In the Beginning: 1855
Each week The American Israelite will print an item from the first years.
K. K. Benai Yeshurun. — At a general meeting of this congregation it was determined, that an organ should be placed in the synagogue after Pesach, and the necessary repairs be done in the building. The members subscribed about five thousand dollars to this purpose.
— March 16, 1855
150 Years ago
Items
– The way to speak and write what shall not go out of fashion, is to speak and write sincerely.
– A man of individuality is not desirous to display his exceptional qualities. In the presence of commonplace people he accepts their views so far as he can, and does not care to impress his own. It is a poor spirit which seeks to startle weaker brethren by the utterance of extreme views. The attitude of the spurious genius is based upon the assumption that what he has to say will not be understood. Success for him is only attainable by a mystification of his hearers, and in the cloud of false surprise he escapes without revealing his own intellectual shortcomings. It is quite different with the man who has really something to say. As a rule he is not very anxious to say it, and is quite content that he should be judged as an intellectual disappointment.
Local and Domestic
– It is Rev. Dr. Tintner, of New York, who was elected by the Anshe Chesed Congregation of Cleveland. His name as misprinted in our last.
– The editor of the Israelite delivered two lectures this week in the music Hall of Madison, Ind., and one in the synagogue of Louisville. He is back in the city, and lectures this evening in the temple as usual.
— March 13, 1874
125 Years ago
There is a great deal more said in the Jewish press about “Rabbi haters” than there is good ground for. It is true that some of the minor papers are continually criticizing the Rabbis as a class and call them names, but none of the leading papers do it. Of these never satisfied critics, two that we recall to mind just now are themselves Rabbis, both complete failures in their profession. A third editor is an attorney, of the class that you would reach first if you began to count from the bottom; also a failure in his profession. A fifth is, we believe, a printer by trade, so ignorant that he could not earn his salt setting type. It is from this class that the so-called Rabbi haters are taken. The truth is, they do not especially hate the Rabbis, they hate all successful men in about the same degree; but the Rabbis are easiest to get at and therefore they are attacked. In spite of their abuse, however, the Rabbinical profession, in America at least, is daily growing in the respect which it commands, as even the most casual observer must see.
Jottings
– To all of the many friends who have remembered the editor’s eightieth birthday he sends his thanks and affectionate regards.
– In honor of Rev. Dr. Wise’s 80th birthday, Mr. Louis I. Aaron of Pitssburg, Pa., donated one thousand dollars tot he Endowment Fund of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
– Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Bing, of Wilmington, O., announce that in honor of Rabbi Wise’s birthday they will, beginning with this year, contribute $10 annually to the Hebrew Union College.
— March 16, 1899
100 Years ago
Jottings
– According to the official records during 1923, the sixth full year after the Balfour Declaration, the total net increase in Palestine through immigration in Jewish population was only 3,788, of whom at least one-half if not more, were women and children. There were 7,254 arrivals, and 3,466 departures: that is, the number of departures was about one-third of the number of arrivals. Unless some radical change takes place, the Jewish population will always be an inconsiderable minority.
– A report from Warsaw says that 60,000 Poles and Jews have registered at the American Consulate in Warsaw and are awaiting visas permitting them to sail for America. Poland’s quota, under the present law, is filled for two years to come, and if the Johnson Bill is passed, the quota will have been filled for the coming four years. In the meantime, the steamship companies have been accepting advance payments. It is estimated by the immigration authorities in the Baltic States that steamship companies have collected approximately $40, 000,000 in prepaid passages from American relatives of 300,000 would be immigrants. If this report is true, this is, of course, a swindle, and the American victims should form combinations and force the steamship companies to disgorge.
— March 13, 1924
75 Years ago
Alfred M. Cohen Widely Mourned; Summoned at Home of Age 89
Alfred M. Cohen, one of the world’s most widely known members of the Jewish faith, died at his home in Cincinnati Wednesday afternoon, March 9th, at the age of 89.
