January 6
548: This was the last year the Church in
1300: Following the conquest of the City of Damascus by the forces of Mahmud Ghazan who had converted to Islam, today, the Jews were forced back into the role of “dhimmis” – official second class citizens.
1275: Raymond of Penyafort, the Spanish Dominican Friar who convinced King James to order a public (and one-side)debate “between Moshe ben Nahman, a rabbi in Girona, and Paulus Christiani, a baptized Jew of Montpellier who belonged to the Dominicans” the purpose of which was to prove the superiority of Christianity and get the Jews to convert.
1309: Henry VII, the future Holy Roman Emperor was crowned King of the Romans today in Aachen which had a Jewish community since the days of the Roman Empire which would mean it began sometime around the beginning of the second century of the common era.
1311: Henry VII, who was presented with a scroll of the law by a delegation of Jews in Rome, was crowned King of Italy today in Milan.
1387: John I begins his reign as King of Aragon. In 1375, the future king assigned Abraham Cresques and his son Yehuda “to make a set of nautical charts which would go beyond the normal geographic range of contemporary portolan charts to cover the "East and the West, and everything that, from the Strait (of Gibraltar) leads to the West". For this job, Cresques and Jehuda would be paid 150 Aragonese golden florins and 60 Mallorcan pounds, respectively…”
1432: The Jewish aldermen and the Jewish community in Pilsen bought from the Town Council a piece of land for which they paid “12 schock of Prague coppers” in the škvrner suburb on which to establish a cemetery.
1449: In an unusual move, Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mistra instead of at Constantinople. His reign would be a short one. He would lose his throne in 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans under Mehmed II. Constantine was the last Emperor and the last Christian ruler of what was left of the Roman Empire. The Moslem Ottoman Empire would prove to be a haven for Jews fleeing from persecution in Christian Europe. Also, Mehmed worked to insure that a significant portion of the population of Istanbul (the new name for Constantinople) would be Jewish. Cresques was a 14thcentury Jewish cartographer “who is credit with the authorship of the Catalan Atlas.
1481: In
1497: Jews were expelled from
1537: Cosimo I de’Medici took control of Tuscany when he became Duke of Florence today following which he sought to improve the economic conditions in his realm by “recruiting affluent Spanish and Portuguese Jews for resettlement in Florence and his chief port city of Pisa” which led “many displaced Italian Jews who were neither bankers nor wealthy merchants coming to Tuscany as well, particularly after the final expulsion of the Neapolitan community in 1540 and the creation of ghettos in the Papal cities of Rome and Ancona in 1555.”
1560: Giovanni Medici who had been elected Pope on Christmas Day 1559 was installed as Pope Pius IV. According to Gordon Thomas, author of The Pope’s Jews, “Pope Pius IV …relaxed a variety of restrictions on Jewish life that had been imposed by his predecessor, Paul IV, but… does not point out that the restrictions were restored by Pius V.”
1567: Birthdate of Richard Burbage the 16th century English actor noted for his portrayal of Shylock – no mean accomplishment considering the fact that he and most of those in his audiences had never met a Jew.
1663(5423): Italian rabbi Simeon (Simḥah) ben Isaac Luzzatto passed away in Venice.
1666(10th of Shevat, 5426) Portuguese Marrano Abraham Senior Teixria who openly professed his Judaism after settling in Hamburg and who got King Frederick III to grant privileges to the Jews of Denmark while serving as a confidant and host for Queen Christina of Sweden passed away today.
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14351-texeira
1693: Mehmed IV, the Ottoman Sultan passed away. During his reign, Moses Beberi was appointed ambassador to Sweden. After his death in 1674 his son Yehuda was appointed to the position ambassador. When the Jews of the Ukraine were looking for a place of refuge during the Cossack Uprising Mehmet IV, allowed them to settle on the banks of the Danube in Morea, Kavala, Istanbul and Salonica. The second event happens in 1666. Rabbi Sabetay Sevi declares himself messiah and causes turmoil. Mehmed was also the sultan who had to deal with Sabbati Zevi, the famous false messiah.
1706: Birthdate of Benjamin Franklin, printer, publisher, scientist, statesmen and a man who was far greater than his parts. “
1772: On the day after his demise, Yaacov Ze’ev ben Yisrael was buried at the “Alderney Road (Globe Rd) Jewish Cemetery.
1753(1st of Shevat, 5513): As it had for the last 13 years, on the first of Shevat the Great Synagogue in London levied a tax of two shillings on each of its members “for the purpose of providing Unleavened Bread for the poor on Passover.”
1761: Jacob Henry of New York wrote a letter addressed to Barnard Gratz in which he discussed plans to build a synagogue in Philadelphia.
1785 (24th of Tevet, 5545): Haym Salomon passed away in Philadelphia at the age of 44. Born in
1793: Less than a year after they were married in Philadelphia, the former Nellie Bush and Moses Sheftal gave birth to Mordecai Sheftal, a member of that Savannah Georgia “clan.”
1803:Birthdate of Austrian native and French pianist and composer Henri Herz who owned his own piano factory and built a concert hall in Paris.
1805: Countess Ewelina Hanska, who married French novelist Honore de Balzac making her the most person to ever live in Pohrebyschche, a Polish town with a substantial Jewish population whose “large synagogue was converted into a Workman’s Club in 1928 and whose Jews “were murdered by the Nazis and local fascists.
1811(10th of Tevet, 5571): Asara B’Tevet
1811: Birthdate of Charles Sumner who served as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. While serving as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sumner supported efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Jews of Romania.
1813: Solomon Sebag married Sarah Montefiore today. (Ever wonder about those authors whose last name in “Sebag-Montefiore.”).
1813:Wirt und Gast, the second opera by German-Jewish composer Giacomo Meyerbeer was performed for the first time in Stuttgart, Germany. Unlike his first opera, Jephtas Gelübde, which was a Biblical drama, Wirt und Gast is “the colorful Arabian Nights tale of the man who becomes caliph for a day.”
1814(14th of Tevet, 5574): Jacob Abraham Rabbie who had taken the family name Rabbie in 1812 in response to a requirement that “all Dutch citizens had to take a surname’ passed away today in Amsterdam.
1814(14thof Tevet, 5574): Catherine Aaron, the daughter of A. Aaron of Russel Courts, passed away today after which she was buried in the Brady Street Jewish Cemetery.
1838: Birthdate of German composer, Max Bruch who was not Jewish but who is most famous for his composition “Kol Nidrei,” writtenfor cello and orchestra which is based on the traditional chant associated with that most holy of Jewish holidays
1839(20thof Tevet, 5599): Don Judah Ben-Oliel, the Gibraltar born son of Solomon Ben-Oliel and Judith Benoliel , the husband of Esther Ben-Oliel and father of Solomon Ben-Oliel; Rachel Pariente; Joshua Benoliel; Isaac Benoliel; Judith Abudarham; and Moses Benoliel passed away today
1840(1stof Shevat, 5600): Rosh Chodesh Shevat
1840(1stof Shevat, 5600:New York native Sarah Rodgrigues, the daughter of Jacob r. Rivera and the second wife of Aaron Lopez passed away today in her home town.
1840: Sultan Abdul Mejid, under pressure from the Montefiore delegation, issued a Firman against blood libels. He also unconditionally released nine survivors of the
1846: Birthdate of Henriette Hertz, the native of Cologne, Germany, the noted philanthropist and art collect who converted to Protestantism in 1871.
1846(8th of Tevet, 5606): Lewis Goldsmith passed away in Paris. Born at Richmond,Surrey, he played an active, if marginal role, in the conflict between Napoleon and the British, Among other things, he “published The Crimes of Cabinets, or a Review of the Plans and Aggressions for Annihilating the Liberties of France and the Dismemberment of her Territories, an attack on the military policy of” William Pitt.
https://theodora.com/encyclopedia/g2/lewis_goldsmith.html
1850: Birthdate of Eduard Bernstein, a leading German social democrat whose “Jewish parents, who were active in the Reform Temple on the Johannistrasse where services were performed on Sunday.”
http://spartacus-educational.com/GERbernstein.htm
1852: Birthdate of Prague native Leopold Pick, the husband of Betty Pick.
1853: Elias David Sassoon and his wife gave birth to Sir Edward Elias Sassoon, 2ndBaronet “who was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Victor.”
1854: The will of Judah Touro dated this day appoints four executors, three of whom are to each receive $10,000. R.D. Shepperd, the fourth legatee is the residuary legatee. The will bequeathed nearly $450,000 to various public institutions for charitable purposes, including the following: $80,000 for the establishment of an Almshouse in New-Orleans; $5,000 to the Hebrew Congregation in Boston.
1854: Judah Touro signed his last will and testament.
1857(10thof Tevet, 5617): Asara B’Tevet is observed for the first time during the ill-fate presidency of James Buchannan.
1858: Babette and Joseph Seligman give birth to George Seligman
1858: The Court of Common Pleas heard the case of Mark Isaacs vs The Beth Hamedrash Society which “grew out of a claim by the plaintiff for baking” Matzah “for this religious corporation. The matter was to be settled by arbitration but the plaintiff contended the arbitration was invalid because the arbiters met on Sunday which was a violation of state law. But the respondents contended that since they observed Saturday as a day of rest they were not bound by this restriction. While agreeing with respondents contention, the Court found their claim to be immaterial since the final document of arbitration was signed on Monday which meant that the issue of Sabbath observance was moot. Decision for the Respondent.
1859: Birthdate of Samuel Alexander, the Australian-born British philosopher who was the first Jewish fellow of an “Oxbridge” college.
1859: In Philadelphia, Jacob Joseph and Eve (Chuts) Peres gave birth to Memphis resident Hardwig Peres, a member of the firm of Jacob J. Peres and Company who served as President of the Memphis Board of Education and was a member of congregations, Childdren of Israel, Baron Hirsh, Beth El Emeth and Anshe Sphard
1859: It was reported today that a journal printed in Hebrew called Cammagia (The Orator) which has just appeared in Lyk, a city in northern Prussia has been well received in Poland as well as in Prussia.
1859: Birthdate of Odessa native Michael Zametkin, who in 1877 “fled political persecution in his homeland” and came to the United where he worked in the needle trades, became a leader in “the Jewish labor and Socialist movements while becoming a contributor to several Yiddish and Socialist newswires” including “The Jewish Daily Forwardwhich he helped to found.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/03/08/118647977.pdf
1861: In Sydney, Australia, Sir Saul Samuel, and “Henritetta Matilda, th daughter of Benjamin Goldsmid Levien gave birth Louis Samuel, an engineer and husband of “Mary Ruth, the daughter of Silas Fowler with whom he had two daughters – Vera and Lilly.
1861(24th of Tevet, 5621): Major General Albert Goldsmid passed away. Born in 1794, this son of Benjamin Goldsmid entered the British Army in 1811 and served at the Battle of Waterloo. Much of his career was spent in the cavalry where he earned several decorations for his service.
1863: The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that General Order 11 had been rescinded.
1863: General Grant sent several telegrams to General Halleck acknowledge the revocation of General Order 11. “By direction of the General in Chief of the Army at Washington¸ the General Order from these Head Quarters expelling Jews from this Department is hereby revoked.”
1863(15thof Tevet, 5623): Seventeen-year-old Philadelphian Albert Leopold Snowberger, the old son of Leopold and Brina Snowberger passed away in Washington, DC today after having been mortally wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
1867: In Cincinnati, OH, Jacob and Johanna (Goldsmith) Loeb gave birth to Belle Loeb Hanauer, the wife of Sam Hanauer, an active member of the Spokane, WA Jewish community who was a member of the Temple Emanu-El Siter, the Jewish Free Loan Society and the Jewish Helping Hand Society while serving as the vice president of the Jewish Welfare Association.
1871: Birthdate of Eugen Hirschburg, who gained fame as German movie actor Eugen Burg and who found out the hard way that his conversion to Protestantism did not save him from being banished from the film industry when the Nazis came to power or to dying at Theresienstadt.
1871: German nationals Fanny Ottenheimer and Elias Marx gave Moses Marx who passed away in 1884 at the age of 12
1871: U.S. Vice President Schyler Colfax sent a letter today expressing his regret at not being able to attend an upcoming celebration of the newly unified nation of Italy. Colfax expressed his hope that when Victor Emanuel said that Italy is free and one he meant that the newly united nation would follow the example of the United States of guaranteeing religious freedom to “Jew and Gentile” alike. Colfax saw this guarantee of religious freedom as critical to the current success of the American Republic and as a critical to the future success of the Italian Republic. [Declarations like this are another example of what separates the experience of the Jews in the United States from that in European, Asian or African political entity.]
1872: In Kiev, Henry and Frieda Berg gave birth to NYU trained attorney Simon Berg, a specialist “in all phases of real estate work who married Rose Berliner in 1894 and was an active member of the Brooklyn Jewish Center and the Brooklyn Federation of Jewish Charities.
1873: Birthdate of Galicia native Jacob Z. Lauterbach, the graduate of Gottingen University and the Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin who earned a Ph.D from Berlin University before coming to the United States in 1903 “where he was a rabbi in Peoria, Il, Rochester, NY and Huntsville, AL” before becoming a Professor of Talmud at HUC in 1911.”
http://collections.americanjewisharchives.org/ms/ms0186/ms0186.html
1876: In Buffalo, NY, the clothing firm of Friedman & Co made an assignment to Henry Cone, a retired Jewish merchant to cover their liabilities of $5,000.
1876: In Russia, Sara and Elias Bernstein gave birth to Louis Bernstein who eventually settled in Northern Ireland.
1877: Birthdate of Jacob Mazer, who “for years was Detroit’s best basketball player” whose Mazer Cigar Mfg. Co. produced 150,000,000 cigars a year in 1923.
1878; It was reported today that “a thrilling tale of a brave young Jew” is going to appear in the Number 10 issued of the New York Weekly.
1878: It was reported today that “a Jewish paper” has called for a national meeting to revise Jewish ritual. The papers say that “there is much in the ritual to which many Jews no longer give assent.” Also, there are sections which an even larger number do not understand.
1879(11th of Tevet, 5639) Rabbi Benjamin Artom passed away today at 3 Marine Parade, Brighton,(UK).He was the Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of Great Britain. Born in 1835 at Asti, Piedmont, Italy, he was the first person to hold the post of rabbi of Naples. In 1866 he accepted a call to become the spiritual leader, or Haham, of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in Britain, and held the post until his death. He composed a prayer for boys on the occasion of their Bar Mitzvah that was at one time used in most orthodox synagogues in Britain, and is still used in the Spanish and Portuguese ones.
1883: In Gorky, Russia, “Hyman and Esther (Mogilev) Zeitlin gave birth to Columbia educated English teacher and author Dr. Jacob Zeitlin who became a full professor at the University Illinois three years after marrying Lois Gild and who wrote for a number of publications including the Nation, the Herald Tribune and the Menorah Journal while being an active member of several organizations including B’nai B’rith.
1890: Dora Albertina Model, the daughter of Albert and Jenny Model, was buried today at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1890(14THof Tevet, 5650): Former Judge Philip J. Joachimsen passed away today at 4 o’clock this afternoon at his home on 54th Street in New York City. The American jurist and communal worker was born in 1817 at Breslaue Germany. He emigrated to New York in 1827, and was admitted to the bar there in 1840. During the Civil war, he organized and commanded the Fifty-ninth New York Volunteer Regiment, and was injured at New Orleans. For his services he was made brigadier-general by brevet. After the war he practiced law until he was elected judge of the New York Marine Court in 1870. In 1877, he returned to private practice. In 1859, he was elected to serve as the first president of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum. In 1879 he organized the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society for Children in New York. (As reported by Adler & Friedenberg and the NYT)
1891: In New York City, Wolf and Dora (Berger) Bomzon gave birth to Samuel Bomzon, the husband of Etta Petigor and vice president of the National Safety Bank who was a registrant in “the Old Man’s Draft” during WW II which got is name from the fact it registered those between the ages of 45 and 64.
1892: It was reported today that thirty adult Russian Jews and 12 of their children are living at J. Syren’s Hotel on Madison Street where conditions are so unsanitary that officials are worried about an outbreak of smallpox.
1893: “The Outbreak of Typhus Fever” published today described the outbreak of the epidemic in New York City which had its greatest impact among the immigrant population.
1893: The Libre Parole sponsored “a great anti-Semitic meeting” at the Tivoli Vauxhall in Paris.
1894: Among the charities receiving funds from the Brooklyn Board of Estimate were the Hebrew Orphan Asylum Society - $294.88; Hebrew Benevolent Society, Eastern Division - $121.42; Hebrew Benevolent Society, Western Division - $72.32. This means that the Jewish charities received $488.62 of the $85,000 distributed by the Board.
1894: In Constantinople, Milbah Johnson and Charles Charnaud, “a director of the tobacco monopoly of the Ottoman Empire gave birth to Grace Stella Charnaud who at the age of 37 married 71 year old Rufus Isaacs, 1st Earl of Reading which made her Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, Baroness Swanborough who championed an increase role for women both before and during the WW II.
1895: Israel Monk, the Russian born resident of London and husband of Nellie Monk was buried today in the United Kingdom.
1895: For the first time since its founding in 1863, the Union League does not have any Jewish members because Edwin Einstien resigned from the club today. He resigned because the league had taken no action to remedy the effect of the blackballing of the son of Jesse Seligman which had taken place two years ago.
1895: “Will of Eugene Kelly” published today explained that “the famous banker” had not left money to Catholic and Jewish charities as an “expression in favor” in favor of either these religions but because “other denominations are wealthier and better able to care for their poor.”
1895: “The Late Czar” published today provided a review of Alexander III of Russiaby Charles Lowe which included a description of Russian persecution of its Jewish population.
1896: Birthdate of Nathan Pritzker, the highly successful investor and real estate mogul best known for his ownership of the Hyatt Hotel chain. At one time or another he has also controlled the Hammond Organ Company and Continental Air Lines. According to one estimate his holdings were valued at 700 million dollars during the 1980’s.
1896: Mrs. Freda Silverman and her two daughters (Rachel,9 and Sarah, 3) were forced to leave their room at 185 Division Street tonight by their landlord because they could not pay the $6 in rent they owed him.
1897: George James Graham and the former Marie Hirsch, the daughter of Emil Hirsch of Mannheim gave birth to the first of their two daughters, Elizabeth Bertha
1897: “The twenty-third annual lecture course of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association opened tonight at the Musical Hall of the Carnegie Building with a recitation by Mrs. Aida Kaufman and a lecture on ‘Modern Popular Delusions’ by Simon Sterne.”
1898: State Supreme Court Judge William N. Cohen is scheduled to deliver a lecture entitled “The Profession of the Law and Its Demands” at Temple Emanu-El sponsored by the Young Men’s Hebrew Association.
1898: Herzl travels to
1898: In a case of Jew versus Jew “representatives of the Auxiliary Relief Branch of the Russian and Polish Jewish Central Committee at Jerusalem… expressed indignation at the charges made of misuses of the money collected in the United States for the relief of poor American Jews in…Palestine” made by the President of the newly formed American Congregation, the Pride of Jerusalem.
1899: A list of the bequests left by the late David Marks published today includes instruction that $250 be given to each of the following: the Hebrew Technical School; the Montefiore Home, the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews; Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum, Mount Sinai Hospital, Educational Alliance, Young Men’s Hebrew Association and $100 each to the Hebrew Free School and the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society. (This represents panoply of the institutions supported by New York Jewry at the turn of the century.)
1899: “The Honorable Lionel Walter Rothschild has been elected a member of Parliament for the Aylesburgy Division of Buckinghamshire without opposition, succeeding his uncle, the late Baron Ferdinand James De Rothschild, who died
1899: Mathew N. Levy, Jr. of Norfolk was one of those eligible to become a civilian those serving in the 6th Virginia Volunteer Infantry became eligible for being mustered out of U.S. Service.
