May 28
408: Emperor Theodosius issued a decree restricting Jewish activities related to Purim. Specifically he banned the burning of Haman’s effigy because early Christians felt the Jews were mocking the Crucifixion of Jesus
1247: “Pope Innocent IV wrote to the archbishop of the French province of Vienne to protest Christian excesses in dealing with Jews accused of the blood libel.” Innocent share the anti-Semitic views of his contemporaries but had reservations about the severity of the physical assaults on the Jews. (As reported by Abraham Bloch)
1291: Crusader control over the Holy Land appeared to come to an end when Henry II “the last ruling King of Jerusalem” fled to Cyprus after Acre fell to Al-Ashraf Khalil “the 8thMamluk sultan of Egypt.”
1349: Sixty Jews were murdered in Breslau, Silesia in riots which followed a disastrous fire which had destroyed part of the city.
1357: King Alfonso IV whose subjects included more than 200,000 Jews and whose reign was part of “Portugal’s Golden Age of Discovery” in which Jews paid a major role passed away today.
1501: In Pilsen,the councilors together with the aldermen decided on matters concerning those Jews living in the city. These matters included: interest rates, the loan of clothes, not loaning money on yarn and bed linen, not selling certain types of clothing, overdue pledges, stolen items, not to wash themselves in gentiles' baths, not to buy clerical items, not to house foreign Jews without the permission of the city mayor, that foreign Jews can stay in the city for a maximum of three days, and not to melt coins. The following interest rates were agreed: two deniers per schock per week, one denier per half schock, and 20 coppers or less for one heller (As reported by Rabbi Professor Dr. Max HOch
1524: Birthdate of Selim II, the Ottoman Sultan who named Joseph Nassi as Duke of Naxos. Nassi negotiated the treaty signed by Selim and Charles IX of France. Selim settled several hundred of Jewish families on the Cyprus after the Ottomans took control of the island. He saw the Jews as being loyal subjects who had the necessary business skills to develop this newly acquired possession.
1588: The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel. The Armada has a two-fold purpose – the defeat of the Dutch and the conquest of England. A Spanish victory would doom the Jews who had taken refuge in Holland. The critical question for the English was when the Armada was leaving and when it was to reach the Channel. Marranos or Conversos reportedly supplied this desperately needed information which helped secure the ultimate English victory.
1731: All Hebrew books in the Papal States were confiscated.
1764: Jews of
1765: Benjamin D’Israeli, married his second wife Sarah Siprut de Gabay Villareal. They were the parents of Issac Di’Israeli and the grandparents of the British Prime Minister Benjamin D’Israeli, the future Earl of Beasconsfield.
1759: Today’s consecration of Pope Clement XIV was viewed as positive moment by Jewish people since prior to his elevation to the Papacy he had decried the notion of the blood libel.
1773(6th of Sivan, 5633): Shavuot
1773: The first Jewish sermon preached and published in
1788:Sarah Mendes da Costa married Jacob da Fonseca Brandon
1818: Former president Thomas Jefferson set forth in a letter to a Jewish journalist his opinion of religious intolerance: 'Your sect by its sufferings has furnished a remarkable proof of the universal point of religious insolence, inherent in every sect, disclaimed by all while feeble and practiced by all when in power. Our laws have applied the only antidote to this vice, protecting our religions, as they do our civil rights, by putting all on equal footing. But more remains to be done.'http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/loc/madison.html
1820: Sixty-eight year old Christian Wilhelm von Dohn, the Christian friend of Moses Mendelssohn, who was a supporter of Jewish emancipation and author of On the Civil Improvement of the Jews passed away today.
1827: Birthdate of Gustav Gottheil, the Prussian born Rabbi, who come to New York City where he become one of the leaders of the Reform Movement. Gottheil was a bit of a maverick since he attended the First Zionist Congress and supported Herzl.
1831: Jesuit Priest and social reformer Henri Grégoire “who was considered a friend of the Jews” passed away today. “He argued that in his anti-Semitic society the supposed degeneracy of Jews was not inherent, but rather a result of their circumstances. He blamed the way the Jews had been treated, persecution by Christians, and the "ridiculous" teachings of their rabbis, for their condition, and believed they could be brought into mainstream society and made citizens.”
1844: Adam Bernard Mickiewicz, the Polish nationalist who would later try and form a Jewish military unit called the Hussars of Israel to fight against the Czar, gave his last lecture as a professor of Slavic languages and literature at the Collège de France.
1855: Selig Cassel who was the brother of Rabbi David Cassel, was baptized as a member of Evangelical Church in Prussia today in the St. Peter's Church receiving the name "Paulus Stephanus" became known as Paulus Stephanus Cassel.
