This Day, July 2, In Jewish History

JULY 2 In Jewish History

419: Birthdate of Valentinian III, the Roman Emperor who issued a decree prohibiting Jews from practicing law and holding public office.

1029: Birthdate of Caliph Al-Mustansir of Cairo. He was the grandson of the third Fatimid caliph, al-Hakim founder of the *Druze sect who promulgated a variety of ant-Jewish and anti-Christian decrees which he later he rescinded. His grandson ruled in this more liberal environment in which the Jews were able to propser. A Jewish merchant named Abu Sa’ad or in Hebrew Abraham ben Yashar and his brother Abu Nasr Hesed were two leaders of the Jewish community during Mustansir’s reign.

1298: Albert I of Habsburg defeated Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg at the The Battle of Göllheim serving to cement the dominant position of the Habsburgs in the Germanic states of central Europe. As is the case with so many Christian monarchs, Albert’s treatment of his Jewish subjects was a mixed bag. In 1298 he 1 endeavored to suppress riots based on the blood libel that were sweeping the Rhineland and imposed a fine on the town of St. Poelten. But in1306, “he punished the Jews in *Korneuburg on a charge of desecration of the Host.”

1389: The Pope issued a bull condemning the attacks on the Jews of Bohemia that had begun on Easter Sunday, April 18, 1389. The mobs ignored the Pope and Emperor Wensceslaus refused to protect his Jewish subjects claiming that they deserved to suffer since they should not have been out of their houses on Easter Sunday.

1490: A Chumash with commentary by the Ramban was published for the first time. The Ramban is Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman also known as Nachmanides. He was a Spanish physician and noted Torah scholar who lived during the 13th century. He is not to be confused with the Rambam, Moses Maimonides who was also born in Spain and who was an even greater Torah scholar. The Ramban was born after the Rambam had already passed away.

1494: Spain ratified The Treaty of Tordesillas which divided all new found lands outside of Europe between Portugal and Spain. This was bad news for the Jews since it meant they would be banned from a wide swath of land including the Americas and the spice islands off the coast of Asia. Fortunately, Protestant countries like England and Holland would not feel bound by this absurd piece of paper and Jews would be able to settle and prosper in the lands that would be “discovered” and colonized over the next two centuries.

1566: Nostradamus passed away. His grandfather was Jewish but his father converted to Catholicism. According to one source Nostradamus was thought to have been a descendent of the lost Jewish tribe of Issacher, a tribe that was noted to be knowledgeable in astrology and the mystical arts.

1776: The Continental Congress resolved "these United Colonies are & of right ought to be Free & Independent States." This marked the actual declaration of independence by the thirteen colonies. While there were some Jews who were Loyalist, most favored the cause of Independence and supported it with the lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.

1778: Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau passed away. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Rousseau took a comparatively view of the Jewish people. Among other things he wrote, “We shall never know the inner motives of the Jews until the day they have their own free state, schools and universities where they can speak and argue without fear. Then, and only then, shall we know what they really have to say.”

1816(6th of Tamuz, 5576): Gershom Mendez Seixas passed away. Born at New York City in 1745, he was the son of Isaac Mendez Seixas and Rachel Levy, daughter of Moses Levy, an early New York merchant. For almost half a century Seixas served as the Rabbi of Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese congregation in New York City. He was an ardent patriot and supporter of the American Revolution.

1853: The Russian Army invades Turkey, beginning the Crimean War. The British and the French both sided with the Turks, assisting them in the defeat of the Russians. The Paris Treaty of 1858, concluding the war, granted Jews and Christians the right to settle in Palestine, forced upon the Ottoman Turks by the British for their assistance in the war effort. This decision opened the doors for Jewish immigration to Palestine.

