November 27
176: Emperor Marcus Aurelius grant his son Commodus the rank of Imperator and makes him Supreme Commander of the Roman legions. To the world at large Marcus Aurelius was âthe philosopher-kingâ or âphilosophical but impracticalâ ruler, but to the Jews he was just Roman emperor who held them in contempt describing them as ââStinking and tumultuous!ââ to his companions as he traveled through Judea. The dissolute nature of Commodus has become well known to all through the film âGladiator.â Commodus showed his ineptitude in his failed attempt to defeat the Parthians, Romeâs eastern enemy whose empire reached to the borders of Palestine. Unable to defeat an armed enemy in the field, Commodus began fresh persecutions of the Jews living there denying them, among other things, the right to use their courts of justice.
1095: First Crusade proclaimed by the Council of Clermont. By now everybody should be aware of the fact that the Crusades ushered in a period of death and destruction for the Jews of Europe and Eretz Israel.
1198(Kislev, 4959): Rabbeinu Abraham ben David known by the abbreviation RABaD (for Rabbeinu Abraham ben David) passed away. Born in Provence, France in 1125, he was a Provençal rabbi, a great commentator on the Talmud, Sefer Halachot of Rabbi Yitzhak Alfasi and Mishne Torah of Maimonides, and is regarded as a father of Kabbalah and one of the key and important links in the chain of Jewish mystics
1308: Henry VII who âwas presented with a scroll of the Law by a delegation of Jews from Rome which had gone to meet him beganâ began his reign as King of the Romans
1614: In Frankfurt, Vincenz Fettmilch, the ringleader of the Fettmilch Rising during which the Judengasse was attacked looted, was arrested along with 38 of his followers and âcharged for their persecution of the Jews.â (They would eventually be executed. The authorities really were not upset about his attack on the Jews. What got him into trouble was when he was perceived as a threat to the Emperor and the ruling order.
1688 (4th of Kislev): Rabbi Elijah Kovo of Salonika, author of Aderet Eliyahu, passed away
1710: Birthdate of Robert Lowth, the Bishop of the Church of England who 1754 was awarded a Doctorate in Divinity by Oxford University, for his treatise on Hebrew poetry entitled Praelectiones Academicae de Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum (On the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews) which derives from a series of lectures that were published by George Gregory in 1787 as "Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews".
1755: An English merchant named Joseph Salvador bought 10,000 acres near Fort Ninety-Six, in the southern part of the Carolina Colony. In 1773, Joseph Salvador would send his nephew Francis Salvador to South Carolina to develop the land as an indigo plantation. At the outbreak of the American Revolution the wealthy young aristocrat joined the fight for independence. He died of wounds in August of 1776 while fighting the Cherokee allies of the British. The following words were etched on his tombstone: Born an aristocrat he became a democrat, An Englishman he cast his lot with America; True to his ancient faith, he gave his life for new hopes of liberty and human understanding.â
1757: Birthdate of William Blake, English poet, painter and printmaker.Controversy surrounds Blakeâs grasp of Jewish mysticism. It seems pretty clear that Blakeâs art and writing invoke Kabbalah, but scholars debate how Blake accessed the Jewish mystical concepts he quoted. Some argue that the dozen or so Hebrew inscriptions in Blakeâs etchings and watercolors show that Blake was fluent in Hebrew. But close analysis of the works, some of which are on exhibit at The Morgan Library & Museum, reveals that Blake had not even mastered the letter alef. Reading Kabbalah in Hebrew without knowing the first letter of the alef-bet would be as implausible as tackling âFinnegans Wakeâ with barely a grasp of the English alphabet. Arguments that Blake knew Hebrew date back to Frederick Tatham, who cared for Catherine after Blakeâs death in 1827. In a letter to bookseller Frances Harvey, Tatham said that Blakeâs library included âwell thumbedâ books in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French and Italian, as well as works by Swedenborg and Christian mystic Jacob Boehme. âHis knowledge was immense, his industry beyond parallel,â Tatham wrote. Modern scholars echo Tathamâs claim. Writing in the journal Modern Philology in 1951, David V. Erdman ascribed âsome Hebrewâ to Blake, particularly the knowledge that beth-lehem means âhouse of bread.â âWe know that Blake knew a little Hebrew,â Anthony Blunt agreed, writing in the Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes in 1943, âfor he wrote to his brother in 1803 that he was learning the Hebrew alphabet, and his etching of the Laocoön [a copy of the sculpture âLaocoön and His Sonsâ] bears a few words in Hebrew script.â In his book âThe New Apocalypse: The Radical Christian Vision of William Blake (The Davies Group, Publishers, 2000), Thomas J. J. Altizer suggests not only that Blake knew Hebrew, but also that he was self-taught.But the work that Blunt cites as proof of Blakeâs proficiency in Hebrew, âLaocoönâ â a circa 1820 print depicting snakes strangling the famous Trojan priest and his two sons â is one of the best pieces of evidence that Blake did not know Hebrew. Writing âmalakh Jehovah,â which he translated as âThe Angel of the Divine Presence,â Blake inadvertently rotated the alef 90 degrees on its y-axis. He spelled âLilitâ (Lilith) correctly, but he miswrote âJeshuaâ (Jesus) with another rotated letter, this time an ayin (the 16th letter). âLaocoönâ does not appear in the Morgan show, but an etching from Blakeâs Job series does. In an etching from Blakeâs Job series, the artist again wrote âThe Angel of the Divine Presence,â but this time he wrote the Hebrew âmelekh Jehovah,â which means King Jehovah, rather than malakh (with an alef), the Angel of Jehovah. In âWilliam Blakeâs Illustrations of the Book of Job,â S. Foster Damon says that Blake intentionally removed the alef to show that Job was worshipping a false God â mistaking an angel for the king. But could Blake really have known enough Hebrew to distinguish between âmelekhâ and âmalakh,â when he revealed in âLaocoönâ that he didnât even know how to form the letter properly? âJobâs Evil Dreams,â features a bearded figure with hooves encircled by a snake. The figure hovers above a reclining man and points with its right index finger to the Ten Commandments. Though Blake wrote out only two of the commandments in full, the inscriptions contain more than a dozen mistakes. One line contains a properly and an improperly formed alef, a further inconsistency suggesting that Blake was copying a language he did not understand. âBlake did study Hebrew with his one-time patron, William Hayley, but scholars are not agreed about his proficiency in the language,â explained Leslie Tannenbaum, associate professor of English at Ohio State University and author of âBiblical Tradition in William Blakeâs Early Prophecies: The Great Code of Artâ (Princeton University Press, 1982). According to Tannenbaum, the late Gerald Bentley, a Blake scholar who taught at Princeton University, implied in a biography that Blake was âfairly fluentâ in Hebrew. But Tannenbaum also notes that Sheila A. Spector, whom he describes as âan extremely meticulous scholar and expert on Blake and the Kabbalah,â writes that Blake did not know the biblical language.In Blakeâs preface to the chapter âTo the Jews,â from the poem âJerusalem,â Tannenbaum sees references to the kabbalistic concept of Adam Kadmon (the primordial man). Blake learned Kabbalah from Swedenborgâs writings on Boehme, who seems to have been influenced by Balthasar Walther, Tannenbaum adds, and Blake also identified with the Avignon Society, which sought science and reason âin such unlikely places as alchemical lore, cabbalistic numerology, mesmerist sĂ©ances, Swedenborgian spiritualism, and (perhaps most surprising of all) the Scriptures.â In âWonders Divine: The Development of Blakeâs Kabbalistic Mythâ (Bucknell University Press, 2001) Spector, an adjunct associate professor at New York University, agrees that Blakeâs kabbalistic sources were Christian rather than Jewish, and English rather than Hebrew. Further, Blake was âunfortunatelyâ influenced by his contemporary Anglo-Israelites, who thought that English derived from Hebrew âand that the language of the Jews was a spurious version in which the rabbis obscured the âtrue Christianâ message to be found in the Bible,â Spector said.âUnder the circumstances, the question of whether or not Blake was fluent in Hebrew misses the point,â she added. âHe rejected normative Hebrew in favor of the linguistic gymnastics that re-interpreted words to conform with some eccentric â to be charitable â interpretations that coordinated Hebrew and English, as well as Greek, etymologies to proffer a new interpretation of Scripture.â (As reported by Menachem Wecker)
1785(25th of Kislev, 5546): Channukah
1798 (19th of Kislev, 5559):Rabbi Shneur Zalman founder of Chabad Lubavitch was released from a St Petersburg jail. He had been arrested on charges of high treason for allegedly sending money to the Czarâs enemy, the Sultan of Turkey. In reality he was sending money to Jews living in Eretz Israel which was part of Turkey at the time. Shneur Zalman is the author of two works Tanya and Likkute Torah which describe the philosophy of the Chabad movement. Chabad is an acronym for the Hebrew words Chokhmah (wisdom), Binah (understanding) and Daâat (Wisdom). Lubavitch is the name of the town in which the Descendants of Dov Baer, the Maggid of Mezhirech, Shneur Zalmanâs âteacherâ settled. In 1798, November 27 corresponded to the 19th day of Kislev. Ever since then Chabad Lubavitchers mark YUD-TET KISLEV (19th of Kislev) as day of joy and celebration.
1804: Birthdate of Sir Julius Benedict, the German born highly successful English composer and conductor who was knighted in 1871.
1804: While serving in the United States Navy, today, Gershom R. Jacques was promoted from âSurgeonâs Mateâ to âSurgeon.â
1814: Judah Elias Piza and Rachel Piza, the parents of David and Elias Piza were married today.
1815: Birthdate of Simon Hock, the Prague born businessman who created a history of the Jews of Bohemia.
