September 17 In History
1394: The Jews were expelled from
France
by order of King Charles VI. He used the pretense that a Jewish convert in Paris, Denis Machuit, returned to Judaism, to once again expel the Jews. The order was signed on Yom Kippur and was used as excuse for plundering the Jewish. It was actually enforced on November 3. Jews continued to live in
Lyons
and papal possessions such as Pugnon.
1394: Charles VI suddenly published an ordinance in which he declared, in substance, that for a long time he had been taking note of the many complaints provoked by the excesses and misdemeanors which the Jews committed against Christians; and that the prosecutors, having made several investigations, had discovered many violations by the Jews of the agreement they had made with him. Therefore he decreed as an irrevocable law and statute that thenceforth no Jew should dwell in his domains ("Ordonnances", vii. 675). According to the "Religieux de St. Denis", the king signed this decree at the instance of the queen ("Chron. de Charles VI." ii. 119). The decree was not immediately enforced, a respite being granted to the Jews in order that they might sell their property and pay their debts. Those indebted to them were enjoined to redeem their obligations within a set time; otherwise their pledges held in pawn were to be sold by the Jews. The provost was to escort the Jews to the frontier of the kingdom. Subsequently the king released the Christians from their debts.
1480: Two Dominican friars, Miguel de Morillo, Master of Theology, and Juan de San Martin, Bachelor of Theology were commissioned to go to Seville and seek out heresy of the Jews.
1482:William III of Luxembourg passed away. During his reign, William, who ruled Thuringia and Luxemburg, minted a silver gorschen (coin) “known as the Judenkopf Groschen. Its obverse portrait shows a man with a pointed beard wearing a Jewish hat, which the populace took as depicting a typical Jew.” [I cannot find a reason for him doing this.]
1485: Pedro Arbues, the inquisitor for
Aragon
, was murdered in church by a group of Marranos in retaliation for his activities. The perpetrators were caught, had their hands cut off, and were then beheaded and quartered. Arbues was canonized.
1630: Founding of
Boston
,
Massachusetts
. The Puritan colony and its major city were effectively a theocracy. As such, they were not hospitable to any religious group that deviated from their beliefs. The Jewish community in
Boston
would not reach critical mass until the 19th century when the first synagogue was formed in 1842 and the second, Adath
Israel
was formed in 1853. The atmosphere has obviously changed. According to the Boston Globe, the Jewish community in metropolitan
Boston
has been growing to the point where that it numbers more than 200,000 and makes up over seven percent of the population.
1676( 5437): :Sabbatai Zevi, one of the most famous of the False Messiahs passed away. Born in 1626, his antics would develop a huge popular following. Their hopes would be dashed when he chose Islam over death at the hands of the Ottomans. For many, many decades accusing a Jew of being a Sabbatean was onerous as accusing an American of being a member of the Communist Party during the McCarthy Period. There are those who saw the rise of the Chasidic movement with its message of joy and hope as the anti-dote to the disillusionment that had come with the failure of Sabbatai Zevi and the slaughter of the Jews during the Cossack uprising.
1727( 5488): Glückel of Hameln passed away. Born in 1646, she was a Jewish mother, successful mother, German businesswoman and diarist. It was in this latter category that she gained lasting fame. Her writings provided an eyewitness account life in central Europe three and a half centuries ago. In addition to providing a portrait of the daily life of our European forbearers, she also gave us a front seat view of the survivors of the Chmielnicki massacres and the followers of Sabbati Z’vi. Her memories were passed down from generation to generation until they were first published in 1896. Copies of The life of Gluckel of Hamelin Written by Herself and the Memoirs of Gluckel of Hamelin were published in English during the second half of the 20th century.
1764: Birthdate of Berek Joselewicz Polish Jew who was a successful merchant and a colonel in the Polish Army during the Kosciuszko Uprising during which Poles tried to throw off the yoke of Russian occupation. Joselewicz commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history
1769: Birthdate of New Yorker Benjamin Gomez. The Gomez family was one of the most prominent families of all early Sephardim in
America
. Benjamin traced his family’s roots to Isaac Gomez who fled Spain in 1660. In
New York
the family members were wealthy ship owners and merchants, as well as leaders in the Jewish community. Benjamin was the first Jewish bookseller in
America
.
