December 31 In Jewish History
535: Byzantine General Belisarius took the city of Syracuse which mark the completion of the conquest of Sicily. In 536 he would march into Rome itself. This military action was part of Emperor Justinian’s plan to take back what had been the Western Roman Empire and recreate the Roman Empire of the Caesar’s with the capital at Constantinople. Belisarius’ victory probably did not over-joy the Jews living in the "Giudecche" or Jewish Quarters of Sicily since it brought with it Justinian’s Code. Amongst other things the code “prohibited Jews from building synagogues, reading the Bible in Hebrew, assemble in public, celebrate Passover before Easter, and testify against Christians in court.”
1229: James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian conquest of the island of Majorca. Following his victory, James “gave the Jews a quarter in the neighborhood of his palace for their dwellings, granted protection to all Hebrews who wished to settle on the island, guaranteed them the rights of citizens, permitted them to adjudicate their own civil disputes, to kill cattle according to their ritual, and to draw up their wills and marriage contracts in Hebrew. Christians and Moors were forbidden, under severe penalties, to insult the Jews or to take earth and stones from their cemeteries; and the Jews were ordered to complain directly to the king of any act of injustice toward them on the part of the royal officials. They were allowed to charge 20 per cent interest on loans, but the amount of interest was not to exceed the capital. In case a Jew practiced usury, the community was not held responsible. The penalty for lending money on the wages of slaves hired out by their masters was loss of the capital. Jews could buy and hold houses, vineyards, and other property in Majorca as well as in any other part of the kingdom. They could not be compelled to lodge Christians in their homes: in fact, Christians were forbidden to dwell with Jews; and Jewish convicts were given separate cells in the prisons. If the slave of a Jew or Moor adopted Judaism or Mohammedanism, he had to be set free and was required to leave the island.”
1378: Birthdate of Callixtus III the Pope who issued “Si ad reprimendos” the Bull that confirmed “Dudum ad nostram audientiam” which forbade Jews to live with Christians or to hold public office.
1492: One hundred thousand Jews were expelled from Sicily.
1599: The British East India Company is chartered. Joseph Salvador was the first Jewish director of the British East India Company. The Salvador family would become involved with the settlement of Georgia. Francis Salvador, Joseph’s great-grandson would become one of the heroes in the American War for Independence, a rebellion against King George III. Ironically, when King George III ascended the British throne, Joseph had arranged an audience for the seven-man delegation that officially congratulated the king on behalf of the Jewish community. (Ed. Note – some sources give the date as 1600, not 1599)
1780: The French Consulate in Salonica signed a document stating that Abraham Samuel Covo, Chief Rabbi of Salonica is under his protection.
1791: Empress Catherine of Russia issued a ukase restricting the right of Jewish residence in Russia which marked the start of the Pale of Settlement
1830: Birthdate of Ismail Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt whose career was closely linked to the building of the Suez Canal. After the canal was opened in 1869, Ismail’s efforts “to encourage outsiders to settle in the country as a way of developing its economy” included setting aside “the age old restrictions and humiliations of the dhimmi status…Those Jews who responded to the Khedive’s call were granted special privileges in return for their skills and expertise.”
1841(18th of Tevet, 5602): Rabbi Zvi Elimelech Shapiro of Dynov passed away. Born in 1783, he was the author of the Chassidic work B'nei Yissachar.
1844: The right to collect a tax ("basket tax") on all traditional Jewish clothing, including head coverings as well as a tax on kosher meat and other Jewish necessities was auctioned to the highest bidder in Poland-Lithuania. It was still in force until the 20th century.
1848: In New York City, the constitution of Ahawath Chesed, a congregation primarily made up of Ashkenazi Jews, was adopted and signed by 31 members.
1848: Dov Beresh Meisels was elected to the Austrian Parliament. He was also elected to the Municipality of Cracow in the same year. A vociferous supporter of Jewish rights, he aligned himself with radicals because "Juden haben keine rechte" (Jews have no rights)
1853:The partnership of Gustav Christian Schwabe, his father-in-law, Benjamin Rutter, and Adam Sykes which was known as the merchant company Sykes, Schwabe & Co, was dissolved today. Schwabe was born Jewish in 1813. However, his family was forced to convert to Lutheranism and Gustav was baptized in 1819.
