September 17
1183:
As Christians and Muslims jockey for control of what is really the homeland of
the Jews, Saladin left Damascus with a large army today with the intention of
driving the Crusaders out of Jerusalem.
1375:
In Pilsen it was recorded today that ‘Dominus Zyfridus habet potestatem eandem
pecuniam inter Judeos sive Christianos con quirerere’. (‘The Lord Zyfridus
- a Knight of the Cross from the German order of knights has the right to
gather this money among Jews or Christians’) which is a variant on the more
common statement that ‘inter Christianos
vel judeos obligandi vel vendendi’ (‘of distraint or sale among Christians
or Jews’).
1394:
The Jews were expelled from France by order of King Charles VI. He used the
pretense that a Jewish convert in Paris, Denis Machuit, returned to Judaism, to
once again expel the Jews. The order was signed on Yom Kippur and was used as
excuse for plundering the Jewish. It was
actually enforced on November 3. Jews
continued to live in Lyons and papal possessions such as Pugnon.
or
1394:
Charles VI suddenly published an ordinance in which he declared, in substance,
that for a long time he had been taking note of the many complaints provoked by
the excesses and misdemeanors which the Jews committed against Christians; and
that the prosecutors, having made several investigations, had discovered many
violations by the Jews of the agreement they had made with him. Therefore he
decreed as an irrevocable law and statute that thenceforth no Jew should dwell
in his domains ("Ordonnances", vii. 675). According to the
"Religieux de St. Denis", the king signed this decree at the instance
of the queen ("Chron. de Charles VI." ii. 119). The decree was not
immediately enforced, a respite being granted to the Jews in order that they
might sell their property and pay their debts. Those indebted to them were
enjoined to redeem their obligations within a set time; otherwise their pledges
held in pawn were to be sold by the Jews. The provost was to escort the Jews to
the frontier of the kingdom. Subsequently the king released the Christians from
their debts.
1456:
Rodrigo de Broja who as Pope Alexander VI employed Bonet de Lattes, a Jewish
born rabbi from Provence and “the
inventor of an astronomical ring-dial by means of which solar and stellar
altitudes can be measured and the time determined with great precision by night
as well as by day” as his physician was “created Cardinal-Deacon of San Nicola
in Carcere” today
1480:
Two Dominican friars, Miguel de Morillo, Master of Theology, and Juan de San
Martin, Bachelor of Theology were commissioned to go to Seville and seek out
heresy of the Jews.
1482:
William III of Luxembourg passed away.
During his reign, William, who ruled Thuringia and Luxemburg, minted a
silver gorschen (coin) “known as the Judenkopf Groschen. Its obverse portrait
shows a man with a pointed beard wearing a Jewish hat, which the populace took
as depicting a typical Jew.” [I cannot
find a reason for him doing this.]
1485:
Pedro Arbues, the inquisitor for Aragon, was murdered in church by a group of
Marranos in retaliation for his activities. The perpetrators were caught, had
their hands cut off, and were then beheaded and quartered. Arbues was
canonized.
1553(9th
of Tishrei): The chanting of Kol Nidre took on an even more solemn than usual
since Jews were mourning the burning of copies of the Talmuda
1609(18th
of Elul, 5369): According to the Gregorian calendar Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the
“MaHaRal” "Moreinu ha-Rav Loew," ("Our
Teacher, Rabbi Loew") who according to legend created the Golem of Prague,
passed away today.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_10447.html
1630:
The Puritan colony and its major city were effectively a theocracy. As such, they were not hospitable to any
religious group that deviated from their beliefs. The Jewish community in Boston would not
reach critical mass until the 19th century when the first synagogue
was formed in 1842 and the second, Adath Israel was formed in 1853. The atmosphere has obviously changed. According to the Boston Globe, the Jewish
community in metropolitan Boston has been growing to the point where that it
numbers more than 200,000 and makes up over seven percent of the
population.
1676(10th
of Tishrei, 5437): Sabbatai Zevi, one of the most famous of the False Messiahs
passed away. Born in 1626, his antics would develop a huge popular following.
Their hopes would be dashed when he chose Islam over death at the hands of the
Ottomans. For many, many decades accusing a Jew of being a Sabbatean was
onerous as accusing an American of being a member of the Communist Party during
the McCarthy Period. There are those who
saw the rise of the Chasidic movement with its message of joy and hope as the
anti-dote to the disillusionment that had come with the failure of Sabbatai
Zevi and the slaughter of the Jews during the Cossack uprising.
1718:
In New York City, Etienne Delancey and Anne Van Cortland gave birth
Major-General Oliver De Lancy, the British loyalist who married Phila Franks,
the daughter of Abigail and Jacobs, which led to a complete break between the
daughter and her parents.
1727(2nd of Tishrei, 5488): Glückel of Hameln passed away. Born in
1646, she was a Jewish mother, successful mother, German businesswoman and
diarist. It was in this latter category
that she gained lasting fame. Her writings
provided an eyewitness account life in central Europe three and a half
centuries ago. In addition to providing
a portrait of the daily life of our European forbearers, she also gave us a
front seat view of the survivors of the Chmielnicki massacres and the followers
of Sabbati Z’vi. Her memories were
passed down from generation to generation until they were first published in
1896. Copies of The life of Gluckel
of Hamelin Written by Herself and the Memoirs of Gluckel of Hamelin were
published in English during the second half of the 20th century.
1764: Birthdate of Berek Joselewicz Polish Jew who was a
successful merchant and a colonel in the Polish Army during the Kosciuszko
Uprising during which Poles tried to throw off the yoke of Russian occupation.
Joselewicz commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history.
1765:
In Bedford, NY, Esther Hays, the Philadelphia born daughter of Rachel and Asher
Ettings and her husband David Barrack Hays gave birth to Rachel Myers.
1768(6th
of Tishrei, 5529): Shabbat Shuva
1769:
Birthdate of New Yorker Benjamin Gomez. The Gomez family was one of the most
prominent families of all early Sephardim in America. Benjamin traced his
family’s roots to Isaac Gomez who fled Spain in 1660. In New York the family
members were wealthy ship owners and merchants, as well as leaders in the
Jewish community. Benjamin was the first Jewish bookseller in America.
1771(9th
of Tishrei, 5532): Erev Yom Kippur; Kol Nidre chanted on the same day that the
Moscow Riots which had been caused by an outbreak of Bubonic Plague came to an
end.
1773(29th
of Elul, 5553): Erev Rosh Hashanah observed on the same day that Bartholomew
Adler and Hannah Worthing gave birth to Jonathan Adler, an early settler of
Ohio who was kidnapped by the Shawnee Indians but also served as an officer
during the War of 1812.
1782:
“At a meeting of the Trustees” of Mikveh Israel “Mr. Jonas Phillips, who
occupied the chair, stated he was informed by Mr. Mordecai M. Mordecai ‘how
Ezekiel Levy, contrary to our law had shaved on Sabbath at Baltimore” which led
to a discussion during which “Mr. Mordecai was obliged to confess that he could
not assert” that the report was true since he had been relying on “a
Baltimorean named Isaac Abraham” for his information.
1787:
The Constitutional Convention meeting in Philadelphia, PA, adopted the United
States Constitution. It would not become
the “law of the land” until it is ratified by the various states. The organic document of American governance
was a critical factor in the development of the Jewish community in the United
States. The Bill of Rights, which
includes the guarantee of the separation of church and state, was not part of
the organic document. But ratification
of the Constitution was predicated on the promise that the document known as
the Bill Rights would be added by the amending process as the first matter of
business for the newly formed federal government.
1788:
In Portsmouth, Hamphsire, UK, Solomon Lyon, a native of Bohemia and Rachel Hart
gave birth to Emma Lyon.
1790(9th
of Tishrei, 5551): Erev Yom Kippur; Kol Nidre chanted on the third anniversary
of the signing of Constitution of the United States of America by 38 of the 41
delegates “present at the conclusion of the Constitution Convention in
Philadelphia, PA.
1791:
In Frankfurt, Germany Mayer Amschel Rothschild and his wife gave birth to his
youngest daughter Henriette Rothschild, the wife of Abraham Montefiore and the
mother of four children – Joseph, Nathaniel , Charlotte and Louise – who lived
in Stanhope Street London and Worth Park, Sussex.
1792(1st
of Tishrei, 5553): Rosh Hashanah observed as the National Convention is France
is voting to abolish the monarch and establish what became known as the First
Republic.
1794:
Polish General Thaddeus Koscuisco who was leading a revolt against the Russians
granted Joseph Aronowicz and Berek Joselowicz permission to form a Jewish
legion. Five hundred men volunteered in response to the call to arms that was
issued in Yiddish.
1794:
Thirty-two year old York, PA native Reuben Etting and twenty-three year old
Philadelphia native Frances Gratz, the parents of Baltimore born Elijah Etting,
were married today.
1797:
In Richmond, VA, Judith I Solomon and Israel I. Cohen who had been married at
Bristol, England in 1786 gave birth to Benjamin I. Cohen, the husband of Kitty
Etting whom he married in 1819 and with whom he had eleven children.
1798(7th
of Tishrei, 5559): Daniel Lopez the two-month old son of David Lopez passed
away today in Charleston, SC.
1800(27th
of Elul, 5560): Fifty-eight year old German Kabbalist Nathan Adler and author
of Mishnat Rabbi Nathanhttp://www.hebrewbooks.org/22433 passed away.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/828-adler-nathan
Born
in 1741, he was a German kabbalist born in Frankfurt, December 16, 1741. As a
precocious child he won the admiration of Chaim Joseph David Azulai (Chida),
who, in 1752, came to Frankfurt to solicit contributions for the poor of
Palestine. Adler attended the rabbinical school of Jacob Joshua, author of Pene
Yehoshua, who was at that time rabbi at Frankfurt, but his principal teacher
was David Tevele Schiff, afterward chief rabbi of the United Kingdom. In 1761
he established a yeshivah himself, in which several prominent rabbis received
their early teachings, notable among whom were Abraham Auerbach, Abraham Bing,
rabbi in Würzburg, and especially Moses Sofer (Schreiber), rabbi in Presburg.
Nathan Adler was mystically inclined. He had devoted himself to the study of
the Kabbala, and adopted the liturgical system of Isaac Luria, assembling about
himself a select community of kabbalistic adepts. He was one of the first
Ashkenazim to adopt the Sephardi pronunciation of Hebrew, and gave hospitality
to a Sephardi scholar for several months to ensure that he learnt that
pronunciation accurately. He prayed according to the Halebi ritual, pronounced
the priestly blessing every day, and in other ways approached the school of the
Hasidim, who had at that time provoked the strongest censures on the part of
the Talmudists of the old school. His followers claimed that he had performed
miracles (Moses Sofer, Chatam Sofer, Orah Chayyim, 197), and turned visionaries
themselves, frightening many persons with predictions of misfortunes which
would befall them. Finally, the rabbis and congregational leaders intervened in
1779 and prohibited, under penalty of excommunication, the assemblies in Nathan
Adler's house.Rabbi Nathan, however, paid no attention to these orders, but continued
in his ecstatic piety. He even excommunicated a man who had disregarded his
orders, although this was contrary to the laws of the congregation. His doors
remained open day and night, and he declared all his possessions to be common
property, that thus he might prevent the punishment of those who might carry
away by mistake anything with them. Moreover, he commanded Moses Sofer, who had
quarreled with his father, never to speak to his parent again. When the same
disciple reported to him that he had gone through the whole Talmud, he advised
him to celebrate that event by a fast of three days. In spite of the continued
conflict with the congregational authorities, the fame of Rabbi Nathan's piety
and scholarship grew, and in 1782 he was elected rabbi of Boskowitz in Moravia.
