OCTOBER 10 In History
680: At the Battle of Karbala, Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, was decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as Aashurah. This is part of the split between the Shiites and the Sunnis that has led to so much violence and had an impact on the terrorist war against Israel and other nations of the world.
732: At the Battle of Tours which was fought near Poitiers, France, the leader of the Franks (modern day French) Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. This meant that the territory south of the Pyrenees – Spain – would remain in Islamic hands for the better part of the next seven centuries while the rest of Europe would remain in Christians hands for the time being. This demarcation would lead to the development of different variants of Judaism depending up whether the Jews lived in Moslem and Christian dominated parts of Europe.
1384: A judicial inquiry was held in a castle at Châtel, by order of Prince Amadeus, Count of Savoy with purpose of confirming the charges by his Christian subjects that the Jews were guilty of poisoning the wells, springs “and other things which the Christians use.” Numerous Jews of both sexes have been imprisoned based on these charges. The case rested, in part, on the admission of Jew named Agimet from Geneva, who confessed after having been subject to only “a little” torture that he had engaged in such practices.
1723: The party responsible for slandering a group of Jews was put to death in an auto-de-fe at Lisbon. The person had alleged groups of men were assembling to practice Jewish customs. The men were later arrested and jailed where many of them had died.
1755: In a 4 month period ending today, eight Jewish merchants were listed in the Custom House records of New York.
1802: In Philadelphia, a group of German Jews formed a society that they called the “Hebrew German Society Rodef Shalom” which was one of the earliest German Jewish congregations in America. “The society was reorganized and chartered in 1812. Among the earliest rabbis were Wolf Benjamin, Jacob Lipman, Bernhard Illowy, Henry Vidaver, Moses Sulzbacher, and Moses Rau.”
1845: Founding of the U.S. Naval Academy. Today there are approximately 140 Jewish Midshipman at the Naval Academy. The dedication of the multi-million dollar Uriah P. Levy Jewish Center and Chapel in 2005 marked a major milestone in the development of Jewish life at the Annapolis institution. For more about the history of the Jews at the U.S. Naval Academy see “The Judaic Experience at the U.S. Naval Academy” by Joel Ira Holwitt
1847: In Hamburg, Germany, Julie and Samuel Lewishon gave birth to Leonard Lewisohn who gained fame and fortune in the United States as a businessman and philanthropist.
1847: A constitution was adopted forming 'The Ladies Sewing Association, of the Congregation Shearith Israel, of New York.' The society consisted of an initial fifty members who would make garments for the needy.
1851: Communications pioneer Paul Julius Reuter “established a telegraph office at the I Royal Exchange Buildings, near the London stock exchange. From this location he transmitted stock market quotations between London and Paris, using the new Calais-Dover telegraph cable under the English Channel. Recognizing the need for a news service, Reuter would the next seven years working hard to build the agency and promote his services to newspapers.”
1853: An article entitled “Jewish Educational Institute” published today described the cornerstone laying ceremony for a Jewish Educational Institute to be built in New York next to B’nai Jeshraun Synagogue on Greene Street. Rabbi Morris Raphall’s address to the attendees included the statement that he was as proud of the establishment of this academy for Jewish study as he was of the role he had played in establishing a similar such institution in Birmingham, England. He stressed the importance of Jews receiving both a secular and religious education. He spoke of the unique benefits Jews enjoyed in the United States. And he predicted that a day would come when the United States would surpass the United Kingdom and when the Jews of the United States would have to assume a leadership role for Jews throughout the world.
1864(10th of Tishrei, 5625): Yom Kippur
1864: Jews gathered at the home of a merchant in Salt Lake City to observe Yom Kippur. This was probably the first communal Jewish activity to take place in this Mormon dominated regioned.
