JUNE 19 In Jewish History
1269:
Louis IX (Saint Louis) of France, needing no urging from the Church, ordered
all Jews found in public without a badge (yellow or red) to be fined ten livres
of silver. The badge in France
1286:
Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg was imprisoned in a castle in Alsace Lombardy . At the time of his imprisonment, Reb Meir and
his followers were trying to leave Germany
1320:
John XXII issued “Cum sit absurdum” a Papal Bull that stated that “Converted
Jews need not be despoiled.”
1338:
“In recognition of the good-will shown by the citizens of Vienna in time of
distress, and in anticipation of its continuance, the Jews declared, in a
document written in Hebrew and dated today in Vienna that they would lend to
the citizens of Vienna, rich as well as poor, a pound of Vienna heller at a weekly
interest of three heller.”
1623:
Birthdate of French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal. Of the Jewish people Pascal wrote, “It is
certain that in certain parts of the world we can see a peculiar people,
separated from the other peoples of the world and this is called the Jewish
people…. This people is not only of remarkable antiquity but has also lasted
for a singularly long time… For where as the people of Greece and Italy, of
Sparta, Athens and Rome and others who came so much later have perished so long
ago, these still exist, despite the efforts of so many powerful kings who have
tried a hundred times to wipe them out, as their historians testify, and as can
easily be judged by the natural order of things over such a long spell of
years. They have always been preserved, however, and their preservation was
foretold… My encounter with this people amazes me…."
1747:
Nāder Shāh Afshār, the founder of the Afsharid dynasty, passed away. During his
reign he reversed the anti-Jewish policies and practices that had been put in
place by the Safawid’s dynasty which had ruled during the previous century.
1790:
The Gazette of the United States, a
newspaper published in New York City provides an account of correspondence
between the Hebrew Congregation of Savannah, Georgia and the newly elected
President of the United States, George Washington. Washington
1790(7th
of Tamuz, 5550): Saul
Lowenstam “a renowned Dutch rabbi and Talmudist” passed away. “Saul Lowenstam
was born in 1717 in Rzeszów to his parents Aryeh Leib ben Saul[ (who was the
rabbi in Rzeszów at the time) and Miriam the daughter of the Chacham Tzvi. He
married Hendele the daughter Abraham Kahana, who was rabbi of Grodno[citation
needed], Ukraine. His first rabbinical position was in Lokachi, Ukraine
(located in the Lokachi Raion and named Lakacz in Yiddish), followed by Dubno
where he succeeded his father-in-law. After the death of his father in 1755,
Lowenstam succeeded him as the Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam, Netherlands. He was
succeeded as Chief Rabbi by his son, Jacob Moses Lowenstam.” “Lowenstam was the
author of the Binyan Ariel published in Amsterdam 1778. He also authored a
Torah Commentary HeChatzer HaChadasha published in Amsterdam in 1768. A
pamphlet titled Halacha Lema'aseh Rav published in Amsterdam in 1828 contains
his 1783 halachic ruling asserting the kashrut of Dutch cheese.”
1832:
Birthdate of Frédéric Emile Baron d’Erlanger, the French banker whose family
converted to Christianity. Despite the
family’s conversion, the Baron is often erroneously identified as being Jewish.
Erlanger created one of the earliest “junk bonds” based on the cotton trade
during the Civil War. This has led to
other incorrect reports that Jews were responsible for financing the
Confederacy’s war effort.
1854:
Birthdate of Jonas Kuppenheimer. A
native of Terre Haute, Indiana, Kuppenheimer, his father Bernard and his
brothers Louise and Albert moved to Chicago in 1870 where they established a
clothing store that became one of the major men’s clothing brands in the United
States. He passed away in 1921.
1857:
The correspondent for the New York Times writes from London that the
second reading of the Jew Bill has passed by an immense majority. Furthermore,
the opposition seems to be waning and Rothschild is on his way to becoming “a
Parliamentary saint” as opposed to an “unparliamentary martyr.”
1867:
Ruthless beat
out DeCourcey by a head over the old Jerome Park Racetrack to win the inaugural
running of the Belmont Stakes and financed by August Belmont, Sr. for whom the
race was named financed the building of the track. The Belmont Stakes would move to it current
home, Belmont Park, in 1905.
