December 26
1135:
Coronation of Stephen I, king of England, who in 1141 burned down the house of
Aaron f. Isaac in Oxford as a way to “induce” the Jews to providing him with
funds to continue his war with Empress Matilda who had previously extorted
funds from the same Jewish community.
1194:
Birthdate of Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor who improved the conditions
for the Jews of Palermo, Naples and Jerusalem.
1424: The city of Barcelona, Spain was granted the
right to exclude Jews for all time.
1495: Savonarola expelled the Medici and the Jews
from Florence. The Jews, who had previously served as the Medici's bankers,
were replaced by a Monte di Pieta, a public loan bank.
1634:
Religious freedom was granted to Jews and Catholics in Brazil. This was the
period of time when Brazil was under the control of the Dutch. Things would change in 1654 when Portugal
took Recife, Brazil and the Jews were forced to flee. One group of these refugees would arrive in
New Amsterdam and the rest is history.
1693:
The parents of Sampson Gideon were married today by Haham Ayilon at the Creechurch
Lane Synagogue in London which had been found by “Antonio Fernandez Carvajal,
one of the Sephardic merchants allied to Oliver Cromwell and the Roundheads”.
1751:
Birthdate of Lord George Gordon who took the name Yisrael bar Avraham Gordon
when he converted to Judaism in 1787
1764(2nd
of Tevet, 5525): Eighth Day of Chanukah
1769(27th
of Kislev, 5530): Third Day of Chanukah
1769:
Birthdate of German historian Ernst Moritz Arndt, who “played a crucial part in
the development of German nationalism, with a corollary of hostility to, and
fear of, the Jews” whom believed “had become ‘a depraved and degenerate
people…unfit to be full citizens of a Christian state.’”
1772(30th
of Kislev, 5533): Parashat Miketz; Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Sixth Day of Chanukah
1775:
On the day after Chanukah, “The Continental Congress called for another three
million dollars in bills of credit to be issued to help defray the costs of
building a navy and supplying the army” which is yet another example of the
financial problems besetting the Americans and which Haim Solomon tried to help
to ameliorate.
1776:
In an act of daring-do Washington ferries his freezing, starving troops across
the ice choked Delaware River and leads them to victory at the Battle of
Trenton. There were certainly Jewish soldiers among those who joined in the
Crossing of the Delaware two of whom may have been Abraham Levy and Phillip
Russell. Since Washington’s Army was on the verge of destruction, defeat at
Trenton would have meant the end of the American Revolution, a war which
created a nation rightfully described as “the last best hope men” – an
appellation with which the Jewish people would heartily agree. One of the most readable treatments of this
turning point in American history is The Crossing by the Jewish author
Howard Fast which was the source for a film by the same name.
1777(26th
of Kislev, 5538): Second Day of Chanukah
1777:
As Jews prepare to light the third Chanukah candle, Washington’s troops are
completing their first full week at Valley Forge having arrived there on
December 19.
1780(28th
of Kislev, 5541): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1780:
Sixty-eight-year-old Dr. John Fothergill who sought solace in the suffering of
the Friends or Quakers by compares to the Jews as can be seen when he wrote
“John Pemberton during the American Revolution that he often reflects “on the
history of the Jewish people with humbling admiration” and that their sufferings
affords “instructive lessons.”
1783:
Áron Chorin, a Hungarian rabbi who sought to reform some Jewish practices,
married today following which he had a short, unsuccessful career in business
before making use of his Talmudic knowledge and rabbinic skills as the leader
of the Jewish community of Arad.
1783:
Isaac Baruh Lousada, a member of a family of prominent planters and merchants
in Jamaica and his wife gave birth Emaneul Baruh Lousa, “a collateral ancestor
of Moshe Baruh Louzada , a founder of the London Spanish and Portuguese
Synagogue” who after moving to England
lived at Sidmouth which he developed into a “popular resort.”
1783:
In Germany, Voegele Juda and Loeb Moses Sontheimer gave birth to Moses Loeb
Sontheimer, the husband of Ruchele Rosenheim with whom he had six children.
1787:
Hannah de Jacob Dias and Aaron De Pass gave birth to Abraham De Pass who was
living in Jamaica at the time of his death.
1791(30th
of Kislev, 5552): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Sixth Day of Chanukah
1796(26th
of Kislev, 5557): Second Day of Chanukah
1796: In Amsterdam, Aaron de Sola and his wife gave birth to David
Aaron de Sola, the great-nephew of the physician Dr. Benjamin de Sola, who in
1818 was called to London to become one of the ministers of the Bevis Marks
Congregation under Haham Raphael Meldola who become his father-in-law when a year
later he married Rica/Rebecca de Hezekiah Meldola with whom he had fifteen
children and whose talents produced a popular tune for “Adon Olam” and several
books including his Biography of Isaac Samuel Reggio.
1799(28th
of Kislev, 5560): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1799:
American Jews who have been welcomed by The Father of our Country join their
fellow citizens in mourning the passing of George Washington who was buried
today. (Washington’s letter to the Jews
of Newport set a tone of acceptance that has been the unique hallmark of the
Jewish experience in the United States)
1801:
A deed bearing today’s date conveys land owned by Charles Carroll to Levi
Solomon and Solomon Etting which the Baltimore Jewish community will use as a
cemetery.
1809:
Anne Emilie Furtado, the daughter of Abraham Furtado the President of the
Assemblee des Notables married Moise Aime Solar, the son of Aaron Felix Solar.
1810:
Solomon Jonas married Rosetta Joseph today at the Great Synagogue.
1815(24th
of Kislev, 5576): In the evening light the first light of Chanukah which
American Jews are doing in an environment of peace for the first time since
1812.
1823:
As the struggle between Reform movement and traditionalists became more
pronounced, a party of Orthodox Jews obtained a royal cabinet order that
frustrated attempts “to adapt the old ritual to new forms” including sermons
preached in German. This forced Isaac Noah Mannheimer, a rabbi who was a leader
in the Reform movement to leave Berlin for a pulpit in Hamburg which led him to
a position in Vienna where he was able to fully display his intellectual and
oratorical gifts.
1825:
In Amsterdam, Rachel Bueno and Samuel Coelho gave birth to Rebecca Coelho, the
husband of Aaron Coronel, the mother of Rebecca, Moses, Rachel, Samuel, Eleazar
and Jacob Coelho.
1825:
Several Imperial Russia army officers lead force of approximately3000 soldiers
on the Senate Square in the failed Decembrist uprising. Pavel Pestel, one of
the leaders of the unsuccessful Decembrist revolt, proposed sending all Jews
from Russia to some territory in Asia Minor, especially acquired for this
purpose, where they would be able to establish independent state.
1829:
One day after she had passed away, Francis Harris the wife of Henry Harris was
buried today at the Brady Street Jewish Cemetery
1830(10th
of Tevet, 5591): Asara B’Tevet observed for the first time since the “Great
Powers” recognized the independence of Belgium where Judaism was given the status of an officially recognized
religion in the same year.
1834:
Birthdate of Abraham Baer the cantor who was a native of Prussia and who moved
to Gothenberg in 1857 at the age of 23 to pursue his career.
1838:
Birthdate of Giueseppe Ottolenghi the native of Lombardy who rose to be a
General in the Italian Army serving as the Commandant of the First Army Corps.
1843(24th
of Kislev, 5595): In the evening, kindle the first light of Chanukah
1843:
In Paris, Count Salomon Henry d'Avigdor, Duke d'Acquaviva, the Nice born son “of
Count Isaac Samuel d'Avigdor and Gabrielle Pauline Henriette Avigdor and his
wife Countess Rachel d'Avigdor gave birth to Mariam Isabelle Olga Lucas the
wife of Anglo-Jewish painter Horatio Joseph Lucas
1848:
In Philadelphia. Buchau, Germany, native Max Einstein, the owner of a ribbon
and silk store who would rise to the rank of Colonel during the Civil War
married Helena Guggenheim.
1851:
Lord
Palmerston completed his term of
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs during which the British blockaded the port of Piraeus as part of the response
to Greece’s abuse of David Pacifico, whom Palmerston defended as this “man of Jewish
persuasion” and on whose be he “made a celebrated speech which concluded that
all British subjects ought to be able to say, as did citizens of ancient Rome,
"Civis Romanus sum" ("I am a citizen of Rome"), and thereby
receive protection from the British government.”
1852:
The Reverend Samuel Osgood delivered a talk at the Church of the Messiah in NYC
entitled “The Enigma of History- A Discourse on the Jewish Race” which was
based, in part, on information provided by Rabbi Morris Raphall with whom Osgood
had carried on a correspondence.
1853(25th
of Kislev, 5614): 1st day of Chanukah
1854:
In Bavaria, Mendel Emanuel Schloss and Adelheid Baer Schloss gave birth to
Leopold Schloss, the husband of Karoline Schloss.
1854:
Two days after he had passed away, Hyam Hyam, the husband of Hannah Lazarus
with whom he had had eight children, was buried today at the Brady Street
Jewish Cemetery.