But his excessive and mystical piety having made enemies for him, he was forced
to leave his congregation, and in 1785 returned to Frankfurt. As he still
persisted in his former ways, the threat of excommunication was renewed in 1789,
which act was not repealed until shortly before his death at Frankfurt.His
wife, Rachel, daughter of Feist Cohen of Giessen, survived him. He left no
children, though Nathan Marcus Adler, chief rabbi of London, was named after
him. His mysticism seems to have been the cause of his repugnance to literary
publications. The kabbalists claimed that real esoteric theology should never
be published but should only be orally transmitted to worthy disciples. In his
copy of the Mishnah he wrote brief marginal notes, mostly cross-references.
Some of them were collected and explained ingeniously by B. H. Auerbach under
the title Mishnat Rabbi Natan. One responsum is found among those of Moses
Sofer on Yoreh De'ah, 261
1803(1st
of Tishrei, 5564): Rosh Hashanah observed on the same day that Franz Xaver
Süssmayr, a friend and close collaborator of Mozart’s, who accepted the
challenge of completing the Requiem from sketches passed away” (As reported by
the Detroit Jewish News)
1805:
In London Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid and Lady Goldsmid gave birth to Anna Maria
Goldsmid who gained fame for her translation of the sermons of Dr. Gotthold
Salomon and her role as a social worker.
1808(25th
of Elul, 5568): Parashat Nitavim-Vayeilich: Leil Selichot observed for the last
time during the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson.
1809:
In New York City, Sarah and Isaac Mendez Seixas Nathan gave birth to Grace
Nathan, the great granddaughter of Jehuda Hathan.
1812:
Rothschild signed his revised will.
1817:
Joseph Lopez Hays, the son of Rachel and Baruch Hays, and his wife Mary Ann
gave birth to Kitty Hays
1819:
Birthdate of Jacob Lagowitz, the native of Frankfort-on-the-Oder who came to
the United States in 1849 where he made his fortune in the manufacture of
traveling trunks and bags before he passed away in 1889.
1820(9th
of Tishrei, 5581): Erev Yom Kippur; Kol Nidre
1822(2nd
of Tishrei, 5583): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1822: In London, Frances Cohen and Joel Benjamin
gave birth to Dinah Benjamin the wife of Birmingham (UK) native John Aaron.
1825(5th
of Tishrei, 5568): Sabbath of Return observed for the first time during the
Presidency of John Q. Adams.
1828(9th
of Tishrei, 5589): Erev Yom Kippur; Kol Nidre recited for the last time during
the Presidency of John Q. Adams.
1831(10th
of Tishrei, 5592): Yom Kippur observed on the same day that John Floyd, the
Governor of Virginia issued a proclamation offering a reward of five hundred
dollars for the capture of Nat Turner, of “Nat Turner Rebellion” fame.
1835:
Sixty-six year old Ernst Friedrich Karl Rosenmüller whose Scholia in Vetus
Testamentum formed the basis of most of the exegetical work on the Old
Testament in the nineteenth century and who published “a pocket edition of the
Hebrew Bible in 1822” passed away today.
1836(6th
of Tishrei, 5597): Shabbat Shuva is observed for the last time during the
Presidency of Andrew Jackson.
1837:
Alexander Jones married Sarah Moses at the New Synagogue.
1837:
In Kovno, “Yehiel Michel Sossnitz and Tony Zive” gave birth to Joseph Loeb
Sossnitz, the husband of Freida Luria and Superintendent of the Jewish Asylum
at Riga who to the United States in 1891 where two years later he founded the
Uptown Talmud Torah while writing books on math, physics, astronomy and
meterology.
1839(9th
of Tishrei, 5600): Erev Yom Kippur; Kol Niddre
1841(2nd
of Tishrei, 5602): 2nd Day of Rosh Hashanah observed during the
Presidency of John Tyler, the first vice president to become President when the
President (William Henry Harrison) died in office.
1848:
In Philadelphia, Judith Simha Cohen, the Wilmington, DE born daughter of Jacob
da Silva Solis and Charity Solis and her husband of Myer David Cohen gave birth
to Isabel Emanuel Cohen.
1849(1st
of Tishrei, 5610): Rosh Hashanah is observed in San Francisco for the first time
in a wood-framed tent.
1849:
Thirty-three year old Simon Heymann was buried today at the Brady Street Jewish
Cemetery.
1851:
Birthdate of Rabbi Dávid Leimdörfer who served as “a military chaplain in the
Austro-Hungarian Army from 1875 to 1883” when he became the rabbi at Hamburg
Temple.
1851:
Judith Peixotto who had been a teacher in New York City married David Solis
Hays today at 12 Beford Street.
1855:
When Joseph Moses Levy “re-launched” the Daily Telegraph he sold it for
one-penny as opposed to The Times which cost sevenpence giving rise to his
slogan for the paper “the largest, best, and cheapest newspaper in the
world".
1856:
A story published today entitled The Last Island Calamity reported that 33
bodies have been recovered following the storms that racked the Louisiana
island last month of which 18 have been identified including that of a German
Jew named Gimble.
1856:
In Bucharest, “Chevailier Abraham Emanuel Gaster, the son of community leader
Asriel Gaster and his Phina Judith Rubenstein, the daughter of Isaac Rubenstein
gave birth to Moses Gaster, the Romanian born Anglo-Jewish scholar who served
as the leader of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in London and was the
brother of Ecaterina Gaster Revici the wife of Tulius Revici.
1857:
Phoebe Simmons and Abraham Marks gave birth to Simon Marks.
1860(1st
of Tishrei, 5621): As the United States teeters on the brink of Civil War, Jews
observe Rosh Hashanah
1861:
Judah P. Benjamin completed his service as the Attorney General for the
Confederacy.
1861:
Judah P. Benjamin began serving as the Secretary of War in the cabinet of
Jefferson Davis, the President of the CSA.
1862:
Union and Rebel armies clashed near Sharpsburg, Maryland in what history has
come to call the Battle of Antietam.
Up to that point, Antietam was the bloodiest
day of the war with over 22,000 dead Union and Rebel troops. Since Lee retreated back into Virginia after
the battle, Lincoln saw it as a victory.
He had promised that he would issue the Emancipation Proclamation
following the next Union victory.
Lincoln proved to be a man of his words.
In general Jews were pleased with the issuance of the proclamation since
they were opposed to slavery. One of the
heroes of Antietam was General Leopold Blumenberg, of Baltimore. Blumberg was
born in Prussia where he enlisted in the military. After a rapid rise to the rank of lieutenant,
Blumenberg saw his career stymied by anti-Semitism so he moved to the United
States. He joined the Union Army in
1861. At the time of the battle he was
a major of his regiment. He was severely wounded at the battle of Antietam and
crippled for life and was subsequently brevetted for his meritorious services.
His battlefield bravery earned him appointment as Provost Marshall in
Washington. He left the Army in 1865 and
died as a result of his wounds in 1876.
He was buried at Baltimore’s Har Sinai Cemetery. Blumenberg is but one
example of the many brave Jewish volunteers who fought for the Union. For example, over half of the soldiers in the
famed 11th New York Regiment, known as "Ellsworth's
Zouaves" in honor of the founder James Ellsworth, were Jewish. The 59th Regiment which had been
organized by Philip J. Joachimsen who served as a Lt. Colonel lost over 200 men
and 8 officers during the carnage in the West Woods near the Dunker Church.
1862:
While serving with Company A of the 72nd Regiment Nathan Roenfelt
was “wounded and captured” at the Battle of Antietam.
1862:
When he enrolled at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) today, Moses Ezekiel
became the first Jew to attend that state’s military college.
1862(22nd
of Elul, 5622): William Lazarus, who had been serving with Company E of the 132nd
Regiment since August 13 was killed today at the Battle of Antietam.
1863:
One day after he had passed away, 24
year old William Meyers was buried today at the Balls Pond Road Jewish
Cemetery.
1863:
At its meeting today, the Board of Alderman rejected the Report-of Committee on
Finance, in favor of adopting resolution that the Comptroller be directed to
dispose of the following ground belonging to the Corporation, and located
adjoining the Orphan Asylum of the Hebrew Benevolent Society: On Seventy
seventh-street and extending from the westerly line or side of said Orphan
Asylum to the easterly line or side of Lexington-avenue, being in extent one
hundred and thirty-five feet front and rear, by one hundred feet deep, to the
said Hebrew Benevolent Society, to be held by the said Society upon the same
tenure or conditions as the twelve lots of ground heretofore grunted to the
said Society; the grant hereby made to said Society to be sanctioned by the
Legislature of the State, at its next or any subsequent session, in order to
perfect the title thereto in the aforesaid Society, and to obviate the
prohibition contained in the forty-first section of the amended charter of one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in respect to disposing of the property
or franchises of the City.
1865:
Today's Foreign Items column reported that a synagogue is about to be opened in
St. Petersburg. A Jewish Banker named Gusburg the Jewish banker, has given
70,000 rubles towards the completion of the projection..
1865:
Today's "City News" column described preparations in New York City
for the upcoming observance of “The Jewish New Year.” “Thursday will be the
first day of Tishri, the commencement of the year 5,626, according to Jewish
chronology. The event will be celebrated by the Jews throughout the world
Extensive preparations are being made for its observance in this city. There
will be services in the various synagogues, to be followed by festivals, social
gatherings, and general merry-makings.”
1867:
In New York, the Board of Aldermen accepted an invitation to visit the
Hebrew Orphan Asylum today at 1 p.m.
1867(17th of Elul, 5627): Fifty-eight year old
Edwin Eger Hertz, the Charleston, SC born son of Rebecca Mordecai and Jacob
Hertz who was the husband of Savanah native Frances Sheftall Cohen and
thefather of Isaac, Rebeca, Edwina, Harriet and Jessie Hertz passed away today.
1868(1st of Tishrei, 5629): Rosh Hashanah
1868: Birthdate of Julie Levy, the wife of Gustav Kahn
both of whom were murdered on the same day in 1942 at Treblinka.
1868: Sigmund Shlesinger was among the U.S. soldiers
facing force of Arapaho, Cheyenne and Sioux on the first day of the Battle of
Beecher Island
1871:An article that had originally appeared in the Jewish Messenger was published
today. It provided a summary Benjamin
Franklin Peixotto’s service as the U.S. Consul in Bucharest. The mere fact that America’s senior diplomat
in Romania is Jewish has given heart to the Jews of Bucharest, Jassy and other
towns in their fight against the government’s harsh treatment. Peixotto has effectively represented the
position of many in the West that Romania must emancipate its Jewish
citizens.
1871(2nd of Tishrei, 5632): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1871: In McGregor, Iowa, Louis R Rowe and his wife gave
birth to Leo S Rowe, the Wharton graduate
and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of
Pennsylvania who president of the American Academy of Political Science and a
member of President McKinley’s Commission to Revise and Compile the Law of
Porto Rico.
1872: In Iberville Parish, LA, “Perry J. Moses and
Rosalie Levy Moses “gave birth to the daughter Rosalie Virginia Moses who
became Rosalie Phelps when she married Aaron Cohen Phelps.
1873: Two days after have passed way, 72 year old Samuel
Jacobs, the second oldest of Eliezer Jacobs five children was buried today at
the “Brompton (Fulham Road) Jewish Cemetery.
1873: One day after he had passed away, 61 year old Henry
Jacobs was buried at the “Brompton (Fulham Road) Jewish Cemetery.
1875(17th of Elul, 5635): Abraham Weisberg, a Jewish
peddler was murdered today in Westchester County, NY leaving behind an “estate”
valued at $290.
1876: Mrs. Leopold Weil’s English, German and French
Boarding and Day School for Young Ladies of the Jewish Faith is scheduled to
open today in New York.
