OCTOBER 5
610: Phocas, the
Byzantine Emperor during whose reign the Jews of Antioch revolted was murdered
by his successor Heraclitus.
871: A scribe stopped
writing a ketubah that he had dated the 16th day of Tishrei
because he had made a mistake on the date. [This ketubah would turn
out to be the oldest dated document found when the Genizah of Cairo was opened
in the 19th century]
1143: The king
Alfonso VII of Leon recognizes Portugal as a Kingdom. When Alfonso
came to the throne he sought to curtail the rights granted them by his father
but he saw “the error of his ways” and moved to restore these rights in attempt
to gain the benefits of having loyal Jewish subjects on his
side. “In the beginning of his reign, Alfonso VII (1111)
curtailed the rights and liberties that his father granted the Jews. He ordered
that neither a Jew nor a convert may exercise legal authority over Christians,
and he held the Jews responsible for the collection of the royal taxes. Soon,
however, he became friendlier, confirming the Jews in all their former
privileges and even granting them additional ones, by which they were placed in
parity with Christians. Judah ben Joseph ibn Ezra had considerable influence
with the king, and after the conquest of Calatrava (1147) the king placed Judah
in command of one of his fortresses, later making him his court chamberlain.”
1214: King Alfonso VIII
of Castile passed away. Alfonso enjoyed the company and pleasure of Jewish
paramour, Rahel la Fermose (Rachel the Beautiful). She reportedly
used her position to gain the appointment of her co-religionists to position of
power. This made her numerous enemies among the Christian nobles and
clergy who plotted the murder of Rachel and several of her Jewish
compatriots. According to some, Alfonso was present at the time of
her murder. This tale of monarchal love and betrayal has provided the theme for
several literary works including “Die Jüdin von Toledo” a novel by Lion
Feuchtwanger
1167: Raymond Trencaval,
a French viscount who was looked upon favorably by the Jews of Beziers (France)
was murdered. His son, Roger raised troops to punish those responsible
for the murder. He spared the Jews because they had been faithful to his
father. This all had more to do with what became known as the Albigensian
Heresy than it did with the Jews. In fact, Roger employed Jews as
Sheriffs one of whom was Moses de Cavarite.
1285: King Philip III of
France passed away. During his reign, the Inquisition, which had
been instituted in order to suppress the heresy of the Albigensians, finally
occupied itself with the Jews of southern France who converted to Christianity.
The popes complained that not only were baptized Jews returning to their former
faith, but that Christians also were being converted to Judaism. In March 1273,
Gregory X formulated the following rules: relapsed Jews, as well as Christians
who abjured their faith in favor of "the Jewish superstition", were
to be treated by the Inquisitors as heretics. The instigators of such
apostasies, as those who received or defended the guilty ones, were to be
punished in the same way as the delinquents.” In an era when
monarchs were dueling with the Church over who had the ultimate power, King
Philip did nothing to resist the papal pronouncements.
1450: Ludwig
IX expelled the Jews from Lower Bavaria.
1533(16th of
Tishrei, 5249): Second Day of Sukkoth observed for the last time during the
reign of Vasili III Ivanovich, the father of Ivan IV or as he is better known
“Ivan, the Terrible.”
1600: Birthdate of
Thomas Goodwin the English Puritan theologian and preacher the author of Moses
and Aaron: Civil and Ecclesiastical Rites, Used by the Ancient Hebrews
1682(3rd of
Tishrei, 5443): Abraham Abele Gombiner the Polish rabbi born in 1635 known as
the Magen Avraham passed away today.
1737: António José
da a Brazilian dramatist, known as "the Jew" (O Judeu) and his
wife D.
Leonor Maria de Carvalho, whose parents had been burnt by the Inquisition were
imprisoned by the Inquisition on charges of “judaizing” based on a
slaves denunciation of the two made to “the Holy Office.”
1769:
Uriah Hendricks, the son of Aaron Hendricks and his first wife Eva Esther
Hendricks gave birth to Mordecai Gomez Hendricks.
1770(16th
of Tishrei, 5531): Second Day of Sukkoth
1778(14th of
Tishrei, 5539): Erev Sukkoth observed on the same day that the British fleet
was kept from getting into the harbor at Little Egg, NJ where it was supposed
to land forces to thwart the advance of Americans under Count Pulaski.
1781:
Birth of Baltimore native, Samuel Lyons, the son of Eleazar Lyons who married
Sarah Marks after he was first married to Dinah Levy.
1784(20th of
Tishrei, 5545): Sixth Day of Sukkoth as the United States seeks to sign a
commercial treaty with Sweden.
1787(23rd of
Tishrei, 5548): Simchat Torah
1788(4th
of Tishrei, 5549): Richa Levy, the unmarried daughter of Hayman Levy and Sloe
Levy and the sister of Rachel, Haya, Zipporah, Miriam and Abraham Levy passed away today after which
she was buried in the First Cemetery of Congregation Shearith Israel in New
York City.
1789(15th of
Tishrei, 5550): First Day of Sukkoth observed during the Presidency of George
Washington.
1792(19th of
Tishrei, 5553): Fifth Day of Sukkoth observed for the first time in the
Republic of Rauracia, the name the French gave to newly liberated Swiss city of
Basel
1795(22nd of
Tishrei, 5556): Shmini Atzeret
1795: In New York City,
Leah Nathan and Jacob Naphtali Hart who were married in 1778 gave birth to
Rachel Hart the husband of Angels Jacobs whom she married in 1822.
1796: In Pohrebyshche.
Sholom Shachne, Rebbe of Prohobisht, the son of Rabbi Avrohom HaMalach and the
grandson of the Maggid of Mezritch and his wife gave birth to Chasidic rebbe
Israel Ruzhin, known as “The holy one from Ruzhyn.”
1799(6th of
Tishrei, 5560): Last Shabbat Shuva of the 18th century.
1800(16th of
Tishrei, 5561): Second Day of Sukkoth observed for the last time during the
Presidency of John Adams.
1803(19th of
Tishrei, 5564): Fifth Day of Sukkoth
1806(23rd of
Tishrei, 5567): Simchat Torah
1806: In Warrenton,
N.C., Rebecca and Jacob Mordecai gave birth to Augustus Mordecai.
1808(14th of
Tishrei, 5669): Erev Sukkoth
1808: In Charleston, SC,
Rabbi Jacob Suares officiated at the wedding of Israel Solomons to Esther
Ottolengui.
1809: Isaac Selig
married Rachel Raphael today at the Western Synagogue.
1811(17th of
Tishrei, 5572): Shabbat Chol Hamoed Sukkoth
1812: In Charleston, SC,
Alice Abrahams, the daughter of Emanuel and Judith Abrahams and her husband
Solomon Solomons gave birth to Caroline Solomons.
1818: Lew Way, “an
English clergyman” “the real founder of the reorganized London society for
Promoting Christianity Among the Jews delivered a petition to Emperor Alexander
I of Russia and the allied rulers” with which he sought “to advance the
emancipation of the Jews of Europe.”
1809(25th of
Tishrei, 5570): Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev, “also known as the Berdichever” a
disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch passed away today after his son Israel
“succeeded him as leader in the Chasidic Movement.
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1007604/jewish/A-Brief-Biography.htm
http://www.berdichev.org/rabbi_levi_yitzhak.html
http://www.hasidicstories.com/Stories/Levi_Yitzchak_of_Berdichev/generals.html
1818: Lew Way, “an
English clergyman” “the real founder of the reorganized London society for
Promoting Christianity Among the Jews delivered a petition to Emperor Alexander
I of Russia and the allied rulers” with which he sought “to advance the
emancipation of the Jews of Europe.”
1820: In Arhus Denmark,
Thamar (Terese) Rée and Hartvig Philip Rée gave birth to Anton Hartvig Rée
1821(9th of
Tishrei, 5582): Erev Yom Kippur; Kol Nidre
1822(20th of
Tishrei, 5583): Shabbat Shel Sukkoth
1822: In Liverpool,
Miriam Aaron and Abraham Franklin gave birth to Ellis A. Franklin, “the
Vice-President of the Anglo-Jewish Association, Life Member of the Council of
United Synagogue” and a “Member of the Board of Deputies” who was the husband
of Adelaide Samuel with whom he had seven children.
1823: Twenty year old
German-born composer Julius Benedict was introduced to Beethoven today in
Vienna following which “he was appointed Kapellmeister of the Kärnthnerthor
theatre at Vienna.”
1823: Lawrence Phillips
married Zipporah Rees today at the Western Synagogue.
1825(23rd of Tishrei,
5586): Simchat Torah observed for the first time during the Presidency of John
Q. Adams.
1827(14th of
Tishrei, 5588): Erev Sukkoth
1827: Birthdate of Wilna
native Moses Ha-Kohen Reicherson the grammarian and Hebrew teach who came to
New York in 1890 where he continued teaching and writing until his death in
1903.
1829: Birthdate of
German painter Ludwig Knaus whose works include “The Ghetto.”
1838(16th of
Tishrei, 5599): Second Day of Sukkoth
1840: In Cleveland, OH,
Bavarian born Moses Alsbacher and his wife Jetta gave birth to their second
child and first son, Isaac Alsbacher, the husband of Rebecca Klien.
1841(20th of
Tishrei, 5602): Sixth Day of Sukkoth
1842: In London,
“solicitor Joshua Alexander and his wife Jemima, the daughter of Sara de
Abraham Mocatta and David Abarbanel Lindo” gave birth to David Lindo Alexander
the English barrister and Jewish community leader who joined with Claude
Montefiore in opposing the Balfour Declaration and the Zionist movement and who
was the husband of Hester Joseph, the daughter of stockbroker Simeon Joseph.
1842(1st of
Cheshvan, 5603): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
1842(1st of
Cheshvan, 5603): Bendix Rosenwald, the Prussian born son of Isaac son of Jacob
and Marianne daughter of Marcus and husband of Vogel Rosenwald passed away
today in Lubbecke, Germany.
1845(4th of
Tishrei, 5506): Tzom Gedaliah
1846(15th of
Tishrei, 5607): Sukkoth
1848: Isaac Noah
Mannheimer, a Jewish scholar, who had been returned by Brody to the Austrian
Reichstag, delivered a “memorable” speech on the subject of the Jewish
tax. Mannheimer was held in such high regard that “On his seventieth
birthday the city of Vienna conferred honorary citizenship upon him.”
1848: Birthdate of
Alexander Kisch, the native of Prague who tutored the family of Baron Horace de
Gunzburg before starting his rabbinic career which took him to Bohemia, Zurich
and finally back to Prague.
1848: In London, Sara
Levi, an Italian from Pesaro, and Mayer Moses Nathan, a naturalized Briton of
German origin gave birth to Ernesto Nathan who served as Mayor of Rome from
November 1907 to December 1913.
1849: In Wien, “Mose and
Regina Finzi” gave birth to Alfred Abraham Frinzi, the “husband of Rachele
Finzi” with whom he had five children.
1851(9th of Tishrei,
5612): Erev Yom Kippur
1852(22nd of
Tishrei, 5613): Shmini Atzeret
1853(3rd of
Tishrei, 5614): Tzom Gedaliah observed for the first time during the Presidency
of Franklin Pierce.
1853: Birthdate of
Zanesville, OH native and Amherst graduate Rudolph Kauffman, the newspaper
publisher and trustee of the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, DC.
1854: Hermann Mayer
Salomon Goldschmidt discovered a new asteroid, 32 Pomona.
1854: Birthdate of South
Carolinian Louis Seigman Ehrich the husband of Cornelia Sampson Ehrich and the
father of William Seigman Ehrich who is buried in the Beth Elohim Cemetery in
Georgetown, SC.