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Hock_Simon
1819: Leopold Zuns and Eduard Gans founded the Verein fuer Cultur und Wissenschaft der Juden, (The Society for Culture and Science of Judaism). It delved into Jewish history, culture and literature using scientific methods of criticism and assessment. The Society lasted less than five years. Gans and many others converted to Christianity.
1830: Joseph MĂ©rilhou, the French official who successfully got the Deputies to adopt legislation treating Judaism on equal footing with Christianity when it came to public financial support for synagogues and rabbis completed his term as Minister of Public Education.
1834: Birthdate of Michael Bernays, the Hamburg born lawyer who displayed an expertise in matters pertaining to Shakespeare and Beethoven and who unlike his brother Jakob, converted to Christianity.
1837: Birthdate of Ludwig Loewe, who began as manufacturer of sewing machines and then became major arms maker whose employees included Georg Luger, the inventor of the famous âLugerâ pistol.
1839: In Charleston, SC, Rabbi Poznanski officiated at the marriage of Jacob Suares and Isabella Nathans.
1844: Five days after she had passed away in Paris, 32 year old Mary (Montefiore) Mocatta, the wife of Benjamin Mocatta, was buried today âBalls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.â
1846: A wagon train owned and commanded by Albert Speyer, a Prussian born Jew, arrived at San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico, in time for the pre-Christmas fair where he sold his merchandize, âreloaded the wagons with Mexican goods â mainly silver curios and sugar â and returned to Chihuahuaâ Mexico.
1853: An editorial entitled âThe Arrest of Rabbi Ascheâ published today questioned the methods used by the authorities when they arrested Rabbi Asche and two other Jews on charges of selling lottery tickets. The editorial supported the concept of law and order but thought the police could have used better judgment in exercising their authority.
1856: Proof of the role of Jews played in settling the American Frontier can be found in the letters Thomas Gladstone sent to the London Times excerpts of which were published today. In describing those traveling up the Missouri River Gladstone reports that his fellow passengers included âBorder Ruffians, AbolitionistsâŠJewsâ and others who âcompletelyâ represent âthe various classes of the population in Kansas.â
1858: It was reported today that two New York Rabbis have been arrested on charges of selling lottery tickets based on the charges brought by one of their co-religionists.
1860: In Paris, there are reports of a serious rift between Achille Fould, the Jewish financier who is a close advisor to Emperor Napoleon, and the Empress.
1861: Seventy-seven year old Jeanette Wohl the confidant of Ludwig Borne, the German Jewish writer who like so many of his contemporaries became a Lutheran but was not above characterizing his rival Heine as âa yeshiva studentâ whom he accused of âthe Jewish trait of employing witticisms for their own sake,â
1863: Jacob Miller was wounded at Mine Run, VA, while serving at the 60thRegiment of the Third Cavalry.
1863: At the Wooster-street Synagogue, Thanksgiving Day services were held at 3 o'clock, embracing the usual afternoon prayers, conducted by Rabbi S.M. Isaacs the Prayer for the Government and appropriate hymns, after which an address was delivered by Meyer S. Isaacs, the Rabbiâs son He commenced with a reference to the peculiar significance of the present day of thanksgiving, observed as it was by all Americans, wherever resident, in response to the recommendation of the Executive. It was a grand spectacle, an entire nation united in offering up incense on an altar of a religion all alike profess -- thanksgiving and praise to the Supreme Being. Divesting themselves of social, political and religious distinctions, superior to the division of sentiment engendered by sectional ideas and antagonistic theories, they assembled in their respective places of worship, to pour forth praises to Him enthroned on hish. Actuated by these considerations, his audience had gathered together in their house of God, that they too might join in the grand anthem swelling upward to celestial heights. Israelite and Christian grasped each other's hand in cordial confidence, working together, fighting together the battles of the Union, pouring their blood on the battle-field in friendly rivalry for country's sake. There was no trace of religious intolerance or sectional feeling in the proclamation of the day; we were called upon to observe it as Americans, acknowledging special obligations to Heaven for the providences so graciously displayed in the progress of our struggle for national existence, and not unmindful of His divine favor in the daily blessings unintermittingly showered upon us, whose value we often fail to diiscern until we are deprived of them. He then took his text from Psalm c., verses 4 and 5, discussing it from its various points of view, and earnestly directing attention to the necessity of sincerity in this observance of National Thanksgiving. The stake was too mighty a one to permit even the semblance of insincerity in the history we were making, in our protestations of patriotism. It is understood now, that our love of country is not purely romantic, but that we were in earnest in our expressions of determination to reestablish the national supremacy, to permit no armed assemblage, however formidable, however desperate, to maintain an eternal antagonism to the constituted authorities. Were we equally sincere in our observance of Thanksgiving, in our expressions of dependence upon God, of our own unworthiness and His eternal goodness and truth? This was to be the lesson of the day. He then illustrated his text by a reference to the peculiar benefits the Israelites of America enjoy in this land of thorough civil and religious liberty. We should enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise, "for here there was no distinction recognized between Jew and Gentile in the guaranty by the Constitution of protection in the enjoyment of the sacred rights of man. Returning to the broader view of the subject, as Americans, we should signalize the sincerity of this observance by an amendment in those respects where we acknowledge national faults. Although we have demonstrated a stauncher patriotism than we ourselves believed to be inherent in American character, there may be more sacrifices to make, more selfish considerations to combat, more errors of administration to deplore and divest of their apparent danger to the State by a confirmed determination to strengthen the hand of those we have chosen to preside over our national destinies. In conclusion, he spoke of the favorable prospect before us, as contrasted with the gloom, astonishment and despondency at the culmination of the preparation for the war upon our flag. The ship of state, madly tossed upon an unknown sea, exposed to the dangers of the warring elements, her pilots surrendered to the guilt of the hour or sadly inexperienced, was now sailing majestically into a safe harbor, a clear head and a steady hand at the helm; but God be thanked for this great salvation -- no human wisdom or power hath accomplished this. He closed with a fervent prayer for the continuance of Divine favor to the land, and its speedy restoration to peace and prosperity.
1868: The Philadelphia âPressâ published an abstract of the Thanksgiving Day Sermon delivered by Rabbi Jastrow at Congregation Rodef Shalom.
1871: âA Tolerant Cityâ published today quotes the Jewish Chronicle as saying that âIreland is the only country where Jews were never persecuted.â As proof of Irish tolerance, the Chronicle cites the case of a young Jewess named Miss Samuel, who, when she was on her death bed was the object of prayers of recovery offered both in Jewish synagogues and Christian Chapels. Her funeral included thirty carriages that were filled with citizens of both faiths.
1871: In Philadelphia, Simon B. Fleisher and Cecelia Hofheimer gave birth to Samuel Stuart Fleisher the Wharton graduate, manufacturer of year and amateur artist whose works were displayed at American Art Society Exhibition in 1903 who also served Director of the Jewish Foster Home and Orphan Asylum and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Chautauqua Society.
1872: Two days after he had passed away, 62 year old Hyam Levy, the husband of the former Frances Naphtali with whom he had had six children was buried today at âWest Ham Jewish Cemeteryâ on Buckingham Road.â
1873: The Charity Committee of the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum has asked that an appeal be made during todayâs Thanksgiving Day services for contributions of money, clothing and other items that can be used to aid Jews who are economically distressed due to the current depressed economy.
1874:Â Birthdate of Zionist leader and Israelâs first President Chaim Weizmann. He first gained fame as the Russian-British chemist who used bacteria for the synthesis of organic chemicals. During WW I, a recent immigrant into Great Britain, he discovered a way to use a bacterium to synthesize acetone during the fermentation of grain. Acetone was important in the manufacture of cordite for explosives. Postwar, he modified the fermentation to produce butyl alcohol, suitable for uses such as lacquers. This was the forerunner of the deliberate use of microorganisms for a wide variety of syntheses. A generation later, penicillin and vitamin B12 were produced in this way.
1878: In Sumter, SC, Rabbi E.S. Levy officiated at the wedding of A. De Leon Moses of Burke Country, GA and Eliza Cohen, the daughter daughter of Max Cohen who used to live in Charleston, SC.
1879: Dr. Henry W. Bellows, a prominent Unitarian Minister, delivered the Thanksgiving Day Sermon at Temple Emanu-El, the New York Jewish house of worship led by Rabbi Gustav Gottheil
1880(24th of Kislev, 5641): In the evening kindle the first light of Chanukah.
1880: It was reported today that âthe celebration of the Jewish feast of âChanukaâ will be commenced this evening by the Children of Israel throughout the world.â The Times goes on to provide an accurate description of the origins of the holiday and its modern observance including the fact that the events celebrated began âon the 25th day of the month of Kislev.â (This was written 15 years before the Ochs family acquired the paper)
1880: The Young Menâs Hebrew Association hosted its âfourth entertainmentâ of the season tonight at Lyric Hall.
1881> On day after she had passed away, 72 year old Sophia Ford, the wife Amsterdam native Charles Ford and more of Henry and Rose Ford was buried today at the âBalls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.â
1881: At Rostov-on âDon Isaiah and Feodosia Chatzman to their daughter Vera, the future wife of Chaim Wiezmann, who was a leading Zionist in her own right. (As reported by Esther Carmel-Hakim)
1881: A meeting was held this morning at the Hebrew Orphan Asylum to discuss additional measures to be taken to meet the growing influx of Jewish immigrants from Russia which is overwhelming the resources of the United Hebrew Charities. One solution is to establish âfarming coloniesâ which will provide a livelihood for the impoverished new arrivals and avoid population congestion in a few east coast cities.
1882: A review of Natural Religion by Sir John Robert Seeley, the author of Ecce Homo, cites the authorâs contention that âthe Hebrew Scriptures express in poetic form and in language suited another age the spirit of modern science. Notably the Book of Job contrasts the conventional and, as it were, orthodox view of the universe with the view which those obtain who are prepared to face it awfulness directly.â (Editorâs note â this comes at a time when there was a clash between science and religion so it is intriguing that an English author would find a harmony between the two in the Jewish section of his Bible.)