1876: In Kovno, Meyer Rhine and his wife gave birth to
University of Cincinnati graduate Abraham Benedict Rhine, the HUC trained rabbi
who served as the spiritual leader of Congregation House of Israel in Hot Springs, AR/
1876: “The Jewish Holidays” published today provides an
amazingly detailed account of the origins and customs related to the High
Holidays.
1877: During the Russo-Turkish War, it was reported today
that “an enterprising Jew from Vienna” has opened an office in the Balkan city
of Nikopolis from which he sells newspapers which means that the Russian
officers are only 36 hours behind their comrades in arms serving in
Bucharest. The sale is limited to
newspapers that are not critical of the policies of the Russian government.
This means he cannot sale papers from London or Vienna but his customers are
happy to read such French and Italian papers as Gaulois and Figaro.
1877(10th of Tishrei, 5638): Yom Kippur
1877: “Ten Fires in Two Hours” published today described
the impact of ten fires set between 6 pm and 8 pm in a series of tenements
primarily occupied by Jews or that housed businesses owned by Jews including
Isaac Cohen’s Crockery Store which sustained $50.00 in damages.
1877: Rabbi De Sola Mendes is scheduled to deliver the
Yom Kippur sermon at the Forty-fourth Street synagogue in Manhattan.
1877: At Temple Emanu-El in New York City, Rabbi Gustav
Gottheil preached a sermon in which he contended that the objection some
Israelites have to be called “Jews is an unfounded one, and that the name Jew
is one which any person might be glad to bear.”
1877: It was reported today that Harper & Brothers
will be offering The Jews and Their Persecutors by Eugene Lawrence which
is the latest publication in their popular "Half Hour Series."
1877: At Romny, Poltava, Russia, Abraham Myer Krichefski,
the son of David and Rebbeca Kricefski married Mashe Cohen, the daughter of
Rachel Cohen.
1878: As the Yellow Fever Epidemic continues to grip the
Deep South, New Orleans Mayor Pillsbury received a telegram from Mark Moses,
the former Rabbi of the Jackson Street Synagogue who is now living in
Providence, Rhode Island, asking for information about his family that lives on
Magazine Street. He is worried because
he has not received any letters from them in the past several days and has had
no reply to telegrams that he has sent.
1878 In London, Charlotte and George Charles Raphael gave
birth to Percy Maurice Raphael who would not live a full six months.
1878: As the nation responds to the financial needs of
Southerners fighting Yellow Fever, the Young Ladies’ Charitable Union has
instructed that 40 of the 100 dollars it has collected should be sent to the
Hebrew Relief Society of Memphis.
1879(29th of Elul, 5639): Erev Rosh Hashanah observed for
the second time during the Presidency of Rutherford B Hayes.
1882(4th of Tishrei, 5643): Since the third of Tishrei
fell on Shabbat Tzom Gedaliah is observed today.
1882: “Pass Judgment on Judaism” published today contends
that “those who are interested in the so-called Jewish question” (a euphemism
for excluding Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe) should examine “the temper
and teaching of current and contemporary Judaism and not its consistency with
the past.”
1883: It was reported that Charles Scribner’s and Sons
has published East of the Jordan by Selah Merrill
1884: In Brooklyn, “Aron Barney and Esther Volk gave
birth to Long Island Medical College trained doctor and Brooklyn Law School
trained attorney. Lester David Volk, the lawyer and physician turned
Congressman from New York’s 10th District who served the Army during
WW I and who married Florence S. Volk with whom he had one child - Alan M.
Volk.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/lester-david-volk
1884: Samuel Guttman, the son of Hirsch Gutman sailed for
the United States from Breman after which he lived in Des Moines and Cincinnati
for a total of 36 years.
1884: In New Haven, Connecticut, the Register published a story that included a remark by Henry B.
Harrison in 1857 when, during a trial, he asked the judge, “Your Honor, will
you not take the evidence given by 11 Americans in preference to that given by
four Jews?” Harrison is running for
Governor on the Republican ticket.
1885: In Lithuania, Rabbi and Mrs. Nachum Shraga Revel
gave birth to Rabbi Bernard Dov Revel, the first President of Yeshiva College
in NYC.
1885: Eighty-five year old Henry Neuwahl, a resident of
the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews in New York was severely injured today
when he was run over by a U.S. mail wagon while crossing at the corner of
Broadway and Houston. In his earlier
days, he was a successful merchant whose love of fast horse earned him the
nickname “Sporting Charlie.”
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B0DE7DE1E39E533A2575BC1A96F9C94649FD7CF
1886: In Germany,
Lewis and Ida Mayer Arnheim gave birth to Leonard Arnheim who would move to the
United States in 1868 and eventually represent Doughtery County in the Georgia
State Legislature.
1887: In Valdosta, GA. Jacob and Basheva Pearlman Lazarus
gave birth to businessman Sam Lazarus the husband of Anna (Stein) Lazurs with
whom he had five sons – Mendel, Leon Sidney, Milton and Ralph Lazarus – and one
daughter Francis Lazrus Simon.
1887: Birthdate of Louisville, KY native and Harvard
trained lawyer Grover Granman Sales, a member of the University of Louisville
faculty.
1888: In New York City, the audience at Koster and
Biali’s Concert Hall laughed like lunatics as they were entertained by Frank
Bush “whose imitations of the Hebrew gentlemen of impolite fiction are known
from Harlem to Los Angeles.
1890(3rd of Tishrei, 5651): Fast of Gedaliah
1890(3rd of Tishrei, 5651): Sixty year old
Rabbi T.A. Moses of New York passed away in Huntingdon, PA after being stricken
with apoplexy.
1892(25th of Elul, 5652): Parashat
Nitzavim-Vayeilech; Leil Selichot
1892: In London, Professor Hechler, the Chaplain of the
British Embassy at Vienna, presented a paper at the Internationalist Congress
that described a papyrus manuscript discovered a few months ago in Egypt that
is supposed “to be the oldest copy…of portions of the…books of Zechariah and
Malachi.”
1892: In Hartford, CT, Rebecca Taiz and Samule Gleszer
gave birth Maine Law School trained attorney Edward I. Gleszer, the husband of
Ada Cohen who was the first Jewess elected to a school board in Maine, and Republican Party leader who was a Judge
of the Bangor, ME Municipal Court and a member of Congregation Beth Israel.
1893: Bernard Weinberger, the banker and steamship agent
who had suffered major business reversals, was alive today after surviving an
attempt to take his own life by sucking on gas filled tube in his hotel room
last night.
1893: Two days after she had passed away, 73 year old
Alice Levy, the daughter of Abraham Moses was buried today at the Balls Pond
Road Jewish Cemetery.
1894: In Prague Jakob and Barbara Bondy gave birth to
Karel Bondy.
1894: In Austria-Hungary, Sally Moses and Benny Wiesel
gave birth to Rabbi Alexander Sandor Wiesel the husband of Mary Botko who led
Congregation Agudath Israel in Montgomery, AL from 1923 to 1926 before taking
the pulpit at Agudath Achim in Shreveport in August of 1926.
1894: In that part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that
became part of Czechoslovakia, Sally Moses and Benny Wiesel gave birth
Hungarian trained rabbi Alexander Sandor Wiesel, the University of Alabama alum
and husband of Marky Btoko who served as the rabbi for Agudath Israel in
Montgomery, AL before moving on to Agudath Achim in Shreveport, LA where he was an activist Zionist.
1895: A meeting of anti-Semites held in the Hopfenbluhe
Hall tonight “passed a resolution amid cheers asking the Prince Regent of
Bavaria not to” show “any clemency to the Jew,” Louis Stern of New York.
1896(10th of Tishrei, 5657): Yom Kippur
1896: Nathan Fischer is locked up in the East 67th
Street Police Station after he attacked Abraham Pollack, an usher at Mount
Sinai Temple in a dispute over Fischer’s admission ticket.
1896: Birthdate of Dr. Sheldon Blank, the native of Mt.
Carmel, Illinois and graduate of the University of Cincinnati and Hebrew Union
College who after being ordained as a rabbi in 1923 earned a Ph.D at the
University of Jena before pursuing a career at HUC.
http://collections.americanjewisharchives.org/ms/ms0730/ms0730.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/16/obituaries/sheldon-h-blank-91-a-professor-of-bible.html?_r=0
1897: Today, The
Hebrew Standard of New York gave its unqualified support to Seth Low for
Mayor of Greater New York (what we now call New York City)
1897: In Glasgow, Scotland, Nechi Surah Wilamowski and
Solomon Wolfson and his wife gave birth to Sir Isaac Wolfson, the Scottish
businessman and philanthropist.
1897: “Their Second Marriage” published today described
the romantic ups and downs of Mathew Sterling Borden, Yale ’95, the son of a
Chicago millionaire and Mildred N. Nerbaur, the daughter of a Jewish tailor in
New Haven, CT
1898(1st of Tishrei, 5659): Rosh Hashanah
1898: At Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise
delivered a sermon that included references to “the triumphant war against
Spain” that was a fight “against injustice and unrighteousness; the hope that
the wrong done to Captain Dreyfus would soon be righted; and the view that
Zionism would prove to be “a unifying and inspiring force among the ten
million” Jews scattered around the world.
1898: At Temple Beth-El, Rabbi Kaufman Kohler delivered a
sermon entitled “The Larger Life and Larger Visions.”
1898: At Temple Israel in Harlem, Rabbi Harris delivered
a sermon entitled “The Jewish Question.”
1898: At Shearith Israel, Rabbi Pereira Mendez delivered
a sermon entitled “The Good and the Evil” based on the words of Amos “Seek ye
the Lord”
1898: At Temple Emanu-El Rabbi Gustav Gottheil delivered
a sermon entitled “The New Era.”
1898: Jewish soldiers, many of them veterans of the
recent war with Spain including Alfred Levi of Cincinnati who served with the
17th Infantry in Cuba, attended services at many of the
congregations in New York including Temple Emanu-El where fifty seats had been
reserved for their use.
1898: The wealthy Jews living in Hempstead, Long Island
and its surrounding villages are planning holding New Year’s services for the
first time as part of their long-term plan to build a permanent synagogue.
1898: Herzl meets with the German minister Bernhard von
Bülow
1899:
“Two thousand residents of Chicago” nearly half of whom were women “assembled
at Metropolitan Hall…this afternoon and protested against the verdict of the
court-martial in the Dreyfus case.”
1899:
In his review published today, Edward Dithmar writes tha “from a strictly
critical point of view ‘The Ghetto’ is not much of play. It is slow moving and wordy…It throws no new
light on Jewish character while its implied moral is neither very clear nor
very valuable.” It will draw because its name will lead people to confuse it
with Zangwill’s “Children of the Ghetto.”
1899:
“Sunday Labor Legislation” published today traces the history of Sunday labor
laws in Massachusetts including the fact that “in 1895 the law as to labor on
Sunday was…modified to accord with the religious ideas of the Jews. A statute provided that ‘whoever
conscientiously believes that the seventh day of the week ought be observed as
the Sabbath and actually refrains from secular business and labor on that day,
shall not be liable to the penalties of this section for performing secular
business and labor on the Lord’s day, if he disturbs no other person.’”
1899:
Reverend W. S. Crowe, the past of the Church of the Eternal Hope delivered a
sermon on “The Religious Aspects of the Dreyfus Case” in which he condemned the
verdict.
1899:
In London’s Hyde Park, a few thousand people stood around the seven platforms
and hear the speakers condemn the Dreyfus verdict.
1899:
In the prelude to his sermon tonight, Reverend Madison C. Peters of the
Bloomingdale Reformed Church spoke out
against the Dreyfus verdict saying that Dreyfus “was condemned, the innocent
for the guilty on the General Staff, and he was condemned solely because he was
a Jew.”
