May 25 In History
1085: Pope Gregory VI passed away. Gregory opposed Henry IV, the Holy Roman Emperor who saw himself as a protector of the Jews. Henry contended that the Jews, regardless of where they lived, were his subjects. He granted them special dispensations and exemptions in matters of trade and taxes.
1085: Alfonso VI of Castile took Toledo back from the Moors. As Moslem Spain came under the control of increasingly intolerant religious leaders, Jews and liberal Moslems found refuge in the tolerant world of Christian Toledo. As many as 40,000 Jews are reported to have fought in the armies of Alfonso against the Almoravides. Ironically, there were thousands of Jews fighting with the Almoravides as well.
1096: Massacre of the Jews of Worms who took refuge in the city's castle during the First Crusade. Simcha Bar Isaac haKohen was "torn to bits" by Crusaders in a church for stabbing the bishop's nephew while pretending to submit to compulsory baptism. (Editorial comment: I’ll bet that scene is in not in any of the blockbuster hits about the noble Crusaders and their noble Moslem opponents.)
1241: First attack on Jewish community of Frankfort-on-the-Main
1261: The Papacy of Alexander IV, who brought the Inquisition to France, ended today.
1648: Chmielnicki's pogroms, which resulted in the massacre of more than 300,000 Jews, broke out. This slaughter took place in the
1710(5th of Iyar ): Rabbi Benjamin Ozer of Zolkiev, author of “Even ha-Ozer” passed away
1759: Judah Lob Ben Nathan Krysa, an 18thcentury Frankist leader from Galacia “declared that the cross symbolized the "holy trinity" spoken of in the Zohar, and the seal of the Messiah.” Krysa also “asserted before the ecclesiastical dignitaries that the Talmud prescribes the use of Christian blood. Like his master Jacob Frank and most of the Frankists, Krysa” would later embrace Christianity.
1776(7th of Sivan, 5536): Second Day of Shavuot
1784: Jews are expelled from Warsaw by Marshall Mniszek
1787: Opening session of the Philadelphia Convention which would become known as the Constitutional Convention because its fifty-five delegates would write the U.S. Convention. While there were no Jewish delegates at the Convention, the framers took action that had a profound effect on the Jewish people that has lasted to the 21st century. Article VI of the document states: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” In other words, from the beginning of Jews, at least at the federal level, were eligible to hold office. Lewis Charles Levin would be the first Jew elected to Congress, winning election to the House of Representatives in 1844.
1800: Rosh Chodesh Sivan, 5560
1817: Birthdate of Saul Solomon the native of St. Helena, the leader of South Africa’s Liberal Party who is called the “Cape Disraeli” because, like Benjamin Disraeli, he converted to Christianity. And like Disraeli, he retained a sense of pride in his ethnic origins. He passed away in 1892.
1821:Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich began serving as 1st State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire. Metternich was an extremely complex character whose treatment of Jews depended on the needs of the Austrian Empire. Thus he could favor rights for Jews in Germany while opposing them for Jews in Austria. Henry Kissinger, the first Jewish Secretary of State wrote his thesis on Metternich and eventually published A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-22
1832(25th of Iyar): Rabbi Jacob Lorberbaum of Lissa, author of “Netivot ha-Mishpat” passed away.
1839: "The British Vice-Counsel in Jerusalem, William Tanner Young, wrote a report comparing the conditions of the Jews in Palestine to that of their counterparts in Egypt. Young wrote that the Governor of Egypt, Ibrahim Pasha, showed 'more consideration' for the Jews than the Christians did. Young also wrote that he had heard several Egyptian Jews acknowledge that 'they enjoy more peace and tranquility under this Government, than they have ever enjoyed here before.' But he then observed that, in contrast, 'the Jew in Jerusalem is not estimated in value much above a dog - and scarcely a day passes that I do not hear of some act of tyranny and oppression against a Jew.'" (In Ishmael's House by Martin Gilbert)
1845: Birthdate of Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike who reportedly was the first Jewish baseball player and the first baseball player to play the game for cash meaning he was the first professional baseball.
1852: In Chicago, fourteen Jews organized B’nai Sholom, the second oldest congregation in the city.
1852: An article published entitled “Jewish Disabilities” that begins with the sentence “No more accurate gauge for advancing civilization could probably be chosen, than the political condition of the Jews” is worth reading in its entirety for anybody seeking to understand the unique nature of the American Jewish experience.
1854: Today during the second reading of the Jewish Disabilities Bill sponsored by Lord Russell, Benjamin Disraeli voiced his opposition to the measure. In part, Disraeli’s opposition was based on a desire to divorce the bill, which is designed to allow Jewish MP’s to sit in Parliament, from a move to provide full rights of citizenship to British Roman Catholics.