1877:
As word of Judge Hilton’s decision to bar Joseph Seligman from the Grand Union
Hotel because he was Jewish spread across the United States, hotel proprietors
in Philadelphia said that banning patrons because they were Jewish was wrong. Looking at it from strictly a financial point
of view, they all agree that the money of “an Israelite” is as good as that “of
a full fledged American.” Both Mr.
Kingsley of the Continental and Mr. Ward of St. George, leading Philadelphia
hotels, have had Seligman as a guest and would gladly do so again. While Judge
Hilton’s action might have been permissible in New York, in Pennsylvania it
would have been illegal. Under that
state’s law, hotel owners have to obtain a license that allows them “keep a hotel,
inn or tavern and under the provisions of that license he cannot turn away any
person from his hotel, unless he knows that such persons will cause great loss
to his house and then he holds himself liable to a fine of $300 and three
months imprisonment” as well as a suit for damages from the people who were
denied rooms.
1877:
At the popular resort of Long Branch, NJ, several hotel owners expressed their
surprise that Joseph Seligman had been turned away from the Grand Union. Even though he is Jewish, the hotel owners,
some of whom had had him as a guest, said that he was a desirable guest. However, many of them expressed the opinion
that they did not want Jews staying at their hotels and were sympathetic with
the stance taken by Judge Hilton.
1877:
According to Edward Lauterbach, the attorney for Joseph Seligman, as of today
hundreds of Jews have closed their accounts at the two stores owned by A.T.
Stewart & Co which are controlled by Judge Hilton. This is but one example
of Jewish support for Seligman whom Lauterbach declared is the leading Jew in
the United States and is proudly acknowledged as such by his co-religionists. Lauterbach said that Seligman might also
pursue a case under the Civil Rights Law which would leave Hilton open to fines
and imprisonment.
1877:
The arrival of today’s New York Times at Saratoga Spring this afternoon has
caused quite a stir with its report of the dispute between Judge Hilton and
Joseph Seligman over the latter’s claim that he was not allowed to rent rooms
at the Grand Union because he was Jewish.
1878:
Birthdate of Yakov Mikhaylovich Yurovsky, the Bolshevik leader that some credit
with overseeing the execution of the Czar after the Russian Revolution.
1879:
The London News published an article describing the terms of the will of
the late Baron Lionel de Rothschild. The
estate is valued to at 2,700,000 pounds. Sir Nathaniel de Rothschild and Mr.
Alfred de Rothschild, the late Baron’s two sons, have been named as executors.
1880:
It was reported today that Sarah Bernhardt has signed a contract to give 60
performances at Booth’s Theatre in New York next winter. The contract calls for
her to be paid 3,000 francs a night, one-third of the gross receipts, traveling
expenses for herself and three companions and 3,000 francs a month for her
hotel bill. According to the great
actress, she has had more lucrative offers but she accepted this because the
200,000 francs has been deposited at the Banque de France as a security bond.
1882: It was reported today that the United States manager for Sarah Bernhardt has signed a contract with Henry Irving the actor/owner of London’s Lyceum Company to perform their full repertoire during an American tour. Among other things, American audiences will be treated to The Merchant of Venice featuring Ellen Terry in her famed portrayal of Portia and Irving’s unique portrayal of Shylock. His dignified portrayal of Shakespeare’s most famous Jewish character is a departure from the norm of his time.
1882:
“The Polish Jewish Colony” published today provided a detailed sketch of life
among the Jews living on New York’s lower east side.
1884:Dr.
Henry W. Schneeberger a Baltimore Rabbi was one of four people who signed a letter
today addressed “to Sir Moses Montefiore, thanking him for his aid to the Russian
Jews who had found a refuge in Baltimore. The letter continued to advise Montefiore
that the Russian Jewish immigrants had established a school in honor of their
benefactor. Dr. Schneeberger was one of the teachers in this school - teaching
the immigrants in the daytime and also at night. Dr. Schneeberger also became
their mentor in advising the Russian Jewish immigrants to become good American
citizens and he cautioned against the radicalism of some in their midst.”
1884:
After a rumor circulated through certain parts of the Russian city of Nizhny
Novgorod that a Jew had kidnapped a Christian child and taken it to a
synagogue, a mob attacked the synagogue. During the riot 9 Jews were killed,
six houses were wrecked and an untold number were plundered.
