May 25 In Jewish History
1085: Pope Gregory VI passed away. Gregory opposed Henry IV, the Holy Roman Emperor who saw himself as a protector of the Jews. Henry contended that the Jews, regardless of where they lived, were his subjects. He granted them special dispensations and exemptions in matters of trade and taxes.
1085: Alfonso VI of Castile took Toledo back from the Moors. As Moslem Spain came under the control of increasingly intolerant religious leaders, Jews and liberal Moslems found refuge in the tolerant world of Christian Toledo. As many as 40,000 Jews are reported to have fought in the armies of Alfonso against the Almoravides. Ironically, there were thousands of Jews fighting with the Almoravides as well.
1096: Massacre of the Jews of Worms who took refuge in the city's castle during the First Crusade. Simcha Bar Isaac haKohen was "torn to bits" by Crusaders in a church for stabbing the bishop's nephew while pretending to submit to compulsory baptism. (Editorial comment: I’ll bet that scene is in not in any of the blockbuster hits about the noble Crusaders and their noble Moslem opponents.)
1241: First attack on Jewish community of Frankfort-on-the-Main
1648: Chmielnicki's pogroms, which resulted in the massacre of more than 300,000 Jews, broke out. This slaughter took place in the
1710(5th of Iyar ): Rabbi Benjamin Ozer of Zolkiev, author of “Even ha-Ozer” passed away
1759: Judah Lob Ben Nathan Krysa, an 18th century Frankist leader from Galacia “declared that the cross symbolized the "holy trinity" spoken of in the Zohar, and the seal of the Messiah.” Krysa also “asserted before the ecclesiastical dignitaries that the Talmud prescribes the use of Christian blood. Like his master Jacob Frank and most of the Frankists, Krysa” would later embrace Christianity.
1776(7th of Sivan, 5536): Second Day of Shavuot
1784: Jews are expelled from Warsaw by Marshall Mniszek
1787: Opening session of the Philadelphia Convention which would become known as the Constitutional Convention because its fifty-five delegates would write the U.S. Convention. While there were no Jewish delegates at the Convention, the framers took action that had a profound effect on the Jewish people that has lasted to the 21st century. Article VI of the document states: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” In other words, from the beginning of Jews, at least at the federal level, were eligible to hold office. Lewis Charles Levin would be the first Jew elected to Congress, winning election to the House of Representatives in 1844.
1800: Rosh Chodesh Sivan, 5560
1817: Birthdate of Saul Solomon the native of St. Helena, the leader of South Africa’s Liberal Party who is called the “Cape Disraeli” because, like Benjamin Disraeli, he converted to Christianity. And like Disraeli, he retained a sense of pride in his ethnic origins. He passed away in 1892.
1821: Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich began serving as 1st State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire. Metternich was an extremely complex character whose treatment of Jews depended on the needs of the Austrian Empire. Thus he could favor rights for Jews in Germany while opposing them for Jews in Austria. Henry Kissinger, the first Jewish Secretary of State wrote his thesis on Metternich and eventually published A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-22
1832(25th of Iyar): Rabbi Jacob Lorberbaum of Lissa, author of “Netivot ha-Mishpat” passed away.
1839: "The British Vice-Counsel in Jerusalem,
William Tanner Young, wrote a report comparing the conditions of the Jews in
Palestine to that of their counterparts in Egypt. Young wrote that the
Governor of Egypt, Ibrahim Pasha, showed 'more consideration' for the Jews than
the Christians did. Young also wrote that he had heard several Egyptian
Jews acknowledge that 'they enjoy more peace and tranquility under this
Government, than they have ever enjoyed here before.' But he then observed
that, in contrast, 'the Jew in Jerusalem is not estimated in value much above a
dog - and scarcely a day passes that I do not hear of some act of tyranny and
oppression against a Jew.'" (In Ishmael's House by Martin Gilbert)
1845: Birthdate of Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike
who reportedly was the first Jewish baseball player and the first baseball
player to play the game for cash meaning he was the first professional
baseball.
