August 12 In History
30 BCE: Cleopatra committed suicide. According to Josephus, the Egyptian tried to convince her lover and co-ruler, Marc Antony, to give her control over lands to the east including Syria and Palestine. Herod was so afraid of her that he reportedly built the fortress at Masada as place of refuge should she attack. While Antony did not give into all of her demands, he did give her control over Jericho and several towns surrounding the ancient city.
1099: During the First Crusade, the Crusaders defeated the Saracens at the Battle of Ascalon. This led to the creation of the
Kingdom
of
Jerusalem
under Godfrey of Bouillon. The Crusader victory led to a period of persecution of the small Jewish population living in
Palestine
. The Crusaders attempted to ban the Jews from living in
Jerusalem
. Apparently it did not occur to them that such a ban would have meant that Jesus could not live in the Christian kingdom.
1121: At the Battle of Didgori the Georgian army under King David the Builder won a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi. Georgian-speaking Jewry is one of the oldest surviving Diaspora Jewish communities. The origin of Georgian Jews, also known as Gurjim or Ebraeli, is debated, but some claim they are descendants of the ten tribes exiled by Shalmaneser. Others say the first Jews made their way to southern
Georgia
after Nebuchadnezzar conquered
Jerusalem
in 586 B.C.E. after first fleeing to
Babylonia
. The first Jews in
Western Georgia
arrived in the 6th century when the region was ruled by the
Byzantine Empire
. Approximately 3,000 of these Jews then fled to
Eastern Georgia
, controlled by the Persians, to escape severe persecution by the Byzantines. The existence of the Jews in these regions during this period is supported by archaeological evidence showing that Jews lived in Mtzheta, the ancient capital of the East Georgian state of Kartli. The Ebraeli spoke Georgian and Jewish traders developed a dialect called Qivruli, or Judeo-Georgian, which included a number of Hebrew words. In the second half of the 7th century, the Muslim Empire conquered extensive Georgian territory, which became an Arab caliph province. Arab emirs ruled the majority of the region until 1122. Under the Arabs, in the late 9th century, Abu-Imran Musa al-Za'farani (later known as Abu-Imran al-Tiflisi) founded a Jewish sect called the Tiflis Sect which lasted for more than 300 years. The sect deviated from halakhah in its marriage and kashrutcustoms. (As rerported by the Jewish Vitrual Library)
1281: The fleet of Qubilai Khan, the Chinese emperor who celebrated the festivals of the Muslims, Christians and Jews, indicating that there really were a significant number of Jews living in China during his reign, is destroyed by a typhoon while approaching Japan.
1317: John XXII, the second of the Avignon Popes, issued “Ex Parte Vestra” a Bull that dealt with converts who relapse i.e. Jewish converts who wanted to return to the “faith of their Fathers and Mothers.”
1381(14th of Av, 5141): In the Balearic Islands, Sayd ben David was burned at the stake after being charged with “incontinence with a nun”
1452: Birthdate of Abraham Zacuto “a Sephardi Jewish astronomer, astrologer, mathematician and historian who served as Royal Astronomer in the 15th century to King John II of Portugal. The crater Zagut on the Moon is named after him.” The creator of new type of astrolabe that could be used at sea, he was one of the few Jews who was able to flee Portugal despite the edicts of King Manuel I. He either passed away in Jerusalem in 1515 or Damascus in 1520.
1530: A charter was granted to the Jews of Germany despite the protests of Martin Luther. Josel of Rosheim, the famous "shtadlan" (interceder) was instrumental in its passing.
1819: Anti-Semitic riots broke out in Darmstadt and Bayreuth, Germany
1829(13th of Av, 5589): Mordecai ben Abraham Benet, who was born in 1753 and became the chief rabbi of Moravia passed away.
