This Day, April 13, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
April 13
1111: Henry V is crowned Holy Roman
Emperor. Henry gained power by revolting against his father Henry IV. This was unfortunate for the Jews of Germany
since Henry IV had been protective of his Jewish subjects as can be seen by his
enforcement of laws forbidding the forcible baptism of Jews and allowing Jews
who had been forcibly baptized to return to the faith of their fathers even if
this ruling was contrary to Church doctrine. While no record exists that shows
Henry V repealed the rulings his father’s loss of power was still a blow to the
Jews because it was rare to find a monarch who was protective of his Jewish
subjects.
1204: During the Fourth Crusade the sack of Constantinople continues. The Fourth Crusade was initially
called for by Innocent III, one of the more anti-Semitic Popes. European Jews
did not suffer in the way they had during the first 3 crusades, in part because
of the devastation they had already experienced. The Fourth Crusade degenerated into a fight among Christians as the
Latin Crusaders made war against eastern Orthodox Christians.
1250: The Seventh Crusade, led by King
Louis IX of France is defeated in Egypt. This marked the last of the
Crusades. Considering the impact they
had on the Jews, the end of the Crusades was a positive thing. This did not mark the end of the Crusading
Spirit which would continue to rear its ugly head in events such as the
expulsion from Spain two and half centuries later. Louis IX’s four decade long reign was a time
of misery for the Jews.
It was marked
by the famous burning of twenty four carloads of Talmudic writings in Paris in
1242 and a similar such conflagration two years later.
1519: Birthdate of Catherine de’ Medici
who would become the wife of Henry II of France. When it came to choosing a
doctor, Catherine opted to go for quality and used Jews even though Children of
Israel had been banned from living in France. Catherine first employed a
Marrano named Luis Nunez. Later she
began using Philotheus Montalto, a Portuguese doctor who had cured of her some
un-named malady when he was passing through Paris.
1556(23rd
of Nisan, 5316): Portuguese Marranos who had returned to Judaism were burned to
death in Acona, Italy. A Jewish-led boycott of the port of Acona marked the
first community-wide effort by “free” Jews, since the beginning of
the Diaspora, to hit back at their enemies.
1587(5th
of Nisan, 5347): Jacob Luzatto passed away in Venice, Italy at the age of
60. It is not known if this is the same
Jacob Luzzato who lived and preached at Safed and was a prolific author of
tomes ranging from Talmudic commentaries to Haggadot.
1598: Henry IV of France issues the Edict of
Nantes allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots in Catholic
France. The edict did not cover Moslems
or Jews living in France, including “New Christians” who had fled to France
because of the Inquisition.
1636(7th of
Nisan): Rabbi Elijah Kalmankes of Lemberg author of Eliyahu Rabbah passed away.
1660: Antonio
Enrequez Basurto, a Marano poet and comedic playwright was burned in effigy
after seeking refuge in Amsterdam.
1712: Shabbethai ben Joseph
Bass was suddenly arrested today “on the charge of having spread abroad
incendiary speeches against all divine and civic government.”
1727(22nd
of Nisan, 5487): Judah ben Samuel Rosanes passed away Born in 1657, this
student of Samuel ha-Levi and Joseph di Trani was appointed by the Sultan to
serve as “hakam bashi” (Chief Rabbi of the Ottoman Empire because of his
scholarship and linguistic skills. He was the son-in-law of Abraham Rosanes.
1742: “The
Messiah” by George Friderick Handel whose biblically inspired works included “Israel
in Egypt,” “an oratorio that “it is composed entirely of selected passages from
the Hebrew Bible, mainly from Exodus and the Psalms and which premiered at
London’s King’s Theatre in the Haymarket” was first performed at the New Music
Hall in Fishamble Street in Dublin.
1743:
Birthdate of Thomas Jefferson. “Thomas
Jefferson is deservedly a hero to American Jewry. His was one of the few voices
in the early republic fervently championing equal political rights for Jews.
Jefferson’s Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia is a classic
American statement of religious toleration. Significantly, while Jefferson
championed the rights of Jews and other religious minorities, he did not do so
out of respect for Judaism but because he respected the right of every individual
to hold whichever faith they wished…. Despite his
reservations about the perceived “defects” in Judaism, Jefferson never wavered
in his commitment to civil and religious freedom for Jews. Jefferson’s most
notable achievement in establishing religious and civic toleration for American
Jewry was his 1779 Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia. Adopted
in 1785, the Bill proclaimed: “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support
any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced,
restrained, molested or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise
suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall
be free to profess. . . their opinions in matters of religion, and that the
same shall in no wise . . . affect their civil capacities.” Two years later, in 1787, the U. S.
Constitution was adopted. Article VI contains the following, Jefferson-inspired
phrase: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any
office or public trust under the United States.” Despite his attitude toward
Judaism as a religion, Jefferson’s advocacy of the rights of Jews –and those of
other religious minorities – has become the law and custom of the land.
Toleration of all religions, the absence of an official government religion,
and the right to practice and express religious thought freely are the
hallmarks of Jefferson’s legacy.
1754(21st
of Nisan, 5514): Seventh Day of Pesach; Shabbat Pesach Chol HaMoed is observed
three days before the French are able to force William Trent to surrender the
British fort at the site of future Pittsburgh, PA which is part of the lead up
to the French-Indian War which led to the American Revolution.
1761:
German native Moses Mordecai, who came to Annapolis, MD in 1758, married
Elizabeth Whitlock, an English born Protestant who changed her name to Esther
when she converted to Judaism.
1762(20th
of Nisan, 5522): Sixth Day of Pesach
1763:
At Providence, Jacob Rivera, Aaron Lopez, Naftali Hart and Moses Lopez were
among the ten signatories of the Spermaceti Candle Agreement. The agreement was an effective tool for
controlling the candle making trade in an area including Pennsylvania, New York
and New England.
1764:
Final effective date for the Spermaceti Candle Agreement which had been
supported by Jacob River, Aaron Lopez, Naftali Hart and Moses Lopez, four of
the leading merchants in an industry based on whale oil.
1767(14th
of Nisan, 5527): Fast of the First Born; erev Pesach observed as Parliament
considers measures to be adopted to deal with the American colonies – measures
that will take the form of the Townshend Acts, one of the steps on the road to
the American Revolution.
1771: In
London, Lydia Cohen and Solomon Gompertz gave birth to Solomon Barnet Gompertz,
the husband of Miriam Keyser with whom he had eleven children.
1772: In New
York, Eve Esther Gomez and Uriah Hendricks who were married in 1762 gave birth
to Aaron Hendricks.
1774: London
native Rebeca De Lyon and Joseph Abrahams, a resident of Savannah, GA, gave
birth to Isaac Abrahams the husband of Rebecca Abrahams.
1778(16th
of Nisan, 5538): Second Day of Pesac
1782: In
Amsterdam, Biela Meijer Bolfe and Emanuel Levie Duitz who were married in 1778
gave birth to Benedicutus Emanuel Duitz.
1786: In
London, Bridget Benjamin Samuel Samuel gave birth to their “second daughter,
Matilda Samuel” who passed away at the age of eight months.
1788: In
Buchau, Germany, Johanna Ullmann and Jacob Dreifus gave birth to Hirsch
Dreifus, the husband of Veronika Thannhauser and father of Jeanette, Babette,
Abraham and Regina Dreifus.
1789(17th
of Nisan, 5549): Third day of Pesach
1789:
Birthdate of Leipzig native and Protestant Hebraist J.G. Winer.
1792(21st
of Nisan, 5552): Seventh Day of Pesach observed as the French prepared to face
an attack by coalition forces determined to bring down the effects of the
French Revolution.
1793:
Birthdate of Louis Jacques Begin, a Belgium born French surgeon and author.
1795:
Birthdate of German native Ester Nathan, the wife of Baruch Hofheimer and the
mother of Jacob Hofheimer.
1795:
In Germany, Helene Baer and Jakob Thannhauser gave birth to Veronika
Thannhauser, the wife of Hirsch Dreifus and the mother of Jeanette, Babette,
Abraham and Regina Dreifus.
1797(17th
of Nisan, 5557): Third Day of Pesach
1797:
Judith Baierthaler and Samuel Suss Strauss gave birth to Isak Strauss who had
threechildren with his first wife, Juetle Chaya Strauss and six children with
is second wife Babette Kusiel.
1799(8th
of Nisan, 5559): Parashat Metzora; Shabbat HaGadol observed as Napoleon’s
forces were besieging Acre and an Ottoman Army was on its way from Damascus in
attempt to defeat the French general during the Palestine phase of his Egyptian
campaign.
1800(18th
of Nisan, 5560): As the Jews observe the Fourth Day of Pesach, future President
Thomas Jefferson wrote future President James Monroe on the dangers the pomp
and “fulsome attentions” pose to republicans and their cause.
1803(21st
of Nisan, 5563): Seventh day of Pesach
1805(14th
of Nisan, 5565): Parashat Achrei Mot; erev Pesach
1808(16th
of Nisan, 5568): Second Day of Pesach; 1st day of the Omer
1808:
Abigail Lindo and Moses Mocatta, a member of large, distinguished Anglo-Jewish
Sephardi family, gave birth to Samuel Mocatta, the husband of Miriam Mocatta
and the father of Horace Rebecca, Ada, George, Laura and Frederick Mocatta, the
philanthropist and Bullion broker.
1811(19th
of Nisan, 5571): Shabbat shel Pesach
1822(22nd
of Nisan, 5582): 8th day of Pesach observed as the Greeks rebel
against the Ottomans and seek to establish their own independent country.
1823:
In the northern Italian city of Leghorn, Samuel and Bonina Morais gave birth to
Sabato Morais, a leading 19th century American Orthodox Rabbi.
http://personal.stevens.edu/~llevine/sabato_morais.pdf
1824(15th
of Nisan 5584): Pesach is observed for the last time during the Presidency of
James Monroe.
1827(16th
of Nisan, 5587): Second Day of Pesach
1827:
Birthdate of Viennese native Josef Kopp, the attorney who became a judge and a
member of the “Lower Austrian Parliament.
1829:
In Great Britain, Parliament passes the Catholic Relief Act which removes most
of the remaining legal obstacles to full participation of Roman Catholics in
the political life of the country. The
Jews living in this British Isles saw this as a sign of hope that they would
soon attain full religious freedom. They
and their non-Jewish supporters began a campaign to gain equal rights for the
Jews. Unfortunately, success was not
just around the corner and the fight would take fifteen years to win. One Catholic politician was reported to have
said that he would support the Jews in their fight since he could not deny to
others what had been won for him and his Catholic brethren.
1830(20th
of Nisan, 5590): Sixth Day of Pesach
1830:
Boletter Salomonsen and Zacharias Isaac Levy gave birth to Arnold Zacharias who
is interred in the Horsens Jewish Cemetery at Denmark.
1835(14th
of Nisan, 5595): Fast of the First Born; erev Pesach
1838(18th
of Nisan, 5598): Fourth Day of Pesach observed during the Druze revolt which led
to the an unprovoked attack on the Jews of Safed in June.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1838_Druze_attack_on_Safed
1840:
Birthdate of Samuel Ullman, the native of Hohenzollern-Hechingen who came to
the United States at the age of eleven, settled in Mississippi, fought for the
Confederacy and moved to Birmingham, Alabama where he became a successful
businessman and lobbied so vigorously for the rights African Americans that a
high school was named in his honor.
http://www.uab.edu/ullmanmuseum/
1840:
Birthdate of Ludwig Mauthner, the native of Prague who became a noted “Austrian
neuroanatomist and ophthalmologist.”