1886:
The Manchester Guardian reported that
the Visiting Committee of the Hebrew Congregations of Manchester and Liverpool
has affected a "closer union between the Sephardic and Ashkenazic sections
of the Jewish community."
1889:
William E. Annin, the associate editor of the Omaha Bee wrote the following description today of Edward
Rosewater, the Czech born Jew who was “the editor and publisher
of the Omaha Bee.”
"Mr. Rosewater was par
excellence the all-around man of the [Bee] establishment. He seemed to
have obtained the secret of two of the attributes of Deity, he was omnipresent
and apparently omniscient. He wrote heavy editorials and pungent editorial
paragraphs; contributed local political news to the city page, clipped
selections for the news columns, selected items for those startling chestnuts
dubbed 'Connubial Bliss,' 'Peppermint Drops' and 'Honey for the Ladies,'
regulated the business office a dozen times a day, and took subscriptions on
the streets and advertising contracts from the merchants. I used to think his
only sorrow was that he had not in addition been born a steam engine so that he
could run the presses. . . "In addition to his ordinary duties above
named, he constantly developed strong interest in local politics, and always
had a dozen fights and twice that number of ward politicians on his hands. On
city or county election days, The Bee office was usually depopulated and
every man, from editor down, after rushing in copy, early took a whirl at the
polls. After a hard day's work on election day, followed by an all night
session in collecting returns, the editor would bob up serenely at 9 o'clock
the next morning with his arm full of exchanges and his mouth full of
suggestions about the paper, . . ."His indomitable energy, his
uncompromising persistency and his invincible pluck were at once the wonder and
admiration of the office. . . . Overworked himself, he took his own high
tension as the norm of work, and found it difficult to understand why all of
his employees could not endure cheerfully the same racking. This made him often
very unpleasant as an employer
1897:
Birthdate of comedian Moe Howard who gained fame as one of the
Three Stooges
1900: Herzl and Wolffsohn settle their differences about the
Trust's affairs. And Herzl asks his good dear "Daade" to address him
by the familiar "Du" instead of the formal "Sie".
1903: The British Foreign Office sends the first of two letters to
Herzl rejecting his proposal to establish a Jewish colony in the Sinai.
1906: Birthdate of German born and educated British chemist, Sir
Ernst Boris Chain. Chain left Germany
1910:
Birthdate of Abe Fortas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Fortas was a
close friend and advisor to Lyndon Johnson. There are several stories about
Fortas providing Johnson with what we would call a "reality check."
Fortas was reluctant to give up his lucrative law practice and accept the position
on the high court. He did tell Johnson that the Jewish community would not
consider him as the "Jewish Justice" in the sense of a Brandies or
Goldberg since he was not a part of that community. In the end Fortas gave into
Lyndon’s famed arm-twisting and the rest is history. Fortas ended up resigning
from the court in 1969 after questions were raised about some of his business
dealings. Fortas passed away in 1982 at the age of 71.
1913:
Abram I. Elkus addressed the graduates at
the City College commencement ceremony.
1914:
Louis D.
Brandeis, special counsel to the Interstate Commerce Commission in the 5 per
cent. advance rate case, to-day appeared before the Senate Committee on
Interstate Commerce in opposition to the Rayburn Stock and Bond bill, which
proposes to confer authority upon the commission to control and approve issues
of securities by common carriers.
1915:
Birthdate of cartoonist Julius Schwartz
1915:
The Jews of Morocco suffer indignities under the French regime that were unknown
while under the rule of the old sultans.
1919:
Birthdate of movie critic Pauline Kael. As movie critic for the New York Times, Kael was one of the most influential influences in
the world of cinema criticism. With her
high quality of writing and edgy style, she was a trend setter in an era when
women were too often consigned to the style section and gossip columns.
1925:
In a cave at Tabgha, near Jerusalem, archaeologists discover a primitive human
skull that bears a close resemblance to the Neanderthal man previously
discovered in Europe.