1833: Founding of
Chicago
. Jews were present in
Chicago
from its earliest days. The first Jews in the city were German and Ashkenazim. By 1847, there were enough Jews in
Chicago
to establish Kehilath Anshe Maariv — Congregation of the Men of the West — on an upper floor of a commercial building. The congregation was popularly referred to as KAM and found its home in
Hyde Park
among the South Side German Jewish community. German Jews generally were accepted into mainstream society. In Chicago, they were already being elected to political office in the 1850s. Among the enterprises established by
Chicago
's German Jews were Florsheim Shoe Co., Hart Schaffner & Marx clothiers, the
Brunswick
billiard-table empire, Spiegel mail-order company and Mandel Brothers department store, long a fixture on
State Street
. The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb by Irving Cutler provides a readable, popular history of the Jews of the Windy City.
1844: Birthdate of Edward Lauterbach, successful defense attorney, leader of the Republican Party and trustee of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum.
1847(30thof Av, 5607): Rosh Chodesh Elul
1848(13thof Av, 5608): Avraham Ullmann, who had been born in 1791 and was the son Shalom Charif Ullman, the chief rabbi of Lackenbach, passed away.
1853: A German Jew, who has used a variety of aliases including J. Meyer, was arrested at the Irving House. While being taken to court he tried to get rid of a package containing pledge tickets for a large quantity of valuable goods recently pawned at the shops of Bernstein, Levy, Silver, Smith and Murdock. The items left at the pawn shop were all stolen.
1854:The Moral and Religious column described a new sect that has started in England called The Disciples. They believe that Christ will appear in 1864; that the Russians will triumph over the Turks and the Jews over the Russians-- the latter event to happen in ten years' time when the Jews will become a nation in the Holy Land. Christ is to be their King, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the rest of the righteous Jews of old, with a few elect among Christians, will rise from the dead and live forever in Palestine; but the heathen and the wicked Jews and Christians will sleep eternally.
1862:Birthdate of Julius Rosenwald
http://www.searsarchives.com/people/juliusrosenwald.htm
1862:Construction was completed on the first synagogue built on Long Island which came to be known as the Boerum Schule because it was located in Boerum Hill.
1862:In the part of Germany that included the cities of Moisling and Lubeck, The Oath More Judaico or Jewish Oath was modified. It would remain in force until 1879, when the Germans adopted laws regulating civil procedure which abolished the oath.
1870:A few days into the inquest being held to determine the facts surrounding the death of Benjamin Nathan, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle protested the disparity in treatment being shown to his son’s Washington and Frederick, and the Irish Catholic servants of the Nathan family who had suddenly become the prime suspects.
1877(3rd of Elul, 5637): Rabbi Jaques Judah Lyons passed away today in New York. Judah and Mary Lyons; gave birth to him at Surinam, Dutch Guiana in 1814. “He was educated in Surinam, and was minister of the Spanish & Portuguese congregation there, Neveh Shalom, for five years. He left Surinam in 1837 and went to Richmond, Va., where for two years he was minister of the Congregation Beth Schalom. In 1839 he was elected minister of the Spanish and Portuguese congregation Shearith Israel, New York city, in succession to Isaac Seixas, and served the congregation thirty-eight years, successfully combating every movement to change the form of worship in his congregation. Lyons was among those who founded The Jews' (now Mount Sinai) Hospital; he was actively concerned in founding the Jewish Board of Delegates and Hebrew Free Schools and was superintendent of the Polonies Talmud Torah School…For many years he was president of the Hebra Hased ve-Emet and of the Sampson Simpson Theological Fund. Lyons was an ardent student and collected a library that is now in possession of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.” In 1857, he joined with Dr. Abraham de Sola of Montreal, in preparing and publishing a Hebrew calendar covering fifty years, together with an essay on the Jewish calendar system
1878:Jewish representatives from the United States, Holland, Germany, England, Belgium, Romania, Palestine, Turkey, Italy Spain, France Austria and Russia met in Paris today to celebrate the anniversary of the Alliance Israelite Universelle of France. During the meeting, the attendees provided reports on the conditions of Jews in various countries and possible ways to improve their conditions. It was suggested that a medal “commemorating the emancipation of the Jews in the East” should be presented to each member of the Berlin Congress on behalf “of the Jews of the world.”
1878: It was reported today that details have been released regarding the will of the late Michael Reese. His generosity included $650,000 for the State University of California and $25,000 to the Hebrew Orphan Asylum.