1844(24th
of Nisan, 5604): Parashat Shmini
1844:
Today, on the first Shabbat after Pesach, Rabbi Benjamin Cohen Carillon, a
native of Amsterdam “who was active in disseminating Reform principles wherever
he ministered” “confirmed Hannah De Sola, a native of Santa Cruz in the
Synagogue of St. Thomas” two years before Rabbi Max Lilenthal performed the
same ceremony for the first time in the continental United States at Anshe
Chesed in New York City
1845(6th
of Nisan, 5605): Baruch Hays, the son of Solomon Hays who was the husband of
both Prudence and Rachel Hays passed away today.
1846(17th
of Nisan, 5606): Third Day of Pesach
1846:
In Richmond, VA, Isaac Abraham Levy, the London born son of Abraham Levy, ben
Levie and Sarah Rachel Cornelia Levy and his wife Hannah Norris Levy gave birth
to Edgar Levy.
1849(21st
of Nisan,5609): Seventh Day of Pesach
1849:
In London, Rebecca Duke and Morris Lee gave birth to Lucrecia Lee.
1849:
During the Hungarian Revolution which was a revolt against being ruled by the
Habsburgs of Austria, Hungary becomes a republic. Thousands of Jews fought on
the side of the revolutionaries and thousands more contributed financially to
the short-lived success of the cause. The new Hungarian Republic voted to give
the Jews full rights of citizenship.
Unfortunately, the Jews would enjoy their new status for only two
weeks. Austrian forces conquered the
Hungarians and put an end to this short-lived new republic.
1850(1st
of Iyar, 5610): Parashat Tazria-Metzora and Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1850:
In Germany, Moses and Mar Pretzfelder Aufsesser gave birth to future Albany, NY
resident Ferdinand M Aufsesser, the husband of Mollie Barnet Aufsesser.
1850: Birthdate of Alexander Markus, the native of
Pest who gained fame author Bernhard Alexander the University of Budapest
professor and father of psychoanalyst Franz Alexander.
1851:
At “Weimar Jewish pianist Salomon Jadassohn was the soloist at the first
performance, under Liszt’s baton, of Liszt’s arrangement for piano and
orchestra of Carl Maria von Weber’s Polonaise (Polacca) brillante “L’hilarité”
in E major, Op. 72.
1851:
Sabato Morais was elected Hazan of Mikveh Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese
Congregation in Philadelphia, PA.
1852:
Two days after he had passed away, Barnett Levin was buried today in the Brady
Street Jewish Cemetery.
1852:
Birthdate of Rabbi Haim (Henry) Pereira Méndez. Mendez was part of a family
famous for its rabbis. Mendez began his
career in England before moving to the United States where he served as rabbi
for Shearith Israel (The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue) in New York. He was also one of the founders of the Jewish
Theological Seminary.
http://rabbibitton.blogspot.com/2011/11/rabbi-hayim-henry-pereira-mendes-1852.html
1853:
In London, “David Woolf King and Sarah Lazarus gave birth St. Louis-raised and
Harvard graduate Moses King, the published of travel guidebooks and husband of
Bertha Maria Cloyes with whom he had three children.
1854(15th
of Nisan, 5614): Pesach
1860:
“Savoy in the British Parliament” published today described Switzerland as a
place “which worship William Tell; persecute the Jews; and find the Bourbons in
body-guards, English clergymen in scenery, and all the world in watches”
[Apparently Swiss antipathy towards Jews was a well-established fact as could
be seen by a treaty that the Switzerland tried negotiated with the U.S. in the
1850’s that permitted them to discriminate against American Jews.]
1861(3rd
of Iyar, 5621): Parshat Tazria-Metzora
1861:
After 33 hours of bombardment by Rebel artillery, the United States garrison at
Fort Sumter, SC surrendered exactly four years and four days before the South
would surrender to the North at Appomattox Court House in war which pitted
brother against brother, including Jewish brother against Jewish brother.
1861:
On his way back to his post at Watervilet, NY, Major Alfred Mordecai stopped in
Richmond where his brother George urged him to resign from the U.S. Army and
join the Confederates.
1863(24th
of Nisan, 5623): Today during the Civil War on the 9th day of the
Ome General Burnside issued his General Order Number 38, which threatened the
death penalty for anyone found guilty of treasonable behaviour.
1864:
Moritz Szeps, the Galicia born son of Fanni and Dr. Leo Szeps gave birth to
Bertha Szeps who married Dr. Emil Emanuel Zuckerandl and became Bertha
Zuckerkandl, the mother of Fritz Suckerkandl.
1864:
In Vienna, “Galician Jewish liberal newspaper publisher Mortiz Szeps” and his
wife gave birth to Bertha Szeps who gained fame as writer, journalist and
critic Bertha Zuckerkandl-Szeps.
1865(17th
of Nisan, 5625): Third Day of Pesach
1865:
In Russia Seelig Seligsohn and his wife gave birth to Max Seligsohn the
American and French trained linguist whose aborted effort to study the
conditions of the Falashas led to him becoming an editor of the Jewish
Encyclopedia in New York in 1902.
https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13406-seligsohn-max
1865:
Today, Joseph Joseph, the son of “Rosetta Joseph” was buried today at the “West
Ham Jewish Cemetery.”
1866(28th
of Nisan, 5626): Fifty-six-year-old Naphtali Frankfurter, the brother of
Berhnhard Frankfurter, the reform Rabbi who led the Hamburg Temple and who was
elected to serve in the Hamburg Parliament passed away today.
1867:
In Washington, DC, New York lobbyist and state politician Charles H. Sherrill
and Sarah Fulton (Wynkoop) Sherrill gave birth American diplomat Charles H.
Sherrill who was “mesmerized by the force of Hitler’s personality and charisma”
when he met to discuss the possibility of including a token Jew on the German
summer and winter Olympic teams.
1868(21st
of Nisan, 5628): Seventh Day of Pesach
1868:
Sir Meyer Adam Spielman, the London born son Marian of Adam Spielman and his
wife Gertrude Emily Spielman gave birth to Eva Marian Speilman who when she
married Francis William Hubback became Eva Marian Hubback the mother of David
and Ruth Hubback
1870(22nd
of Nisan, 5631): 8th day of Pesach
1870:
The New York State Legislature granted the Metropolitan Museum of Art an Act of
Incorporation marking today as the founding date of this great
institution. The Robert Lehman
Collection, which was donated in 1969, following Lehman’s death is one of the
largest and most unique collections on display at the museum.
1871:
Anglo-Lativian Jew Ephraim Leib Moshewitz and his wife Eide gave birth to David
Moshewitz.
1871:
La belle Hélène
(The Beautiful Helen), an operetta by Jacques Offenbach with a libretto co-authored
by Ludovic Halévy opened in New York City at the Grand Opera House
1872:
In Wurttemberg, Germany, Catharina and John Georg Vogelmann gave birth to
Philip H. Vogelman of El Dorado, KS.
1873(16th
of Nisan, 5663): Second Day of Pesach; 1st day of the Omer.
1874:
Birthdate of Cleveland, OH native Ameila Buchman, the financial secretary of
the Jewish Orphans Asylum who became Amelia Buchman Peiser when she married
Simon Peiser in January of 1914, “two months after” he became superintendent of
the JOA.
1875(8th
of Nisan, 5636): Fourteen-year-old Gustav Mahler suffered “a great personal
loss” today when his thirteen-year-old brother Ernst Mahler the son of Marie
and Bernhard Baruch Mahler passed away.
1876(19th
of Nisan, 5636): Fifth day of Pesach
1876:
In New York, the former Sarah Bloomingdale Sara and David E. Sicher gave birth to
Columbia University graduate, Dudley Davud Sicher, the husband of the former
Florine Hass and father of William David Sicher and Jane E. Rosenthal, who was
secretary and president of the Federation for the Support of Jewish
Philanthropic Societies and who as President of D.E. Sicher and Company, a
manufacturer of lingerie, supported unionization, paid above averages and work
to create a positive working environment.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/12/30/113377343.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1877(30th
of Nisan, 5637): Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1878(10th
of Nisan, 5638): Shabat HaGadol
1878(10th
of Nisan, 5638): Fifty-eight-year-old Wilna born Talmudist Bezalel B. Moses
Ha-Kohen passed away today.
1879(20th
of Nisan, 5639): Sixth Day of Pesach
1879:
Annette Amelia Salaman, the daughter Alice and Simeon Kensington Salaman was
buried today at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1879:
In Mobile, AL Mollie and Herman Kaufman gave birth to Columbus, MS insurance
agent Irving Isaac Kaufman, he founder of Kaufman Brothers and the husband of
Claudia Phyllis Kaufman
1880:
It was reported today that Selig Selbiger, a Jewish peddler from western
Prussia, has testified before the coroner that his 22 year old sister Fanny has
been killed by her husband Moses Adler, a Lithuanian born matzo maker.
1880:
Birthdate of Cora Kaufman, the daughter of David Kaufman who became Cora Kahn
when she married Bernard Kahn and who was an active member of the Eastern Star
before passing away at the young age of 27.
1881(14th
of Nisan, 5641): Fast of the First Born; erev Pesach
1881(14th
of Nisan, 5641): Thirty-one-year-old Amelia Strauss, the Charleston, SC born
daughter of Fanie and Bendix Abraham Weinberg, the wife Alfred Abraham Strauss
with whom she had six children passed away today in Mayesville, SC.
1881:
Birthdate of Ernst Heilmann, the German jurist and political leader who was
murdered at Buchenwald in 1940.
1881:
An “anti-Jewish” petition was sent to Otto von Bismarck today. The petition, which has been circulating
throughout the German Empire for the last six months calls for restrictions to
be placed on the number of Jews immigrating to Germany and for repealing the
legislation which has given the rights of citizens to the Jews of Germany.
1882:
Seventy-two-year-old Bruno Bauer whose early works on Christianity and Judaism
gave way to a series of anti-Semitic writings passed away today.
1882: An Anti-Semitic League was formed in
Prussia. Prussia was the dominant state in the newly united
Germany. [Obviously Hitler did not start anti-Semitism in Germany.]
1884(18th
of Nisan, 5644): Fourth day Pesach observed for the last time during the
Presidency of Chester A. Arthur.
1885: In Budapest, József Löwinger and
his wife Adele Wertheimer gave birth to Hungarian philosopher and literary
critic Georg Lukács,
1886: In Kaunas, Lithuania Raphael and
Clara Mitnick Massell gave birth to future Atlanta resident Benjamin Joseph
“Ben” Massell the husband of Fannie Wolfson Massell with whom he had two
children, Caroline and Benjamin,
1886: In London, Sir Meyer Adam
Spielmann, the son of Marian and Adam Spielmann and his wife Gertrude Emily
Spielmann gave birth to Eva Marian Spielmann who became Eva Marian Hubback when
she married Francis William Hubback
1887(19th of Nisan, 5647):
Third Day of Pesach
1888(2nd of Iyar, 5648): Thirty-five-year-old
Bernhard Rothschild, the husband of Ida Rothschild passed away today after
which he was buried in the Lindenwood Cemetery in Fort Wayne, Indiana
1889: In London, Morris and Sarah
(Kaztz Bakesef and gave birth to London trained Engineer Samuel Bakesef, the
older brother of Joseph Bakesef and the younger brother of Israel Bakesef, who
came to the United States in 1919 where he was elected as an associate member
of the American Instituted Institute of Electrical in 1921 while living in Los
Angeles and developed a “collapsible hammock” with Harvey Epstein while being
an active member of Temple Beth Israel in San Diego where he lived with his
wife Esther Rosenberg.
1890: State Supreme Court Justice and
President of the Educational Alliance Samuel Greenbaum and his wife, “the
president of the Jewish Working Girls Vacation Society, gave birth to Williams College
Graduate and Columbia Law School trained attorney Edward Green Baum, the husband
of “well known sculptor Dorthea Greenbaum and father of Daniel, and Dr. David
S. Greenbaum who “as a founder in 1915 of Greenbaum, Wolff & Ernst and as a
lawyer interested in scores of public causes, occupied a place near the top of
the city’s legal profession.”