1858: Jacob and Amalia Freud gave birth to Anna Freud.
1860: Birthdate of German chess master Berthold Lasker.
1862: During the Civil War, Jacob C. Cohen of the 27th Ohio Infantry, wrote a letter describing conditions at Parker’s Crossroad, TN which was part of the Confederacy.
http://www.jewish-history.com/civilwar/jcc08.html
1862: The 79th Indiana under the command of Colonel (later General) Frederick Knefler is part of the Union Army that meets the Confederates as the Battle of Stone River begins.
1862: General in Chief Henry Halleck read the telegram from several prominent Jewish Kentuckians protesting General Order No. 11
1862: President Abraham Lincoln signed an act admitting West Virginia to the Union. “The first official Jewish settlement in West Virginia was at Wheeling where a Jewish cemetery and informal congregation was established in 1849. At the time it was still the state of Virginia as West Virginia did not become a state until 1863. Jews lived and traded in West Virginia prior to 1849, and as early as the late 18th century, but the official community did not get its start until Congregation L'Shem Shomayim was established in Wheeling in 1849. An earlier Jewish cemetery was established in Charleston in 1836, but the B'nai Israel Congregation in Charleston was only informally organized in 1856 and legally chartered as the "Hebrew Educational Society" in 1873.” This quote is from the website of West Virginia Jewish History & Genealogy Jews- they are everywhere and darn proud of it.
www.westvirginiajewishhistory.com.
1864(2nd of Tevet, 5625): For the last time during the Civil War, Jews finish celebrating Chanukah
1866: Birthdate of Adolph Schwartz, a native of Germany who found fame and fortune as a merchant and civic leader in El Paso, TX.
1872(1stof Tevet, 5633):On the last day of 1872, Jews kindle the Chanukah candles for the last time
1872(1stof Tevet, 5663): Rosh Chodesh Tevet – the last day of the year is the first day of the month!
1876: It was reported today that “the American churches have been showing their patriotism during the year by joining in the celebration of the nation’s Centennial anniversary including the Jews who have contributed a statue commemorating religious liberty.
1880: It was reported today that Samuel Hirsch seeking $5,000 in damages from Isaac Moses a rabbi and newspaper publisher in Milwaukee for describing him as a liar and a thief.
1880: Birthdate of George C. Marshall one of America’s unsung heroes. As U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Marshall deserves much of the credit for the Allied victory in World War II. United States. As Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State under President Truman, he was a leading architect of the American policy that checked Stalin’s imperial designs. He did oppose the partition plan in 1947 and 1948. His fear was that American troops would end up having to intervene to save any newly created Jewish state and he knew that America did not have the men to match the mission. Although he disagreed with Truman on this issue, much to his credit, he did not resign his post.
1881: Birthdate of Jacob Israel de Haan, Dutch poet and writer. Israel de Haan was an “ultra-Orthodox leader who was working to establish the Orthodox community as a separate entity distinct from the Zionists.” He was willing to enlist the support of non-Jews hostile to Zionism in to advance the cause of ultra-Orthodoxy. In one of the most regrettable episodes in modern Jewish history, de Haan was assassinated in 1924 before he could continue his meetings with British authorities.
1881: It was reported today that “the disorganization of society in Russia” can be seen “by the violent and murderous attacks on the Jews.” The riots in Kiev resulted in property damage valued at twenty four million dollars while the property damaged at Ellisabetgrad was valued at $1, 600,000.
1882: Birthdate of David Cohen, Dutch historian and Chairman of the Jewish Council.
1882: “Delegates from the lodges of the Independent Order of B’nai B’rith, the Independent Order of the Free Sons of Israel and the Order of Kesher Shel Barzel met” this afternoon in New York to considering the benefits of “uniting the three orders.”
1884: In the report that F.N. Owen made to the Tenement House Commission today on conditions 968 houses sheltering 8,811 families he noted that “in houses occupied by Polish Jews…ashes are rarely found in the cellars but are in their rooms.” (This strange notation may indicate that each dwelling had its own coal burning stove as opposed to the central heat we connect with apartment dwellings)
1886: Israel Rokach, the future mayor of Tel Aviv was born in Neve Tzedek, which, at the time, was part of Jaffa.
1887: It was reported today that “higher government authority has rejected the proposal of the Imperial Commission to permit Jews to reside in any village in Russia.”
