March 28
364: Roman
Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor dividing
the Roman Empire between two rulers. Valens, The Emperor of the East “was an
Arian and had suffered too severely from the powerful Catholic party to be interplant
himself. He protected the Jews and bestowed honors and distinction upon them.
Valentinian, who was Emperor of the West, also “chose the policy of tolerance
in the struggle between Catholics and Arians, and permitted the profession of
either religion without political disadvantage…” He extended this level of
toleration to his Jewish subjects as well.
1038(20th of
Nisan): Ravi Hai Gaon passed away
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112498/jewish/Rav-Hai-Gaon.htm
1193: On his
way back from the Crusades, King Richard I of England becomes the prisoner of
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. When it came time to pay his ransom, the Jewish
community was forced to contribute 5,000 marks to the total. This was more than three times the amount
contributed by the entire City of London.
1285: Pope
Martin IV passed away. “In 1281, Pope Martin IV” reminded “inquisitors that
Jews should not be accused of encouraging converts to return to Judaism if all
that was known that the Jews and converts had been engaged in conversations.”
(For more see Between Christian and Jew by Paola Tartakoff)
1482: Lucrezia
Tornabuoni the wife of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici passed away. She was doubly unusual for a woman of her
time. First because she wrote poetry
that was published and second because one of the subjects of her sonnets was
Jewish – the Biblical figure of Esther.
1487: In
Naples, Joseph Günzenhäuser printed “Psalms” with a commentary by Kimhi
1515: In
Spain, in an example of how the Jews were treated, Alonso Sánchez de Cepeda whose father
“Juanito de Hernandez, was a marrano (Jewish convert to Christianity) and was
condemned by the Spanish Inquisition for allegedly returning to the Jewish
faith” and his wife gave birth to Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada the future St.
Teresa of Ávila
1537(16th of
Nisan): King Sigismund I of Poland issued a decree granting a monopoly of
importation and publication of Hebrew books to the Helitz brothers who had
established the first Hebrew printing press in Poland. The Jews resisted the
edit since the Helitz brothers had converted to Christianity.
1592:
Birthdate of Czech educational reformer John Comenius. Three hundred years
later, the imperial government would thwart plans by Czech nationalists to
celebrate his birth which would lead to mob violence that would eventually be
directed against the Jewish quarter of Prague.
1610(4th of
Nisan): Rabbi Ben-Zion Zarfati of Venice passed away.
1744: In New
York City, Isaac Mendes Seixas and Rachel Franks Levy gave birth to Moses
Mendes Seixas, the husband of Jochabed Levy with whom he had nine children.
1730(21st
of Nisan, 5490): The new synagogue which had been erected to “take the place of
the rame building which had been for a long time in on Mill Street” and for which
Moses Levy contributed funds to build “was consecrated today “at which time Mr.
Moses was the Parnas.”
1763: In
Philadelphia, Tabitha and Mathias Bush gave birth to Isaiah Bush.
1766(17th
of Nisan, 5526): Third Day of Pesach
1767(27th
of Adar II, 5527): Parashat Tazria; Shabbat HaChodesh.
1772(23rd
of Adar II, 5532): Parashat Shimini; Shabbat Parah
1774(16th
of Nisan, 5534): Second Day of Pesach
1781: Sara
Sarzedas and Colonel David Maysor gave birth to Rebecca Maysor who became
Rebecca Hyams the wife of David Hyams with whom she had five children.
1781: Twenty-eight-year-old
Brandy Lazarus, the daughter of Sampson Lazarus married Joshua Isaacs today in
Lancaster, PA.
1783:
Philadelphia native Leah Nathan and Bavarian born Jacob Naphtali Hart gave
birth to Moses Hart who passed away in Paris.
1788: In
Germany, Frommet Ottenheimer and Herz Marx Rothschild gave birth to Hindle
Rothschild, the husband of Michael Seligman Dettlebacher with whom she had six
children.
1795: As part
of the Third Partition of Poland, the Polish Duchy of Courland ceased to exist
when it became part of Imperial Russia. From 1772 until 1795 there were three
successive partitions of the land that included Poland and Lithuania. The
partitioning powers were Prussia, Austria and Hungary. Russia had gone to great
lengths to limit its Jewish population. However, when it acquired its portion
of Poland, it acquired a large Jewish population that it greeted with
increasingly vicious anti-Semitism.
1797(1st
of Nisan, 5557): Rosh Chodesh Nisan
1797(1st of
Nisan): Rabbi Saul Shiskes of Vilna, author of Shevil ha-Yashar passed away
1797: In
German, Rehle (Sarah) Jonathan and Moses Faist Rosenheim gave birth to
Johnathan Rosenehim.
1797: Rachel
Gratz and Solomon Etting, the Baltimore attorney who led the fight to get
Maryland to change the law barring non-Christians from holding public office
and Rebecca Gratz who were married in 1791 gave birth to Rebecca Etting.
(some sources
show her birthdate as 1798)
1801(14th
of Nisan, 5561): Parashat Tzav; erev Pesach
1803: Samuel
Myers, the New York City born son of Myer and Elkaleh Myers and his wife Judith
Moses Myers gave birth to Rebecca Hays Myers who never wed.
1804(16th
of Nisan, 5564): Second Day of Pesach; First Day of the Omer
1807: In
London, Soloman and Sarah Polack gave birth to Joel Samuel Polack, the first
Jew to settle in New Zealand (1830).
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1p18/polack-joel-samuel
1812(15th
of Nisan, 5572): Pesach celebrated for the last time before the start of the
War of 1812.
1817:
Birthdate of Vilhemine Meyer, the wife of Schaltiel Isaac Cohn, who was buried
in Denmark when she passed away.
1818:
Birthdate of Wade Hampton III the Confederate General and governor of South
Carolina with whom Edwin Warren Moise served during the war. In 1876, Moise supported Hampton in his run
for governor and ran successfully for the position of adjutant general on
Hampton’s ticket.
1820:
Birthdate of Italian author Moses Soave, the native of Venice who wrote
biographies on 16th century Jewish poet Sara Copia Sullam, 16th
century Portuguese physician Amatus Lusitanus, 16th century Italian
physician Abraham de Balmes, 10th century Italian physician
Shabbethai Donnolo and 16th century French born Italian scholar Leon
de Modena.
1824: In
Nachod, Bohemia, Joseph and Sulamith Mautner gave birth to Isaac Mautner.
1824(28th
of Adar II, 5584): Ninety-five-year-old Solomon Pinto, the Yale graduate,
soldier in the American Revolution and member of the Society of Cincinnati who
was the son of Jacob and Thankful Pinto and the husband of Clarissa Pinto
passed away today.
1825(9th of
Nisan): Rabbi Jacob Zevi Yales, author of Melo ha-Roim, passed away
1826(19th of
Adar II): Rabbi Jacob Kahana of Vilna, author of Ge’on Ya’akov passed away.
1827: In
Mayence, Germany, Rabbi Samuel and Sophie Bondi gave birth to Hugo Bondi
1832(26th of
Adar II, 5592): Sixty-nine-year-old mathematician Lazarus Bendavid passed away
today in Berlin.
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_New_International_Encyclop%C3%A6dia/Bendavid,_Lazarus
1832: In
Mlečice (modern day Czech Republic) Marcus and Maria Lobl gave birth to Jacob
Lobl.
1840:
Birthdate of Eduard Carl Oscar Theodor Schnitzer the German born Jewish doctor
who converted to Islam and gain fame as Mehmed Emin Pasha, a prominent leader
of the Ottoman Empire who served as governor of Egypt. During his service, he would be captured by
rebels and the international Emin Pasha Relief Expedition led by the famous
explorer Henry Morton Stanley would come to his rescue.
1842(17th
of Nisan, 5602): Third Day of Pesach
1843: In
Heidingsfeld, Germany, Joseph and Nanny Rosenheim gave birth to Julius
Rosenheim, the husband of Ida Rosenheim.
1844(8th
of Nisan, 5604): Fifty-five-year-old Eleazar S.
Lazarus a “city official in New York” who according to one source was the
“editor of the first Hebrew prayer book published in North America, an
accomplishment usually credited to Isaac Pinto, passed away today.
1846: Birthdate
of “Russia-American editor and publisher” Hirsch Bernstein who in 1870 came to
the United States settled in New York where he founded "The Post,"
the first Judæo-German or Yiddish periodical in America as well as the
"Ha-Ẓofeh be'Ereẓ ha-Ḥadashah," the first publication in the
Neo-Hebraic language in America while contributing to Ha-Maggid,""Ha-Lebanon," and "Ha-Karmel.’”
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3139-bernstein-hirsch
1846: In
London, Lydia and Mark Collins gave birth to Amelia Collins.
1847:
Birthdate of “Hungarian mathematician and physicist” Gyula (Julius) Farkas.
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6027-farkas-gyula-julius
1849:
Edward Salamon and Henrietta Levien gave birth to their daughter Florence Matilda,
the sister of New South Wales native Montague Levien.
1849:
Birthdate of French orientalist James Darmester
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4906-darmesteter-james
1850(15th
of Nisan, 5610): Pesach
1851: In
Neuilly-sur-Seine, Nathaniel de Rothschild and Charlotte de Rothschild (née de
Rothschild) gave birth to Baron Arthur de Rothschild who bequeathed his
artworks to the Louvre and “provided the prize money for the America’s Cup.” (This date is provided by the Jewish
Encyclopedia which conflicts with other sources.
1853: Frances
Phillips and Jacob Hyman gave birth to Henry Morris (Imano), known “for his
magnificent bass voice” and appearance in the Dyoyley Carte Opera Company’s
production of ‘The Mikado’” who was he husband of Miriam Isabel Davis.
1854: Great
Britain and France declared war on Russia marking the start of the Crimean War.
The Paris Treaty of 1858, concluding the war, granted Jews and Christians the
right to settle in Palestine, forced upon the Ottoman Turks by the British for
their assistance in the war effort. This decision opened the doors for Jewish
immigration to Palestine.
1854: In
Pleasantville, NY, Judith S. Peixotto, “the daughter of medical author Dr.
D.L.M. Peixotto” and her husband David Hats gave birth to CCNY graduate and
Columbia trained attorney Daniel P. Hays, the secretary of the Jewish
Theological Seminary, a member of the Board of Trustee of the Jewish
Publication Society and a member of the Harlem Democratic Club.
https://www.jta.org/archive/daniel-p-hays-prominent-beneractor-dead
1854: Two days
after she had passed away, Hannah (Woolf) Falcke, the wife of Jacob Falcke with
whom she had had ten children was buried today at the “Brompton (Fulham Road)
Jewish Cemetery.
1857:
According to reports published today, the Jews Hospital in New York has enough
beds to care for 170 patients. Currently, approximately 50 of those beds are in
use.
1858:
Birthdate of Imar Boas, he native of Exin, Prussia, a specialist in abdominal
medicine who also authored several works on the topic.
1859: In
Philadelphia, Abraham Kahn and Rebecca Ezekiel gave birth to Eva Coons, the
wife of Isidor Coons and “Member of the Board of Directors of the Hebrew
Education Society, Jewish Chautauqua Society, Jewish Foster Home and Orphan
Asylum, and the Philadelphia Branch of JTS.
1861(17th
of Nisan, 5621) Third Day of Pesach
1861:
"The Hebrew Son" is scheduled to be performed at the Winter Garden in
NYC, “for the special delectation of our Judaic brethren.”