1890: “New Publications” published
today provides a detailed review of The Temple of Solomon: History of Art in
Sardinia Judea, Syria and Asia Minor by Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez.
1892(16th
of Nisan, 5652): Second Day of Pesach
1892: “Sampson
Simpson’s Bequest” published today described the decision of the Court of
Appeals that the North American Relief Society did not qualify as an
organization established “for the purpose of ameliorating the condition of Jews
in Jerusalem” and therefore the residue of the estate of Sampson Simpson should
go to the descendants of his nephew Moses Isaacks.”
1893: Theodore
Seligman, the son of Jesse Seligman was blackballed at the Union Club this
evening when his application for membership came before that body. The members who voted to blackball young Mr.
Seligman publicly and proudly admitted that “it was a simply a matter of race
prejudice.” In response to this action,
the senior Mr. Seligman who had been a member of the club for a quarter of a
century and a vice president for 14 years immediately resigned.
1893:
Birthdate of Eich, Germany native, Berthold Guttman, an attorney and husband of
Clair Guthmann, who reached the rank of Lieutenant and was awarded the Iron
Cross Second Class for bravery while serving as an observer and gunner with the
Imperial German Air Force during WW I which did not keep the Nazis from
murdering him at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
1894(7th
of Nisan, 5654): Adolph Brecher, the Moravian born son of physician Gideon
Brecher, and the University of Prague trained physician who began practicing at
Olmutz in 1859 and served as the vice president the Jewish community for a
quarter of a century passed away today.
1894: Two days
after she had passed away, Sarah Angel, the wife of Morris Angel with whom she
had had six children was buried today at the “Balls Pond Road Jewish Cemetery.”
1894:
Congregation Shaaray Tefila (Gates of Prayer) dedicated their new sanctuary on
west 82nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues this evening
1895: The
celebration marking the 50th anniversary of Temple Emanu-El entered
its second day. Rabbi Joseph Silverman and Cantor William Sparger conducted the
morning services. Approximately 2,500 people attended the evening events.
1895: The Chicago Evening Journal “welcomed
the premier of the ‘American Jewess and praised its editor Rosa Sonneschein.”
(As reported by the Jewish Women’s Archive)
1895: Alfred
Dreyfus is placed in solitary confinement on Devil’s Island, off the coast of
French Guiana.
1897: During
the meeting of the New York City Board of Health where contagious diseases were
discussed it was noted that “the most troublesome contagion is trachoma or
granulated eyelid;” a condition to which Jewish children from Russia are highly
susceptible to given their constant exposure to this condition.
1898(21st
of Nisan, 5658): Seventh Day of Pesach
1899: At
Wesp’s Hall in Buffalo, NY, founding of the International Social and Benefit
Society.
1900(14th of
Nisan, 5660): In one of those quirks of
the calendar Christians observe Good Friday on the same day when Jews sit down
to their first Seder.
1900(14th of
Nisan, 5660): Poor Jews living on the
Lower East Side were relieved to find that free matzoth were being distributed
at Charles “Silver Dollar” Smith’s “old place on Essex Street.” There was concern that the distribution would
end since Smith had passed away last year.
Before he had changed his name, Smith was known as variously as Charles
Goldschmidt or Charles Solomon. A New
York alderman who was part of the Tammany Hall machine, he was called “Silver
Dollar” because of the “2,400 silver dollars used as a studded inlay in his
saloon…”
1900: Herzl
met with Austrian Prime Minister Ernest von Koerber.
1901(24th
of Nisan, 5661): Parashat Shmini
1901: On the
same day the Jews were observing Shabbat, the itinerary of what would prove to
be the last major trip to across the United States to the West Coast for
President McKinley, a friend of Simon Wolf with whom he had attended the groundbreaking
ceremonies for Washington Hebrew Congregation’s new building, was being
released to the public
1902: In
Paris, Baron Henri de Rothschild and Mathilde Sophie Henriette von Weissweiller
gave birth to Baron Philippe de Rothschild who developed a passion for grand
prix race driving and growing fine wines.
1902: Today, Rabbi
Joseph Krauskopf, founder of the National Farm School said, “Not yet have we
grasped the scientific truth that society is an organic whole in which the
welfare of all is dependent upon the well-being of each…”
1903(16th
of Nisan, 5663): Second Day of Pesach, first day of the omer.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/192/286
1903(16th
of Nisan, 5663): Seventy-eight-year-old German philosopher and Jewish communal
leader and author Mortiz Lazarus passed away today.
http://humanities.tau.ac.il/history-school/images/yanivE.pdf
1904: “Stops
Expulsion of Jews” published today described “an official circular recently
issued in Russia by the head of the Ministry of the Interior, Department of
Police, Sixth Session stating that in view of the current state of affairs, “I
consider it necessary to suspend till peace is restored the expulsion from
their actual places of residence of those Jews whom the local authorities
reported to be illegally in the localities where they were formerly authorized
to settle but where the permission was subsequently withdrawn.” (Editor’s note
– In other words, as soon as the war
with Japan is over, the Russian government will return to its policies of
abusing Jews.)
1905: In
Vienna, Keva Padover and the former Frumet Goldover gave birth to American
historian Saul Kussiel Padover whose 30 books included biographies of
characters as King Louis XVI, Karl Marx and Thomas Jefferson. (As reported by
Edith Evans Asbury)
http://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/24/obituaries/dr-saul-k-padover-author-dead-at-75.html
1906(18th
of Nisan, 5666): Fourth Day of Pesach
1906: Birthdate
of future Tulsa resident Hanna Ungerman, the wife of Irvine Ungerman and the mother
of Elsa and Rowena Ungerman.
1906: At the
last minute, Maxim Gorky sent word that he “was indisposed” and could not
attend the reception organized by the Jewish Bund at the Murray Hill Lyceum to
honor him.
1907(29th
of Nisan, 5667): Parashat Shimni
1907: “Can’t
Protect Jassy Jews” published today described the anti-Semitic violence in the
Jassy District in Rumania and the Prefect’s admission that the Jews should
leave because “he was powerless to protect them.
1908: “Albert
Lucas, the Secretary of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations and
Superintendent of the Jewish Centers Association said” tonight that “on behalf
of the Jewish people of New York, I can say that (Jacob) Riis’s Settlement
societies are proselytizing societies to the fullest extent and that their
endeavor is to attract Children from Roman Catholic and Jewish congregations
into their societies and to induce them to become Protestants.
1909: The Jews
took an active part in uprising of the Young Turk movement including Nissim
Effendi Mazliah and Emmanuel Effendi Carusso, members of the Parliament. Many
Jews from Adrianople, Constantinople, Monastir and Salonika volunteered for
service in the Army of the Young Turks. The Young Turks was the name given to
those who sought to modernize the Ottoman Empire.
1909:
Birthdate of Stanislaw Marcin Ulam, the Polish born American physicist who
played a key role in the development of the hydrogen bomb.
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/15/obituaries/stanislaw-ulam-theorist-on-hydrogen-bomb.html
1910: Sir Charles Walston,
Lord Walston and Florence Walston, gave birth to Evelyn Sophie Alexandra Browne
(Walston) the wife of Sir Patrick Reginald Evelyn Browne
1911(15th
of Nisan, 5671): Pesach
1911: In his
will filed for probate today, “Max Jacoby, the father of Assistant District
Attorney Oswald N. Jacoby, who had died on April 8, left $500 dollars each to
the United Hebrew Charities, Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews, the Hebrew
Orphan Asylum and the Mount Sinai Hospital” with the balance of his estate
estimated at $189,000 to go to his sons Oswald and Harold Jacoby.
1912(26th of
Nisan, 5672): Fifty-two-year-old Rabbi Henry Klein passed away today in New
York.
1912: The
Titanic continues on its maiden voyage with an array of wealthy Jewish
passenger including Edith Russell, the American fashion buyer as well those
traveling in third class including a Russian born storekeeper from Manchester
on his way to visit his brother in Massachusetts.
1913: The
United Hebrew Community sent several hundred pounds of Matzoth to the Otisville
Sanitarium in Otisville, NY. The
organization also sent new dishes to the sanitarium which will be used on
Passover which begins next week.
1913(6th of
Nisan, 5673): Fifty-two-year-old merchant Isadore Siegel passed away today in
Newark, NJ.
1913: Founding
of “Ezras Israel Synagogue” in Chicago, Illinois.
1913: In
Brooklyn, Rabbi Alexander Lyons is scheduled to officiate at the funeral of
Isaac Tuck, the publisher of the Produce
Bulletin
1913: “In the
absence of Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Dr. Henry Berkowitz of Philadelphia, the
chancellor of the Jewish Chautauqua, spoke at the Free Synagogue” this morning
on the topic of “Jewish Chivlary.”
1913: Founding
of Keneseth Israel in Scranton, PA.
1914(17th
of Nisan, 5674): Harry Horowitz a gangster also known as Gyp the Blood
and a leader of the Lenox Avenue Gang in New York City was executed at Sing
Sing Prison
1915: U.S.
Attorney General Gregory announced that the Department of Justice had retained
Louis D. Brandeis of Boston to serve as special counsel for the Interstate
Commerce Commission in the five percent rate case to defend Secretary of the
Treasury McAdoo and Comptroller of the Currency Williams in the injunction
proceedings being brought by Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C.
1916: Anna
Bressler the daughter of Rabbi Elias Hilikowitz and Riva Rebecca Hilikowitz and
her husband Abraham (Abe) Nachman Bressler gave birth to Riva T. Bressler.
1916: The
Industrial Department of the United Hebrew Charities continued to sort through
the bags collected on Bundle Day, deciding what to sell and what to distribute
to the less fortunate.
1917: Herman
Bernstein of the American Hebrew was reported today to have said that sending a
copy of the Statue of Liberty to the people of Russia would be a fitting gift
from the Jews of America who love their country and “are enjoying the liberty
and equality” to their co-religionists who thanks to the Revolution will now
enjoy the benefits of emancipation.
1917:
Alexander Lvovich Parvus (born Israel Lazarevich Gelfand), the Russian
revolutionary who worked with German intelligence to send Bolshevik
revolutionaries to Russia met with Lenin for the second and last time today.
(Editor’s note – The Germans saw the Bolsheviks as a way to take Russia out of
the war while the Bolsheviks saw the Germans as being their only way to get
back to Russia so they could take control of the revolution.)
1917:
“Steadfast Benjamin,” a comedy directed by Robert Wiene and co-starring Guido
Herzfeld was released today in Germany.
1918(1st
of Iyar, 5678): Rosh Chodesh Iyar and Shabbat
1918(1st
of Iyar, 5678): During World War I, 20-year-old Lieutenant Arthur Charles
Lionel Abrahams the only child of Sir Lionel Abrahams KCB and Lucy (nee Joseph)
Lady Abrahams “fell on the Western Front” while serving with the 3rd
Battalion of the Coldstream Guards.
http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/fallen-alumni/lieutenant-arthur-charles-lionel-abrahams
1918:
According to “semi-official cables” received in Washington today, “about 100
American families who had moved from Jerusalem just prior to the British
occupation of the city presumably having been released by the Turks.
1918: In
Washington, The War Trade Board has placed a limit of $175,000 a month on the
amount of credits which may be sent from” the United states for the relief of
Jews in Syria living under Turkish control” while there is no limit as to the
amount that may be sent to Jews living in territory occupied by the British.
1919: Today,
Palm Sunday, the Communist Party led by Eugen Levine, the son of St. Petersburg
merchant Julius Levine and his wife the former Rozalia Goldberg, seized control
of the Bavarian Soviet Republic.
1919: Dr.
Silverman is scheduled to lecture on “Americanism versus Bolshevism” this
morning at Temple Emanu-El.
1919: Dr.
Krass is scheduled to lecture on “Wanted: a New Religion” at Beth-El Temple.
