Harpin)
2023:
At two o’clock this morning, Israelis are scheduled to move their clocks
forward one hour.
2023:
According to a notice posted by Netflix, today is the last day to watch the “popular
Hebrew-language series Shtisel.”
2023:
One hundred and fifth anniversary of Joseph B. Levin Z”L without whom this blog
would not have been possible.
2023:
The Vilna Shul, Boston's Center for Jewish Culture is scheduled to host “Charosets
Around the World Shabbat Dinner.
2024(14th
of Adar II, 5784): Purim; for more see https://downhomedavartorah.blogspot.com/
2024:
Lockdown University is scheduled to host a webinar featuring David Peimer and
Ollie Anisfeld on “Purim Debate: What is the Key to Jewish Survival?”
2024:
The Eden Tamir Center is scheduled to host “The Glorious Sound of the Piano,”
featuring the Jerusalem Piano Duo of Shir Semmel and Dror Semmel
2024:
Jessica Solomon, the Executive Director of the Jewish Heritage Museum of
Monmouth County, NJ is scheduled to host the Jewish Block of the Garden State
Film Festival today which include screenings of “East,” “The Name of Things”
and a documentary “The Film-Make-Her The Lisa Azuelos Story.”
2024:
Museum of Jewish Heritage and SHAI are scheduled to present a “Spring Equinox
Festival: A Celebration of Persian Culture During Purim & Nowruz.”
2024:
The Illinois Holocaust Museum is scheduled to host a conversation “with The
Counterfeit Countess’ authors, Dr. Joanna Sliwa and Dr. Elizabeth B. White,
as they discuss this riveting tale, challenging the traditional perspective on
Polish-Jewish wartime relations and highlighting the unique experiences of
non-Jewish Poles during World War II.”
2024:
The Museum at Eldridge Street is scheduled to take “a trip to the literary
Lower East Side” which
“follows in the footsteps of Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertie, the
beloved sisters depicted in Sydney Taylor’s children’s classic All-of-a-Kind
Family.”
2024: As March
24th begins in Israel, the Hamas held hostages begin
day 170 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.)