1863: During
the U.S. Civil War, two Jews were arrested today on the Thomas A. Morgan while
she was sailing from Fortress Monroe to Yorktown, on charges that they had a
load of contraband goods in their possession
1863:
Birthdate of Parisian born “orientalist and Indologist” Sylvain Lev, the author
of Théâtre Indien
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvain_L%C3%A9vi
1864: In New
York, the Assembly adopted a bill “authorizing the conveyance of property to
the Hebrew Benevolent Society.”
1864: Medal of
Honor Abraham Cohn who had enlisted as a “private in company E, of the 6th
NH Volunteers in Campton, NH on January 5, 1864 was promoted to the rank of
Sergeant-Major today.”
1865(1st
of Nisan, 5625): Rosh Chodesh Nisan
1865:
Thirty-four-year-old Philadelphia native Myer Asch who had been serving with
the Union Army since September of 1861 “was honorably discharged and mustered
out with the rank of brevet Colonel of United States Volunteers” after spending
most of the war with cavalry units of the Army of the Potomac except for the
six months he spent as a prisoner in several Confederate prisons.
1865(1st
of Nisan, 5625): Sixty-eight-year-old Leopold "Löbl Jünger" Strakosch
the husband of Julia Strakosch passed away in Brno, Moravia.
1866: In
Detroit, MI, Bertha (Tobias) and William Bendix gave birth to violinist and
concert master Max Bendix, the conductor of Hammerstein’s Manhattan Opera and
Metropolitan Opera who was the uncle of actor William Bendix, best known for
his starring role in the sit-com “Life of Riley.”
1866:
Birthdate of Leon Kahn who was interred in the Jewish cemetery at Morgan City,
LA when he passed away.
1867: In
Columbus, GA, Rosetta Moses, the daughter of Joseph Jonas and Martha Jonas and
her husband Dr. Montefiore Moses gave birth to Montrose J. Moses who died in
New York at the age of 6.
1867: A
meeting was held today in Richmond, VA where the participants expressed their
indignation at the decision by the insurance companies “to take no more ‘Jew
Risks.’” Those in attendance, many of whom were Jews, adopted resolutions
stating that they would not do business with any company that took such action.
The Mayor of Richmond, Joseph C. Mayo, told the meeting that he had been in the
insurance business for several years and had most of his dealings with Jews
whom he described as upright and “honest in their conduct.” While serving as
prosecuting attorney, he could only think of three Jews who had been brought
before and while sitting with them while serving in the City Council “he had
found them trustworthy.”
1868:
In Chicago, Charles and “Fanny Louise (Powers) Hapgood” gave birth to Norman
Hapgood, the author of The Inside Story of Henry Ford’s Jew-Mania
https://www.amazon.com/inside-story-Henry-Fords-Jew-mania/dp/B00085Q0DI
1868:
Birthdate of Simon Oscar Pollock, the native of Minsk who was forced to flee
the United States in 1890 because of his political activities along with his
wife Julia Moschowitz where he pursued a career as a lawyer, author and counsel
to the Political Refugees Defense League.
1869(16th of
Nisan, 5629): Second Day of Pesach
1869:
Birthdate of Turin native and Socialist Claudio Treves who was forced into
exile when Mussolini and the fascists came to power.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy/World-War-I-and-fascism#ref929657
1873: After
accusations of ritual murder surfaced in Turkey, letters were sent to the
Christians leader in Marmara, Gallipoli, Bursa, Salonica, Smyrna, Manisa,
Chios, Adrianople, Janina, Silistria and other cities to warn of this behavior.
The letters were formulated by the Turkish Jewish leadership in conjunction
with the Greek Patriarch.
1873: Three
days after he had “died at Matlock Bath Derbyshire,” Abraham Mocatta, the son
of Daniel Mocatta and wife of Evelina Mocatta was buried today at the “Balls
Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1875: It was
reported today that Rabbi Brettenheim of Baltimore’s Howard Street Congregation
recently officiated at the wedding of Rosa Stern, daughter of the later
Bernhard Stern and Mr. Solomon Hochschild.
1875: In
Austin, TX, Marie Stern and David Weinberger gave birth to New Orleans resident
Charles Weinberger, an executive with the Fruit Dispatch Company and husband of
Rose Marx with whom he had one daughter, Amelia Kate Weinberger was a member of
Temple Sinai, the leading Reform congregation in New Orleans, “a director of
the Young Men’s Hebrew Association and a Vice President of the Federation of
Jewish Charities.
1876(3rd of
Nisan, 5636): Eighty-year-old Hungarian born violinist Joseph Böhm “who was a
member of the string quartet, which premiered Beethoven's 12th String Quartet”
and “a director of the Vienna Conservatory” passed away today.
1876: In New
York City, “wealthy German Jews,” Sophia and Julia Beer gave birth to Columbia graduate
and College of Physician and Surgeons trained urologist and surgeon Dr. Edwin
Beer, the husband of Elise Beer with whom he had three daughters – Isabel, Phyllis
and Elizabeth -- and the recipient of “the
first gold medal of International Society of Urology “for his original work on
the application of high frequency current for the curing of intra-vesicular
diseases” who had served as a Lt. Colonel in the Army Medical Corps during World
War I and who “was the treasurer of a group of New York physicians and surgeons
organized in 1933 to assist colleagues who suffered hardships as a result of
the Hitler regime I Germany.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/08/15/98178849.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1391419/
1877(14th of
Nisan, 5637): Fast of the First Born
1878: In New
York City, “Babetta (née Newgass) and German-born immigrant Mayer Lehman, one
of the three brothers who cofounded the Lehman Brothers investment banking
firm” gave birth to Herbert Henry Lehman who served as Lt. Gov., Gov. and U.S.
Senator from New York.
http://library.columbia.edu/locations/rbml/units/lehman/biography.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/nyregion/herbert-lehman-biography.html?_r=0
1878:
Birthdate of Abraham Walkowitz, the Siberian born “American painter grouped in
with early American Modernists.
http://rogallery.com/Walkowitz_Abraham/Walkowitz-bio.htm
http://www.askart.com/artist/Abraham_Walkowitz/30115/Abraham_Walkowitz.aspx#
1880(16th of
Nisan, 5640): Second day of Pesach; 1st day of the Omer
1880:
Birthdate of Louis Wolheim the multi-lingual Cornell football player who was
fluent in Yiddish who gained fame as an actor in silent films, Broadway and
finally in talkies including “All Quiet on the Western Front.”
1880: It was
reported today that in Tula, Orel, and Kharkoff , the Russian government has
“ruthlessly expelled” the Jews who have established businesses over the last
several years.
1880: It was
reported today that instead of improving the conditions of his Jewish subjects,
the Czar has begun treating them with “increased severity.” The Jews have been
forced to claim that they are Protestants to avoid be expelled from St.
Petersburg by the police.
1880: It was
reported today that an international conference is going to be held at Madrid
aimed at adopting measures to protect the Jews of Morocco.
1880: It was
reported today that the Jewish Messenger has expressed its gratitude for the
influence the United States has exerted on behalf of the Jews of Morocco. The
paper views the United States diplomat serving in Morocco as “the best and most
powerful friend the Jews of that country have.”
1881: Rabbi
Nachum Levison of Safed, Palestine, and his wife gave birth to Sir Leon
Levison, “the first chairman of the board of directors of the publishing house
of Marshall, Morgan and Scott, the founder of relief funds for Russian Jews and
Palestine Jews and the first President of the International Hebrew Christian
Alliance who in 1908 married Kate Barnes, the daughter of John Barnes.
1881:
Birthdate of Safed native Judah Leib Levison, the son of Rabbi Nahum Levison of
Galicia who gained fame as Edinburgh resident Leon Levison, the convert to the
United Free Church of Scotland, the first President of the International Hebrew
Christian Alliance and “fierce opponent of the Nazis” who was knighted in 1919
for raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for the suffering Jews of Russia
and who had two brothers, one of whom was “a Christian minister in Edinburgh”
and the other, Alexander Levison, the loyal Jew and leader of the Independent
Congregation in Edinburgh.
1882: A pogrom
begins in the largely Jewish town of Balta, in Podolia, Russia.
1883(19th
of Adar II, 5643): Sixty-three-year-old “Guy’s Hospital trained physician and
Justice of the Peace Nathaniel Mayer Montefiore, the English born son of Sir
Abraham Montefiore, of Stamford Hill and Henriette Montefiore, the husband of
Emma Montefiore and father of Leonard Abraham Montefiore; Charlotte Rosalind
McIver and Claude Joseph Goldsmid Montefiore
1883: Jennie
E. Lyman, a young gentile girl from Cleveland, Ohio, married Max Rosenberg
while studying in New York City unbeknownst to her parents.
1883(19th
of Adar II, 5643): Esther Hart Lyons, the Columbia, SC born daughter of Louisa
Elizabeth Lyons and Jacob Cohen Lyons passed away today.
1884: Samuel
Shrimski completed his term as a member of the New Zealand Parliament of
Oamaru.
1885(12th
of Nisan, 5645): Parashat Tzav and Shabbat HaGadol.
1886:
Birthdate of Ukraine native and blacklisted American garment worker Clara
Lemlich, “a leader of the Uprising of 20,000” a member of the CPUSA and labor
organizer.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/shavelson-clara-lemlich
1886: In Dembica,
Austria, Joseph and Rose B. Friedman gave birth to Brooklyn Law School graduate
and Republican Party leader Jacob Arthur Freedman, the husband of Lillia Adler,
an “officer and director of several real estate corporations and a law partner of
William Godnick who was also active I the work of the Brooklyn Federation of
Charities ad the East Midwood Jewish Center.
1888(16th
of Nisan, 5648): Second Day of Pesach
1888: In
Suwalki, Poland Celia Rubinson and Chaim Hochstein gave birth to Joseph Irving
Pascal, the author The Optometrist’s Handbook of Eye Diseases who married
Charlotte Pascal after having been married to Rose Pascal.
https://www.amazon.com/optometrists-handbook-eye-diseases/dp/B0007F2VUA
1889:
Birthdate of Russian native Harry Cassman the prominent Atlantic City lawyer
and “longtime leader of Beth Israel “who, in late 1923, founded what is now
Jewish Federation of Atlantic & Cape May Counties with a group of local
Jewish leaders and who was the husband of Celia Cassman and the father of
Elaine Cassman McGee.
1889: In
Poland, Minnie Zalkind and Rabbi Abraham I. Orlian gave birth to Cooper Union
trained Civil Engineer Israel Orlian the husband of Sophie Smilow wo began his
career as a “steel detailer, draftsan and surveyor in 1909.
1890:
Birthdate of Joseph Irving Pascal the native of Kovno who came to New York City
in 1901 where he earned two degrees at Columbia before graduating from the
Rochester School of Optometry. (Some sources show his birthday as 1888)
https://www.ajo.com/article/0002-9394(55)92142-5/pdf
1890: Rabbi
Gottheil will officiate at the funeral of Emanuel Bernheimer one of the oldest
members of Temple Emanu-El and Rabbi Silverman will officiate at the graveside
services when the deceased is interred in the Salem Field Cemetery.
1891: Edward
Lawrence Levy of England won the first World Weightlifting Championship which
had been organized by the International Weightlifting Federation.
1892: The
newly elected officers of the Jewish Theological Seminary Association are
Joseph Blumenthal, President; M.I. Asch of Philadelphia, Vice President; Simon
Heizig, Vice President; Daniel P. Hays and Jacob Singer of Philadelphia,
Secretaries.
1892: L'Osservatore cattolico, reported that a
leading German anti-Semite has thanked them and their extensive reporting on
the crimes of the Jews "for having furnished him with such good scientific
material" to him and his conservative political party.