1920:
Birthdate of Metz, France, native Marthe Hoffnung, who gained fame as Marthe
Cohn, the Holocaust survivor and decorated member of the French intelligence
service who wrote Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy
in Nazi Germany.
https://www.amazon.com/Behind-Enemy-Lines-French-Germany/dp/0307335909
http://www.jewishledger.com/2015/06/conversation-with-marthe-cohn/
1920: The
National Probation Association is scheduled to begin meeting today in New
Orleans as part of the National Conference of Jewish Social Service.
1920: In
Patterson, NJ, Gussie and David Lefkowitz gave birth to Joseph Lefkowitz a
graduate of Rutgers University who worked for the Social Security
Administration until he retired in 1985 and moved to Crossville, TN where he
was living at the time of his death.
1921: Today,
at its meeting in Washington the Central Conference of American Rabbis adopted
a “resolution recommending that the Conference request the great church
organizations of this country to protest against the calling of the world
anti-Semitic congress at Vienna and to petition the President and Congress to
take such steps as may be advisable to prevent the call of this Congress on the
ground that it is a menace to the peace of the world and to the permanence of
democratic contitutions.”
1922(15th
of Nisan, 5682): Pesach
1922: In
Camden New Jersey, Congregation Beth El holds Passover service at 9 in the
morning and seven in the evening.
1922: In
Detroit, department store owner Louis Oppenheim and Julia Nurko Oppenheim gave
birth to “clarinetist and…producer” David Jerome Oppenheim, the brother of
Stanley Oppenheim.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/arts/03oppenheim.html
1922: A group
photo was taken today outside of the Gusky Hebrew Orphanage and Home in
Pittsburgh, PA.
https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt:715.222556.CP
1922: Today “at
Kessler’s Second Avenue Theatre (with Bessie Thomashefsky, Sam Rosenstein and
Muni Weisenfreund), there was staged through Sam Rosenstein R.’s comedy,
“Dos bintl briv,” music by Rumshinsky.”
1922: “Make It
Snappy” starring Eddie Cantor opened at the Winter Garden Theatre.
1923: It was
reported today that “a summary in the Encyclopedia Britannica entitled
“The Jewish Question,” part of the encyclopedia’s article on Poland…has
drawn the fire of The Jewish Tribune in its latest issue” because the entry
violates the “elementary principles of compilation, falsification, ” promotes anti-Semitism
in Poland while “fanning the flames in English speaking countries and casting
undeserved opprobrium and obloquy upon millions of Jews whose only offense is
that that they are different.
1923; Saks and
Company advertised the introduction of “The Quacka-Sol Umbrella: which is
selling at the price of $5.95.
1923: Gimbel
Brothers, which boasts of “80 years of faithful service” advertises that it has
“Men’s New Caps” for $1.00 and “Men’s Golf Hose that “all pure-wool” and “made
in England” on sale for $1.95.
1923:
Birthdate of comedian Don Adams best known for his portrayal of Maxwell Smart
in the television hit Get Smart. Smart’s father was a Hungarian Jew, but his
mother was an Irish Catholic.
1924:
Birthdate of Moshe Tehilimzeigger, the native of Równe, Poland who moved to
Palestine in 1938 where he was first known as Moshe Shimony and then as Dahn
Ben-Amotz who served in the Palmach before gaining fame as a broadcaster,
journalist and author.
1924: In
Columbia, South Carolina, Helen Cohen, the daughter of a jewelry salesman and
Mordecai Moses Donen, a dress-shop manager gave birth to director and
choreographer Stanley Donen who most famous works are “On the Town” and
“Singin’ in the Rain.”
1924: “Five
hundred delegates from reformed congregations throughout the United States” are
scheduled to begin their meeting today Chicago where “they will discuss methods
of raising funds” to support the “various activities of Union of American
Hebrew Congregations.”
1925(19th
of Nisan, 5685): Fifth Day of Pesach
1925: “The
Earl of Balfour, who was entertained at dinner tonight by the British community
of Alexandria, Egypt, after disembarking from the Sphinx, deprecated in a
speech the alarmist reports of precautions alleged to have been taken to secure
his safety in Palestine
1925: In New
York City, Dr. Abraham J. Goldforb and Dr. Frances Shostac gave birth
Swarthmore and Columbia University grad Miriam Dinerman, the wife of Harold
Dinerman, with whom she had three children – David, Ellen and Ruth — who “spent
31 years at Rutgers University as Professor, Assistant Dean and Associate Dean
of the Graduate School of Social Work.”
1926: In
Middlesbrough, England, “the former Gertrude Joseph and Rabbi Isadore Epstein,
who was principal of Jews’ College (now the London School of Jewish Studies)
gave birth to University of London trained physician Dr. Samuel Stanley Epstein
who articulated the need to deal with the political, economic and social
aspects of cancer. (As reported by Sam Roberts)
1926: It was
reported today that the United Jewish Campaign is raising six million dollars
“as part of a nation-wide drive” to raise fifteen million dollars to the Jews
of Eastern Europe.
1927: Max
Oboler, the Riga born son of Avrum Aba (Abo) Oboler and Esther Leah Oboler and
his wife Dora Oboler gave birth to Paula Schwartz, the wife of Gerald Schwartz.
1927: “What
was said to be the first open air concert in Palestine since the time of the
Roman occupation to place” today “in the stadium of the Hebrew University on
Mount Scopus” where the Palestine Symphony Orchestra performed a concert “in
commemoration of the Beethoven centenary.”
1927: Judge
Samuel D. Levy announced today that “a campaign to raise $500,000 for the needs
of the National Jewish Hospital Consumptives of Denver” which opened in 1899
and has treated 5,200 people from all over the countries regardless of their
religion, is scheduled to begin on April 15.
1928: Two days
after he had passed funeral services are scheduled to be held today Hirsch and
Schwartz Funeral Parlor of Isadore Cohen, the father of five children –Abe,
Ike, Henry, Dave and Sadie.
1928: In
Montreal, William B. Leeds of New York and his wife, the former Grand Duchess
Xenia of Russia were among those attending the funeral services for Sir
Mortimer Davis, on of Canada’s leading financiers and Jewish philanthropist who
“was buried today in Mount Royal Cemetery in a plot reserved by Temple Emanu-El
for its officers and members.
1929:
Dedication services began at the New Unity Synagogue at 149 West 79th
Street under the direction of Drs. Henry A. Schorr and B.A. Tinter the rabbis
at the synagogue.
1929: “The
first definite move by Brooklyn religious groups, including Protestant and
Jews, to obtain academic credit in the city high schools for outside courses in
religious education was taken today when a temporary committee to push the
program was formed at a meeting in the office of The Brooklyn Examiner, a
Jewish Weekly chaired by Rabbi Louis D. Gross.
1930: American
composer and music administrator William Howard Schuman went to a Carnegie Hall
concert of the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Arturo Toscanini with his
older sister, Audrey. According to the Philharmonic’s archives, the program
included works by Brahms, Mendelssohn, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and Smetana. Of
this experience, Schuman later said, “I was astounded at seeing the sea of
stringed instruments, and everybody bowing together. The visual thing alone was
astonishing. But the sound! I was overwhelmed. I had never heard anything like
it. The very next day, I decided to become a composer.”
1930(15th
of Nisan, 5690): First Pesach of the Great Depression
1930(15th of
Nisan, 5690): On the first day of Pesach, rabbis combined the message of the
holiday with the fact that this date marked the anniversary of the birth of
Thomas Jefferson “who wrote the statue providing religious freedom in the
Constitution of the State of Virginia.”
On the Upper East Side at Temple
Emanu-El Rabbi Nathan Krass declared that Moses, a figure even mightier than
Thomas Jefferson, had first promulgated the doctrine of religious freedom when
he had told Pharaoh that he wished to liberate everybody. Krass also combined the message of religious
freedom with the current economic crisis.
In the Bronx at the Montefiore Congregation, Rabbi Jacob Katz compared the
prophetic message with sage of Monticello who championed American independence
and religious liberty. In this time of
worsening financial crisis, Katz said that today we must “remove oppression,
and create economic equality” just as our forefathers created political
equality. [Ed. Note: Neither of these
Rabbis saw the irony of invoking the name of Jefferson the slaveholder on a
holiday that celebrated the end of slavery.]
1931: Funeral
services are scheduled to be held today for Eugene Both, a boy who was murdered
by engineer Emil Zatlokal at the “chief synagogue” in Budapest as part of “a
deliberate anti-Semitic plot.
1931: In
Brooklyn Morris Harkavy, “the chief engineer for the Borough of Queens” and his
wife Esther gave birth to Ira Baer Harkavy, the graduate of Columbia Law School
and Brooklyn Civil Court Judge “best known for his sentencing, on Dec. 7, 1987,
of Morris Gross of Brighton Beach to 15 days in the six-story building Mr.
Gross owned at 320 Sterling Street in what is now called Prospect-Lefferts
Gardens for failing to address more than 400 housing code violations.”
1932: In
Berlin, Peter and Irma Unger gave birth to Eva Unger who gained fame as Eva
Figes, the “acclaimed novelist, memoirist, critic and author of “Patriarchal
Attitudes.” (As reported by Leslie Kaufman):
1932:
Birthdate of Yosef “Yossi” Banai, the native of Jerusalem who gained fame an
entertainer ahd who was “one of the first members of the IDF’s famous troupe of
performers – the Nahal troupe.
1933: During a
debate in the House of Commons, Churchill warned that “there is a danger of the
odious conditions now ruling in Germany being extended by conquest to Poland,
and another persecution of pogrom of Jews begun in this new area.”
1933(17th
of Nisan, 5693): Third Day of Pesach
1933: Central Committee of German Jews for Relief
and Reconstruction was founded.
1934: “Bottoms
Up” a musical comedy with a script co-authored by Sid Silvers who also played
the role of “Spud Mosco” was released in the United States today.
1935(10th
of Nisan, 5695): Shabbat HaGadol
1935: I. Edwin
Goldwasser, Michael Schaap and Nathan Strauss, the co-chairmen of the Greater
New York United Jewish Appeal announced that “sermons describing the situation
of the Jews in Germany” will be the topic of the upcoming Passover sermons
which will help prepare for the fund raising drive beginning on April 28.
1936(21st
of Nisan, 5696): Seventh day of Pesach
1936: “A hope
that the United States Government ‘will find it possible to intervene on behalf
of the Jews in Poland’ to prevent their persecution was expressed to Secretary
of State Cordell Hull today by a committee representing members of the American
Federation of Labor and 350,000 Jewish citizens” in the United States.
1936: Dr.
Everett R. Clinchy, the director of the National Conference of Jews and
Christians, Reverend Michael J. Ahern of Weston College and Rabbi Morris S.
Lazaron of Baltimore, MD boarded a train in Washington, DC to mark the start of
“a six-week’s nationwide tour in the interest of creating closer understanding
and cooperation among Protestants, Catholics and Jews.”
1936: At
services today marking the concluding days of Pesach, sermons are being given
placing an emphasis “on the necessity for Jewish communities giving their
utmost support to movements to help destitute Jews in Germany, Eastern and
Central Europe and other localities where their existence is threatened.”
1937: The
Zionist General Council meeting scheduled for today in London was postponed to
April 20.
1937: Mishmar
HaShlosha, a moshav in the lower Galilee was established today on land
purchased by the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association.
1938: At 8:30
this evening, Arturo Toscanini appeared before an audience of 1,700 adoring
fans and began conducting a concert by the Palestine Orchestra. The evening included a performance of
Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony which is a double statement against fascism since
Mendelssohn has been banned by the Nazis and Toscanini said he was dedicating
the performance to the Italy he still loves.
1938: The Palestine Post reported that
commander Oliver Locker-Lampson, Conservative MP from Birmingham, had
introduced in the House of Commons a bill proposing to extend Palestinian
nationality to all persecuted Jews. The vote was 144 “Ayes” and 144
“Nays,” and the bill was passed after the Speaker voted in the
affirmative. There was little doubt that the bill would never reach the Statute
Book and become law.
