July 4
925:Moslems raided Oria as part of their attacks on Italy. Ten rabbinical leaders were killed and many others were taken into captivity, including 12 year old Shabbetai Donnolo, who later achieved fame as a physician
1187: Guy de Lusignan (King of Jerusalem) force-marched his troops through the dry, hot Galilee against the advice of Raymond III of Tripoli and others. At a site known as the Horns of Hittim near Lake Tiberius, the Moslems defeated him and his Crusader army. The Moslems were led by the legendary Saladin. This defeat lead to a string of Crusader defeats that culminated in the loss of Jerusalem in October. These losses would result in the Third Crusade, led by Richard the Lionhearted, which would fail to restore the gains of the Christians. There would be several more Crusades, none of which would prove any more successful. In the end, the Christians would be forced into retreat as Moslem rulers would extend their rule into the across a large swath of Europe. Those who contend that the today’s clashes between the West and certain groups of Moslems and Arabs are rooted in the creation of the state of Israel would do well to read some history. Obviously, today’s conflicts pre-date modern Zionism. Lest we lose track of the events of the eleventh and twelfth century, the Crusades were not a good period for the Jews
1348: Pope Clement VI confirms the papal bull Sicut Judaeis("and thus to the Jews," better known as the "Constitution for the Jews"), issued in 1120 by Pope Calixtus II. (As reported by Austin Cline)
1349(9thof Tammuz, 5109): Based on “evidence furnished by Judah’s testament and epitaphs” 79 year old German Talmudist Judah Ben Asher, the son of Rabbenu Asher and the brother of Joseph Ben Asher, who served as the rabbi at Toledo, Spain passed away.
1453: Forty-one Jews were burned at the stake in Breslau, Germany. The remainder of the Jewish population was expelled
1546: Birthdate of Murad III, future Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.During his reign “the Jewish community was shaken by a decree ordering the killing of Jews, which resulted from the appearance of men and women in the streets in rich clothing and jewels. As a result of the intervention of the physician Solomon Ashkenazi at court, the decree was mitigated, but Jews were forbidden to wear such apparel. Subsequently, the rabbis of Istanbul and the community leaders reached an agreement that ‘the women and the girls shall not go out in grandiose apparel, golden jewelry, and precious stones.’” (As reported by the Jewish Virtual Library)
1569: The King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund II Augustus finally sign the document of union between Poland and Lithuania, creating new country known as Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth was a haven for Jews and the center of Ashkenazi Jewry. The Jews enjoyed a significant degree of autonomy under the authority of Chief Rabbi of their own selection. All of this would come to an end with the Cossack uprising in the 17thcentury.
1632: Several secret Jews in Spain were sentenced at an auto-de-fe for holding Jewish services. They practiced in a house on a street known as Calle de las Infantas. The house was later destroyed on orders of the Inquistion and a Capuchin monastery was built on the site.
1632: Isabel Nuñez Alvarez, of Viseu in Portugal, wife of Miguel Rodriguez of Madrid, the owner of a synagogue, situated on the street "de las Infantes" in Madrid died a martyr's death in the flames, July 4, 1632. The Inquisition ordered the synagogue to be torn down, and upon its site a Capuchin monastery was subsequently erected
1636: City of Providence, Rhode Island was created under the leadership of Roger Williams. The first Jew did not settle permanently in the city until 1838 when a Dutch merchant named Solomon Pareira settled there. In 1849, he founded a cemetery which was the city’s first Jewish institution
1642: Marie de Médicis, the Italian born Queen consort of France passed away. Marie ignored the fact that Jews had been banned from France since she employed Elijah Montalto, a Portuguese Marrano who returned to the faith of his fathers, as her personal physician. His medical care cannot be blamed for her demise since had passed away in 1616.
1776(17thof Tammuz): Celebration of Independence Day. A copy was sent to Amsterdam via the small Dutch Caribbean Island of St. Eustatius. The Declaration was intercepted by the British at sea. An accompanying letter with the Declaration of Independence was also intercepted and sent to London as being a secret code about the document that needed to be deciphered - the letter was written in Yiddish. In one of those strange twist of fate, when British Admiral Sir George Rodney conquered the island which was a major source of supply for the Americans in 1871, he singled out the Jews for the kind of harsh treatment associated with anti-Semites. The treatment was so out of bounds, that when Edmund Burke, no friend of the Jews hear about it he said, "If Britons were so injured, Britons have armies and laws to fly to for the protection and justice. But the Jews have no such power and no such friend to depend upon. Humanity then must become their protector." (As described by Louis Arthur Norton)
The Declaration of Independence in the United States of America provided the basis for religious tolerance in most other countries. During the Revolutionary war there were fewer than 2,500 Jews in total within the colonies. More than six hundred fought in the war including the great grandfather of Supreme Court Justice Cardozo. One company in South Carolina had so many Jews that it was called the Jews’ company. In 1776, July 4 corresponded to the 17thof Tammuz, which is a fast day on the Jewish calendar tied to the events leading up to the destruction of the Temple.
1788: The Jews of Philadelphia celebrate in a Federal Parade after hearing that the Constitution was adopted by a majority of the states. The newspaper read, "The rabbi of the Jews, locked in arms of two ministers of the gospel, was a most delightful sight."
1788: Benjamin Franklin was too sick and weak to get out of bed, but the Independence Day parade in Philadelphia marched right under his window. And, as Franklin himself had directed, ‘the clergy of different Christian denominations, with the rabbi of the Jews, walked arm in arm.’
1794: Catherine II of Russia restricted the area where Jews were permitted to trade.
