May 3
1282 BCE: (28Nissan 2488): Traditional date marking the fall of the walls of Jericho.
443 BCE (7thof Iyar, 3317): Nehemiah dedicated the newly built walls that had been builtaround Jerusalem
996: Papacy ofGregory V began today making him a contemporary of Hananel Ben Hushiel, SamuelIbn Nagrela and Jacob ben Yakar each of whom was born in 990.
1096 (8th Iyar): On his way to join the Crusade led byPeter the Hermit, Emico, the Count of Leiningen, attacked the synagogue atSpeyers. The Jews defended themselves but were systematically slain. Until thistime atrocities in Europe were sporadic. From this point on, they becameorganized and frequent. Jewish martyrdom began in earnest. It should beremembered that the atrocities committed by the rampaging crusaders were notalways supported by the local burghers and bishops. Furthermore, in manycountries, especially the Slavic states, the local Christian community sufferedfrom pillages as well. John Bishop of Spires even called out his army after 11Jews were killed in a riot, but he was an exception rather than the rule.Approximately 5,000 Jews were murdered in Germany in 1096.[Editor’s Note:Maggie Anton, the author of the acclaimed series about Rashsi’s Daughters,offers the following view of events. “Actually, the Crusader attacks on Speyerin 1096 left only 11 Jews dead - those who were still on the streets. Warned ofthe danger, the Jews prayed early and left the synagogue before the maraudersarrived, barricading themselves at home. Bishop John's army routed the mob andcut off the hands of the worst instigators. It was later in the month that theworst massacres occurred in Worms, Mainz & Cologne.”]
1235: Pope Gregory issued a Bull that repeated andconfirmed the constitution of Pope Innocent III. The Bull was issued inresponse to pleas from German Jews that the Church act to stop the maraudingmobs that were attacking them.
1270: King Béla IV of Hungary passed away. Bela had welcomed Jewish immigrants to his kingdom and in1251 gave them “legal rights.”
1407: Emperor Rupert issued a decree appointing Israel of Krems“chief rabbi of all the German communities ("Hochmeister über alleRabbinen"), giving him a certificate declaring him to be a great Talmudicscholar and a good man.”
1455: As Christian forces advance, groups of Jews fled Spain, someof whom ended up in Kosovo others of whom settled in West African Jewishcommunities known as Bilad al-Sudan.
1469: Birthdate of Niccolò Machiavelli
http://voices.yahoo.com/literary-analysis-prince-niccolo-machiavelli-6074870.html
1481:Mehmed II,Ottoman Sultan passed away. Known as “The Conqueror” (Faith), he reigned from1444 to 1446 until his father took over on account of war. He came again tothrone in 1451. He conquered Constantinople in 1453. The oppressed Jews wererelieved to see him occupy the city. He allowed Jews from today's Greek Islandsand Crete to settle in Istanbul. Fatih's declaration is as follows:"Listen sons of the Hebrew who live in my country...May all of you who desirecome to Constantinople and may the rest of your people find here ashelter". The Bavarian King Ludwig the III, under the influence of theItalian Monk Jean de Capistrano expelled the Jews out and forced them to settleon the banks of the Danube River, Capistrano helped John Hunyadi in 1456 whenthe Ottomans besieged Belgrade. In 1410 Jean Huss was excommunicated and burnedon order of the pope Alexander the V. The pope Nicholas the V, summoned Jean deCapistrano to go to Slovakia and fight the followers of Jean Huss. Of course,Capistrano did not forget the Jews and as a result, by order of the Sultan, aregiment called "The sons of Moses" was formed. Since Capistrano alsoprepared a crusade against the Ottomans, the same regiment participated in thewar which ensued. The doctors Isak Pasa Galeon and Ribbi Sonsino were alsoappointed to that regiment. Before being killed, Ribbi Sonsino chopped away thehead of Jean de Capistrano and the church declared the latter a saint. Afterthe war Mehmed II invited the Ashkenazi Jews of Transylvania and Slovakia tothe Ottoman Empire. The synagogues Ahrida, Karaferya, Yanbol and Cuhadji whichwere damaged due to a fire have been repaired on the Sultan’s order. Accordingto a votive foundation document dated 1451-1481, the doctors Moses Hamon, IsakPas a Galeon, Hekim Yakup, Ephraim Sandji and Hekim Abraham were appointed aspalace doctors.
1488: In Naples, Joseph Günzenhäuser published the first printededition of the Pentateuch with a commentary by Abraham ibn Ezra.
1579:An auto-de-fe at Seville sentenced 38 people, some accused of Judaizing. Inall, only one person was burned.
1583(11thof Iyar): Rabbi Isaac Mehling passed away in Prague.
1588: Council of Hanover in Germany ordered the severance of allbusiness connections between Jews and Christians.
1616(16th of Iyar, 5376): Meir Lublin, the son ofGedaliah, the son-in-law of Isaac ha-Kohen Shapiro and the author of the Talmudic commentary Meir Einai Chachamim passed away today in Lublin.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0013_0_12821.html
1649; “The earliest mention of a Jew in Massachusetts bears thedate May 3, 1649”
1655(26th of Nisan, 5415): Abraham Nunez Bernal wasburned at the stake by the Inquisition of Cordova making him yet anotherSephardic martyr.
1655:Jacob Abendana delivered a famous memorial sermon onthe Cordovan martyrs Marranos Nunez and Almeyda Bernal who had been burned atthe stake. Abendana was the older of Isaac Abendana who taught at MagdalenCollege and served as hakam of the Spanish Portuguese Synagogue in London..
1667(9th of Iyar, 5427): Many Jews were killed in anti-Jewish riotsin Lemberg. Lemberg is in the Ukraine. These killings took placeduring the wars between the Poles and the Cossacks. The fate of the Jewsof Lemberg would grow even worse in 1668 when most of them would perish in amassacre.
1670: Birthdate of Nicholas Mavrocordatos, the Grand Dragoman whomDaniel de Fonseca served as a personal physician while actually working as asecret agent for the French and Turks to provide support for the Ottomans intheir conflict with Austria.
1703(28th of Iyar, 5463): Seventy-two-year-old SamuelOppenheimer the Jewish banker who bankrolled Emperor Leopold I during the GreatTurkish War, passed away today.
1715(NS): A total solar eclipse took place today which the subjectmatter of lecture given by theologian, historian, philosopher andmathematician” William Whiston who contended the “Song of Solomon” was apocryphaland the “Book of Baruch” was not and who translated the complete works ofFlavius Josephus” the controversial Jewish historian known simply as Josephus.
1733(22nd of Iyar,):Rabbi Zevi of Vilna, author of “Bet Lehem Yehudah” passed away
1758: The Papacy of Benedict XIV, who was so committed toconverting Jews that he issued a bull allowing children as young as seven to bebaptized without their parent’s permissions and added to the list of Jewishbooks that should be “seized and confiscated but who also publicly opposed theBlood Libel, ended today.
1761: In London, Salomon Barend Gompertz and Martha Gompertz gavebirth to Elisabeth Gompertz, the wife of Utrecht born Abraham Benjamin Cohenand “mother of Bernard Cohen; James Abraham Cohen-Stuart; Lewis / Levie /Judaleib Abraham Cohen Amesfoort; William / Ze'ev Wolf Cohen Amesfoort and AnneJean Philippe Louis Cohen.”
1764: The Maryland Gazettereported "certain" Jews were willing to settle in the Americancolonies to conduct agriculture and commerce. This was nothing new, as foralmost 30 years prior the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in London had wantedto form a large settlement for Jews in Carolina.
1775: David Salisbury Franks, who would become an officer in theAmerican Revolutionary Army, was arrested for speaking in a disrespectfulmanner about King George III.
1778(6th of Iyar, 5538): Eighty-eight-year-old HirschAuberach who had been serving as rabbi at Worms in 1763, the husband DobreschAuberach and the father of Rabbi Abiezri Selig Auerbach, passed away today.
1791: The Constitution of 3 May 1791 under which Poland’sJews were granted full emancipation was adopted by the Great Sejm today
1796(25th of Nisan, 5556): Rosa Bunn, the wife of furtrader, American Revolution patriot and an early leader of the Lancaster, PAJewish community with whom she had two children and who was the grandmotherRebecca Gratz passed away today.
1802: Washington, D.C. isincorporated as a city. Isaac Polock was reported to be D.C.’s first Jewishresident having moved to the area in 1795.Major Alfred Mordecai came to Washington in 1828 to serve assuperintendent of the District of Columbia Arsenal. He is the second knownJewish resident of the nation’s capital.For more about the history of Jewry in the Washington metropolitan areasee the website of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington http://www.jhsgw.org/
1803: In Lisbon, ME, Moses Gould, the Hull, MA born Son of JosephGould, Jr. and Hannah Gould and his wife Anne Adams gave birth to Sarah Gouldwho would pass away before her fourth birthday.
1833(14th of Iyar, 5593):Pesach Sheni, is observed for the first time since Martin Van Buren replacedJohn C. Calhoun as Vice President which was part of American politicalimbroglio that included everything from “sex to secession.”
1837: Phillip Joseph Salomons marriedCecilia Samuels at the Hambro Synagogue today.
1840: In Polska, R' Israel BaruchMoses and Eve Moses (Graditz) gave birth to Rabbi Adolph Eliezer Moses whobecame an M.D. after graduating from medical school in his 50’s.
1841: One days after he had passedaway, Myer Ephraim Myers was buried today in the “Brady Street JewishCemetery.”
1843: Birthdate of Edward Dowden, theIrish author who claimed that “in the original Persian” version of the Shylockstory, “the Jew is not impelled to cruelty because the money is not returned tohim but for the reason that he in love with his debtor’s wife” and whosedaughter Hester “claimed to communicate via various spirit guides including‘Johannes,’ an ancient Jewish Neo-Platonist who lived 200 years before Jesus
1844(14th of Iyar, 5604): Pesach Sheni
1844: Birthdate of Édouard Adolphe Drumont “a French journalistand writer” who “founded the Anti-Semitic League of France in 1889 and was thefounder and editor of the newspaper La Libre Parole.”
“He was at first in government service, but later became acontributor to the press and was the author of a number of miscellaneous works,of which Mon vieux Paris (1879) was crowned by the Academy.
Drumont's 1886 book ‘La France Juive’ (Jewish France) attacked therole of Jews in France and argued for their exclusion from society. In 1892Drumont founded the newspaper the La Libre Parole which became aplatform for virulent anti-Semitism…He was sued for accusing a parliamentarydeputy of having taken a bribe from the prominent Jewish banker ÉdouardAlphonse de Rothschild to pass a piece of legislation the banker wanted.Drumont attracted many supporters and was one of the primary sources ofanti-Semitic ideas that would later be embraced by Nazism. He exploited thePanama Company Scandal and reached the peak of his notoriety during the DreyfusAffair, in which he was the most strident of Alfred Dreyfus' accusers.” He diedin 1917.
1847(17th of Iyar, 5607): Heinrich (Henry) Bernheimer,the two-year-old son of Leopold Solomon Bernheimer and Fanny Weil—Bernheim passedaway.
1847: Premiere of “Don John of Austria,” the firstAustralian opera at the Royal Victoria Theatre in Sydney. Isaac Nathan wrote theopera to a libretto by Jacob Levi Montefiore.
1848:Today, in Philadelphia, thirty-three-year-old Canadian businessman Jacob HenryJoseph m married Sarah Gratz Moses with whom he “two sons and three daughters.
1849: The May Uprising in Dresden begins - the last of the Germanrevolutions of 1848. These revolutions, in which many Jews played an activerole, failed. This resulted in a majormigration of liberal Germans, including a large number of German Jews, to theUnited States. This migration would havea major impact on the United States and the American Jewish community.
1849: At the tenth meeting of the Independent Order of Free Sonsof Israel, a petition “asking for a charter for a second lodge of the order to benamed Abraham Lodge No. 2” was granted.
1851: The 101-foot schooner America which was the first U.S. boatto win the America’s Cup for which Baron Arthur de Rothschild would latersupply the prize money, was launched today.
1852(14th of Iyar, 5612): Pesach Sheni observed for thelast time during the Presidency of Millar Fillmore, the only “Know Nothing” tohave made it to the White House.
1853: The New York Times reported that an un-named Jew hadbeen arrested on a charge of receiving stolen goods. The goods were reportedly $25 dollars’ worthof women’s shoes that had been stolen by German lad named Herman who wasworking as an apprentice in a boot & shoe store.
1857: Birthdate of August Lederer the Austrian industrialist, artcollector and patron of Gustav Klimt.
1859:Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky the Lithuanian Jewwho went through a series of conversions in various Christian churches startingas a Baptist in 1855 was appointed to serve as a missionary to China by theEpiscopal Church.
1860: In Ancona, Abramo Volterra, a cloth merchant, and AngelicaAlmagià gave birth to Samuel Giuseppe Vito Volterra
1860: Thanks to the efforts of the pro-Secessionist forces, theDemocratic Convention which Henry Myer Phillips attended as a delegate, decidedto adjourn today and reconvene at Baltimore in six weeks.
1861: The Secretary of War issued a muster call for three yearvolunteers that would be responded to by the 26th Pennsylvaniavolunteers whose members included Dr. Jacob Da Silva Solis Cohen the graduateof the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson Medical College.
1863(14th of Iyar, 5623): Pesach Sheni
1863: At the battle ofChancellorsville, having marched from the west bank of the Rappahannock Riverunder fire and crossed at United States Ford, Captain Charles E. Etting reached he front at 1 o'clock A.M., today andthere remained until withdrawn on May 6.
1863: Lt. Evan Davis, serving with Company D of the 11thRegiment was wounded today at the Battle of Chancellorsville; wound which wouldlead to his death in May 18.
1863: Two days after he had passed away, Gabriel Simmons, the sonof John and Sarah Simmons was buried today at the “Brompton (Fulham Road)Jewish Cemetery.”
1863(14th of Iyar, 5623): Twenty-five-year-old IsaacSeldner of the 6th Virginia Infantry Regiment was killed today atthe Battle of Chancellorsville during the Civil War.
1864(27th of Nisan, 5624): J. J. Benjaminpassed away. Born in 1818 at Fălticeni,Romania he “was a Romanian-Jewish historian and traveler. His pen name was"Benjamin II", in allusion to Benjamin of Tudela. Married young, heengaged in the lumber business, but losing his modest fortune, he gave upcommerce. Being of an adventurous disposition, he adopted the name of Benjaminof Tudela, the famous Jewish traveler of the twelfth century, and toward theend of 1844 set out to search for the Lost Ten Tribes. Using the name ofBenjamin of Tudela, the famous twelfth century Jewish traveler, he set out in1844 on a search for the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. This search took him fromVienna to Constantinople in 1845, with stops at several cities on theMediterranean. He arrived in Alexandria in June, 1847, and proceeded via Cairoto the Levant. He then traveled through Syria, Babylonia, Kurdistan, Persia,the Indies, Kabul, and Afghanistan, returning June, 1851, to Constantinople,and then back to Vienna where he stayed briefly before heading to Italy. Therehe embarked for Algeria and Morocco. He made copious notes of his observationsof the societies he visited. On arriving in France, after having traveled foreight years, he prepared in Hebrew his impressions of travel, and had the booktranslated into French. After suffering many tribulations in obtainingsubscriptions for his book, he issued it in 1856, under the title ‘Cinq Annéesen Orient (1846-51).’ The same work, revised and enlarged, was subsequently publishedin German under the title ‘Acht Jahre in Asien und Afrika’ (Hanover, 1858),with a preface by Meyer Kayserling. An English version has also been published.As the veracity of his accounts and the genuineness of his travels wereattacked by some critics, he amply defended himself by producing letters andother tokens proving his journey to the various Oriental countries named.Benjamin relates only what he has seen; and, although some of his remarks showinsufficient scholarship and lack of scientific method, his truthful and simplenarrative gained the approval of eminent scholars like Humboldt, Petermann, andRichter. In 1859 Benjamin undertook another journey, this time to America,where he stayed three years. The result of his observations there he publishedon his return, under the title Drei Jahre in Amerika (Hanover, 1863). The kingsof Sweden and of Hanover now conferred distinctions upon him. Encouraged by thesympathy of several scientists, who drew up a plan and a series of suggestionsfor his guidance, he determined to go again to Asia and Africa, and went toLondon in order to raise funds for this journey — a journey which was not to beundertaken. Worn out by fatigues and privations, which had caused him to growold before his time and gave him the appearance of age, he died poor in London;and his friends and admirers had to arrange a public subscription in order tosave his wife and daughter from misery. In addition to the works mentionedabove, Benjamin published Jawan Mezula, Schilderung des Polnisch-KosakischenKrieges und der Leiden der Juden in Poland Während der Jahre 1648-53, Berichteines Zeitgenossen nach einer von. L. Lelewel Durchgesehenen FranzösischenUebersetzung, Herausgegeben von J. J. Benjamin II., Hanover, 1863, a German editionof Rabbi Nathan Hanover's work on the insurrection of the Cossacks in theseventeenth century, with a preface by Kayserling. Upon his return to London in1862, he drew another plan to return to Asia and Africa but fell ill and diedearly in 1863 before being able to undertake his next journey.
During his travels in Persia J. J. Benjamin wrote down someobservations on the life of the Jews in Persia:
1. Throughout Persia the Jews are obliged to live in a part of thetown separated from the other inhabitants; for they are considered as uncleancreatures, who bring contamination with their intercourse and presence.
2. They have no right to carry on trade in stuff goods.
3. Even in the streets of their own quarter of the town they arenot allowed to keep any open shop. They may only sell there spices and drugs,or carry on the trade of a jeweller, in which they have attained greatperfection.
4. Under the pretext of their being unclean, they are treated withthe greatest severity, and should they enter a street, inhabited by Mussulmans,they are pelted by the boys and mobs with stones and dirt.
5. For the same reason they are forbidden to go out when it rains;for it is said the rain would wash dirt off them, which would sully the feet ofthe Mussulmans.
6. If a Jew is recognised as such in the streets, he is subjectedto the greatest insults. The passers-by spit in his face, and sometimes beathim so unmercifully, that he falls to the ground, and is obliged to be carriedhome.
7. If a Persian kills a Jew, and the family of the deceased canbring forward two Mussulmans as witnesses to the fact, the murderer is punishedby a fine of 12 tumauns (600 piastres); but if two such witnesses cannot beproduced, the crime remains unpunished, even though it has been publiclycommitted, and is well known.
8. The flesh of the animals slaughtered according to Hebrewcustom, but declared as Trefe, must not be sold to any Mussulmans. Theslaughterers are compelled to bury the meat, for even the Christians do notventure to buy it, fearing the mockery and insult of the Persians.
9. If a Jew enters a shop to buy anything, he is forbidden toinspect the goods, but must stand at a respectful distance and ask the price.Should his hand incautiously touch the goods, he must take them at any pricethe seller chooses to ask for them.
10. Sometimes the Persians intrude into the dwellings of the Jewsand take possession of whatever pleases them. Should the owner make the leastopposition in defence of his property, he incurs the danger of atoning for itwith his life.
11. Upon the least dispute between a Jew and a Persian, the formeris immediately dragged before the Achund [religious authority], and, if thecomplainant can bring forward two witnesses, the Jew is condemned to pay aheavy fine. If he is too poor to pay this penalty in money, he must pay it inhis person. He is stripped to the waist, bound to a stake, and receives fortyblows with a stick. Should the sufferer utter the least cry of pain during thisproceeding, the blows already given are not counted, and the punishment isbegun afresh.
12. In the same manner the Jewish children, when they get into aquarrel with those of the Mussulmans, are immediately led before the Achund,and punished with blows. (13. A Jew who travels in Persia is taxed in every innand every caravanserai he enters. If he hesitates to satisfy any demands thatmay happen to be made on him, they fall upon him, and maltreat him until heyields to their terms.
14.If, as already mentioned, a Jew shows himself in the streetduring the three days of the Katel (feast of mourning for the death of thePersian founder of the religion of Ali) he is sure to be murdered.
15. Daily and hourly new suspicions are raised against the Jews,in order to obtain excuses for fresh extortions; the desire of gain is alwaysthe chief incitement to fanaticism.
From “The Jews of Islam” byBernard Lewis)
1864: Jacob and Amalia Freud gave birth to Pauline “Pauli” Regine,the sister of Sigmund Freud.
1866(18th of Iyar, 5626): Lag B’Omer
1868: The New York Times reports that “many English papershave taken pleasure in describing Mr. Disraeli as an apostate Jew. In simple truth he is neither one nor theother, in a religious point of view. Hisfather (Isaac Disraeli) and his mother were Hebrews both of Portugueseparentage. Benhamin was never instructedin Judaism, because of some quarrel his father had with his synagogue. When he was about six years old, Rogers, thebanker and poet, came to visit Disraeli, the author and finding a bright boy,without religious instruction, too him by permission of his father to ownchurch. He was therefore brought up inthe English Church and has a least as good a right to the name ‘Christian’ asmost of his fellow M.P’s.”
1870: In Riga, Sarah Davidoff and Heinric Hesselberg gave birth topianist and composer Edouard Gregory Hesselberg who “lived in France andGermany before” moving to the United States in 1892 where he married Mayflower descendantLena Priscilla Schakelford and raised actors Melvyn and George Douglas.
1871: “Murder Will Out” published today described the eventssurrounding the retrial of Antoine Maurer who is accused of killing a GermanJew named Joachim Feurter. Maurer’sfirst conviction had been over-turned on appeal. The motive for the murder may have been tiedto money that the killer owed the deceased.
1871(12th of Iyar, 5631): Sixty-eight-year-oldphilologist Eduard Munk, the cousin of Salomon Munk, who was a disciple ofAugust Böckh passed away today Gross Glogau.
1872: Today, Levy Rheinberg was buried today at the “West HamJewish Cemetery.”
1872: “”A War of Sects” an article published today described ariot that had taken place in Smyrna between Greeks and Jews. The fighting began after it had been reportedthat the Jews “had sacrificed an infant” as part of “their religiousceremonies.” According to these reportsseveral people had been killed and wounded.While the riot had stopped for the time being, troops had been orderedto the city to prevent a renewal of the violence.
1873(6th of Iyar, 5633): Parashat Tazria-Metzora
1873: Theodor Herzl’s BarMitzvah (No, I do not know who catered the Kiddush)
https://jewishcurrents.org/may-3-bar-mitsve-theodor-herzl
1873: “An Appeal for Hebrew Children” published today soughtcontributions from New Yorkers to provide Jewish orphans and students at theHebrew free schools with an opportunity “to have a few holidays and enjoyrecreation by the sea-side” during the upcoming summer months.
1874: Isaac S. Isaacs, Adolph L. Singer and Oscar S. Straus wereamong those elected to the Board of Directors of the newly formed Young Men’sHebrew Association. Lewis May was chosenas the first president.
1874: YMHA constitution was approved today.
1876: Birthdate of Polish native Adolph Sieroty, the futureCalifornian who married Bertha F. Brown and after being married to Maye W.Brown and who was the father of Julian and Perahta G. Sieroty.
1877: This evening, the Right Rev. Charles Perry, D.D. isscheduled to preach the annual sermon at the meeting of the London Society forPromoting Christianity Amongst the Jews.”
1877: In Bremen, Germany, Ida and Nathan Abraham gave birth toKarl Abraham, the German psychoanalyst who worked with Sigmund Freud.
1877: “The Hebrews in Romania” described attempts by the Board ofDelegates of American Israelites to have the President intercede on behalf ofJews of Bucharest and parts of the realm of Prince Charles who have beensubjected to a series of unthinkable “barbarities.”
1878(30th of Nisan, 5638) Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1878(30th of Nisan, 5638): Seventy-four-year-old ShinahEtting the Maryland born daughter of Rachel Gratz and Solomon Etting who weremarried in 1791 passed away today.
1878: In the Ukraine, “Paltiel Nochim and Miriam (Borodinsky)Edlin gave birth to Stanford University educated journalist William Edlin, thehusband of Pauline Zlotzovsky who worked for such publications as the JewishDaily Forward, The Jewish Morning Journal and The Day before becoming thenational executive secretary of Keren Hayesod in 1925.
1882(14th of Iyar, 5642): Pesach Sheni
1882: The Czar gave his approval to series of anti-Semiticregulations proposed by Count Ignatiev known collectively as the “May Laws.
1884(8th of Iyar, 5644): Parashat Achrei Mot – Kedoshim
1884: In St. Louis, MO Adolph and Henrietta Ungar gave birth to ArthurArnold Unger a trustee of the University of Miami (FL) and officer on theOrange Bowl Committee that oversaw this annual New Year’s football game who wasthe husband of Marcella Ungar.
1885(18th of Iyar, 5645): Lag BaOmer
1885: Forty-five-year Sally Sanford Mordecai passed away. Sally was the daughter of Brigadier General William Murrayand Sally "Eveleth" Maynadier. She married General Alfred Mordecai,II. They were the parents of five children. Her father-in-law was a rankingsolider in the U.S. Army prior to the Civil War who resigned rather than takeup arms against his Southern family members or the country that he had sworn toprotect. Her husband had no such qualmsand served with distinction during the Civil War.