1852: An article published entitled “Jewish Disabilities” that begins with the sentence “No more accurate gauge for advancing civilization could probably be chosen, than the political condition of the Jews” is worth reading in its entirety for anybody seeking to understand the unique nature of the American Jewish experience.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9E01EEDC1531E13BBC4D51DFB3668389649FDE
1854: Today during the second reading of the Jewish Disabilities Bill sponsored by Lord Russell, Benjamin Disraeli voiced his opposition to the measure. In part, Disraeli’s opposition was based on a desire to divorce the bill, which is designed to allow Jewish MP’s to sit in Parliament, from a move to provide full rights of citizenship to British Roman Catholics.
1854: German author Paul Heyse arrived in Munich where he had been appointed professor of Romance philology at the city’s university. Heyse, who father was not Jewish and whose mother Julie was the daughter of the Prussian court jeweler Jakob Salomon, is considered by some to be the first Jew to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1863(7th of Sivan, 5623): Second Day of Shavuot
1868: The New York Times reviewed “The Book of Genesis,” translated from the original Hebrew by Dr. T. J. Conant. The translation is accompanied “with copious notes and an introduction.”
1870: At 3 o'clock this afternoon the corner-stone of the Mount Sinai Hospital was laid at the corner of Sixty-sixth-street and Lexington-avenue. The ceremony included addresses by New York Mayor Abraham Hall and Judge Cardozo.
1871(5th of Sivan, 5631): 49th Day of the Omer; Erev Shavuot
1873: An article published today entitled “A Jewish Ceremony” described “a very curious ceremony called ‘The Burying of the Law.’” Such a ceremony which takes place once every eight or ten years recently took place “in the Spanish Synagogue in Jerusalem” which has a “subterranean cave” in which “every old leaf torn out from any holy book, every old worn-out Bible, Gemara and phylactery” has been deposited “by all the Jewish residents of Jerusalem” regardless of their Minhag. Every 8 to 10 years, these materials are made into bales and then, after following the applicable rituals, the bales are carried out of the Zion Gate by a procession of Jews who descend “into the valley of Jehoshaphat where a very deep well is located. The bales are then dropped into the well “amid the singing of the joyous crowd.
1875: This evening Professor Felix Adler, of Cornell University, addressed the American Geographical Society at Association Hall in New York City. His topic was "The Influence of the Physical Geography of Palestine on Hebrew Thought." The opening of this address was devoted to the statement and citation of the effects of climate on the character and thoughts of people born in it.
1876: A meeting of delegates representing Hebrew congregations from various U.S. cities which was being held at The Harvard Rooms in New York City came to an end. The delegates discussed the possibility of establishing a seminary that would teach Jewish theology and the Hebrew language while preparing students to become Rabbis.
1877: An article published today entitled “A Romance in Paterson: The Marriage of a Pretty Jewess Under Peculiar Circumstances” described the suit for an annulment that Miss Rachel Blumenthal, the daughter of wealthy Montreal Jew, is bringing against Moses Tannenhoz a cigar dealer from Patterson, NJ. The 18 year old Miss Blumenthal claimed that she was tricked into marrying Tannenhoz and that she was not of the age of consent when the ceremony took place.
1879: The yearly meeting of the United Hebrew Charities was held this morning at the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, in East Seventy-seventh-street.
1880: In Amsterdam, a merchant named Jacob Samuel Hillesum and his wife Esther Hillesum-Loeza gave birth to their 4th and youngest child Levie (Louis) Hillesum, the father of Esther "Etty" Hillesum. Years later, Etty would keep a diary of life under Nazi occupation that would not surface until after her death at the age of 29 in Auschwitz.
1882(7th of Sivan, 5642): Second Day of Shavuot
1882(7th of Sivan, 5642): English publisher and convert to Judaism Thomas Jones passed away
1890(6th of Sivan, 5650): First Day of Shavuot
1894(19th of Iyar, 5654): Alexander Kohut, the Hungarian born
Rabbi who was elected rabbi of Congregation Ahavath Chesed in New York in 1885
and helped to found the Jewish Theological Seminary passed away. He was the
father of the scholar and author George Alexander Kouth.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9436-kohut-alexander
1896: The New York Times reported that Baron Hirsch had left “only” thirty million pounds to his heirs and beneficiaries, the primary one of which is his widow. While there are rumors floating around London that the Baron had destroyed the IOU’s of a prominent royal personage (possibly the Crown Prince) those in the know do not believe that the Baron was of such a forgiving nature.