1900: In the wake of the Boxer Rebellion, the gunboat Yorktown
under the command Edward D. Taussig arrived in Cavite in the Philippines.
1900: In Raesfeld, Germany, Herz Elkan, the German born son of
Joseph and Caroline Elkan and his wife Rosa Elkan gave birth to Sally Elkan
1900: Twenty-eight year old Joseph Michaels, the Cincinnati, OH
born son of Morris and Eva Michaels who was the “organizer and President Hyman
Michaels Company in Chicago and Vice President of the North Shore Congregation
married Belle Ettlinger today.
1901: As the nation mourned the death of President McKinley, today
Bloomingdales advertised the sale of “Mourning Draperies and Flag” in black,
white and purple and “in any quantity.”
1901: It was reported today that Oscar S. Straus has been
appointed to serve on the New York Board of Trade and Transportation committee
that will participate in the ceremonies surrounding the funeral of President
McKinley.
1902: Annie Krichefski of Jersey married Robert Katz.
1903: “Author Sentenced for Insulting Jews” published today
reported that :Paul Koch has been sentenced “to three months imprisonment of
insulting the Jewish religion in a pamphlet on ‘Ritual Murder’ in which he
endeavored to prove that ritual murders were practiced in Germany.”
1904: In Rozwadow, Poland Meir Katz and his wife Hinda Garten gave
birth to Abraham Garten Katz.
1904(8th of Tishrei, 5665): Shabbat Shuvah
1904: In Rozwadow, Meir Katz and the former Hinda Gartnen gave
birth to Abraham Katz-Garten.
1904: Birthdate of Edgar Georg Ulmer, the Moravian born American
film director whose films included “The Black Cat” and “Detour.”
1905: Birthdate of Dutch mathematician Hans Freudenthal.
http://www.fi.uu.nl/en/freudenthal.html
1906: Despite protests from the London Committee of Jewish
Deputies the hundreds of people arrested during the pogrom at Siedice were
tried by court-marital that acted without the norms connected with a judicial
system.
1906: In New York City, Percy Selden Straus, the new born son of
Isador and Rosalie Ida Straus, and his wife Edith Straus gave birth to Percy
Selden Straus, Jr.
1907(9th of Tishrei, 5668): In the evening, Kol Nidre.
1907(9th of Tishrei, 5668): Sixty-year old pianist and
composer Ignaz Brüll, whose works would be banned by the Nazis passed away
today in Viennal
http://grandemusica.net/musical-biographies-b-2/brull-ignaz
1908: Birthdate of Russian
born violin virtuoso David Oistrakh
1909: Louis Waldman, a founding member of the Social Democratic
Federation, and a prominent New York labor lawyer, having left the Ukraine,
arrived in New York today where he joined his sisters who were already living
there.
1909(2nd of Tishrei, 5670): Second day of Rosh Hashanah
1909(2nd of Tishrei, 5670): Max Lewy passed away.
1910(13th of Elul, 5670):Mrs. Golde Schilling passed
away.
1910(13th of Elul, 5670): Mrs. Jette Trembe passed
away.
1911: In New York, Dudley D. Sicher, the son of David and Sarah
Sicher, the garment manufacturer known for his concern for the well-being of
his employees and his wife Florine Sicher gave birth to Jane E. Rosenthal.
1911: It was reported today that “more than 110 of the 441 pages
in the American Jewish Year Book, just issued for 1911 by the American Jewish
Committee are devoted to a reported on the history and status of Russia’s
refusal to honor the American passports of American Jews and to a protest
against the relctant attitude of the Administration at Washington, especially
the Department of States, in regard to remedying the situation.”
1912(6th of Tishrei, 5673): Fifty-three year old Fanny
Wolffsohn, the wife of Zionist leader David Wolffsohn passed away today at
Baden-Baden
1913: After “a harrowing journey across Poland and a train trip
across Germany to Breman, today Shimeon Novodvorsky who would be known as Jim
Novy, boarded the SS Chemnitz for a trip that would take him to Galveston, TX.
1913: Forty-year old Chicago attorney and member of B’nai B’rith
founded the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) which aimed to halt anti-Semitism by
all legal means and at a broader level to fight against injustice and
inequality without regard to the origins of the group being attacked.
1914: During WW I which saw Jews fighting in all of the armies of
the Great Powers, today the German and Austrian general staffs were trying to
gather “a force of between one and two million men to stem the Russian advance
in the East” while on the Western Front, the 6th German Army failed
to outflank Allied troops in Belgium which made the cry of Home by Christmas
seem less and less likely.
1915(9th of Tishrei, 5675): In the evening, Kol Nidre
1915: “The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, the oldest
congregation in New York” held two services at the same time under the
direction of Louis Napoleon Levy with “Dr. H. Pereira Menes preaching in the
upper auditorium and Assistant Rabbi David De Sola Pool preaching downstairs
1915: “Newman Erb, the financier who took bichloride of mercury
tablets is resting easily at his home in Deal, NJ.”
1915: At Rodoph Sholom on Lexington Avenue, Rabbi Rudolph Grossman
delivered a sermon entitled “The Moral Failure of Our Civilization.”
1915: At Temple Israel on Lenox Avenue, Dr. Maurice H. Harris
delivered a sermon entitled “The Sanctification of the Name.”
1915: At Temple Emanu-El, Dr. Joseph Silverman delivered a sermon
entitled “The Perfect Man vs. the Superman” in which he spoke favorably about
“ex-Governor Slaton of Georgia” who “rose above the clamor of the crowd and
rescued Leo M. Frank from the jaws of death” while condemning the “frenzie move
that wreaked vengeance and violated the laws of its own State” by lynching
Frank.
1915: In the wake of the “twenty-four accidental fires” started by
candles being burned on Rosh Hashanah the New York Fire Commissioners hopes
that with candles burning in every Jewish home in the city “the heads of these
families” will place “candles in a remote spot” preferably “in a pan of earth
or vessel of water.”
1915: It was reported today that the decision to remove the Grand
Duke from his position of commanding all Russian military forces was in part, a
response to “domestic difficulties” brought on by his extreme reactionary views
including his failure to the keep the promise “of better treatment of the
Jews.”
1916: In New York “steps to raise one million dollars for the
relief of Romanian Jews” and for the establishment of a campaign to obtain
“equal rights and emancipation” for them “were taken at two meeting attended”
by “two hundred delegates representing 35 organizations.”
1916: It was reported today that the Joint Distribution Committee
chaired by Felix M Warburg has raised $5,797, 280.36.
1916: Dr. Samuel Landau, the cantor at B’nai Israel, an Orthodox
synagogue was “the principal speaker” at the dedication of the congregation’s
new facility at Bedford Avenue and Hewes Street in Williamsburg.
1916: “Dr. Samuel Schulman, a member of the original sub-committee
of the Conference of National Jewish Organizations” said this afternoon that
“It is deplorable that” “the peace plan for an American Jewish Congress to
demand equal for Jews in other countries” “was voted down” because the
“agreement had been reach after much labor and thought and had been assented to
by men on both sides who understood every phase of the Jewish problem.”
1916: It was reported today that among the contributions received
by the Central committee for the Relief of Jews Suffering Through the War were
$24 from the Daughter of Jacob in Amsterdam, NY, $81 from Rabbi J.N. Rosenberg
and $20 from Rabbi I.P Wolkowitz.
1917(1st of Tishrei, 5678): Rosh Hashanah
1917: “More than 300 soldiers in uniform attended the services at
the Institutional Synagogue at 110th Street and Fifth Avenue.”
1917: Abram I. Elkus, the former Ambassador to Turkey “spoke at
the Community Building…at service conducted under the direction of the Free
Synagogue” where he said that “every citizen of this country is expected to do
his duty regardless of how he may feel toward warfare in general and the
motives and principles involved.
1917: At Temple Beth-El, Rabbi Samuel Schulman told his
congregants that “the only sane opinion today” is the one “which urges us to
give ourselves single mindedly to our nation until America has its influence
felt and has won a real victory.
1917: Today marks the official start of special campaign by the
American Jewish Relief Committee chaired by Louis Marshall “to raise $1,000,000
toward the $10,000,000 Jewish War Relief Fund.”
1918: Birthdate of Leah Lenke Roth the native of Sajoszentpeter in
northeast Hungary who gained fame as Leah Gottlieb, the woman “who started with
a single sewing machine in a refugee camp in the new nation-state of Israel and
rose to become one of the world’s most renowned designers of women’s bathing
suits.” (As reported by Douglas Martin)
1918: During WW I, as General Allenby prepares to resume his
offensive north of Jerusalem an Indian sergeant crosses into the Turkish lines
where he warns them that the British are about to attack. The Turks believe him, but the German general
in command does not which means that Allenby will have the element of surprise
as he continues the offensive that will ultimately lead to British control over
Palestine.
1918: On the day after Yom Kippur, Sergeant Abraham Blaustein of the 165th
regiment (formerly the fabled 69th regiment) headed left St. Benoit
after a three day stay and headed for La March, another French town that had to
be taken on the road to Berlin.
1918: Birthdate of Chaim Herzog
(חיים הרצוג) sixth President of
Israel. Herzog was born in 1918 in Belfast, where his father, Dr Isaac Herzog,
was rabbi. While Chaim was still a child, Isaac was appointed Chief Rabbi of
Ireland and the family moved to Dublin. Chaim is remembered there as a former bantam-weight
boxing champion. After college, he moved
to Palestine in 1935. He joined the
Palmach and defended Jewish settlements during the Arab Uprising that lasted
from 1936 until 1938. Herzog returned to
England where he studied to become a lawyer.
He fought with the British forces in Europe during World War II where
his forte was intelligence. After the
war, he returned to Palestine where he took an active role in the fighting to
create the new state of Israel. After the war, the new state made use of
Herzog’s knowledge of Intelligence work.
He enjoyed a successful career filling several military, civilian and
private sector positions. He passed away in 1997. Chaim Herzog in his own words: "I do not
bring forgiveness with me, nor forgetfulness. The only ones who can forgive are
dead; the living have no right to forget.”
1919(22nd of Elul, 5679): Sixty-eight year old Prussian
born economist Gustav Cohn passed away today.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4520-cohn-gustav
1920: In Toronto, David and Lillian gave birth to Harold Levy who
gained fame as Peter Allen, “the radio voice of the Metropolitan Opera’s
Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts. (As reported by James Barron)
1920: It was reported today that B’nai Abram Congregation of
Minneapolis has dedicated a new synagogue at Thirteenth Avenue and 9th
Street.
1920: It was reported today that “Rabbi Harry of Congregation
B’nai Israel in Cleveland” has accepted a similar position with Congregation
B’rith Sholom in Bethlehem, PA.
1920: It was reported today that violinist Mischa Elman “has been
decorated by the King of the Belgians.”
1920: Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, Justice Abram I. Elkus and Joseph M.
Levine are scheduled to address a meeting in the Prospect Avenue Macy Place
Methodist Church, the temporary home of the Bronx Free Synagogue where they
will appeal to attendees to help contributed to the drive to raise $125,000 for
purchase of the church as the Bronx Free Synagogue Community Center.”
1921:
Mr. and Mrs. Julius Rosenwald announced the engagement tonight of their
daughter Miss Marion Rosenwald to Alfred K. Stern, the son of Mrs. Max
Stern. Mr. Stern had been living in
Fargo, North Dakota. No date has been
set for the wedding. [Stern would later divorce the Sears & Roebuck heiress
and eventually marry Martha Dodd, the daughter William E. Dodd, the first U.S.