1933: On a day when he received an honorary
degree from Brown University Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo of the United States
Supreme Court delivered an address to the alumni of that Rhode Island institution
of higher education in which he declared, “The day is past when problems of
public law can be solved by pulling down the law books and marking without
other aids the "signposts on the road,"
1933:
Cardinal Pacelli issued a concordant known as the Hitler Concordant. Hitler
described it as "unrestricted acceptance of National Socialism by the Vatican
1934:
American author Nathaniel West, the son of Litvak immigrants to the United
States, published A Cool Million, the second of the three novels he
created during his career which was cut short by an untimely death in an
automobile accident.
1936: As Arab violence continues to
sweep across Palestine,The
Palestine Post reported that one Jew was killed and several deafened and injured
by a primitive bomb which was thrown into a bus in Tel Aviv. Avraham
Ben-Yehuda, one of the original founders of Atarot, died of injuries sustained
when Arab snipers opened fire on a bus in Jerusalem Jerusalem Nablus
1939: The Mizrachi Women's Organization opened its first independent
meeting in Atlantic City United
States
1939: In Palestine, eighteen Arabs--nine men, six women and three
children-- were killed and twenty-four wounded by the explosion of a time bomb.
In replying to accusations by the British that Jews were responsible for the
violence, “Jewish communal leaders condemned the ‘dastardly murder of innocent
Arabs, women and children.’”
1940(13th of Sivan, 5700): Zalman David Levontin passed
away. Born in 1856, he was one of the first of the Hovevei Zion group and one
of the founders of Rishon LeZion and Yesod Hamaaleh. In 1903, Levontin founded
the Anglo Palestine Bank in Jaffa
1942(4th of Tamuz, 5702): Jews revolt at
Glebokie, Belorussia; 2500 are murdered in the Borek Forest.
1943:
Joseph Goebbels announces that Berlin
1944:
Five hundred Jews were transferred from the death camp of Birkenau to the work
camp at Dachau
1945:
Judge Irving Lehman, the brother of former Governor Herman Lehman, delivered
the address of welcome at New York City's reception honoring General Dwight D.
Eisenhower, who has returned from leading the Allies to victory over the Nazis.
1948:
Panama and Costa Rica (recognized Israel.
1950:
Israel
apologized to the Swedish Government today for the assassination of Count
Bernadotte, United Nations Mediator for Palestine, by terrorists on Sept. 17,
1948.
1951:
For the first time, a Soviet citizen (Jewish) was issued an immigrant visa to
Israel. The hoped-for easing of the Russian policy of not letting its citizens
out would not materialize for decades to come.
1951: The Jerusalem Post reported that the Knesset passed
the first reading of a bill empowering the government to sign an agreement with
Bank Leumi Le'Israel, nominating the bank as the currency issue bank of Israel
1951: The Jerusalem Post reported that the secretary of
the Iraqi Jewish Community Council, Dr. Habasi, was detained by police in Baghdad Israel
1952: Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion expressed satisfaction today that
the Zionist Organization of America at its convention in New York this week had
cleared up the misunderstanding about the right of foreign Zionists to
participate in the shaping of Israel's policies.
1952:
Birthdate of actress Carol Kane who played Simka on the television show Taxi.
1953:
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed after having been convicted as spies.
1957:
Saul Rogovin pitched his last major league baseball game.
1959: The U.S. Senate
rejects Ike's appointment of Lewis Strauss for Secretary of Commerce. At a time when most Jews were Democrats,
Strauss was a Republican. He was part of the liberal, internationalist wing of
the party. He had worked with Herbert
Hoover on war relief during World War I.
Strauss made special efforts to see to that aid from the Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee got to the Jews of Europe who were in dire straits. He served in the Navy during World War II and
became involved in atomic energy. He was
rejected because of his role in dealing with Robert J. Oppenheimer.
1962: Birthdate of 1980’s pop star Paula
Abdul. Her mother is French Canadian and
her father is of Syrian Sephardic origins.
1964:
The United States Senate passed The Civil Rights Bill that would eventually
become the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This landmark legislation outlawed a
variety of forms of discrimination including that based on religion. The bill,
which was primarily aimed at ending racial segregation, had support from Jewish
groups and Jewish legislators. In the House, the bill was managed by
Congressman Cellar who helped bring it to victory in that body.