1898: Birthdate of
publisher Bennett Cerf. While his real
claim to fame was his work at Random House, he was known to most Americans as a
panelist on the Sunday night television show, “What’s My Line?”
1898: Birthdate of Russian-born
American composer and concert pianist Mischa Levitzki.
1899(16th of Sivan, 5659):
Rosa Bonheur French realist painter and sculptor passed away. Born in Bordeaux
in 1822, she was one of four children all of whom were artists. According to some reports, as a child she was
known as Rosa Mazeltov.
1900: The four daylong
meeting of the Actions Committee and Trust began today. During the meeting a
new Bank Commission was appointed and a decision was reached to hold the next
Zionist Congress in London.
1901(7th of
Sivan, 5661): Second day of Shavuot
1901(7th of
Sivan, 5661): Samuel Joseph Rubinstein passed away. Born in Mitau in 1817, his father sent him to
the U.K. when he reached the age of 12 – the age at which he would have been
forced to join the Russian Army. He traveled with his aunt who was joining her
husband in Glasgow. When Rubinstein
reached the Scottish city, he was befriended by the Davis family who members of
the local Jewish congregation. They took
him in, gave him work to do so that he could earn some money and treated him as
if he were a member of the family.
1902: In Lisbon, a foundation stone is laid for the first synagogue built in Portugal since the expulsion of the Jews in 1497.
1906(1st of Sivan, 5666): Rosh Chodesh Sivan
1910: The Chief Rabbi of Salonica protests that despite assurances to the contrary, during his departure, Jews were enrolled in the Army on Saturday. The Minister of Interior telegraphs the Governor General, and instructs him to not let this be repeated. Of 1,908 Jews enrolled at Salonica, 1,719 entered active service; the remaining 189 went into the reserves.
1917: In
1918: The Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs announced tonight that an uncensored letter from a correspondent with the British Army in Palestine, reported that General Allenby’s army had renewed its offensive in Palestine and that the campaign will carry these forces beyond the borders of “the Holy Land.” This marked the end of three month halt in the campaign during which the British troops had plenty of time to establish good relations with the Jewish population including the people of Tel Aviv, the site of a major English encampment.
1921: Birthdate of Jack Steinberger, German-born American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1988. In talking about his escape from
1921: Birthdate of lyricist and song writer, Hal David. He is a prolific producer of tunes, many of which were written in collaboration with Burt Bacharach. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" won an Academy Award as the score for the movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “Don't Make Me Over", "Close to You", and "Walk on By" are all in the Grammy Hall of Fame. "What's New Pussycat,” “Alfie” and "The Look of Love" received Oscar nominations. He also wrote many country music hits, including Willie Nelson's "To All The Girls I've Loved Before".
1923:
1926: Sholom Schwartzbard
assassinated Symon Petliura, the head of the Paris-based government-in-exile of
Ukrainian People's Republic.
Schwartzbard had lost both of his parents in pogroms and he held
Petliura accountable for the anti-Semitic violence that had been part of the
war in the Ukraine. Anti-Semitic
violence was part and parcel of life in the Ukraine, as can be seen in the Chmielnicki's pogroms of 1648, the pogroms
in Kiev at the start of the 20th century and the slaughter at Babi
Yar during World War II. Schwartzbard’s
case was taken up by the French Jewish community and he was acquitted of the
charges.
1927: The United Palestine Appeal in
Philadelphia, PA is scheduled to come to an end today.
1929: Birthdate of Beverly
Sills. Born Belle "Bubbles" Miriam Silverman in Brooklyn NY
1929:
According to reports published today “industrial establishments in Palestine
have increased to 513, employing 5,000 workers” with a total of $7,500,000 in
invested capital. The actual figures
could have been higher but the Ruttenberg Works which has 700 employees was not
included in the survey.
