February 23 In History
68(4th of Adar, 3828): During the Great Revolt, Vespasian occupied the city of Gadara as the legions made their slow, inexorable march to Jerusalem.
1422: During the conflict between the Hussites and the Dominicans, Pope Martin V issued a Bull favorable to the Jews reminding Christians that their religion had been inherited from the Jews. “The pope forbade the monks to preach against intercourse between Jews and Christians.”
1447 Pope Eugenius IV passed away. In speaking about the Jews, Eugenius declared “We decree and order that from now on, and for all time, Christians shall not eat or drink with the Jews, nor admit them to feasts, nor cohabit with them, nor bathe with them. […] They cannot live among Christians, but in a certain street, separated and segregated from Christians, and outside which they cannot under any pretext have houses.”
1455: Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed from movable type. This revolution in publishing was one of the most liberating events in Western history. Some say that it really marked the beginning of the Modern Intellectual Era of Western Civilization. Soon books would be printed Hebrew giving the People of the Book greater access to books thus further democratizing the concept of learning which is a cornerstone of Jewish civilization. The chapter and verse system finally took hold in copies of the Torah (books not the Scroll itself) as a result of the printing revolution.
1484: Over this day and the next, 30 men and women were burned alive, as well as the bones of 40 others at the Inquisitional Tribunal of Ciudad Real.
1592: Emperor Rudolph II invited Rabbi Judah ben Bezalel Lowe, known as the Maharal of Prague to his castle. The two men met for an hour and a half during with they “developed a mutual respect for each other. Rabbi Judah Lowe made use of his excellent connections with the Emperor, often intervening on behalf of his community when it was threatened by anti-Semitic attacks or oppression. (As reported by Chabad Knowledge Base)
1658: Jacob (John) Lumbrozo, the first doctor in Maryland was tried for having, "Denied Jesus of Nazareth…." Lumbrozo was convicted, sentenced to death, and was to have all his property confiscated by the government. He was later freed from these penalties. Lumbrozo was born in
Portugal
. He then moved to
Holland
and finally settled in
Maryland
in 1656.
1685: Birthdate of composer George Frideric Handel. In 1718, he wrote the oratorio “Esther” which was based on Racine’s 1689 tragic drama of the same name. Two of his other oratorios were “Deborah” based on the life of the Biblical Judge and “Athalia,” an operatic treatment of the life of the murderous Jewish Queen.
1734: Birthdate of Mayer Amschel Rothschild in
Frankfort
. A banker in
Frankfort
, Mayer Amschel became the chief investor for the ruler of the Germanic state of Hesse-Cassel. This was the start of the famous House of Rothschild. Mayer Amshel's five sons would establish branches throughout
Europe
. This great banking family would be the source of philanthropy and power for Jews in many parts of the world over the coming centuries. Their rise to power will make for fascinating reading when reach the study of European Jewry. Mayer Amschel died in 1812.
1777: Birthdate of Leopold Bettelheim, the Hungarian physician who “was the recipient of a gold medal of honor from the emperor Franz I. for distinguished services to the royal family and to the nobility.”
1807: The British Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of abolition of the slave trade. This victory was due in large measure to the decades’ long efforts of William Wilberforce. This is the same William Wilberforce who helped found Christ Church Ministries Jerusalem (CMJ) in
England
in 1809. Wilberforce and other leading evangelicals such as Lord Shaftesbury believed that the Jewish people had to be restored to their ancient land in order to pave the way for the return of Jesus. From the 1840s on the Society built in
Jerusalem
a
School
of
Industry
for training Jewish believers in basic trades; an Enquirers House, a
Hebrew
College
, and a modern hospital for Jewish people as well as
Christ
Church
.
1823: In Piotrkow, Poland, Phineas Mendel Heilprin and his wife gave birth to Michael Heilprin the American author, philanthropist and champion of social justice.
1835: La Juive (The Jewess) a grand opera in five acts composed by Fromental Halévy premiered today at the Opéra, Paris
1836: The Siege of the Alamo began at San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Mark Levy, a Jewish physician was reportedly one of those manning the walls of the
Texas
mission facing the forces of Santa Anna.
1846: In Poland, the National Government issued a proclamation “calling for the Jewish population to join the uprising and ensuring their full equality.”
