November 16 In History
42 BCE: Birthdate of Tiberius, 2nd Roman emperor. The stepson of Augustus reigned from 14 to 37 C.E. A competent general with a sour disposition, Tiberius came to the thrown through the efforts of his pushy mother. Tiberius treatment of the Jews did not spring from some early form of anti-Semitism. Rather, he was a bit of a clod who made poor decisions, some of which impacted the Jews. He placed power in the hands of the power-hungry Sejanus who happened not to like Jews. He appointed Pontius Pilate Procurator in Judea, a role that was a classic mismatch between the governed and the governor. And for a period, he banned the Jews from Rome, but this had to do with some domestic spat, not religion. In the end the true measure of the man was his choice of heirs. Tiberius selected Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, better known as Caligula. Caligula’s belief in his own divinity would create another set of problems for the Jews of Judea and Alexandria.
534: Publication of the second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus or Justinian’s Code. The code reflected Justinian’s hostility towards Judaism. It contained provisions that prohibited marriage between a Christian and a Jew (the fear was that the marriage would lead to the Christian converting to Judaism) and placed restrictions on the practice of circumcision. It elevated canon law to the equal of civil law thus forcing the Jews to accept the authority of Church officials. It also forced the Jews to use a Greek translation of the Bible in their services, placed restrictions on public assembly by Jews, prohibited Jews from building new synagogues and testifying against Christians in legal matters and finally banned the celebration of Passover in years when it came before Easter.
1272: King Edward III passed away. King Edward continued the predatory taxation policies towards his Jewish subjects that had been followed by his father King John. In addition to confiscatory tax policies, the King enacted royal decrees inimical to the well-being of the Jewish people including one that stated, “And that there be no synagogue of the Jews in England save in those places in which synagogues were in the time of King John, the king’s father…and that every Jew wear his badge conspicuously on his breast.”
1380: Jews were killed in riots in Paris.
1384: Jadwiga is crowned King of Poland, although she is a woman. Jadwiga would marry Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania who took the name of Władysław II when ascended the Polish throne. The purpose of the marriage was to unite Poland and Lithuania. For the Jews of Poland, the results were less than optimal since the first extensive persecutions of the Jews took place during the reign Wladislaus II and neither the king nor his successors acted to stop these events.
1491: Five Jews were accused of murdering a child in La Guardia (Spain). The investigation was conducted by Tomas De Torquemada, the cleric who would later lead the infamous Spanish Inquisition. Even though there were no witnesses nor was a body ever found all five were found guilty. Three of them were forcibly baptized, strangled, and then burned. The two others were just torn apart.
1497: Gershon Soncino published a copy of “Talmud Babli Sanhedrin” at Barco.
1694(28th of Cheshvan): Rabbi David Lida, author of Be’er Mayim Hayyim, passed away
1756 (23rd of Cheshvan): Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel Lampronti, author of Pahad Yizhak, passed away 41
1794(23rd of Cheshvan, 5555): Saul Berlin passed away in London. Born in 1740, he “was a German Talmudist and one of the most learned Jews of the Mendelssohnian period.”
1821: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail which enjoyed a Golden Era of trade that lasted until the early 1850’s. Jews were reluctant to be identified as such since New Mexico was still thought to be within the jurisdiction of the Inquisition. Apparently a Prussian Jew named Albert Speyer had no such qualms and he conducted trading operations on the Santa Fe Trail and in Mexico itself in the early 1840’s
1827: Birthdate of Charles Eliot Norton, the Harvard professor, whose friendship with James Loeb was so meaningful that Loeb, the Jewish banker and philanthropist created The Charles Eliot Norton Memorial Lectureship in his honor.
1845: Israel Beer Josaphat was baptized at St. George’s German Lutheran Chapel in London where he took the new name of Paul Julius Reuter. His name lives on today in the name of the news service he established- Reuter’s. Reuter may have shed his religion but his enemies would mock him as a Jew when it suited their needs.
1852: An article entitled "Germany: Political Movements" published today reported that in Berlin that newly empowered reactionaries are seeking to modify Article 12 of the Constituion, which had freed “the exercise of political rights from all ddependence on the religion of the citizen…” The change is aimed at excluding the Jews from the political process so that Prussia will be “a Christian State.” The liberals are afraid that once the Jews are excluded, other groups will be excluded including “the free communisits, German Catholics and other non-conformists.