1854: German author Paul Heyse arrived in Munich where he had been appointed professor of Romance philology at the city’s university. Heyse, who father was not Jewish and whose mother Julie was the daughter of the Prussian court jeweler Jakob Salomon, is considered by some to be the first Jew to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1863: Birthdate of Parisian born opera composer Camille Erlanger
1863(7th of Sivan, 5623): Second Day of Shavuot
1868: The New York Timesreviewed “The Book of Genesis,” translated from the original Hebrew by Dr. T. J. Conant. The translation is accompanied “with copious notes and an introduction.”
1870: At 3 o'clock this afternoon the corner-stone of the Mount Sinai Hospital was laid at the corner of Sixty-sixth-street and Lexington-avenue. The ceremony included addresses by New York Mayor Abraham Hall and Judge Cardozo.
1871(5th of Sivan, 5631): 49th Day of the Omer; Erev Shavuot
1873: An article published today entitled “A Jewish Ceremony” described “a very curious ceremony called ‘The Burying of the Law.’” Such a ceremony which takes place once every eight or ten years recently took place “in the Spanish Synagogue in Jerusalem” which has a “subterranean cave” in which “every old leaf torn out from any holy book, every old worn-out Bible, Gemara and phylactery” has been deposited “by all the Jewish residents of Jerusalem” regardless of their Minhag. Every 8 to 10 years, these materials are made into bales and then, after following the applicable rituals, the bales are carried out of the Zion Gate by a procession of Jews who descend “into the valley of Jehoshaphat where a very deep well is located. The bales are then drop into the well “amid the singing of the joyous crowd.
1875:This evening Professor Felix Adler, of Cornell University, addressed the American Geographical Society at Association Hall in New York City. His topic was "The Influence of the Physical Geography of Palestine on Hebrew Thought." The opening of this address was devoted to the statement and citation of the effects of climate on the character and thoughts of people born in it.
1876: A meeting of delegates representing Hebrew congregations from various U.S. cities which was being held at The Harvard Rooms in New York City came to an end. The delegates discussed the possibility of establishing a seminary that would teach Jewish theology and the Hebrew language while preparing students to become Rabbis.
1877: An article published today entitled “A Romance in Paterson: The Marriage of a Pretty Jewess Under Peculiar Circumstances” described the suit for an annulment that Miss Rachel Blumenthal, the daughter of wealthy Montreal Jew, is bringing against Moses Tannenhoz a cigar dealer from Patterson, NJ. The 18 year old Miss Blumenthal claimed that she was tricked into marrying Tannenhoz and that she was not of the age of consent when the ceremony took place.
1879:The yearly meeting of the United Hebrew Charities was held this morning at the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, in East Seventy-seventh-street.
1880: In Amsterdam, a merchant named Jacob Samuel Hillesum and his wife Esther Hillesum-Loeza gave birth to their 4th and youngest child Levie (Louis) Hillesum, the father of Esther "Etty" Hillesum. Years later, Etty would keep a diary of life under Nazi occupation that would not surface until after her death at the age of 29 in Auschwitz.
1882(7th of Sivan, 5642): Second Day of Shavuot
1882(7th of Sivan, 5642): English publisher and convert to Judaism Thomas Jones passed away
1890(6th of Sivan, 5650): First Day of Shavuot
1890: At Temple Emanu-El, Rabbi Gottheil will officiate at Confirmation Services.
1890: At Temple Beth-El, Rabbi Kohler will officiate at Confirmation Services.
1890: At Temple Ahawatch Chesed, Rabbi Kohut will officiate at Confirmation Services.
1890: At the Temple on East 15th Street, Rabbi Raphael Benjamin will officiate at Confirmation Services.
1890: Rabbi H.S. Jacobs will lead Shavuot Services today at B’nai Jeshurun.
1890: Rabbi De Sola Mendes will lead Shavuot Services today at Shaarai-Tephilla.
1890: The body of Samuel Hotz, a Jewish peddler, was found in an old mining shaft at Wurtsborough, NY.
1890: “Republican Origins” published today described the reaction to The Origins of the Republican Form of Government in the United States by Oscar Straus which has now been translated into French by Madame Jessie Catherine Couvreur
1890: It was reported today that President Carnot’s meeting with the Chief Rabbi of France has “called forth a host of letters on the ‘second Babylonish captivity’ and the freedom of the Jews in modern times.”
1890: It was reported today that the Republican Club in New York City continues to refuse to admit Jews with several members publicly committed to using the blackball to accomplish this end.
1890: It was reported today that the Internal Revenue Collector and “boss of one-half of the Republicans of Kings County,” Ernst Nathan began his career as a cigar maker. Today he owns several rows of houses, “has made many thousands of dollars in real estate” and is worth a half-million dollars. His political power stems from his ability to name those who will occupy important elected positions including two state Assembly districts as well as the party candidates for Senator and Third District Congressman.