1860:
In “Ballston Spa, NY,” Lewis Muhlfelder and Rosa Schwarz gave birth to Union
College undergrad and Albany Law School trained attorney David Muhlfelder
1861:
During the Civil War, in what was known as The Trent Affair, Confederate
diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United
States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States
and Britain. Slidell, the Louisiana politician who had been a power in the
Democrat Party, before the war, was a close ally of August Belmont who had
married his niece. During the war,
Slidell would serve in Paris where his daughter would marry a leading French-Jewish
financier.
1862:
The Union “Army of the Cumberland” including the 79th Indiana
Regiment under the command of Colonel Frederick Knefler left Nashville to face
the Rebel “Army of Tennessee” which was camped at Murfreesboro.
1862:
In Bremen, Germany, Sophia and Israel Frank gave birth to Hanover Seminary
trained rabbi who in 1892 came to the United States where he became the spiritual
leader of Congregation Oheb Shalom in Reading, PA and married Florence W.
Weitzenkorn, daughter of Levi and Henrietta F. Weitzenkorn in 1909.
http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?117,409119
1864(27th
of Kislev, 5625): Third Day of Chanukah
1864:
Today as Jews prepare to light the Fourth Chanukah candle, Abraham Lincoln
wrote to General William Tecumseh Sherman ““Many, many, thanks for your
Christmas-gift—the capture of Savannah. When you were about leaving Atlanta for
the Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if not fearful; but feeling that you were
the better judge, and remembering that ‘nothing risked, nothing gained’ I did
not interfere. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is all yours;
for I believe none of us went farther than to acquiesce.”
1866:
Birthdate of Toby Cohn, the native of Breslau, who became a “German physician
and medical author.”
1867:
Birthdate of Julien Benda, the Paris born “philosopher and novelist” best-known
for his short book, La Trahison des
Clercs (The Betrayal of the Intellectuals).
1870(2nd
of Tevet, 5631): 8th and final day of Chanukah
1870:
Dr. Max Landsberg was chosen to serve as Rabbi at Berith Kodesh in Rochester,
NY. He began serving in that capacity in
March of 1871. Prior to his selection,
the position had been vacant for 2 and a half years. Landsberg’s three predecessors were Marcus
Tuska, Isaac Mayer and Aaron Ginbserg who completed his service in 1868.
1872:
The London Daily Telegraph reported
on a paper presented by George Smith on recent explorations of the Tigris and
Euphrates river valley which should shed further light on the origins of the
ancient Hebrews including the dates for the life of Abraham.
1873: Rabbi Aron Chorin gets married and leaves the rabbinate
for the world of Commerce. The change will be short-lived and will become
the Rabbi in Arad in 1789.
1874: In Posen Louis Kaplan and Minna Margolius gave
birth to Jacob Kaplan who in 1885 came to the United States where he was
“ordained as a rabbi at H.U.C. in 1902 after which he served a congregation New
Mexico before starting in 1926 to serve as the rabbi for Miami’s Temple Israel.
1875(28th of Kislev, 5636): Fourth day of
Chanukah
1875: Birthdate of London native and solicitor Emile
Maurice Marx, a captain in the 1st Sussex Royal Engineers and Mayor
of Brighton from 1903 to 1904.
1875: It was reported today that “an ‘English Jew’ had
recently written an essay modern Judaism in which he asserted that it was
utterly impossible to convert a respectable Jew to Christianity. When it was pointed out to the author that
the Prime Minister of England was a convert to Christianity from Judaism, the
‘English Jew’ claimed that the Disraeli’s father, Isaac, had a quarrel with the
Synagogue about money and that he had left the Synagogue. While the Prime
Minister had somehow become a churchgoer, he had “never been baptized as a
Christian.” [Editor’s note – “The English Jew” was right about Isaac but wrong
about Benjamin. The father had the
children baptized after his falling out with the synagogue.]
1876: Three days after she had passed away Esther
(Brandon) Varicas, the wife of Abraham Varicas was buried today at the “Brompton
(Fulham Road) Jewish Cemetery.
1877(20th of Tevet, 5638): Israel Jones, the
younger brother of Solomon Jones, who became a leader of the Jewish community in Mobile, Alabama as well as serving
on the City Council, passed away today.
1878(30th of Kislev, 5639): Rosh Chodesh Tevet
1878: “A Romance of Rascality” published today described
the life and times of South Carolina’s Franklin J. Moses, “a Jew” who “held his
head high among the planter aristocracy.”
1879(11th of Tevet, 5640): Sarah Reibeiro-Furtado, the daughter of Abraham Furtado,
the President of the Assemblee des Notables passed away in Paris.
1880: “The annual meeting of the patrons and members of the Mount
Sinai Hospital” is scheduled “to be held at the Standard Club” at eleven o’clock
this morning.
1880: Tonight’s “driving snow-storm” did not keep a throng from
filling the Plymouth Church this evening to hear Reverend Henry Ward Beech
deliver his talked entitled “Persecution of the Jews in Germany.”
1880: It was reported today that the growth in attendance at the
opera in New York City is attributable, in part, to the growth of the
German-Jewish population in New York.
After all, the members “of this ancient race were drawn to New York
because of its rapid development in literature, in art and…in operatic music.”
1881: It was reported today that a riot broke out in Warsaw when a
pickpocket who was allegedly a Jew was caught plying his trade during the
recitation of high mass in the Church of the Holy Cross. During the violence four shops owned by Jews
were destroyed and 30 people were injured.
1881: It was reported today that the Directors of Mt. Sinai
Hospital in New York have agreed to provide a doctor to work at the offices of
the Society for the Aid of the Russian Hebrew Immigrants and Refugees. 1881: It
was reported today that during the 3,182 patients were admitted to Mt. Sinai
Hospital, of whom 1,566 were not charged for treatment.
https://www.amazon.com/American-bedlam-Harry-Allen-Gordon/dp/B0007EH9H6
1883: “Georgia In Early Times” published today provided a detailed
review The History of Georgia by Charles C. Jones, Jr. which included a
description of the arrival of the first Jews in 1733. Governor Oglethorpe
championed their cause despite opposition from some of his English supporters
because he saw that as being “peaceful,” “orderly” and industrious.
1885: It was reported today that the population of Sofia has grown
from 15,000 to 25,000 since it became the capital of Bulgaria. Approximately half of the citizens are
Jewish.
1885: Fifty four year old Austrian jurist Julius Anton Glaser who
converted to Christianity passed away today.
1886: Birthdate of Gyula Gömbös the right-wing Hungarian
politician who recanted his anti-Jewish views in order to become his country’s
Prime Minister during the 1930’s,
1886: Paul Heyse, the German-Jewish writer, is one of the “eminent
authors of the 19th century according to Dr. George Brandes, whose book Eminent
authors of the nineteenth century:
Literary portraits was reviewed in today’s New York Times. (Brandes is Georg Morris Cohen Brandes, a Danish
born Jews who was a leading literary critic)
1886: “When To Go Long Or Short” published today traces the career
and financial dealings of Solomon Mopus a Polish born Jew living in New York
City.
1886: In “Mr. Tooker on Religion” published today, Joseph Tooker a
leading New York merchant, writer and theatre managers provided his views on
the celebration of Christmas. Among
other things he believes that the Jewish merchants “are heart glad over every
return of this jubilee season of their Christian fellow-citizens” since “they
make so much money.” He also marveled at
the fact that some Jewish children hang up stockings on Christmas eve which he
sees as an example of “where ignorance is bliss ‘tis folly to be wise.”
1887: In South Carolina, Albert E. Hertz married Laura E. Bonnoitt
today.
1887: It was reported today the society providing financial
support for Mt. Sinai Hospital had grown by 101 during the year and now totaled
3,564.
1888: Moriz Rosenthal, “the eminent pianist” will give a recital
today at the Academy of the Music in New York.
1888: It was reported today that children under the care of the
Hebrew Orphan Asylum will be among those New York youngsters who will attend
upcoming performances of “Little Lord Fauntleroy.”
1889: It was reported today that the Hebrew Free School
Association had assets of $58,682.37 which it uses to support three schools
that are open daily from 3:30 in the afternoon until 6 in the evening.
1889: Birthdate of actor Vladimir Sokoloff, the Moscow native who
went from the Moscow Art Theatre, to Berlin in 1923, Paris in 1932 to avoid the
Nazis and finally to the United States in 1937 where he appeared on Broadway,
television and films that included oddly enough his portrayal of a Filipino in
John Wayne’s “Back to Bataan.”
1889: In St. Louis, George Washington Milius, the Cincinnati born
son of William and Eva Milius and his wife Pauline gave birth to William Stix
Milius
1890: Sixty-year-old Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme
Court William Dunlap Simpson,
who as Governor of South Carolina had pardoned Francis Cardozo, the “son of
Lydia Weston, a free woman of color, and Isaac Nunez Cardozo” and a cousin of
Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo” who had been convicted on trumped up charges of
fraud, passed away today.
1891(25th of Kislev, 5652): First day of Chanukah
1891: In New York, Sarah Rachel Bluestone and Joseph Isaac
Bluestone gave birth to Columbia trained physician Ephraim Michael Bluestone, a
Lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps during WW I, a director of the Hadassah
Hospital in Palestine and director of Montefiore Hospital and the husband of
“the former Rodetsky.