1882(16th of Kislev, 5643): Sixty-two year old Moses Soave, Italian âHebraistâ who âsupported himself as tutor for Venetian Jewish familiesâ while writing biographies of several Italian Jews including Sara Copia Sullam, Amatus Lusitanus, Abraham de Balmes, Shabbethai Donnolo and Leon de Modena passed awat today.
1883: âClothing merchantâ Simon Mandel, a resident of Merrill, Wisconsin and Carrie Mandel gave birth to Milton Simon Mandel who settled in New York where he registered for the Draft during WW I, married his wife Helen and became wholesale fur merchant as a partner in Mandel and Weinblatt located on West 27thStreet.
1883: âHenâ Rice, who had been a Deputy Sherriff is New York is being held on charges that he won $2,700 from Robert Solomon, an Anglo-Jewish diamond dealer, by cheating at card games they played while crossing from England to the United States aboard the SS Servia.
1883: âRussian-Hebrew Colony Broken Upâ published today provided a brief history of an agricultural colony that had been established for Jewish immigrants from Russia in Middlesex County, Va. Despite the contribution of several thousands of dollars from the Jewish community in Baltimore, MD, the experiment failed. One family has asked to be sent back to Russia while the remaining men have been provide with jobs and several of the women are being taught to use sewing machines. The Torah used by the colonists will be returned to the Hebrew Hospital Association which had lent it the newcomers.
1883: It was reported today that Herr Haumann one of the lawyers who represented the Jews unfairly charged with the ritual murder of Christian girl in Hungary, fought a duel with Herr Vay, the Police Commissioner. The sword fight, during which Vay was âseverely wounded in the chest,â resulted from the attorneyâs accusation that the Police Commissioner had tortured the Jewish prisoners.
1885: âJudaism of the Futureâ published today provided a summary of Rabbi Kaufmann Kohlerâs view of the principles adopted by Reform rabbis at their meeting in Pittsburgh. He described it as a âJewish Declaration of Independenceâ which no longer looks to the memories of ancient Israel, rejects tradition âbut recognizes in Christianity and Islamism valuable helpers and co-workers in the direction of the fruition of the kingdom of virtue and truth.â (Editorâs note â one cannot help but wonder what Rabbi Kohler would have to say about the Reform movement in the 21st century)
1887: In Bialystok, Leah Zuro and Louis Zuro âa Russian immigrant who became a producer of operaâ gave birth to Josiah Zuro the American âmusic director for the Pathe Motion Picture Studioâ who conducted numerous symphony orchestras and âorganized his own opera company known as the Zuro Opera Company.â
http://www.vipfaq.com/Josiah%20Zuro.html
1887: In Great Britain, âIsaac Asher Isaacs and Hannah Zylberlast Isaacsâ gave birth to Estelle Stella Isaacs who became Estelle Stella Jacobs when she married âAlexander Susman Susman Jacobs.â
1888: Today marks the second day of the fair sponsored by the Hebrew Orphan Asylum which is an annual fundraiser for this Jewish organization.
1888: It was reported today that a new congregation âZichron Osherâ has been established on the west side of New York. Joseph Arthur Levy was the founder of the synagogue whose services will include congregational singing and the use of English for some of the prayers. Rabbi H. Veld will lead the new congregation assisted by Rabbi J.I. De Young.
1889: It was reported today the United Hebrew Charities will be hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner this week
1890: At 3 p.m. the boys of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum held their annual paradeâ today, marching through the streets of Harlem.
1891: In New York, Sarah Bernhardt appeared in the opening performance of âPauline Blanchardâ at the Standard Theatre.
1892: The Maccabeans, An Aggressive Clubâ published today described the formation of this club by Londonâs Jews in the wake of the Russian persecution of their co-religionists. âThe meetings of the Maccabeans afford something quite novel to English Judaism â an arena in which all the social, ethical and theological questions which are bubbling so vehemently in the Jewish mind can be thrashed out freely and without prejudice.â
1892: The members of Shaary Zedek voted not to remove the bodies from the congregationâs old cemetery on 88th Street between Park and Madison and reinter them in the new Bay Side Cemetery on Long Island
1892:Â It was reported today that Herman Ahlwardt, who is in jail because he was convicted of libeling a Jewish gun-making firm and is such âa shameless rogueâ that he has been publicly disowned by âthe anti-Semitic Party won a seat in the Reichstag by-election running three thousand votes ahead of his nearest opponent with campaign cry of âDown with the Jews.!â
1893: Seventy-eight year old Sebastian Brunner, the Austrian Catholic writer who was part of a group 19th authors whose âanti-Jewish propaganda had no equalâŠeither for quantity or virulence and who was part of the infamous libel charges brought against Ignaz Kuranda and Heinrich Graetz passed away today.
1894: In Paris, the Grand Rabbi preached a lengthy sermon at a well-attended service during which he âlauded Alexander IIIâs peace and exhorted all to pray for his soul as well as for his successor Czar Nicholas, his wife and all their relatives.â
1894: The bequests of the late Adolph Bernheimer published today included â$10,000 in 3 per cent bondsâ to the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum and Mount Sinai Hospital.
1895: In St. Louis, Caroline and Joseph Lazarus Kranson gave birth to Julius Kranson
1895: In a change of policy it was reported today that âa recent Ministerial order in Russia, Jews living in the interior who have been members of a first-class guild for five years are permitted to retain a permanent domicile in the place of their present habitation and this privilege will extend to their children.â
1895 Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Prize.âAt least 167 Jews and persons of half-Jewish ancestry have been awarded the Nobel Prize, accounting for 22% of all individual recipients worldwide between 1901 and 2004, and constituting 37% of all US recipients during the same period. In the scientific research fields of Chemistry, Economics, Medicine, and Physics, the corresponding world and U.S. percentages are 26% and 39%, respectively. (Jews currently make up approximately 0.25% of the world's population and 2% of the US population.)
Â
·        Chemistry (28 prize winners, 19% of world total, 28% of US total)
·        Economics (21 prize winners, 38% of world total, 53% of US total)
·        Literature (12 prize winners, 12% of world total, 27% of US total)
·        Physiology or Medicine (52 prize winners, 29% of world total, 42% of US total)
·        Peace (9 prize winners, 10% of world total, 11% of US total)
·        Physics (45 prize winners, 26% of world total, 38% of US total)
1896: Frank Rorschach who served aboard the Puritan during the Spanish American War was appointed from Kansas today.
1896(22nd of Kislev, 5657): Rav Israel Jaffe passed away today
1897: The Young Folksâ League of the Hebrew Infant Asylum will host a dance tonight at Terrace Garden.
1897: Following an anonymous tip, a Commissaire of Police âmade of thorough searchâ at 3 Rue Yvon-Villareau in Paris where he was told to look for âinteresting documents concerning the Dreyfus case. The apartments were occupied by Lt. Col. Picquart and what he found was not revealed to the public.
1897: Authorities searched for Madame de Boulancy, the cousin and former mistress of Ferdinand Esterhazy.
1898: In Charleston, SC, Rabbi B.A. Elzas officiated at the marriage of Louis Flanders and Jeannette Wetherhorn.
1898: In Chicago, $10,230 was raised during the auction of the boxes for the charity ball being held by the Young Menâs Hebrew Charity Association.
1898: Birthdate of Nathan Gregory Silvermaster, the native of Odessa who became an American economist and Soviet spy.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9A07E7DC1E3FEE32A25756C1A9669D946591D6CF
1898: âThe Week At The Theatresâ published today provided a detailed review âThe Merchant of Veniceâ at Dalyâs Theatre starring Sidney Herbert as Shylock and Ada Rehan as Portia which is described as being filled with âa few keen disappointments.â
1899(25th of Kislev, 5660): First day of Chanukah
1899: âDr. Silverman On The Jewâ published today provided the views of Rabbi Joseph Silverman on the survival of his co-religionist over the many centuries of mistreatment only to emerge triumphant in the 19th century where he âalways feels himself a citizen of the in which he livesâ but where âhis religion is cosmopolitan.â
1900: Four days after he had passed away, âNahum Salaman,â the husband of the former Amelia Bertram with whom he had had six children was buried today at the âBalls Pond Jewish Cemetery.â
1901: In Charleston, SC, Rabbi B.A. Elzas officiated at the marriage of William Rosenbaum and Rosalie Levy.
1905: David Kosse, the President of the Temporary Odessa Societies Organization and Joseph Sanders were the marshals for todayâs parade on the Lower East Side held in honor of the victims of the Odessa massacres which led by three men carrying flags â the American flag, the flag of Zion and a black flag edged in white.
1905: Samuel Simon wrote today, âI note with profound regret the fact that one of my co-religionists advances the theory that it would be wise to petition the Pope with a view toward his intervention with Russia inâ behalf of the Jews âand with the idea of bringing to a cessation the terrible atrocities that have befallen our brethren that countryâ because he maintains âthat it has already be demonstrated that our salvation lies in our own hands.â
1905: Simon Rasch presided over a mass meeting held by the First Odessa Benevolent Association at the Great Central Palace attended by over 2,000 people who raised âseveral hundreds of dollarsâ to fund to aid those suffering in Russia.
1905: At an executive meeting of the national committee collecting funds for the Russian Jews held in Jacob Schiffâs office it was âdecided to use its utmost endeavors to inspire the country with the idea that there must be no let-up in contributionsâ since conditions are far worse now than they were when it was decided to raise $1,000,000.
1905: âRabbi Adolph S. H. Radin of the Peopleâs Synagogue, Congressman Henry M. Goldfogle and actor Jacob P. Adlerâ are scheduled to address a mass meeting on Clinton Street.
