May 4 In History
1008: Birthdate of King Henry I of France who reigned from 1031 until his death in 1060. This means that he was on the throne when a future wine maker, Shlomo Yitzhaki, was born at Troyes in 1040. [But today, who remembers the French monarch and who remembers Rashi?]
1287: Jews were arrested and accused of "clipping" the coinage in England. Although there was no evidence, the community as a whole was convicted and ordered to be expelled. A ransom of 4,000 (some say 12,000) pounds of silver were paid in ransom. This was the penultimate act in the story of the medieval English Community. For a century or more they had been drained of their wealth by Richard the Lionhearted, his brother King John and his son Henry
III
. In 1290, having reduced the Jews to a state of semi-poverty, and replaced them with Italian Bankers, King Edward I expelled the Jews from
England
. Part of his rational was that if some Jews were guilty of counterfeiting, then the whole community must be guilty.
1415: Jan Hus, who saw himself as a religious reformer was declared a heretic by the Roman Catholics at the Council of Constance. The followers of Hus were called Hussites. The fight between the Hussites and the Catholic Church turned violent and the Jews of Central Europe would get caught in the crossfire. After all, if you were busy killing Hussites, why not kill another group of “non-believers” living in your midst?
1493: Columbus arrived in Lisbon from which he sent the letter that described the results of his first voyage. The letter was addressed to Luis de Santangel, the converso who, as finance minister, had convinced the Spanish monarchs to finance the voyage.
1493: Pope Alexander VI divided the New World including parts of east Asia between Portugal and Spain along the so-called Demarcation Line. In other words the
Western Hemisphere
was divided between two Catholic Kingdoms both of which had or would soon expel their Jewish subjects. Alexander VI was one of the so-called Renaissance Popes, a group of papal leaders who left much to be desired in matters related to religion. Alexander VI was the Borgia pope. And he was the father of the notorious Cesare and Lucretzia Borgia. Alexander VI presented a mix bag when it came to his dealings with the Jews. Alexander allowed so many Marranos fleeing
Spain
’s Inquisition in to
Rome
that the city’s refugee population doubled his ten year reign. While he decreased the size of the badge worn by professing Jews, he added an additional five per cent tax to their already heavy tax burden. In an act of additional depravity, Alexander “extended the distance of the annual race in which humiliated Jews ran naked through the city so that he could view it from his Castel Sant’Angelo residence”
1515: An edict was issued ordering the expulsion of the Jews from Ragussa. The expulsion was another instance of economics hiding behind religious doctrine. There were exceptions to the order including physicians and merchants operating in the country on a temporary basis.
1680: Birthdate of Johann Gerhard Meuschen, the anti- Jesuit Lutheran theologian. In 1736 he “Novum Testamentum ex Talmude et antiquitatibus Hebraeorum illustratum,” which was a collection of studies that examined the relationship between the New Testament and the Talmud and other Jewish writings.
1689: Christian Knorr von Rosenroth passed away. Born in Silesia in 1636, this Christian scholar became an accomplished Hebraist who became an avid student of the Kabbalah and the Zohar who authored several books on the topic.
1814: Ferdinand
VII
of
Spain
ordered all previous proceedings of the Cortes of Cadiz null and void. This voided the 1813 statement saying the Inquisition was not in line with
Spain
's new liberal views. Only 2 months later Ferdinand announced Inquisitional tribunals were to once again resume, and they did.
1851: A major fire broke out in San Francisco, destroying among other things, the “canvassed roof store” that had been opened up by newly arrived Pomeranian immigrant Abraham Abrahamsohn. The loss of his “store” after only a month of being in the United States, forced him to head for the gold fields and try his luck as a miner. Unfortunately, this effort did not pan out. (Sorry for the horrible pun.)
1853: Birthdate of British author and philanthropist Leonard Montefiore, the brother of Claude Montefiore
1862: The New York Times reviewed books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Spirit of the Hebrew Poetry by Isaac Taylor in which the author described the “historic personality of God, the reality of Revelation and the…certainty of Man’s Salvation as deduced from the the Hebrew Psalmists and Prophets…”
1872: A Times correspondent writing from Smyrna today described a blood libel that had taken place in that Greek city. Despite the efforts of local medical authorities and clergy to convince the populace that a Christrian child had died in accidental drowning and not as part of Jewish plot tied to the Passover ritual, mobs attacked the Jewish quarter converting into a place of “pandemonium, pillage, rape and murder.”
