This Day, July 12, In Jewish History by Mitchell A and Deb Levin Z"L
July 12
1191: The armies of the Third Crusade (1189-92), led by England’s
King Richard (‘The Lionhearted’), captured the Syrian seaport of Acre.
The Third Crusade would end in failure for the Christian forces. King
Richard would be taken prisoner by the Austrians on his way home. The
Jews of England would be called upon to help pay the ransom of their monarch,
who had left the kingdom under the control of his brother Prince John.
1216:
Pope Innocent III who issued a Letter on the Jews in 1199 which prohibited the
forced conversion of Jews passed away today.
1290: The Jews
were expelled from England by order of King Edward I. Edward gets reasonably
high marks for setting up the “Model Parliament.” American moviegoers
know him as “Longshanks” the King who was the villain in the film
“Braveheart.” The banishment of the Jews from the kingdom was part of
slow decline engineered by the English king for a variety of reasons. Before
the final edict he found one more way to extract money from his Jewish
subjects. In 1287, he arrested several prominent Jewish leaders and demanded
the community produce a 12,000-pound ransom for their freedom. The date for the
actual order of expulsion is given by some as July 12 and by others as July 18.
Regardless, Edward gave the Jews three months to leave. After All-Saints Day,
any Jew found in the realm was subject to death. The Jews would not officially
return to England until 17th century and the era of Cromwell.
1349: In
Germany, Strasbourg’s complete control of the assets confiscated (stolen) from
the Jews was made completed by a deed of this date in which King Charles IV
gave up his claims to any of their property.
1462: In Rinn,
Austria, the mutilated body of Andreas Oxner was found by his mother which
later gave rise to claims that Jews had killed the child in what was another
example of the Blood Libel.
1536:
Desiderius Erasmus, the Dutch writer and philosopher passed away. According to
Elliot Rosenberg, Erasmus’ relations with the Jews presented a mixed bag.
Unlike Thomas More, “Erasmus spoke out in defense of the Jews and Judaism. ‘If
it is Christian to hate the Jews, all of us are only too Christians.’ On
the other hand he also write “Jews are very numerous in Italy; in Spain there
are hardly any…I am afraid that when the occasion arises, that pest, formerly
suppressed, will raise its head again. Finally, Erasmus only provided
lukewarm support when Johann Reuchlin took on “dogmatic Talmud-burners in
Central Europe.”
1555: In his
Bull Cum Nimis Absurdum, Pope Paul IV renewed all previous anti-Jewish
legislation and installed a ghetto in Rome. Jews were forced to wear a given
cap and forbidden to own real estate or practice medicine on Christians.
Communities weren’t allowed to have more than one synagogue and Jews in all the
Papal States were forced to lock themselves into the confines of the ghettos
each night.
1567(25th
of Tammuz, 5327): Latest date on which Meir Ashkenzai was killed on a voyage
from Gava to Dakhel while service as an envoy of the Tartar Kahan.
1655: Sir
Thomas Pack, who surprisingly joined with merchants in London in opposing the
readmission of Jews was appointed by Council of State to serve as a member of
the committee on trade today.
1630: A Dutch
man, Michael Paauw, acquires Gull Island from the Mohegan Indians renames it
Oyster Island. At the time of the American Revolution, a New York merchant
named Samuel Ellis purchased the island and renames it in honor of his
family. This is how the famous point of entry for millions of immigrants
included an untold number of Jews came to be known as Ellis Island.
1667:
Permission was granted today to establish a printing house at Dyhernfurth a town
in Prussia Silesia which was home to the Jewish printer Shabbethai Bass.
1737: Jacob de
Beer became an employee of the Dutch Est India Company.
1753:
Birthdate of Moses Dobruška, a cousin of Jacob Frank, who convert to
Catholicism and was guillotined in Paris on charges of treason and espionage.
1765: Samuel
Judah gave birth to Rebecca Judah passed away in New York at the ripe old age
of 81 and who is not to be confused with the Rebecca Judah who was the daughter
of Hillel Judah and the wife of Isaac B. Seixas.
1771(1st
of Av, 5531): Rosh Chodesh Av observed ironically on the birthdate of Joseph
Smith, Sr, the founder of the Latter Day Saint Movement known as the Mormon
religion.
1778(17th
of Tammuz, 5538): Tzom Tammuz was observed on the same day that the
representatives of France and the United States exchanged ratification of the
treaty originally signed in Paris on February 6 which meant that France would
provide the aid that would be so conclusive the Continental Army victory over the British at Yorktown.
1779: During
the American Revolution, the British issued “one of their periodic summonses to
the Americans to return to their allegiance” to the King which Rachel Pinto responded
to after Solomon Pinto was taken prisoner with the hope of being able to return
to house on Duke Street in New York.
1789(18th
of Tammuz, 5549): Tzom Tammuz observed
1789(18th of
Tammuz, 5549): Haim Levy, the son of Benjamin Levy and the husband of Grace
Mears whom he had married at Newport, RI in 1768, passed away today.
1790: In
Philadelphia, PA, Miriam Marks and Benjamin Nones who married in 1782 gave
birth to Esther (Hetty) Nones the wife of Solomon Jacobs whom she married in
1815 in Philadelphia.
1793: Birthdate of Solomon David Lazarus, the son
of Marks Lazarus.
1794: Hymen
Cohen and Zipporah Isaacs gave birth to Judah Hyman Cohen who would pass away
at the age of 61 in Brighton.
1796: French
Revolutionary troops under Jean Baptiste Kléber besieged Frankfurt by shelling
the city that including its Judengasse.
1789(18th
of Tammuz, 5549): Tzom Tammuz observed because the 17th of Tammuz
fell on Shabbat
1789(18th
of Tammuz, 5549): Merchant Haim Levy, the sone of Benjamin Levy and husband of
Grace Mears whom he married in 1768 passed aay today.
1803:
Birthdate of Goldeline Levy, the daughter of Isaac Levy.
1804: Former
United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, whom according to
some sources was born of a Jewish mother and who did attend a Jewish school in
Nevis died today, a day after being shot in a duel.
1808(17th
of Tammuz, 5568): Tzom Tammuz observed for the last time during the presidency
of Thomas Jefferson.
1812: In
“Denmark Court, The Strand, London,” Victor Abraham and Rebecca Levy gave birth
to Abraham Abraham who emigrated to the United States.
1824: In Frankfurt-am-Main
Zerline (Worms) Beyfus and Meyer (Mayer) Levin Beyfus gave birth to Wilhelm
Beyfus.
1827(17th
of Tammuz, 5587) Tzom Tammuz
1828:
Birthdate of Count Iosif Gurko, who as military commander of the districts of
Warsaw, Wilna and Kovno would seek royal permission to expel all of the
population most of whom were Jews 60 versts or 40 miles from the border.
1825: Three
days after she had passed away, Miriam (Mary) Proops was buried today.
1836: Mauriz
Jacobsson and Carolina Weslig gave birth to Augusta Hortensia Jacobson the wife
of August Abraham Josephson
1837: Isacks
Straus, the son of Judith Baierthaler and Samuel Suss Strauss, married Babette
Kusiel at Baden.
1841: The
London & Brighton Railway began passenger service through the East Croydon
Station which was designed by Anglo-Jewish architect David Mocatta.
1841: Joseph
L. Friedlander who was salesman and a “dealer in second-hand clothes” was
buried today at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Dresden, Saxony, Germany.
1841: In
“Warrington Crescent, London,” Samuel Cowvan and Isabella Israel gave birth
Therese Cowvan, the wife of Jacques Lange and the mother of James Lang.
1843: “Joseph
Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement in the United States which practices
the baptism of dead Jews, receives a revelation recommending polygamy.”
1845: Thirty-seven-year-old
Norwegian author Henrik Wergeland who supported the ban on Jews settling in
Norway passed away today.
1846(18th
of Tammuz, 5606): Tzom Tammuz observed.
1846: In Upper
Austria, Simon and Regina Fuchs gave birth to Cincinnati, OH “diamond and
jewelry merchant” Solomon Fox the husband of Caroline Fox and member of the
board of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
1848: Archduke
John, who helped in the presentation of the plan of Moses Sachs to settle “Jews
as farmers in Palestine under Austrian protection to the Austrian government”
was appointed Imperial Vicar today.
1848:
Birthdate of Leopold Adler, the Prague native who worked with his younger brother
and old brother Mortiz to develop his skills as a photographer.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/58646687@N08/11952366745
1857: Twenty-three-year-old
Prussian born Louis Hirshfeld, a successful merchant in McGregor, IA where he
was a member of “the McGregor Lodge I.O.B.B. Daniel No. 128” and a member of
Chicago’s B’nai Shalom Congregation married Rosalia Summerfield today.
1857: In La Crosse,
Wisconsin, a Congregational committee reported the purchase of one acre of land
for a burial ground at $150.00 which the town’s first Jewish cemetery.
1858(1st
of Av, 5618): Rosh Chodesh Av
1859(10th
of Tammuz, 5619): Three-year-old Samuel Dreifuss, the son of Friederika and
Emanuel Dreifus and the grandson of Araon and Breunia Dreifuss passed away
today.
1859: Today
“the cornerstone of the first Ashkenazic synagogue in British North America,
Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, was laid at 41 St. Constant (now de Bullion
Street), just below de la Gauchetière. It accommodated 150 men and 50 women.
The building was 48 by 111 feet. The services were modeled after the Bayswater
Synagogue in London, England.
1860:
Commodore Uriah P. Levy saluted the Stars and Stripes and walked down the
gangplank for the last time. Yet his country had use for him: President Lincoln
apparently suggested to Gideon Welles, the Secretary of the Navy, that Levy’s
unique experience of the military justice system should not be wasted. The old
sailor’s last assignment has a distinctly Lincolnesque humor: President of the
Naval Court-Martial Board.
1861: Michael
Van Gelder was buried today at the West Ham Jewish Cemetery on Buckingham Road.
1862(14th
of Tammuz, 5622): Parashat Tammuz
1862: The
Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress. The Medal of Honor
is popularly known as the Congressional Medal of Honor. It is the highest
decoration military service personnel can earn. From the Civil War
through the Vietnam War, 18 Jews have won this honor.
1865: Corporal
Levi K. Kauffman, who had been serving since November 1863 completed his
service in Company H of the 52nd Regiment.
1865: Fifty-three-year-old
Frederick David Goldsmid began serving as a Member of Parliament
1866:
In Berlin, “Samuel and Therese (Rosenthal) Karger gave birth to American
journalist Gustav J. Karger, the husband of Rachel Levison who was also a
“member of the Republican State Central Committee in Ohio.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1924/11/17/104270059.pdf
1869: In New
York City, Jacob A. Weil and Dina Lilienthal gave birth to Abraham Weil an art
student at Cooper Union and the Academy of Design whose artwork for newspapers
including daily cartoons for the New York Evening Telegram which he stopped in
1898 so he could illustrate books, design art calendars and create theatrical
posters for various New York City lithographing firms.
1869:
Birthdate of Bristol, England, Joseph Bernberg, the principal of the South
London Jewish Studies and the secretary of the Jewish Branch of the Children’s
Country Holiday Fund.
1870: Adolph
Marix, the native of Germany who joined the U.S. Navy in 1864 while living in
Iowa was promoted from Ensign to Master today.