1802: The U.S. Military Academy opens its doors at West Point, N.Y. According to Daniel Isaac Helmer, Cadet Sergeant, United States Military Academy--West Point and the Hillel president at the United States Military Academy the Jewish people have been associated with the Academy since its opening. The first graduating class consisted of two cadets one of whom was a Jew named Simon Levy. In the 1980s, the West Point Jewish Chapel, a beautiful $10 million facility, was opened. In 2002, in honor of 200 years of Jewish history at the Military Academy, the Jewish Chapel began building a commemorative wall to record and recognize all of the Jewish graduates of West Point. At that time there were about 70 Jews at the Military Academy out of a student population of approximately 4,000. An increasingly active Jewish population has begun to sponsor numerous Jewish activities. Jewish students from other schools have visited West Point for events including "Weekend of the Jewish Warrior" and a Hanukkah party. The Military Academy also has a West Point Jewish Chapel Choir, which has performed all over the East Coast.
1807: Birthdate of Giuseppe Garibaldi one of a triumvirate of Italian patriots who freed the peninsula from foreign rule and created the modern nation of Italy. Garibaldi was a revolutionary and a guerilla fighter in the true sense of the terms. His belief in equality extended to religion where he made no distinction between the rights of Christians and the rights of Jews. Numerous Jews served in his military unit known as “the Thousands” which liberated southern Italy and Sicily.
1835: Birthdate of Moritz Benedikt, the native of Eisenstadt who served with the Austrian Army and became a leading Austro-Hungarian neurologist.
1840:Thirty-four year oldMoritz Moses Jacob von Goldschmidt and Anna Netti von Goldschmidt gave birth to Hermann (Ritter) von Goldschmidt
1842: Birthdate of Hermann Cohen, a German-Jewish philosopher, one of the founders of the Marburg School of Neo-Kantianism, and he is often held to be "probably the most important Jewish philosopher of the nineteenth century"
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/HermannCohen.html
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cohen/
1845: The Egyptian Revival Hobart Synagogue was consecrated in Hobart a city on the Australian island state of Tasmania.
1857: Birthdate of Joseph Pennell the American artist and photographer who was arrested and deported from Russia because he sketched and photographed the wretched conditions under which the Jews of Kiev were living when he visited there in 1891 which he described in The Jew At Home: Impressions of a Summer and Autumn Spent With Him.
1863: Birthdate of Solomon Lipschütz who “was chess champion of the United States from 1889 to 1890 and 1891 to 1894.
1863(17thof Tammuz, 5623): Because it is Shabbat the Tzom Tammuz is not observed today since it is a day of national celebration due to the victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. For some it seem to be a foretaste of the Messianic Era when fast days will become feast days.
1863:"Sarah, the Hebrew; or, the Dream of Destiny," will be one of the attractions at Barnum's Museum during its Independence Day Celebration.
1863: In one of the climactic moments of the Civil War, Confederate forces surrender Vicksburg to Union forces under the command of General U.S. Grant. The victory is both a major tactical and strategic success since it split the Confederacy in half and gave control of the Mississippi River back to the Union. While there were Jewish soldiers fighting on both sides, the real significance is that the victory helped ensure that the United States of America would continue to exist offering Jews a place of refuge from European anti-Semitism. The victory would also be a major stepping stone in the career of General Grant which would eventually lead him to victory over Lee and the Presidency. Despite the unfortunate issuing of Order #11, Grant was not an anti-Semite as can be seen from the fact that Jews voted for him for President, his friendship with Joseph Seligman who refused Grant’s request to serve in his cabinet, his meeting with Rabbi Hayim Tzvi Sneersohn, a great-grandson of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the "Alter Rebbe" of Chabad Hasidim and his attendance at the dedication of Adas Israel’s newly built house of worship.
1863: Among the Jews serving at Vicksburg were Private David Orbansky of the 58thOhio Infantry and Colonel Marcus M. Spiegel of the 120th Ohio Infantry. A native of Lautenburg, Prussia, Orbansky would receive a Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery at Shiloh and Vicksburg. Spiegel would die before he could be promoted to the rank of Brigadier of General “for his bravery at Vicksburg and Snaggy Point.”
1863: General Frederick Charles Salomon, a native of Prussia who had settled in Wisconsin, led the 1st Brigade of the Army of the Tennessee against the Rebels at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.
1873: Birthdate of dietician Frances Stern. The Frances Stern Nutrition Center a part of Tufts-New England Medical Center was named in her honor.
1876: In Rovno, Russia, Samuel and Mary Simon gave birth to Sophie Irene Simon who moved to McKeesport, PA, at the age of six. She gained fame as Sophie Simon Loeb journalist and advocate for social welfare reform.
1880: Rabbi Adolph Huebsch of Temple Ahavath Chesed officiated at the funeral of Joseph I. Stein who had served as Assemblyman of the 12th District. A crowd of 2,000 spilled out from the home on East 52nd Street and one hundred coaches were needed to carry all of those who went to the cemetery. Stein was a victim of last month’s Seawanhaka ship disaster.
1880: “The Soldiers of Morocco” published today described the great strides made in turning the Moroccan Army into an effective military unit. Credit for this accomplishment goes to an English soldier known as Kaid Maclean (Sir Harry Aubrey de MacLean). Kaid could not have accomplished his mission if it had not been for a unnamed Jew. Kaid did not speak Arabic and the troops did not understand English so Kaid “had to give his instructions through a Jewish interpreter” who spoke both language but who nothing about military drill.
1881: Birthdate of Dov Ber Borochov the Ukrainian born proponent of the labor Zionist movement who was one of the founders of the Poale Zion.
1881: “Jewish Ladies Whipped” published today described the whippings of Jewish men, women and children, including “ladies of good position” who received 300 strokes, at Smjela, a small town near Kiev. The attacks, which had been ordered by an unnamed Colonel, ended when the governor of Kiev arrived..
1881: It was reported today that “in some Russian districts, the peasants have offered to pay for the damage done to the property of the Jews” including one district where 800 rubles have been deposited for that purpose.
1882: Patrolman Edgar S. Slauson defended himself against accusations that he had overreacted when dealing with a mob that had attacked workers who working in place of the striking freight handlers. The replacement workers included large numbers of recently arrived Jewish immigrants from Russia who did not know about the strike. He admitted having to use his club on more than one of the attackers but he had little choice since he was facing a throng of more than 2,000.