1878(1st of Iyar, 5638): Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1878: According to today's Literary Notes column, "Prof. Goldwin Smith who is said to be a cordial Jew-hater is preparing a reply to an article in the April Nineteenth Century in which it is maintained that Jews are good patriots."
1878: “Philip Leon, a well-dressed Hebrew was arraigned in the Court of Special Session on a charge of having stolen a pawn ticket and a dollar from Julia McCloughlin.” Although he denied the larceny, which was took the form of a swindle, he was found guilty and sentenced to a month in New York’s city jail and ordered to pay a fine of $50.
1878: “Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society”, a column published today provides information about the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society based on its recently released 55th annual report. Currently the asylum provides service to 301 boys and girls. The children attend local primary and grammar schools where, according to letters from school officials, they are doing quite well. The asylum teaches Hebrew and other Jewish studies. The asylum houses an industrial school where boys “are taught to be printers and shoemakers.”
1879: The New York Times featured a review of "Moses the Lawgiver" by Rev. William M. Taylor in which the author writes favorably about the Jewish leader and the customs and ceremonies of his time. This is the first in a series of that is to include "Daniel, the Beloved", "David, King of Israel" and “Elijah the Prophet.”
1879: “Matacong” an article published today reported on the activities of Nathaniel Isaac, a Jew, who was the only English resident of this island off the coast of Sierra Leone. In 1856, Isaac accompanied a French merchant named Milon on a visit to the King of Forécariah where he served as an intermediary to assure that the Frenchman could contact his commercial operations on the island.
1879: Dr. Szold, the Rabbi of the Hanover Street Synagogue in Baltimore delivered a lecture on Abraham Lincoln. The talk was sponsored by the Hebrew Young Men’s Association and included “a number of short anecdotes concerning the great man. Dr. Szold said that Mr. Lincoln had the most remarkable faculty for solving difficult problems by tell little stories or parables.” Alexander the Great used a sword to cut the Gordian knot. Lincoln used his “sharp, keen incisive wit “to unravel the most” difficult and intricate questions.
1882: During the blood libel known as the Tiszaeszlár Affair, the mother of 14 year old Eszter Solymosi appeared before a judge where she accused the Jews of having murdered her daughter.
1884(9th of Iyar, 5644): Baer Ben Alexander Goldberg. passed away in Paris. Born at Soludna near Warsaw in 1799 he eventually moved to Berlin where he began a career as an author and translator; a career he continued after moving to London in 1847 and Paris in 1852. One of his first works was "Ḳonṭres mi-Sod Ḥakamim," a commentary on the Jewish calendar, with chronological tables published 1845 was one the first works by this prolific author. "Ma'aseh Nissim," a translation from the Arabic into Hebrew of Daniel the Babylonian's critical work on Maimonides is an example of the many translations he produced while living in Paris.
1887: The funeral of Isaac Henricks, the prominent businessman and member of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum Society, is scheduled to take place at his brother-in-law’s home this morning.
1890: Four new trustees are scheduled to be appointed a meeting of the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum.
1890(14thof Iyar, 5650): Pesach Sheini
1890: It was reported today that Russia is preparing to adopt more stringent passport regulations, requiring that the documents of all those entering the country must show their religion. Anyone who does not show a religion will be registered as a Jew and will only be able to visit “localities where Jews are permitted to reside.”
1892: The funeral of Abraham L. Grabfeelder, the General Southern Agent of Manhattan Life Insurance Company a director of the Sanitarium for Hebrew Children will be held this morning at 9:30
1892: Six Jews and Jewesses were convicted at Vilna of murdering babies that had been left in their care.
1892: It was reported today that David Boody, the Mayor of Brooklyn, Joseph C. Hendrix, President of the Board of Education and Oscar S. Straus, the former minister to Turkey, addressed those attending the cornerstone laying ceremonies of the new building belong to the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum.
1894: Birthdate of Archibald Maul Ramsay, a British army officer, out spoken anti-Semite and the only MP to ever be interred on suspicions that he was a spy for the Axis
1895: A nameless seven year old deaf mute Jewish boy whose mother had passed away and whose father “was unable to provide for him” has been taken to Randall’s
1896: The New York Times published an article entitled “Peculiarities of Baron Hirsch” that had first appeared in the London Chronicle. It described a man of great personal wealth who was, at heart, a populist who sided with the working classes in their conflicts with “cosmopolitan financiers” and other power brokers including those inhabiting the British House of Lords.
