March 19
1191: Eighty Jews were burned at Bray, France for trying to execute a vassal who had killed a Jew. The Jews were not a lynch-mob. They had the permission of the local ruler which is more than one can say for those who killed the Jews.
1227: Election of Pope Gregory IX “a prominent opponent of Judaism during his life, condemning it as "containing every kind of vileness and blasphemy". In the 1234 Decretals, he invested the doctrine of perpetua servitus iudaeorum – perpetual servitude of the Jews – with the force of canonical law. According to this, the followers of the Talmud would have to remain in a condition of political servitude until Judgment Day. The doctrine then found its way into the doctrine of servitus camerae imperialis, or servitude immediately subject to the Emperor's authority, promulgated by Frederick II. The Jews were thus suppressed from having direct influence over the political process and the life of Christian states into the 19th century with the rise of liberalism” (Dietmar Preissler, Frühantisemitismus in der Freien Stadt Frankfurt und im Großherzogtum Hessen (1810 bis 1860), p.30, Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, Heidelberg 1989, ISBN 3-533-04129-8 (German).
1497: In an effort to prevent the Jews from fleeing Christian persecutions, King Emanuel, secretly ordered the baptism of all children between the ages of four and fourteen.
1590: Birthdate of William Bradford who served as governor of Plymouth Colony for over 30 years. Bradford was typical of so many of his ilk who saw a connection with their lives and what they called “The Old Testament.” Bradford studies the Hebrew language because, as he put it, “Though I am growne aged, yet I have had a longing desire to see with my owne eyes, something of that most ancient langue and holy tongue, in which the Law, the oracles of God were write; in which God, and angels spake to the holy patriarchs, of time; and what names were given to things, from the creation…for my owne contente.” (William Bradford: Plymouth’s Faithful Pilgrim by Gary D. Schmidt)
1640(24th of Adar): Rabbi Chaim Algazi of Constantinople, author of Nesivot ha-Mishpat passed away today. A native of Ismir, Turkey, Chaim Algazai served as the rabbi of Rhodes before returning to his home town to serve as Chief Rabbi. B’nei Chayay, his commentary on the Four Turim, was edited by Rabbi Araron Alfandri, his granddaughter’s husband and the author of Yad Aaron (As reported by Aryeh Kaplan)
1803:( 25th of Adar): Rabbi Moses ben Abraham, author of Meliz Yosher passed away today
1821: In Devon, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Netterville Burton and Martha Baker gave birth to Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton one of those eccentric 19thEnglishman who dabbled in the military, exploration and writing. Among his many works was The Jew The Gypsy and El Islam
http://www.burtoniana.org/books/1898-The%20Jew,%20The%20Gypsy%20and%20El%20Islam/index.htm
1822: Boston, Massachusetts, incorporated as a city. “The earliest mention of a Jew in Massachusetts bears the date May 3, 1649, and there are references to Jews among the inhabitants of Boston in 1695 and 1702; but they can be regarded only as stragglers, as no settlers made their homes in Massachusetts until the Revolutionary war drove the Jews from Newport. In 1777 Aaron Lopez and Jacob Rivera, with fifty-nine others, went from Newport to Leicester, and established themselves there; but this settlement did not survive the close of the war. A number of Jews, including the Hays family, settled at Boston before 1800. Of these Moses Michael Hays was the most important. In 1830 a number of Algerian Jews went to Boston, but they soon disappeared. The history of the present community begins with the year 1840, when the first congregation was established.”
1832: Birthdate of Ármin Vámbéry.
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Vambery_Armin
1839: A “pogrom, known as the Allahdad, broke out in the Iranian city of Mashhad. At the time of the pogrom, the city of Mashhad was home to about 2,500 Jews. The event devastated the Jews of Mashhad, who were violently forced into converting to Islam. The ruler of Mashhad ordered the authorities to attack the Jews. A large mob went on to the Jewish quarter and proceeded to burn down the synagogue, destroy Jewish homes and businesses, abduct Jewish girls, kill about 40 Jews and injure many more. The Jews had knives held to their throat and were forced to renounce Judaism and accept Islam. While some of the Jews left Mashhad following the incident, others stayed and would go on to lead a secret Jewish life. While adopting Muslim customs in public, most would maintain Jewish tradition in the privacy of their homes. There are no Jews left in Mashhad today. Most of the descendents of Mashhad's Jews live in Israel.”
1848(14thof Adar II, 5608) Purim
1848: Birthdate of Wyatt Earp. Born in Monmouth, Illinois, this fabled lawman gained fame as the Marshall of Deadwood, Dodge City and Tombstone, Arizona. Much of Earp's life was spent as a gambler, prospector and failed businessman. He was not Jewish, but his third wife was. While living in Tombstone, Earp took up with Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp, daughter of practicing Jewish family living in San Francisco. Despite her claims that they married, no written record existed. However, they remained together, if nothing else in common law marriage until Earp's death in 1929. Earp's ashes were buried in the Marcus Family Plot at Jewish Hills of Eternity Cemetery in Colma, California, south of San Francisco. While Ms. Earp did not live among Jews for most of her adult life, she too chose to rejoin her people in death and is buried alongside her famous husband. For more about this interesting marriage you can I Married Wyatt Earp, Mrs. Earp's book about their life together.
1853: Things turned violent in Jeruslaem today, Palm Sunday. Greeks and Armenians fought in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and 24 Protestant missionaries from London scuffling with a group of Jews in the streets of the City of David.
1860: The "Wealth, Power and Enterprise of the Hebrew People, as evidenced by the Building of King Solomon's Temple," was the subject of a lecture delivered this evening in Temple Hall by Rabbi Raphall.
1862: The New York Timespublished a letter today in which took issue with that paper’s characterization of Senator David Levy Yulee as being Jewish. “In your well-merited rebuke of the traitor Yulee … you were led into an error which I am sure you will correct, as it reflects unjustly upon the loyalty of a large religious body of the community. You speak of Yulee, (the Ex-Senator) and Finegan (the ex-contractor) as "Jew and Irishman," thus placing the supposed religious belief of Yulee in juxtaposition with the nationality of his co-traitor. The facts are. Levy is an American, and foreswore the religion of his fathers many years ago, married a Christian lady of wealth, was baptized a Christian and had his name changed by the Legislature of his State to ‘Yulee’ thus adding to the many proofs, that a bad Jew will never make it good Christian.”
1867: In Detroit, members of Congregation Beth El gave the trustees of Tabernacle Baptist Church $17,000 for their property which would be home to Beth El for the next 36 years. D.J. Workum, President of the congregation and Martin Butzel were leaders of in the negotiations on behalf of Beth El.
1867: The Ashkenazim of living in Palestine sought permission to slaughter their own meat. The Ashkenazim appealed to the British to intervene on their behalf. In the formal letter of request to the Consul, it stated that both the Muslims (and the Sephardim) “understood that the Ashkenazim were not true Israelites." This concerned the Ashkenazim because they made money selling certain cuts of meat to the Muslims, and if the Muslims did not consider them Jews, they would not buy their meat.
1868: In Butrimonys, Albert and Judith Valvrojenski gave birth to Senda Valvrojenski who gained fame as Senda Berenson Abbot, a pioneer in the game of women’s basketball. She was also the “sister of the art historian Bernard Berenson and a great-great-aunt of the photographer Berry Berenson and the actress and model Marisa Berenson.”
1874(1st of Nisan, 5634): Rosh Chodesh Nisan
1875: In New York’s Part II of the Marine Court Chief Just Shea presided over breach of contract brought by Jennie Jonas, a Polish Jewess against Victor Goldstein for his failure to marry him. Jonas was represented by famed litigator Samuel Hirsh. In the end, the jury found for the plaintiff and awarded her $75 in damages.
1877: It was reported today that the Marquis de Compiegne, the famous French explorer had died in the interior of Africa after having been mortally wounded during a duel he fought “with a German Jews named Mayer.” The duel was brought on by a dispute over geographic matters and insults to Mayer’s girlfriend.
1880: It was reported today from Madrid, the Jews of Morocco are planning to honor the United States Minister who interceded on their behalf so that they would be protected by the Sultan.
1880: According to a review of “Sunshine and Storm in the East” published today, Lady Brassy reported that one of the difference between the Jews and Moslems of Morocco was that the Moslem women “were muffed up to the eyes and waddled along like animated bundles of dirty clothes” the Jewish women were “gorgeously draped” and their faces were uncovered.
