September 26
1889: Birthdate of famed German intellectual, Martin Heidegger. Heidegger joined the Nazi Party on May 1, 1933 , before being appointed the rector of the university in Freiburg . He resigned from the position in February 1934. During this time Heidegger's former teacher Husserl, who was Jewish, was denied the use of the university library at Freiburg because of the racial cleansing laws issued by the Nazi Party. Heidegger also removed the dedication to Husserl from Being and Time when it was reissued in 1941. Heidegger later claimed that this was due to pressure from his publisher, Max Niemeyer. Additionally, when Heidegger's Introduction to Metaphysics (originally published in 1935) was reissued after the war, he declined to remove a reference to the then current Nazi Party of Germany, choosing instead to add a parenthetical explanation about a confrontation between technology and man, stating the "inner truth and greatness of this movement [i.e., national socialism] (namely, the contact/opposition of planetary technology and modern man)" still existed. Many readers came to interpret this ambiguous remark as evidence of his continued belief in extreme right-wing political movements; although Heidegger himself refused to associate the comment with the former failed Nazi regime.Critics further cite Heidegger's affair with Hannah Arendt, when she was a doctoral student of his at the University of Marburg
1898: Dr. Joseph Silverman of Temple Emanu-El is scheduled to give a sermon today entitled “A Pure World.”
1187: Saladin launches his attack on Jerusalem
1348: Pope Clement VI issued a Bull contradicting the libel against the Jews stating that they were suffering just like the rest of Europe. Other rulers issued like denunciations but with little effect or no effect.
1350:Coronation of King John II of France, The Jews had been banished from France so there were no Jews living in his kingdom when he took the throne. Thanks to the King’s folly, the Jews would return during his reign. During the Hundred Years War, King John II was captured the English after the defeat at Battle of Poitiers. The English demanded a substantial ransom from the impoverished and impotent French Dauphin, the future Charles V. To raise funds, Charles enticed the Jews to return to France with a liberal charter of rights. He then levied heavy taxes on them which helped to free the king. A wiser monarch than King John might have avoided the crushing defeat at Poitiers which meant that the Jews would have continued to be exiled from a large portion of western Europe.
1629: Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller returned to Prague after having finally been released from prison. The terms of his release included payment of large fine and being deprived of the right to serve as a Rabbi any place in the Holy Roman Empire . He took to his bed, a broken man, for three months. Friends succeeded in having the sentence reduced and helped him obtain a position in Russia Bohemia
1669: Today marked a continuation of events that had begun on September 25, 1669 in what can only be described as another blood libel. After a warrant had been sworn out for the arrest of Raphael Levi in the matter of the disappearance of 3 year old Christian child, the Jews of Metz (Germany) convinced him to surrender to authorities. The Jews were animated by what they sensed was a growing threat to their safety. Levi was a fifty-six year old merchant of medium height with a long, black beard who had traveled to the Levant, Italy, Germany and Holland on personal and Jewish communal business. Currently, he lived at Boulai, a village near Metz, where he was the leader of the synagogue. Levi told authorities that he come to Metz to buy a shofar for the upcoming holiday, oil, wine and fish. He arrived in Metz at 10 in the morning, left the city about one in the afternoon and arrived at Boulai by four in the afternoon. The prosecution decided that he must have seen the child around 1 p.m., grabbed him and taken him home. Of the eighteen witnesses called, five claimed to have seen a Hebrew enter the city but only one of them identified Levi as being the person they had seen. One witness “declared that he did not think” Levi “was the man he had met. Regardless, the court found Levi guilty and sentenced him to death. Levi appealed to a higher court which granted him the right to call his own witnesses. In the mean time, Levi was held in jail awaiting the determination of his final fate. [More will follow on this sad, but all too typical tale of European anti-Semitism]
1673:At a conference held in Wischaw, Moravia, today, between representatives of the government and of the Jews it was agreed that 250 Jewish families might return to Vienna and occupy fifty business places in the inner city on payment of 300,000 florins and the former yearly tax of 10,000 florins. In view of the hopelessly depleted treasury, the royal exchequer considered this offer a "remarkable piece of good fortune."
1679: In Dresden, Samuel Benedict Carpzov and his wife gave birth German Old Testament Scholar whom the Jewish Encyclopedia says “represents both an advance and a retrogression in Biblical science — an advance in fullness of material and clearness of arrangement (his Introduction is the first work that deserves the name), and a retrogression in critical analysis, for he held fast to the literal inspiration of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and bitterly opposed the freer positions of Simon, Spinoza, and Clericus. His antiquarian writings are still interesting and useful.
1699: Birthdate of Anglo-Irish actor Charles Macklin who revolutionized the portrayal of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice
1762: Birthdate of Moses Schreiber, known to his own community and Jewish posterity as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work Chasam Sofer, (trans. Seal of the Scribe and acronym for Chidushei Toras Moshe Sofer), (1762 - 1839), was one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the nineteenth century. He was a teacher to thousands and a powerful opponent to the Reform movement, which was then making inroads into many Jewish communities in Austria-Hungary and beyond. As Rav of the city of Bratislava, he maintained a strong Orthodox Jewish perspective through communal life, first-class education, and uncompromising opposition to Reform and radical change.
1768(15thof Tishrei, 5529): Sukkoth
1794(2nd of Tishrei, 5555): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1803(10thof Tishrei, 5564): Just two and a half months after the announcement of the Louisiana Purchas, Jews observe Yom Kippur in a much larger United States.