1888: It was reported today that Jewish bankers in Europe are pleased with the successful offering of the loan needed by the Russian government.
1888: It was reported today that a children’s choir under the director of Sigmund Sabel provided part of the entertainment at the Hebrew Orphan Asylum’s annual holiday party.
1888(27th of Tevet, 5649): Samson Raphael Hirsch passed away. Born in 1808, he was a “German rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the Torah Im Derech Eretz School of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed neo-Orthodoxy, his philosophy, together with that of Azriel Hildesheimer, has had a considerable influence on the development of Orthodox Judaism. Hirsch was rabbi in Oldenburg, Emden, was subsequently appointed chief rabbi of Moravia, and from 1851 until his death led the secessionist Orthodox community in Frankfurt am Main. He wrote a number of influential books, and for a number of years published the monthly journal Jeschurun, in which he outlined his philosophy of Judaism. He was a vocal opponent of Reform Judaism and similarly opposed early forms of Conservative Judaism.”
1889: It was reported today that Myer Silberman, an immigrant Jewish jewler, had left a suicide note blaming his death on Max Kantrowitz whom he claim had stolen his money and diamonds. He also asked that the death benefit due him as a member of Raphael Lodge be sent to young daughter who is still living in Europe with family members.
1891(30th of Kislev, 5652): Rosh Chodesh Tevet
1892: A new structure built from Georgia Pine opened today on Ellis Island to serve as an immigration depot. Hundreds of thousands of Jews would pass through Ellis Island including approximately 140,000 in 1914 which was the year that saw the largest influx of Eastern European Jews arriving in the United States.
1894: A French court rejects Dreyfus’ appeal of his conviction.
1894(4th of Tevet, 5655): David Rosin a German Jewish theologian born at Rosenberg, Silesia, in 1823, passed away.Having received his early instruction from his father, who was a teacher in his native town, he attended the yeshibah of Kempen, of Myslowitz (under David Deutsch), and of Prague (under Rapoport); but, wishing to receive a regular school education, he went to Breslau, where he entered the gymnasium, and graduated in 1846. He continued his studies at the universities of Berlin and Halle (Ph.D. 1851) and passed his examination as teacher for the gymnasium. Returning to Berlin, he taught in various private schools, until Michael Sachs, with whom he was always on terms of intimate friendship, appointed him principal of the religious school which had been opened in that city in 1854. At the same time Rosin gave religious instruction to the students of the Jewish normal school. In 1866 he was appointed Manuel Joël's successor as professor of homiletics, exegetical literature, and Midrash at the rabbinical seminary in Breslau, which position he held till his death.
1897: It was reported today that among the papers presented at the final session of this year’s meeting of the American Jewish Historical Society were “New York Jews During the Struggle for American Independence” and “Some Early American Zionist Projects” Max J. Kohler.
1900: The New York Times reported that city authorities have decided to locate the Baron and Baroness de Hirsch memorial at the eastern edge of Central Park at the Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street Gate.
1901: The Fifth Zionist Congress ends its meeting at Basil, Switzerland.
1903(OS): Birthdate of Russian-born American violinist Nathan Milstein.
1905: Birthdate of American song writer Jules Styne.
1906(14th of Tevet, 5667):Julia Goodman née Salaman a British portrait painter, passed away.
1908: Birthdate of Nazi Hunter Simon Wiesenthal.
1908: Louis A. Hensheimer, a member of the banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Company was operated on today for appendicitis.
1912: A Russo-U.S. trade treaty, originally ratified in 1832, was abrogated by President Taft because of Russian discrimination against Jews who were American citizens.
1913: In New York, Julius Harburger completed his term as Sherirff.
1914: Martin H. Glynn, the 40th governor of the state of New York completed his term in office. Five years later he would come to the defense of the Jews of post-World War Europe in an article entitled “The Crucifixion of Jews Must Stop!” Since he was a Roman Catholic who never ran for office after leaving the statehouse, we can only assume that his article was written out of personal conviction.
1915: It was reported today that the American Jewish Relief Committee had received a telegram from Isidor Herschfield, who was traveling in war-torn eastern Europe on behalf of the committee and HIAS that described the need for shoes, food, clothing, fuel and “enormous sums” in Bialystock, Peski, Ross and Vilna.