1879:It was reported today that Romania might agree “to accept the principle of equal rights for the Jews” if some consideration would be given to how it is applied. Germany might be willing to agree to such an arrangement.
1881: In Ashfield, MA, Henry and Matilda Beatrice DeMille gave birth to movie mogul Cecil B. DeMille. His father was Episcopalian and his mother was Jewish. Regardless of how you view his religious background, he will forever be connected with Moses and the Jewish people through “The Ten Commandments.”
1881:It was reported today that anti-Semitism is so prevalent Pomerania and West Russia that recent government actions to protect the Jews living there will be totally ineffective.
1882: Today’s Congressional Record contained “a speech by the Honorable S.S. Cox on the persecution of the Jews in Russia.” It was “an elaborate paper illustrated with poetical extracts, two pages of tables and a neatly engraved map.”
1882: “Russian Jews” published today described the plan of Chicago banker Lazarus Silverman to settle several Jewish immigrant families totaling 150 men, women in children on 300 acres that owns on 300 acres of land on Carp Lake in Michigan. The group includes one tailor, one wagon-maker, one blacksmith, one cooper, one paper-hanger, two tinsmiths, three coppersmiths and most important of all, 3 farmers.
1883(9thof Av, 5643): Tish’a B’Av
1883: “Bread Making” published today which describes the baking of bread in the British Isles begins by declaring that “since the time of the early Jews there has been very little change in the process.”
1883:”Ancient Manuscripts” published today described how Moses Shapira acquired an ancient copy of the Book of Deuteronomy in Palestine and sent it on to London where it can be preserved and studied. It is claimed this codex is 2,700 years old and provides evidence that the ancient Israelites were writing “consecutive narrative” at a time that corresponds to the Greeks Homer and Hesiod.
1884: It was reported today that a note had been found on the body of Israel Blatchky, a young Jew who had been living in Des Moines for three years. According to the note he was despondent over a failed love affair and bought poison six months ago.
1884: Leading Chicago businessman Morris L. Cohn was arraigned today and held for trial in lieu of $10,000 bond on numerous charges of forgery that included his issuance of $15,000 in bogus notes.
1888: It was reported today that the Sanitarium for Hebrew Children will be providing another free excursion for sick children under the age of six later this month.
1894(10thof Av, 5654): The 9th of Av fell on Shabbat so Tish’a B’Av is observed today
1890: Birthdate of Al Goodman. Born in
Nikopol
Russia
, he was the orchestra leader for the NBC Comedy Hour, a show that dominated Sunday nights during the early 1950’s.
1898: An armistice took effect ending the Spanish-American War. “In the Spanish-American War, Jews once again demonstrated that they are willing and ready to fight and serve in defense of our country. When the battleship Main was sunk on February 15, 1898, there were 15 Jewish sailors who went down with the ship. The executive officer of the Maine, and later a vice admiral in the United States Navy, was Adolph Marix, a Jew. Marix was the chairman of a board of inquiry to investigate the mysterious sinking of the Maine. It is interesting to note that his father was an interpreter in the Lincoln Administration and that Abraham Lincoln appointed Adolph Marix to the
United States
Naval
Academy
. When the
United States
declared war against
Spain
on
April 21, 1898
, the first volunteer was Colonel Joseph M. Heller, who left a thriving medical practice to become an acting assistant surgeon in the Army. About 5,000 Jews served in this war. When the Jewish High Holy Days were approaching in 1898, there were 4,000 requests for furloughs to attend services. There were indeed 30 Jewish Army officers and 20 more in the Navy in the Spanish-American War. Jewish casualties ran high for the percentage of Jews in the service. Twenty-nine were killed, 47 wounded, and 28 died from disease - for a total of 104. Corporal Ben Prager received the Silver Star Medal for his bravery in the
Philippines
in 19 skirmishes and engagements. The official citation describes his accomplishments: "When the engagement was fully opened up, Corporal Benjamin Prager and seven other soldiers from Companies A and L, 19th United States Infantry, moved out and charged the enemy ... and after twice charging in the face of heavy fire, succeeded in dislodging the enemy and putting the entire force to rout. With true soldierly spirit, the success was followed up and the enemy was driven out of the city across the river and mountains." Colonel Teddy Roosevelt commanded the Rough Riders, which included a large number of Jews. The first Rough Rider killed was a 16-year-old Jewish boy, Jacob Wilbusky. Colonel Roosevelt promoted five men in his command for their bravery in the field without knowledge of their religion. One of them was a Jew. Sergeant Maurice Joost of the First California Volunteers, a regiment that had more than 100 Jewish soldiers, was the first man to fall in the attack on
Manila
. There were 280,000 American soldiers in this war, which was four-tenths of I percent of the population. Jewish soldiers were one-half of I percent of the American Jewish population; therefore, Jews served in greater proportion than did the remainder of the nation's citizens.”