1832(2nd of Tishrei, 5593): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1832: In “The New Year’s Eve and Day of the Sons of Abraham,” published today the Sydney (Australia) Monitor reported that “the Jews of the colony assembled at the Jews' Synagogue held over Mr. Rowell's shop in George Street which is elegantly fitted out as such on Monday evening, being the last night of the year, according to the ancient chronology of the tribe of Judah, when prayers were said. On Tuesday morning and again in the evening, other meetings took place and worship was again performed.
The congregation formulated detailed rules of conduct. A committee member not attired in decent and respectable manner was to be fined a guinea for each such offence. No person could officiate at a service without permission from the president. No conversation must take place during services; and "those Gentlemen being the junior branches of their families will take special care they behave themselves in a manner becoming a place of Divine Worship". The order of service and religious principles of the congregation were to be those laid down by the Chief Rabbi of London.
1843(2ndof Tishrei, 5604): Rosh Hashanah
1849(10thof Tishrei, 5610): Yom Kippur
1849: Fifty Jews gathered in San Francisco for the first observance of Yom Kippur in that city.
1854: "Jamaica” published today reported that sermons are still being preached on the island in an attempt to get additional funds to support the destitute Jews in Jerusalem and its environs. Despite the depressed economic conditions on the island, almost four thousand dollars has been collected which will be forwarded to Sir Moses Montifiore.
1860(10th of Tishrei, 5621): Yom Kippur
1860: The Cattle Markets column published this evening attributes some of the sluggishness in sales at the cattle yards on 44th street to the fact that the Jewish buyers were not there to make purchases because they were observing the Fast of Yom Kippur.
1860: Today's General News column included an item styled, “Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement’ that reported, “From sunset last evening until sunset to-day is observed by the Jews as the most solemn fast in their calendar. It is the "Day of Atonement," and during the time specified they abstain entirely from food and drink. According to Hebrew tradition, the Yom Kippur, even before the giving of the law, was a Day of Atonement and pardon. It is customary in the evening for parents to bestow their benediction on their children. If any quarrel or dispute exists between the Jews, it is obligatory on them to become reconciled. The moral influence of such a day, when all Jews, rich or poor, meet together in the synagogues and unite in the prayers, must necessarily be great... The origin of the fast is found in Leviticus, chapter xxiv., verse 26, which is as follows: "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, and say, also on the tenth day in the seventh month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you. And ye shall afflict your souls, and offer a burn offering unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day, for it is a day of atonement to atone for you before the Lord your God. And every soul that shall not be afflicted on the same day, He will cut off from among His people. And every soul that does work on that same day, that soul will I destroy from among His people. Ye shall do no manner of work; this is a statute for ever unto all your generations, and throughout all your dwellings. It shall be unto you, the first among your Sabbaths, and ye shall afflict your souls, on the ninth day of the month at even; from even to even shall you celebrate your Sabbath."
1861:(22ndof Tishrei, 5622): Shemini Atzeret
1861:An article entitled “Benefit to the Jewish Hospital” reported that the will of Henry Hendricks has been admitted to probate and leaves $1,000 to the Jew’s Hospital and “$500 to Rev. J.J. Lyon, the Minister of the Congregation of the Shearith Israel.” Hendricks was the member of a prominent Sephardic family. Hendricks is an anglicized form the Spanish name Henriques.
1861: Jews and Christians alike took part in a national day of “fasting, humiliation and prayer.” Jews filled their synagogues as the people of New York ceased from commercial activity in a manner not even seen on the Sabbath.
1862(2ndof Tishrei, 5623): On the Second Day of Rosh Hashanah, Union Forces under the Command of Don Carlos Buell solidify their position in Louisville, KY, thwarting the Rebel efforts to take the border state into the Confederacy.
1870(1stof Tishrei, 5631): Rosh Hashanah
1870: All of the 27 synagogues in New York City were filled with Jews celebrating their New Year.
1870: Chatham Street, the Bowery “and the various other streets” where the Jews conduct their business were as devoid as empty as they would be on the weekly day of rest.
1874(15th of Tishrei, 5635): Sukkoth
1874: “Chag Hassakoth” published today described the observance that began yesterday evening of the “Jew Festival of ‘Succoth,’ more familiarly known as the Feast of Tabernacles.” “The attendance at the synagogues and temples was not large, in consequence of the holiday following so close on the New Year.”
1875:It was reported today that there are 19 Jewish congregations in New York
1877: Founding of the Herxheimer Fund which provides financial assistance that ‘enables poor Jewish students to attend normal schools in Germany.
1878: Several cases were heard in Part II of the Court of General Sessions (NYC) in which the defendants were charged with violating laws that banned keeping live fowl in dwellings. The accused were all Jews who claimed that Jewish law required them to keep live fowl in their possession for three days before they could be killed. Since a religious defense was being used by the defendants, the prosecutor insisted that no Jews should serve on the jury. After the jury had been seated, one of the jurors was excused because he looked like a Jew. It turned out that the juror was the brother of a Christian minister. The jury acquitted all of the accused.