1855(23rd of
Tishrei, 5616): Simchat Torah
1855: In Amsterdam,
Rebecca Mozes Gans, the daughter of Moses Jacob Pereira Mendoza and Sara Josua
Pereira Mendoza and husband of Jacob
Gans gave birth Elsje Gans.
1856: Reverend Charles
Harris, "a Christian Jew" is scheduled to preach today at the first
Methodist-Episcopal Church in NYC. Apparently the Jews for Jesus type
movements are lot older than we think.
1857: The City of
Anaheim, CA was founded. According to recent figures 2.11% in Anaheim (zip
92804), CA are Jewish. Scott Schoeneweis may be Anaheim’s most famous Jew. The
son of a Jewish mother, he was only southpaw in the Anaheim Angels' bullpen for
the 2002 World Series, Scott helped his team win the first championship in
franchise history.
1857: Birthdate of
Julius Plotke the German lawyer and communal leader who was “a trustee of the
Jewish Colonization Association, of the Alliance Israélite Universal and of the
Aid Society of German Jews.”
1862: The New
York Times takes advantage of a letter that it has received from a
Jewish writer asking why he cannot receive an exemption from military service
on religious grounds since he cannot pork, the food provided by the Army to
review the entire matter of the diet being served to the soldiers serving in
the Union Army.
We have before us a
letter from a Hebrew correspondent, who adverting to the exemption from
military duty of Quakers, Shakers, and such religious orders as deem it
incompatible with their religion to fight, asks the pertinent question:
"Why should I not be exempted because of my religious abhorrence to the
army ration? Must I be forced to partake of a flesh that is forbidden by my
law, and of which a large portion of my allotted food is composed?" We can
hardly take up the query and answer it as especially adapted to the Hebrew,
although we believe there are many patriotic men of the persuasion marching on
with the Union army, but as a proposition applying at large, the pork question
is worthy of consideration. We hold it as a fact, not patent, that the smallest
item connected with the physical well-being of the army, assumes an importance
at this moment as great as that which affects its moral. Good food is as much a
necessity of war as good powder and should be equally well tested and chosen.
We candidly believe that our ill-arranged army ration is doing as much to
destroy our men as the bullets of the enemy. Pork! pork! perpetually pork' and
beef, perpetually beef! It does not require medical authority to know that
there is an instinctive craving in every organism for a variety of food; and no
matter how excellent any one article may be, too frequent use only inspires
disgust and loathing, and consequently a failure to nourish. A ration composed
wholly of cereals and animal food, is ill adapted for health in Winter, but in
Summer is simply a slow poison. If, as is now the case, a large portion of
those meats are salted, the evil is heightened, and the system works to the
promotion of bilious and scorbutic diseases. For the ill feeding of our
soldiers in the field there is no excuse whatever. Nothing is gained on the
score of economy, for the soldier that is ill-fed, whether it be by shortness
of provender, by badness of quality or by sameness and ignorance of dietary, is
a burden upon the State, and unable to encounter the mental or physical
responsibilities of his position. A battle upon a well-satisfied stomach is
half won. There is no reason that a positive schedule for the soldiers' food
should be laid down-and-strictly adhered to through every exigency and every
season. The whole country teems with an abundance of food that would form
admirable substitutes for the perpetual pork and beans, an abundance that would
now in on our ill-fed armies if the signal be but given and the market thrown
open for competition. There is a vast glut of Fall vegetables and fruits;
enough wasted in some small districts to put new life and health into a hundred
thousand men. There is no reason why these necessities should not be forwarded
from the localities of the formation of regiments, and the people called on to
contribute each his mile. They have responded grandly to the call for luxuries
for the sick and wounded, is there any less reason that they should respond to
the wants of those that are in health when the object is to retain that health
which is to make the soldier effective on the battle-field? Again, the army
ration gives no spices or strong aromatic substance, while every physician
knows that health cannot be kept without them, especially in a hot climate.
Pepper, onions, thyme, sage, garlic, parsley, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon are
as absolute as bread, and must find their way wherever alcohol is debarred.
These are suggestions for every domestic circle having one of its members in
the camp. In these days of easy transportation there will be no difficulty in
each and every family sending forward that which will add to the comfort and health
of the soldier. Whatever tends to alter the diet and make a change from the
daily routine, will be as much an era as Delmonico's to the dinnerless, or a
hotel feed to a Pike's Peak digger.
1863(22nd of
Tishrei, 5624): Shmini Atzeret
1863: Birthdate of
Berlin native and Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt who founded the German
Archaeological Institute at Cairo 1907 which he served as director for 19
years.
1864: Birthdate of
Arthur Zimmerman, German Foreign Secretary who authored the Zimmerman Telegram
which helped to push the United States into World War I on the side of the
Allies which led to the Allied Victory, which led, eventually, to the creation
of the State of Israel.
1865(15th of Tishrei,
5626) First day of Sukkot
1865: The New York Times
reported that THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. -- The Jewish "Feast of
Tabernacles" commenced at sunset last evening, and will continue for seven
days. It is an occasion of great joy. Boughs are suspended in the synagogues
and private houses, to signify that the children of Israel are dwellng in
booths. The observance commenced on the return of the Jews from the Babylonish
captivity; and the book of Nehemiah expressly declares that "since the
days of Joshua, the son of Nun, had not the children of Israel done so."
The first and eighth day being the Sabbath, on the occasion of a "solemn
assembly," the residue of the time is devoted to mirth and hilarity
1865: Birthdate of Sarah
Catherine Elias, the wife of Ezekiel Ezra Isaac Elias, both of whom died in
China and the mother of Reuben Ezekiel Ezra Elias.
1866: Pauline and
Leopold Cohen gave birth to Jacob H. Cohen, the mayor of Seneca, Kansas.
1867(6th of
Tishrei, 5628): Shabbat Shuvah
1867(6th of
Tishrei, 5628): Sixty-six year old French financier and political leader Achille
Fould, the son of Beer Leon Fould passed away today at Tabres.
1870: At today’s meeting
of the Central Temperance Union, Reverend G. W. Samson attempted to harmonize
the group’s opposition to alcohol with the frequent to wine in the Bible. In a
speech entitled “Hebrew Wines and Bible” he “argued that the wine of the
Bible…was pure unfermented juice of the grape.” [This would come as shock to
everybody from the sons of Aaron to Samson, etc.]
1873: In Alsace, France,
Jacob Weill and his wife gave birth to Albert Weill who died in Hong Kong and
who was the husband of Rosie Weill.
1876(17th of
Tishrei, 5637): Third Day of Sukkoth
1876: Aron Yakov
Dubiansk and Chaya Mina Dubiansk gave birth to Harry Hessel Dubinsky, the husband
of Rose Paglin Dubinksy and the father of Anne Dubinsky Wexler and Maxell Henry
Dubin, the long-time associate rabbi at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los
Angeles.
1877: Birthdate of Belle
Moskowitz who served as a political advisor to Al Smith when he ran
successfully ran for governor of New York and unsuccessfully ran for President
in 1928.
1878(8th of
Tishrei, 5639): Shabbat Shuva
1878(8th of
Tishrei, 5639): Seventy-eight year old Maria Michael (Miriam bat Mordecai)
passed away today in the United Kingdom.
1878: Birthdate of
Esther Raphiel who would be buried in the Jewish Cemetery at Natchitoches, LA.
1878: The Medal of Honor
was issued to Sergeant George Geiger who received the highest decoration the
U.S. issues to its service personnel while serving with Company H of the 7th Cavalry. At
the Battle of the Little Big Horn, “with 3 comrades during the entire
engagement (he) courageously held a position that secured water for the
command.” The Battle of the Little Big Horn is also known as
Custer’s Last Stand.
1879: In Dvinsk, Russia,
Isaac and Deborah C. (Rivkin) Avin gave birth to author and educator Elijah
Avin, the husband of Chayah Missulowin who moved to
Minnesota in 1911 where “he developed the Talmud Torah of Minneapolis
1880(30th of
Tishrei, 5641): Sixty-one year old composer and impresario Jacques Offenbach
passed away today.
http://www.biography.com/people/jacques-offenbach-9427247#synopsis
1882(22nd of
Tishrei, 5643): Shemini Atzeret
1882: It was reported
today in Vienna, the Emperor has thanked the Hungarian Prime Minister “for the
energy he has shown in suppressing the riots against the Jews in Pressburg.
1882: The Gemiles Chesed
Kranken Unterstuetzungs Verein, a Hebrew Society, was incorporated today in New
York State.
1883: In Kharkiv,
Ukraine Lvov Lev Leon Rubinstein and Ernestine Rubinstein gave birth to Ida
Rubinstein.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/rubinstein-ida
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/arts/07iht-ida07.html
1884(16th of
Tishrei, 5645): Second Day of Sukkoth
1884: Forty-nine year
old Gabriel Richter, a Polish Jew, was arrested tonight and taken to the
Seventeenth Precinct State House on charges of arson. He denied the charge
claiming he had been at the synagogue.
1884: It was reported
today that Sir Moses Montefiore had planned on fasting this past Yom
Kippur. However, after 18 hours, the centenarian succumbed to his
doctors please – “The Almighty does not want us to kill ourselves” – and broke
his fast. The physician has sent telegrams assuring everyone that
the aging Jewish leader “is an excellent health.”
1884: It was reported
today that services will be held in synagogues all over Europe on the 26th and
27th of October to celebrate the 100th birthday
of Sir Moses Montefiore.
1884: Suicide In A
Police Court” published today reported that Alexander Endelstine an English Jew
who tried to commit suicide at New York’s Jefferson Market Police Court
yesterday is being treated at St. Vincent’s Hospital and that he will be
prosecuted for embezzlement and attempted suicide if he
survives.(Editor’s note – Was attempted suicide a capital crime? Makes
you wonder about the justice system)
1884: The Association of
Jewish Immigrants whose members included Louis E. Levy, Abraham Kaufman and
Samuel S. Fels, was formed at meeting at Wheatly Hall in
Philadelphia, PA
1885: “As It Was
Written, A Romance” published today provides a review of As It Was
Written: A Jewish Musician’s Story by Sidney Luska. (Sidney Luska is
not Jewish. It is the pseudonym of Henry Harland)
1885: “In Memory of
Montefiore” published described the Mincha Service at Temple Emanu-El where
Adolph Sanger, the President of the Board of Aldermen delivered “an eloquent
eulogy on the life and character of Sir Moses Montefiore.”
1886: Martha May Cohen
the Australian born daughter of Julie and Lewis Wolfe Levy and his husband
Louis Samuel Cohen gave birth to Sir Jack Benn Brunel Cohen, whose legs were
amputated above the knees after being wounded at the Third Battle of Ypres and
who worked to improve the lot of disabled people while serving as an MP from
1918 to 1931.
1886: City of
Johannesburg, South Africa founded. Many of the Jews living in Cape
Town moved north to Johannesburg to take advantage of the discovery of diamonds
and gold. Barney Barnato and Sammy Marks were two of the more famous Jewish
entrepreneurs who during this period. Marks amassed a fortune from
his activities in gold and diamond mining. After expanding his
business interests, this practicing Jew assumed civic responsibilities as a
negotiator during the Boer War and serving as a Member of Parliament. Barnato
founded the De Beers Consolidated Mines for mining diamond fields.
1887: In Bayonne,
France, Azarie "Henri" Cassin and Gabrielle Deborah Cassin gave birth
to René Samuel Cassin - jurist, combat veteran of World War I, member of the
Resistance in WW II and leader of the French Jewish community, and winner of
the Nobel Prize Winner for Peace,
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1968/cassin-facts.html
1887: In Chicago,
“President Grover Cleveland laid the cornerstone for the Auditorium Building
designed by Dankmar Adler.