1900: “B’nai B’rith Convention” an article published today reported on the recently adjourned convention of the Jewish fraternal organization which has been held in Chicago, Illinois.
1901: The Books and Authors column included Israel Zangwill’s comments about “Robert Annys, Poor Priest” by Annie Nathan Myer. “Zangwill writes, ‘You are to be heartily congratulated. The book is full of color, spirituality and drama. There is a fine sense of the early commerce of early English history…You score in so many ways. Your pure use of words shows you have the true artist’s joy in them for their own sake.”
1902: Herzl began a three day trip in Berlin. Herzl talked to the director of the Deutsche Bank through which the Zionist movement would like to buy the Deutsche Palästinabank. For the first time Herzl met Franz Oppenheimer.
1903: Birthdate of actor Luther Adler. Born in
New York
, Adler was the brother of two other famous thespians, Jay and Stella Adler. Adler began his career at the age of 13 appearing in his father's Yiddish theater. Luther Adler was born in 1903. His theatre debut began as a 13-year in his father's Yiddish Theatre. In the 1930's he was part of the Group Theatre where he worked with such well-known names as John Garfield, Elia Kazan, Less Strasberg and Howard Da Saliva. He appeared in over thirty movies and as many television programs. Some of his film credits include The Last Angry Man; Cast a Giant Shadow and Voyage of the Damned. He passed away in 1984
1904: The
United States
began the construction of the
Panama Canal
. The first Panamanian Jewish community, Kol Shearith
Israel
, was founded in 1876 when
Panama
was still part of
Columbia
. By 1911, when the Canal was all but completed the Jewish community numbered approximately 500.
1907: Birthdate of Lincoln Edward Kirstein American writer, impresario, art connoisseur, and cultural figure in New York City who was better known for his social influence than for his own artistic achievement. Among other accomplishments he co-founded the New York City Ballet.
1909: Birthdate of Howard Da Silva. A large man, with a distinctive baritone voice, Da Saliva's birth name was Silverblatt. He worked in the steel mills to pay his way through Carnegie Institute. His early stage work includes stints with Orson Wells as well as playing the original Judd in
Oklahoma
. In the late 1930's and 1940's he had a successful career in movies playing in such varied films as Sergeant York and The Lost Weekend. Da Salvia's left wing politics got him in trouble with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Da Silva was blacklisted for many years. His fortunes began to rise in the late 1960's and 1970's when he played Ben Franklin 1776 as well as a film about (of all people), J. Edgar Hoover. He passed away in 1986.
1910: According to some sources this was the date on which Tel Aviv was founded. The confusion stems from the fact that the land company to purchase the acreage for Tel Aviv was formed in 1909. In 1909 a number of Jewish residents decided to move to a healthier environment, outside the crowded and noisy city of Jaffa. They established a company called Ahuzat-Bayit and with the financial assistance of the Jewish National Fund purchased some twelve acres of sand dunes, north of
Jaffa
. In 1910, the suburb was named Tel Aviv after Nahum Sokolow's translation of Altneuland, Herzl's fictional depiction of the Jewish State.
1916: Birthdate of sociologist Rose Laub Coser who “made contributions to medical sociology, refined major concepts of role theory, and analyzed contemporary gender issues in the family and in the occupational world.”
1917: At the request of the government of Salonika, the rabbis approve burial of bodies in shrouds made of paper, because linen was scarce and expensive.
1917: Tel Aviv was sacked by Arabs. Djemal Pasha announced that it was the intention of the Turkish government to purge Eretz Yisrael of its Jewish population. Tel Aviv was sacked by the Arabs on the anniversary of the official adoption of the name "Tel Aviv". That same year the British attacked the Turks in
Palestine
and the Jews reclaimed Tel Aviv which is often called the "New York of Israel."
1917: Djemal Pasha of the Ottoman Army declared that the intention of authorities was to "wipe out Jewish population of Palestine."
1921(26th of Nisan, 5681): Jonas Kuppenheimer, president of the clothing manufacturing company that bears his family name passed away today in Lake Forest, Illinois. Born at Terre Haute, Indiana in 1854, Kuppenheimer came to Chicago fifty years ago with his father Bernard, and his brothers Louis and Albert where they opened a clothing store that grew into a major producer of menswear.