1879(9thof Tishrei, 5640): Erev Yom Kippur
1879: “The Jewish Feast of Atonement” published today reported that “this evening the solemn fast of Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement, the most important observance in the Jewish ritual will commenced by the Jewish throughout the world. The fast lasts from sundown on Friday evening until sunset on Saturday” a time during which “the devout Israelite does not permit either or drink of any kind to pass his lips.” The article noted that Orthodox Jews observe the fast strictly while some Reform congregations in the United States have abolished the practice. “The services…consist chiefly of repeated confessions of the sins which have been committed during the past year and prayers for forgiveness.”
1881: “A Hebrew Memorial Meeting” published today described how Mr. Samuel Greenbaum, President of the Young Men's Hebrew Association presided over the Association's memorial service honoring the late President Garfield. Among the dignitaries who attended the service was Mr. R.J. de Cordova who gave an eloquent eloquent eulogy. Congressman Einstein concluded his remarks by saying. "Garfield needs no granite shat to mark his grave; he will live forever in the hearts of his countrymen."
1881: Birthdate of Ernst Gräfenberg, the German born American physician who developed the IUD. Gräfenberg literally owed his life to Margaret Sanger who ransomed him from a Nazi prison and brought him to the United States.
1884: “Defending Mr. Friedman” published today gave David Longsdorf’s account of the events surrounding the elopement of Sarah Scheuer and his friend Henry Friedman. Longsdorf contends that the two had known each other for almost a year; that contrary to the claims of the bride’s father, he had known the groom since the first of the year. The two lived within a block of each other and the groom’s sister had helped the bride with preparations for a New Year’s party in 1884. The real objection to Friedman stems from the fact that while he could provide Sarah with a comfortable life-style, her father opposed the marriage because Friedman could not provide her with the lavish lifestyle of her father. (Yes, this is the stuff of which news was made long before Entertainment Tonight, etc.)
1884: The Jews of New York City are scheduled to hold the first in a series of mass meetings to protest the refusal of the School Superintendent to allow children to be excused from class for Yom Kippur.
1885: Judgment has not been rendered in the suit brought by Congregation B’Nai Jeshurun which is attempting to recoup funeral expenses from the estate of the late Joseph Levy who had committed suicide in Patterson, NJ.
1888: Birthdate of the famed, influential poet, T.S. Eliot. Was the author of “The Wasteland” and “The Love Song J. Alfred Prufrock” an anti-Semite as some have alleged? For at least one answer read T. S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism, and Literary Form by Anthony Julius.
1889(1st of Tishrei, 5650): Rosh Hashanah
1889: Possible birthdate of Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira known as the Baba Sali or the "Praying a leading Moroccan rabbi and kabbalist who was renowned for his alleged ability to work miracles through his prayers. He was one of the leaders of the Aliyah of Moroccan Jewry to Israel, which saw the transfer of nearly the entire population of that community to the Holy Land. He passed away in 1894. His burial place in Netivot, Israel has become a shrine for prayers and petitioners. The confusion about his birthdate comes from the fact that he was reportedly born on Rosh Hashanah 5650. But he is also reported to have been born in 1890. Rosh Hashanah in 1890 corresponds to 5651 on the secular calendar.
1891: The New York Times reports Kaiser Wilhelm II has reversed his policy of not providing financial help to Russia Berlin
1891: Solomon Hirsch, the United States Minister to Turkey America
1892: Health authorities announced that there were no cases of cholera in New York City. “The present epidemic reached Western Europe from Russia and was mainly if not wholly due to the migration of the Jews whose persecution has been driving from that country.”
1893: In an unfolding conspiracy aimed at Jacob Bauman “who is connected with some of the wealthiest Hebrew families” in New York Max Kestenbaum and Ernest Sachs were arrested and immediately claimed that his wife, Mrs. Annie Baumann had paid them to lie during their divorce proceedings.
1894: “A Most Successful Beggar” published described the fate of Charles Burkowitz, a blind Russian Jew whose successful begging over the last ten years netted $3,000 which his uncle stole and took with him to Boston.
1895: The trial of Morris Schoenholz who is charged with arson in the first degree and is represented by Abraham Levy began today in Part I of the Court of General Sessions.
1896: Sara and Jacob Adler give birth to their son Jay Adler, the American actor. Adler’s parents were thespians as were their other two children Jacob and Sara Adler.
1897(29thof Elul, 5657): Erev Rosh Hashanah
1897: Orders were issued from Police Headquarters to ignore the Sunday closing laws and allow the Jewish businessmen on Hester, Orchard and Ludlow Streets to conduct business prior to being closed for two days due to the Jewish New Year.
1897: Windows were unbarred and fire escapes were created in many of the buildings being temporarily used for High Holiday services on the Lower East Side following inspection visits by city building inspectors.
1897: Birthdate of Max Schur, the native of Stanisławów who became a doctor and a friend of Sigmund Freud.
1897: A report of Rowland Strong published today described the meeting of the Oriental Congress where a paper had been read describing a tribe of Abyssinian Jews who are strictly observant but are faithful to the king “and exhibit no desire join Herr Herzl in his trip to Palestine.”
1898: The list of evening classes that will be offered by the YMHA starting in October published today included bookkeeping, stenography, typewriting, Spanish, German, Hebrew, Jewish History, literature, political economy, drawing and sketching.
1898: A summary of the third annual report of the Hebrew Infant Asylum of which Mrs. Ester Wallenstein is President published today noted that there are currently 43 children under the age of five staying at the facility on Mott Street. The asylum does not care for children over the age of five.