1858: Birthdate of Lizzie Black Kander, author of “The Settlement Cookbook.” “Like many middle-class Jewish women of her time, she was deeply involved in Progressive Era reform movements that sought to aid and Americanize immigrants. Kander first became involved in local reform efforts in 1878, when she joined
1862:The Will of Commodore Uriah P. Levy was presented to the Surrogate today for probate. It includes the following provisions:
Mrs. Levy receives only her right of dower and all the household furniture, plate, &c., so long as she shall remain unmarried, excepting what is otherwise bequeathed to revert upon her death or marriage. Capt. Levy's nephew, Ashel S. Levy, receives the Washington farm, in Albemarle, Va., with all the negro slaves, &c., and $5,000 in cash; also, his gold box with the freedom of the City of New-York. He leaves to his brother, Joseph M. Levy, $1,000 in cash, and mortgage on his house in Baltimore; to his brother, Isaac Levy, $1,000, and all debts due him on notes; to Mitchell M. Levy, son of his brother, Joseph P. Levy, $1,000 in cash; to Eliza Hendricks, of Cincinnati, Ohio, the income of $1,000; to his nephew, Morton Phillips, of New-Orleans, his gold hunting-watch and $500; to Col. T. Moses, of South Carolina, a large silver urn, formerly belonging to Dr. Phillips, on which is to be engraved, "From Capt. Uriah P. Levy, United States Navy, to his kinsman, Col. Franklin Moses, State Senator of the State of South Carolina, as a testimony of my affection." There are also legacies of $100 each to Capt. John B. Montgomery, Capt. Lawrence Kearney and Capt. Francis Gregory, United States Navy, and Benjamin F. Butler, to purchase mourning rings. To Lieuts. Peter Turner and John Moffatt United States Navy, and Dr. J. Cohen and Jacob J. Cohen, Jr., Col. M. Cohen. United States Navy: Lieut. Lanier, Capt. William Mervine and Commodore Thomas Ap C. Jones, each $25, to purchase mourning rings. The will directs the executors to erect a monument at Cypress Hills, to consist of a full length statue of Capt. Levy, in iron or bronze, in the full uniform of a Captain of the United States Navy, and holding in his hand a scroll on which shall be inscribed: "Under this Monument," or, "In Memory of Uriah P. Levy, Captain in the United States Navy, Father of the Law for the Abolition of the Barbarous Practice of Corporeal Punishment in the Navy of the United States." The monument is to cost $6,000, and the body is to be buried under it. To the Historical Society are bequeathed three paintings -- "The Wreck of the Medusa Frigate," by Gericault; "The Descent of the Infant Jesus," and "Virgin Confessing the Bishop of Rouen," and a Rural Scene, by Carl Bonner. He then bequeaths his farm and estate at Monticello, Virginia, formerly belonging to President Thomas Jefferson, with all the residue of his estate, "to the people of the United States," or such persons as Congress shall appoint to receive it; and especially all his real estate in the City of New-York, in trust, for the sole and only purpose of establishing and maintaining at the farm in Monticello, Virginia, an agricultural school for the purpose of educating as practical farmers children of the Warrant-office of the United States navy whose fathers are dead. "The children to be supported by this fund from the ages of 12 to 16." For fuel and fencing said farm-school the will bequeaths two hundred acres of woodland of his Washington farm, Virginia. The will especially requires that no professorships be established in said school, and no professors employed, the school being intended for charity, and not for pomp. In case Congress refuses to carry out the intention of this bequest, the property is bequeathed to the people of Virginia for the same purpose; and in case the Legislature of Virginia declines to receive the trust, the property is to go to the Portuguese Hebrew congregation in this City, and the old Portuguese Hebrew congregation in Cherry-street, Philadelphia, and the Portuguese Hebrew congregation of Richmond, Va., for the establishment of the said school at Monticello, for the children of all denominations, Hebrew and Christian. Should this fund be more than sufficient for the support of children of warrant officers of the navy, the children of sergeant-majors of the United States army are to be included in the benefit -- the balance to be for the benefit of children of seamen. He further bequeaths $1,000 to the Portuguese Hebrew Hospital of this City.
1861: The 11th Regiment of the New York State Militia commanded by Colonel Joachim Maidhof left New York on its way to be mustered into the Union Army.
1863: Birthdate of Leo Paul Oppenheim, the native of Berlin who became a leading German naturalist.
1866: Birthdate of Sidney Peixotto. Born in New York, this son Raphael Peixotto has spent almost his entire life in San Francisco, where he has served as a major in the California National Guard and the founder and leader of The Columbia Park Boys' Club.
1876(5th of Sivan, 5636): Erev Shavuot
1877: According to the Gossip From London Column published today "All London flocked to sit spellbound at the feet of the Russian Jew Rubenstein while he played his own works on the piano at the Crystal Palace."
1877: “The Gossip from London” column published today reported on the success of a twenty year old English Jewish composer named Solomon. Earlier in the month, he was greeted with a round of applause when he entered the Orchestra at the Folly Theatre based in part on his work "The Contempt of Court". According to the critic, "if Solomon had been a German Jew instead of an English child of Israel the critics would have gushed over the promise exhibited by so young a man.” [Editor’s note – “Solomon” probably refers to Edward “Teddy” Solomon whose first work was “A Will With a Vengeance,” a musical comedy that appeared in 1876. His highly successful career came to a sudden end when he died at the age of 39.]
1877: The Board of Delegates of the American Israelites met in New York City today. One of the topics was the upcoming meeting of the International Conference of Israelites which is going to be held in December at Paris where they will be seeking ways to improve the conditions the Jews living in the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire.