Ambassador to Germany to serve after Hitler came to power. For more about the Dodds see In the Garden of
Beasts by Erik Larson]
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0F12FB3E5A1B7A93CAA81782D85F458285F9
1922: In Canada, Shaar Hashomayim dedicated its new synagogue at
the corner of Kensington Avenue and Côte St. Antoine in Westmount. The
congregation had acquired the ground in 1920.
In 1921, Lyon Cohen, the president of the congregation had laid the
cornerstone which had come from Eretz Israel.
1923: This evening. Dr. Ephraim Frisch of the New Synagogue
officiated at the wedding of Dorothea Levine and Sidney R. Klein, an efficiency
engineer.”
1924: Today marked the second day of the conference of Augdath
Israel, the orthodox Jewish World Conference being held in Cracow which is
being attended by 84 delegates many of whom are “well-known rabbis from various
countries.”
1925: Sir Mathew Nathan completed his service as Governor of
Queensland.
1925: In Berlin, mathematicians Richard Brauer and Ilse Karger
were married today six years before Brauer fled the country and began teaching
at the University of Kentucky and seven years before Ilse was able to escape to
the United States.
1926(9th of Tishrei, 5687): Erev Yom Kippur
1926: Charles and Gisèle Lustiger gave birth to Aaron Lustiger who
converted to Catholicism in 1940, became the Archbishop of Paris and was
ultimately name a Cardinal as Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/world/europe/06lustiger.html
1927: In suburban Philadelphia, PA Rabbi Philip Reis Alstat spoke
at the dedication ceremonies of Ohev Shalom Synagogue Center.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_R._Alstat
http://www.jta.org/1976/12/01/archive/philip-alstat-dead-at-85
1927: Annie Krichefski and Robert Katz celebrated their silver
anniversary in Jersey.
1927: Abraham Myer Krichefski and Mashe Cohen celebrated their
golden anniversary in Jersey.
1927: Fanny Brice divorced Nicky Arnstein today.
1928(3rd of Tishrei, 5689): Tzom Gedaliah is observed
for the last time during the Presidency of Calvin Coolidge.
1929: The Jewish community in Palestine is feeling a sense of
increasing anxiety over the fact that 45 of 51 Jews arrested in Haifa have been
charged with attempted or premeditated murder under the direction public
prosecutors in Haifa who are Arabs. In
addition to which bail has been denied.
The arrest comes on the heels of a wave of Arab violence that included
massacres at Hebron and Safed.
1930:
Jewish community centers and other organizations affiliated with the Jewish
Welfare Board are scheduled to hold exercises today in celebration of
Constitution Day.
1930:
Shortstop Jim Levey made his major league debut with the St. Louis Browns.
1931:
Today, the Synagogue Council of America issued from its headquarters on 42nd
Street “Greetings to American Israel” in connection with Yom Kippur, the day of
atonement which begins” at sunset on September 20th.
1931(6th
of Tishrei, 5692): Charles Baker, the husband of Anna Baker with whom he had
two children – Beatrice and Jesse – and a member of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun
passed away today.
1932(16th
of Elul, 5692): Parashat Ki Tavo
1932:
The celebration of 90th anniversary of Congregation began today with
Rabbi Louis I. Newsman who succeeded Dr. Rudolph Grossman who died after
serving as rabbi for 33 years, preaching a sermon on “Adolf Hitler, the World
Jewish Conference and the Jewish Future.”
1933:
The National Representation of German Jews (Reichsvertretung der Dutschen
Juden) was established "to come to grips with the troubled times..."
Rabbi Leo Baeck would be its president.
1933:
Today’s review of Trial by Prejudice by Rochester born Jewish Columbia trained
attorney Arthur Garfield Hayes includes a look at section entitled Wobblies,
Communists and a Wealthy Jew,” the wealth Jew being the lynched Leo Frank.
1933:
In London “Emmanuel Barbanel, a tailor’s presser and his wife Jane Limberg,”
gave birth to Josephine Miriam Barbanel who married dental surgeon Peter
Wagerman and as Josephine Wagerman
became the first women to serve as the Headteacher of the Jews’ Free
School and the first woman to serve as President of the Board of Deputies of
British Jews.
1934:
U.S. premiere of “Young and Beautiful,” a comedy produced by Nat Levine with a
script by Dore Schary.
1935:
“David A. Brown, philanthropist and one of the most widely known
representatives of international Jewish welfare causes, addressed a meeting
given in his honor by the directors and officers of the American Ort Society,
at the Advertising Club tonight, as the formal opening of the Ort's campaign to
raise $500,000 for its refugee work abroad.”
1935:
“Speakers stressed the economic and religious hardships experienced by
minorities in Germany at a luncheon today in the Hotel Astor in honor of Nathan
Straus, who arrived here several days ago after a tour of England, France and
Switzerland.”
1936(1st
of Tishrei, 5697): As FDR prepares to face Alf Landon in the Presidential
election, Jews observe Rosh Hashanah
1936:
“Nazi Penalties Heavier” published today described the decision of the Reich
Justice Ministry to instruct “public prosecutors to demand more severe punish
for Jewish ‘race defilers’ – Jews convicted of having had relations with
‘German women.’”
1936:
“Dr. Samuel H. Goldenson of Temple of Temple Emanu-El who had chosen ‘Micha’s
Creed for the Troubles of 1936” as “the theme for this morning’ service”
included the quote “What does the Lord require of Thee? To do justly, to love mercy and to walk
humbly with thy God.”
1936:
In his sermon today, Rabbi Jonah B. Wise of Central Synagogue “said that
humility was the need of our time and that the Jew must learn to walk humbly
with his God.”
1936:
At Shaaray Tefila on West 82nd Street, Rabbi Nathan Stern delivered
a sermon entitled “One Step Further in which he said “the dictatorship of God
alone give security and has endurance.”
1936:
At Temple Israel, Rabbi William F. Rosenblum congregants that their mission was
“to get together and to make the world what was intended to be.”
1936:
At the Free Synagogue in Carnegie Hall Rabbi Stephen S. Wise delivered a sermon
entitled “Not Without Hope” saying “that the Jew suffered because he hoped and
that he hoped despite his sufferings.”
1936:
At Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Manhattan Dr. Israel Goldstein delivered a
sermon entitled “Can the Evil Decree Be Averted?”
1936:
“Charges of an Italian plot to stir up Arab unrest in Palestine were made by a
special correspondent of the London Daily Herald now” working “in Jerusalem.”
1936:
During his sermon at Ohab Zedek, Rabbi William Margolis “assailed dictatorships
as enemies of civilization.”
1936:
Rabbi Joseph Zeitlin led Rosh Hashanah services at Temple Ansche Chesed in New
York.
1936:
Rabbi Joseph Hager led Rosh Hashanah services at the Wall Street Synagogue on
Maiden Lane.
1936:
At the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, Dr. David de Sola Pool delivered a
sermon entitled “Can We Make This a Better World?”
1936:
“As is customary, Yiddish theatres began seasons” with “four playhouses opening
in Manhattan, two in the Bronx, three in Brooklyn” and several others opening
Newark and Philadelphia.
1936:
Colonel Josef Beck, the Foreign Minister of Poland left today for Geneva for a
meeting of the League of Nations where “the problem of mass emigration of
Polish Jews to Palestine will be raised.”
1936:
The United States must accept a share of blame in the "horrible record of
murders and destructive acts" in Palestine, in the opinion of Senators
Royal S. Copeland of New York and Warren R. Austin of Vermont, who returned
today on the Italian liner Conte di Savoia after an unofficial study of
conditions in the Holy Land. In a jointly issued statement the senators said
that the United States “government cannot be held blameless until it calls
sharply to the attention of Great retain our feeling that the mandate is not
being administered as it should be. No
matter how pressing may be the demands of a Presidential election, time out
must be taken to have the atrocities in Palestine stopped.” The senators descried the security measures
as being “lax” and expressed the view that a New York police official backed by
1,000 officers and 200 detectives could reestablish law and order in the wake
of Arab violence.
1936:
“Blum Finds Jews Are Good Patriots” published today provided a summary of “an
article published in the current issue of the American Hebrew” in which the
Premier of France asserted “that loyalty to Judaism need not impair the
patriotism of Jews” but also make “a plea for Zionism to provide a refuge for
victims of intolerance and persecution.”
1936:
In his New Year’s greeting published today, President Roosevelt said “Mindful
of the signal part taken by the Jewish people of America in upholding the
traditions and aims of our country, it gives me special pleasure to extend
cordial greetings to all those of the Jewish faith on this Rosh Hashanah.”
1937:
The Palestine Post reported that the
League of Nations Council, meeting in Geneva, unanimously adopted British
Foreign Minister Anthony Eden's plan and decided to send a new Special
Commission to Palestine, to consult with Jews and Arabs how best to implement
the Royal (Peel) Commission Report's recommendations on the country's partition
and fix the future boundaries of both states and of the British enclaves. In
the meanwhile the Palestine Mandate of
1938(21st
of Elul, 5698): Parashat Ki Tavo; Leil Selichot
1938(21st
of Elul, 5698): Eighty year old Adolphus Leo Weil, the husband of Cassie Ritter
Weil and the father of Ferdinand and Adolphus Weil passed away today after
which he was buried at Homewood Cemetery in Pittsburgh, PA.
1938:
In Pittsburg, 80 year old Keysville, VA born, U.VA educated Pittsburgh attorney
A. Leo Weil passed way today.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/weil-leo
1938:
Hank Greenberg hits his fifty first home run of the season which kept him even
with Babe Ruth’s 1927 record breaking pace.
1939(4th
of Tishrei, 5700): Tzom Gedaliah observed on the same day that German U-29
torpedoed the HMS Courageous in one of the early losses in what would become
the critical extended naval campaign known as the Battle of the Atlantic.
1939(4th
of Tishrei, 5700): Nineteen Jews were killed and many more were injured when a
train struck a bus halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
1939:
The Soviet Union invaded Poland during WW II.
This invasion was part of the terms of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression
Pact that made it possible for the Germans to invade Poland. The Nazis traded
half of Poland to ensure that the Germans would have a free hand in fighting
the British and the French without having to worry about fighting the Soviets
at the same time.
1940(14th
of Elul, 5700): Twenty-seven year old Second Radio Office John Sidney Lazarus,
the son of “Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lazarus of Montreal, died today when his ship
was sunk by a U-boat after which he was buried at Halifax Memorial Cemetery.
1941:
The Nazis took several thousand Jews taken from their homes in Kovno and locked
them in synagogues for three days. They then brought them to prepared ditches
and shot them all.
1941: A general deportation of German Jews
remaining in the Fatherland began. For
those interested in the topic you might want to read The Last Jews in Berlin
by Leonard Gross, which depicts the life of 18 Jews living in the capital of
Nazi Germany.
1941:
“At Wuerzburg, Germany, the Jews were marched through the town carrying their
meagre belongings and forced on to trains headed for Nuremberg which would be
joined to longer trains headed for “The East” a euphemism for the death camps.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-deport.htm
1942:
Birthdate of Sioux City, IA native Dr. T. Alan Hurrwitz the holder of a
doctorate from the University of Rochester who was the first deaf person and
first Jew to serve as President of Gallaudet University.
1942(6th
of Tishrei, 5703): Forty-two year old Dutch businessman Abraham Icek Tuschinski
and owner of the famous Tuschiniski Movie Theatre in Amsterdam was murdered
today at Auschwitz having been shipped there from the infamous Westerbork
concentration camp.
1943:
The Russian city of Bryansk was liberated from Nazis. Bryansk was occupied by
the Nazis for over seven hundred days.
It was the scene of on-going partisan activity. Jews played an active part in this
resistance. Before the Nazis left the
areas, Jews hiding in the forest around Bryansk were attacked and killed by
local forces loyal to the Nazis. The
excuse for killing them was that they were “pro-Soviet.”
