March 2
2014: Yuval Adler’s “Bethlehem” a move that “explores the relationship between a Shin Bet agent and a Palestinian teenager is among the films competing tonight for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. (As reported by Debra Kamin)
117(12th of Adar, 3877): As the rebellion by Disapora Jews against the Roman Empire of Trajan came to an unsuccessful close, two Jewish brothers who had been leaders in the revolt, Pappus and Julianus were executed at Laodicea in Syria. Trajan did not get to savor his victory since he died in 117. Unfortunately for the Jews he was followed by Hadrian who was even crueler than his predecessor.
986: Louis V becomes King of the Franks. Louis was the last of the Carolingian, a dynasty under whom the Jews had done rather well, all things considered. Charlemagne was the most famous of the Carolingian rulers and he supported his Jewish subjects despite opposition from church leaders. Louis le Débonnaire who reigned from 814 to 833 was another of the Carolingians who gave special protection to his Jewish subjects. During the reign of Carolingians the Jews were active in commerce, medicine and agriculture, especially in the field of viticulture a fact of which we are reminded when we study about Rashi. The change in dynasties would not have an immediate effect on the Jews living in France. Life for them would not really change until the first crusade in 1096.
1127: Charles, the Good, Count of Flanders was murdered while praying in the church of St. Donat at Bruges. This came two years after Charles had expelled the Jews from Ghent because he blamed them for the famine that consumed his realm in 1125.
1349: In Erfurt, the capital of the German state of Thuringia, 1,000 Jews were killed in a single day of violence in a pogrom brought on by hysteria surrounding The Black Death which struck Europe in 1340. During this outbreak of what was probably bubonic plagues millions died in Europe removing approximately one third of the continent’s population. “Modern research has revealed that the plague was probably carried by boat from an Asian source, but at the time the affected communities had no idea why and how such a terrible affliction had come upon them so suddenly. In seeking an explanation, they needed a scapegoat and lighted upon the Jews living in their midst. In many villages, towns and cities, Jews were accused of causing the sickness by poisoning drinking water in wells and fountains.” [Editor’s note: for those tracking sweeping patterns of history, note that blaming Jews is not different or rational today than it was in what was supposedly the unenlightened Dark Ages.
1382: The Mailotin Riots began in Paris
1640(20th of Adar): Rabbi Joel Sirkes, author of Bayit Hadash passed away today.
1798(14th of Adar, 5558): Purim
1836: Texans signed the Texas Declaration of Independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos, effectively creating the Republic of Texas. Adolphus Sterne was one of the many Jews who supported the cause of Texas Independence both on and off of the battlefield. Sterne was “an East Texas merchant who became a principal source of financial backing for the Texas Revolution. Born in the Rhineland in 1801, he arrived in Texas in time to fight in the ill-fated 1826-27 Fredonia Rebellion at Nacogdoches. He was sentenced to be shot but was released on the promise never to bear arms against the government again. He kept to the vow in the 1836 struggle for independence but supplied funds, coordinated with his old friend Sam Houston, who he had known in Tennessee before coming to Texas.”
1848:Ibrahim Pasha who issued a decree “forbidding the Jews to pave the passage in front of the Wall. It also cautioned them against “raising their voices and displaying their books there.” They were however allowed “to pay visits to it as of old” began his reign over Egypt without the approval of the Porte.
1855: Alexander II becomes Czar of Russia. Alexander gets high marks from many historians for two reasons. First, he is the Czar who freed the serfs. Second he was a lot better than his two successors, Alexander III and Nicholas II. Alexander earned the goodwill of the Jewish people because “he called a half to the cantonist system that separated Jewish youths from their families, a staple of the previous Czars anti-Semitic program.” From then on, “only Jews of draft age would serve, and under the same rules as well as other Russians.” Under his reign, universities liberalized their admission policies for Jews and Jews were allowed to enter the legal profession. Jewish businessman and craftsmen were allowed to work outside of the Pale and enter into the commercial life of many major urban areas. The Czar was no liberal. His changes in policies were caused, in part, by a desire to attract investment from Jewish European financiers. The Czar’s reforms were proving to be too little too late. When the Czar saw Jewish names among opponents, his anti-Semitism rose to the surface as can be seen by the closing of Yeshivot and his opposition to legal equality for Jews when the issue came up at the 1878 Congress of Berlin.