1872:
Birthdate of Bohemia native Emil Hacha, who as the last President of an
“independent” Czechoslovakia bowed to personal pressure from Hitler and became
the “State President of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia” where, regardless
of what else he did to help or combat the Nazis, signed “into law legislation
modeled after the Nuremberg Laws that meant the Jews were no longer Czech
citizens in any sense of that term.”
1872: Maurice
and Johanna Kahn gave birth to Jacobus Henricus Kann the Dutch banker and
partner of the banking house Lissa & Kann who was the co-founder of the
Jewish Colonial Trust and who died at Theresienstadt in 1944.
1873: In
Nashville, TN, Mary Friedman and Peter Cohen gave birth to Peter Iser Cohen who
moved Cohen Bros. Mfg. Co. Inc, from Nashville to New York where it became the “largest
dealers in knitted Goods who had served as an alderman in Nashville and was a
member of B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue in Manhattan.
1873: Shah
Nasr-ed-Din and Adolphe Cremieux met in Persia to discuss the problems of
oppressive social and economic discrimination against the Jews. The shah agreed
to encourage Jewish schools, and work to improve the Jewish condition.
Unfortunately, despite his intentions, the government did little to prevent
attacks against the Jewish population or to rescind many of the anti-Jewish
regulations.
1876:
Birthdate of Max Jacob, French painter, poet and writer. Jacob converted
to Catholicism before World War I. Unfortunately for Jacob, the Nazis and
Vichy still saw him as a Jew. His brothers, sister and brother-in-law died
at Auschwitz. Jacob was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944. However,
he died at the French concentration camp called Drancy before he could be
shipped east for the Final Solution
1876:
At the City Republican Meeting at Cooper Institute in New York, Judge Abraham
Jesse Dittenhoefter read the letters of those regretting that they could not
attend.
1876:
In Moteleh, Russia, Rachel Leah Chemerinsky and Dave Ben Davis gave birth to
Harvard graduate and Boston University trained lawyer turned movie producer and
distributor” Philip Davis, the husband of Bellle Shomer and creator of “special
educational pictures such as Jack Spruce Life in the Northern Woods and From
Wool to Cloth.”
1877: In Grand
Rapids, Hattie Houseman Amberg and David Moses Amberg gave to Melvin Amberg,
the brother of Sophie and Julius Amberg.
1877: In
Washington, IN, Sigmund and Lena Sternberger Eckhouse gave birth to Jane
“Jennie” Eckhouse Kaufherr the wife of isadore J. Kaufherr whom she married in
1898.
1878(11th
of Tammuz, 5638): Sophia Neuman Amberg, the wife of Moses Amberg with whom she
had nine children passed away today after which she was buried in the Jewish
Cemetery of Greater Lafayette in Lafayette, Indiana.
1878:
Birthdate of Olga Bernfeld who was deported on May 20, 1942 and murdered at
Maly Trostinec on May 26.
1879: Rabbi
David Einhorn gave his final sermon at Congregation Beth-El in New York.
Einhorn proudly recalled his role in speaking out against slavery while serving
as a rabbi in Baltimore at the outbreak of the Civil War. He was equally proud
of his role in the Reform movement although he said he remained staunchly
opposed to replacing Saturday with Sunday as the day for Jews to celebrate the
Sabbath. He also urged Jews to continue using German in their sermons and
teachings because this was a key in remaining connected to the best in Jewish
learning.
1879:
According to reports published today, Rabbi Gustav Koehler of Chicago will
replace Rabbi David Einhorn as the leader of Congregation in Beth-El in New
York. These same reports contend that Koehler plans on holding services on
Sunday and will be delivering sermons in English.
1880(4th of
Av, 5640): French financier Isaac Pereire passed away. Pereire and his brother
were rivals of the House of Rothschild. However, the Pereire brothers
were Sephardic Jews while the Rothschilds were Ashkenazim. Born in 1806,
Piereire and his brother Emile built the first railroad in France in 1835. For
a brief period, he owned the Paris daily “La Liberté” and he was
named a knight of the Legion of Honor for his many philanthropic efforts.
1880: It was
reported today that a memoir written by Professor Daniel Chwolson the Jewish
professor at the University of St. Petersburg which contains information about
the newly discovered Hebrew eptipahs found in the Crimea is in the hands of the
printers.
1881: The 8th
annual conference of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations is scheduled to
begin today in Chicago, Illinois.
1882: In
Leeds, England, Becky Silverblatt and Abraham Singer gave birth to Washington
University trained medical doctor Jacob Singer the husband of Flora Lowenstein
and assistant professor of clinical medicine at Washington University Medical
School who was a director of Shaare Emeth Temple in St. Louis and a member of
B’nai B’rith.
1882: As the
Freight Handlers’ Strike continued in New York Polish Jews were working in
place of the Italians most of whom had been arrested by the police.
1882: The
attacks on the Jews and Italians who have replaced the striking freight
handlers are reported to have become much more frequent. It is reported
that the attacks are the works of ruffians who are robbing the Jews and then
blaming it on the strikers.
1883: In
“Rostov,” “Samuel and Olga (Hurwitz) Dushman, gave birth to Saul Dushman, the
holder of a Ph.D from the University of Toronto who married Anna Leff after the
death of his first wife Amelia Gurofsky and who was one of the “most valuable
researchers” at the General Electric Labs in Schenectady, NY.
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/120/3122/686
https://sova.si.edu//record/NMAH.AC.0101
1883: The
first free excursion of the season sponsored by the Sanitarium for Hebrew
Children will leave from a pier at the foot of 5th Street at nine
o’clock this morning
1883: At the
third day’s meeting of the Hebrew Union Council the delegates will vote on the
recommendation of the Committee on Agricultural Pursuits the Jewish
organization work with the Cincinnati Agricultural Society which has already
establish established a successful colony in Kansas.
1884:
Birthdate of Italian painter and sculptor, Amedeo Modigliani. In 1906,
Modigliani went to Paris to study where he was confronted with the
anti-Semitism connected with retrial of Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
Modigliani signed his sketches “Modigliani – Jew.” Modigliani
lived his life as the typical starving artist. His paintings began to
gain in financial worth in shows starting in 1919. In November
of that year Modigliani’s health began to rapidly decline. According
to legend he sang the Kaddish for himself when he began spitting blood. He
died two months later. Since his death his paintings have soared in
value. In 1989 one of his paintings was sold for over eight million
dollars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Amedeo_Modigliani_Photo.jpg
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/modigliani/
1884: In
Prague, Jakob and Barbara Bondy gave birth to Anna Fischl
1884: In
Minsk, Jacob Meir and Sarah Meltzer gave birth to Lazar Meir who gained fame as
movie mogul Louis B. Meyer
https://www.biography.com/people/louis-b-mayer-9403666
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/louis-b-mayer
1884 (19th
of Tammuz, 5664): In Tuscany, Eugénie Garsin, the descendant from Sephardic
Jews from France and Flamino Modigliani gave birth to Italian painter and
sculptor, Amedeo Modigliani. In 1906, Modigliani went to Paris to study
where he was confronted with the anti-Semitism connected with retrial of
Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Modigliani signed his sketches “Modigliani –
Jew.” Modigliani lived his life as the typical starving
artist. His paintings began to gain in financial worth in shows starting
in 1919. In November of that year Modigliani’s health began to rapidly
decline. According to legend he sang the Kaddish for himself when he
began spitting blood. He died two months later. Since his death his
paintings have soared in value. In 1989 one of his paintings was sold for
over eight million dollars.
1885: It was
reported today that the Hebrew Standard has said “The meanest class of
Jewish merchants are those who refuse to close half a day on the Jewish
Sabbath.”
1885:
Birthdate of Le Theil, Orne native and Holocaust victim Paul Berthier who was
arrested in 1941.
1886: The
children in the care of the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society will leave for
an excursion on the East River at 8 o’clock this morning.
1887: The 14th
annual council of the Hebrew Congregations holds its opening meeting in
Pittsburgh where Josiah Cohen was chosen Chairman of the Council, Adolph Freund
of Detroit is chosen Vice President and Levi Lipman of Cincinnati is chosen as
Secretary. Dr. Stephen Wise gave the opening address where he reported on
conditions at the Hebrew Union College.
1887: In
Courland, Latvia, Hannah and Moses Lewin gave birth to future Massachusetts
resident and attorney Charles Israel Isadore Lewin, the husband of Anna Lewin
and the father of Betty Rena Buyer.
1889(13th
of Tammuz, 5649): Isaac Phillips, the son of Naphtali and Rachel Mendez
Phillips, a New York lawyer who served as an appraiser for the Port of New York
and who was a member of Shearith Israel passed away today.
1889: In
Austria Alfred Sachs, the son Babette and Eduard Elkan Sachs and his wife
Therese Sachs gave birth to Dr. Rudolf Sachs.
1890: Mark
Hambourg, the musical child prodigy whose career really flourished after the
family move to Great Britain at the end of the 19th century and the
Russian born son of pianist Michael Hambourg “made his debut today at the old Princess
Hall in London.
https://www.hambourgconservatory.ca/bios/mark.html
1889:
Birthdate of Marty Friedman, the defensive guard who played pro-basketball from
1908 to 1927 and who was half of the duo known as “The Heavenly Twins – the
other half being fellow Jew Barney Sedran.
1890: In
Philadelphia, Isadore and Pauline Jacobs Bien gave birth to baseball catcher
Walter B. Bien, the husband of Minnie Cohen Bien and the brother of realtor
Morris Bien.
1890: “City
and Suburban News” published today provides a list of upcoming events in the
New York area including plans for Rabbi Sabito Morais to deliver a talk at the
Jewish Theological Seminary.
1891: Israel
Pimkus, a sixty-year-old Russian Jew who has just arrived in the United States
announced his intentions “of going West” and sending for his five brothers to
join him once he gets settled. Pimkus
had escaped Russia with $17,500 that the Czar’s police had failed to find when
they ransacked his family’s home.
1891: In
Amsterdam, Geertruida (née Warradijn) and Wolf Mozes Goudeket, a wealthy
diamond cutter, gave birth to Julie Henriette Goudeket who gained fame as
silent movie start Jetta Goudal.
1891: “To
Celebrate a Centennial” published today described upcoming plans to observe the
102nd anniversary of the fall of the Bastille and the 100th
anniversary of the emancipation of the Jews of France which will take place in
New York’s Lion Park.
1892: In
Drohobych which was then part of Austrian Galicia and now is part of Ukraine, cloth
merchant Jakub Schulz and Henrietta née Kuhmerker gave birth to author and
painter Bruno Schulz, Polish author who will be killed by a Gestapo officer in
1942 under unusual circumstances. A mural that he painted just before his
death would become a point of contention between Ukrainian authorities and the
officials at Yad Vashem in 2001
1892: An old
Jewish peddler named Gustave Berkowitz was clubbed by a group of Italians who
had been fighting among themselves on Thompson Street.
1893:
Birthdate of Jersey City, NJ native and real estate attorney Benjamin E. Gordon
the former national vice chairman of the ZOA and a founder of the Bergen
County, NJ, Jewish Community Council who raised two daughters with his wife,
“the former Regina Reitman.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/09/11/89372727.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1893: In
Manhattan, Morris and Celia (Weinstein) Berg gave birth attorney Julius S.