1877: A critique published today of the June edition of The Catholic World reported that the magazine continues to demonstrate Catholicism’s fascination with Judaism, or more properly the passionate desire to convert Jews to the Church of Rome as can be seen from a feature article entitled “The Present State of Judaism in America.” According to the article “The number of conversions from Protestantism to the holy Roman Catholic Church, here and in Great Britain is continually on the increase. But nothing is more rare than the conversion of a Jew. They are rapidly parting with their own faith, but very seldom do they embrace any form of Christianity in its stead. In a few years the great majority of Jews in the United States will probably have ceased to be Jews save in name only. But all how many of them will become Catholic? All roads lead to Rome but very few Jews have made the journey.” The article concludes that eventually all of the Jews will “come into the fold.” In order to help those who want to convert Jews, the magazine provides an estimate of the number of Jews in the United States, their wealth and “relative distribution throughout” the country.
1878:The annual meeting of the United Hebrew Charities of the City of New-York was held this evening at their head-quarters, in St. Mark's-place. The various charitable institutions were fully represented by male and female delegates. During his report, Henry Rice, the President, laid special stress on the evils of slum life.
1879: A jury in the Union County Court at Elizabeth, NJ, had failed to reach a verdict in the case brought against Henry M. Levy. Levy had been charged with selling cigars on Sunday. Levy admitted that he sold the cigars on Sunday but said that since he was Jewish he did not feel bound to observe Sunday as the Sabbath. Furthermore, as a Jew, he did not sell goods on Saturday and kept his store closed. The Prosecution contended that Levy had to obey the Sunday closing law because he had sworn to obey all laws when he took the oath of citizenship.
1879(6thof Sivan, 5639): Shavuot
1880:The Jewish Messenger reported that Congregation Orach Chaim "...is quietly extending its influence and securing the objective for which it was organized - not the formation of a large congregation and the building of a handsome synagogue, but the daily study and practice of the Law." Officials of the Congregation include Lazarus Herzberg, first spiritual leader; Seligman Dannenberg, chazzan; Abraham Nussbaum, first president.
1880(18thof Sivan, 5640): Seventy-two year old Mortiz Rappaport who earned his medical degree in 1832 and wrote “Moses” an epic poem that appeared in 1842 passed away today.
1886: One of two possible birthdates for Solomon Zeitlin, the Russian born American history who taught at Dropsie College and who works included The Rise and Fall of the Judean State.
1890: A representative of the Jewish congregation of Rondout is at Wurtsborough, NY waiting to take possession of the body of Samuel Hutch the Jewish peddler whose cause of death is being determined at inquest being conducted by Coroner Joseph Rosesh
1892: It was reported today that the prohibition against the entry of Russian Jews into Germany has been withdrawn.
1893: Professor Felix Adler delivered a speech to the Russian American Hebrew Association in front of a packed house at the Hebrew Institute on East Broadway and Jefferson.
1893: “New Parties In German” published today described the rise of new political formations as the Centerists fracture. Among them is the German Reform Party, led Herr Simmerman the anti-Semite who used to sit in the Reichtsag. Zimmerman has been “wildly cheered” “at mass meetings held in Dresden” and other population centers.
1898(7thof Sivan, 5658): Second day of Shavuot
1898: Volume one of A Dictionary of the Bible edited by James Hastings with the assistance of Professors of Hebrew at Oxford and Cambridge has just been issued by Scribners and Sons.
1898: Approximately 500 people attended the confirmation services at the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum this afternoon.
1898: Birthdate of Saul Lieberman the native of Motal, the Israeli Talmudist “known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or, among some of his students, The Gra"sh (Gaon Rabbeinu Shaul.”
1899:Anti-Semitic riots began in Jassy, Romania
1899(19thof Sivan, 5659): Hungarian tailor and immigrant to America Herman Lichtner became despondent today while returning to Europe on the SS Cymric and jumped overboard leaving behind his little daughter to fend for herself.
1899: The exercises marking the closing of the religious school at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun took on a patriotic air when they were combined with a reception for the Hebrew Union Veteran’s Association which was part of the upcoming observance of Decoration Day.
1899: As American’s prepare to celebrate Decoration Day, Assistant District Attorney Maurice B. Blumenthal was the main speakers at the memorial services held tonight by the Independent Order of the Free Sons of Israel at Congregation Rodoph Sholom.
1899: “Harsh Treatment of Jews” published today described the renewed complaints made by Germany concerning the unreasonable treatment of German Jews who need to go to Russia for business or cultural reasons. For example, “the well-known Berlin impresario Wolff, who is a German-Jew” organized the current tour of the Berlin Philharmonic in Russia. Wolff found the impediments place in his path by the Russian government to be so onerous that he did not accompany the orchestra, but sent one of his Christian assistants in his place.
1904: Funeral arrangements have not been made for 44 year old Henry Hendricks who dropped dead yesterday.
1909: Hahambashi Haim Nahoum of Turkey meets with Prime Minister and Interior Minister of Turkey to discuss the practice of limiting the residence of foreign Jews to three months.
1912: Agudath Israel was formed as the world organization of Orthodox Jewry at Katowitz. Jacob Rosenheim was its first president.
1913:The Georgian reported that E.F. Holloway, the plant day watchman, believed Jim Conley had strangled Mary Phagan when he was drunk. This should have gone a long way towards exonerating Leo Frank.
1913: In Pennsylvania, dedication ceremonies begin for the Philmont Country Club.
1915: Joseph “Joe, the Greaser” Rosenzweig, the first of the east side gang leaders known as “starkers’ “to furnish hired thugs to the unions” “appeared before Justice Shearn in the Criminal Term of the Supreme Court and pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree.