1892: “Our Superstitious Lore” published today described quaint
customs of different national groups including the Jews “who have a custom of
breaking crystal at a wedding to scatter brightness upon the happy pair” and
who like others, “throw rice…to bring” the newlyweds “good fortune.”
1892: It was reported today that of the more than one million
people buried in and around Brooklyn an untold number are buried in Washington
Cemetery in Gravessend which is only used by the Jews.
1892: Birthdate of Dvinsk native Isidor Kadis who in 1905 came to
the United States where he attended the University of Cincinnati and HUC and
became a “field director of the JNF” who worked with Chaim Weizmann and raised
two children with his wife Jean Price Kadis.
1893: Twenty-one year old Louis Topkis, the Odessa born son of
Jacob and Rachel Topkis and leading Delaware businessman married the former
Esther M. Krigstein today.
1894: Today, in France, “many journals urged that the degradation
of Captain Dreyfus should be” done “as a public ceremony.” They say “he should be stripped of his
military honors…on the Longchamps race course or the Vincennes rifle range,
where thousands could witness his disgrace rather than in the privacy of the
barracks.” (The term degradation refers to the formal stripping of ranking and
branding of the convict military officer as a traitor before he his shipped off
to Devils Island.)
1894: “A reception and ball was given by the Progressive Bowling
Club at the Hebrew Young Men’s Hall on Plane Street” tonight.”
1893: Four days after he had passed away, 88 year old Joseph
Isaacs was buried today at the “West Ham Jewish Cemetery” on Buckingham Road.
1894: Oscar S. Straus presided at the third annual meeting of the
American Jewish Historical Society which began this morning at the Arlington
Hotel in Washington, D.C.
1894: According to reports published today the newly elected
officers of the Hebrew Free School Association are President Albert F.
Hochstadter, Vice President Henry Budge and Honorary Secretary Edmund E. Wise
1894: “Loyal Hebrew Children” published today described the
Americanization of Jewish immigrant children from Russia and Romania that takes
place at classes financed by the Baron de Hirsch Fund at the Hebrew Institute
which also include basic academics with an emphasis on English.
1894: In New Orleans, LA, Rabbi Maximilian Heller and Ida Annie
Heller gave birth to Max Heller
1895: The objective of those attending the Hebrew Anarchist “was
to devise ways and means for” promoting Anarchist principles” and their
newspaper Die Freie Gesellschaft (The Free Society)
1895: Toledo native Edward Nathan Calisch and Hebrew Union College
graduate who became rabbi of Congregation Beth Ahabah in Richmond, Virginia in
1891 officiated at a service attended by members of the Travelers Protective
Association which he said the “first instance in which any organization, not
composed of Jewish members, had attended service in a body that house of
worship.”
1895: In Richmond, VA, “members of “Post A, Travelers Protective
Association attended services” today at “Beth Ahabah Synagogue” during which
Rabbi Edward Nathan Calisch said in his sermon “that this was the first
instance in which any organization, not composed entirely of Jewish members had
attended services in a body in that house of worship.
1896: In San Francisco, La Loie Fuller “declined to either confirm
or deny that the report” that she was engaged to New York State Senator Jacob
A. Cantor whom she described as “a dear friend.”
1897(1st of Tevet, 5658): Rosh Chodesh Tevet; Seventh
Day of Chanukah
1897: Birthdate of Sarah “Salle” Blumberg Parnes, the widow of
Harold Solomon Gerstner and Maxwell Parnes and the daughter of David Blumberg,
passed away today after which she was buried in the Mount Ararat Cemetery
1897: The American Jewish Historical Association held its seventh
annual meeting in Philadelphia. The
meeting was chaired by First Vice President Simon W. Rosendale who read a
letter of resignation from the association’s President, Oscar S. Straus who can
no longer fulfill his duties because he is serving as United States Minister at
Constantinople
1897: Founding of the Hebrew Hospital and Asylum Musical
Association which gave concerts at the Hebrew Hospital and the Hebrew Orphan
Asylum and whose members included Dr. Joseph Blum, Mrs. J.J. Seldner and Miss
Hennie Van Leer.
1898: President Albert F. Hochstadter presided over the annual
meeting of the Hebrew Free School Association which was held today at Temple
Emanu-El in New York City. With but one dissenting vote, the association voted
to decide on a plan that would lead to a merger with the Educational Alliance.
The Association had ended the year with a shortfall of $5,000 and it is
believed that the merger might allow the two groups to meet their goals in a
more economic manner. Uriah Hermann volunteered to pay for the new prayer books
needed for the People’s Synagogue
1898: Birthdate of Ernst Fraenkel, German born political
scientist, lawyer and university lecturer who fled Nazi Germany but returned to
Germany after the war and resumed his career.
1899: In New York City Clara and David Mannes gave birth to
Leopold Mannes, the “American musician” who played a leading role in creating
“the first practical color transparency film, Kodachrome.”
1900: Birthdate of Samuel Cashwan, the Russian born American
sculptor whose works include “Aquarius,” “Musicians” and the “Lincoln Memorial
Statue at the Lincoln Consolidated Training School in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
1901: The Fifth Zionist Congress convenes in Basel. The Jewish
National Fund is established. The Jewish Colonial Trust, the monetary arm or
bank of the World Zionist Organization, finally raises sufficient sums to be
established. By the end of the year, 250.000 English Pounds have been
collected.
1902: Birthdate of Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan, the Russian painter
whose work often reflect his Jewish origins.
1902: Final publication of the American Hebrew which would
merge with The Jewish Messenger and resume publication in 1903 as The
American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger
1903: It was reported toady that Lord Rothschild had president
over “a joint meeting of the Foreign Committee and Board of Deputies of the
Anglo-Jewish Association” where reports predicting a renewal of anti-Jewish
outrages at Kishineff” were reviewed and
“it was decided to approach the Foreign Secretary and urge him to take joint action
with the government of the United States for the purpose of averting further
persecution of the Jews in Russia.”
1903: “The Paris correspondent of The Times of London says it will probably be
a few weeks before the Court of Cassation takes up the Dreyfus case.”
1904: It was reported today that the family of Adolph Herschkopf, who
after having served eight years of a life sentence in Sing Sing, was pardoned by
Governor Odell “is glad because the jury judge and prosecuting attorney” have changed
their minds as to the guilt of the Jewish tailor.
Herschkopf was not the most miserable man in New York last night.
He had been employed in the prison tailor shop, and had not felt the touch of
snow on his face since entering the prison gate
1905(28th of Kislev, 5666): Fourth Day of Chanukah
1905: Winston Churchill was approached by a leading Jewish
constituent, Dr. Joseph Dulberg of Manchester, who was seeking British support
for a Jewish national home.
1905: “Jewish Refugees in London” published today described the
arrival “in the last few weeks of hundreds of Russian Jews victims of the
recent onslaughts in South Russia” in the British capital most of whom have
“only a few shillings in their pockets” or are completely penniless and if they
are “fortunate, find work with sweating tailors” that earns them five or six
shillings a week “which enables them to share a night’s lodging…where eight or
ten men sleep on sacks on the floor” and to buy “black bread, a bit of pickled
herring and a cup of bad tea.
1906: Charles Frohman moved “The Beauty of Bath” a musical with
songs by Jerome Kern to the Hicks Theatre where “it ran for a total of 287
performances.”
1907: Months of organizing work by sixteen-year-old Pauline Newman
culminated in the start of the largest rent strike New York City had ever seen.
One reason for the strike's success was Newman's enlistment of neighborhood
housewives. While working-class activists like Newman had to work during the
day, the impassioned housewives that they organized could go from tenement to
tenement to convince others to strike. Thus, the success of the strike depended
on shop floor networks of teenaged girls and on networks of neighborhood
housewives and mothers. The strike, involving 10,000 families in lower
Manhattan, lasted only until January 9, but about 2,000 families succeeded in
having their rents reduced. More importantly, the strike attracted the
attention of leading figures in the settlement house movement who suggested
capping rents at 30% of a family's income. Though their suggestion was not
implemented, it introduced the idea of rent control into New York politics. The
idea stayed alive into the 1930s, when rent control was finally implemented in
New York City. Newman's leadership of the strike began a lifetime of activism.
It brought her to the attention of the Socialist party, which ran her for
secretary of state of New York the following year (despite the fact that women
did not yet have the vote in New York). She used the opportunity to call for
woman's suffrage. Newman also began organizing female garment workers and was a
key organizer in the 1909 Uprising of the 20,000.
1908: In New York City, “Alex and Sarah (Reichick) Elson gave birth
to Washington University trained lawyer Sam Elson, the holder of JSD from Yale
who taught at his alma mater, was a member of the National Conference of
Christians and Jews and was the husband of Getrude Clemens Palmer with whom he
had four children.
1908: Hyman Hirsch and Miriam Phillips Hirsch gave birth to Hyman
Hirsch, Jr. who would only live to the age of 23.
