August 24
410: The Visigoths under Alaric begin to pillage Rome for three days. According to tradition, the treasures of the Temples taken by the Romans in 70 now fell into his hands. The Visigoths would move and by the start of the 8th century they had converted to Christianity and established a kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula which was “hostile” to its Jewish inhabitants. In 711, Berbers would defeat the Visigoths marking the start of what would be the Golden Age in Spain for the Jewish people
2014: Four year old Daniel Tragerman who was killed by Hamas rocket fire erev Shabbat after a rocket struck near his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz is scheduled to be laid to rest this morning at the Hevel Shalom cemetery in the Eshkol Region. (As reported by Arutz Sheva)
410: The Visigoths under Alaric begin to pillage Rome for three days. According to tradition, the treasures of the Temples taken by the Romans in 70 now fell into his hands. The Visigoths would move and by the start of the 8th century they had converted to Christianity and established a kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula which was “hostile” to its Jewish inhabitants. In 711, Berbers would defeat the Visigoths marking the start of what would be the Golden Age in Spain for the Jewish people
1215: Pope Innocent III declares Magna Carta invalid. Magna Carta contained two articles related to money lending and Jews in England. “If one who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, die before that loan be repaid, the debt shall not bear interest while the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may hold; and if the debt fall into our hands, we will not take anything except the principal sum contained in the bond. And if anyone die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if any children of the deceased are left under age, necessaries shall be provided for them in keeping with the holding of the deceased; and out of the residue the debt shall be paid, reserving, however, service due to feudal lords; in like manner let it be done touching debts due to others than Jews.” The Pope’s displeasure with Magna Carta was part of power struggle between church and state. The Jews only figured into the issue because as non-Christians some contended that they were beyond the power of the Church and therefore a group of unique individuals controlled by the secular authorities. Interestingly, versions of the Great Charter issued after the annulment contained no mention of the Jews.
1263: The Jews in Barcelona received permission to build a new synagogue. Four years later the building needed repairs, and the government authorized the Jewish community to go ahead with the repairs on March 24, 1267.
1349: Some ten thousand Jews were massacred during riots in two of the largest communities of Germany - Mainz and Breslau. They were killed because the Jews were deemed responsible for the bubonic plague that was sweeping Europe.
1349:Jews of Cologne Germany set themselves on fire to avoid baptism
1358: Birthdate of King Juan I of Castile, which based on his record, was not a “red letter day” for the Jewish people. In 1379 Juan I of Castile placed the Jews of his kingdom under the protection of his horsemen of Espinosa. For this effort the Jews must pay a tax of 12 maravedis for each Torah. . In 1380 King Juan ordered that the Jews top uttering those portion of their prayers that condemned heretics. He was convinced that these utterances were aimed at Christians.
1391: On Majorca, Jewish homes were sacked; and even the houses of Christians sheltering Jews in concealment were not spared. About 300 Jews were put to death, 800 saved themselves in the royal castle, and the rest underwent baptism. When Queen Violante was informed of the outrage, she condemned the inhabitants of the islands to pay a fine of 150,000 florins (or, according to some authorities, 104,000 florins). A year later (1392), however, Juan I. granted full amnesty to all who had practised violence against the Jews or "the Calle," because they had done it for the welfare of king and state; and he further declared all debts of the Christians to the Jews to be null and void.
1456: The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed. Printing of Hebrew texts followed soon after. ”The first printed Hebrew biblical text was an edition of the Psalms, printed in Bologna in 1477. In 1482, the first complete Pentateuch was printed in the same city along with the Aramaic translation.” Yehoshua Shlomo, the head of the Soncino family of Jewish printers printed the first complete “Hebrew Bible in Italy in 1488, The edition was composed of only 200-300 copies, and we know that the great scholar Johannes Reuchlin paid six gold coins for the copy he bought in Rome in 1492, at a time when the salary of a government clerk was about five gold coins a year.”
1613: The Jews of Frankfurt, Germany who were waiting for almost a year for their fate to be decided, were allowed to leave but without any property. One thousand three hundred and eighty left.
1690: Calcutta, India, is founded by representatives of The British East India Company. According to some sources the Jewish community traces its origins to the Bene Israel (Sons of Israel) who arrived from the Galilee during the second century BCE, a period associated with the Greek persecutions of the Jews in Eretz Israel. Shalom Aharon Ovadiah HaCohen was the founder of the Calcutta community, Born in Aleppo in 1762, he moved to Calcutta in 1798. For more about the Jews of India, see
1690(19th of Elul, 5450): On August 24, Calcutta, India, was founded by the British East India Company. According to some sources, the Jewish community in India traces its origins to the Bene Israel (Sons of Israel) who arrived from the Galilee during the second century BCE, a period associated with the Greek persecutions of the Jews in Eretz Israel. Shalom Aharon Ovadiah HaCohen, a native of Aleppo was the founder of the Calcutta community. An older Jewish community already existed at Madras, another town founded by the British in 1639. Evidence of this can be seen by the fact that three of the town’s first 12 Aldermen were Jews.