1854: Jews living in Los Angeles, having recognized the necessity of organizing in order to provide for religious services, a Jewish cemetery and Jewish welfare needs, met today and formed the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Los Angeles, the first charitable group to be founded in the city. Samuel K. Labatt was elected president, not only because he had the language facility of a native-born American, but also because he had similar experience in New Orleans. The following year, the Hebrew Benevolent society established a Jewish cemetery in Chavez Ravine. This society still exists, now over 145 years old under the name of Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles having been active longer than any other such group in Southern California. As the first president, Samuel K. Labatt was responsible for local efforts in defending the fair name of Jewry against the 1855 anti-Semitic attack by William Stow in the California State Assembly.

1855: In a letter written today, Thomas Hugo, Senior Curate of St. Botolph, described “The Thieves Exchange” in London which is populated by 15,000 individuals including “Jews of the lowest grade.” “But the great majority are nominally Christians.”

1861: Alfred Mordecai, Jr., was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army. He was the son of Major Alfred Mordecai, one of the most prominent Jewish soldiers in the U.S. Army at the outbreak of the Civil War. Major Mordecai, who was a southerner by birth, could not bring himself to fight against those among whom he had grown up. Yet, unlike others, he was honorable enough not to be able to fight against the Union, so he resigned. His son had no such qualms and served throughout the war with distinction, eventually rising to the rank of Brigadier General.
1870: It was reported today that the Jewish Messenger has strongly ridiculed the efforts of the London Society for Promoting Christianity Among the Jews.” The Messenger proudly noted that the Society had spent $200,000 last year and had only been able convert 4 adults and “nine infants.” With such meager results, the Messenger suggests that the millions that have been over the past 63 years in an attempt to convert Jews would have been spent to improve the lot of the many indigent and needy Christians. Furthermore, if the Jews have held fast to their faith over the centuries when faced with the threat of fire and sword, why would anybody think that they would convert now that they were living in a society where they enjoyed comparative peace and the rights of citizenship.

1871: It was reported today that the Jewish Times has “severely” denounced pronouncements made at the recent conference of American Rabbis held at Cincinnati, Ohio, as not being “representative of Judaism. The Times took issue with the presenter who “repudiated” the concept of a personal God, “denied that the belief in a personal God was taught in biblical Judaism and said that the God of the Bible was “implacable,” capable only of meting out punishment and that “the idea of personal and pardoning God had its origin in Christianity.” The Times also took issue with another speaker who agreed that there was no personal God which made an “absurdity” out of the concept of offering a prayer to God. The Times was alarmed by the fact that nobody took issues with these and other similar speakers and that one of these speakers had been selected to develop a new prayerbook. The Times wondered if the leaders would ultimate wish to remain “within the pale of Judaism.”

1871: Victor Emmanuel II of Italy entered Rome after its conquest from the Papal States making it the capital of the newly unified nation of Italy. Jews had played an active role in the various acts that led to the creation of modern Italy. For once, the Jews were not disappointed at the outcome as Italy became one of the most hospitable places for Jews to live until the 1930’s.

1871: The Anglo-Jewish Association was established in London based on the principles of the French Alliance Israelite. It was soon imitated in Germany in the form of the Lifaverein der Dutchen Juden.

1872: The cornerstone was laid this afternoon at the corner of Lexington & 63rd for a new synagogue to house Ansche Chesed which has outgrown its current facility on Norfolk Street near Houston. When finished, the building, which will cost a quarter of a million dollars will have space for 1,400 congregants as well as classrooms and offices for the staff. Rabbi Mielziner officiated at the ceremony which included a speech about the history of the congregation by its leader, President Herman who placed an artifact filled box into the cornerstone. Rabbi Vidaver, of Congregation B’nai Jeshrun gave a sermon in English and ceremonies were closed with the singing of the 150th Psalm.

1873: In what has become an annual summer event, 432 children from the Hebrew Orphan Asylum and the Hebrew Free Schools of New York enjoyed a day-long outing that included a barge trip from Manhattan to Long Island, plenty of fun and fresh air as well as a goodly supply of food and drink including fresh milk. The group left at 8:30 in the morning and arrived home at 7 in the evening. The committee responsible for the event included Lewis S. Levy, Chairman, Asher T. Meyer, Treasurer and Julius Rosenbaum, Secretary. More such trips are planned for later in the summer.