1859: Birthdate of Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich whom we know as Sholom Aleichem, the most famous Jewish author of his times. As with many Russians of his periods, Sholom Aleichim has two birthdates on the secular calendar – one on the Julian calendar and one on the Gregorian calendar.
1868: An article published entitled “The Alleged Illegal Action of the American Consul at Jerusalem” described a dispute that took place recently in Jerusalem involving a Prussian Rabbi, named Markus, a Prussian Jewess named Steinberg, her sister who had converted to Christianity and Victor Beaubouchier, the American Counsel in Jerusalem
1870: In New York, Judge Brady began hearing a suit brought by Benjamin Abrahams, the executor for the estate of his late brother Dr. Simeon Abrahams. The total value of the bequest exceeds the value of the estate and the executor is seeking to obtain a decree that will establish “which if any legacies have preference” or, if there be no such preference, what pro rata share each of the legacies should receive. The late Dr. Abrahams was a prominent member of the Jewish community and he left several large bequests to Jewish charities including the Hebrew Benevolent Society, Mt. Sinai Hospital as well as numerous bequests to secular charities most of which provide aid to orphans, juveniles and those in need of medical aide.
1871: The Purim Association hosted its second reception of this social season at Delmonico’s under the management of Emanuel B. Hart, Samuel A. Lewis and Gustave D. Cardozo.
1874: Today marked the second and final day of the Purim reception at the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews in Manhattan.
1874(13thof Adar): Fast of Esther
1877: The Hayes-Tilden election is finally settled by the specially created electoral commission that resolved the disputed election returns of four states in favor Hayes making him the 19th President of the United States. Hayes appointed the first Jew to effectively serve as a U.S. Ambassador - Benjamin Peixotto – and assured a government employee that she would not lose her job if she did not work on Saturday.
1879: At the Clinton Street Synagogue in New York City, Rabbi H.P. Mendes of the Nineteenth Street Synagogue delivered a lecture on “A Dark Chapter of Spanish-Jewish History” one the opening of the tenth season of lectures sponsored by the Young Men’s Hebrew Union.
1882: The twentieth annual Hebrew charity dress ball sponsored by the Purim Association will begin at the in the Academy of Music at nine o’clock with the grand march starting at ten.
1876: Birthdate of Pope Pius XII, the Holocaust Pope.
1877: Rutherford B. Hayes declared winner of the 1876 Presidential Election. Samuel Tilden won the popular vote, but Hayes won a majority of the disputed in the Electoral College giving him and the Republicans the White House by one vote. As President, Hayes worked to protect the well-being of Jewish communities in Europe . In 1879, his Secretary of State, William Evarts said that “this government has ever felt a deep interest in the welfare of the Hebrew race in foreign countries.” Hayes backed up these noble sentiments in negotiations with the government of Romania
1884: Birthdate of Albert Samuel, the native of Vesoul who was the father of Raymond Samuel better known as French Resistance leader Raymond Aubrac.
1886: This afternoon Rabbi Gustav Gottheil of Temple Emanu-El officiated at the wedding of Julia Wormser, “the only daughter of Isidor Wormser” and Jefferson Seligman, the “youngest son of James Seligman, the head of the well-known bank house.”
1888: The Convention of Constantinople is signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace. The one major exception to this would be the state of Israel. For years, the government of Egypt denied ships flying the flag of Israel from using the canal. The Egyptians also denied access to ships that had visited Israeli ports from using the canal.