1888(30th of
Tishrei, 5649): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
1888(30th of
Tishrei, 5649): Seventy-seven year old “German-American merchant James
Gotendorf who in 1830 came to the United
States where he spent years in the commission business, befriended
editor Horace Greely who advised him to change his name “James Nathan” and
engaged in a tempestuous relationship with Margaret Fuller passed away today in
Hamburg.
1889(10th of
Tishrei, 5650): Yom Kippur
1889: In New York City
where all the Jewish places of worship are open all day today, the services”
for Yom Kippur “which are of very solemn and impressive character” end “with
the blowing of the shofar indicating the annual fast is over.”
1889: It was reported
today that “according to the latest available statistics” over seventy-six
million Russians belong to various Christian denominations while Jews, Moslems and
pagans constitute 5,626,000 of the Czar’s subjects.
1889: It was determined
today that the reason the Pioneers of Liberty not being allowed to hold their
dance and concert last night, erev Yom Kippur, at the Clarendon Hall was
because they had not obtained a license for a concert and if this Jewish group
had been content with holding a dance the authorities would not have
interfered.
1889: Birthdate of
Brooklyn native “industrial engineer and pioneer in the field of time
management, Samuel R. Gerber, “a graduate of Cooper Union and the Polytechnich
Institute of Brooklyn” who was President of both the Kent Metal Manufacturing
Company and the Ortho Chemical Corporation and who was married to Tyl Gerber
with whom he had one son and one daughter.
1889: It was reported
today that thousands of Jews “who have been expelled from Russia…have taken
temporary refuge in England.” Eventually they intend to settle in
Argentina
1890: During his talk
tonight at the New York Academy of Music, Dr. Tallmadge described his recent
visit to Palestine including passing through “the tract of 800 acres belonging
to the Universal Israelite Association” which points “to the reoccupation of
the Holy Land by the Israelites.”
1890: Birthdate of
Alexander N. Sack the Moscow born, Russian lawyer and faculty member of the
Saint Petersburg University who in 1930 came to the United States where taught
at NYU and Northwestern while developing a reputation on international finance
especially as it dealt with the problems of governmental debt,
1891: “An Indictment of
Russia” published today which traces the history of mistreatment of Jews in the
land of the Czars opens by saying that “The Jew represents at once humanity’s
oldest and least familiar fact. The records which he embodies
visibility before us in his curled hair, in his eager eyes and bended nose, in
his gestures, his utterance, the peculiarities of his family and religious life
belong to the very childhood of the race.” (Notice that even in praise 19th century
authors unwittingly turned to offensive stereotypes.)
1891: “The Jews In Olden
Times” published today provides a detailed review of A History of the
Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ by Emil Schurer, the German
theologian whose area of expertise was this period of history.
1892: Abraham Langer, a
Jewish poultry dealer related the story of the attempt to rob him to the
incredulous Central Office detectives in New York
1892(14th of
Tishrei, 5653): Erev Sukkoth
1892 (14th of
Tishrei, 5653): Sxity-three year old Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weiss, the “father of
magician Harry Houdini and the first rabbi of Zion Reform Congregation in
Appleton, Wisconsin, passed away today.
1892: In Dubuque, IA,
founding of Congregation of Sons Of Abraham which holds services every Saturday
morning and whose members have included, Rabbi David Cohen and James Levi.
1893: The cornerstone
was laid today for the West End Synagogue on West 82nd Street
in New York City.
1893: Reverend Christian
Adolf Stoecker, the German “Jew baiter” and anti-Semite completes his tour of
the United States and sets sail from New York for his homeland today.
1894: In Pars, the name
of M. Pingault, the sugar broker who was arrested on charges of embezzling
144,000 English pounds from Baron Hirsch, has been stricken from the list of
brokers.
1895: Today, “Mrs.
Hannah G. Solomon… organized the Louisiana Section of the Council of Jewish
Women
1895(17th
of Tishrei, 5656): Shabbat Shel Sukkoth
1895: “The William
Berrian Book Sale” published today provided a list of books belonging to the
William Berrian Library by Bangs & Company including John Allen’s Modern
Judaism, Beeton’s The Jews in the East, W.H. Rule’s History
of the Karaite Jews, Rabbi Grossman’s Judaism and the Science of
Religion, Iliowizi’s Jewish Dream’s and Realities,
Betteny’s Judaism and Christianity, T.A. Davis’s Am I
a Jew or a Gentile? and Betteny’s Jew and Gentile.
1896: Among the gifts
acknowledged t during this afternoon’s meeting of the Board of Trustees of
Columbia University was one $5,000 from Jacob Schiff “to aid needy students” go
“through college” and a collection of Hebrew and Arabic manuscripts from
William Walter.
1897(9th of
Tishrei, 5658): Erev Yom Kippur; in the evening Kol Nidre is chanted for the
first time during the Presidency of William McKinley.
1897: In Bremen, Norbert
Salter and his wife who converted to Christianity in 1897 gave birth to
designer Georg Salter.
1897: “Truly A
Cosmopolitan Town” published today described Red Jacket, Michigan, “perhaps the
most cosmopolitan town in the United States” with a population of 8,000 whose
no less than thirty different nationalities included an untold number of Jews.”
1898(19th of
Tishrei, 5659): Sukkoth Chol HaMoed
1898: Arthur Loew, the
founder of MGM, and his wife the former Mildred Zukor, daughter of Adolph Zukor
gave birth to twin sons – Arthur Loew and David L. Loew who served as a member
of the board of directors of MGM and later established his own independent
production company.
1898(19th of
Tishrei, 5659): Twenty-five year old Charles Koransky, who suffered from
consumption who had been denied treatment at the hospital on Blackwell’s Island
because he was Jewish and planned on seeking treatment at Mount Sinai Hospital,
died early this morning.
1898: “Rabbi Honored In
Detroit” published today described plans by Mayor Maybury and “pastors of
several city churches” to honor Rabbi Louis Grossman who will be leaving
Detroit after 14 years to serve as Professor of Philosophy at the Hebrew Union
College and Congregation B’nai Yeshurun in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1898: In Moldova, “Shin
Ben-Zion and Rivka Chaya Gutman” gave birth to Nachum Gutman
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nachum-gutman
1898: Herzl and
David Wolffsohn want to establish the Jewish Colonial Bank immediately. The
Bank was intended to handle the financial affairs of the Zionist movement.
1898: In an attempt to
draw the Ottoman Empire into the German sphere of influence which would
eventually have a major impact on the Jews of Palestine and the Zionist
movement Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Constantinople.
1899: Three days after
he had passed away, “Alfred Lambert Falck, the youngest son of Ernest Flack”
was buried today at the Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.
1899: Dr. Solomon
Mandelkern of Leipzig the poet who has translated several American authors
including Longfellow into Hebrew, arrived in New York aboard the SS
Werra so he could visit his son Israel who lived at 196 East Broadway.
1899: One day after her
death, Rebecca Hyams, “the widow of Moses Hyams” was buried today at the
Plashet Jewish Cemetery in London.
1900(12th of
Tishrei, 5661): Seventy-five-year-old Parisian native Adolphe Hatzfeld, the son of a
goldsmith who obtained a Doctorate in Letters after which he was professor of
foreign literature in Grenoble and a professor of rhetoric at the Lycée
Louis-le-Grand in Paris passed away today.
1900: According to
The English Zionist Federation's poll: 60 candidates for Parliament declare
themselves in favor of Zionism.
1900: Birthdate of Baron
Friedrich Carl von Oppenheim the German banker and industrialist who worked to
save Jews from the Nazis and was imprisoned for his alleged role in the attempt
to assassinate Hitler – activities for which he was honored by Yad
Vashem.
1901(22nd of
Tishrei, 5662): Shemini Atzeret
1901: Birthdate of
German Banker and Zionist leader, Hans Beyth Shmuel
1902: Herzl sends a copy
of Altneuland to the Grossherzog Friedrich of Baden and to
Rothschild. Altneuland appeared almost simultaneously in a
Hebrew translation, Tel Aviv, by Nahum Sokolow.
1902(4th of
Tishrei, 5563): Tzom Gedaliah observed
1902: In Philadelphia,
Joseph Feinberg and Fanny Lieberman, the owners of “a watch-repair and jewelry
store” gave birth to Louis Feinberg who gained fame as Larry Fine, one of the
Three Stooges.
1902: Birthdate of
Hamburg born American art collector Curt Valentin who left Nazi Germany in 1934
and established what became the Curt Valentin Gallery
https://www.moma.org/research-and-learning/archives/finding-aids/Valentinf
1902(4th of
Tishrei, 5563): Seventy year old Joseph Morris Asch, the Philadelphia born son
of Joseph and Clara Asch, and Jefferson Medical College trained physician who
served with the Union Army during the Civil War after which he pursued a career
as a laryngologist in New York City passed away today.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/American_Medical_Biographies/Asch,_Morris_Joseph
1902: Thirty-three year
old “concert violinist and composer” Sol Marcosson, the Louisville, KY born son
of Louis and Helene and Marcosson today married Dorothy Frew with whom he
raised four children—“John, Fred, Ruth and June.”
1903: The Vienna
correspondent of The Times of London received a telegram from Novoselitzff,
Bessarabia saying that 300 Jews were killed in attack at Mohileff, a town of
“50,000 inhabitants of whom half are Jews.”
1904(10th of
Tishrei): 5660): Yom Kippur
1904: Founding of Alpha
Kappa Psi business fraternity which could not have any Jewish members until
1950 when it dropped the restrictive clause limiting membership to men who were
“of the Christian faith”
1905: In Manhattan, Morris
and Fannie Getzler Rothenberg gave birth to Rose Rothenberg.
1906(16th of
Tishrei, 5667): Second Day of Sukkoth
1906: “Preserved
History” published today provides a review of Peasant Life in the Holy Land in
which the author Rev. C.T. Wilson writes that the “modern dwellers in the
Jordan Valley and the country round about are rarely Jews,” that “they are the
descendants of the heathen who occupied the country when the Jews first came
thither,” and that “the Jews now in the country are not indigenous to
Palestine” but “are immigrants…”
1907(27th of
Tishrei, 5668): Parashat Bereshit marks the start of the annual Torah reading
cycle at the same time that the Republican and Democratic Parties are selecting
the nominees for state and local offices.
1908(10th of
Tishrei, 5669): Yom Kippur
1908: When “The Melting
Pot” by Israel Zangwill opened this evening “at the Columbia Theatre in
Washing, the audience included President and Mrs. Roosevelt, William Loeb, the
president’s advisor; Secretary of State Elihu Root; Secretary of Commerce and
Labor Oscar Strauss, Simon Wolf and Isaac Solomon, a wealthy Baltimorean.”
1908 (10th of Tishrei,
5669): In Houston Texas Adath Yshurun holds Yom Kippur Services. The morning
services began at 7a.m. with a sermon in German entitled “The Majesty of the
Law.” Minchah services began at 3:30 with a sermon in English
entitled “The Waning Day.”
1909(20th of Tishrei,
5670): Chol Hamoed Sukkoth
1909(20th of
Tishrei, 5670): Rabbi Falk Vidaver passed away today in New York City at the age
of 65. The cause of death was Bright’s Disease. Before
coming to New York, Rabbi Vidaver lived in San Francisco where he was the
leader of the largest congregation west of the Rocky
Mountains. Vidaver served as the rabbi at the congregation at 72nd Street
and Lexington Avenue for 12 years before retiring three years
ago. He was a leading commentator on the Bible and was also
well-known for his Hebrew poetry which was published in Russia, Hungary and the
United States.
1909: When The
Melting Pot opened in Washington D.C. this evening, President Theodore
Roosevelt leaned over the edge of his box and shouted, "That's a great
play, Mr. Zangwill, that's a great play." Zangwill is Israel
Zangwill. He was Jewish; T.R. was not.
1910(2nd of
Tishrei, 5671): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1910(2nd of
Tishrei, 5671): Millie Silverstein, the London born daughter of Sarah and Jacob
Silverstein and wife of Nathan Sack whom she married in London in 1909, passed
away today.