1882: It was reported today that a mass meeting held to support the strike by the freight handlers in New York cheers greeted the announcement that 150 Russian Jews who had recently arrived in the United States and gone to work at the Erie Railway pier refused to do any more work once they had heard about the strike.
1883: In San Francisco, CA, Max and Hannah (Cohen) gave birth to Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Rube Goldberg. Goldberg entertained several generations with his drawings of simple activities that were turned into multi-step complex functions. His name became synonymouswith improvised temporary solutions to problems of major and minor magnitude.
1883: It was reported today that “The Art Magazine for July” published by Cassell & Co features an article about the Russian sculptor, Mark Antokolsky. Born in Wilno, this poor Jewish boy somehow managed to become a student at the Imperial Academy in St. Petersburg. His first work “Jew Tailor” was created in wood because Antokolsky could not afford marble. His career took off in 1870 when the Czar saw his statute “Ivan the Terrible.”
1884: It was reported from Odessa that there has been “rapid increase” in the emigration of Jews from southern Russia, to the United States.
1885: At Temple Beth-El, Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler’s Shabbat sermon included “his last discourse in the series in reference to sustaining the principles of Reform” and the relationship of “Independence Day to the Jews” of the United States.
1885: The congregants of Ahavath Chesed filled the sanctuary to hear the Shabbat sermon Rabbi Alexander Kohut in which he defended the principles of Orthodoxy while calling for unity among the Jewish people.
1885: Birthdate of Louis B. Mayer. Born in Minsk, Russia, Mayer was one of a generation of early movie moguls. In his case, he was the motion-picture executive MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
1886: “Jews To Be Dismissed” published today relied on information from the St. Petersburg Dispatch and the London Daily News to described the orders given by the Minister of Justice to dismiss all Jewish secretaries and clerks employed by the examining magistrates.
1886: David J. Dean delivered an address entitled “The Golden Rule In Political Government” during which he said that “race prejudice” had presented the greatest hurdle for people to overcome in their quest for effective government. The folly of this attitude could be seen in that “for centuries the Hebrew” had been “an object of infamy and denunciation” but now Beaconsfield governed ‘the empire on which the sun never sets’ i.e. Great Britain. [Despite his conversion, Disraeli/Beaconsfield was regarded as a Jew; although the reference was usually a derogatory one used by his political opponents.]
1887: In his 69th year, Jonas Heller, a long serving member of the Board of Directors of the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews passed away today.
1888: Jacob Lissauer is reported to be contesting the will of his late wife, Yetta. Her estate was worth $5,000. The will makes bequests for the benefit of the Hebrew Home for the Aged and Infirm and the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, but lives nothing to the husband. He contends that the Yetta’s cousin, who drew up the will never let her read the instrument so she signed it without knowing this.
1889: “A Home For Hebrew Societies” published today described plans for the construction of a building that will be home to the Hebrew Free School Association, the Young Men’s Hebrew Association and the Aquila Free Library located in the Tenth Ward. The facility will contain classrooms, manual training facilities and “a hall capable of holding 800” people.
1889 Birthdate of Joseph Ruttenberg, the Russian born American photojournalist who became an award winning cinematographer who began in the silent film era and made the successful transition to talkies.
1890: It was reported today that Dr. Clifton Levy will deliver the sermon at Temple Gates of Hope on Shabbat.
1890: Barney Rosenberg, who is among the group of striking tailors and cloakmakers most of whom are Russian and Polish Jews, was being treated at Gouverneur Hospital for injuries he received from a policeman who broke up an attack that took place on scabs yesterday.
1890: Henry Simon, Welf Heiman, Harris Dienerstadt, Hyman Schmlovitz, Aaron Michael Knovic, Isidor Kaufman, Jospeh Hyman are in police custody for the role in attacking strike breakers at two clothing manufacturers who have locked the immigrant Jewish tailors and cloakmakers.
1891: The SS PIckhuban which had left Antwerp with a large party of Jews who had been expelled from Russia came upon the burning wreck of the Octavia whose crew must have left in lifeboats since they were nowhere to be seen.
1891: A deed was recorded today in Marlborough, Hartford County, CT “transferring a sizable tract of land in that town near Marlborough mills on which buildings are to be erected” for use by “poor Jews who are now being driven out of countries in Europe.”
1892: At their meeting today, the Board of Managers of the Baltimore Congregation “reported that they thought it was inexpedient at present to abolish the old custom of the men wearing their hats during services.”
1892: As part of Independence Day celebrations in New York, American flags flew in all sections of the city including those “streets where all of the signs are written in Hebrew characters.” (The letters my have been “Hebrew” but the language may have been Yiddish”
1892: Hostilities begin between France the African Kingdom of Dahomey in what was called the Second Franco-Dahomean War in which Andre Cremeiu-Foa who had been a victim of attacks by French anti-Semites including Edouard Drumont, served with such distinction that he was cited in the orders for the day.
1893: “Pupils of the Hirsch Schools” published today described the method by which these institutions prepare the children of Jewish immigrants from Russia and Romania for success in public school. In the past, these children had stayed away from school because they did not speak English and did understand American customs. In a three-month course that begins almost as soon as the youngsters get off of the boat, the Hirsch Schools teach them English and cultivate their understanding of “freedom of thought and action, together with respect for law” which are the hallmark of the American experience.
1894: As part of their Independence Day Celebration the young men at the Hebrew Orphan Asylum were formed into two companies each with a brass band of 30 pieces so that parade at the facility on Amsterdam Avenue. Following the parade, all of the youngsters were treated to cake and ice cream followed by a fireworks show.
1894: Because of the Independence Day holiday, the regularly scheduled lecture on the “Care of Feeding of Infants and Children During the Warm Weather” will not take place at the Hebrew Institute.
1895: Governor Levi P. Morton is considering the tenth application for a pardon submitted on behalf of Phillip Kiven who is serving a six year term in Sing Sing Prison after having been convicted, along with is wife of stealing $250 from two Polish Jews who were staying at their resort. In a strange twist of events, Kiven claims that he is the victim of a police persecution.