1898(10th of Tishrei, 5659): Yom Kippur
1898: “Yom Kippur Observance” published today reported that “At sundown yesterday Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most solemn of all Jewish days of religious observance, began for Jews of both the orthodox and reform churches, to end at sundown to-day. These twenty-four hours are specially dedicated to fasting and prayer, and serve the purpose of reconciling the soul of the devout Jew to his God.”
1898: Birthdate of composer George Gershwin. Born Jacob Gershowitz in Brooklyn to Russian Jewish immigrants, Gershwin wrote most of his works together with his elder brother lyricist Ira Gershwin. Gershwin composed both for Broadway and for the classical concert hall. Some of his works included Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris and Porgy and Bess.
1900: Birthdate of Gertrude Luckner the German social worker who was named as righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem for assisting Jewish families in German and Poland; acts of heroism that resulted being imprisoned in Ravensbruck Concentration Camp.
1902 (24th of Elul, 5662): Seventy-three year old Levi Strauss, the man who put America in Blue Jeans, passed away to day in San Francisco.
1902: “Mercedes” was legally registered as a brand name for one of the automobiles manufactured by DMG. The car was named for Mercedes, the daughter of Jewish businessman Emil Jellinek.
1902: An item in the Jewish Chronicle of London focused on the consecration of a Sefer Torah and shofar in addition to several large barrels of apples and small containers of honey, all to be used by Jewish immigrants sailing shortly for South Africa. The short piece stressed that these items were needed since "the immigrants will be on the high seas during the ensuing festivals."
1907: New Zealand gains dominion status in the British Empire. Jews first arrived in Zealand in the 1830’s. By the turn of the century, the Jewish population had reached about 1,300 souls which was less than one per cent of the population. Most of the Jews lived in Auckland and Wellington, home of Beth El Synagogue.
1908(1stTishrei, 5669): As the Jews celebrate Rosh Hashanah, William Howard Taft seeks to succeed T.R. as President of the United States.
1912(15thof Tishrei, 5673): Sukkoth is celebrated for the last time during the Presidency of William Howard Taft.
1913: Birthdate of Berthold Beitz, “the German steel industrialist who saves Jews” (As reported by Melissa Eddy)
1917(10th of Tishrei, 5678): Yom Kippur
1917: During services at the B’Nai Israel in Bay Ridge, congregants contributed $10,000 to a fund for constructing a new synagogue. Rabbi Solomon Goldman officiated at the service.
1917: Congregants at Temple Emanu-El responded to the appeal of Louis Marshall contributing $20,000 and pledging another $30,000 to the fund that has been set up to provide financial assistance to the Jews trapped in the European war zone.
1917: Congregants at Temple Beth-El, which is served by Rabbi Samuel Schulman contributed between $9,000 and $10,000 to the fund that has been set up to provide financial assistance to the Jews trapped in the European war zone.
1917: Congregants as Ohav Zevek, the largest Orthodox synagogue in New York, contributed more than $17,000 to the fund that has been set up to provide financial assistance to the Jews trapped in the European war zone.
1917: Congregants at the Pincus Elijah Synagogue in New York City pledged close to $15,000 to the fund that has been set up to provide financial assistance to the Jews trapped in the European war zone.
1917: On Yom Kippur, Dr. Maurice H. Harris delivered a sermon at Temple Israel in New York entitled “Religion and Education.”
1918: Near Eclisfontaine, France, U.S. Army Sergeant Phillip Katz voluntarily crossed “an area swept by heavy machinegun fire,” advancing “to where the wounded soldier lay and carried him to a place of safety." This bravery earned him a Congressional Medal of Honor
1919(2ndof Tishrei, 5680): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1919: The Hahambashi of Turkey was granted an audience with the Shah of Persia, who paid tribute to the patriotism of Jews of Persia. The Shah attributed the progress of civilization to the Alliance Israelite Universelle schools.
1919: In Manhattan, stockbroker Arthur Rosenthal and his wife Grace gave birth to Arthur Jesse Rosenthal, “a publisher of intellectual masterworks in an era of fast-buck publishing who led Basic Books in the 1950s and ’60s and created a model for universities nationwide by leading Harvard University Press to solvency in the ’70s and ’80s.” (As reported by Paul Vitello)
1920: Miss Irma Abramowicz May of Lemberg, Galicia, fiancé of the late Dr. Bernard Cantor, spoke in Carnegie Hall before the congregation of the Free Synagogue this morning at a memorial service in Cantor’s honor. He was killed by Bolshevicks in the Ukraine in July while aiding the suffering Polish Jews caught in the Civil War racking the former Czarist empire.
1920: In response to the death yesterday of Jacob Schiff “Personal tributes to his philanthropic instincts and the humanitarian work” poured in from a variety of sources including such Jewish leaders such as Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler, Dr. Cyrus Adler and Judge Mayer Sulzberger as well as leaders from the secular society including famed statesmen Elihu Root and George Baker of the Grover Cleveland Association.
1925: Second baseman Buddy Myer made his major league debut with the Washington Senators.
