OCTOBER 5
610: Phocas, the Byzantine Emperor during whose reign the Jews of Antioch revolted was murdered by his successor Heraclitus.
871: A scribe stopped writing a ketubah that he had dated the 16th day of Tishrei because he had made a mistake on the date. [This ketubah would turn out to be the oldest dated document found when the Genizah of Cairo was opened in the 19thcentury]
1143: The king Alfonso VII of Leon recognizes Portugal as a Kingdom. When Alfonso came to the throne he sought to curtail the rights granted them by his father but he saw “the error of his ways” and moved to restore these rights in attempt to gain the benefits of having loyal Jewish subjects on his side. “In the beginning of his reign, Alfonso VII (1111) curtailed the rights and liberties that his father granted the Jews. He ordered that neither a Jew nor a convert may exercise legal authority over Christians, and he held the Jews responsible for the collection of the royal taxes. Soon, however, he became friendlier, confirming the Jews in all their former privileges and even granting them additional ones, by which they were placed in parity with Christians. Judah ben Joseph ibn Ezra had considerable influence with the king, and after the conquest of Calatrava (1147) the king placed Judah in command of one of his fortresses, later making him his court chamberlain.”
1214: King Alfonso VIII of Castile passed away. Alfonso enjoyed the company and pleasure of Jewish paramour, Rahel la Fermose (Rachel the Beautiful). She reportedly used her position to gain the appointment of her co-religionists to position of power. This made her numerous enemies among the Christian nobles and clergy who plotted the murder of Rachel and several of her Jewish compatriots. According to some, Alfonso was present at the time of her murder. This tale of monarchal love and betrayal has provided the theme for several literary works including “Die Jüdin von Toledo” a novel by Lion Feuchtwanger
1167: Raymond Trencaval, a French viscount who was looked upon favorably by the Jews of Beziers (France) was murdered. His son, Roger raised troops to punish those responsible for the murder. He spared the Jews because they had been faithful to his father. This all had more to do with what became known as the Albigensian Heresy than it did with the Jews. In fact, Roger employed Jews as Sheriffs one of whom was Moses de Cavarite.
1285: King Philip III of France passed away. During his reign, the Inquisition, which had been instituted in order to suppress the heresy of the Albigensians, finally occupied itself with the Jews of southern France who converted to Christianity. The popes complained that not only were baptized Jews returning to their former faith, but that Christians also were being converted to Judaism. In March 1273, Gregory X formulated the following rules: relapsed Jews, as well as Christians who abjured their faith in favor of "the Jewish superstition", were to be treated by the Inquisitors as heretics. The instigators of such apostasies, as those who received or defended the guilty ones, were to be punished in the same way as the delinquents.” In an era when monarchs were dueling with the Church over who had the ultimate power, King Philip did nothing to resist the papal pronouncements.
1450: Ludwig IX expelled the Jews from Lower Bavaria .
1600: Birthdate of Thomas Goodwin the English Puritan theologian and preacher the author of Moses and Aaron: Civil and Ecclesiastical Rites, Used by the Ancient Hebrews
1682(3rdof Tishrei, 5443): Abraham Abele Gombiner the Polish rabbi born in 1635 known as the Magen Avraham passed away today.
1737:António José da a Brazilian dramatist, known as "the Jew" (O Judeu) and his wife D. Leonor Maria de Carvalho, whose parents had been burnt by the Inquisition were imprisoned by the Inquisition on charges of “judaizing” based on a slaves denunciation of the two made to “the Holy Office.”+
1789(15thof Tishrei, 5550): Sukkoth
1806(23rdof Tishrei, 5567): Simchat Torah
1825(23rd of Tishrei, 5586): Simchat Torah
1829: Birthdate of German painter Ludwig Knaus whose works include “The Ghetto.”
1842: Birthdate of David Lindo Alexander the English barrister and Jewish community leader who joined with Claude Montefiore in opposing the Balfour Declaration and the Zionist movement.
1846(15thof Tishrei, 5607): Sukkoth
1848:Isaac Noah Mannheimer, a Jewish scholar, who had been returned by Brody to the Austrian Reichstag, delivered a “memorable” speech on the subject of the Jewish tax. Mannheimer was held in such high regard that “On his seventieth birthday the city of Vienna conferred honorary citizenship upon him.”
1848: Birthdate of Alexander Kisch, the native of Prague who tutored the family of Baron Horace de Gunzburg before starting his rabbinic career which took him to Bohemia, Zurich and finally back to Prague.
1854:Hermann Mayer Salomon Goldschmidt discovered a new asteroid, 32 Pomona.
1856: Reverend Charles Harris, "a Christian Jew" is scheduled to preach today at the first Methodist-Episcopal Church in NYC. (Apparently the Jews for Jesus type movements are lot older than we think.)
1857: The City of Anaheim, CA was founded. According to recent figures2.11% in Anaheim (zip 92804), CA are Jewish. Scott Schoeneweis may be Anaheim
1857: Birthdate of Julius Plotke the German lawyer and communal leader who was “a trustee of the Jewish Colonization Association, of the Alliance Israélite Universal and of the Aid Society of German Jews.”