1804: Thanks to the efforts of Wolf Breidenbach “he Jewish Leibzoll—an obnoxious toll which Jews had to pay on entering towns where they did not dwell or had no special privileges” was abolished today in Frankfort, German
1814: Following the defeat of American forces at the Battle of Bladensburg, British forces entered Washington, D.C. and began burning by the city by trying to set ablaze the Capitol Building and the White House. Isaac Polock a transplant form Savannah is the only Jewish person identified by name living in Washington at this time. While it is not known if any Jews served with rag-tag U.S. forces at Bladensburg, several Jews would help to defeat the British when they attacked Baltimore’s Fort McHenry in the following month.
1814: Following the defeat of American forces at the Battle of Bladensburg, British forces entered Washington, D.C. and began burning by the city by trying to set ablaze the Capitol Building and the White House. Isaac Polock a transplant form Savannah is the only Jewish person identified by name living in Washington at this time. While it is not known if any Jews served with rag-tag U.S. forces at Bladensburg, several Jews would help to defeat the British when they attacked Baltimore’s Fort McHenry in the following month.
1841(7th of Elul, 5601): Jewish educator Herz Homberg whose works included Ha-Korem, “a commentary on the Pentateuch and on Job and Jeremiah,” passed away today in his home town of Prague.
1844(9th of Elul, 5604):Áron Chorin passed away. Born in 1766, he “was a Hungarian rabbi and pioneer of religious reform. He favored the use of the organ and of prayers in the vernacular, and was instrumental in founding schools along modern lines. Chorin was thus regarded as a leader of the newer Judaism. He also interested himself in public affairs — he took an active part in the efforts for Jewish emancipation, and was very influential with the state authorities.”
1854: Elise Henle and Leopold Levi gave birth to their daughter Matilda.
1855: Publication of the first issue of "Die Deborah," a German-language newspaper focused on serving women's interests.Die Deborah, the most important German-Jewish newspaper in the U.S. in its time. Reform leader Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise served as editor and published Die Deborah as a German-language supplement to his English-language The Israelite (later The American Israelite) and designed it particularly for "the instruction and the intellectual entertainment of the ladies."
1857:According to the New York Times Lord Russell has delivered a report from the Parliamentary Select Committee saying that the Jews could not be admitted as members of Parliament under the existing Act for the modification of oaths.
1859: Cecilia Pfeisher, a 45 year old German Jewish woman appeared before Justice Beenman today and preferred charges of larceny and assault and battery against King Schoenfeld, who was also a German Jew, his sons – Louise and Abraham and a fourth man named Schwartz.
1861: Eugenia Levy Phillips was arrested as a Confederate spy. Mrs. Phillips is listed prominently on the Home Page of Notable Women of Alabama History. The details of her life include the fact that she was Jewish and that her husband was Jewish. Mrs. Phillips sister was also a staunch supporter of the South, serving as a volunteer nurse. There is some question as to the nature of Mrs. Phillips espionage activities. However, she was a confidant of the famous Confederate spy Rose O’Neal Greenhow. (As reported by the Jewish Women’s Archives)
1863: In Iwye, Belarus,Rabbi David Shlomo Grodzinski, who was Rav of Iwye for over 40 years and his wife gave birth to Chaim Ozer Grodzinski a leading Lithuanian religious judge and expert on Halachah.
1861: "From London: The Effort to Break Down American Credit in England Danger" published today described efforts to destroy the financial position of the United States government in Europe following the Union defeat at the Battle of Bull Run. According to the writer, the pro-Southern forces want to drive the U.S. government out of the normal financial market and “leave us at the mercy of a few rich and powerful Jews.”
1865: The citation naming Sergeant-Major Abraham Cohn a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor was issued today. “During Battle of the Wilderness rallied and formed, under heavy fire, disorganized and fleeing troops of different regiments. At Petersburg, Va., July 30, 1864, bravely and coolly carried orders to the advanced line under severe fire.”
1865:The New York Times reported that The Memphis Bulletin, “always an unconditional Union paper, contains a denunciation against Governor William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow’s letter against the Jews."