Berg, who was wounded at Arras, France
in May of 1918 and went to serve in both houses of the New York state
legislature while being married to Rose Schram.
1893: Mrs.
Sarah Goldstein a widow with six children who lives at 181 Orchard Street “was
served with a notice to vacate her apartments” because she had not paid her
rent. She had used her rent money to pay
for medicine for five of her children who had contracted measles.
1894: Concerns
about a general strike in New York City seem to have been unfounded as could be
seen “at the headquarters of the American Federation of Labor on Clinton” where
“there was nothing to indicate that there were even rumors of strikes”
1894: In New
York, labor leader Patrick Murphy obtained a parade permit that will enable
15,000 union members including those belong to the United Hebrew Trades Union
to take part in a parade tomorrow night.
1894: The
members of the United Hebrew Trade Unions are scheduled to form up at Rutgers
Square before joining up with members of other labor unions for a mass meeting
at Union Square.
1894: Abram
Cahan is scheduled to be one of the speakers at tonight’s mass meeting at Union
Square sponsored by several labor unions in New York.
1894: In
Plymouth, MA, The School of Applied Ethics with Felix Adler as Dean, opened its
third annual session today.
1895: In New
York City, “theatrical manager William Hammerstein,” who was Jewish and his
first wife Alice Nimmo, who was not gave birth to lyricist Oscar Hammerstein
II, the Hammerstein of the team (Richard) Rogers and Hammerstein that produced
a string of Broadway Musicals including “Oklahoma” and
“Carousal” and who, when growing up “attended the Church of the Divine
Paternity.
https://www.rnh.com/bio/154/Hammerstein-II-Oscar
1895: This
evening, Dr. Joseph Adolph Moses of Louisville, KY is scheduled to address the
annual Central Conference of American Rabbis meeting in Rochester, NY.
1895: In
Rochester the most important subject discussed at this morning’s session of the
Rabbinical Conference “was that touch upon by President Wise in his annual
address – “What Is Our Relation in All Religious Matters to Our Post Biblical,
our Patriotic Literature Including Talmud!”
1896: “About
the Ancients” published today described Mr. Maspero’s confirmation of Mr.
Flanders Petrie’s discovery of the work “Yisraal” on the Merenptah inscription
and believes it
to be the earliest mention of Israel so far found in Egypt…”
1896: “About
the Ancients” published today described the work of Chabas who in 1864 when
“studying the records of Ramses found the word ‘Apouriou’ and came to the hasty
conclusion that ‘Apouriou’ meant Hebrew.”
1896(2nd
of Av, 5656): Moritz Kirstein, the native of Filehne who earned his M.D. in
1885 and was a member of the Berlin Board of Health, passed away today.
1896: “Art And
Utility Linked” published today described The International Art Exhibition in
Berlin which includes “Summer Evening In the Ghetto” by Ludwig Knaus that depicts
“a centenary Hebrew…seated in a big armchair…attended by his granddaughter.”
1896: Rabbi
Isaac ben Sheshet (Ribash) whose remains had been removed from his grave by
orders of the government of Algiers was reinterred today. Sheshet was a Spanish
Talmudic authority who had been born in 1326 and who had fled to Algeria in
1391 when the persecution of the Jews increased under the spell of the
preaching of Fernandes Martinez. He passed away in 1408. [For more about
this sage see Rabbi Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet and his times by Abraham
Moses Hershman]
1896: Herzl
attends a mass meeting at the workings-men’s Club in the East End of
London. Working men’s clubs were designed to bring education and
recreation for the members of Britain’s emerging working class at the end of
the 19th century
1896: “An East
Sided Romance” published today provides a detailed reviews of Yekl – A Tale of
the New York Ghetto by Abraham Cahan.
http://blogcritics.org/book-review-yekl-a-tale-of/
1896: “New
Plans for a Jewish State” published today described the creation of a chartered
company to create a “Jewish autonomous state in Palestine” which the Turks “are
to look favorably upon.”
1897: Forty
Jewish families who arrived from Poland are being deported because it has been
determined that “they are in a destitute condition” which means they are likely
to become “public charges” which makes them ineligible for entry into the
United States under the law.
1897:
Birthdate of Sam Mintz, the native of Belarus the American writer who created
almost 40 screenplays including “Skippy” which was nominated “in the category
of Best Adapted Screenplay at the 4th Academy Awards.
1898: One day
after she had passed away, 53-year-old “Fanny Levy, the widow of David Levy”
was buried today at Plashet Jewish Cemetery in London
1899 (5th of
Av): Seventy-nine-year-old German born Rabbi Israel Hildesheimer, the son of
Rabbi Löb Glee Hildesheime and one of the founders of Modern Orthodox Judaism
passed away.
http://israelphilately.org.il/en/catalog/articles/2228/Rabbi%20Azriel%20Hildesheimer
1899: Maitre Demange, the counsel for Captain
Alfred Dreyfus met with the President of the Court Martial regarding setting a
date for the hearing and discussing the procedures to be followed.
1899: Attorney
Maitre Demange met with Captain Dreyfus for two hours today.
1900: In Holyoke,
MA, organization of Congregation Anshei Rodfei Sholem
1901:
Birthdate of Benjamin Sonnenberg, the native of Brest-Litovsk whose “first work
in the public relations field was writing stories for the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/books/26sonnenberg.html
1902: Herzl
submits a written outline of his plans and the need for financial support to
Rothschild. “Aware of Rothschild’s aversion to settlement in Palestine, Herzl
also told Rothschild about the settlement of European Jews in Mesopotamia
proposed by the Sultan.
1903(17th of
Tammuz, 5663): Tzom Tammuz
1903: “John B.
Weber, ex-Commissioner of Immigration at the Port of New York and Chairman of
the special commission authorized by Congress in 1888 to visit Europe and
investigate the causes inciting immigration to the United States, spoke at
Atlantic to-day before the Jewish Chautauqua on “The Status of the Jew in
Russia.”
1904: Birthdate
of Pinchas Lavon, the native of Galicia who made Aliyah in 1929 and who is best
known for his role in the Lavon Affair that occurred while he was serving as
Minister of Defense.
1905: The
Ninth Summer Assembly of the Jewish Chautauqua Society continued for a 5th day in Atlantic City, NJ.
1906:
Birthdate of New York City native Henry Cohen the attorney who earned a BS at
City College and a law degree at Harvard.
1906: In Lake
Placid, NY, “Mrs. Samuel Greenbaum, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Greenbaum,
was struck in the left eye by a golf ball today.
1906:
Colonel Alfred Dreyfus was finally pardoned, restored to his rank and returned
to his regiment. The effects of the Dreyfus Affair did not end with the return
of Dreyfus to active duty. The Dreyfus Affair produced the modern Zionist
political movement which in turn gave birth to the state of Israel. The
Dreyfus Affair also provided another dividing between the Left and the Right in
both the French political and social scene and put another arrow in the quiver
of right wing anti-Semites. This would find full flower in the government
at Vichy during World War II.
1906: The
Central Conference of American Rabbis described today as “a day preceding
closely the annual celebration of the victory of liberty in France” as “a red
letter day in the history of Israel” because “it marks the triumph of
righteousness in a cause which affected not just the individual (Dreyfus) but
our whole people, the martyr people to which was assigned the mission ‘to open the
blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in
darkness, out of the prison house.’”
1907: In
Worcester, MA, Elias Harry Pofcher and Fanny G. Pofcher gave birth to Cecile
Gwendolyn Pofcher who became Cecile Strauss when she married Harry Strauss.
1908: In New York City, Moses Berlinger, “a paint
and varnish salesman” and Sarah (Sadie) Glantz Berlinger gave birth to Mendel
Berlinger who gained fame as Milton Berle, known to a whole generation of
television as “Uncle Miltie” or Mr. Television, one of the first stars of the
new medium in poster WW II America.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/mar/29/guardianobituaries
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Berle.html
http://www.miltonberle.com/about/biography.html
1908: It
was reported that Dr. Moses Gaster has obtained an ancient copy of the Book
of Joshua in Samaria.
1909:
“Gertrude Hoffman returned to Broadway” tonight “ with her Salome dance which
she “gave at Hammerstein’s Roof Garden.”
1909(23rd
of Tammuz, 5669): On the Jewish calendar, yahrtzeit of Sir David Salomons, “the
first Jewish Lord Mayor of London (5663)
1910: It was
reported today that the striking members of the Cloakmakers Union, many of
whose members were Jewish “marched across the plaza bridge” to the Jewish
quarter” “where they invaded shop after shop and induced employees to join
them.”
1910(5th
of Tammuz, 5670): Hermann Armin Schuh, the husband of Vilma Schuh and the “father
of Richard Schuh; Alice Rink and Walter Herbert Schuh” passed away today.
1911: In
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the 15th annual summer assembly of the Jewish
Chautauqua Society led by Chancellor Henry Berkowitz continued for a 6th day.
1911: Martin
A. Marks of Cleveland, Ohio was “re-elected President of the Library Board”
today.
1912: Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth (The
Loves of Queen Elizabeth) a French silent film starring Sarah Bernhardt which
was completed with funds from Adolph Zukor who “brought it to New York where it
was released” today.
1913(7th
of Tammuz, 5673): Parashat Balak
1913: During
the Second Balkan War, DimitriI Auguelov, a wine merchant from Serres, who had
been arrested on July 7 and was shut up in the school, escaped with a Jewish
prisoner today and was concealed by Jews of the town.
1913: Birthdate
of Mildred Cohn an American biochemist winner of the Garvan-Olin Medal the
National Medal of Science and the first woman to become president of the
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
1913: The
National Conference of Charities and Correction which Simon I. Blum has been
attending as a delegate from Illinois, is scheduled to come to an end today in
Seattle, WA.
1913: It was
reported today that Republican political leader Maurice J. Speiser, who had
been serving as a member of the House of Representatives of the state of
Pennsylvania has been appointed to serve as assistant district attorney.
1913: It was
reported today that “Professor Nathan Slouschz has been made an officer of the
Legion of Honor of Morocco by the Sultan in recognition of his services.”
1914(18th
of Tammuz, 5674): Tzom Tammuz observed because the 17th fell on
Shabbat
1914: As the
Jews fasted, the world moved closer to war today when “Foreign Minister Leopold
Berchtold presented the German foreign office with a draft of the ultimatum
which would be presented to Serbia after the summit between French President
Raymond Poincaré and Nicholas II of Russia.”
1914:
Birthdate of Boston native Avery Berlow Cohan, the graduate of Cornell who
earned a Ph.D. at Columbia before serving as a teaching fellow at Harvard and a
professor of finance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel for twenty
years.
1915(1st
of Av, 5675): Rosh Chodesh Av
1915(1st
of Av, 5675): Rabbi Abraham Baum passed away today at Augusta, GA.
1915: Opening
of the Summer Session The Teacher’s Institute of the Hebrew Union College.
1915: In New
York City, “the summer course in social service conducted by the Jewish
Chautauqua Society opened today at the Free Synagogue House” with introductory
remarks by Abram I. Elkus, President of the Society, followed by a speech by
Dr. Henry Berkowitz, “the Chancellor of the Society.”