1864: The New York Timesreported that “To-day will be generally observed by our Jewish fellow-citizens as a rigid fast-day and period of strict religions observance. It is known as Your Kippur Day of Atonement. Every Israelite in every part of the world, who believes in the Law of Moses and the doctrine of a future world, keeps the day as a strict fast-day. From sunset yesterday till sunset to-day no food or drink is indulged in. Every Jew and Jewess, and children above thirteen, must observe the fast. According to Jewish tradition, on the first day of the New Year, the Israelites are summoned in judgment before their Creator, but sentence upon their misdeeds is reserved till the tenth day Your Kippur. If, during the ten intermediate days, called the Arsareth Yermi Tersluaro, ten day of repentence, penitence is made, and the "sinner turneth from the evil of his ways," the anger of the Lord is assuaged, and on the day of atonement forgiveness is accorded. When the Isralites worshipped in the Temple at Jerusalem, the service of this day was equally solemn and splendid. It was the only day throughout the year on which even the Cohen Hagodol (High priest,) presumed to enter the most holy sanctuary of the temple, or to pronounce the renevated and deladed name of the Deity which at any other time it was unlawful even for him to utter. The glories of this day are commemorated in the musaf or midday service of the synagogue. According to Jewish tradition, also the Your Kippur even before the giving of the law was a day of atonement and pardon. Adam did penance and was pardoned on this day. Abraham entered the covenant of the circumcision on this day. Moses, after he had broken the first tables, ascended the Mount again on the first day of Elul, so that the second forty days expired with the Your Kippur. The eve is allotted to solemn feasting, and at sunset the twenty-four hours fast and continued prayers commence. It is also customary in the evening for parents to bestow a solemn benediction on their children. Whosoever meet on that day, be they previously acquainted or complete strangers, salute each other with brotherly love and sincerity. If any dispute exists between the Jews, it is obligatory on them to become reconciled before either of them presumes to appear in the presence of his God. The law which ordains the observance of the day likewise commands the Jew "to afflict his soul." The affliction of the soul by means of the body, according to Jewish custom, consists in abstaining from five indulgences -- eating and drinking, bathing, perfuming, wearing shoes and sexual enjoyment. The observance of the festival is most strict by every one who claims the name of Jew, and even those who make light of other observances throughout the year, pay due regard to this day. The exercises in the synagogue are of a striking and impressive character, the edifice is thronged with worshippers, the ministers and officials are draped in white shrouds while prayers of lamentation and penitence are heard on all sides. The services are divided into five parts the kol nidri, or eve service for last night; the sharcheris, or morning service; the musaf, or midday service! the mincha, or afternoon service; the nela, or conclusion. The synagogues open to-day at 6 A.M., and remain open till sunset.
1864(10th of Tishrei, 5625): Jews of Tunis and Tripoli were massacred.
1871(25th of Tishrei, 5632): Sixty-seven year old Joseph Zedner passed away. Born in Germany, he served as librairian of the Hebrew Department of the British Museum from 1845 until 1869 when he resigned and returned to Germany due to his failing health.
1871: On the last day of the Great Chicago Fire it was noted that a void now existed in the city. The Hebrew Relief Association’s Hospital had been destroyed during the catastrophic conflagration.
1874: Ceremonies were held this evening in New York City marking the formal opening of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association. Lewis May, the president of the organization opened the event with a brief address followed by Dr. Mark Blumenthal’s speech would provided a brief history of YMHA. Judge Philip J. Joachimsen and Rabbi Isaacs of the 19th Street Synagogue were among the dignitaries who attended the event.
1876(22nd of Tishrei, 5637): Shemini Atzeret
1879(23rd of Tishrei, 5640): Simchat Torah
1879: Daniel Edward Bandmann played Shylock in tonight’s opening performance of “The Merchant of Venice” at the Standard Theatre in New York City. His portrayal of Shakespeare’s Jew differs from that of Edwin Booth who creates an “over-tragic and impassioned” figure.
1879: Birthdate of Eugen Täubler who wrote his dissertation on Josephus and lectured at the Higher Institute for Jewish Studies in Berlin.
1883(9thof Tishrei, 5644): Erev Yom Kippur
1883: Three hundred boys attended Kol Nidre services at the Hebrew Orphan Asylum that were led by Dr. Herman Baar, the Superintendent.