1871(7thof Elul, 5631): Eighty-one year old Rachel Luzzatto, known as “the Queen of Hebrew Versifiiers” who was a descendant of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato passed away today. (As reported by Rabbi Leah Novick)
1872: Birthdate of Sir Max Beerbohm, English caricaturist and writer. He passed away in 1956 after a long and successful career. This item and the one just above provide a taste of the “schizophrenic” attitude that the British have about Jews. It will be a subject that we will tackle in class when the time comes.
1872: Fifty-three delegates from Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Georgia attended a regional convention of the B’nai Brith that came to an end today in Atlanta, GA.
1878: It was reported today that the poorer class of Jews are among those suffering the most as a result of the famine that has struck southern Morocco. The government has not done anything to alleviate the suffering and the Jews are relying on their co-religionist for assistance and relief.
1878: It was reported today that the Italian government has voiced it opposition to any modification in the provisions of the Treaty of Berlin relating to the treatment of the Jews of Romania. The Romanians are seeking changes in the treaty because they claim that it might to “social and legal inconvenience” as well as the fall of the current government.
1878: In a letter signed “Old Subscriber,” a writer who knew the late Michael Reese expressed both his pleasure and displeasure with an article about the recently deceased California Jew. He agreed that Reese had surprised everybody by leaving money to Jewish and Christian institutions because it has yet to occur “to a Christian to leave in his will bequests alike to Jew and Gentile.” He disagreed with the depiction of Reese speaking with a foreign accent since he knew the deceased did not speak in that manner.
1879: In Baltimore, MD, Grand Master Simon Wolff presided over the opening meeting of the Grand Lodge of the Southern District of the Order of Kesher Shel Barzel, the Jewish benevolent and protective society
1880: Birthdate of Joshua Lionel Cowen. Joshua Lionel Cohen was one of nine children born to Jewish immigrants. He dropped out of college to pursue a life of tinkering and inventing. Cowan invented what would become the Eveready Flashlight. While Cowan invented the light, he did not do with it and sold the rights for a pittance. He did develop the toy electric train and co-founded the Lionel Corporation maker of electric trains and the equally famous Erector Set. He is credited with convincing department stores to feature displays train sets at Christmas time, thus tying his invention to America’s greatest gift giving holiday. He passed away in 1965.
1881: Edward Solomon’s comic opera“Claude Duval” premiered today at the Olympic Theatre in London.
1884: It was reported today that “Mr. W.W. Story…is at work on ‘Miriam’” a statute of the sister of Moses “clad in a simple tunic,” hold a timbrel and her mouth open “in a song of triumph at the deliverance of the Jews from captivity.” (Story is William Wetmore Story, the scion of patrician New England family who was, among other things, a noted 19thcentury sculptor whose work can be seen at the Metropolitan and in Washington, DC)
1884: It was reported today that “during the last two months the Jewbaiters in…the provinces of Wilna, Minks, Kowno and Mohilew have burned over a thousand Jewish houses, shops and synagogues reducing many hundreds of people to beggary” This is only one example of “the pathetic tales” of Jewish suffering from all over Russia.
1884: It was reported today that a mob “assaulted the Jewish quarter” of Kutais, in Transcaucasia (Russia) and threatened “a general massacre of the Jews” when it was reported that “the Jews had stolen a Christian child.” The rioters desisted when the child was found.
1884: Several Jews from Paterson, NJ, attended the burial of Samuel Lavner at Mount Hebron Cemetery. Lavener who may or not be Jewish was found at Little Falls, the victim of a gunshot which may or may not have been self-inflicted.
1885: “A Revival of Judaism” published today provides a summary of the recommendations that have been sent to the Executive Board of the Union of American Congregations by Rabbis from across the country since their last annual meeting at Niagara Falls.
1887: In New York, Judge Donohue refused to vacate the order of arrest that had been issued for Meyer Goldberg on charges that he was planning on absconding with goods belong to his wife Lena who has already filed for a divorce. After hearing the conflicting stories, the judge withheld his decisions on Mrs. Goldberg’s application for temporary alimony and attorney’s fees. Goldberg is out on bail.
1889: “An Unsectarian Hotel” published today described the events that have led to an option being taken on a tract of beach front property at Ocean City, NJ for the construction of new, first class hotel. Early last month, the Brunswick, “a fashionable hotel” in this summer resort community refused to honor the reservations of Mrs. Joseph Davis because she was Jewish. Mrs. Davis, her children and servants were forced to take refuge in the cottage of Moses Strauss, “a wealthy leather merchant from Newark.” At dinner attended by several wealthy Jews from Philadelphia and New Jersey, it was decided to build a hotel that will be open to Jews and Gentiles who have “satisfactory references.” Fifty thousand dollars was immediately raised to begin work on the project. (The problem of being banned from fashionable resorts began with at Saratoga in the 1870’s and would continue to be a problem until it was banned by federal law in 1964)
1890: “Under The Czar’s Empire” published today provided a summary of the 290 page volume that provides a compilation of all the “legislative acts of the Russian empire relative to the Jews.”