1891: It was reported today that resolutions passed six months under the leadership of the Duke of Westminster beseeching the Czar to show some pity for his Jewish subjects have been met with “unseemly contempt” and no let-up in the expulsion of the Jews. In response, the Hebrew Lovers of Zion has been formed in London with the aim of finding a home for the Jewish refugees in Palestine. Their attempts have been met approval in England and the United States where anti-immigrant sentiment is growing.
1891: It was reported today that the flood of refugees is gaining, not losing “headway.” During April 7,501 Russian and Polish immigrants arrived in the United States “an increase over 1890 of 3,291. While German immigrants are described as “sturdy” and Scandinavians are described as “honest, lusty workers” these immigrants are described as being poor, degraded and in “pitiable condition” who would be better settled in the lands of the Sultan (Palestine).
1892: “Mortally Wounded In A Duel” published today described the circumstances around a duel fought in Hungary Baron Aczel, a member of the Diet and a rich Jewish landowner named Karsay who was denied a chance to participate in the celebration of the jubilee of the coronation of the King because of his religion.
1892: The building of the new sanitarium for Jewish children located at Rockaway Park which cost $20, 975 was overseen by the Board of Managers whose officers include Nathan Lewis, President; Dr. Horatio Gomez, Vice President; Hezekiah Kohn, Treasurer; Joseph Davis, Secretary.
1894: “Annoyed by a Sausage Dealer” published today described the store owned by Florian Sicher, the Yorkville butcher which includes signage advertising “Anti-Semitic Sausages” as well as banners on the awning reading “Do Not Buy From Jews” and “No Sales Made to Jews.”
1894: The Longman publishing company will publish Christopher Columbus and the Participation of the Jews in the Spanish and Portuguese Discoveries by Rabbi Meyer Kayserling today.
1894(19th of Iyar, 5654): Alexander Kohut, the Hungarian born Rabbi who was elected rabbi of Congregation Ahavath Chesed in New York in 1885 and helped to found the Jewish Theological Seminary passed away. He was the father of the scholar and author George Alexander Kouth.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9436-kohut-alexander1895: Andrew McCran, the next door neighbor of Samuel Samuelson, has been arrested on suspicion of shooting the Jew living in Miles Alley.
1896: The New York Times reported that Baron Hirsch had left “only” thirty million pounds to his heirs and beneficiaries, the primary one of which is his widow. While there are rumors floating around London that the Baron had destroyed the IOU’s of a prominent royal personage (possibly the Crown Prince) those in the know do not believe that the Baron was of such a forgiving nature.
1898: Birthdate of French writer Robert Aron
1898: Birthdate of publisher Bennett Cerf. While his real claim to fame was his work at Random House, he was known to most Americans as a panelist on the Sunday night television show, “What’s My Line?”
1898: Birthdate of Russian-born American composer and concert pianist Mischa Levitzki.
1899: Dr. Henry M. Leipziger was re-elected as President of the Judeans who held their annual meeting this evening at the Tuxedo. Rabbi Stephen S. Wise spoke of the political progress being made by the Jews as can be seen by the appointment of Oscar S. Straus as U.S. Minister to Turkey and the election of Joseph Simon as U.S. Senator from Oregon, making him the fourth Jew to serve in Upper House of Congress. He compared the Jewish condition in the United States to Russia which is in the grips of the “outrage of anti-Semitism and France where Dreyfus is still not free.
1899(16th of Sivan, 5659): Rosa Bonheur French realist painter and sculptor passed away. Born in Bordeaux in 1822, she was one of four children all of whom were artists. According to some reports, as a child she was known as Rosa Mazeltov.
1900: The four daylong meeting of the Actions Committee and Trust began today. During the meeting a new Bank Commission was appointed and a decision was reached to hold the next Zionist Congress in London.
1901(7th of Sivan, 5661): Second day of Shavuot
1901(7th of Sivan, 5661): Samuel Joseph Rubinstein passed away. Born in Mitau in 1817, his father sent him to the U.K. when he reached the age of 12 – the age at which he would have been forced to join the Russian Army. He traveled with his aunt who was joining her husband in Glasgow. When Rubinstein reached the Scottish city, he was befriended by the Davis family who members of the local Jewish congregation. They took him in, gave him work to do so that he could earn some money and treated him as if he were a member of the family.
1902: In Lisbon, a foundation stone is laid for the first synagogue built in Portugal since the expulsion of the Jews in 1497.
1903: In Islington, Rosa Enoyce and George Barnes, a Jewish policeman gave birth to English actress Gertrude Maude “Binnie” Barnes.
1904: “Myer S. Isaacs Dead” published today recounted the life of the recently deceased Judge Myer S. Isaacs who had served as President of the Baron de Hirsch Fund, President of the Board of Delegates of American Israelites and of the Hebrew Free School Association. A lifelong Republican, Governor Cornell had appointed him to the Marine Court in 1880. He was nominated to the Superior Court in 1891 and the Supreme Court in 1895.