1862:The New York Times takes advantage of a letter that it has received from a Jewish writer asking why he cannot receive an exemption from military service on religious grounds since he cannot pork, the food provided by the Army to review the entire matter of the diet being served to the soldiers serving in the Union Army.
We have before us a letter from a Hebrew correspondent, who adverting to the exemption from military duty of Quakers, Shakers, and such religious orders as deem it incompatible with their religion to fight, asks the pertinent question: "Why should I not be exempted because of my religious abhorrence to the army ration? Must I be forced to partake of a flesh that is forbidden by my law, and of which a large portion of my allotted food is composed?" We can hardly take up the query and answer it as especially adapted to the Hebrew, although we believe there are many patriotic men of the persuasion marching on with the Union army, but as a proposition applying at large, the pork question is worthy of consideration. We hold it as a fact, not patent, that the smallest item connected with the physical well-being of the army, assumes an importance at this moment as great as that which affects its moral. Good food is as much a necessity of war as good powder, and should be equally well tested and chosen. We candidly believe that our ill-arranged army ration is doing as much to destroy our men as the bullets of the enemy. Pork! pork! perpetually pork' and beef, perpetually beef! It does not require medical authority to know that there is an instinctive craving in every organism for a variety of food; and no matter how excellent any one article may be, too frequent use only inspires disgust and loathing, and consequently a failure to nourish. A ration composed wholly of cereals and animal food, is ill adapted for health in Winter, but in Summer is simply a slow poison. If, as is now the case, a large portion of those meats are salted, the evil is heightened and the system works to the promotion of bilious and scorbutic diseases. For the ill feeding of our soldiers in the field there is no excuse whatever. Nothing is gained on the score of economy, for the soldier that is ill-fed, whether it be by shortness of provender, by badness of quality or by sameness and ignorance of dietary, is a burden upon the State, and unable to encounter the mental or physical responsibilities of his position. A battle upon a well-satisfied stomach is half won. There is no reason that a positive schedule for the soldiers' food should be laid down-and-strictly adhered to through every exigency and every season. The whole country teems with an abundance of food that would form admirable substitutes for the perpetual pork and beans, an abundance that would now in on our ill-fed armies if the signal be but given and the market thrown open for competition. There is a vast glut of Fall vegetables and fruits; enough wasted in some small districts to put new life and health into a hundred thousand men. There is no reason why these necessities should not be forwarded from the localities of the formation of regiments, and the people called on to contribute each his mile. They have responded grandly to the call for luxuries for the sick and wounded, is there any less reason that they should respond to the wants of those that are in health when the object is to retain that health which is to make the soldier effective on the battle-field? Again, the army ration gives no spices or strong aromatic substance, while every physician knows that health cannot be kept without them, especially in a hot climate. Pepper, onions, thyme, sage, garlic, parsley, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon are as absolute as bread, and must find their way wherever alcohol is debarred. These are suggestions for every domestic circle having one of its members in the camp. In these days of easy transportation there will be no difficulty in each and every family sending forward that which will add to the comfort and health of the soldier. Whatever tends to alter the diet and make a change from the daily routine, will be as much an era as Delmonico's to the dinnerless, or a hotel feed to a Pike's Peak digger.
1864: Birthdate of Arthur Zimmerman, German Foreign Secretary who authored the Zimmerman Telegram which helped to push the United States into World War I on the side of the Allies which led to the Allied Victory, which led, eventually, to the creation of the State of Israel.
1865(15th of Tishrei, 5626) First day of Sukkot
1865: The New York Times reported that THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. -- The Jewish "Feast of Tabernacles" commenced at sunset last evening, and will continue for seven days. It is an occasion of great joy. Boughs are suspended in the synagogues and private houses, to signify that the children of Israel are dwellng in booths. The observance commenced on the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity; and the book of Nehemiah expressly declares that "since the days of Joshua, the son of Nun, had not the children of Israel done so." The first and eighth day being the Sabbath, on the occasion of a "solemn assembly," the residue of the time is devoted to mirth and hilarity. (This entry is worth noting because it appeared in a secular paper at a time when the Jewish population was comparatively small)
1867(6thof Tishrei, 5628): Shabbat Shuvah
1867(6thof Tishrei, 5628): Sixty-six year old French financier and political leader Achille Fould, the son of Beer Leon Fould passed away today at Tabres.
1877: Birthdate of Belle Moskowitz who served as a political advisor to Al Smith when he ran successfully ran for governor of New York and unsuccessfully ran for President in 1928.
1878: The Medal of Honor was issued to Sergeant George Geiger. He received the highest decoration the U.S. issues to its service personnel while serving with Company H of the 7thCavalry. At the Battle of the Little Big Horn, “with 3 comrades during the entire engagement (he) courageously held a position that secured water for the command.” The Battle of the Little Big Horn is also known as Custer’s Last Stand.