1848: John Quincy Adams, Sixth President of the United States passed away. In what seems like a strange turn of events, President Adams expressed his support for a Jewish homeland in the
land
of
Israel
. In a letter to Mordecai Manuel Noah, one of the most prominent Jews in pre-Civil War
America
,
Adams
wrote that he believed in the “rebuilding of
Judea
as an independent nation.”
Adams
wrote that he believed in the “rebuilding of
Judea
as an independent nation.”
1853: In Philadelphia, a dinner was held at the Samson Street Hall to raise funds for Jewish charities.
1855: The New York Times reported that the concert designed to raise funds for the Hebrew Benevolent Societies scheduled for February 27 has been moved from Dodworth's Rooms to Niblo's Saloon because of the unusually high demand for tickets
1860(30th of Sh'vat, 5620): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1861: Birthdate of Emrich Ullmann the Austrian surgeon who was a pioneer in renal transplantation research.
1865: Birthdate of pioneer baseball executive, Barney Dreyfuss. Dreyfuss was the owner of the Pittsburg Pirates and the “father” of the World Series.
1868(30th of Shevat, 5628): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1870: Professor George Bartchelor delivered a talk on education reform to the New York Liberal Club. Batchelor contended that when it came to language, Hebrew, along with Greek and Latin, were the foundation of liberal education. But the public schools were teaching German, French and Spanish. [Considering who belong to the Liberal Club, one wonders what would have happened if a Hebrew teacher from the Lower East Side had shown up at its meeting.]
1871: The official position of the Jewish community in Ghent was regulated by two decrees one of which was issued today.
1872: Mortiz Ellinger ended his term as publisher of the Jewish Times today.
1878: “Celebrated Jews In Power” published today claims that the rise of Jewry in Europe has turned the fiction of “Coningsby” and the predictions of Sidonia into reality. One of the proof points is the leading role that Benjamin Disraeli, the author of Coningsby, plays in British politics.
1879(30th of Shevat, 5639): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1879: It was reported today that unnamed Jew had scored a coup during the sale of old military stores at Edinburgh Castle. He bought 600 rusty old helmets for 6 pence a pound. After he cleaned them up, he discovered that they were made of “fine steel…adorned with Arabic inscriptions” showing that they were very old pieces of equipment. After selling a few of the helmets, an Armenian purchased the lot of them for 18 shillings per helmet. Realizing their error, the government bought the helmets from him for 2 of 3 English pounds per helmet.
1880: It was reported that in Germany, associations have been formed for the purpose of excluding Jews from serving in Parliament. In Breslau, one such group has announced that it will not support a Jew under any circumstances. [The rise of anit-Semitism paralleled the moves to emancipate German Jewry.]
1882: The SS Illinois arrived at Philadelphia, PA at 3:20 pm carrying 325 men, women and children who were refugees from the anti-Semitic violence that had been taking place in the Russian Empire including Poland, Kiev and Odessa. The refugees were greeted by members of the committee that has been preparing for their arrival. After being examined by Dr. T. J. Elleinger and his medical staff, the refugees were taken to the old Pennsylvania Railroad station which has been remodeled to meet their needs. The refugees had harrowing tales of deprivation and violence to tell their American benefactors who included Jews and Christians.
1882: It was reported today that the Toronto Globe has received a cable from London describing a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Mansion House Fund for the Relief of Russo-Jewish Refugees presided over by Cardinal Manning. With the support of Sir A.T. Galt a sub-committee was established to select sites for the establishment of agriculture settlements in Palestine the Canadian Northwest that could provide a viable new home for the persecuted Jews. The subcommittee has a budget of ten thousand pounds. [This outpouring of support for the Jews who were the victims of a series of Pogroms following the assassination of Alexander II is laudable. Sensing that England could and New York City could inundated by a wave of refugees, plans were made to try and settle the Jews in the under-populated areas of Canada, the United States and Argentina]
1886: Lena Lillienthal married Meyer Goldberg. By August of the following year, the two would embroiled in nasty divorce case in which she sought to end the marriage.
1890: The President and Managers of the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society of New York will hold a reception today between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. in honor of George Washington’s birthday. (Washington was born on February 22 which in 1890 fell on Shabbat which accounts for the delay)
1890: English dramatist Leopold Davis Lewis passed away. Born in 1828 and trained as a solicitor he began his dramatic career by translating Erckmann-Chatrian's “Le Juif Polonais,” (the Polish Jew) which he then produced as “The Bells.”