1893: Joseph
H. Senner was appointed Commissioner of Immigration at New York which means he
will be charge in Ellis Island, the entry point for tens of thousands of
eastern European Jews – a position formerly filled by Colonel Weber.
1893:
Birthdate of Arnold Rice Rich, the native of Birmingham, Alabama, graduate of
U. Va. And Johns Hopkins Medical School who served as Chairman of the
Department of Pathology and pathologist-in-chief of the Johns Hopkins Hospital
from 1944 to 1958 during which time he was married to “pianist and composer
Helen Jones with whom he had two children – Adrienne and Cynthia.
1895: The
Monte Relief Society hosted a grand cakewalk at the Terrace Garden tonight.
1896(14th
of Nissan, 5656): Shabbat HaGadol; In the evening, the first Seder
1896: Over 150
poor Jewish immigrants from a variety of European countries took part in a
Seder at the Hebrew Sheltering House on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. There was
no charge for the Seder. The Hebrew Sheltering House also provided meals
throughout the holiday at no charge.
1896: Rabbi
Gustav Gottheil conducted Passover services this evening at Temple Emanu-El.
1896: Herzl
took part in the Seder of the Zionist student association "Unitas".
1896: “Mll.
Marsy’s Testimony” published today described the appearance of one of the key
witnesses in the case brought by the state against ten conspirators including
Armand Rosenthal to blackmail Max Lebaudy, the son of a wealthy sugar refiner. Before his arrest, Rosenthal used the pen
name Jacques Saint Cere in his role as correspondent for Le Figaro and The New York Herald.
1897: M.S.
Isaacs, the President of the Board of the Baron de Hirsch Fund presided over a
meeting held at Temple Emanu El in New York which was also attended by Emanuel
Lehman (Tea surer), Julius Goldman (Secretary), Henry Rich, James Hoffman,
William B. Hackenberg and Judge Myer Sulzberger of Philadelphia.
1897: “Mucha’s
famous Sarah Bernhardt cartoon” is among the works that will be shown at the
poster exhibit sponsored by the Albany Club that is opening today.
1897:
Birthdate of Lewis Coleman Cohen a “Labour councilor on the Brighton Borough
Council”
1897: “The
United Brothers,” a Jewish fraternal organization, celebrated its 50th
anniversary “at the Grand Central Palace…with a reception this afternoon and a
banquet followed by a ball this evening.”
Among the speakers were Marks Fishel, George Hahn, Judge Joseph E.
Newburger and Jacob Marks.
1899: Three
days after she had passed away, Dinah Solomons, the widow of Morris Solomons
was buried today at the “Plashet Jewish Cemetery” in London.
1899(17th
of Nisan, 5659): Third Day of Pesach
1899: “Boys
Call On The Mayor” published today described an unscheduled visit six Jewish
boys paid on the Mayor of New York. The boys were members of the City History
Club of the Educational Alliance and they hold “his honor” that they were
studying the history of the city and they thought they “would like to meet its
ruler.” The mayor gave them each an autograph and then had a policeman give
them an escorted tour of city hall.
1900(29th of
Adar II, 5660: Mendel Hirsch, the eldest son of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch
passed away. Born in 1833, he Bible teacher and commentator as well as a poet.
After receiving his PhD in 1854, he taught at a school founded by his father.
Several of his articles were published in the monthly magazine Jeshrun. His
daughter Rachel Hirsch was the first woman to be appointed as a professor of
Medicine in Prussia.
1900: Joseph
Solomon, the “Deal, Kent” born son of Moses and Sarah Solomon was buried today
at the “Canterbury Jewish Cemetery.”
1901(8th of
Nisan, 5661): Eighty-three-year-old German physician turned poet and dramatist
Max Ring who “in 1856 married Elvira Heymann, the daughter of publisher Karl
Heymann passed away today in Berlin.
1901:
Birthdate of Charles E. Smith, a Russian immigrant who became a successful real
estate developer in Rockville, MD where he is philanthropies included the
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School
1902:
Birthdate of violinist Paul Godwin. Born Pinchas Goldfein in Poland, Godwin
first gained fame playing under that name in his native country. He moved to
the Netherlands where his career flourished under the name of Godwin. Godwin
miraculously survived the Holocaust. A virtuoso in his day, his works are
largely unknown to modern audiences.
1903: As part
of another meeting with the Commission, Herzl, Goldsmid and Stephens visit Lord
Cromer. He states that the Zionists should now demand the concession from the
Egyptian government. He recommends that they engage lawyer named Carton de
Wiart, to assist in this endeavor.
1903: In
Bohemia, which at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Mordko
Serkin and his wife gave birth to pianist Rudolf Serkin who first performed in
the United States in 1933 before making it his permanent home in 1939
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/10/obituaries/rudolf-serkin-88-concert-pianist-dies.html
1904(12th of
Nisan, 5664): Dr. Abraham B. Arnold, a graduate of Washington University School
of Medicine who was “granted a certificate to practice in California in 1890”
passed away today in San Francisco
1905:
Birthdate of Baltimore native Eli Baer, the University of Maryland trained
attorney who was active in the Democrat Party, B’nai B’rith and the National
Conference of Jews who lived to the age of 99.
1905: In
Pittsburgh, PA, Henry Berman who served as a general manager at Universal
Pictures and his wife Julie gave birth to producer Pandro Samuel Berman.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-pandro-s-berman-1329133.html
https://www.geni.com/people/Pandro-Berman/6000000009487972908
1906: “Judge
Cohen Tells Jews of Their Weaknesses” published today included a warning from
the New York jurist that “rich Jews…can get to be a pretty arrogant sort of
person” who need to avoid being “purse proud” while Oscar Straus countered that
Jews are sometimes mistaken as being materialistic because they “have been so
hard-pressed and have had to struggle so hard” to make a living when in fact
“the Jew was remarkable for his high ideals.”
1906:
Birthdate of Stanley “Tex” Rosen, the captain of the Rutgers University
football team and tailback for Buffalo Bisons in the embryonic days of the NFL
who went on to coach at Perth Amboy, NJ.
1907: Jews on
the Lower East Side sponsored a benefit performance in a Bowery theatre this
evening with the funds to go to starving people in China. Local Chinese had
raised thousands of dollars to relieve the suffering of Russian Jews and the
Jews were responding in kind. The turnout was less than expected because many
of the Jews were preparing for Passover which begins tomorrow night and since
the performance was in Yiddish, Chinese patrons would not have been able to
understand the performance.
1907: As
violence bordering on revolution continues in Romania, the peasants in Northern
Moldavia are reportedly prepared to renew their plundering and pillaging at the
start of Passover, if the government does not fulfill all of its promises. This
does not give the government much time to act since Passover begins tomorrow
evening, March 29, 1907.
1908: Ein Walzertraum (A Waltz Dream) an
operetta by Oscar Straus opened at the Hicks Theatre in London today.
1908(25th
of Adar II, 5668): Parashat Shimini; Shabbat HaChodesh
1908:
Birthdate of Isaak Kikoin the physicist who won both the Stalin and
Lenin prizes and who played a key role in the development of the Soviet atomic
program. He was born at Žagarė the same town that was the birthplace of Rabbi
Israel Salanter and American labor leader Sidney Hillman.
1909:
Birthdate of Hynek Abraham who was deported from Prague to Terezin in 1942 and
in 1944 from there to Auschwitz where he was murdered.
1909(6th
of Nisan, 5669): Eighty-four-year-old David Bamberg, the German born son of
Isaac Jacob Bamberger and his third wife Gela Weil and the husband of Johannah
Adler with whom he had seven children passed away today in Baltimore, the
hometown of all his children.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37014882/obituary-for-david-bamberger/ (According to this
account he died in 1895.
1909: In
Detroit, Michigan, Goldie (née Kalisher) and Gerson Abraham gave birth to
Nelson Ahlgren Abraham who was raised in Chicago where he gained fame as author
Nelson Algren.
1910: It was
reported today that the officers of the newly formed Conciliation Committee
formed by the Executive Committee of the Jewish Community in New York are,
“Rabbi M.Z. Margolies of Kahal Israel, William Fischman, a merchant and
attorney Abraham S. Schomer.”
1911: Jacob Z.
Lauterbach was “elected” as a Professor of Talmud at Hebrew Union College.
http://collections.americanjewisharchives.org/ms/ms0186/ms0186.html
1911: New York
Podiatrist Morris Jay Chanin, the London born son of Sophia Lippmann and
Emanuel Chanin married Fay Beatrice Rosenberg today.
1911: Max
Florin’s black and white photo was printed in thumbnail size, along with a
one-paragraph story” published today under the headline, “His Friends Think He
Was Rescued.”
1912:
Birthdate of Josy Zinnen who died at Mauthausen in 1945
1912:
Constantin C. Arion, who as the Rumanian Minister of Foreign Affairs would say
that his “Government would grant rights to the Jews in accordance with the
peace treat” and that the Government “would completely abolish Article 7 of the
Rumanian Constitution” which states that “Jews in Rumania are aliens and that
naturalization is only possible for them individually” began serving as
Minister of Administration and Interior of Romania today.
1913(19th
of Adar II, 5673): Thirty-eight-year Viennese born pianist and composer Erich
Wolf passed away in New York City today.
1913(19th
of Adar II, 5673): Forty-four-year-old Rudolphn Beck, a Professor of Surgical
Anatomy at the Chicago College of Dental Surgery passed away today.
1914:
Birthdate of Oscar winning screen writer Edward Anhalt
1914:
Birthdate of Philadelphia native and NYU undergrad Samuel J. Gelman, “the
executive vice president of the Jewish Hospital and Medical Center of Brooklyn
who had “received his medical degree from Anderson College in Glasgow,” served
and in the British military during WWII and raised three children – Leonard,
Sheila and Joyce – with his wife, “the former Judith Fabian Brieger.”
1915:
Birthdate of Jacob Harold Levison, the native of McDonald, PA, who gained fame
as Oscar winning song writer Jay Livingston.
1915: During
World War I, The Holland-America liner Maastendyk arrived in Amsterdam today
from New York carrying ten pounds of Matzoth which were to be shipped to Rabbi
Bernard Pressen in Berlin. As part of the laws adopted to conserve resources
for the war effort, the German government had issued an order banning the use
of wheat for making Matzah, so the Rabbi was depending on this shipment from
the United States for his Seder. At this point in the war, both the Netherlands
and the United States were neutral, so no laws were being violated by sending
goods to Germany.
1915: Judge
Nathaniel E. Harris, who will become Governor of Georgia on May 1st
commented on the Leo Frank case saying, “the Supreme Court will not be through
with the case until some days after I take office and it is quite possible that
I may never be asked to pardon Frank.”
1915: The
American Jewish Relief Committee issued a special appeal for funds needed to
alleviate the suffering of Jews caught in war-torn Europe. With Passover
starting tomorrow evening, the committee invoked holiday motifs in its appeal.
Responding to the appeal would be a fitting response to the words of the
Haggadah, “let all who are hungry come and eat; let all al that are needy come
and celebrate the Passover.”
1915: In
“Russia of Today and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” published today French author Jean
Finot presents a portrait of a “civilized Russia” that has been erroneously
portrayed as Cossack barbarians by Germans – a portrait that includes the
statement that “Jews, Moslems and Christians live together in harmony” and that
“Jews” among others “should feel convinced that their martyrdom will cease when
normal life is resumed and Germany decisively defeated” – statements that stand
at odds with those who know a different reality of the Russian Jewish
experience.