1965:
A novella entitled "Hapworth 16, 1924", the last published work of
J.D. Salinger appeared today in The New
Yorker magazine
1966(1st
of Tamuz, 5726): Rosh Chodesh Tamuz
1966(1st
of Tamuz, 5726): Comedian Ed Wynn passed away. Born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in
1886 in Philadelphia
1967:
Prime Minister
Levi Eshkol announced that "as an interim stage, a military situation will
remain in the West Bank ."
1967:
“In a secret decision, the government of Levi Eshkol offered Syria
1979:
Birthdate of Daniel Jonathan Sieradski “a Jewish American writer and activist”
who was “the founding publisher and editor-in-chief of Jewschool, a popular
left-wing Jewish weblog, as well as the weblogs Radical Torah and Orthodox
Anarchist. He is also the creator of the synagogue listings and reviews website
ShulShopper.”
1980: In Charleston, SC, the Greek Revival building housing Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue was designated as a National Historic Landmark. For those who think of American Jewry as being a New York or eastern creation, it comes as a surprise that this is the second oldest synagogue building in continuous operation in the United States. Also, when this congregation adopted the Reform minhag in 1824 it became one of the founding forces of the Reform Movement in the United States – something most people connect with Cincinnati, Ohio
1984(19th
of Sivan, 5744): Abstract expressionist Lee Krasner passed away.
1987: Ben & Jerry Ice Cream
founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield announce
a new Ice Cream flavor, Cherry Garcia
a new Ice Cream flavor, Cherry Garcia
1989(16th of Sivan, 5749): Writer and
social critic I(sidor) F(einstein) Stone passes away at the age of 81.
1992:In Palermo, the Fifth International Convention of Studies of
"Italia Judaica" came to a close.
1993: Philosopher and movie star Bernard-Henri Levy married
actress Arielle Bombasle.
1994(10th of Tammuz, 5754): Sheina Chaya, the
wife Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and the daughter of Rabbi Aryeh Levin passed
away.
1994: The New York Times
published a review of History of Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
by Israel Gutman. "They refused to surrender, preferring instead to fight
to the death and thus preserve their honor," Israel Gutman writes in Resistance,
his account of the band of starving Jews who fought the Nazis in Poland in
April 1943. Mr. Gutman, a Holocaust survivor who teaches modern Jewish history
at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and is the director of the research center at
Israel's national Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, intelligently outlines the
elements that weakened the Jewish resistance movement in Warsaw. These included
not only Nazi air attacks and arson, food and water shortages and the neglect
of the Polish underground resistance movement, but also the abandonment of the
ghetto by its most prominent political leaders and arguments among the many
rival Jewish organizations over a course of action. One wishes that Mr. Gutman
had recorded events chronologically rather than switching back and forth in
time. One longs for more information about heroes like Mordecai Anielewicz, the
brave underground leader who escaped Warsaw
1995: The cartoon strip Rhymes
With Orange appeared in syndication for the first time. With its debut,
twenty-five-year-old cartoonist Hilary Price became the youngest woman ever to
have a nationally-syndicated cartoon strip.
1995: David Libai begins his term as Minister of Internal Affairs.
1996(2nd
of Tamuz, 5756): G. David Shine passed away. Roy Cohn, the Chief Counsel, named
Shine as investigator for the McCarthy Committee, which was supposedly exposing
the Communist Conspiracy during the 1950’s. Shine was drafted and McCarthy
claimed the drafting of his investigator was part of the Communist Conspiracy
to thwart his efforts. He attacked the U.S. Army for being involved in the
Communist Conspiracy. These charges led to the famous Army-McCarthy Hearings,
which led to his downfall.
1996:
The Eldridge Street Synagogue was designated as a National Historic Landmark.
Located at 12 Eldridge Street on New York’s lower east side, it was built in
1887 to meet the needs of the growing population of eastern European Jews. As
demographics changed, the synagogue fell on hard times in the 1950’s. In the 1980’s restoration projects began
which reinvigorate and physically restore the synagogue.