1890: Samuel D. Levy of the 11th Ward, a popular young lawyer and a director of the United Hebrew Charities has been mentioned as a likely candidate to fill one of the openings on the Board of Education.
1890: “Armenians, Turks, Jews and Russians” published today compared the treatments of Armenians by the Ottomans with the treatment of Jews by the Czars.
1891: Labor organizations in Baltimore are beginning to express their opposition to the admission of anymore Jewish immigrants from Russia because they have taken sewing jobs away from the women in the city who used to do the work.
1891: Coroner Levy said today that he would appeal the decision the Acting Superintendent of Immigration barring some of the Russian Jews who had arrived on the Westernland from entering the United States because they were likely to become public charges even though Levy had secured a bond for each them.
1892(1st of Elul, 5652): Rosh Chodesh Elul
1895: The sons of the late Simon Wormser donated $15,000 to a variety of charitable institutions today.
1895: According to “Prisoners Sent to Siberia” published today of the 11,500 prisoners sent to Siberia last year, 510 were Jews.
1895: “Convention of Jewish Women” published today described plans for the upcoming Convention of National Council of Jewish Women which will be “the first convention of Jewish women ever held” in the United States.
1895: J. Keir Hardie, President of the British Independent Labor Party visited Staten Island where he heard Professor Daniel De Leon, the Sephardic Jewish editor of The People deliver a speech on “Socialism.”
1896: “Notes of Stage People” published today previewed the upcoming New York Theatre season including Oscar Hammerstein’s plans to present “stock comic opera” at the Olympia Theatre.
1898: “Taunts Drove a Jew to Suicide” published today described events leading up to the suicide of Herman Rosenthal. He had quit his job at the Colonial Brewery because he had been ridiculed for being a Jew and then “became despondent:” over the persecution of “the Jewish race.”
1898: Birthdate of Rosa Goldschmidt, a German born American author who gained fame as Rosie Goldschmidt Waldeck, a correspondent for Newsweek and author of Athene Palace
1899: Jonathan Berthold Lasker and Else Lasker-Schüler, the German Jewish playwright and poet, gave birth to their first son, Paul
1899: Former Judge Henry Hilton who created a cause célèbre when he banned Jews from staying at his hotel in Saratoga Springs passed away today.
1899: In Rennes, at the court martial of Captain Dreyfus, Colonel Jouasut, President of the Court, ordered that the evidence of Monsieur Penot, a friend of the late Colonel Sandherr be read by the clerk of the court. According to Penot, Colonel Sandherr had said that the Dreyfus family had offered him 150,000 francs if he would clear the Captain. The defense attorney then read the actual note that the late Colonel had written proving that Penot’s version was distorted. All the note from the family had said was “We are convinced of the innocence of our brother, and will spend our entire fortune to discover the truth.”
1900(29th of Av, 5660): Seventy-year old “Dutch painter and vignette-engraver Elchanan Verveer whose work included “illustrations for Eugène Sue's "Le Juif Errant," passed away today.
1903: Max Nordau addresses the Sixth Zionist Congress
1911(30thof Av, 5671): Rosh Chodesh Elul
1912: Alaska is granted Territorial Status. The first Jews came to Alaska in 1898 when some San Francisco fur traders settled in Dawson City. The Jewish steamboat operator Lewis Gerstle provided transportation to the Yukon River during the Gold Rush. The Gerstle River is named for him. By the time Alaska had gained territorial status, the Jews of Nome had formed the Nome Hebrew Benevolent Society and Robert Bloom had founded the Jewish community of Fairbanks.
1922: Birthdate of left-wing historian and anti-war activist Howard Zinn.
1914 Sholom Schwartzbard and his brother enlisted in the French Foreign Legion. He served in the 363e régiment d’infanterie and was wounded in the Battle of Carency in the Battle of the Somme. To acknowledge his courage he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. Schwartzbard was wounded by a grenade blast while on patrol in March 1916. His lungs were riddled, and he was not expected to live. His left arm was virtually useless
1914: An American version of “The Girl from Utah” produced by Charles Frohman opened today at the Knickerbocker Theatre – a production for which Frohman hired Jerome Kern to write five new songs including “They Didn’t Believe Me”
1919(28thof Av, 5679): Mrs. Roche Seegal passed away today.
1927: Birthdate of economist Harry Markowitz, winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize.