1916: In South
Africa, Nathan Adelstein and Rosie Cohen gave birth to Dr. Abraham Manie “Abe”
Adelstein “who became the Chief Medical Statistician of the United Kingdom.”
http://munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/Biography/Details/31
1916: “Only
one young man took the competitive exam today for the appointment to United
States Naval Academy from Representative Isaac Siegel’s Congressional District”
which is a bit unusual because in the past there have been six or seven
candidates to take the exam.
1916: “Relics
from Palestine” and several European art works were on sale at tonight’s
sessions of the Jewish relief bazar which has raise $100,000 as of tonight.
1917: As the
British forces advanced in Palestine, the Jews of Tel Aviv and Jaffa were
expelled by the Turks. The Turks were sure that the Jews were secret (and not
so secret) allies of the British Army. Tel Aviv had been founded by Jews eight
years earlier and was truly the only all Jewish city in existence at the time.
1917: Leo
Motzkin of Kiev, “one of the leading Zionists publicists and the head of the
international press bureau” which played a key role in gaining an acquittal of
Mendel Bellis said today in New York “that he was confident that the Russian
Revolution would mean the ultimate liberation of the Jews and unprecedented
progress for the Zionist movement.”
1917: Dr. B.E.
Shatzky told a group of American businessmen “at a luncheon give under the
auspices of the American-Russian Chamber of Commerce at the Hotel Biltmore”
“aroused great enthusiasm when he declared that ‘through a glorious bloodless
reconstruction all class and racial barriers, including discriminations again
the Jews in Russia had disappeared forever at one blow. The Jewish question is
now settled by Russian democracy, once and forever.’”
1917: The
second concert of the Schola Cantorum given tonight at the Carnegie Hall
included “two traditional Yiddish songs” – “Auram” and “Eili,” an “incantation
sung by Russian, Polish and New York Jews based on” synagogue melodies.
1917: “The
Times Riga correspondent wrote today, “I am grieved to state that the Jews are
not behaving well. They have become
citizens of free Russia, but they do not display a sense of responsibility
befitting their new positions. Similar
complaints had reached me at Petrograd.
Hotheaded, hysterical Jewish youths are playing into the hands of worse
than demagogues and Russia’s external enemies….If anarchy comes to Russia,
there bound to be reaction in which the Jews will be the first sufferers.”
1918(15th
of Nisan, 5678): The last Pesach of World War I
1918: While
serving with the 1st Australian Infantry Brigade, thirty-two-year-old
Leonard Maurice Keysor who had already earned a Victoria Cross was wounded was
wounded today during fighting on the defensive Méricourt-Sailly-Le-Sec line and
temporarily evacuated
1918: During
World War I, as Jews begin to observe Passover they will have to deal with food
shortages brought about the food conservation rules of the United States
Administration which means that there is a thirty percent reduction in the
amount of matzoth and increase in the cost of mutton which has risen from six
to seven cents a pound in 1917 to 11 to 12 cents per pound this year.
1918: Based on
information supplied by the Jewish Welfare Board, “Jewish families in the
vicinity of army and navy cantonments” are scheduled to act as hosts for Jewish
soldiers and sailors” for a second day so they may observe Passover.
1918: At
Temple Israel of Harlem, Rabbi M.H. Harris delivered a sermon “Passover and the
Present Crisis.
1918:
Birthdate of Brooklyn native and CCNY grad Harry Minkoff, the veteran of the
Battle of the Bulge, founder of Gift-Pax and husband of Ruth Minkoff with whom
he raised three children – Jane, Larry and George – and who was an active
member of Temple Beth El in Great Neck and the UJA Federation of New York.
1918: During
Passover services today at Ohab Zedek Synagogue, Rabbi Bernard Drachman
“appealed to the Jews of America to give their adopted land their assistance
and full cooperation.”
1919:
Birthdate of composer Jacob Avshalomov. Born in Tsingtao China, Avshalomov, was
the son of the famous Russian composer Aaron Avshalomov. Avshalomov moved to
the United States in 1937 where he pursued his musical career. He also provided
a haven in the United States for his more famous father after World War II.
1919: Today,
Captain J. M. Loughborough, a member of the committee preparing for the return
of the 77th Division, “praised the record made by Jewish boys from
the east side whose deeds…had been rewarded by official recognition in many
cases from their divisional commander and General Pershing” and “declared that
New York should be proud of the 14,006 Jewish boys in the Metropolitan
Division.”
1920: “The
Greater New York Appeal for Jewish Sufferers from the War learned from the
Commissioner of Immigration” today “that about seventy-five Jewish immigrants
arrived” at the port of New York “in the last two weeks” and that all of those
who arrive “tell the same stories of starvation in Poland and Central Poland.
1921(18th of
Adar II, 5681): Fifty-two-year-old Julia Wormser Seligman the former of wife of
Jefferson Seligman from whom she had been divorced for several years, and daughter
of Isidore and Carrie Wormser passed away today in New York City.
1921: In
Chelsea, Massachusetts, “Abraham Fradkin, who came from Russia, and the former
Eva Steinberg, from Poland” gave birth to their seventh and young child Irving
Fradkin the optometrist who founded the Dollars for Scholars Program. (As
reported by Sam Roberts)
1921: In
Hanover, Germany, Sendel and Riva Grynszpan gave birth to Herschel Grynszpan
the alleged assassin of Ernst vom Rath whose death was the pretext for
Kristallnacht.
1921:
Birthdate of Jerzy Bielecki the Polish member of the resistance who was named a
righteous gentile by Yad Vashem. (As reported Dennis Hevesi)
1921: In
Jerusalem, Churchill met with Abdullah ruler of Transjordan who sought to have
an Arab Emir (himself) appointed to rule Palestine saying that this was the
best way to avoid violence between Arabs and Jews. Churchill sought to reassure
the Abdullah, that his fears were groundless. He told him that if Abdullah
would not oppose Jewish settlement west of the Jordan, he would not have to
worry about Jewish settlements east of the Jordan in Transjordan.
1922: “A
petition favoring the claims of the Jewish people to Palestine as a national
homeland” which was signed by Dr. Charles W. Eliot, President Emeritus of Hard
and Attorney General J. Weston Allen “was presented to the Joint Rules
Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature today by Representative Coleman
Silbert of Boston.”
1923(11th
of Nisan, 5683): Sixty-three-year-old New York native Leon Tanenbaum, “the head
of the real estate firm of Tanenbaum, L. Strauss and Company and, for
twenty-six years, a Director and Trustee of the Hebrew Technical School for
Girls passed away today.
1924: It was reported
today that “plans have adopted by the Rabbi Isaac Elchman Theological Seminary
to build a series of four buildings on an entire city block in uptown New York
at a cost of $3,000,000” according to an announcement by New York realtor
Samuel Greenstein.
1924:
“Arguments in support of legislation to grant to the President authority to
mobilize the industries of the United States in case of war or threatened war
were made before the House Committee on Military Affairs today by Bernard
Baruch of New York.
1925(3rd
of Nisan, 5685): Parashat Vayikra
1925: Based on
a decision made at a meeting of the New York Board of Jewish Ministers on March
5, Rabbis are scheduled to “deliver pulpit messages regarding” Hebrew
University which will be opening in Jerusalem on April 1.
1926: “Jews of
Poland Again Face Periods of Want” published today described the “adverse
economic condition that have undone much the past relief work which has left
one million people in need of aid that can only met by charitable giving from
the United States.
1927: Six
years before the Nazis came to power Fraud Ludendorff, the wife Erick
Ludendorff, the Quartermaster General of the Kaiser’s army in WW I took the
lecture platform in Berlin where she declared that “Freemasonry and Jesuitism
are aiding the Jewish race to subdue and enslave the Germans and all the Nordic
races.”
1928: The
Presidium of the General Executive Committee of the USSR passed the decree
"On the attaching for Komzet of free territory near the Amur River in the
Far East for settlement of the working Jews." The decree meant "a
possibility of establishment of a Jewish administrative territorial unit on the
territory of the called region.
1928(6th of
Nisan): Rabbi Dan Plotzki, author Kelei Hemdah, passed away
1928: In the
Bronx, Irving and Bea Kunkin gave birth Bronx High School of science graduate
Arthur Glick Kunkin, the Socialist journalist and founder of the underground
Los Angeles Free Press. (As reported by Neil Ganzlinger)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/obituaries/art-kunkin-dead.html
1928: In
Berlin, Johanna "Hanka" Grothendieck, Johanna "Hanka"
Grothendieck, the Chassi turned anarchist gave birth to French mathematician
Alexander Grothendieck.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/math-great-grothendieck-son-of-jewish-nazi-victim-dies-at-86/
1929: “More
than 800 people, representing cultural organizations in various parts of the
United States and Canada” attended the opening session of “the first American
convention of the promoters and adherents of the Yiddish language, literature
and culture” which opened tonight at the Irving Plaza Hall.
1930: In
Paris, “English political activist Marion Cave and Carlo Rosselli, the scion of
“a wealthy Tuscan Jewish family” and “anti-fascist activist” gave birth to poet
Amelia Rosselli, the granddaughter of Amelia Pincherle Rosselli, a Venetian
Jewish feminist, playwright, and translator from a family prominent in the
Italian Risorgimento, the movement for independence.
1930: In Chicago, Russian Jewish immigrants Lillian
Warsaw and Selig Friedman, “a sewing machine salesman gave birth to Jerome
Isaac Friedman, the physicist who co- discovered the quark and won the Nobel
Prize in Physics in 1990.
1930:
Birthdate of Albert S. Ruddy, the native of Montreal who was raised in New York
and began work in film and television only after finding out that a career in
architecture and construction was not for him.
1931(10th
of Nisan, 5691): Parashat Tzav; Shabbat HaGadol
1931: “The
life of the Rev. Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, founder of the Hebrew Union College,
pioneer of Reform Judaism in America, a militant liberal and stanch
Jeffersonian Democrat in the stormy days just before the Civil War, was
extolled” in Cincinnati “today by Dr. Jacob R. Marcus at the Founder’s Day
exercises of Hebrew Union College honoring the 112th anniversary of
Dr. Wise’s birth.”
1932: The
first Maccabiah athletic games took place in Tel Aviv with representatives from
14 countries.
1933: The
German Bishops' Conference bestowed a new level of acceptance of Hitler and the
Nazis when the church leaders “conditionally revised prohibition of Nazi Party
membership.”]
1934(12th
of Nisan, 5694): Sixty-nine-year-old Russian born Louis Zuro, the younger
brother of textile Aron Surasky, the father of the late Josiah Zuro, the music
direct at Pathe motion picture studio and the husband of Leah Zuro, who began
working on productions of Hammerstein’s grand operas in 1910 and organizing
free Sunday concerts in 1924 passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/03/29/95038244.pdf
1934(12th
of Nisan, 5694): Eighty-four-year-old Pine Bluff, AR businessman Isaac Dreyfus,
the New Orleans born son of Rosina Meyer Dreyfus, the husband of Bertha Simon
Dreyfus and father of Ruth, Hugo, H. Artie, Jerome and David Dreyfus passed
away after which he was buried at the Congregation Anshe Emeth Cemetery in Pine
Bluff, AR.
1934: Word of
“Boycott Day” leaks out causing prices on the Berlin Stock Exchange to drop.
Responding to economic reality Hitler decides that Boycott Day will go forward
but will last only for one day instead of serving as the kickoff day for an
on-going boycott of Jewish businesses and professionals designed to destroy the
economic well-being of Germany’s Jewish population.
1934: Rogers
and Effie D. Pinner sold their house at 39 Riggs Place in South Orange, NJ.