1910: Birthdate of Louis
“Lou” Boasberg who played tackle for the 1931 Tulane University football team
they went 11-0, finished second in the nation and went on to play in the 1932
Rose Bowl.
1911: NYU trained
attorney George Leisersohn, the New York born son of Lena Schweitzer and Leonard
Leisersohn and husband of Etta Davis began serving as the Grand Secretary of the Order of B’rith
Abraham today.
1911: Today, the Bronx
furnished “an important deal and one of the largest in its immediate locality”
with “sale of the old Hebrew Infant Asylum property” which became available
last winter when the Hebrew Asylum “moved to its new building at Kingsbridge
Road and Aqueduct Avenue.
1912: In Fort William,
Ontario, Max Laskin and Bluma Zingel, Laskin gave birth to Bora Laskin, the 14th Chief
Justice of Canada.
https://www.cjnews.com/perspectives/opinions/remembering-bora-laskin-giant-supreme-court
1912(24th of Tishrei, 5673):
New York City gangster Jack Zelig was murdered in an apparent attempt to keep
him from testifying in the Rosenthal murder case. (The only problem with the
various descriptions of his death are that they say he was murdered on the day
before a murder trial was supposed to start. But October 5 was a
Saturday and it would have been highly unusual for a trial to have started on a
Sunday)
1913(4th of
Tishrei, 5674): Tzom Gedaliah observed for the first time during the Presidency
of Woodrow Wilson.
1913: “The Beth Israel
West Side Hebrew School at 347 West 35 Street was opened this afternoon after a
short service at the Beth Israel Synagogue.
1914(15th of
Tishrei, 5675): Sukkoth
1914: In Washington, DC,
“a private dispatch” was received by the State Departure which “said conditions
in Jerusalem were such that food could not be obtained by a large portion of
the population and that “many people were facing starvation.”
1915: It was reported
today from Berlin that “the truth is the distress of Russian Polish Jewry is
appalling” with “hundreds of thousands literally starving” making it appear
that “Russia is trying to solve the Jewish question by annihilating the Jews.”
1915: “The New
Synagogue, the latest of the liberal Jewish congregations to be founded in New
York City” which has been holding services at the Aeolian Hall “announced that
it has” purchased “the building at 43 West 86th Street as its
permanent house of worship” and that the “structure will be transformed for
synagogue and school purposes.”
1916: Birthdate of
Abbeville native and fighter for the Free French Francis Huré who serve as
France’s Ambassador to Israel from 1968 to 1973.
1916(8th of
Tishrei, 5677): Forty year old Francis Deak Pollak, a graduate of Columbia Law
School and member of the firm of Sullivan & Cromwell since 1906 who was a
trustee of the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society passed away today
at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
1916: “Jewish Harmony
Restored” published today described the revised plan adopted for creating an
American Jewish Congress which “limits the number of delegates to be elected by
the Conference of National Jewish Organizations to 25 percent of the entire
representation, thereby removing the charge of the ‘democratic’ associations
that the conference was trying to obtain control of the Congress.”
1916: Morris Israel who
used to check the hats and coats of diners at the Ritz Restaurant in Brooklyn
sued his former employer for violating the terms of his employment contract
regarding the payment of tips.
1917(19th of
Tishrei, 5678): Fifth day of Sukkoth
1917(19th of
Tishrei, 5678): After four days of torture by Turkish authorities during
which she revealed nothing about her action or her fellow Jewish spies, Sarah
Aaronsohn “shot herself in the mouth” cause a wound that was mortal but would
not prove fatal until several more days of suffering. The aid provided by Sarah
and her brother Aaron to the British, helped convince some of the English
leaders that it would be beneficial to replace “Turkish rule in Palestine with a
Zionist entity under British rule.’
1917: In Karkov,
speakers attending the Railway Congress “state that the same anti-Jewish
prejudice is spreading in the Department of Ways and communications” that “led
to the resignation of the Jewish employees at the postal and telegraph offices
in Odessa.
1917: At Stockholm, a
“delegation of the Polei-Zion presented a memorandum to the Dutch-Scandinavian
suggesting” the following reforms for Palestine: 1) abolition of restriction of
immigration and colonization by Jews, increased facilities for naturalization
and unrestricted freedom for institutions promoting Jewish colonization; 2)
creation of modern, democratic legal conditions and political measures for the
development of the productive forces of the country; conferring upon Palestine
self-government; 3) grant of national autonomy of Jews there.”
1917: In Bessarabia, a
plot masterminded by “German colonists and officials of the old Czarist regime”
aimed at the new government and the Jews was discovered.
1917: In Pavlovsk,
military authorities “finally restored order” after days several days of
“anti-Jewish disorders.”
1918: The Battle of the
Hindenburg Line came to an end with the Allied forces successfully breaching
the final German line of defenses. Sir John Monash, the
Australian-Jewish General, played a key role in planning the offensive.
1918: The 165th Regiment,
including Sergeant Abraham Blaustein hiked for ten hours from Jubecourt to Bois
de Montfaucon in the Argonne Sector where they were held in reserve.
1918: Newly appointed
German Chancellor Prinz Max von Baden asked the Allies for an immediate
Armistice. Thus began the sequence of events that would lead to the
Armistice that ended WW I in November and the myth that Germany was “stabbed in
the back” instead of defeated on the battlefield.
1919: “The Metropolitan
League of the Young Men’s Hebrew Associations, which includes the thirteen
branch in and around New York City announced” today “its post-war program, the
feature feature of which will to inspired Americanism and reverence for
Judaism.”
1920(23rd of
Tishrei, 5681): Simchat Torah
1920: The final section
of the railway which ran between Jaffa and Lydda and which had been completed
in September was “inaugurated at a ceremony” today attended by the British High
Commissioner, Herbert Samuel
1920: Evening classes,
including courses in Public Speaking, Bookkeeping, Accounting, Stenography
Typing. Americanization and English for foreigners, Business Preparation, Radio
and Spanish are scheduled to begin at the 92nd Street YMHA
under of the direction of Principal Henry Levy
1920: “Feeling
increasingly oppressed by life under Bolshevik rule where the family was
identified as bourgeoisie, the family of Mendel Berlin, a timber trader and
philanthropist (and a direct descendant of Shneur Zalman, founder of Chabad
Hasidism), his wife Marie, née Volshonok and their son Isaiah Berlin “left
Petrograd today for Riga, but encounters with anti-Semitism and difficulties
with the Latvian authorities convinced them to leave, and they moved to Britain
in early 1921 after which Isaiah graduated from Oxford and became a leading
historian and philosopher.
1921: Sixty-eight year
old New York architect Cyrus Lazelle Warner Eidlitz who designed the New York
Times Building on Times Square and whose father was Jewish passed away today.
1922: It was reported
today that “The Council of the League of Nations has been compelled to postpone
its final decision as the make-up of the commission which is supposed to
supervise the different religions and holy places in Palestine” in part because
“Italy has not yet given her consent.”
1922: It was reported
today the Congressman Meyer London and Abraham Cahan were among the speakers
who addressed the recent massing meeting at the Second Avenue Theatre during which
“members of the Jewish labor unions” agreed to find the “ways and means of
raising $100,000 for the $500,000 fund of HIAS
1923: “Young Medardus” a
silent film directed by Michael Curtiz was released in Austria today.
1924: Birthdate of
William Szathmary the son of Hungarian Jewish parents better known
as Bill Dana who gained fame with his character “Jose Jimenez.”
1924: Birthdate of Fritz
Mandelaaum, who gained fame as Frederic Morton, the biographer of the
Rothschilds.
1925(17th of
Tishrei, 5686): Third Day of Sukkoth
1925: “Dr. Max L.
Margolis, Professor of Biblical Philosophy at Dropsie College in Philadelphia,
speaking” tonight “ at the opening exercises of the Jewish Institute of
Religion proposed that a $20,000 fund be raised to the site of Beth-ther, near
Jerusalem where the Jews made their last armed stand against the Romans.”
1926: In Boston, Der
idisher fihrer (The Jewish leader) edited by Sam Kaplan which began to appear
in print in 1925 in Lynn, Massachusetts, later moving over to Boston was shut
down today.
1926: Birthdate of
Avraham Eidelson who gained fame as Avraham “Bren” Adan “an Israeli Major
General former Head of Southern Command who served in the military between 1947
and 1973.”
1927(9th Tishrei,
5688): Erev Yom Kippur
1927: In Jerusalem, Bela
and Eliezer Feinstein gave birth to Meir Feinstein, the WW II British Army
Soldier and member of the Irgun who chose to commit suicide with fellow fighter
Moshe Barazani rather die at the end of a British rope.
1928(21st of
Tishrei, 5689): Hoshana Raba
1928: Today, Major John
A. Warner of the New York State Police “indefinitely suspended and reprimanded
Corporal H.M. McCann of Troop B for the part he played in the questioning of
Rabbi Berel Brennglass in Massena, NY, on September 22. Corporal McCann was
suspended ‘for gross lack of discretion in the exercise of these duties and for
conduct unbecoming an officer.’”
1929(1st of
Tishrei, 5960): Rosh Hashanah
1929: “The Trespasser” a
film that had both a silent and talkie version edited by Cyril Gardner was
released in the United States today.
1930: In Lower Silesia,
Adolf Selten, a Jewish bookseller and his Protestant wife gave birth Nobel
Prize winner Reinhard Selten who was raised in the faith of his mother.
1930: Columbia trained
physician and biochemist Samuel Gitlow, the Belarus born son of Elke and
Herschel Gitlow and his wife Esther gave birth to Lawrence Gitlow.
1930: It was reported
today that “the Jews of Santo Domingo have sent an appeal to HIAS for immediate
help” since they “have lost everything in the recent hurricane.
1931: Radio station
“WOR” broadcast “Palestine Traditions,” with Nathan Straus.
1931: It was reported
today that “George Bernard Shaw’s recent statement that Jew suffered from a
superiority complex” was denounced by Dr. Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, rabbi of the
Free Synagogue as a “cruel falsehood” and he also said that “Shaw’s plea for
intermarriage of the Jew and the Gentile as a solution of the Jewish question
would be “racial suicide for the Jews.”
1932: Birthdate of
songwriter Ronald Norman Miller, the Chicago native whose career took off when
“he was discovered by the founder of MoTown.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1558383/Ron-Miller.html
1932: Birthdate of Dame
Barbara Goodman, DBE, QSO, JP “an Auckland, New Zealand politician. She was
Mayoress of Auckland City as well as a former Auckland City Councillor for 12
years. She was married to former Auckland City Councillor Harold Goodman, who
became deputy Mayor of Auckland City in the late 1970s. Her husband died on 16
August 1988 and she succeeded him onto the council in a by-election. Dame
Barbara was a councillor for the Citizens and Ratepayers group. While on
council, Dame Barbara championed liberal causes like tolerance towards the gay
community and pro-women's rights over abortion. For ten years she was
Chairperson of Odyssey House Auckland, which operates a range of specialist
programs for adolescents, parents, and other adults experiencing serious
difficulties with substance abuse, gambling, and other associated problems. She
opposed the New Zealand government's plan to build a $500 million rugby stadium
on Quay Street in Auckland's waterfront area.[citation needed] She is the niece
of former Auckland City mayor, Sir Dove-Myer Robinson in whose honour Dame
Barbara spearheaded a memorial sculpture in Aotea Square, which was built in
2002. The sculpture celebrates the contribution "Robbie Robinson"
made to the city.