1900(6thof Shevat, 5660): Parashat Bo
1900: In Norfolk, VA, “Herman and Sophie (Sheffield) Waggenheim gave birth to University of Virginia trained attorney and Zeta Beta Tau brother Michael Benjamin Wagenheim, a memberof Phi Beta Kappa who practiced law in his hometown for fifty years while also serving with a number of civic organizations including Goodwill Industries and the Hampton Roads Sanitation Commission.
1902: Birthdate of Wilhelm Kraus a member of the anti-Nazi resistance group known as The Ehrenfeld or Steinbruck Group.
1903: Birthdate of composer and conductor Maurice Abravanel. Abravanel was born in Saloniki Greece when it was still part of the Ottoman Empire. A descendant of Isaac Abravanel, he came from an illustrious Sephardic Jewish family, which was expelled from Spain in 1492. Abravanel's ancestors settled in Saloniki in 1517, and his parents were both born there. In 1909, they moved to Switzerland, where his father Edouard de Abravanel was a very successful pharmacist.
In 1934, anti-German sentiment forced Abravanel to leave Europe. After enjoying a triumph in Austraalia, Abravanel came to the United States to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera. He became the long-time conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra (1947-1979, building it from a part-time community orchestra into a well-respected, professional ensemble with recording contracts with Vanguard, Vox, Angel, and CBS. He lobbied for years for a permanent home for the orchestra, which then performed in the Mormon Tabernacle on Temple Square. He saw his dream come true when Symphony Hall was built, but not until the season after he retired. It has now been renamed Abravanel Hall in his honour. Only in America could the a major musical venue in the heart of “Mormon Country” be named for a Sephardic Jew from Salonika. Abravanel passed away at the age of 90 in Salt Lake City.
1903(7thof Tevet, 5663): Henry de Worms, 1st Baron Pirbright, the third son of Solomon Benedict de Worms and leading Conservative politician passed away today.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12182-pirbright-henry-de-worms-bar-on
1903: Herzl begins a trip that would take him to Paris and London.
1904(18th of Tevet, 5664): Michael Levi Rodkinson, the “son of Alexander Sender Frumkin and half-brother of Israel Dov Bär Frumkin, the editor of The Havatzeleth newspaper in Jerusalem, Arieh Tzvi Hirsch Frumkin and Guishe Frumkin-Navon, the American publisher who was produced the first English translation of the Babylonian Talmud, passed away.
1904: Although the government continues to inform the Jews that peace in Kishinev is assured and that preparation has been for any attempt at disorder,” the Jews, who can are leaving the city during the holiday season.
1904: In Chicago, Ukrainian Jewish immigrants Annie P. (née Cohn) and Nicholas J. Pritzker gave birth to Northwestern Law School trained attorney, Jack Nicholas Pritzker, who was a partner in the family law firm, Pritzker and Pritzker, the husband of the former Rhoda Goldberg, with whom he had one son, “Nicholas J. Pritzker who is chairman of the board and CEO of the Hyatt Development Corporation.”
1905: Prince Bilokoff, the Minister of Railroads called upon his countrymen to be patient while the Czar I “striving earnestly to accomplish the reforms which the country needs” which means dealing with the “special laws” that have been created to deal with empire’s various nationalities including the Jews. (Editor’s note – the Minister made it sound as these special laws had been created to benefit these nationalities when quite the opposite was true.)
1906: It was reported today that of the 90,000 Jews who have left Russia since the massacres began, only 7,325 arrived in the United States in November of 1905 which is the last month for which figures are available.
1906: It was reported today that Senators Kuzminksy and Taurau who investigated the massacres at Odessa and Kiev have issued “almost identical statements” saying that “the authorities were guilty of gross negligence and could easily have prevented the bloodshed, but that the charge they deliberately planned the massacres is not substantiated by the evidence.”
1906: It was reported today that Count Sergei Witte, the Chairman of the council of Ministers of the Russian Empire “has expressed compete confidence” in the Russo-Jewish Relief Committee” over which Baron Gunzberg presides and has asked him to convey to Lord Rothschild thanks for the help he and his colleagues have rendered for the relief of the sufferers in Russia.”
1906: “Charities Report On Jewish Immigration” published today provides highlights of the “soon to be distributed” “thirty-first annual report of the United Hebrews Charities of the City of New York” which “point out that owed to the rigid immigration laws, the Jewish immigrants are of a high class and that many good citizens have to the United States owing to the war between Russian and Japan and the outrages in Russia.”
1907: “Emma Goldman, who has been arrested many times in New York and other cities for uttering anarchistic sentiments, was taken into custody late this afternoon while in the midst of an address before an audience of 600 persons at Clinton Hall, 151 Clinton Street.”
1908: Birthdate of Russian native, and Columbia trained physician Dr. Sidney Tarachow, the former member of the faculty of Iowa State University and director of the division of psychoanalytic education of the Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn and clinical professor of psychiatry passed away today.
1908: Following its premiere in Vienna, an English language version of Oscar Straus’ operetta “A Waltz Dream” premiered in Philadelphia at the Chestnut Street Opera House.
1908: Birthdate of composer Menahem Avidom. Born in
1909: “The Finnish loan of $10,000,000, destined for the construction of railroads in the Grand Duchy, which has been offered in the London market, is meeting with a storm of opposition on the part of Jewish bankers and investors here” because of the continued massive persecution of Jews in Russia.
1910: In Duluth, MN, Isaac and Lena (Batonik) Alpert gave birth Duluth Central High School graduate and husband of Lillian Steinberg who engaged in numerous business enterprises including the establishing of the “first discount in Northern Minnesota” and the creation of ZMC Hotels which operates properties throughout the United States while being an active member of Temple Israel and Tifereth Israel and chairing the Jewish Federation.
1911: Birthdate of Brooklyn native Joseph Abramowitz who gained fame as comedian Joey Adams, the husband of gossip columnist Cindy Adams.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-12-05-9912050304-story.html
1911: In Bergen, NY, John F. and Dana Alice (nee Warboys) Sands gave birth to character actor Billy Sands who may be best known for his continuing role as one of the G.I.’s in “The Phil Silvers Show” which brought to life the hi-jinx of Sgt. Ernie Bilko.
1911: In Philadelphia, Morris and Rebecca (Tecker) Mandell gave birth to Samuel Phillip Mandell, the President of Samuel P. Mandell and Company, the founder of the Samuel P. Mandel Foundation and husband of Ida Slustsky with whom he had five children, including two sets of twins.
1912:
In 1990, the 6,400 Jews living in
Between 1750 and 1850, many German Jews came to
1912: It was reported today “the Society of American Cantors has elected Simon Schlager, the cantor at Temple Emanu-El as its new president.
1912(16th of Tevet, 5672): Parashat Vayechi
1912: In Chicago, Dr. Gerson B. Levi is scheduled to deliver the sermon B’nai Sholom-Temple Israel
1912: In Chicago, Rabbi Abram Hirshberg officiated at services at Temple Sholom.
1912: In Chicago, Rabbi Tobias Schanfarber is scheduled to the sermon K.A.M
1913: The Jewish National Workers Alliance (Farband) received its official charter, licensing it to sell various insurance and medical plans, from the State of New York (Jewish Virtual Library)
1913: It was reported today that Joel Blau a native of Hungary and a graduate of Hebrew Union College who has served as the rabbi at several smaller congregations in Brooklyn has been chosen to succeed Dr. L. Leon Magnes as the rabbi at B’nai Jeshurum.
1914: Birthdate of Heinz Berggruen, collector and gallery owner. One of the world’s most important patrons and collectors of 20th century masters, Heinz Berggruen’s life was something of a work of art in itself. He escaped from the Third Reich, studied in France, emigrated to San Francisco, became the lover of the painter Frida Kahlo, amassed an unparalleled collection of the works of Picasso and other modern artists and finally effected an act of reconciliation with the Germany that had persecuted him and his family, bringing home his collection of “degenerate” art to the former capital of the Third Reich once and for all. Heinz Berggruen was born in the prosperous Berlin borough of Wilmersdorf in 1914. Both his father, Ludwig, and his mother, Antonie, née Zadek, were from West Prussia. They had a stationery shop on the Olivaerplatz, just off the Kurförstendamm and Heinz grew up in the world of assimilated Berlin Jewry. He attended the Goethe-Gymnasium in Wilmersdorf and graduated to the Friedrich-Wilhelms (now Humboldt) University in 1932 where he read literature and art history. After 1933 he continued his studies at the universities of Grenoble and Toulouse, returning briefly to Germany to work as a journalist, even if his articles could not appear under his name, which was seen as being too provocative to the National Socialists. He emigrated to the US in 1936 and studied briefly at Ber-keley before becoming an assistant curator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He married three years later while he was working as an art critic on the San Francisco Chronicle. It was at this time that he had a brief but stormy affair with the painter Frida Kahlo. In 1940 he bought his first picture for $100. It was a watercolour by Paul Klee. In 1942 he persuaded his parents to come to New York. They had in May 1939 been on the liner Saint Louisfrom Hamburg, which was not allowed to land its Jewish refugees in America. As their names began with “B” they were allowed to disembark in England, on the ship’s return to Europe. Others were not so lucky and perished in the camps in the East. Berggruen returned to Europe in American uniform in 1945 and worked briefly with the novelist Erich Kästner on an American-sponsored paper in Munich. He moved on to Unesco before starting his art gallery in the rue de l’Univer-sité in Paris in 1947. The gallery brought him into contact with Picasso, who became his friend and the core of his collection.
It was said that as a gallery owner, Berggruen was his own best customer: he did not like to let the best pieces go. He once swapped Van Gogh’s Le Jardin Publiquefor eight Matisses. In 1980 he gave up the gallery to concentrate on his own collection. The main theme was Picasso, but there was more besides: Matisse, Braque, Klee, Giacometti and Cézanne. He was an early champion of Matisse’s late collages. He was generous to a fault. He sold part of his collection to the National Gallery in London, but the sale contained a large bequest. He made similar donations to the Metropolitan Museum in New York. In 1991 he met Wolf-Dieter Dube, the director of the Berlin museums. Dube persuaded him to make a visit to Berlin. It was the beginning of the process that would bring Berggruen home, together with 113 canvases from his collection which Dube installed in a classical building by Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s pupil August Stöler opposite the royal palace in Charlottenburg. This was to be the Berggruen Museum. In 2000 the collection of 165 works (including 85 Picassos) was sold to the museum at about a quarter of its value. This was Berggruen’s famous “gesture of reconciliation”: the Nazis had impoverished Germany by their attitude to nonfigurative Modern art. Berggruen had decided to reverse the process. Paris, he said, was already rich enough in such works.
He was granted a flat “above the shop” and said he felt entirely at home. He also encouraged his friends to donate to the museum, adding a further five Cézannes and two Van Goghs. He talked his fellow Berliner Helmut Newton into giving his photographic collection to the city. At the end of his life he was proud that Berlin had finally become a place of pilgrimage for 20th-century art lovers. Berggruen’s ability to forgive the Germans came as a surprise to many. He always said that he felt at home in Berlin, although it did not look much like the city he had left 60 years before. He said he was a European and hoped with time that many more people would feel the same. He had two homes: one near the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris and the other above the museum that bore his name in Charlottenburg. He liked to be close to his collection and was happy to show people round. In 2004 he was given the freedom of the city of Berlin.
He married first Lillian Zeller-bach, the daughter of a paper manufacturer in San Francisco, and had a son and a daughter by her. In 1959 he married Betti-na, the daughter of the actor Alexander Moissi and had two further sons. He died in Neuil-ly-sur-Seine in 2007 at the age of 93. At his own wish he is buried in the forest cemetery in Dahlem, in Berlin.
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/may/23/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/arts/design/27berggruen.html?_r=0
1914: It was reported today that “according to the forthcoming issues of the Jewish Year Book, there are now “13,052,846 Jews in the world” based on the tabulations of Rabbi Isidore Harris.
1915: It was determined at a conference between Georgia State Attorney General and Warren Grice and Solicitor Dorsey who prosecuted the Leo Frank case that Grice and not Dorsey will make “the formal motion in behalf of the State before the United States Supreme Court in Washington for the advancement of the Leo M. Frank case on the docket for an early hearing.”
1915: “Facts Never Appealed” published today included the view of Tom Lovless the editor the Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle who believes that Leo Frank “committed the crime, but says “We do not know it. We are not absolutely certain of it. There is in our own mind as there is in the minds of thousands of others that shadow of a doubt which would not permit us to see Leo Frank or any other man go to his death as long as that doubt exists.”
1916: President Woodrow Wilson responded to Simon Wolf’s request that the State Department help facilitate the shipment of wheat for making matzah to the war zone in Europe by saying that he “would be very pleased to take up the matter…with the State Department to ascertain if it is possible to do anything”
1916: It was reported today that “the Bath Beach division of the Brooklyn Jewish Volunteer Committee has announced that it had collected $1,343 which sum is already on its way” to Europe to aide those suffering from the World War.
1916: In Vienna, Else Reis and economist Hans Simon gave birth to Hedwig Magdalena Simon whose father had her baptized to avoid anti-Semitism caused by the misery of World War I and who gained fame as Hedi Stadlen.
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2004/07/11/fea02.html
1916: New Jersey’s “Senator Martine’s resolution asking the President to set aside a day as Jewish relief for Jewish war sufferers was adopted today after Chairman Stone of the Foreign Relations Committee had said that while he approved such a course in relation to the Poles and the Jews, who he said were without a government of their own, he hoped it would not extend to any of the organized nations.”
1917(6thof Tevet, 5677): Parashat Vahyechi
1917: “The Daily Jewish Warheit began its publication of the "disclosures" of Illodor," the Mad Monk," in its issue this afternoon.”
1918: “Dr. John Haynes Holmes, pastor of the Church of the Messiah was applauded” today “by the congregation of the Free Synagogue in Carnegie Hall…when he declared that the orthodox Christian theology was based on a ‘momentous superstition’ and that these doctrines were the invention of ‘Paul, a converted Jew,’ who brought the ‘exclusiveness’ of old Jewish orthodoxy with him and planted it in the Christian religion.”
1918: “At a frugal fish supper at the Hotel Biltmore,” Felix M. Warburg provided “the tactical plans for the campaign to obtain from $4,500,000 to $5,000,000 for the support of the ninety federated philanthropic societies of New York City” to “the twenty colonels and the two hundred captains who are to lead the soliciting forces.”
1918: Tonight, at the Free Synagogue Dr. Richard Gottheil, a professor of Semitic languages at Columbia University delivered a speech on “The English in Palestine” in which he “discussed some of the principal features of the aims and hopes of leaders of the Zionist movement for the establishment and development of Jewish national life in Palestine.”
1918(22nd of Tevet, 5678): Georg Cantor passed away. Born in 1845, Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor was a mathematician who was born in
1918(22ndof Tevet, 5678): Eighty-year old Adolf Wolf the former mayor of Silverton, Oregon passed away today.Wolf Building was one of the most prominent and impressive buildings in Silverton. Adolph Wolf was an Austrian immigrant who arrived in Silverton in 1884 from the town of Independence, Oregon and commissioned the building in 1891 to house his hardware store. It later became known as Wolf & Son and was sold in 1899 to the Ames family where it remained for two generations. After selling the property, Wolfe entered the hop growing business. Many of its original cast iron details remain. The facade is a pressed metal and cast iron building front manufactured by the Mesker Brothers in St. Louis, MO. Wolf served the City of Silverton as mayor and city councilman and was instrumental in bringing the railroad to the city.
1919: Chinda Sutemi, the Japanese ambassador in London, “who was about to join the Japanese delegation” at the Paris Peace conference wrote to Chaim Weizman that “the Japanese Government gladly takes note of the Zionist aspirations to establish in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people and they look forward with a sympathetic interest to the realization of such desire upon the basic proposal
1919: Theodore Roosevelt 26th President of the United States passed away. While President, Roosevelt intervened with the governments of Rumania and Russia on behalf of their Jewish populations. This was an unusual event for Jews and earned Roosevelt and the Republicans support among Jewish voters. T.R.’s finest moment, from a Jewish point of view, may have come in 1895 when he was serving as New York City Police Commissioner. Pastor Hermann Ahlwardt, a noted German anti-Semite came to New York to give a speech. In an attempt to gain publicity for himself and his cause, he demanded police protection from what he was sure would be hostile demonstration by New York Jews. Roosevelt gave him his police protection. All of his protectors were Jewish policemen.
1919(5th of Shevat, 5679): Chicagoan, J/410061 AB Isaac Shadbrisky who served with Royal Navy passed away today.
1919:As 100,000 German Marxists gathered in
1919(5th of Shevat, 5679): Isaac Shadbrisky, a native of Chicago who served with Royal Navy under the name of Kelly passed away today.
1920(14thof Tevet, 5680): Seventy year old Cecilia Solomons Abrahams, the daughter of Lizar and Perla Sheftall Solomons and the wife of Edmund H. Abrahams with whom she had a son, Edmund H. Abrahams, “a collateral descendant of Benjamin Sheftall” passed away today and was buried at the Laurel Grover Cemetery in Savannah, Ga.
1920: “Figures of the Night” a silent horror film directed, produced and written by Richard Oswald was released in the United States.
1922(6thof Tevet, 5682): Eighty-year old Jakob Rosanes the native of Brody who became a leading German mathematician and chess master.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=16031
1923: Birthdate of Argentine born writer and social protestor Jacobo Timerman who after his release from an Argentine prison he moved to Israel where he died in 1999.
1924: Dr. Bela Fabian, a member of the Hungarian Parliament who would survive four concentration camps married Ilona Schwarz Fabian who during WW II worked with the Jewish War Veterans of Hungary “to supply clothing and medicine to Jewish force laborers on the Russian front” and who after coming to the U.S. after the war was a vocal supporter of the Hungarian freedom movement.
1925(10th of Tevet, 5685): Asara B'Tevet
1925: As Stalin worked to consolidate his control over the Communist Party, Leon Trotsky was removed “from his ministerial post” today.
1925: Birthdate of Austrian born Israeli journalist and writer who went from being a 13 year old rescued by the Kindertransport to joining Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin as a member of David Ben-Gurion’s inner circle.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/former-jerusalem-post-editor-ari-rath-dies-at-92/
1925: Birthdate of Israel Shenker, the Philadelphia native who served as “a reported on the metropolitan staff of the New York Times” from 1968 to 1979. (As reported by Margalit Fox)
1926: Birthdate of Monroe “Mon” Levinson “who used plexiglass and other nontraditional materials in becoming a prominent Op Art sculptor, creating work that actively affects the viewer’s perception.” (As reported by Roberta Smith)
1926: Eighty-year old Millicent “Lily” Palmer Bandman, the English born wife of German born actor American actor Daniel Edward Bandmann who was famous for his portrayal of Shylock, passed away today.
1926:In Mount Vernon, NY, Italian born trolley car conductor John Branca and the former Kati Berger a Jewish immigrant gave birth to Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca whose “uncle Jozsef Berger was killed at the Majdanek concentration camp, and whose maternal aunt Irma died at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942”
1927: Birthdate of Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, “the son of Jewish immigrants from Hungary” who as surgeon general in the Nixon administration spoke out against cigarette smoking, bringing new attention to the risks it posed to women and to people exposed to secondhand smoke.” (As reported by William Yardley)
1927: A mass meeting is held tonight at Cooper Union to honor the memory of Asher Ginsberg (Ahad Ha’am). Speakers at the event include, Dr. Chaim Weismann, Louis Lipsky (President of the World Zionist Organization), Carl Sherman (President of the Zionist Organization of America), Abraham Goldberg (President of the American Hebrew Federation), Professor Selig Brodetzky and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise.