1938: Hans Leo
Przibram and “all other Jewish employees were forbidden to enter “the Academy
of Sciences in Vienna” where he had worked for decades as the “Head of the
Department of Biological Research.”
1938: The Palestine Post reported that a
mounting toll of Jewish suicides continued to be reported from Vienna,
including a number of prominent Jewish residents.
1939: “The
Fatted Calf” a comedy filmed by cinematographer Boris Kaufman was released in
France today.
1939:
Following its Hollywood premiere in March, “Wuthering Heights” directed by
William Wyler, Samuel Goldwyn, with a script by Ben Hecht and music by Alfred
Newman was released across the United States today.
1939: In
Wilmington, Delaware, George Katz and the former Beatrice Goldstein gave birth
to Michael Barry Katz the author of The Underserving Poor who was “an
influential historian and social theorist who challenged the prevailing view in
the 1980s and ’90s that poverty stemmed from the bad habits of the poor,
marshaling the case that its deeper roots lay in the actions of the powerful.”
(As reported by Paul Vitello)
1940: Eugene
Meyer was among those who accompanied President Roosevelt to the Gridiron
Dinner at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC.
1940: Anna
Wolkoff made copies of classified documents stolen by pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic
American diplomat Tyler Kent and “sent them to Berlin” where they ended up on
the possession of the Abwehr while Kent planned to send these same documents to
anti-FDR politicians with the hope of undermining the President’s attempt for
re-election.
1941: In
Brooklyn, homemaker Evelyn Brown and textile salesman Harvey Brown gave birth
to University of Pennsylvania trained geneticist and Noble laureate Michael
Brown, the husband of Alice Lapin with whom he had two daughters – Elizabeth
and Sara.
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1985/brown/biographical/
1941: German troops enter Belgrade Yugoslavia.
Another 75,000 more Jews would now fall under the German yoke. Jewish shops
that day were ransacked by German troops and German citizens living in the
Yugoslav capital city.
1941: German troops and German citizens living in
Belgrade finished the second day of a two-daylong orgy of violence aimed at the
Jewish citizens of the Yugoslav capital city.
1941: The Soviet Union and Japan sign a five year
non-aggression pact. The Japanese had fought a brief undeclared war with the
Russians in the late 1930’s in which they did poorly. This helped cause Japan to turn its attention
to south Asia which ultimately led to Pearl Harbor. This agreement meant that
the Soviets did not have to worry about war with Japan so it could focus all of
its attention on defeating the Nazis. At
the same time, the treaty made it possible for Japan to attack the United
States which brought the might of America to bear against the Nazis.
1942:
Birthdate of Samuel Morgan “Sam” Slom who has represented the 9th District in
the Hawaii Senate since 1996.
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/memberpage.aspx?member=slom
1943: In
the Katyn Forest in the Soviet Union, the Germans discovered more than 4000
corpses of Polish officers, some of them Jews. The officers were killed by the
Soviets.
1944: Birthdate of Representative Susan Davis,
member of Congress from California’s 53rd Congressional District.
1944:
In Hungary, Jews of the annexed territories were being rounded up and
concentrated in urban ghettos.
1944:
Eighty-five-year-old Robert Watchorn, the English born American Immigration
Commissioner who in 1907attended a Seder at Ellis Island where he gave “a
speech dealing with the right of every man in this country to worship God
according to his own conviction and pointing out that a man who served God was
sure to make a good citizen passed away today.
1945(30th of
Nisan, 5705): On Rosh Chodesh Iyar, five thousand Jews being taken from
Auschwitz and marched to Belsen were herded into a barn. The Germans set
the barn on fire. While some escaped, many thousands more were burned to death.
The Germans shot those who tried to escape during the fire.
1945(30th
of Nisan, 5705): Seventy-year-old Breslau born philosopher Ernst Cassirer, the
father of philosopher Heinz Cassier passed away after which he was buried in
New Jersey “on the Cedar Park Beth-El Cemeteries in the graves of the
Congregation Habonim.”
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cassirer/
http://metastudies.net/pmg/index.php?n=Main.BreslauToBerlin
1945(30th of Nisan, 5705): Sixty-nine-year-old
Walter Hast, the Birmingham born son of Fanny Nelken and Bernhard Hast, and
husband of Margaret Lennie passed away today in Los Angeles.
1945: Frank
Towers was among the members of the U.S. Army’s 30 Infantry Division “who freed
prisoners from Bergen-Belsen” today “who had been packed into a train 40 to 50
cars long bound for Theresienstadt. (As reported by Hillel Kuttler)
1945: Hans Günther Adler
gained his freedom from Buchenwald where he had been imprisoned since October
of 1944.
1945: Five-year-old
Micha Tomkiewicz, who would become a Professor of Physics, “was among the 2,500
Jewish prisoners rescued from one of what have now come to be known as the
Bergen-Belson Death Trial
1945: Major
Clarence Benjamin of the 743rd Tank Battalion, USA, took a photo of
“a girl, perhaps 4 years old,” later identified as Shilma Spitzer, “walking up
an incline holding hands with a kerchiefed young woman” “moments after they
were liberated from a train transferring them from Bergen-Belsen” (As reported
by Hillel Kuttler)
http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-unraveling-one-holocaust-mystery-journalist-finds-others/
1946: “Using
poison procured from one of Abba Kovner’s associates, three members” of “The
Jewish Avengers” “spent two hours coating some 3,000 loaves of bread with
arsenic, divided into four portions” with a goal of killing “12,000 SS
personnel and Joseph Harmazt oversaw the operation from outside the bakery.”
1946: After
167 performances at the National Theatre, the curtain came down on “The Day
Before Spring,” a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music
by Frederick Loewe.
1946: During
an interview today, Ben Hecht, “author and co-chairman of the American League
for a Free Palestine” pleaded with Americans to provide financial support that
would “enlarge the trickle of Jews from Europe to Palestine to a mass exodus
despite” despite British military efforts to keep the Jews out of Eretz Israel.
1947: “For the
second time since her arrest in 1946, 21-year-old Geulah Cohen” escaped today
from her British captors.
1947: “Early
tonight a British constable was wounded” by an unknown assailant “on a busy
street in the entertainment center of Jewish Jerusalem.”
1947: The
Theodore Herzl, “an unauthorized immigrant ship was reported approaching
Palestine tonight with” a cargo of “2,700 Jewish refugees from Europe.”
1948: At
Kibbutz Yagur, Tirza and Yosef Gadish gave birth to Moshe Gadish one of the
sailors lost when the Submarine Dakar sank in January 1968.
1948: In San
Antonio, TX, Gloria and S.S. “Sy” Kalter gave birth to Suzy Gershman, “author
of ‘Born to Shop’ Guides.” (As reported by Dennis Hevesi)
1948: As the
Arab Legion trained its guns on the besieged Jewish Quarter of the Old City of
Jerusalem, a kindergarten was hit injuring 20 children.
1948: As night
gave way to morning, units of the Palmach took the villages of Al-Mansi and
Naghnaghiya
1948(4th of
Nisan, 5708): Seventy-seven people,
mostly doctors and nurses on their way Hadassah hospital on Mount Scopus,
Jerusalem, were murdered by Arabs. This took place after
the Partition Vote, but before the British had left. It was part of
an Arab terror campaign to drive the Jews out Israel even before the state had
been declared. British troops stationed close by refuse to
“interfere”. During this period of time, the British Army did
little to acquit itself admirably from the Jewish point of view. At the
same time, their behavior of antagonism and outright hostility towards the Jews
was representative of the policies and practices of the British Government. In 1948
a large group of doctors, nurses, patients, professors and students joined a
supply convoy which was travelling to the Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus.
The convoy was ambushed, and its vehicles blown up as it made its way through
the affluent Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah — only a few hundred meters from
a British military outpost. With the British looking on, Arab attackers
mercilessly slaughtered any personnel attempting to escape the inferno.
Incredibly, having resisted Haganah attempts to rescue Jews caught in this
death trap, it still took the British over six hours to intervene. Seventy‑eight people were
murdered in the attack, or burned to death after their ambulances and buses
were set on fire. Among the victims was the director of the Hadassah
organization in Palestine, Dr. Chaim Yassky. (As reported by Aviva and Shmuel
Bar-Am)
1948: Operation
Har’el launched by Haganah at conclusion of Operation Nachshon, does not
succeed in opening the road to Jerusalem.
1948: As the
Haganah fought to defend Mishmar HaEmek from being conquered by the Arab
Liberation Army, Palmach
units took the villages of Al-Mansi and Naghnaghiya.
1949(14th of
Nisan, 5709): Fast of the First Born.
1949(14th of Nisan,
5709): In the evening, first Seder celebrated in the independent state of
Israel.
1950:
In Washington Heights, NY, Dorothy and Bert Perlman gave birth to actor Ron
Perlman
1950:
Israel informed the United Nations that it would not participate in talks with
the Arabs that included return to the partition boundaries of 1947 as a
pre-condition to opening negotiations.
The Israelis reminded the UN that the Arabs have consistently rejected
all offers to negotiate a peace settlement and that the Jewish state has
“authentic information at is to disposal to the effect that a war of revenge
against Israel is a plan which exercises certain minds at the very sumit of
political power in the Arab world.
1950:
At a luncheon meeting of the Overseas Automotive Club, “Isaac Arditi of Arditi,
Ltd., a Tel Aviv importer and exporter, declared that Israel is now the biggest
export market for small automotive replacement parts, tools and tires in the
Near East.” The number of civilian owned automobiles has more than doubled
since the days of the British mandate and in the past year Israel has imported
three quarters of million dollars of various automobile supplies from the
United States.
1951:
In Newark, NJ, “Bertram Weinberg, an attorney, and Ruth Weinberg, a high school
physical education teacher” gave birth to Max Weinberg, drummer for Bruce
Springsteen.
1951(7th
of Nisan, 5711): Forty-seven-year-old Brooklyn born attorney Irving Tick the
“former Assistant United States attorney for the Southern New York District,
the attorney for the Brooklyn Kosher Butchers Association and former President
of Congregation B’nai Israel of Midwood, Brooklyn, passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1951/04/14/87232993.pdf
1952(18th of Nisan, 5712): Fourth Day of Pesach
1952: According to an announcement by Bernie Feldman and Sam Feder,
co-chairmen of the Menorah Center Recreation Committee, “the new and modern
Menorah Center outdoor swimming pool” is scheduled to open today.
1953(28th of Nisan, 5713): Yom HaShoah
1953:
The Jerusalem Post reported that
Jordan had instructed the Barclays and Ottoman banks, as well as individual
Arab refugees, to stop their participation in the Israeli scheme for the
release of Arab bank accounts frozen in 1948 in Israel.
1953:
The Jerusalem Post reported that the
Cabinet had established committees for Internal Affairs and Services, for
Legislative Drafting, for a Foreign Affairs and Security and a special Experts
Committee to study the question of foreign currency control.
1953: Chaim Leavanon is
elected mayor of Tel Aviv.
1953: Israel Rokach completes
his service as mayor of Tel Aviv.
1954:
Birthdate of Barbara Maureen Roche (née Margolis, “a British Labour Party
politician, who was the Member of Parliament” and served as a cabinet minister
in the government of PM Tony Blair.
1955(22nd
of Nisan, 5715): Eighth Day of Pesach; Yizkor
1955: In
France, release of “Rififi” a French crime film directed by Jules Dassin.
1956: U.S.
release of “Tribute To A Bad Man” produced by Sam Zimbalist, with a script
co-authored by Michael Blankfort, featuring Vic Marrow as “Lars Peterson.”
1957: Sidney
Lumet’s “12 Angry Men” which was filmed by cinematographer Boris Kaufman and
co-starring Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam and Jack Klugman was released for
distribution.
1957:
“Shinbone Alley” a musical orchestrated by Irwin Kostal with a book by Mel
Brooks opened on Broadway at The Broadway Theatre.