1915: A “telegram directed to the State Prison Commission was received in the Governor’s office late this afternoon from United States Senator John W. Kearn of Indiana, which began “I have followed proceedings in the Leo Frank case step by step with great and increasing interest and as a lawyer with forty years of experience I beg you to spare this man’s life.”
1915: Joseph S. Schwab, the Chairman of a New York committee supporting the commutation of the sentence of Leo M. Franks sent a telegram to President Wilson today which read “Will you add another laurel wreath to your fame as a broad-mined man by requesting the authorities of Georgia in your individual capacity to commute the sentence of Leo Frank, who it universally conceded, has not had a fair trial.”
1915: Birthdate of linguist Joseph Harold Greenberg.
1917(7thof Sivan, 5677): Second Day of Shavuot
1917: In Brooklyn, Goldie Yarmolinsky and Isidore Commoner, Jewish immigrants from Russia, gave birth to Barry Commoner, one of the founders of the ecology movement. (As reported by Daniel Lewis)
1917: In Manhattan Mark and Mariam Villchur gave birth to “Edgar M. Villchur, whose invention of a small loudspeaker that could produce deep, rich bass tones opened the high-fidelity music market in the 1950s to millions of everyday listeners…” (As reported to Dennis Hevesi)
1917: In London, The Times published the responses of Lord Rothschild, Rabbi Joseph Hertz and Chaim Weizmann to a letter that had appeared in the Times on May 24 signed by Claude Montefiore and David Lindo Alexander in which they express their opposition to Zionism and the concepts that will be embodied in the Balfour Declaration.
1917: In London, the Palestine Wine and Trading Co. received from its representative in Switzerland a “telegram from the Rishon-le-Zion colony that that reports of persecution of Jews are completely false” and that the government “gives every protection to our vine growers and has not molested any of the laborers engaged in the industry.” (Editor’s note: During WW I there was great concern about the well-being of the Jewish community in Palestine but this telegram seems to run counter the general picture painted of ill treatment at the hands of the Ottoman)
1920: The Jewish community in Constantinople publishes a letter to the former Hahambashi, Haim Nahoum Effendi who had stepped down from his post a few weeks prior. They declared his departure a calamity. They expressed regret at his departure and their gratitude for his past services, attributing to him the prestige which the community has acquired in the eyes of the Turkish government.
1922(1st of Sivan, 5682): Rosh Chodesh Sivan
1922: The Bnei Akiva youth movement was founded. The youth branch of the Mizrachi was originally established to train its members in agriculture and crafts. Its goal was the synthesis of Torah and Avodah (Torah and labor). Soon, the movement formed its own kibbutzim within the structure of "Kibbutz Hadati," the religious kibbutz movement.
1923: In Brooklyn, whole produce worker Meyer Schneiderman and his wife Bess gave birth to Irwin Schneiderman, “a self-described ‘kid from the Jewish Ghetto’” who became a highly successful attorney and philanthropist whose passions included the New York City Opera. (As reported by Douglas Martin)
1924: The cornerstone laying ceremonies for the new building to house the Chachmel Lublin Yeshiva came to an end.
1925(5thof Sivan, 5685): In Camden, NJ, Beth El Congregation is scheduled to hold a Shavuot “Service at Sunset.”
1925: Birthdate of Lydia Csato Gasman, the native of Foccsani Romania who gained fame as a painter and scholar.
1926: The Burnside Bridge, a bridge that “spans the Willamette River in Portland, OR,” which incorporated a bascule lift mechanism designed by Joseph Strauss opened today.
1928: U.S. premiere of the German Film “Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis” with a script by Carl Mayer and Karl Freund.
1928: Birthdate of Alfred Gilbert Aronowitz, an American rock journalist best known for introducing Bob Dylan and The Beatles in 1964.
1930: Premiere of “À propos de Nice” a silent documentary depicting daily in the French city of Nice filmed by cinematographer Boris Kaufman.
1931: Birthdate of actress Carroll Baker who converted to Judaism when she married Holocaust survivor Jack Garfein with whom she had two children – Blanche Baker and Herschel Garfein
1935: The Italian newspaper Popolo di Romapublished a report describing the funeral held aboard Italian ship Domenico for a Jewish cadet who had drowned while training at the Betar Naval Academy. The academy had been established at Civitavecchia, Italy in 1934 in an agreement worked out between Benito Mussolini and Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the leader of the Revisionist Zionist Movement.
1935(25th of Iyar, 5695): Sixty-eight year old Bella Mehrbach passed away in White Plains, NY.
1936(7th of Sivan, 5696): Second Day of Shavuot
1936(7th of Sivan, 5696):Bertha Pappenheim “an Austrian-Jewish feminist, a social pioneer, and the founder of the Jüdischer Frauenbund (League of Jewish Women) passed away. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freuds-patients-serial/201201/bertha-pappenheim-1859-1936
1936: Striking Arabs said they would send “a protest to the British Administration demanding its withdrawal from the Levant Fair” now being held in Tel Aviv. The Palcor (news) Agency) reported that at least 48 people had died to date since the Arab uprising began in April.