1853: The Tenth Anniversary Dinner of the German Benevolent Society was held tonight at the Assembly Rooms in New York City. Joseph Seligman, president of the society presided over the affair which was attended by two hundred gentlemen. The attendees donated $2,000 to the society.
1871: “Cruelties Practiced by Poultry Dealers” published today described activities at the so-called “Jews’ Washington Market” on Essex Street which is home to a large number of butchers and their coops of chicken.
1874: It was reported today that Rabbi Artom officiated at the wedding of Mr. Isaac Abecassis of Lisbon and Miss Helena Ben Sande of the Azores at the Portugese Synagogue on Bryanstone Street. The service included all of the Jewish traditions including the breaking of the glass. The reception was held at the Langham Hotel where Jewish traditions continued to prevail among a wedding party that included many gentiles as could be seen by wearing of hats by the Jewish men during the entire affair.
1874: It was reported today that Carl Schurz will deliver a lecture next Wednesday members of the Hebrew Young Men’s Association in New York.
1874: It was reported today that Rabbi De Sola Mendez will deliver a lecture next week at the Lyric Hall in New York City.
1874: It was reported today that the Jews of Chicago have held a service to honor the memory of Rabbi Abraham Geiger, the leader of Reform Judaism in Berlin who passed away in October of 1874.
1874: It was reported today that those who lost seats in recent Austrian elections blame their defeat on the fact that there were two Jewish members of the government.
1879: It was reported today that “Romania positively refuses to enfranchise her dirty Israelites, except on her own conditions” which are not those that she had agreed to when negotiating with the Great Powers.
1881: It was reported today that SS Silesia is expected to arrive soon in New York City with 250 Jews from Russia. A total of 5,000 Jews are expected to come during the Winter months. “Most of the Jews are farmers and will settle in Texas and Louisiana.” The Hamburg Line, whose ships are bringing the Jews to America, has promised to provide Kosher food for the travelers “from the time they leave the Russian frontier until” they arrive in the United States.
1881: It was reported today that Julius J. Frank is planning on giving a lecture to the Young Men’s Hebrew Association.
1881: It was reported today that The Porte has told representatives of English and German philanthropists who are promoting the migration of Jews to Turkey that Jews will be allowed to settle “in separate communities in all parts of the empire, except Palestine.
1883: It was reported today that in England, Charles K. Salaman has used “words…in the original language of the Old Testament to compose “A Hebrew Love Song.” (Salaman is name many do not recognize today. He was prolific 19th Anglo-Jewish composer whose career spanned 70 years)
1883: It was reported today the President of the Union Trust Company on Broadway in New York gave David Salzman a quarter when he turned in a check in the amount of $1,250 drawn on the company. The Jewish boy who works as a bootblack “was somewhat surprised at the amount.”
1884: The leaders of the Ladies’ Auxiliary Society hosted their annual reception at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
1884: Rabbi Gustav Gottheil officiated at the wedding of Miss Leonitine Huebsch, the daughter of Rabbi Adolphus Huesbsch , of blessed memory and Mrs. Joshua Kantrowitz, associate editor of the Hebrew Standard.
1885: The National Rabbinical Convention, a meeting of Reform rabbis from across the United States, opened this morning in Concordia Hall in Allegheny City, PA.
1886: “Curious Will Suit” published today described litigation brought by the heirs of the late Moses Issacks to try and recover $50,000 that had been left to him as a life interest by his Uncle, the late Sampson Simson, the noted philanthropist who helped to fund Mt. Sinai Hospital. According to the will, upon Isaacks death, the principle of the life estate was to revert to an organization that would help with educational activities in Jerusalem. The executor of the estate turned the money over to the North American Relief Society for the Indigent Jews but the heirs claim they should get the money because the money did not exist at the time of Simson’s death so it was not eligible. (The court will find for the Society.)
1886: Birthdate of Arthur B. Krock. Born in Kentucky, Krock gained fame as a conservative political journalist working for the New York Times. He won four Pulitzer prizes. According to some published reports, during the 1930’s the Jewish publisher of the Times denied Krock a promotion because the paper did not want to have Jews in prominent editorial positions. He passed away in 1974.