1927(29thof Elul, 5687): Erev Rosh Hashanah
1928: Following the attempt by the police to remove the mechitza at the Wall on Yom Kippur, a delegation consisting of Colonel Frederick H. Kisch, Dr. Joshua Thon, Chief Rabbis A.H. Kook and Jacob A Meir, and Mssrs. Kalvarsisky and Meyuchased met with Acting High Commissioner H.C. Luke for two hours today to discuss the need to discipline those responsible for the action taken against the worshippers and a way in which problems at the Wall could be avoided in the future. The police officials explained that they had removed the “screen” to avoid violence since the Moslems threatened to stone the Jews if the mechitzah remained in place.
1934(17thof Tishrei, 5695): Chol Ha Moed Sukkoth
1934(17thof Tishrei, 5695): Eighty-three year old Alexander Moszkowski, the German Jewish author and philosopher who was the first to write a book about his friend Albert Einstein passed away today.
1935: Slugger Hank Greenberg declared that his Tigers were the best team in baseball; better even than the Chicago Cubs who think they will make it into the World Series.
1936(10thof Tishrei, 5697): As Landon and FDR campaign for the Presidency of the United States, Jews observe Yom Kippur
1937: The Palestine Post reported that another wealthy Christian landowner was murdered by Arab terrorists in the Maloul village, near Nazareth
1937: The Palestine Post reported that the Polish government published warning posters against disturbances of any kind and arrested large numbers of hooligans who took part in the recent anti-Jewish excesses. A Polish delegation which visited Madagascar
1937: During the Arab Revolt, Lewis Andrews, the Acting Commissioner of the Galilee, Pirie-Gordon (the assistant district commissioner) and Andrews' bodyguard (a British police constable) were on their way from attending service at the Anglican Christ Church, Nazareth when they were gunned down by four Arabs. Andrews died on the spot and the bodyguard died later at the hospital.
1938(1stof Tishrei, 5699): Rosh Hashanah
1938: Plans were made for Levi Yitzchok Bender and his wife to escape the clutches of Soviet authorities because he had visited the grave of Rebbe Nachman at Uman in defiance of the government’s ban on such religious observances.
1940(23rd of Elul, 5700): Official date of death for Walter Benjamin, the German-Jewish intellect whose endeavors covered a myriad of fields. Benjamin actually committed suicide the evening before after finding out that the Franco government was going to force him return to France where he faced certain imprisonment by the Nazis.
1940: The Center of Jews (UHU) was founded in Slovakia to organize Jewish life. The UHU was a government apparatus to determine the fate of Jews in that country. UHU disbanded all 175 Jewish organizations in Slovakia
1941: Paramount Pictures released “Hold Back The Dawn co-authored by Billy Wilder and co-starring Paulette Goddard whose father “was the son of a prosperous Jewish cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City.”
1941(5th of Tishrei, 5702): The SS shot 412 men, 615 women and 581 children in Kovno. The Jews were described as sick people and carriers of epidemics.
1941(5th of Tishrei, 5702): Jews of Swieciany , Lithuania
1941: In Ejszyszki , Lithuania
1942(15thof Tishrei, 5703): Sukkoth
1942: Instructions were issued to the Swiss Police stating, "Refugees on the grounds of race alone are not political refugees". This meant that thousands of Jews would now be sent back from the border. Swiss behavior regarding the Nazis and the Jews paints a peculiar picture. The supposedly neutral Swiss would be more or less or responsive to Nazi requests based on what was happening on the battlefields of Europe . In 1942 the Germans were in control of Western Europe and were blitzing their way across Russia
1942: SS Lieutenant General August Frank advises camp administrators that jewelry and other valuables seized from Jews should be sent to the German Reichsbank, and that razors and other practical items should be cleaned and delivered to front-line troops for sale to them. Proceeds will go to the Reich. Further, confiscated household items are to be distributed to ethnic Germans.
1942: Brussels Jewish leader Edward Rotbel is deported to Auschwitz. Several hundred Dutch Jews are gassed there
1942: German railway officials meet in Berlin
1942: For three days search parties of German and Ukrainian police capture 1000 of 2000 Jews who escaped from the Tuchin (Ukraine
1943: Following the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto, Abba Kovner led his resistance group on a dangerous trip through gutted buildings and dank swamps to the forests of Poland
1943: One day after official instructions arrived ordering the deportation of the Jews of Rome the Nazis demanded that Ugo Foa, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, have the Jews hand over 110 pounds of gold within 36 hours or 200 Jews would be deported.
1943: At the Novogrudok, Belorussia
1943:Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia warned the Jewish community in his regular Sunday broadcast that the price of whitefish, which will be in greater demand for the Jewish holidays beginning next Thursday, was likely to be increased to $1 or $1.25 a pound, according to trade information.
1944(9thof Tishrei, 5705): Erev Yom Kippur
1944: Operation Market-Garden ends in failure. Montgomery Holland Rhine River Montgomery
1944: Victor Kugler, one of the people who helped to hide the Frank family who had been captured by the Nazis was among the 1,100 men forced to start digging anti-tank trenches.
1944: One thousand young boys are assembled at Auschwitz in the presence of Dr. Josef Mengele. Any boy whose head does not reach a board Mengele has nailed to a post is set aside for gassing.
1944: Archibald Maule Ramsay, a former British Army officer and Member of Parliament who was an out-spoken anti-Semite was released from custody today. He had been arrested in 1940 under regulation 18B which allowed the government to detain Nazi sympathizers. Following his release he returned to his seat in the Commons where he attempted to have the Statue of the Jewry, a piece of anti-Semitic law dating back to the time of Longshanks, reinstituted.
