July 21 In History
285: Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler. This was part of an attempt to shore up the imperial authority. In another such step, Diocletian “ordered all the people …to accept his divinity and offer sacrifices to him. Fortunately for the Jewish people, they were excluded from this decree…” According to at least one source, “Diocletian’s regime was comparatively favorable to the Jewish people” which may not be saying all that much when you consider the behavior of most Roman rulers.
1439 (9th of Av): Rabbi Johanan ben Mattathias Treves, Chief Rabbi of France passed away ten years after his brother Joseph
1535: The Spaniards sacked
Tunis
. The Jewish community was destroyed.
1733: A “group of 42 Jews who had sailed from London aboard the William and Sarah” arrived in Savannah today, “months after the colony's founding by James Oglethorpe.” “Most of them were Spanish and Portuguese Jews, who had fled to England a decade earlier to escape the Spanish Inquisition. Many of them had been members of the Bevis Marks Synagogue and would be founders of Mickva Israel, Georgia’s oldest Jewish congregation.
1774: The Russo-Turkish War came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca marking the defeat of the Ottomans. The end of hostilities provide Sultan Abdul Hamid I with the opportunity to reassert his authority over parts of empire that were slipping away. He attacked Dhaher al-Omar who had taken control of an area that coincided with modern day northern Israel and had invited Jewish merchants to pursue their commercial ventures under his protect, He also besieged the port of Acre.
1816: Birthdate of Paul Julius Reuter. Born Israel Beer Josaphat, he changed his name to Reuter and converted in 1844. He founded what would become Reuter’s news agency in 1849. He used carrier pigeons to carry financial news to those parts of
Germany
,
France
and
Belgium
not yet served by telegraph. He opened his own telegraph service in
England
where he lived the rest of his life and died in 1899. He converted for the same reason so many other German and Austrian Jews did – it was the only way to advance in the worlds of commerce and art.
1820:.A small wooden building which had been erected at the northeast corner of Liberty and Whitaker streets Savannah was consecrated by members of Mikveh Israel. This was the first Jewish house of worship to be built in the State of Georgia. Jacob De La Motta delivered the consecration address. A native of Savannah he graduated from the U of Pennsylvania Medical School and served as a surgeon in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. He practiced in New York City for a while but returned to the city of his birth where he became a leader in the medical and Jewish communities.
1831: As Belgium gains its independence from the Netherlands of Leopold I of Belgium is inaugurated first king of the Belgians. Upon gaining its independence in 1831, the newly established Belgium parliamentary regime lost little time in recognizing Judaism as an official religious denomination (together with Catholicism, Protestantism, later Greek and Russian Orthodox Christianity and Islam).
1833:Birthdate of August, (Anshel) Bondi. “The Austrian native was the son of Jews who wanted him to have both a religious and a secular education. Caught up as a participant in the failed liberal revolution of 1848, the Bondi family fled to New Orleans and settled in St. Louis, Missouri. Young Bondi encountered, first hand, the horrors of slavery and was deeply disgusted. In 1855 a New York Tribune editorial urged freedom- loving Americans to "hurry out to Kansas to help save the state from the curse of slavery." Bondi responded immediately. He moved to Kansas and along with two other Jews, Theodore Weiner from Poland and Jacob Benjamin from Bohemia established a trading post in Ossa-watomie. Their abolitionist sentiments very soon brought pro-slavery terrorists upon them. Their cabin was burned, their livestock stolen. Their trading post was destroyed in the presence of Federal troops who did nothing. The three courageous Jews joined a rabid local abolitionist, to defend their rights as citizens and to help rid the horror of slavery from Kansas. The Jews joined the Kansas Regulars under the leadership of John Brown. In a famous battle between the Regulars and the pro-slavery forces at Black Jack Creek, with the bullets whistling viciously above their heads, 23 year old Bondi turned to his 57 year old friend Weiner and asked in Yiddish – "Nu, was meinen Sie jetzt?" (Well, what do you think of this now?) He answered, 'Was soll ich meinen? Sof odem moves' (What should I think? Man's life ends in death). Kansas joined the union as a Free State. Bondi married Henrietta Einstein of Louisville, Kentucky in 1860. Their home became a way station for the Underground Railroad smuggling slaves to the North and freedom. The Civil War began in 1861, Bondi enlisted in the Union army encouraged by the words of his mother. He later wrote in his autobiography "as a Jew I am obliged to protect institutions that guarantee freedom for all faiths." August Bondi died in 1907, a respected judge and member of his Kansas community.”