1884(21st of Tishre, 5645): Hoshanah Rabbah
1884(21st of Tishrei, 5645): Dr. Adolph Huebsch, “one of the most popular and influential…rabbis” in New York “died suddenly from heart disease from heart disease” from “heart disease” at 4:30 this morning. Born in Hungary in 1830, earned a doctorate at the University of Prague after which he took a pulpit in that Czech city. In 1886, he came to the United States where began serving as rabbi at Ahaveth Chesed. In addition to leading his congregation through a period of growth that included the building of a new sanctuary, he was a noted scholar.
1885: George S. Stinson, a special agent of the Internal Revenue Department discovered today that “crooked whiskey was being manufactured by four Hebrews at Bruynswick, NY.
1886(11th of Tishrei, 5647): David Levy Yulee, the first Jewish United States Senator passed away. David Yulee (also spelled Yule) was known simply as David Levy for the first three and half decades of his life. He had been born on the West Indian island of St. Thomas and brought to Florida by his father Moses Levy. The younger Levy turned Yulee was a successful planter and lawyer, a perfect background for a further career in politics. When Florida became a state in 1845, Yulee was chosen to serve as one of her senators. Yulee was not active in Jewish communal life and married a non-Jew. However, his political opponents did not ignore this fact. When the Civil War broke out, Yulee joined the other Jewish senator, Judah P. Benjamin in secession. During the war he served in the Confederate Congress. After the war, he served a year in prison on for reasons not recorded. He had been arrested while on his way to Washington, D.C. in an effort to gain Florida’s re-entry into the Union. It is ironic that the only claim to fame of a Jew who sought to assimilate is tied to that very Jewishness.
1886(11th of Tishrei, 5647): In St. Louis, Frank Sandmeyer, a Jew who was employed as a waiter at Esher’s Variety Theatre took his own life after killing his wife.
1886: It was reported that an actor named “Curtis” will be appearing at the 14thStreet Theatre in New York. His forte is his comic portrayal or “caricature” of “the superficial traits of the modern German” Jew.
1889(15thof Tishrei, 5650): Sukkooth
1893(30th of Tishrei, 5654): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
1893(30th of Tishrei, 5654): Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike, the first professional Jewish baseball player passed away.
1894(10thof Tishrei, 5655): Yom Kippur
1896: It was reported today that a rare copy of William Blake’s “Jerusalem” had been sold at action by Bangs &Co for $14.50.
1899: The New York Times begins publishing a supplemental section devoted to reviewing books. The New York Times Book Sectionhas provided numerous reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or special interest to Jewish readers for over a century. It has been an invaluable resource for this blog.
1906(21st of Tishrei, 5667): Hoshanah Rabah
1907: Ernesto Nathan, a Jew, was elected Mayor of Rome.
1910: Birthdate of Photographer Julius Shulman. Born in Brooklyn, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, his family moved to a farm in Connecticut, where Shulman first developed a love of nature that, he said, awakened him to light and shadow and influenced his life's course. When Julius was 10, his father moved the family to the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, which at that time was predominantly Jewish, and opened the New York Dry Goods Store. His father died of tuberculosis in 1923, leaving Julius' mother to run the business and raise five children.
1910: Ten Jewish men founded Tau Episolon Phi (TEP) fraternity at Columbia University.
1912:Today, Dr. Joseph Silverman officiated at the funeral of Professor Morris Loeb. The funeral which was attended by more than 500 people representing most of the Jewish charitable and religious organizations of New York and many of its educational institutions was held at Temple Emanu-El Cemetery, Salem Fields, Cypress Hills. Dr. Samuel Schulmann of Temple Beth-El gave the closing prayer.
1923: Birthdate of major league pitcher, Saul Rogovin.
1925(22nd of Tishrei, 5686): Shemini Atzeret
1930: Birthdate of English playwright and Nobel Prize Winner, Harold Pinter.