1915: There were
approximately 125 delegates scheduled to attend the second day of convention of
the United Synagogue of America being held at the Hotel Nautilus at Arverne,
Long Island where they were expected to respond to Dr. Cyrus Adler’s call for
the Jews of the United States “and Canada” to “make further efforts to help
those of their race who were suffering in the countries at war.”
1916: One day
after he resigned as Municipal Court Judge in Chicago, Joseph Sabath was
appointed by the Governor of Illinois to as Judge of the Superior Court of Cook
County.
1916: “When he
did not receive the annuity granted to VC (Victoria Cross) recipients,”
thirty-year old Leonard Maurice Keysor, the native of London today “wrote to
the Military Secretary enquiring when he could expect to receive it.
1916:
Thirty-one year old Budapest born Wheeling, W.VA liquor dealer and Cleveland,
OH investment broker Samuel Ungerleider married Selma Dallet today.
1917: In
Rutland, VT, Hyman Abramson, the “son of Abraham and Stella Abramson, and his
wife Ada Abramson gave birth to Harry Abramson
1917(22nd
of Tammuz, 5677): Forty-seven year old Samuel I. Hyman, the son of Polish born
Talmudist Gerson Hyman, the husband of the former Tillie Endel with whom he had
two children – Norma and George – and the founder of S.I. Hyman and Brother
whose leadership in the Jewish community can be seen in his helping to build
the 85th Street and the Far Rockaway synagogues and serving as “a
member of the Executive Committee of the Kahila, passed away today.
1917: It was
reported today from Russia that “after a consultation with Chief of Staff Aleksei
Brusilov it was announced that the army would have Jewish chaplains in addition
to orthodox priests” and that “Rabbi Jeffa of Tamboy” is the first person to be
appointed with a total of thirty more to be named.
1918:
According to reports from Copenhagen sent to the Exchange Telegraph in London
today, “the Finnish Senate has decided to expel all Jews from Finland” which
means that more than 300 Jewish families will be forced to leave the
country.” (Editor’s Note – While Finland
may have gained its independence from Russia, it has clung to the anti-Semitism
of the imperial domain.)
1918: “In a
letter received by David Agramowski bearing today’s date, Hillel Agramwoski from
Brooklyn who had been serving with the 9th Infantry since 1917 and
was missing in action wrote his brother that “he had been cited in orders.
1918: In
Manhattan, Helen Oppenheimer and clothing salesman Leonard Isaac gave birth to
Doris Isaac who gained fame as “Doris Grumbach, who in novels, essays and
literary criticism explored the social and psychic hardships of women trapped
in repressive families or disintegrating marriages, and who, as modern feminism
came of age in the 1970s and ’80s, portrayed lesbian characters and themes in a
positive light that was then unusual in mainstream fiction.” (As reported by Robert
McFadden)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/11/07/novelist-critic-doris-grumbach-dead/
https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/post/doris-grumbach-a-remembrance
1919:
Birthdate of George Weissman, “who helped transform Philip Morris from a
midlevel tobacco company to a diversified conglomerate known for contributions
to the arts, and who then led Lincoln Center for nearly a decade.”
“Baruch College’s Weissman School of Arts and Sciences is named after him, and
his wife Mildred.” Weissman had graduated from Baruch when it was the business
school of the City College of New York
1919: Abraham
Schrameck completed his service as Governor-General of Madagascar.
1920: In
London, at Albert Hall, “ten thousand Jews, on the occasion of Great Britain’s
acceptance of the mandate for Palestine…unanimously adopted resoltuions
expressing their appreciations for “the illustrious services rendered to the
Jewish nation by the statesman and peoples of the Allied and Associated Powers,
particularly Great Britain” and adopted resolutions pledging “the Jews ‘to
spare no effort or sacrifice for the rebuilding of Palestine as a Jewish
national home, in collaboration with the inhabitants of the country.”
1920: Of the
62 winners of the state scholarships for Cornell University “in the Greater New
York area” announced today, 26 were Jews.
1920: “An
official dispatch arrived” in London stating that “Valdimir Jabotinsky and his
comrades where were sentenced to prison for organizing a self-defense united
during the” Arab riots in Jerusalem “have been freed.
1920: Today,
“the Summer School of the Free Synagogue under the direction of Rabbi Sidney E.
Goldstein began its second with a series of lectures by Professor F.J. Foakes
Jackes of the Union Theological Seminary” which will be followed by a course
taught be Rabbi Stephen S. Wise.
1920: The
Lithuanian Wars of Independence with the signing of the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace
Treaty in which the Soviet Union recognized the independence of Lithuania. Over
3,000 Jews fought with the Lithuanian Army during the fight for
independence. Jewish support would be rewarded with a certain amount of
autonomy and acceptance which erode with the growth of anti-Semitism in the
1930’s.
1920: Garolyi
Huszar, the former Hungarian Premier whom the Federation of Hungarian Jews in
American demanded be deported arrived aboard the SS Rotterdam in a first class
cabin with a passport and not as a stowaway trying to sneak into the country.
1921: “New
York banker Joseph L. Seligman, also known as J.L. Seligman reported the theft
of his wife’s jewels, valued at $25,000, while the couple was sailing from
Europe to New York as first class passengers aboard the White Star Line,
Olympic.”
1921: Sixty-nine-year-old
Hungarian native Rabbi Joseph Zeisler, the son Edouard and Josefine Zeisler,
the “husband of Mrs. Hermaine Kafka Zeisler and father of Eugene, Cornelius,
Pauline and Florance Zeisle” who had led several congregations including San
Bernardino’s Congregation Emanu El and Beth Ha-Tefilah in Ashville, NC, was
buried today.
1922: “Major
W.T. Blake, the British aviator who is attempting a flight around the world
left Zisa, Palestine for Baghdad this morning.”
1922: David A.
Brown, Chairman of the National Appeal for the Relief of Jewish Suffers, is
spending his second day aboard the Cunard liner Berengaria as he heads for a
meeting of the commission recently appoint by the American Jewish Relief
Committee.
1923: On
Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Louis Berger, a furrier, and his wife Rebecca gave
birth to Seymour “Sy” Perry Berger, “the father of the modern-day baseball
trading card.” (As reported by Richard Goldstein)
1923: In
Ferndale, NY, Jack Feldman who “ran a Catskill resort known as the Queen
Mountain House” and his wife gave birth to Fred Feldman who gained fame movie
producer Freddie Fields, the brother of
bandleader of Shep Fields. (As reported by Margalit Fox)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/arts/13fields.html
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-12-12-freddie-fields-obit_N.htm
1923: The
New York Times publishes a letter from Meyer Dizengoff, Mayor of Tel Aviv
thanking everybody from the Mayor on down for the hospitality shown to him
during his recent trip to New York. He expressed his hope that the “first
Jewish city” would benefit from the things shown him including the city’s public
utility system.
1924(10th
of Tammuz, 5684): Parashat Chukat
1924: “Rumors
to the effect that the Russian government had decided to grant autonomy to the
Jews living in a certain section of the Ukraine and Northern Crimea….seem to
have been laid to rest as of today.
1925: “The
Cabinet department having to do with regulations concerning minority
populations had adopted a series of resolutions intended to give effect to the
Government’s recent promise to improve conditions of the Jewish populations.”
1926: Jewish
middleweight Abie Bain beat Jack McVey, “the Pride of Harlem due to a
disqualification by McVey in the fifth round at Laurel Garden in Newark, NJ.
1927:
According to reports by the correspondent for the Daily Mail, Palestine
is in shambles following the recent earthquake. He reports riots, failed businesses
and the plans for departure by many of the Jewish immigrants. His
description is at odds with those of Jewish leaders and agencies including
Hadassah.
1928: Joseph C. Hyman, the Secretary of the
American Jewish Joint Agriculture Corporation declare that “recent statements
coming from Europe that the Russian Government has decided to promote the
settlement of individual Jews on the land among the general peasant population,
instead of continuing the colonization of Jews in compact communities are
untrue.”
1929: Having
premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on the west coast and in New York City
on the east coast, “The Broadway Melody,” the first “talkie” to win an Oscar
for Best picture produced by Irving Thalberg and Lawrence Weingarten, with music
by Arthur Freed and starring Eddie Kane who would be buried at Mt. Sinai
Cemetery in Los Angeles, was released throughout the United States today.
1929: In
Greenpoint, Brooklyn Gertrude Edelstein and Fred Himmelbaum gave birth to
“producer, director, writer and editor whose film credits included two Jack
Nicholson Westerns, “The Shooting” and “Ride in the Whirlwind.”
1930(16th
of Tammuz, 5690) Parashat Balak
1930: “Despite
all measure taken by (Hungarian) authorities, anti-Semitic disturbances
continue at Borza” where 1,500 anti-Semites advance on the village.”
1931: Fifty-two
Revisionists delegates bolted the Zionist meet after their resolution favoring
a Jewish State with a Jewish majority on both side of the Jordan River had been
defeated.
1932: Helen
Menken, who had divorced Humphrey Bogart married Dr. Henry T. Smith.
1933: Founding
of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) whose early success was due in part to the
friendship of its second President, Eddie Cantor with FDR.
1934: Memorial
services are held at Carnegie Hall in honor of the late Hebrew poet laureate,
Chaim Nachman Bialik whom Mrs. Samuel Halprin, President of Hadassah described
as “the embodiment of Jewish life” whose “gifts were the apotheosis of Jewish
creative life.”
1935: “The
Murder Man,” a “crime drama” produced by Harry Rapf was released today in the
United States.
1935(11th of
Tammuz, 5695): Three decades after being exonerated of all charges, Colonel
Alfred Dreyfus passed away at the age of 75.
http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Dreyfus_Affair.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Dreyfus
1935: “Mad Love” a horror film directed by Karl
Fruend, starring Peter Lorre with music by Dimitri Z. Tiomkin was released in
the United States today.
1936: The
Palestine Post reported that a Jewish mechanic, Dov Ben-Ammi, 30, was
killed and several persons were injured when a bus overturned into a ditch as
the result of an Arab ambush near Jenin. Four Arabs were killed in this
incident and in an attempt to derail a train in the same neighborhood. Two
watchmen, Zvi Lichtenberg and Dov Deitler, were injured in two separate Arab
attacks on Jewish settlements.
1936:
Following last night’s announcement by Chancellor Kurt Schusnigg of an
agreement between Austria and Nazi Germany, it was reported that “the Jewish
population is fearful” seeing this as being the opening “to rapid Nazification
of Austria and the introduction of German methods of anti-Semitism.”
1936: It was
reported today “Hitler is finally prepared to recognize, nominally at least,
the independence of Austria but that he is unable “to alter his attitude” on
the question of “Jews and Communists” whom are “to be exterminated.”
1936: An
unnamed “young Jewish tailor walking in a Jewish residential quarter was fired
on by Arabs who jumped from behind a wall.”
1936: As Arab
violence continued in Palestine, “Isaac Cohen one of the leading merchants of
Jerusalem was shot and seriously wounded” “while walking home from his store”
which brought expression of “indignation” from “moderate Arabs” because Cohen
“is an Oriental Jew counting more friends among the Arabs than among Jews.”