1909: Birthdate of Jersey City, NJ, native Robert S. Marcus, the
City College and Yeshiva University trained rabbi and hold of doctorate of Jurisprudence
from NYU Law School who led congregations in Lawrence and Newburgh, NY before
serving overseas as a chaplain with the Ninth Tactical Air Force where he
worked with concentration camp survivors and returning to the United States
where among other things, he served as the Director of the Department of World
Jewish Affairs of the American Jewish Congress while raising two children with
his wife Fay.
1909(14th of Tevet, 5670): Schaie Gittelsohn passed
away today.
1909: Three days after he had passed away, George Joel Marks, the
son of Solomon Marks and Amelia Joel and the husband of Elizabeth Samuels with
whom he had had ten children was buried today at the “Plashet Jewish Cemetery”
in London.
1909: Dr. Felix Kornfeld and the former Paula Mandle gave birth to
their first child, Peter Kornfeld, the older brother of Ulrich Kornfeld and
brother-in-law of the former Lorie Granitsch.
1909: In London, Hans Leopold Hoff, a “German Jewish merchant” and
his German Lutheran wife gave birth to Australian scholar Ursula Hoff.
1910(25th of Kislev, 5671): Chanukah
1910:
“Rabbi Philip Klein of Ohab Zedek, First Hungarian
Orthodox Congregation” officiated at the wedding of attorney Harris Koppelman
and attorney “Esther Kunstler, the daughter of real estate dealer Felix Kunstler.”
1910: Ten months after Avrohom Bornsztain, founder and first Rebbe
of the Sochatchover Hasidic dynasty” who was “known as the Avnei Nezer
("Stones of the Crown") after the title of his posthumously-published
set of Torah responsa, which is widely acknowledged as a halakhic classic”
passed away, today his wife Sara Tzina passed away leaving their “only son,
Shmuel,” to mourn their passing.
1911: Today, the “Baltimore section of the National Council of Jewish”
voted to withdraw “from the National body” using a resolution that “expressed dissatisfaction
with the administration of the National officers.”
1912: In Portland, OR, Isaac and Ruth Neuberger gave birth to
Senator Richard Neuberger who was succeeded by his wife Maurine who was elected
to the office after his death in 1960.
https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/neuberger_richard_1912_1960_/#.XCGMMfZFx9B
1913(27th of Kislev, 5674): Third Day of Chanukah
1913: In Camden, NJ, the Hebrew Ladies’ Aid Society are making
plans to host their tenth annual reception at Turner Hall in January, 1914.
1913: “Atlantis” a Danish film featuring future award winning director
Michael Curitz in one of his early acting appearances was released today.
1914: In New York City, Leo Simonson, “a successful wigmaker for
the theatre and movies businesses” and Irene Simonson, a member of the family
that owned the Illinois Watch Case Company” gave birth to gold medal winning
chess champion Albert Charles Simonson
1914: “Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy, took immediate
steps today to obtain verification of reports that the USS North Carolina,
which was on its way to deliver aid to the Jews of Jaffa had threatened to
bombard Tripoli when “a mob attempted to prevent the departure of an American
merchant vessel” carrying refugees.
1915: In St. Louis, Rabbi Max Heller of New Orleans was the
principal speaker at today’s session of 24th annual assembly of the
Jewish Chautauqua Society.
1915: In an attempt to
“weaken Russia internally, the authorities in Berlin handed Russian Jewish
Bolshevik, Alexander Helphand, a million rubles to spread anti-war propaganda
through Russia.
1915: Having fallen too ill to be treated at Alexandria,
Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson arrived in London today leaving Joseph
Trumpeldor, the Jewish veteran of the Russian army, in command of the Zion Mule
Corps.
1915: A list those who have contributed to “the American Jewish
Relief Committee which is raising $5,000,000 for the Jewish suffers of the war” and plan on
contributing more is scheduled to be prepared today.
1915: In speaking at Temple Beth-El in New York, Rabbi Schulman
“advocated the plan of the League to Enforce Peace as the only suggestion yet
put forward which promised peace-loving nations a method of escape from the
necessity of arming themselves to avoid conquest by aggressive nations.”
1915: The second annual conference of Young Judeans which had been
opened by Rabbi David De Sola Pool opened yesterday with a speech “on the
subject of Judaism in America and the patriotism of the Jews” continued for a
second day.
1915: Admit reports of possible general strike in New York at the
beginning of 1916, “Dr. Felix Adler, Chairman of the Arbitration Committee
appointed by the May at the suggestion of Jacob Schiff to which both the
garment workers and manufacturers agreed to submit their differences said”
tonight “that the committee had no notification that a strike of 85,000 workers
was at hand.”
1915: It was reported today that after the Russian forces
retreated from Brest-Litovsk ending the destructive battle around the city, the
refugees who had been hiding in the swamps, most of whom were Jews sick with
“malignant diseases” “began to straggle back into the city.”
1915: “Henry Fisher, Chairman of the Brooklyn Jewish Volunteer
Relief Committee…announced” tonight “at the headquarters at 16 Manhattan Avenue
that the street collections of the day amounted to $5,000.”
1915: “The Bath Beach division of the Brooklyn Jewish Volunteer
Relief Committee for War Sufferers obtained contributions amount to $1,034 in a
house to house canvass” today.
1915: Dr. J. L. Magnes said tonight that “the most recent report
from Russia was that the 3,500,000 Jews” many of whom were being driven from
place to place without food and shelter “were in need of assistance.
1916(1st of Tevet, 5677): Rosh Chodesh Tevet, Seventh
Day of Chanukah
1916: In New Orleans, the Jewish Chautauqua Society led by
Chancellor Berkowitz of Philadelphia met for a fifth day today in New Orleans
1916: It was reported today that the movement to hold a congress
to demand the removal of civil and political disabilities imposed on Jews has
been one of the most widely debated movements in the history of the Jews” of
the United States and developed divisions of opinion with Louis Marshal, Jacob
H. Schiff and Oscar S. Straus and “others in the American Jewish Committee
opposed to idea of such a congress” and another group led by Justice Louis
Brandeis, Judge Hugo Pam and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise” favoring the convening of
such a congress in the United States.
1916: In a protest against the high cost of kosher beef, nearly
3,000 shops refused to receive or sell kosher meat today. “Many kosher butchers
closed theirs shops and put up signs in their windows reading ‘Because of the
high prices on kosher-killed products, this shop will be closed until further
notice.’”
1916: Inspectors working for Joseph Hartigan, New York City’s
Commissioner of Weights and Measures, reported to him tonight that the people
had virtually all stopped buying kosher meat.
1917: Orthodox rabbis in Jerusalem establish the Ashkenazi
Community Council to oppose the Zionist dominated City Council of Jerusalem
Jews.
1917: The Menorah Quintennial Convention, a gathering of the
leaders of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, which Israel Zangwill said
he could not attend, was scheduled to open today in New York.
1917: Fresh Turkish troops attack the British hoping to take back
Jerusalem. After eight hours of fierce
nighttime combat, the British beat them back.
1917(11th of Tevet, 5678): Ninety-two year old Henry
Sonneborn a “manufacturer” passed away in Baltimore, MD.
1917: Twenty-two year old Cleveland born featherweight Danny Frush
fought and won his fifth bout leaving him with a record of four wins and one
loss.
1918: Following the British elections, Churchill wrote Prime
Minister Lloyd George cautioning him against appointing three Jews to a cabinet
that had only seven openings. This was not based on any anti-Semitic feelings
on Churchill’s part. He was merely
expressing concerns for the reality of British politics at a time when Lloyd
George needed to build a broadly supported government that could “win the
peace” now that the World War had been won.
In the end, Lloyd George appointed only one Jew to the first post-war
cabinet.
1919:
Sir John Monash, Australia’s ranking General on the
Western Front in World War I, who served with great distinction, returned home
to a hero’s welcome. Monash was the son of a German-Jewish couple who had
arrived in Australia two years before Monash’s birth.
1919: Birthdate of Sam Aaronovitch, the native Londoner who became
a leading economist and a “senior member of the Communist Party of Great
Britain.
1919: Harry Frazee, owner of the Boston Red Sox, sold Babe Ruth to
the New York Yankees. Boston fans never forgave Frazee for the sale of the
Bambino which was the start of the Yankee dynasty. On top of everything else Frazee was one of
those gentiles who had the dubious distinction of being smeared for being
Jewish. “The Dearborn Independent, a newspaper published by one of this
nation’s most infamous anti-Semites, automobile pioneer Henry Ford, published
an article titled “The Jewish Degradation of Baseball”, which insisted that
Frazee was a Jew, that he was out to “get” Ban Johnson and that he was part of
a grand Jewish conspiracy designed to place Organized Baseball under Jewish
control. Frazee was in fact Presbyterian and a Mason and, though he was not
Jewish, being a Freemason branded him guilty by association. The Protocols
of the Elders of Zion, a forgery originating in Russia that detailed a
Jewish plot to dominate the world, claimed that Jews and Freemasons were acting
in concert. Judaism and Freemasonry were so intertwined in Europe, even as far
back as the 1860s, that the Nazis eventually adopted the slogan “All Masons
Jews—All Jews Masons,” and Hitler abolished Freemasonry in Germany in 1935.