1898: Birthdate of actor Oscar Homolka
1899:Herzl travels to
Darmstadt
and is received by the Grossherzog of Hessen, brother-in-law of the Czar. Herzl asks him to recommend the "Chartered Company" to the Czar.
1900:A Garden Party was held in Regent's Park during Herzl’s visit to
Great Britain
.
1900(17th of Av, 5660): The Father of Modern Chess, Wilhelm Steinitz, passed away. Born in the Jewish Ghetto in
Prague
, in 1836, Steinitz began his professional career as a journalist. He won his first major chess tournament in
Vienna
in 1861. This marked the beginning of his domination of the game that would continue almost up to the time of his death.
1902(9th of Av, 5662): Tisha’ B’Av
1910: Jews in Serres, Salonica protested against the use of the 200-year-old Jewish cemetery site for the construction of a new hospital. The plan was later abandoned.
1911(18th of Av, 5671): Eighty-seven year old Dutch painter Jozef Israëls passed away.
http://www.nndb.com/people/207/000104892/
1912:Yankee Guy Zinn sets a record by stealing home twice in the same game.
1912: Birthdate of Whitney Harris, one of the prosecutors who brought high-ranking Nazi war criminals to justice at the Nuremberg trials and who, a half-century later, was a significant voice in the creation of the International Criminal Court.
1913(9th of Av, 5673): Tish’A B’Av
1914: As
Europe
stumbles its way into what will become World War I with all of its negative consequences for Jews Britain (and therefore the
British Empire
) declares war on
Austria-Hungary
.
1918: Birthdate of Sanford Daniel Garelik, the Bronx native whom became the first Jew to serve as Chief Inspector in the New York Police Department (As reported by Matt Flegenheimer)
1918: General John Monash was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on the battlefield by King George V following the successful Battle of Amiens. (Monash was Jewish; King George wasn’t)
1918(4th of Elul, 5678): Anna Held Polish-born, American actress and singer, passed away. Held is variously described as the mistress and/or common-in-law wife of Flo Ziegfeld. Reportedly, she collaborated with Ziegfeld on the creation of his famed Follies review. She was 46 when she died of cancer.
1922: Birthdate of Holocaust survivor and Polish journalist, Leopold Unger.
1924: Moshav Magdi'el (now part of Hod Hasharon) was founded. A Moshav is a form of collective settlement. Unlike the Kibbutz, the Moshav allowed for more private ownership. Hod Hashron has grown into a modern city in the Central District of Israel.
1927: Birthdate of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich winner of theJewish National Fund 1987 Man of the Year and the Humanitarian Award from the United Jewish Appeal Federation
1930: Birthdate of millionaire businessman George Soros. Soros has had a minimal involvement with Jews and Jewish causes. In a 1993 speech he essentially blamed Jews for anti-Semitism. He said that the rise in European anti-Semitism was just the result of
Israel
’s policies. He refers to the country as
Palestine
. The head of the Anti-Defamation League described his views as obscene.
1931: Birthdate of William Goldman, author of Marathon Man and Princess Bride.