1933(15th of
Tishrei, 5694): Sukkoth
1933: William Dodd, the
new United States Ambassador to Germany, gave a speech explaining and defending
the New Deal. When Dodd met with FDR before going to Germany, the
President told his new ambassador that he wanted him to be a spokesman for
democracy. Dodd would become increasingly outspoken in his warnings
about the dangers of the Hitler regime. Unfortunately, Americans were more
concerned about making sure that Germany would make her reparations payments
than they were about the rise of totalitarian anti-Semitic dictators.
1934: “The Crisis is
Over” directed by Robert Siodmark, with a script co-authored by Curt Siodmark
and with music by Franz Waxman was released today.
1935: In Kovel, Poland,
timber merchant Aaron Bernholz and his wife Paula gave birth to Berl Bernholz
who gained famed as movie entrepreneur Ben Barenholtz. (As reported by Richard
Sandomir)
1936(19th of
Tishrei, 5697): Fifth day of Sukkoth
1936: In Danzig, the
Nazi plans for the future of the city were outlined by the head of the Danzig
district of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party and the President of the Danzig
City who said “Jews must boycotted both socially and economically.”
1936: The American Joint
Distribution Committee reported today that “twenty-six centers in nine European
countries were training 1,248 young persons this Summer for emigration chiefly
from German and Poland to countries of eventual settlement.”
1936: At Geneva, the
Polish delegate told the League of Nations that the powers must agree to a
relaxing of immigration quotas so Poland could reduce her Jewish population on
which he cast aspersions. (Editor’s note: This was three years
before the German invasion of Poland. The three million Jews of
Poland suffered a wave of anti-Semitism in the 1930’s that has been lost in the
“fog of Holocaust rememberance.)
1936: While “fifty
marauders invaded” the Jewish neighborhoods in the East End of London smashing
windows and plate glass store fronts with brick and stones “Britain’s Fascists
announced plans today for an augmented series of meetings in London’s East
End.”
1937(30th of
Tishrei, 5698): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
1937(30th
of Tishrei, 5698): Forty-nine-year-old Baltimore native Felix Lowy
the vice president and general manager of the Holeproof Hosiery Company which
had operations in Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Louis passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/10/06/94434503.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1937: . In October, Hyman
Rickover’s designation as an engineering duty officer became effective, and he
was relieved of his three-month command of Finch at Shanghai today.
1937: Birthdate of
Abraham Riechstadt, the native of Safed who gained fame as Israeli musician Abi
Ofraim.
1938(10th of Tishrei,
5699): Yom Kippur
1938: In Nazi Germany,
Jews' passports were invalidated, and those who needed a passport for
emigration purposes were given one marked with the letter J ("Jude"–
"Jew").
1938: Following
a request by Heinrich Rothmund, head of the Swiss federal police, the German
government recalls all Jewish passports and marks them with a large, colored
"J." This is to prevent German Jews from passing as Christians and
smuggling themselves into Switzerland.
1939: Two months after
premiering in the United Kingdom, New York City premiere of “U-Boat 29”, the
American version “The Spy In Black” produced by Alexander
Korda with a screenplay by Emeric Pressburger.
1940(3rd of
Tishrei): Shabbat Shuvah
1940: All soldiers who
have been granted furloughs “in compliance with War Department Circular No. 5”
so that “they may observe Rosh Hashanah” are required to report for duty at
noon today.
1941: NYU and Cornell University educated author and
teacher Doris M. Isaac, the New York born daughter of Helen Oppenheimer and Leonard
William Isaac became Doris Grumbach today when she married Leonard Grumbach
whom she had met when they were both studying at Cornell and with whom she had
four daughters—Barbara, Jane, Elizabeth and Kathryn.
Doris
Grumbach, Author Who Explored Women’s Plight, Dies at 104 - The New York Times
(nytimes.com)
1941: City College
announced that two professors in the Chemistry Department “have received a
grant of $200 from the medical fund of the Ella Sachs Plotz Foundation to
continue their studies on human detoxication.”
1941: Publication of a
review Irving Fineman’s Jacob, which the author describes as
“an autobiographical novel.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/10/05/105899435.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1941 (14h of Tishrei,
5702): Former Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish member
of the nation's highest court passed away at the age of 84. See the
article from the Biography Website for more information about Justice Brandeis who
was living proof that one could achieve success in America while maintaining
his Jewish identity. Louis Brandeis was born in Louisville, Kentucky in
1856 to a family tolerant of Jewish and Christian rituals. In later life
Brandeis might be best described as a secular humanist. Although he completed
his secondary education in Germany, he returned to the United States where he
studied law at Harvard. After settling in Boston, Brandeis became a successful
lawyer spending a good deal of his time pursuing cases with a political bent.
In particular, he enjoyed representing small companies against giant
corporations, and aiding the cause of the minimum wage against companies
opposed to this principle. In 1912, he supported Woodrow Wilson's nomination
for Presidency and in 1916, was appointed a Supreme Court judge, the first Jew
ever to be appointed to this position. Brandeis showed little interest in
Jewish affairs until the turn of the century when a combination of his
professional work and a changing political climate brought about an alteration.
He was introduced to Zionism by Jacob de Haas, an English Zionist, and later
still by Aaron Aaronsohn, the Palestinian botanist and founder of Nili.
Brandeis became active in Zionist affairs during the First World War, when he
accepted the role of Chairperson of the Provisional Executive Committee for
General Zionist Affairs. Brandeis had a major impact on the American branch of
the Zionist movement, drawing to it a number of sympathizers, improving its
organization and its finance. While he resigned his official position on
joining the Supreme Court, he nonetheless worked behind the scenes to influence
President Woodrow Wilson to support the Zionist cause. After the war, Brandeis
headed a delegation of American Zionists to London where at a conference
differences emerged between Chaim Weizmann and himself. These arguments over
the role of the organization and its pursuit of political activities caused a
rift between the two leaders with Weizmann gaining the upper hand. Brandeis
withdrew from Zionist activity although he continued to take part in Eretz Israel
economic affairs. Brandeis did intervene from time to time in political matters
for example he appealed to Roosevelt to oppose the British partition scheme of
1937 calling instead for the whole area of Eretz Israel to become a Jewish
National Home. Brandeis represented a rather different genre of Zionism, one
born out of the American context that affirmed Zionism as part of American
ethnic identity. It was Brandeis who coined the term that "to be a good
American meant that local Jews should be Zionists." “The banks and
waters of the Jordan, once supposed to have miraculous healing powers have been
drained and freed of their malaria breeding places through a gift of $25,000
given by Louis D. Brandies.”
1942: The Nazis
deported 1,000 Jews from Theresienstadt to Treblinka. Another 6,000
would be sent to the death camp at Treblinka by the end of the month.
1942(24th of
Tishrei, 5703): The Nazis murdered 3,000 Jews in Dubno who had been
rounded up and marched to outlying pits. Silently, without screaming or
weeping, they all undressed, bid each other farewell, and then were summarily
shot.
1942(24th of
Tishrei, 5703): “Xamp guards bludgeoned to death 90 French-Jewish female prisoners”
“in the attic of a building of the Budy-Bor Auschwitz subcamp, near the main
death camp set up by Nazi Germany during World War II in occupied Poland.” (As
reported by Cnaan Lipshiz)
1943: The Nazis
deported 1,260 children from Bialystok and 53 doctors and nurses were
transported from Theresienstadt to Birkenau. They were told their destination
would be Palestine. They would all perish.
1943: Birthdate of
Congressman Richard Cardin, representing Maryland’s Third District in the House
of Representatives.
1943: “Shortly before
being unloaded from their cattle cars in Danzig, the two hundred Danish Jews
who had been arrested by the Nazis were given some “filthy water” which was the
first liquid they had been given since leaving Copenhagen.
1944(18th of
Tishrei, 5705) Fourth Day of Sukkoth
1944: As of today,
nobody, including Arabs in Jerusalem, has any inkling as to what is being
discussed at the Arab intergovernmental talks begun in Alexandria a fortnight
ago in attempt to bring agreement on how to bring “the Palestine Arabs’ cased
before the Allies peace councils when the time comes.”
1944: “Continuation of
the present immigration laws was advocated in a resolution adopted unanimously
by delegates to the forty-ninth National Encampment of the Jewish War Veterans
of the United States at the opening session of its four-day convention in the
Hotel Commodore” today which stood in stark contrast to the votes at the
conventions of the American Legion and VFW voicing their “opposition to
immigration.
1945: “Bloomer Girl,” a
musical with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg opened at the
Shubert Theater on Broadway.
1945: In an event
referred to as Black Friday a six-month strike by the set decorators
represented by the Conference of Studio Unions (CSU) boiled over into a bloody
riot at the gates of Warner Brothers' studios in Burbank,
California. Warner Brothers also had labor problems with the Screen
Actors Guild. For those who think that Jews were always pro-labor
left-wingers, think again.
1945: In a final bid to
use persuasion and diplomacy to change British policy, Chaim Weizmann meets
with Ernest Bevin, the Foreign Minister in the new Labor
Government. Having turned its back on the party’s pro-Zionist
stance, the belligerent Bevin tells Weizmann, “If you want a fight, you can
have it.” Even as Bevin is threatening the aging Zionist leader, Ben
Gurion has decided to adopt a more militant stance creating the Jewish
Resistance Movement which include members of Haganah, Palmach and in a new
wrinkle, members of the Irgun and the Stern Gang.
1945: Meet
The Press makes its radio debut. The “granddaddy” of all news
interview shows would later move to NBC where it continues to appear sixty
years after is radio start. Meet the Press was the brainchild of its
first produced Lawrence E. Spivack. On television Spivack would play
the role of moderator. Sometimes he would join the members of the
press and be part of the four person interview group.
1946(10th of
Tishrei, 5707): Yom Kippur
1946(10th of
Tishrei, 5707): Sixty-four year old Rabbi Avraham (Arthur) Marmorstein, the son
“of Yehuda Leib (Leopold) Marmorstein and Rivka (Regina) Marmorstein and the
husband of Tobe (Antonia) Marmorstein passed away today in London.
1946: After a month, the
curtain comes down on Ben Hecht’s “A Flag is Born” at the Alvin Theatre.
1947:At the Ballroom of
the Gotham Hotel, Dr. Jonah B. Wise, the
rabbi at the Central Synagogue officiated at the wedding of Lucy Greenbaum and
William M. Freeman both of whom are members of the staff of The New York Times.
1947: Founding of The
Actors Studios which starting in 1931 was led by Lee Strasberg who held that
position until his death three decades later.
1948(2nd of
Tishrei, 5709): Second day of Rosh Hashanah
1948: Rabbi Morris N
Kertzer delivered a sermon at the Park Avenue Synagogue in which he warned that
“Israel must guard against the threat of chauvinism, of arrogant nationalism”
because “we shall find ourselves a majority people for the first time in two
millennia.”
1949: “Consolidation of
Max Udell Sons Co., Inc., which was founded by Max Udell in 1886 and J.
Friedman Co. which is led by Max H. Friedman, two of the largest men's clothing
producers in the country, was announced today.
1949: After two years of
being broadcast by ABC, “You Bet Your Life” starring Groucho Marx was broadcast
for the first time by CBS radio.
1949(12th of
Tishrei, 5710): Sixty-two year old Boston born, Harvard Law School graduate and
WW I Army veteran Abraham E. Pinanski, “a member of the Massachusetts Superior
Court since 1930,” the “President of the Hebrew Free Loan Society of Boston”
since 1936 and “President of the Jewish Child Welfare Association” who was the
husband of “Viola R. Pinanski” with whom he had four daughters passed away
today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/10/06/84222293.pdf
1950: Television game
show “You Bet Your Life” starring Groucho Marx makes its debut.
1951: In “City
Opera Offers ‘Dybbuk’ Premiere” published today Olin Downes reviews the opening
performance of David Tamkin’s opera which he wrote “was a remarkable
accomplishment.”