1937(18th of Sivan, 5697):Alfred Adler an Austrian medical doctor, psychologist and founder of the school of individual psychology passed away (As reported by Kendra Cherry)
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesal/p/alfred-adler.htm
1937: Neville Chamberlain becomes British Prime Minister. Chamberlain is remembered for Munich Agreement which immediately imperiled those Czech Jews who now came under Hitler’s sway and helped lead to World War II and the Shoah. In the best tradition of “realistic British leaders” he was pro-Arab as can be seen when told a meeting of the Cabinet’s Palestine Committee that it was “of immense importance to have the Muslim world with us. If we must offend one side, let us offend the Jews rather than the Arabs. This led to the adoption of policy designed to “ensure a permanent Arab majority and a permanent Jewish minority in Palestine.”
1938: In Frankfurt, caricatures of Jews drawn with insulting inscriptions on Jewish shop windows. Gangs threatened Jews to move out of
1938: Foundation for Tel Aviv harbor was `laid
1938: Jewish businesses in
1939: In reaction to the White Paper the Jewish Agency declares: "The need of the Jewish People for a Home was never more acute and its denial at this time is particularly sharp." The White Paper is denounced as illegal as it contradicts the terms of the Mandate, which can only be changed with the agreement of the Council of the
1939: The "Atrato", a ship under the command of the Haganah, is captured by the British navy, after having completed seven voyages during six months and bringing more than 2,400 illegal immigrants to Palestine.
1940: Birthdate of Steven Riskin, who as Shlomo Riskin founded the Lincoln Square Synagogue in 1964 and became the first chief rabbi of Erfat. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan had her bat mitzvah at the Lincoln Square Synagogue.
1940: Irving Berlin's musical "Louisiana Purchase" premiered in New York City.
1940: After three days of debate, Churchill’s War Cabinet decides to continue the war against
1940: Realizing that the Lord Lloyd will not end his opposition to arming the Jews of Palestine so they can defend themselves, Churchill writes his Colonial Secretary urging him to meet with Weizmann to see what can be done to end the impasse. Churchill wanted to bring most of the British troops in
1942: Birthdate of Dr. Stanley B. Prusiner. A native of
1944(6th of Sivan, 5704): Last Shavuot of WW II
1944: At Berkenau, some Jews tried to revolt as they were marched to the gas chambers. They were machine-gunned to death.
1946(27th of Iyar, 5706): Sixty-eight year old Benjamin Joseph Altheimer, Sr. who enjoyed successful legal career in his native Pine Bluff, AR and Chicago , Illinois and established “the Ben J. Altheimer Foundation, which has provided funding for civic, legal, and agricultural endeavors” in Arkansas passed away today.
1948: Israeli forces captured the Arab
1948: (19th of Iyar, 5708) The commander of the Jewish defense of Jerusalem, “Yitzhak Rabin went up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where he later wrote, ‘I witnessed a shattering scene. A delegation was emerging from the Jewish Quarter bearing white flags. I was horrified to learn that consisted of rabbis and other residents on their way to hear the Legion’s terms for their capitulation. That same night, the Jewish Quarter surrendered to the Arab Legion.’” The loss of the Jewish Quarter in the
1948: With Jewish Quarter completely cut off, Mordechai Weingarten led a delegation that met with Abdulla el Tell, the commander of the Arab Legion that had illegally attacked Jerusalem to discuss surrender terms. Under the terms of the surrender which Weingarten had no choice but accept “all men capable of bearing arms were made prisoners of war. When El-Tell saw how few Jewish fighters he had been confronting he told Moshe Russnak, the Haganah commander that “If I had known you were so few would have come after with sticks, not guns.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Weingarten_and_el_Tell.JPG
1948: The Jewish Quarter suffered a scourge of looting after the departure of its Jewish residence.
1948: Israeli forces captured Zar’in on Mt. Gilboa
1848: Iraqi troops captured Ge’ulim
1948: At the U.N. Security Council, following the third or fourth Arab rejection of a cease fire, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Arthur Austin rejected the Arab position in most undiplomatic language. He accused the Arabs of having only one goal – overwhelming the government of
1949: Birthdate of television performer Sandy Helberg, the father of actor Simon Helberg
1950: In an attempt to promote peace in the region, the government of Israel proposes that certain religious sites in Jerusalem be placed under international control. Everybody from the Arabs to the Catholic Church rejects the proposal.
1950: The plan of the three major western powers to tie shipment of arms to Israel and surrounding Arab states to pledges of non-aggression has met with mixed, mostly negative reactions from various Arab nations. While the Egyptians have gone along with this tripartite declaration, the Iraqis, Lebanese and Syrians have all condemned the western-backed policy.
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that one Israeli soldier was killed and another wounded when Israeli units clashed with, and inflicted considerable losses on an armed Jordanian unit near Hebron. The Jordanians had previously crossed the armistice lines, but were forced to flee in the ensuing exchange of fire.
1954: Ninety-eight year old Poultney Bigelow, the American journalist who in the 1890’a described the persecution of non-Orthodox Russians but who portrayed “the Czar as a kindly man overruled by fierce and venal bureaucrats.”