1895: It was reported that the late Lewis Levy has left his estate in a trust for the benefit of his wife Mary and his sister Julia. Upon their death the residue will be used for bequests to several charities including the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society, Mount Sinai Hospital, the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews , the Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids and the Hebrew Technical Institute.
1896: “Doom of the Tombs” published today provided a recap of those hung at the old New York City jail including three men hung for the murder of Abraham Weisberg, a Jewish peddler.
1894: As part of the Independence Day celebration, “the cadets of the Hebrew Institute went into camp near St. George, S.I. They then conducted a drill in the presence of dignitaries including Isidor Straus and Alfred Hochstader .
1897: Jews came from all over the state to witness the laying of the cornerstone in Elizabeth, NJ, of their new Educational Institute and Library at the corner of Fourth and Streets.
1898:The first convention of the Federation of American Zionists opened at the B'nai Zion Club on Henry Street in New York's lower East Side. One hundred delegates, 20 from outside of New York, attended the convention which elected Rabbi Guvstav Gottheil to serve as President.
1902: Herzl had his first meeting with Nathaniel Mayer Rothschild in London.
1902: The Sultan asks Herzl top come to Constantinople immediately.
1902: Birthdate of mobster Meyer Lansky.
1903(9th of Tammuz, 5663) Albert F. Hochstadyer who had been a member of the firm of Newburger and Hochstadter Brothers of Philadelphia until 1879 passed today at his summer home in Elberon at the age of fifty-six. He was active in numerous New York Jewish organizations including Temple Emanu-El where he was serving as a Trustee and Honorary Secretary at the time of his death.
1903: Following the Pogrom at Kishinev, Leo Napoleon Levi, a lawyer from Texas who was President of the B'nai B'rith, wrote a letter to Czar Nicholas II calling for an end to the mistreatment of the Jews living in Russia.
1903: Maurice Arnold de Forest, one of the adopted sons of Baron Maurice de Hirsch and Baroness Clara de Hirsch,“became a Second Lieutenant in the Staffordshire Imperial Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment)” today
1903: Dorothy Levitt (born Dorothy Levi) won her class at the Southport Speed Trials driving a S.F.Edge's 12 hp Gladiator,shocking British society as she was the first woman, a working secretary, to compete in a motor race. She became noted for racing in a dust coat (a loose coverall coat reaching down to the ankles), matching hat and veil.
1905: Birthdate of author and literary critic Lionel Trilling.
1905: Independence Day was commemorated in Jerusalem with a display of American and Swedish flags.
http://www.israeldailypicture.com/2012/06/celebrating-july-4th-in-holy-land-100.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IsraelsHistory-APictureADaybeta+%28Israel%27s+History+-+a+Picture+a+Day+%28Beta%29%29
1907: At today’s session of the 18th annual convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis a message from Judge Louis Sloss of San Francisco to Judge Julian W. Mack regarding the rehabilitation of the synagogues destroyed by the earthquake was received and referred to the appropriate committee and Rabbi Isaac Landman read his paper on “Moses Hayyim Luzzato in Honor of His Bicentenary.”
1910: Melville Weston Fuller, the eighth Chief Justice of the United States passed away. While some may remember him for reactionary rulings including Plessy v Ferguson, he was the one of the signatories of the Blackstone Memorial, a petition expressing support for the Jews settling in Palestine that was presented to President Benjamin Harrison in 1891. The memorial was the first expression of support to come from leading non-Jewish Americans.
1911: Birthdate of Mitch Miller. Born in Rochester NY, Miller’s greatest claims to fame are "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and his television show, "Sing Along With Mitch."
1913: Abe Attell the boxer known as “the Little Hebrew”accidentally hit the referee on the face during a win against Willie Beecher.
1913: In Atlantic City, at the Conference of American Rabbis Sabbath eve services were held at Temple Beth Israel under the leadership of Rabbi William Lowenburg of Union Town, PA who served as the Cantor while the sermon was delivered by Rabbi Charles S. Levin of Milwaukee, WI.
1914: Sydney Grundy, the English dramatist whose works included “An Old Jew” a play produced in London in 1894, five years before Israel Zangwill's watershed play, Children of the Ghetto was done. Zangwill. (As reported by Edna Nahsohn) Contemporary accounts said the play was panned by critics in London and New York because it was “a very bad play with a wildly improbable plot.”
1917: The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Young Men’s Hebrew Association of Trenton, NJ, has elected new officers including President Harry Greenburg, Vice President Meyer Wessel and Financial Secretary Phillip Wenkes
1916: Birthdate of Martin E. Segal, the native of Vitebsk, Russia, who would become “one of New York’s leading cultural figures” “known as the elder statesman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.” (As reported by Robin Pogrebin)
1917: “Here and There in Camden” published today described listed the newly elected officers of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association in that New Jersey city including Harry Greenburg, President; Meyer Wessel, Vice President; Dr. Philip Wenkos, Financial Secretary and Trustees Abe Fuhurman, Samuel Mackler, Isaac Frisch, Jack Weinberg, Jacob L. Furer and Arnold Weiss.
1918: At the Battle of Hamel John Monash applied his doctrine of "peaceful penetration", and led Australian Divisions, along with a small detachment of US troops, to win a decisive victory for the Allies. A native of Australia, Monash was the son of Prussian born Jews and had risen to the rank of Major General in 1917.
1918: In Sioux City, Iowa Russian Jewish emigrants Rebecca Friedman (née Rushall) and Abraham B. Friedman gave birth to twin sisters born within 17 minutes of each other -- Esther Pauline Friedman Lederer and Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips. Esther, known as Eppie Lederer became advice columnist Ann Landers. Pauline, nicknamed Popo became Abigail Van Burn or “Dear Abby.” The fact that the two leading advice columnists of the second half of the 20th century were Jewish was one of the best kept media secrets.