But, as evidenced by Ford and his newspaper, bigotry wasn’t just endemic of
Europe, and Organized Baseball certainly was no stranger to it.”
1920: The 29th annual assembly of the Jewish Chautauqua
Society is scheduled to being today in Cleveland, Ohio.
1920: The Intercollegiate Zionist Association is scheduled to hold
its annual convention today at Columbia University.
1921(25th of Kislev, 5682): First Chanukah celebrated
during the Presidency of Warren Harding.
1921(25th of Kislev, 5682): Eighty-three-year-old James
Martin Eder, the Russian born son of “Martin Sass Eder and Dorina Kaiser” the
Harvard Law School student and wife of London born Elizabeth “Lizzie” Benjamin
who was known as Santiago Martín Eder Kaiser, the founder of the Columbian
sugar industry,
1921: “School Days,” a comedy produced by Harry Rapf was relased
today in the United States.
1923: One day after he had passed away, 52 year old Samuel Lewis
was buried today at the Crumpsall Jewish Cemetery.”
1923: In Washington, DC, “Prussian born Protestant botanist” Ernst
Artschwager and the former Eugenia Brodsky, a Ukrainian born Jewish designer
game birth to painter and sculptor Richard Ernst Artschwager.
1924: Birthdate of Israeli
spy Eli Cohen. Since we cannot do
justice to this heroic figure you might want to go to http://www.elicohen.org/
for more information about his contribution to the survival of the Jewish
state.
1925: “Lady Windermere’s Fan” a silent film version of the stage
play by the same name directed, produced and edited by Ernst Lubitsch was
released today.
1926: “A benefit concert of Hebrew music was given under the
auspices of the League of Zionists-Revisionists at Carnegie Hall this evening”
featuring performances by Eugenia Eranow, soprano; Leon Cortilli, tenor; Yascha
Fishberg, violinist; Gdal Saleski, cellist; Ignace Hilsberg, Isidor Gorn, Max
Barnett and William Sauber, pianists, and Naum Zemach of the Moscow Theatre
Habima.
1927: Birthdate of Alan
King. King was equally adept as a comedic actor and as monologist. One of his most famous lines was, “It is not
how long you live, but how well you live” that counts. After uttering that bon
mot, he would take a deep, long pull on his signature cigar and give you that
knowing smile. His philanthropic commitments included founding the Alan King
Diagnostic Medical Center in Jerusalem, establishing a scholarship fund for
American students at Hebrew University, and establishing a Dramatic Arts Chair
at Brandeis University. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the
Long Island Jewish Medical Center. He passed away in 2004.
1928: During “the first public meeting of the American Academy for
Jewish Research at the Jewish Theological Seminary,” D.S. Blondheim, the
secretary of the academy read a paper prepared by Professor Max L. Margolis of
Dropsie College that provided a plan for the preparation of “an authoritative
edition of the Hebrew text of the Scriptures” that would involve “forty
scholars in Europe, Asia and America working for ten years.”
1929(24th of Kislev, 5690): In the evening, kindle the
first light of Chanukah during the first year of The Great Depression
1930: The Jewish Daily Bulletin reported today that four Jews will
sit as judges of the Cleveland Municipal Court during the coming year, as a
result of the appointment this week by Governor Myers V. Cooper of Maurice J.
Meyer and Alfred L. Steur to fill vacancies on the Municipal Court bench where
they will join the other two Jewish judges -- Jacob Stacel and Mary D.
Grossman.
1931: U.S. premiere of “Arrowsmith” the film version of the novel
by the same name produced by Samuel Goldwyn with music by Alred Newman.
1931: George and
Ira Gershwin's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical play "Of Thee I Sing"
premieres on Broadway
1931: “Mata Haria” a movie about the WW I spy produced by Irving
Thalberg with a script by Leo Birinsky and Benjamin Glazer was released in the
United States today.1933: U.S. premiere of “Queen Christina” a film treatment
of the life of Queen Christina of Sweden produced by Walter Wanger with a
script by S.N. Behrman and Ben Hecht.
1932(27th of Kislev, 5693): Third Day of Chanukah
1932: The NBC Blue Network broadcast episode five of “Flywheel,
Shyster, and Flywheel” starring Chico and Groucho Marx.
1934: “Pipe Paid” with a script by Viola Brothers Shore opened
today on Broadway at the Ritz Theatre.
1934: In London, “Barnett Samuel, a solicitor a and Minna
Nerenstein, a composer and partner in Jewish publishers Shapiro, Valentine”
gave birth to Raphael
Elkan Samuel, the Marxist and Professor of History at the University of East
London who left the Communist Party when the Soviets crushed the Hungarians in
1956 and who was the husband of historian Alison Light.
https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/obituary-raphael-samuel-5588939.html
1934: Anna Birshtein married Louis Geffen. Anna’s uncle was a
rabbi and Louis was the son of Tobias Geffen had been who had been an orthodox
rabbi in Atlanta, GA, since 1910. Geffen
and his brother Samuel formed the Atlanta law firm of Geffen and Geffen, a firm
founded out of the need for the brothers to be able to practice law while
remaining observant Jews.
1935: “The mobilization of world Jewry to resist the establishment
of a Legislative Council in Palestine to combat the menace of the ‘disgraceful
Nuremberg laws’ of the Hitler regime was ordered today by the executive of the
World Zionist Organization” headed by Dr. Chaim Weizmann.
1936(12th of Tevet, 5697): Parashat Vayechi
1936: A delegation of American Jewish labor leaders including
Joseph Schlossberg, Max Zaritzky, Isador Nagler, Reuben Guskin, Samuel
Perlmutter and Joseph Brislaw is scheduled to set sail for Europe today where
members are going “to confer with experts in France, England, and Poland on the
Jewish labor movement in Palestine.”
1936: Founding of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. The Polish
born violinist Bronislaw Huberman is credited with founding the orchestra. It was originally called the Palestine
Philharmonic Orchestra but changed its name after the founding of the state of
Israel.
1936: In Tel Aviv, Arturo Toscanini, who had fled Mussolini’s
Italy, conducted the first performance of the Palestine Philharmonic. At the
end of the concert Bronislaw Huberman, declared that “Nothing could describe
this concert except the word divine."
1936: Founding of the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra, now known
as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the leadership of Bronislaw
Huberman. “The orchestra, first
conducted by Arturo Toscanini, debuted after a struggle that also involved
Albert Einstein, Chaim Weizmann and a characteristically defiant David
Ben-Gurion.
Huberman’s epic quest is the subject of the new
documentary “Orchestra of Exiles,” a real-life tale of Jewish musicians in need
of a home, and a nascent country in need of an orchestra.
1936: It was announced today that ten thousand dollars had been
pledged to ORT by the American Committee Appeal for the Jews in Poland at a
dinner hosted by Samuel Lamport who had pledged five hundred dollars in his own
right.
1936: Birthdate of Kitty
Dukakis the Jewish wife of U.S. Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.
1937: The Palestine Post
reported that over 1,000 British troops, police and troopers of the Transjordan
police force, spent Christmas under pouring rain in a raging battle in the Wadi
Hamud area, north-west of Tiberias, where nearly forty Arab terrorists were
killed. The troops and police suffered five wounded.
1937: The Palestine Post
reported that Taleb Nanini, a local notable, was killed by an Arab terrorist in
his village of Akraba. Yehuda Mintz and his two sons, Isaac, 35, and Eliahu,
27, watchmen of the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives were wounded on
their way to work. In Haifa, Private Mott, a British soldier of the Essex
Regiment, picked up a bomb with a burning fuse and threw it off the pavement,
saving by his bold action lives of numerous passersby.
1938: Harold Goldblatt presided over the second session Avukah’s
three day conference being held at the Hotel Claridge.
1938: In Montreal, Sarah and Jack Lev gave birth to Judy Feld
Carr, the “Canadian woman” who “would rescue more than three thousand five
hundred Syrian Jews between 1975 and 2000.” (As reported by Jewish Women’s
Archives)
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/carr-judy-feld
1939(14th of Tevet, 5700): Fifty-four year old Romanian
born University of Michigan Professor of Economics, Max Handman, who had earned
his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Oregon and Ph.D. at the University
of Chicago in 1917 after which served as a professor of sociology and economics
at several universities including Texas and Minnesota passed away today from
the effects of heart attack he suffered “while listening to a radio broadcast
of the declaration of war by Great Britain against Germany.”
1940(26th of Kislev, 5701): On the second day of
Chanukah, 89-year-old Daniel Frohman, the “Jewish American theatrical producer
and manager and early film producer’ passed away today.
1940: U.S. premiere of “The Philadelphia Story” a romantic comedy
directed by George Cukor, produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, filmed by
cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg with music by Franz Waxman.
1940(26th of Kislev, 5701): One day after her 71st
birthday, Chicago native Benvenida Solis Firth, the daughter of Moses and
Esther Ritterband and the wife of Emil Firth passed away today in Beverly
Hills.
1940: The British government suspended the quota for legal
immigration for three months, thus halting all immigration until March, 1941.