1851: David Salomons who had been elected to Parliament on June 28 and who had been denied the right to take his seat because, as Jew, he could not take the oath of office, returned to the House of Commons to take part in the debate on the matter. In the debate that followed, Salomons defended his presence on grounds of having been elected by a large majority, but was eventually removed by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and fined £500 for having voted illegally in three divisions of the House.
1857:During a debate tonight in the House of Lords on the question of "Jewish disabilities," Lord Campbell said that a revolution would take place if the Commons acted independently of the Lords in the matter by omitting from their oath the objectionable sentence
1857:This evening, Lord John Russell renewed his motion to bring in a bill for the admission of Jews into Parliament. Following an animated debated the motion carried by a vote of 246 to 154.
1861: During the Civil War, the Confederates defeat the Union at the first Battle of Bull Run. In response to an inquiry written 30 years after the battle Oliver O. Howard, a Major General in the United States Army reported that a Jewish Aid-de Camp who served with him during the battle was “one of the bravest and the best; he is now a distinguished officer of the army, a man of the highest scientific attainment.” He also wrote that he could not release the man’s name without his permission.
1874: Today’s “Foreign Notes” column reported that “Sir Moses Montefiore” who will celebrate his 90th birthday this October 24, “has been presented with the freedom of the Fishmongers’ Company in recognition of his philanthropic efforts on behalf of the oppressed Jewish in various parts of the world. [Editor’s note – The Fishmongers’ Company dates back to the 12th century and was guild for those who sold fish in London. By the 19th century the company administered a various “charities and trusts” for the underprivileged classes of the UK. This would account for their bestowing an honor on Sir Moses.]
1873(23rd of Tamuz, 5633): Sir David Salomons, 1st Baronet, a leading figure in the 19th century struggle for Jewish emancipation in the United Kingdom passed away. . He was the first Jewish Sheriff of the City of London and Lord Mayor of London, and one of the first two Jewish people to serve in the British House of Commons.
1877: In a letter to the New York Times, Edgar M. Johnson a prominent lawyer from Cincinnati took issue with claims that he had concealed the fact the fact that he was Jewish when he was offered accommodations at the Grand Union Hotel in Saratoga Springs. He reiterated the fact that Mr. Wilkinson, who was employed by Judge Hilton was well aware of the fact as is everybody else. Whether he is what Hilton calls “a Seligman Jew” is of little consequence since Johnson has no desire to stay at place where Hilton is “the tavern keeper.” Johnson closed by saying that he and his family had enjoyed previous trips to Saratoga Springs where nobody was will “to reject Jew money” but that these would be his last words on any subject related to Hilton.
1878: It was reported today that there has been a serious outbreak of violence between the Jews and Roman Catholics living in Kalisch, a major city in Poland (which was part of the Russian Empire). The origins of the violence can be found in the government’s ban on the Jewish practice of enclosing their houses “with a wire fence to indicate that no one might pass out or in” during the Sabbath. The Jews blamed the Roman Catholics for the government’s decision. When the Roman Catholics blocked every street corner with altars during their procession on Corpus Christi Day, the Jews reportedly attacked one of the altars which was the excuse of a Catholic attack that destroyed the synagogue and forced the Jews to seek refuge in their own homes. So far twelve people were reported to have been killed during the violence. [Jews had been living in Kalisz (the Polish spelling) since the 12thcentury. The synagogue that was destroyed dated back to the 14th century. Jews played an active role in the economy of the community and by the start of WW II they accounted for about 30% of the population. Most the 20,000 Jews did not survive the war and the town, like so much of Poland, has memories of Jews but no Jewish people.)
1879(1st of Av, 5639): Rosh Chodesh Av
1880: The second free excursion sponsored by the Sanitarium for Hebrew Children will set sail on the East River this morning. If the society can find more funds, these trips will continue on a weekly basis for the rest of the summer.
1880: It was reported today that two Postmasters named Barr and Johnson and their Jewish accomplice named Pearlstine are being held by federal authorities in South Carolina on charges of improper use of stamps and making false returns of canceled stamps to increase their pay. [Why Pearlstein was identified as Jew and the religion of the others was not mentioned is a mystery.]