1886: Birthdate of Brandenburg native and resident of BelgiumWilliam Chaskel Flatow who went from Drancy to Auschwitz where he was murderedin 1942.
1886: The National Rabbinical Convention, an organization ofReform clergyman, is scheduled to meet today in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1891(25th of Nisan, 5651): Sixty-eight-year-old Illingen,Germany born Gottlieb “Leopold” Bart the husband of Pauline “Barbara” VictorBarth whom he married in 1846 and the father of Victor, Simon, Gustav, Moses,Alexnder and Solomon Barth passed away today after which he was buried at theIllingen Jewish Cemetery.
1891: “Russian Jews” published today opened with the statementthat “Every American will be glad to see the announcement of a scheme tocolonize the Jews who are expelled from the Czar’s dominions on an immensetract” of land in Argentina. The projectis being underwritten by Baron Hirsch.According to the article, the United States already has too many Jewishimmigrants from Russia. The Russian Jewsare described as impoverished, ignorant, a burden on society and a mass whowill never assimilate into American life. The article ends by stating that “itis noteworthy that all other civilized countries share our dislike toentertaining the victims of the Czar’s cruelty…”
1891: It was reported today that Russian Jewish immigrants arearriving in the United Kingdom at the rate of nearly 18.000 per year.
1892: Birthdate of Montreal native Dr. Jacob Viner the graduate ofMcGill University and Harvard who was a long-time Professor Economics at theUniversity of Chicago.
http://www.hetwebsite.net/het/profiles/viner.htm
https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Viner.html
1892: The cornerstone for a new facility to house the youngstersin the care of Hebrew Brooklyn Orphan asylum was laid today
1893: In Minsk, Chaim Joseph and Zive Lebe (Mandel) Levovitz gavebirth to Rabbi Rueben Levovitz, the husband of Zlate Kustonowitz who “duringWorld War acted as the representative of the Wilnar Barnch of the AmericanRelief Association and who was a member of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of theU.S. and Canada and the Rabbinical Board of New York City.
1894: Council No.5 of the National Council Jewish Women was formedin Newark, NJ, with a membership of 91 led by President Gratta and SecretaryMaybaum.
1894: “Mourners’ Prayers will be delivered” tonight at the home ofthe family of Jesse Seligman, the banker, philanthropist and lead of the Jewishcommunity who died unexpectedly and whose funeral was which was attended byover 2,000 people was held yesterday at Temple Emanuel where Cantor Sparger and Rabbis Silberman andGottheil officiated at the service.
1895: In New York, Governor Morton gave executive approval to aproposal by Assemblyman Steinberg “authorizing the sale of certain lands to theHebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City which the city of New York has heretoforeconditionally transferred to that institution.”
1895: In Vienna, Lili Mueller and Dr. Herman Carl Mark whoconverted to Lutheranism when he got married gave birth to Herman Francis Mark“the American chemist known for his contributions to the development of polymerscience.
1895: In Posen, Joseph and Clara Kantorowicz gave birth toProfessor Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz whose service in the German Army duringWorld War I led him to give up running the family’s distillery business andpursue and a career in academia.
https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/2656/a-dashing-medievalist/
1895: “The Holy Land Illustrated” published today
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F00915F73A5416738DDDAA0894DD405B8585F0D3
1897: Two days after she had passed away, 64-year-old AugustGlensnick, the wife of Jacob Glensnick and the mother of Philip and MordecaiGlesnick was buried today at the “Plashet Jewish Cemetery” in London.
1897: In Germany, Samuel Weil and Maichen Weil gave birth to IdaSara Krebs
1898(11th of Iyar, 5658): In Kiev, Blume Neiditch and MosheMabovitch gave birth to Golda Mabovitch, the sister of Sheyna and TzipkeMabovitch, who gained fame Golda Mier whose life reads like one of those grandliterary sagas of which television mini-series are made. Born in Kiev,Ukraine, she experienced Pogroms before coming to Americawith herfamily. As an act of teenage rebellion she fled from her home inMilwaukee to join her sister in Denver. She moved back to Milwaukee tobecome a school teacher. After hearing the recruiting pitch for theJewish Legion, Ms. Meirson (she Hebraized her name to Meir after the creationof the state of Israel in response to pressure from David Ben Gurion) decidedto join the settlers in Palestine. She was an ardent Zionist as well associalist which, from an ideological point of view, made her an ideal candidatefor life on a kibbutz. Mrs. Meir, whose name was Meyerson at the time,became increasingly active in the leadership of the Yishuv. She had aleading role in raising funds from American Jews to buy arms for theunderground Jewish military units before 1948. Disguised as Bedouin, shemet with the King of Jordan in an attempt to avert hostilities in 1948.Her story of Simchat Torah in Moscow after the creation of the state of Israelis an inspirational classic. She was Foreign Minister and finally becamethe “fourth Prime Minister ofIsrael. She served from 1969 through 1974, a period that included the YomKippur War.She passed away in 1978, having lived to see Sadat's historictrip to Jerusalem. They met, not as former adversaries, but asgrandparents.Golda, as she was known to all, had a gift for Sadat'sgrandchild.
1898: Following the start of the Spanish-American War, The Cleveland (Ohio) Leader reportedthat “the Jews of the United States through the active efforts of those in Ohiomay contribute a sum sufficient to purchase a warship for the United StatesGovernment.
1898: “Russian Jews to the Front” published today describedefforts to have at least 5,000 mostly recent immigrants enlist in the U.S. Armyled by Nathan Straus who “said that heroism and devotion to duty marked thecourse of Jewish history.”
1899: Governor Theodore Roosevelt signed into law a bill“providing for the consolidation of the Educational Alliance and the HebrewFree School Association of New York City.
1899: Birthdate of Russia native and CCNY graduate Dr. David L. Drabkinthe Cornell trained physician and “a pioneer in the study of human hemoglobin”who was the husband “Stella Friedman Drabkin, a noted artist in Philadelphia.”
https://www.med.upenn.edu/psom/david-l-drabkin-md.html
https://www.gf.org/fellows/david-l-drabkin
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/06/obituaries/david-drabkin-blood-researcher.html
1900: Herzl has a meeting with Austrian Prime Minister Ernest vonKoerber. At the request of the Prime Minister, Herzl drafts Koerber's"Language Bill" speech. Herzl agreed to draft the speech as part ofhis campaign to get the Austrian Prime Minister to help arrange an audiencewith the Sultan of Turkey.
1900: The week-long convention of the Independent Order of B’naiB’rith which had been meeting at the Auditorium Hotel in Chicago came to aclose tonight. The convention voted tocreate a new position of Chancellor which “will have supervision of lodges” inEurope and Asia. The President and theBoard of Directors will continue to control the lodges in Canada and the UnitedStates. Leon Levy of New York waselected President and Julius Bien of New York was elected Chancellor. The nextconvention will take place in New Orleans in 1905.
1901(14th of Iyar, 5661): Pesach Sheni
1901: “Health Conditions Among Children” published today
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/05/03/117963166.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1901: “One thousand bakers belonging to the Hebrew Bakers’ Unionwere ordered” to go on strike today “at a mass meeting” six months after theirlast strike as they demand an agreement for “a ten-hour workday and a six-dayworking week.”
1902(26th of Nisan, 5662): Parashat Achrei Mot
1902: It was reported today that J.F. Taylor and Company will bepublishing In the Gates of Israel by Herman Bernstein.
1902: It was reported today that “a second revised edition ofNahida Remy’s “The Jewish Woman,” translated by Mrs. Louise Mannheimer, with apreface by Professor Dr. Lazarus is announced by Jennings and Pye ofCincinnati, OH.
1902: Herzl wrote to the Sultan ofTurkey appealing for the establishment of a Jewish university inPalestine. “The idea of a Jewishuniversity, and all that such a university implied, quickly became an integralpart of Zionist thinking.
1902: It was reported that RussianJews make up “quarter of a million” of the population of New York City.
1903; Birthdate of Irish LouisNathan Cohen, the husband of “Edith Greenlee Saunders Cohen” and he father ofJoyce and Philip Nathan Cohen”
1903: “First Mission to Colony ofChinese Orthodox Jews” published today described “preparations for the firstever mission to the Chinese Jews.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/05/03/118493101.html?pageNumber=28
1903: Twenty-three-year-old NYU trained attorney, the New York born sonof Philip and Rebecca (Falk) Davidson who during WW I would serve as a “Majorcommand the 2nd Battalion, 10th Regiment of the New YorkPolice Reserve and as a Captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Reservemarried Balance Reinheimer today in New York City.
1903: Birthdate of “Frenchphilosopher and Marxist theoretician” Georges Politzer.
1904(18th of Iyar,5664): Lag B’Omer
1904: A cable dispatch to the Times of London from Vienna dated todaysays, “According to Jewish journal published in Lemberg, Galicia, anti-Jewishexcesses took place” on Saturday, April 30 “at Bender, in Bessarabia while themost of the Jews were attending Shabbat Services. Five people were killed and many were woundedas the mobs attacked shops and homes because they believed the war with Japanwas somehow part of an Anglo-American and Jewish act to avenge the pogrom atKishinev.
1904: One day after he had passedaway, Samuel Bernstein, the son of Elias and Sarah Bernstein was buried todayin the UK.
1904: Chicago College of MedicineSurgery and University of Vienna trained otolaryngologist William Maurice Smit,the “diseases of the ear nose of throat”while practicing medicine in St Louis where he was a member of CongregationShaare Emeth married Sylvia Lucille Goldberg today.
1905: As violence rocked the Czar’sempire, “there were practically no disturbance yesterday in the Jewish citiesof Soutwestern Russia, dispatches today that the people are in a state ofpanic.
1906: Approximately, “$35,000 wasreceived today for the joint fund of the mayor’s committee and the Red Crossorganization at the office of Jacob H. Schiff who is Treasurer of both.”
1907: In San Francisco, Mortimerand Florence Isabelle Fleishhacker gave birth to banker and WW II veteranMortimer Fleishhacker, Jr, the husband of Janet Fleishhacker
https://nobhillgazette.com/how-green-are-your-gables/
1908: “Joseph Cowen of London, oneof the leaders of the Zionist movement…told a large audience at Clinton Hall”tonight “of the progress that the movement is making” word of which was greetedwith “enthusiastic applause.”
1908: Birthdate of Vilnus native andHolocaust survivor Mark Dvorzhetski, the medical doctor and rabbi and husband ofHolocaust victim Miriam Dvorzhetski who served in the Polish Amy during WW IIand settled in Israel in 1949 after which he “was awarded the Israel Prize forsocial services.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10393471/
1909: Fire destroys part of the Haskoy, the Constantinople Jewishquarter. Five hundred Jews are left homeless.
1909(12th of Iyar, 5669): Ninety-seven-year-old David Woolf Marks,the first Rabbi of London’s Reform Synagogue passed away.
https://www.oztorah.com/2008/10/professor-marks-the-oral-law-controversy/#.WupazkxFx9A
1910: In Boston, MA, Sam Corwin and his wife gave birth to NormanLewis Corwin
1911:Dr. Solomon Schechter, the President of the JewishTheological Institute, who has just returned from an eleven months' vacation,said tonight that he had been spending most of the time resting. His mind hasbeen active, however, if his pen has not, and he has already thought of asubject for another book which is to deal with the Jew in Northern Africa.
1912: Vittoli Effendi Fradji of Constantinople, Ezekiel EffendiSassoon of Baghdad, Nissim Effendi Mazliach of Smyrna and Emanuel EffendiKarasa of Salonica are all re-elected to the Turkish parliament.
1913(26th of Nisan, 5673): Parashat Kedoshim
1913:Today twenty-four-year-old Columbia University alum Samuel Blitz, the Lemberg born sonof Hirsch and Yetta Blitz and the Secretary of the Zionist Council of GreaterNew York and who, as an organizer for the ZOA “traveled throughout the U.S. andCanada, visiting nearly every Jewish community in both countries” marriedAmelia Hirsch.
1913: Rabbi Felix Levy conducted services at Temple Emanuel inChicago.
1913: Rabbi Julius Rapport conducted services at Temple Beth El inChicago.
1913: In Vienna, Felix and Else Kohut gave birth to Heinz Kohut anAustrian-born American psychoanalyst best known for his development of Selfpsychology, an influential school of thought withinpsychodynamic/psychoanalytic theory which helped transform the modern practiceof analytic and dynamic treatment approaches. (For more see, Heinz Kohut:The Making of a Psychoanalyst by Charles Strozier)
1913: It was reported today that “A.L. Tribourg a Sioux City, Iowaattorney has been elected President of the Board of Public Libraries.
1913: It was reported today that Rabbi Emanuel Sternheim ofGreenville, Mississippi, has been elected a member of the International Societyof the Apocrypha in England.
1913: In what might be viewed as an early celebration of his 70thbirthday, Dr.Kaufmann Kohler who served as Rabbi of Temple Beth-El for 24 years and is nowRabbi Emeritus was honored by more than 500 friends and congregants at thismorning’s Shabbat services.
1913:This evening, the Eastern Council of Reform Rabbis hosted a banquet honoringDr. Kaufmann Kohler, the President of the Hebrew Union College.
1913:In New York, the Jewish Forum at Columbia University is scheduled to host areception in honor of Professor Richard Gottheil.
1914(7thof Iyam 5674): Fifty-nine-year-old Benjamin Raphael “Ben” Mayer the son of Johnand Jannette Ries Mayer, the husband of Lena Mendelsohn Mayer and the fatherBuffington and Benjamin R. Mayer, Jr. who as a Democrat served as acting mayorof Baton Rouge making him the first Jewish person to hold that position passedaway today.
1914:“Oscar S. Strauss, the former Secretary of Commerce and Labor and formerAmbassador to Turkey, delivered a speech tonight at the Brooklyn Young Men’sHebrew Association where he “declared that the origin of republicaninstitutions in American must sought in the Puritan ideals of the Old Testamentcommonwealth” and continued they took their spirit “from the history of thechildren of Israel from Joshua to Saul.”
1915:It was reported today that Louis D. Brandeis has publicly declared that“Disabilities are imposed upon the Jews in Russia where they are denied thefreedom to move about, the right to own land the rights fundamental to thepursuit of life, liberty and happiness” and that “to win these rights is theonly solution for the Jewish problem for any other solution involves suicideand death to Jewish aspirations.”
1915:It was reported today that under the auspices of Baron de Hirsch Fund, “Jewshave been sent to 1,700 different communities in the United States and Canadawhere working conditions were more suited to them than was the case in thecongregated districts like New York City” and that “in 15 years 70,000 Jewshave been sent West.”
1915: Solomon Rabinowitz, who writes under the nameof Sholom Aleichem, was the guest of honor at tonight’s annual meeting of theEducational Alliance where the keynote address was given by Jacob H. Schiff.
1915:In Chicago, following the formation of a Leo M. Frank Committee it wasannounced that a mass meeting will be held at the Powers Theatre to protestagainst the execution of Leo M. Frank.
1915:Acting on behalf of the state of Georgia, “Solicitor General Dorsey appliedtoday to Judge Hill for a writ of habeas corpus directing the immediatepresence of Leo M. Frank in court for resentence to death as the slayer of MaryPhagan” and Judge Hill announced, in response, “that he would take no action onthe petition before the mandate of the United States Supreme Court is handeddown.”
1915:President Ralph A. Newman was the toastmaster at the seventh annual dinner ofthe Harvard Menorah Society which was attended by approximately 200 men at theHotel Lenox in Boston, MA.
1916(30thof Nisan, 5676): Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1916(30thof Nisan, 5676): Sixty-eight-year-old Chamber of Commerce member Isaac Barronpassed away today in Shreveport, LA.
1916:In Hot Springs, AR, dedication of the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital
1916: In a marriage of two labor activists in the garmentindustry, Bessie Abramowitz married Sidney Hillman. She became BessieAbramowitz Hillman.
1916: In the conflict between the owners of the renovated RialtoTheatre which included Felix Kahn of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., and OscarHammerstein, “the theatre said that the rooms desired by Mr. Hammerstein wereto be used by the press department and that the agreement that Hammerstein wasto occupy the rooms was drawn by himself and was unsigned.”
1916: In responding to a proposal made by the Reform Rabbis toremove “The Merchant of Venice” from the New York City Sir Hebert Tree wasreported to have said today that “The Jews today are perhaps the most potentrace on the earth. Surely they canafford not to be too sensitive of criticism.”“To banish Shylock from the stage would be to banish one of the mostimportant characters of Shakespeare’s Genius” especially since “he gave Shylockthe domestic virtues and vices of his race, those vices which had been calledforth by the oppression of the Middle Ages.”
1917(11th of Iyar, 5677): Twenty-eight-year-old Captain ofArtillery Maxime Charles Gustave Berr, the son of Louis Lehmann Berr andHenriette Alice Berr and the husband of Claire Andrée Clarisse Sara Berr diedwhile serving in the French Army during WW I.
1917: In Russia, “the Jews of Constanigrad have signed $5,000,000rubles for the liberty loan.
1917: Abraham Isaac "Abe" Shiplacoff’s resolutionrequesting “Woodrow Wilson to reconsider his appointment of Elihu Root as headof the United States Commission to Russia” was “hooted down by the members ofthe” the New York State Assembly.
1917: “Samuel Untermyer, speaking tonight at Cooper Union to 3,000member of the Jewish League of American Patriots deplored he selection of ElihuRoot as the head of the proposed American commission to Russia on the groundthat Mr. Root was not in sympathy with and no understanding of Jewishaspirations and problems” and that while “he did not advocate his removal…hesuggested that the President might was to appoint some representative Jew toits membership.
1917: Birthdate of Patricia M. Brodkin, the wife of producer anddirector Herbert Brodkin.
1918: In Vienna, “The Christian Socialist deputies in theReichsrath introduced an interpellation demand the establishment of apercentage limitation for Jewish students in all higher educationalinstitutions” while other deputies are calling for limiting the number ofJewish students to three per cent.
1918: In Camden, NJ, the ten teams working to add additionalmembers to the Young Women’s Hebrew Association and the Young Men’s HebrewAssociation showed renewed vigor tonight when they found out that work willsoon be starting on the construction of a new home for the two organizations.
1918:In Greece, a newly enacted law which had a negative impact on the owners ofproperty that had been destroyed led to many Jews leaving for the UnitedStates, France, Italy and Egypt. Many ofthese Jews had lost their property in the great fire of August 17, 1917
1919(3rdof Iyar, 5679): Parashat Kedoshim
1919(3rdof Iyar, 5679): Sixty-eight-year-old Alexander Weinberg, the Westphalia born sonof Abraham Bendix Weinberg and Fiekchen Sophia Weinberg and husband of EliseWeinberg passed away today in Hanover, Germany.
1919:In Chicago, Rabbi Abram Hirschberg conducted services at Temple Sholom.
1919:In Chicago Rabbi Joseph Hevesh conducted services at Temple Anshe Emes.
1919:In Chicago, Rabbi Julius Rapport conducted services at Temple Beth El.
1919:As the German government sought to bring down the Bavarian Soviet Republic, thearmy “assisted by the Freikorps” retook Munich where they killed and arrestedmany of the revolutionaries including Eugen Leviné
1919:Birthdate of Irish gynecologist and family planning pioneer Dr. MichaelSolomons.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/pioneer-of-family-planning-1.987726
1919:After attending the final meeting of the American Academy of Political andSocial Scientists in today in Philadelphia, Mrs. Nathaniel E. Harris, thePresident of the Council of Jewish Women went to Cincinnati to attend the 25thanniversary celebration of the Cincinnati Section of the Council of JewishWomen.
1919:In Manhattan, musicologist Charles Seeger and concert violinist Constance deClyver Edson Seeger gave birth to folk singer and social activist Peter “Pete”Seeger.
1920:In Vienna, the university remained closed “owing to anti-Semitic demonstrationsby German Nationalist students” who drove “the Jewish students from the lecturehalls and classrooms.”
1920(15thof Iyar, 5680): Morris Dow passed away today in Houston.
1921:It was reported today that the Jewish newspapers in Poland estimate that therewere five hundred casualties among the Jewish Socialists who clashed withpolice on May Day, while “Polish newspapers” estimate that about twenty personswere hurt during May Day “when Polish and Jewish Socialists helddemonstrations” and according to the police they occurred only “where Jewsattempted to scatter anti-Government propaganda.”
1922(5thof Iyar, 5682): Seventy-four-year-old Alice Charlotte von Rothschild, the“eighth and youngest child of Anselm von Rothschild passed away today.
1923:In Palestine, filming of “Palestine Awakening” written by American ZionistWilliam Topkis (As reported by David Geffen)
1924:Aleph Zadik Aleph, popularly known as AZA is formed in Omaha, Nebraska by SamBeber.
1924:In Detroit, Simon and Freda Singer, immigrants from Russia who spoke onlyYiddish” gave birth to Isadore Manuel Singer “who unified large areas ofmathematics and physics in becoming one of the most important mathematicians ofhis era,” and the winner of “the National Medal of Science in 1983 and the AbelPrize in 2004, often considered the Nobel of mathematics.”
1924:Birthdate of Ludewig Pfeuffer, the native of Wurzberg whose family moved toPetah Tivkva when he was eleven and who gained fame as prize winning poetYehuda Amichai.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/yehuda-amichai
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/04/like-a-prayer#
1925:President Calvin Coolidge helped dedicate the cornerstone of the Washington,D.C. Jewish Community center.
1926: Birthdate of dramatist Herbert Blau
1926:In the same year it was released in the United States, “She” a fantasy filmdirected and produced by G.B. Samuelson with music by Louis Levy was releasedin Finland today.
1926(13thof Iyar, 5686): Seventy-five-year-old Oscar Solomon Straus who became the firstJewish Cabinet Secretary when he served as Secretary of Commerce and Laborunder Teddy Roosevelt, passed away today.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Oscar_Straus.html
1927:“A Night in Spain” a review with music by Side Silvers opened at the 44thStreet Theatre today.
1927:In Brooklyn, Sidney Lazarus and the former Frances “Frankie” Mushkin gave birthto cartoonist Melvin Lazarus.
1927:In Germany, Michael and Toni Lehmann gave birth to Horst Lazard Lehman who cameto the United States with his family in 1938 where he graduated from highschool, served in the Army and pursued a career as Rabbi in the Reformmovement.
1928:“Show Boat,” the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical based on the novel byEdna Ferber premiered for the first time in London at the Theatre Royal, DruryLane.
1928:According to reports published today, the employment picture is improving afteran 18 month slowdown. Among the causesfor the improvement are the growth of the orange industry, improving conditionsin businesses located in Tel Aviv including textiles, chocolate and box makingand the construction work on the Rutenberg hydroelectric concession on theJordan River near the Sea of Galilee.
1928(13thof Iyar, 5688): Isabel Caroline Steinfeld, the daughter of Martha Levy andMaurice Steinfeld passed away today in Madison, Wisconsin.
1929:“Inherited Passions” “a silent drama film” starring Maria Matray was releasedin Germany today.
1929: Jews praying at theWestern Wall are attacked by Arabs.
1930: “The BigPond,” featuring music by Irving Kahal, Al Sherman and Sammy Fain was releasedtoday in the United States.
1931: TheBaltimore drive of American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee which began onApril 26 came to an end today.
1931:Birthdate of Joseph LIchtman, the native of Brooklyn who gained fame as dancer,choreographer and director Joe Layton.
http://archives.nypl.org/the/18398’
1932(27thof Nisan, 5692): Sixty-five-year-old Lee Kamioner, the native of Germany,Colorado silver miner and Denver clothing merchant and Democratic Alderman whoat the age of thirty came to New York where he founded the Hub ClothingCompany, became a real estate owner and a philanthropist supporting theConvalescent Homer for Hebrew Children.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1932/05/05/100731196.pdf
1933: In NewYork City court stenographer Frederick Weinberg and the former Eva Israel gavebirth to Steve Weinberg, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979,supporter of Israel who expressed his views in “an essay title ‘Zionism andCultural Adversaries’” and husband of U.T. law professor Louise Weinberg.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1979/weinberg-bio.html
1934: InAlexandria, Egypt Sarah and Nessim Mustacchi gave birth to singer/songwriterGeorges Moustaki
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-22637924
1934(18thof Iyar, 5694): Lag B’Omer
1934(18thof Iyar, 5694): Fifty-nine-year-old Samuel Elfenbein, “the son of Rosa andMoses Elfenbein” passed away today in Brunswick, GA.
1934: “A three-day celebration of the 25thanniversary of the founding of Tel-Aviv…culminated today with a tribute to theveteran 72 year old founder and present Mayor, Meyer Dizengoff. More than 10,000 school children marchedthrough the streets to the municipal building carrying baskets of flowers,where were presented to the Mayor. Twonew streets were named for him and his late wife, despite his protests that hewas unworthy of such an honor.”