1880: In New York the Board of Estimate and Apportionment allocated funds to be paid to charities taking care of youngster committed to their care by the Police magistrates including $1,691.43 for the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society.
1888: Birthdate of Peretz Naftali, the native of Berlin who made Aliyah in 1933 and served in Israel’s first Knesset
1890: “Slaves of the Sweater” published today summarized the arbitration hearings between the striking members of the Shirtmakers’ Union and the contractors for whom they work. The workers claim they work fourteen hours a day for as little a four dollars a week. The contractors claim that the workers only labor from 7:30 am to 6 pm with half an hour for dinner and that “a good female operative could make $9 a week and man $13.” The work used to be done by “German, American and Irish girls” but they have been driven out by the Jews who are now on strike. The manufacturers, most of whom are Jewish, claim they know nothing about working conditions because they deal only with the contractors.
1891: It was reported today that Solomon Goldstein and his three sons were among those fortunate enough to have survived the fire at the tenement building at the corner of Hester and Allen Streets but one of them, Abraham, was injured and had to be taken to Gouvernor Hospitals.
1892: Jose S.K. Mizrachee, the Syrian born Jew charged with shooting Rabbi Mendes in New York City, is being held at Police Headquarter and is scheduled to make his first appearance in Part I of the Court of General Sessions this morning.
1893: An altercation broke out in New Haven, CT today after carpenters came to work on a house on Rose Street which was being converted to a synagogue. The current occupants of the house claimed that the workers would disturb their Sabbath peace, this being Sunday and began attacking the workers and the Jews who accompanied them.
1893: Following regular services at Temple Emanu-El, Rabbi Silverman delivered a lecture on “Popular Errors About Intermarriage” which is part of series of lectures he is delivering “on popular errors concerning the Jews.”
1894: Mrs. Charles Krumm took $20 out of the safe and saw her husband give it to Policman Charles Levy $20 (in what was either a bribe or payoff)
1896: “Polish Jews Going to Cripple Creek” published today described the passage of 80 families, numbering 260 Polish Jewish immigrants who passed through Fort Worth Texas on their way to Cripple Creek where they going to begin life as farmers.
1896: Maurice Barrymore and Cyril Scott will serve as the auctioneers for the sale of boxes and seats for the upcoming benefit performance to be staged at the Herald Square Theatre
1897: It was reported today that new wing of the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews which was completed six weeks ago cost $75,000 and allows the institution to care for as many as 300 people.
1897: The ladies of the Sewing Society of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum hosted an afternoon of entertainment for children at the facility on Amsterdam Avenue.
1897: It was reported today that the Hebrew Education Society of Philadelphia had raised $9,114 last year to support its programs that include weekly lectures by Ephraim Lederer on the U.S. Constitution.
1898:Benjamin "Ben" Schlesinger the native of Lithuania who would become the nine-time President of International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union became a United States citizen in Chicago today.
1898: Three Jewish children, Celia Bogin (11), Louis Begin (9) and Kate Bogin (4) whose mother had died two weeks ago in Denver were taken to headquarters of the United Hebrew Charities in New York by a cabman who found them on the street
1899: Florence Prag a teacher at Lowell High School in San Francisco married Julius Kahn, a former Broadway actor, state legislator, and, at the time, a first-term U.S. Representative from San Francisco. The couple had two sons, Julius, Jr., and Conrad. She would later serve five terms in the U.S. House of Representative as a Republican after succeeding her husband in office following his death.
1900: Herzl has another meeting with Austrian Prime Minister Ernest von Koerber.
1901: Birthdate of Captain (Hon) The Hon. Ewen Edward Samuel Montagu, RNR, the man who played a key role in the creating the subterfuge that helped make the landings for Operation Husky a success. After the war, Montague filled vital leadership roles for the Jewish community in the United Kingdom.
1905(12th of Adar II): Yiddish novelist Isaac Moses Bader, the husband of Helen Bader and the father of playwright and journalist Gershon Bader passed away today.
1909: The Sultan ratifies election of the Hahambashi Haim Nahoum who had had an audience with the Turkish ruler. 1911: International Women’s Day was marked for the first time, by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire alone, there were 300 demonstrations. In Vienna, women paraded on the Ringstrasse and carried banners honoring the martyrs of the Paris Commune. Women demanded that women be given the right to vote and to hold public office. They also protested against employment sex discrimination.
1915: As attempts were being made to form a Jewish fighting force in the British Army, Joseph Trumpeldor held a meeting of all the volunteers that was attended by senior British military leaders including Major-General Alexander Godly during which “theyheard how it would be the first time in British history that non-Britons or non-colonials were to be admitted as a unit into the British forces. Patterson explained that the soldier who carries ammunition and supplies to the trenches requires no less courage than the man who fires a rifle and Godley declared that ‘Today the English People have entered into a covenant with the Jewish People’ (As described by Martin Sugarman)
1915: The Young Men’s Hebrew Army and Navy Association announced today that it has obtained leave of absence for all Jewish sailors and soldiers attached to army and navy posts in and around New York for three days during Passover. Fifteen hundred sailors and soldiers will be able to celebrate the holiday with leaves of absence effective March 29, 30 and 31.
1916: Birthdate of novelist Irving Wallace. His first best seller was the Chapman Report which caused a minor scandal for its time since it focused on a group of that was conducting a survey of sex habits. Other novels included The Man about the first African-American to become President and The Fan Club. Wallace passed away in 1990.
1916: In New York City, the funeral for Rabbi Moses Guedalia was held followed by interment at Mount Neboh Cemetery, Cyprus Hills.
1917: With Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter voting with the majority, the US Supreme Court upheld the Adamson act which provided an 8-hour work day for railroad employees.
1918: Birthdate of Irving Schlossenberg, the native of Baltimore who was a photographer for the Washington Post and served with distinction as a combat photographer with the Marine Corps during five different Pacific landings.
1918: Wolffs Telegraphisches Bureau, the semi-official voice of the German government sent out an account of the discussion held in the Main Committee of the Reichstag concerning the Lichnowsky memorandum written by the former German ambassador to Great Britain which was denounced as indiscreet and treasonable. Wolffs was founded by Bernhard Wolff, the son of a German Jewish banker. It was ironic that the British and German press services were both founded by German Jews. But Reuters, unlike Wolff, left his native home and his native religion.
1920: The United States rejected the Treaty of Versailles for the second time. This rejection helped paved the way for World War II and therefore for the Holocaust. At one level, the rejection signaled a turn to Isolationism which meant the United States would not do anything to curb the rise of fascism during the 1930’s. Rejection of the treaty also meant that the United States would not be joining the League of Nation which would render that international body d.o.a.
1923: In Lodz, Poland, Jewish socialists Josef and Golda Morgentaler gave birth to Henryk Morgentaler who survived and gained fame as Canadian Doctor Henry Morgentaler.
1924: Birthdate of Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, a nationally prominent Reform rabbi known for his progressive, sometimes provocative public stances, including opposition to the Vietnam War, a speech at Yale accusing the University of a history of anti-Semitism and early political support for his neighbor Barack Obama. His mother was a social worker; his father, a tailor, died when Arnold was 7. For several years, starting when he was about 10, Arnold acted in national radio dramas broadcast from Chicago on the Mutual Broadcasting System. After receiving an associate’s degree from the University of Chicago, Arnold Wolf earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Cincinnati in 1945. He received his ordination from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 1948 and later served as a Navy chaplain with United States occupation forces in Japan. In choosing his vocation, Rabbi Wolf had been greatly influenced by an uncle and a great-uncle, both Reform rabbis. (The great-uncle was the leader of the KAM congregation, a precursor of KAM Isaiah Israel. Founded in 1847, KAM took its name — an acronym for the Hebrew phrase “Kehilath Anshe Ma’arav,” “Congregation of the People of the West” — in tribute to its frontier origins.) In 1957, Rabbi Wolf became the first full-time rabbi of Congregation Solel, a Reform synagogue in Chicago. Guest speakers there over the years included the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Chicago Seven, the seven defendants charged with inciting to riot and other offenses stemming from protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. In 1965, the rabbi marched in Alabama with the civil rights leader John Lewis. Two years later, he led a group of congregants to Washington to lobby against the Vietnam War. Starting in the early 1960s, Congregation Solel conducted an annual weekend of Holocaust remembrance, among the first synagogues in the country to do so. In 1973, Rabbi Wolf helped found Breira, an organization of progressive American Jews that advocated a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The organization, whose name means “alternative” in Hebrew, was a target of frequent, bitter public attacks by American Zionists. It disbanded in 1977. Beginning in 1972, Rabbi Wolf spent eight years at Yale as a chaplain and the director of the university’s chapter of the Hillel Foundation, the Jewish student organization. In 1980, when he was preparing to leave Yale and return to Chicago, he delivered a blistering Yom Kippur sermon in which he charged the university with a “long and dishonorable history of anti-Semitism” and accused its administration of “callousness” toward the needs of Jewish students and faculty members. The sermon, and the university’s subsequent denial of Rabbi Wolf’s accusations, attracted wide public attention. At his death in 2009 at the age of 84, Rabbi Wolf was rabbi emeritus of KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation in Chicago, where he had served as rabbi from 1980 until his retirement in 2000.