1936: Seventy-one-year-old
Samuel Parkes Cadman the English born American Clergyman whose support of Jews
can be measured by his appearance at a non-sectarian mass meeting in 1916 to
raise funds for the relief of Jews in the war zones of Europe as well as by his
support the 1935 UJA drive to raise funds for the “rehabilitation of Jews in
Germany and Eastern Europe” and calls to boycott the 1936 Olympics in Nazi
Germany passed away today.
1937: “Abbie
an’ Slats” initially written by Al Capp appeared for the first time.
1937: A
delegation from the American Jewish Congress led by its President, Dr. Stephen
S. Wise gave Secretary of State Cordell Hull a memorandum describing the
oppression and discrimination suffered by the Jews of Poland which led Hull to
admit that he was aware of the conditions of the Jews but made no statement
about any attempts to interfere in any way to aid “the most oppressed and
perhaps the most desperate group of human beings.” (Editor’s note – Hull’s
response was consistent with the isolationist mentality in the United States as
well as the prevailing anti-Semitism at the Department and his fear of being
philo-Semitic because of his wife’s Jewish origins.)
1938: In
“commenting on a telegram sent from a group of Williams College undergraduate
and Raymond Ingersoll, the Brooklyn
Borough President, to the head
librarian of the Austrian National Library offering to buy those ‘non-Aryan’
books that they suspect will be destroyed or removed, the Boersen Zeitgung,” a
German newspaper today dismissed their concerns in an editor that ended by
stating “that since academic circles in the United States are so preponderantly
Jewish the object of the telegram may not have been so much the specific one
mentioned as the mere desire to contribute to the wave of anti-German
propaganda in the United States.”
(Editor’s Note – Guess the newspaper missed the book burnings in
Germany)
1939: Malcolm
MacDonald, the Colonial Secretary announced today that “the immigration of Jews
into Palestine will be halted at the end of September and no new quota will be
issued for the following six months because of the influx of illegal
immigrants…”
1940: Today, twenty-seven-year-old
Canadian composer John Jacob Weinzweig married Helen Tenenbaum who gained famed
as author Helen Winzweig whose “novel Basic Black with Pearls won the
Toronto Book Award in 1981.”
1940: A
memorandum prepared by OKW describing the plans for Operation Sea Lion which if
successful would bring the Holocaust to England, was issued today.
1940(6th of
Tammuz, 5700): Sixty-nine-year-old Victor Rosewater, former editor of the Omaha
(Nebraska) Bee and Republican political powerhouse, passed away today.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10B11F7395A11728DDDAA0994DF405B8088F1D3
1941(17th
of Tammuz, 5701): Parashat Balak
1941(17th
of Tammuz, 5701): Controversial Russian born chess champion and author Charles
Jaffe passed away today in Brooklyn.
1941; Following
the start of Operation Barbarossa, today Sir Stafford Cripps, British
Ambassador to the Soviet Union and Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet People’s
Commissar of Foreign Affairs signed a pact pledging the Soviet Union and the
United Kingdom “to cooperate in the war against Nazi Germany and not to make a
separate peace with Germany.”
1941: “The
Bride Came C.O.D.” a comedy featuring George Tobias with a script co-authored
by Julius and Philip G. Epstein and music by Max Steiner was released in the
United States today.
1942: Today “the
remaining Jews of Sevastopol – men, women, children, and the elderly, were
brought by policemen to the Dinamo Stadium where they were told to take with
them provisions for three days on the pretext that they were going to be
resettled.:
1942: The
SS President Warfield, a ship belonging to the Baltimore Steam Pack Company
that had been sailing between Baltimore, MD and Norfolk, VA since 1928 was
acquired by the War Shipping Administration today. The ship was converted
into a military transport and was turned over to the British. The irony of this
is that the Warfield would morph into the SS Exodus five years later in
an attempt to run the British blockade of Palestine.
1942: While
flying a Spitfire today, Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot George
Beurling, who would die while flying for the Israeli Air Force in 1948, shot
down two more enemy plane over Malta.
1943: On the
back of a “picture of young Louis Loewe” an orientalist and companion of Moses
Montefiore his 92 year old son James Lowe wrote cryptically “The original oil
painting are today the property of the heirs of my sister Pauline Hirscfeld…”
1944: In New
York City, Phoebe and Henry Ephron gave birth to Delia Ephron the multi-talented
writer whose work includes a marvelous off-beat film, “Michael” which gave John
Travolta a chance to literally and figuratively spread his comedic wings.
1944: Many
of the 8000 Jews remaining in the Kovno (Lithuania) Ghetto are killed, and the
ghetto is burned. Nearby, a Lithuanian carpenter named Jan Pauvlavicius shields
at least eight Kovno Jews in a hiding place he has constructed in his cellar.
1944: In
Baltimore, MD, bartender Joseph Rubin and Annette Rubin gave birth to Arlene
Rubin who gained fame as Arlene Raven “a co-founder of numerous feminist art
organizations in Los Angeles in the 1970s.”
1944:
Birthdate of Michael Abraham Levy, “a Labour member of the House of Lords who
was the chief fundraiser for the UK Labour Party and long-standing friend of
former Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
1945: “The
Polish military authorities in Palestine who are under the order of the former
Polish Government in London have arrested Colonel Podwysock, the Polish
commandant of Vilna at the outbreak of WW II who had planned on returning to
Poland
1945: “Menuhin
Plays In London” published today described a concert at Albert Hall which was a
designed to raise funds for Jews in liberated Europe during which violinist
Yehudi Menuhin proposed dedicating “this concert in memory of those of our
people martyred at the hands of fascism.”
1946: “Twenty-two
more Jews have been killed in fresh outbreaks of persecution, the Polish Government
reports said today, and violence against Jews appeared to be spreading despite
Government efforts at suppression.”
1947(24th
of Tammuz, 5707): Parashat Pinchas
1947: “The
willingness of the world Zionist movement to consider proposals for a partition
of Palestine was repudiated today by the United Zionist Revisionists, who
rejoined the movement last year.”
1948(5th
of Tammuz, 5708): Ninety-one-year-old Dr. Solomon Solis Cohen, the son of Myer
David Cohen and Judith Simha Solis who graduated from Jefferson Medical College
and taught at Philadelphia Polyclinic and Dartmouth College while helping to
found the YMHA of Philadelphia, the Jewish Publication Society of America and
attending the Third Zionist Congress at Basel passed away today.
1948:
During the War of Independence, Israeli forces took Ramle. With the end
of the truce, Israeli forces sought to strengthen their position in the area
between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The victory at Ramle, which had been
preceded by the successfully seizure of the airport at Lod, was part of that
plan which forced the Israelis to fight the Arab Legion, the name of the Jordanian
Army which was an elite military force.
1948: Israeli
forces defeated Iraqi troops at Rosh Ha-Ayin. This village controlled the
headwaters of the Yarkon River, the source of much of Jerusalem’s water
supply. Continued control of the Yarkon would have left Jerusalem at the
mercy of the Arabs.
1948: As part
of Operation Danny, the Palmach began an attack on the village of Suba.
1948: As they
renewed their drive on Tel Aviv, Egyptian forces attacked the settlement of
Negba in the northern Negev. The Egyptians opened the attack with air attacks
and artillery barrages. The battle lasted for over seven hours with at
least four thousand shells falling on Negba. In the end, the 150
defenders hung on and the Egyptians withdrew.
1948: Les
Shagam of 101 Squadron north from the field at Herzliya to provide air cover
over Mishmar HaYardan where he would Syrian AT-6s.
1949: “In a
stuffy courtroom, one of the smallest in the Palais de Justice, Otto Abetz,
Hitler’s Ambassador to France during the Nazi occupation, went on trial today
before a French military tribunal of six Army and Navy officers and a civil
judge” facing a six-count indictment that included his role in “the deportation
of Jews from France to Eastern Europe.” (Editor’s note – a polite euphemism for
the death camps.)
1950: Syrian
forces killed “one Israeli today and wounded another as they went to the aide
of an Israeli police patrol boat whose propeller had become enmeshed in
submerged nets along the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Israel has
lodged a strong complaint with the United Nations…”
1950: The
Israeli Government clarified its position today on the proposed establishment
of a new oil refinery in Haifa and the allocation of exploratory oil rights to
independent American oil companies as recently reported. Bartley Crum is
representing the interests of American companies while Finance Minister Kaplan
and his Under-Secretary David Horowitz are negotiating on behalf of the
Israelis.
1950: U.S.
premiere of “Three Little Words” a musical biography based on the lives of
Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar with a score by André Previn.
1951: In Los
Angeles, Arlene Becker Grazer, who was Jewish and criminal defense attorney
Thomas Grazer who was not gave birth to Oscar winning Producer and Screenwriter
Brian Thomas Grazer, a business partner of Ron Howard’s and in 2007 one of
Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World”.[
1951: The
Jerusalem Post reported that seven marauders were killed and several others
wounded in an engagement with an Israeli patrol on Jordanian border. Tel Aviv
set up ice rationing to a fourth of a block per consumer daily. It was hoped
that this ration would be increased to the third of a block on weekends.
1952(19th
of Tammuz, 5712): Parashat Pinchas
1952(19th
of Tammuz, 5712): Cora (Woodruff) Cukor, the wife of businessman Morris Cukor
passed away today in Los Angeles.
1953: The
Foreign Ministry of Israel transferred its offices from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
1953:
Birthdate of Mexican human rights activist Andrés Roemer, who protested
anti-Israel United Nations resolutions.
1956:” Sidney
Schwartz reached the semi-finals of the New York State clay court tennis
championships” today.
1958: Harvard
educated Washington lawyer and U.S. Air Force veteran, Ralph Isaac
Petersburger the Davenport, IA born sone
of Bernice Klemperer and Richard Pertersburger married Helen Blackham today.
1960(17th
of Tammuz, 5720): Tzom Tammuz observed for the last time during the Presidency
of D.D. Eisenhower.
1960(17th
of Tammuz, 5720): Fifty-four-year-old producer E. Maurice “Buddy Adler, the
husband of Anita Louise Fernault, who was responsible for bring such classics
as the Oscar winning “From Here to Eternity,” “Bus Stop” and “South Pacific” to
the screen passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/04/16/132798832.html?pageNumber=247
1960(17th
of Tammuz, 5720): Sixty-six-year-old Vilna born Reform Rabbi Joseph Louis
Baron who “taught at an extension of the
University of Iowa and helped found Congregation Judah of Cedar Rapids, Iowa”
passed away today.
http://collections.americanjewisharchives.org/ms/ms0424/ms0424.html
1961(28th
of Tammuz, 5721): Seventy-eight-year-old Palestine native Isaac Alpern, the
founder and President of Alpern and Company, “the largest realty concern in
Middlesex County, NJ,” the “former President of the Perth Amboy Trust Company
and the Raritan Trust Company” who “was instrumental in promoting the
construction of a Young Men’s Hebrew Association building in Perth Amboy”
passed away today in Beverly Hills, CA.