1870: At today’s meeting of the Central Temperance Union, Reverend G. W. Samson attempted to harmonize the groups opposition to alcohol with the frequent to wine in the Bible. In a speech entitled “Hebrew Wines and Bible” he “argued that the wine of the Bible…was pure unfermented juice of the grape.” [This would come as shock to everybody from the sons of Aaron to Samson, etc.]
1880(30thof Tishrei, 5641): Sixty-one year old composer and impresario Jacques Offenbach passed away today.
1882(22ndof Tishrei, 5643): Shemini Atzeret
1882: It was reported today in Vienna, the Emperor has thanked the Hungarian Prime Minister “for the energy he has shown in suppressing the riots against the Jews in Pressburg.
1882: The Gemiles Chesed Kranken Unterstuetzungs Verein, "a Hebrew Society," was incorporated today in New York State.
1884(16thof Tishrei, 5645): Second Day of Sukkoth
1884: Forty-nine year old Gabriel Richter, a Polish Jew, was arrested tonight and taken to the Seventeenth Precinct State House on charges of arson. He denied the charge claiming he had been at the synagogue.
1884: It was reported today that Sir Moses Montefiore had planned on fasting this past Yom Kippur. However, after 18 hours, the centenarian succumbed to his doctors please – “The Almighty does not want us to kill ourselves” – and broke his fast. The physician has sent telegrams assuring everyone that the aging Jewish leader “is an excellent health.”
1884: It was reported today that services will be held in synagogues all over Europe on the 26th and 27th of October to celebrate the 100thbirthday of Sir Moses Montefiore.
1884: Suicide In A Police Court” published today reported that Alexander Endelstine an English Jew who tried to commit suicide at New York’s Jefferson Market Police Court yesterday is being treated at St. Vincent’s Hospital and that he will be prosecuted for embezzlement and attempted suicide if he survives.(Editor’s note – Was attempted suicide a capital crime? Makes you wonder about the justice system)
1884: The Association of Jewish Immigrants was formed at a meeting at Wheatly Hall in Philadelphia, PA
1885: “As It Was Written, A Romance” published today provides a review of As It Was Written: A Jewish Musician’s Story by Sidney Luska. (Sidney Luska is not Jewish. It is the pseudonym of Henry Harland)
1885: “In Memory of Montefiore” published described the Mincha Service at Temple Emanu-El where Adolph Sanger, the President of the Board of Aldermen delivered “an eloquent eulogy on the life and character of Sir Moses Montefiore.”
1886: City of Johannesburg, South Africa founded. Many of the Jews living in Cape Town moved north to Johannesburg to take advantage of the discovery of diamonds and gold. Barney Barnato and Sammy Marks were two of the more famous Jewish entrepreneurs who during this period. Marks amassed a fortune from his activities in gold and diamond mining. After expanding his business interests, this practicing Jew assumed civic responsibilities as a negotiator during the Boer War and serving as a Member of Parliament. Barnato founded the De Beers Consolidated Mines for mining diamond fields.
1887: Birthdate of French lawyer and Nobel Prize Winner, Rene Cassin.
1889(10thof Tishrei, 5650): Yom Kippur
1889: In New York City where all the Jewish places of worship are open all day today, the services” for Yom Kippur “which are of very solemn and impressive character” end “with the blowing of the shofar indicating the annual fast is over.”
1889: It was reported today that “according to the latest available statistics” over seventy-six million Russians belong to various Christian denominations while Jews, Moslems and pagans constitute 5,626,000 of the Czar’s subjects.
1889: It was determined today that the reason the Pioneers of Liberty not being allowed to hold their dance and concert last night, erev Yom Kippur, at the Clarendon Hall was because they had not obtained a license for a concert and if this Jewish group had been content with holding a dance the authorities would not have interfered.
1889: It was reported today that thousands of Jews “who have been expelled from Russia…have taken temporary refuge in England.” Eventually they intend to settle in Argentina
1890: During his talk tonight at the New York Academy of Music, Dr. Tallmadge described his recent visit to Palestine including passing through “the tract of 800 acres belonging to the Universal Israelite Association” which points “to the reoccupation of the Holy Land by the Israelites.”
1891: “An Indictment of Russia” published today which traces the history of mistreatment of Jews in the land of the Czars opens by saying that “The Jew represents at once humanity’s oldest and least familiar fact. The records which he embodies visibility before us in his curled hair, in his eager eyes and bended nose, in his gestures, his utterance, the peculiarities of his family and religious life belong to the very childhood of the race.” (Notice that even in praise 19th century authors unwittingly turned to offensive stereotypes.)
1891: “The Jews In Olden Times” published today provides a detailed review of A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ by Emil Schurer, the German theologian whose area of expertise was this period of history.
1892: Abraham Langer, a Jewish poultry dealer related the story of the attempt to rob him to the incredulous Central Office detectives in New York
1892(14thof Tishrei, 5653): Erev Sukkoth
1892 (14thof Tishrei, 5653): Sxity-three year old Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weiss, the “father of magician Harry Houdini and the first rabbi of Zion Reform Congregation in Appleton, Wisconsin, passed away today.