1928: It was reported today that “the New York Board of Jewish Ministers, representing more than 100 Jewish congregations” has adopted “a reported of its executive committee asserting that conditions in the Kings county Hospital where ‘anti-Jewish prejudice and intolerance’ was said to have prevailed ‘have materially improved.;”
1929: “Several speakers at the quarterly meeting of the national executive committee of the Zionist Organization of America…expressed disapproval of the action of Dr. Stephen S. Wise of the Free Synagogue in opposing participation of non-Zionists in the activities of the Jewish Agency. The Jewish Agency is the term now applied to the World Zionist Organization.” Non-Zionists who will work with the Zionists in the Jewish Agency include Louis Marshall, Felix M. Warburg, Dr. Lee K. Frankel, Herbert H. Lehman and Judge Irving Lehman.
1929: The New York Times featured a review of How Propaganda Works by Edward L. Bernays, “father of modern public relations and nephew of Sigmund Freud.
1931: Birthdate of author E. L. Doctorow.
1932(27th of Tevet, 5692): Julius Rosenwald who is best known for turning Sears and Roebuck into a retail giant passed away today. He was also a great philanthropist whose efforts included everything from being the patron of chess champion Samuel Reshevsky to endowing Tuskegee Institute to the creation of the Rosenwald Fund which was established “for the well-being of mankind.” This brief entry cannot do justice to the accomplishments of a man, mighty in his times, who has been forgotten by most.
1932: It was announced today that “an unlimited quota of athletes will be permitted by the Palestine government to enter the country to take part in the Maccabee Games” to be held this spring in Tel Aviv.
1933: Henryk Szeryng “made his solo debut” today “playing Brahms Violin Concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.”
http://www.thirteen.org/publicarts/violin/szeryng.html
1934: “The Big Shakedown” produced by Samuel Bischoff was released in the United States today.
1934: Hadassah announced that “the lowest infant mortality rate achieved in a Palestine health district was in Tel Aviv. “The rate was 68.03 among children under 1 year for every 1,000 live births and represented an improvement over 1931 when the rate was 72.52.” Jerusalem “had a rate of 117.30 in 1932 and 104.28 in 1931. Bethlehem…had a rate of 341.91 in 1932, the highest health district rate in the country. The infant death rate for the whole country was 153 in 1932, against 170 in 1931.”
1936: University of Pennsylvania trained attorney Horace Stern, the Philadelphia born son of Morris and Matilde Stern and the husband of Henrietta Stern began serving as a Justice of Pennsylvania State Supreme Court.
1936: Cartoon character Porky Pig makes his debut. For most of his career the traif animal got his voice from the Jewish Mel Blanc.
1937: Birthdate of Lou Holtz who as an assistant football coach recruited Scott Cowen to play for the University of Connecticut where he earned his first degree on an academic road that led to his Presidency of Tulane University. (Cowen was Jewish – Holtz was not)
1937: “A denial by Henry Ford that he had any connection with the anti-Jewish book, The International Jew published in Germany was made public” in New York today by Samuel Untermyer, the president of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League
1937: The Palestine Postreported that a quarry worker, Haim Katz, 29, and a policeman, Jacob Klinger, 34, were murdered in an ambush at Givat Shaul.
1937: Birthdate of Lou Holtz, who, while serving as assistant coach recruited Scott Cowen, the future President of Tulane University, to play football at the University of Connecticut where he earned a B.S. in 1968.
1938: William Dodd, who had resigned as U.S. Ambassador to Germany in December, arrived in New York City where he said that he "doubted if an American envoy who held his ideals of democracy could represent his country successfully among the Germans at the present time." Dodd was the first U.S. Ambassador appointed after the rise of Hitler. In time he came to see the Nazi threat and tried to do what he could to warn America about the danger.
1938(4th of Shevat, 5698): Russian born Pinchas Friedman one of the earliest Zionist settlers and a founder of Tel Aviv passed who had made Aliyah in 1890 passed away today.
1939: In “Interests of Britain, Jews and Arabs Are in Clash,” published today Anne O’Hare McCormick describes conditions in Palestine which is currently in the grip of an armed Arab uprising. She describes meetings with two different groups of Arabs. The first group, “composed of fervent nationalists complained” that the Jews of Palestine “prevented Palestinians from attaining an independent status like that granted to Iraq.” They vowed that they “would never cease fighting” and “insisted that they spoke for every Arab in the land.” The second group of Arabs was found “sharing a meal in a communal dining room” on a kibbutz. These Arabs said “they wanted peace and complained that the British neither punished the handful off rebels stirring up their village” nor providing arms to responsible Arab leaders so they could stand against those creating the violence.
1939: “Sir Ronald Storrs, the former Military and Civil Governor of Jerusalem who has said that many more than the half million Jews currently living in Palestine “could be accommodated in the territory if irrigation systems” and who was a close friend of T.E. Lawrence arrived in the United States where he “is to give a series of lectures on Jerusalem and the political situation in the Near East.” (Editor’s Note – Storrs was one of those fascinating English characters in the Middle East. He served with Allenby and in December of 1917 was the first British official to govern the City of David which he famously walked around in Christmas of 1917)
1940: Shivering Jews in
1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his State of the Union address which became known as the Four Freedoms Speech because FDR listed them as:
- Freedom of speech and expression including the right to dissent
- Freedom of every person to worship God in his own way
- Freedom from want
- Freedom from fear
The first two are recognizable as being part of the Bill of Rights. Freedom #2 spoke directly to the needs and concerns of the Jewish people and would prove strikingly ironic considering the events surrounding the Holocaust.
1941: Sixty-year old Franz Hessel, the son of Jewish converts to the Lutheran Church, Fanny and Heinrich Hessel who worked with Walter Benjamin, whose parents did not convert of the translation of works by Marcel Proust, passed away toda.
1942: Jacob Moshe Toledano who was born in Tiberias was installed as Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv and
1942: Victor Klemper was arrested and interrogated at the Gestapo headquarters in
1942: Gussie Schwebel, “the Knish Queen wrote to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt:
My Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: I take the liberty of sending you a newspaper clipping dealing with my humble self. The purpose of this letter is two-fold. First: It is my most sincere hope that I may be permitted to send you a sample of my dish, the knish, which, believe me, my dear Mrs. Roosevelt, is really worth tasting. Also, I wonder if I may not be able to be of service to my beloved land, by way of introducing the knish, which is very wholesome and not costly to produce, into the diet of our armed forces. I shall be most happy to devote all of my time and my energy to this end. Again, I pray that you may accept a boxful of knishes from me and will let me know when and where I can send them, I am Your most respectful servant, Mrs. Gussie Schwebel
1943: Eighty six year old Abbot Lawrence Lowell, the former President of Harvard, passed away. He was praised by some for being a leader in educational reforms. But many of his policies were homophobic, racist and anti-Semitic.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/harvard.html
1943: The Jews of Lubaczow,
1943: Jews hiding in
1944: In Tulsa, OK, “Bessie (née Roberts) and Raymond Kravis, a successful Tulsa oil engineer who had been a business partner of Joseph P. Kennedy, gave birth Henry R. Kravis, the co-founder of Kolhberg Kravis Roberts and Company who “had an estimated net worth of $5.2 billion as of October 20” and was “ranked by Forbes as the 324th richest man in the world.”
1944: Birthdate of Bonnie Franklin, American actress. She once said that because of her red hair and freckles, fans have a hard time believing that she is Jewish.
1944: Anne Frank wrote in her diary that “her image of” Peter Schiff “was so vivid that she didn’t need a photograph” of him.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/feb/24/news.features
1945 (21st of Tevet, 5705): On Shabbat, Roza Robota and three other Jewish women implicated in the smuggling of explosives used in the
1945: Hungarian authorities accede to Raoul Wallenberg's request that 5000 Jews be transferred to Swiss-sponsored safe homes in
1945(21st of Tevet, 5705): Anne Frank's mother, Edith, dies at
1946: In
1947(14thof Tevet, 5707): Fifty seven year old Dr. Harry Plotz, the native of Patterson, NJ and graduate of Columbia who became an “international authority on typhus fever.”
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9801E6DE153EEE3BBC4F53DFB766838C659EDE
1948(24thof Tevet, 5708): Seventy-year old retail women’s wear New Jersey merchant, Jacob Cohen the husband of Annie Halpern Cohen with whom he had two children and “who was long active in Jewish welfare work” passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1948/01/07/85189374.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1948: Film noire classic “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” with music by Max Steiner was released today in the United States.
1949: During Operation Horev, the Israeli Air Force shot down five RAF Spitfires on patrol in the area, killing two pilots and taking two prisoners. It is not clear if the Spitfires were being flown by Egyptian or British pilots.
1949: The British moved forces into the Jordanian port of Akaba.
1949: After three days of fighting around Rafah in which its forces failed to defeat the IDF, the Egyptian government announced, that it was willing to enter armistice negotiations.
1950(17thof Tevet, 5710): Just 13 days before his 69th birthday, John Nathan “Dutch” Levine, the Yale University fullback on the undefeated 1905 team and college coach at several schools including Davidson, Auburn, and Transylvania College passed away today.
1950: Birthdate of Moldavian native Boris Sandler, the Jewish writer whose language of choice is Yiddish and who writes for the Fowerts in the United States.
https://forward.com/news/335537/boris-sandler-retires-as-editor-of-yiddish-forward/
1951: After almost three years, Larry Blyden finished his performance on Broadway in “Mr. Roberts” where he played a Shore Patrol Officer and then Ensign Frank Pulver.
1952: Following the rape and murder of Leah Feistinger, Israeli forces reportedly raided Beit Jalla.
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that according to the new and improved rationing schedule each Israeli was now able to purchase four eggs a week. A mere fifty years ago, the Israelis were living barely above the subsistence level. With no natural resources and faced by enemies on all of its borders, the Jews created a modern, vibrant country. A huge forest, named after Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, was planted on Mount Carmel. Only five years after the founding of the state of Israel, the Jewish state created a living monument to a Moslem leader who was not afraid to embrace the modern world.
1954: Moshe Sharett succeeded David Ben-Gurion as Prime Minister of Israel. Ben Gurion had been Prime Minister since the creation of the state in 1948. Sharett had been Foreign Minister, a post he kept in the new government. Golda Meir remained as Labor Minister and Pinchas Lavon became Minister of Defense. The change was in leadership; the Labor Zionist still maintained control of the government.
1955: In Boston, publication of the tercentenary issue of the Jewish Advocate.
1956: Birthdate of Gonen Segev, the native of Kiryat Motzkin who has served as an MK and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure.
1956: In Seattle, Washington, a Friday night services is held at the U of W Hillel House attended by 170 people who want to form a Reform congregation that will become Temple Beth Am.
1956: Birthdate of Justin Welby, “the first ‘Jewish’ Archbishop of Canterbury.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-first-jewish-archbishop-of-canterbury-heads-to-israel/
1957: Yeshiva Kol Ya'ackov opened in Moscow Russia.
1958: Birthdate of Rehovot native and professional tennis players who was “the first Israeli to a Maacbiah Tennis Championship.
1958(14th of Tevet, 5718): Seventy-one year old Fulton, MO born mathematician Dr. Wallie Abraham Hurwitz, who received three degrees from the University of Missouri, an A.M. from Harvard and a doctorate from the University of Goettingen in Germany before going on to teaching career that culminated with him being made a full professor at Cornell in 1924 passed away today after suffering what proved to be a fatal attack.
1959: “The Captain’s Table” a comedy produced by Joseph Janni was released today in the United Kingdom.
1959(26th of Tevet, 5719): Sixty-two year old Ukraine native, WW I veteran and NYU trained attorney Bernard Austin, the New York Assemblyman who had been represented the Fourth Assembly District since 1934 dropped dead after having “just taken a seat in the jury box in the courtroom of King’s County Judge Hyman Barshay.
1960: In Wandsworth, London Vanessa (née Salmon) “the heiress to the J.Lyons and Co. fortune: and Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby gave birth to “English journalist, broadcaster, television personality, gourmet, and food writer” Nigella Lawson.
1963(10th of Tevet, 5723): Asara B’Tevet
1963(10th of Tevet, 5723): Eighty-four year old German born American soprano Lina Abaranell passed away today at the Montefiore Hospital in New York City
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/Abarbanell-Lina
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/lina-abarbanell
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/01/08/89907647.pdf
1964: Pope Paul VI completed his first visit to the “Holy Land” where he visited sites in Jordan and Israel and began his return flight to Rome.
1966(14th of Tevet, 5726): Sixty-six-year-old Polish born Yiddish poet Kalman Heisler who in 1921 came to the United States where he owned a dress shop passed away today.
http://www.yivoarchives.org/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=32887
1967: Jewish pianist Jacob Lateiner, accompanied by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, performed at the premier of Elliot Carter’s piano concerto and the third piano sonata of Roger Sessions.
1967: "Milton Berle Show" aired for the last time on
1968(5th of Tevet, 5728): Parashat Vayigash
1968(5th of Tevet, 5728): Fifty-seven-year-old Benami Bendor, the Braga, Poland son of Esther Ben Dor, the husband of Ruth Bendor and brother of Emory University biblical archaeologist Immanuel Ben-Dor, passed away today.
1968: It was reported today that during a New Year’s conversation French President Charles de Gaulle had assured Jacob Kaplan, the Grand Rabbi of France “that it was far from his intention to insult the Jews when he called them an ‘elite people, sure of itself and domineering’ during a news conference in November of 1967. Speaking at a time when France was repositioning itself following the Six Days War de Gaulle also said “that while the Jews though the centuries had ‘provoked, more precisely aroused’ antagonism in various countries, they had received great sympathy from Christians because of their sufferings.” (Editor’s Note – these words have a hollow sound coming from the land of Drancy. They also show that French anti-Semitism in the 21st century is not just a produce of Moslem radicals)
1969: “The Fig Leaves Are Falling” a musical with script and lyrics by Allan Sherman closed after only 4 performances
1969: In his review of “The Birthday Party,” film based on an unpublished screenplay by Harold Pinter, published in The Nation, “critic Harold Clurman described the film as "a fantasia of fear and prosecution,"
1975: Ninety two year Burton K. Wheeler, the U.S. Senator from Montana who in 1936 “said that anti-Semitism has not only gained a foothold in European countries like Germany, Poland, Rumania, Austria and Hungary, but has been imported in the Western Hemisphere by Mexico, Brazil and Ecuador” and that the “capacity for persecution” as embodied in anti-Semitism is not “foreign to American soil passed away today.
1975(23rd of Tevet, 5735): Seventy-seven year old actor, producer and director Noel Madison, who was born Noel Nathaniel Moscovitch, “the son of actor Maurice Moscovitch and his wife Rose” and who was the husband of “the former Joyce Nathan with whom he had one son – Toby -- passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1975/01/07/archives/noel-madison.html
1976: “Principal photography for “Rocky” produced by Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler began today.
1977(16th of Tevet, 5737): Eighty-six-year-old Iowa native and McGill University physician Dr. Harry Goldblatt, “a pioneer in blood pressure research,” the long time “director of the Louis d. Beaumont Memorial Research Laboratories of Mt. Sinai Hospital in Cleveland and emeritus professor of experimental Pathology at the Case-Western Reserve University School of Medicine” who was the husband of the “former Jeanne Rea” and the father of neurologist David Goldblatt and pathologist Peter Goldblatt passed away today in Rochester.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1977/01/08/80215944.html?pageNumber=22
1978: The Jerusalem Postreported that
1980: On his 22nd birthday, Israeli tennis pro Shlomo Glickstein won “a hard-court tennis tournament in Hobart, Australia.” (As reported by Louis Hayman)
1980: Birthdate of Birmingham, MI native and Michigan State University basketball player and President of Wholesale Mortgage.
http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/ishbia_mat00.html
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20111002/AWARDS40/110929881/mat-ishbia-31
1981(1st of Shevat, 5741): Rosh Chodesh Shevat
1981(1st of Shevat, 5741): Fifty-six year old Marion Ruth Abitz, the wife of Irving Abitz passed away after which she was buried at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in Chesterfield, MO.
1981: Harold H. Saunders completed his service as the 12thAssistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs today.
1981: “Parcels sent by post to refuseniks from Israel and the West” were “sent back by Soviet authorities today.
1982: “In Our Water,” the documentary nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy which was filmed by cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld was released today in the United States.
1987: A.M. Rosenthal’s “On My Mind” column appeared for the first time on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times.
1987(5 Tevet 5747): U.S. Federal Court issued a decision in favor of Agudas Chassidei Chabad ("Union of Chabad Chassidim") regarding the ownership of the priceless library of the 6th Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. The ruling was based on the idea that a Rebbe is not a private individual but a communal figure synonymous with the body of Chassidim. The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Rabbi Yoseph Yitzchak's son-in-law and successor) urged that the occasion be marked with time devoted to study from Torah books ("sefarim") as well as the acquisition of new Torah books.
1987:A roadside bomb killed four members of an Israeli-backed militia in southern Lebanon today.
1987: Yitzhak Shamir replaced Yitzhak Peretz as Internal Affairs Minister.
1989(28th of Tevet, 5749): Seventy-nine year old New York City native Hyman Goldstein, the holder of three academic degrees in psychology from Columbia University and “former chief of the biometrics branch of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness” who was preceded in death by his wife Fannie T. Goldstein with whom he raised three children – Isadora, Robert and Donald – passed away today in Rockville, MD.
1991: Following a speech today, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Iraqi Army, in which Sadam Hussein said he was preparing the nation for a great battle to liberate Palestine and defeat American "tyranny" in the Middle East the United States once again rejected efforts to tie the gulf crisis to the Palestinian question.
1994: “Homicide: Life on the Street” began its second season with a show written by David Simon and co-starring Yaphet Frederick Kotto Baltimore Police “Lieutenant Al Giardell.”
1995(5th of Shevat, 5755): Sixty-eight year old Joe Slovo (born Yossel Mashel Slovo) a leading opponent of Apartheid who served as Minister of Housing under President Nelson Mandela passed away today.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-joe-slovo-1566935.html
2000(27th of Tevet, 5760): Eighty-seven year old New York native Peter “Pete” Berenson, the CCNY forward from 1932 to 1934 who went on to a professional basketball career passed away today.
http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=basketball&ID=76
2001(11th of Tevet, 5761): Parashat Vayigash
2001: Today Amos Oz wrote about his frustration with Palestinian behavior saying that now that Israel is offering the Palestinians a peace accord based on 1967 borders, with minor mutual amendments” “the Palestinian nation is rejecting this agreement” with its leaders now demanding a "right of return" for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled and were driven out of their homes in the 1948 war
while cynically ignoring “the fate of hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews who fled and were driven out of their homes in Arab countries during the same war.”
2002: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish author and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including newly released paperback versions of
Amy Wilentz’s Martyrs' Crossing, the first novel by a former Israel correspondent for The New Yorker and Bob Woodward’s Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom, an admiring portrait of the Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan.
2002: Sheila Finestone completed her service as Senator for Montarville, Quebec, when she reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.
2003: “Suicide Bombings Kill 23 in Tel Aviv” published today.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/05/israel.explosions/
2003: Police said tonight that that they suspected the suicide bombers who struck in Tel Aviv on Sunday used backpacks containing more than 20kg of explosives instead of suicide belts.
2004: “In the southern Gaza Strip, the army said, it uncovered two Palestinian tunnels in Rafah, along the border with Egypt” one of which “was used to smuggle weapons across the border” and the other of which traveled under a road used by military vehicles, which the Palestinians were presumably planning to attack, the Israeli Army said.”
2004(12th of Tevet, 5764): Victor Shalom, the husband of Doris Shalom and a member of Temple Israel of Great Neck passed away today.
2005:: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect for the 1964 murders of three Civil Rights workers James Chaney, a 21-year-old black man from Meridian, Mississippi and two Jewish voting rights organizers from New York, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.