1962(10th
of Tammuz, 5722): Fifty-four-year-old Roger Wolfe Kahn, orchestra leader and
aviation enthusiast, who was a son of the late Otto H. Kahn, the financier,” passed
away this afternoon at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/07/13/81791687.html?pageNumber=23
https://syncopatedtimes.com/roger-wolfe-kahn-and-his-orchestra/
1963(20th
of Tammuz, 5723): In Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, 78-year-old
Lithuanian born merchant Isaac Paiwonsky, whose interests included everything
from a distillery to a soft drink factory and with his wife Rebecca had four
children including “Ralph Paiwonsky, the first St. Thomisan-born Governor of
the Virgin Islands” passed away today after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage
1963: It was
reported today that “a recording breaking total of $2,232,942 was raised at the
annual “Country Club Day for CJA,” a fund raising even for the Combined Jewish
Appeal of Metropolitan Chicago in which almost 1,000 golfers took part.
1964(3rd
of Av, 5724): Hunter College educated painter, etcher and sculptor, Jessie
Ansbacher, the Wilkes-Barre, PA born daughter of Rachel Schwab and Solomon
Ansbacher whose work included a portrait of John Guggenheim hanging in the
Corcoran Gallery, Girl with A Muff and Boy with an Apple and who was a member
of Temple Emanu-El passed away today.
https://www.nytimes.com/1964/07/14/archives/jessie-ansbacher-is-dead-a-painter-and-portraitist.html
1964: In
France premiere of “Joy House” a mystery film with music by Lalo Schifrin
1967: As the
sun rose this morning sailors aboard the INS Eilat and their comrades aboard
two torpedo boats savored their victory over the Egyptian off the Rumani coast
where they sank two enemy vessels without suffering any casualties.
1965:
Recording of the best-known version of P.F. Sloan’s “Eve of Destruction” which
was released by Dunhill Records began today.
1968: “A
Lovely Way To Die” a crime movie starring Kirk Douglas and Eli Wallach was
released today in the United States.
1968(15th
of Tammuz, 5728): Seventy-three-year-old Hartford, CT born Charlotte S.
Friedman Fine, the wife of Gorge Fine and the mother the late Prof. Irving
FINE, former head of the Brandeis University Music Department passed away today
after which she was buried in the Sharon Memorial Park, In Sharon, MA.
1969: First
broadcast of “Doctor in the House” a British comedy series featuring
Anglo-Jewish actor Jonathan Lynn as “medical student Danny Hooley.”
1969: It was
reported today that Laurie Segel of Miami, Fred Turoff of Philadelphia, and
Mark Cohn of Philadelphia, “the winner of the all-around championship in 1965”
have been “named to represent the United States in gymnastics in the 8th
World Maccabiah Games” to be held in Israel later this month.
1970(8th
of Tammuz, 5730): Eighty-three-year-old Odessa born song writer Louis Wolfe
Gilbert the husband of Rose Gilbert and member of Temple Israel in Hollywood
whose first hit came in 1912 when he wrote the lyrics “Waiting for Robert E.
Lee” and moved on to Hollywood in 1929 where wrote for “film, television and
radio including the Eddie Cantor Show” and created the lyrics for the popular Hopalong
Cassidy Television show passed away today.
1974: Confrontation:
The Middle East and World Politics by Walter Laqueur, The Jews in Their
Land, conceived and edited by David Ben-Gurion, translated by Mordechai
Nurock and MIsha Louvish and Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem were on
the “New Books” list published today.
1976: It was
reported today that Idi Amin, President of Uganda had called Baruch Bar-Lev, a
retired Israeli Lt. Col. who had served in Uganda. Reportedly Amin asked
Bar-Lev to tell Prime Minister Rabin that “he was finished with terrorists”
which apparently meant that he would no longer deal with groups like the
pro-Palestinian terrorists who had held Jewish hostages at Entebbe. Amin
also asked Bar-Lev if the Israelis would spare parts for his military equipment
as it had when the two nations had diplomatic relations.
1976: The
Jerusalem Post reported from Washington that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
said that Israel considered Idi Amin and his Ugandan government responsible for
the fate of Mrs. Dora Bloch, the 75-year-old woman of dual British and Israeli
citizenship, left behind in a Ugandan hospital, following the rescue of more
than 100 hostages at Entebbe airport. The Israeli Embassy in London expressed
surprise that Britain sent condolences to Idi Amin on the death of the seven
Ugandan soldiers killed during the raid.
1976: The
Jerusalem Post reported that while fierce fighting went on in Lebanon
between PLO leftist groups and Christians, over 1,700 Lebanese received medical
attention at the Israeli army clinics set up on the border.
1977(18th of
Tammuz, 5549): Sixty-nine-years-old William Adelman, the husband of “the former
Doris Mensch” and father of Richard, Mark and Robert Adelman who was “executive
director for 27 years of Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx” passed away today.
1977: The 12th
Maccabiah opens
1978(7th
of Tammuz, 5738): Eighty-year-old Paul Parnes the son of Louis and Clara Asia
Parnes and the husband of Fay Parnes with whom he had two children – Arlene and
William — passed away today in Hollywood, FL after which he was buried at Mt.
Hebron Cemetery in Flushing, NY.
1978: In the
Soviet Union, the trial of Natan Sharansky continued for a third day today.
1978: Louis H.
Pollak began serving as a Judge of the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
1979(17th
of Tammuz, 5739): Tzom Tammuz
1979(17th
of Tammuz, 5739): Ninety-year-old Savannah, GA native and Bryn Mawr College
graduate Zipporah “Zip” Szold, the fourth president of Hadassah and wife of
labor lawyer and Zionist Robert Szold passed away today in New York City.
1981: “Prime
Minister Menachem Begin today compared the June 7 attack on Iraq’s Osirak
nuclear reactor to the Israeli mission that recued more than 100 hostages in Entebbe,
Uganda, on July 4, 1976” saying at a ceremony commemorating the fifth
anniversary of the death of Lieut. Col. Yehonatan Netanyahu, the commander of
the Entebbe raid “that both were “rescue operations.”
1982(21st of
Tammuz, 5742): Ninety-six-year-old “radical, activist Clara Lemlich Shavelson”
whose daughter Rita Margules was one of many who believed “she changed the
world” starting with the mass meeting that followed the Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory” passed away today
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/shavelson-clara-lemlich
1983: The Frank Memorial
Synagogue a synagogue in Philadelphia, named after philanthropist Henry S. Frank,
which “was built in 1901 on the grounds of the Jewish Hospital of Philadelphia,
now the Albert Einstein Medical Center” “was added to the National Register of
Historic Places today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_S._Frank_Memorial_Synagogue#/media/File:Frank_Synogue_Philly.JPG
1984: The
Willis Eye Hospital non-profit eye clinic and hospital in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania where Isaac Hays practiced from its opening until 1854 was placed
on the National Registry of Historic Places today.
1985: Thomas
R. Pickering appointed U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
1985: Lawrence
Kasdan’s western “Silverado” co-starring Kevin Kline and Jeff Goldblum
premiered in the United States.
1987(15th
of Tammuz, 5747): Sixty-year-old Yale educated moviemaker and photojournalist
Peter R. Gimble the New York City born son of Alva Bernheimer and Bernard Feustman
Gimble the great-grandson of “merchant prince Adam Gimble whose famous photos
of the wreck of the Adrea Doria were published in Life passed away today.
1988: Due to his
disappointment with Mapam’s policy towards the First Intifada, Muhammed Wattad left
Mapam to join Hadash
1989: “When Harry Met Sally,” with a screenplay by Nora
Ephron, which would be nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award was
released today in the United States.
1989(9th
of Tammuz, 5749): Eighty-six-year-old conservative political philosopher Sidney
Hook passed away today. (As reported by Richard Bernstein)
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/14/obituaries/sidney-hook-political-philosopher-is-dead-at-86.html
1989:
In writing about the condition of Jewish Day Schools in New York, the Times said today that “the yeshivas
combined vocational and spiritual training – Talmud above all, Torah, Hebrew
language and Jewish history from eight to three” followed by training in
“secular subjects in the afternoon until six or beyond in high school.”
1989:
Today, in writing about Jewish educational practices, “Joseph Berger suggested
that the teaching methods left something to be desired, since the rabbinical
seminaries had ‘little forma training in education, a situation that is a
legacy of the traditional forms of Jewish education” that had been prevalent
“in the lost Jewish schools of Europe” where even if the teacher was less than
competent, “the cohesiveness of the Jewish communities was such that even if
the teach lacked magnetism or finesse, the lesson would eventually sink in.”
1990(19th
of Tammuz, 5750): While serving as a member of the New York State from the 38th
district Brooklyn born U.S. Navy veteran and Republican Party leader Eugene Levy,
the husband of Geraldine Schack Levy and father of William and Felicia Levy who
began his career by being elected to the New York State Assembly in 1968 and
who helped found Camp Venture, Rockland
County’s first day camp for mentally handicapped children passed away today.
1991(1st
of Av, 5751): Rosh Chodesh Av
1991:
Release date for “Regarding Henry” directed by Mike Nichols, co-produced by
Mike Nichols with a script by J.J. Abrams.
1993:
The “original West End production” of “Sunset Boulevard,” a musical based on
Billy Wilder’s Academy Award-winning 1950 film of the same title opened today
at the Adelphi Theatre in London.
1994:
“True Lies,” edited by Marc Goldblatt was released in the United States today.
1995:
In “For MCA and Hollywood, a Generational Shit” published today, Bernard
Weinraub described the impact of Lew Wasserman stepping down as Chairman of
MCA, the entertainment giants owned by Seagram Company which Edgar Bronfman
serves as president and CEO.
1996: Amschel Rothschild, the man who many people believed was in
line to lead the Rothschild family’s legendary banking dynasty, committed
suicide this week, the company said today. Relatives of the 41-year-old Mr.
Rothschild refused to give any details of his death, which was originally
reported as having resulted from a heart attack. Amschel’s grandfather Charles
committed suicide in 1923 while suffering from encephalitis, a brain illness.
“One has to realize the kind of pressure that someone who belongs to a
family with that much money and that much in the public eye comes under,”
said Derek Wilson, author of “Rothschild: A Story of Wealth and
Power.” “Some members thrive on it, and others don’t. Some want
to be quiet people, but as a Rothschild you can never be that.” Mr.
Rothschild, who is a member of the sixth generation of the family, entered the
family business in 1988, rising to chairman of Rothschild Asset Management in
1990. Many experts said that put him in line to succeed Sir Evelyn, who is 64,
as chairman of the entire bank. The most likely candidate to succeed Sir Evelyn
now appears to be a French cousin, David Rothschild, though there is some
question as to whether the City’s British banking establishment would react
well to working with a member of the French branch of the family. Amschel’s
brother, Lionel, is said to be a “gentleman farmer” who is not
interested in being part of the banking business. Sir Evelyn’s oldest son is
considered too young for the job and is reported to have shown little interest
in finance.
1996:
Hazel Josephine Cosgrove (Lady Cosgrove) began serving as a Senator of the
College of Justice making her the first woman to be appointed as a judge of
Scotland’s Supreme Court.
1998(18th
of Tammuz, 5758): Tzom Tammuz observed
1998:
The New York Times featured books by Jewish authors and/or of special
interest to Jewish readers including Abraham Joshua Heschel: Prophetic
Witness by Edward K. Kaplan and Samuel H. Dresner and Mrs. Einstein
by Anna McGrail.
2000(9th
of Tammuz, 5760): Eighty-year-old Alf James, the South African boxer born
Alfred Abraham, passed away today in Pretoria.