1940: The Broadway production lf “My Sister Eileen” written by
Joseph A. Field and Jerome Chodorov and directed by George S. Kaufman opened at
the Biltmore Theatre today.
1940: Birthdate of record producer Phil Spector.
1941: The USS Blue,
which had not been sunk or damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor thanks to
the efforts of Ensign Nathan Asher, a graduate of the Naval Academy who took
command U.S.S. Blue since the skipper
was ashore” unloaded supplies at Midway which would be the scene of the pivotal
battle in June of 1942.
1942: The U.S. Army Medical Corps completed establishing an
evacuation hospital at Tlemcen, the Algerian city whose “most important place
pilgrimage of all religions was the Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of town.”
1942: “Marine in the Making” an Oscar nominated documentary filmed
by cinematographer Richard Freyer (born Morris Kolsky) was released today.
1943: “The American Jewish Conference, 521 Fifth Avenue, today
urged intensified efforts to rescue the Jews of Europe and criticized Assistant
Secretary of State Breckinridge Long's report to the House Committee on Foreign
Affairs on rescue measures taken since the discussions in Bermuda.”
1944: During WW II, the Red Army and the Romanian completed their
encirclement of Budapest, a city which had lost most of its Jewish population
to Auschwitz.
1945: The Jewish Agency charges that Palestinian government has
stopped issuing immigration certificates despite British foreign minister
Ernest Bevin's declaration that monthly quota would be permitted.
1946: Diamond factories in Natanya and Tel Aviv are raided,
reportedly by Jews who would have been using the proceeds of the raid to
finance the fight against the British.
1946: Peter H. Bergson, Hebrew Committee of National Liberation,
formed exile government for Hebrew Republic of Palestine in France. In the wake
of British intransigence, he promises a revolt.
1946: Zero Mostel opened in tonight’s Broadway premier of
“Beggar’s Holiday” a musical which Dale Wasserman would update and present with
the Marin Theatre company in 2004.
1946:
Bronislaw Huberman the Polish born violinist who was President and founder of
the Palestine Symphony Orchestra returned as a soloist performing in Tel Aviv
on the tenth anniversary of Arturo Toscanini’s first appearance as conductor of
the orchestra.
1947:
The second radio broadcast series of “The Thin Man” which was produced by Himan
Brown came to an end today.
1947:
The SS Abril left New York today
bound for France sailing under a Honduran flag and operated by the American Sea
and Air Volunteers for Hebrew Repatriation, an offshoot of the American League
for Free Palestine and the Hebrew Committee for National Liberation
1947:
“Good News” a musical with a screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green was
released in the United States today.
1947:
Birthdate of Israeli soccer player Manacham Bello.
1947(13th of Tevet, 5708): Hans Beyth, a central figure in
welcoming newly arrived immigrant children to Eretz Israel, was one of seven
Jews killed by Arab snipers as they traveled in convey coming from the coast up
to Jerusalem. Beyth had just completed arrangements for the care of 20,000
young survivors of the Holocaust and other youngsters from Europe.
1947: Golda Meyerson, acting head of the Jewish Agency’s Political
Department escaped injury today when the convoy in which she was traveling came
under attack by Arabs.
1947: One Jew was killed and two were wounded today when Arabs
attacked a Jewish patrol at Imara in the Negev.
1947: A four-year-old Jewish girl, whose name has not been made
public was killed today a bullet in Tel Aviv.
The assailant has not been identified.
1947: Lazar Kaganovich completed his second term as First Secretary
of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
1947: In Jerusalem, an Arab Legion truck that had illegally
entered the city, was fired on by Jews manning a Haganah outpost. No casualties were reported by either side.
1948: Despite defending itself against a war of annihilation,
immigrants keep coming as can be seen by the fact that today; Israel greeted
the arrival of its 100,000th immigrant since its declaration of
statehood in May.
1948: The International Ladies' Garment Workers, Union (of
American Federation of Labor) donates $250,000 and lends another $500,000 to
Israel.
1948: A six plane formation of Spitfires arrived in Israel from
Czechoslovakia.
1948(24th of Kislev, 5709): In the evening, the
Chanukah light is kindled for the first time in almost 2,000 years in an
independent Jewish state.1948: The Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, which had
been meeting in Tel Aviv moves to Jerusalem.
1948: As Israel clandestinely moved aircraft from Czechoslovakia
to the fighting front, Jack “Cohen led” fellow pilots Sinclair, Ruch, Jacobs,
Schroeder, and Finkel across the sea. Cohen flew Spitfire 2014, the plane that
he, as test pilot and flight leader, considered the worst. Just after take-off,
Cohen had to turn 2014 around and land again. A flap on the cowling had come
open and he returned to have it secured after which he rejoined the others.
1948: King Abdullah of Jordan attended a Palestinian conference in Ramallah that “declared its
support for the Jericho Conference resolution, calling for unification of the
two banks of the Jordan under the Hashemite crown.” (And that is what happened. The West Bank and the Old City of Jerusalem
were annexed by Transjordan which changes its name to Jordan. No state of Palestine was created or
contemplated by a large swath of the Arab leadership.)
1949(5th of Tevet, 5710): Sixty-five-year-old Philadelphia,
PA native Leon Schlesinger, the motion picture producer “behind Warner Bros.
cartoons of the 1930’s and 1940’s” who “oversaw the creation of Bugs Bunny,
Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Elmer Fudd” and who was the husband of Bernice
Schlesinger passed away today.
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/classic/leon-schlesingers-obituary-6088.html
1950: It was reported today that “German rearmament has been
sharply attacked in the Knesset, most of who 127 members have mourned kinsmen
murdered by the Nazis.”
1951: “Double Dynamite,” a comedy “based on a story by Leo
Rosten,” with a screenplay co-authored by Mel Shavelson and starring Groucho
Marx was released today in the United States.
1951: Birthdate of Roslyn, NY and Barnard College Columbia
University School of Journalism trained “sportswriter” and author who has
written books about Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth and the worlds
that produced them.
1952: The Jerusalem Post
reported that the Mapam Council voted, by 232 to 49, to support a very carefully
worded "protest" against the Czech anti-Zionist trials and activities
while identifying itself completely with "the world's revolution."
The Sneh-Riftin bloc justified the trials and advocated a complete acceptance
of the accusations.
1953(20th of Tevet, 5714): Eighty-two year old Lee
Shubert, the Lituanian born eldest of seven brothers who build the Shubert
theatrical empire passed away today.
http://www.shubertfoundation.org/about/brothers.asp
1953: Monnett B. Davis passed away while serving as the second
U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
1953(20th of Tevet, 5714): Dr. Alexander Marx, the director
libraries and Jacob H. Schiff Professor of History at the Jewish Theological
Seminary passed away today at the age of 75.
A native of Germany, Marx served in the Prussian Army and earned his
Ph.D. in 1903 following which he came to the United States where he took up his
position with JTS. When he arrived, the library contained 5,000 volumes. At the
time of his death, the collection had grown to 144,000 books and 8,000
manuscripts making it one of the finest collections of Judaica in the world.
1954: ABC broadcast the final episode of “What’s Going On” a gameshow
created and produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman.
1955: “Storm over the Nile” based on “The Four Feathers” directed
and produced by Zoltan Korda, with music by Benjamin Frankel and co-starring
Laurence Harvey was released today in the United Kingdom.
1956: Birthdate of Yehudit Ravitz, the native of Beersheba and
member of “Sheshet” who is a successful singer-songwriter, composer and music
producer.
1956: Los Angeles premiere of “This is Baby Doll” a dark comedy
starring Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach and filmed by cinematographer Boris Kaufamn.
1959(25th of Kislev, 5720): Chanukah and Parshat
Vayeshev
1960: “Do Re Mi” a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by
Betty Comden and Adolph Green, with a cast that included Phil Silvers and Al
Lewis “opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre” today.
1961: From February 17, 1952 through today, Dolph Schayes played
in 706 games setting an NBA record for not missing a single game.
1962: “David and Lisa” the movie based on Jordi, Lisa and David by
Theodore Isaac Rubin starring Janet Margolin and Howard Da Silva was released
in the United States.
1963(10th of Tevet, 5724): Asara B’Tevet
1963: “Act One,” the film version of the Moss Hart autobiography
directed and produced by Dore Schary who also wrote the script and featuring
Sam Levene,George Segal, Jack Klugman and Eli Wallach was released today in the
United States.
1963(10th of Tevet, 5724): A year after the death of
his son John, 83 year old, Jacob J. Shubert, the Lithuanian born son of David
Schubart and Katrina Helwitz and the
last of the three Shubert Brothers who created a mini theatrical empire passed
away today.
1964: The Buffalo Bills defeated Sid Gillman’s San Diego Chargers
in the American Football League Championship Game.
1965(3rd of Tevet, 5726): Eighth Day of Chanukah
1965: Today “at the 38th annual meeting of the American
Academy for Jewish Research, Norman Gold, an assistant professor of Medieval
Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago, announced the discovery of a
document that “bears the date of 1020” which “he called the oldest extant legal
document of the Jews in Sicily” and which he said “showed that a community of
Jews flourished in Syracuse under the Arabs before the Norman conquest of the
island in 1080.”