1935: Today,
Galicia native Mex Kletter who appeared in the Yiddish film “Dave” and “Song of
Songs” by Anshel Schorr was “taken in as a member of the Yiddish (Hebrew)
Actors Union.”
https://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/yt/lex/K/kletter-max.htm
https://savethemusic.com/artist/max-kletter/
1935: Mayor
Fiorello La Guardia attended the formal opening of Reuben’s Restaurant and
Delicatessen on East 58th Street in New York City.
1936: “The
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee estimated” today that “the number
of refugees from Germany to various European countries since the beginning of
the Hitler regime totaled 58,837” of which 25,000 went to France and 5,837 went
to Holland.
1936: “Poland
Passes Meat Act” published today described the passage by the Polish Senate of
a government bill designed “to break a Jewish monopoly in meat butchering” by
permitting “the ritual slaughtering of animals to the extent of the amount
necessary for Jews.” (Editor’s note –
considering the blatant anti-Semitism of the Polish government including their
attempts to ‘deport’ their Jewish population the motives of this bill expressed
by the government are disingenuous to say the least.)
1936: “The
high-geared Nazi party machine has undertaken” measures “to compel every
eligible voter…to go the polls” tomorrow where only “yes” votes will be
counted.
1937(16th of
Nisan, 5697): Second Day of Pesach; 1st day of the Omer
1937:
Twenty-six Polish Jews who was been arrested “for communistic activities” were
sent to concentration camps today.
1937: “Rabbi
Stephen S. Wise of New York, the President of the American Jewish Congress and
Canon Anson Phelps Stokes of Washington Cathedral…agreed tonight in a panel
discussion at the Town Hall of Washington that knowledge and faith were the
great requisites for combating religious persecution.”
1937: In
“Birobidjan Called Place of Promise” Jacob M. Budish “one of the founders of
Ambijan, an organization supporting the settlement of Jews in Biro-Bidjan, in
eastern Siberia” described progress being made in this region where American
Jewish organizations have received permission to settle one thousand
families. (Editor’s note – This Jewish
region was an attempt by the Soviets to compete with the establishment of the
Jewish home in Palestine and came before Stalin returned to the anti-Semitism
of Czarist Russia.)
1938: Reuben's
Restaurant and Delicatessen had a formal opening at 6 East 58th Street which
was attended by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in attendance. It stayed at this
location for three more decades until it was sold in the mid-1960s, afterwards
moving to a location at 38th Street and Madison Avenue.
Arnold Reuben,
a German immigrant, had first opened the restaurant in 1908 on Park Avenue
Eight years later, the restaurant moved Broadway and in 1918 it moved again,
this time Madison Avenue.
1938: Today,
on his 62nd birthday pioneering urologist Dr. Edwin Beer who in 1933
help to found a group that would provide colleagues who had suffered because of
Hitler’s rise to power, retired as chief of the urological service at Mount Sinai”
at which time, the staff of the hospital gave him “a memorial volume contained
articles on medical topics leading physicians” in the United States.
1938:
Birthdate of businessman Leonard Stern former owner of the Village Voice and
head of Hartz Pet Supply.
1938(25th
of Adar II, 5698): Six Jewish passengers were killed by Arabs while traveling
from Haifa to Safed.
1938:
Bronislaw Huberman leaves The Hague as he prepares to move to Tel Aviv where he
will conduct the newly formed Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra.
1939: It was
reported today that “two Jews were killed and two wounded in various incidents
in Haifa, Tiberius and Jerusalem.
1939: It was
reported today that British forces have killed Abdul Rahim, the
Commander-in-Chief of the Arab Revolutionary Forces in Palestine as he
attempted “to break through a military cordon around a Samarian village in the
North.”
1939: It was
reported today that Councilmen George Backer addressed the luncheon at the
Roosevelt Hotel which marked the start of the New York Campaign of the American
Ort Federation which provides “vocational education in Poland, Rumania,
Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, France and Germany.
1940: It was
reported today that “an order issued by the ‘Gouvernement-General’ of Poland”
(the name of the German occupation of conquered Poland) “forbid the emigration
of Jews from its emigration of Jews from its territory for an indefinite”
because “there are enough occupations in Poland for any Jews desiring work.”
1940(18th
of Adar, 5700): Vintner and violinist Shmuel Cohen, an early settler of Rish
Lezion and the husband of Minya Papirmeister who created Israel’s national
anthem Hatikvah by providing a musical voice for the words of Naftali Herz
passed away today.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-second-death-of-shmuel-cohen-the-hatikvahs-composer/
https://www.naxos.com/person/Shmuel_Cohen/19081.htm
1941:
Birthdate of Jacques Masson, a French Mizrahi Sephardic Jew of Bukharian
ancestry, and Diana (Dina) Zeiger the product of an Ashkenazi family gave birth
to Jeffrey Masson, the author of The Assault on Truth, a controversial
book about Freud and psychoanalysis.
1942(10th
of Nisan 5702): Parashat Tzav; Shabbat HaGadol
1942: The
first transport of French Jews to Auschwitz began. This represented one of the first
transports of Western Jews to the Death Camps. The Jews were from Paris and
were rounded up with the help of the French Police. One of the popular myths of
World War II was that the French people were united in the Resistance to the
Nazi occupation. In truth, there plenty of collaborators both in Vichy and the
German occupied zones. This had tragic consequences for the Jews of France as
well as Jews from other parts of Europe who had sought refuge there before the
outbreak of the war.
1943: In San
Francisco, Huntington Sanders Gruening, the son of Ernest Gruening, and his
wife gave birth to Alaska politician Clark S. Gruening.
1942: Major
Paul Alfred Cullen, who had changed his name from Cohen to Cullen while serving
in the Middle East in 1941, arrived in Ceylon today.
1942: Anne
Frank wrote a poem today that began
If you did not finish your work
properly,
And lost precious time,
Then once again take up your task
And try harder than before.
If others have reproached you
For what you have done wrong,
Then be sure to amend your mistake.
That is the best memory one can make.
1943: “The
Yeshiva Synagogue Council representing 600 synagogues in the United States and
Canada adopted a resolution” today “at its seventh annual conference, held at
Yeshiva College, urging all synagogues to place themselves at the disposal of
the armed forces as a ‘spiritual abode’ and to continue cooperation with the
United Service Organizations, Red Cross and worthy welfare groups in raising
funds and sale of war bonds.”
1943: “The
victory for which the United Nations are fighting has for its purpose not only
the preservation, but the extension of freedom, Alben W. Barkley, majority
leader of the Senate, declared tonight in an address to 1,000 persons at the
thirty-fifth anniversary dinner of the Order Sons of Zion, in the Hotel Astor.”
1943: Two days
after he had passed away funeral services are scheduled to be held at Rodeph
Shalom for Columbia trained attorney Irving J. Joseph, the husband of the late
Blanche Lewy Joseph with whom he had two children, Marjorie and Stephen, who
was counsel for the Home of the Daughters of Jacob and director of the Jewish
probation Society.
1944(4th of
Nisan, 5704): Rabbi Chayyim Most, Maggid of Kovono, was killed by the Nazis. Apparently,
Rabbi Most was a leader of outstanding character although there is little about
him in the official records that I have found so far. He appears to have not
been killed with most of the other Jews of Kovno; but met death at the same
time that the remaining youngsters of the ghetto were slaughtered.
1944: Anne
Frank and her family hear Gerrit Bolkestein, Education Minister of the Dutch
Government in exile; deliver a radio message from London urging his war-weary
countrymen to collect "vast quantities of simple, everyday material"
as part of the historical record of the Nazi occupation. "History cannot
be written on the basis of official decisions and documents alone," he
said. "If our descendants are to understand fully what we as a nation have
had to endure and overcome during these years, then what we really need are
ordinary documents -- a diary, letters."
1944: The
Irgun issued a statement today claiming credit for the attacks on police
stations in Haifa, Jerusalem and Haifa. It also claimed that it had called
ahead and left warnings about the impending attacks. The Irgun denied
responsibility for shootings in Tel Aviv and blamed those on the Stern Gang.
1944: Colonel
Paul Alfred Cullen, who would eventually reach the rank of Major General, today
returned to Cairns where he was attached to the Headquarters of the New Guinea
Force.
1945(14th of
Nisan): Fast of the first born
1945(14th
of Nisan): While serving with the Middlesex Regiment, Lt. Basil Seymour
Cornell, the brother of Sgt. Michael Cornell of blessed memory, was “killed in
action” while fighting in Germany.
1945: After
having sustained a nighttime attack by a superior German force, Captain Baum
and the remnants of his ill-fated task force suffered further losses as they
tried and failed to make their towards American lines.
1945:
Birthdate of Israeli law professor Ruth Gaviszon.
1945: Members
of the Jewish Infantry Brigade of the British 8th Army celebrated a
Seder in Faenza, Italy.
1945: Members
of the Jewish Brigade's First Camouflage (PAL) Royal Engineers celebrated
Pesach in Libya using” a specially designed haggadah of their very own. The
cover page of the soldiers' haggada bears their unit's emblem - a long-tailed
wolf, outstretched in the center of a Magen David, the tail protruding between
a couple of the star's corners. On either side of the insignia is written the
unit's name, in English on one side and in Hebrew on the other, the letters
sitting in what looks like fluttering ribbons.” (As reported by Lydia
Aisenberg)
1946: “The
State Department released the so-called Acheson-Lilienthal Report which was
co-authored by David Lilenthal, the Illinois born son of Jewish immigrants who
was head of the TVA that “outlined a plan for international control of atomic
energy.”
1947: As
Jerusalem prepared for its 17th night under a twelve-hour curfew, Haim Salomon
and Dr. Jacob Thon, representing the Jewish Community Council, met with
Brigadier General J.F. Bedford-Roberts in attempt to get him to lift the ban on
Jewish movement and commerce.
1947: An
explosion and fire rocked the Iraq Oil Pipeline near its terminal in Haifa Bay
today. Five youths dressed as Arabs whom authorities believe were really Jews
are assumed to be responsible for the attack.
1947: Lt. Gen
Sir Alan G. Cunningham, High Commissioner for Palestine and LT. Gen. G.H.
Macmillan, commander of the British troops in Palestine, left London for
Palestine this morning after having conferred with Prime Minister Atlee on a
new “get tough” policy for Palestine.
1947: In
Minsk, Genia and Hayim Wohlberg gave birth to Yosef Nezer Wholberg who made
Aliyah in 1957 and perished aboard the INS Dakar at the age of 21.
1947: An
announcement was made today that the United States has given its approval for a
special session of the United Nations General Assembly to deal with the issue
of Palestine. U.N. officials think that the session could take place sometime
during the month of May.
1948(17th
of Adar II, 5708): “Twenty-five Jews were killed and twenty-four were wounded
in a thirty-hour fight” when 3,000 Arabs ambushed their convoy “south of
Bethlehem in the Solomon’s Pools area”
1948(17th
of Adar II, 5708): This afternoon “250 Arabs” armed “with two-inch mortars and
light machine guns…ambushed a convoy of five truck and an armored car killing
45 Jews “at Kabriri, a village each of Nahariya.
1948: In a
refugee camp at Prague, Samuel Freilich, a lawyer and rabbi from Munkács, in
the Carpathian Ruthenia and Ella (Wieder) Freilich, who along with her husband
had survived both Auschwitz and Dachau gave birth to Hadassah Freilich who
gained fame as Hadassah Lieberman, the wife of Connecticut Senator Joe
Lieberman who ran for Vice President on the ticket with Al Gore.
1948: On his
radio show, Jack Benny hits the laughter jackpot with the immortal “Your money
or your life” bit.