1891: At today’s meeting of the Louisville (KY) Ministerial Association a debate was held over the question of admitting priests, rabbis and Unitarian Ministers.
1891: At a meeting of the New York Siberian Exile Petition Association was held at the Church of Ascension in New York City, “Isaac Aronavitch Hourvitch, a Russian Jew who had suffered exile in Russia related his terrible experiences as a political prisoner.” Following discussion of this and other matter, “copies of the petition which is to be forwarded to the Czar in April protesting against the present treatment of the Jews were circulated” and signed by many attendees.
1892: A theatrical review published today described Carl Weiser’s portrayal of Shylock, “the vengeful Jew” as being “picturesque, if not strikingly dignified.” “The Merchant of Venice” reportedly first performed in America in the 16thcentury making it possibly the first Shakespearean drama performed in what would become the United States.
1892: It was reported today that the sixty Russian Jewish immigrants who are in quarantine on North Brother Island due to the outbreak of typhus are housed in their own heated pavilion where they have their own cooks who prepare their food according to Orthodox Jewish law.
1892: Forty two Russian Jewish immigrants who may be infected with typhus and are under the care of the United Hebrew Charities will be taken to North Brother Island today if the storm sweeping the area abates.
1893(14th of Adar, 5653): Purim
1893: A fire broke out in a building in Fall River, MA, that was used as meeting place by the Hebrew Literary Club. (Who would have thought that Fall River would have been home to such an organization in the 19th century)
1893: Birthdate of Eliyahu Golomb the native of Russia who made Aliyah in 1909 and organized the Haganah during the Mandate.
1894: Birthdate of Hélène Falk, the native of Crest who was the mother of of Raymond Samuel better known as French Resistance leader Raymond Aubrac.
1895: The National Council of Women, an organization that was unique for its time because it included Jewish, Catholic and Protestant members, held the final session of its triennial meeting in Washington, DC.
1896: “Mathias Bells for Bicycles” published today described the debate in Parliament where lawmakers are trying to force cyclists to use “the continuous bell of the kind brought into vogue by Sir Henry Irving’s “Polish Jew.”
1898: In Albany, the Senate Cities Committee will report out a bill sponsored by Senator Cantor “exempting the real estate of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association from taxation, assessment and water rates.”
1899: The annual Purim reception at the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews will be held today starting at 11 a.m. and lasting until 5 p.m.
1900: Birthdate of German-born American composer Kurt Weill.
1901(11th of Adar, 5661): Sixty-six year old Joseph Blumenthal passed away in New York City. Born in Munich in 1834, he came to the United States in 1839, settled in California with his family before moving to New York. He was part of the Committee of Seventy that helped to overthrow the infamous Tweed Ring and spend the last 15 years of his life working to create and build the Jewish Theological Seminary.
1902: Birthdate of baseball catcher Moe Berg. In a day when most baseball players were barely literate Berg stood out as a Princeton graduate who was multi-lingual. His major league career lasted from 1923 to 1939. He was a journey-man catcher, described as “good field, no hit.” The stories about his eccentricities are too numerous for this brief entry. Suffice it to say, he makes the television character “Monk” look normal. His real claim to fame was his espionage work. During barnstorming trips to Japan
1903: Herzl receives Leopold Greenberg's report. Greenberg was the owner of a successful advertising agency, publisher of the Jewish Yearbook and an ardent Zionist.
1905: Birthdate of composer Marc Blitzstein
1909(9thof Adar, 5669): Baron Horace Günzburg, the son Joseph Günzburg, wealthy merchant and army contractor, and the father of David Günzburg who was a major philanthropist and leader of the Jewish community passed away.
1909: Birthdate of composer Hanoch Jacoby
1911: Sophie Tucker recorded “Some of these Days” on a four inch cylinder. “Some of these Days” was written by African American composer Shelton Brooks in 1910. “Some of these Days” was Tucker’s signature song and the title of her autobiography.