1887: Over two thousand men and women attended the 9th annual charity ball hosted by the Brooklyn Orphan Asylum at the Academy of Music.
1889: It was reported today that shots were fired into stores and homes owned by Jews living in three towns in Louisiana’s East Carroll Parish. At the town of Alsatia “a placard was stuck on the door” that reading “‘No Jews after the 1st of January. If you disregard this warning fire and lead will make you leave.’”
1889: Birthdate of American playwright George S. Kaufman. Born into a family of German-Jews in Pittsburgh Kaufman moved to New York where he worked as a journalist before pursuing a career in the theatre. Kaufman almost always wrote in collaboration with somebody else, but he was always the senior collaborator, no matter how distinguished the other writer might have been. In their day, Kaufman’s works were almost all theatrical successes. But most of his works are not known to today’s public. One exception would be three plays – The Cocoanuts, A Night at the Opera and Animal Crackers – all of which were made into hit movies by the Marx Brothers. Kaufman passed way in 1961.
1900: Lissa & Kann, the family owned bank managed by Zionist leader Jacobus Henricus Kann makes £ 700.000 available for Herzl’s use. Born in 1872, Kann was an aide to Theodor Herzl and was one of the founders of the Jewish Colonial Trust in 1899. He was an active participant in the Zionist Congresses and was elected to the Zionist Organization's executive in 1905. Later he worked on various projects in Palestine. He passed away in 1945.
1907: Oklahoma was established as the 46th state in the Union. In 1890 the estimated Jewish population of Oklahoma Territory was one hundred and at statehood about one thousand. In Oklahoma City the time lag between the founding of the mostly German Reform congregation B'nai Israel and the mainly Eastern European Orthodox Emanuel Synagogue was only one year (1903 and 1904). By the time Oklahoma was granted statehood, the Jewish population had grown from an estimated 100 living in the territory in 1890, to around a thousand. Signs of the establishment of Jewish communities, as opposed to just individual Jewish settlers, could be seen even before statehood was granted. In Oklahoma City, Temple B’nai Israel was formed in 1903 by the Orthodox Emanuel Synagogue in 1904. In Muskogee, Temple Beth Ahabah, was formed in 1905. In the same year that statehood was granted, the 100 or so Jews who had settled in Ardmore formed a Reform congregation called Temple Emeth. Today, the small but vibrant Jewish community is centered primarily in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
1909: Turkey bans all non-Muslims from holding political meetings in houses of worship.
1909: Alma Gluck first appeared on stage with the Metropolitan Opera in the role of Sophie in Massenet's Werther. Gluck was born in Romania but immigrated to the United States with her family in the 1890s. Gluck had an impoverished childhood and only began her vocal training as an adult, when a business associate of her husband heard her sing and arranged for her to take voice lessons. An encounter with the conductor Arturo Toscanini led to an audition for the performance in which she made her debut, which was conducted by Toscanini. Although Gluck was successful in opera, she did not care for its theatrical nature and instead chose to become a concert performer. By 1914 she was the most popular concert singer in the United States, performing in all 48 states and in as many as 100 concerts a season. Gluck's extensive recording career earned her the most lasting fame. Between 1911 and 1919, Gluck made 124 recordings. Her recording of "Carry Me Back to Ol' Virginny" sold almost 2 million copies. Her career was quite financially successful; between 1914 and 1918 alone she earned $600,000 in royalties from her recordings.
1914: The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens. In 1930, Eugene Meyer was the first Jew appointed to serve as the Chairman of the Fed. Two more Jews have served as Chairman of the Fed. Alan Greenspan was appointed in 1978. When he retired, Ben Bernake was appointed in 2006
1914: In Germany, a small group of intellectuals whose leaders included Albert Einstein appeals for “the prompt achievement of a just peace without annexations and for the establishment of an international organization that would have as its aim the prevention of future wars.”
1915(9th of Kislev, 5676): Sixty-six year old Raphael Meldola, the Anglo-Jewish chemist who invented Mendola Blue Dye, passed away.
1917(1st of Kislev, 5678): Rosh Chodesh Kislev
1917: New Zealand cavalrymen entered Jaffa; next stop – Jerusalem
1917: During World War I, British forces under General Allenby entered Tel Aviv. In less than a month, the British Army, including Jewish contingents would liberate Jerusalem.