1965: "Funny Girl" with Barbra Streisand closes on
Broadway. The Broadway hit had a Jewish diva
portraying Fanny Brice, the Jewish comedic star of the Follies and radio-fame.
1967(24th of Kislev, 5728): In the evening kindle the
first Chanukah candle
1968(5th of Tevet, 5729): Arthur Fellig, known
by his pseudonym Weegee passed away.
http://backflashes.tumblr.com/post/15053833751/weegee-was-the-pseudonym-of-arthur-fellig-june
1968(5th of Tevet, 5729): Fifty-year old Leon
Shirdan, a marine biologist from Haifa was murdered today when two Palestinian
terrorists attacked El Al Flight 253
when it stopped in Athens on its way to New York.
1969: Operation Rooster 53 was launched at 9 p.m. as A-4 Skyhawks
and F-4 Phantoms began attacking Egyptian forces along the western bank of the
Suez Canal and Red Sea which provided cover for three Aérospatiale Super
Frelons, carrying Israeli paratroopers, made their way west towards the
communication network which was their ultimate target.
1970(28th of Kislev, 5731): Parashat Miketz, Fourth Day
of Chanukah
1970(28th of Kislev, 5731): Seventy-nine year old
University of Maryland trained physician George Piness, the Odessa born son of
Louis and Sara Piness and husband of the former Hortense Weil passed away
today.
1971: In New York the 22nd national convention of the
Farband, which “finally
brought about the merger of Farband, Poalei Zion, and
the American Habonim Association” came to an end.
1972: Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States
passed away in Kansas City, Mo. Truman’s
activist, anti-Communist policy and his progressive domestic program earned
Truman the support of Jewish voters. But
his greatest moment, from a strictly Jewish perspective, came when he decided
that the U.S. would support the creation of the state of Israel and
single-handedly ensured that the U.S. was the first nation to recognize the new
Jewish state
1973(1st of Tevet, 5734): Rosh Chodesh Tevet and 7th
Day of Chanukah
1974(12th of Tevet, 5735): Comedian Jack Benny passed away at age
80
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jack-benny
1976(5th of Tevet, 5737): Fifty-seven year old Western
Electric general manager David Kass, the husband of “the former Hortense
Tackler” passed away today.
1977: The Jerusalem Post
reported from Ismailia that Prime Minister Menachem Begin, after a meeting with
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, saw "peace in a few months." Begin
had also expressed his anger and disappointment with Knesset members who leaked
details of his peace plan before he could hand it over to Sadat. The Egyptian
president described the meeting as "one of the happiest days of his
life" and added that he was now ready for full ties and normalization with
Israel.
1977(16th of Tevet, 5738): Seventy-five year old
University of Chicago trained attorney Benjamin Barnard Davis, the Lithuanian
born son of Max and Dora Flaxman and husband of Janice Muller with whom he had
one son – Muller Davis – who was a partner in several law firms including
Davis, Jones and Baer passed away today.
1978: Birthdate of Alan Senitt, a British political activist and
volunteer in the campaign of Virginia’s Mark Warner. Senitt was stabbed to death in Washington,
D.C. defending his female campaign co-worker from street thugs.
1981: “The Prince and the Aviator” directed by Jerry Adler and
featuring Ellen Greene opened at the Alvin Theatre.
1982: The New York Times
published a review of Leon Blum by Jean Lacouture.
1984: “Mrs. Soffel” a prison moved produced by Scott Rudin and
featuring Maury Chaykin was released today in the United States.
1985: It was reported today that “Moscow may restore diplomatic
ties with Israel and dramatically increase the number of Jews permitted to
immigrate to Israel, according to reports of a conversation between a
representative of an American Jewish group and a Soviet diplomat. The Jewish
representative met a few days ago with an unidentified Soviet official who
predicted the restoration of full Soviet-Israeli diplomatic relations and an
increase in emigration to Israel.
1985: One person was injured in terrorist bombing that took placed
out of a restaurant in Tel Aviv.
1987(5th of Tevet, 5748): Parashat Vayigash
1987: Sixty-five year old U of Pennsylvania Phi Beta Kappa graduate
Hershel Johan Matt, the Minneapolis, MN, born son of Rabbi Calman David Matt
and Lena Matt, who after earning a MHL from JTS and receiving Semicha at JTS
went to lead several congregations while raising four children – Jonathan,
Daniel, David and Deborah—with his wife Gustine passed away today.
1988: Benjamin Netanyahu began serving as Deputy Foreign Minister
1989(28th of Kislev, 5750): Fourth Day of Chanukah
celebrated for the first time during the Presidency of George Bush.
1990: Tele 5, a Spanish
television station, is scheduled to broadcast an interview with President
Hussein that had been taped on December 22nd in Baghdad during which
the Iraqi leaders says Tel Aviv will be Iraq's first target if war breaks out
in the Persian Gulf.
1991: Robert S. Strauss began serving as the United States
Ambassador to Russia during the Presidency of George H.W. Bush
1992: New York Jet announcer Marty Glickman retires at 75
1992:
The standoff between Lebanon and Israel over the fate
of 415 Palestinian deportees trapped in a snow-covered valley in southern
Lebanon, continued today as both sides again rejected appeals to allow relief
agencies to deliver food or medicine. Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, whose
Government has blocked relief assistance from reaching the group, asked
Washington to intervene with Israel to allow aid to reach the Palestinians. But
at the same time, his Government turned down a request by the deportees to give
the ill and injured treatment in Lebanese hospitals. An envoy of Yasir Arafat,
chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said he supported the Lebanese
Government's decision to refuse entrance to the men.(As reported by Chris
Hedges)
1993: Comedian Rodney Dangerfield weds Joan Child.
1994: The French now suffer the fate of the Israelis at Entebbe
when an Air France Flight is hijacked by four members of the Armed Islamic
Group.
1996: Eighty year old actress Eleanor Lynn, a star in Clifford
Odets’ “Rocket to the Moon” who was the wife of movie executive Morris Helprin
and the mother of novelist and journalist Mark Helprin passed away today.
1997(27th of Kislev, 5758): Third Day of Chanukah
1999: The New York Times
book section includes a review of My
First 79 Years by Isaac Stern with Chaim Potok.
2000(29th of Kislev, 5761): Eighty-seven years old Felicia
Shpritzer who was the first woman to earn “sergeant’s stirpes” in the NYPD
passed away today.
2001: In Moscow, a monument honoring Shalom Aleichem was unveiled
at a public ceremony attended by Nathan Meron, the Israeli Ambassador. The Moscow newspapers reporting the event
described Solomon Rabinovich as “the great Russian Jew” and “a sagacious
writer.”
2001: Benyamin Ben-Eliezer won the Labor primaries that were held
today.
2002: “The Hours” a film version of a novel by the same name
produced by Scott Rudin was released today in the United States.
2002: In “The Cultural Spoils of War,” Ronald Lauder the chairman of the Commission for Art Recovery and
co-chairman of the Research Project on Art and Archive describes attempts to
reclaim and return cultural treasures stolen during the Holocaust.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/26/opinion/the-cultural-spoils-of-war.html
2003(1st of Tevet, 5764): Rosh Chodesh Tevet
2003: “The Company” a ballet movie with a
screenplay by Barbara Turner was released in the United States today.
2004: Sir Martin Gilbert “argues that Bush and
Blair may one day be seen as akin to Roosevelt and Churchill. (Editor’s note –
even the great ones get it wrong once in a while)
2004(14th of Tevet, 5765): Ninety-five year old
Simon “Si” Gerson a leading member of the Communist Party USA whose political
activism spanned 7 decades passed away today.
2005:
“Builders Reveal Hidden Synagogue and Dark Era of Portugal's Past” published
today describes the fate of Medieval Jewish Community of Porto.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/26/international/europe/26portugal.html
2006:
Two boys, both 14, were injured about 9 p.m. when a Qassam rocket landed in the
street near where they were walking. Both were treated by Magen David Adom
paramedics and taken to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. A total of eight
Qassams were fired at Israel during the day, the most in a single day since the
cease-fire was declared about a month ago. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility
for firing the missiles from the Gaza Strip at the western Negev town. One of
the Qassams fired at Israel Tuesday landed in the industrial area in south
Ashkelon, close to a strategic infrastructure installation.
2006:
About Alice by Calvin Trillin, “a slightly expanded version of the essay
Alice, Off the Page” was published today.
https://www.amazon.com/About-Alice-Calvin-Trillin/dp/1400066158
2007
(17 Tevet): Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Aaron Zelig Ben Joel Feivush, author of Toldot
Aaron and Rabbi Yaakov Wolf Krantz, Maggid of Dubna
2008: HaTzofe (The Observer) printed its last
edition today.
2008: Closing session of the Hazon
Jewish food conference in Pacific Grove, California.
2008:
The New York Times publishes a review
of Searching for Schindler by Thomas Keneally
2008:
“Waltz With Bashir” opens in selected movie theatres across the United States.