1881: It was reported today that King Alfonso has invited Russian Jews to settle in Spain, a move that would improve conditions “by bringing a money making class into a country in dire need of it”
1882: During the Freight Handler’s Strike, Italian and Russian Jewish immigrants returned to the docks looking for work after the strikers stopped providing them with food and expense money as they had promised earlier. To complicate matters, the ranks of the strikers also included Russian and Polish Jews who had come to the country earlier in the decade.
1884: A review of T.K. Cheyne’s The Book of Psalms described the authors attempt to present this section of the Bible as literature as well as “holy writ.” For him, the Psalms should be viewed as literature that has survived “under a Jewish phase.”
1886: The first free excursion of the ear for poor Jewish moths and their children sponsored by the Sanitarium for Hebrew Children will set sail this morning.
1886: The SS State of Georgia arrived at Castle Garden from Glasgow, Scotland, carrying 40 Russian Jewish refugees.
1886:”A week of General Kissing” published today described the Russian custom of kissing people as a greeting during Easter week. Last year when the Czar came out of his room the first person whom he saw was the guard at his door who remained silent when the Russian ruler greeted him “Christ is risen.” The Czar found out that the guard was Jewish which accounted for his lack of response. While the Czar respected his honesty, Jews no longer serve as guards at his palace.
1887: Louis Keptlovwitch, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, was scheduled to face the Grand Jury on charges of bigamy. [This is a real life example of letters that would appear in the Forwards about men who “forgot” about the family’s they left behind when they arrived in the New World.]
1887: “Appeals for Suffering Hebrews” published today described the effects of the catastrophic effects of the fire that swept through “the little Jewish town of Botuschania, Romania.” A committee of prominent American Jews led by Benjamin Peixotto, has been formed to collect funds to relieve the suffering. Contributions will forward to Romania by Jesse Seligman who has agreed to serve as the Treasurer of the Relief Fund.
1887: “Two Ladies At Odds” published today described a conflict between Mrs. Henrietta Loeser, President of the Henrietta Verein, a Jewish charitable organization, and Mrs. Betty Michaelis, the society’s Secretary. A shouting match devolved into a physical confrontation when the secretary threw the society’s seal and record books at the president. Loeser than tried to have Micahelis removed from the organization. Mrs. Micahelis has sought a writ of mandamus so that she can gain readmission to the society.
1888: Police had to be called out to quell a riot in Drohobycz today when petroleum miners attacked the town’s Jews and trashed the local synagogue.
1888: A company of 13 police officers was hard pressed to deal with the huge throng that gathered this afternoon at the Norfolk Street Synagogue to hear the inaugural sermon of Rabbi Jacob Joseph. The sanctuary, which was built to hold 1,000, was filled with more than 1,500 people. The rabbi spoke for an hour concluding with a prayer that the Lord would guide and help the Jews in America to spread his light and cause Israel to become a blessing to this great land of freedom and among the people of the United States.
1889: “Hebrews Not Wanted,” published today described the decision of “Messrs. Cable and Breen , the lessees of the Brighton Beach at Coney Island” to follow the practice adopted by Judge Hilton at his Saratoga Hotel and ban all members of the “Hebrew Race” as guests. Hebrews had been coming to the hotel in ever increasing numbers. While they freely spent their money, there were not enough rooms available for Gentile guests. Mr. Breen told the Times “that the public sentiment might be against such measures, but it was not so among Gentile patrons.” The hotel was taking on the appearance of a “Jewish settlement” despite the best efforts of management to make Gentiles feel welcome. Breen described it as a business decision. “It was self-preservation and the interests of our large number of other guests that caused us to take this step.”
1891 A tribute written today in honor of Nathan Marcus and Hermann Adler said that they “gave their name”, “to a regime, to an era… The system of Rabbinate which had long come to be known as ‘Adlerism’, the keynote of which was the close consolidation of religious government and the concentration of ecclesiastical control… If, therefore, ‘Adlerism’ had its faults and its drawbacks… it has formed a basis on which can now be safely laid a system more fitted to Anglo-Jewry as it is” (As reported by Rabbi Raymond Apple, senior rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Sydney)
1895: Birthdate of Henry Lynn, Russian born American “film director, screenwriter and producer.”