1949: James
Grover McDonald, the first United States Ambassador to Israel presented his
credentials today
1950(10th
of Nisan, 5710): Sixty-year-old Mathematician Ernst David Hellinger, the
Silesian born son of Emil and Julie Hellinger who was rescued from Dachau and
fortunate enough to join the faculty of Northwestern University in suburban
Chicago passed away today.
http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095929484
1950(10th of
Nisan, 5710): Fifty-seven-year-old WW I Veteran and American Diplomat Laurence
Adolph Steinhardt died in a plane crash today while serving as U.S. Ambassador
to Canada.
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lasteinh.htm
1951(7th
of Nisan, 5718): Sixty-five-year-old Bloomington native and 1908 graduate of
the University of Indiana Howard Kahn, the “crusading editor in St. Paul who
“received the Cosmopolitan International’s Distinguish Service Medal” for his
work in ending the corruption in that city” passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1951/03/30/89785885.pdf
1956(16th
of Nisan, 5716): Second Day of Pesach; 1st day of the Omer
1953(12th
of Nisan, 5713): Parashat Tzav; Shabbat HaGadol observed for the first time
during the Presidency of Ike Eisenhower.
1956(16th
of Nisan, 5716): Sixty-seven-year-old Tilly Newman, the wife of Joseph Newman
passed away today and was buried in the Ella Street Cemetery.
1958: “Satan’s
Satellites” a film version of the 1952 serial “Zombies of the Stratosphere”
which featured Leonard Nimoy in one of his first cinematic roles was released
today.
1959: “Davy
Jones’ Locker” a musical with lyrics by Mary Rogers opened on Broadway at the
Morosco Theatre.
1960:
Birthdate of Uri Orbach, the native of Petah Tikva who became an author and
politician who served as Pensioner Affairs Minister.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/ex-jewish-home-minister-uri-orbach-dies-at-54/
1960: The
Philadelphia Inquirer described the presentation of a Kiddush Cup to Rabbi
Harry B Kellman by congregation president Morris E. Albert marking the 40th
anniversary of Congregation Beth El in Camden, NJ.
1961: In
Paisley, Scotland, Shirley a Dr. Werner Susskin gave birth University of
Glasgow trained attorney and Oxford Ph.D Richard Susskind “the IT adviser to
the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales” and husband of Michelle Latter
with whom he had three children – Daniel Jamie and Alexander -- and the co-author of The Future of the
Professions,
1961: “Funeral
services were held today for Brooklyn born Jewish communal leader Mitchell who
“served in Congress in 1899 to 1901” and who was also a justice of the New York
State Supreme Court.
1962: “In a
speech at the Golden Anniversary Banquet of the Institute of Radio Engineers at
the Waldorf Astoria,” “David Sarnoff, chairman of the board of the Radio
Corporation of America urged…that the West organize what he called a free world
community of science to meet and defeat the challenge of Communist bloc
technology.”
1961: The
parents of Jean Lynne Lazarus have announced the engagement of their daughter
to Eugene W. Kalkin, an alumnus of the University of Virginia who “did graduate
work at the Bernard Baruch School of Business.
1963: “The
first Broadway production of ‘Mother Courage,’” a play written “in response to
the invasion of Poland in 1939” directed by Jerome Robbins and featuring Gene
Wilder opened today at the Martin Beck Theatre.
1963(3rd
of Nisan, 5723): Eighty-four-year-old Odessa native and Menshevik leader Lydia
Dan, the sister Julius Martov and the wife of Fyodor Dan who fell afoul of
Lenin’s Bolsheviks and went into exile in 1923, which given the purges of the
1930’s probably saved her life passed away today.
1964(15th
of Nisan, 5724): Pesach
1964(15th
of Nisan): Eighty-four-year-old Jake Cohen, the Lithuanian born son of Azlman
Gan and husband of Dora Bursk passed away today in Memphis, TN.
1965: One day
after he had passed away, “a funeral service is scheduled to be held this
afternoon at the Jewish Memorial Chapel in Hackensack” New Jersey for sixty-year-old
New Jersey born, Columbia Ph.D. “Israel E. Drabkin, chairman of the department
of classical languages and Hebrew City College who married Miriam Frideman
after his first wife Norma Lowenstein had died.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/03/28/97189720.pdf
1966:
Birthdate of James Douglas Bennet, an American journalist whose mother was
Jewish and who became editor-in-chief of the Atlantic in 2006.
1966(7th
of Nisan, 5726): Sixty-four-year-old actress Helen Menken, the first wife of
Humphrey Bogart, passed away today.
1967: In New
York, Elain and Bernard Dov Troy gave birth to Cornell and University of Texas
educated historian Tevi David Troy the brother of Dan Troy and presidential
historian Gil Troy and the husband of
Kami Pliskow whose Republican Party affiliation led to him serving as United
States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W.
Bush.
https://rudermanfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Jewish-Vote-Ruderman-Program.pdf
1967(16th
of Adar II, 5727): Dr. Samuel W. Boorstein, the NYU trained orthopedist and
member of the faculty passed away today in Tel Aviv.
1969(9th of
Nisan, 5729): Rabbi Aryeh Levin passed away. Born in 1895, Reb Aryeh, was an
Orthodox rabbi dubbed the "Father of Prisoners" for his visits to
members of the Jewish underground imprisoned in the Central Prison of Jerusalem
in the Russian Compound during the British Mandate. He was also known as the
"Tzadik ("saint") of Jerusalem" for his work on behalf of
the poor and the sick.”
1969:
President Dwight D Eisenhower died in Washington DC at the age of 78.
Eisenhower was President during the Suez Crisis of October, 1956. In a rare of
Cold War harmony, Ike sided with the Soviets. He allowed the Russians to
threaten the British and the French with atomic attack if they did not withdraw
from Suez in effect supporting the Nasser, the Egyptian dictator. After the
fighting ended, he threatened the Israelis with economic destruction if they
did not withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza. Gaza was a base from which
Egyptian supported terrorists attacked Israel. The Israelis wanted to trade
withdrawal from the Sinai for and to the Egyptians illegally barring Israeli
vessels or vessels that stopped at Israeli ports from using the Canal. None of
this seemed to matter to Eisenhower. Instead he chose to take actions that
bolstered Nasser who repaid Ike’s kindness with an even more virulent
anti-Western, pro-Soviet policy. At the same time, it should be noted that
Eisenhower was horrified by what American troops found when they liberated the
concentration camps during World War II and insisted that all of it be filmed
immediately so that nobody could ever denied what had happened.
1969: In Miami
Beach Marsha Pratts and Ronald Ratner gave birth to director Bret Ratner who
was raised by restaurateur Alvin Malnik
1970(20th
of Adar II, 5730): Parashat Tzav; Shabbat Parah
1970(20th
of Adar II, 5730): Eighty-eight-year-old Nissen Telushkin, the long rabbi at
Congregation B’nai Yitzchok and leader of the Orthodox rabbinate passed away
today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1970/04/03/archives/rabbi-telushkin-88-orthodox-scholar.html
1970(20th of
Adar II, 5730): Natan Alterman “an Israeli poet, playwright, journalist, and
translator who - though never holding any elected office - was highly
influential in Socialist Zionist politics, both before and after the formation
of the state of Israel” passed away.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/natan-alterman
1972(13th
of Nisan, 5732): Seventy-seven-year-old Percy Peixotto Morningstar, the New
York born son of Judith Eugenia Salzedo Peixotto Morningstar, “daughter of the
late Benjamin F. Peixotto, who was United States Consul at Lyons and Josepha
Illava Morningstar, the husband of Edith Long Morningstar who had passed away
in 1967 and the father of Joe Barry, Richard and Helen Morningstar passed away
today after which he was interred in Palo Alto, CA.
1974: Isaac
Poltinikov, the “retired military ophthalmologist who was deprived of pension
and rank following an application for exit visa for Israel two years ago and
threatened by KGB with a trial on charge of parasitism” appealed to the
American Congress of Ophthalmologist’s.
1974(5th of
Nisan, 5734): Sixty-eight year old Dorothy Fields “one of the great Broadway
lyricists, who wrote popular songs for revues, films and shows for nearly 50
years” passed away today.
http://www.dorothyfields.org/home.htm
1974: For
English MP’s of the All-Party Parliamentary Committee for the Relief of Soviet
Jewry today refused visas to Russia.
1975(16th of
Nisan, 5735): Second day of Pesach; 1st day of the Omer.
1975: Two bus
bombing in Jerusalem resulted in 13 casualties in one case and none in the
other as terrorists struck on that was holy to Christians and Jews – Good
Friday and Pesach.
1975(16th of
Nisan, 5735): German born political scientist Ernst Frankel passed away.
1977:
Birthdate of Lauren Weisberger, the native of Scranton, PA author of The
Devil Wears Prada which was later made into a successful movie. (A book about a Jewess in the clothing
industry – how novel a novel)
1977: The
annual meeting of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee opened
today in Venice.
1978: The PLO
leadership finally ordered a ceasefire today, after a meeting between UNIFIL
commander General Emmanual Erskine and Yasser Arafat in Beirut
1980: The
Eldridge Street Synagogue was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic
Places
1980: U.S.
premiere of “When Time Ran Out,” a disaster epic produced by Irwin Allen, with
a script co-authored by Carl Foreman, with music by Lalo Schifrin and
co-starring Paul Newman.
1981(22nd
of Adar II, 5741): Parashat Shmini; Shabbat Parah
1981(22nd
of Adar II, 5741): Seventy-five year old Isaiah Trunk, the Polish born award
winning author and “chief archivist of YIVO” passed away today.
1981(22nd
of Adar II, 5741): Fifty-nine year old Polish born and Boston University
trained psychiatrist Dr. Jacob Swartz, the U.S. Army veteran and husband of
Elinor Swartz with whom he raised four children – Marvin, Howard, Carol and
Leslie – passed away today.
1982(4th
of Nisan, 5742): Seventy-one-year-old Cornell University trained civil engineer
Harold Uris, the American born son of Sadie Copland and “Harris Uris, founder
of an ornamental factory who with his brother Percy co-founded the Uris
Building Corporation and raised four daughters – Judith, Susan, Linda and Jane
– with his wife Ruth Chinitz passed away today in Palm Beach.
1984: Judith
Baum, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Baum of Antwerp, Belgium, was married
today to Dr. Neil A. Halpern, a son of Rabbi and Mrs. David Halpern of Brooklyn
in ceremony performed by the bridegroom's father, rabbi of the Flatbush Park
Jewish Center in Brooklyn at Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence, L.I.
1984: “The
Last American Virgin” directed by Boaz Davidson and produced by Yoram Globus
and Menahem Golan was released in Norway today.
1985: Neil
Simon's "Biloxi Blues" premiered in New York. The Jewish author wrote
a hit play (and later successful movie) based on the clichéd collision between
New York Jews and the U.S. Army during World War II.
1985(6th of
Nisan, 5745): Marc Chagall passed away. Born on July 7, 1887 in Vitebsk, Russia
(now Belarus), Chagall studied in St. Petersburg and then moved to Paris before
World War I. He returned to Russia where he served for a time during the 1920's
as art director for the Moscow Jewish Theatre. He left the Soviet Union in 1923
and moved back to France. Distinguished for his surrealistic inventiveness, he
is recognized as one of the most significant painters and graphic artists of
the 20th century. Many of his paintings draw upon his life as a Jew and use
Jewish themes of which the Praying Jew is one of the most famous. His twelve
stained glass windows at the Hadassah Hospital-Hebrew University Medical Center
are another example of Chagall's open identification with his Jewish heritage.