1931: Louis Lipsky, former president of the Zionist Organization of America, returned today aboard the White Star liner Homeric from
Europe
where he had attended the World Zionist Congress, held recently at
Basle
,
Switzerland
,
1936: Birthdate of Evelyn Hausner, the Austrian born refugee who gained fame as Evelyn Lauder, the wife of Leonard Lauder,
1937: The British Colonial Secretary, Mr. W.G.A. Ormsby-Gore, declared in Geneva, during the deliberations of the League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commission, that he was told by Dr. Chaim Weizmann that the political resolution adopted by the 20th Zionist Congress opened the door to negotiations for giving effect to the Peel Commission¹s proposals for the partition of Palestine and that talks on this subject would start at the conclusion of the September sessions of the League of Nations Council. Reports from
Damascus
indicated that
Syria
had become the center of activity for the training of armed men, the future leaders of the
Palestine
Arab uprising. The recent attack on Kfar Menahem was a trial measure perpetrated by such roving terrorist bands. The Arab Higher Committee denied that foreign money donations were used to carry out such military and sabotage training, carried out in preparations for future disturbances.
1937: A proposal to settle 200,000 Jews in Palestine within the next three years, involving an investment of about $175,000,000, was laid before the World Zionist Congress today. The proposal was made by Elieser Kaplal, treasurer of the Zionist executive committee, who said American Jewry was expected to contribute $2,000,000 to the Zionist movement and Palestine fund in the current fiscal year.
1940(8th of Av, 5700): Erev Tish'a B'Av
1941(19th of Av, 5701): Nazis began the systematic murder of the Jews of Dvinsk, Latvia.
1941: The House of Representative votes to extend the first peace time conscription bill. Proponents of the bill prevailed by one vote. This one-vote victory was one of Sam Rayburn’s proudest legislative accomplishments. If the bill had not passed, the
United States
would have been in the process of disbanding its newly created military force just at the moment when the Japanese were attacking
Pearl Harbor
. One can only imagine of how much longer World War II would have lasted and how many more than six million Jews would have perished in a prolonged Holocaust.
1942(29th of Av, 5702): Fifty-six year old pioneering psychoanalyst Sabin Spielrein was murdered by the Nazis at Rostov-on-Don.
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesmz/a/sabina-spielrein.htm
1944(23rd of Av, 5704): Berl Katznelson “one the intellectual founders of Labor Zionism, instrumental to the establishment of the modern State of Israel, and the editor of Davar, the first daily newspaper of the workers' movement,” passed away today. “He was born in Bobruysk, Russia in 1887, and dreamed of settling in the Jewish homeland from an early age. In Russia, he was a librarian in a Hebrew-Yiddish library and taught Hebrew literature and Jewish history. He made aliyah to Ottoman Palestine in 1909, where he worked in agriculture and took an active role in organizing workers' federations based on the idea of "common work, life and aspirations." With Meir Rothberg, Katznelson founded the consumer co-operative known as Hamashbir Latzarhan. He helped to establish the Kupat Holim Clalit sick fund, a major fixture in Israel's network of socialized medicine. He was the editor of the newspaper, Davar, as well as the founder and first editor-in-chief of the Am Oved publishing house.” Katznelson was buried in the cemetery on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
1945: From
Halkis
,
Greece
it was reported, "The one man capable of teaching Hebrew and Judaism, Rabbi Davidson Matsa and his wife and 6 children have recently left for Janina, where he hopes to function as rabbi. He originally came from Janina. Individual Jews are trying to fill his place by carrying on religious activities in the Synagogue."
1946: President Harry Truman sends a telegram rejecting the ”Morris-Grady” plan because it would turn the Jewish zone in Palestine into “a ghetto” and “a betrayal” of promises made to the Jews and Jewish aspirations for a homeland.
1948: The first diplomatic envoy of the United States arrived in Israel
1948: The Czech government ordered a halt to arms shipment to
Israel
. The new Communist Czech government’s policy was conforming to the increasing anti-Israel policy of their Soviet masters.
1948(7th of Av, 5708): Three Jewish soldiers, Moshe Eliash, Alfred Rabinowitz and Pinah Solevetchik, were killed when Arab Legion shells fell on Mount Zion.
1948: “Arab Legion forces blew up the Latrun water pumping station” forcing Jewish Jerusalem to rely on private cisterns for its water supply.