1921: Birthdate of Ben Weisman an American composer and pianist best known for having written many of the songs associated with Elvis Presley. A native of Providence, Ben Weisman was one of Elvis Presley's chief songwriters throughout the 1960s. He co-composed for Elvis' movies and stage performances nearly sixty songs that proceeded to go gold or platinum, including "First in Line", "Got a Lot of Living to Do", "Follow That Dream" and "Wooden Heart". Weisman also wrote songs recorded by Barbra Streisand ("Love in the Afternoon"), The Beatles ("Lend Me Your Comb"), Johnny Mathis ("When I Am with You"), Terry Stafford ("I'll Touch A Star"), Bobby Vee ("The Night Has A Thousand Eyes") and many others. Since Weisman's outward appearance was atypical for a "rock 'roll guy", Elvis' pet nickname for him was "the mad professor". Just before Weisman's last meeting with Elvis in 1976, Elvis proudly announced to the crowd that he had recorded more of Weisman's songs than those of any other songwriter. Weisman's most recent musical score was for the 1995 movie Crossroads at Laredo: The Lost Film of Edward D. Wood Jr.
1922(25th of Cheshvan, 5683): German physicist Max Abraham passed away.
1924: Birthdate of Haim Brotzlewsky in Vienna who made Aliyah to Palestine in 1939 where he gained fame as Haim Bar-Lev, the IDF’s Chief of General Staff from 1968 through 1971.
1924: This afternoon, five thousand persons tried to get into the auditorium of the National Hebrew School in New York to attend the funeral services for Dr. Menachem Mendel Scheinkin, the noted Zionist leader who was killed in a street car accident while visiting Chicago, Illinois
1933: The United States recognizes the government of the Soviet Union. Maxim Livtvinov, the Soviet Foreign Ministers led the effort that resulted in this major foreign policy shift, Born Max Wallach, Litvinov was one of many Jews who played a leadership role in the Bolshevik movement and the government of the Soviet Union. Litvinov saw the opening of relations with the United States as a key in the fight against fascism. Litvinov would lose his job in the late 1930’s when the Soviets negotiated a non-Aggression Pact with Nazi Germany. At that point, Stalin was prepared to do anything to ingratiate himself with Hitler.
1937: Pierre Crabites, a Law School Professor at L.S.U. and for 25 years the American Representative on the Mixed International Tribunal at Cairo of which he became the chief judge wrote a letter to the New York Times in which he advocated that the Haz Anim El Husseini, the Grand Mufti be allowed to return from his self-imposed exile from Palestine without having to fear arrest for the role he allegedly has played in the wave of Arab violence. In the letter, Crabites states his belief that the Grand Mufti is a key player in any attempt to bring to peace to Palestine while appearing to support limitations on the settlement of Jews in Eretz Israel.
1938: Birthdate of American philosopher Professor Robert Nozick. When he passed away in, he was described as “ the greatest American philosopher since William James; his influence extended far beyond the academic world, most famously with his powerful critique of the Left-liberal moral philosophy that underpinned the welfare state.
1939: At Lodz, the Nazis ordered all Jews to wear a Star of David
1939(4th of Kislev): Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz, Rosh Yeshiva of the Kamenetz Yeshiva, passed away
1940: The Warsaw ghetto was permanently closed. Officially Jews no longer had access to anything, or business, outside of the ghetto
1942: Today, during the darkest days of World War II, a proclamation was published over the signatures of 1,521 outstanding Americans, declaring the moral right of the stateless Jews of Europe and of the Jews of Palestine "to fight -- as they ask to fight -- under the ancient banner of David the King, as the Jewish Army…They renewed the appeal that has been made ineffectively in the last eighteen months against Arab opposition for he separate arming of 200,00 Jews or more in the Middle East.” The declaration read, in part “The first victims of Hitler’s aggression cannot conceive democracy denying to them participation…in this crusade against barbarism.”