1955(7th of Sivan, 5715): Second Day of Shavuot
1959: Birthdate of Meg Wolitzer, author of The Wife. She followed in the footsteps of her mother Hilma Wolitzer “whose novels include Ending,In the Flesh, The Doctor's Daughter and Hearts
1962: Israel Bar-Yehuda replaced Yitzhak Ben-Aharon as Minister of Ransportation
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that in Washington, the U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. John Foster Dulles, claimed that the Egyptian Prime Minister, Naguib, was ready to "make a deal with
1960: Birthdate of Gail Sheryl Asper, OC, OM “a director and corporate secretary of CanWest Global Communications Corp, president of the CanWest Global Foundation, and managing director and secretary of The Asper Foundation, the private charitable foundation spearheading the establishment of the $310 million Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the daughter of entrepreneur and philanthropist Izzy Asper, she attended Kelvin High School before receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1984 from the University of Manitoba. She was called to the Nova Scotia bar in 1985 and is a member of the Law Society of Manitoba. She articled with Halifax, Nova Scotia law firm of Cox Downie & Goodfellow in 1984 and was an Associate Lawyer in Halifax with Goldberg McDonald from 1985 to 1989. In 1989, she joined her father's firm, CanWest, as a corporate secretary and director. She has long been associated with arts and culture as a volunteer, performer, and fund-raiser. She is associated with the Liberal Party of Canada and endorsed Scott Brison's bid to become leader in 2006. Ms. Asper has received numerous community service and humanitarian awards and was the 2005 recipient of the Governor-General Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts. In 2007, she was awarded the Order of Manitoba. In 2008, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.”
1962: Arthur Julian Andrew began serving as Canada’s ambassador to Israel.
1963: U.S. premiere of “Hud” co-starring Paul Newman and Melvyn Douglas, co-produced by Irving Ravetch who also wrote the screenplay with music by Elmer Bernstein.
1964:
1965: “Funeral services” are scheduled to “be held” in Brussels today for “former Belgian Chief Rabbi and former Chief Jewish Chaplain of the Belgian army Dr. Solomon Ullman.” (As reported by JTA)
1966: Birthdate of journalist Luke Ford
1968(1st of Sivan, 5728): Rosh Chodesh Sivan
1969: Katyusha rockets fired from
1969: U.S. premiere of “April’s Fools,” a romantic comedy directed by Stuart Rosenberg with a score by Marvin Hamlisch.
1972: An apparent terrorist attack was foiled today when a Lebanese women in possession of weapons was apprehended in Rome.
1973: At the Broadway Theatre, final performance of “Henry IV” with David Hurst in the role of ”Dr. Dionysius Genoni”
1974: Yitzhak Rabin announced the formation of a three party coalition government that will replace the government led by fellow Laborite, Golda Meir. The new government represents a bit of a generational change in the Israeli power structure. The new leaders are all younger than those they are replacing. Rabin is 52. Yigal Allon, the new Foreign Minister is 55 and the new Defense Minister, Shimon Peres is 52. Among the marquee names missing from the new collation are Moshe Dayan and Abbe Eban.
1976(28th of Iyar, 5736): Yom Yersushalayim
1976(28th of Iyar, 5736): Two police officers were killed today while attempting to defuse a terrorist bomb.
1976:On Friday night, an historic event happened in Madrid, Spain. Her Majesty, Queen Sofia, attended Friday Night Services at Madrid's only synagogue. It was a highly emotional event for many of the congregation that night since it was another Spanish monarch who expelled their ancestors some 500 years ago.
1977: Five people were injured when a bomb went off while they were riding on a bus in Jerusalem.
1978: The Jerusalem Post reported that the Cabinet embarked on a major political debate on the future of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. There were indications that unless Israel addresses itself to the question of the sovereignty of these territories, the U.S. will step in with its own ideas to get the negotiations for a Middle Eastern settlement moving again. In
1980: Menachem Begin replaced Ezer Weizman as Minister of Defense
1982(6th of Sivan, 5742): Shavuot
1984: “One Day at a Time,” a unique sit-com starring Bonnie Franklin aired for the last time in prime t.v.
1984: George “Soros signed a contract between the Soros Foundation (New York) and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the founding document of the Soros Foundation Budapest.”
1987:Daniel Barenboim is scheduled to conduct the IPO during one of several concerts celebrating the orchestra’s 50th anniversary.
1988: For the first time HBO broadcast “Blood Money” co-starring Ellen Barkin as “Nadine Powers.”
1995(28th of Iyar, 5755): Yom Yershualayim
1997(21st of Iyar, 5757): Ninety-two year old Dr. Kurt Adler, the son of Alfred Adler, passed away today. (As reported by Ford Burkhart)
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/31/nyregion/dr-kurt-alfred-adler-92-directed-therapeutic-institute.html
1998: According to “Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship,” which won the George Polk Award, prepared by Amy Goodman, “that documented Chevron Corporation's role in a confrontation between the Nigerian Army and villagers who had seized oil rigs and other equipment belonging to oil corporations” “the company provided helicopter transport to the Nigerian Navy and Mobile Police (MOPOL) to their Parabe oil platform, which had been occupied by villagers who accused the company of contaminating their land.”
1999: Today the REMORA II, a remote operated vehicle, took the first picture of the INS Dakar after the wreck was found four days ago. The submarine “rests on her keel, bow to the northwest. Her conning tower was snapped off and fallen over the side. The stern of the submarine, with the propellers and dive planes, broke off aft of the engine room and rests beside the main hull. Some small artifacts were recovered, including the boat's gyrocompass.” But the pictures did not reveal the cause of the sinking.
2000: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including the recently released paperback editions of “Hitler
1889-1936: Hubris” by Ian Kershaw and Village of a “Million Spirits: A Novel of the Treblinka Uprising” by Ian MacMillan harrowing account of the daily operations of the infamous Treblinka concentration camp in Poland, and the 1943 revolt by hundreds of Jewish prisoners.