1905: A mass meeting is scheduled to be held tonight âin the open square made by the judge of Sheriff, Grand and East Broadway, in the vicinity of the Young Menâs Benevolent Associationâ to protest against the treatment of the Jews of Russia.
1905: As conditions of the Jews in Russia continued to worsen, it was reported that today that the United States Government is being urged âto enact a more liberal immigration law which would allow many of the Jewish people who are barred from entering this country at the present time to come to America where they could be protected by the Jewish people.â
1905: As of today it was reported that $878,511 has been raised by the national committee collecting funds to aid the suffering Jews of Russia.
1905: âAccording to a private telegram from an eminently trustworthy sourceâ the violence in Sevastopol continues forcing the inhabitants, âespecially the Jewsâ to flee the city.
1905: âConsular advices by cable receivedâ in Washington report that fifteen Jews were killed at Rostoff during the recent riots in Russia.
1907: Birthdate of Syracuse native Phoebe Brand, the daughter of the âchief mechanical engineer for Remington typewriters, the actress and acting teacher who was the wife of actor Morris Carnovsky and the mother of Stephen Carnovsky.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/12/theater/phoebe-brand-96-actress-and-group-theater-co-founder.html
1907: In Boston, Louis and Muriel Fisher gave birth to Golda Walters the wife of Charles H. Walters and Boston University lawyer who while serving as a âMassachusetts judgeâ lost out on a chance for a federal judgeship in 1941 when President Roosevelt decided to fill the two vacancies with two men and who was described as the âprettiest judgeâ in the January 31, 1939 of Look magazine.
1907: In Hesse, Germany, Isaac and Sophie Plaut gave birth to Alfred Plaut, the husband of Fanny K. Kasper.
1907: Sixty-four year old Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea, the husband of Constance, the daughter of Sir Anthony de Rothschild passed away today.
1909(14th of Kislev, 5670): Parashat Vayishlach
1909(14th of Kislev, 5670): Noachm Schapiro passed away today.
1909: Birthdate of Alfred Lionel Piser, the native of Chicago and graduate of the University of Illinois who served in WW II and became a successful Ophthalmologist,
1912: In Chicago, Mrs. Hamburger is scheduled to give German readings after which Mrs. G.B. Levi will lead the singing of German songs at this afternoonâs meeting of The Willing Workers.
1912: A troupe of Yiddish language actors including Jacob P. Adler will begin performing this evening at the Haymarket Theatre.
1912: Professor Percy Homes Boynton of the University of Chicago is scheduled to deliver a lecture at the Chicago Hebrew Institute on âThe Trend of American Fiction.â
1912:Â In St. Louis, MO, Samuel Margulois, âa hand-to-mouth salesman and his wife Celiaâ gave birth to David Lee Margulois, the Washington University graduate and lawyer who gained fame as David Merrick, the theatrical producer best known for his production of âHello Dolly.â
1912: In Pueblo, CO, Romanian Jewish immigrants Samuel Cohen and Dora Inger who had been living in Denver gave birth to Rose Cohen who gained fame as actress Connie Sawyer.
1912: Leopold Godowskyâs piano recital at Carnegie Hall today included a half dozen of Listzâs most difficult etudes.
1913: Anglo-Jewish featherweight/bantam weight Matt Wells defeated Owen Moran in Sydney, Australia
1914: The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committeewas established by combining several separate organizations. Its original name was the Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers and was chaired by Felix M. Warburg. It campaigned and distributed funds wherever Jews were in need, especially in Eastern Europe. It is popularly known as the "Joint" or "JDC." During the First World War they spent almost 15,000,000 on relief efforts.
1914(9th of Kislev, 5675): Lt Frank Alexander de Pass of 34 Poona Horse, part of the Indian Expeditionary Force which arrived in France soon after the war beganâ and who first Jew to be awarded the Victoria Cross (posthumously) was killed today.
1914: In Brooklyn, Rabbi Alexander Lyons preached a sermon entitled âPrejudice in American Lifeâ at Friday night services âin which he referred to the prejudice again Leo M. Frank that existed in Atlanta during the trial of Frank which resulted in a verdict convicting him of the murder of Mary Phagan.
1914: If the Supreme Court of the United States denies the application of Leo Frank for a writ of error, Georgia Governor John M Slaton told reporters at the Waldorf today that he will review all of the evidence and if Frank âis not guilty then he ought to be saved from the (death) penalty and shall not a victim of injustice because he is a Jew.â As to his feelings towards Jews, the governor pointed out that Mr. Philips, his law partner for nineteen years is a Jew and that Jews have been an integral part of Georgia since the days of the Crown when the Minis family settled in the colony.
1914: âFollowing the second reversal at the hands of a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Statesâ Leo Franks has issued a public statement âcalling attention to several phasesâ of his case including the fact that the members of their jury feared for their lives because of âthe dangerousâŠcrowd which surrounded the jailâ and that the âSupreme Court has never reviewed the question of his guilt or innocenceâ but has only responded to questions of procedural technicalities related to his appeal.
1915: The American Embassy in Berlin is working with the German government to get permission for Isadore Hershfield to go to Poland where, among other things he will try to make contact with Jews whose families in America would like to send them financial assistance.
1915: On Shabbat, at Temple Israel on the corner of Lenox Avenue and 120thStreet, Rabbi M.H. Harris delivered a sermon on âThanksgiving in Tribulationâ in which he made âan appeal to the Jews of America to give aid to their starving brethren in Galicia and Poland.â
1916: It was reported today that a Russian officer had made speech to the peasants the District of Lutsk in which âhe said the Jews were enemies of the State and traitors and they must be expelledâ and told them that they must come forward and testify as to how the Jews had welcomed and supported the Austrians.
1916: âPlain clothes men who arrest women on the streets were defendedâ tonight âby Justice Henry Herbert of Special Sessions at the annual meeting of the Sisterhood of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue â an organization which spends a considerable amount of time and money working among the âJewish girls whom into the magistrateâs courtsâ with the intent of leading them away from criminal activity.
1916: It was pointed out at todayâs session of the Reichstag that âthe Jewish population of former Russian Poland amounts to 14 percentâ of the work force and that this âlarge number of Jews in Poland might be profitably employed byâ German manufacturers âto relieve the dearth of labor.â
1917: As revolution spreads across Ukraine and nationalist forces tried to take control of what had once been part of the Russian empire, it was reported today that that Jews in Skivira have been attacked in a pogrom.
1917: Turkish forces began four days of attacks against Allenbyâs troops in futile attempt to keep the British forces from Jerusalem.
1917: At Petrograd, âa delegation of Jews appeared at the British Embassy today to express its gratitude for the action of the Entente Allies with reference to Palestine.â
1917: Birthdate of Yhyah Qafih, the native of Sanaâa Yemin who was the son of Rabbi David Qafiáž„ and the grandson of Rabbi Yiáž„yah Qafiáž„, making him the third generation of leaders of the Yemenite Jewish community, first in Yemen and then in Israel.
1918: Birthdate of New Yorker Elliott Pershing Stitzel who gained fame as actor Stephen Elliott.
1918: Felix M. Warburg, the Chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee of the American Funds for Jewish War Suffers issued a statement tonight explaining why it was necessary âto raise $5,000,000 for Jewish reliefâ that began âThe Jewish civilian populations throughout the war zones have been deprived of the opportunity to be self-supportingâ and âthe end of the war has not altered their state but has actually accentuated their miseryâ as can be seen by the fact that âin many countries the Jews will not receive the bread distributed by the governmentâ unless it is done by the Jews themselves.
1918: Birthdate of Victor Elmaleh, the native of Mogador, who imported the first Volkswagens to the United States and âdeveloped $7 billion worth of real estate.â (As reported by Douglas Martin)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/nyregion/victor-elmaleh-builder-and-entrepreneur-dies-at-95.html?rref=obituaries&module=Ribbon&version=origin®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Obituaries&pgtype=article&_r=0
1919: Following the end of WW I, Bulgaria signed The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine which included guarantees of the rights of that countryâs Jewish population.
1922: It was reported today that âa committee on local arrangements, composed of the presidents of important synagogues in New York and Brooklyn under the chairmanship of Daniel P. Haysâ is already making preparations for the meeting of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations which will be held on January 20, 1923.
1922: It was reported today that last week during the dedication of a memorial tabled to the men of Harlem who died in the World War, President Nicholas Murray Butler of Columbia and Congressman Isaac Siegel spoke out against the Ku Klux Klan â an organization which a large section of the population of New York led by the Catholics and Jews has declared âopen warfare against.â
1922: It was reported today that President Harding has not yet appointed Congressman Isaac Siegel who did not seek re-election to the House of Representatives âto one of the vacant judgeships in the local United States District Court.â
1924: In the New York City the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held. Maceyâs was not founded by Jews, but it was two Jews, Isidor and Nathan Straus, who took control of the store in 1896 who turned into what was then âbiggest department store in the world.â
1925: Birthdate of Ernest Wiseman, the English comedian who changed his name to Ernie further his career as an actor and singer in English music halls. He was best known as one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, which became an institution on British television, especially for their Christmas specials. He passed away in 1999. Just as in American, English entertainers changed their names to get ahead and like Irving Berlin helped add luster to the Christianâs Christmas.