1918: Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne. Mehmed had the unenviable challenge of salvaging what he could of Ottoman glory as World War I came to the end and the Allies were poised to turn most of the Ottoman Empire into European Colonies. Jews continued to play an active part in the governing of the Empire and the emerging Republic. These included the minister of telegraph Yusuf Franko Pasa and Professor Avram Galante who served as “translator of the foreign press news for the Ankara government.”
1918: In Jerusalem, General Edmund Allenby, the British general who had liberated the ancient Jewish capital from the Ottomans was the guest of honor at the American Colony’s Independence Day Celebration
1921: Birthdate of Philip Rosenberg, who gained fame as Philip Rose, “the producer of Broadway shows like “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Purlie Victorious” who advanced the cause of black playwrights and actors and helped widen the scope of American theater to include stories of blacks and other minorities…’ (As reported by Bruce Weber)
1921: The funeral of Jacob A. Cantor was held at his home in New York City today. Rabbi M. H. Harris of Temple Israel delivered the eulogy. Cantor, an attorney by training, had been active in the New York Democratic Party for several decades holding a variety of positions including U.S. Congressman. The service was attended by numerous prominent government officials.
1923: A movie made by Delaware native William Topkis at the urging of the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund “to encourage American tourism and Aliya” which had been filmed in Palestine was shown for the first time at the Zion Cinema in Jerusalem. (As reported by David Geffen)
http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/The-lifeblood-of-Palestine-Jewish-tourism-309868
1926: Birthdate of Amos Elon, Israeli poet and journalist.
1926: The Nazis inaugurate their youth movement which is known as the Hitler Youth.
1927: Birthdate of playwright Neil Simon. Some of his hits include Odd Couple, Plaza Suite and Biloxi Blues.
1929: When the “Ah-Say-Fah Ha’Nivcharim” (Assembly of the Chosen) resumes its meeting Jaobtinsky loses the vote to ignore the organization’s’ agenda and leads the eleven revisionist delegates out of the meeting after reading a speech attacking the Jewish Agency.
1931: According to a report by the Labor Department of the Jewish Agency made public today by the American Palestine Campaign, “few countries in the world afford women such equality of opportunity as is enjoyed by Jewish women in Palestine.” Out of work force of 23,830 most of which is located in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Petach Tikvah 18,067 are men and 5,754 are women. While the largest number of women works in agricultural endeavors, they are also represented in manufacturing, the professions and government work.
1932: Birthdate of Martin Cohan, the TV writer and producer who co-created 'Who's the Boss?'
1934: An Inspectorate of Concentration Camps is established, headed by Theodor Eicke.
1934: Rebbetzin Renee Schick, who founded the Schick's Bakery in Boro Park in 1941 and her husband gave birth to political science Professor Allen Shick fifteen minutes after having given birth to Marvin Schick.
1934(21st of Tammuz, 5694): Zionist poet Chaim Nachman Bialik passed away. Born in Russia in 1873, Bialik had a traditional Talmudic education. However, at an early age he was attracted to Zionism and became a member of the Lovers of Zion. He fell under the influence of the author Achad Ha’am. His Hebrew poetry reflected the idea that Zionism was as much a cultural as it was a political movement. One of his famous early poems was "City of Slaughter" written in response to the pogrom at Kishnev. Bialik made Aliyah in 1924. Such was his influence that during his lifetime, he was called the "national poet," a title that has remained to this day. For those interested in reading his works in translation, consider looking at a copy of “Songs from Bialik: Selected Poems of Hayim Nachman Bialik.”
1934: Leo Szilard, the Hungarian born Jew who would take refuge in the United States and become part of the Manhattan Project, patents the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb.
1936: In Napoli, Italy Margit and Pasquale Frustaci gave birth to Cesare Frustaci, the Holocaust survivor who now lives at Port Charlotte who has dedicated himself to overcoming the lies told by the Holocaust Deniers.
1938:The Manshieh quarter on the Jaffa-Tel Aviv border was again the scene of violence early this morning as Jews reportedly attacked Arabs apparently in retaliation for the Arab campaign of violence that began in 1937. Major Hebrew language dailies condemned the attacks, regardless of the reasons for which they launched.
1938: Birthdate of Robert Abrams the New York State Attorney General and Bronx Borough President.
1939: Esther "Etty" Hillesum took the second and final part of master’s exams in Dutch Law.
1941: The Nazis murdered scientists and writers in the captured city of Lvov.
1941(9th of Tamuz, 5701): Lithuanian militiamen murdered 416 Jewish men, 47 Jewish women in Kovno at the Seventh Fort.
1941: Two thousand Jews from Lutsk, Ukraine, are transported to the Lubard Fortress and killed.
1941(9th of Tammuz, 5701): Fifty-four Jews are killed at Vilna, Lithuania.
1941: Between July 4 and July 11 five thousand Jews are killed in Ternopol, Ukraine.
1944(13th of Tammuz, 5704): Corporal David H. Rubenstein was killed in action in France. He was the 19th Milford, Massachusetts man to lose his life in World War II. “Milford’s Fallen Family” of that war would come to total 55.
1944: One thousand Jewish women are sent from Auschwitz to Hamburg, Germany, to pull down the remains of structures damaged during Allied bombing raids.
1944: In one of the tragedies of WW II, 250 inmates, most of them French Jews, from the Alderney camp on the Occupied Channel Islands are killed by fire from British warships while being transported to the mainland.
1944: The Milice, the anti-Semitic French militia working for the Vichy Government and the Nazis captured Jewish journalist and Resistance leader Georges Mandel.
1944: Between July 4 and July 5 2565 Jews from Pápa, Hungary, are sent to Auschwitz just as the Hungarian government is poised to defy Germany and halt the deportation. Only 30 of Pápa's 2800 Jews will survive the war
1945: In Tripoli, Libya and in other Libyan towns, Muslims began anti- Jewish riots.