1957: In
Washington, D.C. George Goodman, an ophthalmologist and Dorothy (née Bock), a
social worker gave birth to journalist Amy Goodman.
1960(16h of
Nisan, 5720): Second day of Pesach
1960: Today
local police in Buffalo, NY and the FBI were investigating the desecration of
Temple Beth Zion and a threating letter that was sent to Dr. Martin L.
Goldberg, the congregation’s rabbi.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1960/04/14/99945470.html?pageNumber=23
1961(27th
of Nisan, 5721): Yom Hashoah
1961: “A
memorial service for the 6,000,000 Jews who died in the Hitler regime was held tonight
under the auspices of the Labor Zionist movement at Farband House, 575 Avenue
of the Americas.”
1962(9th
of Nisan, 5722): Sixty-eight-year-old Russian born Rabbi Isadore Epstein, the principal
of Jews’ College (now the London School of Jewish Studies) and “editor of the
first complete translation of the Babylonian Talmud who was the husband of “the
former Gertrude Joseph passed away today which was the 36th birthday
of his son Dr. Samuel S. Epstein after which he was buried at the Willesden
United Synagogue Cemetery.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91014194/isidore-epstein
https://www.jstor.org/stable/29778007?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
https://www.oztorah.com/2012/06/rabbi-dr-isidore-epstein-a-tribute/#.XLFRMXdFx9A
1962:
Birthdate of Hillel Slovak, guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers who passed
away in 1988.
1962:
“Experiment in Terror” featuring Ned Glass was released in the United States
today.
1963: “After
428 performances,” the curtain came down on the original Broadway production of
“A Thousand Clowns” featuring Gene Sakes as “Leo Harman”
1964(1st
of Iyar, 5724): Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1964(1st
of Iyar, 5724): Sixty-three-year-old Mrs. Gladys Freeman Kahn, the wife of
Moise S. Cahn and a former President of the National Council o Jewish Women who
received an award from N.A.A.C.P for her work in the field of civil rights
passed away today at Mandeville, LA across the Lake from New Orleans.
https://www.nytimes.com/1964/04/14/mrs-moise-s-cahn-a-jewish-leader-63.html
http://nolajewishwomen.tulane.edu/social-justice/gladys-freeman-cahn/
1965(11th
of Nisan, 5725): Seventy-seven-year-old Aaron Harry “Fuzzy” Kallet, the Polish
born University of Syracuse football player who earned his letter as an “End”
while attending Medical School passed away today.
1965: For
their work on “Mary Poppins,” Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman received
the Grammy Award for “Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or
Television Show.”
1966: Funeral
services are scheduled to be held at the Riverside Memorial Chapel for Polish
immigrant Isidor Baum, the husband of
the former Sarah Mayer with whom he had eight children – Gladys, Claire, Ruth,
Dorothy, Phyllis, Seymour, Morton and Robert — who in 1899 began as pushcart peddler on the Lower East
Side and by 1911 founded the Bridgeport Paper Company and went on to serve as
President of the Warrensburg Pulp and Paper Corporation and the White Washburne
Corporation, makers of sanitary napkins while also serving as Director of the
Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale and a director o Beth El Synagogue in New
Rochelle.
1966: ABC
broadcast the “The Long Hot Summer” a dramatic series that included episodes
directed by Ralph Senensky, Mark Rydell and Vincent Sherman and with theme
music composed by Sammy Cahn.
1967:
“Operation: Annihilate!” “the last original episode of the original American
science fiction television series ‘Star Trek’” starring William Shatner and
Leonard Nimoy was broadcast today.
1968(15th of
Nisan, 5728): First Day of Pesach (and Shabbat) are celebrated in a united
Jerusalem. The Jewish people are able to
observe the holiday of liberation at the Kotel for the first time since 1948.
1968: Alan
Frank Guttmacher complete his service as President of Planned Parenthood.
1968(15th
of Nisan, 5728: Ninety-year-old Cincinnati native and 1900 Harvard University
graduate Max Hirsch, the President of the Sachs Shoe Manufacturing Company,
Democratic Party activist and “patron of Hebrew University” who married Marga
Henie Hirsch after the death of his first wife Effie Wyler Hirsch passed away
today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/04/16/88940381.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1969:
Birthdate of white collar criminal Nevin Shapiro who as of 2013 is scheduled to
be released from Federal Prison in 2027.
1970: During
the IAF’s Operation Priha, “an Egyptian SA-2 base near Manzala is struck by a
69 Squadron pair, while two 201 Squadron birds strike at a radar facility near
Wadi Zur”
1970:
Intense Israeli air attacks on targets far west of the Canal Zone come to an
end.
1971:
Aline Milton Bernstein Saarinen was named chief of the Paris bureau of the
National Broadcasting Company making her the first woman to head an overseas
bureau in television.
1972(29th of
Nisan, 5732): Sixty-seven-year-old Harry David “Dave” Skudin who played guard
for NYU from 1924 through 1926 and who after graduating in 1927 “played one
season in the NFL passed away today.
1972(29th
of Nisan, 5732): Seventy-five-year-old Boston born Harvard graduate and WW I
Victor Kramer, the husband of the former Mildred Newman with whom he had two
daughters – Elaine and Nancy – and a the founder of corporation that
served “management consultants in the
laundry” who was a fund raiser for the United Palestine Appeals and a member of
the executive council of the Menorah Association passed away today in New York
City.
https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/15/archives/adviser-on-laundry.html?searchResultPosition=1
1973(11th
of Nisan, 5733): Eighty-year-old Breslau born, and German educated physiologist
Ernest Gellhorn, who in 1929 came to the University where he taught at he
Universities of Oregon, Illionis and Minnesota passed away today.
1974(21st
of Nisan, 5734): Seventh Day of Pesach and Shabbat
1974(21st
of Nisan, 5734): Seventy-four year old Gerald Martin Loeb, the San Francisco
born son of wine merchant Solomon Loeb and the former Dahlia H. Levy and
husband of Rose Lobree Benjamin who was a founding partner of E.F. Hutton, am
author of business books including The Battle For Investment Survival and the
Battle For Stock Market Profits and the creator of the Gerald Loeb Award passed
away today.
1974: Yonatan
Netanyahu wrote to his parents:
“I have no real girl friend at the moment.
My last romance is over, and as I don’t have time to run around anyway, it
looks as if I’ll remain on my own for the time being. . . On the whole, I’ve
nothing to complain of. I’m up to my neck in my army work, and during leaves I
move about a lot in our lovely land. The whole world marvels at the Inca and
Aztec civilizations and such—and they do indeed deserve admiration.
Nevertheless almost all of these came into being after the start of the
Christian Era (not that this detracts from their value), whereas here it seems
that the cradle of world civilization is all around us, everything dating back
thousands and thousands of years. A few Saturdays ago I visited the Biblical
Gibeon, and saw the remarkable ancient pool there (I’ll take you to see it when
you come). It’s this pool that’s mentioned in II Samuel in connection with
Abner ben Ner and Joab ben Zeruiah, who ‘met together by the pool of Gibeon’
and let ‘the young men arise and play before them.’ And the country is all like
that!”
1975(2nd of Iyar,
5735): American movie actor Larry Parks died of a heart attack at the age of
60. Parks gained his first taste of fame
at the age of 31 when he played the title role in “The Jolson Story” followed
by another portrayal of the Jewish entertainer in “Jolson Sings Again.” His
career was a casualty of the Red Hunt.
Despite efforts to avoid testifying, he ended appearing before the House
Un-American Activities Committee where he implicated others. His testimony did not save his career. He was Blacklisted which meant the studios
would not hire him and pictures he had already made were shelved.
1975: Christian Falange killed 27 Palestinians,
beginning the Lebanese civil war. Stability in Lebanon was based on
a fragile power-sharing agreement between Christians and two groups of
Moslems. At one point in the 1950’s President Eisenhower had sent Marines
to Lebanon to help restore order. Contrary to popular misconception,
Israel was not the cause of the disintegration of Lebanon or the civil war
that raged in that country. Today, part of Lebanon is occupied by Syrian
troops and is essentially a province of the Damascus government.
Control of Lebanon was part of the late President Assad’s dream of a Greater
Syria. Control of Israel and part of what is now Jordan was also part of
that dream.
1976: WNET
broadcast the last episode of “The Adams Chronicles” written Millard Lampell
1978: The Jerusalem Post reported that radios
had again reverberated and TV screens had glittered as the Israel Broadcasting
Authority signed an agreement with the Journalists Association, ending an
11-day radio and TV journalists’ strike.
1978: The Jerusalem Post reported that
President Carter, while playing host to the Romanian president Nicolae
Ceasescu, described Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, giving the town the
status which the US Government had refused to acknowledge.
1979(16th of
Nisan, 5739): Second Day of Pesach; 1st day of the Omer
1979(16th of
Nisan, 5739): Eighty-year-old Baltimore City College
and Maryland Institute of Design trained artist and portrait painter Morris
Davidson, the Rochester NY born son of Sophie Elliss and Harris Davidson, the
director of the Morris Davidson School of Art and the husband of Anne Davidson
with whom he had two children – Lucy and Eric – passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/16/archives/morris-davidson-dead-artist-and-teacher-80.html
https://www.askart.com/artist/Morris_Davidson/100354/Morris_Davidson.aspx
https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/morris-davidson-papers-7360
1979: In
Athens, Greece, an authoritative source said that “ambassadors from Arab
countries, except for Egypt, have complain to Greece about the showing of the
television series “Holocaust” which ambassadors termed as an “American-made
Jewish propaganda series.”
1980: “One Day
at a Time,” starring Bonnie Franklin closes its 5th season on CBS.
1980:
“Renowned activist and Hebrew teacher Leoni Volvovsky was arrested in Kishinev”
on charges of “vagrancy.
1981(9th
of Nisan, 5741): Eighty-year-old Golden Gate College trained attorney Walter
Francis Kaplan, the El Paso, TX born son of Albert and Hannah Kaplan, the
management consultant and President of Goodwill Industries of San Francisco who
was the husband of the former Margaret Jacob and the father of Margery and
Charles Kaplan passed away today in San Francisco.
1983(30th of
Nisan, 5743): Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1983: In a
battle of “firsts” Harold Washington, Chicago’s first African-American mayor
defeated Bernard Epton. If he had been
elected, Epton would have been the Windy City’s first Jewish mayor.
1984: President
Ronald Reagan read the report describing the events of the Beirut Bombing
attack that killed and wounded over 300 Marines in its entirety as his keynote
address to the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s “Baptist Fundamentalism ’84”
convention, in Washington, DC. The
report had been prepared by Rabbi Arnold Resincoff who was in Beirut at the
time.
1984: After
having been released in Australia in 1983, horse-racing movie “Phar Lap”
co-starring Ron Leibman was released in the United States today.
1984(11th
of Nisan, 5744): On the second day of the Egged Bus Hostage Crisis, at
around seven in the morning, following lengthy negotiations “a special force of
Sayeret Matkal under the command of brigadier-general Yitzhak Mordechai stormed
the bus while shooting at the hijackers through the vehicle’s windows. During
this takeover operation the soldiers were able to eliminate two of the
hijackers, capture the two additional hijackers, and release all hostages
except for one passenger – a 19-year-old female soldier named Irit Portuguese
who was killed during the takeover operation. Seven passengers were wounded
during the course of the operation.
1985(22nd
of Nisan, 5745): Eighth Day of Pesach and Shabbat Shel Pesach
1985(22nd of
Nisan, 5745) Oscar Nemon the Croatian born English sculptor whose work includes
statutes depicting Dwight D. Eisenhower, Earl Alexander of Tunis, Viscount
Montgomery of Alamein, Lord Freyberg, Harold Macmillan, Harry S. Truman and
Margaret Thatcher passed away.