1933(20th of Tishrei, 5694): Sixth day of Sukkoth
1933(20th of Tishrei, 5694): The Nazis killed Dr Theo Katz at Dachau. According to Martin Gilbert, Katz had worked in the camp hospital before his murder.
1935: George Gershwin's "Porgy &Bess" opened on Broadway. The Jewish music master used his talents to bring the life of African-Americans to mainstream entertainment.
1937: The Palestine Postreported that the Mandatory Administration assured the British government that no question of security would interfere with the plans to send a new commission to Palestine. This new commission will be well protected and will be well able to consider how to implement the country's partition, as requested by the Mandatory Commission of the League of Nations at their General Assembly meetings in Geneva.
1937: The Post reported that a tax collector's van was robbed by armed Arabs on the Nablus-Jenin road.
1938: Sh'chita (Jewish ritual slaughter) is banned in Italy.
1938: In accord with the terms of the Munich Agreement signed in September, German troops took control of the Sudetenland and gained de facto control over the rest of Czechoslovakia. The agreement gave the Nazis direct control over another portion of Europe’s Jewish population. More importantly, it was one more bloodless victory for Hitler. It helped drive the Soviets to sign a non-aggression pact with Hitler’s Germany which led to the invasion of Poland which led to…well you know the rest.
1938: In statement issued today, U.S. Representative Emanujel Celler of New York urged President Roosevelt “to remind Prime Minister Neville Chamerlain of Great Britain’s solemn pledge in the Balfour Declaration for a Jewish national homeland in Palestine and to declare that the United States ‘views with great conern and alarm a departure by Great Britain from its obligations under that pact.’” Celler went on to express concern that the promise of the Balfour Declaration was about to be “scrapped.”
1939: The Germans create a Generalgouvernement in Poland. It is an administrative area not incorporated into Greater Germany. The Germans will locate their death camps in the Generalgouvernement.
1941(19th of Tishrei, 5702): Fifth Day of Sukkoth
1941: Marshal Walther von Reichenau instructed his troops that, "The soldier must fully understand the need for severe but just atonement of the Jewish sub-humans." Contrary to one of the myths surrounding the Holocaust, the German army was a willing accomplice in the slaughter of the Jews. The use of gas vans by the roaming Eisengruppen would not put an end to the involvement of German soldiers in the destruction of European Jewry.
1941(19th of Tishrei, 5702): Eliaho Hayeem Victor Cohen, a Lieutenant with the 9th Jat Regiment of the British Indian Army was killed in an accident today during World War II. Although he is buried in the Penang Jewish Cemetery which is believed to be the oldest Jewish cemetery in Malaysia, his grave is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
1941: Thousands of Slovak Jews are sent to labor camps at Sered, Vyhne, and Nováky.
1941: Slovak, Bohemian, and Moravian Jews are forced from their homes and into ghettos.
1943: A non-Jewish Latvian named Yanis Lipke rescues three Jews in Riga by offering ghetto guards two packs of cigarettes for "some Yids to work in my kitchen garden"
1943: At the Sobibór death camp, a revolt is planned by Jewish laborers and Jewish Red Army POWs.
1944(23rd of Tishrei, 5705): Simchat Torah
1944: Fourteen men from the Sonderkommando who escaped during the revolt of October 7 are found. They are tortured along with many other picked up during the prior two days. But none gave away the locations of the hiding survivors. None of the men would survive the interrogation.
1944: Four additional women involved in smuggling explosives used in the October 6-7 uprising at Auschwitz are arrested, including an inmate named Roza Robota. Fourteen men from the camp's Sonderkommando unit also are arrested. The sole surviving conspirator, a Greek Jew named Isaac Venezia, will later die of starvation after Auschwitz inmates are evacuated by their captors to Ebensee, Austria.
1945: According to reports from Jerusalem, Dr. Chaim Weizmann will resign as President of the World Zionist Organization if the British government reaches decisions that are “unfavorable to the Jewish cause in Palestine.” David Ben Gurion, who is expected to return from London next week, is mentioned as his most likely successor.