1930:
Birthdate of John Strugnell who would become editor-in-chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls
in 1984. Strungell was not Jewish but he
spent a major portion of his academic life working with these texts and his
comments about Judaism in Haaretz turned into a major cause célèbre.
1930: The Peter J.
Schweitzer Memorial Hospital, a modern health institution operated at level
comparable to those found in an American hospital, opened today in Tiberius in
the Valley of the Galilee.
1931: Birthdate of Herbert Eser Gray, “Canada's first Jewish
federal cabinet minister, and one of
only a few Canadians ever granted the title The Right Honourable who was not so
entitled by virtue of a position held.
1931: In Palestine voting began to select the representatives to the 17th Zionist Congress to be held in June. When the voting ends, the Yishuv delegation of 36 consists of 24 Mapai and HaShomer HaTzair, 7 Revisionists, 2 Mizrachi, 2 Hapoel HaMizrachi and 1 Yemenite.
1933(29th of Iyyar, 5693): Louis Schloss, a Jewish lawyer was murdered in Dachau.
1934: Ernest Peixotto of the Fontainebleau School arrived in New York after having crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the same liner that carried the chairman of the board of the French Line. Peixotto reported that he had offered American student of the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts the honor of decorating one of the cabins on the Normandie, the largest ship in the world which is now under construction.
1936: The Jewish Auxiliary Police, "Ghaffirs", is established to guard Jewish settlements and rural roads.
1938: As Arab violence continued unabated The Palestine Post reported
that in
Jerusalem 30 year old Moshe Proper was killed and there were other casualties including 12 Arab victims and
seven Jewish
victims. A
curfew was imposed to stop stoning and shooting incidents. A number of Jewish
youths were arrested and a 120 pounds fine was imposed on the Jewish quarter of
Montefiore. A number of Revisionists, just released from the Acre
prison, were rearrested. Nahum Bibi, a Jewish laborer was fatally shot at Safed
and a Bedouin sheikh was murdered by an Arab gang roaming Galilee.
1939(7th
of Sivan, 5699): Second Day of Shavuot
1939(7th
of Sivan, 5699): Sir Joseph Duveen passed away. The son of Sir Joseph Joel Duveen
who had 13 children, he followed in the footsteps of his father and his uncle
Henry J. Duveen, and became one of the leading art dealers of his time.
1940:
As the Allied position in Western Europe crumbles before Hitler’s Blitzkrieg, Churchill’s War Cabinet meets to
decide if Britain should continue to the fight against Germany. The ‘peace party’ is led by Foreign Minister
Lord Halifax who will make a strong case for a deal with Germany
1940:
Hans Biebow today issued orders for factories to be set up in the ghetto
(called Arbeitsressorte, or work sections). Provided with very cheap labor,
these factories were to serve the Nazis as a source of easy profits and
exploitation. The Jews in the ghetto, cut off as they were from all other
possible sources of livelihood, were prepared to work for no more than a loaf
of bread and some soup. The exploitation of the Jews imprisoned in the ghetto
yielded a profit to the ghetto administration estimated at 350 million
reichsmarks ($14 million). (As reported by Yad Vashem)
1941: Koestler’s
anti-Soviet novel “Darkness at Noon” received a rave cover review in the New
York Times Book Review Section: “A splendid novel,” Harold Strauss declared,
“written with such dramatic power, with such warmth of feeling and with such
persuasive simplicity that it is as absorbing as melodrama. It is a far cry
from the bleak topical commentaries that sometimes pass as novels.”
1943:
Four deportations of Jews from Holland Auschwitz and Sobibór
total 8000 people.
1944: Birthdate of Actor Frank Oz
1944: In
1944: Hundreds of fleeing Hungarian Jews are killed during a revolt at Auschwitz.
1945: Just three weeks after the surrender of the German capital, pharmacist Erich Zwilsky became the Berlin Jewish Hospital’s managing director, assuming responsibility for the only Jewish institution that had remained in operation throughout World War II.