1916: Birthdate of Leo Kahn, whose success in pioneering big-box, warehouse-style supermarkets led him to join with another entrepreneur in 1986 to start Staples, the retail chain that calls itself the “office superstore…” (As reported by Douglas Martin)
1916: In Constantinople, Arthur Ruppin, a German born Zionist wrote in his diary, “Apparently the war is gradually coming to a close. Probably, it will still take some time, but 1917 will bring us peace.”
1917: Today, the New York State Supreme Court ruled that Mitchell Mark “had the sold right to use the ‘The Strand’ for a movie theater.” Starting in the 1890’s Mark became one of the first entrepreneurs to dominate the field of movie distribution. In 1914, Mitchell and Moe Mark opened the million dollar Mark Strand Theatre in New York City, which “may have been first real movie palace, specifically built only to show motion pictures…The New York Times favorably reviewed the opening of this theater, helping to establish its importance.” Having spent that kind of money (a million dollar was big money in the second decade of the 20thcentury), it is understandable that Mark would take steps to keep others from encroaching on the fame of his new theatre.
1917: Colonel Storrs, the newly appointed British Military Governor of Jerusalem “received New Year’s greeting from all the city’s communities – Muslim, Christian and Jewish.” The Jewish community sent two greetings, one from the Ashkenazi Community Council and one from the City Council of Jerusalem Jews.
1920: Abram I. Elkus completed his service on the New York Court of Appeals.
1922: A delicatessen dinner and reception are scheduled to be held at the Brooklyn Jewish Center on Eastern Parkway.
1922: The Alumni Association of the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society hosted a bazzar at the Central Jewish Institute in NYC from noon until midnight.
1922: Birthdate of Marek Edelman, Jewish-Polish political and social activist, cardiologist, and one of the last living leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
1924: Birthdate of Dutch born American economist Hendrik Samuel “Hank” Houthakker.
1924: Deadline set by Governor General Primo de Rivera of Spain offering all Sephardim the possibility of reacquiring Spanish nationality. Very few Jews took him up on this offer.
1931: Jewish author Emil Ludwig interviews Joseph Stalin. The interviews will provide material for his biography on the Soviet dictator.
1933: According to reports published today, Erika Morini, the Jewish violinist from Vienna, will be coming to the United States during the Fall of 1934 for her fifth tour in this country. Morini is considered a real child prodigy. Born in 1904,she made her concert debut in 1917.
1933(13th of Tevet, 5694): George Alexander Kohut passed away.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F30810FE3559177A93C3A9178AD85F408385F9
1935: The last Jews remaining in Germany's civil service are dismissed by the government.
1937: Birthdate of Avram Hershko (אברהם הרשקו) Israeli biologist who won 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation.
1937: The Palestine Post reported from London that a number of influential British Cabinet members recommended an entirely new policy in Palestine. They demanded the abandoning of the Lord Peel Partition plan, and the overthrow of the idea of the Jewish National Home as conceived in the Balfour Declaration of 1917, and offered an alternative of a permanent Jewish minority in an all-Arab Palestine state; so much for the concept of British honor.
1937: Birthdate of German journalist and businessman Paul Spiegel
1937(27th of Tevet, 5698): Yehiel Ephroni, 33, was fatally wounded by shots fired by an Arab terrorist gang at an Egged bus at Km. 16 of the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv road.
1937: The Bucharest Stock Exchange crashed when Romanian Jews started to liquidate their assets, fearing the new government’s anti-Semitic policy.
1938: Five hundred Jews attended a New Year’s Eve dance at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. According to John Martin, the Secretary of the Peel Commission, a female reveler broke into the room of Sir Horace Humboldt, the official who called the Jews of Palestine an “alien race’, blew a small trumpet to awaken him and then proceeded to tell him the ‘he was the ugliest member of the commission and various other home truths while he cowered helpless beneath the counterpane.”
1939: As World War II began 1,210 Jews board the river boat Uranus, looking to be transported to Palestine.
1941: A New Year’s Eve costume party was held in Riga, Latvia.
http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/this_month/december/04.asp
1941: Hitler approved Alfred Rosenbeg’s request to plunder the French Jews and distribute their property to Nazi party members and members of the Werhmacht staff. The fact that the Werhmacht profited from this should be an indicator that the German General Staff was aware of what the fate of the Jews from the early days of the war.