1945: The Palmach freed two hundred “illegal” Jewish immigrants who had been rounded up by British troops and were being held at a detention facility near Haifa.
1945: Joseph Darnard who had served under Pierre Laval as the commander of the Vichy militia was executed by a firing squad today.
1946: Birthdate of Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff
1947: “Deputy Mayor John H. Bennett spoke at the presentation of a piece of fire apparatus to the volunteer fire brigade of Tel Aviv” which a gift from the New York City Fire Department.
1948: “The intensity of the Egyptian shelling on the southern suburbs (of Jersualem) was such that the United Nations observers believed that a full-scale Egyptian assault on the city was imminent.
1951: Mrs. Alfred F. Hess read a statement at today's meeting of the Board of Trustees of Barnard College expressing their sorrow at the recent death of Mrs. Annie Nathan Meyer, one of the founders of and original trustees of Barnard.
1952: The Jerusalem Postreported that the Palestine Conciliation Commission had announced that Israel agreed to release one million in sterling. These funds belonged to Palestinian Arabs who had fled Israel during the fighting when the Arabs tried to destroy the state of Israel at the moment of its birth. The commission commented that the Israeli move was "an important step towards the settlement of the differences existing between Israel and her neighbors." The Israelis hoped that this act of good will would help lead to a peace agreement and that the Arab states would now give the Jews who had fled such places as Iraq would now have access to the funds they had been forced to leave behind. As has happened so many times, the hope proved illusory.
1956: At the urging of Moshe Dayan, the cabinet agreed to an attack aimed at destroying the Kalkilya police fort in response to murders at Even Yehuda. The attack would be led by Mordechai Gur who would later be IDF Chief of Staff. The attack was costly in terms of Israeli casualties and brought an end to the period of night-time tit-for-tat reprisal raids.
1961: "Milk and Honey" opened on Broadway in the Martin Beck Theatre and ran for 543 performances. “Milk and Honey is a musical…music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. The story centers on a busload of lonely American widows hoping to catch husbands while touring Israel and is set against the background of the country's fight for recognition as an independent nation.”
1964(4th of Cheshvan, 5725): Eddie Cantor passed away. The comedian with the “banjo eyes” enjoyed a career that ran from vaudeville to the crazy days of live television variety shows. One of Cantor’s famous running gags centered around the fact that he had five children – all girls. He passed away at the age of 72.
1966: The Jewish musical duo, Simon and Garfunkel, released the album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme."
1970(10th of Tishrei, 5731): Yom Kippur
1973: 14th of Tishrei, 5734): Economist Ludwig von Mises passes away at the age of 92.
1973: 14th of Tishrei, 5734): Erev Sukkoth; as Jews around the world prepare to celebrate Sukkoth, all thoughts are turned to Israel’s fight for survival that had begun on Yom Kippur.
1973: Fighting continued during the Yom Kippur War. A morning counter-attack launched against the Syrians drove their tanks back to line from which they had launched their sneak attack four days ago. General Elazar wanted to push on, but Defense Minister Dayan wanted to stop lest penetration towards Damascus upset the Soviets. Golda Meir sided with Elazar who made plans to attack across the old cease fire line. In the evening, Mrs. Meir addressed the nation describing Israel’s perilous position. The Soviets had armed the Arabs with all matter of modern weaponry and were re-supplying them even as Mrs. Meir spoke. She urged King Hussein not to repeat his mistake of 1967 when he joined the Egyptians and the Syrians. She said that Jews could not allow themselves “the luxury of despair.” She had but one prayer in her heart, “that this will be the last war.
1973: 14th of Tishrei, 5734): Israeli political leader and former MK Ada Maimon passed away at the age of 80 today.
1980: Private Benjamin, a film produced by and starring, Goldie Hawn was released in theaters across the United States.
1982: The New York Times book section included a review An Orphan in History: Retrieving a Jewish Legacyby Paul Cowan describing the “beautiful and moving account of his search for his religious and cultural roots.”