2008: The final
decision to launch Operation Cast Lead was made on this morning, when Barak met
with Chief of Staff General Gabi Ashkenazi, the head of the Shin Bet Security
Service Yuval Diskin and the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate,
Amos Yadlin
2008:
In “Author
Defends Disputed Memoir,” Dave Itzkoff describes the controversy surrounding
the soon to be published Angel at the Fence by Herman Rosenblat.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7D6103AF934A15751C1A96E9C8B63
2009: The Gilad Barkan Band, led by Israeli native
Gilad Barkan, appears at the Café Vivaldi in New York City. Barkan's band
includes Israeli flutist Amir Milstein, co-leader of Bustan Abraham, who bestows
the music with a mesmerizing and soulful new dimension.
2009: Itamar Jobani makes his final appearance at the
“Open Studios: Artist at Work program hosted by New
York’s Museum of Art and Design.
2009: The Israeli military killed
six Palestinians today, three in the West Bank whom it accused of killing a
Jewish settler and three in Gaza who it said were crawling along the border
wall planning an attack. It was the deadliest day in the conflict in nearly a
year.
2010: The
Gateways Winter retreat at Whippany, NJ came to an end.
2010: Klezcamp
is scheduled to open today in the Catskills. Henry Sapoznik, a Ukrainian
cantor’s son who founded KlezKamp in 1984, calls it a “Yiddish Brigadoon.”
2010: The Los
Angeles Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest
to Jewish readers including Letters: Saul Bellow edited by Benjamin
Taylor and When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save
Soviet Jewry by Gal Beckerman
2010: The New
York Times featured
reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers
including Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda
2010: IDF troops, with the help
of a helicopter gunship, fired on insurgents who detonated an explosive device
against a passing Israeli patrol near the border in the southern Gaza Strip
today.
2010: Opening day of the Limmud
Conference, the British Jewish community’s answer to the Edinburgh Festival,
which celebrates its 30th anniversary this week at the University of Warwick in
Coventry.
2010: Today,
the Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by Israeli settlers requesting it
postpone again a long-awaited order to evict an apartment building they
constructed illegally in a predominantly Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem.
2011: For the first time ever, Jews in the I-380 corridor
will have a chance to light a menorah made from bowling pins at the
Chabad-Lubavitch Chanukah Bowl under the
direction of Rabbi Avremel & Chaya Blesofsky
2011: The final performance of The Kinsey Sicks in Oy Vey
in a Manger is scheduled to take place tonight in Washington, D.C.
2011: Singer, composer, guitarist, and living exponent of
Sephardic music Gerard Edery is scheduled to perform at the 6th
Street Synagogue Center for Jewish Arts and Literacy as part of Sephardic Music
Festival in NYC
2011(30th of Kislev, 5772): Rosh Chodesh Tevet
2011: A police officer was wounded as clashes erupted between
ultra-Orthodox Jews in two separate neighborhoods in Beit Shemesh.
2011: The Foreign Ministry warned that Israel's possible
recognition of the Armenian genocide, which was discussed in a Knesset
committee today, could lead to the serious deterioration of Israel's ties with
Turkey.
2011: Thirty-nine-year-old Maya Amsellem is scheduled to
marry 42 year old Israeli actor Lior Ashkenazi. (As reported by Jada Yuan)
2012: Inebriated gondoliers vying for the throne of
Barataria are scheduled to take over the Hirsch Theater at Jerusalem’s Beit
Shmuel starting today, with the next Gilbert and Sullivan production from the
Encore Educational Theater Company.(As reported by Jessica Steinberg
2012: “Zaytoun” a film about a downed Israeli pilot who escapes
from Lebanon with a disaffected Palestinian will be released today exclusively
at Curzon Renoir.
2012: “High Noon” the classic American western film
starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly is scheduled to be shown at the Jerusalem
Jewish Film Festival.
2012(13th of Tevet, 5773): Ninety year old
Canadian poet Elizabeth Brewster passed away today.
2012: “Senior officials confirmed today that Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a secret meeting in Jordan with King Abdullah
II, yesterday focusing on the possibility that Syrian President Bashar Assad
would use chemical weapons against rebels in the ongoing sectarian conflict
raging in that country.
2012: A 2,750-year-old temple and a cache of sacred vessels
from biblical times were discovered in an archaeological excavation near
Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced today.
2012: Hawaii Lieutenant Governor Brian Schatz was named today
to fill the US Senate seat left vacant by the death of fellow Democrat Daniel
Inouye.
2013: A Kassam rocket was fired from Gaza this evening, the
second in as many days. The rocket fell in open ground right near a community
in the south, causing no injuries or damage.
In response, the IAF struck several targets in Gaza.
According to an IDF statement, the sites including a weapons production site in
central Gaza, along with a weapons storehouse in northern Gaza.
2013: “Captain Phillips” starring Tom Hanks is scheduled
to be shown at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.
2013: “A total of 38 Indian citizens from the Bnei
Menashe community made aliya today, the first cohort to arrive since the
Knesset approved another wave of immigration for the group.” (As reported by
Henry Rome and Sol Sokol)
2014:
The Eden-Tamir Music Center is scheduled to host the next in its Future
Generation Series of concerts.
2014:
“Bullets holes were discovered at the entrance to a Paris publishing this
morning” marking the third time this week that Jewish buildings have been fired
upon the other two being at the Al Haeche Kosher Restaurant and the David Ben
Ichay Synagogue. (As reported by Lazar Berman)
2014:
As “worshippers were leaving the Temple Mount complex after morning prayers,
two Border Police officers were stabled near the Lions Gates” (As reported by
Lazar Berman)
2014:
“The Zig Zag Story” and “The Farewell Party” are scheduled to be shown at the
Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.
2014:
“Exodus: Gods and Kings,” the $140 million Hollywood film about the biblical
escape of the Jews from Egypt, will not be shown there because it asserts
historical falsehoods and spreads a “Zionist view,” the Egyptian culture
minister was quoted as saying today meaning that it will join Morocco as the
second Arab country to ban the film. (As reported by Rick Gladstone)
2015(14th
of Tevet, 5776): Shabbat Vayechi
2015:
“Nightlife -- A festival of light and art, intent on illuminating the
multicultural abundance and complexity of Tel Aviv's Neve Sha'anan neighborhood
is scheduled to take place this evening
2016(26th
of Kislev, 5777): Second Day of Chanukah; in the evening, kindle the third
light
2016(26th
of Kislev, 5777): Ninety-four year old Tony winning veteran Broadway actor
George S. Irving passed away today. (As reported by Richard Sandomir)
2016(26th
of Kislev, 5777): Fifty one year old Chicago filmmaker David J. Steiner died in
a bus crash while traveling in Uganda.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?pid=183243867
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/chicago-filmmaker-david-steiner-killed-in-uganda-bus-crash/
2016:
In Little Rock, Lubavitch of Arkansas under the leadership of Rabbi Pinchas
Ciment is scheduled to host a Family Chanukah Party complete with Latkes and a
Smooth bar at the Chabad House.
2016:
At the Town and Village Synagogue a variety of acoustic acts led by “Book of J
– an amazing new Bay Area collaboration between singer/guitarist Jeremiah
Lockwood (Sway Machinery) and singer Jewlia Eisenberg (Charming Hostess) making
their New York debut” are scheduled to appear as part of YNY (Yiddish New York)
Unplugged.
2017:
Pete and Paul, A Fargenign: Yiddish Swing Dance Party! Is scheduled to take
place tonight as part of Yiddish New York.
2017:
The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is scheduled to kickoff
“Winter Break at the Museum” by offering freed admission to “kids and
students.”
2018:
“A special workshop on improvisation for instrumentalists by renowned
pianist/composer Anthony Coleman, longtime faculty member of New England
Conservatory” is scheduled to take place today at “Yiddish New York.”
2018:
Penultimate session of the USY International Convention is scheduled to take
place today in Orlando, FL.
2018:
In Albany, NY, “Rabbi Deb Gordon of Congregation Berith Sholom in Troy” is
scheduled to facilitate this year’s final Pirkei Avot Class sponsored by the
Women’s Table.
2019(28th
of Kislev, 5780): Fourth Day of Chanukah
2019:
In Brisbane, CA, Cantor Barry Reich is scheduled to lead the menorah lighting
at “Latkes, Lumpias and Horns.”
2019:
In London, JW3 is scheduled to host the last screening of “Fiddler: A Miracle
of Miracles.”
2019:
Chabad of Downtown Boston is scheduled to host the “Chanukah Celebration at the
Seaport.”
2019:
In San Francisco, Sherith Israel is scheduled to host “Latkes and Vodkas” for
adults only.
2020:
YNY is scheduled to open this evening with Yiddish singer Sarah Gordon in a
traditional Zingeray (Yiddish sing-along).
2020
The final performance of The 28th annual Kung Pao Kosher Comedy is scheduled to
take place today.
2020:
After yesterday’s interception of two rockets fired by terrorist from Gaza at
Ashkelon, Israelis are confronted with a triple header of challenges –
pandemic, electoral chaos and terrorism.
2020(10th
of Tevet, 5781): Vayigash; for more see https://downhomedavartorah.blogspot.com/