2005: The First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace begins in Brussels, Belgium. “The Permanent Committee for Jewish-Muslim Dialogue was created after the First World Congress as an institution which would reflect and act in domains and on problematic issues in which Islam and Judaism are implicated. The committee is composed on nine founder members, four international Jewish personalities, four international Muslim personalities and a neutral president.”
2006: “Jackie Hoffman: Chanukah At Joe’s Pub” and “Walking in Memphis: The Life of A Southern Jew,” a semi-autobiographical piece by Jonathan Ross are now playing “Off, Off Broadway” in New York City.
2006: “Fateless” a movie based on the novel by the same name written by Imre Kertesz opens at the Film Forum in New York. Fatelesswas a biographical novel for which Kertesz won the Nobel Prize in 2002.
2006: Ariel “Sharon underwent a five-hour operation to halt bleeding in his brain, following which Sharon was returned to the neurological intensive care unit.”
2007: As part of its “Jewish Season” The Theater for a New Audience in New York City presents The Merchant of Venice.
2008: An exhibition entitled Morris Louis Now: An American Master Revisited at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. comes to a close.
2008(28thof Tevet, 5768): Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum, a Talmudic scholar who for more than 50 years led a major Orthodox yeshiva in Brooklyn, known as the Mir Yeshiva, died today. He was 87. His death followed a long struggle with cancer, said Rabbi Pinchos Hecht, executive director of the yeshiva, also called the Mirrer Yeshiva Central Institute. The Mir Yeshiva is exclusively devoted to the study of the Torah: the Old Testament, commentaries upon it and the oral tradition known as the Talmud. It has 1,200 members. Another branch is in Jerusalem, with an estimated 4,000 students. Rabbi Berenbaum was born in 1920 in Poland and studied in a yeshiva in Mir before World War II. As the Nazis rolled across Eastern Europe, he and other yeshiva students fled to the Soviet Union and resettled in Shanghai. From there, they eventually emigrated to the United States. Steven Bayme, national director of contemporary Jewish life at the American Jewish Committee, said the yeshiva helped preserve “a world that was otherwise lost.” “The rescue of the institution during the Holocaust by going to Shanghai was an act of incredible daring,” Mr. Bayme said. “It took enormous courage and perseverance.” Jonathan Rosenblum, director of Am Echad, an advocacy group in Israel that works to build bridges between ultra-Orthodox Jews and others, said that while Rabbi Berenbaum had no public position in America, “he was the one who was consulted on anything connected to Torah learning in the Torah world,” adding, “He taught Torah for over 50 years, and he never repeated himself.” Leadership of the Brooklyn yeshiva will pass to Rabbi Berenbaum’s nephew, Rabbi Osher Kalmanowitz. (As reported by AP)
2008: The Matzo Show on Rivington Street by Deborah Kolben
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/nyregion/thecity/06matz.html?sq=The Matzo Show on Rivington Street &st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=print
2008: The Washington Post featured a review of People of the Book a work of historic fiction by Geraldine Brooks. “The Book” in the title is the famous Sarajevo Haggadah, created in medieval
2008: The Sunday New York Times featured a review of, and excerpt from, Jihad and Jew-Hatred: Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11by Matthias Küntzel and translated by Colin Meade, a review of, and an excerpt from, Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemyby Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg and a review of Peace Be Upon You: The Story of Muslim, Christian and Jewish Coexistence by Zacharcy Karabell.
2008 (28 Tevet 5768): Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum, the Rosh yeshiva of the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York City which includes an elementary school and a high school, as well as its post-graduate Talmudical Academy passed away. The original Mirrer yeshiva was founded in 1815, in Mir, Belarus, and remained in operation there until 1914. With the outbreak of World War I the yeshiva moved to Poltava, Ukraine, under the leadership of Rabbi Eliezer Yehudah Finkel, son of the legendary Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel (the Alter of Slabodka), and son-in-law of Rabbi Elya Boruch Kamai, his renowned predecessor. In 1921, the yeshiva moved back to its original facilities in Mir, where it remained until Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 marking the beginning of the Holocaust. Although many of the foreign-born students left when the Soviet army invaded from the east, the yeshiva continued to operate, albeit on a reduced scale, until the approaching Nazi armies caused the leaders of the yeshiva to move the entire yeshiva community to Keidan, Lithuania. As the Nazi armies continued to push to the east, the yeshiva as a whole eventually fled across Siberia by train to the Far East, and finally reopened in Kobe, Japan in 1941. Several smaller yeshivos managed to escape alongside the Mir, and, despite the difficulties involved, the overseers of the Mirrer yeshiva undertook full responsibility for their support, distributing funds and securing quarters and food for all the students. A short time later, the yeshiva relocated again, to (Japanese-controlled) Shanghai, China, where they remained until the end of World War II. The heroism of the Japanese consul-general in Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara, who issued several thousand travel visas to Jews, permitting them to flee to the east, has been the subject of several books. Following the end of the war, the majority of the Jewish refugees from Shanghai ghetto left for Palestine and the United States. Among them were the survivors from the Mir yeshiva, who re-established the yeshiva, this time with two campuses, one in Jerusalem, Israel and this one in Brooklyn, New York.
2009: The National Jewish Democratic Council recognizes the Jewish Democratic Members of the 111th Congress at a reception at Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC
2009: Fast of the 10th of Tevet and Yahrzeit of Judy Rosenstein (nee Levin).
2009: Today, on the Christian observance known as the Feast of the Epiphany, the Ra'anana Symphonette (RS) conducted by Omer Wellber, will play Irena's Song - a Ray of Light through the Darkness by Kobi Oshrat. The composition and the performance were inspired by Irene Sendler, who along with her intrepid band of helpers from Zegota, the Polish underground, rescued 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto between 1942 and 1943.
2009: Barack Obama has nominated Elena Kagan to serve as his solicitor general. If the nomination is confirmed by the United States Senate, Kagan who is the dean of the
2009 (10 Shevat 5769): St.-Sgt. Alexander Mashevizky, 21, a resident of Beersheba, was killed in a gun battle with Hamas operatives in northern
2010: The Bronx House Jewish Community Center presents “Klezmer Party” with Matan Chapnizka (Saxophone), Daniel Ori (Bass) and Dan Pugach (Drums) as part of the 2010 Bronx House Concert Series.
2010: At around 1 a.m. this morning the Etz-Hayyim Synagogue in the Greek city of Hania on the island of Crete was set on fire by an unknown arsonist. The fire was started on wooden staircase that led to the second-story women's section of the main sanctuary in the small seaside complex.
The Etz-Hayyim Synagogue was restored in the late 1990s after years of neglect in the wake of the Second World War. The nearly 300 members of the Hania Jewish community were shipped out by the Nazi invaders in 1944, and died when their ship was sunk in transit by an Allied torpedo. It serves as a place for prayer, a museum and memorial, and a library recording the long and troubled history of Crete's Jews. The walls of the synagogue's main hall were covered in soot, but the fire did not reach the Torah scrolls or the library.
2010: Israel inched a step closer to deploying a missile defense system along the border with the Gaza Strip today after the Iron Dome successfully intercepted a number of missile barrages in tests held in southern Israel this week.
2010: American Jewish youth movement Young Judaea and its long-running sponsor, Hadassah Women's Organization, suffered another blow today following the resignation of key staff member, YJ/FZY Year Course Director Keith Berman. Berman's decision to leave Young Judaea after more than 20 years with the movement closely follows the resignation of its director, Rabbi Ramie Arian, who is scheduled to step down in the coming weeks
2010: James von Brunn, who shot and killed museum guard Stephen Tyrone Johns on June 10 during an attempted raid on the U.S. Holocaust Museum, died in a prison hospital today.
2011(1stof Shevat, 5771): Rosh Chodesh Shevat.
2011: The 92nd St Y is scheduled to present a program entitled “Democracy, Power Politics and the New Middle East” which will “delve into the shifting tectonic plates of Middle East politics, Iran's embattled regime and its nuclear ambitions, Iraq's fledgling democracy, new realities for Persian Gulf monarchies and the longer-term challenges facing Israelis and Palestinians.
2011: Aaron Hillel Swartz “was arrested near the Harvard campus by MIT police and a U.S. Secret Service agent” after which he “was arraigned in Cambridge District Court on two state charges of breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony.”
2011: The Red Sea Classical Festival is scheduled to open in Eilat.
2011: Birthday of Brian Cohen, shofar blower par excellence, and a man whose life is worthy of his patronymic.
2011: The High Court of Justice ruled today that public bus companies could continue the practice of gender segregation on dozens of lines serving the ultra-Orthodox sector, as long as there is no coercion or violence involved.
2011: Kenyan runner Stephen Chemlany won the 34th annual Tiberias Marathon today, making it across the finish line after 2:10:02.
2012: In New Orleans, LA, Touro Synagogue is scheduled to host a Shabbat Family Dinner.
2012: Think Different – Original Israeli Rock is scheduled to take place at the Blaze Sports and Rock Bar on Rechov Hillel
2012: Excerpts from works by LeeSaar The Company Lior Shneior (Sea Songs), Michal Samama (Under the Skin), Neta Dance Company and Netta Yerushalmy are scheduled to be performed at the 92nd St Y in Manhattan.
2012: The Judges Selection Committee announced the nomination of four new Supreme Court judges today.
2012: Gabriel Cadis, a senior figure in Jaffa’s Christian community was stabbed to death today evening, during festivities at the St George Church in Jaffa.
2012: A third file containing hacked credit card details of Israelis was posted on the internet today.
2013: The Klezmer Jam Session and Dance is scheduled to take place at The Talking Stick in Venice, CA.
2013: Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” is scheduled to be shown at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.
2013: The New York Times features reviews of books written by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Love Song: The Lives of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya and the recently released paperback editions of Man Seeks God: My Flirtations With the Divine by Eric Weinter and The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman
2013: Family and friends of Brian Cohen, master latke maker and shofar blower par excellence, wish him the happiest of birthdays in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
2013: Public Television is scheduled to broadcast “Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, featuring interviews and performance footage that provides insight as to why Broadway “is fertile territory for Jewish artists.”
2013: A report released by the State Comptroller today finds that former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi was not directly complicit in the production of a document aimed at discrediting Defense Minister Ehud Barak's choice to succeed him as army chief, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoav Galant.
2013: Flooded tracks brought train traffic between Tel Aviv and Haifa to a halt for a few hours on Sunday, as stuck automobiles caused traffic jams in many places across the country.
2013(24thof Tevet, 5733): 200th Yarhrzeit of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad Lubavitch Movement. We cannot do justice to the career of this Jewish leader who “created” a form of Judaism that harmonized the need for spirituality, ecstasy and education.
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/77049/jewish/Rabbi-Schneur-Zalman-of-Liadi.htm
2014: Professor Steven is scheduled to deliver a lecture “Leonard Bernstein: From Jewish Roots to Broadway” in Carlsbad, CA.
2014: Today, “it was announced that Julius Genachowski returned to the corporate world to take a post at The Carlyle Group” where “he will reportedly concentrate on global technology, media, and telecommunications investments.”
2014: “12 Years a Slave” is among the films scheduled to shown at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.
2014: In a case of Jew follows Jew, the United States voted today to confirm Janet Yellen as the next Chair of the Federal Reserve following Ben Bernake who completes his term at the end of this month.
2014: An unknown assailant lobbed a small pipe bomb into the Rachel’s Tomb complex near Bethlehem tonight, causing an explosion “lightly injuring” one passer-by. (As reported by Times of Israel Staff)
2014: Jane Yellin “was confirmed as Chai of the Federal Reserve” making her the first woman and the first Jewish woman to hold the post.
2014: “Amid mounting criticism from international organizations and protests by African migrants outside several Tel Aviv embassies, Israeli officials tonight tried to reframe the debate over the fate of the 50,000-60,000 migrants here by reiterating the official government position in a more conciliatory manner while emphasizing the unique challenges that Israel faces.” (As reported by Marissa Newman)
2015: In the UK, the University of Kent is scheduled to mark the 70thanniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by hosting a conference that “seeks to examine the significance of the topography of the Nazi concentration camps --- from historical, sociological and artistic perspectives.”
2015: Forty year ol Hussam Kawasme, “the mastermind behind the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014 was sentenced today to three life terms in prison and order to pay the families of Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Fraenkel, and Gil-ad Shaar NIS 250,000 ($63,000) apiece in compensation for their murders.”
2015: Some supermarkets in Jerusalem “saw their supply of water and fresh meat run out today” as “Israel braced for a major winter storm.” (As reported by Lazar Berman)
2015: “Why Bess Myerson still matters” published today examines the significance of the first Jewish Miss America” who recently passed away at the age of 90.
2016(25thof Tevet, 5776): On the Jewish calendar Yahrzeit Rabbi Moses Levi Ehrenreich, the chief rabbi of Rome.
http://www.aish.com/dijh/Tevet_25.html
2016: “The first of the two-part annual exhibition Illustrators 58 is scheduled to be held at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators where a Gold Medal will awarded to Merav Salomon.
2016: “The remains of a 3,400-year-old Canaanite citadel, which were recently unearthed in the middle of the coastal city Nahariya, are to be preserved and incorporated in an apartment high-rise, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced today.”
2016: Three ultra-Orthodox Jews were attacked in London by a group of anti-Semites this evening, who threw gas cylinders at them and shouted "Hitler is on the way." (YNET)
2017: The City of Tiberias is scheduled to host the annual Sea of Galilee Marathon.
2017: In Memphis, TN, Temple Israel is scheduled to host a Shabbat dinner prepared by chef Marisa Baggett which is unique because attendees are encouraged to “leave the kids at home” for this “adult only activity.”
2018: “Data released by the IDF tonight revealed that from 99 terrorist attacks over 2017, 20 Israelis were killed, with 169 wounded. The attacks, which originated in the West Bank, are an increase on the numbers from 2016, where from 269 attacks, 17 Israelis were, with 263 injured.”
2018(19thof Tevet, 5778): A new year marks the first reading from a new book – Parshat Shemot;
2018: “Tapes Reveal Egyptian Leader’s Tacit Acceptance of Jerusalem Move” published today provided background to President Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
2018: Jewish History Society of Greater Washington “program Samantha Abramson” is scheduled to lead a special downtown tour with a focus on the impacts of 1968 events on the Jewish community and downtown landscape” which take place indoor depending on the possibility of extreme winter weather.
2018: As a mid-winter storm continues to lash Israel, “the Kinneret Authority welcomed the downpours” because the rain helped to replenish streams in the north.
2018: Thanks to the leadership skills of Lena Gilbert, in Cedar Rapids, Temple Judah is scheduled to host the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre’s Seventh Annual Preview Concert featuring “the principal singers from ‘Turandot,’ Puccini’s final opera.
2019: “Israeli artists Igal Perry of Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, Ido Tadmor, founder of Dance Arts, Koresh Dance Company, and Keren Anavy and Valerie Green's UTOPIA collaborative work are scheduled to be among the 20 innovative artists whose companies will be featured at the Salvatore Capezio Theater.”
2019: “In response to the mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue, the Jewish community of Atlanta is scheduled to come together at Temple Sinai in Sandy Springs for “Anti-Semitism Summit: Navigate Communicate, Advocate.”
2019: A special preview of “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” based on the life of forger Lee Israel is scheduled to be shown at the London Phoenix Cinema.
2019: The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Flame: Poems, Notebooks, Lyrics, Drawings by Leonard Cohen, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974co-authored ty Julian E Zeilzer and the recently released paperback edition of The Wine Lover’s Daughter: A Memoir by Anne Fadiman, the daughter of Clifton Fadiman
2019: In Amherst, MA, The Yiddish Book Center is scheduled to host a screening of “Joe’s Violin” and “Mandela Beats.”
http://support.yiddishbookcenter.org/site/Calendar?id=7768&view=Detail
2019: “A planned exhibition celebrating Muslim Albanians who helped, protected and rescued their Jewish neighbours during the Holocaust” which was to take place at the Golders Green Mosque” will not take place today due “to pressure by opponents of the exhibit including Roshan Salih, editor of British Muslim News site 5 Pillas who urged a boycott.”
2019(29thof Tevet, 5779): Yahrzeit of Rabbi Don Yitzhak Abravanel
http://www.aish.com/dijh/Tishrei_29.html
2020: In London, JW3 is scheduled to host a screening of “Jojo Rabbit.”
2020: The National Library of Israel is scheduled to host “Be Strong and of Good Courage:
A Conversation with Ambassador Dennis Ross and David Makovsky on Lessons of Leadership for Israel and America”
2020: In the wake of the recent violent anti-Semitic attacks, this evening the “entire Atlanta Jewish community is scheduled to come together at Byers Theatre at City Springs in a show of communal solidarity.
2020: Ron Gal-Ed is scheduled to be playing the first of two concerts with Jupiter ‘’ a chamber music series to acknowledge and perpetuate the legacy of conductor Jens Nygaard.”
2020: Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial is scheduled to begin today in New York’s Supreme Court.
2020: In San Francisco, the Sydney Goldstein Theatre is schedule to host an evening with “novelist, screen writer and cultural critic Adam Mansbach and comedian W. Kamau Bell.
2021:East Bay Jewish film fest, Contra Costa JCC and several local congregations are scheduled to host a virtual screening of “Joachim Prinz: I Shall not be Silent,” a “2014 documentary about a German rabbi who stood up to Nazis and later witnessed racism in the U.S.”
2021: JBC, Natan Fund, and Shalom Hartman Institute of North America are scheduled to present a “conversation between Natan Notable Books Fall 2020 Winner Dr. Nancy Sinkoff and Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer
2021: The American Sephardi Federation is scheduled to present a lecture by Ruben Shimonov on “The Rich Cultural Heritage of the Bukharin Jews” which is follow up to the 2 part lecture on the history of the Bukharin Jews.
2021: The Oshman Family JCC is scheduled to present “Steve Lipman talking about his trip with other Peninsula Sinai congregants to return a 200-year-old Torah scroll back to its old home in Czech Republic.”
2021: The Illinois Holocaust Museum is schedule to host a virtual “coffee with a survivor.”
2021: The Jewish Museum of London is scheduled to present, on Facebook “an object talk on the Voyage of the St. Louis” during which attendees can “discover the stories of individuals on board the ill-fated ship.
2021: Based on reports first published yesterday, “the Foreign Ministry is set to announce the opening of two temporary missions in the United Arab Emirates - an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a general consulate in Dubai.”
2021: A mob, including people belonging to anti-Semitic organizations and/or wearing anti-Semitic clothing stormed and temporarily occupied the U.S. Capital building in a failed attempt to prevent Congress from fulfilling its obligation regarding the election of the President of the United States.
2021: Urban Adamah is scheduled to present “Shmita: What Will We East in the Seventh Year,” a virtual discussion of Jewish agriculture that focuses on celebrating abundance rather than fearing scarcity.
2022: As part of the online “Sharing Our Favorite Biblical Characters” series Rabbi Laura Abrasley is scheduled to lead a class on “Hannah: Misbehaving For All the Right Reasons.”
2022: As part of it’s “Fighting Hate from Home webinar series,” the ADL is scheduled to host Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Washington DC Attorney General Karl A. Racine who will join ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and SVP of Policy Eileen Hershenov for an important conversation reflecting on the events of last year’s insurrection, the scope of the threats posed by domestic extremism as we begin 2022 and what government officials and civil society can do to disrupt these threats going forward.”
2022: This morning, Israeli’s are left to wonder if the approach by “suspects who were seen nearing the frontier” with Syrian which necessitated a response by IDF tanks was an isolated incident or part of a larger threat that could be tied back to the IAF attack on a Syrian port city.
2022: Jodi Ruth Eichler-Levine is scheduled to present, online, an illustrated Jewish Book Council author talk about her study, Painted Pomegranates and Needlepoint Rabbis: How Jews Craft Resilience and Create Community which was organized by the Falmouth Jewish Congregation.