1896: Three days after his abortive meeting with Rothschild, Herzl made the decision to organize a Zionist Congress.
1900: The uprising in Beijing known as The Boxer Rebellion began today. Among the Marines who saw action during the month long conflict was William Zion, a Jewish private from Indiana who won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor.
1903: Birthdate of Roy Rothschild Neuberger the co-founder of the investment firm Neuberger Berman and recipient of the National Medal of Arts. He “was an American financier who contributed money to raise public awareness of modern art through his acquisition of pieces he deemed worthy.”
1904(9th of Av, 5664):Tish'a B'Av
1906(28th of Tammuz, 5666): Saul Jacob El-Yashar, Hahambashi of Jerusalem passed away at the age of 92.
1906: Birthdate of Theodor Herzl Gaster, the British born American biblical scholar who published the first English translation of the Dead Sea scrolls. His father, Moses Gaster, the Chief Rabbi of the Sephardi Community in the UK named his son after his friend Theodore Herzl who had died just before his birth. (As reported by Andy Wallace)
1910: Birthdate of Himan “Hi” Brown the son of a tailor from Odessa who was a major producer during the Golden Age of Radio including “Bulldog Drummond,” “Inner Sanctum” and “Radio Mystery Theatre.”
1911: Birthdate of Felicia Haberfeld, a native of Poland who eventually settled in Los Angles where she worked as a city librarian and, with her husband, founded the 1939 Club, named for the year Germany invaded Poland. She was also instrumental in establishing an endowed chair in Holocaust studies at UCLA.
1911(25th of Tamuz, 5671): Rabbi Yehouda Jarmon of Tunis passed away at the age of 104.
1911: During the Mendel Beilis Affair, a small expeditionary force of gendarmes forced its way into the home of Mendel Beilis and arrested him.
1918: In
Russia
, the revolutionary government that had overthrown the Czar removed the ban on Hebrew and Yiddish periodicals.
1919: Birthdate of Seymour Pine, “the deputy police inspector who led the raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, on a hot summer night in 1969 — a moment that helped start the gay liberation movement A graduate of Brooklyn College and a veteran of WW II who served in North Africa and Europe, Pine later apologized the raid and his role in it. (As reported by Dennis Hevesi)
1920: Sir Herbert Samuel, the British High Commissioner met with newsmen today and announced that he was abolishing the censorship which had been in effect since the Jerusalem riots that began in April.
1920: Birthdate of Isaac Stern. Born in
Russia
, this famous violinist came to
America
at the age of ten months. His family settled in
San Francisco
and he debuted with the San Francisco Symphony. His career is too rich for this brief entry. Suffice it to say he is one of a long line of Jewish violinists and he has been a supporter of musical endeavors in
Israel
.
1921: Birthdate of Arthur Marx, who wrote screenplays for film and television and a best-selling book about his father, “Life With Groucho.”
1921(15th of Tamuz, 5681): Benjamin Raphael Haim Moshe, Chief Rabbi of Spain passed away at the age of 74 years
1926: Birthdate of director Norman Jewison. Despite his name and the fact he directed the film version of “Fiddler on the Roof,” Jewison is not Jewish.
1926: Birthdate of Karel Reisz a “Czech-born British filmmaker who was active in post–war Britain, and one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in 1950s and 1960s British cinema. “Reisz was a Jewish refugee, one of the 669 rescued by Sir Nicholas Winton.”
1931: Dr. Louis I. Newman will officiate at the funeral service for former state Supreme Court Justice Joseph Newburger who passed away at the age of 78. Following burial in Union Field Cemetery Cantor Nathan Meltzof is scheduled to conduct a memorial service at the home of the deceased The honorary pallbearers include Court of Appeals Justices Benjamin N. Cardozo and Irving Lehman.
1931: CBS’s New York City stations began broadcasting the first regular seven days a week television schedule in the United States. George Gershwin was one of three people to appear on the first broadcast. That’s right – one third of the "cast" of this landmark television show was Jewish. Of course, CBS was owned by Bill Paley adding to the Jewish twist.
1933:
The port of Haifa
was opened to traffic.