1925: In Paris Paulette (nĂ©e Grobermann) and Armand Lanzmann gave birth to Claude Lanzemann, the French filmmaker who joined the Resistance at the age of 18 and fought the Nazis and later became âchief editor of the journal Les Temps Modernes, which was founded by Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.â Lanzmann's most renowned work is the nine-and-a-half hour documentary film Shoah (1985), which is an oral history of the Holocaust, and is broadly considered to be the foremost film on the subject.â
https://www.timesofisrael.com/claude-lanzmann-acclaimed-director-of-documentary-shoah-dies-at-92/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=9c99bf4dd6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_07_05_06_22&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adb46cec92-9c99bf4dd6-53921877
1925(10th of Kislev, 5686): Forty three year old Horace Andrew Saks, the son of Andrew and Jennie Sakes and the husband of Dorothy Isabel Sakes passed away today, who along with Bernard Gimbel had created Saks Fifth Avenue in 1924.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1925/11/28/98842905.pdf
1926: âThe Miraculous Mandarinâ âa one act pantomime balletâŠbased on the story by Melchior Lengyelâ premiered today in Cologne, Germany where âit caused a scandal and was subsequently banned on moral grounds,â
1928: âBlame for the recent riots at the wailing wall in Jerusalem was placed squarely on the Jewish community in a White paper issued today by the Colonial Office, containing a memorandum on the subject by L.C.M.S. Amery, Secretary of State for the Coloniesâ that âstated that officials intervened at the wailing wall only after the Jewish worshippers had violated the existing agreement by bringing chairs and benches or screens to the street pavement.â
1933: In Brooklyn, restaurant workers âAl Saperstein and Doris Bergmanâ gave birth to Burton Saperstein who gained fame as bibliophile Burt Britton. (As reported by James Barron)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/obituaries/burt-britton-a-book-lover-if-ever-there-was-one-dies-at-84.html?hpw&rref=obituaries&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
1933: Birthdate of William G. Dever, the native of Louisville, KY who became âan archaeologist specializing in the history of Israel and the Near East in Biblical timesâ whose works included What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It?
http://www.centuries.co.uk/dever-review.pdf
1933: As Hitler moves to consolidate his control over German society Kraft durch Freude (KdF; Strength through Joy) is established to tie leisure activities of the German Volk (people) to the aims of the Nazi Party.
1933: A transfer company was established today in Tel Aviv to facilitate the immigration of German Jews along with whatever property they are able to bring with them. (Jewish Virtual Library)
1935(1st of Kislev, 5696): Rosh Chodesh Kislev
1935(1st of Kislev, 5696): Sixty-seven year old Louisville, KY native Benjamin Edward Bensinger, the husband of Rose Frank Bensinger, father of Yale graduate Benjamin Edward Bensinger, Jr. and Benjamin Edward Bensinger III passed away today in Chicago.
1936: Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels declares that film criticism is henceforth banned, freeing the Nazi-controlled German film industry to pursue its own agenda, which includes blatantly anti-Semitic films. During the same period in the United States, Hollywood is self-censored in that it fears dealing with Jewish issues because of the high level of anti-Semitism existing at the time in the United States.
1936: âBorn to Dance,â a musical with a script co-authored by Sid Silvers who also played the role of âGunnyâ Sacks was released in the United States today.
1936:Â In a letter-to-the editor published today, Hendrik Willem Van Loon expressed his appreciation to the New York Times for printing a previous letter in which he âsuggested that we do a little cosmic pinch-hitting and erect a statue of Felix Mendelssohn and keep it here until our German friends shall be able to once more to listen to his charming music without getting Aryan jitters. (This was a reference to the Nazi ban on the music of Mendelssohn whose Jewish origins did not spare him from a posthumous form of anti-Semitism)
1937: Opening performance of "Pins & Needles" a pro-labor musical revue produced by ILGWU
1938: Speaking before the National Council of Teachers of English in St. Louis, âProfessor Clyde R. Miller of New York, the director of the Institute for Propaganda Analysis said today that America may expect increasing Nazi propaganda to justify the persecution of Jews, Catholics and Protestants in Germanyâ and that âthe object of the Nazi propaganda was to break Americans up into dissenting groups â getting Christians hating Jews, Catholics hating Protestants, natives hating foreign born.â
1938: âErich Rix, the president of the San Francisco unit of the German American League for Culture announced today that the group had adopted a declaration condemning the Hitler government for a regular pogrom against the Jews.â
1939: In New York, at the Hotel Astor, Dr. Kurt Blumenfeld, president of the German-Jewish Settlers Association in Palestine, Dr. Georg Landauer, head of the Central Bureau for the Settlement of German Jews in Palestine, Louis Lipsky, chairman of the Palestine Foundation Fund, Charles Ress and Dr. Ludwig Lewisohn addressed tonightâs meeting of the Palestine Foundation, the fiscal arm of the Jewish Agency for Palestine.
1939: It was reported today that the rise in the price of stocks in Berlin is due âpartly to the continued sales of stocks formerly owned by Jews for the Reichâs accountsâ which âwere taken in payment from former holders at prices considerably below their present valuesâ and partly in anticipation of the next payment of 200,000,000 marks which the Jews must make in December.
1939: As of today, the new national officers of Junior Hadassah were President Nell Ziff, Vice Presidents Goldie Brenner of Newport News, VA; Sylvia Brody of Akron, Ohio; Claire Gottfried Jacobson of New York; Esther Brody, Brooklyn, NY; Secretary Ernestine Kirschner of New York and Treasurer Dorothy Hines of New York.
1939: George Z Medalie was reported to have âannounced that during the upcoming week twenty-seven luncheons, dinners and group meetingsâ would be held as âpart of the program to enlist support forâ the 1939 Appeal of the New York and Brooklyn Federation of Jewish Charities.
1939(15th of Kislev, 5700): Seventy-six year old Alexander Harkavy, Jewish lexicographer, author and publisher of newspapers in Montreal and Baltimore passed away today at the Broadway Central Hotel in New York City.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9500E3D7143EE432A2575BC2A9679D946894D6CF
http://www.bjpa.org/publications/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=19362
1939:Â It was reported today âthat the German plan for the deportation of all Jews within the confines of the Greater Reich foresees the transportation of 150,000 Jews from the Protectorate, 60,000 from Austria, 30,000 from the conquered provinces of Posen and Western Prussia and approximately 200,000 from the old Reich territory to Eastern Poland.â
1941: The Jews were deported from Wuerzburg, Germany.
http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/this_month/november/09.asp
1941: Friedrich Jeckeln met with the leaders of Protective Police, âa branch of the German Order Policeâ who would be participating in the upcoming massacre of the Jews in Riga.
1941: The first of 19 trains leaves Germany to resettle thousands of Jews in Riga and Kovno. Yet, 1000 newly resettled German Jews were taken and killed at the same time.
1941: âThe Palestine Symphony Orchestra has just announced the results of a competition open to composers in Palestine and the neighboring countries.â Because of the volume and quality of the entries, four âwinnersâ instead of just one were announced including, a Divertimento for Orchestra by Joseph Huttel, director of European Music at the Egyptian State Broadcasting, Cairo, Overture to a cantata by A. Daus of Tel Aviv, a Symphony of Variations for Soloists and Orchestra by Peter Gradenwitz of Tel Aviv and Fatum, a symphonic poem by J. Wohl of Haifa.
1942: From this date through August 1943Â more than 110,000 Poles are expelled from their homes in the fertile Zamosc province so that the area can be resettled by ethnic Germans, SS troops, and Ukrainians. More than 300 villages are affected. Thousands of Polish children are deported from the area to Belzec and other death camps.
1942: Birthdate of poet Marilyn Hacker
1942: On Friday night, Rabbi Harold Saperstein delivered a sermon entitled âWhat Have We Jews to Be Thankful For?â on the day following Thanksgiving when the condition of American Jewry stood in stark contrast to the news âthe papers have given the general public information about what is happening to the Jews of Nazi-occupied Europe.â
1943: U.S. premiere of âOld Acquaintanceâ a comedy-drama directed by Vincent Sherman with music by Franz Waxman.
1944: In the weekly internal report of the War Refugee Board, it reported that the United States embassy had received from the Spanish Foreign Office: "Official confirmation that appropriate instructions have been sent to the Spanish Legation in Bern to seek the collaboration of the Swiss government in the efforts of the Spanish Embassy in Berlin to obtain the release and transfer to Swiss territory of the group of 155 Sephardic Jews at Camp Bergen Belson."
1944:Â "The Trial and Punishment of European War Criminals," a report by U.S. Secretary of War Henry Stimson and Secretary of State Cordell Hull, is submitted to President Franklin Roosevelt.Â
1944(11th of Kislev, 5705): Leonid Isaakovich Mandelshtam, Russian physicist, passed away.
1944(11th of Kislev, 5705): Albert Isaac Myers, âthe proprietor of Myers & Co.â a bookstore specializing in ârare books, fine prints and choice early mapsâ who was described by Harold Laski as being âone of the most learned and helpful of booksellersâ and whose activities in the Jewish community included serving on the Board of Management of the Dalston Synagogue and the committees for the Jewish Free Reading Room and the Home for Jewish Incurables.
1945: The American League for a Free Palestine, chaired by former Iowa Senator Guy Gillette, sent a telegram to President Harry Truman protesting recent beatings of Jewish displaced persons housed at the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp by British military police. According to the League, an unnamed German had told the British that the Jews planned to protest Ernest Bevinâs recent hostile comments about Palestine. British forces arrested the leader of the Jewish âprisonersâ and reportedly beat several of the women.
1945: In London, former U.S. Senator Guy Gillette, head of the American League for a Free Palestine, held a press conference after meeting with Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin in which he declared âthat the United States was âthoroughly worked upâ over Palestineâ and regarded the situational there as a testing ground for all the principles of Atlantic Charter.
1945: The American League for a Free Palestine submitted a memorandum to the British government calling for action by the Big Five Powers to deal with any violence that the British claim will occur if 100,000 Jews are allowed to immigrate to Palestine.
1946(4th of Kislev, 5707): Seventy âtwo year old Rabbi Solly Baron, who escaped to Germany in 1939 and arrived in Halifax in 1945 passed away today in St. Louis.