1946: Abdullah I becomes King of the Kingdom of Transjordan. From 1921 until 1946 Abdullah had been Emir of the Emirate of Transjordan. On the eve of the creation of state of Israel in 1948, Abdullah met secretly with Golda Meir. Meir sought to keep the Jordanians from attacking the soon to be created Jewish state when the British withdrew. Abdullah offered to let the Jews peacefully as subjects of
1946: Switzerland signs the Washington Agreement, under which the Swiss government will voluntarily contribute $58.1 million in gold to an Allied commission established to help rebuild Europe. The Allies are aware that this payment will come from Swiss stores of looted gold taken from Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution. Regardless, the Allies agree not to press the Swiss for additional claims. At this time,
1948: The Old City of Jerusalem falls. Defended by local residents, Etzel members and about 80 Haganah soldiers, they were outnumbered and out-gunned by the Arab legionaries. After weeks of desperate fighting it was decided to surrender and save the almost 2000 mostly elderly Jews who were still living in the
1948: British Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin says that the
1948: The attack on Latrun, begun the night before
continues. The forces of the Arab Legion
are able to fire down on the attacking Jews.
As the Jews fall victim to the barrage of bullets, they are forced to
confront a second enemy, the searing heat which many of these recent refugees
from Europe are not used to. To make matters worse, many of them went into
battle without canteens. Their pleas for
water are met by sniper fire from the Arabs.
Realizing that the attack has failed, the Israelis withdraw with eighty
dead and uncounted others wounded. Among
the dead is Reuven Oppenheim who had survived the Holocaust. He fought with partisan forces in that part
of the Soviet Union known as White
Russia . Miraculously, Oppenheim’s
immediate family (mother, father and sister) survived with him and came to Palestine
1948: The government of Egypt "issued a proclamation
stipulating that no Jew could leave Egypt with a special visa from the Ministry
of the Interior. This...applied to the many thousands of Jews who held
foreign passports." (In Ishmael's House by Martin Gilbert)
1949:
Chaim Weizmann went to the White House as President of Israel at the invitation of President Harry Truman.
1950:
“Israel's mounting immigration troubles became more apparent today with the
interim report of Malben, which handles the country's hard core cases. This
organization has discovered that its six month-old budget of $17,500,000 is
about half what it needs to handle the handicapped immigrants under its care.”
1950:
Tonight, “The decision of the United States, Britain and France to include
Israel in their over-all plan for supplying the countries in the Middle East
with arms for defense purposes was greeted” in Israel “with satisfaction by a
Foreign Ministry spokesman.”
1951:
In a handwritten letter proposes, Abba Eban proposed periodic meetings between
himself and the leaders of major American Jewish organizations “to exchange
views and impressions about the American-Israeli relationship.”
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that the
Cabinet was discussing the deteriorating security situation in border areas.
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that Thomas
Harlan, son of Veit Harlan, a notorious Nazi film producer, was in Israel
working on a film which would "atone" for the sins of his father.
1954(22nd
of Iyar, 5714): Robert Capa, possibly the most famous photo journalist of the
20th century was killed while on assignment cover the French-
Indochina War. The Jewish native of Hungary Omaha Beach
1969: An Israeli vehicle was
damaged Sunday night after hitting a mine near Maoz Chaim in the valley. There
were no casualties
1977: Star Wars
opened. This would be the first in a
whole series of films that would include the villain Darth Vader. According to
Adams Walls, “Even though it's too small to see on screen, part of Darth
Vader's chestplate features three lines of Hebrew, one of which appears to be
upside down. What the lines say is a matter of much online debate among Jewish
"Star Wars" fans. On TheForce.net, which features photos of the
Hebrew script in question, one blogger believes it's a play on a section from
Exodus 16 about repentance, while another thinks the lines read: "His
actions/deeds will not be forgiven until he is proven innocent" and
"One shall be regarded innocent until he is proven guilty."