1934:Vladimir Jabotinsky, president of the World Union of the Zionist Revisionists, today issued a statement hailing the acquittal of Abraham Stavsky
1939:The Jewish Agency for Palestine issued today a statement rejecting Colonial Secretary Malcolm MacDonald's appeal for cooperation with the British Government's new policy for Palestine. The Jewish leadership rejected the White Paper with its limits on immigration and land ownership as being “devoid of moral and legal basis and…calculated to destroy the las and holiest possession of the Jewish people – the national home.
1940: Hans and Margret Rey left Lisbon aboard the Angolawhich was headed for Rio.
1941: In Minsk, 45 Jew were ordered to dig a pit. They were then thrown in and Russian prisoners were ordered to bury them alive. The Russians refused. The Germans then shot the Russians and the Jews in the pit.
1941: Jews of
Upina
,
Lithuania
, were killed by the Nazis.
1941: A concentration camp opens at
Majdanek
,
Poland
.
1942: One thousand Jews deported from
Paris
, reached
Auschwitz
. Many of them were Polish Jews living in
France
. Six hundred and twenty-five were gassed while 375 selected for labor battalions. Only seventeen would survive the war.
1942: The Jews of Nieswiez organized a resistance movement and a planned an escape using kerosene and old guns as their weapons. A desperate battle ensued. Jews set fire to their own homes as a diversionary tactic. Some of those who made it to the woods found other Jews from Kleck and Niewswiez. They set up an underground unit.
1943: Tonight’s performance of “We Will Never Die” at the Hollywood Bowl was broadcast to a nationwide audience thanks to NBC. “We Will Never Die was a dramatic pageant…staged to raise public awareness of the ongoing mass murder of Europe's Jews. It was organized and written by screenwriter and author Ben Hecht and produced by Billy Rose and Ernst Lubitsch.”
1944: Jerzy Bielecki led Cyla Cybulska out of her barrack at Auschwitz and passed a sleepy guard to the woods and freedom. He was a Roman Catholic who had been imprisoned in 1940 as a member of the Polish Resistance. She was a young Jewess, who thanks to his courage, was the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust. He was recognized by Yad Vasham as one of the Righteous Gentiles in 1985. (As reported by Dennis Hevesi)
1944: Birthdate of Paul Wellstone,
United States
from
Minnesota
. He died in a plane crash in 2002.
1947: The Exodus, a refugee ship with 4,500 refugees on board, was turned back by the British and returned to
Germany
. The ship had tried to run the British blockade unsuccessfully: The British forcefully boarded the ship killing 3 Jews and wounding over 100. The pictures of the refugees being forcibly unloaded in
Germany
was a critical blow to world public opinion and helped force the British out of Eretz
Israel
.
1951: In its story on the assassination of
Jordan
’s King Abdullah that occurred on July 21 The Jerusalem Post reported that King Abdullah was known for his efforts to reach an Arab-Israeli peace settlement. In his memoirs he wrote: "I have been astonished at what I saw of the Jewish settlements: They have colonized sand dunes, drawn water from them, and transformed them into paradise."
1955: Martin and Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave birth to Jane C. Ginsburg “the Morton L. Janklow Professor of Literary and Artistic Property Law at the Columbia Law School.” This could be a case of the fulfillment of genetic predisposition since her mother is a Supreme Court Justice and her father, of blessed memory, was a law professor and internationally renowned expert on tax law.
1957: Birthdate of comedic actor Jon Lovitz. Lovitz big break came in 1982 when he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live.
1970(17th of Tamuz, 5730): Tzom Tammuz
1970:
Libya
's Col. Qaddafi nationalizes all Jewish property
1970: After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River in Egypt is completed. In 1954, President Nasser sought aid from the U.S. government to build the Aswan Dam. He saw the building of the dam as being a vital to Egypt’s modernization program. For a variety of ideological and economic reasons, the Eisenhower Administration eventually rejected the request for aid. Nasser turned the Soviets who were only too glad to supply economic aid and masses of modern arms to Egypt. Bolstered by his new Soviet sponsors and angry at Eisenhower and Dulles for what he considered their betrayal of his dreams. Nasser began to promote an agenda of pro-Soviet Pan-Arabism with the destruction of Israel as its emotional focal point. Nasser also nationalized the Suez Canal because he needed the canal revenue to re-pay the Soviets. All of this led to the Suez Crisis of 1956 which resulted in a lightening military victory. Nasser’s vision may have died, but the dam was built. Such is the law of unintended consequences on This Day in Jewish History.