1893: The cornerstone was laid today for the West End Synagogue on West 82ndStreet in New York City.
1893: Reverend Christian Adolf Stoecker, the German “Jew baiter” and anti-Semite completes his tour of the United States and sets sail from New York for his homeland today.
1894: In Pars, the name of M. Pingault, the sugar broker who was arrested on charges of embezzling 144,000 English pounds from Baron Hirsch, has been stricken from the list of brokers.
1895: “The William Berrian Book Sale” published today provided a list of books belonging to the William Berrian Library by Bangs & Company including John Allen’s Modern Judaism, Beeton’s The Jews in the East, W.H. Rule’s History of the Karaite Jews, Rabbi Grossman’s Judaism and the Science of Religion, Iliowizi’s Jewish Dream’s and Realities, Betteny’s Judaism and Christianity, T.A. Davis’s Am I a Jew or a Gentile? and Betteny’s Jew and Gentile.
1896;Among the gifts acknowledged t during this afternoon’s meeting of the Board of Trustees of Columbia University was one $5,000 from Jacob Schiff “to aid needy students” go “through college” and a collection of Hebrew and Arabic manuscripts from William Walter.
1897(9thof Tishrei, 5658): Erev Yom Kippur; in the evening Kol Nidre is chanted for the first time during the Presidency of William McKinley.
1897: “Truly A Cosmopolitan Town” published today described Red Jacket, Michigan, “perhaps the most cosmopolitan town in the United States” with a population of 8,000 whose no less than thirty different nationalities included an untold number of Jews.”
1898(19thof Tishrei, 5659): Sukkoth Chol HaMoed
1898(19thof Tishrei, 5659): Twenty-five year old Charles Koransky, who suffered from consumption who had been denied treatment at the hospital on Blackwell’s Island because he was Jewish and planned on seeking treatment at Mount Sinai Hospital, died early this morning.
1898: “Rabbi Honored In Detroit” published today described plans by Mayor Maybury and “pastors of several city churches” to honor Rabbi Louis Grossman who will be leaving Detroit after 14 years to serve as Professor of Philosophy at the Hebrew Union College and Congregation B’nai Yeshurun in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1898:Herzl and David Wolffsohn want to establish the Jewish Colonial Bank immediately. The Bank was intended to handle the financial affairs of the Zionist movement.
1898: In an attempt to draw the Ottoman Empire into the German sphere of influence which would eventually have a major impact on the Jews of Palestine and the Zionist movement Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Constantinople.
1899: Dr. Solomon Mandelkern of Leipzig the poet who has translated several Ameircan authors including Longfellow in Hebrew, arrived in New York aboard the SS Werra so he could visit his son Israel who lives at 196 East Broadway.
1900: According to The English Zionist Federation's poll: 60 candidates for Parliament declare themselves in favor of Zionism.
1900: Birthdate of Baron Friedrich Carl von Oppenheim the German banker and industrialist who worked to save Jews from the Nazis and was imprisoned for his alleged role in the attempt to assassinate Hitler – activities for which he was honored by Yad Vashem.
1901(22ndof Tishrei, 5662): Shemini Atzeret
1901: Birthdate of German Banker and Zionist leader, Hans Beyth Shmuel
1902:Herzl sends a copy of Altneuland to the Grossherzog Friedrich of Baden and to Rothschild. Altneuland appeared almost simultaneously in a Hebrew translation, Tel Aviv, by Nahum Sokolow.
1902: Birthdate of Larry Fine, one of the Three Stooges.
1905: Birthdate of Bellva Plain.
1908(10thof Tishrei, 5669): Yom Kippur
1908 (10th of Tishrei, 5669): In Houston Texas Adath Yshurun holds Yom Kippur Services. The morning services began at 7a.m. with a sermon in German entitled “The Majesty of the Law.” Minchah services began at 3:30 with a sermon in English entitled “The Waning Day.”
1909(20th of Tishrei, 5670): Chol Hamoed Sukkoth
1909(20th of Tishrei, 5670): Rabbi Falk Vidaver passed away today in New York City at the age of 65. The cause of death was Bright’s Disease. Before coming to New York, Rabbi Vidaver lived in San Francisco where he was the leader of the largest congregation west of the Rocky Mountains. Vidaver served as the rabbi at the congregation at 72nd Street and Lexington Avenue for 12 years before retiring three years ago. He was a leading commentator on the Bible and was also well-known for his Hebrew poetry which was published in Russia, Hungary and the United States.
1909: When The Melting Pot opened in Washington D.C. this evening, President Theodore Roosevelt leaned over the edge of his box and shouted, "That's a great play, Mr. Zangwill, that's a great play." Zangwill is Israel Zangwill. He was Jewish; T.R. was not.
1910(2ndof Tishrei, 5671): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1912: In Fort William, Ontario, Max Laskin and Bluma Zingel, Laskin gave birth to Bora Laskin, the 14th Chief Justice of Canada.