2001:
Daniel C. Kurtzer appointed U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
2002:
“Road to Perdition” starring Paul Newman with music by Thomas Newman the son of
composer Alfred Newman was released today in the United States
2002(3rd
of Av, 5762): Dr. Bertram Douglas Cohn, the husband of Rita Brettschneidr Cohn
and “founding Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Maimonides Medical Center in
Brooklyn” passed away today.
2003(12th
of Tammuz, 5763): Parashat Chukat Balak
2003
In “A Lawyer’s Mind Channels Moses, Ralph Blumenthal reviews Moses: A Memoir
by Joel Cohen which is the “unauthorized sixth book of Moses” designed to
follow the standard Five Books of Moses.
2004(23rd of
Tammuz, 5764): Sergeant Maayan Naim, 19, was killed by terrorists in Israel.
2005: Rod
Rosenstein, who would find himself caught up in the investigations regarding
President Donald Trump, began serving as the United States Attorney for the
District of Maryland during the Presidency of George W. Bush today.
2006: Today “the
Alabama-Coushatta tribe filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against
now-convicted Jack Abramoff and his cohorts.”
2006: Baron
Michael Levy was arrested and questioned in connection with the “Cash for
Honours” inquiry by the Metropolitan Police today, concerning the
allegation that monies were paid to political parties in return for peerages.
It would take a year for authorities to decide not to prosecute due to lack of
evidence.
2006: Jerusalem’s Confederation House, one of the premier
venues for ethnic music in Israel, presents the first in a series of three
concerts based on bakashot (requests), songs of supplication
traditionally sung during the early hours of Shabbat morning in Middle Eastern
Jewish communities.
2006: “In the
presence of the living descendants of both Émile Zola and Alfred Dreyfus,”
French President “Jacques Chirac held an official state ceremony marking the
centenary of the official rehabilitation of Dreyfus” “in the same cobblestone
courtyard of Paris’s École Militaire where Captain Dreyfus had been officially
stripped of his officer’s rank.”
2006: The July
War or Second Lebanon War began when Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon
attacked IDF forces in Israel with rockets and mortars. Besides killing
IDF soldiers, Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. Apparently, they
planned on using them as bargaining chips in some future action. Amir Peretz
was the Defense Minister when the war began.
2006: Today,
four years after “he had revealed that he Parkinson’s disease,” Michael
Kinsley, “under went deep brain stimulation, a type of surgery designed to
reduce its symptoms.”
2006(16th
of Tammuz, 5766): Ninety-five-year-old “Sylvia Maibuam, the widow of
screenwriter Richard Maibum who wrote 13 James Bond films” passed away today.
2006: The
following were among a total of 43 Israeli civilians (including four who died
of heart attacks during rocket barrages) and 116 IDF soldiers who were killed
in the Israel-Hizbullah war: Sgt.-Maj. Shani Turgeman, 24, of Beit She’an;
Sgt.-Maj Eyal Benin, 22, of Omer; Wasim Nazal, 27, of Yanuh-Jat; St.-Sgt.
Alexei Kushnirski, 21, of Ness Ziona; Sgt. Yaniv Bar-On, 19, of Maccabim; Sgt.
Nimrod Cohen, 19, of Kibbutz Mitzpe Shalem; Sgt.-Maj. St.-Sgt. Gadi Musiev, 20;
St.-Sgt. Shlomi Yirmiyahu, 20
2007: In
Rochester, N.Y., a screening of “The Cantor’s Son” at the Rochester Jewish Film
Festival.
2007: In
Jerusalem, at a concert “Libi Er,” my heart is awake, performs
songs, ballads, prayers, and original ethnic music at the Confederation House.
2007: The
Conference on the Future of the Jewish People meeting in Jerusalem comes to a
close.
2008: Day Two
of the 25th annual Jerusalem Film Festival, which offers screenings of 200
local and international films highlighting a wide range of genres within
categories such as new features, acclaimed documentaries, avant garde films,
shorts, animation, retrospectives and classics. Special focus is placed on new
directors, films that capture the Jewish experience and French cinema, among
other areas of interest.
2008: In
Melbourne, opening of the first Australian production of the Stephen Schwartz
musical “Wicked.”
2009: As of today,
Brad Ausmus “was third all-time among catchers in fielding percentage.”
2009: After
over a century of being in business, all of the Gottschalks stores were closed
for good. Emil Gottschalk, an immigrant Jew from Germany had opened the first
of the stores to bear his name in 1904 in Fresno, California. One of the
Gottschalk stores had been located at Wasilla, Alaska, the town that Sarah
Pallin would make famous.
2009: In Tel
Aviv, Israel faces Russia in Day 3 of the Davis Cup Quarterfinals.
2009: The
Washington Post features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including The Attack on the Liberty: The
Untold Story of Israel’s Deadly 1967 Assault on a U.S. Spy Ship by James
Scott.
2010: Israeli
born cellist Yoed Nir is scheduled to perform at Bargemusic in Brooklyn, NY.
2010(1st of
Av, 5770): Rosh Chodesh Av
2010: Major
General (res) Giora Eiland presented the report of his committee which had
examined the preparations for and actual boarding of, the Pro-Palestinian Gaza
Flotilla.
2010: The
chairperson of the Women of the Wall prayer group Anat Hoffman was released
from police custody this afternoon, after being taken in for questioning for
allegedly defying the High Court ruling outlawing women from reading from the
Torah at the Western Wall. Women of the Wall Public Relations Director Michelle
Handelman told The Jerusalem Post that Hoffman was not reading from the Torah,
but only holding it, which is not against the law according to the ruling.
2010: Carmen
Weinstein, the head of Egypt’s tiny Jewish community, was convicted of fraud by
an Egyptian court today and may face time behind bars. Foreign Ministry
officials confirmed Weinstein had been tried in court but refused to provide
any further information on the matter. “From what we’ve gathered, we understand
that [the affair] is related to a business dealing,” said Amira Oron, a
spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry. “That’s all we’re willing to comment [on]
at the moment.” Oron categorically denied earlier reports that Israel’s
ambassador to Egypt, Yitzhak Levanon, had intervened on Weinstein’s behalf by
sending a letter to authorities asking them to protect the Jewish community
from “oppression and cruelty.” She said it was a private affair. According to
local media reports, Weinstein was found guilty of swindling money from an
investor to whom she allegedly sold property she did not own. They added that
she could face a prison sentence of up to three years. A senior Israeli
diplomat voiced his concern regarding the accusations against Weinstein “There
are a couple of dozen Jewish women left; all the men are gone, and Weinstein is
running what’s left,” the diplomat said. “The community has a few assets, and
she rents it out – that’s how they get by. I hope they haven’t been duped by
anyone.” Weinstein is the leader of a community that dates back to ancient
times. At its peak in the 1920s, there were 80,000 Jews living in Egypt,
belonging to Sephardi, Ashkenazi and Karaite congregations. However, following
Egypt’s independence and the 1948 creation of the State of Israel, Jews left en
masse due to persecution. Nowadays, only a handful of Jews remain in Cairo and
Alexandria. Nevertheless, in an interview with a local paper in 2007, Weinstein
was upbeat about the future of Egypt’s Jews “There have been Jews in Egypt
since biblical times, the time of Moses, and I don’t see why there shouldn’t be
Jews here until the end of time – sometimes less in number, sometimes more,”
she was quoted as saying.
2010(1st of
Av, 5770): Seventy-year old Harvey Pekar, whose autobiographical comic book
“American Splendor” attracted a cult following for its unvarnished stories of a
depressed, aggrieved Everyman negotiating daily life in Cleveland and became
the basis for a critically acclaimed 2003 film, died today at his home in
Cleveland Heights, Ohio. (As reported by William Grimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/arts/design/13pekar.html?_r=0
2010(1st
of Av, 5770): Rosh Chodesh Av
2010(1st of
Av, 5770): Eighty-eight-year-old Tuli Kupferberg, a poet and singer who went
from being a noted Beat to becoming, in his words, “the world’s oldest rock
star” when he helped found the Fugs, the bawdy and politically pugnacious rock
group, died today in Manhattan. (As reported by Ben Sisario)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/arts/music/13kupferberg.html?_r=0
2010: As of today,
Israeli professional tennis player Shahar Pe’er is ranked No. 16 in singles and
No. 39 in doubles.
2011: “The
Libelous Truth” published today provides a review of Alan Ackerman’s Just
Words: Lillian Hellman, Mary McCarthy, and the Failure of Public Conversation
in America that describes the television instigated confrontation between
the two authors that began when Hellman heard that her literary nemesis had
been asked, “What is dishonest about her?” and the response was “Everything” —
“every word she writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and the.’”
https://newrepublic.com/article/91900/mary-mccarthy-lillian-hellman-libel-suit
2011: Hadassah
is scheduled to open its 2011 Business Meeting in Las Vegas.
2011: Israel’s
most crucial tie to Egypt, an economic one, is deteriorating, National
Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau told Army Radio this morning.
2011:
Saboteurs blew up an Egyptian gas pipeline distribution station in northern
Sinai that supplies natural gas to Israel, the official MENA news agency
reported. The explosion was the fourth attack this year on pipelines in Sinai
that supply gas to Israel and Jordan.
2011: Fifth
anniversary of the war with Lebanon that began with a Hezbollah attacked that
killed Lt. Col. Dov (Berry) Harari.
2011: Days
after Berlin announced plans to sell tanks to Saudi Arabia, German Defense Minister
Thomas de Maiziere will arrive for his first visit to Israel today, during
which he will meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister
Ehud Barak for talks expected to focus on the ongoing upheaval in the Middle
East and the Iranian nuclear threat.
2012: In
“Atomic Bombshell,” published today, Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez, the
authors of Foxbats Over Dimona, examine “the allegations that Dr. Max Eitingon,
an early student of Sigmund Freud and a financial sponsor of the early psychoanalytic
movement, was also an agent of Soviet intelligence.”
http://www.tabletmag.com/author/isabella-ginor-and-gideon-remez
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/books/105954/atomic-bombshell/?print=1
2012: The
Washington DCJCC is scheduled to present “Meghan McCain with America, You Sexy
B**ch”
2012: Catherine Howell of the Victoria and Albert Museum of
Childhood is scheduled to lead the interactive workshop “Playing at war: an
up-close look at childhood games of battle and conflict” at the Wiener Library
on Russell Square in London, UK.
2012:
In “The Reading Life: Harvey Pekar’s Jewish question” published today David L.
Ulin examines the contradictory legacy of the later Jewish author.
2013:
“In Bloom” and “Our Nixon” are two of the films scheduled to be shown today at
the Jerusalem Film Festival.”
2013:
Rena Sherel Sofer appeared for the first time “in a newly created role of Quinn
Fuller” on “the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.
2013:
“Fill the Void” a film which “tells the story of an Orthodox Chassidic Family
from Tel Aviv” is scheduled to open at the Drexel East 3 in Columbus, Ohio
2013:
Ido Akov and Itai Meir, “two outstanding soloists from the Jerusalem Academy of
Music and Dance are schedule to perform at the Eden-Tamir Music Center.