1943: In Manhattan, Edith Hillman Boxill and Dr. Nathan Epstein gave birth to Dr. Paul Epstein, “a public health expert who was among the first to warn of a link between the spread of infectious disease and extreme weather events, adding a new dimension to research into the potential impact of global climate change” (As reported by Paul Vitello)
1943: Ill Jewish slave laborers at the Skarzysko-Kamienna, Poland, ammunition factory, who are lured from their barracks by Ukrainian guards and SS men promising soup, are gunned down or loaded onto trucks and taken to an execution site elsewhere in the camp. The Ukrainians killed all those they thought were too weak to continue working
1943: British forces carried out a search at for arms at Ramat Hakovesh. When members of the kibbutz resisted, the situtation erupted in violence. The British killed one kibbutznik wounded 35 others and arrested an additional 35 Jews.
1945: A delegation representing the American League for Free Palestine, a Zionist organization, took off from New York today bound for a meeting of the UN in London.
1945: Yeshiva University came into existence (as a university), making it the first American university under Jewish auspices.
1947: The British seized the SS Kadima, one of several ships filled with Jews that tried to run the British blockade of Palestine. The ship, which was equipped to carry 400 passengers, left Italy filled with 800 Jews desperate to get out of the European DP camps. The British took control of the ship at Haifa and deported the Jews to the camps at Cyprus where they remained for a year and three months. Mira (Miriam) Shefer was one of the passengers on the ship. She met her future husband Efriam while on Cyprus.
1948: The Arabs continue to insist on not recognizing Israel.
1948:The UN Security Council demands that Israel and Egypt negotiate Negev armistice directly or through UN mediator Ralph Bunche. This demand does not alter previous order calling for demilitarization of Negev.
1948(14th of Cheshvan, 5709): Former California Congresswomen Florence Prag Kahn passed away in San Francisco. Elected as a Republican to the Sixty-ninth Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband, United States Representative-elect Julius Kahn, and reelected to the five succeeding Congresses (February 17, 1925-January 3, 1937), she was unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Seventy-fifth Congress in 1936.
1955(1st of Kislev, 5716): Rosh Chodesh Kislev
1958: Birthdate of actress Marg Helgenberger, the Catholic wife of the Jewish actor Alan Rosenberg who was President of the Screen Actors’ Guild. Helgenberger is credited with the following quip: “I'm Catholic, he's Jewish, and it was just easier to elope.”
1959: The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''The Sound of Music'' opened on Broadway. Two Jewish writers created a Broadway (and later cinematic) box office hit about a failed Catholic Nun who married an Austrian nobleman and then escaped the Nazis. Theodore Bikel played the lead role as Baron von Trapp. Many of you remember Bikel for his portrayal of Tevya in “Fiddler on the Roof” and for his numerous recordings of a wide variety of folk music including authentic melodies from Russia and Israel. Bikel was born in Vienna. His family moved to Palestine in the 1930’s to escape the rising tide of European anti-Semitism. So his portrayal of von Trapp struck a responsive personal chord. And all of the action in the played happened while everybody was singing a raft of very memorable tunes. Only in America!
1969: The New York Times features a review of the novel, “Phoenix Over the Galilee” by Ka-tzetnik 134633; translated from the Hebrew by Nina de-Nur. “Ka-tzetnik was the slang used to designate a prisoner in a Nazi death camp. Ka-tzetnik 135633 was an inmate of Auschwitz.” (As reported by John Reed)
1977: Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of a Third Kind” premiered. Richard Dreyfus appearance in the lead role gave an added Jewish presence to this science fiction blockbuster.
1977: Menachem Begin met with his cabinet to discuss developments since the dramatic announcement in the Egyptian parliament the week before by President Anwar Sadat that he was to speak before the Knesset to achieve peace. General Ephraim Poran, and aide to Begin told Colonel Menachem Milson that he had been chosen to serve as aide-de-camp to Sadat should he actually make the trip to Israel.
1977: Arnold Wesker’s “The Merchant” with Joseph Leon playing Shylock and Marian Seldes as Shylock’s sister opened at New York’s Plymouth Theatre. Zero Mostel had originally been casted in the role but he passed away before the Broadway production opened.
1982(30th of Cheshvan, 5743) Rosh Chodesh Kislev
1997: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or about topics of Jewish interest including The Illustrated History of the Jewish People, edited by Nicholas de Lange and A Director Calls by Wendy Lesser
1999: Martin Indyk was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
2000: It was reported today that during Senator-elect Hillary Clinton’s visit to the Knesset she could hear Palestinian gunman firing into the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilonow.