1973: In the Lillehammer affair in Norway, Israeli Mossad agents kill a waiter whom they mistakenly thought was involved in 1972’s Munich Olympics Massacre.
1977: The Tenth Maccabiah comes to an end.
1982(1st of Av, 5742): Rosh Chodesh Av
1985: Outfielder Mark Gilbert made his major league debut with the Chicago White Sox.
1988: Pitcher Roger Samuels made his major league debut with the San Francisco Giants.
1991(10thof Av, 5751): Tish’a B’Av observed since the 9th of Av fell on Shabbat
1991(10thof Av, 5751): Eighty-seven year old Joseph Dorfman who “received the Veblen-Commons Award in 1974 from the Association for Evolutionary Economics” passed away today. (As reported by Glenn Fowler)
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/23/obituaries/joseph-dorfman-87-specialist-in-history-of-economic-mind.html
2000(18thof Tammuz, 5760): Yosef Qafiḥ or Rabbi Kapach, a leader of the Yemenite Jewish in Yemen and then In Israel passed away today. There is no way that this simple blog can do justice to this leader.
2002: The Sunday New York Times features a review of The Ascent of Eli Israel: Waiting for the Messiah a collection of short stories by Joe Papernick, a 31-year-old Canadian who moved to Brooklyn, after having spent several months in Israel following Yitzhak Rabin's assassination in November 1995, A Place to Live And Other Selected Essays by Italian Jewish author Natalia Ginzburg and Reflections and Shadows by Saul Steinberg with Aldo Buzzi.
2002: The 88th annual national convention of Hadassah opens at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The theme of the convention, “Build Tomorrow Today,” directly addresses Hadassah’s historic, present and future relationship with
Israel
, and is particularly relevant considering the difficulties
Israel
has experienced since Hadassah’s last convention, which was held in
Jerusalem
in August, 2001.
2004(3rd of Av, 5764): Composer Jerry Goldsmith passed away. Born in
Pasadena
,
California
, in 1929, Goldsmith was one of the most prolific composers of television and move themes in the 20th century. If you watched such television hits as Have Gun Will Travel, The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason or The Waltons, you heard Goldsmith. If you watched such films as Patton, Planet of the Apes or The Omen, you heard Goldsmith. And this only scratches the surface.
2004(3rd of Av, 5764): Richard Adolf Bloch passed away at the of 78.. Born in 1926, he was an American entrepreneur, and philanthropist best known for starting the H&R Block tax preparation and personal finance company with his older brother Henry in 1955. His personal battle with cancer led him to invest in helping others fight and overcome the disease.
2004(3rd of Av, 5764): On the day before his 22nd birthday, Lance Corporal Mark E. Engel (USMC) died in a Texas hospital from wounds he suffered while fighting in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.(As reported by Maia Efrem)
2005: 17th Macaabiah comes to a close.
2005: Violinist Anton Polezhayev filed a lawsuit in the State Supreme Court in
Manhattan
charging the New York Philharmonic with sex discrimination in denying him a job and following a pattern of promoting only female violinists. In part, he based his charge on the fact (accoriding to him) that during his probationary period seven violinist wonn permanent jobs or marched past him in the violin section. All seven had one common characterists – they were all women. The
Leningrad
native came to the
U.S.
with his parents, including his Jewish mother.
2006: The Jewish Week publishes a review of Auschwitz Report entitled “Portrait of an Emerging Author” by Liel Lebovitz. Lebiovitz writes that “Auschwitz Report is a previously unpublished manuscript by Primo Levi and Leonardo De Benedetti, a physician who was Levi’s close friend when the two were prisoners at the camp. Scheduled for publication next month, this slim manuscript, less than 100 pages long, came to be when the Soviet Red Army, having liberated Auschwitz, asked De Benedetti and Levi to compile a report about the conditions in the Nazi death camp….Also included here are two short essays by Levi, both of which are eulogies of De Benedetti. Through Levi’s loving eyes, we learn about the life of the doctor who had so inspired his younger, infinitely more famous colleague. This, too, is a nice addition to the biographical body of work concerning Levi. As Holocaust memoirs move further away from the source, written now through the mists of time and memory, a book as raw and unremitting as this one is potent enough to inspire a fresh look at a much-discussed topic. It is with good reason that Gordon chooses to end his introduction by quoting Elias Canetti; “If there were any point in wondering what form of literature is essential to a thinking, seeing human being today,” he wrote, “then it is this.’”