2013:
“Der Purimspieler” – a romantic comedy about a drifter who wanders from shtetl
to shtetl. He finds brief happiness when he falls in love with a shoemaker’s
daughter in a small Galician town. A likeable fantasy about s love triangle and
man’s quest for the unobtainable – is scheduled to be shown as the first
offering in the July Yiddish Film Festival at Agudas Achim following Shabbat
eve services.
2013:
In “Echoes From the Roman Ghetto” published today, David Laskin takes readers
back to the Portico d’Ottavia which “half a millennium…has been the heart of
Rome’s Jewish ghetto” but which 70 years ago became the scene in yet one more
act in the Axis plan to create a Jew-Free World.
2014:
A Czech film festival that earned the ire of the local Jewish community because
it honored Mel Gibson who gained infamy with his “2006 drunken anti-Semitic
rant” and created “The Passion of the Christ” “which some critics have called
anti-Semitic.” (As reported by JTA)
2014:
Illumination Music & Arts Festival, the creation of two Jewish students
Dustin Stern and Jaime Rosenberg, is scheduled to come to an end “at a private
campground in southwestern Ontario’s Grey County
2014:
Israeli’s brace for another round of rocket attacks from terrorists in Gaza.
2014(14th
of Tammuz. 5774): Ninety-three-year-old old Louis Herman “Red” Klotz who
according to Dr. Ron Reider scored the final basket as a member of the
Washington Generals the last team to beat the Harlem Globetrotters passed away
today.
2014:
“Sirens sounded in Nahariya, Rosh Hanikra, Shlomi, Kabri and Hanita, along the
border with Lebanon as rockets were fired from Lebanon by a Palestinian Lebanese
terror group. A Lebanese security source told AFP at least one rocket was fired
at around 10:20 pm (1920 GMT) from an area south of the port of Tyre, about a
dozen kilometers from the border” (As reported by Gil Ronen)
2014:
Chloe Valadry a senior at the University of New Orleans, who was one of the
students assaulted by a pro-Palestinian mob calling Jews “Christ Killers”,
pressed charges with the Boston Police Department against “a woman related to
the incident.”
2014:
Hamas fired dozens of rockets at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
2015:
The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of
special interest to Jewish readers including Ally: My Journey Across the
American-Israeli Divide by Michael Oren and KL: A History of the Nazi
Concentration Camps by Nikolaus Wachsmann
2015:
The YIVO Institute for Jewish History and the Yiddish League are scheduled to
host Annual Memorial in Honor of Mordkhe Schaechter during which Kenneth (Binyomen)
Moss will deliver a talk in Yiddish on “Nationalism, the State and the New
Antisemitism in Zionist, Diasporist and Territorialist Thought, 1929-1939,”
followed by a musical program by Zhenya Lopatnik.
2015:
One hundred-year-old historian Janusz Durko who hid 20 Jews during WW II was
among “nearly elderly Christians Poles who saved Jews” who were honored by
Jewish leaders today in Warsaw.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/christian-polish-heroes-honored-for-rescuing-jews-during-shoah/
2015:
The Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America/ DC Department is
scheduled to host a memorial ceremony in honor of British General Orde Wingate
who “was a great soldier, lover of Zion and an admirer of the Jewish people”
known during the days of the Mandate as “YaYedid – The Friend.”(As reported by
David Levin)
2015:
“Vita Activa, The Spirit of Hannah Arendt” is scheduled to be shown at the
Jerusalem Film Festival.
2016(6th
of Tammuz, 5776): Seventy-six-year-old Department of Justice legend David
Margolis passed away today. (As reported by Eric Lichtblau)
2016:
The JDC Archives and the Center for Jewish History are scheduled to present “Rescue
through Collaboration: The Rescue Activities of the Comité d’Aide aux Refugiés
in Italian-Occupied Southeastern France, a lecture by Dr. Luca Fenoglio who will
describe the rescue activities of the Comité Dubouchage which helped Jews prior to the great roundup
across Vichy France of August 1942.
2016:
“A State Department grant intended to rally support for peace between Israel
and Palestine also helped set up political infrastructure that was later used
for a campaign opposing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2015,
according to a bipartisan Senate investigative report released” today.
2016:
“Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures” and “Little Men” are scheduled to be shown
at the Jerusalem Film Festival.
2017:
In conjunction with the exhibition “500 Years of Treasures from Oxford,” the Center
for Jewish History, Oxford University’s Corpus Christi College & Yeshiva
University Museum are scheduled to present a lecture by Lenn Goodman on “Oxford’s
Aleppo Connection: Edward Pococke (1604-91) from Humanism to Enlightenment via
Hebrew and Arabic Learning.”
2017:
In “I’m Blacklisted by Israel’s Rabbinate and Proud of It” published today,
Rabbi Alexander Davis, the “senior rabbi of Beth El Synagogue in Minneapolis”
described his feeling on being “one of the 160 rabbis…blacklisted by Chief
Rabbi David Lau” – a move some might find reminiscent First Kings 12:16.
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/im-blacklisted-by-israels-rabbinate-and-proud-of-it-1.5493164
2017(18th
of Tammuz, 5777): Ninety-two-year-old “comic-book artist,” graphic novelist and
author of A Sailor’s Story, Sam Glanzman passed away today. (As reported by
Richard Sandomir)
2017:
The ceremony honoring member of the World Maccabi World Union who make the
Maccabiah such a successful event is scheduled to take place this evening in
the new wing of the Tel Aviv Museum.
2018:
JW3 is scheduled to host two screenings today of episodes of seven through nine
of “of the new Israeli binge-worthy thriller Your Honor.”
2018:
The Center for Jewish History is scheduled to present “Family History Today:
Genealogy Lecture for Sephardi and Mizrahi Families” this evening.
2018:
The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington is scheduled to host “an
evening walking tour for young professional of Jewish downtown Washington” that
starts at the Carving Room “a Jewish inspired deli” (serves traif).
2018(29th
of Tammuz, 5778): Richard Siegel, Director Emeritus of the HUC-JIR Zelikow
School of Jewish Nonprofit Management, the husband of Rabbi Laura Geller ’76,
Senior Rabbi Emerita of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, and father their
children, Andy, Ruth, Josh, and Elana passed away today.
2018: “The Wedding Plan” is scheduled to be
shown at the 9th Annual AXERLROD Israel Jewish Film Festival
2019:
Forty-three-year-old CUNY math professor Ari Nagel, known as the Sperminator,
and 18 year old Kaienja Garrick, an 18 year old living in an East Harlem
Shelter are about to give birth to Nagel’s 50th child, each of whom
was the product of his sperm donations.
https://forward.com/tag/ari-nagel/
2019:
Following a weekly pattern of Friday violence that dates back to March 2018 and
Hamas’ “Great March of Return” thousands of Palestinians” are scheduled to
gather at the border of Gaza so they can hurl “rocks, firebombs and explosive
devices at IDF troops” on the same day that Muslims recite “jumu’ah.”
2019:
In San Francisco, Congregation Sha’ar Zahav is scheduled to hots “Millennial
Shabbbat,” a “free meal for young professionals.
2019:
In Memphis, the home of Rabbi Fievel and Cantor Abbie Strauss, the Studio on
the Square is scheduled to host a screening of “The Spy Behind Home Plate.”
2020:
The 20th Annual New Jersey Jewish Film Festival is scheduled to host
a screening of The Spy Behind Home Plate that includes a live zoom discussion
with filmmaker Aviva Kempner.
2020:
The New York Times features reviews
of books by Jewish or of special interest to Jewish readers including The
Ballad of Feeling by Iowa City novelist Ari Braverman and Artifact by Arlene Heyman
2020:
“Due to COVID-19 restrictions issued by the state of New Jersey” the Jewish
Heritage Museum of Monmouth Country is scheduled to hold its 2020 annual
meeting via Zoom this morning.
2020:
The Sephardic Heritage International, the Stroum Jewish Community of Greater
Seattle, the JCC Mizel Arts and Culture in Denver and the Toronto Ashkenaz
Festival are scheduled to present the livestreaming performance of “Israeli
Ladino singer-songwriter Nani Noam Vazana.’
2020:
The URJ Eisner Camp is scheduled to present online “Elana Arian in Concert.”
2020:
The JCC of Contra Costa, Congregation B’nai Shalom and Chabad of the Tri-Valley
are scheduled to sponsor via Zoom, a talk by Iong-time Israeli resident as she
talks about her book The Lost Kitchen: Reflections and Recipes from an
Alzheimer’s Caregiver
2021:
HIAS is scheduled to host “a monthly program in which volunteers write letters
of compassion and solidarity to people in immigration detention and participate
in a short learning session that reflects on issues facing refugees and asylum
seekers.”
2021:
The Lapin Foundation is scheduled to present a family friendly celebration of
Israeli culture on the Andover (Massachusetts) Town Common.
2021:
Michael Simonson, archivist at the Leo Baeck Institute and Nancy Berliner, Wu
Tung Senior Curator of Chinese Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston are
scheduled to lecture on David Ludwig Bloch, the Jewish artist from Bavaria who
found refuge in Shanghai in presentation sponsored by LBI and the Center for
Jewish History.
2021:
The Health Ministry is scheduled to resume administering the first doses of the
Pfizer vaccine this morning, after they
were halted for 24 hours following concerns of a looming shortfall.
2021:
The London School of Jewish Studies is scheduled to present “Adam Taub, a long
time dedicated student of Rabbi Dr Irving Jacobs z”l (Principal of LSJS
between 1991-1994), who will review some of Rabbi Jacobs’s key ideas and try to
capture the experience of being in a class with one of Anglo-Jewry’s finest
teachers.”
2022:
The Museum on Eldridge Street is scheduled to host “Make Yourself at Home!
Home, Exile, and Return in the Hebrew Bible,” a lecture by Scholar-in-Residence
Dr. Regina Stein.
2022:
As part of the Yiddish Civilization Lecture Series, The YIVO Institute is
scheduled to present a lecture in Yiddish by Yitskhok Niborski, on the Theater
of Arron Zeitlin”
2022:
The Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines is scheduled to host a screening of
“On Broadway” as part of its 2022 Summer Film Series.
2022:
The ADL is scheduled to present, online, its 23rd annual Supreme
Court Review.
2023:
Andrew Silow-Carroll, managing editor for Ideas at the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency and editor at large at the New York Jewish Week, is scheduled to teach
the third session of “Inside Jokes: Explore the Essence of Jewish Humor.”
2023:
The Yeshiva University Museum is scheduled to host Director Gabriel Goldstein
for a guided tour of The Golden Path: Maimonides Across Eight Centuries,
illuminating the life and impact of the multifaceted luminary and great Jewish
sage across continents and cultures through rare manuscripts and books.
2023:
In New Orleans the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans is scheduled to host
a networking event with a wide range of professionals in the field of education.
2024:
In Coralville, IA, Agudas Achim is scheduled to host an Ice Cream Sundae Bar
Oneg.
2024:
In Los Angeles is scheduled to host a screening of “America,” directed by Ofir
Raul Graizer.
2024:
In its final broadcast of the season Kan Kol Hamusika is scheduled to broadast a
concert by “Outstanding Clarinetists.’
2024: As July 12th begins in Israel, an unprecedented
wave of anti-Semitism that has included Hamas supporters calling for Zionist
passengers on a New York subway to raise their hands, sweeps the United States
and the Hamas held hostages begin day 280 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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