1787: The Constitutional Convention meeting in
Philadelphia
,
PA
, adopted the United States Constitution. It would not become the “law of the land” until it is ratified by the various states. The organic document of American governance was a critical factor in the development of the Jewish community in the
United States
. The Bill of Rights, which includes the guarantees the separation of church and state, was not part of the organic document. But ratification of the Constitution was predicated on the promise that the document known as the Bill Rights would be added by the amending process as the first matter of business for the newly formed federal government.
1794: Polish General Thaddeus Koscuisco who was leading a revolt against the Russians granted Joseph Aronowicz and Berek Joselowicz permission to form a Jewish legion. Five hundred men volunteered in response to the call to arms that was issued in Yiddish.
1800(27th of Elul, 5560): Nathan Adler passed away. Born in 1741, he was a German kabbalist born in Frankfurt, December 16, 1741. As a precocious child he won the admiration of Chaim Joseph David Azulai (Chida), who, in 1752, came to Frankfurt to solicit contributions for the poor of Palestine. Adler attended the rabbinical school of Jacob Joshua, author of Pene Yehoshua, who was at that time rabbi at Frankfurt, but his principal teacher was David Tevele Schiff, afterward chief rabbi of the United Kingdom. In 1761 he established a yeshivah himself, in which several prominent rabbis received their early teachings, notable among whom were Abraham Auerbach, Abraham Bing, rabbi in Würzburg, and especially Moses Sofer (Schreiber), rabbi in Presburg. Nathan Adler was mystically inclined. He had devoted himself to the study of the Kabbala, and adopted the liturgical system of Isaac Luria, assembling about himself a select community of kabbalistic adepts. He was one of the first Ashkenazim to adopt the Sephardi pronunciation of Hebrew, and gave hospitality to a Sephardi scholar for several months to ensure that he learnt that pronunciation accurately. He prayed according to the Halebi ritual, pronounced the priestly blessing every day, and in other ways approached the school of the Hasidim, who had at that time provoked the strongest censures on the part of the Talmudists of the old school. His followers claimed that he had performed miracles (Moses Sofer, Chatam Sofer, Orah Chayyim, 197), and turned visionaries themselves, frightening many persons with predictions of misfortunes which would befall them. Finally, the rabbis and congregational leaders intervened in 1779 and prohibited, under penalty of excommunication, the assemblies in Nathan Adler's house.Rabbi Nathan, however, paid no attention to these orders, but continued in his ecstatic piety. He even excommunicated a man who had disregarded his orders, although this was contrary to the laws of the congregation. His doors remained open day and night, and he declared all his possessions to be common property, that thus he might prevent the punishment of those who might carry away by mistake anything with them. Moreover, he commanded Moses Sofer, who had quarreled with his father, never to speak to his parent again. When the same disciple reported to him that he had gone through the whole Talmud, he advised him to celebrate that event by a fast of three days. In spite of the continued conflict with the congregational authorities, the fame of Rabbi Nathan's piety and scholarship grew, and in 1782 he was elected rabbi of Boskowitz in Moravia. But his excessive and mystical piety having made enemies for him, he was forced to leave his congregation, and in 1785 returned to Frankfurt. As he still persisted in his former ways, the threat of excommunication was renewed in 1789, which act was not repealed until shortly before his death at Frankfurt.His wife, Rachel, daughter of Feist Cohen of Giessen, survived him. He left no children, though Nathan Marcus Adler, chief rabbi of London, was named after him. His mysticism seems to have been the cause of his repugnance to literary publications. The kabbalists claimed that real esoteric theology should never be published, but should only be orally transmitted to worthy disciples. In his copy of the Mishnah he wrote brief marginal notes, mostly cross-references. Some of them were collected and explained ingeniously by B. H. Auerbach under the title Mishnat Rabbi Natan. One responsum is found among those of Moses Sofer on Yoreh De'ah, 261
1805: In London Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid and Lady Goldsmid gave birth to Anna Maria Goldsmid who gained fame for her translation of the sermons of Dr. Gotthold Salomon and her role as a social worker.
1812: Rothschild signed his revised will.
1825(5thof Tishrei, 5568): Sabbath of Return
1841(2ndof Tishrei, 5602): 2nd Day of Rosh Hashanah
1849(1st of Tishrei, 5610): Rosh Hashanah is observed in San Francisco for the first time in a wood-framed tent.
1856: A story published today entitled The Last Island Calamity reported that 33 bodies have been recovered following the storms that racked the Louisiana island last month of which 18 have been identified including that of a German Jew named Gimble.
1856: Birthdate of Moses Gaster, the Romanian born Anglo-Jewish scholar who served as the leader of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in London.