1922(30th of Av, 5682): Rosh Chodesh Elul
1922: Birthdate of Howard Zinn, self-styled people’s historian and author of “A People’s History of the United States.” (As reported by Howard Powell)
1924(24th of Av, 5684): Saul Frank, the husband of Sarah Vasen, the first Jewish female doctor in Los Angeles, CA, passed away today from a heart attack
1925: Paramount Pictures released “Beggar on Horseback” a cinematic version of the play co-authored by George S. Kaufman.
1925(4th of Elul, 5685): Seventy-five year old Moritz Henle, a German composer and leading cantor in the Reform Movement passed away today. His wife, Caroline Franziska Herschel, whom he married in 1882, would survive him by almost twenty more years perishing at Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1943.
1929: Arab attacks continued on Jews living in the section of Jerusalem known as Talipot. Women and children had to be evacuated to the New City. Arab mobs looted Jewish homes including that of the author S.J. Agnon. They destroyed his collection of rare documents related to the history of Palestine.
1929: Arab mobs attacked Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall.
1929:As of today, another 17 Jews had been killed in the Jerusalem area. The worst killings occurred in Hebron and Safed while others were killed in Motza, Kfar Uria, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
1929(18th of Av, 5689): On Shabbat, Arab mobs killed five members of the Maklev family and their two house guests one of whom was an 85 year old Rabbi.
1929: Arab rioters attacked Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, laying waste to the three year old settlement.
1929(18th of Av, 5689): In Hebron, Arabs massacred fifty-nine Jews including five rabbis and eight American students studying at a local Yeshiva. This slaughter would lead to Jews being driven out of the city putting an end to this ancient Jewish community and making the home of the Cave of Machpelah “Jew free” except for the remains of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Jews would not be able to return to their ancient community until after the 1967 war.
1930: U.S. premiere of “All Quiet on the Western Front” – the classic anti-war movie told from the German side of WW I - directed by Lewis Milestone, produced by Carl Laemmle, Jr and co-starring Louis Wolheim.
1933: “In address on the status of the Jews in the world, Nahum Sokolow, criticizes Soviet Russia for outlawing Zionism and the Hebrew language”
1933: The man who had assaulted New Yorker Dr. Daniel Mulvihill “while he was visiting Berlin” was arrested an sent to a concentration camp.
1933:An official announcement is made stating that Dr. Albert Einstein, Dr. Georg Bernhard, famous journalist, and Dr. Bernhard Weiss, former assistant police president of Berlin, have lost their German citizenship.
1933: The Government forbids German-Jewish Maccabee team of 100 athletes to participate in the world Maccabiade to be held in Prague.
1933:A delegation of leading Jews urges the High Commissioner to issue regulations governing the daily closing of shops and Sabbath observance in Jewish localities.
1936: Three United States Senators, Royal S. Copeland of New York, Warren Austin of Vermont and Daniel Hastings of Delaware, marked the second day of their tour of Palestine which had begun in Jerusalem.
1936: In Tarrytown, NY, Rabbi Manning H. Bleich and his wife Beatrice gave birth to J.(Judah) David Bleich, who, among other accomplishments is the Rabbi for B’nei Judah, a Professor at Yeshiva University and an instructor at Cardozo Law School.
1936(6th of Elul, 5696): Two more Jews fell victim tonight to the murderous Arab violence that began on April 19, bringing the Jewish death toll to sixty-six. One of the victims was Julius Vagshall, “an employee of the Palestine Electric Company was murdered…near Mikveh Israel. Two of his companions were wounded making them part of the twenty others who were shot during the night.
1938: Birthdate of David Freiberg bass player with Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Starship
1937: The Times of London praised the impartiality and objectivity of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations which, following prolonged deliberations, reached conclusions similar to those of the Royal (Peel) Commission on Palestine, recommending an eventual partition. The PMC said that the fluctuations in the policy of the Mandatory Power in Palestine encouraged the Arabs in their belief that violence could stop the Jewish immigration.
1938: At Jenin Arabs terrorists shot and killed W. S. Moffatt, Assistant District Commissioner
1938: After meeting with Hitler, Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary that they had “discussed removing all Jews from Germany.”
1939: Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, the Jewish gangster who ran Murder Incorporated surrendered himself to the Jewish Columnist, Walter Winchell. Winchell turned him in to the FBI.
1941: In a broadcast to the British people, Churchill announced that as German troops advanced in the Soviet Union, "whole districts were being exterminated." He did not mention that it was the Jews getting killed. This broadcast came only two months after Hitler had invaded Russia. At the time, Churchill was busy trying to get the British (many of whom were anti-Communists) to view the Soviets as a much-needed ally in the war against Hitler. Talking about dead Jews would not have kindled the spirit of support that Churchill was trying to create.