1879: The New York Times published the terms of the will of the late Baron Lionel de Rothschild. The estate is valued at 2,700,000 pounds. His sons, Sir Nathaniel and Mr. Alfred were named as executors.

1896: Theodor Herzl began a trip to England that would last until July 20.

1901: Jacob Saphirstein begins printing The Jewish Morning Journal the first Yiddish daily morning newspaper established in New York. “Its staff of writers includes Jacob Magidoff (city editor), Ḥayyim Malitz, A. M. Sharkansky, M. Seifert, I. Friedman, and Peter Wiernik. While professedly Orthodox and Zionistic, it is the most secular of the Yiddish papers in America, and is an ardent advocate of the Americanization of the Russian immigrants who form the bulk of its readers.”

1906: Delegates at today’s session of the Federation of American Zionist meeting responded enthusiastically to a letter from Max Nordau that contained “a strong appeal for support of the Jewish institutions in Palestine.”

1906: Birthdate of Nobel Laureate in Physics Hans Bethe.

1909: At the end of a successful seven week strike, “triumphant bakers marched though the Lower East of Manhattan carrying a loaf of bread five wide and fifteen feet long” which was emblematic of their hard won victory. Most of the bakers involved in the strike were Jewish.

1918: Pitcher Ed Corey made his major league debut with the Chicago White Sox.

1921(26th of Sivan, 5681): Jacob A. Cantor, a leader of the New York Democratic
Party for forty years, passed away. The son of immigrants from London, Cantor served in numerous positions including President of the Borough of Manhattan, President of the New York State, and member of the United States House of Representatives.

1923: “The first coupons to fall due on the bonds” issued by the municipality of Tel Aviv “are paid at the offices of the Guaranty Trust Company.” Although the bonds were issued in pounds, they will be redeemed in dollars for the convenience of the American bondholders. Meyer Dizengoff, the Mayor of Tel Aviv, is present for the redemption ceremony.

1927: The Rothschild Hospital in Jerusalem is partially destroyed as an earthquake hits Palestine.

1931: Tempers flared at today’s meeting of the World Zionist Congress as New Yorker Berl Locker, leader of the Paole Tzion likened the Revisionists led by Valdmir Jabotinsky to the “Hitlerites.” Locker relented and apologized for his remarks. Jabotinsky responded with an impassioned speech demanding a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan and assailing the leadership of Chaim Weizmann. Ben Gurion responded in defense of Weizmann and his efforts to negotiate with the British. He ridiculed the Revisionists as “easy Zionist” who ignored the reality of the situation in Palestine. American Zionist leaders expressed their support for Weizmann. The conflict between the two wings of the Zionist movement is driven by the restrictions of the Passfield White Paper and the obvious fact that the British government is reneging on the Balfour Declaration.

1933: In Chicago, Mayor Kelly addresses the ZOA at the formal opening of its convention.

1933: Chaim Weismann is the guest of honor at Jewish Day at A Century of Progress Exposition aka, The Chicago World’s Fair.

1935: Birthdate of pianist and educator Gilbert Kalish. Kalish has been the pianist for the Boston Symphony Chamber Players since 1969. He is the Leading Professor and Head of Performance Activities at SUNY, Stony Brook. He was also on the faculty at Tangelwood Music Center for 30 years.

1936: The Palestine Post reported that Yitzhak Glazer, a local watchman, was shot dead by Arab terrorists in Hadera. Another guard, Jacob Bahar, was severely injured by Arab fire at Motza. Arab terrorists, interned at the detention camp at Sarafand, went on a hunger strike, as a protest against the camp's conditions. Arab "tree-killers" cut down about 40 old, fruit-bearing olive trees in Zichron Ya'acov.

1936: The Palestine Post reported that Dr. Paul Zubek from Vienna was to be deported after police found a large quantity of Nazi literature in his flat in Tel Aviv.

1939(15th of Tamuz, 5699): In Haifa, an unidentified killer murdered Abraham Joseph Cohen, “one of the few surviving members of the tiny Samaritan Jewish community in Nablus.”