1861: Judah P. Benjamin completed his service as the Attorney General for the Confederacy.
1861: Judah P. Benjamin began serving as the Secretary of War in the cabinet of Jefferson Davis, the President of the CSA.
1862:
Union
and Rebel armies clash near
Sharpsburg
,
Maryland
in what history has come to call the Battle of Antietam. Up to that point,
Antietam
was the bloodiest day of the war with over 22,000 dead
Union
and Rebel troops. Since Lee retreated back into
Virginia
after the battle,
Lincoln
saw it as a victory. He had promised that he would issue the Emancipation Proclamation following the next Union victory.
Lincoln
proved to be a man of his words. In general Jews were pleased with the issuance of the proclamation since they were opposed to slavery. One of the heroes of
Antietam
was General Leopold Blumenberg, of
Baltimore
. Blumberg was born in
Prussia
where he enlisted in the military. After a rapid rise to the rank of lieutenant, Blumenberg saw his career stymied by anti-Semitism so he moved to the
United States
. He joined the Union Army in 1861. At the time of the battle he was a major of his regiment. He was severely wounded at the battle of
Antietam
and crippled for life and was subsequently brevetted for his meritorious services. His battlefield bravery earned him appointment as Provost Marshall in
Washington
. He left the Army in 1865 and died as a result of his wounds in 1876. He was buried at
Baltimore
’s
Har
Sinai
Cemetery
. Blumenberg is but one example of the many brave Jewish volunteers who fought for the
Union
. For example over half of the soldiers in the famed 11th New York Regiment, known as "Ellsworth's Zouaves" in honor of the founder James Ellsworth, were Jewish.
1862: When enrolled at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) today, Moses Ezekiel became the first Jew to attend that state’s military college.
1863: At its meeting today, the Board of Alderman rejected the Report-of Committee on Finance, in favor of adopting resolution that the Comptroller be directed to dispose of the following ground belonging to the Corporation, and located adjoining the Orphan Asylum of the Hebrew Benevolent Society: On Seventy seventh-street and extending from the westerly line or side of said Orphan Asylum to the easterly line or side of Lexington-avenue, being in extent one hundred and thirty-five feet front and rear, by one hundred feet deep, to the said Hebrew Benevolent Society, to be held by the said Society upon the same tenure or conditions as the twelve lots of ground heretofore grunted to the said Society; the grant hereby made to said Society to be sanctioned by the Legislature of the State, at its next or any subsequent session, in order to perfect the title thereto in the aforesaid Society, and to obviate the prohibition contained in the forty-first section of the amended charter of one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in respect to disposing of the property or franchises of the City.
1865: Today's Foreign Items column reported that a synagogue is about to be opened in St. Petersburg. A Jewish Banker named Gusburg the Jewish banker, has given 70,000 rubles towards the completion of the projection..
1865: Today's "City News" column described preparations in New York City for the upcoming observance of “The Jewish New Year.” “Thursday will be the first day of Tishri, the commencement of the year 5,626, according to Jewish chronology. The event will be celebrated by the Jews throughout the world Extensive preparations are being made for its observance in this city. There will be services in the various synagogues, to be followed by festivals, social gatherings, and general merry-makings.”
1867: In New York, the Board of Aldermen accepted an invitation to visit the Hebrew Orphan Asylum today at 1 p.m.
1871: An article that had originally appeared in the Jewish Messenger was published today. It provided a summary Benjamin Franklin Peixotto’s service as the U.S. Consul in Bucharest. The mere fact that America’s senior diplomat in Romania is Jewish has given heart to the Jews of Bucharest, Jassy and other towns in their fight against the government’s harsh treatment. Peixotto has effectively represented the position of many in the West that Romania must emancipate its Jewish citizens.
1871(2nd of Tishrei, 5632): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1876: “The Jewish Holidays” published today provides an amazingly detailed account of the origins and customs related to the High Holidays.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9500EED91630E53ABC4F52DFBF66838D669FDE
1877: During the Russo-Turkish War, it was reported today that “an enterprising Jew from Vienna” has opened an office in the Balkan city of Nikopolis from which he sells newspapers which means that the Russian officers are only 36 hours behind their comrades in arms serving in Bucharest. The sale is limited to newspapers that are not critical of the policies of the Russian government. This means he cannot sale papers from London or Vienna but his customers are happy to read such French and Italian papers as Gaulois and Figaro.