1890: It was reported today that among those charities received property tax exemptions were the Ladies’ Deborah Nursery and Child’s Protectory ($12,000) and the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews ($30,000).
1890: “Gladstone At Oxford” published today included comments by the English Prime Minister about the status of the Jews. When asked if he thought “that there is any likelihood of an anti-Semitic agitation in England” Gladstone replied “I have not the least fear of an agitation in England against the Jews. You might as well expect one against the law of gravity.”
1890: “Sir A Sassoon” published today relying on information that first appeared in The Spectator briefly described “this rise of this Jewish family in England” which “were till quite recently strictly Indian Jews” who were “almost natives in their manner of life.” (Sir A. Sassoon probably referred to Sir Albert Abdulah David Sassoon, the First Baronet)
1890: It was reported today that in the summer of 1875 a group of visitors from Massachusetts came to Lincoln’s Inn, London looking for Judah P. Benjamin, the Confederate leader turned British Barrister.. They were surprised that Benjamin, who was Jewish “was engaged to appear against an influential firm of Jewish money lenders.
1891: “A Row in the Synagogue” published today described the outbreak of fight at the Grant Street synagogue in Pittsburg, PA. Ruben Miller bloodied the nose of Harris Bartniski during a meeting at which congregants were discussing a sermon by Rabbi Feinich in which he denounced Miller for renting his building “to a company of atheists.”
1894: It was reported that among those who attended the 14th annual reception of the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society included Mr. and Mrs. Selig Steinhardt, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Seligman, Mr. and Mrs. Lyman Bloomingdale and the Honorable and Mrs. Joseph Blumenthal
1895: It was reported today that English actor John Hare, who has played the lead in “The Old Jew” will be coming to New York City to perform in December. Among the productions in which he is expected to appear is “The Old Jew.”
1896: It was reported today that the sale of tickets and boxes for the upcoming Purim Ball are “exceeding all expectations.”
1896: “Nordau Replied To” published today contained a detailed reviews of Regeneration: A Reply to Max Nordauwith an Introduction by Nicholas Murray Butler.
1896: It was reported today that the sale of tickets and boxes for the upcoming Purim Ball are “exceeding all expectations.”
1898: In France Émile Zola was convicted following his trial for libel. He received the maximum sentence – one year in jail and a fine of 3000 Frances. He had written “J'accuse” which was a letter accusing the French government of anti-Semitism and wrongfully placing Alfred Dreyfus in jail.
1899: In France, during President Félix Faure’s state funeral Paul Déroulède, Jules Guérin and the Ligue des Patriotes attempt a coup which resulted in their arrest.
1899: The Nineteenth Century Club heard Israel Zangwill and Hamlin Garland discuss "The Novel" in Delmonico's large ballroom tonight, and both authors agreed so well upon the functions of art in fiction that the men and women present had to forego the usual argumentative entertainment which they plan for these meetings by bringing together speakers of supposedly differing views
1902: The ninth meeting of the Union of Judaeo-German Congregations opened today in Berlin.
1903: Leopold Greenberg anEnglish newspaper editor, Zionist and friend of Theodore Herzl leaves Egypt.
1904: Birthdate of William L Shirer. Shirer was one of "Murrow's Boys" a group of correspondents hired by Edward R. Murrow who covered the events prior to and including World War II. Shirer's post was
Berlin
where he broadcast stories about the rise of the Nazis. He actually provided live coverage of the French surrendering to Hitler in 1940. His greatest claim to fame was as author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a classic on Hitler and his followers, based, in part, on Shirer's first hand observations
1904: Birthdate of Leopold Trepper, a Jewish James Bond. Trepper was born in
Poland
. During World War II he organized and ran one of the most famous espionage rings in history - The Red Orchestra. Operating in
France
in 1940, the ring penetrated German intelligence and was able to provide the Soviets with detailed information about the impending invasion of
Russia
by
Germany
. Unfortunately, Stalin refused to believe the warnings. Members of the Red Orchestra were captured in 1942. Trepper escaped and hid until the liberation of
Paris
in 1944. When he returned to
Moscow
, he was arrested along with thousands of others who had bravely fought the Nazis and spent ten years in prison. Eventually he moved to
Israel
where he died in 1982.