1906(1st of Sivan, 5666): Rosh Chodesh Sivan
1910: The Chief Rabbi of Salonica protests that despite assurances to the contrary, during his departure, Jews were enrolled in the Army on Saturday. The Minister of Interior telegraphs the Governor General, and instructs him to not let this be repeated. Of 1,908 Jews enrolled at Salonica, 1,719 entered active service; the remaining 189 went into the reserves.
1913: Birthdate of film and television screenwriter Sidney Carroll
1917: In
1918:The Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs announced tonight that an uncensored letter from a correspondent with the British Army in Palestine, reported that General Allenby’s army had renewed its offensive in Palestine and that the campaign will carry these forces beyond the borders of “the Holy Land.” This marked the end of three month halt in the campaign during which the British troops had plenty of time to establish good relations with the Jewish population including the people of Tel Aviv, the site of a major English encampment.
1921: Birthdate of Jack Steinberger, German-born American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1988. In talking about his escape from
1921: Birthdate of lyricist and song writer, Hal David. He is a prolific producer of tunes, many of which were written in collaboration with Burt Bacharach. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" won an Academy Award as the score for the movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “Don't Make Me Over", "Close to You", and "Walk on By" are all in the Grammy Hall of Fame. "What's New Pussycat,” “Alfie” and "The Look of Love" received Oscar nominations. He also wrote many country music hits, including Willie Nelson's "To All The Girls I've Loved Before".
1923:
1926:"No attempt toward the economic reconstruction of European Jewries will succeed unless we stem the anti-Semitic wave," declared Dr. William Filderman, president of the Union of Rumanian Jews, on the eve of his departure for Europe on the Berengaria today. "There is no use educating Jewish artisans if anti-Semitic prejudice deprives them of any market for their products," he explained.
1926: Sholom Schwartzbard assassinated Symon Petliura, the head of the Paris-based government-in-exile of Ukrainian People's Republic. Schwartzbard had lost both of his parents in pogroms and he held Petliura accountable for the anti-Semitic violence that had been part of the war in the Ukraine. Anti-Semitic violence was part and parcel of life in the Ukraine, as can be seen in the Chmielnicki's pogroms of 1648, the pogroms in Kiev at the start of the 20th century and the slaughter at Babi Yar during World War II. Schwartzbard’s case was taken up by the French Jewish community and he was acquitted of the charges.
1927: The United Palestine Appeal in Philadelphia, PA is scheduled to come to an end today.
1928(6th of Sivan, 5688): Shavuot
1929: Birthdate of Beverly Sills. Born Belle "Bubbles" Miriam Silverman in Brooklyn NY
1929: According to reports published today “industrial establishments in Palestine have increased to 513, employing 5,000 workers” with a total of $7,500,000 in invested capital. The actual figures could have been higher but the Ruttenberg Works which has 700 employees was not included in the survey.
1930: Birthdate of John Strugnell who would become editor-in-chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1984. Strungell was not Jewish but he spent a major portion of his academic life working with these texts and his comments about Judaism in Haaretz turned into a major cause célèbre.
1930: The Peter J. Schweitzer Memorial Hospital, a modern health institution operated at level comparable to those found in an American hospital, opened today in Tiberius in the Valley of the Galilee.
1931: Birthdate of Herbert Eser Gray, “Canada's first Jewish federal cabinet minister, and one of only a few Canadians ever granted the title The Right Honourable who was not so entitled by virtue of a position held.
1931: In Palestinevoting began to select the representatives tothe 17th Zionist Congress to be held in June. When the voting ends, the Yishuv delegation of 36 consists of 24 Mapai and HaShomer HaTzair, 7 Revisionists, 2 Mizrachi, 2 Hapoel HaMizrachi and 1 Yemenite.
1933(29th of Iyyar, 5693): Louis Schloss, a Jewish lawyer was murdered in Dachau.
1934: Ernest Peixotto of the Fontainebleau School arrived in New York after having crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the same liner that carried the chairman of the board of the French Line. Peixotto reported that he had offered American student of the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts the honor of decorating one of the cabins on the Normandie,the largest ship in the world which is now under construction.
1936: The Jewish Auxiliary Police, "Ghaffirs", is established to guard Jewish settlements and rural roads.
1938: In Brooklyn Jack and Rose Israel gave birth to “living theatre performance artist” Steven Ben Israel (As reported by Paul Vitello)
1938: As Arab violence continued unabated The Palestine Post reported that inJerusalem 30 year old Moshe Proper was killed and there were other casualties including 12 Arab victims and seven Jewishvictims. A curfew was imposed to stop stoning and shooting incidents. A number of Jewish youths were arrested and a 120 pounds fine was imposed on the Jewish quarter of Montefiore. A number of Revisionists, just released from the Acre prison, were rearrested. Nahum Bibi, a Jewish laborer was fatally shot at Safed and a Bedouin sheikh was murdered by an Arab gang roaming Galilee.