1947: Thanksgiving in the United States
1947: On Thanksgiving, âthe Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society fed turkey dinners to fifty children and to 200 newly arrived immigrantsâ to whom âthe significance of Thanksgiving Day in the United States was carefully explained.â
1947: âThe Palestine Governmentâs intention to sell Government land on the Haifa waterfront, which has aroused a storm of protest from the Jewish communityâ and which Mrs. Golda Myerson has described as âincomprehensibleâ âwas confirmed today in the official Palestine Gazette.
1947: In Prague, Czechoslovakia Franci and Kurt Epstein gave birth to American author Helen Epstein.
http://www.helenepstein.com/
1949: Eighty-six year old William H. King, the Senator from Utah who in 1927 âdeclaredâŠthat he favored the United States severing diplomatic relations with any country which failed because of anti-Semitism to protect its Jewish nationalsâ and âexpressed the belief that eventually Palestine would be able to support a population of a million Jewsâ passed away today.
1950: A rummage sale sponsored by the Jordan Metropolis Chapter of the Bânai Bârith is scheduled to begin today in New York City.
1950: Mrs. Jack Kesselman is scheduled to address todayâs meeting of the Jersey City, NJ chapter of Hadassah at the Jersey City Jewish Community Center.
1950:Â Films of Europe and Israel are scheduled to be shown at tonightâs meeting of the Kinnereth Business and Professional Group of Hadassah meeting at the Henry Hudson Hotel.
1951: Today thirty year old produer/director Jospeh Papp married Salt Lake City, Utah native, Peggy Marie Bennion who earned an MSW from the Hunter College School of Social Work.
https://www.scribd.com/document/315097496/Family-Therapy-Pioneers-Peggy-Papp
1953(20th of Kislev, 5714): Seventy-seven year old French playwright Henri-LĂ©on-Gustave-Charles Bernstein the victim of an anti-Semitic riot in 1911 whose play âDreaming Lipsâ was made into a movie in 1932 and who spent WW II living at the Waldorf-Astoria passed away today after which he was buried in the CimetiĂšre de Passy in Paris.
1956: Senator John F. Kennedy addresses the Annual Banquet of Histadrut Zionist Organization, Baltimore, Maryland.
1956: In Amsterdam, Queen Juliana attended the opening performance of Goodrich and Hackett's âThe Diary of Anne Frank.â
1956(18th of Kislev, 5654): Seventy-seven year old muralist Hugo Ballin whose works included a mural at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple that âencircles the main Sanctuaryâ that tell the story of the Jewish people from Bereshit until the time of its commissioning in 1929.
1956: The Jerusalem Post reported that Jews arriving by plane in Paris 'confirmed that expulsion orders were being issued to Jews in Egypt by the thousands.'
1956: Golda Meir, the Israeli Foreign Minister, "wrote the first of two letters to the UN Secretary General, protesting the 'action taken by the Egyptian Government against the Jewish Community in Egypt.'"
1957: âThe Sad Sackâ a comedy produced by Hal B. Wallis, starring Jerry Lewis and featuring Peter Lorre was released today in the United States.
1958: Polish born conductor Artur RodziĆski passed away. Rodzinski was not Jewish but under the law of unintended consequences, he had major impact on the career of a Jew who was one of the musical icons of the 20thcentury, Leonard Bernstein. âRodzinski said that God told him to hire 24 year old LeonardBernstein, to be his assistant conductor. In the fall of 1943 Rodzinski decided to take a vacation, spend a little time with his goats, and called in Bruno Walter to conduct seven concerts in ten days. Only hours before one of those concerts (in the program, works by Schumann, Rosza, Strauss and Wagner) Walter fell ill. Rodzinski was only four hours away, in his farm. But he declined to come back to Carnegie Hall: "Call Bernstein. That's why we hired him." The concert was broadcast over radio and a review appeared on page 1 of The New York Times the next day: "Young Aide Leads Philharmonic; Steps in When Bruno Walter is Illâ" And the rest, as they say, is history.
1958(15th of Kislev, 5719): Seventy-five year old âartist, critic, authorâ and college professor Walter Pach passed away today at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9500E6D7143DE53BBC4051DFB7678383649EDE
https://www.flickr.com/photos/26746018@N03/3234018815/in/photostream/
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/walter-pach-papers-suppressed-old-digitized-microfilm-9852/more
1958: In Tel Aviv, âtheatre actor Shmulik Atzmonâ and his wife gave birth to actress and singer Anat Atzmon.
1962(30th of Cheshvan, 5723): Rosh Chodesh Kislev
1962(30th of Cheshvan 5723): Fifty-one year old photographer Florence Meyer Homolka, the daughter of Eugene Meyer and actor Oskar Homolka, passed away today.
1963: Birthdate of three-time Ophir Award winner Ronit Elkabetz.
1964: In Montreal, Dr. Gina Shochat-Rakoff and Dr. Vivian Rakooff gave birth to âprize-winning humoristâ David Benjamin Rakoff (As reported by Margalit Fox)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/11/books/david-rakoff-award-winning-humorist-dies-at-47.html?_r=0
1964: Birthdate of Ophir award winning Israeli actress and filmmaker Ronit Elkabetz, the native of Beersheba who oldest four children born âto a religious Moroccan Jewish family originally from Esaaouira.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9805E2DD123DEF3ABC4051DFB767838D609EDE
1965: âGamera: The Giant Monsterâ a horror film featuring Alan Oppenheimer as âDr. Ctonrareâ was released today in Japan.
1967: At news conference today President Charles de Gaulle called Jews âelite people, sure of itself and domineering.â
1968: In Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France, âEddie Vartan, a Bulgarian-born musician, and Doris (nĂ©e Pucher) Vartan, a painter and artist gave birth to Franco-American actor Michael Vartan, the nephew of singer Sylvie Vartan.
1969(17th of Kislev, 5730): In Athens, one Greek child was killed and 13 others were wounded when two Jordanian terrorists attacked the El Al offices with hand grenades.
1972: Release of Free to Be You and Me, the album of non-sexist stories and songs that helped shape the self-understanding and worldview of a generation of children. Letty Cottin Pogrebin was the editorial project consultant for the album as well as the book and television special associated with the project, all of which were created by feminist and actress Marlo Thomas. Free to Be You and Me, which features such songs as âParents are Peopleâ and âIt's All Right to Cry,â is still enjoyed by children today. In addition to her work on Free to Be You and Me, Pogrebin was a founding editor of Ms. Magazine. She was a co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus, as well as the Ms. Foundation for Women and the International Center for Peace in the Middle East. She wrote the best-selling parenting guide to raising non-sexist children, Growing Up Free: Raising Your Children in the 80s (1980), as well as Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America (1991), Family Politics: Love and Power on an Intimate Frontier (1983), and Getting Over Getting Older: An Intimate Journey (1996). Pogrebin recently published her first novel, Three Daughters (2003).
1973:Neil Simon's "Good Doctor," premieres in New York City.
1976: Release date for âNetworkâ the Paddy Chayefsky written classic directed by Sidney Lumet. Lumet was nominated for an Oscar and Chayefsky won one for his screenplay.
1978(27th of Cheshvan, 5739): In San Francisco, California, city mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former supervisor Dan White. Milk was Jewish. Moscone was succeeded by Jewish the head of the Board of Supervisors, Diane Feinstein. Feinstein would go on to be elected to the U.S. Senate where she and fellow Californian Barbara Boxer would become the first Jewish female duo to represent a state in the nationâs Upper Chamber.
1980: ABC broadcast the first episode of âBosom Buddies,â a sitcom co-starring Wendie Jo Sperber today.
1981: âTen Out of 10,â âthe eighth studio album by 10ccâ which marked the first involvement with the band by American singer-songwriter Andrew Gold and was co-produced by Graham Gouldman was released today.
1981: Eighty-three year old singer and actress Lotte Lenyam, the widow of Kurt Weil who although not Jewish herself, left Germany when the Nazis came to power passed away today.
1987(6th of Kislev, 5748): In Israel, two âinternal security agentsâ were killed today.
1991: The New York Times published a review of Benevolence and Betrayal Five Italian Jewish Families Under Fascism by Alexander Stille.
1993(13th of Kislev, 5754): Marvin H. Bernstein, a businessman and philanthropist in New York for many years passed away today at the Miami Heart Institute. He was 66 and lived in Miami. Mr. Bernstein was the founder and for 34 years the president of the Variety Knit Corporation of Manhattan, which makes women's clothing and T-shirts. He also founded the Marvin Bernstein Oil Company, a petroleum exploration company with headquarters in Miami. Mr. Bernstein was a fund-raiser for and a contributor to the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, the Simon Weisenthal Center, Israel Bonds, the Weitzman Institute of Science, Tel Aviv University and other medical and religious groups.
1994(24th of Kislev, 5755): In the evening, kindle the first Chanukah light
1995: Salah Tarif begins serving as the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs
1995: Uri Or began serving as the Deputy Minister of Defense.
1998: âThe Slums of Beverly Hillsâ a comedy about âa teenage girl struggling to grow up in the late 1970s in a lower-middle-class nomadic Jewish family that moves every few monthsâ starring Natasha Lyonne and Alan Arkin and featuring Carl Reiner and Eli Marienthal was released in the United Kingdom today, three months after premiering in the United States.
1999:Â The left-wing Labour Party takes control of the New Zealand government with leader Helen Clark becoming the first elected female Prime Minister in New Zealand's history. In 2005, she opposed a visit by Israeli President Moshe Ktsav because of a dispute surrounding alleged Mossad agents and the issuing of fraudulent passports.
2000: Illusionist Dave Blaine began a stunt called âFrozen In Timeâ at New Yorkâs Times Square
2001(12th of Kislev, 5762): Etty Fahima, 45, of Netzer Hazani was killed three others were injured when a Palestinian terrorist threw grenades and opened fire at a convoy on the road between the Kissufim crossing and Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
2001(12th of Kislev, 5762): Noam Gozovsky, 23, of Moshav Ramat Zvi, and Michal Mor, 25, of Afula were killed when two Palestinian terrorists from the Jenin area opened fire with Kalashnikov assault rifles on a crowd of people near the central bus station in Afula. Police officers and a reserve soldier confronted them, killing the terrorists in the ensuing firefight. Another 50 people were injured, 10 of them moderately to seriously. Fatah and the Islamic Jihad claimed joint responsibility.