1926: Birthdate of Jerold Rosenberg, who as Jerry Ross would gain fame as “an American lyricist and composer whose works with Richard Adler for the musical theater include The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees, winners of Tony Awards in 1955 and 1956 respectively in both the "Best Musical" and "Best Composer and Lyricist."
1930: Birthdate of Eugene Bleecher Selznick, the native of Los Angeles who was captain of the United States men's national volleyball team for 17 consecutive years (1953–67 during which time he team won two Volleyball World Championships.
1933: Birthdate of author Phillip Roth. His writings can be loaded with sex, guilt, humor and plenty of pathos. Two of his more famous novels were Portnoy's Complaint and Goodbye Columbus. He won the National Book Award for Goodbye Columbus in 1955 and Sabbath's Theatre in 1995. As somebody once, Roth is funny until you realize that Portnoy and you have the same mother.
1933: Estee Lauder gave birth to her son Leonard who became Chairman Emeritus of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.
1933: The state of Nevada legalized gambling. One of the results of this would be Bugsy Siegel’s building of the Flamingo which led to the creation of Las Vegas, the gaming capital of the United States.
1934: The New York Timesfeatures John Chamberlain’s excellently written review of "The Oppermanns by Lion Feuchtwanger. He describes the text as being “that rare thing, a novel…that is both good propaganda and first-rate dramatic writing.” The novel paints a picture of a well-to-do German Jewish family confronting the rise of Hitler. In his concluding lines, Chamberlain writes, “You won’t discover the reasons for Hitler in the Oppermanns, but you will discover Nazism’s ghoulish incidence in the wreckage of many human lives and hopes.”
1935(14thof Adar II, 5695): Purim
1935: Birthdate of actress of Phyllis Newman
1936: Hitler placed an American citizen, Fritz Julius Kuhn, as the head of the Nazi organization that became known as party the German American Bund.
1937: The Jerusalem Postreported on widespread violence and that a curfew was imposed in Jerusalem. Four Arab building workers were injured when an Arab, who was caught later by police, threw a bomb at them on their construction site in the Mea She’arim quarter. There were many other shooting and stabbing incidents. The Arab Higher Committee issued a statement calling for calm in a period in which "enemies of the nation were striving to incite Arabs by provocations."
1939: Birthdate of Judy Rae Glassman, the native of Cambridge, MA, who gained fame as Judith Daniel, the founding editor-in-chief of Savvy magazine.
1940: In what must have seemed to have been a miraculous rescue, Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe arrives in New York. The Friediker Rebbe was a man of great physical and spiritual courage. He battled the Bolsheviks on their home ground and then stayed with his Chassidim when the Nazis invaded Poland. When he arrived in the United States, he immediately opened the first Lubavitch Yeshiva in the United States despite warnings that he would fail because America was so different from Europe. The Rebbe preserved against great odds. The small community that he had the fortitude to start in Crown Heights became the Chabad Lubavitch movement that today circles the globe.
1940: Vladimir Jabotinsky addressed a crowd of more than 5,000 supporters in New York demanding the “restoration of a Jewish state” in the area under British Mandate.
1941(20th of Adar, 5701): Rafal Krzepicki, aged 34, was shot dead by a sentry at the Lodz ghetto
1942: “Levine Asks for Tine Payment” published in the Los Angeles Times described Charles Levine’s last brush with the law.
http://www.jewishmag.com/123mag/jewish-aviators/jewish-aviators.htm
1943: Haj Amin al-Husseini, the exiled Mufti of Jerusalem broadcast from Rome to the “Arab World.” It was the birthday of the Prophet and Haj Amin used the occasion to try to stir up anti-Jewish hatred. His speech included the reading of a pledge from German Foreign Minister Jachim von Ribbentropt that “the obliteration of what is called the Jewish National Home was a basic tenet of German policy.”
1944: Martha Nierenberg and her entire family go into hiding with a friend in Budapest when the Nazis invaded her native Hungary.
1944: During World War II, the Wehrmacht occupies Hungary. Hungary had been a willing ally of the Germans. By 1944, the Hungarians saw the signs of impending defeat and attempted to surrender. The Nazis realized what was happening, occupied the country and made sure that a sympathetic Hungarian government stayed in power. This shift marked the beginning of the end of the Hungarian Jewish community. Thanks to the Hungarian government, the Jews of Hungary had been spared the Final Solution. Now Eichmann and his henchmen were on their way and “The Night” would become reality.
1944: The Germans arrested 200 Hungarian Jewish doctors and lawyers. This was Germany's first independent action in that Country. The Gestapo then set up activities in hundreds of Hungarian towns. They threatened thousands of prosperous Jews with death if they did not pay “a homage” of valuable belongings and money to the Gestapo.
1945:Mrs. Z. H. Rubinstein President of the Brooklyn chapter of Hadassah announced today that the group had met its goal of raising $200,000 which will be used to fund five projects underway in Palestine.
1945: As World War II was coming to an end “Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany to be destroyed.”
1946: Economist Elisha Friedman writes to Winston Churchill telling him how deeply he had been moved to hear the British leader refer to himself as a Zionist.
1947: At a meeting of editors held in Tel Aviv today, journalists discussed the warnings of terrorist groups not to publish an offer of a reward by police that was designed to lead to the capture of 18 wanted terrorists. Names on the list include Menachem Begin head of the Irgun and Nathan Friedman head of the Stern Gang. In a letter delivered to 12 Jewish newspapers, the terrorists said that publication would be treated as collaboration and dealt with accordingly. Because they were afraid for the safety of their staffs, the editors agreed no to voluntary publish the list but said they would have no choice but to comply under the law if requested to do so by the government.
1948: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Warren Austin told the Security Council “that the United States no longer viewed the partition plan as viable.” (The only problem was that nobody had told President Truman who would express his anger over what he considered an end-run around the White House by the State Department.
1950: Leah and Yitzhak Rabin gave birth to Israeli attorney and MK Dalia Rabin-Pelossof
1951: Herman Wouk's Caine Mutiny was published. The popular Jewish author has two great loves – the U.S. Navy and Judaism. This affection shows in his literary efforts.
1952: Birthdate of Producer Harvey Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax
1952: The Jewish Agency announced that Jews emigrating from East European countries would be admitted to the country without any restrictions imposed by the new, selective immigration policy.
1954: The Jewish Chronicle reported on plans for an exhibition entitled “Manchester and Israel – a city’s contribution to the birth a State” which coincided with the 50th anniversary of Chaim Weizmann’s arrival in the English industrial city.
1954: Birthdate of Jill Abramson, the first woman to serve as executive editor of The New York Times.
1962: Bob Dylan's self-titled debut album was released. The five time Grammy winner was born Robert Zimmerman.
1962: Funeral services were held to in New York for “Rabbi Clifton H. Levy, the oldest past president of the New York Board of Rabbis.” (As reported by JTA)
1965: Two days before the Selma march was scheduled to begin, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel received a telegram from Reverend Martin Luther King, inviting him to join the marchers in Selma, Alabama who are seeking the right to vote for all Americans regardless of race, religion or creed. Heschel will go, “praying with his feet.” These demonstrations will help Lyndon Johnson to secure passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most sweeping and far-reaching pieces of legislation passed in the history of the United States.
1970: Writer and activist Grace Paley was among 182 people arrested in New York City for protesting the Vietnam War draft
1970: In Canada, Bora Laskin began serving as Pusine Justice of the Supreme Court.