1913: The New York Times reported that Dr. Joseph H. Hertz, Rabbi of the Congregation Orach Chayim of New York was recently appointed replace the late Dr. Hermann Adler, who was serving as Chief Rabbi of the British Empire when he passed away in July of 1911.
1914: Birthdate of Martin Ritt director of The Long Hot Summer.
1915: Vladmir Jabotinsky formed a Jewish military force to fight in Palestine
1917: Birthdate of American fiction writer David Loeb Goodis
1926: Birthdate of American economist Murray Rothbard.
1931: Birthdate of Lionel I. Pincus “an American finance executive, venture capitalist, and entrepreneur” who “ran the private equity firm Warburg Pincus from 1966 to 2002.”
1932: The New York Times reported on speech by Senator Dill of Washington praising the appointment of Benjamin Cardozo to the U.S. Supreme Court.
1935: Birthdate of Canadian native, actor Al Waxman.
1935 (27th of Adar I, 5695):Eighty-three year old Samuel Sachs, an American investment banker passed away. He was born in Maryland in 1851 to Jewish immigrants from Bavaria, Germany. Sachs along with his longtime friend Philip Lehman of Lehman Brothers pioneered the issuing of stock as a way for new companies to raise funds. He married Louisa Goldman, the youngest daughter of close friends and fellow Bavarian immigrants, who had already seen their older child wed as well. Sachs then joined his father-in-law Marcus Goldman's firm which prompted the name change to Goldman Sachs in 1904. Together they underwrote securities offerings for such large firms as Sears, Roebuck and Company. During this time Goldman Sachs also diversified to become involved in other major securities markets, like the over-the-counter, bond, and convertibles markets which are still a big part of the company's revenue today. Sachs retired in 1928 and died in 1935.
1938: The Palestine Post (the progenitor of today’s Jerusalem Post) published the farewell message of the retiring High Commissioner, Sir Arthur Wauchope, addressed to the people of Palestine England Palestine
1938: The Palestine Post reported that Sir John Woodhead, Sir Allison Russel and Mr. A.P. Waterfield were appointed by the British Government to serve as members of the Technical Commission which will proceed to Palestine
1938: The Palestine Post reported that An Emek settler, Abraham Goldschlager, 38, was murdered by Arab terrorists near Mishmar Ha¹emek. Tirat Zvi came under heavy Arab fire.
1939: Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope and takes the name Pius XII. As Secretary of State for the Vatican he had negotiated a concordat with Hitler. As Pope, he would remain silent about the Nazis and the Holocaust even when a Roman Catholic nun who converted to Judaism years ago was taken to the death camp because, under Hitler’s Race Laws, she was really a Jew. Based on this alone, one wonders what this Pope thought about the meaning of baptism.
1940: “The police imposed curfew regulations at Tel Aviv tonight after breaking up widespread demonstrations protesting against British restrictions on the sale of Arab lands to Jews.
1942: Birthdate of Brooklyn born American musician Lewis Allan “Lou” Reed
1942(13thof Adar):As Purim began, Jews from Minsk refused to cooperate in latest deportation. Germans and Ukrainians retaliated by searching houses, dragging children to sand pits and throwing them in alive, throwing candies in after them as they died. By the end of Purim 5,000 Jews were murdered in Minsk Europe were tortured, murdered or deported that day included those from Krosniewice, Baranowicze, Lvov
1942: At Janowska, eight laborers were ordered to stand in a barrel of water by Gestapo chief Dibauer, because "they didn't look too clean." They all froze to death by the next day as the ice hardened around their feet.
1943: Over 2,500 Jews in Salonica are crammed into 593 rooms in the Baron de Hirsh Ghetto. The ghetto was surrounded with high wooden fences, topped with barbed wire. Signs in German, Greek and Ladino warned Jews not to leave, under penalty of death.