1946(1stof Tishrei, 5707): Rosh Hashanah
1947: In Sdot Yam Israel, Hanne Ruth Warburg married Gershon Lasch.
1948: Prime Minister Ben Gurion met with his cabinet to discuss plans for the Galilee if fighting should be renewed.
1948: Birthdate of Ehud Yatom, the Netanya native who served as an agent for Shin Bet before being elected to the Knesset.
1949(3rdof Tishrei, 5710): Tzom Gedaliah
1949: Having “purchased the rights to the name ‘Sazerac Bar’ form the Sazerac Company and renovated a store front on Baronne Street,” Seymour Weiss opened the new Sazerac Bar which drew a large number of female customers because Weiss abolished “the men only house rule” and allowed women to patronize the bar.
1950: On the eve of the Maccabiah games which open tomorrow, five hundred Jewish athletes from twenty countries are living in the Maccabiah Village (a converted army camp) as they prepare to compete in the first “Jewish Olympics” held since 1935. The games began in 1932 under the sponsorship of the Maccabee sport organization. Among the competitors are two Olympic champions from the United States – Henry Wittenberg, light heavy-weight wrestler and Frank Spellman, middleweight weightlifter.
1952: It was reported today Alex Traub, who has designed engines for tanks and automobiles in the United States and Europe will be coming to Israel in January to act as an advisor on automobile engineering.
1952: Eighty-eight year old philosopher George Santayana whose famous aphorism "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" is inscribed on a plaque at the Auschwitz concentration passed away today. For more on his relations with Jews and his anti-Semitism see
1952: It was reported today that the new professors coming to work at the Institute of Technology in Israel include aeronautical experts Dr. Hirsch Cohen of PSU and H. Jerome Shafter of Princeton as well as “ a specialist in the solvent extraction of petroleum, Dr. Jacob M. Geist.’ (MIT)
1952: The Jerusalem Post reported that two Jews, a soldier and a farmer, were murdered by terrorist infiltrators near the Egyptian border.
1952: The Jerusalem Post reported that a second group of urban workers who decided to return to the land, under the auspices of the town-to-the-village movement, settled in Upper Galilee , northwest of Ma¹ayan Baruch.
1952: The Jerusalem Post reported that after more than four months of protracted negotiations, Yitzhak Kariv, a local Mizrahi Bank manager, was elected mayor of Jerusalem
1955(10thof Tishrei, 5716): Yom Kippur.
1956: Moshe Dayan and Shimon Peres drove to the headquarters of Colonel Ariel Sharon the officer commanding the paratroops who had been instructed to carry out an attack in reprisal for Arab attacks including those of September 23 and September 25 that had cost five non-combatant deaths among the Israelis.
1956: The IDF reprisal raid commanded by Ariel Sharon successfully attacked the Jordanian outpost at Wadi Fukin. The Jordanians lost 37 soldiers and two civilians at a cost of ten IDF dead.
1957(1stof Tishrei, 5718): On the first day of Rosh Hashanah Mitchell Levin chants Samuel for the first time.
1957: Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story opens on Broadway. The Jewish musician takes Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and converts into a musical set among the gang culture of mid-twentieth century New York City
1958: Release date in the United States of the cinematic version of “Damn Yankees,” featuring lyrics and music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross.
1959: Eisenhower and Khrushchev conclude their two day summit meeting at Camp David where the President urged the Soviet leader “to resolve issues concerning the status of Jews in the USSR. citing the “deep concern” expressed to him by Jewish groups.”
1961:Bob Dylan, the musical voice of the counter-culturemakes his debut. Born Robert Allen Zimmerman, Dylan even made a bar mitzvah before assuming the role of musical rebel
1963:According to reports published today, “Jack Benny, who left the National Broadcasting Company 15 years ago to pick up a quick $2,260,000 at the Columbia Broadcasting System, will return to N.B.C. next fall.”
1963: Pitcher Larry Yellen made his major league debut with the Houston Colt .45’s.
1968(4th of Tishrei, 5729: Israeli physician Ben Shlomo Lipman-Heilprin passed away. Born in Bialystok in 1902, he studied medicine in Germany before making Aliyah in 1934. His accomplishments were of such merit that he was the first recipient of the Israel Prize for medicine.
1969: Opening of the trial of the Chicago Seven. The accused leaders of the riots on the streets of Chicago during the 1968 Democratic Convention included the requisite number of Jews. Ironically, the Judge in the case was also Jewish. At one point it was Abbe Hoffman versus Judge Hoffman.
1972: A two day National Conference on Soviet Jewry during which Senator Henry Jackson of Washington “proposed legislation linking access to trade benefits for communist nations to liberalizing their emigration practices” comes to an end.
1973(29thof Elul, 5733): Erev Rosh Hashanah
1973: The first of two batches of reservists were called up by the Egyptian Army who were supposed to be participating in a training exercise but were, in reality, part of the invasion force that would strike Israel on Yom Kippur.
1973: The Israeli 7th Brigade was ordered to move one battalion to the Golan Heights to strengthen the Barak Armored Brigade, under the command of Yitzhak Ben Shoham.