1977: "Side by Side by Sondheim" closes in New York City after 390 performances
1978: UN Security Council Resolutions adopted resolutions 425 and 426. They called upon Israel to immediately cease its military action and withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory while establishing the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Like so many UN resolution, this one failed to address the reasons that forced the Israelis to take action in the first place.
1985(th of Adar, 5745): Eighty-seven year old Dr. Philip Reichert, M.D, who had married Helen Reichert in 1939, passed away.
1987(18th of Adar, 5747): Arch Oboler, “an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer and director who was active in radio, films, theater and television, passed away. He generated much attention with his radio scripts, particularly the horror series Lights Out, and his work in radio remains the outstanding period of his career. Praised as one of broadcasting's top talents, he is regarded today as a key innovator of radio drama. Radio historian John Dunning[1] wrote, "Few people were ambivalent when it came to Arch Oboler. He was one of those intense personalities who are liked and disliked with equal fire." A native of Chicago, Oboler was the son of Leon Oboler and Clara Oboler, Jewish immigrants from Riga, Latvia.”
1993: Arnold Resnicoff “delivered the prayer for the commissioning of the first of a series of new Israeli missile boats (Sa'ar 5), jointly built by the U.S. and Israel, in Ingalls Shipyard, Pascagoula, Mississippi.”
1998: As Ronald Perelman worked to finalize his purchase of Sunbeam a press release was issued that Sunbeam would not meet sales expectations.
2000: The New York Timesfeatured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or special interest to Jewish readers including recently released paperback editions of Max Frankel’s "The Times of My Life: And My Life With The Times" and Thane Rosenbaum's "Second Hand Smoke", a “novel about the son of Holocaust survivors who grows up in a home dominated by his tormented mother and later becomes a Nazi-hunting lawyer.”
2003: The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors sends a letter to the Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Canada addressing the next steps to be taken in the distribution and use of funds from the Claims Conference that has worked to gain additional restitution for the victims of the Holocaust.
2003: Mahmoud Abbas became the new Palestinian Prime Minister. His appointment was supposed to mark a new phase in peace negations. Without Arafat's support, he, like the peace process at that time, was doomed to failure. He finally resigned.
2006: The New York Timesfeatured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including "The Doctor’s Daughter" by Hilma Wolitzer and "Anna of All the Russias: The Life of Anna Akhmatova" by Elaine Feinstein
2006: The Second World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace began in Seville, Spain.
2007: While the world's cricketing powers are engaged in the World Cup, history is being made today when for the first time an Israeli team steps out onto the cricket fields of India.
2008: "Regina Waldman, an executive committee member of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries, appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, where she testified about her family' flight from Libya after the Second World War."
2008: Eric Alterman, a professor of English and journalism at the City University of New York, discusses and signs Why We're Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America at Prose Bookstore, in Washington, D.C.
2008: In New York, the 92nd Street Y features a presentation by Edward Kaplan entitled “Spiritual Radical: On Abraham Joshua Heschel.”
2009: As part of the Blavatnik Chamber Concert Series, The Center for Jewish History and the Leo Baeck Institute present: “Women in Song: From Baroque to the Present” performed by the Phoenix Chamber Ensemble under the direction of Vassa Shevel and Inessa Zaretsky. The evening features songs by Felix's sister Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel along with other women composers from Germany, France and America.
2009: A revival of the 1950’s musical “West Side Story” opens on Broadway directed by Arthur Laurents, the 92 year old Brooklyn born Jew whose views about the world of American theatre are readily available in his recently published book, Mainly on Directing: Gypsy, West Side Story, and Other Musicals”
2009: An anonymous American Jewish investor celebrated his eldest son’s Bar Mitzvah which took place this morning at the Western Wall by contributing a Torah scroll to the Samarian outpost community of El Matan, next to Ma’aleh Shomron and Ginot Shomron. The name of the community means “G-d’s Gift” in Hebrew, and the donor, a man of Moroccan descent, said that the mitzvah of giving the holy scroll is all the recognition he needs.
2009: “Cape Verde Heritage Project Launched” published today described “an effort to preserve the Jewish heritage in Cape Verde” that “was formally launched in Washington.”
http://www.capeverdejewishheritage.org/old_site/uploads/Cape_Verde_Jewish_Heritage_Project_Launched_-_JTA_-_Jewish___Israel_News.pdf
http://capeverdejewishheritage.org/
2010: Itzhak Perlman, the IPO and Emmanuel Halperin perform together this morning in Tel Aviv.
2010: Previews of “Sondheim on Sondheim” are scheduled to begin Studio 54.
2010: Elephant Parade, one of an unprecedented eight bands imported from Israel for the sole purpose of taking part in this year’s SXSW (South by Southwest) festival is scheduled to play at Stephen F’s Bar.
2010: The opening reception for "My Father's Microcosm, Tel Aviv", a photographic installation by Israeli photographer Yossi Guttmann and curated by Eva Grudin is scheduled to take place this evening at The Williams Club of New York.
2010: The Air Force hit six targets in Gaza early this morning in response to recent rocket attacks on southern Israel.
2010: Israeli-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has succeeded in acquiring German generic drug maker Ratiopharm for $4.9 billion, beating out U.S. drug firms Pfizer and Actavis of Iceland in the bidding that ended today.
2010: David Adelman was confirmed as United States Ambassador to Singapore.
2011: Civilian areas in southern Israel were heavily shelled by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza this morning, when more than 50 mortars were fired at the regional councils of Sha'ar Hanegev, Eshkol and Sdot Hanegev. Two Israelis sustained light injuries by shrapnel and were transferred to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.
2011: Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman instructed Israel's United Nations envoy to lodge a formal complaint with the organization after Israel was hit by over 50 mortars fired from Gaza this morning.
2011: “Yiddush Cup” is scheduled to play tonight at Park Synagogue in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
2011(13th of Adar II, 5771): Shabbat Zachor
2011: In the evening, the Megillah is read as Purim celebrations begin.
2011(13th of Adar II, 5771): Sixty-three year old Larry Friedlander who founded Reason Magazine passed away today.(As reported by Margalit Fox)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/us/07friedlander.html
2012: The Women’s Conference sponsored by Temple Torah is scheduled to open at West Boyton Beach, Florida.
2012: “Mabul” and “Little Simco’s Big Fantasy” are scheduled to be shown at the 16th New York Sephardic Film Festival.
2012: In Jerusalem, The Off The Wall Comedy Club is scheduled to host “Jerusalem Blend,” featuring Elazar ‘Dr. Jazz’ Brandt & Benny Firszt ‘Jerusalem’s Poet’
2012(25thof Adar, 5222): In Toulouse, Mohamed Merah opened fire on two Jewish pupils, their father and the headmaster’s daughter at Otzar Hatorah which is now called Ohr Torah School.
2012(25th Adar, 5772): Yahrtzeit for those who perished in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
2013: The Bernard and Irene Schwartz Distinguished Speakers series is scheduled to present “Seward: Lincoln’s Indispensable Man” featuring Walter Stahr and Louis P. Masur
2013(8thof Nisan, 5773): Eighty-nine year old ”the matriarch of the last of the grand Catskill resorts, who greeted guests with a “Welcome home,” made sure the regulars got rooms facing the lake, entertained them with comedians and filled them with blintzes and stuffed cabbage” passed away today. (As reported by Joseph Berger)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/nyregion/helen-kutsher-matriarch-of-a-catskills-resort-dies-at-89.html?_r=1&
2013:The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, newly installed as Pope Francis I, opened his speech at today’s Papal inauguration with a nod to the Jewish community, saying say he was speaking “with the permission of the diplomatic corps, the Jews who are with us and all the rest,” according to Israel’s Chief Rabbinate. A delegation of leaders of Jewish communities from around the world, including Rabbinate Director General Oded Weiner, was on hand at the Vatican today when Bergoglio officially took office as the leader of the world’s more than 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. (As reported by Sam Sokol)
2013:The remains of 17 bodies, discovered at the bottom of a well in the city of Norwich in 2004, were given a Jewish burial in Earlham Cemetery in Norwich today.
2013: A day after being sworn into office, Israel’s incoming ministers today celebrated a series of changing-of-the-guard ceremonies at their respective ministries, ushering in Israel’s 33rd government.