1939(7th of Sivan, 5699): Second Day of Shavuot
1939(7th of Sivan, 5699): Sir Joseph Duveen passed away. The son of Sir Joseph Joel Duveen who had 13 children, he followed in the footsteps of his father and his uncle Henry J. Duveen, and became one of the leading art dealers of his time.
1940: As the Allied position in Western Europe crumbles before Hitler’s Blitzkrieg, Churchill’s War Cabinet meets to decide if Britain should continue to the fight against Germany. The ‘peace party’ is led by Foreign Minister Lord Halifax who will make a strong case for a deal with Germany
1940: Hans Biebow today issued orders for factories to be set up in the ghetto (called Arbeitsressorte, or work sections). Provided with very cheap labor, these factories were to serve the Nazis as a source of easy profits and exploitation. The Jews in the ghetto, cut off as they were from all other possible sources of livelihood, were prepared to work for no more than a loaf of bread and some soup. The exploitation of the Jews imprisoned in the ghetto yielded a profit to the ghetto administration estimated at 350 million reichsmarks ($14 million). (As reported by Yad Vashem)
1941: Koestler’s anti-Soviet novel “Darkness at Noon” received a rave cover review in the New York Times Book Review Section: “A splendid novel,” Harold Strauss declared, “written with such dramatic power, with such warmth of feeling and with such persuasive simplicity that it is as absorbing as melodrama. It is a far cry from the bleak topical commentaries that sometimes pass as novels.”
1943: Four deportations of Jews from Holland Auschwitz and Sobibór total 8000 people.
1943: The expulsion of the Jews from Sofia, Bulgaria, began today.
1944: Birthdate of Actor Frank Oz
1944: In
1944: Hundreds of fleeing Hungarian Jews are killed during a revolt at Auschwitz.
1945: Just three weeks after the surrender of the German capital, pharmacist Erich Zwilsky became the Berlin Jewish Hospital’s managing director, assuming responsibility for the only Jewish institution that had remained in operation throughout World War II.
1946: Abdullah I becomes King of the Kingdom of Transjordan. From 1921 until 1946 Abdullah had been Emir of the Emirate of Transjordan.On the eve of the creation of state of Israel in 1948, Abdullah met secretly with Golda Meir. Meir sought to keep the Jordanians from attacking the soon to be created Jewish state when the British withdrew. Abdullah offered to let the Jews peacefully as subjects of
1947: Perry Belmont, the former Congressman and diplomat who was the son of August Belmont passed away. The Belmonts had passed out of the Jewish world when August married Caroline Slidell, the daughter of a Confederate diplomat and descendant of American naval hero Matthew C. Perry, the man who “opened up Japan.”
1946: Switzerland signs the Washington Agreement, under which the Swiss government will voluntarily contribute $58.1 million in gold to an Allied commission established to help rebuild Europe. The Allies are aware that this payment will come from Swiss stores of looted gold taken from Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution. Regardless, the Allies agree not to press the Swiss for additional claims. At this time,
1948: The Old City of Jerusalem falls. Defended by local residents, Etzel members and about 80 Haganah soldiers, they were outnumbered and out-gunned by the Arab legionaries. After weeks of desperate fighting it was decided to surrender and save the almost 2000 mostly elderly Jews who were still living in the
1948: British Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin says that the
1948: The attack on Latrun, begun the night before continues. The forces of the Arab Legion are able to fire down on the attacking Jews. As the Jews fall victim to the barrage of bullets, they are forced to confront a second enemy, the searing heat which many of these recent refugees from Europe are not used to. To make matters worse, many of them went into battle without canteens. Their pleas for water are met by sniper fire from the Arabs. Realizing that the attack has failed, the Israelis withdraw with eighty dead and uncounted others wounded. Among the dead is Reuven Oppenheim who had survived the Holocaust. He fought with partisan forces in that part of the Soviet Union known as White Russia . Miraculously, Oppenheim’s immediate family (mother, father and sister) survived with him and came to Palestine
1948: The government of Egypt "issued a proclamation stipulating that no Jew could leave Egypt with a special visa from the Ministry of the Interior. This...applied to the many thousands of Jews who held foreign passports." (In Ishmael's House by Martin Gilbert)
1949: Chaim Weizmann went to the White House as President of Israel at the invitation of President Harry Truman.
1950: “Israel's mounting immigration troubles became more apparent today with the interim report of Malben, which handles the country's hard core cases. This organization has discovered that its six month-old budget of $17,500,000 is about half what it needs to handle the handicapped immigrants under its care.”