2002(22nd of Kislev, 5763): Eighty-nine year old Stanley Black, the conductor and composer born Solomon Schwartz passed away today in London
 2005: In the topsy-turvy world of Israeli politics, Shimon Peres is seriously considering leaving the Labor Party and joining Ariel Sharonâs new Kadima Party. This would mean the old lion of labor and the old lion of Likud could end their careers under a common political banner. In yet an even stranger twist of fate, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak injected himself into the upcoming electoral campaign by declaring that Ariel Sharon was the only Israeli leader capable of making peace with the Palestinians.Â
2005: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or about topics of Jewish interest including Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine by Harold Bloom and The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam.
2006: The Times of London reported Alexander Litvinenko, the poisoned former KGB agent had just returned from a trip to Israel. A dossier drawn up by Alexander Litvinenko on the Kremlinâs takeover of Yukos, the worldâs richest energy giant was turned over to Scotland Yard as police investigate the former KGB spyâs secret dealings with some of Russiaâs richest men. It emerged yesterday that Mr. Litvinenko traveled to Israel just weeks before he died to hand over evidence to a Russian billionaire of how agents working for President Putin dealt with his enemies running the Yukos oil company. He passed this information to Leonid Nevzlin, the former second-in-command of Yukos, who fled to Tel Aviv in fear for his life after the Kremlin seized and then sold off the $40 billion (ÂŁ21 billion) company. Mr. Nevzlin told The Times that it was his âdutyâ to pass on the file. âAlexander had information on crimes committed with the Russian Governmentâs direct participation,â he said. There has been more than a whiff of anti-Semitism in Putinâs drive to gain control of Russia.
2006: In New Zealand, John Key became the parliamentary leader of the National Party.
2006: Cartoonist Jules Feiffer began a stint âat the Arizona State University Barret Honors Collegeâ today.
2006: Seth Rudetsky starred in âOff-Off-Broadway production of âTorch Song Trilogyâ which opened today.
2007: Batsheva Dance choreographer Ohad Naharin premiers his latest work, âKamuyotâ in Stockholm. The premier will be followed by 100 performances before 20,000 students all over Sweden. âKamuyotâ can be translated as ânumbers ofâ or âcharacteristics.â
2007: The scheduled U.S. sponsored meeting of Israelis and Arabs at Annapolis, MD, comes to an end.
2007: YIVO Institute presents The Klezmatics: Up Close in downtown Manhattan. The Klezmatics perform music drawn from their 2007 Grammy award-winning CD Wonder Wheel â Lyrics by Woody Guthrie, YIVOâs Max and Frieda Weinstein Sound Archives and their vast repertoire.
2007: "Operation: Last Chanceâ will be formally launched at a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Simon Wiesenthal Center's "Operation: Last Chance" is targeted to find and bring to justice at least some of the thousands of Nazis still hiding in South America 62 years after the end of World War II. It will probably be the final major effort to locate and bring to justice Nazis in hiding scattered around the world. "Operation: Last Chance" offers money in exchange for information that helps find and prosecute former Nazis. It was first launched in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in July 2002, and spread to countries throughout Europe, including Germany, Poland, Hungary and Croatia. It has brought forth some 488 suspected Nazi war criminals, of which 99 names were submitted to local law enforcement in the countries where the suspects resided. The result so far has been three arrest warrants, two extradition requests and dozens of continuing investigations. The final number may not sound like much, "but it's actually a lot [considering] the late date and bureaucratic obstacles," says the center's chief Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff. "The problem is not finding these people, but getting them into a courtroom. Political will is turning out to be more difficult than finding information and catching the [suspects]." While "the atmosphere is different now, and there is less willingness [than in the past] to give shelter to exposed Nazi war criminals" on the part of South America's center-left governments, "most have not been willing to undertake comprehensive investigations to find Nazis," Zuroff complains. Even so, "if we find the Nazis, today they will extradite them."
2007: At the end of the Annapolis Conference, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spoke of the relevance to any future Israeli-Palestinian agreement of the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab countries after 1948.
2008: As the Thanksgiving weekend begins, Secretsdirected by Avi Nesher premiers theatrically in commercial movie theatres. In the 'Secrets', director Avi Nesher skillfully presents the quandaries facing Naomi (Ania Bukstein) the studious, devoutly religious daughter of prominent rabbi, who convinces her father to postpone her marriage for a year so that she might study at a Jewish seminary for women in the ancient Kabalistic seat of Safed. Naomi's quest for individuality takes a defiant turn when she befriends Michelle, a free spirited and equally headstrong fellow student.
2008: During the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks, Indian army reported that it had secured the Jewish outreach center at Nariman House and liberated 60 people in the building.
2008:Â Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger and Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar are calling for a mass prayer rally today in the hope that heavenly intervention will stem the global financial crisis.
2008: Final showing at the Jacob Burns Film Center of âOne Day Youâll Understandâ a film that portrays the reaction of French businessmanâs reaction to the televised trial of Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie in 1987.
2008: Israeli sculptor Gideon Gechtman, a native of Alexandria, whose family made Aliyah in 1945, passed away today.
http://www.imj.org.il/imagine/collections/results.asp?searchType=simple&words=Gechtman%2C+Gideon&ArtistE=on&Submit2=Search
http://www.imj.org.il/artcenter/default.asp?artist=272639
2008: Idina Menzel performed "I Stand" on the M&M Candies float as part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
2009: A man accused of murdering Dutch civilians as a member of a Waffen SS hit squad said at his trial today that he was proud about being chosen to fight for the Nazis. Heinrich Boere, 88, made his first comments to the Aachen state court since his trial opened at the end of October. As part of that SS unit, he is charged with killing a bicycle-shop owner, a pharmacist and another civilian. He faces a possible sentence of life in prison if convicted. Boere said he remembered his mother waking him up the night in 1940 that Germany invaded his hometown in the Netherlands and seeing Stuka dive-bombers overhead. Instead of fearing the German bombs, Boere, whose father was Dutch and mother German, said his family was elated as the attack unfolded. "[My mother] said 'they're coming' now things will be better," he told the court, speaking animatedly to the panel of judges. "It was better," he added later. Boere was born in Eschweiler, Germany, on the outskirts of Aachen where he lives today, but moved to the Netherlands when he was an infant. After the Germans had overrun his hometown of Maastricht and the rest of the Netherlands, he remembers as an 18-year-old seeing a recruiting poster for the Waffen SS, signed by Heinrich Himmler. It offered German citizenship after two years of service and the possibility of becoming a policeman after that. He showed up with 100 other Dutchmen at the recruitment office and was one of 15 chosen. "I was very proud," Boere told the court in a statement read by his attorney before he answered questions from the presiding judge. After fighting on the Russian front, Boere ended up back in the Netherlands as part of "Silbertanne" - a unit of largely of Dutch SS volunteers responsible for reprisal killings of their countrymen for resistance attacks on collaborators. Boere admitted the three killings to Dutch authorities when he was in captivity after the war but managed to escape from his POW camp and eventually return to Germany. He was sentenced to death in the Netherlands in 1949 - later commuted to life imprisonment - but Boere has managed to avoid jail so far. Still, Boere told the court he was aware of the possibility he would be pursued by authorities, so much so that he never married. "I always had to consider that my past might catch up with me, and I didn't want to inflict that upon a woman," he said in his statement.
2009: A Palestinian terrorist was killed this morning when the IAF struck a Gaza terror cell preparing to fire rockets into Israel.
2009: The Israeli Black Panthers host a special tour of the Musara neighbored in Jerusalem. The Israeli Black Panthers âis a popular movement of Arab Jews âfirst established during the 1970âs. The historic âSeam Lineâ neighborhood was right on the Israeli-Jordanian borderâ until the war in June, 1967 resulted in the reunification of the city. The purpose of the tour is to acquaint visitors with âthe place, its peoples and the relevance of its history and struggle in the Israeli-Arab conflict.
2009: Performance of âLost in Yonkersâ at the DC JCC.
2009: Paul âGodfrey was announced as the chair of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporationâ today,
2009: In Cedar Rapids, Iowa Noah Thalblum helps to lead Friday Night services as part of his Bar Mitzvah weekend.
2009: Abe Pollinâs funeral service is held at Washington Hebrew Congregation.
2010(20thof Kislev, 5771) Eighty-seven year old Irvin Kershner - who directed the Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back, the James Bond film Never Say Never Again and Robocop 2 â passed away today.
2010(20th of Kislev, 5752): Vilém Flusser a Czech-born Brazilian Jewish philosopher, writer and journalist passed away.
2010: In Michigan, the Young Adult Division of Jewish Federation is scheduled to sponsor the sixth annual Latke Vodka donor thank you event.
2010: A rock was thrown through the back window of the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center, which is located on the Indiana Univeristy campus, today. Earlier in the week, a rock was thrown through the back window of the Chabad Jewish student center located just outside the campus. Bloomington city police and campus police are investigating whether the attacks are related. Glass from the broken window of the Chabad house did damage to the buildingâs worship center, the groupâs president, Alex Groysman, told the Indiana Daily Student newspaper. âWe believe it was an act of anti-Semitism because the window shattered was less than a yard away from a sign that says Jewish Student Center,â Groysman told the paper. âAfter everything the center does to build understanding and friendly relations in the community, there are people out there that just want to destroy. By throwing that stone, that person was sending a message that they do not want us here, and that is something that is not OK.âChabad plans to display a 12-foot menorah for Chanukah, according to the report.