2001(6th of Sivan, 5761): First Day Shavuot, 5761
2002: Mariane Pearl gave birth to Adam Daniel Pearl almost four months after his father and her husband Daniel Pearl was murdered by terrorist in Pakistan.
2003: The 19th Israel Film Festival opens at the
2003: “Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz” “a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz” was performed for the first time at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco “as the start of SHN pre-Broadway tryouts.”
2004: Jewish businessman and community leader, Earle I. Mack was sworn-in as Ambassador to
2005(19thof Iyar, 5765): Seventy-nine year old Avner-Hair Shaki, a native of Safed who became a governmental leader in Israel passed away today.
2006(1st of Sivan, 5766): Rosh Chodesh Sivan
2006: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including the recently released paperback editions of What We Owe Iraq: War and the Ethics of Nation Building by Noah Feldman and 1962: The Night of 100 Points and the Dawn of a New Era by Gary M. Pomeranz
2006: Pope Benedict XVI visited Auschwitz-Birkenau where he delivered a speech in Italian to Holocaust survivors and members of the Jewish community in Poland.
2006:Haaretz reports haredim rioted outside the Ashdod cemetery and stole the body of a baby girl from the cemetery’s tahara room to prevent
2007: The last Monday in May is celebrated as Memorial Day. The federal holiday began in 1868 as a way to honor the Union Soldiers who had died in the Civil War. According to at least one source, over 7,000 soldiers served on both sides during the Civil War, with the bulk of them fighting on the side of the
2007: At
2008: The Walter Reade Theatre in New York features a screening of “Late Marriage,” “ a ribald dark and subversive comedy that pits tradition against modernity” in a film featuring Zasa, a Tel Aviv bachelor and his Georgian born mother and “Three Sisters,” a film that tells the tale of three Sephardic sisters born into an affluent Egyptian family in the 1940’s and who end their lives sharing a cramped apartment in Israel half a century later.
2008: Shachiv Shnaan, an Israeli-Druse political leader enter the Knesset today “following the resignation of Efraim Sneth.
2008: Laura Ellen Ziskin was among those who joined in today’s announcement of the creation of “Stand Up To Cancer.”
2008: Following further revelations about cash payments by a
2008: During a goodwill visit to Israel that included a visit to the Western Wall, Dr J, Julius Erving, met with Shimon Peres at the presidential mansion.
2008: Associate Press writer Reem Khalifa reports Bahrain has named a Jewish woman as ambassador to US
Bahrain's king has appointed a woman believed to be the Arab world's first Jewish ambassador as the country's envoy to Washington.Lawmaker Houda Nonoo said she was proud to serve her country "first of all as a Bahraini," adding she was not chosen for the post because of her religion."It is a great honor to have been appointed as the first female ambassador to the United States of America and I am looking forward to meeting this new challenge," Nonoo told The Associated Press by telephone.The Wednesday decree issued by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and reported by the official Bahrain News Agency had not specified where Nonoo, a 43-year-old mother of two boys, would be posted. But her appointment to the U.S. ambassadorship was rumored for months.Bahrain — a pro-Western island nation with Sunni rulers and a Shiite majority — is a close U.S. ally and hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. It has about 50 Jewish citizens among a population of roughly half a million people.Nonoo has served as legislator in Bahrain's all-appointed 40-member Shura Council for three years.Nonoo replaced her cousin, who held the Shura Council seat for four years. A businesswoman who lives both in Bahrain and London, Nonoo also is the first Jewish woman to head a local rights organization, the Bahrain Human Rights Watch.Jews migrated to Bahrain in the 19th century, mostly from Iran and Iraq. Their numbers increased early in the 20th century but decreased after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when many left for Israel, the U.S. and Europe.Jews keep a low profile in Bahrain, working mostly in banks, commercial and trade companies and retail.There is also a synagogue and a private Jewish cemetery here. At the height of the Arab-Israeli war, the synagogue was attacked and torched by angry Muslims. The structure was later refurbished.Bahrain has no diplomatic relations with Israel. In 1969, an official Israeli delegation visited Bahrain but protesters burned the Israeli flag in a large street demonstration at the time. In 2006, after Bahrain signed the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S., Manama closed down a government office that endorsed a boycott of Israeli goods.
2009(5th of Sivan, 5769): Erev Shavuot
2009:As part of the Tel Aviv Centennial Celebrations many of the “Tikun” (learning sessions) that are held as part of the observance of Shavuotwill explore the Jewish facets of Tel Aviv, and the spiritual heritage of the First Hebrew City.
2009:IDF gunfire wounded four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip today, medics said, in an incident that ruptured the calm of a shaky truce achieve after a spasm of cross-border violence earlier this month.
The IDF spokesperson said that forces operating along the Gaza border fired on a terrorist unit that appeared to be attempting to place an explosive device along the fence.
2010: In Cedar Rapids, IA, on Friday night, Dr. Bob Silber, a mensch in the truest sense of the word is scheduled to lead services as Temple Judah hosts it last Musical Shabbat for 5770.
2010:Joshua Joel Siegel, son of Kris and Kenny Siegel and a fourth generation Temple Judah member, will be giving the Valedictorian speech at the Commencement Ceremonies at Kennedy High School today. He is the brother of David Siegel; the grandson of the late Oscar and Lillian Siegel and the grandson of Jerolyn Selkirk. Josh will be attending Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA.