1943:
In Lyon, Fritz Freund, a Jewish veteran of the French Army, went out to buy
food for his wife Mathilde and himself.
He never returned. Mathilde
searched for her husband in vain. She
was told by on-lookers that her husband was probably one of those who were
shoved into cattle cars by employees of the French national railway
company. The cars went from Lyon, to a
holding camp in Compiegne before depositing their human cargo at
Buchenwald. Yes, the French were willing
accomplices to the Nazi final solution. This is the Compiegne where the
Armistice was signed in 1918 and where the French cravenly surrendered to the
Nazis in 1940
1943(17th
of Elul, 5703): Estella Blits-
Agsterribe, her six-year old daughter Nanny and two-year old son Alfred were
murdered today at Auschwitz. Before
marrying Samuel Blits, she was known as Estella Agsterribe, one of the members
of the 1928 gold medal winning Dutch ladies Olympic Gymnastics Team.
1943(17th
of Elul, 5703): Following Italy’s change in status from German ally into German
occupied country, Professor Giuseppe Jonah, a leader of the Jewish community in
Venice, “committed suicide” today “rather than had over a list of Jewish
community residents to” the Nazis who would surely have murdered them or
shipped them off to a concentration camp.
1943:
“Revenge of the Zombies,” a horror film directed by Steve Sekely was released
today in the United States.
1944(29th
of Elul, 5704): Erev Rosh Hashanah 5705
1944:
During WW II, the start of the disastrous operation known as Market-Garden the
British part of which was the Battle of Arnhem and whose participants included
a significant number of Anglo-Jewish Paratroopers as well as Jews fighting with
Polish Parachute Brigade.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jews-at-the-battle-of-arnhem
1944:
While serving as a Chaplain in the United States Army, Rabbi Harold I.
Saperstein delivered a sermon “The Call of the Shofar” at Grenoble, France.
1944:
“Russia Fears Reich May Win Soft Peace” published today described “a growing
feeling among the Soviets that the Americans and British may take too easy an
attitude toward the Germans after the war.”
1944: As the Red Army approached, the Germans
started the evacuation of the Bor labor camp. The first Hungarian death march
began. Five thousand people would set off, only 9 would survive.
1944(29th
of Elul, 5704): Near Verona, Italy, 23-year-old Rita Rosani, the Jewish leader
of an Italian partisan group, is killed in a battle with German troops.
1944:
Moseh Pinchasovich, the son of Yosef and Rivka Pinchasovich and husband of
Rivka Pinchasovich passed away today.
194510th of Tishrei, 5706) Yom Kippur: Jews fast on the first Yom
Kippur after the end of World War II and the Holocaust.
1945(10th of Tishrei, 5706) as Jews observed Yom Kippur for the
first time since the end of WW II, rabbis grappled with the Shoah and its
aftermath offering different ways to deal with the future that ranged from the
very practical to the spiritual. At Rodeph Shalom, Rabbi Louis Newman told
congregants that “six million Jews have died a martyr’s death and their blood
cries up from the ground. The least
America and Britain can do is to open the doors of Palestine to Jewish
immigration and to enable the homeless and wandering to come at last to
security and peace. At B’nai Jeshurun
Rabbi Israel Goldstein confronted the reality that the culture of European
Jewry had been destroyed when he told his congregants that “American Jewry will
be called upon for a long time to be the big brother of Jewish Communities the
world over. It must prepare itself for
this responsibility by matching it philanthropic endeavors with its education
and religious activities.” At Pelham
Parkway Jewish Center, Rabbi Jacob Katz reminded his congregants that “Before
we may properly pray for forgiveness from God, we must obtain reconciliation
from our fellowmen” which provides a natural segue to Rabbi Joseph Lookstein’s
call for “mankind’s penitence to be expressed through a universal resolution
that wheresoever and against whomsoever evil will raise its ugly head it will
become the concern of all decent man and nations to stamp it out. Anti-Semitism, anti-Negroism and
anti-Catholicism and all of the many manifestations of bigotry will be
recognized for what they are – destructive forces that will be dealt with
accordingly.
1945: Birthdate of “American video artist” Beryl Korot who has
collaborated with Steve Reich on at least two projects.
1946: It was announced today that “Twentieth Century-Fox
International will distribute films released by Sir Alexander Korda’s British
Lion Company in Australian, New Zealand and Tasmanian theatres” and that “the
films will be shown on a percentage basis on the same terms as the best
American-made films are shown.”
1946: Today “Mass production of television sets began, with RCA,
headed by David Sarnoff, producing the first new TV since World War II, a
10-inch set made at its plant in Camden, New Jersey.”
1947:
In the past two years, since August 1945, 347 people had been killed in
Palestine under British occupation including 169 Englishmen, 88 Jews, 85 Arabs
and 5 listed as “unidentified.”
1947(3rd of Tishrei, 5708): Tzom Gedaliah
1947(3rd of Tishrei, 5708: Meir Plaskowski and his son
Reuven “were riding their motorcycle from Hadera to Padres Hanna when both were
intentionally run over and killed by a British armored car in retaliation to
the Sergeants affair - an incident in which the Etzel kidnapped and hanged two
British Army Intelligence Corps NCOs in a groove near Netanya following the
arrests and death sentences passed on three Lehi militants.
https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/B1Q3WU4Uu
1948(13th of Elul, 5708): Sixty-seven year old Emil
Ludwig (born Emil Cohn) the journalist whose work included interviews with
Mussolini, Ataturk and Stalin died today in Switzerland.
1948(13th of Elul, 5708): Fifty-nine year old Hungarian
born “painter and caricaturist” Henry Major who came to the United States and
settled in New York passed away today in Provincetown, MA.
https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/henry-major-papers-6820
http://gayphilosopher.blogspot.com/2008/08/about-gay-philosopher-and-henry-major.html
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1948/09/19/96597846.pdf
1948: Acting in a manner that brought shame to the Jewish people,
the Stern Gang assassinated Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the UN
to mediate between the Arabs and Jews during the War for Independence. Bernadotte’s position was viewed as pro-Arab
and that was the rational offered for this act.
Bernadotte was eventually by Ralph Bunche who would win the Nobel Peace
Prize for ending the conflict in 1949.
1948: Today, “in Bad Reichenall, Anton Piëch a member of Nazi
Party and the SS and son-in-law of Ferdianand Porsche who manufactured
Volkswagens and parts for weapons including the V-1 flying bomb, “participated
in the signing of the agreement between Volkswagenwerk GmbH (under the
leadership of new CEO Heinrich Nordhoff) and Porsche Kommanditgesellschaft.”
1949(23rd of Elul, 5709): Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilech’
Leil Selichot
1949: Clothing manufacturer Abraham Marcus passed away today in
his native Baltimore.
1950: It was learned today that the Jordanian Government has asked
the United Nations to suspend Security Council action on its complaint against
Israel's occupation of a disputed strip of land at the confluence of the Jordan
and Yarmuk Rivers.
1950(6th of Tishrei, 5711): Sixty-five year old New York City
Magistrate Morris Rothenberg, the general chairman of the United Palestine
Appeal passed away to at the Biltmore Hotel after suffering a heart attack
following a meeting of the National Executive Committee of the Zionist
Organization of America.
1950: In a single sentence communiqué issued in New Delhi by the
Ministry of External Affairs, India announced that it was recognizing the
Government of Israel effective on this date.
The Indians made it clear that the recognition should not be seen as a
change in its policy supporting the Arabs in their conflicts with the Jewish
state. India has no intention of sending
a diplomat to take up residence in Israel.
The Israelis will not be sending anybody to Delhi because of a lack of
funds and trained personnel.
1951: “Negotiations of a new five-point plan aimed at establishing
peace between Israel and the Arab states were delayed while Israeli
representative awaited their government’s reaction to the plan” which is the
handiwork of the United Nations Palestine Conciliation Commission. Under the terms of the plan, among other
things, Israel would pay the 850,000 Arab refugees for the property they had
left behind in what is now Israel, funds would be made available to those
countries in which the refugees were now living for economic development,
borders would draw “to avoid friction” and “both sides would renounce all
warlike methods and ‘respect the rights of neighbors to security.’”
1953: In Greenwich, London, Cecil Day-Lewis who was not Jewish and
actress Jill Balcon who was gave birth to actress Lydia Tamasin Day-Lewis, the
sister of actor Daniel Day-Lewis.
1954: Birthdate of Ukraine native Michael Dorfman, the
American-Israeli promoter of the revival of Yiddish culture and language.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140128150722/http://booknik.ru/about/authors/mihayel-dorfman/
1955(1st of Tishrei, 5716): Rosh Hashanah
1955:
Birthdate of comedienne Rita Rudner
1956:
U.S. premiere of “Lust for Life” the movie version of the novel by Irving Stone
with a script by Norman Corwin starring Kirk Douglas.
1957:
In Tel Aviv, American athletes scored two more victories at the Maccabiah when “Martin Engel tossed the
hammer 192 feet” and 41 year old Henry Laskau won the 3,000-meter walk marking
the third time he has won the event.
1958:
Seventy one year old Austrian born British Chemist Friedrich Paneth, whose
parents were Jewish but who was raised as a Protestant, passed away today.
http://www.uni-koeln.de/math-nat-fak/mineral/kosmo/paneth.pdf
1959(14th
of Elul, 5719): Sixty-eight year old Kiev native and
Russian trained psychiatrist Dr. Gregory Zilboorg, the participant in the
Russian Revolution and Minister of Labor in the government of Alexander
Kerensky who was forced to leave Russia for the United States after the
Bolsheviks came to power which led to a career as a clinician, lecturer and
author in his chosen field passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/09/18/88822368.pdf
1959:
ITV broadcast the first episode of “The Four Just Men” with music by Francis
Chagin.
1961:
NBC broadcast the first episode of “Car 54 Where Are You?” created by Nate
Hiken who also served as director, producer and wrote the theme music for the
police themed sitcom.
1962:
“The Days and Nights of BeeBee Fenstermaker” directed by Ulu Grosbard premiered
tonight at the Sheridan Square Playhouse.
1964(11th
of Tishrei, 5725): Sixty-nine year old Samuel Randolph Parnes, the husband of
Rose Meyerson Parnes passed away today after which he was buried at Mount
Hebron Cemetery.
1964(11th
of Tishrei, 5725): Twenty-four year old Merry Abel Barge, the wife of Dr. Peter
Barge and daughter of Lionel and Sherry Abel passed away today in San
Francisco.
1965:
Birthdate of writer, producer and director Bryan Jay Singer, the adopted son of
“Grace Sinden” and “Norbert Dave Singer” and the founder of Bad Hat Harry
Productions.
1966(3rd
of Tishrei, 5727): Parashat Ha’Azinu; Shabbat Shuva
1966:
CBS television broadcast the first episode of Bruce Geller’s “Mission
Impossible” starring Steven Hill, “the Orthodox Jew who had to leave the set on
Fridays at 4 p.m., Barbara Bain and Martin Landau with a theme song by Lalo
Schifrin.
1968:
CBS broadcast the first episode of “Julia,” the ground-breaking sitcom created
by Savannah native Hal Kanter, co-starring Ezra Stone and with music by Elmer
Bernstein.
1968:
Birthdate of Birmingham, England and Oxford graduate Richard Wolffe the MSNBC
commentator and executive who has written two books about Barak Obama -- Renegade: The Making of a President and
Revival: The Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House.
1969:
“A Place for Lovers” produced by Arthur Cohn with music by Lee Konitz was
released in France today by MGM.
1969(5th
of Tishrei, 5730): A month before her 69th birthday, Ida Klein
Clurman , the widow of Sam Clurman, passed away today after which she interred
at Montefiore Cemetery in Queens.