He was honorary international president of the Independent Order of B’nai Brith and former chairman of the Board of Governors of the Hebrew Union nCollege, rabbinical seminary in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Social and Personal
– Mr. Simeon Johnson, of 3427 Burch Avenue, descendent of one of the oldest families in Cincinnati and widely known attorney, will celebrate his 90th birthday Friday, March 18th.
– “Peace is prayer of American rabbinate’s grand old man” is the headline over a two column interview in The Independent, a daily newspaper in St. Petersburg, Fla., of Saturday, March 5th.
Dr. David Philipson, dean of the American Reform rabbinate and rabbi emeritus of Cincinnati’s Rockdale Avenue Temple, is the subject of the interview, written by Ruth Prince.
Dr. Philipson participated in the recent anniversary dinner of St. Petersburg’s Temple Beth-El.
– Dr. Leo Baeck, president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and member of the Hebrew Union College faculty, spoke Saturday monring, March 5th, to residents of the Home for the Jewish Aged. In addition to Dr. Baeck, guests
— March 17, 1949
50 years ago
Father and Son Bar Mitzvah March 30
An occasion will be observed at the Hillel Foundation at Ohio University, Athens, as Herbert A. Harris, of Athens, joins his son, David Williams Harris, in jointly celebrating their becoming Bar Mitzvah at Shabbat Morning Services on Shabbat Vayikra, March 30.
David’s father did not have the opportunity to mark his becoming Bar Mitzvah at age 13.
In gratitude for the opportunity afforded them by the presence of the Hillel House in Athens, David and his father have requested that anyone who would like to mark this occasion with a gift do so by donation to the “Save the Hillel House Fund.”
Bar Mitzvah
Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Cohen (Phyllis Fleck), 8524 18th Avenue, Kenosha Wise., are happy to announce the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Martin Stuart, on Saturday, March 23, at 10 a.m., at Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha.
Martin is the grandson of Mrs. Joseph Fleck of Cincinnati and the late Mr. Fleck and Mr. and Mrs. Mendel Cohen of San Fransisco.
— March 14, 1974
25 Years ago
Beth Adam original Haggadah now available
Congregation Beth Adam, the tri-state’s only Jewish congregation practicing Judaism with a humanistic perspective, is making their original, award-winning Haggadah, “The Seder” available to the public. Created and published in 1997, Beth Adam’s 47 page Haggadah was written by the Congregation’s Ritual and Lifecycle Committee and designed by Photonics Graphics.
“Beth Adam’s liturgy seeks to give voice to who we are and what we believe,” states Rabbi Robert B. Barr. “We have tried to create the opportunity for all who read it to experience a deeper sense of their moral and spiritual selves. Our liturgy strives to foster intellectual honesty, human responsibility, self-expression and shared participation.”
— March 18, 1999
10 Years ago
Lecture and exhibition at Skirball Museum to feature work of Moses Jacob Ezekiel and his circle
The next exhibition at the Cincinnati Skirball Museum, located on the campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, will focus on the work of Moses Jacob Ezekiel (1844-1917). The opening reception, scheduled from 5:30 to 8 p.m., will include a lecture by scholar and writer Peter Nash on Thursday, March 20, at 7 p.m. The exhibition will run through May 11.
In his lecture, Nash will describe how he became interested in American expatriate artist Moses Ezekiel, and will tell of his adven- tures in Rome when he traveled there to find and explore the places in which Ezekiel lived and worked. Nash is the author of a newly pub- lished book that describes Ezekiel as a Sephardic Jew, a homosexual, Confederate soldier, Southern apologist, opponent of slavery, patriot, expatriate and artist of international fame in the fin-de-siècle world of artists and intellectuals.
The intimate exhibition at the Skirball grew out of a recently acquired gift of works by Moses Ezekiel and his circle from the artist’s great-nephew Lee Striker, explains Abby Schwartz, the museum’s interim director. These works, mostly on paper but including three oil paintings by members of the artist’s circle and Ezekiel’s sculpting tools, complement the three bronze and marble pieces already in the museum’s collection.
— March 13, 2014