1925: Birthdate of Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, former
CEO
of
AIG
, one of the world’s largest insurance and financial services companies.
1926: In Palestine, “all work in Jewish office, factories and institutions…stopped at 1:30 today as thousands of mourners paid tribute to the late Dr. Max Nordau…whose body was brought to Palestine from France. As the body was being carried to Tel Aviv’s town hall, the procession stopped at the Great Synagogue where special religious services were held.
1930: Birthdate of Roberta Peters, who achieved the longest tenure of any soprano in the history of the Metropolitan Opera.
1937: It was announced today that Arturo Toscanini will again conduct the Palestine Symphony Orchestra in a series of concerts that will include a November 10 in Tel Aviv as well as performances in Jerusalem and Haifa.
1938:In an address to 500 newly married couples at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Pius XI criticizes Adolf Hitler, currently visiting Mussolini in Rome, and the Nazi Party. Pope Pius XI says that these couples deserve a papal benediction because "such sad things are happening, sad things, very sad, both near to us and far away. Certainly among these sad things is that on the feast day of the Holy Cross of Christ, the banners of another cross which certainly is not that of Christ should have been hoisted in Rome. This was out of place and time. We tell you this so that you may understand how necessary it is to pray, pray, and pray for the mercy of the Almighty in all its largeness." (Editor’s Note – this was not the only time that Pius XI would publicly criticize Hitler or speak up in defense of the Jews. Any discussion of the role of the Catholic Church in events leading up to the Shoah must include an examination of this brave cleric)
1938: A picture was taken of the teachers and students at a Jewish school in Sirvintos, Lithuania.
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/this_month/may/03.asp
1938: In Los Angeles, Oscar winning screen writer Phillip G. Epstein and his wife gave birth to American author Leslie Donald Epstein whose novels includes King of the Jews. Epstein was the nephew of screenwriter Julius Epstein and the father of baseball mogul Theo Epstein.
1938: Carl von Ossietzky, an anti-Nazi German journalist and winner of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize, dies at age 50 after five years' captivity in concentration camps.
1938: The Palestine Post reported that Arab gangs murdered Hassan Darfil, a prominent Arab notable representing the Wadi Salib quarter of Haifa. Arab gangs continued to abduct and rob villagers and spread terror across the country.
1939: According to the diary of Jay Pierrepont Moffat, a State Department official, President Roosevelt met at the White House with Jewish leaders where the President seemed to be convinced that the warnings given by the U.S. Embassy in Berlin “were sound and not exaggerated.”
1939: Birthdate of Israeli author Amos Oz. To understand the works of Oz, you must realize that he is Jewish, but a sabra, a person who never has known the Diaspora. Born in
Jerusalem
, Oz was a city boy until he went to live on a kibbutz at the age of 15. "He studied philosophy and literature at the
Hebrew
University
in
Jerusalem
, and was visiting fellow at
Oxford
University
, author-in- residence at the
Hebrew
University
and writer-in-residence at
Colorado
College
. He has been named Officer of Arts and Letters of France. An author of prose for children and adults, as well as an essayist, he has been widely translated and is internationally acclaimed. He has been honored with the French Prix Femina and the 1992 Frankfurt Peace Prize. He lives in the southern town
Arad
and teaches literature at
Ben
Gurion
University
of the
Negev
." In describing his literary efforts, a reviewer in Newsweek wrote, “Eloquent, humane, even religious in the deepest sense, [Oz] emerges as a kind of Zionist Orwell: a complex man obsessed with simple decency and determined above all to tell the truth, regardless of whom it offends.” Oz is extremely prolific and only some of his works have been translated into English. These include such recent efforts as My Michael, A Perfect Peace and Don't Call It Night.
1939: In
Hungary
, Miklos Horthy signs “The Second Jewish Bill” which had been introduced into the Hungarian Parliament in December of 1938 and was laughingly called “the Christmas present for the Jews.” The bill was the Hungarian version of Hitler’s Nuremberg Laws and proved to almost immediately ruinous for much of Hungary’s Jewish population.
1942: Birthdate of Michael Dray. His family had moved from Casablanca to Paris. He was the youngest of the Moroccan-born Jews who would be deported from Paris to Auschwitz - an event that took place when he was twenty months old.
1942: The first day of an eleven day deportation of 10,000 Jews from Lodz ghetto to the Chelmno Death Camp. They were part of 145,000 people who were gassed between December, 1941 and September 1942.