2001: Ronald Lauder opened the Neue Galerie in New York, an art museum a few blocks away from the Metropolitan Museum, dedicated to art from Germany and Austria from the early 20th century.
2003: The New York Times book section features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or on topics of special Jewish interest including Desire and Delusion: Three Novellas by Arthur Schnitzler, selected and translated by Margret Schaefer
2005: The Jerusalem Post reported that “in a move meant to pave the way for its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), Saudi Arabia cancelled its economic embargo against Israel. Israel is a member of the WTO. Under the bylaws of the WTO charter, no member nation may impose an economic embargo on another member state. As a member of the Arab League, Saudi Arabia participated in a joint embargo on Israel for many years, despite its desire to enter the organization. During 12 years of negotiations with the WTO, the Arab nation had refused to lift its embargo against Israel.” The Director General of the WTO described Saudi Arabia’s decision as being an historic event that will pave the way for Saudi entrance into the trade organization next month.
2006: Nathan Cooper auditions for Chair Placement at the 60th annual All-State Music Festival Nathan Cooper of Cedar Rapids Jefferson and a stalwart member of the Cedar Rapids Jewish community, is one of a thousand outstanding high school musicians who have been chosen to participate in this major cultural event at Iowa State University
2006: Ross Posnock appeared at the Columbia University Bookstore for a discussion and signing of his new book, Philip Roth's Rude Truth: The Art of Immaturity
2006: British religious and architectural charities appealed for help saving the country’s struggling synagogues as they marked the 350th anniversary of the resettlement of Jews in England after they were expelled by King Edward I.
2006(25th of Cheshvan, 5767): Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman passed away at the age of 94.
2006: National Jewish Book Month begins.
2007(6th of Kislev, 5768): Ninety-six year old Victor Rabinowitz, “a leftist lawyer whose causes and clients over nearly three-quarters of a century ranged from labor unions to Black Panthers to Cuba to Dashiell Hammett to Dr. Benjamin Spock to his own daughter” passed away today.(As reported by Douglas Martin)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/nyregion/20rabinowitz.html
2007: Guest Conductor Roni Porat leads the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra an all-Mozart program, including Abduction from the Seraglio Overture, Symphony No. 35 in D Major (Haffner), Serenade no. 6 in D Major and Serenata Notturna.
2007: Adi Shamir, a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and one of the world’s most prominent cryptographers issued a warning about a hypothetical scenario in which a math error in a widely used computing chip places the security of the global electronic commerce system at risk.
2007(16th of Kislev, 5768): Maine native Harold Alfond, philanthropist and Dexter Shoe founder passes away at the age of 93.
2007: It is time for another round of Dueling Jewish Economists. While on a trip to London, Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist said the U.S. economy risks tumbling into recession because of the “mess” left by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Greenspan defended his record and said that Stiglitz’s criticisms are “inaccurate or incomplete.”
2007: The Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign affairs announced that Reb Nachman’s grave in Uman is a cultural site and cannot be sold. The announcement provides comfort to the followers of Breslov Chasidism that the grave site would sold to private parties for commercial exploitation.
2008: Today’s issue of Makor Rishon contains Ya'akov Bar-On's interview with former Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau who recently became Chairman of the Board of Yad Vashem. In this informative interview, Rabbi Lau spoke about the meeting in March 1946 between Chief Rabbi Isaac Halevy Herzog and Pope Pius XII.At this audience, Rabbi Herzog entreated the Pope to make a public declaration to churches, monasteries and Catholic families which had rescued Jewish children to return them to their people. "To this day," Rabbi Lau stated, "no such declaration has been made."It is clear that the conversation went badly and that for Rabbi Herzog the encounter must have been distasteful. Lau related that, at the conclusion of his audience, the Chief Rabbi asked to be taken directly to the mikve teharah, the ritual immersion bath. A member of his entourage told that "he felt a need to immerse himself in purifying water." Meeting a clergyman of another faith is definitely not a reason for ritual immersion, so Herzog's request was original and extraordinary. Through this silent and symbolic deed, the Chief Rabbi revealed his feelings after being in the presence of Pope Pius XII. Separately, we have an additional piece of fragmentary information indicating that Rabbi Herzog was profoundly shaken by this failure. During a lecture at the Darkhei No'am yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Beryl Wein, recounted that, shortly after his visit to Rome, Rabbi Isaac Halevy Herzog came to Chicago. There, Rabbi Herzog publicly wept because he had failed to recover the Jewish children in Catholic institutions. Rabbi Herzog's efforts have not been generally known. One of the challenges for historians of this generation will be to discover more pieces of the larger story and asses their significance. Hopefully, new information will come to light so that we may learn more about the fateful struggle to recover the Jewish war orphans in Europe after the Holocaust. This was a contest which seems to have been lost.