1975: In Los Angeles, Bruce Paltrow and Blythe Danner gave birth to Jake Paltrow, the brother of Gwyneth Paltrow and cousin of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
1977: The Jerusalem Post reported that Prime Minister Menachem Begin warned Gush Emunim not to implement its plan for an immediate establishment of 11 new settlements in Judea and Samaria
1977: The Jerusalem Post reported that Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan argued in Washington Israel Israel
1980: U.S. premiere of “Resurrection” produced by Howard Rosenman.
1982(9thof Tishrei, 5743): Erev Yom Kippur
1982: “One Day At A Time,” the ever popular sit-com starring Bonnie Franklin begins its 8th season.
1985: Opening of “Bernstein: The Television Work” at the Museum of Broadcasting in New York City.
1985: NBC began broadcasting the fourth season of “Family Ties” a sitcom created by Gary David Goldberg
1985: NBC began broadcasting the second season of “The Cosby Show” co-created by Ed Weinberger.
1988:15th of Tishrei, 5749): Sukkoth
1988:15th of Tishrei, 5749): Forty-eight year old, journalist, author and ‘returning Jew’ Paul Cowan passed away today. (As reported by Joseph Berger)
1995(2ndof Tishrei, 5756): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1999: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or about topics of Jewish interest includingThe Trust: The Private and Powerful Family Behind The New York Timesby Susan E. Tifft and Alex S. Jones, Hitler’s Pope: The Secret History of Pius XIIby John Cornwell,The Spectator: Talk About Movies and Plays With the People Who Make Them by Studs Terkel and An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clintonby Richard A. Posner.
2001(9th of Tishrei, 5762): In the evening, Kol Nidre is chanted for the first time during the Presidency of George Bush
2002(20th of Tishrei, 5763): During Sukkoth, Rabbi Zerach Warfhaftig, the native of Volkovyski who made Aliyah in 1947 passed away. During WW II, he worked with Japanese Vice-Consul in Kaunas Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara, the courageous diplomat who defied his government by issuing visas that saved the lives of thousands of Jews. Warfhatig was one of the signatories of Israel’s Declaration of Independence and served in the first 9 Knessets.
2003(29th of Elul, 5763): Erev Rosh Hashanah
2003: It was reported today that Prime Minister had implied that Ariel will be included in the security barrier being constructed to protect Israelis from suicide bombers.
2004: Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil, a senior member of Hamas' military wing, was killed in a car bombing in the al-Zahera district of southern Damascus, Syria for which the Israelis were blamed because of his involvement in the Beersheba bus bombing in August.
2004: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or about topics of Jewish interest including Just Enough Liebling by the legendary New Yorker Writer by A. J. Liebling, The Divine Husbandby Francisco Goldman. Joy Comes in the MorningbyJonathan Rosen, Lying Together: My Russian Affair by Jennifer Beth Cohen, The Flawed Architect: Henry Kissinger and American Foreign Policy by Jussi Hanhimaki and an essay “Sex Books: The Elements of Sexual Style” by Amy Sohn.
2005: Time Magazine of this date contains reviews of two books written by Jewish authors – E.L. Doctorow’s, The March and Myla Goldberg’s Wickett’s Company. Both novels center around historic events. The March is a tale told about Sherman Cedar Rapids
2005: Richard H. Jones presented his credentials as U.S. Ambassador to Israel
2005:Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan and Lady Elaine Sacks were amongst those praising David Collins, 21, on his receiving the 2005 Herzl Award. The award was initiated in 2004 to commemorate the centenary of Herzl's passing, by the Department for Zionist Activities of the World Zionist Organization.
2005(22nd of Elul : Yahrzeit of Joseph B. Levin, (Yosef Dov ben Avraham Elimelch) the man who taught me that Jewish education never stops unless the Jew chooses to stop his education.
2006: Canadian actress Jessalyn Sarah Gilsig and producer Bobby Salomon gave birth to their daughter Penolope.
2006: In Cedar Rapids, celebration of the birthday of Deb Levin, a true Ayshish Chayil or Woman of Valor. Like Rashi’s daughters, she is a student in her own right. Like Akiva’s wife, she challenges her husband to study and allows him the time to produce things like “This Day In Jewish History.” Thanks to her effort and support, there is a traditional Saturday morning service in Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids
2006: Alan Hevesi said he will pay the state more than $82,000 for having a public employee chauffeur his wife, after his Republican challenger, Christopher Callaghan, asked the Albany County District Attorney's office to investigate.
2006: As a part of the commemorative events marking 65 years since the tragedy at Babi Yar this evening’s special exhibits will be displayed in the Ukrainian House Arts Palace.“No Child’s Play,” organized by Yad Vashem, and “Forewarning the Future,” organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine, the Babi Yar Memory Foundation, and the Department of Culture of Kiev, will be opened by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.
2007: Erev Sukkoth, 5769 in Cedar Rapids Temple Judah
2007: Barrages of Kassam rockets and mortar shells continued to rain down on the western Negev as violence heated up in the Gaza
2007: Israeli spokesman Mark Regev and Doug Cassel, a defender of Mershiemer and Walt’s book on the power of the Jewish Lobby appeared on Worldview, Jerome McDonnell’s radio show on WBEZ in Chicago.
2007: Judge Fidler declared a mistrial because of a hung jury in Phil Spector’s first murder trial in the death of Lana Clarkson.
2008: Having survived a plane crash in Columbia, SC, DJ AM, (Adam Michael Goldstein) was released from the hospital today.