1946: A Pogrom took place in Kielce, Poland. The date is correct –1946. One year after the end of the World War II and the Holocaust and a Polish mob attacked a house in Kielce in Poland where almost all of the town's surviving Jews were living (200 of the original 25,000). Forty-two Jews were brutally murdered, another 50 injured. This was followed by a chaotic mass exodus of around 150,000 Jews from across Poland to DP camps in Germany
1946: Following todays pogrom in Kielce, Poland “more than 100,000 Jews” fled to the American Zone of Occupation in Germany putting an unbelievable strain on the DP resources that had been allocated by the U.S. Government.
1946: Birthdate of financier Michael Milken. A wizard of Wall Street, Milken’s name became synonymous with greed and the Junk Bond Scandal. He eventually ended up going to prison for his part in the financial fraud that was rampant in the 1980’s.
1947: David Ben-Gurion appeared before the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP). During his testimony which covered the history of the Jewish people and the reasons for creating a Jewish state in Palestine Ben Gurion tells the UN officials that “What happened to our people in this war is merely a climax to the uninterrupted persecution to which we have been subjected for centuries by almost all the Christian and Moslem peoples in the world.’
1948: Pitcher Marv Rotblatt made his major league debut with the Chicago White Sox.
1949:In describing the progress of the nation's so-called austerity program today Dr. Bernard Joseph, Minister of Supply and Rationing, disclosed that Israeli importers functioning in collateral fields have been requested by the Government to pool their efforts with a view to obtaining the lowest possible prices in world markets.
1951: The Jerusalem Post reported that an accidental blast in a quarry of Even V’Sid Company on Castel Hill killed eight workers and injured six others. The holiday-with-pay principle was legally established in Israel following the final reading of the Annual Leave Bill in the Knesset. Employees were entitled to a minimum of 14 days' paid vacation as of October 1, 1951. The employee must have worked 200 days out of year's contract, or must have worked 240 single days for the same employer in any one 12-month period to be entitled to such paid leave.
1954: In Hutchinson, Kansas, Julius E. and Ruth (Gottfried) Kaplan gave birth to Fred M. Kaplan the Oberlin graduate and Slate contributor who “was a member of a team that won a 1983 Pulitzer Prize for a special Sunday Boston Globe Magazine article, "War and Peace in the Nuclear Age", on the U.S.-Soviet nuclear arms race.
1959: Alaska becomes the 49th state to join the Union. Jewish involvement with Alaska dates back to January, 1868 when the Alaska Commercial Company was formed in by a group of Jewish businessman in San Francisco including Louis Sloss (President), Lewis Gerstle (Vice President), Simon Greenwald, William Kohl and A. Wasserman. Jews were included in those went “North to Alaska” during the Gold Rush of the 1890’s. There was actually an attempt made before World War II to turn the Alaska Territory into a refuge for Jews fleeing Hitler. The plan failed. Ernest Gruening, a Jew from New York, was one of Alaska’s most prominent early political leaders. A supporter of statehood, he served as territorial governor and then was elected as one of the state’s first two United States Senators. Gruening joined Wayne Morris as one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The vote cost him his seat. But it made him one of the first to see the folly of the Viet Nam War.
1960: George Lincoln Rockwell and eight of his American Nazi Party members were arrested at the Washington National Mall when a riot broke out during one his political demonstrations.
1967: In the General Assembly of the UN Chile gave its full support to the resolution of the Latin American Bloc in the aftermath of the Six-Day War.
1967: Just a month after the “Six Day War” a MiG-17 was shot down when Egyptian warplanes attacked Israelis in the Sinai Peninsula.
1968: Birthdate of Ronni Ancona “a Scottish actress, impressionist and author” who “won the Best TV Comedy Actress award at the 2003 British Comedy Awards for her work in Big Impression.”
1970(30th of Sivan, 5730): Rosh Chodesh Tammuz
1970(30th of Sivan, 5730): American painter Barnett Newman passed away.
1975(25th of Tammuz, 5735): In Jerusalem’s Zion Square, members of the PLO detonate a bomb hidden in a refrigerator which killed fourteen and wounded seventy. Victims included Arabs as well as Jews.
1976: The Jerusalem Post reported that there was extensive violence in the West Bank towns in protest against the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old Arab youth during clashes with security forces during the weekend.
1976: The Jerusalem Post reported that the giant American Bicentennial National Park in the Jerusalem hills was officially opened to the public.
1976: Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet and author, passed away. Slonimski spent the war years in exile in Britain. He returned to Poland in 1951 where he was a staunch anti-Stalinist.
1976(6thof Tammuz, 5736): The Entebbe Rescue – Over 100 Jewish and Israeli hostages from an Air France plane being held prisoner by Palestinian terrorists and Ugandan soldiers who were threatening to murder them if their demands were not met were rescued by Israeli commandos in a brilliant ruse under the command of Yonatan Netanyahu who was shot in the back during the rescue. Netanyahu was the one of four Israeli soldier killed in the rescue mission. Tragically, 19 year old Jean-Jacues Maimoni, 52 year old Pasco Cohen and 56 year old Ida Borochovitch were killed in the cross fired. . Seventy-five year old Dora Bloch, who was undergoing treatment at Mulago Hospital, was murdered by the Ugandans as revenge for the raid.
1979: Simon Veil completed her term as French Minister of Health.
1981: The American premiere of “Halil” took place at Tanglewood today “with Doriot Anthony Dwyer as the soloist and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.” ‘Halil’ is a work for flute and chamber orchestra composed by Leonard Bernstein composed in 1981. The work is sixteen minutes in length. Bernstein composed Halil in honor of a young Israeli flutist Yadin Tanenbaum who was killed at the Suez Canal in during the 1973 Yom Kippur war.”
1986(27th of Sivan, 5746): Russian born, American mathematician Oscar Zariski passed away.
1987: Nazi Klaus Barbie, "Butcher of Lyon" is convicted by a French court.
1988: The bulk of the Furth family summer estate at Yarrow Point on the east shore of Lake Washington, which traces its origins back to Jacob Furth “was deeded to the towns of Yarrow Point and Hunts Point as the Wetherill Nature Preserve” today.