1941: Nazi-instigated pogrom claimed many Jewish lives in Lvov.

1941 (7th of Tammuz, 5701): A German cavalry unit on patrol in Lubieszow, Volhynia, Ukraine, murders Jewish resisters.

1942 (17th of Tammuz, 5702): The Jewish community from Ropczyce, Poland, is murdered at the Belzec death camp.

1942: The New York Times reported on the "slaughter of 700,000 Jews" in German-occupied Poland.

1943(29th of Sivan, 5703): Helena Nordheim, later Helena Kloot- Nordheim, was gassed today. Nordheim was one of five Jewish members of the 1928 Dutch Ladies’ Gymnastic Team that placed first ahead of teams from Italy and Great Britain.

1944: Salomao Nauslausky was among the first five thousand members of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (BEF) that left Brazil for Europe aboard the USNS General Mann. While serving with the BEF in Italy, Nauslausky served with such distinction that “he was mentioned in dispatches.

1944: As the Red Army closed in on the Lithuanian city of Vilna, the Germans seized 1800 Jews from their work in the factories and took them to Ponar where they were shot.

1944: Responding to Allied threats that he would be held personally responsible for war crimes, Regent Miklos Horthy order “a halt to all further deportations of Jews and Eichmann was advised to return to Germany.”

1946: Birthdate of Ron Silver, Tony-award winning actor and political activist.

1946: At eight o'clock this evening, radio station WEVD will broadcast the news in Yiddish.

1946: At 8:15 pm radio station WEVD will broadcast a program called "The Jewish Philosopher"

1946: Dr. Nahum Goldman, Rabbi Stephen Wise, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver and Louis Lipsky are scheduled to meet with President Truman today "to describe the situation in Palestine and to talk over the implementation of the Presidential recommendation for entrance of 100,000 Jews into the territory."

1947: Birthdate of Larry David. This actor, writer and producer is best known for his work on Seinfeld" and his own HBO show.

1948: Birthdate of German born (his parents were really Poles) Canadian cinema actor Saul Rubinek.

1950: The Government of Israel came out tonight in full support of the United Nations measures seeking to end the war in Korea. This is stark contrast with stand of several Arab states including Egypt, which have come out in favor of “neutrality” in responding to what the Israeli government recognized as acts of aggression on the Korean Peninsula.

1951: The Jerusalem Post reported that China accepted the US bid for peace in Korea.

1951: The Jerusalem Post reported that the first issue of Omer, the vowelized daily newspaper for new immigrants in simple Hebrew, had appeared on newsstands. It included a glossary in Spanish, French, Arabic and Yiddish.

1951: The Jerusalem Post reported that a young man was killed by an Arab Legion sniper in the Musrara quarter of Jerusalem.

1959: Ogden R. Reid officially presented his credentials as the United States Ambassador to Israel.

1961: American author Ernest Hemingway took his own life. Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises, featured a Jewish character, Robert Cohn. Cohn was a friend of the novel’s protagonist, Jake Barnes. Cohn is not only insecure, he is an insecure Jew. While attending Princeton, his sense of insecurity is heightened by his brushes with anti-Semitism. In the best of tradition of Hemingway, Cohn compensates for his Jewishness and insecurity by becoming a boxer. The Jewish jock, especially the Jew as a boxer may have resonated well with readers of the time, since Jews held a number of boxing titles during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Although Hemingway was not Jewish, his books were featured at Nazi book burnings where the works of Einstein, Freud, et al were consumed by the flames.

1962: The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas. Over the year’s Wal-Mart would prove to be a useful place to shop for Jews living outside of major metropolitan areas who were observing the dietary laws. Not only did Wal-Mart carry numerous Kosher items, but many of its affordable house-brands carried the Hechser as well.

