In the Beginning: 1854
Each week The American Israelite will print an item from the first years.
The Dinner of the Hebrew Benevolent Society. — On another page of this week’s Israelite the reader will find the call of the invitation committee to this society.
We hope that our friends will attend in a body, as their assistance is required in looked for. It is impossible to maintain this year the well-earned reputation of the Jews as a charitable man, if our friends do not support us most generously.
If God has blessed you with wealth, come on, let the poor have something thereof, and secure to yourselves the blessing of the Lord, and the satisfaction that none hungers while you eat, none freeze while you sit by the fire-side, and none weep while you smile.
It is so easy to spend twenty-five dollars for a silk dress, a chain, a cloak, etc., let us see how much the poor, the widow, and the orphan can get.
— December 15, 1854
150 Years ago
Items
- The Index, speaking of Thanksgiving, says very correctly, “We look upon its adoption by the U.S. Government as a dangerous and pernicious precedent.”
Editor’s Note: President Ulysses S. Grant made Thanksgiving a yearly federal holiday in Washington D.C. in the year 1870. Many Americans, particularly those who were not Christians, feared that the day would become a religious federal holiday. Hence the Index here, and other newspapers at the time, expressing concerns about the new federal holiday. - M. Emile Soldi, of Paris, has just completed several sculptures, which are highly spoken of by eminent critics. The Jews of Paris are exceedingly and justly proud of M. Soldi.
- Several French journals contain accounts of the success which Mons. J. Oppert has achieved in London, in connection with his explanations of the Assyrian inscriptions.
- M. Joseph Halevy, the well-known traveler and linguist, has been awarded the Volley prize by the Institute de France for his works on certain inscriptions.
— December 12, 1873
125 Years ago
Jottings
The Judge of the Cincinnati Police Court has expressed his opinion of a practitioner who “treated” a patient by “Christian Science” by fining her $100 and costs. The patient died.
- In all large cities there is a class of Jewish young men and women whose time is fully occupied during the week and who would be glad to attend a Sunday afternoon lecture. It would be worth the while of some organizations to try this as an experiment. To give no grounds for a possible misunderstanding, there should not even be a pretense of religious exercises. It should be simply a lecture and nothing more. This should be a fine field of endeavor for the Young Men’s Hebrew Associations and Councils of Jewish Women to exploit.
- The library of Gottingen has a Bible written on palm leaves. There are 5,373 pages, each made of a single leaf.
- The new Temple Emanuel at Denver is nearly ready for dedication. Rabbi Isaac M. Wise of Cincinnati has been asked to deliver the oration at the dedication.
Editor’s Note: Temple Emanuel in Denver still exists today. Founded in 1874, it is the oldest Jewish congregation in Colorado. The dedication which Rabbi Dr. Wise attended was to celebrate the building of a new synagogue, as the old one had burned down in 1897.
— December 15, 1898
100 Years ago
Jottings
- The vessel Anne Hotter, a Near East relief food ship, with a cargo of orphanage supplies, valued at $100,000 was destroyed by fire at Batoun, Russia.
- A mass meeting is to be held at Los Angeles, Cal., at the instance of Mt. Sinai Hospital Organization, for the purpose of acquainting Los Angeles Jewry with the plans for establishing Mt. Sinai Hospital on a large scale. The institution is to be unsectarian.
- The libel suit brought by Herman Bernstein, editor of the New York Jewish Tribune, against Henry Ford, has been transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, at the instance of Ford’s attorney on the ground of non-residence.
Editor’s Note: Herman Bernstein brought this libel suit against Ford after the automobile mogul published “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and a series called “The International Jews” in his paper, The Dearborn Independent. Herman Bernstein and his attorneys were unable to subpoena Ford and the lawsuit mentioned here never moved forward. Bernstein was able to have the state of New York impound copies of the Independent, when it entered the state, though this would have been difficult to fully enforce. Other libel suits were brought against Ford, prompting him to issue his “Apology to Jews.” In 1935 the Nazi Party in Germany made Ford’s Protocols of the Elders of Zion required reading for school children. - In the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, there is no town or village, however, small, without its church, Catholic or Protestant, except one town only, Foussemagne. Here the traveler is surprised to find not only no church, but not even a cross anywhere. On the other hand, there is a very fine synagogue. On inquiry, it is found that all the inhabitants of Foussemagne, 2,000 persons, are Jews.