1969:
Birthdate of Kobi Oz, the native of Sderot “who is he lead singer of Teapacks.”
1969:
“Lester F. Avnet, 57 years old, resigned today "for reasons of
health" as chairman and chief executive officer of Avnet, Inc., the big
electronics corporation he helped to build.”
1971:
U.S. premiere of “Kotch” starring Walter Matthau with music by Marvin Hamlisch.
1972(9th
of Tishrei, 5733): Erev Yom Kippur
1972:
“In a pre-Yom Kippur message, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson said that only after
self-analysis ‘can one positively influence fellow Jews for improvement.”
1972:
First episode of “M*A*S*H” appeared on CBS.
The hit show was created by Chicago native Larry Gelbart.
1972:
In his Yom Kippur message delivered today, Rabbi Maurice N. Eisendrath, the
President of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations “urged American Jews
‘to campaign vigorously for Jewish rights, safeguarding of Israel, and freedom
of Soviet Jews’” while playing “a strong role in fighting ‘for the rights all
minority groups.’”
1972:
“Rabbi Ala. W. Miller at the Society for Advancement of Judaism…said a crucial
problem confronting Jews and non-Jews was overcoming ‘violence in the streets,
violence in the air, violence in every part of the globe.’”
1972:
In his Yom Kippur message published today, Rabbi Louis Bernstein, President of
the Rabbinical Council of America “cited world peace as ‘the most urgent
problem which humanity faces today.’”
1972:
“Rabbi Joseph Karasik, President of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregation
of America said Jews must dedicated themselves ‘to the principles which our
sacred Torah expresses’” while recognizing “any danger to Israel…as a danger to
the survival of civilization as we known it.”
1972:
In Crown Heights, “150 Jews from Russia who have settled in Israel and are
visiting” in the United States” tonight have “their first opportunity to
observe Yom Kippur under the guidance of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, lead of
the worldwide Lubavitcher movement…”
1974(1st
of Tishrei, 5735): Rosh Hashanah observed for the first time during the
Presidency of Gerald Ford who came to office as a result of the Watergate
Scandals.
1976:
“The Front,” a comedic look at “the notorious Hollywood blacklist” written by
Walter Bernstein, directed by Martin Rift and co-starring Woody Allen, Zero
Mostel and Herschel Bernardi was released today in the United States by
Columbia Pictures.
1978: Conclusion of the first Camp David summit
talks hosted by President Carter and attended by Begin and Sadat. The Camp David
Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime
Minister Menachem Begin.
1980:
In New York at The Jewish Museum
opening of Andy Warhol: Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century
1980:
“Palestinian gunners in southern Lebanon fired on northern Israel today” but “no
injuries or damage were reported” and “the Israeli forces did return the fire.”
1982(29th
of Elul, 5742): Erev Rosh Hashanah
1982(29th
of Elul, 5742): Sam H. Toubin, a merchant in Brenham, Texas, who owned stores
in nine different towns and was the husband of Rosa Levin Toubin, the historian
for the local Jewish community, passed away.
1982(29th
of Elul, 5742): Ninety year old David Dubinsky, former president of the
International Ladies Garment Workers Union and an influential labor leader for
more than three decades, died today in Manhattan after a long illness.
http://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/18/obituaries/david-dubinsky-90-dies-led-garment-union.html
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/ilgwu/presidents/daviddubinsky.html
1983(10th
of Tishrei, 5744): Yom Kippur and Shabbat observed on the day Vanessa L. Williams became the first African American to be
crowned Miss America which
means she joined Bess Meyerson as being a non-WASP winner of the beauty
pageant.
1984:
B'nai Brith Women denounced a B'nai Brith International resolution to begin
admitting women to the previously all-male
1985(2nd
of Tishrei, 5746): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1985(2nd
of Tishrei, 5746): Seventy-eight year Fred Polak, the Dutch futurist and author
of The Image of the Future, passed away today.
http://storyfieldteam.pbworks.com/f/the-image-of-the-future.pdf
1988(6th
of Tishrei, 5749): Parsashat Vayeilech; Shabbat Shuva observed for the last
time during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan.
1988(6th
of Tishrei, 5749): Seventy-seven year old New Jersey native Albert “Reds”
Weinger who was “four sport” (football, basketball, baseball and track) at
Muhlenberg College before playing one year with Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL
passed away today.
1989:
“New Jewish Group Formed for Interfaith Ties” published today described the
formation of “the Jewish Council for International Interreligious Relations.”
1990(27th
of Elul, 5750): Ninety-one year old poet and authoress Amy K. Blank passed away
today.
http://jwa.org/thisweek/sep/17/1990/death-of-writer-amy-k-blank
1990:
CBS broadcast the first episode of “The Trials of Rosie O’Neill” a legal drama
produced by Barney Rosenzweig that starred his wife in the title role.
1991(9th
of Tishrei, 5752): Erev Yom Kippur – As Jews hear the strains the Kol Nidre,
the Soviet Union which had been a prison house for so many is officially coming
to an end.
1992(19th
of Elul, 5752): Sixty-three year old Harvard Professor Judith N. Shklar, the
Latvian born Jewish refugee who was the wife of Harvard Professor Gerald Shklar
and the mother of Ruth and Michael Shklar passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/19/obituaries/judith-n-shklar-63-professor-at-harvard.html
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1992/9/18/judith-shklar-professor-and-noted-theorist/
1993(2nd
of Tishrei, 5754): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1993:
“The Age of Innocence,” the film version of the novel by the same name starring
Winona Ryder with music by Elmer Bernstein was released in the United States
today by Columbia Pictures.
1994:
Ninety two year old Sir Karl Popper, “one of the greatest philosophers of
science of the twentieth century passed away today.
1995:
The New York Times book section
includes a review of An Obsession With Anne Frank: Meyer Levin and the Diary
by Lawrence Graver.
1998:
At the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of “I’m Losing You”
featuring Lisa Edelstein, Gina Gershon and Laraine Newman.
1999(7th
of Tishrei, 5760): Eighty-four year old English actress Joan Korda, the widow
of director Zoltan Korda lost her battle with cancer and passed away today in
Beverly Hills.
1999:
A year after premiering at the Toronto Intentional Film Festival, “L.A. Without
a Map” featuring Lisa Edelstein as “Sandra” was released today in the United
Kingdom.
2000: The New York Times included reviews of
books by Jewish authors and/or about topics of Jewish interest including No
Good-Byesby Elaine Kagan and From Herzl to Rabin: The Changing Image of Zionismby Amnon Rubinstein
2001(29th
of Elul, 5761): Erev Rosh Hashanah
2001:
Rabbis scrap their prepared sermons and look for new topics as Rosh Hashanah is
observed a week after the 9/11 Terror Attacks.
2002:
It was reported today that Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be leaving on September
18 “for Greece and Turkey, where he will address a conference of mayors, tour
the Athens site of the 2004 Olympics and visit Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of 220 million Orthodox Christians
worldwide.”
2003(20th
of Elul, 5763): Eighty-two year old Rumanian Holocaust survivor and MK Yithak
Artzi passed away today.
https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/my_homeland/yitzhak_artzi.asp
2004:
In a reminder of the violent divisions that are part of the Palestinian
landscape that have nothing to do with Israel, “Palestinian gunmen kidnapped a
senior Palestinian security officer in Gaza City and held him for several hours
before releasing him unharmed, the latest in a string of such abductions.”
2004:
“A Nobel Prize Winner in His Element, Amid Mountains of Pudding” by Grace
Glueck published today.
2005:
“Mayor Thomas Menino proclaimed today Curious George Day in Boston.”
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/09/17/a_curious_tale_of_georges_creators/
2005:
“The Washington Post reported that
Judith Miller had received a "parade of prominent government and media
officials" during her first 11 weeks in prison” where she was serving time
for civil contempt.
2005: Haaretz
reported that construction would begin next year on the first synagogue to
be built in Estonia since World War II. President Moshe Ktsav will attend the
cornerstone laying ceremony which will be held on the 61st
anniversary of the murder of 2000 Estonian Jews.
2006: The
New York Times Book Section featured a review of The Greatest Story Ever Sold by the Jewish author and
columnist Frank Rich. According to the review Rich “examines the ways
the Bush administration has blurred the lines between politics and show
business.”
2006: The
Washington Post Book Section featured a review of Fritz Stern’s The Persistence of Memoir in
which “a great historian offers a memoir about a life marked by the
shadow of Nazism.” This is not Stern’s
first book about Jews and Germany.
Previously he wroteGold
and Iron a book on the close relationship between the 19th-century
German chancellor Otto von Bismarck and the Jewish banker Gerson von
Bleichröder. This book is different
because it is a personal account of Germans including Frtiz’s family, whose
parents and/or grandparents had converted to Christianity and did not consider
themselves Jews.
2006: The
Chicago Tribune Book Section included a review of The Lost: A Search for
Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn.
2007: Channel 2 Television Station in St.
Louis, MO broadcasts a story about the Jewish Musical Revolution spearheaded by
Rich Recht who is ably assisted by Abbe Silber, daughter of Cedar Rapidians Dr.
Bob Silber and his wife Laurie Silber, President of Temple Judah.
2007: Publication of The Age of Turbulence:
Adventures in a New World by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan
in which he “describes the Bush administration as so captive to its own
political operation that it paid little attention to fiscal discipline, and he
described Mr. Bush’s first two Treasury secretaries, Paul O’Neil and John Snow
as essentially powerless.” Greenspan also questions the reason for the war
against Iraq saying it was caused by Bush’s interest in Iraqi oil.
2007: Sport
Illustrated Magazine features an article entitled “Toasting Toots” a new
film that celebrates the life of Toots Shore and “celebrates a sports bar where
real athletes hung out.”
2007: U.S.
News & World Report featured an article entitled “The ‘Israel Lobby’
Myth” by former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz in which he debunks
the myth of a conspiratorial Israel Lobby that acts in a way that is inimical
to the best interests of the United States.
In part he writes, “questioning Israel for its actions is legitimate,
but lies are something else….The catalog of lies about Jews is long and
astonishingly crude, matched only by the suffering that has followed their
promulgation.”
2007:
The Tenth Annual Israeli Music Celebration opens in Haifa.
2008:
James B. Cunnigham presented his credentials as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
2008:
“City’s Basketball Hall Welcomes 98-Year-Old Inductee” published
2008:
Today, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni won
Kadima’s leadership primary over Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz,
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit.
2008:
At The Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary, Ilan Stavans discusses Resurrecting
Hebrewas part of Schocken's "Jewish Encounters" series.
2008:The owner and a former manager of Agriprocessors
Inc. and three other employees pleaded not guilty in Allamakee County District
Court to charges of 9,311 child labor law violations.
2009:
The National Archives hosts a discussion of the new anthology, The
Constitution in 2020, with Jack M. Balkin and Reva B. Siegel, both
professors at Yale Law School and co-editors of the book, Robert C. Post, dean
of the law school, and moderator Linda Greenhouse, a journalist-in-residence
and senior fellow in law, in the William G. McGowan Theater
2009:
Beer Sheva Theatre presents "A Comedy of Errors," starring Eyal
Rosales and Ron Bitterman. This production is set in Havana, the capital of
Cuba, where the comic mishaps of this Shakespeare comedy come to life.
2009:
“Wolf Blitzer competed on an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!, finishing the
Double Jeopardy round with −$4,600.”
2009:
The 92nd Street Y presents “Ron Arad: Dialogues with Design Legends”
moderated by Daniella Ohad Smith.
2009:
In “A Soldiers Voice Rediscovered” published today, Paul Vitello described the “The first Jewish religious service broadcast
from Germany since the advent of Hitler” and the role Private Max Fuchs played
in this momentous event.