1934: Thetrial of Abba Ahimeir, Abraham Stavsky and Ze'evi Rosenblatt the three menaccused of murdering Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff, Jewish Labor party leader, atTel-Aviv last June, reopened today with the court ruling against the request ofHorace Samuel, counsel for the defense, to strike out evidence resulting frompolice line-ups in which the three accused were identified. Samuel contendedthat the police had “guided Mrs. Arlosoroff” in identifying the accused.
1935:Birthdate of businessman Ron Popeil who gained fame and fortune with Ginsuknives and “Mr. Microphone.”
1935:Arguments before the Supreme Justices including Louis Brandeis and BenjaminCardozo in the case of “A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States,”continued for a second and final day.
1935:In Chicago, Sadelle and Sid Siegel, a grocer, who moved the family and grocerybusiness to Miami in 1945, gave birth to David Siegel, the founder of WestgateResorts, Ltd.
1935:For the second day in a row, temperatures in Palestine reach 104 degrees “inthe shade.” The coastal settlements andcities, including Tel Aviv were most affected by the unusual heat wave. Temperatures in Palestine average 65 in Mayand 74 during July and August. In moderntimes, the temperature record belongs to a day in August 1881 when thethermometer reached 112.
1936:This morning “junior member of the religious school of Congregation Emanu-El”in New York, presented a pageant “The Ten Commandments” in commemoration of theupcoming celebration of the festival of Shavuot which “marks the giving of thecommandments to Moses.”
1936:Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. made his first appearance atpublic dinner in New York in three years when he joined 750 other people inpaying tribute to Judge Lehman at dinner tonight at the Hotel Astor where hissixtieth birthday celebration was combing with honoring his 15 years of serviceas President of the Jewish Welfare Board.
1936:Today, as the Arab strike enters into its 12th day, the stoppage isholding firm everywhere except in Haifa “and the Jews who are most pessimisticover the outcome of this unrest” “are keeping out of the Arab quarters” while“going about their normal business.”
1936:While speaking at a meeting of the B’nai B’rith at Atlantic City, NJ,“Representative Samuel Dickstein of New York, the chairman of the HouseImmigration, Naturalization and Deportation Committee declared that while theHitler government refused to meet its obligations to American bondholder, itspent almost $32,000,000 to spread propaganda against the Jews in the UnitedStates.”
1936:The New York Times described the workthat has gone into building the soon-to-be opened modern water system that willfinally give Jerusalem a reliable supply of water. This is the culmination of a ten year effort,the last two of which have resulted in the construction of four pumpingstations at Ra-el Ain, Latrun, Bab El Wad and Romna. Each of the pumping stations is at asuccessively higher elevation. The workwas made all the more difficult by the topography of the Judean Hills and thelayers of hard work through which the workers had to dig.
1936:Joseph C. Hyman Secretary of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committeewas reported to have issued a reassurance that although the Joint will continueproviding financial assistance and travel funds for those seeking to leaveEurope for Palestine, it will not be able to allocate additional funds becauseof other demands with which it is dealing.
1937:Rabbi Joseph Konvitz of Newark, president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis inthe United States and Canada, said tonight, at opening the annual convention ofthe Union of Orthodox Rabbis in the United States and Canada that “the presentFederal administration has set an example for believers in democracyeverywhere,
1938: The Flossenburg Concentration Camp became operational.The camp was located in Germany and would be liberated by the Americans inApril, 1945. Several of the conspirators who sought to kill Hitler inJune, 1944, were executed at Flossenburg. These included the famousAdmiral Canaris whose diary has provided a treasure trove about Germanactivities during this period.
1939(14thof Iyar, 5699): Pesach Sheni
1939:Hoping to establish rapprochement with Nazi Germany, Soviet leader JosephStalin replaces his Jewish commissar for foreign affairs, Maksim Litvinov, withthe less British-oriented Viacheslav Molotov.The result of all this would be a non-aggression pact between the twodictators in August of 1939 that would shock the world. At the same time it would give Hitler thegreen light to invade Poland from the east.The Soviets later invaded from the west and the two totalitarianbutchers shared in the spoils of Poland.
1939:Just months before Hitler and Stalin signed the non-aggression pact that madepossible the start of WW II in Europe Stalin removed his Jewish Commissar forForeign Affairs, Maxim Litvinov, which facilitated the negotiations with theNazis.
1939: Ravensbruck, a concentration camp for women, wasestablished.
1939: The Budapest "Jewish Law" prohibits anyHungarian Jew from becoming a judge, a lawyer a schoolteacher or a member ofthe Hungarian parliament.
1940: Today “in the Bronx to Joseph Cohen, a pharmacist with hisown pharmacy, and Belle (Krotin) Cohen, who helped manage the business” gavebirth to Goucher, Harvard and Cornell graduate Florence Cohen who gained fameas “Florence Berger, a Cornell University professor who found a second callingas a pro bono matchmaker, leading her to successfully arrange some two dozenmarriages…” (As reported by Sam Roberts)
1940: At noon today, Illinois Congressman Adolph J. Sabath metwith President Roosevelt in the White House.
1940: Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter had lunch with PresidentRoosevelt in the White House this afternoon.
1941: Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring came to the Jeu de PaumeMuseum in Paris1941: Time magazine published an article titled “Germany:Problem in Subtraction” reported that The arithmetic that Hitler has taught toJews in the Third Reich has been the misery of subtraction. From all of them hehas taken something: privileges, property, homes, life. Simplest subtractionhas been the decrease of the Reich's Jewish population by emigration,deportation and death.
Currently:
InGermany—500,000 Jews minus 310,000 equals 190,000.
InAustria—180,000 Jews minus 135,000 equals 45,000.
InCzecho-Slovakia—185,000 Jews minus 25,000 equals 160,000.
Withinthe last fortnight two sardine-packed trains left Vienna, as the Nazis appliedthemselves again to this problem. Aboard each were more than 1,000 Jews boundfor limbo—the new barbed-wire ghetto near Lublin in Poland. Elsewhere sealedtrains crossed the border with more Jews (mostly very old and very young) forthe starved concentration camps of unoccupied France. From Vienna alone theNazis promised to dump five to twelve more trainloads a month. Hitler's finalsolution to his problem in subtraction is zero—to be reached, according to themost sanguine reports from Germany, in just six more weeks.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,851072,00.html#ixzz1L8yfn3rT
1942: Nazis required Dutch Jews to wear a Jewish star
1942(16th of Iyar, 5702): Sixty-two-year-old Posennative Felix Pinner, the “economist and editor-in-chief of the BerlinerTageblatt who came to the United States in 1939 died in Queens, New York City.
1943(28thof Nisan, 5703): German troops in the "Aryan" section of Warsawarrest and kill 21 women who are Jewish or suspected of being Jewish.
1943(28thof Nisan, 5703): A Jewish man named Rakowski, an underground leader at theTreblinka death camp, is shot when currency intended to bribe Ukrainians tohelp him and a few others escape is discovered in his barrack.
1944:Today, less than two months after the Germans had invaded Hungary “theghettoization of Kolozsvár Jews began and was completed within one week.”
1944: The first of a number of new factories at Auschwitz openedup in preparation to receive laborers from the deportation of Hungarian Jews.New labor camps opened in Myslowice, Bobrek, and Sosnoweic in preparation forthe same action.
1944:At Gleiwitz, Poland, near Auschwitz, Germans open a slave-labor plant forproduction of "black smoke" for use in smoke screens.
1944(10thof Iyar, 5704): Eighty-two-year-old Sadie American, the Chicago born daughterof Amelia (Smith) American and German born businessman Oscar American, aleading woman’s activist who was best known for co-founding and leading theNational Council of Jewish Women passed away today.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/american-sadie
https://jwa.org/people/american-sadie
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sadie-american
1944(10thof Iyar): Poet Isaac Katzenelson murdered at Auschwitz
1944:Mass inter-faither conferences held at Fort Monmouth and Camp Wood in near-byEatontown, NJ which were attended by 6,000 soldiers who heard “three speakersrepresenting the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths” tell them “that groupswere at work in this nation today to place groups against group and religionagainst religion and unless there was religious tolerance in the post-war worldthere would be no lasting peace.”
1945:Birthdate of Jeffrey Connor Hall, the Professor Emeritus of Biology at Brandeiswho “was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.”
1945:Fifty-eight-year-old Herbert Farjeon, a major figure in the world of Britishtheatre who was the son of Benjamin Leopold Farjeon passed away today.
1945(20thof Iyar, 5705): Eighty-year-old Bernard Flexner, “the founder and firstpresident of the Palestine Economic Corporation” passed away today in New York
https://rbsc.princeton.edu/collections/bernard-flexner-papers
1945:In the U.S. premiere of “The Valley of Decision” based on a novel by MarciaDavenport who co-authored the script with Sonya Levien and filmed bycinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg.
1945:At Mauthausan Concentration Camp, the task of guarding the camp was handed to apolice unit from Vienna.
1945:Sam Pivnik and other former Fürstengrube prisoners, who had been marched to theport of Neustadt were loaded today aboard the former German cruise ship CapArcona which was being used as a prison ship for concentration camp inmatesalong with the Thielbek, Athen and Deutschland
1945(20thof Iyar, 5705): Sixty-seven-year-old Chicago native Elias Mayer theNorthwestern University-trained lawyer who served as “secretary of the Councilof Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds in the United States and a director of theJewish Charities of Chicago passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/05/06/313702492.pdf
1945(20th of Iyar, 5705): Approximately 9400 Jewish prisoners who hadbeen evacuated from Neuengamme and marched to Lübeck, Germany, are loaded bytheir overseers onto two ships, the Thielbeckand the Cap Arcona, apparentlyfor no other purpose but a Nazi hope that the Jews would die while on board.British planes, unaware that the ships are not hostile, attack. Both ships sinkin the Lübeck harbor within 15 minutes. Survivors who attempt to swim to shoreare fired upon by waiting members of the Hitler Youth, Volkstrum, and the SS. Of the 9400 prisoners, only about 2400survive
http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Death-on-the-Baltic
OR
1945(20th of Iyar, 5705): In the worst friendly-fire incident inhistory - Britain's Royal Air Force killed more than 7,000 survivors of Naziconcentration camps who were crowded onto ships in Lubeck harbor, Germany. Theragged masses that had survived the Holocaust stood no chance against the gunsof their liberators. This tragic mistake occurred one day before the Britishaccepted the surrender of all German forces in the region. Reports of theincident were quickly hushed up - as a jubilant world prepared to celebrate theAllied victory in Europe. Despite the bitter irony of dying in hellish fires onsinking ships just hours before liberation, the tragedy was quickly forgottenor resolutely ignored. The anniversary of this dark day will soon pass by again- largely unnoticed or unmentioned. By early May 1945, the rumors of Hitler'ssuicide had rekindled hope for beleaguered prisoners in Nazi concentrationcamps. The Red Army had just conquered Berlin; the British held Hamburg andAmericans were in Munich and Vienna. After surviving unspeakable horrors anddeprivations for years, the battered prisoners could finally dare to hope thattheir day of deliverance was at hand. In the closing weeks of World War II,thousands of prisoners from the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg, theMittelbau-Dora camp at Nordhausen and the Stutthof camp near Danzig weremarched to the German Baltic coast. Most of the inmates were Jews and RussianPOWs, but they also included communist sympathizers, pacifists, Jehovah's Witnesses,hom*osexuals, prostitutes, Gypsies and other perceived enemies of the ThirdReich. At the port of L beck almost 10,000 camp survivors were crowded ontothree ships: Cap Arcona, Thielbeckand Athen. No one knew what the Naziswere planning to do, or what plans the Allies had already set into motion.Although the final surrender was imminent, British Operational Order No. 73 forMay 3 was to "destroy the concentration of enemy shipping in L beckBay." While thousands of camp prisoners were being ferried out to theonce-elegant Hamburg-Sud Amerika liner CapArcona, the RAF's 263rd, 197th, 198th and 184th squadrons were arming theirHawker Typhoon fighter-bombers with ammunition, bombs and rockets. At 2:30 p.m.on May 3, at least 4,500 prisoners were aboard the Cap Arcona as the first attack began. Sixty-four rockets and 15bombs hit the liner in two separate attacks. As the British strafed thestricken ship from the air, Nazi guards on shore fired on those who made itinto the water. Only 350 prisoners survived. The Thielbeck - which had been flying a white flag - and the poorlymarked hospital ship Deutschland wereattacked next. Although Thielbeck wasjust a freighter in need of repairs, it was packed with 2,800 prisoners. Theovercrowded freighter sank in just 20 minutes, killing all but 50 of theprisoners. In less than two hours, more than 7,000 concentration camp refugeeswere dead from the friendly fire. Two thousand more would have died if thecaptain of the Athen had not refusedto take on additional prisoners in the morning before the attack. Most who werefamiliar with the Cap Arcona disasterbelieved that the Nazis intended to sink the ships at sea to kill everyone onboard. Hundreds of prisoners had already been killed on the forced marches fromthe camps. In this case, however, RAF Fighter Command did their killing forthem. In the Cap Arcona/Thielbeck/Athendisaster, the tragic deaths of so many who had suffered so much for so longwere quickly forgotten. After years of unprecedented bloodletting anddestruction, the nations involved were in shambles, their populations numbed bysuffering and death. The unfortunate victims who perished at the close ofhistory's worst conflagration were quickly lost in the fleeting euphoria ofpeace. In 1945, at the close of the war in Europe, the victorious British andtheir American allies did not want a media disaster overshadowing their V-E Daycelebrations. When the extent of the friendly-fire incident became known atWestminster, the British government and Allied Command effectively preventedmost news of the disaster from spreading from Germany. Beyond war-weariness andpostwar jubilation, other factors conspired to ensure that the valiantprisoners who died at the threshold of freedom would not be given muchattention in the world press. In a war in which the British had paid so high aprice to defeat the Nazis, to even criticize their forces was tantamount tosiding with the devil. Then postwar Germany quickly became one of the"good guys" as an important frontline ally in the Cold War againstcommunism. As such, most Germans preferred not to draw attention to their ownwar atrocities. Millions of Jews, Russians, Serbs, Poles and others had alreadybeen killed by the Nazis. Tens of millions more were homeless refugees, withmany near starvation. The memory of 7,000 or 8,000 concentration camp survivorskilled by mistake would soon wash away in the tide of history in a violent age.Britain has never officially apologized for its tragic mistake at L beck Bay,nor has it honored the innocent victims with a proper memorial. The RAF recordsof the disaster are sealed until 2045, one century after the attack. No Britishgovernment document has referred to the estimated 7,500 victims of its mistake.In May 1990, Germany opened a two-room museum dedicated to the memory of thevictims of the Cap Arcona tragedy inthe small port city of Neustadt-in-Holstein. A memorial monument was erected onthe beach nearby at Pelzerhaken, where many of the bodies washed ashore and wereburied. Other monuments were erected along L beck Bay and at the NeuengammeCamp Memorial southeast of Hamburg. Much has been written in German about thetragedy, but surprisingly little about the CapArcona has made it to the English press. On a recent visit to the memorial,a helpful resident of Neustadt said to me: "So your family isGerman?" I said, "No." "Oh, then you are Jewish?"Again I said, "No." My new acquaintance looked puzzled. Eventually heasked: "Well how could you possibly know about this?" I asked myself:"Why did it take me a half century to find out?" A Jewish dentalstudent, Benjamin Jacobs, gives a firsthand account of the friendly fire attackin The Dentist of Auschwitz (University of Kentucky Press, 1995). Alongwith Eugene Pool, the Boston dentist also wrote The 100 Year Secret:Britain's Hidden World War II Massacre (Lyons Press, 2004). Documentarieson the subject, such as Lawrence Bond's Typhoons'Last Storm, have had only limited publicity. According to legend,Pheidippides was an Athenian herald who ran from the battlefield at Marathon toAthens 2,500 years ago. After announcing the Greek victory over the Persians,he allegedly died on the spot. The tale has been widely propagated byorganizers of modern athletic events. Surviving the horrors of concentrationcamps - one day at a time - is in many respects like a marathon run. Meresurvival under such brutal conditions surely tested the endurance of both bodyand spirit. And like the mythical runner, thousands of inmates made it all theway to the end of their agonizing journeys only to perish at the finish line. Ahalf-century after the ill-fated air raid, we still know very little about theJews, the Russians and other prisoners who survived so much before dying on thefinish line in May 1945. By the time British records are unsealed in 2045, allchildren and most grandchildren of the victims will be gone. Historians willpore over the tragic details of the CapArcona disaster with the same level of detachment that we now feel forevents such as the Franco-Prussian War or the siege of Sevastopol. There is noquestion that the friendly-fire fiasco was a tragic error made during a routinemilitary operation. Despite the terrible consequences, few reasonable peoplewould condemn the British for their ill-fated raid. Some Hitler apologists haveeven attempted to use such mistakes to blame the Allies for monstrous crimescommitted by the Nazis. Yet the continued avoidance of criticizing friends doesnot justify shunning all mention of the innocent victims of the attack. Whetherembarrassing or not, the 7,500 Cap Arconavictims deserve to be remembered.
1945: The Inspector General began an investigation in charges of“alleged mistreatment” of German Guards at Dachau by U.S. soldiers.
1946: Today, Dr. Umberto Nahon a leader of the Italian ZionistOrganization said that the 1, 014 Jewish refugees who have been stranded at LaSpezia for the past month have agreed that none of them will leave forPalestine until all of them have received visas so they can immigrate together.
1947(13th of Iyar, 5707): Parashat Achrei Mot-Kedoshm
1947: Since today has been designated as “United Jewish AppealSabbath by the Synagogue Council of America” rabbis delivered sermons that“stressed the needs of Europe’s 1,500,000 Jewish survivors and offered prayersfor the success of the $170,000,000 United Jewish Appeal campaign” designed toalleviate their suffering.
1948: The U.S. Supreme Court decided that deed covenantsprohibiting the sale of real estate based on race or religion are legallyunenforceable. This opened the doorway for Jews to move into many of what hadbeen “restricted” neighborhoods. In someplaces, effectively whole towns had been off-limits to Jews. Realtors and bigots would not go gently intothe night and they found other creative ways to try and excluded Jews. One of the most elegant areas in Washington,D.C. was called Spring Valley, a restricted subdivision that was home to VicePresident Richard M. Nixon.
1948: The Supreme Court issued a decision in United States v.Paramount Pictures, Inc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Paramount_Pictures,_Inc
1948(24th of Nisan, 5708): Sixty-three-year-old Hebronnative and JTS ordained rabbi, Raphael Melamed, the holder of a doctorate fromDropsie College who had led Temple B’nai Israel in Elizabeth, NJ where heworked “to foster better understanding between religious groups” passed awaytoday after suffering fatal heart attack.
1949: In New York, film executive David Raphel, the grandson ofBaron David de Gunzburg and his wife gave birth to American author MoniqueRaphel High.
1949: Herbert Lehman, the former Governor of New York “who is onan inspection tour for the American Joint Distribution Committee” will entrainfor Marseille today “where he will visit refugee camps and watch theembarkation” of the first of the ten thousand displaced person going to Israelduring the month of May.
1950: The Indian League organized a meeting in memory of the lateHarold Laski during which Indian Prime Minister Nehru said: “It is difficult torealize that Professor Harold Laski is no more. Lovers of freedom all over theworld pay tribute to the magnificent work that he did. We in India areparticularly grateful for his staunch advocacy of India's freedom, and thegreat part he played in bringing it about. At no time did he falter orcompromise on the principles he held dear, and a large number of persons drewsplendid inspiration from him. Those who knew him personally counted thatassociation as a rare privilege, and his passing away has come as a greatsorrow and a shock.”
1951: Birthdate of Pierre Lellouche, the Tunisian born Jew who hasbeen active in French and European politics including serving as President ofthe NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
1951: A Treasury of Jewish Humor edited by Nathan Ausubel,containing “in England stories, satires and witticisms from Jewish literatureis scheduled to be published today by Doubleday.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1951/04/23/80707125.html?pageNumber=23
1952(8th of Iyar, 5712): Parashat Achrei Mot - Kedoshim
1952: The third event of the 15th annual Three ChoirFestival was presented” this “morning at Temple Emanu-El where the “motif ofthe morning service which opened with organ preludes by Mark Silver and BenHaim” was “Song of American Israel and the Land of Israel.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/05/04/93368207.html?pageNumber=88
1953(18th of Iyar, 5713): Lag B’Omer
1953:Today, the City College Library was dedicated to and named for CCNY, Columbia, Harvardand NYU Law School trained philosophy professor Morris Raphael Cohen, thehusband of Mary Ryshpan with whom he raised two children Leonora andFelix S. Cohen.
https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.MRCOHEN
1953: In Westbury, NY, Seymour and Joan Blecker gave birth toIrene Blecker the holder of multiple degrees from Cornell gained fame as Dr.Irene Blecker Rosenfeld, the CEO of Kraft Food and number 6 on “The Wall StreetJournal’s 50 Women to Watch list.”
1954: In Oakland, CA, Walter S. and Jean Scheib gave birth toWalter Scheib III who grew up in Bethesda, MD to become the White House Cheffor Presidents Clinton and Bush.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1956/05/04/86569004.html?pageNumber=25
1955: “Major General Lucas V. Beau, national commander of theCivil Air Patrol of the United States was feted today in Israel by the Israeliair scouts.
1955: Funeral services are scheduled to be held today at “Park West”for Bertha Adler, the wife of the late Isaac Adler.
1956(22nd of Iyar, 5716): Eighty-six-year-old Bohemianborn and Chicago College of Law trained attorney Joseph Sabath the long timeserving Superior Court Justice and husband of Regina Sabath with whom he raisedtwo children and who was the brother Congressman Adoph J. Sabath, “the dean ofthe House of Representative when he died in 1952” passed away today.
1957: Walter O'Malley, theowner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn, New York,to Los Angeles, California. Because of Brooklyn’s large Jewish population, theteam had “tons” of Jewish fans. O’Malley was vilified for moving the team. Decades later, we found out that the O’Malleywanted to keep the team in Brooklyn. Hewas thwarted by Robert Moses who had his priorities for New York that includeda baseball park outside of Brooklyn that would become known as SheaStadium.
1957: The Anne Frank Foundation was established today incooperation with Otto Frank, Anne Frank's father, with the primary aim ofcollecting enough funds to purchase and restore the building. In October ofthat year, the company who owned it donated the building to the Foundation as agoodwill gesture.
1958: “Stakeout on Dope Street’ which marked the directorial debutof Irvin Kershner was released in the United States today.
1958: Sofia Cosma, the Jewish pianist who ended being imprisonedin Siberia when she was trying to escape the Nazis at the start of WW II,performed for the first time in Lasi.
1958: In Copenhagen, Claus Toksvig and his wife gave birth toSandi Toksvig author of Hitler’s Canary, a novel set in Denmark during theGerman occupation which tells the story of a family involved in the resistancemovement that helped to save the Danish Jews during WW II.
1959: Birthdate of Ben Elton, a London born comedian, author,playwright and television director whose father was “of German-Jewish descent”and whose mother was not.
1960: The Anne Frank House, a museum dedicated to Jewish wartimediarist Anne Frank, opened in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
1960(6th of Iyar, 5720): Seventy-nine-year-old Alfred Whital Sternretired clothing executive and avid collector of Lincoln memorabilia passedaway in Chicago.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FA0D11FF3D5C1A728DDDAC0894DD405B808AF1D3
1962(28th of Nisan, 5722): Eighty-year-old Russianborn, Morris Asofsky long time director of “the United Hias Service MorrisAsofsky, known as “The Voice of HIAS”due to his long running program on WEVD and the husband of Flora Asofsky withwhom he had raised one daughter, passed away today in Tel Aviv.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/05/05/80389314.pdf
1969(15th of Iyar, 5729): Parashat Emor
1969(15th of Iyar. 5729): Seventy-nine-year-oldcinematographer Karl W. Freund whose work included the 1927 classic Metropolisto the I Love Lucy television series.
1972(19th of Iyar, 5732): Fifty-eight-year-old motionpicture photographer Samuel Dinin, the husband o Pearl Dinin and father ofRebecca Margo who “was a motion picture cameraman with the Army Signal Corps”during WW II and did still photography for such pictures “Goodbye Columbus” and“I Never Sang for my Father” and who is not to be confused with the Jewisheducator with the same name passed away today in Queens.
1972: The Jane Collective which “began informally when Jewishactivist Heather Booth helped a friend find a safe abortion provided,” wasraided by Chicago police today.
https://jwa.org/thisweek/may/03/1972/jane-collective-raided-chicago-police
1973: “Touch Me in the Morning” one of the top singles of 1973conceived of by songwriter and producer by Michael Masser and written by himand fellow Jewish song writer Ron Miller was released today.
1973: Birthdate of Portland, OR native movie producer andsportswriter Max Handled the University of Pennsylvania grad and AEPi brotherwho wrote Why Fantasy Football Matters (And Our Lives Do Not) while raising afamily with his wife, actress Elizabeth Banks.