1877(10th of Tishrei, 5638): As Reconstruction came to an end, Jews on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line observed Yom Kippur
1877: “Ten Fires in Two Hours” published today described the impact of ten fires set between 6 pm and 8 pm in a series of tenements primarily occupied by Jews or that housed businesses owned by Jews including Isaac Cohen’s Crockery Store which sustained $50.00 in damages.
1877: Rabbi De Sola Mendes is scheduled to deliver the Yom Kippur sermon at the Forty-fourth street synagogue in Manhattan.
1877: At Temple Emanu-El in New York City, Rabbi Gustav Gottheil preached a sermon in which he contended that the objection some Israelites have to be called “Jews is an unfounded one, and that the name Jew is one which any person might be glad to bear.”
1877: It was reported today that Harper & Brothers will be offering The Jews and Their Persecutors by Eugene Lawrence which is the latest publication in their popular "Half Hour Series."
1878: As the Yellow Fever Epidemic continues to grip the Deep South, New Orleans Mayor Pillsbury received a telegram from Mark Moses, the former Rabbi of the Jackson Street Synagogue who is now living in Providence, Rhode Island, asking for information about his family that lives on Magazine Street. He is worried because he has not received any letters from them in the past several days and has had no reply to telegrams that he has sent.
1878: As the nation responds to the financial needs of Southerners fighting Yellow Fever, the Young Ladies’ Charitable Union has instructed that 40 of the 100 dollars it has collected should be sent to the Hebrew Relief Society of Memphis.
1879(29th of Elul, 5639): Erev Rosh Hashanah
1882(4th of Tishrei, 5643): Since the third of Tishrei fell on Shabbat Tzom Gedaliah is observed today.
1883: It was reported that Charles Scribner’s and Sons has published East of the Jordan by Selah Merrill
1884: In New Haven, Connecticut, the Register published a story that included a remark by Henry B. Harrison in 1857 when, during a trial, he asked the judge, “Your Honor, will you not take the evidence given by 11 Americans in preference to that given by four Jews?” Harrison is running for Governor on the Republican ticket.
1885: In Lithuania, Rabbi and Mrs. Nachum Shraga Revel gave birth to Rabbi Bernard Dov Revel, the first President of Yeshiva College in NYC.
1885: Eighty-five year old Henry Neuwahl, a resident of the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews in New York was severely injured today when he was run over by a U.S. mail wagon while crossing at the corner of Broadway and Houston. In his earlier days, he was a successful merchant whose love of fast horse earned him the nickname “Sporting Charlie.”
1886: In Germany, Lewis and Ida Mayer Arnheim gave birth to Leonard Arnheim who would move to the United States in 1868 and eventually represent Doughtery County in the Georgia State Legislature.
1888: In New York City, the audience at Koster and Biali’s Concert Hall laughed like lunatics as they were entertained by Frank Bush “whose imitations of the Hebrew gentlemen of impolite fiction are known from Harlem to Los Angeles.
1898: Herzl meets with the German minister Bernhard von Bülow
1908: Birthdate of Russian born violin virtuoso David Oistrakh
1909: Louis Waldman, a founding member of the Social Democratic Federation, and a prominent New York labor lawyer, having left the Ukraine, arrived in New York today where he joined his sisters who were already living there.
1917(1st of Tishrei, 5678): Following the entrance of the United States into World War I, thousands of Jewish soldiers and sailors observe Rosh Hashanah away from home for the first time.
1918: During WW I, as General Allenby prepares to resume his offensive north of Jerusalem an Indian sergeant crosses into the Turkish lines where he warns them that the British are about to attack. The Turks believe him, but the German general in command which means that Allenby will have the element of surprise as he continues the offensive that will ultimately lead to British control over
Palestine
.
1918: Birthdate of Chaim Herzog (חיים הרצוג) sixth President of Israel. Herzog was born in 1918 in
Belfast
, where his father, Dr Isaac Herzog, was rabbi. While Chaim was still a child, Isaac was appointed Chief Rabbi of
Ireland
and the family moved to
Dublin
. Chaim is remembered there as a former bantam-weight boxing champion. After college, he moved to
Palestine
in 1935. He joined the Palmach and defended Jewish settlements during the Arab Uprising that lasted from 1936 until 1938. Herzog returned to
England
where he studied to become a lawyer. He fought with the British forces in
Europe
during World War II where his forte was intelligence. After the war, he returned to
Palestine
where he took an active role in the fighting to create the new state of
Israel
. After the war, the new state made use of Herzog’s knowledge of Intelligence work. He enjoyed a successful career filling several military, civilian and private sector positions. He passed away in 1997. Chaim Herzog in his own words: "I do not bring forgiveness with me, nor forgetfulness. The only ones who can forgive are dead; the living have no right to forget.”