January 6
548: This was the last year the Church in
1300: Following the conquest of the City of Damascus by the forces of Mahmud Ghazan who had converted to Islam, today, the Jews were forced back into the role of “dhimmis” – official second class citizens.
1275: Raymond of Penyafort, the Spanish Dominican Friar who convinced King James to order a public (and one-side)debate “between Moshe ben Nahman, a rabbi in Girona, and Paulus Christiani, a baptized Jew of Montpellier who belonged to the Dominicans” the purpose of which was to prove the superiority of Christianity and get the Jews to convert.
1309: Henry VII, the future Holy Roman Emperor was crowned King of the Romans today in Aachen which had a Jewish community since the days of the Roman Empire which would mean it began sometime around the beginning of the second century of the common era.
1311: Henry VII, who was presented with a scroll of the law by a delegation of Jews in Rome, was crowned King of Italy today in Milan.
1387: John I begins his reign as King of Aragon. In 1375, the future king assigned Abraham Cresques and his son Yehuda “to make a set of nautical charts which would go beyond the normal geographic range of contemporary portolan charts to cover the "East and the West, and everything that, from the Strait (of Gibraltar) leads to the West". For this job, Cresques and Jehuda would be paid 150 Aragonese golden florins and 60 Mallorcan pounds, respectively…”
1432: The Jewish aldermen and the Jewish community in Pilsen bought from the Town Council a piece of land for which they paid “12 schock of Prague coppers” in the škvrner suburb on which to establish a cemetery.
1449: In an unusual move, Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mistra instead of at Constantinople. His reign would be a short one. He would lose his throne in 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans under Mehmed II. Constantine was the last Emperor and the last Christian ruler of what was left of the Roman Empire. The Moslem Ottoman Empire would prove to be a haven for Jews fleeing from persecution in Christian Europe. Also, Mehmed worked to insure that a significant portion of the population of Istanbul (the new name for Constantinople) would be Jewish. Cresques was a 14thcentury Jewish cartographer “who is credit with the authorship of the Catalan Atlas.
1481: In
1497: Jews were expelled from
1537: Cosimo I de’Medici took control of Tuscany when he became Duke of Florence today following which he sought to improve the economic conditions in his realm by “recruiting affluent Spanish and Portuguese Jews for resettlement in Florence and his chief port city of Pisa” which led “many displaced Italian Jews who were neither bankers nor wealthy merchants coming to Tuscany as well, particularly after the final expulsion of the Neapolitan community in 1540 and the creation of ghettos in the Papal cities of Rome and Ancona in 1555.”
1560: Giovanni Medici who had been elected Pope on Christmas Day 1559 was installed as Pope Pius IV. According to Gordon Thomas, author of The Pope’s Jews, “Pope Pius IV …relaxed a variety of restrictions on Jewish life that had been imposed by his predecessor, Paul IV, but… does not point out that the restrictions were restored by Pius V.”
1567: Birthdate of Richard Burbage the 16th century English actor noted for his portrayal of Shylock – no mean accomplishment considering the fact that he and most of those in his audiences had never met a Jew.
1663(5423): Italian rabbi Simeon (Simḥah) ben Isaac Luzzatto passed away in Venice.
1666(10th of Shevat, 5426) Portuguese Marrano Abraham Senior Teixria who openly professed his Judaism after settling in Hamburg and who got King Frederick III to grant privileges to the Jews of Denmark while serving as a confidant and host for Queen Christina of Sweden passed away today.
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14351-texeira
1693: Mehmed IV, the Ottoman Sultan passed away. During his reign, Moses Beberi was appointed ambassador to Sweden. After his death in 1674 his son Yehuda was appointed to the position ambassador. When the Jews of the Ukraine were looking for a place of refuge during the Cossack Uprising Mehmet IV, allowed them to settle on the banks of the Danube in Morea, Kavala, Istanbul and Salonica. The second event happens in 1666. Rabbi Sabetay Sevi declares himself messiah and causes turmoil. Mehmed was also the sultan who had to deal with Sabbati Zevi, the famous false messiah.
1706: Birthdate of Benjamin Franklin, printer, publisher, scientist, statesmen and a man who was far greater than his parts. “
1772: On the day after his demise, Yaacov Ze’ev ben Yisrael was buried at the “Alderney Road (Globe Rd) Jewish Cemetery.
1753(1st of Shevat, 5513): As it had for the last 13 years, on the first of Shevat the Great Synagogue in London levied a tax of two shillings on each of its members “for the purpose of providing Unleavened Bread for the poor on Passover.”
1761: Jacob Henry of New York wrote a letter addressed to Barnard Gratz in which he discussed plans to build a synagogue in Philadelphia.
1785 (24th of Tevet, 5545): Haym Salomon passed away in Philadelphia at the age of 44. Born in
1793: Less than a year after they were married in Philadelphia, the former Nellie Bush and Moses Sheftal gave birth to Mordecai Sheftal, a member of that Savannah Georgia “clan.”
1803:Birthdate of Austrian native and French pianist and composer Henri Herz who owned his own piano factory and built a concert hall in Paris.
1805: Countess Ewelina Hanska, who married French novelist Honore de Balzac making her the most person to ever live in Pohrebyschche, a Polish town with a substantial Jewish population whose “large synagogue was converted into a Workman’s Club in 1928 and whose Jews “were murdered by the Nazis and local fascists.
1811(10th of Tevet, 5571): Asara B’Tevet
1811: Birthdate of Charles Sumner who served as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. While serving as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sumner supported efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Jews of Romania.
1813: Solomon Sebag married Sarah Montefiore today. (Ever wonder about those authors whose last name in “Sebag-Montefiore.”).
1813:Wirt und Gast, the second opera by German-Jewish composer Giacomo Meyerbeer was performed for the first time in Stuttgart, Germany. Unlike his first opera, Jephtas Gelübde, which was a Biblical drama, Wirt und Gast is “the colorful Arabian Nights tale of the man who becomes caliph for a day.”
1814(14th of Tevet, 5574): Jacob Abraham Rabbie who had taken the family name Rabbie in 1812 in response to a requirement that “all Dutch citizens had to take a surname’ passed away today in Amsterdam.
1814(14thof Tevet, 5574): Catherine Aaron, the daughter of A. Aaron of Russel Courts, passed away today after which she was buried in the Brady Street Jewish Cemetery.
1838: Birthdate of German composer, Max Bruch who was not Jewish but who is most famous for his composition “Kol Nidrei,” writtenfor cello and orchestra which is based on the traditional chant associated with that most holy of Jewish holidays
1839(20thof Tevet, 5599): Don Judah Ben-Oliel, the Gibraltar born son of Solomon Ben-Oliel and Judith Benoliel , the husband of Esther Ben-Oliel and father of Solomon Ben-Oliel; Rachel Pariente; Joshua Benoliel; Isaac Benoliel; Judith Abudarham; and Moses Benoliel passed away today
1840(1stof Shevat, 5600): Rosh Chodesh Shevat
1840(1stof Shevat, 5600:New York native Sarah Rodgrigues, the daughter of Jacob r. Rivera and the second wife of Aaron Lopez passed away today in her home town.
1840: Sultan Abdul Mejid, under pressure from the Montefiore delegation, issued a Firman against blood libels. He also unconditionally released nine survivors of the
1846: Birthdate of Henriette Hertz, the native of Cologne, Germany, the noted philanthropist and art collect who converted to Protestantism in 1871.
1846(8th of Tevet, 5606): Lewis Goldsmith passed away in Paris. Born at Richmond,Surrey, he played an active, if marginal role, in the conflict between Napoleon and the British, Among other things, he “published The Crimes of Cabinets, or a Review of the Plans and Aggressions for Annihilating the Liberties of France and the Dismemberment of her Territories, an attack on the military policy of” William Pitt.
https://theodora.com/encyclopedia/g2/lewis_goldsmith.html
1850: Birthdate of Eduard Bernstein, a leading German social democrat whose “Jewish parents, who were active in the Reform Temple on the Johannistrasse where services were performed on Sunday.”
http://spartacus-educational.com/GERbernstein.htm
1852: Birthdate of Prague native Leopold Pick, the husband of Betty Pick.
1853: Elias David Sassoon and his wife gave birth to Sir Edward Elias Sassoon, 2ndBaronet “who was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Victor.”
1854: The will of Judah Touro dated this day appoints four executors, three of whom are to each receive $10,000. R.D. Shepperd, the fourth legatee is the residuary legatee. The will bequeathed nearly $450,000 to various public institutions for charitable purposes, including the following: $80,000 for the establishment of an Almshouse in New-Orleans; $5,000 to the Hebrew Congregation in Boston.
1854: Judah Touro signed his last will and testament.
1857(10thof Tevet, 5617): Asara B’Tevet is observed for the first time during the ill-fate presidency of James Buchannan.
1858: Babette and Joseph Seligman give birth to George Seligman
1858: The Court of Common Pleas heard the case of Mark Isaacs vs The Beth Hamedrash Society which “grew out of a claim by the plaintiff for baking” Matzah “for this religious corporation. The matter was to be settled by arbitration but the plaintiff contended the arbitration was invalid because the arbiters met on Sunday which was a violation of state law. But the respondents contended that since they observed Saturday as a day of rest they were not bound by this restriction. While agreeing with respondents contention, the Court found their claim to be immaterial since the final document of arbitration was signed on Monday which meant that the issue of Sabbath observance was moot. Decision for the Respondent.
1859: Birthdate of Samuel Alexander, the Australian-born British philosopher who was the first Jewish fellow of an “Oxbridge” college.
1859: In Philadelphia, Jacob Joseph and Eve (Chuts) Peres gave birth to Memphis resident Hardwig Peres, a member of the firm of Jacob J. Peres and Company who served as President of the Memphis Board of Education and was a member of congregations, Childdren of Israel, Baron Hirsh, Beth El Emeth and Anshe Sphard
1859: It was reported today that a journal printed in Hebrew called Cammagia (The Orator) which has just appeared in Lyk, a city in northern Prussia has been well received in Poland as well as in Prussia.
1859: Birthdate of Odessa native Michael Zametkin, who in 1877 “fled political persecution in his homeland” and came to the United where he worked in the needle trades, became a leader in “the Jewish labor and Socialist movements while becoming a contributor to several Yiddish and Socialist newswires” including “The Jewish Daily Forwardwhich he helped to found.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/03/08/118647977.pdf
1861: In Sydney, Australia, Sir Saul Samuel, and “Henritetta Matilda, th daughter of Benjamin Goldsmid Levien gave birth Louis Samuel, an engineer and husband of “Mary Ruth, the daughter of Silas Fowler with whom he had two daughters – Vera and Lilly.
1861(24th of Tevet, 5621): Major General Albert Goldsmid passed away. Born in 1794, this son of Benjamin Goldsmid entered the British Army in 1811 and served at the Battle of Waterloo. Much of his career was spent in the cavalry where he earned several decorations for his service.
1863: The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that General Order 11 had been rescinded.
1863: General Grant sent several telegrams to General Halleck acknowledge the revocation of General Order 11. “By direction of the General in Chief of the Army at Washington¸ the General Order from these Head Quarters expelling Jews from this Department is hereby revoked.”
1863(15thof Tevet, 5623): Seventeen-year-old Philadelphian Albert Leopold Snowberger, the old son of Leopold and Brina Snowberger passed away in Washington, DC today after having been mortally wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
1867: In Cincinnati, OH, Jacob and Johanna (Goldsmith) Loeb gave birth to Belle Loeb Hanauer, the wife of Sam Hanauer, an active member of the Spokane, WA Jewish community who was a member of the Temple Emanu-El Siter, the Jewish Free Loan Society and the Jewish Helping Hand Society while serving as the vice president of the Jewish Welfare Association.
1871: Birthdate of Eugen Hirschburg, who gained fame as German movie actor Eugen Burg and who found out the hard way that his conversion to Protestantism did not save him from being banished from the film industry when the Nazis came to power or to dying at Theresienstadt.
1871: German nationals Fanny Ottenheimer and Elias Marx gave Moses Marx who passed away in 1884 at the age of 12
1871: U.S. Vice President Schyler Colfax sent a letter today expressing his regret at not being able to attend an upcoming celebration of the newly unified nation of Italy. Colfax expressed his hope that when Victor Emanuel said that Italy is free and one he meant that the newly united nation would follow the example of the United States of guaranteeing religious freedom to “Jew and Gentile” alike. Colfax saw this guarantee of religious freedom as critical to the current success of the American Republic and as a critical to the future success of the Italian Republic. [Declarations like this are another example of what separates the experience of the Jews in the United States from that in European, Asian or African political entity.]
1872: In Kiev, Henry and Frieda Berg gave birth to NYU trained attorney Simon Berg, a specialist “in all phases of real estate work who married Rose Berliner in 1894 and was an active member of the Brooklyn Jewish Center and the Brooklyn Federation of Jewish Charities.
1873: Birthdate of Galicia native Jacob Z. Lauterbach, the graduate of Gottingen University and the Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin who earned a Ph.D from Berlin University before coming to the United States in 1903 “where he was a rabbi in Peoria, Il, Rochester, NY and Huntsville, AL” before becoming a Professor of Talmud at HUC in 1911.”
http://collections.americanjewisharchives.org/ms/ms0186/ms0186.html
1876: In Buffalo, NY, the clothing firm of Friedman & Co made an assignment to Henry Cone, a retired Jewish merchant to cover their liabilities of $5,000.
1876: In Russia, Sara and Elias Bernstein gave birth to Louis Bernstein who eventually settled in Northern Ireland.
1877: Birthdate of Jacob Mazer, who “for years was Detroit’s best basketball player” whose Mazer Cigar Mfg. Co. produced 150,000,000 cigars a year in 1923.
1878; It was reported today that “a thrilling tale of a brave young Jew” is going to appear in the Number 10 issued of the New York Weekly.
1878: It was reported today that “a Jewish paper” has called for a national meeting to revise Jewish ritual. The papers say that “there is much in the ritual to which many Jews no longer give assent.” Also, there are sections which an even larger number do not understand.
1879(11th of Tevet, 5639) Rabbi Benjamin Artom passed away today at 3 Marine Parade, Brighton,(UK).He was the Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of Great Britain. Born in 1835 at Asti, Piedmont, Italy, he was the first person to hold the post of rabbi of Naples. In 1866 he accepted a call to become the spiritual leader, or Haham, of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in Britain, and held the post until his death. He composed a prayer for boys on the occasion of their Bar Mitzvah that was at one time used in most orthodox synagogues in Britain, and is still used in the Spanish and Portuguese ones.
1883: In Gorky, Russia, “Hyman and Esther (Mogilev) Zeitlin gave birth to Columbia educated English teacher and author Dr. Jacob Zeitlin who became a full professor at the University Illinois three years after marrying Lois Gild and who wrote for a number of publications including the Nation, the Herald Tribune and the Menorah Journal while being an active member of several organizations including B’nai B’rith.
1890: Dora Albertina Model, the daughter of Albert and Jenny Model, was buried today at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1890(14THof Tevet, 5650): Former Judge Philip J. Joachimsen passed away today at 4 o’clock this afternoon at his home on 54th Street in New York City. The American jurist and communal worker was born in 1817 at Breslaue Germany. He emigrated to New York in 1827, and was admitted to the bar there in 1840. During the Civil war, he organized and commanded the Fifty-ninth New York Volunteer Regiment, and was injured at New Orleans. For his services he was made brigadier-general by brevet. After the war he practiced law until he was elected judge of the New York Marine Court in 1870. In 1877, he returned to private practice. In 1859, he was elected to serve as the first president of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum. In 1879 he organized the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society for Children in New York. (As reported by Adler & Friedenberg and the NYT)
1891: In New York City, Wolf and Dora (Berger) Bomzon gave birth to Samuel Bomzon, the husband of Etta Petigor and vice president of the National Safety Bank who was a registrant in “the Old Man’s Draft” during WW II which got is name from the fact it registered those between the ages of 45 and 64.
1892: It was reported today that thirty adult Russian Jews and 12 of their children are living at J. Syren’s Hotel on Madison Street where conditions are so unsanitary that officials are worried about an outbreak of smallpox.
1893: “The Outbreak of Typhus Fever” published today described the outbreak of the epidemic in New York City which had its greatest impact among the immigrant population.
1893: The Libre Parole sponsored “a great anti-Semitic meeting” at the Tivoli Vauxhall in Paris.
1894: Among the charities receiving funds from the Brooklyn Board of Estimate were the Hebrew Orphan Asylum Society - $294.88; Hebrew Benevolent Society, Eastern Division - $121.42; Hebrew Benevolent Society, Western Division - $72.32. This means that the Jewish charities received $488.62 of the $85,000 distributed by the Board.
1894: In Constantinople, Milbah Johnson and Charles Charnaud, “a director of the tobacco monopoly of the Ottoman Empire gave birth to Grace Stella Charnaud who at the age of 37 married 71 year old Rufus Isaacs, 1st Earl of Reading which made her Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, Baroness Swanborough who championed an increase role for women both before and during the WW II.
1895: Israel Monk, the Russian born resident of London and husband of Nellie Monk was buried today in the United Kingdom.
1895: For the first time since its founding in 1863, the Union League does not have any Jewish members because Edwin Einstien resigned from the club today. He resigned because the league had taken no action to remedy the effect of the blackballing of the son of Jesse Seligman which had taken place two years ago.
1895: “Will of Eugene Kelly” published today explained that “the famous banker” had not left money to Catholic and Jewish charities as an “expression in favor” in favor of either these religions but because “other denominations are wealthier and better able to care for their poor.”
1895: “The Late Czar” published today provided a review of Alexander III of Russiaby Charles Lowe which included a description of Russian persecution of its Jewish population.
1896: Birthdate of Nathan Pritzker, the highly successful investor and real estate mogul best known for his ownership of the Hyatt Hotel chain. At one time or another he has also controlled the Hammond Organ Company and Continental Air Lines. According to one estimate his holdings were valued at 700 million dollars during the 1980’s.
1896: Mrs. Freda Silverman and her two daughters (Rachel,9 and Sarah, 3) were forced to leave their room at 185 Division Street tonight by their landlord because they could not pay the $6 in rent they owed him.
1897: George James Graham and the former Marie Hirsch, the daughter of Emil Hirsch of Mannheim gave birth to the first of their two daughters, Elizabeth Bertha
1897: “The twenty-third annual lecture course of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association opened tonight at the Musical Hall of the Carnegie Building with a recitation by Mrs. Aida Kaufman and a lecture on ‘Modern Popular Delusions’ by Simon Sterne.”
1898: State Supreme Court Judge William N. Cohen is scheduled to deliver a lecture entitled “The Profession of the Law and Its Demands” at Temple Emanu-El sponsored by the Young Men’s Hebrew Association.
1898: Herzl travels to
1898: In a case of Jew versus Jew “representatives of the Auxiliary Relief Branch of the Russian and Polish Jewish Central Committee at Jerusalem… expressed indignation at the charges made of misuses of the money collected in the United States for the relief of poor American Jews in…Palestine” made by the President of the newly formed American Congregation, the Pride of Jerusalem.
1899: A list of the bequests left by the late David Marks published today includes instruction that $250 be given to each of the following: the Hebrew Technical School; the Montefiore Home, the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews; Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum, Mount Sinai Hospital, Educational Alliance, Young Men’s Hebrew Association and $100 each to the Hebrew Free School and the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society. (This represents panoply of the institutions supported by New York Jewry at the turn of the century.)
1899: “The Honorable Lionel Walter Rothschild has been elected a member of Parliament for the Aylesburgy Division of Buckinghamshire without opposition, succeeding his uncle, the late Baron Ferdinand James De Rothschild, who died
1899: Mathew N. Levy, Jr. of Norfolk was one of those eligible to become a civilian those serving in the 6th Virginia Volunteer Infantry became eligible for being mustered out of U.S. Service.