1975(22nd of Iyar, 5735): Parashat Behar-Bechukotai
1975(22nd of Iyar, 5735): Seventy-Six-year-old Columbia grad and JTSordained Rabbi Elliot Burstein, the NewHaven, CT, born son of “Dr. S.P. andPauline (Berman) Burstein and the husbandof Charlotte Greenfield, who served Congregation Beth Israel for 42 yearspassed away today.
1976: Thirty-three passers-by were injured when a booby-trappedmotor scooter exploded at the corner of Ben Yehuda and Ben Hillel Streets.Among those injured were the Greek consul in Jerusalem and his wife. Thefollowing day, on the eve of Independence Day, the municipality organized anevent at the site of the attack, under the slogan: "Nevertheless."
1976:Paul “Simon put together a benefit show at Madison Square Garden to raise moneyfor the New York Public Library.”
1976: Pulitzer Prize awarded to Saul Bellow for Humboldt's Gift.Born in Canada in 1915, Bellow moved to Chicago as a child in the 1920's.A graduate of Northwestern University, where he was told to forget aboutwriting since no Jew could appreciate the English language. Beforebecoming a successful writer, Bellow taught college, worked for the board ofthe Encyclopedia Britannica and served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during WorldWar II. His first novel was the Dangling Man. Humboldt'sGift, which appeared in 1975, "was narrated in the first person. Theprotagonist, Charlie Citrine, is a writer, rich and successful. But in hisheart he knows that he is a failure - he is under the thumb of a small-timeChicago gangster, ruined by a divorce and finally abandoned by his mistress. Headmires his dead friend, Von Humboldt Fleischer, modeled on the poet DelmoreSchwartz (1913-1966). Humboldt, a talent wasted, represents for him all that isimportant in culture. Citrine continues the series of Bellow's losers, fromHerzog to Sammler, but like his other novels, it is not gloomy, and finds acomic side even in its protagonist's tragedy."
1978: Birthdate of Herzliya native and award winning actress andsinger Miri Mesika.
1978(26th of Nisan, 5738): Ninety-one-year-old PinchasRosen, Israel’s first Minister of Justice passed away today.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F70812FC395413728DDDAD0894DD405B888BF1D3
1979: Premiere of “Bent” a play by Martin Sherman that “revolvesaround the persecution of hom*osexuals in Nazi Germany.”
1980(17th of Iyar, 5740): Parashat Emor
1981: The New York Timesreported that The Israel Festival has been canceled for this summer. Thedecision was made in order ''to spread festival events out over a greaterperiod of time, rather than concentrating them within a span of six weeks,''according to a government spokesman. Instead there will be two smallerfestivals, the Spring in Jerusalem Festival and the Proms '81, both of whichwill take place in Jerusalem.
1981: InNew York, light from hundreds of candles flickered on polished mosaic tile asthe sounds of the ghetto songs of decades ago echoed in Temple Emanu-El. Asthey have for 10 years, thousands of Jews and non-Jews gathered to recall thespirit of the Warsaw ghetto uprising of 1943
1981:Beginning of Jewish Heritage Week in the United States as proclaimed byPresident Ronald Reagan.
1981(29thof Nisan, 5741): Seventy-nine-year-old tennis champion and winner of the bronzemedal in the shot-put passed away today in New York.
1985:“Private Resort,” a comedy that marked the film debut of Rob Morrow wasreleased today in the United States.
1987: SaulP. Steinberg and Barbara Steinberg, both of New York, have announced theengagement of their daughter, Laura S. Steinberg, to Jonathan M. Tisch,president of Loews Hotels who is a sonof Postmaster General Preston Robert Tisch and Mrs. Tisch of Washington and NewYork.
1987:Cardinal John O’Conner, Archbishop of New York “watched thousands march downFifth Avenue protesting the oppression of Soviet Jews” later joining theprotesters at a rally near the United Nations where told them, “As I stood onthe steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral this morning and watched you stream by, Icould only be proud of those who streamed out of Egypt several thousand yearsago, winning freedom for themselves and for all of us. They are your ancestors,and they are mine… I am proud to be this day, with you, a Jew.” (What nobodyknew that day, including O’Connor was that his mother Dorothy Gumple O’Connor,was born Jewish” and converted to Catholicism before she met and married hisfather.)
1987:Her Majesty Queen Beatrix officiated at the opening ceremony of the restoredsynagogues which house the Jewish Historical Museum
1989:Two Hamas terrorists disguised as Orthodox Jews kidnapped Pvt. Ilan Saadon on ahighway leading to Ashkelon, his hometown, and then on some unknown datemurdered him after which they tried to use his corpse as a bargaining chip.
1990:NBC broadcast the final episode of season six of “The Cosby Show,” co-createdby Ed Weinberger.
1991(19thof Iyar, 5751): Fifty-seven-year-old Jerzy Kosinksi author of Being There passedaway today
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/04/arts/jerzy-kosinski-the-writer-57-is-found-dead.html
1992:In The Los Angeles Times, CharlesSolomon reviewed Blood and Banquets: A Berlin Diary 1930-1938 by Bella Fromm, the”daughter of aprominent Jewish family, who was forced to begin working when her fortunedisappeared in the runaway inflation that wracked Germany after World War I. As‘Frau Bella,’ the society columnist for the highbrow Berlin newspaper VossischeZeitung, she frequented the most exclusive circles” and it was this work thatprovided the information for her book which has appeared in a paperbackedition.
1995(3rd of Iyar, 5755): Yom HaZikaron
1996: “The Pallbearer” a comedy produced by J.J.Abrams and co-starring David Schwimmer, Michael Rapaport and Barbara Hersheywas released in the United States today.
1998:The New York Times featured reviewsof books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readersincluding Gertrude Stein: Writings 1903-1932 and Gertrude Stein:Writings 1932-1946.
1998:In “Garment District: Sheets, Towels and Prayers In One Stop”, published today EdwardLevine describes life in and around the Millinery Center Synagogue
2000:When Lillie Steinhorn retired from the Social Security Administration today shewas the longest-serving federal employee on record.
2001:President Bush meets with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in the OvalOffice.
2001:In address to the American Jewish Committee, President Bush said “We will speakup for our principles and we will stand up for our friends in the world. Andone of our most important friends is the State of Israel… [Israel] is a smallcountry that has lived under threat throughout its existence. At the firstmeeting of my National Security Council, I told them a top foreign policypriority is the safety and security of Israel. My Administration will besteadfast in supporting Israel against terrorism and violence, and in seekingthe peace for which all Israelis pray.”
2002(21stof Iyar, 5762): Sixty-five-year-old American lighting designer Martin Aronsteinwhose works included such Broadway hits as “Cactus Flower and ‘How Now, DowJones” passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/arts/martin-aronstein-65-designer-who-lighted-broadway-shows.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2002/jun/08/local/me-aronstein8
2002:“Rebuilding a Community” published today described relations between the Jewsof Atlanta and those living in Cuba.
http://www.jewishcuba.org/atlantajt.html
2003(1stof Iyar, 5763): Parashat Kedoshim; Rosh Chodesh Iyar
2003:Jewish Jazz flautist Herbie Mann performed for the last the time at the NewOrleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
2003:“Letters from the Dead” premiered at the Brooklyn International Film Festivalwhere the movie’s creator, Jewish-American filmmaker Ari Taub, was named BestNew Director.
2004:Twenty-year-old Marine Corporal Dustin Schrage disappeared today with his team whileswimming across the Euphrates River in the Al Anbar province with his team inIraq.
2005:Two days after she had passed away funeral service are scheduled to be heldtoday for Renee Wallach who served as the cantor at North Shore Synagogue inSyoseet, NY for fourteen years.
2006(5thof Iyar, 5766): Yom Ha’Atzmaut – IsraelIndependence Day. In Israel, thecelebration of the 58th birthday began in the evening of May 2 witha state torch-lighting ceremony on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl. The ceremony alsomarked the end of Memorial Day.
2006(5thof Iyar, 5766): Eighty-two-year-old economist Mark Perlman passed away today.
https://www.utimes.pitt.edu/archives/?p=3169
2006:The Jerusalem Post reported thatIsraeli Independence Day has become a worldwide celebration.
2006:Final episode of “The Perfect Home” starring Alain de Botton, a descendant ofAbraham de Boton, was shown today
2007: The Center for Jewish History presents “The Mystery of the Kaddish” in whichPresidential advisor and television personality Leon Charney discusses how theKaddish became the most famous and familiar prayer in Jewish liturgy. Hediscusses his new book which charts the origins and development of theMourner's Prayer against the full backdrop of Jewish history.
2007:The Central Committee of the National Religious Party votes on a proposal toopen up the modern Orthodox party to Israeli’s who do not necessarily adhere toreligious strictures. This represents an attempt to increase the party’spolitical power by tapping “into the large traditional, but not religioussector, which is described as primarily Sephardim…”
2008(28thof Nisan, 5768): Fifty-seven-year-old Hanon Reznikov, the co-founder of theLiving Theatre passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/theater/09reznikov.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0
2008:A screening of “Sonderkommando”\זונדרקומנדו takes place atthe Jerusalem Cinematheque.
2008:London's new mayor, Boris Johnson, a pro-Israel Conservative lawmaker, wassworn in after ousting the left-wing incumbent in a vote that capped the worstlocal election results for Prime Minister Gordon Brown's party in four decades.
2009:Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts presents “Jerusalem City of Heavenly andEarthly Peace” as part of the Jordi Savill Jerusalem series.
2009:Annual AIPAC Policy Conference opens in Washington, D.C.
2009:The Washington Post featured books byJewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including “AFailure of Capitalism: The Crisis of '08 and the Descent into Depression” byRichard A. Posner.
2009:The Excavations in the Roman Theater in Tiberias are being carried out InMemory of Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Drori ז"ל, Founder of the IsraelAntiquities Authority
http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1507&module_id=#as
2009:The New York Times featured books byJewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including therecently released paperback editor of The German Bride by Joanna Hershon’s novel which “is set among theGerman-born Jewish merchants and traders who settled in the American West inthe 19th century” featuring as the protagonist, the daughter of a Berlin bankerwho travels to Santa Fe to marry a man who owns a dry goods business.
2009: Daniel Mark Epstein discusses and signsLincoln's Men: The President and His Private Secretaries at the Enoch PrattFree Library, in Baltimore, Maryland.
2010:Gloria Mound, Director of the Casa Shalom-Institute for Anusim Studies inIsrael is scheduled to present a lecture entitled “A Certain Identity:Crypto-Jews around the World” sponsored by the American Sephardi Federation.
2010:In Washington, D.C Liaison Specialist Jason Steinhauer of the Library ofCongress Veterans History Project is scheduled to present a lecture anddiscussion on the contributions, impact and legacy of the more than 550, 000American Jewish military personnel who served during World War II during whichthey received 52,000 decorations for gallantry
2010:President Obama renewed the Syrian sanctions.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/obama050310.html
2011:The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington is scheduled to present“Search for Survivors” during which Scott Miller, Director of CuratorialAffairs at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will describe “how tworesearchers meticulously traced what happened to the passengers of the St.Louis, a refugee-filled ship denied entry to the United States on the eve ofthe Holocaust.”
2011:Sixty-seven-year-old Fred Goldsmith who won Coach of the Year honors for hiswork at Rice and Duke retired from the profession today.
2011:Douglas Feith is scheduled to a lecture entitled “Jabotinsky: Enduring Insightsat B’nai Israel Congregation in Rockville, MD.
2011:YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is scheduled to present “In Her Hands: TheEducation of Jewish Girls in Tsarist Russia.”
2011: Second and final episode of “Case Sensitive”based on Sophie Hannah’s novel The Point of Rescue was broadcast on ITV.
2011:The Consultation on Conscience, Reform Judaism's flagship social justiceconference is scheduled to hold its closing session today.
2011:In Philadelphia, The Young Friends of the National Museum of American JewishHistory is scheduled to present “U.S.-Israel Relations: Truman to Obama,” aprogram in recognition of Israel's Independence Day and Jewish AmericanHeritage Month.
2012:In “Violin legend Zvi Zeitlin has died” published today Norman Lebrechtdescribed what made him “the great violinist and teacher.
http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2012/05/a-violin-legend-has-died.html
2012:In London, the Wiener Library is scheduled to host “Death in Prague: Philip onPrague Fatale” part of a series of events tied to the 70thanniversary of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich.
2012:Dr. Jonathan Sarna is scheduled to discuss his marvelous new book, WhenGeneral Grant Expelled the Jews, at the William G. McGowan Theater inWashington, DC
2012:Miriam Ungar organized a protest on behalf of her husband Jacob Ostreicheropposite Bolivia’s United Nations mission. (As reported by Ben Sales)
2013:“No Place on Earth” is scheduled to open in several cities including Austin,Texas, Columbus, Ohio and Seattle, Washington.
2013:Rabbi Sunny Schnitzer on guitar, noted Kabbalist Jay McCrensky on accordion,and Karen Cole on bass are scheduled to lead a “gemach Carlebach” service atBethesda Jewish Congregation as part ofthe Washington Jewish Music Festival.
2013:“In an interview with Entertainment Tonight ‘Judge Judy’ Sheindlin stated,"I have my walls full of Daytime Emmy Award nominations."
2013:Noam Schey, Sam Stalkfleet, Elise Goodvin, Molly Lipman and Cameron Bravermanare scheduled to lead Confirmation Services which will be held for the firsttime in the new sanctuary of Agudas Achim located in Coralville, Iowa
2013(23rdof Iyar, 5773): Eighty-seven-year-old Herbert Blau the engineer turneddramatist passed away today on his birthday. (As reported by Douglas Martin)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/theater/herbert-blau-iconoclastic-theater-director-dies-at-87.html
2013:IDF Gaza Division commander Brig.-Gen. Micky Edelstein said today that therewas "some degree of dialogue" between Israel and parties in Gaza toprevent rocket fire from the coastal territory into southern Israel.
2013:The Chinese government says it is willing to set up a meeting between theIsraeli prime minister and the Palestinian president when the two leaders visitBeijing next week, if the sides expressed interest in doing so. ForeignMinistry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said today at a regular briefing that Chinawould be happy to facilitate a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if they were willing to meet.
2014:“Cupcakes” is scheduled to be shown at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival.
2014:“Quality Balls: The David Steinberg Story” is scheduled to be shown at theLenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival.
2014(3rdof Iyar, 5774): Ninety-one-year-old radio executive Ben Hoberman passed awaytoday.
2014(3rdof Iyar, 5774): Eighty-three-year-old Nobel winning economist Gary Beckerpassed away today.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/becker.html
2014:Phoebe Chapnick-Sorkin is scheduled to Bat Mitzvahed at Agudas Achim inCoralville, Iowa.
2014:“Sturgeon Queens” is scheduled to be shown at the National Center for JewishFilm Festival.
2014:“The IDF deployed a Patriot missile battery in Eilat today and stationed italongside the Iron Dome anti-missile battery in the southern city, ahead of theMemorial Day and Independence Day holidays.
2014:“Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit criticized the Israeli government’shandling of “price tag” attacks by Jewish extremists on Saturday, saying“Israel is a lawful country that does not enforce its laws.”
2015:GI Jews: South Carolina Goes to War :Commemorating the 70th Anniversary ofVE–Day hosted by the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina came to an endtoday.
2015:YIVO Institute for Jewish History Institute for Jewish Research is scheduled tocelebrate its 90th anniversary with a daylong celebration.
2015:Final performance of “Do This One Thing For Me” is scheduled to take placetoday in NYC.
http://www.dothisonethingforme.com/
2015:Two Palestinians “overpowered and detained for questioning” after theyattempted to stab IDF soldiers “near the settlement of Yakir.”
2015:“At least 41 people were injured during a rally in support of the Ethiopiancommunity “that turned violent in Tel Aviv.”
2015:Dr. Neil Gillman, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at JTS is scheduled to talkbased on his most book Believe and Its Tensions: A Personal Conversationabout God, Torah, Suffering and Death in Jewish Thought.
2015:The New York Times reviews books byJewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including TheLife of Saul Bellow: To Fame and Fortune, 1915-1964 by Zachary Leader andEinstein’s Dice and Schrodinger’s Cat: How Two Great Minds Battled QuantumRandomness to Create a Unified Theory of Physics by Paul Halpern
2016:Dr. Stephen J. Gaies is scheduled to employ a multi-media approach todiscussing the Jewish Holocaust on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day at theDes Moines, Iowa, public Library.
2016:Todd Kaminsky completed his service as a member of the New York State Assemblyfrom the 20th District and began serving as a member of the New YorkState Senate from the 9th District.
2016:The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education is scheduled tohost “Breaking the Silence – Stories of Courage from our Edlers.”
2016:The Jewish Children’s Regional Service, an organization that truly helps thosein need” is scheduled to host its “GiveNOLA Day.”
2016:The American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled to a presentation by GiliGetz entitled “A Forbidden Conversation: Speaking, the Unspoken, and the Conversationson Israel in America.”
2017(7thof Iyar, 5777): Seventy-four-year-old Haifa born actress Daliah Lavi passedaway today. (As reported by Daniel E. Slotnik)
2017:The Jewish Book Council is scheduled to celebrate the 11th year ofthe Sami Rohr Prize where the 2017 Fellows - Paul Goldberg, author of The Yid:A Novel; Adam Ehrlich Sachs, author of Inherited Disorders: Stories, Parables& Problems; Rebecca Schiff, author of The Bed Moved: Stories; DanielTorday, author of The Last Flight of Poxl West: A Novel – will be introducedand the three top prizes worth respectively $100,000, $18,000 and $5,000 willbe awarded.
2017:A presentation on “Jewish Women in Iowa” is scheduled to take place today ofthe Iowa Jewish History Symposium in Iowa City.
2017:Aaron Wolf’s “Restoring Tomorrow” premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
2017:The Center for Jewish History and YIVO are scheduled to host a talk by Dr.Laura Almagor on “Crackpot or Visionary: Israel Zangwill, Isaac Steinberg andthe Jewish Territorialist Movement.”
2018(18thof Iyar, 5778): Lag B’Omer
2018(18th of Iyar, 5578): Ninety-three-year-old, one of the mostinfluential physicist not to win a Nobel and the husband of Suzy Pines withwhom he raised two children – Catherine and Jonathan – passed away today. (Asreported by Kenneth Chang)
2018:Rabbi Yossi Jacobson is scheduled to host a “glatt kosher bbq” this evening aspart of the Lag B’Omer observance in Des Moines, IA.
2018:In Memphis, TN, Rabbi Feivel Strauss is scheduled to “lead a conversation onFrom Skepticism to Mysticism” as part of the Lag B’Omer observance.
2018:The US Holocaust Memorial Museum is scheduled to host a lecture by Holocaustsurvivor by Julie Keefer as part of the First Person 2018 Series.
2018:The Oxford University Jewish Society is scheduled to cost an interfaithactivity “Exploring the Bridges between Islam and Judaism.”
2018:The Cleveland Jewish News is schedule to host “An Evening with Regina Brett” atTemple Tifereth Israel.
2018:Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Chernow, author of a recent biography on U.S. Grantis scheduled to participate in a colloquy following a dinner commemorating the196th anniversary of Grant’s birth.
2018:Today as President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu continue to expresssuspicions that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, “an Israeli satelliteimaging company released images showing what it described as “unusual” movementaround the Iranian Fordo nuclear facility, a one-time uranium enrichment plantburied deep underground that was converted to a research center as part of the2015 nuclear deal.” (As reported by Judah Ari Gross
2019:In New York, the Addis Fine Art Gallery is scheduled to host the opening of anexhibition featuring the work of Ethiopian born artist Niriti Takele who cameto Israel in 1991 as part of “Operation Solomon.”
2019:As part of the Gideon Sorokin Memorial Lecture in Judaic Studies, Rabbi HenryShreibman is scheduled to lecture on “The Face of Religion in America: The Next50 Years” at the Dominican University of California.
2019:The Oxford University Jewish Society is scheduled to host Kabbalat Shabbatservices followed by Friday night dinner.
2019:Scottish born Torah scholar and author Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, author ofMoses: A Human Life is scheduled to begin her latest American lecture tour.
2020:The Breman Museum and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Georgia are scheduledto “present via a Live ZOOM webinar Garri Regev, past president of the IsraelGenealogy Research Association (IGRA), as she discusses the IGRA database anddemonstrates how to use this genealogical research tool.”
2020:“Saving Lives Sunday,” “a streaming even honoring first responder and welcominghome Eli Beer is scheduled to begin at 6 pm UK Time”
2020:For the last time a streaming presentation of “Orchestra of Exiles” which tells“the story of Bronislaw Huberman, the founder of the Israel Philharmonic.”
2020:On 88.9 WERS, Chagigah Radio host Hal Slifer is scheduled to welcome the musicof internationally acclaimed Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band as this week’s miniconcert performers.
2020:“Clarinetist Ben Goldberg is scheduled to lead a virtual KlezCaliforniaworkshop on melodic construction and development for intermediate-advancedplayers of any instrument.
2020:The American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled to host a Virtual visitwith Emma Lazarus where “childrenhave the opportunity to engage with the famous poetess about her life and theissues of her time.”
2020: As the spread of COVID-19 appears to behalted, “The Israeli cabinet is scheduled to meet today to discuss furthereasing coronavirus restrictions, including opening malls and markets, amidfigures suggesting the country has largely managed to curb the spread of thecoronavirus.
2021: The first ever Jewish PsychedelicSummit is scheduled to come to an end.
2021:Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture is scheduled to present “A FieldGuide to Jewish Comedy Writers: An Evening With Dave Barry, Adam Mansbach &Alan Zweibel.”
2021:The Streicker Center is scheduled host Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson,author of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents as she “dives deep into thepillars that underlie such systems, from divine will to heredity, putting humanfaces on the power of human rankings.”
2021:Based on previously published reports, in the wake of the Meron disaster, thereare those in Israel including Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau who think “thestate is obligated to take responsibility for” the holy site.
20022:The Illinois Holocaust Museum is scheduled to host Mike Levy, the author of GettingThe Children Out: Forgotten Rescuers of the Kindertransport “for anexploration of the mostly forgotten role of Kindertransport rescuers and thequickly established landscapes of care in host countries.
2022:Lockdown University is scheduled to host a lecture by Trudy Gold on “EasternEuropean Jews: The Beginnings.”
2022:At Tifereth Israel in Cleveland, In commemoration of Yom HaZikaron, Dr. OriYehudai is the Saul and Sonia Schottenstein Chair in Israel Studies andAssistant Professor of History at OSU, is scheduled to give a presentation on "A Day of Bloodand Valor: Terrorism and Social Tensions in 1970's Israel." Dr. Yehudai isthe Saul and Sonia Schottenstein Chair in Israel Studies and AssistantProfessor of History at OSU.
2022:The Consulate General of Israel and Temple Emanu-El are scheduled to host a Yom Hazikaron –Memorial Day Service honoring the soldiers who gave their lives in defense ofthe State of Israel and the victims or terrorist attack
2022:The Iowa City Council is scheduled to proclaim the month of May as JewishHeritage Month in a meeting this evening at City Hall.
2022:This evening, in Israel, start of Yom Hazikaron observances.
2022(1stof Iyar, 5782): Rosh Chodesh Iyar;
2023:The JDC is scheduled to host a webinar “We Are Working for a HealthyGeneration” which is a lecture by Dr. Jonathan Sarna “Marking a Century Sincethe Reorganization of the JDC and its Transformation into a PermanentOrganization to Meet the Needs of World Jewry.”
2023:The Museum at Eldridge Street is scheduled to a host a virtual program, which willexplore what defines a Jewish, or “Jew-ish”, approach to health care fromearliest times to the present
2023:In Columbus, OH, Congregation Tifereth Israel is scheduled to host the Rabbi’sStudy Circle for a discussion of “The Biblical Roots of Prayer.”
2023:Christie’s is scheduled to host an auction that include jewels from the estateof a woman whose husband bought businesses from Jews pressured to sell becauseof Nazi persecution.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/27/arts/design/heidi-horten-jewelry-christies-nazi-era.html
2024:“Agnon House is scheduled to host Prof. Yitzhak Meller for a conversation with Prof.Chaim Weiss about the representations of trauma in Yoram Kaniuk's work in anevent that will take place as part of the exhibition "Hymn to David",which presents the photographs and poems of Tamir Lahav-Radlemser, who, likeKaniuk, dealt with his own shell shock in his work.’
2024:The West Newton Cinema in Boston, The Charles in Baltimore and the MountainPark Cinema in West Dover, VT are scheduled to host screening of “FarewellMister Hafman,” a film that tells the story of a Jewish jeweler trying tosurvive the Nazi occupation of Paris.
2024:Kan Kol Hamusika is scheduled to broadcast Singers of "Meitar" OperaStudio of the Israel Opera featuring a concert of arias and duets from famousoperas by Mozart, Dvorak, Gluck, Puccini and more.
2024:As May 3rd begins in Israel, an unprecedented wave of anti-Semitism sweeps theUnited States and the Hamas held hostages begin day210 in captivity. (Editor’snote: this situation is too fluid for this blog to cover so we are justproviding a snapshot as of the posting at midnight Israeli time.)