1921: Mr. and Mrs. Julius Rosenwald announced the engagement tonight of their daughter Miss Marion Rosenwald to Alfred K. Stern, the son of Mrs. Max Stern. Mr. Stern had been living in Fargo, North Dakota. No date has been set for the wedding. [Stern would later divorce the Sears & Roebuck heiress and eventually marry Martha Dodd, the daughter William E. Dodd, the first U.S. Ambassador to Germany to serve after Hitler came to power. For more about the Dodds see In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson]
1922: In Canada, Shaar Hashomayim dedicated its new synagogue at the corner of Kensington Avenue and Côte St. Antoine in Westmount. The congregation had acquired the ground in 1920. In 1921, Lyon Cohen, the president of the congregation had laid the cornerstone which had come from Eretz Israel.
1926(9th of Tishrei, 5687): Erev Yom Kippur
1926: Charles and Gisèle Lustiger gave birth to Aaron Lustiger who converted to Catholicism in 1940, became the Archbishop of Paris and was ultimately name a Cardinal as Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/world/europe/06lustiger.html
1927: In suburban Philadelphia, PA Rabbi Philip Reis Alstat spoke at the dedication ceremonies of Ohev Shalom Synagogue Center.
1929: The Jewish community in Palestine is feeling a sense of increasing anxiety over the fact that 45 of 51 Jews arrested in Haifa have been charged with attempted or premeditated murder under the direction public prosecutors in Haifa who are Arabs. In addition to which bail has been denied. The arrest comes on the heels of a wave of Arab violence that included massacres at Hebron and Safed.
1930: Shortstop Jim Levey made his major league debut with the St. Louis Browns.
1933: The National Representation of German Jews (Reichsvertretung der Dutschen Juden) was established "to come to grips with the troubled times..." Rabbi Leo Baeck would be its president.
1936(1stof Tishrei, 5697): As FDR prepares to face Alf Landon in the Presidential election, Jews observe Rosh Hashanah
1936:The United States must accept a share of blame in the "horrible record of murders and destructive acts" in Palestine, in the opinion of Senators Royal S. Copeland of New York and Warren R. Austin of Vermont, who returned today on the Italian liner Conte di Savoia after an unofficial study of conditions in the Holy Land. In a jointly issued statement the senators said that the United States “government cannot be held blameless until it calls sharply to the attention of Great retain our feeling that the mandate is not being administered as it should be. No matter how pressing may be the demands of a Presidential election, time out must e taken to have the atrocities in Palestine stopped.” The senators descried the security measures as being “lax” and expressed the view that a New York police official backed by 1,000 officers and 200 detectives could reestablish law and order in the wake of Arab violence.
1937: The Palestine Post reported that the League of Nations Council, meeting in Geneva, unanimously adopted British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden's plan and decided to send a new Special Commission to Palestine, to consult with Jews and Arabs how best to implement the Royal (Peel) Commission Report's recommendations on the country's partition and fix the future boundaries of both states and of the British enclaves. In the meanwhile the Palestine Mandate of
July 24, 19
22
, was to remain in force.
1938: Hank Greenberg hits his fifty first home run of the season which keeps him even with Babe Ruth’s 1927 record breaking pace.
1939(4th of Tishrei, 5700): Tzom Gedaliah
1939(4th of Tishrei, 5700): Nineteen Jews were killed and many more were injured when a train struck a bus halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
1939: The
Soviet Union
invaded
Poland
during WW II. This invasion was part of the terms of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact that made it possible for the Germans to invade
Poland
. The Nazis traded half of
Poland
to ensure that the Germans would have a free hand in fighting the British and the French without having to worry about fighting the Soviets at the same time.
1941: The Nazis took several thousand Jews taken from their homes in Kovno and locked them in synagogues for three days. They then brought them to prepared ditches and shot them all.
1941: A general deportation of German Jews remaining in the Fatherland began. For those interested in the topic you might want to read The Last Jews in
Berlin
by Leonard Gross, which depicts the life of 18 Jews living in the capital of Nazi Germany.
1943: The Russian city of Bryansk was liberated from Nazis. Bryansk was occupied by the Nazis for over seven hundred days. It was the scene of on-going partisan activity. Jews played an active part in this resistance. Before the Nazis left the areas, Jews hiding in the forest around Bryansk were attacked and killed by local forces loyal to the Nazis. The excuse for killing them was that they were “pro-Soviet.”