1912(24th of Tishrei, 5673): New York City gangster Jack Zelig was murdered in an apparent attempt to keep him from testifying in the Rosenthal murder case. (The only problem with the various descriptions of his death are that they say he was murdered on the day before a murder trial was supposed to start. But October 5 was a Saturday and it would have been highly unusual for a trial to have started on a Sunday)
1914(15thof Tishrei, 5675): Sukkoth is observed for the first time during World War I.
1917:After four days of torture by Turkish authorities during which she revealed nothing about her action or her fellow Jewish spies, Sarah Aaronsohn killed herself. The aid provided by Sarah and her brother Aaron to the British, helped convince some of the English leaders that it would be beneficial to replace “Turkish rule in Palestine
1918: The Battle of the Hindenburg Line came to an end with the Allied forces successfully breaching the final German line of defenses. Sir John Monash, the Australian-Jewish General, played a key role in planning the offensive, using tactics that would provide the blue-print for the lightening warfare used by both sides in Europe during WW II.
1918: Newly appointed German Chancellor Prinz Max von Baden asked the Allies for an immediate Armistice. Thus began the sequence of events that would lead to the Armistice that ended WW I in November and the myth that Germany was “stabbed in the back” instead of defeated on the battlefield.
1920(23rdof Tishrei, 5681): Simchat Torah
1921: Sixty-eight year old New York architect Cyrus Lazelle Warner Eidlitz who designed the New York Times Building on Times Square and whose father was Jewish passed away today.
1924: Birthdate of comedian Bill Dana. Born William Szathmary of Hungarian Jewish parents, Dana gained fame with his character “Jose Jimenez.”
1926: Birthdate of Avraham Eidelson who gained fame as Avraham “Bren” Adan “an Israeli Major General former Head of Southern Command who served in the military between 1947 and 1973.”
1927(9thTishrei, 5688): Erev Yom Kippur
1928: Today, Major John A. Warner of the New York State Police “indefinitely suspended and reprimanded Corporal H.M. McCann of Troop B for the part he played in the questioning of Rabbi Berel Brennglass in Massena, NY, on September 22. Corporal McCann was suspended ‘for gross lack of discretion in the exercise of these duties and for conduct unbecoming an officer.’”
1929(1stof Tishrei, 5960): Jews celebrate Rosh Hashanah for the first time after the Stock Market Crash without any idea of the precipice on which the economy is tottering.
1932: Birthdate of Dame Barbara Goodman, DBE, QSO, JP “an Auckland, New Zealand politician. She was Mayoress of Auckland City as well as a former Auckland City Councillor for 12 years. She was married to former Auckland City Councillor Harold Goodman, who became deputy Mayor of Auckland City in the late 1970s. Her husband died on 16 August 1988 and she succeeded him onto the council in a by-election . Dame Barbara was a councillor for the Citizens and Ratepayers group. While on council, Dame Barbara championed liberal causes like tolerance towards the gay community and pro-women's rights over abortion. For ten years she was Chairperson of Odyssey House Auckland, which operates a range of specialist programs for adolescents, parents, and other adults experiencing serious difficulties with substance abuse, gambling, and other associated problems. She opposed the New Zealand government's plan to build a $500 million rugby stadium on Quay Street in Auckland's waterfront area.[citation needed] She is the niece of former Auckland City mayor, Sir Dove-Myer Robinson in whose honour Dame Barbara spearheaded a memorial sculpture in Aotea Square, which was built in 2002. The sculpture celebrates the contribution "Robbie Robinson" made to the city.
1933(15thof Tishrei, 5694): Sukkoth
1933: William Dodd, the new United States Ambassador to Germany, gave a speech explaining and defending the New Deal. When Dodd met with FDR before going to Germany, the President told his new ambassador that he wanted him to be a spokesman for democracy. Dodd would become increasingly outspoken in his warnings about the dangers of the Hitler regime. Unfortunately, Americans were more concerned about making sure that Germany would make her reparations payments than they were about the rise of totalitarian anti-Semitic dictators.
1937: Birthdate of Abraham Riechstadt, the native of Safed who gained fame as Israeli musician Abi Ofraim.
1938(10th of Tishrei, 5699): Yom Kippur
1938: Following a request by Heinrich Rothmund, head of the Swiss federal police, the German government recalls all Jewish passports and marks them with a large, colored "J." This is to prevent German Jews from passing as Christians and smuggling themselves into Switzerland.
1940(3rdof Tishrei): Shabbat Shuvah
1941 (14h of Tishrei, 5702): Former Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish member of the nation's highest court passed away at the age of 84. See the article from the Biography Website for more information about Justice Brandeis who was living proof that one could achieve success in America Louisville , Kentucky Germany United States Boston London
1942: The Nazis deported 1,000 Jews from Theresienstadt to Treblinka. Another 6,000 would be sent to the death camp at Treblinka by the end of the month.
1942: The Nazis murdered 3,000 Jews in Dubno after being rounded up and marched to outlying pits. Silently, without screaming or weeping, they all undressed, bid each other farewell, and then were summarily shot.