2006: In its fight to remove threat of Hezbollah,IDF troops uncovered several anti-tank missiles and several surface-to-surface missiles during an operation in the
village
of
Marwaheen
. They also found a machine gun, a Kalashnikov assault rifle, and ammunition.
2006: Haaretz reported on the opening of the first
U.S.
branch Aroma, the Israeli equivalent of Starbuck. The first franchise is located on
Houston Street
in
Manhattan
. Dressed in t-shirts saying “I Love Aroma
New York
” the staff prepared for the entry into the coffee and restaurant wars. There were many unique challenges in the opening including the renaming of one Aroma’s signature sandwiches. In
Israel
, the sandwich is called “the Iraqi Sandwich.” In the
U.S.
it is called The Oriental Sandwich.
2007: The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival presents a screening of “His People,” a film about two sons of Jewish pushcart peddlers living on the
Lower East Side
.
2007: In Jerusalem at the Sisters of Zion convent, a classical music concert entitled "Music in All the Shades" presents "Popular Melodies in Russian Choral Music," featuring "Musica Eterna" under the direction of Elia Plotkin.
2007(6th of Av, 5767): Rabbi Sherwin Wine, founder the Birmingham Temple in suburban Detroit in 1963 who also was the driving force behind the creation of the Society for Humanistic Judaism in 1969 died today in an auto accident at the age of 79
2007: (6th of Av, 5767) Shabbat Chazon; start of the reading of Devarim or Deuteronomy.
2008: Gordon Brown is scheduled to address the Knesset making him the first British Prime Minister to speak to the Israeli parliament.
2008: A jury in San Francisco convicted Eric Hunt of false imprisonment with a hate crime allegation, batter and elder abuse for his February 1. 2007 attack on 79 year old Holocuast survivor and Nobel Prize Winner, Elie Wiesel.
2009: A disciplinary hearing was held today following yesterdays brawl involving coaches and players that followed “Russia's 2-1 defeat of Argentina in the under-18 semifinals at the Maccabiah Games. “It was decided that they would both be immediately removed from the Maccabiah. The gold medal now automatically goes to Israel, and the Silver to Mexico, the two competitors in the second semifinal.. Additionally the players and coaches from the two squads have been banned from competing in the 19th Maccabiah due to be held in 2013.
2009: The Pet Shop Boys play a one-off performance in Tel Aviv becoming the latest British mega band to perform on Israeli soil after a Depeche Mode concert in May. The duo - Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe play at the Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Center
Pepsi has agreed to sponsor the event, which will take place under the umbrella of the "Pepsi Max Music Show," which last year brought British rap group The Streets to Israel.
Top flight musicians have returned to Israel in recent years. Last year, Paul McCartney, Morrissey and former Stone Roses front man Ian Brown all played in Tel Aviv. Leonard Cohen is to perform in September, and Madonna is reportedly planning a stop in the city as part of her Sticky and Sweet tour.
2009: At the 18th Maccabiah, Australia plays Israel in Women’s Netball
2009: Israel led the way in the men's half marathon today, taking the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in Netanya. The winner of the men's race was Zohar Zmiro who came in with a time of 01:10:31. He was closely followed by Dastaho Svanch at 01:10:41. Svanch described his joy, saying, "To be number two is very good, I am very happy." Third placed Asarat Mamo made it an Israeli clean sweep with a time of 01:11:46. However Mamo was attended to by paramedics after the race, complaining of stomach pains. Against a superb Israeli showing, the men's team from the USA also performed strongly with Brad Weiss taking fourth place. Jason Mahakian, also from the USA, finished 7th and said of the Israeli runners, "They were very fast, going well ahead right from the beginning we realized it was unlikely we could catch them." Jo Ankier from Great Britain took the Bronze in the women's race, however the Maccabiah had yet to confirm the women's placing by press time after some were placed in the wrong categories on their computers. Ankier was extremely pleased with her run saying, "I worked really, really, really hard on this race and am very pleased with how I did, although I did go off a little too fast at the start." Ankier's determination was embodied in the last mile as she sprinted in an attempt to take second place. A number of older competitors also ran, competing in the masters category. Andrew Cohen from Great Britain said of his race, "I'm absolutely exhausted but very glad to have finished the race." In another administrative error Maria Zotov, of Israel, had her time wrongly recorded as she was not assigned an electronic chip. However she was saved by American coach Evan Rowe who happened to take a picture of her crossing the line, providing proof of her correct finishing time. Zotov described Rowe as her "American angel", and the two were spotted swapping numbers following the race. The humidity of the Netanya evening did affect the runners, particularly those from cooler climates. Describing the weather conditions, Barry Biner of Canada said: "The humidity and heat made the race really tough." Ankier concurred noting that "We were taking water at every opportunity, as well as the humidity the course was very hilly."