2013: The Jerusalem Art Festival is scheduled to present “Cairo Circus”
http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_sys/ArtCenter/ArtFestival/alle.htm
2013: In New York, the Anastasia Photo Gallery is scheduled to host its first show featuring the works of Israeli photographer Natan Dvir
http://www.natandvir.com/
1191: Eighty Jews were burned at Bray, France for trying to execute a vassal who had killed a Jew. The Jews were not a lynch-mob. They had the permission of the local ruler which is more than one can say for those who killed the Jews.
1227: Election of Pope Gregory IX “a prominent opponent of Judaism during his life, condemning it as "containing every kind of vileness and blasphemy". In the 1234 Decretals, he invested the doctrine of perpetua servitus iudaeorum – perpetual servitude of the Jews – with the force of canonical law. According to this, the followers of the Talmud would have to remain in a condition of political servitude until Judgment Day. The doctrine then found its way into the doctrine of servitus camerae imperialis, or servitude immediately subject to the Emperor's authority, promulgated by Frederick II. The Jews were thus suppressed from having direct influence over the political process and the life of Christian states into the 19th century with the rise of liberalism” (Dietmar Preissler, Frühantisemitismus in der Freien Stadt Frankfurt und im Großherzogtum Hessen (1810 bis 1860), p.30, Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, Heidelberg 1989, ISBN 3-533-04129-8 (German).
1497: In an effort to prevent the Jews from fleeing Christian persecutions, King Emanuel, secretly ordered the baptism of all children between the ages of four and fourteen.
1590: Birthdate of William Bradford who served as governor of Plymouth Colony for over 30 years. Bradford was typical of so many of his ilk who saw a connection with their lives and what they called “The Old Testament.” Bradford studies the Hebrew language because, as he put it, “Though I am growne aged, yet I have had a longing desire to see with my owne eyes, something of that most ancient langue and holy tongue, in which the Law, the oracles of God were write; in which God, and angels spake to the holy patriarchs, of time; and what names were given to things, from the creation…for my owne contente.” (William Bradford: Plymouth’s Faithful Pilgrim by Gary D. Schmidt)
1640(24th of Adar): Rabbi Chaim Algazi of Constantinople, author of Nesivot ha-Mishpat passed away today. A native of Ismir, Turkey, Chaim Algazai served as the rabbi of Rhodes before returning to his home town to serve as Chief Rabbi. B’nei Chayay, his commentary on the Four Turim, was edited by Rabbi Araron Alfandri, his granddaughter’s husband and the author of Yad Aaron (As reported by Aryeh Kaplan)
1803:( 25th of Adar): Rabbi Moses ben Abraham, author of Meliz Yosher passed away today
1821: In Devon, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Netterville Burton and Martha Baker gave birth to Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton one of those eccentric 19thEnglishman who dabbled in the military, exploration and writing. Among his many works was The Jew The Gypsy and El Islam
http://www.burtoniana.org/books/1898-The%20Jew,%20The%20Gypsy%20and%20El%20Islam/index.htm
1822: Boston, Massachusetts, incorporated as a city. “The earliest mention of a Jew in Massachusetts bears the date May 3, 1649, and there are references to Jews among the inhabitants of Boston in 1695 and 1702; but they can be regarded only as stragglers, as no settlers made their homes in Massachusetts until the Revolutionary war drove the Jews from Newport. In 1777 Aaron Lopez and Jacob Rivera, with fifty-nine others, went from Newport to Leicester, and established themselves there; but this settlement did not survive the close of the war. A number of Jews, including the Hays family, settled at Boston before 1800. Of these Moses Michael Hays was the most important. In 1830 a number of Algerian Jews went to Boston, but they soon disappeared. The history of the present community begins with the year 1840, when the first congregation was established.”
1832: Birthdate of Ármin Vámbéry.
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Vambery_Armin
1839: A “pogrom, known as the Allahdad, broke out in the Iranian city of Mashhad. At the time of the pogrom, the city of Mashhad was home to about 2,500 Jews. The event devastated the Jews of Mashhad, who were violently forced into converting to Islam. The ruler of Mashhad ordered the authorities to attack the Jews. A large mob went on to the Jewish quarter and proceeded to burn down the synagogue, destroy Jewish homes and businesses, abduct Jewish girls, kill about 40 Jews and injure many more. The Jews had knives held to their throat and were forced to renounce Judaism and accept Islam. While some of the Jews left Mashhad following the incident, others stayed and would go on to lead a secret Jewish life. While adopting Muslim customs in public, most would maintain Jewish tradition in the privacy of their homes. There are no Jews left in Mashhad today. Most of the descendents of Mashhad's Jews live in Israel.”
1848(14thof Adar II, 5608) Purim
1848: Birthdate of Wyatt Earp. Born in Monmouth, Illinois, this fabled lawman gained fame as the Marshall of Deadwood, Dodge City and Tombstone, Arizona. Much of Earp's life was spent as a gambler, prospector and failed businessman. He was not Jewish, but his third wife was. While living in Tombstone, Earp took up with Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp, daughter of practicing Jewish family living in San Francisco. Despite her claims that they married, no written record existed. However, they remained together, if nothing else in common law marriage until Earp's death in 1929. Earp's ashes were buried in the Marcus Family Plot at Jewish Hills of Eternity Cemetery in Colma, California, south of San Francisco. While Ms. Earp did not live among Jews for most of her adult life, she too chose to rejoin her people in death and is buried alongside her famous husband. For more about this interesting marriage you can I Married Wyatt Earp, Mrs. Earp's book about their life together.
1853: Things turned violent in Jeruslaem today, Palm Sunday. Greeks and Armenians fought in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and 24 Protestant missionaries from London scuffling with a group of Jews in the streets of the City of David.
1860: The "Wealth, Power and Enterprise of the Hebrew People, as evidenced by the Building of King Solomon's Temple," was the subject of a lecture delivered this evening in Temple Hall by Rabbi Raphall.
1862: The New York Timespublished a letter today in which took issue with that paper’s characterization of Senator David Levy Yulee as being Jewish. “In your well-merited rebuke of the traitor Yulee … you were led into an error which I am sure you will correct, as it reflects unjustly upon the loyalty of a large religious body of the community. You speak of Yulee, (the Ex-Senator) and Finegan (the ex-contractor) as "Jew and Irishman," thus placing the supposed religious belief of Yulee in juxtaposition with the nationality of his co-traitor. The facts are. Levy is an American, and foreswore the religion of his fathers many years ago, married a Christian lady of wealth, was baptized a Christian and had his name changed by the Legislature of his State to ‘Yulee’ thus adding to the many proofs, that a bad Jew will never make it good Christian.”
1867: In Detroit, members of Congregation Beth El gave the trustees of Tabernacle Baptist Church $17,000 for their property which would be home to Beth El for the next 36 years. D.J. Workum, President of the congregation and Martin Butzel were leaders of in the negotiations on behalf of Beth El.
1867: The Ashkenazim of living in Palestine sought permission to slaughter their own meat. The Ashkenazim appealed to the British to intervene on their behalf. In the formal letter of request to the Consul, it stated that both the Muslims (and the Sephardim) “understood that the Ashkenazim were not true Israelites." This concerned the Ashkenazim because they made money selling certain cuts of meat to the Muslims, and if the Muslims did not consider them Jews, they would not buy their meat.
1868: In Butrimonys, Albert and Judith Valvrojenski gave birth to Senda Valvrojenski who gained fame as Senda Berenson Abbot, a pioneer in the game of women’s basketball. She was also the “sister of the art historian Bernard Berenson and a great-great-aunt of the photographer Berry Berenson and the actress and model Marisa Berenson.”
1874(1st of Nisan, 5634): Rosh Chodesh Nisan
1875: In New York’s Part II of the Marine Court Chief Just Shea presided over breach of contract brought by Jennie Jonas, a Polish Jewess against Victor Goldstein for his failure to marry him. Jonas was represented by famed litigator Samuel Hirsh. In the end, the jury found for the plaintiff and awarded her $75 in damages.
1877: It was reported today that the Marquis de Compiegne, the famous French explorer had died in the interior of Africa after having been mortally wounded during a duel he fought “with a German Jews named Mayer.” The duel was brought on by a dispute over geographic matters and insults to Mayer’s girlfriend.
1880: It was reported today from Madrid, the Jews of Morocco are planning to honor the United States Minister who interceded on their behalf so that they would be protected by the Sultan.
1880: According to a review of “Sunshine and Storm in the East” published today, Lady Brassy reported that one of the difference between the Jews and Moslems of Morocco was that the Moslem women “were muffed up to the eyes and waddled along like animated bundles of dirty clothes” the Jewish women were “gorgeously draped” and their faces were uncovered.