1943: The Nazis deported 1,260 children from Bialystok and 53 doctors and nurses were transported from Theresienstadt to Birkenau. They were told their destination would be Palestine
1943: Birthdate of Congressman Richard Cardin, representing Maryland
1943: “Shortly before being unloaded from their cattle cars in Danzig, the two hundred Danish Jews who had been arrested by the Nazis were given some “filthy water” which was the first liquid they had been given since leaving Copenhagen.
1945: “Bloomer Girl,” a musical with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg opened at the Shubert Theater on Broadway.
1945:In an event referred to as Black Friday a six-month strike by the set decorators represented by the Conference of Studio Unions (CSU) boiled over into a bloody riot at the gates of Warner Brothers' studios in Burbank, California. Warner Brothers also had labor problems with the Screen Actors Guild. For those who think that Jews were always pro-labor left-wingers, think again.
1945: In a final bid to use persuasion and diplomacy to change British policy, Chaim Weizmann meets with Ernest Bevin, the Foreign Minister in the new Labor Government. Having turned its back on the party’s pro-Zionist stace, the belligerent Bevin tells Weizmann, “If you want a fight, you can have it.” Even as Bevin is threatening the aging Zionist leader, Ben Gurion has decided to adopt a more militant stance creating the Jewish Resistance Movement which include members of Haganah, Palmach and in a new wrinkle, members of the Irgun and the Stern Gang.
1945: "Meet The Press" makes its radio debut. The “granddaddy” of all news interview shows would later move to NBC where it continues to appear sixty years after is radio start. Meet the Press was the brainchild of its first produced Lawrence E. Spivack. On television Spivack would play the role of moderator. Sometimes he would join the members of the press and be part of the four person interview group.
1946(10thof Tishrei, 5707): Yom Kippur
1948(2ndof Tishrei, 5709): Second day of Rosh Hashanah
1950: Television game show “You Bet Your Life” starring Groucho Marx makes its debut.
1954(7th of Elul, 5714): Albert Montefiore Hyamson passed away. Born in 1875, this British historian who was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and President of the Jewish Historical Society and Zionist, served as Chief Immigration Officer for the Mandatory Government in Palestine.
1955: Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett”s dramatization of "The Diary of Anne Frank,” opened at the Cort in New York. Directed by Garson Kanin, with sets designed by Boris Aronson with Susan Stasberg in the role of Anne, the play is deemed a success by the critics and audience alike.
1956:"The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" hosted by Dinah Shore (Frances Rose Shore) was broadcast for the first time on NBC television.
1961:The first clipping for the show that would become Anyone Can Whistle appeared in The New York Times today "For the winter of 1962, Arthur Laurents is nurturing another musical project, The Natives Are Restless. The narrative and staging will be Mr. Laurents's handiwork; music and lyrics that of Stephen Sondheim. A meager description was furnished by Mr. Laurents, who refused to elaborate. Although the title might indicate otherwise, it is indigenous in content and contemporary in scope. No producer yet." (As reported by Mark Eden Horowitz)
1967(1stof Tishrei, 5728): For the first time Jews observe Rosh Hashanah in a united Jerusalem, the capital of the modern state of Israel.
1969(23rd of Tishrei, 5730): Simchat Torah
1973: In London, Ashraf Marwan, the son-in-law of Gamal Abdel Naser and the Mossad agent code-named “Angel” warned his Mossad handlers of the war that would begin the next day at sundown. Zivi Zamir, the chief of Mossad who was present at the meeting and fully aware of the ramifications of a massive mobilization of reserve soldiers on Yom Kippur, called home and sounded the alarm. As reported by Tal Krz-Oz)
1973: Chief of Military Intelligence Major General Eli Zeira reassured “special means” listening devices were not producing any warning signs that war was imminent. Only later would the Israeli government find that Zeira had not activated these devices.
1973: The Israeli missile boat flotilla concluded its first full-scale maneuvers the day before the start of the Yom Kippur War. These boats with their unique missile armament would play a key role in protecting the Israel coast during the fighting.
1973: On the eve of what would become the Yom Kippur War, the division manning the Israeli defenses along the Suez Canal requested reinforcements. The requests was denied because the Israeli General Headquarters had decided that the Egyptian troops massed on the west bank of the Suez Canal were engaged in military exercise; military exercises that senior command was sure were about to come to an end.
1973: Disturbed by continued massing of Egyptian and Syrian forces on their respective borders with Israel and the withdrawal of Soviet ships from Egyptian ports, the Chief of Staff puts the active Israeli Army on its highest level of preparedness. He also ordered a limited mobilization of certain reserve units. The numerical strength of the Israeli Army lay with the reserves. Only a full mobilization of these forces could meet the onslaught of combined Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian armies.
1977(23rdof Tishrei, 5738): Simchat Torah
1980: Pitcher Steve Ratzer made his major league debut with the Montreal Expos.
1981: Raoul Wallenberg became an honorary citizen of the United States. Using his status a Swedish diplomat, Wallenberg worked to save the lives of the Jews of Hungary. Thanks to his efforts he saved the lives of somewhere between 20,000 to 100,000 Hungarian Jews The bill to make Wallenberg an honorary citizen was sponsored by Representative Tom Lantos, who as a teenaged Hungarian Jews sought refuge in one of Wallenberg's safe houses. Wallenberg is listed as one of the “Righteous Among the Nations” at Yad Vashem.