1978: The Jerusalem Post reported the official denial of reports that
Israel sought control over the West Bank's absentee property owned by Arabs
residing abroad, and that there were plans to establish a Jewish urban quarter
near Nablus. Officials of the Land Administration were instructed to lift a ban
on transactions affecting property owned by local Arab residents, residing
abroad.
1978: The Jerusalem Post reported that The Knesset Speaker, Mr. Yitzhak
Shamir, accepted an invitation to visit Germany
1978: The Jerusalem Post reported that a six-lane divided highway, which
would cut through the Sacher Park and expand the Kirya, was approved in
Jerusalem.
1978(18th of
Iyar, 5738): Lag B’Omer
1979(28th of Iyar, 5739:)
Yom Yerushalayim
1979: Israel begins to return the Sinai to Egypt as part of the Camp David Peace Accords.
1983: Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was released to the public. The script was co-authored by a Jew from Miami, FL, Lawrence E. Kasdan.
1985(5th of Sivan, 5745): Erev of Shavuot
1985(5th of Sivan, 5745): Robert Gruntal Nathan “an American novelist and poet” passed away. “Nathan was born into a prominent New York family. He was educated in the United States and Switzerland and attended Harvard University for several years beginning in 1912. It was there that he began writing short fiction and poetry. However, he never graduated, choosing instead to drop out and take a job at an advertising firm to support his family (he married while a junior at Harvard). It was while working in 1919 that he wrote his first novel—the semi-autobiographical work Peter Kindred—which was a critical failure. But his luck soon changed during the 1920s, when he wrote seven more novels, including The Bishop's Wife, which was later made into a successful film starring Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young. During the 1930s, his success continued with more works, including fictional pieces and poetry. In 1940, he wrote his most successful book, Portrait of Jennie, about a Depression-era artist and the woman he is painting, who is slipping through time. Portrait of Jennie is considered a modern masterpiece of fantasy fiction and was made into a film, starring Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten. In January 1956 the author wrote, as well as narrated, an episode of the CBS Radio Workshop, called "A Pride of Carrots or Venus Well-Served." Nathan's seventh wife was the British actress Anna Lee, to whom he was married from 1970 until his death. He came from a talented family — the activist Maud Nathan and author Annie Nathan Meyer were his aunts, and the poet Emma Lazarus and Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo his cousins.”
1987: James Levine is scheduled to conduct the IPO tonight in a performance that will include Mahler’s Third Symphony.
1990(1st of Sivan, 5750): Rosh Chodesh Sivan
1991: Israel began the evacuation 14,000 Ethiopian Jews. This was done as a secret operation and served as a reminder of the role of
1993(5th of Sivan, 5753): Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Friedman, the founder and former spiritual leader of the Garment Center Synagogue in Manhattan, passed away today at the age of 95. He was a rabbinical graduate of Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1921 and, a decade later, founded the Garment Center Synagogue. The synagogue, at 205 West 40th Street, was established primarily to serve the many Jews who worked in the garment trade. Born on Nov. 13, 1897, in Jerusalem, Rabbi Friedman came to the United States with his mother and brother in 1918 to escape famine in his homeland. His father had arrived a year earlier. Trained as a scribe, Rabbi Friedman began his rabbinical studies in 1919. After his ordination, he was appointed rabbi of Congregation Ezrath Israel in Ellenville, N.Y., a position he held for four years before moving to Brooklyn. In 1931, after serving at several synagogues in New York City, Rabbi Friedman founded the Garment Center Synagogue. In the mid-1950's, he was named rabbi emeritus. Rabbi Friedman's wife, Charlotte, died in 1980.
1996(7th of Sivan, 5756): Second Day of Shavuot
1997: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Actual by Saul Bellow and the Wisdom of the Body by Sherwin B. Nuland
2000:
2002: An exhibition opens at the Tate in London entitled “Ori Gersht: Afterglow” which features the work of Israeli artist Ori Gersht.
2003: The New York Times featured books by Jewish writers and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Last Good Season by Michael Shapiro.