1951: In Ireland, Robert
and Evelyn Geldof gave birth to singer-song writer and social activist Bob
Geldof.
https://www.biography.com/people/bob-geldof-9308389
1954(7th of Elul,
5714): Seventy-four year old Albert Montefiore Hyamson the British historian,
Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and President of the Jewish Historical
Society and Zionist who served as Chief Immigration Officer for the Mandatory
Government in Palestine passed away today.
https://books.google.com/books/about/A_history_of_the_Jews_in_England.html?id=pW0LAAAAIAAJ
1955: Frances
Goodrich and Albert Hackett”s dramatization of "The Diary of Anne Frank,”
opened at the Cort in New York. Directed by Garson Kanin, with sets designed by
Boris Aronson with Susan Stasberg in the role of Anne, the play is deemed a
success by the critics and audience alike.
1956: The Dinah Shore
Chevy Show hosted by Dinah Shore (Frances Rose Shore) was broadcast for the
first time on NBC television.
1957(10TH of
Tishrei, 5718): Yom Kippur and Shabbat coincide.
1959: Mollie Abrams was
buried today at Beth Shalom in Shaler Township, PA.
1960(14th of
Tishrei, 5721): Erev Sukkoth
1960: Eighty-four year
old American anthropologist Alfred Louis Kroeber who was of “mixed Jewish and
Protestant ancestry” and who was the husband of Henriette Rothschild whom he
married in 1906 passed away.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/A-L-Kroeber
1961: “Breakfast at
Tiffany’s” sophisticated New York film produced by Richard “Dick” Shepherd,
with a screenplay by George Axelrod and featuring Martin Balsam was released
today in the United States by Paramount Pictures.
1961: The first clipping
for the show that would become Anyone Can Whistle appeared in The New York
Times today "For the winter of 1962, Arthur Laurents is nurturing another
musical project, The Natives Are Restless. The narrative and staging will be
Mr. Laurents's handiwork; music and lyrics that of Stephen Sondheim. A meager
description was furnished by Mr. Laurents, who refused to elaborate. Although
the title might indicate otherwise, it is indigenous in content and
contemporary in scope. No producer yet." (As reported by Mark Eden Horowitz)
1961: Broadway premiere
of “Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole” written by William and James Goldman which
featured a performance by James Caan.
1962: “Dr. No” based on
the novel of the same name produced by Harry Saltzman, featuring Joseph Wiseman
and with music by Monty Norman was released today in the United States.
1962(7th of
Tishrei, 5723): Sixty-year-old Polish born Dr. Monah L. Bialik, the holder of
Ph.D from Columbia and the dean of the Yeshiva of Flatbush who was the husband
of “the former Clara Telushkin” with whom had two children passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/10/07/121476085.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1963: Final performance
of “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You in the Closet” written by Arthur Kopit.
1964(29th
of Tishrei, 5725): Sixty-nine-year-old Mrs. Anna Hoffman Hartman the widow of Chicago native and
University of Michigan educated advertising executive Louis H. Hartman, the
father of Robert H. Hartman who had begun his career with Sears, Roebuck and
Company and was known for his activities as bee keeper passed away today.
1964: “Quick, Before It
Melts” a comedy featuring Norman Fell was released in the United States today
1965(9th of
Tishrei, 5726): Erev Yom Kippur; Kol Nidre
1965: In “Jerusalem,
Israeli Sector, Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and the holiest day in the
Jewish calendar began at sundown today.
1966(21st of
Tishrei, 5727): Hoshana Raba
1967(1st of
Tishrei, 5728): For the first time Jews observe Rosh Hashanah in a united
Jerusalem, the capital of the modern state of Israel.
1969(23rd of Tishrei,
5730): Simchat Torah is celebrated for the first time during the Presidency of
Richard Nixon.
1969(23rd of
Tishrei, 5730): Sixty-nine year old Russian born, Harvard educated Dr. William
Dameshek, “a pioneer in the study of blood” and leader in the movement to
“establish hematology as a specialty” who was married to Rose Dameshek with
whom he had one child, passed away today.
https://dev.hematology.org/About/History/Legends/2077.aspx
http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/bloodjournal/15/5/580.full.pdf?sso-checked=true
1971(16th of
Tishrei, 5732): Second day of Sukkoth
1972: Birthdate
of Nebraska defensive tackle and New England Patriots draft pick Christian
Peter whose “lengthy history of violence against woman” led Myra Kraft to
convince her husband to relinquish the team’s right to him “only a week after
the draft” had been completed.
1973: In London, Ashraf
Marwan, the son-in-law of Gamal Abdel Naser and the Mossad agent code-named
“Angel” warned his Mossad handlers of the war that would begin the next day at
sundown. Zivi Zamir, the chief of Mossad who was present at the meeting and
fully aware of the ramifications of a massive mobilization of reserve soldiers
on Yom Kippur, called home and sounded the alarm (As reported by Tal Krz-Oz)
1973: “General
Ariel Sharon was shown aerial photographs and other intelligence by Yehoshua
Saguy, his divisional intelligence officer. General Sharon noticed that the
concentration of Egyptian forces along the canal was far beyond anything
observed during the training exercises, and that the Egyptians had amassed all
of their crossing equipment along the canal. He then called General Shmuel
Gonen, who had replaced him as head of Southern Command, and expressed his certainty
that war was imminent.”
1973: “Soviet advisers
and their families left Egypt and Syria, transport aircraft thought to be laden
with military equipment landed in Cairo and Damascus, and aerial photographs
revealed that Egyptian and Syrian concentrations of tanks, infantry and SAM
missiles were at an unprecedented high.”
1973: Chief of Military
Intelligence Major General Eli Zeira reassured “special means” listening
devices were not producing any warning signs that war was imminent. Only later
would the Israeli government find that Zeira had not activated these devices.
1973: The Israeli
missile boat flotilla concluded its first full-scale maneuvers the day before
the start of the Yom Kippur War. These boats with their unique
missile armament would play a key role in protecting the Israel coast during
the fighting.
1973: On the eve
of what would become the Yom Kippur War, the division manning the Israeli
defenses along the Suez Canal requested reinforcements. The requests was denied
because the Israeli General Headquarters had decided that the Egyptian troops
massed on the west bank of the Suez Canal were engaged in military exercise;
military exercises that senior command was sure were about to come to an
end.
1973: Disturbed by
continued massing of Egyptian and Syrian forces on their respective borders
with Israel and the withdrawal of Soviet ships from Egyptian ports, the Chief
of Staff puts the active Israeli Army on its highest level of
preparedness. He also ordered a limited mobilization of certain
reserve units. The numerical strength of the Israeli Army lay with
the reserves. Only a full mobilization of these forces could meet
the onslaught of combined Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian armies.
1976: Yorkshire
Television broadcast the second episode of “Dickens of London” with music by
Monty Norman.
1977(23rd of
Tishrei, 5738): Simchat Torah
1979(14th of
Tishrei, 5740): Erev of Sukkoth
1979: “Starting Over” a
comedy directed by Alan J. Pakula, produced by James L. Brooks who also wrote
the script and with music by Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager was
released today in the United States.
1979: “Cocaine Cowboys”
with a score by Elliot Goldenthal premiered in New York City.
1979: “Nosferatu the
Vampyre” a horror film produced by Michael Gruskoff who began his career in the
mailroom of the William Morris Agency, was released in the United States today.
1980: Pitcher Steve
Ratzer made his major league debut with the Montreal Expos.
1981: Raoul Wallenberg
became an honorary citizen of the United States. Using his status a
Swedish diplomat, Wallenberg worked to save the lives of the Jews of
Hungary. Thanks to his efforts he saved the lives of somewhere
between 20,000 to 100,000 Hungarian Jews. The bill to make Wallenberg an
honorary citizen was sponsored by Representative Tom Lantos, who as a teenaged
Hungarian Jews sought refuge in one of Wallenberg's safe
houses. Wallenberg is listed as one of the “Righteous Among the
Nations” at Yad Vashem.
1983: During the Israel
bank stock crisis “the stock exchange again opened with large numbers of sell
offers.”
1983: Martin
Leach-Cross Feldman assumed office as a Judge of the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
1983: In Queens, NY,
Barry Eisenberg and the former Amy Fishman gave birth to actor Jesse Eisenberg.
1984(9th of
Tishrei, 5745): Erev Shabbat and Erev Yom Kippur
1985(23rd of
Tishrei 5746): Simchat Torah
1985: After
813 performances, the curtain came down on West End production of “Little Shop
of Horrors” by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman
1985: Sixty-two year old
Holocaust survivor and successful real estate entrepreneur Joseph Kushed “the
father of Murray and Charles Kushner and the grandfather of Marc Kushner and
Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner passed away today.
1985(23rd of
Tishrei, 5746): At Ras Burqa, an Egyptian soldier machine gunned a group
of Israeli tourists murdering Hamman Shelach – an Israeli judge in the
Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court and the son of Israeli poet Yonatan Ratosh, his
wife Ilana, his 12 year old daughter Tzlil, 38 year old Anita Griffel, 10 year
old Amir Baum, 10 year old Dina Baria and 13 year old Ofri urel in episode made
even worse by reports some Egyptian politicians hailed the killer as hero.
1986: The Sunday
Times of London ran a story on its front page under the headline:
"Revealed — the secrets of Israel's nuclear arsenal" based on
information supplied by Mordechai Vanunu.”
1986(2nd of Tishrei,
5747): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1986(2nd of
Tishrei, 5747): Seventy-five year old Rudolf Flesh, the holder of a PhD from
Columbia and husband of Elizabeth Terpenning best known for his popular
work Why Johnny Can’t Read passed away today
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/07/obituaries/dr-rudolf-flesch-75-authority-on-literacy.html
1986(2nd of
Tishrei, 5747): Eight-seven year old Ohio born Reform Rabbi and anti-war
activist Abraham L. Feinberg who marred Patricia Blanchard after the death of
his first wife Ruth Katsh passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/08/obituaries/rabbi-abraham-l-feinberg.html
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/abraham-l-feinberg
1986(2nd of
Tishrei, 5747): Movie producer Hal Wallis passed away.
http://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/08/obituaries/hal-b-wallis-film-producer-is-dead.html
1988: Israel banned
Meir Kahane's Kach Party on grounds of racism.
1989: “The Punisher” an
action film with a script by Boaz Yakin was released in Germany today.
1990(16th of Tishrei,
5751): Second Day of Sukkoth
1990(16th of Tishrei,
5751): Meir Kahane founder of Jewish defense league was assassinated
at the age of 58.
1990: “Henry &
June” directed by Phillip Kaufman who co-authored the script along with his
wife Rose was released in the United States today by Universal Pictures.
1990: “Avalon” a
must-see movie directed, produced and written by Barry Levinson with music by
Randy Newman was released in the United States today by Tristar Pictures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalon_(1990_film)#/media/File:Avalon_poster.jpg
1993: Seventy-five year
old Robert Constant Moses, a native of Phillip, SD, a graduate of Beloit High
School who was a WW II veteran, a draftsman at Barber Coleman and the father of
Nancy Margulis, a pillar of the Cedar Rapids Jewish community, passed away
today.