1964: President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Jewish political leaders played a major role in passing this piece of landmark legislation. Congressman Cellar, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was the driving force in getting the bill through the House of Representative. Today we take the provisions of this anti-discrimination law for granted. It is difficult to believe how controversial it all this was almost fifty years ago. It is also difficult to believe what an act of political it took to support this law. And in the case of President and Ladybird Johnson it was an act of personal courage as well since there would attempts on their lives during the upcoming election campaign. Although thought of as a law to end racial discrimination, the law banned discrimination based on several criteria including sex amd religion. Oddly enough, one of the opponenets of the bill was Senator Barry Goldwater, the son of a Jewish merchant who would be the Republican Presidential candidate in the fall.

1969: As hostilities heated up along the Suez, Israeli paratroops conducted their second deep penetration of Egyptian territory in less than a week, killing thirteen, taking 3 prisoners and gathering additional intelligence for the IDF.

1976: The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel began proceedings, through the French government, for the release of 98 Israelis held by hijackers in Entebbe, Uganda. The hijackers extended their deadline for three days and released 101 hostages. The remaining hostages included 98 Israelis and other Jews of dual nationality, as well as a crew of 12.

1977: Russian born writer Vladimir Nabokov passed away. Nabokov was not Jewish but his wife’s family was. More importantly, his father had a champion of Jewish rights in the days of Czarist Russia. Nabokov was living in France in 1940. Because of these aforementioned “Jewish connections” a Jewish welfare organization helped get him out of the country when the Nazis marched into Paris.

1984: Small arms fire directed at an Israeli car in Jerusalem wounded several children.

2000: The New York Times features reviews books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including "MacArthur’s War: Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero" by Stanley Weintraub and "The Unwanted Gaze: The Destruction of Privacy in America" by Jeffrey Rosen.

2001: Doctors at Jewish Hospital in Louisville implanted the first AbioCor heart replacement in a seven hour long operation. Unlike earlier artificial hearts such as the Jarvik-7 the AbioCor has no wires or tubes that stick out of the chest and connect to a big compressor. The battery-powered, plastic-and-titanium device is the size of a softball.

2005(25th of Sivan, 5765): Cinema screenwriter Ernest Lehman passed away. Born in 1915 Lehman was nominated for six Oscars. He was responsible for the scripts for such hits as “The Sweet Smell of Success,” “The Sound of Music,” and “North by Northwest.” He gained additional fame as the director of “Portnoy’s Complaint.”

2006. Rabbis Stephanie Alexander and Aaron Sherman celebrate their wedding anniversary

2006: Rabbi Stephanie Alexander celebrates her birthday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

2006: West Magazine published “How Hollywood Really Operates” by Leonard Mlodinow.

2006: Israel continued its military efforts to gain the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit. An Israel Air Force attack helicopter launched a missile before dawn striking the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City. Also before dawn, the IAF struck the headquarters of a Palestinian Authority security organization founded by Hamas in Gaza, killing one of the group's operatives and injuring another, Israel Radio reported.

2007: The Verbatim section of Time Magazine quotes the words of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he withdraws from the Republican Party. “Real results are more important than partisan battles, [and] good ideas should take precedence over rigid adherence to any particular political ideology.” According to some, Bloomberg’s switch to Independent presages a run for the Presidency in 2008 which would make him the first viable Jewish candidate to ever seek the top job in America.

2007: In Jerusalem, "Life in Film," a series focusing on the Jewish communities around the world as captured in film, features "Judaism in Iran - Past and Present." The event includes a meeting with Orly Rachmian from Ben Gurion University and Machon Ben-Zvi and selections from a documentary about the lives of Jews in Iran.

2007: President George Bush commuted the sentence of convicted government official “Scooter” Libby. Mr. Libby was an aide to Vice President Cheney and one of the Jews serving in the Bush administration.

2007(16th of Tamuz, 5767): Famed soprano Beverly Sills passed away at the age of 78.

2007(16th of Tamuz, 5767): Hy Zaret, one of the last of the Tin Pan Alley lyricists, whose most indelible work was the oft-recorded 1955 hit “Unchained Melody” but whose oeuvre ranged from jingles to songs about science to ballads of love and war passed away at the age of 99.