2001(28th
of Sivan, 5761): Rabbi
Bernard Mandelbaum, president from 1966 to 1971 of the Jewish Theological
Seminary, the academic and spiritual center of Conservative Judaism, passed
away today at a the age of 99. Rabbi
Mandelbaum, born in Brooklyn, came to the seminary, at Broadway and 122nd
Street, as a student in 1942 after graduating from Columbia College. After
being ordained, he held a variety of posts at the seminary, including dean of
students, provost, and professor of Midrash, or scriptural interpretation. He
became president of the seminary in 1966, when Rabbi Louis Finkelstein was
chancellor. The person who holds the position of chancellor has long been
regarded as the de facto head of the Conservative movement, to which nearly two
million American Jews belong. Rabbi Mandelbaum was widely regarded as being
groomed to succeed Rabbi Finkelstein as chancellor and it was also expected
that Dr. Gerson Cohen would succeed him as president. He lost a highly
publicized succession battle for the chancellorship, though. Instead, Dr. Cohen
became chancellor and Rabbi Mandelbaum left the seminary. The succession battle
involved issues of personality and skills as well as religious ideology. Rabbi
Mandelbaum was regarded as the superior fund-raiser and administrator, Dr.
Cohen as the greater scholar. Rabbi Mandelbaum was also considered more
traditional, and Dr. Cohen did go on to lead the seminary in a more progressive
direction, presiding in 1985 over the ordination of the first women to become
rabbis in Conservative Judaism. Rabbi David C. Kogen, a vice chancellor of the
seminary at the time, recalled the succession battle as ''a major crossroads''
in the life of the institution. ''If Rabbi Mandelbaum had become chancellor,
women rabbis would not have come into being so soon, if at all,'' Rabbi Kogen
said. Women are now a large part of the seminary's rabbinical school. The
seminary ordained 29 rabbis last month, and 12 were women, bringing to 123 the
number of women ordained since 1985, seminary officials said. Rabbi Mandelbaum
later held other leadership roles, including serving as president of the
America-Israel Cultural Foundation, which was established to promote musical
and culture exchanges. He was also executive vice president of the Synagogue
Council of America, an umbrella organization of the major Jewish denominations,
and created and led the Foundation for Future Generations, which supported
Jewish education. Rabbi Mandelbaum was the author or editor of several books.
His major scholarly work was a critical edition of the ''Pesikta deRav
Kahana,'' a work of biblical interpretation dating to the Fifth Century, which
was published by the seminary in 1962.
2003:
In New York, The Israel Fest Foundation proudly presented Academy Award winning
director Milos Forman with the 19th Israel Film Festival 2003 Lifetime
Achievement Award and Israeli director Dina Zvi Riklis with the 2003
IFF Cinematic Award. The
Award Ceremony is followed by the premiere of the hit romantic comedy Wisdom
of the Pretzel directed by Ilan
Heitner, starring Guy Loel,
Osnat Hakim & Yoram Sachs.
2003:
Rudy Giuliani led the U.S. delegation to the first Organization for Security
and Cooperation conference on anti-Semitism being held in Vienna. The conference came about, in part, because
of the strong support from the Bush Administration.
2005:
The Washington Post reported that
meetings had been held over the weekend at Yifat , Israel Israel
2005: The
Washington Post reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared
from Jerusalem, “that her meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders
convinced her that both sides share a commitment to ensuring Israel’s
withdrawal from Gaza takes place smoothly and peacefully.” At the end of the same article the Post
reported that “Coinciding with Rice’s visit Sunday, Palestinians…attacked
Israelis…in the southern Gaza Strip killing one Israeli and wounding two
others…The attack was the second major assault on Israeli targets in recent
days.” Islamic Jihad and a group
affiliated with Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement took credit for the attack. As head of the PLA ,
Abbas is one of those Palestinian leaders whom Secretary Rice said was
committed to a smooth and peaceful Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
2005: The New York Times featured
reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers
including the recently release paperback editions of Letters to a Young
Lawyer by Alan Dershowitz and Sweet Land Stories by E.L. Doctorow.
2006:
Haaretz reported on the Sderot's
municipal council decision to seal off the city's entrance for a 24-hour period
in protest of continuing Qassam rocket attacks by Palestinians against the
western Negev city. “Sderot is going on strike
and no one will enter or leave it," Sderot mayor Eli Moyal said. Kassam
attacks have left five dead and dozens wounded over the past months.