1988: Fifty-five year old Ben Briscoe followed in the footsteps of his father Robert Briscoe when he became Lord Mayor of Dublin after defeating the incumbent by 6 votes in an election held by members of the city council.
1992(3rd of Tammuz, 5752): Ninety-eight year old painter and printmaker Harry Gottlieb passed away.
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/08/arts/harry-gottlieb-is-dead-wpa-artist-was-98.html
http://keithsheridan.com/gottlieb.html
1993: The first round of family tours of Israel sponsored by the American Jewish Congress come to an end.
1998:Sandra Bernhard gave birth to daughter Cicely Yasin Bernhard
1999: The New York Times reviews books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Story Begins: Essays on Literature by Amos Oz and The Elusive Embrace: Desire and the Riddle of Identity by Daniel Mendelsohn.
2001(13thof Tammuz, 5761): Thirty-two year old Eliahu Na’aman was shot today at Sueika.
2002: Jewish National Fund officials announced that retired Tel Aviv District Court Judge Arye Segelson will head the organization's investigation into allegations of misconduct in JNF's 'Plant a Tree With Your Own Hands' program for tourists.
2002 (24th of Tammuz, 5762): A gunman opened fire at Israel's El Al airline ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport; three people were killed, including the gunman
2002(24thof Tammuz, 5762): Eighty-seven year old French mathematician Laurent Schwartz who won the Fields Medal in 1950 passed away today.
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/aug/07/guardianobituaries.obituaries
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1404336/Laurent-Schwartz.html
2004: The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Conspiratorsby Michael André Bernstein and Politics: Observations & Arguments by Hendrik Hertzberg
2004: Tzipi Livni began serving as Minister of Construction and Housing
2004(15th of Tammuz, 5764): Victor Kreiderman, 49, was killed by terrorists in Israel.
2007: Meir Sheerit succeeded Roni Bar-On as Minister of the Interior.
2007: Ze’ev Boim succeded Meir Sheerit as Minister of Construction and Housing
2007: Yaakov Edri began serving as Minister for the Development of the Negev and Galilee.
2007: Inan interview broadcast on Channel 10 Abu Mutfana - a leader in the Army of Islam – said that the kidnappers of Cpl. Gilad Schalit have transferred him to the custody of Hamas,
2008: Rosh Chodesh Tammuz (Second Day); First day of Tammuz, 5768
2008: As part of its 4th of July cookout themed advertising, Wal Mart touts the availability of “100% all kosher Hebrew National Hot Dogs.” The Red, White and Blue meets OU!
2008: Following two days each punctuated by a rocket attack on Israel,Hamas today announced that it was suspending all negotiations with Israel over the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.
2008: Despite the seemingly endless rounds of adversity that would break the spirits of lesser people, the Jews of Tel Aviv showed their true mettle by hosting the fourth annual mass water fight in Rabin Square which drew hundreds of children, teens and adults.
2008: The Washington Post features a review of Undiscovered by Jewish actress, Debra Winger
2001:Julius Shulman's last exhibit at Craig Krull Gallery (his Los Angeles gallery since 1991) opened today.
2008(1stof Tammuz, 5768): Rosh Chodesh Tammuz
2008(1stof Tammuz, 5768):1st Lt. Daniel Farkas was killed today, at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was 42 years old. “Daniel Farkas, a 20-year-veteran of the New York City Police Department and a dedicated athlete, had been a member of the National Guard since 1992. He lived in Brooklyn with his mother, two sisters and two nieces, the New York Daily News reported. Farkas was honored with the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal and the National Defense Service Medal, among others. (As reported by The Forwards)
2009: In Alexandria, VA, Jews of the Old Dominion celebrate Independence Day with a "Red, White & Blue Tot Shabbat" in the chapel at Beth El Hebrew Congregation.
2009: There is no Independence Day Celebration at the U.S. Embassy in Israel on July 4 because the official celebration took place on July 1. The celebration included remarks by the Ambassador on the 233rd anniversary of U.S. Independence, Shiri Maimon singing the “Star-Spangled Banner” and “Hatikva” and fireworks lighting up the night sky above the cliffs of the Mediterranean.
2009(12thof Tammuz, 5769):Pfc. Aaron E. Fairbairn was killed today, when insurgents attacked his base in eastern Afghanistan. He was 20 years old. “Aaron Fairbairn was born nearly two months premature and had to be fed from a Barbie bottle until he was big enough to move into the regular natal facility. A happy and friendly child, Fairbairn overcame the health problems he faced as a baby and became fiercely devoted to his family. He showed a dedication to hard work at an early age, quitting sports in the seventh grade to work four different newspaper routes to buy his first car by the time he was 14 years old. His family told the Forward there was nothing Fairbairn enjoyed more than working on his cars. He owned seven trucks by the time he was 20. Born Aaron Eli Ben-Neth, Fairbairn took his mother’s surname when he was 18 years old. Grandson and son of Vietnam War veterans, Fairbairn decided early on he wanted to enlist and establish a career for himself in the army. Always a slight man, Fairbairn was only 115 pounds when he went into the army and worked incredibly hard to reach 145 pounds. Fairbairn was so proud that he was serving that he wore his uniform around town in Aberdeen, Wash., when he was home on leave. When news of a kidnapped soldier in Afghanistan coincided with no communication from her son for a week, Shelly Fairbairn told the Forward she envisioned the worst case scenario. “But then he called [and] we breathed a sigh of relief…the next morning when the soldiers showed up at my door I thought maybe they were here because it’s Fourth of July… [I thought,] it can’t be, we just spoke to him yesterday.” (As reported in The Forwards)
2009(12thof Tammuz, 5769): Sixty-two year old Drake Levin, the lead guitarist for Paul Revere & the Raiders passed away today. (As reported by Bruce Weber)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/arts/music/10levin.html?_r=0
2009: Julius Shulman’s last exhibit at Craig Krull Gallery opened today.