1910: The Hahambashi proposes to convene, in summer, a conference of delegates of all Jewish communities in the Ottoman Empire to consider reform of the rabbinate and to plan a new reorganization of the community. Included in this would be the elimination of life appointments in favor of elections.
1912: A New York Ladino language newspaper called La Aguila hit the presses, but failed due to lack of support and finished running on March 22 of the same year.
1912: Jews in
Kustendil
,
Bulgaria
were attacked by a mob and nine people were injured.
1912: A bill introduced in the Portuguese Congress provides for cession of land to Jewish emigrants who move to Angola, Portuguese West Africa.
1913: Solomon Schechter, President of the Jewish Theological Seminary, founded the United Synagogue of America, the association of Conservative synagogues in the
United States
and
Canada
. In 1957, it organized the World Council of Synagogues with membership in 22 countries
1917: The February Revolution began in Russia. This is the revolution that brought down the Czars and brought the Social Democrats to power. Unfortunately, they failed and the next revolution brought the Communists to power with disastrous effects for the world in general and the Jews in particular.
1917(1st of Adar, 5677): Rosh Chodesh Adar
1919: Benito Mussolini forms the Fascist Party in
Italy
. According to author Alexander Stille "What distinguished the story of Italian Jews from that of Jews elsewhere in Europe was the long coexistence between Jews and Fascists in Mussolini's Italy. Italian Fascism was in power for 16 years before it turned anti-Semitic in 1938. Until then, Jews were as likely to be members of the Fascist Party as were other conservative-minded Italians. This singular fact altered the entire moral and existential equation for
Italy
's Jews. In other countries, Fascism was the undisguised enemy. But the experience of Italian Jews was far more complex: a strange mixture of benevolence and betrayal, persecution and rescue."
1919(23rd of Adar I, 5679): Just weeks before his 84th birthday New York lawyer, jurist and author Abraham Jesse Dittenhoefer passed away. Ironically, he was a native of Charleston, SC, the cradle of Southern Secession who was the last surviving elector from the election of 1864 during which he cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln.
1921: Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and Rabbi Ya'akov Meir were elected as the first two chief Rabbis of pre-state
Israel
. Kook was the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi and Rabbi Ya'akov Meir was the Chief Sephardic Rabbi.
1921: As head of the Colonial Office, Winston Churchill reviews Pinchas Rutenberg’s request for a concession to harness the waters of the Jordan and Yarkon fivers for electrical power; a concession that would employ 800 Jews and Arabs.
1932: In the
Netherlands
, the Jewish Historical Museum was officially opened. It was located in a single room on the top floor of the
Amsterdam
Historical
Museum
, which was housed in the Weigh House.
1936: Birthdate of Harrison Jay Goldin the Bronx born lawyer and former New York politician who served as an attorney in the United States Department of Justice Office of Civil Rights during the Kennedy Administration and ran in the 1989 Democratic Primary election for Mayor of New York.
1936: Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope the High Commissioner of the British Mandate of Palestine was booed by a crowd as he left a museum in Tel Aviv where he had just given a dedicatory address. The demonstration was prompted by reports that the mandatory government is about to implement new regulations designed to limit Jewish immigration and land purchases by Jews. The High Commissioner ordered the crowd to disperse but did not order any arrests.
1938: Today is the planned date on which passengers will begin debarking at the newly refurbished port of Tel Aviv. The event is viewed as “a milestone in the rebuilding of the Jewish National Home.”
1939: Birthdate of Lester Glassner, an artist who graduated from Pratt Institute who created a “museum-size collection that included dolls and wind-up toys, plastic fruit sculptures and costume jewelry, sunglasses and makeup kits, greeting cards and matchbooks, salt and pepper shakers and Christmas ornaments, not to mention movie stills, posters, cardboard cutouts, books, magazines, records, and 8- and 16-millimeter films.”
1939: “The chief architect and designer of the Palestine Paviilion” at the New York World’s Fair, Arieh El-Hanani arrived today “on the Queen Mary to supervise “the setting up of the Palestine exhibits, which will arrive next week on the liner Excalibur.
