In the Beginning: 1855
Each week The American Israelite will print an item from the first years.
The Rev. Dr. Lilienthal, elected rabbi of K. K. Benai Israel, has arrived in the city, and will preach tomorrow morning at the Broadway Synagogue in German, and in the afternoon in the English language.
Editor’s Note: This note was published on the event of Dr. Lilienthal’s arrival in Cincinnati. He would serve as the rabbi of what is now Rockdale Temple and he would also take a position as an editor at The American Israelite. Lilienthal became fast friends with Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. The two would eventually purchase burial plots next to each other at Walnut Hills Cemetery to ensure that they could be buried near one another. Their neighboring grave markers are still well tended and oft-visited at Walnut Hills Cemetery to this day.
— June 1, 1855
150 Years ago
Items
– Epitaph for a cannibal — “one who loved his fellow-men.”
– According to the latest statement of the British Registrar General, London has a population of 3,254,260.
– A son of Berthold Auerbach, the German novelist, is traveling in this country. He is now in Washington, and is described as a tall, handsome young fellow, with yellow hair, blue eyes, and elegant teeth.
– The yearly report of the British Museum has been published, and states, among other matters, that three Hebrew manuscripts had been acquired during the year. One of these is a large quarto, dated 1436 A.D., being a commentary on the Prophets and Psalms by Aaron Ha-Rishon, the Macedonian. Another important addition is the Sepher Ha-aruch, a Hebrew dictionary by Shabtai ben Meir, consisting of two large folios of the fourteenth century. In the Hebrew Catalogue, it appears that sixty-one title slips have been transcribed and added.
– A firm in Pittsburg, dealing largely in photographs, lately received a letter from a correspondent in an adjoining county, with the following singular request: “Mr.——, living here, wants a picture of his wife. She has been dead forty-four years, was a medium-sized woman, light sandy complexion, hair a little on the dark sandy order, blue eyes, weight 140 pounds, red cheeks, and thirty-six years old when she died. Inclosed find fifty cents for the picture.” This bona-fide request was complied with. A picture was selected from the large assortment in stock, as near the description as possible, and forwarded on. Singularly enough it proved entirely satisfactory.
— May 29, 1874
125 Years ago
Local
– Those who are in the best position to know say there are about 15,000 Jews in Cincinnati.
– Rabbi and Mrs. I. M. Wise have remold to their country home, in Springfield Township, for the summer.
– The Board of Governors H.U.C. will on Saturday, June 3d, at 3 p.m, receive as the hands of the Executive Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis the bronze bust of Rev. Dr. Isaac M. Wise, executed by order of the Conference in honor of its President by Mr. Leo Mielziner. The ceremony will take place in the chapel of the college and the public is invited to attend.
Editor’s Note: The bronze bust was designed by Moses Jacob Ezekiel and was a commission to celebrate Rabbi Wise’s 80th birthday. The bust is now at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Rabbi Wise’s son-in-law ordered a marble bust of Wise for his own home, which was later given to the HUC Cincinnati campus. It is currently on display at the Skirball Museum here in Cincinnati.
– While a number of the interns of the City Hospital were engaged in a game of lawn tennis in the court, which is situated in the court on the Plum street side of the institution, Tuesday afternoon there suddenly arose loud cries for help from a throng of boys standing on the canal bank. On the opposite side several women joined in the cry, wringing their hands. Dr. Samuel Iglauer grasped the situation at a glance, and, vaulting over the fence, plunged into the murky waters where a young lad was struggling. In a moment he had the boy on dry land, and thus saved his life. An officer who came along carried the boy to his home, which was close by.
Editor’s Note: The Dr. Samuel Iglauer mentioned above for his heroic act is the father of Helen Iglaer, who would later marry famous archaeologist and HUC president Nelson Glueck. Helen Iglauer Glueck was successful in her own right, as one of the first three women to graduate from UC’s College of Medicine in 1934. She became a well known physician.
— June 1, 1899
100 Years ago
Jottings
– A gift of $100,000 by Felix Warburg, of New York City, to the Hebrew University now being erected on Mount Scopus, near Jerusalem, has been annouced. The money will be used for the establishment of a department of Jewish history and religion in the university.
– During the recent B’nai B’rith District Grand Lodge No. 7 Convention at Alexandria, La., all of the leading establishments, including the leading K.K.K. merchants, displayed cards of welcome. The Alexandria Klansmen assist the local B’nai B’rith Lodge with many of their entertainment.