- The K.K.K. reckoned without its host when it undertook to spread its vicious propaganda amongst the students of the University of Pennsylvania, with a view to getting them to enroll as members. The attempt has been met by a scarifying blast in “the Pennsylvanian,” which denounces the Klan and all its works. A similar attempt at Harvard led to a like answer from the university students’ paper, “The Crimson.” It is good to see this demonstration of the conscience of intelligent young American manhood.
— December 13, 1923
75 Years ago
Irwin M. Krohn Mourned
Irwin M. Krohn, for almost 25 years the president of the Cincinnati Board of Park Commissioners, died in Cincinnati Saturday, Dec. 11th, at the age of 80.
He was a member of the board of the Cincinnati Zoological Society and a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals and City Planning Commission.
“In the death of Irwin M. Krohn, here is brought to an end the most distinguished career of unselfish public service in the history of Cincinnati,” Mayor Albert D. Cash said, asking that flags on all public buildings here be flown at half-mast until after the funeral.
Cincinnati Social and Personal
An automatic control operating on television principles, which would stop a vehicle to prevent a collision if the driver failed to do so, is a distinct possibility, accord to a young University of Cincinnati scientist.
He is Mr. Abraham Soble, 28, candidate for a Ph.D. in mathematics at UC, researcher for the General Electric Co.’s electronic and regulator control engineering division, and former physics instructor and researcher at the University of Delaware. During the war, he worked on automatic controls for the U.S. Navy.
Recently, in New York, Mr. Soble was appointed to the committee on theory, of the instrument and regulator division, by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is completing a book on automatic controls.
— December 16, 1948
50 years ago
Bas Mitzvah
- We are happy to announce the forthcoming Bas Mitzvah of our daughter, Lisa, on Saturday, Dec. 22, at 10:45 a.m., at Plum Street Temple.
Lisa is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Froug of Dayton and Mrs. Louis Sommer of Cincinnati and the late Dr. Louis Sommer.
We would be pleased to have our friends worship with us and join us for the Kiddush following the ceremony.
-Roz and Louis Sommer - We cordially invite you to celebrate the Bas Mitzvah of our daughter and granddaughter, Ilene Devra, on Saturday, Dec. 22, at Rockdale Temple, 10:45 a.m., and to join us in the Kiddush following the service.
Ilene is the granddaughter of the late Iona Collin and the late Harry Schwartz.
-Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Schwartz, Mrs. Rose Schwarz, and Mr. Samuel Collin.
Bar Mitzvah
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley R. Gershuny are very happy to announce the forthcoming Bas Mitzvah of their daughter, Carol Ann, on Friday evening, Dec. 1, at 8:15 p.m., at Adath Israel Synagogue, Ridge and Galbraith Roads.
They cordially invite their family and friends to worship with them and to attend the Kiddush immediately following the services. Carol Ann is the granddaughter of Mrs. Pauline Bailes and Mr. George Bailes and the late Mr. and Mrs. Morris Gershuny.
— December 13, 1973
25 Years ago
Federation re-elects Davidow president
By Phyllis Singer
Editor
Harry Davidow was re-elected president of the Jewish Federation at the organization’s 102nd annual meeting Nov. 30 at Congregation Ohav Shalom.
In his president’s report, Davidow said that he and the Federation board “want to make this a world-class Jewish community” and pledged that he and the board “will do everything in our power to make that happen.”
Reviewing the past year, Davidow noted that Cincinnati’s Jewish Federation has been “going through a major transformation the past two years” as it attempts to reorganize itself and gets its “hands around the key issues that face us for the 21st century.”
— December 17, 1998
10 Years ago
Lighting Hanukkah candles with the Mayor
Members of the Cincinnati Jewish community were invited to light the Hanukkah candles on the 7th day with Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, in his mayoral offices.
While lighting the candles, Mayor Cranley noted that Cincinnati’s City Hall is one of only a few in country across from a synagogue.
Community leaders who attended are: Netanel (Ted) Deutsch, publisher of The American Israelite; Marc Fisher, CEO of The Mayerson Jewish Community Center; Beth Schwartz, Executive Director at Jewish Family Service; Shep Englander, CEO of The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati; Sarah Weiss, Executive Director of the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education; Bret Caller, former President of the Board of The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati; Danielle V. Minson, Chief Development Officer of The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati; Brian Jaffee, Executive Director of the Jewish Foundation; John Youkilis, Board President of the JCRC; Eddie Paul, Jewish National Fund Vice President, Committee on the Environment; Debbie Schneider Brant, Chair of The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati’s Women’s Philanthropy and President of the Board of the Mayerson JCC board; Naomi Ruben, AJC; and Dick Weiland, lobbyist and volunteer.
— December 12, 2013