2011: The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including âSomething Urgent I Have to Say to You: The Life and Works of William Carlos Williamsâ by Herbert Leibowitz
2011:Ministerial Committee on Legislation decided today not to back a bill that would limit public access to High Court petitions, sponsored by MKs Danny Danon and Yariv Levin from the Likud.
2011:Prominent Israeli singer Margalit Tzan'ani pleaded guilty on today to extorting her manager, and is expected to be sentenced to several months of community service. The plea bargain was presented to the Tel Aviv District Court. Known criminal Michael Hazan, who carried out the extortions, is expected to serve up to a year in prison.
2011: The New York Times list of 100 Notable Books of 2011 includes the following books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers: âThe Free Worldâ in which David Bezmozgis overturns clichĂ©d expectations of immigrant idealism in his first novel, which follows a Soviet Jewish family awaiting visas in Rome in 1978; âThe Grief of Othersâ by Leah Hager Cohen; âSay Her Nameâ by Francisco Goldman, âScenes From Village Lifeâ by Amos Oz; âThe Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the Worldâ by Haifa-born physicist David Deutsch; âGreat Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With Indiaâ by Joseph Lelyveld; âIn The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family Hitlerâs Berlin,â Erik Larsonâs account of the experiences of William Dodd, F.D.R.âs first ambassador in Nazi Germany; âJerusalem: The Biographyâ by Simon Sebag Montefiore; âThe Memory Chaletâ by Tony Judt; âMidnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil Warâ by Tony Horwitz; âPauline Kael: A Life in the Darkâ by Brian Kellow; âThe Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern Worldâ by Jewish Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Yergin; âThe Swerve: How the World Became Modernâ by Stephen Greenblatt; âThinking, Fast and Slowâ by Israeli born Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman; âA Train Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied Franceâ by Caroline Moorehead
2011(1st of Kislev, 5772): Rosh Chodesh Kislev
2012: In Rmallah, the tomb of Yasser Arafat is schedule to be opened as the first step in process intended to determine if he was poisoned.
2012: The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is scheduled to present a program that will examine âthe Rothschild Baba Kama, an ornate and richly decorated manuscript written in 1721-22 by Anshel Moses Rothschild, the founder of the Rothschild dynasty.â
2012: The JCC of Northern Virginia is scheduled to present a program that will âexplore how the image of a typical Israeli has been depicted in Israeli films from the 1960âs until today.
2012: In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, members of the Jewish community are scheduled to meet to discuss ways to further the cause of Israel in the Hawkeye State.
2012: âThe National Library of Israel signed contract with Pri-Or to preserve its archive of more than one million images.
2012(13th of Kislev, 5773): Fifty-eight year old French journalist Ărik Izraelewicz âwho was the director and editorial executive of Le Mondeâ passed away today.
2012(13th of Kislev, 5773): Ninety-five year old âMarvin Miller, an economist and labor leader who became one of the most important figures in baseball history by building the major league players union into a force that revolutionized the game, died on Tuesday at his home in Manhattan.â (As reported by Richard Goldstein)
2012: The Taub Center released its annual State of the Nation Report for 2011-2012 this morning, which according to the organization, paints âa troubling picture of the way Israeli governments have thus far dealt with Israelâs primary socioeconomic problems.â
2013: In the evening, kindle the first Chanukah candle.
2013: Chabad of Talbiya is scheduled to host its third annual Chanukah Menorah Lighting Festival at the entrance to the Mamilla Mall.
2013: The City of Tel Aviv-Jaffa in collaboration with Heritage Fund for Israel in Tel Aviv are scheduled to host two candle lighting ceremonies â at Culture Square and Rabin Square.
2013: Former State Department official and ambassador Elliott Abrams argued in his Council for Foreign Relations blog today that the language used by the White House to discuss the Iran interim deal was largely âaspirational,â suggesting that much of the touted P5+1 deal with Iran had yet to be hammered out, a contention that appeared to be born out the statements of State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. (As reported by Rebecca Shimoni Stoil)
2013: Five teenagers from the Arab neighborhood of Issawiya in East Jerusalem were brought before the Jerusalem District Court today and charged with throwing Molotov cocktails at an IDF base in the capital. (As reported by Stuart Winer)
2013: The Israel Antiquities Authority and the Netivei Israel Company âinvited the public to visit the excavation site Eshtaolâ which âincludes a six-millennia-old cultic temple and a 10,000 year old houseâ today.
2014: In England, the chaplains (rabbis) of the Oxford University Jewish Society are scheduled to host âa traditional Thanksgiving Dinnerâ at their home for which there is a minimal ÂŁ3 charge.
2014: In Melbourne, âNight Will Fallâ and âAbove and Beyondâ are scheduled to be shown at the Jewish International Festival.
2014: In an address marking the anniversary of the death of David Ben-Gurion, former President Shimon Peres bitterly criticized the âJewish stateâ bill today, arguing that the legislation is designed for political gain and damages Israelâs democratic principles (As reported by Marissa Newman)
2014: An IDF fired back at Palestinian gunmen inside the Gaza Strip who had opened fire on an IDF patrol operating on the Israeli side of the border fence. (As reported by Stuart Winer)
2014: âMembers of a Hamas terror ring in the West Bank, run from the organizationâs headquarters in Turkey, sought to carry out an array of major attacks, including on Jerusalemâs main soccer stadium and its light rail line, the Shin Bet security service said today.â
2014(5th of Kislev, 5775): Seventy-nine year old Paramount Pictures President, Frank Yablans, âwho oversaw the release of âThe Godfatherâ and its first sequel and whose writing skills were responsible for bringing one of my favorite sports novels, North Dallas Forty, to the screen passed away today. (As reported by Michael Cieply)
2014(5th of Kislev, 5775): Ninety-four year old Newsweek editor and NBC television executive Lester Bernstein passed away today.
2015: In Atlanta, the Breman Museum offers exhibitions on The Story of Jewish Atlanta, âfeaturing a collection of 18 carefully selected objects, the Holocaust styled âAbsence of Humanityâ and for the children âWhere the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendak In His Own Words & Pictures.â
2015: According to reports published today Israeli diplomate Rami Hatan is preparing to leave for Abu Dhabi where he will open Israelâs first diplomatic mission to the Arab country which will be part of IRENA, the UNâs International Renewable Energy Agency.
2015: The Eden-Tamir Music Center is scheduled to host another concert in its âExcellence of the Future Generation Series.â
2015(15thof Kislev): On the Jewish calendar, Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi (135 - ca. 220 CE), also known as Rabbi Judah the Prince.
2016(26thof Cheshvan, 5777): Ninety-three year old MIT professor Bruce Mazlish, the author of In Search of Nixon: A Psychological Inquiry, passed away today.
2016: The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Where Memory Leads: My Life by Saul FriedlĂ€nder, An Iron Wind: Europe Under Hitler by Peter Fritzsche, The Hostageâs Daughter: A Story of Family, Madness and the Middle East by Sulome Anderson and the recently release paperback edition of As Close To Us As Breathing by Elizabeth Poliner as well as an interview with Amos Oz âwhose most recent novel is Judasâ and Calvin Trillin âon the Scariest Wordâ in the English language.
2016: âAlone in Berlinâ is scheduled to be shown in Canberra as part of the Jewish International Film Festival.
2016: In Venice, the Biennale Architettura which has featured an Israeli pavilion since 1952 is scheduled to come to an end today.
2017: Dr. Diane M. Sharon is scheduled to present the final session of âDemagogues, Madmen and Cowards: The Failure of Leaders in the Book of Judgesââ
2017: Martin Kaufman is scheduled to present the final session of âJudaismâs Ethics Committeeâ in which he examines âthe role of ethics in Judaism through the lens of three highly influential thinkers whose work spans the 16th through 20th centuries: the Maharal of Prague, a towering theologian; Nachman of Breslov, a dynamic Chasidic master; and Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, perhaps the greatest philosopher of Halacha of the Modern Era.â
2017: In the United Kingdom, the Chief Rabbi is scheduled to visit Oxford where he will speak to a student only audience, followed by the meal sponsored by the Oxford University Jewish Society and concluding with a session that is open to the entire community.
2017: Jewish Book Month, an annual event that provides us with a chance to contemplate Jewish books and the lives of authors such as Bernard Lewis whose works included âSemites and Anti-Semitesâ and âThe Muslim Discovery of Europeâ continues today.
2018: Barbara Feller, a pillar of the Jewish community, is scheduled to read from her new publication Road to Waubeek at the Marion Public Library.
2018: In keeping with the Jewish tradition of âlifetime learning,â Yaffe Kaye is scheduled to offer another class in âBeginning Hebrew.â
2018: After week, an International Jewish Festival for Contemporary Culture that has featured such performers âErez Lev-Ari and The Suits doing Ari Sanâ is scheduled to come to an end today in Jerusalem
2018: As Americans are preparing to take part in Giving Tuesday, United Synagogue Youth has set up its fundraiser, #IAmUSY.
2018: In Cedar Rapids, IA, the History Center, as part of its âOral Histories Live!â series, is scheduled to host an evening with âalmost centenarianâ Herman Ginsberg whose family has been the jewelry business for almost one hundred while also being pillars of the Jewish community.
2018(19thof Kislev, 5779): On the Jewish calendar, âyahrtzeit of the Maggid of Mezrech (1710-1772), the successor of the Baal Shem Tov, who consolidated chassidic teachings into a structured, cohesive movement.â (As reported by aish.com)
2018(19thof Kislev, 5779): Chasidim and âfriends of Chasidimâ celebrated âYud-Tet Kislev â Rosh Hashanah of Chassidism that commemorates the release of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the Alter Rebbe and founder of Chabad-Lubavitch  from his 53 days of imprisonment âin the Peter-Paul fortress in St. Petersburgâ