1983: During the Israel bank stock crisis “the stock exchange again opened with large numbers of sell offers.”
1986: The Sunday Times of London ran a story on its front page under the headline: "Revealed — the secrets of Israel's nuclear arsenal" based on information supplied by Mordechai Vanunu.”
1986(2nd of Tishrei, 5747): Second Day of Rosh Hashana
1986(2nd of Tishrei, 5747): Movie producer Hal Wallis passed away.
1988: Israel
1997: The Sunday New York Times book section featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or on topics relating to Judaism or the Jewish people including Son of Rosemary by Ira Levin, The Body Perfect: An Intimate History of American Girls by Joan Jacobs Brumberg, TheJournals of Ayn Rand, edited by David Harriman and A Jewish Mother From Berlin and Susanna by Gertrude Kolmar.
1990(16th of Tishrei, 5751): Second Day of Sukkoth
1990(16th of Tishrei, 5751): Meir Kahane founder of Jewish defense league was assassinated at the age of 58.
1996(22ndof Tishrei, 5757): Shemini Atzeret
1996(22ndof Tishrei, 5757): Eighty-eight year old Elmer Berger, the Rabbi who was such a proud foe of a Jewish state that he authored Memoirs of an Anti-Zionist Jewin 1976, (As reported by Eric Pace)
2000:At the outset of the second Intifada, Rabbi Chaim Brovender, the founder of Yeshivat Hamivtar in Efrat, was traveling along the Tunnel Road connecting Gush Etzion with Jerusalem when a crowd of Arabs from Beit Jala stopped him. After being pulled from his car and severely beaten, he was taken to a Palestinian police station in Bethlehem
2001:Today, a letter signed by at least 50 American Jewish figures -- including current and former officials from some of the nation's most influential Jewish organizations -- will be presented to the White House, expressing support for the administration's war on terrorism and policy efforts in the Middle East.
2003(9thof Tishrei, 5764): Erev Yom Kippur
2003: Israel bombed an Islamic Jihad base in Syria, the first Israeli attack deep inside Syrian territory in three decades.
2003:The New York Times book section featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or on topics relating to Judaism or the Jewish people including The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century by Paul Krugman,They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967 by David Maraniss, The Speakeasies of 1932, Illustrations by Al Hirschfeld, Living A Year of Kaddish by Ari L. Goldman and The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Saved 1,200 Jews, and Built a Village in theForest.by Peter Duffy. “
2004(20th of Tishrei, 5765): Eighty-two year old comedian Rodney Dangerfield, the man who got no respect, passed away. (As reported by Mel Watkins)
2005(2ndof Tishrei, 5766): Second Day Rosh Hashanah
2005: Haaretz reported on High Holiday Services being held in Houston , Texas Rice University New Orleans Houston
2006:Amy Goodman appeared on the Colbert Report in an effort to promote her new book was Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People who Fight Back
2006: "A Muslim journalist facing charges of sedition for advocating ties with Israel Bangladesh Dhaka , was working in his office when nearly 40 people stormed the premises, beat Choudhury, leaving him with a fractured ankle, and looted cash that was kept in the company safe. Choudhury was briefly hospitalized."
2006: Eliot Spitzer told the Empire State Pride Agenda that as governor he would work to legalize same sex marriage in New York.
2006: In “Lemony Snicket reaches ‘The End’, Todd Leopold describes the completion of “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”
2007(23rd of Tishrei, 5768): Simchat Torah
2008: As part of the yearlong celebration of pianist Leon Fleisher’s 80thbirthday, a concert titled Leon Fleisher & Friends is performed by an ensemble that includes keyboard colleagues and former students Yefim Bronfman, Jonathan Biss and Katherine Jacobson-Fleisher, Fleisher’s wife is performed in Baltimore , MD.
2008:Eighty-year old, Dr. Ernest Beutler, “a leading hematologist whose studies opened an important new window onto the treatment of leukemia” passed away today. (As reported by Jeremy Pearce)
2008: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or on topics of special interest to the Jewish people including Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution — and How It Can Renew Americaby Thomas L. Friedman and paperback versions of The Indian Clerkby David Leavitt, The Mascot: Unraveling the Mystery of My Jewish Father’s Nazi Boyhood,by Mark Kurzem, The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman.The Diary of Petr Ginz: 1941-1942, edited by Chava Pressburger, translated by Elena Lappin as well as an essay about Pulitzer Prize winning author Steven Millhauser
2009:Attorney Stuart E. Weisberg discusses and signs his new biography, "Barney Frank: The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman," at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, in Washington, D.C.
2009(17thof Tishrei, 5770): Chol Hamoed Sukkoth
2009(17thof Tishrei, 5770): Soviet mathematician Israeli Gelfand passed away.
2009: Captain Ben Sklaver was buried in family plot in Jewish cemetery in Connecticut.