1942: Starting on this date and lasting until May 8, six Jews in Lódz, Poland, fearing deportation, commit suicide.
1942: Starting on this date and lasting until May 15, more than 10,000 Jews are deported from the Lódz (Poland) Ghetto to Chelmno.
1943: An advertisement condemning the recently completed Bermuda Conference appeared on page 17 of the New York Times under the headline of To 5,000,000 Jews in the Nazi Death-Trap Bermuda was a Cruel Mockery,”
1945: Red Army troops liberate the camp at Oranienburg, Germany, where 5000 inmates remain alive.
1945: The U.S. 82nd Airborne Division liberates the concentration camp at Wöbbelin,Germany.
1945: At Mauthausan the prisoners were not taken out to work and SS men were observed leaving the camp.
1945: The International Red Cross took over the administration of the camp/ghetto at Theresienstadt, Czechoslovakia. The last of the camp's SS men flee.
1947: Today marked the start of the fifth annual nation-wide observance of Religious Book Week, sponsored by The National Conference of Christians and Jews and designed to stimulate the reading of books of spiritual value, is being held this week. The Conference was established in 1928 "to demonstrate that those who differ deeply in religious beliefs may work together in the American way toward mutual goals."
1947: The Irgun Zeva'l Le'umi, known in Hebrew by the abbreviation as Etzel or the Irgun, staged the famous prison break at Acre Prison. In April, 1947, the British had hung members of the Irgun so Menachem Begin felt it was imperative to try and rescue at least some of those held in the aging fortress. In a act of daring-do worthy of any adventure novel, the Irgun entered the prison and freed 41 Etzel and Lehi (Stern Gang) prisoners. They could not free more because of the lack of hiding places. These escape is one of the climactic scenes in Leon Uris's novel (and movie by the same name) Exodus.
1947: More than 2,000 people filled Temple Emanu-El this afternoon at a special memorial service for Henry Monsky, international president of B'nai B'rith and chairman of the interim committee of the American Jewish Congress. Mr. Monsky died on Friday in the Hotel Biltmore at the age of 57, while attending a meeting of the future organization committee of the conference.
1948: With only five days left until the end of the British Mandate, the Jewish forces were working feverishly to develop a military posture that would enable them to avoid annihilation by Arab military forces operating illegally in Palestine. At the same time they were trying to prepare a defensive posture that would enable them to face the invading armies they would face within the next week. To that end, the Palmach launched Operation Broom. Operation Broom was intended to “sweep away” Arab bases so that Jewish settlements in the lower and upper
Galilee
could be joined together with a wide, safe strip of Jewish territory. Large numbers of Arabs departed the
Galilee
for safe haven across the
Jordan River
. Their departure was a result of rumors of that a large Jewish force was on its way and the belief that once the Arab armies had had their way with the Jews, they could return and reap the spoils of victory.
1948: Norman Mailer's first novel, The Naked and the Dead, was published.
1952: In an interview given on the eve of his departure for the United States, Abba Khoushy, Mayor of Haifa declared “that this is going to be THE city of the country.” In outlining the many virtues of this major seaport, the mayor noted that the population has grown from 63,000 in 1949 to 200,000 in 1952. He has four major projects on the drawing board, which, if funded, will “bring greatness to Haifa.”
1952: Birthdate of Harry Ehrenberg, Jr., a pillar of the Little Rock, Arkansas Jewish Community and a mensch in the truest sense of that term.
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that the Treasury doubled the exchange rate for leather and textiles to IL2 per dollar. The Histadrut banned all overtime and double jobs in order to ease the current heavy unemployment.
1956: Birthdate of author David Guterson, the author of the novel Snow Falling on Cedars which won many awards, including the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award. The son of Jewish parents, Guterson is a self-described agnostic.
1957: The Anne Frank Foundation was formed in
Amsterdam
. This is one of the organizations dedicated to preserving the memory of this tragic Jewish figure whose diary has captured and continues to capture the hearts and imagination of millions around the world.