2009: The US baseball team capped off its undefeated season today with a 12-6 gold medal-clinching victory against Canada at Sportek in Tel Aviv.
2009: As the controversy continued to grow because of the planned showing of “Rachel” “a sympathetic portrait of the American pro-Palestinian activist who was killed in 2003 in Gaza while protesting a home demolition, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Executive Director Peter Stein apologized “for not fully considering how upsetting this program might be,” though he added that the festival stands by its decision to screen the film.
2010: An 8-week session program entitled Hebrew Language and Conversation is scheduled to begin at the Historic Sixth & I Synagogue.
2010: Debra Rubin, Editor of the Washington Jewish Week is scheduled to serve as a moderator of a discussion addressing issues concerning Jewish residents of Montgomery County at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington in, Rockville, MD
2010: An Israeli oil prospecting and production firm announced it has struck a commercial amount of the black substance in central Israel, Army Radio reported today. Givot Olam Oil Ltd notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange of the find in its "Megev Five" drill near the town of Rosh Ha’ayin, saying it can produce 470 barrels of oil a day. The Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry said in response that the ministry's head of oil affairs had not yet received the relevant test results, thus preventing it from declaring a commercial amount of oil. The prospected find comes in the wake of an unrepresented amount of natural resources being discovered in Israel in recent months. Last month, the U.S. firm Noble Energy, which together with its Israeli partners has been carrying out exploratory drilling at three sites off the Haifa coast, raised its reserve estimate at the Tamar field by 15%, to 238 billion cubic meters. The firm also announced it would start natural gas exploration at the Leviathan offshore prospect off Israel's coast in the fourth quarter of this year. The latter announcement came in the wake of estimates of 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the prospect.
2010: The Ritz Carlton hotel chain announced today that it will build its first kosher hotel in Herzliya. The $160 million project, which will include a hotel and six floors of luxury condominiums, will be outfitted with Shabbat elevators and an upscale kosher restaurant. The hotel will be located on the coastline overlooking the Herzliya Marina.
2011: The "Angel of Death" Josef Rudolf Mengele's writings are scheduled to be auctioned off by Alexander Historic Auctions of Stamford Connecticut today. The entire collection of documents, which includes Mengele's autobiography, philosophical, eugenical, and political works, poems, stories, illustrations and diaries is over 3,300 pages long.
2011: Shalom,” American Jewish music legend Paul Simon told reporters in Tel Aviv on yesterday afternoon, on the eve of his first performance in Israel for almost three decades. Simon is set to perform at the Ramat Gan Stadium this evening, in his third show in Israel to date. The 70-year-old singer and songwriter – once half of the folk duo Simon and Garfunkel – told journalists that he had no political messages and that, as an artist, his sole aim is to play and sing the best he can. Simon was presented with a shofar at the press conference, where he explained there was no particular reason as to why it has been so long since his last visit to Israel, but that he tends not to set out on lengthy international tours. Unlike other performances in Ramat Gan, the stage will be set up along the width of the stadium. Only 24,000 seats were up for sale, as opposed to the stadium’s full capacity of more than 41,500 seats, in attempt to optimize audience conditions. Simon first performed in Israel in 1978, and in 1983 he returned with Art Garfunkel as part of their famous duo. In his last performance Simon admitted he was not feeling well, and the concert was a disappointment.
2011: A golden bell ornament that archaeologists believed belonged to a priest or important leader from the Second Temple Period was found in an ancient drainage channel in ruins next to the Western Wall today, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced. The small bell, which ha