1943: The daily transports to Treblinka continued. Included are New York Born Yetta Flater and London
1943: In explaining the Nazi commitment to the Final Solution, Goebbels writes in his diary, “We are so entangled in the Jewish question that henceforth it is impossible to retreat.”
1945: Haaretz published the following description of kidnapping Yaakov Tavin during the “Hunting Season.” “Passersby in Dizengoff and Yirmiyahu streets were greatly struck…by the kidnapping of a young man in the street. The kidnapping occurred at 11 a.m, and was witnessed by a large number of people. A large taxi halted at the corner of Dizengoff and Yirmiyahu streets, and several men emerged, one of them dressed in police uniform. They approached the young man, who was standing on the pavement holding a package. Shouting 'Thief!', they attacked him and began to hit him. The crowd thought that he was in fact a thief, and several of them joined the attackers and helped them to push the young man into the taxi. He struggled with them and shouted in Yiddish and in Hebrew: 'Jews, help me! Why do you let them hit a Jew?' He was thrown into the car, which swiftly drove away.
1947: In Tel Aviv a radio announcement by the Irgun was heard in which the Jewish organization took responsibility for yesterday’s attack on a British officers’ club in Jersualem yesterday. The Irgun said the attack was in retaliation for British attacks in Haifa on Friday, February 28.
1947: In response to the latest wave of violence, the British imposed martial law throughout Palestine. At 4 A.M. British troops occupied Petah Tikav Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv as well as other coastal communities while the government in Jerusalem imposed additional restrictions on Mea Sharim.
1947(10th of Adar, 5707): Four year od Ketti Shalom died tonight after having been shot by British forces as she stood on the balcony of her home in Jersuaem, which is under martia law. Her mother was wounded but survived the shooting.
1949(1st of Adar, 5709): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1949(1st of Adar, 5709): Fifty-four year old Henry J. Berkowitz, the Rabbi at Temple Israel “the largest Jewish Congregation in the Pacific Northwest passed away today. Born in Philadelphia, a veteran of WW I, and a graduate of HUC, he wrote several books including Book Camp which “described his experiences as a Navy chaplain.” (As reported by JTA)
1950(13th of Adar, 5710): Ta'anit Esther
1950: A bill was introduced in the Iraqi parliament allowing the Jews of Iraq to immigrate to Israel. Introduction of the bill required a large cash payment by the Israeli representatives. The “Jews could leave provided they left behind all gold, jewelry and valuables and provided that they also gave up their Iraqi citizenship.”
1950: In Iraq, Parliament passed the Revocation of Citizenship which had been introduced earlier on that same day by Saleh Jabr, the Minister of the Interior.
1950: A horse named Tel Aviv is entered in the second race at Hialeah Park in Miami.
1952: Birthdate of comedian and early star of SNL Laraine Newman.
1952: It was reported today that 74 year old Dr. Alexander Marx, director of libraries and Jacob H. Schiff Professor of History at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America will be taking his first trip to Israel this month.
1953: Birthdate of Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold.
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported from Washington Israel Egypt
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that twenty Jewish families from Poland arrived in Austria on their way to Israel. They reported that the Polish Jews were in a state of panic and more families were expected to follow.
1956: Morocco France Morocco Morocco Israel Israel Israel
1958: In “Israel’s Anniversary Year” Mary Qualley King described plans being made by Israelis to celebrate the country’s tenth anniversary.
1970: “The white minority Rhodesian Front government, led by Ian Smith, severed ties with the British crown; Smith declared Rhodesia an independent republic.” The majority black population resisted the Smith government. A civil war broke between the Smith government and the black population which was represented by ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union) and ZAPU (Zimbabwe African People’s Union). Because of the civil war, most of the Jewish population (approximately 7,000 in number as of 1961) left the country. Eventually the minority white government was defeated and the Republic of Zimbabwe was formed.