2006: An article entitled Jerusalem Finding 'Oxygen' In
Revival of Creative Arts,
describes the renaissance of the arts taking place in Jerusalem. The artistic renaissance covers a full
spectrum of endeavors and is having a positive influence on the spiritual
rejuvenation of the City of David
2006:
Israel's ambassador to Germany presented medals of honor on to relatives of
five members of the first "European Union" - an anti-Nazi resistance
group whose members hid and fed Jews during World War Two. This European Union,
which had the same name but nothing to do with the modern 25-nation bloc of European
countries, was an underground, Marxist-oriented group with around 50 to 60
German members, according to a protocol prepared by Yad Vashem Holocaust
museum.
2006: Carol Vogel
described the history of Gustav Klimt’s Adele Bloch-Bauer I in “Lauder Pays
$135 Million, a Record, for a Klimt Portrait.”
2007(3rd
of Tammuz, 5767): Zeev Schiff, the dean of Israeli military
correspondents, defense editor of the newspaper Haaretz and author of numerous
books, died today in Tel Aviv. He was 74.Schiff held a special place in Israeli
journalism, gaining the confidence of those in the highest ranks of the
military establishment and commanding their respect for what they viewed as his
incisive analysis and reporting. He became a household name in Israel. "Politicians,
generals and colleagues alike would seek his guidance, from Israel, the Arab
world and the United States," said Ehud Yaari, a leading Israeli Arab
affairs commentator who was co-author of two international best sellers with
Schiff - "Israel's Lebanon War" and "Intifada." "He
was an institution in himself, and one of the founders of strategic thinking in
the state of Israel," said Zvi Stauber, head of the Institute for National
Security Studies in Tel Aviv, an independent research institute where Schiff
was a member of the board. He joined the staff of Haaretz in 1955 when
the press of Israel, then a besieged seven-year-old state, was still under
heavy military censorship. Haaretz grew up alongside the country's leaders and
developed a relationship with them that would be far less likely today. He both
covered them and informally advised them, yet remained independent. Born in
France in 1933, Schiff came in 1935 with his family to what was then
British-administered Palestine. He studied Middle East affairs and military
history at Tel Aviv University. He worked as a military correspondent in
Vietnam, the Soviet Union, Cyprus and Ethiopia, and won a number of awards,
including the Sokolov Journalism Prize in 1975 for his book "October
Earthquake and the Yom Kippur War." He became a senior associate of the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1984, and was a fellow at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
2007: The second
annual Jerusalem Jazz Festival opens in Israel’s capital city.
2007(3rd
of Tammuz, 5767): Yahrzeit for the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of
righteous memory.
2007: Rachel
Elizabeth Levin, daughter of Michelle and Michael Levin, sister of Jacob Levin,
arrives in Lubbock , Texas
2008: Hazak Week of
Study comes to an end.
2008: At Temple
Chai in Long Grove, Il, Israeli author Eva Etzioni-Halevy speaks about her
latest biblical novel, “The Triumph of Deborah.”
2008: More than 100 Israeli political and cultural leaders from across the
political spectrum have signed a petition to Yad Vashem that they present to Yad
Vashem chairman Avner Shalev urging the Holocaust museum to add material about
the Holocaust rescue activists known as the Bergson Group to its exhibits. “The
Bergson Group was a maverick activist group in the US Roosevelt
administration's failure to rescue Jewish refugees. However, in recent years
most Jewish leaders have come to recognize the group's contribution to the
belated rescue effort. The Bergson Group is credited with helping to persuade
the US
2008: The agreement for a cease-fire between Israel 6 A.M.
2008: The United
Nations’ Children Fund (UNICEF) swore off any relationship with Israeli diamond
mogul, Lev Leviev because of his construction of settlements on the West Bank .
2009: Police officers, Holocaust survivors and employees of the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum gathered at the Ebenezer AME Church on Allentown Road in Fort
Washington today for the funeral services for security officer Stephen T. Johns
who was slain last week in an attack at the popular Washington museum. The
funeral began about 11 a.m. but the first mourners got to the church around
7:30. Johns's bronze coffin arrived at the church in a white hearse and was
carried in by an honor guard of officers from the Metropolitan Police
Department and the Smithsonian Museum. At 9 a.m. mourners were allowed in to
view the body, walking up to two security guards posted on both sides of the
open casket. Leading the mourners were Johns's fellow security officers from
Wackenhut security firm. Several officers saluted the casket as they walked by.