1941: Eighty-six-year-old Dr. Jacob Wigodsky, longtime leader of the Jews of Vilna, Lithuania, is arrested and imprisoned. He will be executed a week later at Ponary, Lithuania.
1942: Poet and author Joy Davidson who would later become an Anglican married her first husband, William Lindsay Graham.
1942: As of today, 21,000 Jews from Kielce had been deported to Treblinka where they were all murdered.
1943: Five thousand Jews from Bialystok, Poland, are killed at Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Majdanek.
1943: King Boris of Bulgaria was summoned to Berlin, where Hitler personally subjected him to a harsh browbeating on his vacillation when it came to deporting Jews to the death camps.
1943: French philosopher Simon Weil the daughter of two Alsatian Jews who converted to Christianity during her exploration of various religions passed away today.
1944: Three thousand slave laborers are killed at Mielec, Poland
1944: A Jewish survivor in liberated Lvov, Ukraine, notes in her diary that only three percent of the region's Jews remain alive.
1945: Abdul Rahman Azzam Bey, “the secretary-general of the Arab League and undersecretary for foreign affairs in the Egyptian government, announced publicly that FDR had give a pledge to Ibn Saud ‘that he would not support any move to hand over Palestine to the Jews.’”
1950: Operation Magic Carpet, which brought 45,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel, was concluded. This rescue of the ancient Yemenite community began shortly after the creation of the Jewish states. Anti-Jewish riots broke out even though the Jews of Yemen had done nothing. The easiest way would have been to bring them to Israel by ship, but the Egyptians would not let the Israelis use the Suez Canal. So the Israelis mounted an airlift (hence the name magic carpet) and flew the people to safety with between 500 to 600 Yemenites on each flight. Many had never seen a plane before. Many people remembered the words of the prophet who said the Jews would be redeemed on Wings of Eagles. This was the first large scale saving of a Jewish community. It would not be the last. Israel critics might do well to remember that there is a reason for a Jewish state.
1952: Although no diplomatic steps followed the direct peace offer made by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to Egypt, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said he believed such action was possible in the near future.
1954:A plan to transfer 450,000 Jews from North Africa to Israel because of "the threat of renewed anti-Jewish outbreaks by Arab extremists" was outlined here tonight. Three thousand delegates to the fortieth annual convention of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel were told of the proposal by Moshe Kol, world chairman of the Youth Aliyah (immigration) movement, Jewish child-rescue agency.
1957: Bosley Crowther reviewed Billy Wilder’s “Love in the Afternoon” which he believes helps to put Wilder on the same level of the great Ernst Lubitsch.
1959: Birthdate of actor Steve Guttenberg
1960(1st of Elul, 5720): Rosh Chodesh Elul
1965: Birthdate of Academy Award winning actress Marlee Matlin. The Chicago born Matlin gave of the most moving performances of her life when she spoke at the 2004 Keshet Dinner.
1964: Bruce Sundlun was one of the delegates attending the National Democratic Convention when it opened today.
1970: In Los Angeles, Carolyn Surtees and Don Gregory gave birth to NBC newsman and host of Meet the Press David Gregory.
1967: Led by Abbie Hoffman, a group of hippies temporarily disrupt trading at the NYSE by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing a cease in trading as the brokers scramble to grab them up.
1978: Seventy-two year old archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon best known for her excavations at Jewry Wall in Leicester before WW II and Jericho passed away today.
1980(12th of Elul, 5740): One person was killed and twelve were injured when a terrorist bomb went off in Jerusalem gas station.
1986: The New York Times included a brief review of A Certain People: American Jews and Their Lives Today, Charles E. Silberman's survey of American Jewish life and Jewish identity
1991: Robert S. Strauss begins serving as U.S. Ambassador to Russia (formerly the U.S.S.R.)
1994: Initial accord between Israel and the PLO about partial self-rule of the Palestinians on the West Bank.
1997: The New York Times book section featured a review of Yehudi Menuhin’s autobiography entitled Unfinished Journey: Twenty Years Later and My American Century by Studs Terkel
1999(12th of Elul, 5759): Ninety-nine year old Sidney Lev, the native of Branchville, SC who lived in Charlotte, NC passed away today in Cocoa Beach, FL.
2003(26th of Av, 5763): Seventy-seven year businessman Jack Eisner, theHolocuast survivor and author passed away today. (As reported by Douglas Martin)
2004: Chris Young pitched in his first game for the Texas Rangers, making him the first Princeton baseball player to appear in the majors since Bob Tufts, who had converted to Judaism during his pitching career.
2005: Egypt and Israel reached an agreement that would allow troops to patrol the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The Egyptains have guaranteed that they will not allows arms to be smuggled into Gaza. A small Egyptian naval squadron will patrol the coast.