1978:The Jerusalem Post reported that Egypt was counting on US President Jimmy Carter to put forward an American peace package to put pressure on Israel and to break the apparent deadlock over the Israeli-Egyptian “declaration of principles.” In Israel
1978:The Jerusalem Post reported that Venezuela had announced that there were no obstacles in selling oil to Israel and welcomed cooperation on other aspects of energy.
1980(14th of Adar, 5740): Purim
1980: Yigal Allon’s funeral took place today at Kibbutz Ginosar on the shore of Lake Kinneret which had been his home for almost fifty years.
1981:Rockets from Lebanese territory struck several homes in the Galilee town of Qiryat Shemona today, wounding three people.
1982: Rabbi Haim Meir Drukman lost his post as Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs.
1982(7th of Adar, 5742): Seventy-one year old Yoel Zussman , the fourth President of the Supreme Court of Israel, passed away today.
1983: Shulamit Ran's Verticals“was premiered by pianist Alan Feinberg at New York
1986(21st of Adar I, 5746): Marcel Liebman, Belgian historian and Holocaust survivor, passed away at the age of 56.
1987:Law-enforcement officials said today that federal prosecutors are on the verge of seeking the indictment of Aviem Sella, a prominent Israeli Air Force officer who the Justice Department alleges played a key role in directing the espionage activities of Jonathan Jay Pollard,
1988:Dr. Inamullah Khan, secretary general of the Pakistan-based World Moslem Congress has been named as the winner of the $369,000 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion even though there are reports that the prize winner has been associated with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel causes.
1991(16th of Adar, 5751): French musician Serge Gainsbourg passed away at the age of 62. Born Lucien Ginzburg, Gainsbourg survived the Nazi occupation of France
1992(27th of Adar I, 5752): The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, suffered a disabling stroke while praying at the gravesite of the previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch.
1993(9th of Adar, 5753): Yehoshua Weissbrod was stoned and then shot dead by Palesinian terrorists in the town of Rafa.
1997: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Rubber Bullets:Power and Conscience in Modern Israel
by Yaron Ezrahi, the children’s book, When Chickens Grow Teeth: A Story From the French of Guy de Maupassant retold and illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin and Too Much Is Never Enough by Russian born architect Morris Lapidus, the man who “created Miami Beach in the 1950’s
by Yaron Ezrahi, the children’s book, When Chickens Grow Teeth: A Story From the French of Guy de Maupassant retold and illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin and Too Much Is Never Enough by Russian born architect Morris Lapidus, the man who “created Miami Beach in the 1950’s
1998: After almost three months of negotiations, Ronald Perelman and Al Dunlap reach an agreement involving the sale of Sunbeam and Coleman.
1999(14thof Adar, 5759): Purim
2001: “Inherit the Wind,” the controversial play co-authored Jerome Lawrence “that used Darwin vs. Genesis as a way to speak out against McCarthyism” opened at the Sheffel Theatre of the Topeka Civic Theatre & Academy
2001:“Eleanor Antin: Real Time Streaming” opened at the Cornerhouse in Manchester, UK.
2001: The Times of London reviewed The Jewish State: The struggle for Israel
2002: Eleven Israelis were killed in a Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem
2003: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of interest to Jewish readers including 'The Pieces From Berlin
Sutherland and Irving Howe:A Life of Passionate Dissent by Gerald Sorin.
2005: Start of the 12th Daf Yomi Cycle. Daf Yomi is translated as "Daily Page." Daf refers to the double-sided page of the Talmud. Daf is also the word for Plank. Tjere are those who say that the double meaning of the term Daf comes from a story about Rabbi Akiva who was saved by from drowning when he grabbed hold of a plank of a daf. By holding on a daf - a page of the Talmud, the Jew stays a float in the worldly sea. The program called Daf Yomi is "a systematic approach to the daily study of the Talmud formulated by Reb Meir Shapira of Lublin
2005: Final performance of television series “Boston Public” co-starring Fyvush Frinkel, the veteran of the Yiddish theatre who portrayed “history teach Harvey Lipshultz.”