2008: In a news conference held today by Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the terrorist group called Hezbollah, held a news conference during which he stated that his group conducted a detailed investigation into the fate of Ron Arad, the missing Israeli navigator. He declined to reveal the information unearthed during the investigation, claiming that he had turned over the results to the United Station

2008: Majdi Halabi’s family received a telephone call from an inmate in Damon Prison who claimed that Halabi had been abducted and was being held in the vicinity of Nablus in the West Bank

2008: General Robert Magnus completes his tour as the 30th Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps.

2008: “Leisure Time in Israel” featuring the works of Israeli photographer Orit Siman-Tov opens at the JCC in Manhattan.

2008(29th of Sivan, 5768): Three Israelis were killed and dozens more wounded when a Palestinian construction worker driving a bulldozer plowed deliberately into a crowded bus and a string of cars in downtown Jerusalem. Jerusalem residents Bat Sheva Unterman, 33, Elizabeth Goren-Friedman, 54, and Jean Raloy, were named as the fatalities in the attack. Unterman was a resident of Jerusalem's Rehavia neighborhood, and worked as a nanny in a religious kindergarten in the city's Har Homa quarter. She was killed when the car she was driving was crushed by the oncoming bulldozer. Unterman's 6-month-old daughter, Efrat, was evacuated from the car just before the vehicle was hit.Her husband, Ido, was notified only hours after the attack that his wife had been killed.Unterman was the daughter of Rifka and James Lubenstein, immigrants from Holland. Her husband, Ido, is the grandson of Rabbi Isser Yehuda Unterman, who served as chief rabbi of Liverpool and of Tel Aviv, and also as chief rabbi of Israel from 1964-1973.The Unterman couple had tried for years to have children, but managed only with the birth of Efrat last year. Bat-Sheva had extended her maternity leave by a few months, returning to work last week with her daughter to celebrate the end of the year party. Unterman's friend, Meira Schwartz, described her as a person filled with faith, who never gave up her dream of having children, even after having to go through countless procedures. "Until Efrat was born, the children in the kindergarten were like her own, and she was a nanny of the highest excellence, with exemplary patience for each and ever child," said Schwartz. Unterman will be laid to rest at 11:30 P.M. in the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem. Elizabeth Goren-Friedman, originally from Austria, was a resident of Katamon who worked as a teacher in a school for the blind. She was laid to rest at 10:30 P.M. in Givat Shaul. Goren-Friedman was divorced and the mother of three children: Yael, 16, Issachar, 19, and Zvi, 23. Both of her sons were students at the Horev hesder yeshiva in Jerusalem. Her friends described her as a "wonderful person," who volunteered regularly at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. Rachel Sakrovish, who worked with Goren-Friedman, said her colleague was an excellent teachers. "It's hard to speak about her in the last tense. Lili was a wonderful person. There was not a student that she did not help progress on a personal, educational, and rehabilitative level. We knew that if a student was retreated or having difficulties, Luly was the teacher who would do the fundamental work to help him advance.""When I think of her, I remember the phrase, 'a woman of valor, who can find,'" she said. Jean Raloy, an air-conditioner technician who lived in the Gilo neighborhood, was the third person killed in the terrorist's murder spree. His nephew said "the first thing with Jean was his family." Raloy, who was born in Iran, was married to Hanna and the father of two daughters and a son, and was to become a grandfather in about a month.