Johns was dressed in a cream linen suit, a toy butterfly on the pillow next to
him. A recording of local recording artist Jeff Majors's "Psalm 23"
was played as mourners streamed in to view the body. Police officers from a
variety of law enforcement agencies were present. Assistant D.C. Assistant
Police Chief Alfred Durham and Joseph Persichini, head of the FBI's Washington
field office, led a platoon of police officials into the church. Durham praised
Johns's sacrifice saying he "laid down his life to protect something. it
means a lot to all of us." Persichini, after walking past Johns's casket,
talked about the special bond among all who wear law enforcement uniforms and
said that extends to "the response to the shooting incident and now the
investigation being done and conducted jointly." Evelyn Gambell, 67, did
not know Johns but left her Bladensburg home at 5:30 to come to the church pay
her respects. "This touched my heart. I had to come," Gambell said.
"We live in a cruel world, but I believe he's resting in the arms of the
Lord." Several sections within the 3,000 seat sanctuary were reserved. One
section was for Holocaust survivors who came to the funeral. Nesse Godin, 81, a
Holocaust survivor who volunteers at the museum, said Johns and the other
officers would greet them with a kiss on the cheek and a hug each morning when
she arrived."He was a wonderful man," she said. About 9:30 a.m. a
caravan of buses rolled up to the church, carrying several hundred staff
members from the Holocaust Museum. Johns was working as a security guard last
week at the museum when white supremacist James W. von Brunn, 88, allegedly
walked in with a rifle and fatally shot Johns after the officer opened the door
for him, authorities say. Von Brunn was charged with killing while in
possession of a firearm in a federal facility. He remains in a hospital with
gunshot wounds from another officer. The Holocaust Museum will be closed until
3 p.m. to allow employees and volunteers to attend the services. Museum
officials set up a memorial fund for the Johns family. To make an online
contribution, go to the Johns Family Fund at http://www.ushmm.org. Checks
payable to the Johns Family Fund may be mailed to the museum at 100 Raoul
Wallenberg Pl. SW, Washington, D.C. 20024. Contributions can also be made by
calling 877-918-7466.
2009: As her Bat
Mitzvah weekend begins, Rachel Maikon helps to lead Friday evening services at
Temple Judah in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
2010: The Jewish National Fund is
scheduled to host Shabbat in the Park at New York’s Central Park Zoo.
2010: In a unique way
to say farewell to Shabbat, a pre-camp Havdallah and swim party for campers and
their families is scheduled to be held at the 14th Street Y in New York City.
2011: “The People in the Picture” by
Iris Rainer Dart has its final showing at the Round About Theatre.
2011: In San Diego, CA,
The Used Book Sale to benefit the Samuel & Rebecca Astor Judaica Library is
scheduled to come to a close.
2011: The New York
Times featured reviews of books by Jewish author and/or of special interest
to Jewish readers including “The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of
American Culture” by David Mamet and “House of Exile: The Lives and Times of
Heinrich Mann and Nelly Kroeger-Mann” by Evelyn Juers
2011(17th of
Sivan, 5771): Ninety year old Don Diamond passed away. For those who watched television in the
1950’s and 1960’s, they saw him in many episodes of F-Troop and Zorro as well
as later series including “Newhart,” “L.A. Law,”
“MacGyver,” “Dallas” and “Dynasty,” “Lou Grant,” “Chico and the Man” and “The
Streets of San Francisco.”
2011(17th of
Sivan, 5771): Ninety-year old Holocaust survivor Samuil Manski passed away.
Manski credited his survival to a transit visa issued to him by a Japanese
diplomat name Chiune Sughira who risked his career by acting against the orders
of his country. At the time of his
death, Manski was working to Sughira recognized as a Righteous Gentile.
2012: “When Israel Went
Out,” a film that retraces the danger-filled route traveled by the Falasha
during the 1980’s is scheduled to be shown at the JCC in Manhattan.
2012: Dr Anthony
Grenville, author of ‘Jewish Refugees from Germany and Austria in Britain’ and
film director Dr. Bea Lewkowicz are scheduled to take part in a Q&A
following a screening of “Double Exposure” at the Wiener Library in London.
Copyright; June, 2012; Mitchell A. Levin melech3@mchsi.com
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