2006: The Jerusalem Post reported on deteriorating condition for Jewish communities in parts of the former Soviet Union . In Uzbekistan Tashkent Tajikistan
2006(2nd of Adar, 5766): Marty Stein, who helped start Stein drugstores and Stein Optical, has died of cancer. He was 68. Mr. Stein was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 1994. He passed away in Milwaukee Menomonee Falls in 1961. He later expanded the chain into 19 stores, which he sold to the Walgreen Co. in 1979. He then started Stein Health Services Inc., which ran three companies in home health care, eye care and related fields. The Eye Care One division ran Wisconsin stores as Stein Optical and Chicago Israel Israel Americas America America America
2006:This evening poet Rachel Tzvia Back gave a lecture entitled "Placing the Voice: The Personal and Political, Israel 2006" at Williams College. Though born in Buffalo , NY Palestine America Israel
2007: Ethiopian born singer Aiiala Ingdsht releases her first album in Tel Aviv.
2007(12th of Adar, 5767): Former American Jewish Congress leader William Maslow died in his Manhattan home at the age of 99. Born in Kiev United States U.S. Israel Israel
2008: The Washington Post featured a review of Richard M. Cohen's Strong at the Broken Places.
2008: The Sunday New York Times features a review of Dreams and Shadows:The Future of the Middle East by Robin Wright and The Bush Tragedyby Jacob Wiesberg.
2008: In New York City, the 92nd Street Y presents what might be called“Jewish night the press” in a program styled “In the News With Jeff Greenfield—On the Election with Jonathan Alter, Joe Klein and Rich Lowry.”
2008: During Operation Hot Winter the “IDF decided to change its strategy today and sent a whole regiment (about 2000 men) into the Northern Strip to occupy Jabalya and Sajiyah but met stiff resistance from the Palestinians. In the bloodiest day for Gaza since 2002, close to 70 civilians were killed. Military deaths totaled 4 Palestinian fighters and 2 Israeli soldiers.”
2009: Jonathan David Leibowitz assumed the Chairmanship of the Federal Trade Commission.
2009: Sports Illustrated reports that Andy Roddic will “not be showing up at the Dubai Open” this week. “He’s ticked that Israel United Arab Emirates
2009: At the 92nd Street
2009: In Washington , D.C. Darwin Lincoln
2009:Israel Gaza Libya Israel Gaza
2009: In an article entitled “The Good, the Bad, the Bible,” Lisa Miller examines The Good Book by David Plotz, “a naïf wandering in a strange land full of eccentric people and incomprehensible rules.”
2010: Today is the day the New Israeli Foundation for Cinema & TV has set as the deadline for submitting scripts based on the stories of Sholom Aleichem that could be used for television productions. The selected scripts will be eligible for special funding supplied by the foundation.
2010: A direct-to-DVD sequel to the animated film Curious George titled Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey!” based on the character created by Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey was released today.
2010:At noon today a demonstration that will include members of the Union of Israel Journalists who are demanding the safeguarding of public broadcasting in Israel is scheduled to take place at Beit Sokolov in Tel Aviv
2010: The Tulane University Jewish Studies Program under the direction of Dr. Brian Horowitz is scheduled to present to present a program entitled “Obama and Israel,” featuring Mitchell Bard of the American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise
2010:Late today reports started to emerge that, contrary to initial reports, the Masorti synagogue in Concepcion was destroyed in the earthquake that had rocked Chile this past weekend.The head of the international Masorti organization, Rabbi Tzvi Graetz had been to Concepcion which was close to the epicenter of the earthquake. He said that ‘it was like the 'hurban habayit' [destruction of the Temple], the walls were all cracked and the roof had fallen down. I couldn't stay there, so I got the sifrei Torah and left,’”
2010: Amos Oz said today that the Khoury family of East Jerusalem had funded the translation of A Tale of Love and Darkness, his best-selling autobiography to promote coexistence. The translation which was done by Israeli Arab Jamal Gnaim, was done in memory of Khoury’s son George who was a promising Hebrew University law student when he was killed in a 2004 shooting attack while jogging on the university's Mt. Scopus campus.