1986: The
New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including a review Heroes and Hustlers,
Hard Hats and Holy Men: Inside the New Israel by Ze’ev Chafets
1986: Pope
John Paul II, “became the first pope known to have made an official papal visit
to a synagogue when he visited the Great Synagogue of Rome” today where he was
greeted by Elio Toaff, Chief Rabbi of Rome.
1987: Ofra Moses was buried
today in Petah Tikvah. Mrs. Moses, aged 35, was riding in a car yesterday with
her husband and four children when an unidentified assailant threw the
firebomb, a bottle filled with gasoline and a burning rag, through the open
window of the car. They were driving to the Tel Aviv suburb of Petah Tikvah to
buy food for the Passover holiday. None of the family could attend the funeral
since her husband was in the hospital being treated for extensive burns, her
five year old was hospitalized in critical condition and the remaining three
children had not been released due to the extent of their injuries.
1988: The New York Times reported that
the Israeli
Deputy Prime Minister, Yitzhak Navon, and Justice Minister Avraham Sharir are
expected to arrive in Poland today for a one-week visit to take part in
ceremonies to mark the 45th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
1988: U.S.
Secretary of State George Schultz met with Refueniks today.
1988(26th
of Nisan, 5748): Eighty-nine-year-old NYU trained attorney and former Criminal
Court Judge Morris Weinfeld who served in the NY State Assembly from 1924 to
1927 and “as also a former deputy attorney general for New York State and
served on the National Labor Relations Board in the 1930’s” passed away today
in nursing home in Queens.
https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/15/obituaries/morris-weinfeld-89-an-ex-new-york-judge.html
1990(18th
of Nisan, 5750): Fourth Day of Pesach
1990: The East
German Parliament approved a statement today that included the following “Parliament
admits joint responsibility on behalf of the people for the humiliation,
expulsion and murder of Jewish women, men and children. We feel sad and ashamed
and acknowledge this burden of German history. We ask the Jews of the world to
forgive us. We ask the people of Israel to forgive us for the hypocrisy and
hostility of official East German policies toward Israel and for the
persecution and degradation of Jewish citizens also after 1945 in our country. We
declare our willingness to contribute as much as possible to the healing of
mental and physical sufferings of survivors and to provide just compensation
for material losses.
1992: “Two Trains
Running,” for which Mordecai Benjamin served as executive producer opened on
Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre.
1993: A
revival of George Abbott’s “Three Man On A Horse” featuring Tony Randall, Jack
Klugman and Jerry Stiller opened at the Lyceum Theatre.
1994(2nd of Iyar,
5754): Hamas conducts a suicide bombing claiming that it is in response to
Baruch Goldstein’s attack on mosque in Hebron in February during which he
killed 29 Muslims who praying there.
1994(2nd
of Iyar, 5754): In the second such attack in a week, a
Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up today in an assault on an Israeli
commuter bus, killing five Israelis and wounding 30 others at the main bus
station in Hadera, a working-class town in the country’s heartland. Most of the
survivors had minor wounds, but they told of a scene of blood and terror, of
bodies ripped apart and of people too stunned in the first moments even to
scream. Those killed today included Bilha Butin, 49, Rahamim Mazgauker, 34,
David Moyal, 26, Daga Perda, 44 and Sgt. Ari Perlmutter, 19
1994(2nd
of Iyar, 5754): At annual Memorial Day
ceremonies in Jerusalem Prime Minister Rabin took note of last week’s bombing
in Afula and today’s bombing in Hadera, both the work of Hamas when he said, “Even
today, Israelis have paid with their lives, taken by despicable murderers,
enemies of peace. They are trying to torpedo the peace. Beyond the bloodshed,
the booby-trapped cars and the bombs, we continue to hold out our hands for
peace in order to put an end to the suffering. In spite of the difficulties, we
will continue on our way to peace.” The somberness of the day gave way to
ceremonies tonight marking the 46th anniversary of the country’s founding. But
the celebrations were muted for many, not only because of the latest attack but
also because of warnings from the Hamas group of Islamic militants that more
horror was on the way in one of the worst terrorist waves inside Israel in
years.
1995(13th
of Nisan, 5755): Fifty-five-year-old Barbara Irom the daughter Polish born Al
(Eliyahu) Irom and the former Heln Fixler, of Sighet, Romania and the sister of
Sylvia Feld passed away today in New York City.
1997: The New York Times includes a review of
“In The Memory of the Forest”, a novel by Charles T. Powers based on the fate
of the Jews of Jadowia and ensuing events that take place in Polish village
under the Communist regime.
1997: “An
American Daughter,” a play written by Wendy Wasserstein “premiered in a Lincoln
Center Theatre Production at the Cort Theatre.
1999(27th
of Nisan, 5759): Yom HaShoah
2000(8th
of Nisan, 5760): Eighty-four year old Giorgio Bassani, the author of the
classic modern novel The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, passed away today
in Rome.(As reported by Alessandra Stanley)
2001(20th
of Nisan, 5761): Sixth Day of Pesach
2001:
According to reports published today “an American Jewish Congress delegation”
has been “invited to attend this month’s inauguration of President Mathieu Kerekou
of the West African West Africa.”
2001:
In “Doubting the Story of the Exodus” published Teresa Watanabe
summarized the current scholarly consensus about whether or not the Exodus
happened:
2002:
As Operation Defensive Shield, the Israeli response to terrorist attacks that
culminated with a murderous bombing at hotel Seder, was coming to an end, the
IDF was reported to have determined the location of 23 bodies in Jenin.
2003:
The Kfar Saba-Nordau railway “station was opened today as the beginning of the
Sharon Railway, only 11 days before it would be attacked by a Palestinian
suicide bomber.
2003: The New
York Times included reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special
interest to Jewish readers including ”The Rebbe’s Army” by Sue Fishkoff
2004(22nd of Nisan, 5764): Eighth Day of
Pesach; Yizkor
2004: Release date of Half Dozen by Evan and Jaron
(Evan and Jaron Lowenstein)
2005: Following opening day, today, the Boston Red
Sox shipped Kevin Youkilis to Pawtucket today.
2006(15th of Nisan, 5766): Pesach
2006(15th of Nisan, 5766): Eighty-eight
year old Dame Muriel Spark whom “The
Times named in is list of ‘the 50 greatest British writers since 1945’”
passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/world/16spark.html?pagewanted=all
2007: Those
following the Perek Yomi program posted on the Torah Page of the Temple Judah
(Cedar Rapids) website www.templejudah.org orhttp://DownhomeDavarTorah.blogspot.com/ read Psalm 150 which
means they have completed the entire Book of Psalms.
2007:
“Disturbia,” a thriller starring Shia LaBeouf was released in the United States
today.
2008: The two weeklong
Bat Yam International Biennale of Landscape Urbanism opens in this Israeli
metropolis near Tel Aviv.
2008: In
Denver, at The Mizel Center for the Arts, the final production of “In the Belly
of the Whale” which takes the audience on a journey to a rather unusual place,
which one might call biblical.
2008: In New
York, The Center for Jewish History presents a colloquium entitled “Objects of Affection: The Wedding in Jewish Culture” during which scholars, artists, curators and others gather to discuss
the most elaborately celebrated of Jewish life cycle events. Weddings provide rich
opportunities to consider the intersection of media and Jewish religious life.
2008: The
headstone unveiling for Don Novick at Eben Israel Cemetery in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa.
2008:
The Washington Post book
section featured a review of Jewish author Cynthia Osick’s latest work, A
Quartet.
2008: The
Sunday New York Times featured a review of “The Genius” by Jesse
Kellerman, the Orthodox Jewish mystery writer who is the son of two other
Orthodox Jewish mystery writers, Faye and Jonathan Kellerman and “Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the
Birth of Religious Freedom in America” by Steven Waldman. Waldman describes the religious beliefs of the
“Founding Fathers” and the origins of the doctrine of separation of church and
state which was driven by concerns among various Christian sects that one would
come to dominate the other. So even
though Jews and American Judaism benefited from this, Jewish beliefs were not a
concern. This is the opposite of the
European experience. In Europe, when
Christians clashed with their co-religionists or with Moslems, the Jews
suffered often as a form of collateral damage.
In a strange application of the law of unintended consequences, in
America, Jews benefited from such clashes.
2009:
At Yale University, Miriam Benson, former counsel to the International
Committee of Women of the Wall delivers a talk on the Struggle of Women of the
Wall for Freedom of Worship in Israel entitled “Praying
in Her Own Voice.”
2009:
The American POWs in Germany traveling exhibit “Behind Barbed
Wire” comes to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This educational exhibit
features the experiences of Midwest prisoners of war (POWs) who were imprisoned
in Hitler’s Third Reich. Actually, within a traveling museum called a
“Buseum,” this exhibit is housed in a converted school bus. The
non-profit educational organization TRACES created this exhibit, which will
reach nearly 120 schools, libraries and historical societies during the current
tour. A reception in Perrine Gallery of Stewart Memorial Library follows this
exhibition.
2009:
Newsweek publishes its third annual list of the Fifty Most Influential
Rabbis compiled by compiled by Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman & CEO
Michael Lynton, News Corporation Executive Vice President Gary Ginsberg and JTN
Productions CEO Jay Sanderson and its first annual list of America’s 25 Most
Vibrant Congregations compiled by the same businessman. [Editor’s Note: If you
are upset that your rabbi did not make the list, relax. The sages of Pirke Avot and Rashi couldn’t
have either when you consider that David Saperstein got “the top spot because
of his role as Washington insider and political powerbroker and Friend of
Obama.” And Marvin Hier ranked #2 because he “is a major player in national and
world politics…”
2010:
Tali Ploskov was elected head of Arad’s municipality today.
2010:
Ghaleb Majadele an Arab Israeli who became “country’s first Muslim cabinet
minister” in 2007 “re-entered the Knesset today as a replacement for Yuli Tamir
who had resigned her seat.”
2010:
PBS is scheduled to broadcast Independent Lens: “Blessed Is the Match” the first
documentary feature about Hannah Senesh, the World War II-era poet and diarist
who became a paratrooper and resistance fighter and was captured, tortured and
ultimately executed by the Nazis narrated by Joan Allen. Senesh is famous for
her such works as “Blessed is the Match” and “Eli, Eli” (My God, My God).
2011:
The Center for Jewish History and Center for Traditional Music and Dance are
scheduled to present a multi-media lecture entitled “Sounds of Immigrant New
York: Bukharian Jewish Music in New York City”
2011:
“Max Blumb” portrayed by Adam Pally made his appearance on the television
series “Happy Endings.”
2011:
Today
Israel reopened a commercial crossing with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip that was
shut for seven days, as a lull in cross-border fighting continued, an Israeli
spokesman said. Israel had closed the Kerem Shalom crossing during a violent
flare-up in which Hamas militants fired rocket and mortars at south Israel,
shooting an anti-tank rocket at a school bus.
2011:
YIVO
Institute for Jewish Research presents: “Ethnography of a Vanishing Courtyard:
Moyshe Kulbak’s Zelmenyaner”
2011:
Israel’s
attorney general announced today his intention to indict the foreign minister,
Avigdor Lieberman, on corruption charges, but said he would allow Mr. Lieberman
a hearing to contest an indictment before issuing a formal charge sheet.
2011(9th
of Nisan, 5771): Evelyn Einstein, the 70-year-old granddaughter of Albert
Einstein, passed away.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/us/19einstein.html?_r=1
http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/11109/1140362-84-0.stm
2011:
“Bar
Ilan University unveils four rare Haggadot”
http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=216404
2012(21st
of Nisan, 5772): Seventh Day of Pesach; final day of observance in Israel and
for Reform Jews.
2012(21st
of Nisan, 5772): Thirty-five-year-old Jeremiah Luber the grandson of Elaine and
Harvey Luber, of blessed memory, passed away today.