2009:Shortly after a border policeman was moderately wounded this afternoon when he was stabbed in northern Jerusalem near the Shuafat refugee camp, Palestinians hurled rocks at security forces in the area, leaving a policeman lightly hurt.
2009:This evening arrested police in Dimona two men, a 41-year-old and a 57-year-old, who are suspected of vandalizing the Uvdat National Park in the Negev.
2010: Center for Jewish History, Yeshiva University Museum and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research are scheduled to present “16 mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s Poland.”
2010:Avraham Tal is scheduled to rule on Yigal Amir’s petition to end his separation from fellow prisoners. Amir is serving a life sentence for murdering Yitzhak Rabin. Amir says he does not pose a threat to his fellow prisoners because the murder of Rabin was a one-time that cannot be replicated. [Chutzpah- when a child who killed his parents pleads for clemency because he is an orphan.]
2010: Philip Roth" 31st book, a novel entitled Nemesis -- which involves a polio epidemic in 1940s Newark, N.J. -- is scheduled to come out to day
2010: A documentary entitled “Nuremberg” scheduled to end its weeklong premier American showing today at the Film Forum. This hitherto unseen documentary was made by Stuart Schulberg, brother of the famed writer Budd Schulberg. The American public is getting see this informative piece of cinema 62 years after its creation thanks to the effort his daughter, Sandra Schulberg.
2010:Following the release yesterday of minutes of prime minister Golda Meir's meeting with her war cabinet on the second day of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, today the state archives released the minutes of eight additional meetings that the prime minister held during the war's first four days. The documents provide a rare look at the military and diplomatic efforts made just hours before the Arab attack on Israel. They also attest to the existence of an intelligence source who provided credible information of an imminent attack, enabling Israel's political leadership to consider a preemptive strike on Egypt and Syria.
2010:Today settlers gave new copies of the Koran to Palestinians in a West Bank village whose mosque was burned in an attack blamed by Palestinians on settlers. Several copies of Islam's holy book were scorched in the arson attack and threats in Hebrew were scrawled on the wall of the mosque of Beit Fajjar.
2011: Rabbi Mindy Avra Portnoy is scheduled to deliver the last lecture in the series “Not Matriarchs: Lesser Known Women of the Hebrew Bible” at the JCC of Greater Washington.
2011:Thisyear’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry prize and the accompanying 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.4 million) went to a single scientist: Daniel Shechtman, 70, a professor of materials science at Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. The “for the discovery of quasicrystals.” This
2011: The National Labor Court suspended doctors' resignation letters this afternoon in response to the state's request for an emergency hearing.
2012: “The Flat” directed by two time winner of the Israeli Academy Awards Aaron Goldfinger is scheduled to be shown at The Hamptsons International Film Festival this evening.
2012: In Grand Forks, ND, B’nai Israel is scheduled to host a Shabbat Harvest Potluck Dinner with services lead by Cantor Alane Katzew.
2012:Riots broke out on the Temple Mount this afternoon as hundreds of Muslim worshipers threw stones at police officers, following a week of confrontations between right-wing Jews and Muslims on the site
2012: A 23-year-old American citizen snatched a security guard’s gun and opened fire in an Eilat hotel this morning, leaving one person dead and three others suffering from shock.Two people were evacuated to the Joseftal Medical Center.
2012: While Congress is in recess until after the November elections, 2 Democratic legislators -Senator Robert Menendez and Representative Howard Berman – are working on measure to strengthen the sanctions against Iran.
2013: “Displaced Visions: Émigré Photographers of the 20th Century,” is scheduled to come to an end.
2013: Shoshannah Nambi, a member of the Abadyudaya Jewish community is scheduled to speak on the roles of the women in her community and the challenges they face this evening at Congregation Adat Teyim in Springfield, VA.
2013(1st of Cheshvan, 5774): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
2013: In addition to celebrating Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan and reading Noah, the traditional minyan at Temple Judah in Cedar Rapids will mark the 40thanniversary of the Yom Kippur War which began on October 6, 1973.
2013: A nine year old girl who was shot in the neck by one or more terrorists at Psagot has been evacuated to Shaarei Tzedek Hopitals “with what was initially described as a serious injury to her upper body.” (As reported by Gil Roen)
2013: A Palestinian vehicle rammed a checkpoint this morning near the settlement of Elon Moreh in the West Bank, injuring two Border Police officers at the site and speeding away
2013: Slamming the US as arrogant, dishonest, untrustworthy, and controlled by Zionists, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said today that “some” aspects of President Hassan Rouhani’s trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month were “not proper.” (As reported by The Times of Israel)
2014: The Center for Jewish History is scheduled to host a series of symposiums on archival research.
2014: Maccabi Tel Aviv led by former NBA guard Jeremy Pargo, a one-time Cavalier is scheduled to play the Cleveland Cavaliers coached by Israeli David Blatt, the former coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
2014: The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson, The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis and I’ll Drink to That:A Life in Style, With a Twist by Betty Halbreich with Rebecca Paley