2008: The Jewish Reconstructionist (JRF) Biennial Convention comes to a close in Boston, Mass.
2008: Final performance by the Inbal Dance Company of “Shaker.” This collaboration between Inbal Pinto and Avshalam Pollak looks and feels like an eerily beautiful winter day. It is a dance-theater piece rich in poetic imagination, interspersed with unique humor and covered with snowflakes. This magical work is intended to make you feel as though you have entered the enchanted world inside a snow globe.
2008: The 32nd annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show which featured 23 Israeli artists comes to an end.
2008: Congregation Beth Judea’s Family Education Weekend comes to a close in Long Grove, Il.
2008: In Chicago, the Spertus presents a lecture entitled “What Is Literary Archaeology?”
during which Yair Zakovitch, Professor of Bible at the Hebrew University, discusses “how biblical narratives are designed to deliver messages” and explores “how these accounts may reflect only one version of a complex and multifaceted story.” Zakovitch’s most recent book is entitled That’s Not What the Good Book Says written with Avigdor Shinan.
2008: The New York Times book section features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or on topics concerning Jews or Judaism including Friendly Fire: A Duet by A. B. Yehoshua; translated by Stuart Schoffman and Chagall: A Biography by Jackie Wullschlager.
2008(18th of Cheshvan, 5769): The emotional legal battle over whether to keep a 12-year-old New York boy on life support at Children's National Medical Center ended early today after the boy's heart stopped beating, a lawyer for the boy's family said today. Motl Brody, who had been hospitalized in Northwest Washington with brain cancer since June 1, was buried near his Brooklyn home today after a private funeral, said the family's lawyer, Jeffrey I. Zuckerman.
2009: Columbia University's Institute for Israel & Jewish Studies and American Studies Program together with The Library of America present an evening with Meir Shalev Israeli Novelist, Essayist and Columnist who will discuss “The State of Israeli Literature.”
2009: Letters of Conscience: Raphael Lemkin and the Quest to End Genocide opens at Yeshiva University Museum. “This exhibition focuses on the activities and legacy of Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-American Jewish lawyer who coined the term genocide, working relentlessly and inventively to protect the rights and survival of specific groups targeted for destruction. Organized jointly with the American Jewish Historical Society and the Center for Jewish History, this exhibition, which presents a fascinating array of original correspondence and documents, serves as a stirring and important reminder of an individual's ability to better humanity and the future.”
2009: Noralee Frankel discusses and signs Stripping Gypsy: The Life of Gypsy Rose Lee at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C.
2009: Journalist Ariel Sabar discusses and signs his memoir, My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq as part of the Schapiro Lecture Series held at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Central Branch, Baltimore, Md.,
2009: After the revival of his play “Brighton Beach Memoirs” closed a week after it opened, Time magazine quotes Neil Simon as saying “After all these years, I still don’t get how Broadway Works.”
2009(29th of Cheshvan, 5770): Sixty-eight year old “Bobby Frankel, one of the most successful American thoroughbred trainers of the last 40 years, whose horses included the champions Bertrando, Ghostzapper and Empire Maker, the winner of the 2003 Belmont Stakes, died today. (As reported by William Grimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/sports/17frankel.html
2009: Excerpts of the diaries kept by Claretta petacci, Benito Mussolini's mistress, were published today that showed the Italian dictator to be "a fierce anti-Semite who proudly said that his hatred for Jews preceded Adolf Hitler's and vowed to 'destroy them all.'"
2010: Dr. Laurie Ann Levin author of God, The Universe: Where I Fit and Rebecca Rosen author of Spirited are scheduled to speak at the 19th Annual Book Festival of the MJCAA in Atlanta, GA
2010: The New York Times featured a review of Cynthia Ozick sixth novel, Foreign Bodies.