1900(6thof Shevat, 5660): Parashat Bo
1900: In Norfolk, VA, “Herman and Sophie (Sheffield) Waggenheim gave birth to University of Virginia trained attorney and Zeta Beta Tau brother Michael Benjamin Wagenheim, a memberof Phi Beta Kappa who practiced law in his hometown for fifty years while also serving with a number of civic organizations including Goodwill Industries and the Hampton Roads Sanitation Commission.
1902: Birthdate of Wilhelm Kraus a member of the anti-Nazi resistance group known as The Ehrenfeld or Steinbruck Group.
1903: Birthdate of composer and conductor Maurice Abravanel. Abravanel was born in Saloniki Greece when it was still part of the Ottoman Empire. A descendant of Isaac Abravanel, he came from an illustrious Sephardic Jewish family, which was expelled from Spain in 1492. Abravanel's ancestors settled in Saloniki in 1517, and his parents were both born there. In 1909, they moved to Switzerland, where his father Edouard de Abravanel was a very successful pharmacist.
In 1934, anti-German sentiment forced Abravanel to leave Europe. After enjoying a triumph in Austraalia, Abravanel came to the United States to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera. He became the long-time conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra (1947-1979, building it from a part-time community orchestra into a well-respected, professional ensemble with recording contracts with Vanguard, Vox, Angel, and CBS. He lobbied for years for a permanent home for the orchestra, which then performed in the Mormon Tabernacle on Temple Square. He saw his dream come true when Symphony Hall was built, but not until the season after he retired. It has now been renamed Abravanel Hall in his honour. Only in America could the a major musical venue in the heart of “Mormon Country” be named for a Sephardic Jew from Salonika. Abravanel passed away at the age of 90 in Salt Lake City.
1903(7thof Tevet, 5663): Henry de Worms, 1st Baron Pirbright, the third son of Solomon Benedict de Worms and leading Conservative politician passed away today.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12182-pirbright-henry-de-worms-bar-on
1903: Herzl begins a trip that would take him to Paris and London.
1904(18th of Tevet, 5664): Michael Levi Rodkinson, the “son of Alexander Sender Frumkin and half-brother of Israel Dov Bär Frumkin, the editor of The Havatzeleth newspaper in Jerusalem, Arieh Tzvi Hirsch Frumkin and Guishe Frumkin-Navon, the American publisher who was produced the first English translation of the Babylonian Talmud, passed away.
1904: Although the government continues to inform the Jews that peace in Kishinev is assured and that preparation has been for any attempt at disorder,” the Jews, who can are leaving the city during the holiday season.
1904: In Chicago, Ukrainian Jewish immigrants Annie P. (née Cohn) and Nicholas J. Pritzker gave birth to Northwestern Law School trained attorney, Jack Nicholas Pritzker, who was a partner in the family law firm, Pritzker and Pritzker, the husband of the former Rhoda Goldberg, with whom he had one son, “Nicholas J. Pritzker who is chairman of the board and CEO of the Hyatt Development Corporation.”
1905: Prince Bilokoff, the Minister of Railroads called upon his countrymen to be patient while the Czar I “striving earnestly to accomplish the reforms which the country needs” which means dealing with the “special laws” that have been created to deal with empire’s various nationalities including the Jews. (Editor’s note – the Minister made it sound as these special laws had been created to benefit these nationalities when quite the opposite was true.)
1906: It was reported today that of the 90,000 Jews who have left Russia since the massacres began, only 7,325 arrived in the United States in November of 1905 which is the last month for which figures are available.
1906: It was reported today that Senators Kuzminksy and Taurau who investigated the massacres at Odessa and Kiev have issued “almost identical statements” saying that “the authorities were guilty of gross negligence and could easily have prevented the bloodshed, but that the charge they deliberately planned the massacres is not substantiated by the evidence.”
1906: It was reported today that Count Sergei Witte, the Chairman of the council of Ministers of the Russian Empire “has expressed compete confidence” in the Russo-Jewish Relief Committee” over which Baron Gunzberg presides and has asked him to convey to Lord Rothschild thanks for the help he and his colleagues have rendered for the relief of the sufferers in Russia.”
1906: “Charities Report On Jewish Immigration” published today provides highlights of the “soon to be distributed” “thirty-first annual report of the United Hebrews Charities of the City of New York” which “point out that owed to the rigid immigration laws, the Jewish immigrants are of a high class and that many good citizens have to the United States owing to the war between Russian and Japan and the outrages in Russia.”
1907: “Emma Goldman, who has been arrested many times in New York and other cities for uttering anarchistic sentiments, was taken into custody late this afternoon while in the midst of an address before an audience of 600 persons at Clinton Hall, 151 Clinton Street.”
1908: Birthdate of Russian native, and Columbia trained physician Dr. Sidney Tarachow, the former member of the faculty of Iowa State University and director of the division of psychoanalytic education of the Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn and clinical professor of psychiatry passed away today.
1908: Following its premiere in Vienna, an English language version of Oscar Straus’ operetta “A Waltz Dream” premiered in Philadelphia at the Chestnut Street Opera House.
1908: Birthdate of composer Menahem Avidom. Born in
1909: “The Finnish loan of $10,000,000, destined for the construction of railroads in the Grand Duchy, which has been offered in the London market, is meeting with a storm of opposition on the part of Jewish bankers and investors here” because of the continued massive persecution of Jews in Russia.
1910: In Duluth, MN, Isaac and Lena (Batonik) Alpert gave birth Duluth Central High School graduate and husband of Lillian Steinberg who engaged in numerous business enterprises including the establishing of the “first discount in Northern Minnesota” and the creation of ZMC Hotels which operates properties throughout the United States while being an active member of Temple Israel and Tifereth Israel and chairing the Jewish Federation.
1911: Birthdate of Brooklyn native Joseph Abramowitz who gained fame as comedian Joey Adams, the husband of gossip columnist Cindy Adams.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-12-05-9912050304-story.html
1911: In Bergen, NY, John F. and Dana Alice (nee Warboys) Sands gave birth to character actor Billy Sands who may be best known for his continuing role as one of the G.I.’s in “The Phil Silvers Show” which brought to life the hi-jinx of Sgt. Ernie Bilko.
1911: In Philadelphia, Morris and Rebecca (Tecker) Mandell gave birth to Samuel Phillip Mandell, the President of Samuel P. Mandell and Company, the founder of the Samuel P. Mandel Foundation and husband of Ida Slustsky with whom he had five children, including two sets of twins.
1912:
In 1990, the 6,400 Jews living in
Between 1750 and 1850, many German Jews came to
1912: It was reported today “the Society of American Cantors has elected Simon Schlager, the cantor at Temple Emanu-El as its new president.
1912(16th of Tevet, 5672): Parashat Vayechi
1912: In Chicago, Dr. Gerson B. Levi is scheduled to deliver the sermon B’nai Sholom-Temple Israel
1912: In Chicago, Rabbi Abram Hirshberg officiated at services at Temple Sholom.
1912: In Chicago, Rabbi Tobias Schanfarber is scheduled to the sermon K.A.M
1913: The Jewish National Workers Alliance (Farband) received its official charter, licensing it to sell various insurance and medical plans, from the State of New York (Jewish Virtual Library)
1913: It was reported today that Joel Blau a native of Hungary and a graduate of Hebrew Union College who has served as the rabbi at several smaller congregations in Brooklyn has been chosen to succeed Dr. L. Leon Magnes as the rabbi at B’nai Jeshurum.
1914: Birthdate of Heinz Berggruen, collector and gallery owner. One of the world’s most important patrons and collectors of 20th century masters, Heinz Berggruen’s life was something of a work of art in itself. He escaped from the Third Reich, studied in France, emigrated to San Francisco, became the lover of the painter Frida Kahlo, amassed an unparalleled collection of the works of Picasso and other modern artists and finally effected an act of reconciliation with the Germany that had persecuted him and his family, bringing home his collection of “degenerate” art to the former capital of the Third Reich once and for all. Heinz Berggruen was born in the prosperous Berlin borough of Wilmersdorf in 1914. Both his father, Ludwig, and his mother, Antonie, née Zadek, were from West Prussia. They had a stationery shop on the Olivaerplatz, just off the Kurförstendamm and Heinz grew up in the world of assimilated Berlin Jewry. He attended the Goethe-Gymnasium in Wilmersdorf and graduated to the Friedrich-Wilhelms (now Humboldt) University in 1932 where he read literature and art history. After 1933 he continued his studies at the universities of Grenoble and Toulouse, returning briefly to Germany to work as a journalist, even if his articles could not appear under his name, which was seen as being too provocative to the National Socialists. He emigrated to the US in 1936 and studied briefly at Ber-keley before becoming an assistant curator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He married three years later while he was working as an art critic on the San Francisco Chronicle. It was at this time that he had a brief but stormy affair with the painter Frida Kahlo. In 1940 he bought his first picture for $100. It was a watercolour by Paul Klee. In 1942 he persuaded his parents to come to New York. They had in May 1939 been on the liner Saint Louisfrom Hamburg, which was not allowed to land its Jewish refugees in America. As their names began with “B” they were allowed to disembark in England, on the ship’s return to Europe. Others were not so lucky and perished in the camps in the East. Berggruen returned to Europe in American uniform in 1945 and worked briefly with the novelist Erich Kästner on an American-sponsored paper in Munich. He moved on to Unesco before starting his art gallery in the rue de l’Univer-sité in Paris in 1947. The gallery brought him into contact with Picasso, who became his friend and the core of his collection.
It was said that as a gallery owner, Berggruen was his own best customer: he did not like to let the best pieces go. He once swapped Van Gogh’s Le Jardin Publiquefor eight Matisses. In 1980 he gave up the gallery to concentrate on his own collection. The main theme was Picasso, but there was more besides: Matisse, Braque, Klee, Giacometti and Cézanne. He was an early champion of Matisse’s late collages. He was generous to a fault. He sold part of his collection to the National Gallery in London, but the sale contained a large bequest. He made similar donations to the Metropolitan Museum in New York. In 1991 he met Wolf-Dieter Dube, the director of the Berlin museums. Dube persuaded him to make a visit to Berlin. It was the beginning of the process that would bring Berggruen home, together with 113 canvases from his collection which Dube installed in a classical building by Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s pupil August Stöler opposite the royal palace in Charlottenburg. This was to be the Berggruen Museum. In 2000 the collection of 165 works (including 85 Picassos) was sold to the museum at about a quarter of its value. This was Berggruen’s famous “gesture of reconciliation”: the Nazis had impoverished Germany by their attitude to nonfigurative Modern art. Berggruen had decided to reverse the process. Paris, he said, was already rich enough in such works.
He was granted a flat “above the shop” and said he felt entirely at home. He also encouraged his friends to donate to the museum, adding a further five Cézannes and two Van Goghs. He talked his fellow Berliner Helmut Newton into giving his photographic collection to the city. At the end of his life he was proud that Berlin had finally become a place of pilgrimage for 20th-century art lovers. Berggruen’s ability to forgive the Germans came as a surprise to many. He always said that he felt at home in Berlin, although it did not look much like the city he had left 60 years before. He said he was a European and hoped with time that many more people would feel the same. He had two homes: one near the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris and the other above the museum that bore his name in Charlottenburg. He liked to be close to his collection and was happy to show people round. In 2004 he was given the freedom of the city of Berlin.
He married first Lillian Zeller-bach, the daughter of a paper manufacturer in San Francisco, and had a son and a daughter by her. In 1959 he married Betti-na, the daughter of the actor Alexander Moissi and had two further sons. He died in Neuil-ly-sur-Seine in 2007 at the age of 93. At his own wish he is buried in the forest cemetery in Dahlem, in Berlin.
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/may/23/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/arts/design/27berggruen.html?_r=0
1914: It was reported today that “according to the forthcoming issues of the Jewish Year Book, there are now “13,052,846 Jews in the world” based on the tabulations of Rabbi Isidore Harris.
1915: It was determined at a conference between Georgia State Attorney General and Warren Grice and Solicitor Dorsey who prosecuted the Leo Frank case that Grice and not Dorsey will make “the formal motion in behalf of the State before the United States Supreme Court in Washington for the advancement of the Leo M. Frank case on the docket for an early hearing.”
1915: “Facts Never Appealed” published today included the view of Tom Lovless the editor the Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle who believes that Leo Frank “committed the crime, but says “We do not know it. We are not absolutely certain of it. There is in our own mind as there is in the minds of thousands of others that shadow of a doubt which would not permit us to see Leo Frank or any other man go to his death as long as that doubt exists.”
1916: President Woodrow Wilson responded to Simon Wolf’s request that the State Department help facilitate the shipment of wheat for making matzah to the war zone in Europe by saying that he “would be very pleased to take up the matter…with the State Department to ascertain if it is possible to do anything”
1916: It was reported today that “the Bath Beach division of the Brooklyn Jewish Volunteer Committee has announced that it had collected $1,343 which sum is already on its way” to Europe to aide those suffering from the World War.
1916: In Vienna, Else Reis and economist Hans Simon gave birth to Hedwig Magdalena Simon whose father had her baptized to avoid anti-Semitism caused by the misery of World War I and who gained fame as Hedi Stadlen.
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2004/07/11/fea02.html
1916: New Jersey’s “Senator Martine’s resolution asking the President to set aside a day as Jewish relief for Jewish war sufferers was adopted today after Chairman Stone of the Foreign Relations Committee had said that while he approved such a course in relation to the Poles and the Jews, who he said were without a government of their own, he hoped it would not extend to any of the organized nations.”
1917(6thof Tevet, 5677): Parashat Vahyechi
1917: “The Daily Jewish Warheit began its publication of the "disclosures" of Illodor," the Mad Monk," in its issue this afternoon.”
1918: “Dr. John Haynes Holmes, pastor of the Church of the Messiah was applauded” today “by the congregation of the Free Synagogue in Carnegie Hall…when he declared that the orthodox Christian theology was based on a ‘momentous superstition’ and that these doctrines were the invention of ‘Paul, a converted Jew,’ who brought the ‘exclusiveness’ of old Jewish orthodoxy with him and planted it in the Christian religion.”
1918: “At a frugal fish supper at the Hotel Biltmore,” Felix M. Warburg provided “the tactical plans for the campaign to obtain from $4,500,000 to $5,000,000 for the support of the ninety federated philanthropic societies of New York City” to “the twenty colonels and the two hundred captains who are to lead the soliciting forces.”
1918: Tonight, at the Free Synagogue Dr. Richard Gottheil, a professor of Semitic languages at Columbia University delivered a speech on “The English in Palestine” in which he “discussed some of the principal features of the aims and hopes of leaders of the Zionist movement for the establishment and development of Jewish national life in Palestine.”
1918(22nd of Tevet, 5678): Georg Cantor passed away. Born in 1845, Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor was a mathematician who was born in
1918(22ndof Tevet, 5678): Eighty-year old Adolf Wolf the former mayor of Silverton, Oregon passed away today.Wolf Building was one of the most prominent and impressive buildings in Silverton. Adolph Wolf was an Austrian immigrant who arrived in Silverton in 1884 from the town of Independence, Oregon and commissioned the building in 1891 to house his hardware store. It later became known as Wolf & Son and was sold in 1899 to the Ames family where it remained for two generations. After selling the property, Wolfe entered the hop growing business. Many of its original cast iron details remain. The facade is a pressed metal and cast iron building front manufactured by the Mesker Brothers in St. Louis, MO. Wolf served the City of Silverton as mayor and city councilman and was instrumental in bringing the railroad to the city.
1919: Chinda Sutemi, the Japanese ambassador in London, “who was about to join the Japanese delegation” at the Paris Peace conference wrote to Chaim Weizman that “the Japanese Government gladly takes note of the Zionist aspirations to establish in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people and they look forward with a sympathetic interest to the realization of such desire upon the basic proposal
1919: Theodore Roosevelt 26th President of the United States passed away. While President, Roosevelt intervened with the governments of Rumania and Russia on behalf of their Jewish populations. This was an unusual event for Jews and earned Roosevelt and the Republicans support among Jewish voters. T.R.’s finest moment, from a Jewish point of view, may have come in 1895 when he was serving as New York City Police Commissioner. Pastor Hermann Ahlwardt, a noted German anti-Semite came to New York to give a speech. In an attempt to gain publicity for himself and his cause, he demanded police protection from what he was sure would be hostile demonstration by New York Jews. Roosevelt gave him his police protection. All of his protectors were Jewish policemen.
1919(5th of Shevat, 5679): Chicagoan, J/410061 AB Isaac Shadbrisky who served with Royal Navy passed away today.
1919:As 100,000 German Marxists gathered in
1919(5th of Shevat, 5679): Isaac Shadbrisky, a native of Chicago who served with Royal Navy under the name of Kelly passed away today.
1920(14thof Tevet, 5680): Seventy year old Cecilia Solomons Abrahams, the daughter of Lizar and Perla Sheftall Solomons and the wife of Edmund H. Abrahams with whom she had a son, Edmund H. Abrahams, “a collateral descendant of Benjamin Sheftall” passed away today and was buried at the Laurel Grover Cemetery in Savannah, Ga.
1920: “Figures of the Night” a silent horror film directed, produced and written by Richard Oswald was released in the United States.
1922(6thof Tevet, 5682): Eighty-year old Jakob Rosanes the native of Brody who became a leading German mathematician and chess master.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=16031
1923: Birthdate of Argentine born writer and social protestor Jacobo Timerman who after his release from an Argentine prison he moved to Israel where he died in 1999.
1924: Dr. Bela Fabian, a member of the Hungarian Parliament who would survive four concentration camps married Ilona Schwarz Fabian who during WW II worked with the Jewish War Veterans of Hungary “to supply clothing and medicine to Jewish force laborers on the Russian front” and who after coming to the U.S. after the war was a vocal supporter of the Hungarian freedom movement.
1925(10th of Tevet, 5685): Asara B'Tevet
1925: As Stalin worked to consolidate his control over the Communist Party, Leon Trotsky was removed “from his ministerial post” today.
1925: Birthdate of Austrian born Israeli journalist and writer who went from being a 13 year old rescued by the Kindertransport to joining Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin as a member of David Ben-Gurion’s inner circle.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/former-jerusalem-post-editor-ari-rath-dies-at-92/
1925: Birthdate of Israel Shenker, the Philadelphia native who served as “a reported on the metropolitan staff of the New York Times” from 1968 to 1979. (As reported by Margalit Fox)
1926: Birthdate of Monroe “Mon” Levinson “who used plexiglass and other nontraditional materials in becoming a prominent Op Art sculptor, creating work that actively affects the viewer’s perception.” (As reported by Roberta Smith)
1926: Eighty-year old Millicent “Lily” Palmer Bandman, the English born wife of German born actor American actor Daniel Edward Bandmann who was famous for his portrayal of Shylock, passed away today.
1926:In Mount Vernon, NY, Italian born trolley car conductor John Branca and the former Kati Berger a Jewish immigrant gave birth to Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca whose “uncle Jozsef Berger was killed at the Majdanek concentration camp, and whose maternal aunt Irma died at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942”
1927: Birthdate of Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, “the son of Jewish immigrants from Hungary” who as surgeon general in the Nixon administration spoke out against cigarette smoking, bringing new attention to the risks it posed to women and to people exposed to secondhand smoke.” (As reported by William Yardley)
1927: A mass meeting is held tonight at Cooper Union to honor the memory of Asher Ginsberg (Ahad Ha’am). Speakers at the event include, Dr. Chaim Weismann, Louis Lipsky (President of the World Zionist Organization), Carl Sherman (President of the Zionist Organization of America), Abraham Goldberg (President of the American Hebrew Federation), Professor Selig Brodetzky and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise.
