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founder of the *Druze sect who promulgated a variety of ant-Jewish and anti-Christian decrees which he later he rescinded.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 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, 13
89
. 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. This happened 35 years after Gutenberg printed his famous Bible. This Chumash was not the first book to be printed in Hebrew. That honor probably goes to Tractate Berakhot of the Babylonian Talmud which was printed by Joshua Solomon Soncino in 1483. 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 (1708-80) and Rachel Levy, daughter of Moses Levy, an early New York merchant. Seixas became the minister of Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese congregation of his native city, in 1766, and occupied the rabbinate for about, half a century. At the outbreak of the American Revolution he at once espoused the Patriot cause, though many of the Christian ministers of the city sympathized with the Tories. It was largely due to his influence that the Jewish congregation closed the doors of its synagogue on the approach of the British, and decided to leave the town rather than continue under British rule. On the appearance of the British fleet in New York Bay (Aug., 1776) Seixas preached a sermon in English in which he feelingly stated that the synagogue services on that occasion might be the last to be held in the historic edifice. On the dispersion of the congregation Seixas left New York for Stratford, Conn., taking with him the scrolls of the Law and other ceremonial paraphernalia belonging to his charge. At Stratford he was joined by several members of his flock. When, in 1780, the Patriots who had fled to Philadelphia were about to establish a permanent congregation, Seixas was requested to officiate, and he at once proceeded thither from Connecticut, taking with him the synagogue property of his former charge. In this way was established the Congregation Mickvé Israel of Philadelphia. On the completion of its newly erected house of worship, Seixas was one of the committee that waited on the governor of Pennsylvania, inviting him to attend the dedication; and in the course of his patriotic address at the ceremony he invoked the blessing of Almighty God on "the Members of these States in Congress assembled and on his Excellency George Washington, Commander-General of these Colonies." During his entire stay at Philadelphia, Seixas showed himself a public-spirited citizen, figuring also as a zealous defender of religious liberty. Thus when Pennsylvania adopted the religious test as an indispensable qualification for office, he and several members of his congregation addressed the Council of Censors on the subject (Dec., 1783), characterizing the test as "unjust to the members of a persuasion that had always been attached to the American cause and given a support to the country, some in the Continental army, some in the militia, and some by cheerfully paying taxes and sustaining the popular cause." Westcott, the historian, expressly calls attention to this protest, stating "that it doubtless had its influence in procuring the subsequent modification of the test clause in the Constitution." After the war Seixas returned to New York and resumed his former position as rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel. He was one of the first ministers to preach a regular Thanks-giving Day sermon (see "Daily Gazette," Dec. 23, 1789), and was also one of the fourteen clergymen participating in the ceremony of the inauguration of George Washington as first president of the United States. In 1787 he became a trustee of Columbia College in the city of New York, and held that office continuously to 1815, being the only Jew ever so honored. When the college was incorporated, Seixas' name appeared in the charter as one of the incorporators. Seixas was on terms of intimate friendship with the ministers of other denominations, particularly with the Episcopal clergy of New York. The latter, tradition relates, frequently visited the Portuguese synagogue, while the Jewish minister in turn was invited to address Christian congregations. The manuscript of one such discourse delivered by Seixas (Aug., 1800) in historic St. Paul's, New York, is still preserved by his congregation. Public-spirited at all times, he earnestly exhorted his congregation to support the administration during the War of 1812; and an address containing his appeal for the sufferers during that struggle is still extant. He also took the lead in philanthropic work, founding in 1802 the charitable organization known as "Hebra Hased Ve Amet," which is still (1905) in existence. Seixas was twice married, his first wife being Elkalah Cohen (1749-85), to whom he was wedded in 1775, and his second, Hannah Manuel, whom he married in 1789. His descendants are among the prominent Jewish families of New York. His remains lie in the old cemetery on New Bowery, in the city of New York.
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: Birthdate of Alber Ulmmann, a graduate of CCNY, member of the New York Stock Exchange, author whose works included Tales of Old New York and a founder the Judeans.
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.
1862: Abraham Lincoln signed a re-configured Morrill Act into law creating land-grant colleges or universities. Iowa was the first state to accept the provisions of the act, subsequently creating Iowa State University. Dr. Alan Singer is one of the distinguished Jewish graduates of Iowa State. The creation of tax-payer supported schools of higher education not tied to any religious denomination would be a boon to the bourgeoning Jewish population.
1863: Captain Joseph B. Greenhut of the 82nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry was selected by is commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Edward S. Salomon to lead fifty volunteers on a mission to dislodge Confederate sharpshooters who were “picking off” gunners and officers serving on the Union Army’s front line. Greenhut led a bayonet charge and successfully dislodged the Rebel marksmen from the houses in which they were hiding. The Secretary of War would eventually send Greenhut an official letter of commendation for the brave manner in which he behaved. Greenhut and Salomon were two of the many Jews who fought at Gettysburg.