2010(9thof Kislev, 5771): Ronni Chasen was murdered today. Born in 1946 she was called "Hollywood's ultimate old-school publicist" by Los Angeles Times film critic Patrick Goldstein in an article posted about Ms. Chasen's murder.
2010: Montclair philanthropist Josh Weston was named an honorary fellow of the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo as part of today’s ceremony dedicating the institution’s Josh and Judy Weston School of Management and Economics Building.
2011: Martin Fletcher, author of “The List” and David Javerbaum, author of “The Last Testament” are scheduled to appear at the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival.
2011: “Max Schmeling,” a film about the German boxer that includes tales of how he worked to save Jews, is scheduled to be shown at the Jewish Eye World Jewish Film Festival.
2011: The meeting of the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Board of Governors is scheduled to come to an end in Argentina.
2011: Joshua Maroof the rabbi at Magen David Sephardic Congregation in Rockville, Maryland is scheduled to give the first in a series of lectures entitled “Ezekiel: Prophet of Majesty, Mystery, and Hope.”
2011: A trio featuring Liza Stepanova – piano; Michael Katz – cello; Balazs Rumy – Clarinet is scheduled to perform this evening at Agudas Achim in Iowa City, Iowa.
2011: Iran today denied press speculation that Israel was behind the explosion at a military base near Tehran which killed 17 members of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
2011: Thousands of aging Holocaust survivors in the U.S. ¬want Congress to clear a path for them to sue European insurance companies they contend illegally confiscated Jewish life insurance policies during the Nazi era and have refused to pay an estimated $20 billion still owed. A hearing is scheduled today in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on a bill that would provide the survivors with access to U.S. ¬courts and also force companies such as Germany's Allianz SE and Italy's Assicurazioni Generali to disclose lists of policies held by Jews before World War II.
2011: For the fourth time in the past month, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor wrote a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the UN Security Council condemning the continuing rocket fire emanating from the Gaza Strip. Prosor noted that two long-range rockets were fired yesterday from Gaza into a kibbutz in Sha’ar Hanegev, one completely destroying a farm building in proximity to a kindergarten classroom. Since October, more than 70 rockets and mortars have been launched at civilian targets in Southern Israel from Gaza. “Nearly every day, we witness new scenes of destruction. Israeli men, women and children continue to be killed and injured. Shrapnel flies into homes, schools and playgrounds,” Prosor wrote. "Fires rage in the streets. Yet, the Security Council still has not uttered a single syllable of condemnation against these attacks.” “The Security Council’s silence in the face of the constant terrorism emanating from Gaza speaks volumes,” Prosor added, saying that while Israelis hope for peace, they “see no doves of peace flying out of Gaza, just Grad rockets and long-range missiles.” Calling the attacks “a flagrant violation of international law,” Prosor said he and Israel would continue to hold Hamas fully responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza. Prosor requested that the Security Council and international community immediately condemn the rocket fire. “All responsible members of the international community have a duty to speak with a common voice and act with a common purpose against the continuous terrorism emanating from the Gaza Strip,” Prosor wrote. “No people should be expected to live under such a specter of violence.”
2011(19th of Cheshvan, 5772): Eighty-eight year old “Irwin Schneiderman, a lawyer and a philanthropic leader who guided the New York City Opera through a decade of ups and downs” passed away today. (As reported by Douglas Martin)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/nyregion/irwin-schneiderman-philanthropic-guide-for-city-opera-dies-at-88.html
2012: Dr. Jenny Carson of the University of Manchester is scheduled to a lecture entitled “Quaker Service: The Friends Relief Service in Post-War Europe” at the Weiner Library in London. “Friends Relief Service (FRSO ‘Team 100’ was one of the first relief teams to enter the newly liberated “Camp of Bergen Belsen.”
2012(2nd of Kislev): On the Hebrew calendar in ancient Israel today would be proclaimed as a fast day if the rains had not begun to fall
2012: As Operation Pillar of Defense continues, Israeli officials have placed limitations on those who can attend services at the mosque on the Temple Mount as a pro-active measure to avoid outbreaks of violence.
2012: As Jews around the world prepare to observe Shabbat, their hopes and prayers are with their co-religionists in Israel who have been subjected to rockets attacks for several weeks by Hamas which is dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state and have been forced to take military measures to defend themselves.