1951(10th of Av, 5711): Since the 9thof Av fell on Shabbat, observance of Tish'a B'Av
1951: Joseph B Levin was designated Assistant Director of Office of Opinion Writing at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
1952: The government withdrew from the Knesset the bill granting the World Zionist Organization a special status, as “the representative of the Jewish people.” The government felt that there were many Jews and Jewish organizations in the world which were not a part of the Zionist movement and who had no intention of joining it, and yet they were interested and working for Israel. The government did not wish to do anything to lessen their goodwill or to interfere with their direct connection with the State. It was, however, prepared to support a corrected version of the WZO status. A new, blue Israeli passport was shown to the press for the first time.
1952(21st of Av, 5712): In what was part of a wave of post-war anti-Semitism, 24 of the foremost Yiddish writers of Russia were executed by the Soviet Government. Among the victims were Peretz Markish, David Bergelson, Itzik Fefer, Leib Kwitko, David Hofstein,Benjamin Zuskin, Solomon Lozovsky and Boris Shimeliovich
1956: William Shatner married Gloria Rand
1962: Birthdate of David Horovitz, the London born Israeli journalist who made Aliyah in 1983 and founded the newly created The Times of Israel.
1971: Birthdate of actor Michael Ian Black
1979(19th of Av, 5739): Ernst Boris Chain German-born biochemist and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1945 passed away.
1990:
Iraq
President Saddam Hussein says he is ready to resolve the Gulf crisis if
Israel
withdraws from occupied territories. Of course, invading
Kuwait
had nothing to do with
Israel
, but
Israel
is always a good smoke screen when Arab dictators are up to devious deeds.
1991(2nd of Elul, 5751):Yeruham Cohen, an early Israeli undercover soldier, died on today, at the age of 75 years. “Mr. Cohen, an Arabic-speaker of Yemeni origin, died of an unspecified illness. He was a top aide to the commander of Israel's underground forces during the country's war for independence in 1948 and also belonged to a unit whose members disguised themselves as Arabs to infiltrate enemy lines. Mr. Cohen is most famous for his acquaintance with Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, whom he met in 1948 during the Israeli war for independence while Israeli forces encircled Egyptian troops the southern Negev. According to historical accounts, Mr. Cohen saw the future President while watching the Egyptians retreat, shouted and ran toward him, and they shook hands warmly.
199(30th of Av, 5759): Rosh Chodesh Elul
2001: The New York Timesbook section featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Houdini’s Box: The Art of Escape by Adam Phillips, a children’s book entitled Sigmund Freud Pioneer of the Mind by Catherine Reef and two books about Nixon’s Jewish born Secretary of State: The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens andNo Peace No Honor: Nixon, Kissinger, and Betrayal in Vietnam by Larry Berman.
2004(25th of Av, 5764): Thirty year old Capt. Michael Y. Tarlavsky was killed today when his unit was attacked in Najaf, Iraq.(As reported by Maia Efrem)
2005: A report in the Jerusalem Post concerning absenteeism among workers may come as a surprise to some Americans. For the first seven months of 2005, the rate of absenteeism was higher among men than women. There was no explanation for this reverse in the statistical model from past years. The report also revealed that absenteeism rates rise when economic conditions improve. During economic slowdowns workers are loathe to be away from work for fear of being replaced.
2005: It was announced at
Texas
Tech
University
that an article about co-option for which Michael Levin was the lead author was accepted for inclusion to the American Marketing Association's Winter Educators Conference which is the top conference for strategists.
2005: Reuben Greenberg resigned as Chief of Police in Charleston, SC.
2006(18th of Av, 5766): Staff Sgt. Uri Grossman, 20, the son of renowned novelist and peace activist David Grossman was killed in Lebanon, just days after his father made a public call for the government to halt its military operation and enter negotiations.
2007: The Sunday New York Times book section features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including How American Grew From Sea to Shining by Jewish Pulitzer Prize winning author Richard Kluger and The Man In The White Sharkskin Suit by Lucette Lagnado in which she “chronicles her Jewish family’s flight from the rise of Nasser.”
2007: The Chicago Sun Timesbook section featured a Q&A with Gail Carson Levine author of Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand and a review of What Goes Up by Eric J. Weiner.