May 3
1282 BCE: (28Nissan 2488): Traditional date marking the fall of the walls of Jericho.
443 BCE (7thof Iyar, 3317): Nehemiah dedicated the newly built walls that had been builtaround Jerusalem
996: Papacy ofGregory V began today making him a contemporary of Hananel Ben Hushiel, SamuelIbn Nagrela and Jacob ben Yakar each of whom was born in 990.
1096 (8th Iyar): On his way to join the Crusade led byPeter the Hermit, Emico, the Count of Leiningen, attacked the synagogue atSpeyers. The Jews defended themselves but were systematically slain. Until thistime atrocities in Europe were sporadic. From this point on, they becameorganized and frequent. Jewish martyrdom began in earnest. It should beremembered that the atrocities committed by the rampaging crusaders were notalways supported by the local burghers and bishops. Furthermore, in manycountries, especially the Slavic states, the local Christian community sufferedfrom pillages as well. John Bishop of Spires even called out his army after 11Jews were killed in a riot, but he was an exception rather than the rule.Approximately 5,000 Jews were murdered in Germany in 1096.[Editor’s Note:Maggie Anton, the author of the acclaimed series about Rashsi’s Daughters,offers the following view of events. “Actually, the Crusader attacks on Speyerin 1096 left only 11 Jews dead - those who were still on the streets. Warned ofthe danger, the Jews prayed early and left the synagogue before the maraudersarrived, barricading themselves at home. Bishop John's army routed the mob andcut off the hands of the worst instigators. It was later in the month that theworst massacres occurred in Worms, Mainz & Cologne.”]
1235: Pope Gregory issued a Bull that repeated andconfirmed the constitution of Pope Innocent III. The Bull was issued inresponse to pleas from German Jews that the Church act to stop the maraudingmobs that were attacking them.
1270: King Béla IV of Hungary passed away. Bela had welcomed Jewish immigrants to his kingdom and in1251 gave them “legal rights.”
1407: Emperor Rupert issued a decree appointing Israel of Krems“chief rabbi of all the German communities ("Hochmeister über alleRabbinen"), giving him a certificate declaring him to be a great Talmudicscholar and a good man.”
1455: As Christian forces advance, groups of Jews fled Spain, someof whom ended up in Kosovo others of whom settled in West African Jewishcommunities known as Bilad al-Sudan.
1469: Birthdate of Niccolò Machiavelli
http://voices.yahoo.com/literary-analysis-prince-niccolo-machiavelli-6074870.html
1481:Mehmed II,Ottoman Sultan passed away. Known as “The Conqueror” (Faith), he reigned from1444 to 1446 until his father took over on account of war. He came again tothrone in 1451. He conquered Constantinople in 1453. The oppressed Jews wererelieved to see him occupy the city. He allowed Jews from today's Greek Islandsand Crete to settle in Istanbul. Fatih's declaration is as follows:"Listen sons of the Hebrew who live in my country...May all of you who desirecome to Constantinople and may the rest of your people find here ashelter". The Bavarian King Ludwig the III, under the influence of theItalian Monk Jean de Capistrano expelled the Jews out and forced them to settleon the banks of the Danube River, Capistrano helped John Hunyadi in 1456 whenthe Ottomans besieged Belgrade. In 1410 Jean Huss was excommunicated and burnedon order of the pope Alexander the V. The pope Nicholas the V, summoned Jean deCapistrano to go to Slovakia and fight the followers of Jean Huss. Of course,Capistrano did not forget the Jews and as a result, by order of the Sultan, aregiment called "The sons of Moses" was formed. Since Capistrano alsoprepared a crusade against the Ottomans, the same regiment participated in thewar which ensued. The doctors Isak Pasa Galeon and Ribbi Sonsino were alsoappointed to that regiment. Before being killed, Ribbi Sonsino chopped away thehead of Jean de Capistrano and the church declared the latter a saint. Afterthe war Mehmed II invited the Ashkenazi Jews of Transylvania and Slovakia tothe Ottoman Empire. The synagogues Ahrida, Karaferya, Yanbol and Cuhadji whichwere damaged due to a fire have been repaired on the Sultan’s order. Accordingto a votive foundation document dated 1451-1481, the doctors Moses Hamon, IsakPas a Galeon, Hekim Yakup, Ephraim Sandji and Hekim Abraham were appointed aspalace doctors.
1488: In Naples, Joseph Günzenhäuser published the first printededition of the Pentateuch with a commentary by Abraham ibn Ezra.
1579:An auto-de-fe at Seville sentenced 38 people, some accused of Judaizing. Inall, only one person was burned.
1583(11thof Iyar): Rabbi Isaac Mehling passed away in Prague.
1588: Council of Hanover in Germany ordered the severance of allbusiness connections between Jews and Christians.
1616(16th of Iyar, 5376): Meir Lublin, the son ofGedaliah, the son-in-law of Isaac ha-Kohen Shapiro and the author of the Talmudic commentary Meir Einai Chachamim passed away today in Lublin.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0013_0_12821.html
1649; “The earliest mention of a Jew in Massachusetts bears thedate May 3, 1649”
1655(26th of Nisan, 5415): Abraham Nunez Bernal wasburned at the stake by the Inquisition of Cordova making him yet anotherSephardic martyr.
1655:Jacob Abendana delivered a famous memorial sermon onthe Cordovan martyrs Marranos Nunez and Almeyda Bernal who had been burned atthe stake. Abendana was the older of Isaac Abendana who taught at MagdalenCollege and served as hakam of the Spanish Portuguese Synagogue in London..
1667(9th of Iyar, 5427): Many Jews were killed in anti-Jewish riotsin Lemberg. Lemberg is in the Ukraine. These killings took placeduring the wars between the Poles and the Cossacks. The fate of the Jewsof Lemberg would grow even worse in 1668 when most of them would perish in amassacre.
1670: Birthdate of Nicholas Mavrocordatos, the Grand Dragoman whomDaniel de Fonseca served as a personal physician while actually working as asecret agent for the French and Turks to provide support for the Ottomans intheir conflict with Austria.
1703(28th of Iyar, 5463): Seventy-two-year-old SamuelOppenheimer the Jewish banker who bankrolled Emperor Leopold I during the GreatTurkish War, passed away today.
1715(NS): A total solar eclipse took place today which the subjectmatter of lecture given by theologian, historian, philosopher andmathematician” William Whiston who contended the “Song of Solomon” was apocryphaland the “Book of Baruch” was not and who translated the complete works ofFlavius Josephus” the controversial Jewish historian known simply as Josephus.
1733(22nd of Iyar,):Rabbi Zevi of Vilna, author of “Bet Lehem Yehudah” passed away
1758: The Papacy of Benedict XIV, who was so committed toconverting Jews that he issued a bull allowing children as young as seven to bebaptized without their parent’s permissions and added to the list of Jewishbooks that should be “seized and confiscated but who also publicly opposed theBlood Libel, ended today.
1761: In London, Salomon Barend Gompertz and Martha Gompertz gavebirth to Elisabeth Gompertz, the wife of Utrecht born Abraham Benjamin Cohenand “mother of Bernard Cohen; James Abraham Cohen-Stuart; Lewis / Levie /Judaleib Abraham Cohen Amesfoort; William / Ze'ev Wolf Cohen Amesfoort and AnneJean Philippe Louis Cohen.”
1764: The Maryland Gazettereported "certain" Jews were willing to settle in the Americancolonies to conduct agriculture and commerce. This was nothing new, as foralmost 30 years prior the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in London had wantedto form a large settlement for Jews in Carolina.
1775: David Salisbury Franks, who would become an officer in theAmerican Revolutionary Army, was arrested for speaking in a disrespectfulmanner about King George III.
1778(6th of Iyar, 5538): Eighty-eight-year-old HirschAuberach who had been serving as rabbi at Worms in 1763, the husband DobreschAuberach and the father of Rabbi Abiezri Selig Auerbach, passed away today.
1791: The Constitution of 3 May 1791 under which Poland’sJews were granted full emancipation was adopted by the Great Sejm today
1796(25th of Nisan, 5556): Rosa Bunn, the wife of furtrader, American Revolution patriot and an early leader of the Lancaster, PAJewish community with whom she had two children and who was the grandmotherRebecca Gratz passed away today.
1802: Washington, D.C. isincorporated as a city. Isaac Polock was reported to be D.C.’s first Jewishresident having moved to the area in 1795.Major Alfred Mordecai came to Washington in 1828 to serve assuperintendent of the District of Columbia Arsenal. He is the second knownJewish resident of the nation’s capital.For more about the history of Jewry in the Washington metropolitan areasee the website of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington http://www.jhsgw.org/
1803: In Lisbon, ME, Moses Gould, the Hull, MA born Son of JosephGould, Jr. and Hannah Gould and his wife Anne Adams gave birth to Sarah Gouldwho would pass away before her fourth birthday.
1833(14th of Iyar, 5593):Pesach Sheni, is observed for the first time since Martin Van Buren replacedJohn C. Calhoun as Vice President which was part of American politicalimbroglio that included everything from “sex to secession.”
1837: Phillip Joseph Salomons marriedCecilia Samuels at the Hambro Synagogue today.
1840: In Polska, R' Israel BaruchMoses and Eve Moses (Graditz) gave birth to Rabbi Adolph Eliezer Moses whobecame an M.D. after graduating from medical school in his 50’s.
1841: One days after he had passedaway, Myer Ephraim Myers was buried today in the “Brady Street JewishCemetery.”
1843: Birthdate of Edward Dowden, theIrish author who claimed that “in the original Persian” version of the Shylockstory, “the Jew is not impelled to cruelty because the money is not returned tohim but for the reason that he in love with his debtor’s wife” and whosedaughter Hester “claimed to communicate via various spirit guides including‘Johannes,’ an ancient Jewish Neo-Platonist who lived 200 years before Jesus
1844(14th of Iyar, 5604): Pesach Sheni
1844: Birthdate of Édouard Adolphe Drumont “a French journalistand writer” who “founded the Anti-Semitic League of France in 1889 and was thefounder and editor of the newspaper La Libre Parole.”
“He was at first in government service, but later became acontributor to the press and was the author of a number of miscellaneous works,of which Mon vieux Paris (1879) was crowned by the Academy.
Drumont's 1886 book ‘La France Juive’ (Jewish France) attacked therole of Jews in France and argued for their exclusion from society. In 1892Drumont founded the newspaper the La Libre Parole which became aplatform for virulent anti-Semitism…He was sued for accusing a parliamentarydeputy of having taken a bribe from the prominent Jewish banker ÉdouardAlphonse de Rothschild to pass a piece of legislation the banker wanted.Drumont attracted many supporters and was one of the primary sources ofanti-Semitic ideas that would later be embraced by Nazism. He exploited thePanama Company Scandal and reached the peak of his notoriety during the DreyfusAffair, in which he was the most strident of Alfred Dreyfus' accusers.” He diedin 1917.
1847(17th of Iyar, 5607): Heinrich (Henry) Bernheimer,the two-year-old son of Leopold Solomon Bernheimer and Fanny Weil—Bernheim passedaway.
1847: Premiere of “Don John of Austria,” the firstAustralian opera at the Royal Victoria Theatre in Sydney. Isaac Nathan wrote theopera to a libretto by Jacob Levi Montefiore.
1848:Today, in Philadelphia, thirty-three-year-old Canadian businessman Jacob HenryJoseph m married Sarah Gratz Moses with whom he “two sons and three daughters.
1849: The May Uprising in Dresden begins - the last of the Germanrevolutions of 1848. These revolutions, in which many Jews played an activerole, failed. This resulted in a majormigration of liberal Germans, including a large number of German Jews, to theUnited States. This migration would havea major impact on the United States and the American Jewish community.
1849: At the tenth meeting of the Independent Order of Free Sonsof Israel, a petition “asking for a charter for a second lodge of the order to benamed Abraham Lodge No. 2” was granted.
1851: The 101-foot schooner America which was the first U.S. boatto win the America’s Cup for which Baron Arthur de Rothschild would latersupply the prize money, was launched today.
1852(14th of Iyar, 5612): Pesach Sheni observed for thelast time during the Presidency of Millar Fillmore, the only “Know Nothing” tohave made it to the White House.
1853: The New York Times reported that an un-named Jew hadbeen arrested on a charge of receiving stolen goods. The goods were reportedly $25 dollars’ worthof women’s shoes that had been stolen by German lad named Herman who wasworking as an apprentice in a boot & shoe store.
1857: Birthdate of August Lederer the Austrian industrialist, artcollector and patron of Gustav Klimt.
1859:Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky the Lithuanian Jewwho went through a series of conversions in various Christian churches startingas a Baptist in 1855 was appointed to serve as a missionary to China by theEpiscopal Church.
1860: In Ancona, Abramo Volterra, a cloth merchant, and AngelicaAlmagià gave birth to Samuel Giuseppe Vito Volterra
1860: Thanks to the efforts of the pro-Secessionist forces, theDemocratic Convention which Henry Myer Phillips attended as a delegate, decidedto adjourn today and reconvene at Baltimore in six weeks.
1861: The Secretary of War issued a muster call for three yearvolunteers that would be responded to by the 26th Pennsylvaniavolunteers whose members included Dr. Jacob Da Silva Solis Cohen the graduateof the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson Medical College.
1863(14th of Iyar, 5623): Pesach Sheni
1863: At the battle ofChancellorsville, having marched from the west bank of the Rappahannock Riverunder fire and crossed at United States Ford, Captain Charles E. Etting reached he front at 1 o'clock A.M., today andthere remained until withdrawn on May 6.
1863: Lt. Evan Davis, serving with Company D of the 11thRegiment was wounded today at the Battle of Chancellorsville; wound which wouldlead to his death in May 18.
1863: Two days after he had passed away, Gabriel Simmons, the sonof John and Sarah Simmons was buried today at the “Brompton (Fulham Road)Jewish Cemetery.”
1863(14th of Iyar, 5623): Twenty-five-year-old IsaacSeldner of the 6th Virginia Infantry Regiment was killed today atthe Battle of Chancellorsville during the Civil War.
1864(27th of Nisan, 5624): J. J. Benjaminpassed away. Born in 1818 at Fălticeni,Romania he “was a Romanian-Jewish historian and traveler. His pen name was"Benjamin II", in allusion to Benjamin of Tudela. Married young, heengaged in the lumber business, but losing his modest fortune, he gave upcommerce. Being of an adventurous disposition, he adopted the name of Benjaminof Tudela, the famous Jewish traveler of the twelfth century, and toward theend of 1844 set out to search for the Lost Ten Tribes. Using the name ofBenjamin of Tudela, the famous twelfth century Jewish traveler, he set out in1844 on a search for the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. This search took him fromVienna to Constantinople in 1845, with stops at several cities on theMediterranean. He arrived in Alexandria in June, 1847, and proceeded via Cairoto the Levant. He then traveled through Syria, Babylonia, Kurdistan, Persia,the Indies, Kabul, and Afghanistan, returning June, 1851, to Constantinople,and then back to Vienna where he stayed briefly before heading to Italy. Therehe embarked for Algeria and Morocco. He made copious notes of his observationsof the societies he visited. On arriving in France, after having traveled foreight years, he prepared in Hebrew his impressions of travel, and had the booktranslated into French. After suffering many tribulations in obtainingsubscriptions for his book, he issued it in 1856, under the title ‘Cinq Annéesen Orient (1846-51).’ The same work, revised and enlarged, was subsequently publishedin German under the title ‘Acht Jahre in Asien und Afrika’ (Hanover, 1858),with a preface by Meyer Kayserling. An English version has also been published.As the veracity of his accounts and the genuineness of his travels wereattacked by some critics, he amply defended himself by producing letters andother tokens proving his journey to the various Oriental countries named.Benjamin relates only what he has seen; and, although some of his remarks showinsufficient scholarship and lack of scientific method, his truthful and simplenarrative gained the approval of eminent scholars like Humboldt, Petermann, andRichter. In 1859 Benjamin undertook another journey, this time to America,where he stayed three years. The result of his observations there he publishedon his return, under the title Drei Jahre in Amerika (Hanover, 1863). The kingsof Sweden and of Hanover now conferred distinctions upon him. Encouraged by thesympathy of several scientists, who drew up a plan and a series of suggestionsfor his guidance, he determined to go again to Asia and Africa, and went toLondon in order to raise funds for this journey — a journey which was not to beundertaken. Worn out by fatigues and privations, which had caused him to growold before his time and gave him the appearance of age, he died poor in London;and his friends and admirers had to arrange a public subscription in order tosave his wife and daughter from misery. In addition to the works mentionedabove, Benjamin published Jawan Mezula, Schilderung des Polnisch-KosakischenKrieges und der Leiden der Juden in Poland Während der Jahre 1648-53, Berichteines Zeitgenossen nach einer von. L. Lelewel Durchgesehenen FranzösischenUebersetzung, Herausgegeben von J. J. Benjamin II., Hanover, 1863, a German editionof Rabbi Nathan Hanover's work on the insurrection of the Cossacks in theseventeenth century, with a preface by Kayserling. Upon his return to London in1862, he drew another plan to return to Asia and Africa but fell ill and diedearly in 1863 before being able to undertake his next journey.
During his travels in Persia J. J. Benjamin wrote down someobservations on the life of the Jews in Persia:
1. Throughout Persia the Jews are obliged to live in a part of thetown separated from the other inhabitants; for they are considered as uncleancreatures, who bring contamination with their intercourse and presence.
2. They have no right to carry on trade in stuff goods.
3. Even in the streets of their own quarter of the town they arenot allowed to keep any open shop. They may only sell there spices and drugs,or carry on the trade of a jeweller, in which they have attained greatperfection.
4. Under the pretext of their being unclean, they are treated withthe greatest severity, and should they enter a street, inhabited by Mussulmans,they are pelted by the boys and mobs with stones and dirt.
5. For the same reason they are forbidden to go out when it rains;for it is said the rain would wash dirt off them, which would sully the feet ofthe Mussulmans.
6. If a Jew is recognised as such in the streets, he is subjectedto the greatest insults. The passers-by spit in his face, and sometimes beathim so unmercifully, that he falls to the ground, and is obliged to be carriedhome.
7. If a Persian kills a Jew, and the family of the deceased canbring forward two Mussulmans as witnesses to the fact, the murderer is punishedby a fine of 12 tumauns (600 piastres); but if two such witnesses cannot beproduced, the crime remains unpunished, even though it has been publiclycommitted, and is well known.
8. The flesh of the animals slaughtered according to Hebrewcustom, but declared as Trefe, must not be sold to any Mussulmans. Theslaughterers are compelled to bury the meat, for even the Christians do notventure to buy it, fearing the mockery and insult of the Persians.
9. If a Jew enters a shop to buy anything, he is forbidden toinspect the goods, but must stand at a respectful distance and ask the price.Should his hand incautiously touch the goods, he must take them at any pricethe seller chooses to ask for them.
10. Sometimes the Persians intrude into the dwellings of the Jewsand take possession of whatever pleases them. Should the owner make the leastopposition in defence of his property, he incurs the danger of atoning for itwith his life.
11. Upon the least dispute between a Jew and a Persian, the formeris immediately dragged before the Achund [religious authority], and, if thecomplainant can bring forward two witnesses, the Jew is condemned to pay aheavy fine. If he is too poor to pay this penalty in money, he must pay it inhis person. He is stripped to the waist, bound to a stake, and receives fortyblows with a stick. Should the sufferer utter the least cry of pain during thisproceeding, the blows already given are not counted, and the punishment isbegun afresh.
12. In the same manner the Jewish children, when they get into aquarrel with those of the Mussulmans, are immediately led before the Achund,and punished with blows. (13. A Jew who travels in Persia is taxed in every innand every caravanserai he enters. If he hesitates to satisfy any demands thatmay happen to be made on him, they fall upon him, and maltreat him until heyields to their terms.
14.If, as already mentioned, a Jew shows himself in the streetduring the three days of the Katel (feast of mourning for the death of thePersian founder of the religion of Ali) he is sure to be murdered.
15. Daily and hourly new suspicions are raised against the Jews,in order to obtain excuses for fresh extortions; the desire of gain is alwaysthe chief incitement to fanaticism.
From “The Jews of Islam” byBernard Lewis)
1864: Jacob and Amalia Freud gave birth to Pauline “Pauli” Regine,the sister of Sigmund Freud.
1866(18th of Iyar, 5626): Lag B’Omer
1868: The New York Times reports that “many English papershave taken pleasure in describing Mr. Disraeli as an apostate Jew. In simple truth he is neither one nor theother, in a religious point of view. Hisfather (Isaac Disraeli) and his mother were Hebrews both of Portugueseparentage. Benhamin was never instructedin Judaism, because of some quarrel his father had with his synagogue. When he was about six years old, Rogers, thebanker and poet, came to visit Disraeli, the author and finding a bright boy,without religious instruction, too him by permission of his father to ownchurch. He was therefore brought up inthe English Church and has a least as good a right to the name ‘Christian’ asmost of his fellow M.P’s.”
1870: In Riga, Sarah Davidoff and Heinric Hesselberg gave birth topianist and composer Edouard Gregory Hesselberg who “lived in France andGermany before” moving to the United States in 1892 where he married Mayflower descendantLena Priscilla Schakelford and raised actors Melvyn and George Douglas.
1871: “Murder Will Out” published today described the eventssurrounding the retrial of Antoine Maurer who is accused of killing a GermanJew named Joachim Feurter. Maurer’sfirst conviction had been over-turned on appeal. The motive for the murder may have been tiedto money that the killer owed the deceased.
1871(12th of Iyar, 5631): Sixty-eight-year-oldphilologist Eduard Munk, the cousin of Salomon Munk, who was a disciple ofAugust Böckh passed away today Gross Glogau.
1872: Today, Levy Rheinberg was buried today at the “West HamJewish Cemetery.”
1872: “”A War of Sects” an article published today described ariot that had taken place in Smyrna between Greeks and Jews. The fighting began after it had been reportedthat the Jews “had sacrificed an infant” as part of “their religiousceremonies.” According to these reportsseveral people had been killed and wounded.While the riot had stopped for the time being, troops had been orderedto the city to prevent a renewal of the violence.
1873(6th of Iyar, 5633): Parashat Tazria-Metzora
1873: Theodor Herzl’s BarMitzvah (No, I do not know who catered the Kiddush)
https://jewishcurrents.org/may-3-bar-mitsve-theodor-herzl
1873: “An Appeal for Hebrew Children” published today soughtcontributions from New Yorkers to provide Jewish orphans and students at theHebrew free schools with an opportunity “to have a few holidays and enjoyrecreation by the sea-side” during the upcoming summer months.
1874: Isaac S. Isaacs, Adolph L. Singer and Oscar S. Straus wereamong those elected to the Board of Directors of the newly formed Young Men’sHebrew Association. Lewis May was chosenas the first president.
1874: YMHA constitution was approved today.
1876: Birthdate of Polish native Adolph Sieroty, the futureCalifornian who married Bertha F. Brown and after being married to Maye W.Brown and who was the father of Julian and Perahta G. Sieroty.
1877: This evening, the Right Rev. Charles Perry, D.D. isscheduled to preach the annual sermon at the meeting of the London Society forPromoting Christianity Amongst the Jews.”
1877: In Bremen, Germany, Ida and Nathan Abraham gave birth toKarl Abraham, the German psychoanalyst who worked with Sigmund Freud.
1877: “The Hebrews in Romania” described attempts by the Board ofDelegates of American Israelites to have the President intercede on behalf ofJews of Bucharest and parts of the realm of Prince Charles who have beensubjected to a series of unthinkable “barbarities.”
1878(30th of Nisan, 5638) Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1878(30th of Nisan, 5638): Seventy-four-year-old ShinahEtting the Maryland born daughter of Rachel Gratz and Solomon Etting who weremarried in 1791 passed away today.
1878: In the Ukraine, “Paltiel Nochim and Miriam (Borodinsky)Edlin gave birth to Stanford University educated journalist William Edlin, thehusband of Pauline Zlotzovsky who worked for such publications as the JewishDaily Forward, The Jewish Morning Journal and The Day before becoming thenational executive secretary of Keren Hayesod in 1925.
1882(14th of Iyar, 5642): Pesach Sheni
1882: The Czar gave his approval to series of anti-Semiticregulations proposed by Count Ignatiev known collectively as the “May Laws.
1884(8th of Iyar, 5644): Parashat Achrei Mot – Kedoshim
1884: In St. Louis, MO Adolph and Henrietta Ungar gave birth to ArthurArnold Unger a trustee of the University of Miami (FL) and officer on theOrange Bowl Committee that oversaw this annual New Year’s football game who wasthe husband of Marcella Ungar.
1885(18th of Iyar, 5645): Lag BaOmer
1885: Forty-five-year Sally Sanford Mordecai passed away. Sally was the daughter of Brigadier General William Murrayand Sally "Eveleth" Maynadier. She married General Alfred Mordecai,II. They were the parents of five children. Her father-in-law was a rankingsolider in the U.S. Army prior to the Civil War who resigned rather than takeup arms against his Southern family members or the country that he had sworn toprotect. Her husband had no such qualmsand served with distinction during the Civil War.