2004(5th of Sivan, 5764): Roger Williams Straus, Jr. passed away. Born in 1917, “Strauss was co-founder of Farrar, Straus and Giroux a New York book publishing company. Straus, along with John Farrar, began the influential firm of Farrar and Straus in 1945. In 1955, the company hired editor Robert Giroux away from rival Harcourt, Brace, who brought along authors such as T. S. Eliot and Flannery O'Connor, among others. Ultimately, in 1994, twenty years after his partner Farrar had died, Straus determined he could no longer run the company, retired, and sold the business to a German publishing conglomerate, Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, the type of company he had long disdained and spoke out against. Straus was regarded as one of the last, old-fashioned publishers, faithful to his company and tight with his money, but emphasizing quality over commercial success. His dedication to the publishing business earned him several Nobel Prize-winning authors, including Isaac Bashevis Singer, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Joseph Brodsky, Nadine Gordime, Czeslaw Milosz and T. S. Eliot, and Pulitzer Prize authors such as Robert Lowell, John McPhee, Philip Roth, and Bernard Malamud. Straus grew up in a wealthy and influential family. His mother was Gladys Guggenheim, heir to one of the largest fortunes in
2004: In Israel, striking lifeguard returned to work today as part of what they called “a goodwill gesture” for Shavuot which begins this evening.
2005: At U.C Santa Cruz, The Jewish Studies Program is scheduled to present a lecture by Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, titled “Seduced into Eden: The Beginning of Desire.” Zornberg's first book, Genesis: The Beginning of Desire won the National Jewish Book Award for nonfiction in 1995.
2006: During the Sydney Writers’ Festival at the Sydney (Australia) Jewish Museum Professor Konrad Kwiet leads a discussion with editors and journalists from major Sydney newspapers where they examine the role of free press in a democratic society including the need, if ever, for limits on freedom of the press and the need for the media to demonstrate a sense social responsibility.
“Books can be entertaining, insightful and at their best, life changing. But are there some books that just should not be read? Are they indeed dangerous? Books like Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, have spawned some of the most evil Books can be entertaining, insightful and at their best, life changing. But are there some regimes the world has known. Yet should we limit our access to these ideas? The intrinsic virtues of free speech are often touted throughout the West, however in countries such as Australia Anti Racial Vilification Legislation limits what can and cannot be said in public forums. What can or should be the role of the media in these kinds of debates? A free press is one of the basic tenets of a democratic society, but are there times when this freedom is taken too far? Does the press have a social responsibility and if so, what is it?
2007: In Israel, Avner Itai the lead Israel Chamber Orchestra oboist, one of the greatest conductors in Israel and a professor for choir conducting joins Ora Seitner and guitarist Oded Schub in performing folk songs and works from Catalonia and France at the Abu Gosh Festival. He will play an oboe d'amore that he bought this year. Itai will conduct instrumentalists from the Philharmonic and his choir, Collegium Tel Aviv, in Bach's "Mass in B Minor."
2008: The Wolf Prizes were awarded today at the Chagall Hall by the President of the State of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres, in the presence of the Minister of Education and Chairperson of the Wolf Foundation Council, Prof. Yuli Tamir, and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Zeev Schleisner.
2008: Barry Levinson's tale of an embattled Hollywood producer entitled “What Just Happened?” closes this year's Festival de Cannes. The movie is based on his memoir about his experiences as a producer.
2008: The winner of the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award is announced in
2008:
The Cedar Rapids Prairie High School
2009:
As Americans gather to observe Memorial Day, the following we are remineded of
the role that Jews have played in defense of this country from Asher Levy in
New Amsterdam to Corporal Mark Evnin, the first Jewish casualty in Iraq.