2008: The Jerusalem Post reported that a London university made history this week when it appointed the country's first professor of Israeli studies. The University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) named Dr. Colin Shindler, reader in Israeli and Modern Jewish Studies and chair of the Center for Jewish Studies, as the first professor of Israeli studies in the UK. "This is a real advance for Israeli Studies in this country," Shindler said. "SOAS is the natural and appropriate institution for this chair. This is a great honor for me personally." SOAS is one of the UK's top schools and notorious for having an anti-Israel atmosphere on campus. The university's Palestinian Society annually hosts controversial events such as "Israel Apartheid Week" and this year's two-day conference on the "one-state" solution. Last year, posters on campus advertising the launch of a book written by Shindler, entitled What Do Zionists Believe?, were daubed with swastikas. Shindler joined the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East at SOAS in 1998. He convenes both the BA and MA programs in Hebrew and Israeli studies, and lectures on an array of subjects such as Zionist ideology, and "Israel and the Arab World and the Palestinians." His professorship comes as a direct result of his efforts and commitment to developing the Israeli Studies Department at SOAS, the university said. Each year, his classes are filled to capacity with students from an array of backgrounds and ethnic origins. A number of his students now provide young, dynamic leadership for several Jewish communal organizations such as the Zionist Federation, BICOM, World Jewish Relief and the Israeli Embassy. "This is a welcomed and well-deserved appointment for Dr. Shindler, who is very popular on campus with a wide range of students," said Gavin Gross, a former Middle Eastern studies MA student and currently director of public affairs at the Zionist Federation. "He covers Israeli and Zionist history in a very intellectual, thoughtful and level-headed manner, which is sadly not always the case with other academics and certainly not in the SOAS Student Union. I enjoyed my academic work there and would encourage others to consider studying Israel and the Middle East at SOAS." Shindler is the author of seven books and an authority on the Revisionist Zionist movement and the origins and emergence of the Israeli Right. Cambridge University Press recently published his book The History of Modern Israel to mark Israel's 60th anniversary. Active in Jewish affairs since the 1960s, Shindler was one of the originators of the campaign for Soviet Jewry in the UK, and in the 1970s served as political secretary of the World Union of Jewish Students. In 1982, he helped found the British Friends of Peace Now, of which he continues to be a patron. He served as editor of Jewish Quarterly and Judaism Today and has written for an array of think tanks, journals and publications, including The Jerusalem Post. Shindler remains at the forefront of higher education issues related to Israel, speaking out against the proposed boycott of Israeli academia and facilitating Israeli and Palestinian students in the Olive Tree program at London's City University.

2009: Today the fourth annual week devoted to the cooperation of the IDF and the Israel Antiquities Authority in preserving the country's environment and antiquities comes to an end with this last day focusing primarily on current archeological issues.

2009: The Randi & Bruce Pergament Jewish Film Festival features a screening of “Goyband,” a campy comedy that’s a cross between “Dirty Dancing” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” in which a fading teen idol is booked to perform at a kosher Catskills hotel-casino and a romance ensues between the hotel owner’s already engaged daughter and the boy band icon.

2009: The Washington Post featured a review of "The Sweet Science and Other Writings: The Sweet Science, The Earl of Louisiana, The Jollity Building, Between Meals, The Press" by A.J. Liebling.

2010: An exhibit of the paintings of Israeli, award-winning, artist Liron Sissman is scheduled to open at the prestigious National Arts Club in Manhattan.

2010: A southbound lane of traffic on Highway 4 south of Beit Leed was closed to traffic this morning because of the march on behalf of of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit. It's the sixth day of the march to Jerusalem from the Shalit family's home in the westen Galilee.

2010: The Health Ministry removed its warning about bathing at beaches in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, today following checks of water quality. The public was warned at the beginning of the week not to go into the water at a number of the beaches because of the flow of sewage into the sea.

2011: In a rare musical treat, Cantor Joel Caplan, son of Richard and Ellen Caplan, and father of Ilan Caplan is scheduled to lead services at Agudas Achim in Iowa City, Iowa.

2011: Rabbi Raphael Bensimon and Rabbi Feivel Staruss are scheduled to lead services in Cedar Rapids, Iowa during which the congregation will participate in Feivel’s Aufruf. Rabbi Strauss is the fiancée of Abbie Silber, daughter of Laurie and Dr. Bob Silber, a mensch in the truest sense of the term.

2011: Hani Skutch is scheduled to appear at the Off the Wall Comedy Club in Jerusalem this evening.

2011(30th of Sivan): Rosh Chodesh Tamuz

Created and Edited by Mitchell Levin Cedar Rapids, IA melech3@mchsi.com
Copyright; June, 2011; Mitchell A. Levin