1886: Birthdate of Brandenburg native and resident of BelgiumWilliam Chaskel Flatow who went from Drancy to Auschwitz where he was murderedin 1942.
1886: The National Rabbinical Convention, an organization ofReform clergyman, is scheduled to meet today in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1891(25th of Nisan, 5651): Sixty-eight-year-old Illingen,Germany born Gottlieb “Leopold” Bart the husband of Pauline “Barbara” VictorBarth whom he married in 1846 and the father of Victor, Simon, Gustav, Moses,Alexnder and Solomon Barth passed away today after which he was buried at theIllingen Jewish Cemetery.
1891: “Russian Jews” published today opened with the statementthat “Every American will be glad to see the announcement of a scheme tocolonize the Jews who are expelled from the Czar’s dominions on an immensetract” of land in Argentina. The projectis being underwritten by Baron Hirsch.According to the article, the United States already has too many Jewishimmigrants from Russia. The Russian Jewsare described as impoverished, ignorant, a burden on society and a mass whowill never assimilate into American life. The article ends by stating that “itis noteworthy that all other civilized countries share our dislike toentertaining the victims of the Czar’s cruelty…”
1891: It was reported today that Russian Jewish immigrants arearriving in the United Kingdom at the rate of nearly 18.000 per year.
1892: Birthdate of Montreal native Dr. Jacob Viner the graduate ofMcGill University and Harvard who was a long-time Professor Economics at theUniversity of Chicago.
http://www.hetwebsite.net/het/profiles/viner.htm
https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Viner.html
1892: The cornerstone for a new facility to house the youngstersin the care of Hebrew Brooklyn Orphan asylum was laid today
1893: In Minsk, Chaim Joseph and Zive Lebe (Mandel) Levovitz gavebirth to Rabbi Rueben Levovitz, the husband of Zlate Kustonowitz who “duringWorld War acted as the representative of the Wilnar Barnch of the AmericanRelief Association and who was a member of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of theU.S. and Canada and the Rabbinical Board of New York City.
1894: Council No.5 of the National Council Jewish Women was formedin Newark, NJ, with a membership of 91 led by President Gratta and SecretaryMaybaum.
1894: “Mourners’ Prayers will be delivered” tonight at the home ofthe family of Jesse Seligman, the banker, philanthropist and lead of the Jewishcommunity who died unexpectedly and whose funeral was which was attended byover 2,000 people was held yesterday at Temple Emanuel where Cantor Sparger and Rabbis Silberman andGottheil officiated at the service.
1895: In New York, Governor Morton gave executive approval to aproposal by Assemblyman Steinberg “authorizing the sale of certain lands to theHebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City which the city of New York has heretoforeconditionally transferred to that institution.”
1895: In Vienna, Lili Mueller and Dr. Herman Carl Mark whoconverted to Lutheranism when he got married gave birth to Herman Francis Mark“the American chemist known for his contributions to the development of polymerscience.
1895: In Posen, Joseph and Clara Kantorowicz gave birth toProfessor Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz whose service in the German Army duringWorld War I led him to give up running the family’s distillery business andpursue and a career in academia.
https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/2656/a-dashing-medievalist/
1895: “The Holy Land Illustrated” published today
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F00915F73A5416738DDDAA0894DD405B8585F0D3
1897: Two days after she had passed away, 64-year-old AugustGlensnick, the wife of Jacob Glensnick and the mother of Philip and MordecaiGlesnick was buried today at the “Plashet Jewish Cemetery” in London.
1897: In Germany, Samuel Weil and Maichen Weil gave birth to IdaSara Krebs
1898(11th of Iyar, 5658): In Kiev, Blume Neiditch and MosheMabovitch gave birth to Golda Mabovitch, the sister of Sheyna and TzipkeMabovitch, who gained fame Golda Mier whose life reads like one of those grandliterary sagas of which television mini-series are made. Born in Kiev,Ukraine, she experienced Pogroms before coming to Americawith herfamily. As an act of teenage rebellion she fled from her home inMilwaukee to join her sister in Denver. She moved back to Milwaukee tobecome a school teacher. After hearing the recruiting pitch for theJewish Legion, Ms. Meirson (she Hebraized her name to Meir after the creationof the state of Israel in response to pressure from David Ben Gurion) decidedto join the settlers in Palestine. She was an ardent Zionist as well associalist which, from an ideological point of view, made her an ideal candidatefor life on a kibbutz. Mrs. Meir, whose name was Meyerson at the time,became increasingly active in the leadership of the Yishuv. She had aleading role in raising funds from American Jews to buy arms for theunderground Jewish military units before 1948. Disguised as Bedouin, shemet with the King of Jordan in an attempt to avert hostilities in 1948.Her story of Simchat Torah in Moscow after the creation of the state of Israelis an inspirational classic. She was Foreign Minister and finally becamethe “fourth Prime Minister ofIsrael. She served from 1969 through 1974, a period that included the YomKippur War.She passed away in 1978, having lived to see Sadat's historictrip to Jerusalem. They met, not as former adversaries, but asgrandparents.Golda, as she was known to all, had a gift for Sadat'sgrandchild.
1898: Following the start of the Spanish-American War, The Cleveland (Ohio) Leader reportedthat “the Jews of the United States through the active efforts of those in Ohiomay contribute a sum sufficient to purchase a warship for the United StatesGovernment.
1898: “Russian Jews to the Front” published today describedefforts to have at least 5,000 mostly recent immigrants enlist in the U.S. Armyled by Nathan Straus who “said that heroism and devotion to duty marked thecourse of Jewish history.”
1899: Governor Theodore Roosevelt signed into law a bill“providing for the consolidation of the Educational Alliance and the HebrewFree School Association of New York City.
1899: Birthdate of Russia native and CCNY graduate Dr. David L. Drabkinthe Cornell trained physician and “a pioneer in the study of human hemoglobin”who was the husband “Stella Friedman Drabkin, a noted artist in Philadelphia.”
https://www.med.upenn.edu/psom/david-l-drabkin-md.html
https://www.gf.org/fellows/david-l-drabkin
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/06/obituaries/david-drabkin-blood-researcher.html
1900: Herzl has a meeting with Austrian Prime Minister Ernest vonKoerber. At the request of the Prime Minister, Herzl drafts Koerber's"Language Bill" speech. Herzl agreed to draft the speech as part ofhis campaign to get the Austrian Prime Minister to help arrange an audiencewith the Sultan of Turkey.
1900: The week-long convention of the Independent Order of B’naiB’rith which had been meeting at the Auditorium Hotel in Chicago came to aclose tonight. The convention voted tocreate a new position of Chancellor which “will have supervision of lodges” inEurope and Asia. The President and theBoard of Directors will continue to control the lodges in Canada and the UnitedStates. Leon Levy of New York waselected President and Julius Bien of New York was elected Chancellor. The nextconvention will take place in New Orleans in 1905.
1901(14th of Iyar, 5661): Pesach Sheni
1901: “Health Conditions Among Children” published today
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/05/03/117963166.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1901: “One thousand bakers belonging to the Hebrew Bakers’ Unionwere ordered” to go on strike today “at a mass meeting” six months after theirlast strike as they demand an agreement for “a ten-hour workday and a six-dayworking week.”
1902(26th of Nisan, 5662): Parashat Achrei Mot
1902: It was reported today that J.F. Taylor and Company will bepublishing In the Gates of Israel by Herman Bernstein.
1902: It was reported today that “a second revised edition ofNahida Remy’s “The Jewish Woman,” translated by Mrs. Louise Mannheimer, with apreface by Professor Dr. Lazarus is announced by Jennings and Pye ofCincinnati, OH.
1902: Herzl wrote to the Sultan ofTurkey appealing for the establishment of a Jewish university inPalestine. “The idea of a Jewishuniversity, and all that such a university implied, quickly became an integralpart of Zionist thinking.
1902: It was reported that RussianJews make up “quarter of a million” of the population of New York City.
1903; Birthdate of Irish LouisNathan Cohen, the husband of “Edith Greenlee Saunders Cohen” and he father ofJoyce and Philip Nathan Cohen”
1903: “First Mission to Colony ofChinese Orthodox Jews” published today described “preparations for the firstever mission to the Chinese Jews.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/05/03/118493101.html?pageNumber=28
1903: Twenty-three-year-old NYU trained attorney, the New York born sonof Philip and Rebecca (Falk) Davidson who during WW I would serve as a “Majorcommand the 2nd Battalion, 10th Regiment of the New YorkPolice Reserve and as a Captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Reservemarried Balance Reinheimer today in New York City.
1903: Birthdate of “Frenchphilosopher and Marxist theoretician” Georges Politzer.
1904(18th of Iyar,5664): Lag B’Omer
1904: A cable dispatch to the Times of London from Vienna dated todaysays, “According to Jewish journal published in Lemberg, Galicia, anti-Jewishexcesses took place” on Saturday, April 30 “at Bender, in Bessarabia while themost of the Jews were attending Shabbat Services. Five people were killed and many were woundedas the mobs attacked shops and homes because they believed the war with Japanwas somehow part of an Anglo-American and Jewish act to avenge the pogrom atKishinev.
1904: One day after he had passedaway, Samuel Bernstein, the son of Elias and Sarah Bernstein was buried todayin the UK.
1904: Chicago College of MedicineSurgery and University of Vienna trained otolaryngologist William Maurice Smit,the “diseases of the ear nose of throat”while practicing medicine in St Louis where he was a member of CongregationShaare Emeth married Sylvia Lucille Goldberg today.
1905: As violence rocked the Czar’sempire, “there were practically no disturbance yesterday in the Jewish citiesof Soutwestern Russia, dispatches today that the people are in a state ofpanic.
1906: Approximately, “$35,000 wasreceived today for the joint fund of the mayor’s committee and the Red Crossorganization at the office of Jacob H. Schiff who is Treasurer of both.”
1907: In San Francisco, Mortimerand Florence Isabelle Fleishhacker gave birth to banker and WW II veteranMortimer Fleishhacker, Jr, the husband of Janet Fleishhacker
https://nobhillgazette.com/how-green-are-your-gables/
1908: “Joseph Cowen of London, oneof the leaders of the Zionist movement…told a large audience at Clinton Hall”tonight “of the progress that the movement is making” word of which was greetedwith “enthusiastic applause.”
1908: Birthdate of Vilnus native andHolocaust survivor Mark Dvorzhetski, the medical doctor and rabbi and husband ofHolocaust victim Miriam Dvorzhetski who served in the Polish Amy during WW IIand settled in Israel in 1949 after which he “was awarded the Israel Prize forsocial services.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10393471/
1909: Fire destroys part of the Haskoy, the Constantinople Jewishquarter. Five hundred Jews are left homeless.
1909(12th of Iyar, 5669): Ninety-seven-year-old David Woolf Marks,the first Rabbi of London’s Reform Synagogue passed away.
https://www.oztorah.com/2008/10/professor-marks-the-oral-law-controversy/#.WupazkxFx9A
1910: In Boston, MA, Sam Corwin and his wife gave birth to NormanLewis Corwin
1911:Dr. Solomon Schechter, the President of the JewishTheological Institute, who has just returned from an eleven months' vacation,said tonight that he had been spending most of the time resting. His mind hasbeen active, however, if his pen has not, and he has already thought of asubject for another book which is to deal with the Jew in Northern Africa.
1912: Vittoli Effendi Fradji of Constantinople, Ezekiel EffendiSassoon of Baghdad, Nissim Effendi Mazliach of Smyrna and Emanuel EffendiKarasa of Salonica are all re-elected to the Turkish parliament.
1913(26th of Nisan, 5673): Parashat Kedoshim
1913:Today twenty-four-year-old Columbia University alum Samuel Blitz, the Lemberg born sonof Hirsch and Yetta Blitz and the Secretary of the Zionist Council of GreaterNew York and who, as an organizer for the ZOA “traveled throughout the U.S. andCanada, visiting nearly every Jewish community in both countries” marriedAmelia Hirsch.
1913: Rabbi Felix Levy conducted services at Temple Emanuel inChicago.
1913: Rabbi Julius Rapport conducted services at Temple Beth El inChicago.
1913: In Vienna, Felix and Else Kohut gave birth to Heinz Kohut anAustrian-born American psychoanalyst best known for his development of Selfpsychology, an influential school of thought withinpsychodynamic/psychoanalytic theory which helped transform the modern practiceof analytic and dynamic treatment approaches. (For more see, Heinz Kohut:The Making of a Psychoanalyst by Charles Strozier)
1913: It was reported today that “A.L. Tribourg a Sioux City, Iowaattorney has been elected President of the Board of Public Libraries.
1913: It was reported today that Rabbi Emanuel Sternheim ofGreenville, Mississippi, has been elected a member of the International Societyof the Apocrypha in England.
1913: In what might be viewed as an early celebration of his 70thbirthday, Dr.Kaufmann Kohler who served as Rabbi of Temple Beth-El for 24 years and is nowRabbi Emeritus was honored by more than 500 friends and congregants at thismorning’s Shabbat services.
1913:This evening, the Eastern Council of Reform Rabbis hosted a banquet honoringDr. Kaufmann Kohler, the President of the Hebrew Union College.
1913:In New York, the Jewish Forum at Columbia University is scheduled to host areception in honor of Professor Richard Gottheil.
1914(7thof Iyam 5674): Fifty-nine-year-old Benjamin Raphael “Ben” Mayer the son of Johnand Jannette Ries Mayer, the husband of Lena Mendelsohn Mayer and the fatherBuffington and Benjamin R. Mayer, Jr. who as a Democrat served as acting mayorof Baton Rouge making him the first Jewish person to hold that position passedaway today.
1914:“Oscar S. Strauss, the former Secretary of Commerce and Labor and formerAmbassador to Turkey, delivered a speech tonight at the Brooklyn Young Men’sHebrew Association where he “declared that the origin of republicaninstitutions in American must sought in the Puritan ideals of the Old Testamentcommonwealth” and continued they took their spirit “from the history of thechildren of Israel from Joshua to Saul.”
1915:It was reported today that Louis D. Brandeis has publicly declared that“Disabilities are imposed upon the Jews in Russia where they are denied thefreedom to move about, the right to own land the rights fundamental to thepursuit of life, liberty and happiness” and that “to win these rights is theonly solution for the Jewish problem for any other solution involves suicideand death to Jewish aspirations.”
1915:It was reported today that under the auspices of Baron de Hirsch Fund, “Jewshave been sent to 1,700 different communities in the United States and Canadawhere working conditions were more suited to them than was the case in thecongregated districts like New York City” and that “in 15 years 70,000 Jewshave been sent West.”
1915: Solomon Rabinowitz, who writes under the nameof Sholom Aleichem, was the guest of honor at tonight’s annual meeting of theEducational Alliance where the keynote address was given by Jacob H. Schiff.
1915:In Chicago, following the formation of a Leo M. Frank Committee it wasannounced that a mass meeting will be held at the Powers Theatre to protestagainst the execution of Leo M. Frank.
1915:Acting on behalf of the state of Georgia, “Solicitor General Dorsey appliedtoday to Judge Hill for a writ of habeas corpus directing the immediatepresence of Leo M. Frank in court for resentence to death as the slayer of MaryPhagan” and Judge Hill announced, in response, “that he would take no action onthe petition before the mandate of the United States Supreme Court is handeddown.”
1915:President Ralph A. Newman was the toastmaster at the seventh annual dinner ofthe Harvard Menorah Society which was attended by approximately 200 men at theHotel Lenox in Boston, MA.
1916(30thof Nisan, 5676): Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1916(30thof Nisan, 5676): Sixty-eight-year-old Chamber of Commerce member Isaac Barronpassed away today in Shreveport, LA.
1916:In Hot Springs, AR, dedication of the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital
1916: In a marriage of two labor activists in the garmentindustry, Bessie Abramowitz married Sidney Hillman. She became BessieAbramowitz Hillman.
1916: In the conflict between the owners of the renovated RialtoTheatre which included Felix Kahn of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., and OscarHammerstein, “the theatre said that the rooms desired by Mr. Hammerstein wereto be used by the press department and that the agreement that Hammerstein wasto occupy the rooms was drawn by himself and was unsigned.”
1916: In responding to a proposal made by the Reform Rabbis toremove “The Merchant of Venice” from the New York City Sir Hebert Tree wasreported to have said today that “The Jews today are perhaps the most potentrace on the earth. Surely they canafford not to be too sensitive of criticism.”“To banish Shylock from the stage would be to banish one of the mostimportant characters of Shakespeare’s Genius” especially since “he gave Shylockthe domestic virtues and vices of his race, those vices which had been calledforth by the oppression of the Middle Ages.”
1917(11th of Iyar, 5677): Twenty-eight-year-old Captain ofArtillery Maxime Charles Gustave Berr, the son of Louis Lehmann Berr andHenriette Alice Berr and the husband of Claire Andrée Clarisse Sara Berr diedwhile serving in the French Army during WW I.
1917: In Russia, “the Jews of Constanigrad have signed $5,000,000rubles for the liberty loan.
1917: Abraham Isaac "Abe" Shiplacoff’s resolutionrequesting “Woodrow Wilson to reconsider his appointment of Elihu Root as headof the United States Commission to Russia” was “hooted down by the members ofthe” the New York State Assembly.
1917: “Samuel Untermyer, speaking tonight at Cooper Union to 3,000member of the Jewish League of American Patriots deplored he selection of ElihuRoot as the head of the proposed American commission to Russia on the groundthat Mr. Root was not in sympathy with and no understanding of Jewishaspirations and problems” and that while “he did not advocate his removal…hesuggested that the President might was to appoint some representative Jew toits membership.
1917: Birthdate of Patricia M. Brodkin, the wife of producer anddirector Herbert Brodkin.
1918: In Vienna, “The Christian Socialist deputies in theReichsrath introduced an interpellation demand the establishment of apercentage limitation for Jewish students in all higher educationalinstitutions” while other deputies are calling for limiting the number ofJewish students to three per cent.
1918: In Camden, NJ, the ten teams working to add additionalmembers to the Young Women’s Hebrew Association and the Young Men’s HebrewAssociation showed renewed vigor tonight when they found out that work willsoon be starting on the construction of a new home for the two organizations.
1918:In Greece, a newly enacted law which had a negative impact on the owners ofproperty that had been destroyed led to many Jews leaving for the UnitedStates, France, Italy and Egypt. Many ofthese Jews had lost their property in the great fire of August 17, 1917
1919(3rdof Iyar, 5679): Parashat Kedoshim
1919(3rdof Iyar, 5679): Sixty-eight-year-old Alexander Weinberg, the Westphalia born sonof Abraham Bendix Weinberg and Fiekchen Sophia Weinberg and husband of EliseWeinberg passed away today in Hanover, Germany.
1919:In Chicago, Rabbi Abram Hirschberg conducted services at Temple Sholom.
1919:In Chicago Rabbi Joseph Hevesh conducted services at Temple Anshe Emes.
1919:In Chicago, Rabbi Julius Rapport conducted services at Temple Beth El.
1919:As the German government sought to bring down the Bavarian Soviet Republic, thearmy “assisted by the Freikorps” retook Munich where they killed and arrestedmany of the revolutionaries including Eugen Leviné
1919:Birthdate of Irish gynecologist and family planning pioneer Dr. MichaelSolomons.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/pioneer-of-family-planning-1.987726
1919:After attending the final meeting of the American Academy of Political andSocial Scientists in today in Philadelphia, Mrs. Nathaniel E. Harris, thePresident of the Council of Jewish Women went to Cincinnati to attend the 25thanniversary celebration of the Cincinnati Section of the Council of JewishWomen.
1919:In Manhattan, musicologist Charles Seeger and concert violinist Constance deClyver Edson Seeger gave birth to folk singer and social activist Peter “Pete”Seeger.
1920:In Vienna, the university remained closed “owing to anti-Semitic demonstrationsby German Nationalist students” who drove “the Jewish students from the lecturehalls and classrooms.”
1920(15thof Iyar, 5680): Morris Dow passed away today in Houston.
1921:It was reported today that the Jewish newspapers in Poland estimate that therewere five hundred casualties among the Jewish Socialists who clashed withpolice on May Day, while “Polish newspapers” estimate that about twenty personswere hurt during May Day “when Polish and Jewish Socialists helddemonstrations” and according to the police they occurred only “where Jewsattempted to scatter anti-Government propaganda.”
1922(5thof Iyar, 5682): Seventy-four-year-old Alice Charlotte von Rothschild, the“eighth and youngest child of Anselm von Rothschild passed away today.
1923:In Palestine, filming of “Palestine Awakening” written by American ZionistWilliam Topkis (As reported by David Geffen)
1924:Aleph Zadik Aleph, popularly known as AZA is formed in Omaha, Nebraska by SamBeber.
1924:In Detroit, Simon and Freda Singer, immigrants from Russia who spoke onlyYiddish” gave birth to Isadore Manuel Singer “who unified large areas ofmathematics and physics in becoming one of the most important mathematicians ofhis era,” and the winner of “the National Medal of Science in 1983 and the AbelPrize in 2004, often considered the Nobel of mathematics.”
1924:Birthdate of Ludewig Pfeuffer, the native of Wurzberg whose family moved toPetah Tivkva when he was eleven and who gained fame as prize winning poetYehuda Amichai.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/yehuda-amichai
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/04/like-a-prayer#
1925:President Calvin Coolidge helped dedicate the cornerstone of the Washington,D.C. Jewish Community center.
1926: Birthdate of dramatist Herbert Blau
1926:In the same year it was released in the United States, “She” a fantasy filmdirected and produced by G.B. Samuelson with music by Louis Levy was releasedin Finland today.
1926(13thof Iyar, 5686): Seventy-five-year-old Oscar Solomon Straus who became the firstJewish Cabinet Secretary when he served as Secretary of Commerce and Laborunder Teddy Roosevelt, passed away today.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Oscar_Straus.html
1927:“A Night in Spain” a review with music by Side Silvers opened at the 44thStreet Theatre today.
1927:In Brooklyn, Sidney Lazarus and the former Frances “Frankie” Mushkin gave birthto cartoonist Melvin Lazarus.
1927:In Germany, Michael and Toni Lehmann gave birth to Horst Lazard Lehman who cameto the United States with his family in 1938 where he graduated from highschool, served in the Army and pursued a career as Rabbi in the Reformmovement.
1928:“Show Boat,” the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical based on the novel byEdna Ferber premiered for the first time in London at the Theatre Royal, DruryLane.
1928:According to reports published today, the employment picture is improving afteran 18 month slowdown. Among the causesfor the improvement are the growth of the orange industry, improving conditionsin businesses located in Tel Aviv including textiles, chocolate and box makingand the construction work on the Rutenberg hydroelectric concession on theJordan River near the Sea of Galilee.
1928(13thof Iyar, 5688): Isabel Caroline Steinfeld, the daughter of Martha Levy andMaurice Steinfeld passed away today in Madison, Wisconsin.
1929:“Inherited Passions” “a silent drama film” starring Maria Matray was releasedin Germany today.
1929: Jews praying at theWestern Wall are attacked by Arabs.
1930: “The BigPond,” featuring music by Irving Kahal, Al Sherman and Sammy Fain was releasedtoday in the United States.
1931: TheBaltimore drive of American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee which began onApril 26 came to an end today.
1931:Birthdate of Joseph LIchtman, the native of Brooklyn who gained fame as dancer,choreographer and director Joe Layton.
http://archives.nypl.org/the/18398’
1932(27thof Nisan, 5692): Sixty-five-year-old Lee Kamioner, the native of Germany,Colorado silver miner and Denver clothing merchant and Democratic Alderman whoat the age of thirty came to New York where he founded the Hub ClothingCompany, became a real estate owner and a philanthropist supporting theConvalescent Homer for Hebrew Children.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1932/05/05/100731196.pdf
1933: In NewYork City court stenographer Frederick Weinberg and the former Eva Israel gavebirth to Steve Weinberg, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979,supporter of Israel who expressed his views in “an essay title ‘Zionism andCultural Adversaries’” and husband of U.T. law professor Louise Weinberg.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1979/weinberg-bio.html
1934: InAlexandria, Egypt Sarah and Nessim Mustacchi gave birth to singer/songwriterGeorges Moustaki
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-22637924
1934(18thof Iyar, 5694): Lag B’Omer
1934(18thof Iyar, 5694): Fifty-nine-year-old Samuel Elfenbein, “the son of Rosa andMoses Elfenbein” passed away today in Brunswick, GA.
1934: “A three-day celebration of the 25thanniversary of the founding of Tel-Aviv…culminated today with a tribute to theveteran 72 year old founder and present Mayor, Meyer Dizengoff. More than 10,000 school children marchedthrough the streets to the municipal building carrying baskets of flowers,where were presented to the Mayor. Twonew streets were named for him and his late wife, despite his protests that hewas unworthy of such an honor.”