2009:
As of today, Barnet Hospital which was named for Nathan Barnet, the mayor of
Paterson, NJ, who founded the institution “is at over 90% capacity with tenants
that include pharmacists, hospice care, an adult day-care center, a sub-acute
rehabilitation center and group practices that provide primary care.
2010:
As Jews prepare to begin their Yom Kippur fast the experts in Israel have
prepared a list of do’s and don’ts to help people prepare for the fast and/or
fast at all.
2010:
Today, Freedom by Jonthan Franzen was named as the news Oprah’s Book
Club Selection.
2010:
Russia still intends to go through with an arms deal with Syria including the
sale of advance anti-ship rockets, despite recent attempts by Israeli and US
officials to thwart the planned deal, Russian Defense Minster Anatoly Serdyukov
said today according to state news agency RIA Novosti.
2010(9th
of Tishrei, 5771): Erev Yom Kippur
2010(9th
of Tishrei, 5771):Joyce Beber, Creator of Ads for Leona Helmsley, passed away
today at the age of 80 (As reported by Douglas Martin)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/business/media/22beber.html?_r=0
2010:
After having premiered at the Sundance film festival, “Catfish,” a documentary
about social interaction on the web and not about the traif fish co-directed
and co-produced by Ariel Schulman who co-starred in the film along with Nev
Schulman was released today in the United States.
2011:
True to his word Jason Marquis of the Washington Nationals pitched erev Yom
Kippur retiring “just one batter against the Phillies, giving up six hits and
six runs on the way to his ninth loss of the season.”
2011:
The JCC of Northern Virginia is scheduled to sponsor its Annual Trivia Night.
2011:
The Israeli Folk Dance Rosh Hashanah Marathon is scheduled to take place this
evening at Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street in Manhattan.
2011:
A ribbon of more than 2,000 cyclists stretched out along Highway 3 on today, as
thousands gathered for a memorial ride to mark the week anniversary of the
death of two cyclists, Shalom Grossman and Yitzhak Simon, who were hit and
killed during a ride on August 13.
2011:
Taking part in world-renowned artist Spencer Tunick’s “Naked Sea” art
installation early this morning of more than 1,000 nude models from ages 20 to
77 in the Dead Sea was both exhilarating and strangely natural.
2012:
The Alexandria Kleztet is scheduled to perform this evening at The Jefferson in
Arlington, VA.
2012(1st
of Tishrei, 5773): Rosh Hashanah (and that says it all)
2012:
Some 150,000 people took advantage of the first day of the new Jewish year to
visit Israel's parks, forests and nature reserves today, according to the
Jewish National Fund and the Nature and Parks Authority.
2013:
The JCC of Northern Virginia is scheduled to sponsor a program of “Israeli
Dance,” that incorporates Jewish and Israeli culture through choreographed
dances set to modern Israeli music.”
2013:
Genealogist Sharon Hodges is scheduled to present the first session of “Coming
to America in the Early 1900’s: The Immigrant Experience: at the JCC of
Northern Virginia.
2013:
The Botticelli’s fresco “The Annunciation of San Martino alla Scala” is
scheduled to go on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem
2013:
The United States said today an Arab push to single out Israel for criticism
over its assumed nuclear arsenal would hurt diplomatic efforts to ban weapons
of mass destruction in the Middle East.
2013:
The IDF announced today that by the end of next month, it would stop deploying
soldiers to protect 22 border communities along the Lebanese and the Gaza-Sinai
borders. (As reported by Michal Smulovich)
2014:
“The World Knew: Jan Karski’s Mission for Human” an “exhibition that
illustrates his mission of courage during WW II and his subsequent life” is
scheduled to open at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
2014:
The Hebrew Language Table (LCPA) is one of the cosponsors of today’s scheduled
screening of “The Trials” with Director Martin Smok.
http://www.theschmooze.org/c/pdf/TrialsCzech91714LC.pdf
2014(22nd of
Elul): Yarhrzeit Joseph B. Levin, husband of Deborah Levin z”tzl, father of
Judy z”tzl, Mitchell and David without whom literally, this blog would never
exist and who prophetically told me that someday somebody would pay me write “a
simple declarative sentence.”
2014: Interior Minister
Gideon Sa’ar announced today that he was taking “a time-out from politics,
joining Benny Begin, Dan Meridor and Moshe Kahlon as Likud leaders who have
left the party
2014: According to an
Israeli study released to “artificial sweetners my be boosting the risk of
diabetes.” (As reported by Richard Ingham)
2014: Minnesota Vikings
owner Zygi Wilf, the son of Holocaust survivors told reporters today that the
team has changed its mind again and, after re-activating Andrian Peterson, they
have decided to suspend him with pay while he deals with his indictment for
child abuse.
2015: Annie Cohen-Solal
is scheduled to lecture on the life “iconic artist” Mark Rothko at the
University of Scranton in Scranton, PA.
2015: The Center for
Jewish History and American Jewish Historical Society are scheduled to present
a discussion of race, religious identity, gender and the legacies of the
black/Jewish relationship during the Civil Rights Movement featuring authors
Letty Cotin Pogrebin and Marcia Ann Gillespie.
2016: In New York, the
16th Annual National Conference of the Jewish National Fund is
scheduled to continue for a second day.
2016: “London’s first
Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan” is schedule to join “Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel at
Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel, a modern Orthodox synagogue in the northern part of
the city” for Shabbat morning services.
2016: “Two projectiles
fired from Syria were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system” this
afternoon.
2016: “A Palestinian
assailant,” Hatem Abdel-Hafiz al-Shaloudi “attacked Israeli soldiers with in
Hebron” this morning “wounding one of them before being shot and killed.
2016(14th
of Elul, 5776): Parashat Ki Taytzay
2017:
In Atlanta, the Bremen is scheduled to host a visit to Westview Cemetery as
part of its Historic Jewish Atlanta Tours.
2017:
Today, The New York Times published a controversial review of Blurred Lines:
Rethinking Sex, Power and Consent on Campus by Buffalo born columnist and
critic Michelle Goldberg
2017:
In London, JW3 is scheduled to host a screening of “Everything is Copy,” a
tribute to writer and filmmaker Nora Ephron “directed by son Jacob Bernstein.”
2017:
The New York Times features reviews
of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers
including Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition by Chris McNickle, Forest
Dark by Nicole Krauss and Dinner at the Center of the Earth by
Nathan Englander.
2017:
“At least eight Haredi protesters were arrested this afternoon after protests
staged by hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews against IDF conscription turned
violent, leaving two teenagers injured.” (YNET)
2017:
Jeffrey Tambor, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Live Schreiber are among those awaiting
the outcome of the Emmy Awards presentation scheduled for tonight.’
2018:
Today, “during the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards” ceremony, University
of Maryland educated and Emmy award winning producer and director Glenn
“Weiss…proposed to his girlfriend during his acceptance speech.”
2018:
Professor Macaulay-Lewis, an active archaeologist and architectural historian
and the author of Bayt Farhi and the Sephardic Palaces of Ottoman Damascus
in the Late 18th and 19th Centuries is scheduled to deliver a lecture at
the Center For Jewish History in which she “will present new research on the
remarkable courtyard houses of the Farhi and other important Sephardic families
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Damascus.”
2018:
Beit Avi Chai is scheduled to host a production “The Woman and the Wind: A play
for the month of Tishrei.”
2018:
In London, JW3 is scheduled to host a screening of the Silver Lion award
winning film “Paradise.”
2019:
Today, “for the first time in its history, Israel is scheduled to hold a second
national election in one year, five months after the last election in April.”
(As reported by Ben Sales and Marcy Oster)
2019:
In Baltimore, MD, Chizuk Amuno is scheduled to host “Couch to 5780 – High Holy
Day Preparation Series” including an examination of “prayer in the Mahzor that
move and inspire us and a discussion of “visions of Teshuva.”
2019:
The Center for Jewish History is scheduled to present Laura Limonic and Erich
Lach as they talk about “Kugel and Frijooles: Latino Jews in the United
States.”
2019:
The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center is scheduled to present “Porgy and Bess:
Catfish Row on Fifth.”
2019:
“Hatred Old and New: The Roots of and Resurgence of Antisemitism,
a “panel discussion with UC Berkeley
professors Robert Braun, John Efron, Ethan Katz and Ronit Y. Stahl” is
scheduled to take place late this afternoon at Dwinelle Hall on the UC Berkeley
Campus.
2020:
In Little Rock, AR, Rabbi Pinchus Ciment is scheduled to lead a “Pre-High
Holiday Zoom” designed to help inspire and prepare for the celebration of the
New Year.
2020:
The Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood is scheduled to host a virtual
5K ending today which ties exercise with an opportunity to support the center’s
operations.
2020:
OneTable Live is scheduled to host a virtual Sephardic Rosh Hashanah Seder with
JIMENA.
2020:
As part of four-week program to prepare for the High Holidays North Peninsula
Jewish organizations are scheduled to
present a with session, educator Adam Eilath talking about liturgical
poems and prayers from North Africa and the Middle East.
2020:
Live on Zoom, the Center for Jewish History and the Leo Baeck Institute are
scheduled to present “Family Affairs: Writing Personal Histories.”
2020:
The Oscar J. Tomas Charitable Trust is scheduled to sponsor the JNOLA Rosh
Hashanah Toast.
2020:
YJP is scheduled to provide “curbside pickup of a holiday package that includes
a honey muffin, apple and honey, holiday booklet, Kiddush cup and grape juice,
candle-lighting kit and more.”
2020:
The Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County is scheduled to host Arthur L.
Finkle presents a program on “Shofar History and Technique.”
2020:
As Israelis prepare for Rosh Hashanah and the Pandemic Lockdown, they will know
that they are sharing their country with 9,246,000 fellow residents which means
the country’s population has grown “by 150,000 people” in the last year. (As
reported by Yaron Druckman)
2021:
The Jewish Arts Collaborative is scheduled to present online Judy
Bolton-Fasman, the JewishBoston.com culture reporter, who is also the writer of the memoir “Asylum: A Memoir of Family Secrets,”
which will be published this fall and
creative non-fiction as well as a
four-time recipient of the Simon Rockower Award.
2021:
S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services’ Center for Children and Youth
are scheduled to present an expert-led workshop for parents to gain strategies
and resources for managing screen time, technology’s role at home and returning
to in-person life.
2021:
As Jews prepare for Shabbat, they wonder if yesterday’s arrest by German police
of four suspects who they “said were likely Islamist motivated” was an isolated
incident or presaged a round of similar attacks during the remained of the
“holiday season.”
2022
(21st of Elul, 5782): Parashat Ki Tavo (When you enter)
2022:
This evening, in Cedar Rapids, Temple Judah is scheduled to hold Selichot
Services followed by the Changing of the Torah Covers and a Study Session.
2023(2nd
of Tishrei, 5784) Second Day of Rosh Hashana
2023:
In Little Rock, AR, Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Center observances include an
“noon-time” Shofar blowing with Mincha and Tashlich following kiddush and a farbrengen.
2023:
The Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust is scheduled to sponsor a JNOLA Shofar in
the Park, which includes “a meaningful Tashlich service at the Audubon Park
Lagoon” held in conjunction with Chabad of New Orleans.
2023:
“Documentation from the Vatican archives published this weekend in the Italian
daily Corriere dealla Seara” “suggests that World War II-era Pope Pius XII had
detailed information from a trusted German Jesuit that up to 6,000 Jews and
Poles were being gassed each day in German-occupied Poland, undercutting the
Holy See’s argument that it couldn’t verify diplomatic reports of Nazi
atrocities to denounce them.” (As reported by Nicole Winfeld)