2007: In a story entitled, “A Museum to Get Lost In, And How Israel Is Fixing It” the New York Times describes “an $80 million expansion and renovation that will transform the way a visitor navigates and experiences” the Israel Museum, “
2007(28th of Av, 5767): Dr, Ralph Asher Alpher, author of the Big Bang Theory, passed away.
2008: In Little Rock, AR at the Chabad House, second session of From Ruins to Glory, a course of study based on a virtual tour of the Temple
2008: Rabbi David Loksen and Rabbi Shmulie Hecht, of the Brooklyn, New York-based Chabad Lubavitch Jewish Community Enrichment Program who are volunteers with Chabad Hawaii, leave Guam. They have been working with the island’s small Jewish community since July 22, 2008
.
2008: Two Israeli physicians were dispatched to Georgia to treat Yedioth Aharonot journalist Zadok Yehezkeli, who was seriously wounded in Gori when shrapnel from an artillery shell, reportedly fired by the Russians, hit him.
2008: General Norton A. Schwartz became the 19th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force and the first Jew to hold that position.
2009: Tzfat [Safed] Klezmer Festival comes to a close.
2009:Two Israelis were lightly wounded in a shooting attack in the northern West Bank tonight, according to the IDF. An initial investigation established that two of three young passengers driving in a car near the settlement of Ma'ale Levona, near Nablus, were lightly injured when Palestinians in a passing car opened fire on them.
2009:The youth movement Habonim Dror, a driving force behind the popular campaign for Gilad Schalit's return, organized a global prayer for the captured IDF soldier's safe return the focus of which was a communal service held at the Western Wall tonight at time that coincided with the soldier's 23rd birthday according to the Hebrew calendar. Aviva and Noam Schalit, Gilad's parents, as well as hundreds of others, were present at the Jerusalem gathering. Habonim joined forces with Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau to organize the ceremony, and released a statement which read, "We are calling on all Jews - one people, one heart - to pray on behalf of our brother Gilad's well being and for his safe return." Rabbi Lau penned a special prayer for the service, which begins "May he who blessed our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Ya'akov, Joseph, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon bless and guard over and save Gilad son of Aviva and Noam Schalit." The prayer also beseeches god to "redeem [Schalit] from his captivity and return him in the immediate future." The event took place amid a flood of rumors in the Arab media that a deal for the prisoner's release was nearing, despite the lack of official statements from either Israel or Hamas.
2010:YAD Detroit Book Club Cluster is scheduled to discuss The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee at the Barnes & Noble Book Store in West Bloomfield, Michigan.
2011: A special performance by Makela, DC’s co-ed Jewish a cappella group, is scheduled to take place at the Sixth &I Historic Synagogue.
2011:Tel Aviv municipal inspectors distributed an eviction notice today to a tent dweller who erected a structure that served as a kitchen and storage room at the Nordau Boulevard tent city in north Tel Aviv.In response to the eviction notice, one of the tent protest organizers said that the structure has been standing since the "first day of the protest, and there is no reason to remove it". "The municipality must decide whether it will allow a legitimate and non-violent protest, or whether it is more interested in fighting the protest", said the organizer. Organizers also stated the protests will continue despite the municipality's recent attempts at dissolving it with a Friday night Shabbat service to be held on Nordau Boulevard. The last few days have seen municipal inspectors remove several tents, claiming that they were not being used. The inspectors also distributed eviction notices to protesters in Tel Aviv's Kikar Hamedina, towed a caravan and confiscated a guillotine from Rothschild Boulevard. The municipality has stated that they support the protest and have allowed for it to take place since day one, but are also responsible for maintaining public order. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel strongly criticized the move, saying the mayors are attempting to "push the police to silence the protest".
2011: A hearing to discuss political redistricting in the Baltimore area began this evening at 6:30 p.m. The hearing was originally scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. but was changed to the earlier time to accommodate Jewish citizens who need to be at home or in their synagogues to mark the start of Shabbat. Like all other citizens, Jews can e-mail in their testimony.
2011: The New York Daily News published the first interview that Levi Aron, the man charged with killing 8 year old Leib Kletzky, has given to the media.
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