1983: Ruby Myers, who was the Indian actress known as Sulochana passed away today.
http://www.oldindianphotos.in/2011/09/actress-sulochana-real-name-ruby-myers.html
1983: Israel's Knesset voted 60-53 to endorse Yitzhak Shamir as Prime Minister. Shamir was part of the Right Wing Likud and a successor to Menachem Begin.
1983: As Israel changed governments, David Levy retained his position as Deputy Prime Minister.
1985: U.S. fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody. This was part of a farce that resulted in the hijackers getting off without punishment for their murderous act of piracy.
1986: Israel Prime Minister Shimon Peres resigned. Peres was and is a leader of what was the original Labor Zionist movement that dominated the governments of Israel for the first two decades of its existence.
1994(5th of Cheshvan, 5755): Tzvi Gal-chen, the father of author Rivka Galchen, and a scientist known for his work on wind and thermodynamic variables passed away today.
1995: As part of Israel’s agreement with the PLO, two members of the PLO’s former Jerusalem Committee crossed into Israel from Jordan as a prelude to becoming Governors of Ramallah and Nablus. Twenty years earlier these same to men had masterminded the bombing in Zion Square which killed fourteen civilians, including three Arabs.
1995: As Israel turned over control of 460 West Bank villages to the Palestinian Authority, a banner flew over the village of Salfit declaring “Today Salfit, tomorrow Jerusalem.”
1999: The Sunday New York Timesfeatured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or on topics related to Judaism including We Can Report Them by Michael Brodsky, When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss and The Magic of Dialogue: Transforming Conflict Into Cooperation by Daniel Yankelovich.
2001(23rdof Tishrei, 5762): Simchat Torah
2002: Richard Blumenthal was awarded the Raymond E. Baldwin Award for Public Service by the Quinnipiac University School of Law.
2002: Representative Shelley Berkley of Nevada was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.
2004: The Sunday New York Timesfeatured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or on topics related to Judaism including Harold Blum’s Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?
2004: In an article designed to encourage gardeners to follow proper transplanting procedures, the Times of London writes approvingly of the practices of “the great rhododendron enthusiast Lionel de Rothschild who used to move fully mature rhododendrons around his garden at his estate.”
2005: Sociology professor Majd el-Haj was named Haifa University's next dean of research, making him the first Arab faculty member to serve at the vice presidential level of an Israeli university.
2005: With a sigh of great relief the feared Lulav Shortage has been avoided. Thanks to aggressive action by the Ministry of Agriculture, the sound of shaking frond will be heard at Sukkah time after all. As part of a long range solution, the Agriculture ministry will work to encourage domestic production of this religious necessity. Hopefully, the Israeli will develop a lulav that will not lose its leaves and an etrog with a stem that UPS cannot break
2006: H.B.O presents the premiere of The Journalist and the Jihadi: the Murder of Daniel Pearl.
2007: In Australia, Richard Pratt was formally accused of price fixing in what would be that nation’s largest case of its kind.
2007: The third and final performance of “Idan Raichel Songs for Peace: The Acoustic Series” takes place at the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City.
2007: Johtje Vos, a modest Dutch woman who saved three dozen Jews during World War II passed away in Saugerties, NY at the age of 97.