1934: Thetrial of Abba Ahimeir, Abraham Stavsky and Ze'evi Rosenblatt the three menaccused of murdering Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff, Jewish Labor party leader, atTel-Aviv last June, reopened today with the court ruling against the request ofHorace Samuel, counsel for the defense, to strike out evidence resulting frompolice line-ups in which the three accused were identified. Samuel contendedthat the police had “guided Mrs. Arlosoroff” in identifying the accused.
1935:Birthdate of businessman Ron Popeil who gained fame and fortune with Ginsuknives and “Mr. Microphone.”
1935:Arguments before the Supreme Justices including Louis Brandeis and BenjaminCardozo in the case of “A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States,”continued for a second and final day.
1935:In Chicago, Sadelle and Sid Siegel, a grocer, who moved the family and grocerybusiness to Miami in 1945, gave birth to David Siegel, the founder of WestgateResorts, Ltd.
1935:For the second day in a row, temperatures in Palestine reach 104 degrees “inthe shade.” The coastal settlements andcities, including Tel Aviv were most affected by the unusual heat wave. Temperatures in Palestine average 65 in Mayand 74 during July and August. In moderntimes, the temperature record belongs to a day in August 1881 when thethermometer reached 112.
1936:This morning “junior member of the religious school of Congregation Emanu-El”in New York, presented a pageant “The Ten Commandments” in commemoration of theupcoming celebration of the festival of Shavuot which “marks the giving of thecommandments to Moses.”
1936:Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. made his first appearance atpublic dinner in New York in three years when he joined 750 other people inpaying tribute to Judge Lehman at dinner tonight at the Hotel Astor where hissixtieth birthday celebration was combing with honoring his 15 years of serviceas President of the Jewish Welfare Board.
1936:Today, as the Arab strike enters into its 12th day, the stoppage isholding firm everywhere except in Haifa “and the Jews who are most pessimisticover the outcome of this unrest” “are keeping out of the Arab quarters” while“going about their normal business.”
1936:While speaking at a meeting of the B’nai B’rith at Atlantic City, NJ,“Representative Samuel Dickstein of New York, the chairman of the HouseImmigration, Naturalization and Deportation Committee declared that while theHitler government refused to meet its obligations to American bondholder, itspent almost $32,000,000 to spread propaganda against the Jews in the UnitedStates.”
1936:The New York Times described the workthat has gone into building the soon-to-be opened modern water system that willfinally give Jerusalem a reliable supply of water. This is the culmination of a ten year effort,the last two of which have resulted in the construction of four pumpingstations at Ra-el Ain, Latrun, Bab El Wad and Romna. Each of the pumping stations is at asuccessively higher elevation. The workwas made all the more difficult by the topography of the Judean Hills and thelayers of hard work through which the workers had to dig.
1936:Joseph C. Hyman Secretary of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committeewas reported to have issued a reassurance that although the Joint will continueproviding financial assistance and travel funds for those seeking to leaveEurope for Palestine, it will not be able to allocate additional funds becauseof other demands with which it is dealing.
1937:Rabbi Joseph Konvitz of Newark, president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis inthe United States and Canada, said tonight, at opening the annual convention ofthe Union of Orthodox Rabbis in the United States and Canada that “the presentFederal administration has set an example for believers in democracyeverywhere,
1938: The Flossenburg Concentration Camp became operational.The camp was located in Germany and would be liberated by the Americans inApril, 1945. Several of the conspirators who sought to kill Hitler inJune, 1944, were executed at Flossenburg. These included the famousAdmiral Canaris whose diary has provided a treasure trove about Germanactivities during this period.
1939(14thof Iyar, 5699): Pesach Sheni
1939:Hoping to establish rapprochement with Nazi Germany, Soviet leader JosephStalin replaces his Jewish commissar for foreign affairs, Maksim Litvinov, withthe less British-oriented Viacheslav Molotov.The result of all this would be a non-aggression pact between the twodictators in August of 1939 that would shock the world. At the same time it would give Hitler thegreen light to invade Poland from the east.The Soviets later invaded from the west and the two totalitarianbutchers shared in the spoils of Poland.
1939:Just months before Hitler and Stalin signed the non-aggression pact that madepossible the start of WW II in Europe Stalin removed his Jewish Commissar forForeign Affairs, Maxim Litvinov, which facilitated the negotiations with theNazis.
1939: Ravensbruck, a concentration camp for women, wasestablished.
1939: The Budapest "Jewish Law" prohibits anyHungarian Jew from becoming a judge, a lawyer a schoolteacher or a member ofthe Hungarian parliament.
1940: Today “in the Bronx to Joseph Cohen, a pharmacist with hisown pharmacy, and Belle (Krotin) Cohen, who helped manage the business” gavebirth to Goucher, Harvard and Cornell graduate Florence Cohen who gained fameas “Florence Berger, a Cornell University professor who found a second callingas a pro bono matchmaker, leading her to successfully arrange some two dozenmarriages…” (As reported by Sam Roberts)
1940: At noon today, Illinois Congressman Adolph J. Sabath metwith President Roosevelt in the White House.
1940: Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter had lunch with PresidentRoosevelt in the White House this afternoon.
1941: Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring came to the Jeu de PaumeMuseum in Paris1941: Time magazine published an article titled “Germany:Problem in Subtraction” reported that The arithmetic that Hitler has taught toJews in the Third Reich has been the misery of subtraction. From all of them hehas taken something: privileges, property, homes, life. Simplest subtractionhas been the decrease of the Reich's Jewish population by emigration,deportation and death.
Currently:
InGermany—500,000 Jews minus 310,000 equals 190,000.
InAustria—180,000 Jews minus 135,000 equals 45,000.
InCzecho-Slovakia—185,000 Jews minus 25,000 equals 160,000.
Withinthe last fortnight two sardine-packed trains left Vienna, as the Nazis appliedthemselves again to this problem. Aboard each were more than 1,000 Jews boundfor limbo—the new barbed-wire ghetto near Lublin in Poland. Elsewhere sealedtrains crossed the border with more Jews (mostly very old and very young) forthe starved concentration camps of unoccupied France. From Vienna alone theNazis promised to dump five to twelve more trainloads a month. Hitler's finalsolution to his problem in subtraction is zero—to be reached, according to themost sanguine reports from Germany, in just six more weeks.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,851072,00.html#ixzz1L8yfn3rT
1942: Nazis required Dutch Jews to wear a Jewish star
1942(16th of Iyar, 5702): Sixty-two-year-old Posennative Felix Pinner, the “economist and editor-in-chief of the BerlinerTageblatt who came to the United States in 1939 died in Queens, New York City.
1943(28thof Nisan, 5703): German troops in the "Aryan" section of Warsawarrest and kill 21 women who are Jewish or suspected of being Jewish.
1943(28thof Nisan, 5703): A Jewish man named Rakowski, an underground leader at theTreblinka death camp, is shot when currency intended to bribe Ukrainians tohelp him and a few others escape is discovered in his barrack.
1944:Today, less than two months after the Germans had invaded Hungary “theghettoization of Kolozsvár Jews began and was completed within one week.”
1944: The first of a number of new factories at Auschwitz openedup in preparation to receive laborers from the deportation of Hungarian Jews.New labor camps opened in Myslowice, Bobrek, and Sosnoweic in preparation forthe same action.
1944:At Gleiwitz, Poland, near Auschwitz, Germans open a slave-labor plant forproduction of "black smoke" for use in smoke screens.
1944(10thof Iyar, 5704): Eighty-two-year-old Sadie American, the Chicago born daughterof Amelia (Smith) American and German born businessman Oscar American, aleading woman’s activist who was best known for co-founding and leading theNational Council of Jewish Women passed away today.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/american-sadie
https://jwa.org/people/american-sadie
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sadie-american
1944(10thof Iyar): Poet Isaac Katzenelson murdered at Auschwitz
1944:Mass inter-faither conferences held at Fort Monmouth and Camp Wood in near-byEatontown, NJ which were attended by 6,000 soldiers who heard “three speakersrepresenting the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths” tell them “that groupswere at work in this nation today to place groups against group and religionagainst religion and unless there was religious tolerance in the post-war worldthere would be no lasting peace.”
1945:Birthdate of Jeffrey Connor Hall, the Professor Emeritus of Biology at Brandeiswho “was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.”
1945:Fifty-eight-year-old Herbert Farjeon, a major figure in the world of Britishtheatre who was the son of Benjamin Leopold Farjeon passed away today.
1945(20thof Iyar, 5705): Eighty-year-old Bernard Flexner, “the founder and firstpresident of the Palestine Economic Corporation” passed away today in New York
https://rbsc.princeton.edu/collections/bernard-flexner-papers
1945:In the U.S. premiere of “The Valley of Decision” based on a novel by MarciaDavenport who co-authored the script with Sonya Levien and filmed bycinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg.
1945:At Mauthausan Concentration Camp, the task of guarding the camp was handed to apolice unit from Vienna.
1945:Sam Pivnik and other former Fürstengrube prisoners, who had been marched to theport of Neustadt were loaded today aboard the former German cruise ship CapArcona which was being used as a prison ship for concentration camp inmatesalong with the Thielbek, Athen and Deutschland
1945(20thof Iyar, 5705): Sixty-seven-year-old Chicago native Elias Mayer theNorthwestern University-trained lawyer who served as “secretary of the Councilof Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds in the United States and a director of theJewish Charities of Chicago passed away today.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/05/06/313702492.pdf
1945(20th of Iyar, 5705): Approximately 9400 Jewish prisoners who hadbeen evacuated from Neuengamme and marched to Lübeck, Germany, are loaded bytheir overseers onto two ships, the Thielbeckand the Cap Arcona, apparentlyfor no other purpose but a Nazi hope that the Jews would die while on board.British planes, unaware that the ships are not hostile, attack. Both ships sinkin the Lübeck harbor within 15 minutes. Survivors who attempt to swim to shoreare fired upon by waiting members of the Hitler Youth, Volkstrum, and the SS. Of the 9400 prisoners, only about 2400survive
http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Death-on-the-Baltic
OR
1945(20th of Iyar, 5705): In the worst friendly-fire incident inhistory - Britain's Royal Air Force killed more than 7,000 survivors of Naziconcentration camps who were crowded onto ships in Lubeck harbor, Germany. Theragged masses that had survived the Holocaust stood no chance against the gunsof their liberators. This tragic mistake occurred one day before the Britishaccepted the surrender of all German forces in the region. Reports of theincident were quickly hushed up - as a jubilant world prepared to celebrate theAllied victory in Europe. Despite the bitter irony of dying in hellish fires onsinking ships just hours before liberation, the tragedy was quickly forgottenor resolutely ignored. The anniversary of this dark day will soon pass by again- largely unnoticed or unmentioned. By early May 1945, the rumors of Hitler'ssuicide had rekindled hope for beleaguered prisoners in Nazi concentrationcamps. The Red Army had just conquered Berlin; the British held Hamburg andAmericans were in Munich and Vienna. After surviving unspeakable horrors anddeprivations for years, the battered prisoners could finally dare to hope thattheir day of deliverance was at hand. In the closing weeks of World War II,thousands of prisoners from the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg, theMittelbau-Dora camp at Nordhausen and the Stutthof camp near Danzig weremarched to the German Baltic coast. Most of the inmates were Jews and RussianPOWs, but they also included communist sympathizers, pacifists, Jehovah's Witnesses,hom*osexuals, prostitutes, Gypsies and other perceived enemies of the ThirdReich. At the port of L beck almost 10,000 camp survivors were crowded ontothree ships: Cap Arcona, Thielbeckand Athen. No one knew what the Naziswere planning to do, or what plans the Allies had already set into motion.Although the final surrender was imminent, British Operational Order No. 73 forMay 3 was to "destroy the concentration of enemy shipping in L beckBay." While thousands of camp prisoners were being ferried out to theonce-elegant Hamburg-Sud Amerika liner CapArcona, the RAF's 263rd, 197th, 198th and 184th squadrons were arming theirHawker Typhoon fighter-bombers with ammunition, bombs and rockets. At 2:30 p.m.on May 3, at least 4,500 prisoners were aboard the Cap Arcona as the first attack began. Sixty-four rockets and 15bombs hit the liner in two separate attacks. As the British strafed thestricken ship from the air, Nazi guards on shore fired on those who made itinto the water. Only 350 prisoners survived. The Thielbeck - which had been flying a white flag - and the poorlymarked hospital ship Deutschland wereattacked next. Although Thielbeck wasjust a freighter in need of repairs, it was packed with 2,800 prisoners. Theovercrowded freighter sank in just 20 minutes, killing all but 50 of theprisoners. In less than two hours, more than 7,000 concentration camp refugeeswere dead from the friendly fire. Two thousand more would have died if thecaptain of the Athen had not refusedto take on additional prisoners in the morning before the attack. Most who werefamiliar with the Cap Arcona disasterbelieved that the Nazis intended to sink the ships at sea to kill everyone onboard. Hundreds of prisoners had already been killed on the forced marches fromthe camps. In this case, however, RAF Fighter Command did their killing forthem. In the Cap Arcona/Thielbeck/Athendisaster, the tragic deaths of so many who had suffered so much for so longwere quickly forgotten. After years of unprecedented bloodletting anddestruction, the nations involved were in shambles, their populations numbed bysuffering and death. The unfortunate victims who perished at the close ofhistory's worst conflagration were quickly lost in the fleeting euphoria ofpeace. In 1945, at the close of the war in Europe, the victorious British andtheir American allies did not want a media disaster overshadowing their V-E Daycelebrations. When the extent of the friendly-fire incident became known atWestminster, the British government and Allied Command effectively preventedmost news of the disaster from spreading from Germany. Beyond war-weariness andpostwar jubilation, other factors conspired to ensure that the valiantprisoners who died at the threshold of freedom would not be given muchattention in the world press. In a war in which the British had paid so high aprice to defeat the Nazis, to even criticize their forces was tantamount tosiding with the devil. Then postwar Germany quickly became one of the"good guys" as an important frontline ally in the Cold War againstcommunism. As such, most Germans preferred not to draw attention to their ownwar atrocities. Millions of Jews, Russians, Serbs, Poles and others had alreadybeen killed by the Nazis. Tens of millions more were homeless refugees, withmany near starvation. The memory of 7,000 or 8,000 concentration camp survivorskilled by mistake would soon wash away in the tide of history in a violent age.Britain has never officially apologized for its tragic mistake at L beck Bay,nor has it honored the innocent victims with a proper memorial. The RAF recordsof the disaster are sealed until 2045, one century after the attack. No Britishgovernment document has referred to the estimated 7,500 victims of its mistake.In May 1990, Germany opened a two-room museum dedicated to the memory of thevictims of the Cap Arcona tragedy inthe small port city of Neustadt-in-Holstein. A memorial monument was erected onthe beach nearby at Pelzerhaken, where many of the bodies washed ashore and wereburied. Other monuments were erected along L beck Bay and at the NeuengammeCamp Memorial southeast of Hamburg. Much has been written in German about thetragedy, but surprisingly little about the CapArcona has made it to the English press. On a recent visit to the memorial,a helpful resident of Neustadt said to me: "So your family isGerman?" I said, "No." "Oh, then you are Jewish?"Again I said, "No." My new acquaintance looked puzzled. Eventually heasked: "Well how could you possibly know about this?" I asked myself:"Why did it take me a half century to find out?" A Jewish dentalstudent, Benjamin Jacobs, gives a firsthand account of the friendly fire attackin The Dentist of Auschwitz (University of Kentucky Press, 1995). Alongwith Eugene Pool, the Boston dentist also wrote The 100 Year Secret:Britain's Hidden World War II Massacre (Lyons Press, 2004). Documentarieson the subject, such as Lawrence Bond's Typhoons'Last Storm, have had only limited publicity. According to legend,Pheidippides was an Athenian herald who ran from the battlefield at Marathon toAthens 2,500 years ago. After announcing the Greek victory over the Persians,he allegedly died on the spot. The tale has been widely propagated byorganizers of modern athletic events. Surviving the horrors of concentrationcamps - one day at a time - is in many respects like a marathon run. Meresurvival under such brutal conditions surely tested the endurance of both bodyand spirit. And like the mythical runner, thousands of inmates made it all theway to the end of their agonizing journeys only to perish at the finish line. Ahalf-century after the ill-fated air raid, we still know very little about theJews, the Russians and other prisoners who survived so much before dying on thefinish line in May 1945. By the time British records are unsealed in 2045, allchildren and most grandchildren of the victims will be gone. Historians willpore over the tragic details of the CapArcona disaster with the same level of detachment that we now feel forevents such as the Franco-Prussian War or the siege of Sevastopol. There is noquestion that the friendly-fire fiasco was a tragic error made during a routinemilitary operation. Despite the terrible consequences, few reasonable peoplewould condemn the British for their ill-fated raid. Some Hitler apologists haveeven attempted to use such mistakes to blame the Allies for monstrous crimescommitted by the Nazis. Yet the continued avoidance of criticizing friends doesnot justify shunning all mention of the innocent victims of the attack. Whetherembarrassing or not, the 7,500 Cap Arconavictims deserve to be remembered.
1945: The Inspector General began an investigation in charges of“alleged mistreatment” of German Guards at Dachau by U.S. soldiers.
1946: Today, Dr. Umberto Nahon a leader of the Italian ZionistOrganization said that the 1, 014 Jewish refugees who have been stranded at LaSpezia for the past month have agreed that none of them will leave forPalestine until all of them have received visas so they can immigrate together.
1947(13th of Iyar, 5707): Parashat Achrei Mot-Kedoshm
1947: Since today has been designated as “United Jewish AppealSabbath by the Synagogue Council of America” rabbis delivered sermons that“stressed the needs of Europe’s 1,500,000 Jewish survivors and offered prayersfor the success of the $170,000,000 United Jewish Appeal campaign” designed toalleviate their suffering.
1948: The U.S. Supreme Court decided that deed covenantsprohibiting the sale of real estate based on race or religion are legallyunenforceable. This opened the doorway for Jews to move into many of what hadbeen “restricted” neighborhoods. In someplaces, effectively whole towns had been off-limits to Jews. Realtors and bigots would not go gently intothe night and they found other creative ways to try and excluded Jews. One of the most elegant areas in Washington,D.C. was called Spring Valley, a restricted subdivision that was home to VicePresident Richard M. Nixon.
1948: The Supreme Court issued a decision in United States v.Paramount Pictures, Inc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Paramount_Pictures,_Inc
1948(24th of Nisan, 5708): Sixty-three-year-old Hebronnative and JTS ordained rabbi, Raphael Melamed, the holder of a doctorate fromDropsie College who had led Temple B’nai Israel in Elizabeth, NJ where heworked “to foster better understanding between religious groups” passed awaytoday after suffering fatal heart attack.
1949: In New York, film executive David Raphel, the grandson ofBaron David de Gunzburg and his wife gave birth to American author MoniqueRaphel High.
1949: Herbert Lehman, the former Governor of New York “who is onan inspection tour for the American Joint Distribution Committee” will entrainfor Marseille today “where he will visit refugee camps and watch theembarkation” of the first of the ten thousand displaced person going to Israelduring the month of May.
1950: The Indian League organized a meeting in memory of the lateHarold Laski during which Indian Prime Minister Nehru said: “It is difficult torealize that Professor Harold Laski is no more. Lovers of freedom all over theworld pay tribute to the magnificent work that he did. We in India areparticularly grateful for his staunch advocacy of India's freedom, and thegreat part he played in bringing it about. At no time did he falter orcompromise on the principles he held dear, and a large number of persons drewsplendid inspiration from him. Those who knew him personally counted thatassociation as a rare privilege, and his passing away has come as a greatsorrow and a shock.”
1951: Birthdate of Pierre Lellouche, the Tunisian born Jew who hasbeen active in French and European politics including serving as President ofthe NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
1951: A Treasury of Jewish Humor edited by Nathan Ausubel,containing “in England stories, satires and witticisms from Jewish literatureis scheduled to be published today by Doubleday.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1951/04/23/80707125.html?pageNumber=23
1952(8th of Iyar, 5712): Parashat Achrei Mot - Kedoshim
1952: The third event of the 15th annual Three ChoirFestival was presented” this “morning at Temple Emanu-El where the “motif ofthe morning service which opened with organ preludes by Mark Silver and BenHaim” was “Song of American Israel and the Land of Israel.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/05/04/93368207.html?pageNumber=88
1953(18th of Iyar, 5713): Lag B’Omer
1953:Today, the City College Library was dedicated to and named for CCNY, Columbia, Harvardand NYU Law School trained philosophy professor Morris Raphael Cohen, thehusband of Mary Ryshpan with whom he raised two children Leonora andFelix S. Cohen.
https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.MRCOHEN
1953: In Westbury, NY, Seymour and Joan Blecker gave birth toIrene Blecker the holder of multiple degrees from Cornell gained fame as Dr.Irene Blecker Rosenfeld, the CEO of Kraft Food and number 6 on “The Wall StreetJournal’s 50 Women to Watch list.”
1954: In Oakland, CA, Walter S. and Jean Scheib gave birth toWalter Scheib III who grew up in Bethesda, MD to become the White House Cheffor Presidents Clinton and Bush.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1956/05/04/86569004.html?pageNumber=25
1955: “Major General Lucas V. Beau, national commander of theCivil Air Patrol of the United States was feted today in Israel by the Israeliair scouts.
1955: Funeral services are scheduled to be held today at “Park West”for Bertha Adler, the wife of the late Isaac Adler.
1956(22nd of Iyar, 5716): Eighty-six-year-old Bohemianborn and Chicago College of Law trained attorney Joseph Sabath the long timeserving Superior Court Justice and husband of Regina Sabath with whom he raisedtwo children and who was the brother Congressman Adoph J. Sabath, “the dean ofthe House of Representative when he died in 1952” passed away today.
1957: Walter O'Malley, theowner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn, New York,to Los Angeles, California. Because of Brooklyn’s large Jewish population, theteam had “tons” of Jewish fans. O’Malley was vilified for moving the team. Decades later, we found out that the O’Malleywanted to keep the team in Brooklyn. Hewas thwarted by Robert Moses who had his priorities for New York that includeda baseball park outside of Brooklyn that would become known as SheaStadium.
1957: The Anne Frank Foundation was established today incooperation with Otto Frank, Anne Frank's father, with the primary aim ofcollecting enough funds to purchase and restore the building. In October ofthat year, the company who owned it donated the building to the Foundation as agoodwill gesture.
1958: “Stakeout on Dope Street’ which marked the directorial debutof Irvin Kershner was released in the United States today.
1958: Sofia Cosma, the Jewish pianist who ended being imprisonedin Siberia when she was trying to escape the Nazis at the start of WW II,performed for the first time in Lasi.
1958: In Copenhagen, Claus Toksvig and his wife gave birth toSandi Toksvig author of Hitler’s Canary, a novel set in Denmark during theGerman occupation which tells the story of a family involved in the resistancemovement that helped to save the Danish Jews during WW II.
1959: Birthdate of Ben Elton, a London born comedian, author,playwright and television director whose father was “of German-Jewish descent”and whose mother was not.
1960: The Anne Frank House, a museum dedicated to Jewish wartimediarist Anne Frank, opened in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
1960(6th of Iyar, 5720): Seventy-nine-year-old Alfred Whital Sternretired clothing executive and avid collector of Lincoln memorabilia passedaway in Chicago.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FA0D11FF3D5C1A728DDDAC0894DD405B808AF1D3
1962(28th of Nisan, 5722): Eighty-year-old Russianborn, Morris Asofsky long time director of “the United Hias Service MorrisAsofsky, known as “The Voice of HIAS”due to his long running program on WEVD and the husband of Flora Asofsky withwhom he had raised one daughter, passed away today in Tel Aviv.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/05/05/80389314.pdf
1969(15th of Iyar, 5729): Parashat Emor
1969(15th of Iyar. 5729): Seventy-nine-year-oldcinematographer Karl W. Freund whose work included the 1927 classic Metropolisto the I Love Lucy television series.
1972(19th of Iyar, 5732): Fifty-eight-year-old motionpicture photographer Samuel Dinin, the husband o Pearl Dinin and father ofRebecca Margo who “was a motion picture cameraman with the Army Signal Corps”during WW II and did still photography for such pictures “Goodbye Columbus” and“I Never Sang for my Father” and who is not to be confused with the Jewisheducator with the same name passed away today in Queens.
1972: The Jane Collective which “began informally when Jewishactivist Heather Booth helped a friend find a safe abortion provided,” wasraided by Chicago police today.
https://jwa.org/thisweek/may/03/1972/jane-collective-raided-chicago-police
1973: “Touch Me in the Morning” one of the top singles of 1973conceived of by songwriter and producer by Michael Masser and written by himand fellow Jewish song writer Ron Miller was released today.
1973: Birthdate of Portland, OR native movie producer andsportswriter Max Handled the University of Pennsylvania grad and AEPi brotherwho wrote Why Fantasy Football Matters (And Our Lives Do Not) while raising afamily with his wife, actress Elizabeth Banks.