1941: In the dark days of the European Night, this was an attempt to strike a match and bring a flicker of hope to the desperate. On this night, Abba Kovner uttered some of the most meaningful lines of the 20th century. On New Year’s Eve, Abba Kovner spoke out at a meeting of Zionist Youth hiding in a convent outside of Vilna. He asserted that Hitler wanted to kill all the Jews and called for armed resistance with his famous words. "Let us not go as sheep to the slaughter." As a result of the meeting and his stirring call to action, the Jews formed the United Partisan Organization. Kovner’s revolt failed and he became part of a partisan unit. Later, he was active in smuggling Jews into Palestine. After fighting in the War for Independence, he settled down on a kibbutz with his wife and pursued a career as a poet. He was one of the witnesses against Eichmann when the Nazi butcher was brought to trial in Jerusalem
1942: Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead was delivered to her publisher. Although it was not her first novel, it was the first to win a wide following for the philosophy she called Objectivism. She explained that: "My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” The Fountainhead illustrated this philosophy for the public through the tale of an architect who sticks to his artistic convictions against massive social opposition. Though critics failed to praise the book, it eventually became a best-seller, and was made into a movie starring Gary Cooper in 1949. Together with Atlas Shrugged (1957), The Fountainheadhas become one of the central texts of an Objectivist movement that emphasizes capitalism, individualism, and the pursuit of individual ambition. Although her idea that altruism is bad and selfishness good contradicts traditional Jewish values, Rand's promotion of individual ambition was typical of Russian Jewish emigrants of her generation. Rand herself came from Russia to the United States at age 21, drawn by the conditions depicted in American movies, and eager to leave Stalinist Russia. Jobs as a screenwriter and script reader in Hollywood supported her writing, and also introduced her to husband Frank O'Connor. Literary critics and philosophers have never taken Rand seriously, but her works have garnered popular acclaim. Despite mostly negative reviews, her four novels have together sold over twenty-five million copies, and Objectivist discussion groups and internet sites abound.
1942: By this date, the German Reich has deported more than two million Jews to death camps. Hundreds of thousands more Jews have been murdered by Einsatzgruppen and police battalions.
1942: At a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Churchill asked if would be possible for the RAF to undertake two or three heavy raids on Berlin in January. In addition to dropping bombs on the German capital, the planes would drop leaflets warning them of the fate that awaited them at the end of the war and that the attacks were reprisals for Nazi persecution of Poles and Jews. Sir Charles Portal, the Chief of the Air Staff “warned that any such raids avowedly conducted on account of the Jews would be an asset to enemy propaganda.” The RAF and the USAAF had at least one thing in common. Neither military unit was going to exert any effort to slow down the impact of the Final Solution.
1944: Hungarian Arrow Cross members storm a Swiss-sponsored "safe house" in Budapest and attack residents with machine guns and hand grenades. Three Jews are killed but the rest are saved by a Hungarian military
1944(15th of Tevet, 5705): Josephine Sarah Marcus passed away. Born to German immigrant parents in Brooklyn, NY, in 1861, Marcus grew up in San Francisco. Enchanted by a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, she ran away from home at age 18 to join the theatre. On tour in Tombstone, Arizona, she met and married Wyatt Earp, then a deputy U.S. Marshall for the Arizona Territory. In 1881, Wyatt Earp won lasting fame when he and his brothers fought a gun battle with their political rivals the Clanton gang at the O.K. Corral. Fleeing indictment for murder in the aftermath of the shootings, Wyatt and Josephine moved to Colorado. Wyatt's and Josephine's marriage lasted another forty-eight years, until his death in 1929. During these years, they moved frequently around the American west, following gold, silver, and copper mining, until they settled in Southern California. There, they invested in real estate and racehorses, wrote Wyatt's autobiography, and drafted a screenplay based on his exploits. After Wyatt's death, Josephine contributed to published and film portrayals of his life, helping to establish an enduring American legend. Josephine Marcus-Earp was buried beside her husband in a Jewish cemetery in Northern California, where their graves are today the primary local tourist attraction.
1945: Birthdate of Leonard Max Adleman a theoretical computer scientist and professor of computer science and molecular biology at the University of Southern California. He is known for being a co-inventor of the
RSA
(Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) cryptosystem in 1977, and of
DNA
computing.