1940(14th of Adar I, 5700): Purim Katan
1941: David Zacharin, Russian born cellist and director of the Tel Aviv Academy, gave his first New York recital tonight at the Town Hall. His program was devoted Jewish music. Of the seventeen works played 14 were his own while the remaining three were Bloch’s “Schelomo” (Hebrew for Rhapsody, Gnessin’s “Song of the Wandering Knight” and Bruch’s “Kol Nidre.” Zacharin “achieved real eloquence” when he played “If I Forget Thee Jerusalem,” a piece of his own creation. Whatever the evening lacked in artistic perfection was overcome by the fact that it gave “insight into the longings and religious aspirations of an ancient people.”
1942:Edward M.M. Warburg, son of the late Felix Warburg and Chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee, joined the army last week as a private, despite the fact that he is married and has a 6-months-old son, it was learned here today. A member of Company B, 518th Military Police Battalion, Private Warburg is in training at Governors Island, home station of the unit. Army headquarters, in disclosing Mr. Warburg's enlistment, emphasized that the battalion was a field unit subject to call to active service. Warburg himself declined to comment on his enlistment.
1942:Struma, a ship chartered to carry Jewish refugees from Axis-allied Romania to British-controlled Palestine during World War II, with its engine inoperable, was towed from Istanbul through the Bosporus out to the Black Sea by Turkish authorities with its refugee passengers aboard, where it was left adrift.
1943: A division of the Red Army attacked the Germans at Alexseyevka, in the Ukraine. Many of the attacking soldiers were Jews
1944: At Zwadka, Poland, a Polish man and his daughter were killed by Germans, along with the two Jewish women whom they had helped.
1945: As the Soviet Army approached Schwarzheide, in the Dresden (Germany) area 300 Jews who had been moved from Berkenau to the Schwarzheide factories were shot. The German camps of Belsen, Dachau, Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Sachsenhausen and Ravnebruck became the destination of thousands of evacuated Jews from all the other camps
1945: Joe Rosenthal takes the most famous picture of World War II, "Raising the Flag on
Iwo Jima
."
1946: In a report issued by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, medical authorities said that there were no reports of Plague in Europe with the exception of the Mediterranean ports including Jaffa with two cases, and Haifa and Tel Aviv with one case each.
1947: General Eisenhower opened a drive to raise $170 million in aid for European Jews
1954: The first mass inoculation using the Salk Polio Vaccine began. In one of the irony of history the first polio vaccine was created by a Jewish Doctor, Jonas Salk. But the second polio vaccine was also created by a Jewish Doctor, Albert Sabin.
1962: Churchill’s friend Montague Brown wrote a letter expressing his concerns about the retired Prime Minister’s plan to visit
Israel
on an upcoming cruise to the eastern Mediterranean. He was fearful of the effect such a visit would have on
Britain
’s Arab friends in the
Middle East
. Ultimately, Churchill’s yacht would pass the coast of
Israel
at night and would not make landfall.
1965: Birthdate of Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers.
1968(24th of Shevat, 5728): Famed author Edna Ferber passed away. Born in 1888 Ferber was part of a whole series of Jewish writers who began writing in English about life in
America
. This trend started at the end of the 19th century and continues to this very day. Ferber was unique in that she sweeping historic novels in the manner of James Michner. Some of her more famous efforts included Giant (Texas and the rise of the oil industry) and Showboat (life on the Mississippi River in the post-Civil War South and issues of race).
1968(24th of Shevat, 5728): Fannie Hurst passed away at the age of 78. Born in 1889 in
Ohio
, she graduated from
Washington
University
(
St. Louis
) and then furthered her studies at
Columbia
in NYC. (This educational activity was unusual in and of itself for a woman of her times.
Hurst
was a successful author, friend of Eleanor Roosevelt and supporter of the New Deal and aid to refugees from Nazi Europe. By the time she passed away she had written seventeen novels, nine volumes of short stories, three plays, many articles, speaking engagements, a television talk show and collaborated on a number of films. One of the most amusing stories about her, which shows that she was way ahead of her times, involved her marriage. “In 1915, she had secretly married pianist Jacques Danielson and they each had their own residence. When their marriage was revealed in 1920, a New York Timeseditorial took them to task for having separate residences when there was a housing shortage.