1863(th of Tammuz, 5623: Isaac ben Jacob Bejacob a Lithuanian born bibliographer, author, published and leader of the Jewish community passed away Vilnius today.
1868: Birthdate of Shmuel Yitchak Hillman the native of Kovno who served as a Dayan of the London Beth Din.
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 Messengerproudly 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 Timestook 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 & 63rdfor 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.
1877: “The French Parliament” published today explained the failure of the stock exchange in Paris to fall in response to last month’s political upheaval was a result of Germans and Jews controlling the Bourse and not Frenchmen. In other words, it was controlled by people who had no vested interest in the political tempest rocking the French capital. As many as three-fourths the speculators on the exchange are said to Jews or German speaking individuals regardless of their country of origin. [This is an example of the International Zionist Jewish Banker myth that grew right along with the growth of finance capitalism.]
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.
1881: After President James Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau today , Jews in Schenectady, NY held a special prayer service at Gates of Heaven
1881: Among the speeches to be delivered as during the Commencement Ceremonies at Williams College is “The Ancient and the Modern Jews” by Austin B. Bassett of Albany, NY. [Note – I cannot find a reason for Bassett’s choice of topics. He must have been a good student since his essay had won a prize when he graduated from public school in Albany.]
1882: As the deadlock between the railroads and the freight handlers continued undelivered materials and goods of all sorts continued to accumulate on the piers of New York and New Jersey as the number of striker breakers, including Russian Jewish immigrants, continued to decrease in number.
1883: At Benevidas, “a prominent Jewish merchant” by the name of Mias was gunned down by a Mexican named Vela whom Mias had been ejected from a store by Mias because he was drunk.
1883: The trail of the Jews charged with murdering a Christian girl, Esther Solymosi, as part of their Passover observance, continued today at Nyireghyasza, Hungary, with testimony by a raft proprietor testifying that he had seen the Police Magistrate coerce witness to provide the testimony he desired.
1883: In the Land of the Lion and The Sun: Modern Persia by C.J. Willis, M.D. which was reviewed today, the author reported that on his visited to the Shah during “the ceremony of Aid-i No –Ruz or New Year’s Day” “twenty wretched Jews in rags and tatters” stood in the courtyard next toe large tank waiting “to be thrust head over heels in the water.” [Iran is modern day Persia]
1883: Barrow Eskin, a Jewish immigrant from Russia applied for assistance today Cast Garden. He had returned from Chicago along with his wife and six children because he could not find work.
1884: Isaac Jacobs, a Polish Jew who is suspected of murdering Mrs. Etta Carleton of Watertown, NY, was arraigned in Cambridge District Court on charges that he had stolen a watch and chain from Robert Douglass of Cambridge, MA. Jacobs claimed that he was in Boston the night of the murder.
1885: Josef Ahondorowsky, a Russian Jew, his wife and six children arrived at Castle Garden aboard the Steamship State of Indiana. He claims that their passage was paid for by the Hebrew Aid Society of Paris and he is completely destitute.
1887: “The Parnellites Protest” published today described the quest for Irish Home Rule including the statement that “The English are not amenable to reason at present in matters of Irish politics than was Pharaoh in matters of Hebrew politics.” A century earlier, Americans seeking “home rule” had depicted King George III as Pharaoh and cast themselves in the role of the Children of Israel. Now it was the turn of the Irish to do the same. The Jewish story of the Exodus has become a common motif for slavery and liberation. This is yet another example of Jews and Judaism have provided cultural motifs for the general society, even when that society is busy rejecting individual, real-live Jews.
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.
1911: Birthdate of Victor Rabinowitz, “a leftist lawyer whose causes and clients over nearly three-quarters of a century ranged from labor unions to Black Panthers to Cuba to Dashiell Hammett to Dr. Benjamin Spock to his own daughter…” (As reported by Douglas Martin)
1913: At 21 York House, Fieldway Crescent, Islington Simon and Marie Beloff gave birth to Sir Max Beloff the British historian who would elevated to the Peerage
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.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=990CE1D71739E133A25750C0A9619C946095D6CF
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.
1926: The annual convention of the Rabbinical Assembly of the Jewish Theological Seminary in America which is being held at Long Branch, NJ is scheduled to have its final session today.
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 was forty years ago and what an act of political courage it took to support this law. Although thought of as a law to end racial discrimination, the law banned discrimination based on several criteria including religion.
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 Tammuz, 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
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