2007: Nearly 200 Israeli sailors who served in the British Royal Navy during World War II gathered at the home of the British ambassador to Israel who, together with Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, awarded them the Veterans Badge to commemorate the victory over the Nazis. The ceremony was held at the Ramat Gan home of Ambassador Tom Phillips. As the former sailors trickled into the house, they were greeted by the embassy's naval and air attache, Wing Commander Mike Rafferty, and Zvi Avidror, himself a former Royal Navy pilot and the main force behind the reunion. For Rafferty, who this weekend returns to London to prepare for his next assignment in Kabul, the event was a kind of ending. "It's very exciting to see the looks on the faces of the veterans getting the medals," Rafferty said. "It was worth having the event just for that." The gathering began with a small advertisement placed by Avidror and a few friends in Yedioth Ahronoth in May that called on Royal Navy veterans to contact him. There were a few responses, but after Haaretz took up the story nearly 170 veterans heeded the call to action. Popular tunes from the 1940s played in the ambassador's yard as old comrades reconnected. Alfred Wasch, 93, was a maintenance officer at the Royal Navy base in Bat Galim, which was one of the largest in the Mediterranean. Much of his service was spent taking care of seven intelligence ships kept by the Royal Navy in the region. "How're you doing, do you remember me?" fellow veteran Israel Gruber asked him. "You were my commanding officer. You look great." If there is one song that is identified more than all others with the Royal Navy, it is "It's a Long Way to Tipperary." When the pianist began to play it, the veterans joined in enthusiastically. On the other side of the yard sat Tova Goldin, holding a black-and-white photograph of what looks like dozens of sailors, including her husband, Yosef. Next to her sat David Rosenberg, who is also in the photo. When Phillips approached to shake their hands, they explained that their respective children married each other, unaware that their fathers had served in the same unit during World War II. "My father stopped sleeping, he was so excited about this gathering," Rosenberg's daughter, Idit, said. "Me, excited?" Rosenberg said in response. "I didn't even think about it." Annie Geddes-Riks, another veteran, was born in England and immigrated to Israel in 1948, unlike most of her fellow sailors. She served in various positions in the navy. "I insisted on doing non-office work. I remember fixing aircraft engines to ready them for D-Day," she said.
2007: Attendees at a conference in Jerusalem hope to revive Ladino. The audience at "Sephardic Jews and Ladino," a conference held at Jerusalem's Mishkenot Sha'ananim, was no less interesting than the academics and distinguished figures on the dais. There was a descendant of Abraham Senior, who as everyone familiar with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain knows was the rabbi who gave in to pressure from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella and converted to Christianity. Senior's Jerusalem progeny is, of course, a completely observant Jew, bubbling with good cheer, who called out Ladino proverbs from his seat in the front row. The great granddaughter of Eliezer Benveniste was there, too, in a back row. Benveniste Sr. was a publisher, one of the first to issue books in Ladino in the late 19th century. There was also a man who worked on a Ladino crossword puzzle, surrounded by rabbis who had attended so many lectures on the language that they recited, like children, the dates and names and songs and sayings together with the speakers. Researchers and their fans and the few remaining speakers of a language that for centuries served the Jews of Turkey, the Balkans and the Middle East have not given up. They continue to fight to preserve Ladino, also known as Judeo-Spanish, which apparently has achieved "museum" status. The National Authority for Ladino Language and Culture, which is headed by former President Yitzhak Navon, yesterday gloried in what was billed as the first public conference on Ladino literature. The question is whether there is anything on which to confer. About a year ago I was invited to Yad Ben Zvi in Jerusalem. Dr. Yaron Ben-Naeh, an expert in Jewish history during the Ottoman Empire, ushered me into the holy of holies of the institution's library - the rare books wing. Books in Ladino take up less than a wall and a half of shelf space. Apparently that is nearly all there is, according to Ladino literature researcher Dov Hacohen of Bar Ilan University and Yad Ben Zvi. It's not much in comparison to the endless treasures of Yiddish, Ladino's rival since the creation of the state. Still, participants insisted on speaking of "Ladino literature," even when the material was in fact advertising, aimed at getting readers to contribute to some yeshiva. Hacohen, who spoke on Ladino publications in Jerusalem since 1500, was a crowd-pleaser with his presentation of these rare documents. In one, consisting of Ladino mixed with Arabic, the Jewish target audience is warned against sitting in kahwe houses or enjoying the merriments of the Gentiles. But is it literature? Literature was a luxury for Ladino speakers. The novels and poetry written in the language are on such a primitive, basic level as to evoke pity. Conferences of this type attempt to inculcate a non-arrogant stance toward the aging or moribund languages of the Jewish people and to gradually make Ladino an accepted subject for study. It worked with Yiddish. With Ladino, the process is slower, perhaps impossible so much so that when one hears Ladino, the response is nearly always laughter.