1995(11th of
Tishrei, 5756): Ninety-one year old viola virtuoso Lillian Fuchs passed away
today
http://jwa.org/thisweek/oct/05/1995/death-of-lillian-fuchs-one-of-best-string-players-in-america
1996(22nd of Tishrei, 5757):
Shemini Atzeret
1996(22nd of
Tishrei, 5757): Eighty-eight year old Elmer Berger, the Rabbi who was such a
proud foe of a Jewish state that he authored Memoirs of an Anti-Zionist
Jew in 1976, (As reported by Eric Pace)
1997: The Sunday
New York Times book section featured reviews of books by Jewish
authors and/or on topics relating to Judaism or the Jewish people
including Son of Rosemary by Ira Levin, The Body
Perfect: An Intimate History of American Girls by Joan Jacobs
Brumberg, The Journals of Ayn Rand, edited by David
Harriman and A Jewish Mother From Berlin and Susanna by
Gertrude Kolmar. This slim volume contains Brigitte M. Goldstein's
translations of two short novels by Gertrude Kolmar, a poet who perished in the
Holocaust in 1943. In these works, as in her verse, Kolmar explores alienation
and misfortune with a vivid, emotionally piercing force; here maternal love,
devotion and innocence become not refuges from tragedy but lightning rods that
seem to attract it. In 'A Jewish Mother From Berlin,' written in
1931, in which the title character loses her only genuine connection to the
world, her 5-year-old daughter, Kolmar's eloquence carries the reader past
certain weaknesses in pacing and execution, taking us deep into the heart of
the isolated mother's anguish. With ''Susanna,'' a later work, written in 1940,
Kolmar's command is stronger, yielding a tighter, more persuasive fairy tale
that also works as an erotic puzzle and a memoir. The title character is an
elusive, mentally unstable girl, described from a distance of years by her
former governess with an incomprehension suffused with heartbreak. As we read
both these works, our estimation of Kolmar's worth as a writer must compete
with our dismay over her destiny: a lifetime of effort strangled by the
calamities of history. The least her faithful, worthy achievement deserves is
the gratitude of successive generations of readers.
1997(4th of
Tishrei, 5758): Tzom Gedaliah
1997(4th of
Tishrei, 5758): Ninety-eight-year-old “American violinist and actor billed as ‘The
Steet Singer’” Arthur Tracy, the native of the Ukraine named Abba Avrom whose
parents were Mordeche and Frannie Traxowitsky passed away today.
https://www.philadelphiamusicalliance.org/walk-of-fame/arthur-tracy/
https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/08/arts/arthur-tracy-98-musical-star-known-as-the-street-singer.html
2000: In “The Pogrom In
Limerick” published today John Derbyshire contended that the “anti-Semitic
pogrom of 1904” and not an episode in 1690 was “the darkest episode in the
city’s history.”
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2000/10/05/the-pogrom-in-limerick/
2000: At the outset of
the second Intifada, Rabbi Chaim Brovender, the founder of Yeshivat Hamivtar in
Efrat, was traveling along the Tunnel Road connecting Gush Etzion with
Jerusalem when a crowd of Arabs from Beit Jala stopped him. After being pulled
from his car and severely beaten, he was taken to a Palestinian police station
in Bethlehem, where he was further harassed before being thankfully transferred
to the IDF alive.
2001: Thirty-four year
old ended his major league career today when he pitched his final game for the
Cleveland Indians.
2001: Today, a
letter signed by at least 50 American Jewish figures -- including current and
former officials from some of the nation's most influential Jewish
organizations -- will be presented to the White House, expressing support for
the administration's war on terrorism and policy efforts in the Middle East.
The letter comes after days of criticism of the administration's plans by the
American Jewish groups, including the main pro-Israel lobbying organization in
Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac. What is
happening, officials said, amounts to a fundamental division within a
traditionally unified constituency on an important issue of American foreign
policy.
2002: “As the current
Palestinian uprising enters its third year,” today “a gaggle of Palestinian
boys beat a hasty retreat to the Balata refugee camp today after surging toward
an Israeli patrol, stones in hand, in defiance of a curfew.
2002: In addition to the
violence of the Palestinian uprising, Israel is confronted with challenge of
how to deal with the large arsenal of Scud missiles held by Iraq which can
reach all the way to Tel Aviv.
2003(9th of
Tishrei, 5764): Erev Yom Kippur
2003: “‘The Eternal
Road,’ In Endless Quest of a Stage” published today described the authors
fascination with “Max Reinhardt’s lavish pageant of Jewish biblical history and
seemingly timeless persecution…first staged in 1937.”
2003: Israel bombed an
Islamic Jihad base in Syria, the first Israeli attack deep inside Syrian
territory in three decades.
2003: The New
York Times book section featured reviews of books by Jewish authors
and/or on topics relating to Judaism or the Jewish people including The
Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century by Paul
Krugman, They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and
America, October 1967 by David Maraniss, The Speakeasies
of 1932, Illustrations by Al Hirschfeld, Living A Year of
Kaddish by Ari L. Goldman and The Bielski Brothers: The
True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Saved 1,200 Jews, and Built a
Village in the Forest.by Peter Duffy. “After discovering that
their parents and other family members had been murdered by the Nazis, three
brothers -- Tuvia, Zus and Asael Bielski -- took to the Soviet forests, and
encouraged friends and relatives to join them. Tuvia, the eldest, did not want
to turn away any Jews, and helped others escape the ghettos of Novogrudek (now
Navahrudak in Belarus) and Lida; they once led a group of 800 through swamps to
hide on an island deep in the forest. As Peter Duffy writes in his first book,
''The Bielski Brothers,'' to survive, the brothers assigned groups to gather
food, build shelter and fix weapons; informers were killed and whole villages
were threatened with burning in the event of betrayal. For two and a half years
the Bielskis offered the best chance for Belarusian Jews to live. ''We don't
have to be heroes,'' Tuvia said. ''We just have to live through this war.
Whoever will make it, he is the biggest hero.'' When the brigade was disbanded
in July 1944, the group had 1,140 members. Asael was killed seven months later
in East Prussia; Tuvia and Zus emigrated to Israel, where Tuvia died in 1987
and Zus in 1995.
2004(20th of Tishrei,
5765): Eighty-two year old comedian Rodney Dangerfield, the man who got no
respect, passed away. (As reported by Mel Watkins)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/06/arts/06dangerfield.html?_r=0
2005(2nd of
Tishrei, 5766): Second Day Rosh Hashanah
2005: The WB broadcast
the first episode of “Related” created by Marta Kauffman and starring Lizzy
Caplan.
2005: “The Squid and the
Whale” an “American arthouse comedy-drama film written and directed by Noah
Baumbach” and co-starring Jesse Eisenberg was released in the United States
today by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
2005: Haaretz reported
on High Holiday Services being held in Houston, Texas. The services
were on the campus of Rice University and were intended to provide a gathering
place for Jews from New Orleans who were in Houston because of Hurricane
Katrina. For the New Orleans Jews the services took on the flavor of
a re-union.
2006: Amy Goodman
appeared on the Colbert Report in an effort to promote her new book was Static:
Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People who Fight Back
2006: A Muslim
journalist facing charges of sedition for advocating ties with Israel was
recently attacked and beaten by a crowd in Bangladesh that allegedly included
leading officials of the country's ruling party. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury,
editor of the Weekly Blitz newspaper, an English-language
publication based in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, was working in his
office when nearly 40 people stormed the premises, beat Choudhury, leaving him
with a fractured ankle, and looted cash that was kept in the company safe.
Choudhury was briefly hospitalized.
2006: Eliot
Spitzer told the Empire State Pride Agenda that as governor he would work to
legalize same sex marriage in New York.
2006: In “Lemony
Snicket reaches ‘The End’, Todd Leopold describes the completion of “A Series
of Unfortunate Events.”
2007(23rd of Tishrei,
5768): Simchat Torah
2007: “Garage” an Irish
film directed by Lenny Abrahamson was released today after having premiered at
the Cannes Film Festival in May.
2007: “Appomattox” an
opera composed by Phillip Glass which takes its name from the place where Lee
surrendered to Grant premiered at the San Francisco Opera today.
2008: As part of the
yearlong celebration of pianist Leon Fleisher’s 80th birthday,
a concert titled Leon Fleisher & Friends is performed by an ensemble that
includes keyboard colleagues and former students Yefim Bronfman, Jonathan Biss
and Katherine Jacobson-Fleisher, Fleisher’s wife is performed in Baltimore, MD.
2008: Eighty-year
old, Dr. Ernest Beutler, “a leading hematologist whose studies opened an
important new window onto the treatment of leukemia” passed away today. (As
reported by Jeremy Pearce)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/health/research/09beutler.html?_r=0
2008: The New
York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or on
topics of special interest to the Jewish people including Hot, Flat and
Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution — and How It Can Renew America by
Thomas L. Friedman and paperback versions of The Indian Clerk by
David Leavitt, The Mascot: Unraveling the Mystery of My Jewish Father’s
Nazi Boyhood, by Mark Kurzem, The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War
Story by Diane Ackerman. The Diary of Petr Ginz: 1941-1942, edited
by Chava Pressburger, translated by Elena Lappin as well as an essay about
Pulitzer Prize winning author Steven Millhauser
2008: At the Kennedy
Center, final performance of nn “abridged version of Girl Crazy,” a 1930’s
George and Ira Gershwin musical.
2009: Attorney
Stuart E. Weisberg discusses and signs his new biography, "Barney Frank:
The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman," at the
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, in Washington, D.C.
2009(17th of
Tishrei, 5770): Chol Hamoed Sukkoth
2009(17th of
Tishrei, 5770): Ninety-six year old Soviet mathematician Israeli Gelfand passed
away.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/science-obituaries/6440484/Israel-Gelfand.html
2009: Captain Ben
Sklaver was buried in family plot in Jewish cemetery in Connecticut.
2009: Shortly after
a border policeman was moderately wounded this afternoon when he was stabbed in
northern Jerusalem near the Shuafat refugee camp, Palestinians hurled rocks at
security forces in the area, leaving a policeman lightly hurt.
2009: This evening
arrested police in Dimona two men, a 41-year-old and a 57-year-old, who are
suspected of vandalizing the Uvdat National Park in the Negev on Sunday night.
2010: Center for Jewish
History, Yeshiva University Museum and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research are
scheduled to present “16 mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors
to 1930s Poland.”
2010: Avraham Tal
is scheduled to rule on Yigal Amir’s petition to end his separation from fellow
prisoners. Amir is serving a life sentence for murdering Yitzhak
Rabin. Amir says he does not pose a threat to his fellow prisoners because the
murder of Rabin was a one-time that cannot be replicated. [Chutzpah- when a
child who killed his parents pleads for clemency because he is an orphan.]
2010: Philip Roth"
31st book, a novel entitled Nemesis -- which involves a polio
epidemic in 1940s Newark, N.J. -- is scheduled to come out to day
2010: A documentary
entitled “Nuremberg” scheduled to end its weeklong premier American showing
today at the Film Forum. This hitherto unseen documentary was made
by Stuart Schulberg, brother of the famed writer Budd Schulberg. The
American public is getting see this informative piece of cinema 62 years after
its creation thanks to the effort his daughter, Sandra Schulberg. http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/movies/29nuremberg.html
2010: Today
settlers gave new copies of the Koran to Palestinians in a West Bank village
whose mosque was burned in an attack blamed by Palestinians on settlers.
2011: Rabbi Mindy Avra
Portnoy is scheduled to deliver the last lecture in the series “Not Matriarchs:
Lesser Known Women of the Hebrew Bible” at the JCC of Greater Washington.
2010: The state of Iowa
proclaimed today Raoul Wallenberg Day.
2010: Publication
of Washington: A Life, the prize winning biography of the founding
father written by Ron Chernow.
2011: “An Israeli
scientist won this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering a material
in which atoms were packed together in a well-defined pattern that never
repeats. Recent Nobel prizes have generally split credit for scientific
advances among two or three people, but this year’s chemistry prize and
accompanying 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.4 million) went to a single
scientist: Daniel Shechtman, 70, a professor of materials science at Technion -
Israel Institute of Technology. The citation from the Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences states simply, “for the discovery of quasicrystals.” Such regular but
non-repeating patterns, defined by precise rules, have been known in mathematics
since antiquity and are found in mosaics of medieval Islamic tiles, but it was
thought impossible in the packing of atoms. Dr. Shechtman discovered the same
type of structure while studying a metal mix of aluminum and manganese. His
notebook recorded the exact date: April 8, 1982. Scientists believed that
crystals in materials all contained repeating patterns, and Dr. Shechtman took
years to convince others. During the announcement, the Nobel committee noted
that one colleague said, “Go away, Danny” and that he was even asked to leave
his research group. Quasicrystals have since been found in many other
materials, including a naturally occurring mineral from a Russian river.” (As
reported by Kenneth Chang)
2011: The National Labor
Court suspended doctors' resignation letters this afternoon in response to the
state's request for an emergency hearing.