2009:
Israel is
likely to face simultaneous missile strikes and terror attacks across the
country in the event of a war breaking out, Deputy Defense Minister Matan
Vilnai said today. Vilnai made the comments during a session of the Knesset's
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, in which he said the Home Front Command
would simulate defending against such an assault as part of a large-scale drill
to be held next week. "This isn't an imaginary situation. This isn't
detached from reality and if there is a war, it's very likely that this is what
will happen," said the deputy minister. The Israel Defense Forces drill,
codenamed "Turning Point 3, has been billed as the largest exercise ever
in Israel's history. IDF Brig. Gen. (res.) Ze'ev Zuk-Rom, the National
Emergency Authority chief, also participated in the briefing. He said the drill
will be based on lessons learned in different exercises held over the last two
years, including ones learned during the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast
Lead, Israel's recent offensive against Hamas in Gaza. "In every future
confrontation with one enemy or more the home front will suffer the brunt of
the offense. The better prepared Israel is, the smaller the number of
casualties and the lesser the damage to vital national infrastructure will
be." committee chairman MK Tzachi Hanegbi said at the end of the meeting. "The
committee is satisfied that the upcoming drill was planned in a professional
and reliable way and that its contribution to saving lives is of supreme
importance," Hanegbi concluded.
2009(2nd
of Sivan, 5769): Amos Elon, author of “The Israelis: Founders and Sons,”
passed away at the age of 82.
2010: "The Adventures of Hershele Ostropolyer," a new musical adaptation of the classic Yiddish play by Moyshe Gershenson, is scheduled to premiere tonight at The Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York City.
2009:
Conference 2009 hosted by The Philadelphia Kehilla For Secular Jews came to an
end.
2010:
The 49th Israel Festival, arguably one of Israel's most important cultural and
artistic events, will commence with performances by Nuevo Tango, Ahavat Olamim,
a tribute to Charlie Parker by Anchipolosvky, the King's Singers, and a dance
performance entitled Vertigo, Birth of the Phoenix. The three week festival centered in Jerusalem
will feature music, dance, and theater from Israeli and international artists
that hail from the U.S., Britain, Lithuania, Germany, Denmark, France, Iceland,
India, Japan and Korea. Events will
occur in venues throughout the city.
2011:
Jonathan D. Sarna is scheduled to deliver a lecture entitled “That Obnoxious
Order”: Ulysses S. Grant and the Jews at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim in
Charleston, SC.
2011:
Joan Nathan is scheduled to sign copies of “Quiches,
Kugels, and Couscous” at
the National Archives following a presentation that “explores the rich tapestry
of more than three centuries of Jewish cooking in America.
2011:
The New England
Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society is scheduled to present a
lecture, “Among Mishpocha: At Home in the Boston Jewish Community” by Dr.
Michael Feldberg in the Education Center of the New England Historic
Genealogical Society in Boston.
2011:
Ken Spiro is
scheduled to deliver a lecture on the accomplishments of the Jews throughout
history entitled “What Would the World be Like without the Jews?” in Greenwich,
CT.
2011:
Six Israeli
women from Beit Shemesh-Mateh Yehuda are scheduled be at the JCCNV to cook
foods from different origins (Moroccan, Kurdish -Iraqi, Persian, Russian and
Yemenite) as part of “Taste of Israel: Ethnic Cooking at its Best.”
2011:
Opening of “Jews, Slavery and the Civil War” a conference hosted by the College
of Charleston.
2011:
US President
Barack Obama said today that a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
was "more urgent than ever." And while expressing confidence that a
two-state solution was achievable, the US president made it clear that seeking
Palestinian statehood in the United Nations would be "a mistake." Speaking
alongside UK Prime Minister David Cameron at a press conference in London after
the two met privately, Obama stated that the Palestinians must understand
"they have obligations as well."
2012:
Gil Shohat is scheduled to conduct a Brahms Marathon at the Henry Crown Concert
Hall as part of the Israel Festival.
2012:
As Americans begin their Memorial Day Weekend by Cantor Larry Paul and musician
Robyn Helzner are scheduled to lead a special Shabbat Eve service at the
Historic 6th & I Synagogue honoring the memory of the Jewish
Fallen Heroes of Iraq and Afghanistan. National Museum of American Jewish
Military History President, Norman Rosenshein, is scheduled to deliver the opening
remarks. During the service, the names of the more than 40 fallen heroes will
be read as a sign of solemn remembrance
Copyright; May, 2012; Mitchell A. Levin melech3@mchsi.com
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