1943: In Lyon, Fritz Freund, a Jewish veteran of the French Army, went out to buy food for his wife Mathilde and himself. He never returned. Mathilde searched for her husband in vain. She was told by on-lookers that her husband was probably one of those who were shoved into cattle cars by employees of the French national railway company. The cars went from Lyon, to a holding camp in Compiegne before depositing their human cargo at Buchenwald. Yes, the French were willing accomplices to the Nazi final solution. This is the Compiegne where the Armistice was signed in 1918 and where the French cravenly surrendered to the Nazis in 1940
1943(17th of Elul, 5703): Estella Blits- Agsterribe, her six-year old daughter Nanny and two-year old son Alfred were murdered today at Auschwitz. Before marrying Samuel Blits, she was known as Estella Agsterribe, one of the members of the 1928 gold medal winning Dutch ladies Olympic Gymnastics Team.
1944(29th of Elul, 5704): Erev Rosh Hashanah 5705
1944: “Russia Fears Reich May Win Soft Peace” published today described “a growing feeling among the Soviets that the Americans and British may take too easy an attitude toward the Germans after the war.”
1944: As the Red Army approached, the Germans started the evacuation of the Bor labor camp. The first Hungarian death march began. Five thousand people would set off, only 9 would survive.
1944(29th of Elul, 5704): Near Verona, Italy, 23-year-old Rita Rosani, the Jewish leader of an Italian partisan group, is killed in a battle with German troops
194510th of Tishrei, 5706) Yom Kippur: Jews fast on the first Yom Kippur after the end of World War II and the Holocaust.
1947: In the past two years, since August 1945, 347 people had been killed in Palestine under British occupation including 169 Englishmen, 88 Jews, 85 Arabs and 5 listed as “unidentified.”
1948: Acting in a manner that brought shame to the Jewish people, the Stern Gang assassinated Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the UN to mediate between the Arabs and Jews during the War for
Independence
. Bernadotte’s position was viewed as pro-Arab and that was the rational offered for this act. Bernadotte was eventually by Ralph Bunche who would win the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the conflict in 1949.
1950: It was learned today The Jordanian Government has asked the United Nations to suspend Security Council action on its complaint against Israel's occupation of a disputed strip of land at the confluence of the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers.
1950: In a single sentence communiqué issued in New Delhi by the Ministry of External Affairs, India announced that it was recognizing the Government of Israel effective on this date. The Indians made it clear that the recognition should not be seen as a change in its policy supporting the Arabs in their conflicts with the Jewish state. India has no intention of sending a diplomat to take up residence in Israel. The Israelis will not be sending anybody to Delhi because of a lack of funds and trained personnel.
1951: “Negotiations of a new five-point plan aimed at establishing peace between Israel and the Arab states were delayed while Israeli representative awaited their government’s reaction to the plan” which is the handiwork of the United Nations Palestine Conciliation Commission. Under the terms of the plan, among other things, Israel would pay the 850,000 Arab refugees for the property they had left behind in what is now Israel, funds would be made available to those countries in which the refugees were now living for economic development, borders would drawn “to avoid friction” and “both sides would renounce all warlike methods and ‘respect the rights of neighbors to security.’”
1955: Birthdate of comedienne Rita Rudner
1972(9th of Tishrei, 5733): Erev Yom Kippur
1972: First episode of “M*A*S*H” appeared on CBS. The hit show was created by
Chicago
native Larry Gelbart.
1978: Conclusion of the first
Camp David
summit talks hosted by President Carter and attended by Begin and Sadat. The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
1980: In
New York
at The Jewish Museum opening of Andy Warhol: Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century
1982(29th of Elul, 5742): Erev Rosh Hashanah
1982(29th of Elul, 5742): Sam H. Toubin, a merchant in
Brenham
,
Texas
, who owned stores in nine different towns and was the husband of Rosa Levin Toubin, the historian for the local Jewish community, passed away.