2006(30th of Av, 5766): Rosh Chodesh Elul
2007: “Sam Friedman, a son of the late Louisiana State Senator Sylvan Friedman of Natchitoches Parish, of Dimension Development Company from Natchitoches, Louisiana, announced the purchase of the Fairmont Hotel by First Class Hotels for $17 million from the owners, Roosevelt Ventures, LLC.”
2008: An exhibition at Yeshiva University Museum entitled “Celestial Nights: Visions of an Ancient Land: Photographs by Neil Folberg” comes to an end.
2008: The Sunday New York Times book section featured books by Jewish authors and/or on topics of Jewish interest including The Black Hole War: My Battle With Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanicsby Leonard Susskind, A Path Out of the Desert by Kenneth M. Pollack, Epilogue: A Memoirby Anne Roiphe and The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin’s Secret Serviceby Andrew Meier
2008: The Washington Post book section featured books by Jewish authors and/or on topics of Jewish interest including For The Thrill Of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder That Shocked Chicagoby Simon Baatz, Explainers: The Complete Village Voice Strips (1956-66)by Jules Feiffer and The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin’s Secret Serviceby Andrew Meier
2008: As the Democratic National Convention opens in Denver, the Jewish friends of Susan Turnbull, a vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee join her in a "nosh" at Zaidy's delicatessen in Denver at 2 p.m. These friends may include the thirty Jewish Democrats serving in the US House of Representatives and nine in the Senate.
2008: The DNC launches the convention with an interfaith gathering featuring Jewish, Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim clerics. The Jewish speaker is Rabbi Tzvi Weinreb, the executive vice president of the Orthodox Union.
2009:David Wessel, the economics editor at the Wall Street Journal and author of the "Capital" column, discusses and signs his new book, In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic, at Politics and Prose Bookstore, in Washington, D.C.
2009:Two mortar shells struck a kibbutz near Ashkelon this evening. One person was lightly wounded by shrapnel in the incident, which was the first of its kind in months
2009: A Palestinian gunman was killed this evening in a shootout with IDF troops on the northern border of the Gaza Strip. The shooting occurred after an IDF patrol spotted the gunmen planting a bomb near the security fence. When the troops attempted to apprehend the group, they were met by gunfire. Two of the gunmen succeeded in escaping back to Gaza, while the third died on the spot.
2009:An agreement struck between the Tiberias Magistrate's Court and a Tzipori land-owner today will allow the excavation of a tomb that may contain the remains of famed 3rd century Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi to begin next month. The work at the site, which features a clear inscription of the rabbi's name on the lintel and reportedly contains a terra cotta sarcophagus, may trigger significant opposition throughout the religious community, experts and religious authorities said.
2009: Today Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite promised the country's remaining Jewish community that it would receive restitution for property seized during the Second World War.
2009: In another recent incident, an IDF patrol opened fire on Palestinian militants today after spotting their approach to the Gaza border fence
2010: In Vermont, Peter Shulman “placed first in the five-way Democratic primary”
2010:“Like a Fish Out of Water,” a film that follows Marcelo, a recent emigrant from Argentina to Israel who has found the perfect job on an Israeli soap opera and “Black Over White,” featuring the popular multi-cultural Israeli band, the Idan Raichel Project are scheduled to shown in Washington, DC as part of the WJFF.
2010:Jewish Art for the New Millennium: 3 Alicias 3 an evening of Music and Poetry with Alicia Svigals, Alicia Ostriker, and Alicia Jo Rabins is scheduled to take place at the Sixth Street Community Synagogue in New York.
2010:The 'Voice of Music' channel of 'Kol Israel' is scheduled to a r broadcast during which Yeheskell Beinisch, chairman of the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival presents this year's program and the participating artists .
2010: As part of their attempt to have the government meet their demands for better pay and working conditions that will bring them more in line with those in the defense forces and intelligence community, the foreign ministry's workers' committee sent a telegram to Israel's Washington embassy, instructing staff there not to assist the prime minister during his visit to Washington.
2010:An Israeli company that breeds and markets hybrid plant varieties announced a new innovation today: A tomato that doesn't need to be refrigerated. The tomato, named Antonella, retains its firmness, flavor and aroma and does not begin to rot even after a week at room temperature.
2011:Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) have announced that they will not be attending the Glen Beck rally scheduled to be held in Jerusalem tonight.
2011:In Jerusalem, Daniel Zamir is scheduled to perform new arrangements of songs by the composer and poet Talma Alyagon Rose, accompanied by a unique female ensemble includingGalia Hai, viola; Karni Postel, cello; Tamar Eisenman, guitar.