1950: Tonight, “The decision of the United States, Britain and France to include Israel in their over-all plan for supplying the countries in the Middle East with arms for defense purposes was greeted” in Israel “with satisfaction by a Foreign Ministry spokesman.”
1951: In a handwritten letter proposes, Abba Eban proposed periodic meetings between himself and the leaders of major American Jewish organizations “to exchange views and impressions about the American-Israeli relationship.”
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that the Cabinet was discussing the deteriorating security situation in border areas.
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that Thomas Harlan, son of Veit Harlan, a notorious Nazi film producer, was in Israel working on a film which would "atone" for the sins of his father.
1954(22nd of Iyar, 5714): Robert Capa, possibly the most famous photo journalist of the 20th century was killed while on assignment cover the French- Indochina War. The Jewish native of Hungary Omaha Beach
From the Spanish Civil War, “Death of Loyalist Soldier”
”D-Day Landing – 1944
1958(6th of Sivan, 5718): Shavuot
1963: During his Shabbat Sermon, at Tremont Temple in the Bronx, Rabbi Maurice J. Bloom declared that because of his divorce and recent remarriage Governor Rockefeller is morally obligated to press for an easing of New York State's divorce laws. If New York State had a proper marriage and divorce code neither the Governor nor his first wife, nor his current wife would be forced to participate in actions that are variance with the laws that the Governor is sworn to uphold as the state’s chief executive. Furthermore, the Rabbi contended that it is not fair that divorce is only open to the wealthy who can afford to take up temporary residence in other states with more lenient laws related to terminating a marriage. Tying the contemporary issue to Jewish tradition, Rabbi Bloom said, “Judaism believes in making strict marriage laws to safeguard marriage and easy divorce laws to make it possible to repair mistakes made by the application of those strict laws. Judaism stresses the sanctity of marriage, and for that reason it does not condemn people to live together where strife and incompatibility would mar good family life.”
1965: Shimon Peres completed his term as Deputy Minister of Defense.
1969: Release date of “Midnight Cowboy” directed by John Schlesinger and starring Dustin Hoffman.
1969:An Israeli vehicle was damaged Sunday night after hitting a mine near Maoz Chaim in the valley. There were no casualties
1977: Star Wars opened. This would be the first in a whole series of films that would include the villain Darth Vader. According to Adams Walls, “Even though it's too small to see on screen, part of Darth Vader's chestplate features three lines of Hebrew, one of which appears to be upside down. What the lines say is a matter of much online debate among Jewish "Star Wars" fans. On TheForce.net, which features photos of the Hebrew script in question, one blogger believes it's a play on a section from Exodus 16 about repentance, while another thinks the lines read: "His actions/deeds will not be forgiven until he is proven innocent" and "One shall be regarded innocent until he is proven guilty."
1978: The Jerusalem Post reported the official denial of reports that Israel sought control over the West Bank's absentee property owned by Arabs residing abroad, and that there were plans to establish a Jewish urban quarter near Nablus. Officials of the Land Administration were instructed to lift a ban on transactions affecting property owned by local Arab residents, residing abroad.
1978: The Jerusalem Post reported that The Knesset Speaker, Mr. Yitzhak Shamir, accepted an invitation to visit Germany
1978: The Jerusalem Post reported that a six-lane divided highway, which would cut through the Sacher Park and expand the Kirya, was approved in Jerusalem.
1978(18th of Iyar, 5738): Lag B’Omer
1979(28th of Iyar, 5739:) Yom Yerushalayim
1979: Israel begins to return the Sinai to Egypt as part of the Camp David Peace Accords.
1979: Six year old Etan Kalil Patz disappeared in Lower Manhattan, New York City as he walked to catch the school bus. . He would be the first missing child to be pictured on the side of a milk carton.
1983:Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was released to the public. The script was co-authored by a Jew from Miami, FL, Lawrence E. Kasdan.
1985(5th of Sivan, 5745): Erev of Shavuot
1985(5th of Sivan, 5745):Robert Gruntal Nathan “an American novelist and poet” passed away. “Nathan was born into a prominent New York family. He was educated in the United States and Switzerland and attended Harvard University for several years beginning in 1912. It was there that he began writing short fiction and poetry. However, he never graduated, choosing instead to drop out and take a job at an advertising firm to support his family (he married while a junior at Harvard). It was while working in 1919 that he wrote his first novel—the semi-autobiographical work Peter Kindred—which was a critical failure. But his luck soon changed during the 1920s, when he wrote seven more novels, including The Bishop's Wife, which was later made into a successful film starring Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young. During the 1930s, his success continued with more works, including fictional pieces and poetry. In 1940, he wrote his most successful book, Portrait of Jennie, about a Depression-era artist and the woman he is painting, who is slipping through time. Portrait of Jennie is considered a modern masterpiece of fantasy fiction and was made into a film, starring Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten. In January 1956 the author wrote, as well as narrated, an episode of the CBS Radio Workshop, called "A Pride of Carrots or Venus Well-Served." Nathan's seventh wife was the British actress Anna Lee, to whom he was married from 1970 until his death. He came from a talented family — the activist Maud Nathan and author Annie Nathan Meyer were his aunts, and the poet Emma Lazarus and Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo his cousins.”