1982(29thof Elul, 5742): Ninety year old David Dubinsky, former president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and an influential labor leader for more than three decades, died today in Manhattan after a long illness. “With extraordinary flair and boundless energy, Mr. Dubinsky was the major force in converting a union that was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1932 into a dynamic organization that had $500 million in assets in 1966, when he became its honorary president. The influence of Mr. Dubinsky, a short man with gray crew-cut hair, extended well beyond his union. He played a major role in the formation of the Committee for Industrial Organization, forerunner of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, in the mid-1930's; he was the first head of an American Federation of Labor union to demand action against organized racketeering in unions; he pushed labor toward greater social responsibility, and he was for many years one of the forces behind the Liberal Party in New York. Mr. Dubinsky, whose personality was once described as ranging from ''that of global statesman to that of a dead-end kid,'' was sometimes captious, sometimes overbearing, but always able to bring high drama into every report and talk. He never lost his Yiddish accent, his tendency to wave his arms at the slightest provocation or his loud voice, which started as a shout and went up from there. Mr. Dubinsky took an interest in virtually every union activity. His enthusiasm seldom allowed him to sit still. At union functions he would suddenly take tickets at the door, adjust the microphones, peel off his jacket to help the waiters set up the tables and switch off the lights at the end. Under his leadership, the I.L.G.W.U. accumulated a long list of firsts. Among them were the publication of financial statements long before it was legally required, the establishment of research and engineering departments to improve the efficiency of the garment trade and the creation of educational and cultural programs for thousands of members. During his presidency the membership reached 450,000, although in recent years it dropped to about 350,000 as manufacturers moved to other areas and as the pressures of imports have grown. Like any big organization, the union has had its detractors. But on the whole its reputation has been envied by other unions. When the American Federation of Musicians was unpopular, James C. Petrillo, its president, sent a delegation to Mr. Dubinsky to learn what he had done to create a good public perception for his union. ''Live right,'' was Mr. Dubinsky's reply. Proud of Accomplishments He was proud of his accomplishments, and he would talk about them whether he was bicycle riding around New York wearing a distinctive beret, as he often did, or assaulting huge baskets of onion rolls, highly spiced pickles, marinated herring and pastrami, washed down with Scotch or rum. Once after he was re-elected, he said: ''I have accepted the presidency again because I am foreign-born, and I am proud of the great service we have performed for America. When we banished the sweatshops, when we reduced the hours of work, when we increased wages, when we provided health centers, when we established Unity House, when we participated in community life, when we eliminated worry, torture, hunger and starvation, we performed a service for the future of America.'' Unity House is a union recreation center in Pennsylvania. It was not always easy performing that service. In the 1920's and early 30's, sweatshops were widespread, wages were low and job security was nonexistent. Where union contracts existed, they were often violated at will. Mr. Dubinsky and others were concerned not only with the immediate improvement of wages and working conditions, but also with adding stability to an industry that was highly mobile and competitive and contained its share of racketeers. It also had its share of strikes, a situation that Mr. Dubinsky changed markedly. He summed up his view on strikes this way: ''First you get a whip, and then when everyone knows you have it, you put it in the refrigerator.'' Brought Industry a 35-Hour Week Perhaps Mr. Dubinsky's most notable achievement was in bringing a standard 35-hour week to a sweatshop industry that was in a constant state of chaos. The union was less successful, however, in establishing high wage levels in New York and other garment centers in the Northeast. In the last decade sweatshops have again proliferated in the industry as some manufacturers have taken advantage of the influx of illegal aliens and put them to work at low wages. Prof. Joel Seidman of the University of Chicago said that under Mr. Dubinsky ''the union itself changed from a radical organization with a Socialist goal into one of more moderate tendencies, advocating reform within the context of private enterprise.'' Mr. Dubinsky's speech was often blunt and down-to-earth, but he could also stir an audience with his idealism. And when an audience did not behave, he would admonish its members as if they were his children. Once Quieted Concert Audience On one occasion, in 1967, retired members of the union were attending a Carnegie Hall concert of the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Lady Bird Johnson was there, but the concert was slow in getting started because many of the union members had trouble finding seats and others insisted on chatting with old friends. Mr. Dubinsky strode to the center of the stage, shook his finger at the audience and said, ''Shhh.'' It did. He was born on Feb. 22, 1892, in Brest-Litovsk, then part of Russian Poland, and was originally named David Dobnievski. He was a small child when his family moved to Lodz, where he went to primary school and learned to read and write Polish, Russian and Yiddish. His school days ended, however, when he was 13 years old, and the following year he became a master baker in his father's