Hurst
retaliated by stating that a married woman had the right to retain her own name, her own special life and her own personal liberty. They remained happily married until his death in 1952.” When Justice Arthur Goldberg declared in 1962, "that it is time that we evaluated Women on merit and fitness for a job," she snapped back, "Time sir! You are a half century too late."
1973(21st of Adar I, 5733): Tehilla Lichtenstein passed away. She served as leader of the Society for Jewish Science from 1938 until her death.
1974(1st of Adar, 5734): Songwriter Harry Ruby passed away.
http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C308
1977: Leonard Steinberg, Baron Steinberg of Belfast in the County of Antrim was shot by the Provisional Irish Republican Army after he refused to give in to a demand to pay “protection money.”
1979: Release date in Italy for “Christ Stopped at Eboli” (Cristo si è fermato a Eboli) a film adaptation of the book of the same name by Carlo Levi.
1983: Moshe Arens replaced Menachem Begin as Defense Minister.
1986: In an article entitled “The Museums of Israel,” Nitza Rosovsky, the curator of exhibits at the Harvard Semitic Museum and the author of Jerusalem Walks describes “Israel, as a crossroads of ancient civilizations in which the countryside itself is like a museum filled with the remains of those who were here before, from Canaanites to Philistines, from Romans to Crusaders. Even the present-day inhabitants -Jews from some 80 lands, Arabs from all over the Middle East, Christians of different denominations - create a living museum.” In describing the rich variety of museums to be found in Israel, she captures both the history and the efforts to capture the history of the land and cultures that are now part of the Jewish homeland.
1987: The Russian Writers Union accepts Boris Pasternak as a as member posthumously
1987: Aulcie Perry Jr., a former basketball player who became an Israeli citizen and was hailed as a sports champion there, was convicted in Brooklyn Federal Court tonight of smuggling heroin with a street value of $1.8 million into the United States. Judge Mark A. Constantino said sentencing would be set for the end of March. The 36-year-old Perry had been on trial since Feb. 17 on charges of conspiracy to import heroin, importation of heroin and possession of heroin with intent to distribute. He was convicted on all counts, each of which carries a possible 20-year prison term. His lawyer, Richard Lind, said he would appeal. Perry, who was born in Newark, played for the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association in 1974-75. He was signed by the Knicks but was cut before the 1975-76 season. The 6-foot-10-inch Perry, who holds a dual citizenship, joined the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team in Israel in 1977 and helped bring it a European Cup championship that year and in 1979. He remained on the team until 1984. Perry's cousin, Kenneth Johnson, 29, who was charged with Perry, pleaded guilty earlier this month and is awaiting sentencing.
1989: At the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Soviet émigré pianist Vladimir Feltsman is scheduled to play the music of Schubert and Mussorgsky at a benefit performance designed to raise funds for the Maimonides Research and Development Foundation.
1990(28th of Sh'vat, 5750): David Samuilovich Kaufman who wrote under the name of David Samoylov passed away. Born in 1920, he was a “notable poet of War generation of Russian poets, and considered one of the most important Russian poets of the post-World War II era.”
1997: Sixty five million viewers watch the completely uncensored version of “Schindler’s List” on NBC television.
1997(16th of Adar I, 5757): Oscar Lewenstein, British producer and director, passed away at the age of 80.
1997: Palestinian Ali Abu Kamal opens fire on tourists on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, killing one and wounding another six before committing suicide.
1997: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Nazi Germany and the Jews, Volume 1: The Years of Persecution, 1933-1939 by Saul Friedlander and Conflicting Accounts: The Creation and Crash of the Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Empire by Kevin Goldman
1998: Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders. Considering what the Crusaders did to the Jews during the Middle Ages, these is a strange declaration indeed.
1999: In another example of personalization and splintering of Israeli politics, Yitzhak Mordechai quit Likud and formed the Israel in the Centre Party. Other members included David Magen and Dan Meridor from Likud, Hagai Meirom and Nissim Zvili of Labour, and Eliezer Sandberg of Tzomet.
2000(17th of Adar I, 5760): Ofrz Haza, popular Yeminite Israeli singer, passed away. Born in 1957, she made her international debut at the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, which she very narrowly failed to win for Israel with the song "Hi". Ofra Haza had a world-wide hit in 198