1975(22nd of Iyar, 5735): Parashat Behar-Bechukotai
1975(22nd of Iyar, 5735): Seventy-Six-year-old Columbia grad and JTSordained Rabbi Elliot Burstein, the NewHaven, CT, born son of “Dr. S.P. andPauline (Berman) Burstein and the husbandof Charlotte Greenfield, who served Congregation Beth Israel for 42 yearspassed away today.
1976: Thirty-three passers-by were injured when a booby-trappedmotor scooter exploded at the corner of Ben Yehuda and Ben Hillel Streets.Among those injured were the Greek consul in Jerusalem and his wife. Thefollowing day, on the eve of Independence Day, the municipality organized anevent at the site of the attack, under the slogan: "Nevertheless."
1976:Paul “Simon put together a benefit show at Madison Square Garden to raise moneyfor the New York Public Library.”
1976: Pulitzer Prize awarded to Saul Bellow for Humboldt's Gift.Born in Canada in 1915, Bellow moved to Chicago as a child in the 1920's.A graduate of Northwestern University, where he was told to forget aboutwriting since no Jew could appreciate the English language. Beforebecoming a successful writer, Bellow taught college, worked for the board ofthe Encyclopedia Britannica and served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during WorldWar II. His first novel was the Dangling Man. Humboldt'sGift, which appeared in 1975, "was narrated in the first person. Theprotagonist, Charlie Citrine, is a writer, rich and successful. But in hisheart he knows that he is a failure - he is under the thumb of a small-timeChicago gangster, ruined by a divorce and finally abandoned by his mistress. Headmires his dead friend, Von Humboldt Fleischer, modeled on the poet DelmoreSchwartz (1913-1966). Humboldt, a talent wasted, represents for him all that isimportant in culture. Citrine continues the series of Bellow's losers, fromHerzog to Sammler, but like his other novels, it is not gloomy, and finds acomic side even in its protagonist's tragedy."
1978: Birthdate of Herzliya native and award winning actress andsinger Miri Mesika.
1978(26th of Nisan, 5738): Ninety-one-year-old PinchasRosen, Israel’s first Minister of Justice passed away today.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F70812FC395413728DDDAD0894DD405B888BF1D3
1979: Premiere of “Bent” a play by Martin Sherman that “revolvesaround the persecution of hom*osexuals in Nazi Germany.”
1980(17th of Iyar, 5740): Parashat Emor
1981: The New York Timesreported that The Israel Festival has been canceled for this summer. Thedecision was made in order ''to spread festival events out over a greaterperiod of time, rather than concentrating them within a span of six weeks,''according to a government spokesman. Instead there will be two smallerfestivals, the Spring in Jerusalem Festival and the Proms '81, both of whichwill take place in Jerusalem.
1981: InNew York, light from hundreds of candles flickered on polished mosaic tile asthe sounds of the ghetto songs of decades ago echoed in Temple Emanu-El. Asthey have for 10 years, thousands of Jews and non-Jews gathered to recall thespirit of the Warsaw ghetto uprising of 1943
1981:Beginning of Jewish Heritage Week in the United States as proclaimed byPresident Ronald Reagan.
1981(29thof Nisan, 5741): Seventy-nine-year-old tennis champion and winner of the bronzemedal in the shot-put passed away today in New York.
1985:“Private Resort,” a comedy that marked the film debut of Rob Morrow wasreleased today in the United States.
1987: SaulP. Steinberg and Barbara Steinberg, both of New York, have announced theengagement of their daughter, Laura S. Steinberg, to Jonathan M. Tisch,president of Loews Hotels who is a sonof Postmaster General Preston Robert Tisch and Mrs. Tisch of Washington and NewYork.
1987:Cardinal John O’Conner, Archbishop of New York “watched thousands march downFifth Avenue protesting the oppression of Soviet Jews” later joining theprotesters at a rally near the United Nations where told them, “As I stood onthe steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral this morning and watched you stream by, Icould only be proud of those who streamed out of Egypt several thousand yearsago, winning freedom for themselves and for all of us. They are your ancestors,and they are mine… I am proud to be this day, with you, a Jew.” (What nobodyknew that day, including O’Connor was that his mother Dorothy Gumple O’Connor,was born Jewish” and converted to Catholicism before she met and married hisfather.)
1987:Her Majesty Queen Beatrix officiated at the opening ceremony of the restoredsynagogues which house the Jewish Historical Museum
1989:Two Hamas terrorists disguised as Orthodox Jews kidnapped Pvt. Ilan Saadon on ahighway leading to Ashkelon, his hometown, and then on some unknown datemurdered him after which they tried to use his corpse as a bargaining chip.
1990:NBC broadcast the final episode of season six of “The Cosby Show,” co-createdby Ed Weinberger.
1991(19thof Iyar, 5751): Fifty-seven-year-old Jerzy Kosinksi author of Being There passedaway today
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/04/arts/jerzy-kosinski-the-writer-57-is-found-dead.html
1992:In The Los Angeles Times, CharlesSolomon reviewed Blood and Banquets: A Berlin Diary 1930-1938 by Bella Fromm, the”daughter of aprominent Jewish family, who was forced to begin working when her fortunedisappeared in the runaway inflation that wracked Germany after World War I. As‘Frau Bella,’ the society columnist for the highbrow Berlin newspaper VossischeZeitung, she frequented the most exclusive circles” and it was this work thatprovided the information for her book which has appeared in a paperbackedition.
1995(3rd of Iyar, 5755): Yom HaZikaron
1996: “The Pallbearer” a comedy produced by J.J.Abrams and co-starring David Schwimmer, Michael Rapaport and Barbara Hersheywas released in the United States today.
1998:The New York Times featured reviewsof books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readersincluding Gertrude Stein: Writings 1903-1932 and Gertrude Stein:Writings 1932-1946.
1998:In “Garment District: Sheets, Towels and Prayers In One Stop”, published today EdwardLevine describes life in and around the Millinery Center Synagogue
2000:When Lillie Steinhorn retired from the Social Security Administration today shewas the longest-serving federal employee on record.
2001:President Bush meets with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in the OvalOffice.
2001:In address to the American Jewish Committee, President Bush said “We will speakup for our principles and we will stand up for our friends in the world. Andone of our most important friends is the State of Israel… [Israel] is a smallcountry that has lived under threat throughout its existence. At the firstmeeting of my National Security Council, I told them a top foreign policypriority is the safety and security of Israel. My Administration will besteadfast in supporting Israel against terrorism and violence, and in seekingthe peace for which all Israelis pray.”
2002(21stof Iyar, 5762): Sixty-five-year-old American lighting designer Martin Aronsteinwhose works included such Broadway hits as “Cactus Flower and ‘How Now, DowJones” passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/arts/martin-aronstein-65-designer-who-lighted-broadway-shows.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2002/jun/08/local/me-aronstein8
2002:“Rebuilding a Community” published today described relations between the Jewsof Atlanta and those living in Cuba.
http://www.jewishcuba.org/atlantajt.html
2003(1stof Iyar, 5763): Parashat Kedoshim; Rosh Chodesh Iyar
2003:Jewish Jazz flautist Herbie Mann performed for the last the time at the NewOrleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
2003:“Letters from the Dead” premiered at the Brooklyn International Film Festivalwhere the movie’s creator, Jewish-American filmmaker Ari Taub, was named BestNew Director.
2004:Twenty-year-old Marine Corporal Dustin Schrage disappeared today with his team whileswimming across the Euphrates River in the Al Anbar province with his team inIraq.
2005:Two days after she had passed away funeral service are scheduled to be heldtoday for Renee Wallach who served as the cantor at North Shore Synagogue inSyoseet, NY for fourteen years.
2006(5thof Iyar, 5766): Yom Ha’Atzmaut – IsraelIndependence Day. In Israel, thecelebration of the 58th birthday began in the evening of May 2 witha state torch-lighting ceremony on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl. The ceremony alsomarked the end of Memorial Day.
2006(5thof Iyar, 5766): Eighty-two-year-old economist Mark Perlman passed away today.
https://www.utimes.pitt.edu/archives/?p=3169
2006:The Jerusalem Post reported thatIsraeli Independence Day has become a worldwide celebration.
2006:Final episode of “The Perfect Home” starring Alain de Botton, a descendant ofAbraham de Boton, was shown today
2007: The Center for Jewish History presents “The Mystery of the Kaddish” in whichPresidential advisor and television personality Leon Charney discusses how theKaddish became the most famous and familiar prayer in Jewish liturgy. Hediscusses his new book which charts the origins and development of theMourner's Prayer against the full backdrop of Jewish history.
2007:The Central Committee of the National Religious Party votes on a proposal toopen up the modern Orthodox party to Israeli’s who do not necessarily adhere toreligious strictures. This represents an attempt to increase the party’spolitical power by tapping “into the large traditional, but not religioussector, which is described as primarily Sephardim…”
2008(28thof Nisan, 5768): Fifty-seven-year-old Hanon Reznikov, the co-founder of theLiving Theatre passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/theater/09reznikov.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0
2008:A screening of “Sonderkommando”\זונדרקומנדו takes place atthe Jerusalem Cinematheque.
2008:London's new mayor, Boris Johnson, a pro-Israel Conservative lawmaker, wassworn in after ousting the left-wing incumbent in a vote that capped the worstlocal election results for Prime Minister Gordon Brown's party in four decades.
2009:Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts presents “Jerusalem City of Heavenly andEarthly Peace” as part of the Jordi Savill Jerusalem series.
2009:Annual AIPAC Policy Conference opens in Washington, D.C.
2009:The Washington Post featured books byJewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including “AFailure of Capitalism: The Crisis of '08 and the Descent into Depression” byRichard A. Posner.
2009:The Excavations in the Roman Theater in Tiberias are being carried out InMemory of Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Drori ז"ל, Founder of the IsraelAntiquities Authority
http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1507&module_id=#as
2009:The New York Times featured books byJewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including therecently released paperback editor of The German Bride by Joanna Hershon’s novel which “is set among theGerman-born Jewish merchants and traders who settled in the American West inthe 19th century” featuring as the protagonist, the daughter of a Berlin bankerwho travels to Santa Fe to marry a man who owns a dry goods business.
2009: Daniel Mark Epstein discusses and signsLincoln's Men: The President and His Private Secretaries at the Enoch PrattFree Library, in Baltimore, Maryland.
2010:Gloria Mound, Director of the Casa Shalom-Institute for Anusim Studies inIsrael is scheduled to present a lecture entitled “A Certain Identity:Crypto-Jews around the World” sponsored by the American Sephardi Federation.
2010:In Washington, D.C Liaison Specialist Jason Steinhauer of the Library ofCongress Veterans History Project is scheduled to present a lecture anddiscussion on the contributions, impact and legacy of the more than 550, 000American Jewish military personnel who served during World War II during whichthey received 52,000 decorations for gallantry
2010:President Obama renewed the Syrian sanctions.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/obama050310.html
2011:The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington is scheduled to present“Search for Survivors” during which Scott Miller, Director of CuratorialAffairs at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will describe “how tworesearchers meticulously traced what happened to the passengers of the St.Louis, a refugee-filled ship denied entry to the United States on the eve ofthe Holocaust.”
2011:Sixty-seven-year-old Fred Goldsmith who won Coach of the Year honors for hiswork at Rice and Duke retired from the profession today.
2011:Douglas Feith is scheduled to a lecture entitled “Jabotinsky: Enduring Insightsat B’nai Israel Congregation in Rockville, MD.
2011:YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is scheduled to present “In Her Hands: TheEducation of Jewish Girls in Tsarist Russia.”
2011: Second and final episode of “Case Sensitive”based on Sophie Hannah’s novel The Point of Rescue was broadcast on ITV.
2011:The Consultation on Conscience, Reform Judaism's flagship social justiceconference is scheduled to hold its closing session today.
2011:In Philadelphia, The Young Friends of the National Museum of American JewishHistory is scheduled to present “U.S.-Israel Relations: Truman to Obama,” aprogram in recognition of Israel's Independence Day and Jewish AmericanHeritage Month.
2012:In “Violin legend Zvi Zeitlin has died” published today Norman Lebrechtdescribed what made him “the great violinist and teacher.
http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2012/05/a-violin-legend-has-died.html
2012:In London, the Wiener Library is scheduled to host “Death in Prague: Philip onPrague Fatale” part of a series of events tied to the 70thanniversary of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich.
2012:Dr. Jonathan Sarna is scheduled to discuss his marvelous new book, WhenGeneral Grant Expelled the Jews, at the William G. McGowan Theater inWashington, DC
2012:Miriam Ungar organized a protest on behalf of her husband Jacob Ostreicheropposite Bolivia’s United Nations mission. (As reported by Ben Sales)
2013:“No Place on Earth” is scheduled to open in several cities including Austin,Texas, Columbus, Ohio and Seattle, Washington.
2013:Rabbi Sunny Schnitzer on guitar, noted Kabbalist Jay McCrensky on accordion,and Karen Cole on bass are scheduled to lead a “gemach Carlebach” service atBethesda Jewish Congregation as part ofthe Washington Jewish Music Festival.
2013:“In an interview with Entertainment Tonight ‘Judge Judy’ Sheindlin stated,"I have my walls full of Daytime Emmy Award nominations."
2013:Noam Schey, Sam Stalkfleet, Elise Goodvin, Molly Lipman and Cameron Bravermanare scheduled to lead Confirmation Services which will be held for the firsttime in the new sanctuary of Agudas Achim located in Coralville, Iowa
2013(23rdof Iyar, 5773): Eighty-seven-year-old Herbert Blau the engineer turneddramatist passed away today on his birthday. (As reported by Douglas Martin)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/theater/herbert-blau-iconoclastic-theater-director-dies-at-87.html
2013:IDF Gaza Division commander Brig.-Gen. Micky Edelstein said today that therewas "some degree of dialogue" between Israel and parties in Gaza toprevent rocket fire from the coastal territory into southern Israel.
2013:The Chinese government says it is willing to set up a meeting between theIsraeli prime minister and the Palestinian president when the two leaders visitBeijing next week, if the sides expressed interest in doing so. ForeignMinistry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said today at a regular briefing that Chinawould be happy to facilitate a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if they were willing to meet.
2014:“Cupcakes” is scheduled to be shown at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival.
2014:“Quality Balls: The David Steinberg Story” is scheduled to be shown at theLenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival.
2014(3rdof Iyar, 5774): Ninety-one-year-old radio executive Ben Hoberman passed awaytoday.
2014(3rdof Iyar, 5774): Eighty-three-year-old Nobel winning economist Gary Beckerpassed away today.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/becker.html
2014:Phoebe Chapnick-Sorkin is scheduled to Bat Mitzvahed at Agudas Achim inCoralville, Iowa.
2014:“Sturgeon Queens” is scheduled to be shown at the National Center for JewishFilm Festival.
2014:“The IDF deployed a Patriot missile battery in Eilat today and stationed italongside the Iron Dome anti-missile battery in the southern city, ahead of theMemorial Day and Independence Day holidays.
2014:“Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit criticized the Israeli government’shandling of “price tag” attacks by Jewish extremists on Saturday, saying“Israel is a lawful country that does not enforce its laws.”
2015:GI Jews: South Carolina Goes to War :Commemorating the 70th Anniversary ofVE–Day hosted by the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina came to an endtoday.
2015:YIVO Institute for Jewish History Institute for Jewish Research is scheduled tocelebrate its 90th anniversary with a daylong celebration.
2015:Final performance of “Do This One Thing For Me” is scheduled to take placetoday in NYC.
http://www.dothisonethingforme.com/
2015:Two Palestinians “overpowered and detained for questioning” after theyattempted to stab IDF soldiers “near the settlement of Yakir.”
2015:“At least 41 people were injured during a rally in support of the Ethiopiancommunity “that turned violent in Tel Aviv.”
2015:Dr. Neil Gillman, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at JTS is scheduled to talkbased on his most book Believe and Its Tensions: A Personal Conversationabout God, Torah, Suffering and Death in Jewish Thought.
2015:The New York Times reviews books byJewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including TheLife of Saul Bellow: To Fame and Fortune, 1915-1964 by Zachary Leader andEinstein’s Dice and Schrodinger’s Cat: How Two Great Minds Battled QuantumRandomness to Create a Unified Theory of Physics by Paul Halpern
2016:Dr. Stephen J. Gaies is scheduled to employ a multi-media approach todiscussing the Jewish Holocaust on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day at theDes Moines, Iowa, public Library.
2016:Todd Kaminsky completed his service as a member of the New York State Assemblyfrom the 20th District and began serving as a member of the New YorkState Senate from the 9th District.
2016:The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education is scheduled tohost “Breaking the Silence – Stories of Courage from our Edlers.”
2016:The Jewish Children’s Regional Service, an organization that truly helps thosein need” is scheduled to host its “GiveNOLA Day.”
2016:The American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled to a presentation by GiliGetz entitled “A Forbidden Conversation: Speaking, the Unspoken, and the Conversationson Israel in America.”
2017(7thof Iyar, 5777): Seventy-four-year-old Haifa born actress Daliah Lavi passedaway today. (As reported by Daniel E. Slotnik)
2017:The Jewish Book Council is scheduled to celebrate the 11th year ofthe Sami Rohr Prize where the 2017 Fellows - Paul Goldberg, author of The Yid:A Novel; Adam Ehrlich Sachs, author of Inherited Disorders: Stories, Parables& Problems; Rebecca Schiff, author of The Bed Moved: Stories; DanielTorday, author of The Last Flight of Poxl West: A Novel – will be introducedand the three top prizes worth respectively $100,000, $18,000 and $5,000 willbe awarded.
2017:A presentation on “Jewish Women in Iowa” is scheduled to take place today ofthe Iowa Jewish History Symposium in Iowa City.
2017:Aaron Wolf’s “Restoring Tomorrow” premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
2017:The Center for Jewish History and YIVO are scheduled to host a talk by Dr.Laura Almagor on “Crackpot or Visionary: Israel Zangwill, Isaac Steinberg andthe Jewish Territorialist Movement.”
2018(18thof Iyar, 5778): Lag B’Omer
2018(18th of Iyar, 5578): Ninety-three-year-old, one of the mostinfluential physicist not to win a Nobel and the husband of Suzy Pines withwhom he raised two children – Catherine and Jonathan – passed away today. (Asreported by Kenneth Chang)
2018:Rabbi Yossi Jacobson is scheduled to host a “glatt kosher bbq” this evening aspart of the Lag B’Omer observance in Des Moines, IA.
2018:In Memphis, TN, Rabbi Feivel Strauss is scheduled to “lead a conversation onFrom Skepticism to Mysticism” as part of the Lag B’Omer observance.
2018:The US Holocaust Memorial Museum is scheduled to host a lecture by Holocaustsurvivor by Julie Keefer as part of the First Person 2018 Series.
2018:The Oxford University Jewish Society is scheduled to cost an interfaithactivity “Exploring the Bridges between Islam and Judaism.”
2018:The Cleveland Jewish News is schedule to host “An Evening with Regina Brett” atTemple Tifereth Israel.
2018:Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Chernow, author of a recent biography on U.S. Grantis scheduled to participate in a colloquy following a dinner commemorating the196th anniversary of Grant’s birth.
2018:Today as President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu continue to expresssuspicions that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, “an Israeli satelliteimaging company released images showing what it described as “unusual” movementaround the Iranian Fordo nuclear facility, a one-time uranium enrichment plantburied deep underground that was converted to a research center as part of the2015 nuclear deal.” (As reported by Judah Ari Gross
2019:In New York, the Addis Fine Art Gallery is scheduled to host the opening of anexhibition featuring the work of Ethiopian born artist Niriti Takele who cameto Israel in 1991 as part of “Operation Solomon.”
2019:As part of the Gideon Sorokin Memorial Lecture in Judaic Studies, Rabbi HenryShreibman is scheduled to lecture on “The Face of Religion in America: The Next50 Years” at the Dominican University of California.
2019:The Oxford University Jewish Society is scheduled to host Kabbalat Shabbatservices followed by Friday night dinner.
2019:Scottish born Torah scholar and author Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, author ofMoses: A Human Life is scheduled to begin her latest American lecture tour.
2020:The Breman Museum and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Georgia are scheduledto “present via a Live ZOOM webinar Garri Regev, past president of the IsraelGenealogy Research Association (IGRA), as she discusses the IGRA database anddemonstrates how to use this genealogical research tool.”
2020:“Saving Lives Sunday,” “a streaming even honoring first responder and welcominghome Eli Beer is scheduled to begin at 6 pm UK Time”
2020:For the last time a streaming presentation of “Orchestra of Exiles” which tells“the story of Bronislaw Huberman, the founder of the Israel Philharmonic.”
2020:On 88.9 WERS, Chagigah Radio host Hal Slifer is scheduled to welcome the musicof internationally acclaimed Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band as this week’s miniconcert performers.
2020:“Clarinetist Ben Goldberg is scheduled to lead a virtual KlezCaliforniaworkshop on melodic construction and development for intermediate-advancedplayers of any instrument.
2020:The American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled to host a Virtual visitwith Emma Lazarus where “childrenhave the opportunity to engage with the famous poetess about her life and theissues of her time.”
2020: As the spread of COVID-19 appears to behalted, “The Israeli cabinet is scheduled to meet today to discuss furthereasing coronavirus restrictions, including opening malls and markets, amidfigures suggesting the country has largely managed to curb the spread of thecoronavirus.
2021: The first ever Jewish PsychedelicSummit is scheduled to come to an end.
2021:Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture is scheduled to present “A FieldGuide to Jewish Comedy Writers: An Evening With Dave Barry, Adam Mansbach &Alan Zweibel.”
2021:The Streicker Center is scheduled host Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson,author of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents as she “dives deep into thepillars that underlie such systems, from divine will to heredity, putting humanfaces on the power of human rankings.”
2021:Based on previously published reports, in the wake of the Meron disaster, thereare those in Israel including Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau who think “thestate is obligated to take responsibility for” the holy site.
20022:The Illinois Holocaust Museum is scheduled to host Mike Levy, the author of GettingThe Children Out: Forgotten Rescuers of the Kindertransport “for anexploration of the mostly forgotten role of Kindertransport rescuers and thequickly established landscapes of care in host countries.
2022:Lockdown University is scheduled to host a lecture by Trudy Gold on “EasternEuropean Jews: The Beginnings.”
2022:At Tifereth Israel in Cleveland, In commemoration of Yom HaZikaron, Dr. OriYehudai is the Saul and Sonia Schottenstein Chair in Israel Studies andAssistant Professor of History at OSU, is scheduled to give a presentation on "A Day of Bloodand Valor: Terrorism and Social Tensions in 1970's Israel." Dr. Yehudai isthe Saul and Sonia Schottenstein Chair in Israel Studies and AssistantProfessor of History at OSU.
2022:The Consulate General of Israel and Temple Emanu-El are scheduled to host a Yom Hazikaron –Memorial Day Service honoring the soldiers who gave their lives in defense ofthe State of Israel and the victims or terrorist attack
2022:The Iowa City Council is scheduled to proclaim the month of May as JewishHeritage Month in a meeting this evening at City Hall.
2022:This evening, in Israel, start of Yom Hazikaron observances.
2022(1stof Iyar, 5782): Rosh Chodesh Iyar;
2023:The JDC is scheduled to host a webinar “We Are Working for a HealthyGeneration” which is a lecture by Dr. Jonathan Sarna “Marking a Century Sincethe Reorganization of the JDC and its Transformation into a PermanentOrganization to Meet the Needs of World Jewry.”
2023:The Museum at Eldridge Street is scheduled to a host a virtual program, which willexplore what defines a Jewish, or “Jew-ish”, approach to health care fromearliest times to the present
2023:In Columbus, OH, Congregation Tifereth Israel is scheduled to host the Rabbi’sStudy Circle for a discussion of “The Biblical Roots of Prayer.”
2023:Christie’s is scheduled to host an auction that include jewels from the estateof a woman whose husband bought businesses from Jews pressured to sell becauseof Nazi persecution.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/27/arts/design/heidi-horten-jewelry-christies-nazi-era.html
2024:“Agnon House is scheduled to host Prof. Yitzhak Meller for a conversation with Prof.Chaim Weiss about the representations of trauma in Yoram Kaniuk's work in anevent that will take place as part of the exhibition "Hymn to David",which presents the photographs and poems of Tamir Lahav-Radlemser, who, likeKaniuk, dealt with his own shell shock in his work.’
2024:The West Newton Cinema in Boston, The Charles in Baltimore and the MountainPark Cinema in West Dover, VT are scheduled to host screening of “FarewellMister Hafman,” a film that tells the story of a Jewish jeweler trying tosurvive the Nazi occupation of Paris.
2024:Kan Kol Hamusika is scheduled to broadcast Singers of "Meitar" OperaStudio of the Israel Opera featuring a concert of arias and duets from famousoperas by Mozart, Dvorak, Gluck, Puccini and more.
2024:As May 3rd begins in Israel, an unprecedented wave of anti-Semitism sweeps theUnited States and the Hamas held hostages begin day210 in captivity. (Editor’snote: this situation is too fluid for this blog to cover so we are justproviding a snapshot as of the posting at midnight Israeli time.)