1880: In New York the Board of Estimate and Apportionment allocated funds to be paid to charities taking care of youngster committed to their care by the Police magistrates including $1,691.43 for the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society.
1888: Birthdate of Peretz Naftali, the native of Berlin who made Aliyah in 1933 and served in Israel’s first Knesset
1890: “Slaves of the Sweater” published today summarized the arbitration hearings between the striking members of the Shirtmakers’ Union and the contractors for whom they work. The workers claim they work fourteen hours a day for as little a four dollars a week. The contractors claim that the workers only labor from 7:30 am to 6 pm with half an hour for dinner and that “a good female operative could make $9 a week and man $13.” The work used to be done by “German, American and Irish girls” but they have been driven out by the Jews who are now on strike. The manufacturers, most of whom are Jewish, claim they know nothing about working conditions because they deal only with the contractors.
1891: It was reported today that Solomon Goldstein and his three sons were among those fortunate enough to have survived the fire at the tenement building at the corner of Hester and Allen Streets but one of them, Abraham, was injured and had to be taken to Gouvernor Hospitals.
1892: Jose S.K. Mizrachee, the Syrian born Jew charged with shooting Rabbi Mendes in New York City, is being held at Police Headquarter and is scheduled to make his first appearance in Part I of the Court of General Sessions this morning.
1893: An altercation broke out in New Haven, CT today after carpenters came to work on a house on Rose Street which was being converted to a synagogue. The current occupants of the house claimed that the workers would disturb their Sabbath peace, this being Sunday and began attacking the workers and the Jews who accompanied them.
1893: Following regular services at Temple Emanu-El, Rabbi Silverman delivered a lecture on “Popular Errors About Intermarriage” which is part of series of lectures he is delivering “on popular errors concerning the Jews.”
1894: Mrs. Charles Krumm took $20 out of the safe and saw her husband give it to Policman Charles Levy $20 (in what was either a bribe or payoff)
1896: “Polish Jews Going to Cripple Creek” published today described the passage of 80 families, numbering 260 Polish Jewish immigrants who passed through Fort Worth Texas on their way to Cripple Creek where they going to begin life as farmers.
1896: Maurice Barrymore and Cyril Scott will serve as the auctioneers for the sale of boxes and seats for the upcoming benefit performance to be staged at the Herald Square Theatre
1897: It was reported today that new wing of the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews which was completed six weeks ago cost $75,000 and allows the institution to care for as many as 300 people.
1897: The ladies of the Sewing Society of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum hosted an afternoon of entertainment for children at the facility on Amsterdam Avenue.
1897: It was reported today that the Hebrew Education Society of Philadelphia had raised $9,114 last year to support its programs that include weekly lectures by Ephraim Lederer on the U.S. Constitution.
1898:Benjamin "Ben" Schlesinger the native of Lithuania who would become the nine-time President of International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union became a United States citizen in Chicago today.
1898: Three Jewish children, Celia Bogin (11), Louis Begin (9) and Kate Bogin (4) whose mother had died two weeks ago in Denver were taken to headquarters of the United Hebrew Charities in New York by a cabman who found them on the street
1899: Florence Prag a teacher at Lowell High School in San Francisco married Julius Kahn, a former Broadway actor, state legislator, and, at the time, a first-term U.S. Representative from San Francisco. The couple had two sons, Julius, Jr., and Conrad. She would later serve five terms in the U.S. House of Representative as a Republican after succeeding her husband in office following his death.
1900: Herzl has another meeting with Austrian Prime Minister Ernest von Koerber.
1901: Birthdate of Captain (Hon) The Hon. Ewen Edward Samuel Montagu, RNR, the man who played a key role in the creating the subterfuge that helped make the landings for Operation Husky a success. After the war, Montague filled vital leadership roles for the Jewish community in the United Kingdom.
1909: The Sultan ratifies election of the Hahambashi Haim Nahoum who had had an audience with the Turkish ruler.
1915: As attempts were being made to form a Jewish fighting force in the British Army, Joseph Trumpeldor held a meeting of all the volunteers that was attended by senior British military leaders including Major-General Alexander Godly during which “theyheard how it would be the first time in British history that non-Britons or non-colonials were to be admitted as a unit into the British forces. Patterson explained that the soldier who carries ammunition and supplies to the trenches requires no less courage than the man who fires a rifle and Godley declared that ‘Today the English People have entered into a covenant with the Jewish People’ (As described by Martin Sugarman)
1915: The Young Men’s Hebrew Army and Navy Association announced today that it has obtained leave of absence for all Jewish sailors and soldiers attached to army and navy posts in and around New York for three days during Passover. Fifteen hundred sailors and soldiers will be able to celebrate the holiday with leaves of absence effective March 29, 30 and 31.
1916: Birthdate of novelist Irving Wallace. His first best seller was the Chapman Report which caused a minor scandal for its time since it focused on a group of that was conducting a survey of sex habits. Other novels included The Man about the first African-American to become President and The Fan Club. Wallace passed away in 1990.
1916: In New York City, the funeral for Rabbi Moses Guedalia was held followed by interment at Mount Neboh Cemetery, Cyprus Hills.
1917: With Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter voting with the majority, the US Supreme Court upheld the Adamson act which provided an 8-hour work day for railroad employees.
1918: Birthdate of Irving Schlossenberg, the native of Baltimore who was a photographer for the Washington Post and served with distinction as a combat photographer with the Marine Corps during five different Pacific landings.
1918: Wolffs Telegraphisches Bureau, the semi-official voice of the German government sent out an account of the discussion held in the Main Committee of the Reichstag concerning the Lichnowsky memorandum written by the former German ambassador to Great Britain which was denounced as indiscreet and treasonable. Wolffs was founded by Bernhard Wolff, the son of a German Jewish banker. It was ironic that the British and German press services were both founded by German Jews. But Reuters, unlike Wolff, left his native home and his native religion.
1920: The United States rejected the Treaty of Versailles for the second time. This rejection helped paved the way for World War II and therefore for the Holocaust. At one level, the rejection signaled a turn to Isolationism which meant the United States would not do anything to curb the rise of fascism during the 1930’s. Rejection of the treaty also meant that the United States would not be joining the League of Nation which would render that international body d.o.a.
1923: In Lodz, Poland, Jewish socialists Josef and Golda Morgentaler gave birth to Henryk Morgentaler who survived and gained fame as Canadian Doctor Henry Morgentaler.
1924: Birthdate of Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, a nationally prominent Reform rabbi known for his progressive, sometimes provocative public stances, including opposition to the Vietnam War, a speech at Yale accusing the University of a history of anti-Semitism and early political support for his neighbor Barack Obama. His mother was a social worker; his father, a tailor, died when Arnold was 7. For several years, starting when he was about 10, Arnold acted in national radio dramas broadcast from Chicago on the Mutual Broadcasting System. After receiving an associate’s degree from the University of Chicago, Arnold Wolf earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Cincinnati in 1945. He received his ordination from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 1948 and later served as a Navy chaplain with United States occupation forces in Japan. In choosing his vocation, Rabbi Wolf had been greatly influenced by an uncle and a great-uncle, both Reform rabbis. (The great-uncle was the leader of the KAM congregation, a precursor of KAM Isaiah Israel. Founded in 1847, KAM took its name — an acronym for the Hebrew phrase “Kehilath Anshe Ma’arav,” “Congregation of the People of the West” — in tribute to its frontier origins.) In 1957, Rabbi Wolf became the first full-time rabbi of Congregation Solel, a Reform synagogue in Chicago. Guest speakers there over the years included the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Chicago Seven, the seven defendants charged with inciting to riot and other offenses stemming from protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. In 1965, the rabbi marched in Alabama with the civil rights leader John Lewis. Two years later, he led a group of congregants to Washington to lobby against the Vietnam War. Starting in the early 1960s, Congregation Solel conducted an annual weekend of Holocaust remembrance, among the first synagogues in the country to do so. In 1973, Rabbi Wolf helped found Breira, an organization of progressive American Jews that advocated a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The organization, whose name means “alternative” in Hebrew, was a target of frequent, bitter public attacks by American Zionists. It disbanded in 1977. Beginning in 1972, Rabbi Wolf spent eight years at Yale as a chaplain and the director of the university’s chapter of the Hillel Foundation, the Jewish student organization. In 1980, when he was preparing to leave Yale and return to Chicago, he delivered a blistering Yom Kippur sermon in which he charged the university with a “long and dishonorable history of anti-Semitism” and accused its administration of “callousness” toward the needs of Jewish students and faculty members. The sermon, and the university’s subsequent denial of Rabbi Wolf’s accusations, attracted wide public attention. At his death in 2009 at the age of 84, Rabbi Wolf was rabbi emeritus of KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation in Chicago, where he had served as rabbi from 1980 until his retirement in 2000.