2011:Close to 200 taxi drivers congregated on Rothschild Boulevard, the hub of Tel Aviv’s tent city, today, to protest high gas prices and work conditions.
2011:Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Benny Gantz decided today to appoint Colonel (res.) Danny Efroni to be the next IDF military advocate general replacing Major General Avichai Mendelblit.
2011:A three-month-old baby was lightly injured in her hand after one of two rockets fired at the Ashkelon Regional Council hit a car and caused it go up in flames this evening. Two further rockets were fired at the Eshkol Regional Council but no injuries or damage were reported. Earlier tonight, one of two rockets that was fired from Gaza towards the Beersheba area was intercepted by the Iron Dome system.
2011: Arnold Eidus was interviewed about his role in performing Raymond Scott’s “Suite for Violin and Piano” at Carnegie Hall in 1950.
2011(24thof Av, 5771): Fifty-nine year old Jeanette Ingberman, the daughter of Holocaust survivors who co-founded “Exit Art” passed away. (As reported by Margalit Fox)
2012: NFTY Songleading Instituted is scheduled to begin at Kutz Camp
2012: Camp Massad, the only Hebrew-immersion summer camp in Western Canada, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, is scheduled to host an alumni reunion beginning today.
2012: Cantor Alane Simons Katzew, Director of Music Programming at the Union for Reform Judaism is scheduled to conduct Shabbat Eve services at B'nai Israel Synagogue in Grand Forks North Dakota
2012: In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, it is “Musical Shabbat” time as Temple Judah hosts the first of this year’s ever popular Friday evening events.
2012: Jewish Democrats slammed Republicans for planning a tribute to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) at the Republican convention.
2012: Germany's main Jewish body has announced its intention to institutionalize the training of mohels or ritual circumcisors. Amid concerns among Jews and Muslims that their religious practice of circumcision may be outlawed, the Central Council of Jews in Germany is organizing meetings with Rabbi Josh Spinner of the Orthodox rabbinical seminary of Berlin and Rabbi Walter Homolka of the Reform Abraham Geiger College in Potsdam, both of which train rabbis. The intention is to "institutionalize the training of mohels in Germany as part of their rabbinical training programs," Josef Schuster, vice president and head of religious affairs for the Council, announced today.
2012: In the first direct contact with his Israeli counterpart since taking office, Egypt’s new defense minister defended his country’s increased military presence in the Sinai Peninsula, saying it is needed to fight terrorism and is temporary, Egyptian officials said today.
2013: Amir Levy is scheduled to appear in “Bellini and the Sultan” at the Robert Moss Theatre.
2013: Anat Cohen, the sensational young Israeli clarinetist and saxophonist is scheduled to bring her unique musical stylings to New York’s 54 Below nightclub
2013: Despite the rocket attack on the Galilee two days ago, scores of families and travelers arrived in the area today to enjoy the north's beautiful scenery and specifically the popular Achziv beach. Only 48-hours after a Grad missile landed in Kibbutz Gesher HaZiv, only a few kilometers from the popular shore, beach-goers could be seen tanning, swimming and enjoying what remains of their summer break. "No place is safe," they explained. (As reported by Maor Buchnik)
2013: As the United States positions its warships in the eastern Mediterranean for a possible attack on Syria, “Israel …is raising its alert level, as Syria's retaliation may include an attack on Israeli targets.” The Syrians have 100,000 missiles including thousands of Scud-D which could easily reach targets in Israel.(As reported by Yoav Zitun)
2013(18thof Elul, 5773): Eighty-four year old Muriel Siebert, “the first woman to buy a seat on the NYSE” passed away today. (As reported by Enid Nemy)
2014: The New York Times featured books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Teacher Wars: A History of America’s Most Embattled Profession by Dana Goldstein, Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life by William Deresiewicz, and Powers of Two: Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs by Joshua Wolf Shenk
2014(28thof Av): Yarhrzeit of Larry Rosenstein loving husband of Judy Levin Rosenstein, of blessed memory who fifty years ago regaled me tales of death “Blaze” (his car, not his horse)
2014: Gil Shaham is scheduled to perform as guest violinist with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States at Tangelwood.”
2014: “After having been postponed twice due to continuous rocket from Gaza, Ashkelon’s annual pop music festival Briza is scheduled to open today. (As reported by Simone Somekh)
2014: KlezKanada in collaboration with the Montreal Jewish Music Festival is scheduled to host Der Groyser Kontsert Internationale
2014: Four year old Daniel Tragerman who was killed by Hamas rocket fire erev Shabbat after a rocket struck near his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz is scheduled to be laid to rest this morning at the Hevel Shalom cemetery in the Eshkol Region. (As reported by Arutz Sheva)