1987: James Levine is scheduled to conduct the IPO tonight in a performance that will include Mahler’s Third Symphony.
1990(1st of Sivan, 5750): Rosh Chodesh Sivan
1991: Israel began the evacuation 14,000 Ethiopian Jews. This was done as a secret operation and served as a reminder of the role of
1993(5th of Sivan, 5753):Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Friedman, the founder and former spiritual leader of the Garment Center Synagogue in Manhattan, passed away today at the age of 95. He was a rabbinical graduate of Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1921 and, a decade later, founded the Garment Center Synagogue. The synagogue, at 205 West 40th Street, was established primarily to serve the many Jews who worked in the garment trade. Born on Nov. 13, 1897, in Jerusalem, Rabbi Friedman came to the United States with his mother and brother in 1918 to escape famine in his homeland. His father had arrived a year earlier. Trained as a scribe, Rabbi Friedman began his rabbinical studies in 1919. After his ordination, he was appointed rabbi of Congregation Ezrath Israel in Ellenville, N.Y., a position he held for four years before moving to Brooklyn. In 1931, after serving at several synagogues in New York City, Rabbi Friedman founded the Garment Center Synagogue. In the mid-1950's, he was named rabbi emeritus. Rabbi Friedman's wife, Charlotte, died in 1980.
1996(7th of Sivan, 5756): Second Day of Shavuot
1997: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Actual by Saul Bellow and the Wisdom of the Body by Sherwin B. Nuland
2000:
2002: An exhibition opens at the Tate in London entitled “Ori Gersht: Afterglow” which features the work of Israeli artist Ori Gersht.
2003:The New York Timesfeatured books by Jewish writers and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Last Good Season by Michael Shapiro.
2004(5th of Sivan, 5764): Roger Williams Straus, Jr. passed away. Born in 1917, “Strauss was co-founder of Farrar, StrausandGiroux a NewYork book publishing company. Straus, along with John Farrar, began the influential firm of Farrar and Straus in 1945. In 1955, the company hired editor Robert Giroux away from rival Harcourt, Brace, who brought along authors such as T. S. Eliot and Flannery O'Connor, among others. Ultimately, in 1994, twenty years after his partner Farrar had died, Straus determined he could no longer run the company, retired, and sold the business to a German publishing conglomerate, Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, the type of company he had long disdained and spoke out against. Straus was regarded as one of the last, old-fashioned publishers, faithful to his company and tight with his money, but emphasizing quality over commercial success. His dedication to the publishing business earned him several Nobel Prize-winning authors, including Isaac Bashevis Singer, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Joseph Brodsky, Nadine Gordime, Czeslaw Milosz and T. S. Eliot, and Pulitzer Prize authors such as Robert Lowell, John McPhee, Philip Roth, and Bernard Malamud. Straus grew up in a wealthy and influential family. His mother was Gladys Guggenheim, heir to one of the largest fortunes in
2004:In Israel, striking lifeguard returned to work today as part of what they called “a goodwill gesture” for Shavuot which begins this evening.
2005: At U.C Santa Cruz, The Jewish Studies Program is scheduled to present a lecture by Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, titled “Seduced into Eden: The Beginning of Desire.” Zornberg's first book, Genesis: The Beginning of Desire won the National Jewish Book Award for nonfiction in 1995.
2006: During the Sydney Writers’ Festival at the Sydney (Australia) Jewish Museum Professor Konrad Kwiet leads a discussion with editors and journalists from major Sydney newspapers where they examine the role of free press in a democratic society including the need, if ever, for limits on freedom of the press and the need for the media to demonstrate a sense social responsibility.
“Books can be entertaining, insightful and at their best, life changing. But are there some books that just should not be read? Are they indeed dangerous? Books like Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, have spawned some of the most evil Books can be entertaining, insightful and at their best, life changing. But are there some regimes the world has known. Yet should we limit our access to these ideas? The intrinsic virtues of free speech are often touted throughout the West, however in countries such as Australia Anti Racial Vilification Legislation limits what can and cannot be said in public forums. What can or should be the role of the media in these kinds of debates? A free press is one of the basic tenets of a democratic society, but are there times when this freedom is taken too far? Does the press have a social responsibility and if so, what is it?