1926: Birthdate of Jerold Rosenberg, who as Jerry Ross would gain fame as “an American lyricist and composer whose works with Richard Adler for the musical theater include The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees, winners of Tony Awards in 1955 and 1956 respectively in both the "Best Musical" and "Best Composer and Lyricist."
1930: Birthdate of Eugene Bleecher Selznick, the native of Los Angeles who was captain of the United States men's national volleyball team for 17 consecutive years (1953–67 during which time he team won two Volleyball World Championships.
1933: Birthdate of author Phillip Roth. His writings can be loaded with sex, guilt, humor and plenty of pathos. Two of his more famous novels were Portnoy's Complaint and Goodbye Columbus. He won the National Book Award for Goodbye Columbus in 1955 and Sabbath's Theatre in 1995. As somebody once, Roth is funny until you realize that Portnoy and you have the same mother.
1933: Estee Lauder gave birth to her son Leonard who became Chairman Emeritus of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.
1933: The state of Nevada legalized gambling. One of the results of this would be Bugsy Siegel’s building of the Flamingo which led to the creation of Las Vegas, the gaming capital of the United States.
1934: The New York Timesfeatures John Chamberlain’s excellently written review of "The Oppermanns by Lion Feuchtwanger. He describes the text as being “that rare thing, a novel…that is both good propaganda and first-rate dramatic writing.” The novel paints a picture of a well-to-do German Jewish family confronting the rise of Hitler. In his concluding lines, Chamberlain writes, “You won’t discover the reasons for Hitler in the Oppermanns, but you will discover Nazism’s ghoulish incidence in the wreckage of many human lives and hopes.”
1935(14thof Adar II, 5695): Purim
1935: Birthdate of actress of Phyllis Newman
1936: Hitler placed an American citizen, Fritz Julius Kuhn, as the head of the Nazi organization that became known as party the German American Bund.
1937: The Jerusalem Postreported on widespread violence and that a curfew was imposed in Jerusalem. Four Arab building workers were injured when an Arab, who was caught later by police, threw a bomb at them on their construction site in the Mea She’arim quarter. There were many other shooting and stabbing incidents. The Arab Higher Committee issued a statement calling for calm in a period in which "enemies of the nation were striving to incite Arabs by provocations."
1939: Birthdate of Judy Rae Glassman, the native of Cambridge, MA, who gained fame as Judith Daniel, the founding editor-in-chief of Savvy magazine.
1940: In what must have seemed to have been a miraculous rescue, Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe arrives in New York. The Friediker Rebbe was a man of great physical and spiritual courage. He battled the Bolsheviks on their home ground and then stayed with his Chassidim when the Nazis invaded Poland. When he arrived in the United States, he immediately opened the first Lubavitch Yeshiva in the United States despite warnings that he would fail because America was so different from Europe. The Rebbe preserved against great odds. The small community that he had the fortitude to start in Crown Heights became the Chabad Lubavitch movement that today circles the globe.
1940: Vladimir Jabotinsky addressed a crowd of more than 5,000 supporters in New York demanding the “restoration of a Jewish state” in the area under British Mandate.
1941(20th of Adar, 5701): Rafal Krzepicki, aged 34, was shot dead by a sentry at the Lodz ghetto
1942: “Levine Asks for Tine Payment” published in the Los Angeles Times described Charles Levine’s last brush with the law.
http://www.jewishmag.com/123mag/jewish-aviators/jewish-aviators.htm
1943: Haj Amin al-Husseini, the exiled Mufti of Jerusalem broadcast from Rome to the “Arab World.” It was the birthday of the Prophet and Haj Amin used the occasion to try to stir up anti-Jewish hatred. His speech included the reading of a pledge from German Foreign Minister Jachim von Ribbentropt that “the obliteration of what is called the Jewish National Home was a basic tenet of German policy.”
1944: Martha Nierenberg and her entire family go into hiding with a friend in Budapest when the Nazis invaded her native Hungary.
1944: During World War II, the Wehrmacht occupies Hungary. Hungary had been a willing ally of the Germans. By 1944, the Hungarians saw the signs of impending defeat and attempted to surrender. The Nazis realized what was happening, occupied the country and made sure that a sympathetic Hungarian government stayed in power. This shift marked the beginning of the end of the Hungarian Jewish community. Thanks to the Hungarian government, the Jews of Hungary had been spared the Final Solution. Now Eichmann and his henchmen were on their way and “The Night” would become reality.
1944: The Germans arrested 200 Hungarian Jewish doctors and lawyers. This was Germany's first independent action in that Country. The Gestapo then set up activities in hundreds of Hungarian towns. They threatened thousands of prosperous Jews with death if they did not pay “a homage” of valuable belongings and money to the Gestapo.
1945:Mrs. Z. H. Rubinstein President of the Brooklyn chapter of Hadassah announced today that the group had met its goal of raising $200,000 which will be used to fund five projects underway in Palestine.
1945: As World War II was coming to an end “Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany to be destroyed.”
1946: Economist Elisha Friedman writes to Winston Churchill telling him how deeply he had been moved to hear the British leader refer to himself as a Zionist.
1947: At a meeting of editors held in Tel Aviv today, journalists discussed the warnings of terrorist groups not to publish an offer of a reward by police that was designed to lead to the capture of 18 wanted terrorists. Names on the list include Menachem Begin head of the Irgun and Nathan Friedman head of the Stern Gang. In a letter delivered to 12 Jewish newspapers, the terrorists said that publication would be treated as collaboration and dealt with accordingly. Because they were afraid for the safety of their staffs, the editors agreed no to voluntary publish the list but said they would have no choice but to comply under the law if requested to do so by the government.
1948: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Warren Austin told the Security Council “that the United States no longer viewed the partition plan as viable.” (The only problem was that nobody had told President Truman who would express his anger over what he considered an end-run around the White House by the State Department.
1950: Leah and Yitzhak Rabin gave birth to Israeli attorney and MK Dalia Rabin-Pelossof
1951: Herman Wouk's Caine Mutiny was published. The popular Jewish author has two great loves – the U.S. Navy and Judaism. This affection shows in his literary efforts.
1952: Birthdate of Producer Harvey Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax
1952: The Jewish Agency announced that Jews emigrating from East European countries would be admitted to the country without any restrictions imposed by the new, selective immigration policy.
1954: The Jewish Chronicle reported on plans for an exhibition entitled “Manchester and Israel – a city’s contribution to the birth a State” which coincided with the 50th anniversary of Chaim Weizmann’s arrival in the English industrial city.
1954: Birthdate of Jill Abramson, the first woman to serve as executive editor of The New York Times.
1962: Bob Dylan's self-titled debut album was released. The five time Grammy winner was born Robert Zimmerman.
1962: Funeral services were held to in New York for “Rabbi Clifton H. Levy, the oldest past president of the New York Board of Rabbis.” (As reported by JTA)
1965: Two days before the Selma march was scheduled to begin, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel received a telegram from Reverend Martin Luther King, inviting him to join the marchers in Selma, Alabama who are seeking the right to vote for all Americans regardless of race, religion or creed. Heschel will go, “praying with his feet.” These demonstrations will help Lyndon Johnson to secure passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most sweeping and far-reaching pieces of legislation passed in the history of the United States.
1970: Writer and activist Grace Paley was among 182 people arrested in New York City for protesting the Vietnam War draft
1970: In Canada, Bora Laskin began serving as Pusine Justice of the Supreme Court.
1977: "Side by Side by Sondheim" closes in New York City after 390 performances
1978: UN Security Council Resolutions adopted resolutions 425 and 426. They called upon Israel to immediately cease its military action and withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory while establishing the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Like so many UN resolution, this one failed to address the reasons that forced the Israelis to take action in the first place.
1985(th of Adar, 5745): Eighty-seven year old Dr. Philip Reichert, M.D, who had married Helen Reichert in 1939, passed away.