2012: “The Flat”
directed by two time winner of the Israeli Academy Awards, Aaron Goldfinger is
scheduled to be shown at The Hamptons International Film Festival this evening.
2012: In Grand Forks,
ND, B’nai Israel is scheduled to host a Shabbat Harvest Potluck Dinner with
services lead by Cantor Alane Katzew.
2012: Riots broke
out on the Temple Mount this afternoon as hundreds of Muslim worshipers threw
stones at police officers, following a week of confrontations between
right-wing Jews and Muslims on the site
2012: A 23-year-old
American citizen snatched a security guard’s gun and opened fire in an Eilat
hotel this morning, leaving one person dead and three others suffering from
shock.
2012: While Congress is
in recess until after the November elections, 2 Democratic legislators -Senator
Robert Menendez and Representative Howard Berman – are working on measure to
strengthen the sanctions against Iran.
2013: “Displaced
Visions: Émigré Photographers of the 20th Century,” is scheduled to come to an
end.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-his-final-exhibit-an-emigre-curator-gets-personal/
2013: Shoshannah Nambi,
a member of the Abadyudaya Jewish community is scheduled to speak on the roles
of the women in her community and the challenges they face this evening at
Congregation Adat Teyim in Springfield, VA.
2013(1st of
Cheshvan, 5774): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
2013: In addition to
celebrating Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan and reading Noah, the traditional minyan at
Temple Judah in Cedar Rapids will mark the 40th anniversary of
the Yom Kippur War which began on October 6, 1973.
2013: A nine year
old girl who was shot in the neck by one or more terrorists at Psagot has been
evacuated to Shaarei Tzedek Hopitals “with what was initially described as a
serious injury to her upper body.” (As reported by Gil Roen)
2013: A
Palestinian vehicle rammed a checkpoint this morning near the settlement of
Elon Moreh in the West Bank, injuring two Border Police officers at the site
and speeding away
2013: Slamming the US as
arrogant, dishonest, untrustworthy, and controlled by Zionists, Iran’s Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said today that “some” aspects of President
Hassan Rouhani’s trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York last
month were “not proper.” (As reported by The Times of Israel)
2014: The Center for
Jewish History is scheduled to host a series of symposiums on archival
research.
2014: Maccabi Tel Aviv
led by former NBA guard Jeremy Pargo, a one-time Cavalier is scheduled to play
the Cleveland Cavaliers coached by Israeli David Blatt, the former coach of
Maccabi Tel Aviv.
2014: “After the Defense
Ministry rejected a US request to establish field hospitals in the
Ebola-stricken western African countries, the Foreign Ministry announced today
that it will dispatch three teams — in coordination with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV) — to
bordering African nations at risk of infection.” (As reported by Marissa
Newman)
2014: The Israel Defense
Forces said that its troops opened fire on “suspects” attempting to cross the
border from Lebanon, apparently hitting one and forcing them to retreat.
According to UN monitors, the suspects were a Lebanese Army patrol, one of
whose members was wounded.
2014: The New
York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including The Innovators: How a
Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by
Walter Isaacson, The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis and I’ll
Drink to That: A Life in Style, With a Twist by Betty Halbreich
with Rebecca Paley.
2015(22nd of
Tishrei, 5776): Shemini Atzeret – In the evening Simchat Torah
2015: The Oxford
University Jewish Society is scheduled to hold “a Simchat Torah evening service
with lots of dancing” this evening.
2015(22nd of
Tishrei, 5776): Seventy-three year old producer Larry Brezner who played a
major role in the successful careers of Robin Williams and Billy Crystal passed
away today. (As reported by Margalit Fox)
2015(22nd of
Tishrei, 5776) Sixty-five year old Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman, the
daughter of Holocaust survivors, passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/arts/chantal-akerman-belgian-filmmaker-dies-65.html
2016: In honor of the
heroism and courage of Raoul Wallenberg, Governor Laurence J. Hogan has
officially declared October 5th, 2016, as Raoul Wallenberg Day in the State of
Maryland.
2016: “One Week and a
Day” and “Atomic Falafel” are scheduled to be shown on the opening night of a
film festival in Washington, DC celebrating contemporary Israeli Cinema.
2016: The University of
Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, announced today that Anthony Hall, “a professor
accused of promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and denying the
Holocaust” “has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of an internal
investigation into possible violations of Canada’s Human Rights Act.”
2016: A rocket fired
from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip exploded in the western Negev town of
Sderot this morning.
2016(3rd of
Tishrei, 5777): Fast of Gedaliah
2016(3rd of
Tishrei, 5777): Thirty-four year old Major Ohan Cohen, a pilot with the IAF who
was returing from a raid on terrorist targets in Gaza, died today “after
ejecting from his F-16 while attempting to land at the Ramon Air Base.”
2016(3rd of
Tishrei, 5777): Ninety-five year old cutting edge script writer Austin Kalish
passed away today. (As reported by Anita Gates)
2016: “As of today,” Dr.
Victor Parsonnet “officially retired as chief of surgery as ‘the Beth,” “69 years
after he began his internship as what was then called Newark Beth Israel.”
2017(15th of
Tishrei, 5778): Sukkoth
2017: In “Harvey
Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Accusers for Decades” published today Jodi Kantor and
Megan Twohey documented the decades long abuse that has ended the powerful
Hollywood mogul’s career.
2017: Raoul Wallenberg
Day
2017(15th of
Tishrei): Yarhrzeit of William “Bill” Schueller, beloved husband of Eleanor Schueller,
father of Deb Levin and father-in-law of Mitchell Levin
2017: University of Iowa
Hillel is scheduled to celebrate Sukkoth this evening with the Lutheran Campus
Ministry.
2017: The Oxford
University Jewish Society is scheduled to host Sukkoth morning service followed
by lunch at the Chaplains’ house.
2018: As the day begins
Israelis will see if today will mark another of the six months of the Friday’s
of violence in which Hamas mobs attack IDF forces and breach the border or a
day in which the peaceful words of Hamas leader Yehya Sinwar become a reality.
2018(26th of
Tishrei, 5779): Eight four year old Herbert David Kleber, the Pittsburgh born
son of Dorothea and Max Kleber and Jefferson Medical College trained physician
who was a pioneer in the field of addiction treatment passed away today. (As
reported by Katharine Q. Seelye)
2018: Observance of
Raoul Wallenberg Day
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/raoul-wallenberg-3
http://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/wallenberg.html
https://www.ushmm.org/collections/bibliography/raoul-wallenberg
http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/category/wallenberg/tributes/wallenday/
2019(6th of
Tishrei, 5780): Parashat Vayeilech; Shabbat Shuva;
2019: This evening, in
Palo Atlo, CA, the Oshman Family is scheduled to host “Return: A Yom Kippur
Experience,” featuring “breakout sessions that offer opportunities to turn
inward and toward one in aother in the spirit of the High Holidays.”
2019: This evening
Israeli entertainer Isaac Sutton is scheduled to perform “Broadway Israel,” a
celebration of Broadway musicals at Feinstein’s/54.2019: In Memphis, TN at
Temple Israel, Rabbi Feivel Strauss is scheduled to lead the Torah Study
session preceding Shabbat Morning Services.
2020: The Oshman Family
JCC is scheduled to present a “virtual conversation with author Rachel Biale”
as she talks about her memoir Growing Up Below Sea Level: A Kibbutz
Childhood, which is about her life in Israel in the1950s-60s.”
2020: The London School
of Jewish Studies is scheduled to host through Zoom a trip to the wilds of
Africa with conservations Ilana Stern as of the LSJS “Torah Wild Tour.”
2020: As part of the
Webinar Series: Jews, Class and History, Professors Tony Michels and Alice
Kissler-Harris and New York State Senator Julia Salazar are scheduled to
discuss “1910s: Organized Workers.”
2020: The Jewish Arts
Collaborative is scheduled to present online “JLive Art with Audrey Markoff
2020(17th of
Tishrei, 5781: Third Day of Sukkoth
2020: Jews in Dubai can
plan on sitting in Sukkah “built in coordination
with Dubai’s local authorities and security forces which was erected in front
of the world’s tallest tower - Dubai’s prominent Burj Khalifa tower - and
unveiled by the rabbi of Dubai’s Jewish community, Rabbi Levi Duchman.”
2020:
As Chol Hamoed begins, it remains to be seen if the clashes between police and
the Ultra-Orthodox flouting the pandemic related restrictions that marked the
first two days of Sukkoth continue.
2021: S.F.-based
consul generals of France and Germany, Frédéric Jung and Oliver Schramm, are
scheduled to discuss current events, goals for their diplomatic missions in the
U.S. and the state of Jewish community in Europe.
2021:
Professor Rachel Gross, the author of Beyond the Synagogue: Jewish
Nostalgia as Religious Practice is scheduled to discuss how Jewish
nostalgia is very often expressed through artisanal delis, picture books, old
synagogues and genealogy.
2021:
The Illinois Holocaust Museum is scheduled to present a virtual special
program, on “Insurrectionist Threats to Our Democracy.
2021:
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is scheduled to his trip Ukraine which is the
first state visit of his presidency.
2021:
The American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled to present, live on Zoom,
“Translating History Through Poetry: The Mexican Inquisition and Crypto-Jewish
Memory.”
2021:
As part of its “Speaker Series,” The Jewish Community Center of the North Shore
is scheduled to present Jordan Rich discussing his memoir On Air: My 50
Year Love Affair With Radio.
https://www.amazon.com/AIR-50-Year-Love-Affair-Radio/dp/B08NJR5FJ4/
2021:
In California, The Sonoma Jewish Film Festival, a virtual event is scheduled to
begin today.
2022: Haifa,
ranked lowest of the 32 teams in the group stage, remains in the cellar, just
below Juventus, which it will face in Italy today.
2022:
In a tribute to the Jewish vitality that can be found in “small town” America,
in Cedar Rapids, IA, Temple Judah is scheduled to host a Reform service and a
Traditional minyan
2022: On Yom Kippur Day Kanisse: A Modern Sephardic +
Mizrahi Community is scheduled to host Multicultural High Holiday Services at Conservative
Synagogue of Fifth Avenue on 11 E 11th Street in New York City.
2022(10th of Tishrei, 5783): Yom Kippur–G'mar Chatimah Tovah
2023: Lockdown University is scheduled to host a lecture by
Milton Shain on “Fascists, Fabricators and Fantasists: Antisemitism in South
Africa: 1948 to the Present.”
2023: The Center for Jewish History is scheduled to present a
performance by the Phoenix Chamber Ensemble.
2023: The Hebrew language documentary “The Secrets of War”
and “The Draughtsman’s Contract” are among the films scheduled to shown today
at the International Haifa Film Festival.
2023: An international group exhibition, “Conflicted,”
featuring works by Hadas Amster, Orit Ben, Merav Kamel and Halil Balabin is
scheduled to come to an at C24 Gallery.
2023: In Cedar Rapids, the Hadassah Book Club led by Nancy
Margulis is scheduled to discuss All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show
Business by Mel Brooks.
2023: In New Orleans, the Jewish Community Center is
scheduled to host a talk by Walter Isaacson on his latest book Elon Musk.
2023(20th of Tishrei, 5754): Sixth Day of Sukkoth; for more
see https://downhomedavartorah.blogspot.com/