shop, earning 12 rubles a week, about $6. Out of that sum he would take small coins for half-hour bicycle rides in a dusty park area. He was to enjoy bicycle riding all his life and would ride around various parts of the city at all hours. He did not get an automobile driver's license until he was 65. Union Officer at Age 15 It was his knowledge of languages, Mr. Dubinsky once said, that was chiefly responsible for his election at the age of 15 as secretary of his local of the bakers' union. Not long afterward he helped to organize a bakers' strike that affected his father's shop as well as others. He continued to dabble in union activities and was arrested at the age of 16. He was questioned by the Russian political police and was exiled to Siberia, which meant living in a small village under police surveillance. In the course of his journey to Siberia, he spent 18 months in several prisons. Eventually he escaped and returned to Lodz with the help of his father. The prison ordeal and his union activities left two strong impressions on him. One was that shortly after his father gave his workers higher wages, he and other small-scale bakers had to close their shops for lack of money. Prison Days 'Helped Me a Lot' Second, he once said: ''I think that my years in Lodz and the prison days that followed helped me a lot. Even as a child I saw what despotism and dictatorship meant.'' He resumed his work as a baker in Lodz, but not long afterward, he said, ''my brother, who lived in New York, sent me a ticket to America.'' ''I had earned enough money by that time,'' he said, ''to take my other brother with me. We were smuggled across the border. Once outside Russia we didn't need any passports, nor did we need a visa to enter America.'' Arriving in New York in 1911, Mr. Dubinsky got a job in the dress industry as a cutter - one who cut bolts of cloth to conform to a pattern - and joined Local 10 of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, which had been established in 1900. Became Local's Business Manager Zealous and aggressive, Mr. Dubinsky became increasingly active in union affairs, and in 1918 he joined Local 10's executive board. Three years later he was its business agent, or manager. Meantime, he had emerged as an articulate spokesman on behalf of American entry into World War I and against the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. That event split the Socialist Party, with its leftist members organizing the Communist Party. Mr. Dubinsky was a spirited foe of that party, especially as it manifested itself in the needle trades. Mr. Dubinsky took another step upward in the union hierarchy in 1922, when he was elected a vice president while remaining as manager of Local 10. In 1929 he became secretary-treasurer of the organization. During the illness of Benjamin Schlesinger, the union president, Mr. Dubinsky took on executive responsibilities, and when Mr. Schlesinger died in 1932, Mr. Dubinsky was elected as his successor. At that point the union was at a low ebb, with a membership of fewer than 40,000 in an industry of 300,000 workers. Organized the Industry With the New Deal there was a surge in Mr. Dubinsky's and the union's fortunes. Section 7(A) of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 made collective bargaining mandatory in interstate commerce. Astutely, Mr. Dubinsky took advantage of the law to organize the industry, and by 1935 the union had 200,000 members and assets of $850,000. In this period, the Communist locals disbanded, and their members joined the garment workers' union as individuals. In the belief that mass-production industries could not be effectively organized on a craft-union basis, the garment leader was one of those who joined with John L. Lewis in 1935 to set up the Committee for Industrial Organization, which was to become the Congress of Industrial Organizations. He was then a vice president of the American Federation of Labor. When the A.F.L. executive council voted to suspend the C.I.O. unions in 1936, Mr. Dubinsky resigned from the council. But a year later he opposed the establishment of the C.I.O. on a permanent independent basis, and until 1940 the garment workers' union was unaffiliated. In that year it rejoined the A.F.L., and five years later Mr. Dubinsky was back as one of the federation's its vice presidents. Meantime, Mr. Dubinsky took a hand in New York politics. Having left the Socialist Party in 1928, he supported the Democrats in 1932. Four years later he cooperated with Sidney Hillman, president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, to form the American Labor Party as a vehicle for trade unions in politics. Helped Form Liberal Party When that party appeared to come under Communist control in 1944, he resigned and, with Adolf A. Berle Jr. and others, organized the Liberal Party, of which he became vice chairman. That party displaced the Labor Party and was a strategic force in many elections, including that of John V. Lindsay as Mayor of New York in 1965 and 1969. In 1969 the union left the party, but Mr. Dubinsky remained as a member. In union affairs he consolidated his position to the point where there was only sporadic opposition. Part of this was due to his personal magnetism, part to the benefits he won for his members. Mr. Dubinsky crusaded against racketeers, long a plague in many unions. His campaigns against the underworld resulted in a code of ethics that was adopted by the labor movement. Mr. Dubinsky was directly involved in many national and international projects, which added to his stature within and outside the labor movement. In World War II he served on several Government boards, and in 1946 he was a consultant to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. In addition, at Mr. Dubinsky's urging after the war, the union spent about $3 million in cash and relief in Israel and Italy. It also built an orphanage in China and contributed to a trade uni