1987(18th of Adar, 5747): Arch Oboler, “an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer and director who was active in radio, films, theater and television, passed away. He generated much attention with his radio scripts, particularly the horror series Lights Out, and his work in radio remains the outstanding period of his career. Praised as one of broadcasting's top talents, he is regarded today as a key innovator of radio drama. Radio historian John Dunning[1] wrote, "Few people were ambivalent when it came to Arch Oboler. He was one of those intense personalities who are liked and disliked with equal fire." A native of Chicago, Oboler was the son of Leon Oboler and Clara Oboler, Jewish immigrants from Riga, Latvia.”
1993: Arnold Resnicoff “delivered the prayer for the commissioning of the first of a series of new Israeli missile boats (Sa'ar 5), jointly built by the U.S. and Israel, in Ingalls Shipyard, Pascagoula, Mississippi.”
1998: As Ronald Perelman worked to finalize his purchase of Sunbeam a press release was issued that Sunbeam would not meet sales expectations.
2000: The New York Timesfeatured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or special interest to Jewish readers including recently released paperback editions of Max Frankel’s "The Times of My Life: And My Life With The Times" and Thane Rosenbaum's "Second Hand Smoke", a “novel about the son of Holocaust survivors who grows up in a home dominated by his tormented mother and later becomes a Nazi-hunting lawyer.”
2003: The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors sends a letter to the Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Canada addressing the next steps to be taken in the distribution and use of funds from the Claims Conference that has worked to gain additional restitution for the victims of the Holocaust.
2003: Mahmoud Abbas became the new Palestinian Prime Minister. His appointment was supposed to mark a new phase in peace negations. Without Arafat's support, he, like the peace process at that time, was doomed to failure. He finally resigned.
2006: The New York Timesfeatured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including "The Doctor’s Daughter" by Hilma Wolitzer and "Anna of All the Russias: The Life of Anna Akhmatova" by Elaine Feinstein
2006: The Second World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace began in Seville, Spain.
2007: While the world's cricketing powers are engaged in the World Cup, history is being made today when for the first time an Israeli team steps out onto the cricket fields of India.
2008: "Regina Waldman, an executive committee member of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries, appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, where she testified about her family' flight from Libya after the Second World War."
2008: Eric Alterman, a professor of English and journalism at the City University of New York, discusses and signs Why We're Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America at Prose Bookstore, in Washington, D.C.
2008: In New York, the 92nd Street Y features a presentation by Edward Kaplan entitled “Spiritual Radical: On Abraham Joshua Heschel.”
2009: As part of the Blavatnik Chamber Concert Series, The Center for Jewish History and the Leo Baeck Institute present: “Women in Song: From Baroque to the Present” performed by the Phoenix Chamber Ensemble under the direction of Vassa Shevel and Inessa Zaretsky. The evening features songs by Felix's sister Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel along with other women composers from Germany, France and America.
2009: A revival of the 1950’s musical “West Side Story” opens on Broadway directed by Arthur Laurents, the 92 year old Brooklyn born Jew whose views about the world of American theatre are readily available in his recently published book, Mainly on Directing: Gypsy, West Side Story, and Other Musicals”
2009: An anonymous American Jewish investor celebrated his eldest son’s Bar Mitzvah which took place this morning at the Western Wall by contributing a Torah scroll to the Samarian outpost community of El Matan, next to Ma’aleh Shomron and Ginot Shomron. The name of the community means “G-d’s Gift” in Hebrew, and the donor, a man of Moroccan descent, said that the mitzvah of giving the holy scroll is all the recognition he needs.
2009: “Cape Verde Heritage Project Launched” published today described “an effort to preserve the Jewish heritage in Cape Verde” that “was formally launched in Washington.”
http://capeverdejewishheritage.org/
2010: Itzhak Perlman, the IPO and Emmanuel Halperin perform together this morning in Tel Aviv.
2010: Previews of “Sondheim on Sondheim” are scheduled to begin Studio 54.
2010: Elephant Parade, one of an unprecedented eight bands imported from Israel for the sole purpose of taking part in this year’s SXSW (South by Southwest) festival is scheduled to play at Stephen F’s Bar.
2010: The opening reception for "My Father's Microcosm, Tel Aviv", a photographic installation by Israeli photographer Yossi Guttmann and curated by Eva Grudin is scheduled to take place this evening at The Williams Club of New York.
2010: The Air Force hit six targets in Gaza early this morning in response to recent rocket attacks on southern Israel.
2010: Israeli-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has succeeded in acquiring German generic drug maker Ratiopharm for $4.9 billion, beating out U.S. drug firms Pfizer and Actavis of Iceland in the bidding that ended today.
2010: David Adelman was confirmed as United States Ambassador to Singapore.
2011: Civilian areas in southern Israel were heavily shelled by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza this morning, when more than 50 mortars were fired at the regional councils of Sha'ar Hanegev, Eshkol and Sdot Hanegev. Two Israelis sustained light injuries by shrapnel and were transferred to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.
2011: Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman instructed Israel's United Nations envoy to lodge a formal complaint with the organization after Israel was hit by over 50 mortars fired from Gaza this morning.
2011: “Yiddush Cup” is scheduled to play tonight at Park Synagogue in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
2011(13th of Adar II, 5771): Shabbat Zachor
2011: In the evening, the Megillah is read as Purim celebrations begin.
2011(13th of Adar II, 5771): Sixty-three year old Larry Friedlander who founded Reason Magazine passed away today.(As reported by Margalit Fox)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/us/07friedlander.html
2012: The Women’s Conference sponsored by Temple Torah is scheduled to open at West Boyton Beach, Florida.
2012: “Mabul” and “Little Simco’s Big Fantasy” are scheduled to be shown at the 16th New York Sephardic Film Festival.
2012: In Jerusalem, The Off The Wall Comedy Club is scheduled to host “Jerusalem Blend,” featuring Elazar ‘Dr. Jazz’ Brandt & Benny Firszt ‘Jerusalem’s Poet’
2012(25thof Adar, 5222): In Toulouse, Mohamed Merah opened fire on two Jewish pupils, their father and the headmaster’s daughter at Otzar Hatorah which is now called Ohr Torah School.
2012(25th Adar, 5772): Yahrtzeit for those who perished in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
2013: The Bernard and Irene Schwartz Distinguished Speakers series is scheduled to present “Seward: Lincoln’s Indispensable Man” featuring Walter Stahr and Louis P. Masur
2013(8thof Nisan, 5773): Eighty-nine year old ”the matriarch of the last of the grand Catskill resorts, who greeted guests with a “Welcome home,” made sure the regulars got rooms facing the lake, entertained them with comedians and filled them with blintzes and stuffed cabbage” passed away today. (As reported by Joseph Berger)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/nyregion/helen-kutsher-matriarch-of-a-catskills-resort-dies-at-89.html?_r=1&
2013:The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, newly installed as Pope Francis I, opened his speech at today’s Papal inauguration with a nod to the Jewish community, saying say he was speaking “with the permission of the diplomatic corps, the Jews who are with us and all the rest,” according to Israel’s Chief Rabbinate. A delegation of leaders of Jewish communities from around the world, including Rabbinate Director General Oded Weiner, was on hand at the Vatican today when Bergoglio officially took office as the leader of the world’s more than 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. (As reported by Sam Sokol)
2013:The remains of 17 bodies, discovered at the bottom of a well in the city of Norwich in 2004, were given a Jewish burial in Earlham Cemetery in Norwich today.
2013: A day after being sworn into office, Israel’s incoming ministers today celebrated a series of changing-of-the-guard ceremonies at their respective ministries, ushering in Israel’s 33rd government.
2013: The Jerusalem Art Festival is scheduled to present “Cairo Circus”
http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_sys/ArtCenter/ArtFestival/alle.htm
2013: In New York, the Anastasia Photo Gallery is scheduled to host its first show featuring the works of Israeli photographer Natan Dvir
http://www.natandvir.com/
2014: In a sign of the changing times for Jewish institutions, in Olney, MD. Jewish Social Service Agency is scheduled to host an evening on “The Secrets to a Successful Job Search” at Shaare Tefila Congregation.
2014: “La Verite si Je Mens #3” (“Would I Like to You #3”) is scheduled to be shown at the New York Jewish Sephardic Film Festival.
2014: “”Aftermath” is scheduled to be shown at the Houston (TX) Jewish Film Festival.
2014: Seventieth Anniversary of the German Occupation of Budapest.