2008: While in Paris for the, inaugural meeting of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation - a forum established by European Jewish Congress head Moshe Kantor and former politicians from 10 European countries whose stated goal is to further initiatives that promote dialogue and coexistence Aleksander Kwasniewski, the former president of Poland sat down with The Jerusalem Post to talk about his own vision of tolerance and the special connection Poland has with the Jewish people.
2009 (22 Tishrei, 5770): Shemini Atzertz
2009: Drew University hosts lunch and discussion with graphic artist and author David Stromberg who is also the book review editor for Zeek.
2010: As part of Sigid, the Ethiopian Jewish Festival and Dance Performance is scheduled to take place at the 92nd Street Y. “Sigid is an Amharic word. It means bowing down prostrate on the ground and worshiping God. It is a willful act of self-abasement, and an expression of total submission to God. Sigid is the name of this ancient Ethiopian Jewish holiday modeled after Nehemiah 8: 1-10. It is celebrated during the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, seven weeks after Yom Kippur. This holiday is a festival of thanksgiving to God for his faithful Hand in returning the exiles to Jerusalem and renewing them to Himself. The holiday continues to be celebrated annually by Ethiopian Israelis, as they assemble together in Jerusalem to offer thanksgiving to God in reminiscence of their own unique and miraculous journey to Jerusalem.”
2010: The New York Timesfeatured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Nemesis by Phillip Roth, Final Verdict: What Really Happened in the Rosenberg Case by Walter Schneir and The Invisible Harry Gold: The Man Who Gave the Soviets the Atom Bomb by Allen M. Hornblum
2010: The Los Angeles Timesfeatured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Great House by Nicole Krauss
2010: Earth: A Visitors Guide to the Human Race by Jon Stewart, the fake newsman who was the subject of an anti-Semitic diatribe earlier in the week tops the October 10 LA Times Best Seller List.
2010: Cabinet ministers today approved by a majority vote a controversial amendment which would require every non-Jew wishing to become a citizen of Israel to pledge loyalty to "the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state." Twenty-two ministers voted in favor of the amendment, including most of Likud, Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu. Eight ministers were opposed, five of them from the Labor Party and three - Benny Begin, Dan Meridor and Michael Eitan - from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud.
2010: Israeli artists, writers and intellectuals held a demonstration today against the cabinet's approval of a controversial amendment to the citizenship bill, requiring non-Jews seeking citizenship to pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.
2010: During today’s radio show, Glen “Beck described how Soros, who was born in Hungary to Orthodox Jewish parents, ‘used to go around with this anti-Semite and deliver papers to the Jews and confiscate their property and then ship them off. And George Soros was part of it. He would help confiscate the stuff. It was frightening. Here’s a Jewish boy helping send the Jews to the death camps.’” [This statement would draw a response from ADL national director Abe Foxman who released a statement slamming the Fox News commentator's criticism of Soros.]
2011: Aluf Ram Rothberg assumed command of the Israeli Navy.
2011: The Lo Tishkach Foundation is scheduled to sponsor memorial services in the Ukrainian town of Tarascha in honor of the Jews who were slaughtered there in 1941 during World War II.
2011: Center for Jewish History and Center for Traditional Music and Dance are scheduled to present The Hidden Musical Treasures of Romania –A Fulbright Scholar’s Quest a program that explores “the deep roots that connect Romanian music and klezmer music.”
2012: A reception sponsored by the Hebrew Union is scheduled for tonight to mark the opening of “The Sexuality Spectrum,” “a groundbreaking exploration of sexual orientation through the creativity of over fifty international contemporary artists.”
2012:The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and The Israel Project is scheduled to present “A Presidential Candidate Surrogate Debate featuring Congressman Robert Wexler, representing the Democrats and Under Secretary Dov Zakheim representing the Republicans.
2012: The exhibition, “Zionism 2000 Collection, 1920-1960,” which has been on displayed at Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Ramat Gan, is scheduled to come to an end.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/iconic-posters-of-a-nation-under-construction/