There are numerous cites where you can find out more about him and view his
works. I cannot do justice to him in this limited space.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/chagall.html
http://www.artnet.com/artists/marc-chagall/
http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Marc-Chagall-1887-1985-6891
1986: 20th
Century Fox releases Lucas an “American teen tragicomedy film directed by David
Seltzer and starring Corey Haim.”
1988: In
Northridge, Los Angeles, Steven and Eileen Plata Kalish gave birth to major
league outfielder Ryan Michael Kalish.
http://www.jewishbaseballnews.com/players/ryan-kalish/
1994(16th of
Nisan, 5754): Second Day of Pesach; 1st day of the Omer.
1994(16th of
Nisan, 5754): Russian born Playwright Eugene Ionesco passed away in Paris. Two
of his more noted works were the Bald Soprano and The Rhinoceros.
1995(26th of
Adar II, 5755): Eighty-six-year-old Sidney “Sid” Goldin the star basketball and
tennis player at Georgia Tech and WW II Bronze Star winning Naval Officer “was
a member of both the Georgia Tech Athletic and Georgia Tech Engineering Halls
of Fame” passed away today.
1996: The
Shamgar commission, the official Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate
the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, submitted its
findings today.
1998: Arab
Israeli politician, Haj Yahia entered the Knesset today as a replacement for
Moshe Shahal. Upon taking his seat, he resigned his position as mayor of
Tayibe.
1999: The New York Times featured reviews of
books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including
recently released paperback editions of "Unfinished Journey: Twenty Years
Later" by Yehudi Menuhin and "Barney Polan's Game: A Novel of the 1951
College Basketball Scandals" by Charley Rosen.
1999: “The
Devil’s Arithmetic,” a cinematic treatment of Jane Yolen’s novel of the same
name that was turned into a screenplay by Robert J. Arech produced by Murray
Schisgal and Fred Weintrub with an introduction by Dustin Hoffman was shown on
Showtime for the first time this evening.
2000: Two days
after she had passed away, funeral services are scheduled to held at Mt.
Lebanon Cemetery for Selma Friedman, the wife of Theodore Friedman, mother
of Patricia Koepple and Andrew Friedman
and a member of Tempe Israel in Lawrence, NY.
2000: The
police recommend filing corruption charges against former Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara
2001: Canadian
born Jazz musician and composer Moe Koffman passed away. He was accomplished on
at least three woodwind instruments including flute, saxophone and clarinet.
2001(4th of
Nisan, 5761): Itzhak Mr. Yaakov, known as the father of the Israeli technology
industry, was quietly taken into custody by a special security division of the
Defense Ministry
2001(4th
of Nisan, 5761): Fifteen-year-old Eliran Rosenberg-Zayat and 13 year old
Naftali Lanskorn were murdered by Hamas during a bombing at Mifgash HaShalom.
2002(15th
of Nisan, 5762): Pesach
2002(15th
of Nisan, 5762): “Rachel and David Gavish, 50, their son Avraham Gavish, 20,
and Rachel's father Yitzhak Kanner, 83, were killed when a terrorist
infiltrated the community of Elon Moreh in Samaria, entered their home and
opened fire on its inhabitants. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.”
2003: As Ehud
Olmert, the minister of industry and trade, ordered an indefinite suspension of
the government inspections that enforce laws banning work on the Sabbath,
“Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new coalition was facing its first mini-crisis
today over the sensitive question of working on the Jewish Sabbath, an issue
that splits many secular and religious Israelis.”
2004: The New York Times featured reviews of
books by Jewish authors and/or of interest to Jewish readers including
"Bobby Fischer Goes To War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary
Chess Match of All Time" by David Edmonds and "John Eidinow and
Hirschfeld’s Harlem with Illustrations" by Al Hirschfeld.
2005: “The
Knesset again rejected a bill to delay the implementation of the disengagement
plan by a vote of 72 to 39. The bill was introduced by a group of Likud MKs who
wanted to force a referendum on the issue.”
2006: Delta
Airlines launched a route from Ben-Gurion International Airport to Atlanta and
is also competing on the Tel Aviv-Newark route with El Al and Continental
Airlines.
2006:
Publication of the paperback edition of Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a
French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany by Marthe Cohn whose sister was sent to
Auschwitz and who was a decorated member of the “Intelligence Service of the
French 1st Army.”
https://www.amazon.com/Behind-Enemy-Lines-French-Germany/dp/0307335909
2007: Shai
Agassi resigned his position as President of the Products and Technology Group
(PTG) at SAP AG. to pursue interests in alternative energy and climate change.
In October 2007 would found a company named Project Better Place, focusing on a
green transportation infrastructure based on electric cars as an alternative to
the current fossil fuel technology
2008: In
Jerusalem, The Bible Lands Museum in conjunction with the Rubin Academy of
Music present Hot Slavic Winter – The Passion of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and
more, as part of the Opera in the Morning series.
2008: With a
theme of “Shake it up on Shabbat with your Shabbat Egg Shakers!” Temple Judah
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa sponsors its second Musical Shabbat. This is a testimony
to the vitality of this small but vibrant outpost of the “whole house of
Israel.”
2008: “21” a
crime film based on Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich with a
screenplay by Allan Loeb was released in the United States today.
2008: Three
Kassam rockets were fired at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip, one of them
hitting the outer wall of a preschool in one of the kibbutzim in the Sha'ar
Hanegev region moments after the children were taken inside by their teacher.
The teacher and a parent of one of the children suffered shock and the building
was damaged. Two other Kassam rockets that were fired at the western Negev
landed in open areas and caused no wounded or damage.
2009(3rd
of Nisan, 5769): Eighty-eight-year-old Janet Rosenberg Jagan, the wife and
political partner of Cheddi Jagan who held numerous political offices in Gyuana
including the presidency passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/world/americas/30jagan.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/30/janet-jagan-guyana-america-marxist
2009: Jews all
over the world begin reading the Book of Vayikra (Leviticus)
2009: In Iowa
City, the U of I Hillel sponsors “Blintzes, Bubbly & Bingo” an
enjoyable evening of food, drink, good company...and fabulous prizes!
2009: The Chicago Tribune reviews “Levittown: Two
Families, One Tycoon and the Fight for Civil Rights in America’s Legendary
Suburb” by David Kushner
2010: An
episode of the “Simpsons” titled "The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed," is
scheduled to be shown this evening. The episode includes scenes of Homer and
Bart at the Western Wall with their Israeli tour guide, who will be voiced by
British comedian Sascha Baron Cohen, of Borat and Bruno fame. In the episode,
Homer gets "Jerusalem Syndrome" and believes that he is the Messiah.
Also, the tour guide bickers and exchanges political barbs with Marge. In one
scene, tour guide Jacob (Baron Cohen) presses the Simpsons for positive marks
on a comment card. When Marge accuses him of being “pushy,” he snaps back, “Try
living next to Syria for two months and see how laid back you are.”Ned
Flanders, the Simpsons’ neighbor who has taken it upon himself to redeem Homer,
is the one who invited the Simpsons on a Christian tour of the Holy
Land.“[Flanders] feels that when Homer sees the sacred sites that he’ll become
a good person,” Jean said in a phone interview. When the family visits the
Western Wall, Bart reads some of the notes and responds, “Nope, not gonna
happen.” At the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Homer’s behavior gets Flanders
banned for life. It is the Israeli hotel’s opulent breakfast buffet that
appeals most to Homer. In the end, Producer Al Jean said, “Homer tries to unite
the faiths through a message of peace and chicken because everybody eats
chicken, no matter what religion they’re in.” “The Simpsons” have delved into
Jewish subject matter in the past, including an adult bar mitzvah for Krusty
the Clown (nee Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofski) and a 2006
“Treehouse of Horrors” segment titled “You Gotta Know When to Golem.”
"This is an episode that people from all three religions will be equally
offended by," said Simpsons producer Al Jean.
2010: Kathe
Goldstein, “the musical voice” of Temple Judah in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is
scheduled to hold a piano recital for the enjoyment of the senior citizens
living at Meth-Wick House who would otherwise be bereft of such cultural
pleasure.
2010: The New York Times features reviews of
books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including
"The Sabbath World" by Judith Shulevitz and "The Living Fire:
New and Selected Poems, 1975-2010" by Edward Hirsch.
2010: The
second and final day of The Legacy of the Shoah Film Festival is scheduled to
take place at John Jay College in New York City featuring “Forgotten
Transports: Family Stories – Latvia,” “Forgotten Transports: Men’s Stories –
Belarus,” “Forgotten Transports: Fighting to Survive - Poland” and “Distant
Journeys” by Alfred Radok
2010: Two
Israeli soldiers killed in a firefight with Palestinian terrorists in the
southern Gaza Strip were buried in separate ceremonies today. Thousands
attended the funeral for Maj. Eliraz Peretz, who was on Mount Herzl in
Jerusalem. He is the father of four young children. His brother was killed in
action in 1998. Staff Sgt. Ilan Sviatkovsky of the Golani Brigade, Staff Sgt.
Ilan Sviatkovsky of the Golani Brigade, was buried later in the day.
2011(22nd
of Adar II, 5771): Eighty-nine-year-old born author Abraham Rothberg, the
holder of a masters in literature from the University of Iowa whose works
included The Sword of Golem and the autobiographical novel The Song
of David Freed and the husband of Esther Conwell passed away today. (As
reported by Dennis Hevesi)
2011: “The
Simon Wiesenthal Center posthumously awarded Hiram Bingham IV their Medal of
Valor in New York City with a film tribute” that showed how US Vice-Consul
Bingham saved lives as the Nazis marched across western Europe.
2011: A ruckus broke out in the lobby of the
Supreme Court on today when right-wing activists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch
Marzel hurled insults at Balad MK Haneen Zoabi as she came out of the
courtroom. The judges had been debating the legality of a Knesset decision to
strip her of some of her parliamentary rights.
2011:
Evergreen is scheduled to perform a concert “Enchanted Celtic Music from
Israel” sponsored by The Embassy of Israel, the Jewish Community Relations
Council of Greater Washington and Sixth & I Historic Synagogue.
2011: “An
Article of Hope” is scheduled to be shown at the Hartford Jewish Film Festival.
2011: “Grace
Paley: Collected Shorts” and “Eichmann’s End: Love, Betrayal, Death” are
scheduled to be shown at The Westchester Jewish Film Festival.
2011: Under
legislation approved unanimously today by the Maryland House of Delegates, SNCF
must catalog and put online records relating to its transportation of 76,000
Jews and other prisoners from the suburbs of Paris to the German border from
1942 to 1944. (As reported by JTA)
2011: The
Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation is scheduled to host a lecture by Michael
O’Hanlon entitled “The Limits of Foreign Policy: Reconsidering the Future Role
of the U.S. In World Affairs
2012: Jennifer
Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and President of The Israel Project, is scheduled to
discuss "The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli
Leadership" with its author, Ambassador Yehuda Avner.
2012: In New
York City, The Center for Traditional Music and Dance's An-sky Institute for
Jewish Culture is scheduled to present the year's first installment of the
Tantshoyz Yiddish Dance Party series, as part of the Sixth Street Community
Synagogue's klezmer series.
2012(5th
of Nisan, 5772): Eighty-two-year-old “Irving Louis Horowitz, an eminent
sociologist and prolific author who started a leading journal in his field but
who came to fear that his discipline risked being captured by left-wing
ideologues” passed away today. (As reported by Douglas Martin)
2013: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is scheduled to present Boris
Sandler's Film "Yosef Kerler"
2013: The Bernard
and Irene Schwartz Distinguished Speakers Series is scheduled to present “Those
Angry Days’ Roosevelt, Lindberg, and America’s Fight Over World War II”
featuring Lynn Olson and Tom Brokaw.