2012(21st
of Nisan, 5772): Ninety-nine-year-old Pittsburg born Israeli Talmud scholar and
WW II veteran Avraham Goldberg passed away today.
https://thetalmudblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/prof-avraham-goldberg-%D7%96%D7%9C/
2012(21st
of Nisan, 5772): Eighty-year-old Marilyn Lovell actress, singer and activist
who was the widow of composer Peter Matz passed away today.
http://variety.com/2012/legit/news/marilyn-lovell-matz-dies-at-81-1118053300/
http://www.afterdark-nyc.com/news/243-beloved-marilyn-lovell-matz-has-died
2012:
“Once More, With Feelings” published today provides a detailed review of Schmidt
Steps Back by Louis Begley.
2013:
Congregation Ada Reyim and The Northern Jewish Film Festival are scheduled to
present “Kaddish for a Friend.”
2013:
PBS is scheduled to show “Blessed is the Match” which present the brave tale of
Hannah Senesch, the Jewish poet who parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe where
she was murdered by her captors.
2013:
“Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment” is scheduled to be shown at the
Westchester Jewish Film Festival.
2013:
“All In” and “Koch” are scheduled to be shown at the Hartford Jewish Film Fest.
2013:
This evening The 3rd Annual National Collegiate Jewish A Cappella Championship
Competition sponsored by Adas Israel is scheduled to take place at the UDC
Theatre of the Arts in Washington, DC
2013: In
Columbus, Ohio, Jacob Daniel Levin makes his grandfather button-busting proud
as he is called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah at Congregation Tifereth Israel.
L’dor V’dor
2013(3rd
of Iyar, 5773): Eighty-two year old Carmen Weinstein, the President of the
Jewish Community of Cairo passed away at
her home in Zamalek
2014:
The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including You Should Have Known, a
novel by Jean Hanff Korelitz.
2014:
“A man with ties to white supremacist ties opened fire outside the Overland
Park JCC, killing two people” after which he “killed a third person at the
Village Shalom center before being apprehended by police.”
2014:
“Hellman v McCarthy,” Brian Mori’s dramatic portrayal of clash involving Jewish
born playwright Lillian Hellman, the skilled playwright who was an apologist
for Communism’s worst abuses is scheduled to close at the June Havoc Theatre.
2014:
Filmmaker Aviva
Kempner is scheduled to discuss her most recent work: a documentary on Julius
Rosenwald, the Chicago Jewish businessman and philanthropist who joined with
African American communities in the South to build schools during the Jim Crow
era at the Washington DCJCC.
2014:
WQXR is scheduled to present “A Musical Feast for Passover with Itzhak Perlman.
2014:
In Tel Aviv, the European Weightlifting Championships are scheduled to come to
an end.
2015:
Herb Keinon, the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem, is scheduled to
lecture on the meaning of Israel’s elections at the University of Connecticut
in Storrs, CT.
2015: AJHS, Remember the Women Institute is
scheduled to host “Women, Theatre and Holocaust.”
2015:
The B’nai B’rith Music Society and the Jewish Historical Society of England are
scheduled to host Dr. Malcolm Miller who will speak on “Modern Jewish
Composers.
2015:
The Temple Emanu-El Skirball Center is scheduled to host a reading of “Our
Class” an award winning play that “unveils the truth behind a massacre of Jews
in Jedwabne, Poland.”
2015:
Hours before a Holocaust memorial ceremony was to be held at the Tennessee
State Capitol in Nashville, shots were fired outside of the West End Synagogue
leaving “at least one bullet hole between two windows at the front of the
building.”
2016:
“The Grüninger File,” a movie based on the courage of Swiss Police Commander
Paul Grüninger—known by many as the “Oscar Schindler of the Swiss-German border
region”— is scheduled to be shown at the Westchester Jewish Film Festival.
2016:
“Wedding Doll” is scheduled to be shown at the Northern Virginia Jewish Film
Festival.
2016:
Yeshiva University Museum, Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women, Bernard
Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies and the Straus Center for Torah and
Western Thought are scheduled to present “The Image of the Haggadah,” featuring
Marc Michael Epstein, Ronnie Perelis, Smadar Rosensweig and Meir Soloveichik in
a discussion about the imagery of the Haggadah and what it teaches us about the
meaning and historical celebration of Passover.
2016:
In Iowa, The Jewish Federation of Great Des Moines and
Partnership2GETHER/Western Galilee is scheduled to present “The Jewish Violin
with The Israeli Violinists” accompanied by Professor Michael Wolpe of The
Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.
2017(16th
of Nisan, 5777): Second Day of Pesach
2017:
The American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled to host a screening of
“Streit’s Matzo and the American Dream” following by a Q and A “featuring
director Neil A. Friedman.
2017:
The Jerusalem Bird Observatory is scheduled to host “a night safari” which
provides “an opportunity to watch night animals on their nocturnal wanderings.”
2018:
A world taekwondo junior championship from which four Israeli athletes were
banned in response to supporters of Palestinian terrorists is scheduled to come
to an end in Tunisia.
2018:
“Itzhak” a biopic about the world famous violinist is scheduled to open at the
Summerfield in Santa Rosa, CA.
2018:
It was reported today that Donald Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen had “negotiated
a $1.6 million for a top Republican fundraiser.
2018:
Today, “Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy resigned from his post as deputy
national finance chairman at the Republican National Committee, a person
familiar with the matter said, following a Wall Street Journal report that he
agreed to pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model who said Mr. Broidy had
impregnated her,.” (As reported by Rebecca Ballhaus and Julie Bykowicz)
2018:
Friday the 13th – How can a day that ends with Candles, Kiddish and
Challah be considered unlucky?
2019:
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is scheduled to host a book signing
event with Gary Reiner author of Counting on America: A Holocaust Memoir of
Terror, Chutzpah, Romance and Escape.
2019:
One hundred three-year-old anti-Fascist and Ravensbruk concentration camp
survivor Neus Catala passed away today. (As reported by Katharine Q. Seelye)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/21/obituaries/neus-catala-dead.html
2019:
With Chicago Public Schools beginning Spring Break, the Illinois Holocaust
Museum is scheduled to offer freed admissions to “kids and students.”
2019:
“Led by The Boston Globe’s “bona fide b-girl,” Ephrat Asherie Dance is
scheduled to make its Fisher Center debut with Odeon, a high-energy, hybrid
hip-hop work” this evening.
2019(8th
of Nisan, 5779): Shabbat HaGadol.
2020(19th
of Nisan, 5780: Fifth Day of Pesach; 4th day of the Omer
20201(9th
of Nisan, 5780): On the Jewish calendar, Yahrzeit of Rabbi Raphael Meldola of
Leghorn and Rabbi Chaim Bezalel Panet of Bielitz
2020:
The Steicker Center is scheduled to host a virtual session of the Modern Jewish
Thought Series in which Rabi Joshua M. Davidson lectures on “Eugene Borowitz
and Renewing the Covenant.”
2020:
HaMaqom|The Place educator Tamar Zaken is scheduled to lead “Hamsa: The
Potential of an Open Hand” a virtual class about tzedakah and the symbolic meaning
of open hands in Judaism.”
2020:
Temple Emanuel of Newton, MA is scheduled to host Arza Goldstein via Zoom as
she presents “Don’t Leave Them With a Mess,” in which she “remind us that when
it comes to our own dying and death, we are all beginners in need of many
things, including practical advice on how to leave family/loved ones focused on
our lives, our legacies and their grief, and not on how long it took to clean
up the mess.”
2021(1st
of Iyar, 5781): Rosh Chodesh Iyar; for more see https://downhomedavartorah.blogspot.com/
2021:
The Sir Martin Gilbert Churchill Conversation Series is scheduled to present
“.”Churchill’s Europe.”
2021:
The East Bay International Jewish Film festival is scheduled to start hosting
“virtual” screenings of ’Manua II” and “Mango Dreams.”
2021:
As part of the Israel’s First Families series, the Virtual Tempe Emanu-El
Streicker Center is scheduled to host a lecture by Dalia Rabin.
2021:
YIVO is scheduled to present a lecture by Mathew Johnson on “Glikl’s
Afterlives: On the Circulation and Reception of Glikil’s Memoires.”
https://programs.cjh.org/event/glikls-afterlives-2021-04-13
2022:
The Jewish Community Library is scheduled to present online Rachel and David
Biale discussing their new book, Aerograms Across the Ocean: A Love Story in
Letters, a jointly written memoir based on 258 letters they exchanged from
1970-72 after the 21-year-old David and almost 18-year-old Rachel met on a
kibbutz in Israel.
2022:
The Lappin Foundation is scheduled to present a virtual Passover story time
with music by Singin’ with Susan better known as Susan Shane-Linder, an award-winning published
singer/songwriter and children’s recording artist.
2022:
In Columbus, OH, at Tifereth Israel is scheduled to host “Passover Prep: Making
a Meaningful Seder” with Rabbis Braver and Skolnik.
2022:
Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, Brandeis University and Belzberg Program
in Israel Studies, University of Calgary are scheduled to present seminar that is part of the 2nd edition of the Sephardi Thought and
Modernity Series that intends to continue the exploration of Sephardic
modernities initiated in 2021.
2022:
Lockdown University is scheduled to host a webinar “Jew in the Cathedral” with
Rex Bloomstein.
2023(22nd
of Nisan, 5783): Eighth Day of Pesach; Yizkor
2032:
Temple Judea is scheduled to host a morning minyan including Yizkor prayers
followed by a Yizkor Brunch.
2023:
This evening Ori Flomin, a Sabra and Tel Aviv resident Ori Lenkinski are
scheduled to present “Urban Crawler” and “The Suit” at Manhattan’s Arts.
2023:
Mimouna “a traditional Maghrebi Jewish celebration dinner, that currently takes
place in Morocco, Israel, France, Canada, and other places around the world
where Jews of Maghrebi heritage live is scheduled to begin this evening.
2023:
Tenth anniversary of the Bar Mitzvah Jacob Daniel Levin, in the past decade he
has turned that
a
screening of “cliché “today I am a man” into a reality in so many different
ways.
2024:
The Chicago Israeli Film is scheduled to host a screening of “Running on Sand.”
2024:
The Fort Greene Orchestra, led by the young Israeli conductor and impresario
Daniel Zinn, is scheduled to perform a new grand production: “Titan
Symphony” for the last time.
2024
Northwestern University’s Israel Innovation Project is scheduled to host a
screening of “Generation 1.5.”
2024:
In Iowa City, the traditional egalitarian Hawkeye Minyan is scheduled to
“gather at the Sarah and Andy Frank.
2024:
The Eden-Tamir Center is scheduled to host the “Toscanini Quartet, Ensemble in
Residence and Friends.”
2024:
At Temple Judea, following the morning torah study with Rabbi Feivel Straus,
Isabella Levi-Minzi is scheduled to be called to the Torah this afternoon as a
Bat Mitzvah.”
2024:
This evening in Metairie, LA, Shir Chadash Conservative Congregation is
scheduled to host a comedy event with American-Israeli comedian Benji Lovitt.
2024:
Assistant Stage Manager Quinn Levin will provide technical support for “Xanadu,”
is scheduled to be performed for the last time at Bexley High School with
2024:
Agnon House is scheduled to host another meeting of joint readings of Agnon’s
stories, this time called “The House” included in the collection
“The Book of Acts”.
2024:
This evening at the Library of Congress, the Dwight Opperman Foundation is
scheduled to honor this year’s recipients of the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Award with
a list that included honorees whom the late jurist family designed as “an
affront to the memory of our mother and grandmother.”
https://www.cedarmemorial.com/Obituary/2017/Apr/Amy-M-Barnum/
2024(5th
of Nisan, 5784): Parashat Tazria
for
more see https://downhomedavartorah.blogspot.com/
2024:
As April 13th begins in Israel, the Hamas held
hostages begin day 190 in captivity.
(Editor’s note: this situation is too fluid for this blog to cover so we
are just providing a snapshot as of the posting at midnight Israeli time.)
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