1928: It was reported today that “the New York Board of Jewish Ministers, representing more than 100 Jewish congregations” has adopted “a reported of its executive committee asserting that conditions in the Kings county Hospital where ‘anti-Jewish prejudice and intolerance’ was said to have prevailed ‘have materially improved.;”
1929: “Several speakers at the quarterly meeting of the national executive committee of the Zionist Organization of America…expressed disapproval of the action of Dr. Stephen S. Wise of the Free Synagogue in opposing participation of non-Zionists in the activities of the Jewish Agency. The Jewish Agency is the term now applied to the World Zionist Organization.” Non-Zionists who will work with the Zionists in the Jewish Agency include Louis Marshall, Felix M. Warburg, Dr. Lee K. Frankel, Herbert H. Lehman and Judge Irving Lehman.
1929: The New York Times featured a review of How Propaganda Works by Edward L. Bernays, “father of modern public relations and nephew of Sigmund Freud.
1931: Birthdate of author E. L. Doctorow.
1932(27th of Tevet, 5692): Julius Rosenwald who is best known for turning Sears and Roebuck into a retail giant passed away today. He was also a great philanthropist whose efforts included everything from being the patron of chess champion Samuel Reshevsky to endowing Tuskegee Institute to the creation of the Rosenwald Fund which was established “for the well-being of mankind.” This brief entry cannot do justice to the accomplishments of a man, mighty in his times, who has been forgotten by most.
1932: It was announced today that “an unlimited quota of athletes will be permitted by the Palestine government to enter the country to take part in the Maccabee Games” to be held this spring in Tel Aviv.
1933: Henryk Szeryng “made his solo debut” today “playing Brahms Violin Concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.”
http://www.thirteen.org/publicarts/violin/szeryng.html
1934: “The Big Shakedown” produced by Samuel Bischoff was released in the United States today.
1934: Hadassah announced that “the lowest infant mortality rate achieved in a Palestine health district was in Tel Aviv. “The rate was 68.03 among children under 1 year for every 1,000 live births and represented an improvement over 1931 when the rate was 72.52.” Jerusalem “had a rate of 117.30 in 1932 and 104.28 in 1931. Bethlehem…had a rate of 341.91 in 1932, the highest health district rate in the country. The infant death rate for the whole country was 153 in 1932, against 170 in 1931.”
1936: University of Pennsylvania trained attorney Horace Stern, the Philadelphia born son of Morris and Matilde Stern and the husband of Henrietta Stern began serving as a Justice of Pennsylvania State Supreme Court.
1936: Cartoon character Porky Pig makes his debut. For most of his career the traif animal got his voice from the Jewish Mel Blanc.
1937: Birthdate of Lou Holtz who as an assistant football coach recruited Scott Cowen to play for the University of Connecticut where he earned his first degree on an academic road that led to his Presidency of Tulane University. (Cowen was Jewish – Holtz was not)
1937: “A denial by Henry Ford that he had any connection with the anti-Jewish book, The International Jew published in Germany was made public” in New York today by Samuel Untermyer, the president of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League
1937: The Palestine Postreported that a quarry worker, Haim Katz, 29, and a policeman, Jacob Klinger, 34, were murdered in an ambush at Givat Shaul.
1937: Birthdate of Lou Holtz, who, while serving as assistant coach recruited Scott Cowen, the future President of Tulane University, to play football at the University of Connecticut where he earned a B.S. in 1968.
1938: William Dodd, who had resigned as U.S. Ambassador to Germany in December, arrived in New York City wherehe said that he "doubted if an American envoy who held his ideals of democracy could represent his country successfully among the Germans at the present time." Dodd was the first U.S. Ambassador appointed after the rise of Hitler. In time he came to see the Nazi threat and tried to do what he could to warn America about the danger.
1938(4th of Shevat, 5698): Russian born Pinchas Friedman one of the earliest Zionist settlers and a founder of Tel Aviv passed who had made Aliyah in 1890 passed away today.
1939: In “Interests of Britain, Jews and Arabs Are in Clash,” published today Anne O’Hare McCormick describes conditions in Palestine which is currently in the grip of an armed Arab uprising. She describes meetings with two different groups of Arabs. The first group, “composed of fervent nationalists complained” that the Jews of Palestine “prevented Palestinians from attaining an independent status like that granted to Iraq.” They vowed that they “would never cease fighting” and “insisted that they spoke for every Arab in the land.” The second group of Arabs was found “sharing a meal in a communal dining room” on a kibbutz. These Arabs said “they wanted peace and complained that the British neither punished the handful off rebels stirring up their village” nor providing arms to responsible Arab leaders so they could stand against those creating the violence.
1939: “Sir Ronald Storrs, the former Military and Civil Governor of Jerusalem who has said that many more than the half million Jews currently living in Palestine “could be accommodated in the territory if irrigation systems” and who was a close friend of T.E. Lawrence arrived in the United States where he “is to give a series of lectures on Jerusalem and the political situation in the Near East.” (Editor’s Note – Storrs was one of those fascinating English characters in the Middle East. He served with Allenby and in December of 1917 was the first British official to govern the City of David which he famously walked around in Christmas of 1917)
1940: Shivering Jews in
1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his State of the Union address which became known as the Four Freedoms Speech because FDR listed them as:
- Freedom of speech and expression including the right to dissent
- Freedom of every person to worship God in his own way
- Freedom from want
- Freedom from fear
The first two are recognizable as being part of the Bill of Rights. Freedom #2 spoke directly to the needs and concerns of the Jewish people and would prove strikingly ironic considering the events surrounding the Holocaust.
1941: Sixty-year old Franz Hessel, the son of Jewish converts to the Lutheran Church, Fanny and Heinrich Hessel who worked with Walter Benjamin, whose parents did not convert of the translation of works by Marcel Proust, passed away toda.
1942: Jacob Moshe Toledano who was born in Tiberias was installed as Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv and
1942: Victor Klemper was arrested and interrogated at the Gestapo headquarters in
1942: Gussie Schwebel, “the Knish Queen wrote to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt:
My Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: I take the liberty of sending you a newspaper clipping dealing with my humble self. The purpose of this letter is two-fold. First: It is my most sincere hope that I may be permitted to send you a sample of my dish, the knish, which, believe me, my dear Mrs. Roosevelt, is really worth tasting. Also, I wonder if I may not be able to be of service to my beloved land, by way of introducing the knish, which is very wholesome and not costly to produce, into the diet of our armed forces. I shall be most happy to devote all of my time and my energy to this end. Again, I pray that you may accept a boxful of knishes from me and will let me know when and where I can send them, I am Your most respectful servant, Mrs. Gussie Schwebel
1943: Eighty six year old Abbot Lawrence Lowell, the former President of Harvard, passed away. He was praised by some for being a leader in educational reforms. But many of his policies were homophobic, racist and anti-Semitic.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/harvard.html
1943: The Jews of Lubaczow,
1943: Jews hiding in
1944: In Tulsa, OK, “Bessie (née Roberts) and Raymond Kravis, a successful Tulsa oil engineer who had been a business partner of Joseph P. Kennedy, gave birth Henry R. Kravis, the co-founder of Kolhberg Kravis Roberts and Company who “had an estimated net worth of $5.2 billion as of October 20” and was “ranked by Forbes as the 324th richest man in the world.”
1944: Birthdate of Bonnie Franklin, American actress. She once said that because of her red hair and freckles, fans have a hard time believing that she is Jewish.
1944: Anne Frank wrote in her diary that “her image of” Peter Schiff “was so vivid that she didn’t need a photograph” of him.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/feb/24/news.features
1945 (21st of Tevet, 5705): On Shabbat, Roza Robota and three other Jewish women implicated in the smuggling of explosives used in the
1945: Hungarian authorities accede to Raoul Wallenberg's request that 5000 Jews be transferred to Swiss-sponsored safe homes in
1945(21st of Tevet, 5705): Anne Frank's mother, Edith, dies at
1946: In
1947(14thof Tevet, 5707): Fifty seven year old Dr. Harry Plotz, the native of Patterson, NJ and graduate of Columbia who became an “international authority on typhus fever.”
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9801E6DE153EEE3BBC4F53DFB766838C659EDE
1948(24thof Tevet, 5708): Seventy-year old retail women’s wear New Jersey merchant, Jacob Cohen the husband of Annie Halpern Cohen with whom he had two children and “who was long active in Jewish welfare work” passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1948/01/07/85189374.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1948: Film noire classic “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” with music by Max Steiner was released today in the United States.
1949: During Operation Horev, the Israeli Air Force shot down five RAF Spitfires on patrol in the area, killing two pilots and taking two prisoners. It is not clear if the Spitfires were being flown by Egyptian or British pilots.
1949: The British moved forces into the Jordanian port of Akaba.
1949: After three days of fighting around Rafah in which its forces failed to defeat the IDF, the Egyptian government announced, that it was willing to enter armistice negotiations.
1950(17thof Tevet, 5710): Just 13 days before his 69th birthday, John Nathan “Dutch” Levine, the Yale University fullback on the undefeated 1905 team and college coach at several schools including Davidson, Auburn, and Transylvania College passed away today.
1950: Birthdate of Moldavian native Boris Sandler, the Jewish writer whose language of choice is Yiddish and who writes for the Fowerts in the United States.
https://forward.com/news/335537/boris-sandler-retires-as-editor-of-yiddish-forward/
1951: After almost three years, Larry Blyden finished his performance on Broadway in “Mr. Roberts” where he played a Shore Patrol Officer and then Ensign Frank Pulver.
1952: Following the rape and murder of Leah Feistinger, Israeli forces reportedly raided Beit Jalla.
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that according to the new and improved rationing schedule each Israeli was now able to purchase four eggs a week. A mere fifty years ago, the Israelis were living barely above the subsistence level. With no natural resources and faced by enemies on all of its borders, the Jews created a modern, vibrant country. A huge forest, named after Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, was planted on Mount Carmel. Only five years after the founding of the state of Israel, the Jewish state created a living monument to a Moslem leader who was not afraid to embrace the modern world.
1954: Moshe Sharett succeeded David Ben-Gurion as Prime Minister of Israel. Ben Gurion had been Prime Minister since the creation of the state in 1948. Sharett had been Foreign Minister, a post he kept in the new government. Golda Meir remained as Labor Minister and Pinchas Lavon became Minister of Defense. The change was in leadership; the Labor Zionist still maintained control of the government.
1955: In Boston, publication of the tercentenary issue of the Jewish Advocate.
1956: Birthdate of Gonen Segev, the native of Kiryat Motzkin who has served as an MK and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure.
1956: In Seattle, Washington, a Friday night services is held at the U of W Hillel House attended by 170 people who want to form a Reform congregation that will become Temple Beth Am.
1956: Birthdate of Justin Welby, “the first ‘Jewish’ Archbishop of Canterbury.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-first-jewish-archbishop-of-canterbury-heads-to-israel/
1957: Yeshiva Kol Ya'ackov opened in Moscow Russia.
1958: Birthdate of Rehovot native and professional tennis players who was “the first Israeli to a Maacbiah Tennis Championship.
1958(14th of Tevet, 5718): Seventy-one year old Fulton, MO born mathematician Dr. Wallie Abraham Hurwitz, who received three degrees from the University of Missouri, an A.M. from Harvard and a doctorate from the University of Goettingen in Germany before going on to teaching career that culminated with him being made a full professor at Cornell in 1924 passed away today after suffering what proved to be a fatal attack.
1959: “The Captain’s Table” a comedy produced by Joseph Janni was released today in the United Kingdom.
1959(26th of Tevet, 5719): Sixty-two year old Ukraine native, WW I veteran and NYU trained attorney Bernard Austin, the New York Assemblyman who had been represented the Fourth Assembly District since 1934 dropped dead after having “just taken a seat in the jury box in the courtroom of King’s County Judge Hyman Barshay.
1960: In Wandsworth, London Vanessa (née Salmon) “the heiress to the J.Lyons and Co. fortune: and Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby gave birth to “English journalist, broadcaster, television personality, gourmet, and food writer” Nigella Lawson.
1963(10th of Tevet, 5723): Asara B’Tevet
1963(10th of Tevet, 5723): Eighty-four year old German born American soprano Lina Abaranell passed away today at the Montefiore Hospital in New York City
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/Abarbanell-Lina
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/lina-abarbanell
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/01/08/89907647.pdf
1964: Pope Paul VI completed his first visit to the “Holy Land” where he visited sites in Jordan and Israel and began his return flight to Rome.
1966(14th of Tevet, 5726): Sixty-six-year-old Polish born Yiddish poet Kalman Heisler who in 1921 came to the United States where he owned a dress shop passed away today.
http://www.yivoarchives.org/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=32887
1967: Jewish pianist Jacob Lateiner, accompanied by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, performed at the premier of Elliot Carter’s piano concerto and the third piano sonata of Roger Sessions.
1967: "Milton Berle Show" aired for the last time on
1968(5th of Tevet, 5728): Parashat Vayigash
1968(5th of Tevet, 5728): Fifty-seven-year-old Benami Bendor, the Braga, Poland son of Esther Ben Dor, the husband of Ruth Bendor and brother of Emory University biblical archaeologist Immanuel Ben-Dor, passed away today.
1968: It was reported today that during a New Year’s conversation French President Charles de Gaulle had assured Jacob Kaplan, the Grand Rabbi of France “that it was far from his intention to insult the Jews when he called them an ‘elite people, sure of itself and domineering’ during a news conference in November of 1967. Speaking at a time when France was repositioning itself following the Six Days War de Gaulle also said “that while the Jews though the centuries had ‘provoked, more precisely aroused’ antagonism in various countries, they had received great sympathy from Christians because of their sufferings.” (Editor’s Note – these words have a hollow sound coming from the land of Drancy. They also show that French anti-Semitism in the 21st century is not just a produce of Moslem radicals)
1969: “The Fig Leaves Are Falling” a musical with script and lyrics by Allan Sherman closed after only 4 performances
1969: In his review of “The Birthday Party,” film based on an unpublished screenplay by Harold Pinter, published in The Nation, “critic Harold Clurman described the film as "a fantasia of fear and prosecution,"
1975: Ninety two year Burton K. Wheeler, the U.S. Senator from Montana who in 1936 “said that anti-Semitism has not only gained a foothold in European countries like Germany, Poland, Rumania, Austria and Hungary, but has been imported in the Western Hemisphere by Mexico, Brazil and Ecuador” and that the “capacity for persecution” as embodied in anti-Semitism is not “foreign to American soil passed away today.
1975(23rd of Tevet, 5735): Seventy-seven year old actor, producer and director Noel Madison, who was born Noel Nathaniel Moscovitch, “the son of actor Maurice Moscovitch and his wife Rose” and who was the husband of “the former Joyce Nathan with whom he had one son – Toby -- passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1975/01/07/archives/noel-madison.html
1976: “Principal photography for “Rocky” produced by Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler began today.
1977(16th of Tevet, 5737): Eighty-six-year-old Iowa native and McGill University physician Dr. Harry Goldblatt, “a pioneer in blood pressure research,” the long time “director of the Louis d. Beaumont Memorial Research Laboratories of Mt. Sinai Hospital in Cleveland and emeritus professor of experimental Pathology at the Case-Western Reserve University School of Medicine” who was the husband of the “former Jeanne Rea” and the father of neurologist David Goldblatt and pathologist Peter Goldblatt passed away today in Rochester.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1977/01/08/80215944.html?pageNumber=22
1978: The Jerusalem Postreported that
1980: On his 22nd birthday, Israeli tennis pro Shlomo Glickstein won “a hard-court tennis tournament in Hobart, Australia.” (As reported by Louis Hayman)
1980: Birthdate of Birmingham, MI native and Michigan State University basketball player and President of Wholesale Mortgage.
http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/ishbia_mat00.html
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20111002/AWARDS40/110929881/mat-ishbia-31
1981(1st of Shevat, 5741): Rosh Chodesh Shevat
1981(1st of Shevat, 5741): Fifty-six year old Marion Ruth Abitz, the wife of Irving Abitz passed away after which she was buried at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in Chesterfield, MO.
1981: Harold H. Saunders completed his service as the 12thAssistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs today.
1981: “Parcels sent by post to refuseniks from Israel and the West” were “sent back by Soviet authorities today.
1982: “In Our Water,” the documentary nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy which was filmed by cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld was released today in the United States.
1987: A.M. Rosenthal’s “On My Mind” column appeared for the first time on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times.
1987(5 Tevet 5747): U.S. Federal Court issued a decision in favor of Agudas Chassidei Chabad ("Union of Chabad Chassidim") regarding the ownership of the priceless library of the 6th Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. The ruling was based on the idea that a Rebbe is not a private individual but a communal figure synonymous with the body of Chassidim. The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Rabbi Yoseph Yitzchak's son-in-law and successor) urged that the occasion be marked with time devoted to study from Torah books ("sefarim") as well as the acquisition of new Torah books.
1987:A roadside bomb killed four members of an Israeli-backed militia in southern Lebanon today.
1987: Yitzhak Shamir replaced Yitzhak Peretz as Internal Affairs Minister.
1989(28th of Tevet, 5749): Seventy-nine year old New York City native Hyman Goldstein, the holder of three academic degrees in psychology from Columbia University and “former chief of the biometrics branch of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness” who was preceded in death by his wife Fannie T. Goldstein with whom he raised three children – Isadora, Robert and Donald – passed away today in Rockville, MD.
1991: Following a speech today, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Iraqi Army, in which Sadam Hussein said he was preparing the nation for a great battle to liberate Palestine and defeat American "tyranny" in the Middle East the United States once again rejected efforts to tie the gulf crisis to the Palestinian question.
1994: “Homicide: Life on the Street” began its second season with a show written by David Simon and co-starring Yaphet Frederick Kotto Baltimore Police “Lieutenant Al Giardell.”
1995(5th of Shevat, 5755): Sixty-eight year old Joe Slovo (born Yossel Mashel Slovo) a leading opponent of Apartheid who served as Minister of Housing under President Nelson Mandela passed away today.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-joe-slovo-1566935.html
2000(27th of Tevet, 5760): Eighty-seven year old New York native Peter “Pete” Berenson, the CCNY forward from 1932 to 1934 who went on to a professional basketball career passed away today.
http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=basketball&ID=76
2001(11th of Tevet, 5761): Parashat Vayigash
2001: Today Amos Oz wrote about his frustration with Palestinian behavior saying that now that Israel is offering the Palestinians a peace accord based on 1967 borders, with minor mutual amendments” “the Palestinian nation is rejecting this agreement” with its leaders now demanding a "right of return" for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled and were driven out of their homes in the 1948 war
while cynically ignoring “the fate of hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews who fled and were driven out of their homes in Arab countries during the same war.”
2002: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish author and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including newly released paperback versions of Amy Wilentz’s Martyrs' Crossing, the first novel by a former Israel correspondent for The New Yorker and Bob Woodward’s Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom, an admiring portrait of the Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan.
2002: Sheila Finestone completed her service as Senator for Montarville, Quebec, when she reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.
2003: “Suicide Bombings Kill 23 in Tel Aviv” published today.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/05/israel.explosions/
2003: Police said tonight that that they suspected the suicide bombers who struck in Tel Aviv on Sunday used backpacks containing more than 20kg of explosives instead of suicide belts.
2004: “In the southern Gaza Strip, the army said, it uncovered two Palestinian tunnels in Rafah, along the border with Egypt” one of which “was used to smuggle weapons across the border” and the other of which traveled under a road used by military vehicles, which the Palestinians were presumably planning to attack, the Israeli Army said.”
2004(12th of Tevet, 5764): Victor Shalom, the husband of Doris Shalom and a member of Temple Israel of Great Neck passed away today.
2005:: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect for the 1964 murders of three Civil Rights workers James Chaney, a 21-year-old black man from Meridian, Mississippi and two Jewish voting rights organizers from New York, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.