1965: Israel Bar-Yehuda completes his term as Minister of Transport and Road Safety
1970: In deciding the legal case "Walz v. Tax Commission of New York," the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a
New York
statute exempting church-owned property from taxation. This decision included all religious buildings i.e.Synagogues and Temples
1970(28th of Nisan, 5730): Allison Krause, a student at Kent State University, was one of four students killed by the Ohio National Guard. The Guard fired on a nonviolent demonstration against the Vietnam War. Krause was a committed Jew, the daughter of a Reform Jewish family, who opposed the
US
war against
Vietnam
out of a sense of the meaning of Judaism
1972(20th of Iyar, 5732): Ninety year old Hetty Goldman passed away.
http://www.ias.edu/people/goldman
http://www.brynmawr.edu/library/exhibits/BreakingGround/goldman.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/hgoldman.html
1975(23rd of Iyar, 5735): Comedian Moe Howard passed away. Born Moses Horowitz in 1897, Howard was "Moe" of the famous comedy group called the Three Stooges. All of the Stooges were Jewish. Another example of how Jews were successful in the entertainment field by being "All American" as opposed to ethnic.
1975: The New York Times featured a review of "Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang" by Mordecai Richler.
1978: The Jerusalem Post reported from Lebanon that Arab terrorists murdered four French UNIFIL paratroopers, wounded seven and abducted five.
France
avoided condemning the P.L.O. responsible for this attack and claimed that the troops were attacked by "irresponsible elements." The Security Council deplored the incident, boosted UNIFIL to the strength of 6,000 men and called on
Israel
"to complete the withdrawal."
1978(27th of Nisan, 5738): Yom HaShoah
1981(30th of Nisan, 5741): Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1982(11th of Iyar, 5742): Just 6 weeks before his 90th birthday, Barnett Janner, who had been made a life peer which meant he was recognized as Baron Janner, passed away today.
http://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/06/obituaries/baron-janner.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_09983.html
1983: Phillip Dougherty reported that “Geers, Gross Advertising has been named agency for Hebrew National Kosher Foods, which has also named Levy, Flaxman & Associates to handle its recently acquired fresh chicken and turkey operation. The main account should be billing $3 million, and fresh fowl, $1 million. The former agency is Scali, McCabe, Sloves, whose account list includes Frank Perdue and all his little chicks. Since Perdue is already in fresh fowl and is eyeing franks made with chicken, it is easy to see why S.M.S. is no longer the Hebrew National agency.”
1985: Michael A. Ledeen, an informal envoy of Robert C. McFarlane, the U.S. national security adviser, met with Shimon Peres in Jerusalem and inquired whether Israel had ideas about how to open contacts with Teheran. This is meeting that the Israelis have always cited as the American request for help that brought Israel into what became known as the Iran-Contra affair.
1994: In a letter published today entitled Jews Have Reason to Fear Italian Fascism, Susan Zucotti traces the history of Mussolini et al to explain “why Jews and other Italians are wary of Gianfranco Fini’s resurgent neo-Fascist party.
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/04/opinion/l-jews-have-reason-to-fear-italian-fascism-986445.html
1994: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed an according that granted the Palestinians the right of self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1997(27th of Nisan, 5757): Yom Hashoah; Rabbi Erwin Herman told the story of the "Yanov Torah" to 500 people at San Diego's community Yom HaShoah services today causing many of them to cry.
http://www.jewishsightseeing.com/usa/california/san_diego/lawrence_family_jcc/sd5-9yanov_torah.htm
1997: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Gospel According to the Son by Norman Mailer.
1997: Barb Feller, executive director of the Granger House in Marion, Iowa, traveled to England to interview John Granger, last surviving grandson of the home’s original owner. Mrs. Feller is an active member of the
Temple
Judah
community serving as a Hebrew teacher and co-President of the congregation.
2003: The New York Times featured books by Jewish writers and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including the recently released paperback edition of Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A. Caro.
2005: Natan Sharansky completed his term as Minister Without Portfolio.
2006: The American Jewish Committee's centennial events culminates with a gala event attended by US President George W. Bush, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel
2006(6th of Iyar, 5766): Luba Kadison, the last surviving member of the Vilna Troupe, an influential Yiddish theater company founded in Europe during World War I, passed away at the age of 99. Caraid O'Brien, a scholar of Yiddish theater and a friend of Kadison announced that she had died at her home in Manhattan. Kadison, whose married name was Luba Kaison Buloff, toured extensively in
Europe
before becoming a leading actress in Yiddish theater during its heyday on
New York
's
Lower East Side
. She was part of a golden age of Yiddish theater that saw serious and satirical plays challenge the dominance of popular musicals. "They did experimental things. They were doing stuff in the style of German expressionists before most English-speaking theaters," said O'Brien, who called Kadi