2008: Happy Birthday Deb: another year of making so much joy and happiness a reality including two blogs – This Day in Jewish History and Downhome Davar Torah.
2009 (8 Tishrei, 5770): The observance of Shabbat Shuvah or the Sabbath of the Return takes on an additional meaning as we “return” to where we were a year ago, celebrating the birthday of Deb Levin.
2009: Israeli maestro Dan Ettinger makes his Met debut on the podium as Mozart's comic masterpiece, Le Nozze di Figaro, returns to the Met in New York City.
2009:Director Roman Polanski was taken into custody in Switzerland today on a 31-year-old U.S. arrest warrant, organizers of the Zurich Film Festival said. Polanski had traveled to Switzerland to receive an award for his lifetime of work as a director. He was arrested in relation to a 1978 U.S. request, without specifying. Polanski fled the United States in 1978, a year after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. The 76-year-old French-born director, who survived the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland, won an Oscar for directing the 2002 Holocaust movie The Pianist.
2010: Rich Recht Concert & Sukkot Celebration are scheduled to take place at Temple B’nai Shalom in Fairfax Station, VA.
2010: Family and friends join in celebrating the birthday of Deb Levin, an Ayish Chayel in the truest sense of the word. Not only does she make the best Kosher pizza on either side of the Mississippi River she is also for all of the technology related to two blogs - This Day…In Jewish History and Weekly Torah Reading / Weekly Torah Portion.
2010: The creator of This Day…In Jewish History is scheduled to be interviewed on the South African radio station Chaifm by Ronnie Mink starting at 6 pm Johannesburg time, 11 am Cedar Rapids time. The interview can be heard by streaming audio athttp://www.chaifm.com/
2010: The New York Times featured books by Jewish writers and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including To the End of the Land by David Grossman and Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future by Robert Reich.
2010(18thof Tishrei, 5771):Eighty-four year old investment manager and philanthropist Stanely Cahis, whose reputation was besmirched as a result of the Bernard Madoff Scandal passed away today. (As reported by Barry Meier)
2011: Na terapiji the Slovenian version of the Israeli hit television show BeTipul premiered on POP Brio today.
2011: Memorial services sponsored by the Lo Tishkach Foundation are scheduled to be held in Brovary, Ukraine, to mark the 70th anniversary of the massacre of the Jews there during World War II.
2011: Israeli violinist Misha Vitenson is scheduled to join pianist Michael Brown and the Jupiter musicians in a performance of chamber music at Good Shepherd Church in NYC.
2011: Overcoming health challenges that would sideline a lesser individual, Deb Levin celebrates her birthday by preparing for the community celebration of Rosh Hashanah. In addition to all of her culinary skills, Deb is the creator of the architecture that makes possible This Day…In Jewish History and Weekly Torah Reading / Weekly Torah Portion.
2011(27thof Elul, 5771): Eighty-one year old Academy Award nominated screenwriter David Zelag Goodman passed away today. (As reported Daniel E. Slotnik)
2011:President Shimon Peres said today that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is the best Palestinian leader Israel could work with toward the goal of resuming the peace process.
2011:An Israeli government committee established to respond to this summer's protests recommended expanding social welfare spending by $8 billion over five years.
2012(10thof Tishrei, 5773): Yom Kippur
2012(10thof Tishrei, 5773): Eighty three year old Sam Steiger, the New York native “who transformed himself into a Western rancher and served five terms in the House as a Republican from Arizona” passed away today. (As reported by William Yardley)
2012: When Illan Kaplan leads the “Downstairs Minyan” at Temple Judah, it will mark the continuation a more than century old tradition that began with Beth Jacob, the original synagogue in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
2012:Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu left hours after the end of Yom Kippur tonight for New York to address the United Nations where he pledged to give a fitting response to Iran's desire to "sentence us to death."
2012: “While most Israelis had the day off on Yom Kippur, Magen David Adom paramedics had a busy day, treating 2,334 people across the country for a variety of ailments.”
2012: Friends and family will have to wait until after sundown to eat cake as part of the celebration of the birthday of Deb Levin, the “women of valor” whose contributions include being the driving force behind the Traditional Shabbat Minyan and the techie responsible for This Day…In Jewish History and Weekly Torah Reading/Weekly Torah Portion http://downhomedavartorah.blogspot.com/
"Tzom Kal" as well as "G'mar Hatimah Tovah"
2013: Israeli video artist Tal Rosner is one of the collaborators helping to create “Fold Here” which is scheduled to open at Montclair University.
2013: El Al is scheduled to cancel all its flight to Eilat starting today “due to a mandated change in flight route that the company says require additional tests for safety reasons.” (As reported by Sharon Udasin)
2013(22ndof Tishrei, 5774): Shemini Atseret
2013: This evening at the 6th& I Historic Synagogue Rabbi David Shneyer is scheduled to lead “Dancin’ in the Streets” A Simchat Torah Celebration
2013: Seventy-nine year old Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig issued a formal statement for the first time saying he will retire in January of 2015.
2013: “Syria has deterrent weapons, more advanced than anything in its chemical arsenal, that could blindside Israel in mere moments, Syrian President Bashar Assad claimed today.”
2014(2ndof Tishrei, 5775): Second day of Rosh Hashanah
שנה טובה, כתיבה וחתימה טובה.
2014: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEB! Nothing would be possible without you!
2014: This evening, Lewis Black is scheduled to appear at Westbury Theatre.