2005: The First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace begins in Brussels, Belgium. “The Permanent Committee for Jewish-Muslim Dialogue was created after the First World Congress as an institution which would reflect and act in domains and on problematic issues in which Islam and Judaism are implicated. The committee is composed on nine founder members, four international Jewish personalities, four international Muslim personalities and a neutral president.”
2006: “Jackie Hoffman: Chanukah At Joe’s Pub” and “Walking in Memphis: The Life of A Southern Jew,” a semi-autobiographical piece by Jonathan Ross are now playing “Off, Off Broadway” in New York City.
2006: “Fateless” a movie based on the novel by the same name written by Imre Kertesz opens at the Film Forum in New York. Fatelesswas a biographical novel for which Kertesz won the Nobel Prize in 2002.
2006: Ariel “Sharon underwent a five-hour operation to halt bleeding in his brain, following which Sharon was returned to the neurological intensive care unit.”
2007: As part of its “Jewish Season” The Theater for a New Audience in New York City presents The Merchant of Venice.
2008: An exhibition entitled Morris Louis Now: An American Master Revisited at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. comes to a close.
2008(28thof Tevet, 5768): Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum, a Talmudic scholar who for more than 50 years led a major Orthodox yeshiva in Brooklyn, known as the Mir Yeshiva, died today. He was 87. His death followed a long struggle with cancer, said Rabbi Pinchos Hecht, executive director of the yeshiva, also called the Mirrer Yeshiva Central Institute. The Mir Yeshiva is exclusively devoted to the study of the Torah: the Old Testament, commentaries upon it and the oral tradition known as the Talmud. It has 1,200 members. Another branch is in Jerusalem, with an estimated 4,000 students. Rabbi Berenbaum was born in 1920 in Poland and studied in a yeshiva in Mir before World War II. As the Nazis rolled across Eastern Europe, he and other yeshiva students fled to the Soviet Union and resettled in Shanghai. From there, they eventually emigrated to the United States. Steven Bayme, national director of contemporary Jewish life at the American Jewish Committee, said the yeshiva helped preserve “a world that was otherwise lost.” “The rescue of the institution during the Holocaust by going to Shanghai was an act of incredible daring,” Mr. Bayme said. “It took enormous courage and perseverance.” Jonathan Rosenblum, director of Am Echad, an advocacy group in Israel that works to build bridges between ultra-Orthodox Jews and others, said that while Rabbi Berenbaum had no public position in America, “he was the one who was consulted on anything connected to Torah learning in the Torah world,” adding, “He taught Torah for over 50 years, and he never repeated himself.” Leadership of the Brooklyn yeshiva will pass to Rabbi Berenbaum’s nephew, Rabbi Osher Kalmanowitz. (As reported by AP)
2008: The Matzo Show on Rivington Street by Deborah Kolben
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/nyregion/thecity/06matz.html?sq=The Matzo Show on Rivington Street &st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=print
2008: The Washington Post featured a review of People of the Book a work of historic fiction by Geraldine Brooks. “The Book” in the title is the famous Sarajevo Haggadah, created in medieval
2008: The Sunday New York Times featured a review of, and excerpt from, Jihad and Jew-Hatred:Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11by Matthias Küntzel and translated by Colin Meade, a review of, and an excerpt from, Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemyby Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg and a review of Peace Be Upon You: The Story of Muslim, Christian and Jewish Coexistence by Zacharcy Karabell.
2008 (28 Tevet 5768): Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum, the Rosh yeshiva of the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York City which includes an elementary school and a high school, as well as its post-graduate Talmudical Academy passed away. The original Mirrer yeshiva was founded in 1815, in Mir, Belarus, and remained in operation there until 1914. With the outbreak of World War I the yeshiva moved to Poltava, Ukraine, under the leadership of Rabbi Eliezer Yehudah Finkel, son of the legendary Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel (the Alter of Slabodka), and son-in-law of Rabbi Elya Boruch Kamai, his renowned predecessor. In 1921, the yeshiva moved back to its original facilities in Mir, where it remained until Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 marking the beginning of the Holocaust. Although many of the foreign-born students left when the Soviet army invaded from the east, the yeshiva continued to operate, albeit on a reduced scale, until the approaching Nazi armies caused the leaders of the yeshiva to move the entire yeshiva community to Keidan, Lithuania. As the Nazi armies continued to push to the east, the yeshiva as a whole eventually fled across Siberia by train to the Far East, and finally reopened in Kobe, Japan in 1941. Several smaller yeshivos managed to escape alongside the Mir, and, despite the difficulties involved, the overseers of the Mirrer yeshiva undertook full responsibility for their support, distributing funds and securing quarters and food for all the students. A short time later, the yeshiva relocated again, to (Japanese-controlled) Shanghai, China, where they remained until the end of World War II. The heroism of the Japanese consul-general in Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara, who issued several thousand travel visas to Jews, permitting them to flee to the east, has been the subject of several books. Following the end of the war, the majority of the Jewish refugees from Shanghai ghetto left for Palestine and the United States. Among them were the survivors from the Mir yeshiva, who re-established the yeshiva, this time with two campuses, one in Jerusalem, Israel and this one in Brooklyn, New York.
2009: The National Jewish Democratic Council recognizes the Jewish Democratic Members of the 111th Congress at a reception at Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC
2009: Fast of the 10th of Tevet and Yahrzeit of Judy Rosenstein (nee Levin).
2009: Today, on the Christian observance known as the Feast of the Epiphany, the Ra'anana Symphonette (RS) conducted by Omer Wellber, will play Irena's Song - a Ray of Light through the Darkness by Kobi Oshrat. The composition and the performance were inspired by Irene Sendler, who along with her intrepid band of helpers from Zegota, the Polish underground, rescued 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto between 1942 and 1943.
2009: Barack Obama has nominated Elena Kagan to serve as his solicitor general. If the nomination is confirmed by the United States Senate, Kagan who is the dean of the
2009 (10 Shevat 5769): St.-Sgt. Alexander Mashevizky, 21, a resident of Beersheba, was killed in a gun battle with Hamas operatives in northern
2010: The Bronx House Jewish Community Center presents “Klezmer Party” with Matan Chapnizka (Saxophone), Daniel Ori (Bass) and Dan Pugach (Drums) as part of the 2010 Bronx House Concert Series.
2010: At around 1 a.m. this morning the Etz-Hayyim Synagogue in the Greek city of Hania on the island of Crete was set on fire by an unknown arsonist. The fire was started on wooden staircase that led to the second-story women's section of the main sanctuary in the small seaside complex.
The Etz-Hayyim Synagogue was restored in the late 1990s after years of neglect in the wake of the Second World War. The nearly 300 members of the Hania Jewish community were shipped out by the Nazi invaders in 1944, and died when their ship was sunk in transit by an Allied torpedo. It serves as a place for prayer, a museum and memorial, and a library recording the long and troubled history of Crete's Jews. The walls of the synagogue's main hall were covered in soot, but the fire did not reach the Torah scrolls or the library.
2010: Israel inched a step closer to deploying a missile defense system along the border with the Gaza Strip today after the Iron Dome successfully intercepted a number of missile barrages in tests held in southern Israel this week.
2010: American Jewish youth movement Young Judaea and its long-running sponsor, Hadassah Women's Organization, suffered another blow today following the resignation of key staff member, YJ/FZY Year Course Director Keith Berman. Berman's decision to leave Young Judaea after more than 20 years with the movement closely follows the resignation of its director, Rabbi Ramie Arian, who is scheduled to step down in the coming weeks
2010: James von Brunn, who shot and killed museum guard Stephen Tyrone Johns on June 10 during an attempted raid on the U.S. Holocaust Museum, died in a prison hospital today.
2011(1stof Shevat, 5771): Rosh Chodesh Shevat.
2011: The 92nd St Y is scheduled to present a program entitled “Democracy, Power Politics and the New Middle East” which will “delve into the shifting tectonic plates of Middle East politics, Iran's embattled regime and its nuclear ambitions, Iraq's fledgling democracy, new realities for Persian Gulf monarchies and the longer-term challenges facing Israelis and Palestinians.
2011: Aaron Hillel Swartz “was arrested near the Harvard campus by MIT police and a U.S. Secret Service agent” after which he “was arraigned in Cambridge District Court on two state charges of breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony.”
2011: The Red Sea Classical Festival is scheduled to open in Eilat.
2011: Birthday of Brian Cohen, shofar blower par excellence, and a man whose life is worthy of his patronymic.
2011: The High Court of Justice ruled today that public bus companies could continue the practice of gender segregation on dozens of lines serving the ultra-Orthodox sector, as long as there is no coercion or violence involved.
2011: Kenyan runner Stephen Chemlany won the 34th annual Tiberias Marathon today, making it across the finish line after 2:10:02.
2012: In New Orleans, LA, Touro Synagogue is scheduled to host a Shabbat Family Dinner.
2012: Think Different – Original Israeli Rock is scheduled to take place at the Blaze Sports and Rock Bar on Rechov Hillel
2012: Excerpts from works by LeeSaar The Company Lior Shneior (Sea Songs), Michal Samama (Under the Skin), Neta Dance Company and Netta Yerushalmy are scheduled to be performed at the 92nd St Y in Manhattan.
2012: The Judges Selection Committee announced the nomination of four new Supreme Court judges today.
2012: Gabriel Cadis, a senior figure in Jaffa’s Christian community was stabbed to death today evening, during festivities at the St George Church in Jaffa.
2012: A third file containing hacked credit card details of Israelis was posted on the internet today.
2013: The Klezmer Jam Session and Dance is scheduled to take place at The Talking Stick in Venice, CA.
2013: Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” is scheduled to be shown at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.
2013: The New York Times features reviews of books written by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Love Song: The Lives of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya and the recently released paperback editions of Man Seeks God: My Flirtations With the Divine by Eric Weinter and The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman
2013: Family and friends of Brian Cohen, master latke maker and shofar blower par excellence, wish him the happiest of birthdays in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
2013: Public Television is scheduled to broadcast “Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, featuring interviews and performance footage that provides insight as to why Broadway “is fertile territory for Jewish artists.”
2013: A report released by the State Comptroller today finds that former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi was not directly complicit in the production of a document aimed at discrediting Defense Minister Ehud Barak's choice to succeed him as army chief, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoav Galant.
2013: Flooded tracks brought train traffic between Tel Aviv and Haifa to a halt for a few hours on Sunday, as stuck automobiles caused traffic jams in many places across the country.
2013(24thof Tevet, 5733): 200th Yarhrzeit of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad Lubavitch Movement. We cannot do justice to the career of this Jewish leader who “created” a form of Judaism that harmonized the need for spirituality, ecstasy and education.
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/77049/jewish/Rabbi-Schneur-Zalman-of-Liadi.htm
2014: Professor Steven is scheduled to deliver a lecture “Leonard Bernstein: From Jewish Roots to Broadway” in Carlsbad, CA.
2014: Today, “it was announced that Julius Genachowski returned to the corporate world to take a post at The Carlyle Group” where “he will reportedly concentrate on global technology, media, and telecommunications investments.”
2014: “12 Years a Slave” is among the films scheduled to shown at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.
2014: In a case of Jew follows Jew, the United States voted today to confirm Janet Yellen as the next Chair of the Federal Reserve following Ben Bernake who completes his term at the end of this month.
2014: An unknown assailant lobbed a small pipe bomb into the Rachel’s Tomb complex near Bethlehem tonight, causing an explosion “lightly injuring” one passer-by. (As reported by Times of Israel Staff)
2014: Jane Yellin “was confirmed as Chai of the Federal Reserve” making her the first woman and the first Jewish woman to hold the post.
2014: “Amid mounting criticism from international organizations and protests by African migrants outside several Tel Aviv embassies, Israeli officials tonight tried to reframe the debate over the fate of the 50,000-60,000 migrants here by reiterating the official government position in a more conciliatory manner while emphasizing the unique challenges that Israel faces.” (As reported by Marissa Newman)
2015: In the UK, the University of Kent is scheduled to mark the 70thanniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by hosting a conference that “seeks to examine the significance of the topography of the Nazi concentration camps --- from historical, sociological and artistic perspectives.”
2015: Forty year ol Hussam Kawasme, “the mastermind behind the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014 was sentenced today to three life terms in prison and order to pay the families of Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Fraenkel, and Gil-ad Shaar NIS 250,000 ($63,000) apiece in compensation for their murders.”
2015: Some supermarkets in Jerusalem “saw their supply of water and fresh meat run out today” as “Israel braced for a major winter storm.” (As reported by Lazar Berman)
2015: “Why Bess Myerson still matters” published today examines the significance of the first Jewish Miss America” who recently passed away at the age of 90.
2016(25thof Tevet, 5776): On the Jewish calendar Yahrzeit Rabbi Moses Levi Ehrenreich, the chief rabbi of Rome.
http://www.aish.com/dijh/Tevet_25.html
2016: “The first of the two-part annual exhibition Illustrators 58 is scheduled to be held at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators where a Gold Medal will awarded to Merav Salomon.
2016: “The remains of a 3,400-year-old Canaanite citadel, which were recently unearthed in the middle of the coastal city Nahariya, are to be preserved and incorporated in an apartment high-rise, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced today.”
2016: Three ultra-Orthodox Jews were attacked in London by a group of anti-Semites this evening, who threw gas cylinders at them and shouted "Hitler is on the way." (YNET)
2017: The City of Tiberias is scheduled to host the annual Sea of Galilee Marathon.
2017: In Memphis, TN, Temple Israel is scheduled to host a Shabbat dinner prepared by chef Marisa Baggett which is unique because attendees are encouraged to “leave the kids at home” for this “adult only activity.”
2018: “Data released by the IDF tonight revealed that from 99 terrorist attacks over 2017, 20 Israelis were killed, with 169 wounded. The attacks, which originated in the West Bank, are an increase on the numbers from 2016, where from 269 attacks, 17 Israelis were, with 263 injured.”
2018(19thof Tevet, 5778): A new year marks the first reading from a new book – Parshat Shemot;
2018: “Tapes Reveal Egyptian Leader’s Tacit Acceptance of Jerusalem Move” published today provided background to President Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
2018: Jewish History Society of Greater Washington “program Samantha Abramson” is scheduled to lead a special downtown tour with a focus on the impacts of 1968 events on the Jewish community and downtown landscape” which take place indoor depending on the possibility of extreme winter weather.
2018: As a mid-winter storm continues to lash Israel, “the Kinneret Authority welcomed the downpours” because the rain helped to replenish streams in the north.
2018: Thanks to the leadership skills of Lena Gilbert, in Cedar Rapids, Temple Judah is scheduled to host the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre’s Seventh Annual Preview Concert featuring “the principal singers from ‘Turandot,’ Puccini’s final opera.
2019: “Israeli artists Igal Perry of Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, Ido Tadmor, founder of Dance Arts, Koresh Dance Company, and Keren Anavy and Valerie Green's UTOPIA collaborative work are scheduled to be among the 20 innovative artists whose companies will be featured at the Salvatore Capezio Theater.”
2019: “In response to the mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue, the Jewish community of Atlanta is scheduled to come together at Temple Sinai in Sandy Springs for “Anti-Semitism Summit: Navigate Communicate, Advocate.”
2019: A special preview of “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” based on the life of forger Lee Israel is scheduled to be shown at the London Phoenix Cinema.
2019: The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Flame: Poems, Notebooks, Lyrics, Drawings by Leonard Cohen, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974co-authored ty Julian E Zeilzer and the recently released paperback edition of The Wine Lover’s Daughter: A Memoir by Anne Fadiman, the daughter of Clifton Fadiman
2019: In Amherst, MA, The Yiddish Book Center is scheduled to host a screening of “Joe’s Violin” and “Mandela Beats.”
http://support.yiddishbookcenter.org/site/Calendar?id=7768&view=Detail
2019: “A planned exhibition celebrating Muslim Albanians who helped, protected and rescued their Jewish neighbours during the Holocaust” which was to take place at the Golders Green Mosque” will not take place today due “to pressure by opponents of the exhibit including Roshan Salih, editor of British Muslim News site 5 Pillas who urged a boycott.”
2019(29thof Tevet, 5779): Yahrzeit of Rabbi Don Yitzhak Abravanel
http://www.aish.com/dijh/Tishrei_29.html
2020: In London, JW3 is scheduled to host a screening of “Jojo Rabbit.”
2020: The National Library of Israel is scheduled to host “Be Strong and of Good Courage:
A Conversation with Ambassador Dennis Ross and David Makovsky on Lessons of Leadership for Israel and America”
2020: In the wake of the recent violent anti-Semitic attacks, this evening the “entire Atlanta Jewish community is scheduled to come together at Byers Theatre at City Springs in a show of communal solidarity.
2020: Ron Gal-Ed is scheduled to be playing the first of two concerts with Jupiter ‘’ a chamber music series to acknowledge and perpetuate the legacy of conductor Jens Nygaard.”
2020: Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial is scheduled to begin today in New York’s Supreme Court.
2020: In San Francisco, the Sydney Goldstein Theatre is schedule to host an evening with “novelist, screen writer and cultural critic Adam Mansbach and comedian W. Kamau Bell.
2021:East Bay Jewish film fest, Contra Costa JCC and several local congregations are scheduled to host a virtual screening of “Joachim Prinz: I Shall not be Silent,” a “2014 documentary about a German rabbi who stood up to Nazis and later witnessed racism in the U.S.”
2021: JBC, Natan Fund, and Shalom Hartman Institute of North America are scheduled to present a “conversation between Natan Notable Books Fall 2020 Winner Dr. Nancy Sinkoff and Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer
2021: The American Sephardi Federation is scheduled to present a lecture by Ruben Shimonov on “The Rich Cultural Heritage of the Bukharin Jews” which is follow up to the 2 part lecture on the history of the Bukharin Jews.
2021: The Oshman Family JCC is scheduled to present “Steve Lipman talking about his trip with other Peninsula Sinai congregants to return a 200-year-old Torah scroll back to its old home in Czech Republic.”
2021: The Illinois Holocaust Museum is schedule to host a virtual “coffee with a survivor.”
2021: The Jewish Museum of London is scheduled to present, on Facebook “an object talk on the Voyage of the St. Louis” during which attendees can “discover the stories of individuals on board the ill-fated ship.
2021: Based on reports first published yesterday, “the Foreign Ministry is set to announce the opening of two temporary missions in the United Arab Emirates - an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a general consulate in Dubai.”
2021: A mob, including people belonging to anti-Semitic organizations and/or wearing anti-Semitic clothing stormed and temporarily occupied the U.S. Capital building in a failed attempt to prevent Congress from fulfilling its obligation regarding the election of the President of the United States.
2021: Urban Adamah is scheduled to present “Shmita: What Will We East in the Seventh Year,” a virtual discussion of Jewish agriculture that focuses on celebrating abundance rather than fearing scarcity.
2022: As part of the online “Sharing Our Favorite Biblical Characters” series Rabbi Laura Abrasley is scheduled to lead a class on “Hannah: Misbehaving For All the Right Reasons.”
2022: As part of it’s “Fighting Hate from Home webinar series,” the ADL is scheduled to host Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Washington DC Attorney General Karl A. Racine who will join ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and SVP of Policy Eileen Hershenov for an important conversation reflecting on the events of last year’s insurrection, the scope of the threats posed by domestic extremism as we begin 2022 and what government officials and civil society can do to disrupt these threats going forward.”
2022: This morning, Israeli’s are left to wonder if the approach by “suspects who were seen nearing the frontier” with Syrian which necessitated a response by IDF tanks was an isolated incident or part of a larger threat that could be tied back to the IAF attack on a Syrian port city.
2022: Jodi Ruth Eichler-Levine is scheduled to present, online, an illustrated Jewish Book Council author talk about her study, Painted Pomegranates and Needlepoint Rabbis: How Jews Craft Resilience and Create Community which was organized by the Falmouth Jewish Congregation.