RSA
is in widespread use in security applications, including digital signatures. He won the ACM Turing Award in 2002.
1945: In Pittsburgh a gang of seven Italian American robbers killed a Jewish restaurant owner. The Pittsburgh Jewish Community Relations Council “made a point of downplaying the role of group antagonism as a motivation for this tragic event in order not to harm Jewish-Italian relations.”
1946:Another combined military and police search for the terrorists responsible for Thursday night's explosions in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Jaffa was carried out in the slum area of Jerusalem this morning. More than 400 persons were detained for interrogation.
1946: Birthdate of fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.
1947: Following an Arab attack on the refinery at Haifa where they killed 47 Jews, members of the Palmach launched an attack on Balad al-Shaykh, Haifa.
1947: Because of constant attacks from Arabs and the siege of Jerusalem, Hebrew University was forced to end all courses and close its doors.
1948: In response to a British ultimatum, Ben-Gurion dispatched the order for Israeli forces to evacuate the Sinai and return to the Negev. A Jewish brigade was on the brink of capturing the Egyptian city of El Arish. Despite pleas from Yigal Allon, who was in command of the forces, Ben-Gurion refused to change his mind. Ever the realist, Ben Gurion knew he needed a successful conclusion to fighting with the Arabs; not a widening war with the British.
1948: U.S. President Harry Truman cabled Ben-Gurion demanding that Israeli forces evacuate the Sinai or face the possible loss of U.S. support. Truman did not know that Ben-Gurion had already issued orders for such an evacuation. There are those who think Truman was moving to shore up the British whose support he needed in dealing with the threat of Soviet Imperialism.
1949: Birthdate of American author Susan Schwartz.
1950(22nd of Tevet, 5711): Jacob Billikopf, Ph.B., L.L.D, passed away. Born in 1882 in Wilna Jacob Billikopf, Ph.B., L.L.D., (June 1, 1882, Wilna, Russia – December 31, 1950) was a nationally known figure in social work, Jewish philanthropy and labor arbitration. Billikopf had a long and distinguished career in public service work. He served as superintendent of the United Jewish Charities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Kansas City, Missouri, before becoming the executive director of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, chairman of the National Labor Board for the Philadelphia region during the first years of the New Deal. He served as impartial chairman of both the Ladies' Garment industry and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers in [Philadelphia]. He later represented the department stores of Philadelphia in their labor relations. He was also a member of the board of trustees of the New School for Social Research, and president of the board of trustees of Howard University. In 1937 and 1938 he dedicated himself fulltime to bringing European Jewish refugees into the United States. Following World War II he served on the Clemency Board in Washington which was established to review court martial sentences.
1952: The Jerusalem Post reported that the Knesset passed the first reading of the War Invalids Bill, submitted by the Minister of Labor, Mrs. Golda Meyerson (Meir).(This is the same Golda Meir who would become Foreign Minister and Prime Minister in the 1970's in time for the Yom Kippur War.) The bill assured veteran rights, the same as provided to the casualties of the Israel Defense Forces, to the invalids of the World War II Palestinian units of the British Army, and to the invalids of the Haganah. Pensions were also granted to partisans who fought Hitler. The bill was attacked sharply by Herut Knesset members on the grounds that it discriminated against the fighters of the Irgun Zvai Leumi and Fighters for the Freedom of Israel (Lehi). (The Labor Zionists did not the Irgun or the Stern Gang as legitimate parts of the IDF and this was their way of rejecting them and their behavior once and for all.)
1954: Jacob K. Javits completed his service as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York’s 21st District.
1956: Birthdate of Dr. Martin Joseph Fettman. An astronaut, Fettman was a Payload Specialist
1958: Birthdate of actress Bebe Neuwirth.
1959: Isidore Dollinger resigns as a member of the House of Representatives from New York’s 23rd Congressional District.
1963: Israel's first desalination plant opened at the port of Eilat.
1963: Birthdate of Scott Ian. Born Scott Rosenfeld, Ian is known as a guitarist for Anthrax.
1968(10th of Tevet, 5729): Asara B’Tevet
1969: Five unarmed Israeli gunboats arrived in Haifa tonight ending a 3,000-mile journey from Cherbourg, France. Their arrival did little to unravel the mystery of their departure, which when the story became public, sounded like something out of an Ian Fleming novel.
<span style="fon