2010: The Israeli Air Force bombed weapons manufacturing site and a terror tunnel tonight following further Hamas rocket attacks on the Western Negev, despite announcements by the terrorist organization and its allies they would cease the rocket attacks
2011: The Amerigo Trio- Inbal Segev, cellist; Glenn Dicterow, violinist; Karen Dreyfus, violist -with Pianist Alon Goldstein is scheduled to perform in New Lebanon, NY.
2011:For the first time in the Israel Festival, Yasmin Levy is scheduled to “offer a special performance including a selection of Ladino songs, well-loved classics, and original compositions, together with songs from the repertoire of Yiannis Kotsiras, one of the leading Greek singers.
2011: Egypt opens the border with Gaza to Palestinians after four years of closure.
2011: In “The Secret Life of Cairo’s Jews,” Anthony Julius reviewed the marvelous new work by Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole entitled Sacred Trash.
2011(24th of Iyar, 5771): Ninety-seven year old, Leo Rangell, a dominant force in the field of psychiatry during the second half of the 20th century passed away today. (As reported by Paul Vitello)
2011(24th of Iyar, 5771): Sixty four year old Milt Avruskin, “the voice of Superstars of Wrestling in the 1970s and International Wrestling in the 1980s, as well as the key player behind Pro Wrestling Canada, died suddenly” today. (As reported by Greg Oliver)
2011(24th of Iyar, 5771): Seventy-year old award winning, controversial painter Uri Lifschitz, passed away.
2012(7thof Sivan, 5772): Second Day of Shavuot
2012: As part of the Israel Festival, Les Deux Mondes is scheduled to perform “Living Memory” at the Rebecca Crown Auditorium.
2012: Sports Illustrated reported that the International Olympic Committee has rejected requests for a moment of silence at the London Olympics “in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the 1972 terrorist attacks that killed 11 Israeli coaches and athletes. The IOC is “reluctant to alienate other members of the Olympic community with any specific references to the attacks.”
2012: The HBO biopic “Hemingway & Gellhorn” directed by Philip Kaufman with a script co-authored by Jerry Stahl aired for the first time tonight.
2012: “An uncertain and uncomfortable calm descended on Tel Aviv today, as Israel's paramilitary police unit Magav ("Border Guard") deployed throughout the city's southern neighbourhoods and tensions between residents and a large population of African migrants simmered just below boiling point.
2012: The Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, VA, celebrated Jewish American Heritage Month by unveiling a Jewish-American Hall of Fame plaque honouring Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine Dr. Gertrude Elion.
2013:The 4th International Conference of the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism is scheduled to open in Jerusalem.
2013: Today a top Israeli minister condemned Russia’s declared intention to deliver advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, and another senior minister said Israel would “know what to do” if the weapons were delivered.. (As reported by Raphael Ahren)
2013(19thof Sivan, 5773): Seventy-year old photographer Abigail Heyman passed away today. (As reported by Paul Vitello)
2013(19thof Sivan, 5773): Ninety year old Holocaust survivor and physician Henry Morgentaler passed away today. (As reported by Robert D. McFadden)
2013: Archaeologists expressed deep concern over construction and renovation works at the Western Wall enclosure in Jerusalem’s Old City, Maariv reported today. The work, they said, would greatly damage artifacts under the plaza floor, which would be lost forever. The Israel Antiquities Authority said in response that extensive preservation work was being conducted at the site. (As reported by Aaron Kalman)
2014: Professor Marat Grinberg is scheduled to discuss his biography of Wood Allen, Woody on Rye at the Oregon Jewish Museum.
2014: “Zemer Chai, DC’s Premier Jewish Choir” is scheduled to perform “In Every Age!” at Ohr Kodesh in Chevy Chase Maryland.
2014: The Kaufman Music Centre is scheduled to present The Israeli Chamber Project.
2014(27thof Iyar, 5774): One hundred one year old published Oscar Dystel passed away today. (As reported by Douglas Martin)
2014(27thof Iyar, 5774): Eighty-five year old Malcolm Glazer the American business executive who owned both Manchester United and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers passed away today.
2014(27thof Iyar, 5774): Yom Yerushalayim
2014: In honor of Jerusalem Day, University of Iowa Professor Robert Cargill speaks on “The Water System of Ancient Jerusalem” this evening.
2014: “The Foreign Ministry blamed the Jewish Agency today for endangering eastern Ukraine’s Jewish community and provoking accusations of dual loyalty. “
2014: “Over a thousand people attended a state ceremony honoring Ethiopian Jews who died en route to Israel during two major waves of immigration in 1984 and 1991.”
2014(28th of Iyar, 5774): Eighty –five year old Malcolm Glazerthe president and chief executive officer of First Allied Corporation, a holding company for his varied business interests, and owner of both Manchester United of the Premier League and Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL passed away today.
2015: “An Evening of Exploration” featuring a performance by Itamar Borochov, a member of Yemen Blues and the New Jerusalem Orchestra and a discussion by Rabbi Marc Angel and Rabbi Yamin Levy about The David Berg Rare Books Room's latest exhibit, “Sephardic Journeys” is scheduled to take place at the Center for Jewish History.
2015: “The Israel Festival” which “is subsidized by the government and Jerusalem municipality” is scheduled to open today.