2010: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Rough Justice:The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer by Peter Elkind, Journal of the Plague Year:An Insider’s Chronicle of Eliot Spitzer’s Short and Tragic Reign by Lloyd Constantine and The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern.
2011: Thirty-fifth anniversary of the Raid on Entebbe. Joy is still tempered by the sadness at the loss of Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu, the thirty year old officer who was the only IDF casualty during this act of derring-do. Herman Wouk, the famous author, offered these words about Netanyahu. "He was a taciturn philosopher-soldier of terrific endurance, a hard-fibered, charismatic young leader, a magnificent fighting man. On the Golan Heights, in the Yom Kippur War, the unit he led was part of the force that held back a sea of Soviet tanks manned by Syrians, in a celebrated stand; and after Entebbe, "Yoni" became in Israel almost a symbol of the nation itself. Today his name is spoken there with somber reverence."
2011: The Association of Americans of Americans and Canadians in Israel (AACI) are scheduled to celebrate 4th of July and Canada Day at Kraft Stadium in Jerusalem
2011: As Americans celebrate Independence, Jews can take pride in their active support of the patriort cause. Besides the famous Hyam Solomon, “there were hundreds of Jewish soldiers and sailors who fought in the Revolution and patriots who supported it. There was Phillip Russell, a surgeon at Valley Forge; Col. David Franks an aide to George Washington; a “Jew Company, " which fought in South Carolina; Moses Myers, who fought in Virginia; the Sheftall family, which fought and were captured in Savannah. In Manhattan's Chatham Square cemetery, 22 Revolutionary Jewish soldiers lie. Many had sacrificed their lives for their new country. Just like the approximately 500 Americans who were killed or wounded during the three British assaults at Bunker Hill in 1775. (New evidence has surfaced that a Jewish soldier, Abraham Solomon, participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill as a member of Colonel John Glover's 21st Regiment from Gloucester.)”
2011:The Canadian ship "Tahrir", participating in the flotilla to Gaza, attempted to depart from the Greek port of Agios Nikolaos today, but was intercepted by the Greek coast guard shortly after departure.
2011: Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered a stop to the transfer of the bodies of 84 Palestinian terrorists to the Palestinian Authority at the last minute today, despite earlier confirmation from the IDF Spokesperson's Office that the transfer would go through. Barak made his decision to hold off on the transfer after a Haaretz report revealed that two of the bodies to be returned to the PA were the Awadallah brothers, former leaders of the Hamas military wing, who were killed by Israeli soldiers near Hebron in September 1998.
2012: The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage is scheduled to host an Independence Day Celebration featuring including live Americana music and free flags for the youngsters
2012: In honor of Independence Day, the Jewish Community Alliance of Jacksonville, FL, is scheduled to sponsor a Family Fun Day completed with hot dog, games, prizes and a DJ
2012: In honor Independence Day, the National Museum of American Jewish History, will be open free to the public today.
2012: The Jewish Women’s Archives celebrates Independence Day by sponsoring an contest where readers can honor the FIJW (Fiercely Independent Jewish Woman) in their lives with a brief tribute.
2012: Israeli cellist Yoed Nir is scheduled to perform at The Apollo Theatre in Manchester, UK
2012: 36thAnniversary of the Raid on Entebbe, a moment of great pride for Jews and all who value the best in Western Civilization. Of course, we will never forget that this gift was paid for with Jewish blood – in this case the life of Yonatan Netanyahu. If a person’s name defines them, then this is just such a case since the brave Israeli bears the name of the noblest of all biblical characters – the son of Saul and comrade of David.
2012: TodayKadima party chairman Shaul Mofaz asserted that the implementation of the Plesner Report is a condition for his party staying in the government. "The ball is in Prime Minister [Binyamin Netanyahu's] hands and he has a matter of days," Mofaz added, declaring that "the Plesner plan is the only plan."
2012: Yigal Amir, assassin of late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, is set to leave solitary confinement in the coming days, the Prisons Service confirmed today. Amir has spent 17 years in solitary detention, in line with repeated court extensions of his prison terms.
2013: American superstar Alicia Keys, one of the leading musical artists of the last 10 years, is scheduled to arrive in Israel for the first time today.” (As reported by David Brinn)
2013: Independence Day – Even before the “shot heard around the world” was fired Jews were active in the military units that would eventually fight the British. In 1769, Captain Richard Lushington formed a volunteer company at Charleston, SC “composed chiefly of Hebrews. They would later be referred to as “the Jews company” and include Marks Lazarus, Emanuel Abrahams, Jacob Moses Joseph Solomon and Abraham Spidel among its members. Among others who served on the battlefield were Mordecai Sheftall of Georgia who was twice captured by the British; Francis Salvador of South Carolina who was the first Jewish soldier to die during the war; Colonel Isaac Franks, aide de camp to General Washington, Major Benjamin Moses who served on the staffs of George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette; Colonel David S. Franks the loyal patriot who served as aid de camp to Benedict Arnold; Philip Moses Russell “whom Washington commended for his assiduous attentions to the sick and wounded: and Colonel Jacob De La Motta. While we all know about the contribution of Haym Solomon who bankrupted himself to provide funds for the Revolution we should also take note of Benjamin Levy and Benjamin Jacobs of Philadelphia and Samuel Lyon of New York who signed Bills of Credit for the Continental Congress for which they were never reimbursed. This list is not complete, but it should give a sense of the small Jewish community’s support for the Revolutionary cause. The most important contribution made by the Jews was intellectual and spiritual. From portraying King George as modern day Pharaoh and themselves as Israelites escaping bondage, to the inscription on the Liberty Bell to the concept that All Men Are Created Equal, the Patriots drew from the well of Jewish tradition and Jewish books.
2014: The U.S. Embassy in Israel is scheduled to host a July 4th Celebration starting at 5:45.
2014: Some celebrate Independence Day, while others remember the Battle of the Horns of Hittin. If you do not understand their impact on today’s world then to paraphrase Burke and Santayana, those who do not know and learn from history are up the creek without a paddle. "