2011: The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington is scheduled to present a program entitled “Jewish Confederates” at Adas Israel Congregation.JHSGW Board Member Les Bergen’s presentation will include information about “a female spy living just doors from the White House and her sister, who ran a military hospital in Richmond and became known as the ‘Confederate Clara Barton.’”
2011:Pope Benedict XVI reiterated that the Jewish people are not responsible for Jesus' death in a new book released today. The Pope also denies the Gospel writers' claim that Jews working in the Temple collaborated with the Roman authorities, leading to Jesus' execution.
2011:There were signs today of a new effort to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process after months of stagnation, but chances of a resumption of talks looked slim and Israel appeared to be stepping back from the stated goal of reaching a framework agreement resolving the core issues of the conflict by September.
2011:Eighty-seven year old Walter Zacharius, a publisher and iconoclast who released an unauthorized version of the erotic classic "Candy" and had the savvy and sales talk to help romance novels make the transition from drugstores to superstores to the Internet passed away today (As reported by Hillel Italie)
2012: Final day to make reservations for the 2012 Humanitarian Awards Dinner sponsored by the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
2012:Joseph Cedar’s “Footnote,” a tragicomic tale of rival father-and-son Jewish scholars in the Talmud department of Hebrew University in Jerusalem is scheduled to open in New York today.
2012: Emanuel Berman, author of “City within a City” is scheduled to participate in a lecture and book signing sponsored by the YIVO Institute of Research.
2012:In his first public comments on a North American visit that will include talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today Israel reserved the right to defend itself against Iran.
2012:Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said today that Israel is ready to help treat Syrians wounded in the uprising against President Bashar Assad.
2013(20thof Adar, 5773): In Cedar Rapids, the traditional minyan at Temple Judah gathers for Shabbat Parah which, the weekly portion includes the story of the Golden Calf, might be called “The Tale of Two Bovines.
2013: The Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival is scheduled the Minnesota Premiere of “Life In Stills.”
2013: The Israel String Quartet – Yigal Tuneh and Avital Steiner (violins), Robert Moses (viola), and Tzvi Moskovsky (cello) – is sechduedl to perform to pieces by Beethoven at the Eden-Tamir Music Center
2013: “After failing to assemble a coalition within the legally allotted month, Prime Minister Netanyahu went back to President Shimon Peres tonight to ask for an extension. Peres granted Netanyahu a two week extension, which is the maximum allowed by the law. If he fails to put together a coalition within two weeks, Peres can assign the job of assembling the coalition to someone else, and if that attempt fails, Israel will be required to hold new elections.” (As reported by Jewish Press News Briefs)
2013:Three Syrian mortars landed near moshav Ramat Magshimim in the southern Golan Heights this afternoon, causing no injuries or damage (As reported by Yoel Goldman and Gavriel Fiske)
2014: The Center for Jewish History and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research are scheduled to present a symposium, “Tevye’s Daughters: How Jewish Women Confronted Modernity.”
2014: Yuval Adler’s “Bethlehem” a move that “explores the relationship between a Shin Bet agent and a Palestinian teenager is among the films competing tonight for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. (As reported by Debra Kamin)
2014: Niv Adiri who was “part of the team” nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound for “Gravity” is the only Israeli nominated for one of tonight’s Oscars.
2014: Opening session of the AIPAC Policy Conference is scheduled to take place today in Washington
2014: “The Sturgeon Queens,” a documentary featuring Russ & Daughters is scheduled to be shown at the Washington, DC Jewish Film Festival.
2014: The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or Jewish readers includingOperation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America by Annie Jacobsen andNot I: Memoir of a German Childhood by Joachim Fest.