2007:In Israel,Avner Itai the lead Israel Chamber Orchestra oboist, one of the greatest conductors in Israel and a professor for choir conducting joins Ora Seitner and guitarist Oded Schub in performing folk songs and works from Catalonia and France at the Abu Gosh Festival. He will play an oboe d'amore that he bought this year. Itai will conduct instrumentalists from the Philharmonic and his choir, Collegium Tel Aviv, in Bach's "Mass in B Minor."
2008: The Wolf Prizes were awarded today at the Chagall Hall by the President of the State of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres, in the presence of the Minister of Education and Chairperson of the Wolf Foundation Council, Prof. Yuli Tamir, and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Zeev Schleisner.
2008: Barry Levinson's tale of an embattled Hollywood producer entitled “What Just Happened?” closes this year's Festival de Cannes. The movie isbased on his memoir about his experiences as a producer.
2008: The winner of the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award is announced in
2008: The Cedar Rapids Prairie High School
2009: As Americans gather to observe Memorial Day, the following we are remineded of the role that Jews have played in defense of this country from Asher Levy in New Amsterdam to Corporal Mark Evnin, the first Jewish casualty in Iraq.
2009:Israel is likely to face simultaneous missile strikes and terror attacks across the country in the event of a war breaking out, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said today. Vilnai made the comments during a session of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, in which he said the Home Front Command would simulate defending against such an assault as part of a large-scale drill to be held next week.
2009(2nd of Sivan, 5769): Amos Elon, author of “The Israelis: Founders and Sons,” passed away at the age of 82.
2010:"The Adventures of Hershele Ostropolyer," a new musical adaptation of the classic Yiddish play by Moyshe Gershenson, is scheduled to premiere tonight at The Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York City.
2009: Conference 2009 hosted by The Philadelphia Kehilla For Secular Jews came to an end.
2010: Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., officially reopened the Etan Patz case today.
2010: The 49th Israel Festival, arguably one of Israel's most important cultural and artistic events, will commence with performances by Nuevo Tango, Ahavat Olamim, a tribute to Charlie Parker by Anchipolosvky, the King's Singers, and a dance performance entitled Vertigo, Birth of the Phoenix.
2011: Jonathan D. Sarna is scheduled to deliver a lecture entitled “That Obnoxious Order”: Ulysses S. Grant and the Jews at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim in Charleston, SC.
2011: Joan Nathan is scheduled to sign copies of “Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous” at the National Archives following a presentation that “explores the rich tapestry of more than three centuries of Jewish cooking in America.
2011:The New England Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled to present a lecture, “Among Mishpocha: At Home in the Boston Jewish Community” by Dr. Michael Feldberg in the Education Center of the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston.
2011:Ken Spiro is scheduled to deliver a lecture on the accomplishments of the Jews throughout history entitled “What Would the World be Like without the Jews?” in Greenwich, CT.
2011:Six Israeli women from Beit Shemesh-Mateh Yehuda are scheduled be at the JCCNV to cook foods from different origins (Moroccan, Kurdish -Iraqi, Persian, Russian and Yemenite) as part of “Taste of Israel: Ethnic Cooking at its Best.”
2011: Opening of “Jews, Slavery and the Civil War” a conference hosted by the College of Charleston.
2011:US President Barack Obama said today that a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was "more urgent than ever." And while expressing confidence that a two-state solution was achievable, the US president made it clear that seeking Palestinian statehood in the United Nations would be "a mistake." Speaking alongside UK Prime Minister David Cameron at a press conference in London after the two met privately, Obama stated that the Palestinians must understand "they have obligations as well."
2012: Gil Shohat is scheduled to conduct a Brahms Marathon at the Henry Crown Concert Hall as part of the Israel Festival.
2012: The Centre Daily Times reported that Graham Spanier “is suing” Penn State University in order to force them the school to turn over some e-mails related to the Jerry Sandusky scandal. The paper also reported that Spanier “was listed as one of four officials at the center of the school’s faiure to respond to Sandusky’s predatory behavior.” Spanier had been President of Penn State until he was forced to resign for his failure to act to react to reports of Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of young boys. (Spanier is Jewish, Sandusky is not)
2012: As Americans begin their Memorial Day Weekend by Cantor Larry Paul and musician Robyn Helzner are scheduled to lead a special Shabbat Eve service at the Historic 6th& I Synagogue honoring the memory of the Jewish Fallen Heroes of Iraq and Afghanistan. National Museum of American Jewish Military History President, Norman Rosenshein, is scheduled to deliver the opening remarks. During the service, the names of the more than 40 fallen heroes will be read as a sign of solemn remembrance
2012: The confirmands and their families attended Shabbat evening services at Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio.
2013: Zubin Mehta is scheduled to conduct the IPO at a gala concert in Israel featuring Itzhak Perlman.
2013: The Alexandria Kleztet is scheduled to perform at the Potomac Overlook Regional Park in Arlington, VA.