2013:
Artists Ben Schacter and Yona Verwer are scheduled to lead a discussion of
“It's a Thin Line: The Eruv and Jewish Community in New York and Beyond´ at the
Yeshiva University Museum.
2013:
“Jewish dead lie forgotten in East L.A. graves” published today” described a
snapshot of a forgotten world as seen through Mt. Zion Cemetery
2013:
The traditional Birkat Kohanim mass priestly blessing took place this morning
at the Kotel.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/166617
2013:
The escalation of Palestinian violence in the West Bank is reminiscent of the
second intifada, but has not yet turned into a third one, Judea Brigade
Commander Col. Avi Baluth told The Jerusalem Post today.
2014:
“Finding Vivian Maier” a documentary about the photographer “executive produced
by Jeff
Garlin”
and co-starring Joel Meyerowitz which had premiered at the Toronto
International Film Festival was released today in the United States today.
2014:
In Chile, “an art school that promotes Nazi ideology scheduled to open today in
the southern island of Chiloé.”
2014:
Paramount is scheduled release the biblically based epic film “Noah” to the
general movie-going public.
2014:
Israel told the Palestinians it will not free the final batch of prisoners they
had been expecting alongside US-brokered peace talks, a senior Palestinian
official said today.
2014:
This afternoon, “Under the Same Sun” is scheduled to be shown at the Northern
Virginia Jewish Film Festival.
2015(8th
of Nisan, 5775): Shabbat Hagadol
2015:
In a speech given today the Grand Synagogue in Jerusalem, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
used language that led to accusations that he had compared President Obama to
“Haman” – a comparison that did not negatively affect his career since three
months later his “term as Chief Rabbi of Erfat was extended by five years.”
2015:
In keeping with its annual tradition Congregation Agudas Achim is scheduled to
hold Shabbat morning services at the home of Joseph and Kineret Zabner, to
honor the Torah scroll which is a long-time family possession.
2015:
Lewis Black is scheduled to perform at the Garden of Laughs Benefit in NYC.
2015:
“The Green Prince” and “Magic Men” are scheduled to be shown at the Northern
Virginia Film Festival.
2015:
Sonia Kaplan, author of My Endless War, is scheduled her experiences
during the Shoah at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
2015(8th
of Nisan, 5775): Shabbat Hagadol
2015(8th
of Nisan, 5775): Ninety-three-year-old Tony Award winning director Gene Saks
passed away today.
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/gene-saks-dead-neil-simon-director-1201462211/
2016:
Today, “American Jewish comedian Roseanne Barr is scheduled to participate in a
conference in Jerusalem about fighting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions,
or BDS, movement.”
2016:
Center for Jewish History, American Sephardi Federation, Yeshiva University
Museum and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research are scheduled to host a screening
of “Watching the Moon at Night” a “documentary inspired by the historian Walter
Laqueur explores the causes and consequences of terrorism and anti-Semitism
around the globe.”
2017(1st
of Nisan, 5777): Rosh Chodesh Nisan
2017:
Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, “the leader of the so-called Jewish Faction, spoke
during a rally in Jerusalem against the draft of the ultra-Orthodox community
today.”
2017:
The Jewish Women’s Archive sponsored “Good Girls and Nasty Women: Gender in
American Jewish History” featuring Bonnie S. Anderson Lynn Povich, Rebecca
Traister and moderator Bari Weis.
2017:
The YIVO Institute sponsored a lecture by Jack Jacobs on the “Political
Thinkers Of East European Jewry” where he “will focus on the ideas of Dubnow,
Zhitlowsky, Pinsker, Ahad Ha’am, Syrkin, Borochov, Scherer, and Jabotinsky.”
2017:
The Seattle Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to host a screening of the
Women’s Balcony, a film about “a close-knit congregation that fractures along
gender lines” in a “battle of the sexes.”
2018:
Holocaust survivor Fritz Gluckstein is scheduled to tell “his story” at the US
Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
2018:
The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center is scheduled to host “Semitism: Being
Jewish in America in the Age of Trump.”
2018(12th
of Nisan, 5778): Ninety-nine-year-old Budapest born Peter Munk, “the Canadian
who built the world’s largest gold-mining company, passed away today. (As
reported by Ian Austen)
2018:
David Shulkin completed his service as the 9th United States
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
2018:
“Broadway Chicken – A Performance from the World’s Greatest Musical” is
scheduled to open at the Bascula arts center in Tel Aviv this evening.
2018:
“Beneath the Cortex – The Human Theatre” is scheduled to premier this evening
at Yung Yidish TLV.
2018:
William “Kristol, founder and editor at large of The Weekly Standard, is scheduled to discuss “American Politics In
the Age of Trump” this evening in the Kimmel Theatre at Cornell College which
marks what he described as his first springtime visit to Iowa since he usually
comes for the January Presidential Caucuses
2019(21st
of Adar II, 5779): Eighty-five year old novelist Jonathan Baumbach, the
Brooklyn born son of Harold Baumbach a noted painter, and Ida Baumbach, a school teacher, whose works
included Separate Hours and Reruns passed away today. (As
reported by Neil Genzlinger)
2019:
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is scheduled to host Susan Warsing
and Martin Weiss as part of their “First Person” series.
2019:
In London, JW3 is scheduled to host the final two screenings of “Driver,” that
tells the tale of an ultra-Orthodox acting as a single parent to his daughter
after his wife leaves him.
2019:
The Yehsiva University Museum is scheduled to present a performance by “the
Ensemble-in-Residence of Stern College for Women” “of the 20th
century and contemporary Jewish composers”
2019:
As Major League Baseball opens its 2019 season today, Jews might be taking an
interest in teams with Jewish owners, executives and or managers including the
Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Angels and the New York
Yankees.
2020(3rd
of Nisan, 5780): Parashat Vayikra
2020:
The appearance of Sharon Pitluk Silver as part of the Illinois Holocaust
Museum’s Survivor Speaker program scheduled for today has been canceled due to
the Pandemic.
2020:
In the midst of the darkness of the Pandemic, the glow of Shabbat burns a
little brighter for the friends and family of Feivel Strauss as they celebrate
his natal day.
2020:
Havurah on the Hill and the Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture is
scheduled to host a Virtual Havdalah service this evening.
2020:
The Riverway Project is scheduled to present the “Virtual Bagel Brunch:
Passover Edition” this morning.
2020:
Anne Germanacos of S.F. indie Jewish community The Kitchen is scheduled to host
a casual discussion on Zoom on the events of the day.
2021(15th
of Nisan, 5781): Pesach (Calendar Coincidence – Palm Sunday is also celebrated
today which means Holy Week and Pesach track together)
2021:
Compared to where things were a year ago for the first Pandemic Pesach things
are much improved since “Israel has fully vaccinated over half its population
of 9.3 million, and as coronavirus infections have plummeted, authorities have
allowed restaurants, hotels, museums and theaters to re-open while allowing to
20 people can now gather indoors.”
2021:
Rabbi Bridget and the Jewish Gateways community are scheduled to host online
“the second night Passover Seder of Connection and Community.
2021:
For the second year in a row, Congregation Beth El of the Sudbury River Valley
is scheduled to present the Second Night Seder via Zoom.
2021:
The New York Times reviews books by Jewish authors or of special
interest to Jewish readers including The Ravine: A Family, a Photograph, a
Holocaust Massacre Revealed by Wendy Lowe and The Zoologist’s Guide to
the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens — and Ourselves by
Arik Kershenbaum
2021:
Rabbis Mordecai Miller and Joshua Weisberg are scheduled to lead a seder
featuring the Israeli-Ethiopian story, with music by Cantor Lisa Iskin.
2022:
The two-day historic summit hosted by Israel and attended by the top diplomats
from the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain” is
scheduled to come to an end today.
2022:
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tested positive for COVID-19 today.
2022:
Tonight Rabbi Steve Z. Leder is scheduled to facilitate a virtual program, “The
Upside of the Downside.”
2022(25th
of Adar II, 5728):Jewish
disability activist Sheryl Grossman died at the age of 46.
https://jwa.org/thisweek/mar/28/2022/death-jewish-disability-activist-sheryl-grossman
2022:
“At a groundbreaking summit in Israel today, the top diplomats of Israel, the
United States and four Arab countries discussed how to coordinate against
Iran.”
2023:
As part of its Jewish Dynasties series, the Streicker Center is scheduled to
host a presentation on Edmond Safra by Daniel Gross, author of A Banker’s
Journey.
2023:
The Museum at Eldridge Street is scheduled to host “A Passover Seminar: How
Many Years Were We Slaves in Egypt?” a study session with Rabbi Aviad Bodner.
2023:
Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman, one of the co-authors of The Daughter of
Auschwitz: My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope is scheduled to speak
today at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.
2023:
Lockdown University is scheduled to host a lecture by Mark Levene on “The
Donme, the Followers of Shabtai Tzvi: The ‘Other’ Jews of Salonika.”
2023:
LBI is scheduled to present a screening of “Heimat Is a Space in Time” in German filmmaker
Thomas Heise shares the stories of three generations of his family, in their
own words.
2023: Lockdown University is
scheduled to host a lecture by Trudy Gold on “Munich: Hitler’s City?”
2024: YIVO is
scheduled to Celebrate the release of “in a dark blue night”, the follow-up to
Alex Weiser’s Pulitzer Prize nominated debut album “and all the days were
purple.”
2024: The
annual Red Sarachek tournament the country's most prestigious tournament for
Jewish high school basketball teams is scheduled to begin at Yeshiva
University.
2024: In Cincinnati, OH, a huge Mazel Tov to Rabbi Todd Thalblum of Temple Judah is who is receiving an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College to mark his quarter of centurary in the rabbinate.
https://yivo-institute.myshopify.com/products/alex-weiser-and-all-the-days-were-purple-signed-copy
2024: Lockdown
University is scheduled to host a lecture by Dr. Giora Goodman on “At a Turning
Point? The United States and Israel in the 21st Century.”
2024: The
Jewish Book Council is scheduled to host “Wandering Jews: Two Diasporic Journeys
Out of the Ottoman Empire,” “an
in-person conversation about Mizrachi and Sephardic diasporic journeys,
both in fiction and real-life, with authors Jordan Salama and Elizabeth
Graver, winner of this year's National Jewish Book Award for Sephardic
Culture.”
2024: Fresh
from her national anthem singing gig at the ballpark, Cantor Abbie Strauss is
scheduled to lead the morning minyan at Temple Judea.
2024: Hadassah
of the Plains is scheduled to host “Beyond the Maxwell House Haggadah: So Many
Choices,”
2024: In
Philadelphia, the Weitzman Museum is scheduled to host a book release during
which philosopher and educator Rabbi Shai Held and host emeritus of Radiolab,
Robert Krulwich, have a freewheeling conversation on just how and why Judaism
Is About Love.
2024: As is
part of the JCC’s 2024 cultural arts season featuring writers, musicians and
other creatives Benyamin Cohen, author of The Einstein Effect is
scheduled to “speak about Einstein’s enduring impact at the Oshman Family JCC
in Palo Alto this evening.
2024: The
Illinois Holocaust Museum’s presentation of Shtetl in the Sun: Andy Sweet’s
South Beach 1977-1980 is scheduled to take place today.
2024: As March
28th begins in Israel, the Hamas held hostages begin
day 174 in captivity.
(Editor’s note: this situation is too fluid for this blog to cover so we
are just providing a snapshot as of the posting at midnight Israeli time.)