– Shreveport, La., is said to have sixty per cent of its voters in the Ku Klux Klan. Yet Judge David B Samuels (President of B’nai B’rith District Grand Lodge No. 7) received 4,500 out of the 7,500 votes cast in the recent election for Judge of the Criminal Court. There were four candidates for the office.
– Research work covering ten years and costing $40,000 culminated on Monday night when “The History of the Jews of Chicago” was presented to the Chicago Historical Society. The work has been carried on by the Jewish Historical Society of Illinois. Imposing ceremonies marked the presentation. The book utilizes material of great historical value, going back seventy-five year, when there were fewer than one hundred Jews in Chicago.
— May 29, 1924
75 Years ago
Cincinnati Social and Personal
– The Chai Sigma Delta freshmen have initiated a tradition into the sorority by serenading their departing seniors. This year the serenading took place on the night of Wednesday, May 18, and a party in honor of the senior will be held on the night of Friday, June 3.
The seniors serenaded are Aileen Behrendt, Enid Levinger, Marilynn Mark, Eleanor Middleman, Jean Poley and Ilene Weiner. The freshmen who serenade are Lucille Bennett, Mona Gettler, Marilyn Goldberg, Sonny Kaye, Marlene Kessel, Ruth Lurie, Phyllis Stein, and Jo Ann Widerschein.
– Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Philips are enjoying the visit of Mrs. Philips’ sister, Miss Gerda Gruenebaum, formerly of Berlin, Jerusalem and Chicago.
Miss Gruenebaum has just arrived from Japan where for the past two years she was in charge of the X-ray laboratory of the 172nd United States Army station Hospital in Sendai. A reception in her honor will be held at the Philips’ residence, 3550 Van Antwerp Place, Sunday, June 5, between 3 and 6 p.m. Friends are cordially invited.
Coney Island
Swimming, dancing, dining, picknicking, thrill rides and fun devices constitute the amusement fare now being offered at Coney Island, Cincinnati.
A free show is being presented at 4 and 9 p.m. on the Mall, through June 3.
— June 2, 1949
50 years ago
Bas Mitzvah
– Dr. and Mrs. Gerald Berg are happy to announce the Bas Mitzvah of their daughter, Stacie Zoe, Friday, May 31, at 8:30 p.m., Roselawn Synagogue, 7600 Reading Road.
We will be happy to have you worship with us and join us for the Kiddish following services.
– Mrs. LeRoy Manes is happy to announce the forthcoming Bas Mitzvah of her daughter, Gayl Rene, on Friday, June 7, at 8:15 p.m. at Adath Israel Synagogue, Ridge and Galbraith Roads.
Gayl is the daughter of the late Dr. LeRoy Manes. She is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Harrison of Piqua, Ohio and the late Mrs. Jessie P. Maines of Dallas.
It will give me great pleasure to have our family and friends worship with us and attend the Oneg Shabbat following the service. No cards.
– Our daughter Sharon will be called to the Torah on the occasion of her Bat Mitzvah, at the Isaac M. Wise Congregation, Plum Street Temple, on Friday, June 7, 1974 at 8:15 in the evening.
We would be very pleased to have you join us in worship and for the Oneg Shabbat following the services.
Leonard and Renee Goldberg
Bar Mitzvah
Ms. Shirley Once is proud to announce the forthcoming Bar Mitzvah of her son, Jeffrey Michael, on Saturday, June 8th. Services will begin at 9 a.m. at Adath Israel Synagogue. A Kiddish will follow. Jeffrey is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Guttman.
— May 30, 1974
25 Years ago
Kanter elected Jewish Foundation president
Robert Kanter was elected president of the Jewish Foundation Board of Trustees at its annual meeting at the beginning of May.
“I see our role as similar to that of the Hanukkah Shamash,” Kanter said. “in 1850, Judah Toura lit one candle with his gift of $5,000 for the purchase of the first biding to house The Jewish hospital. I envision that in the years to come, the Jewish Foundation, by its gifts, lighting hundred of candles which will help keep the flame of Judaism burning bright for eternity.”
Kanter has been involved in Jewish communal activities for years. He is a past president of Isaac M. Wise Temple, where he and his family are affiliated. He has served on the Board of Overseers of Hebrew Union College. Kanter joined the board of the Jewish Hospital in 1975 and subsequently served as chairman.
— June 3, 1999
10 Years ago
March of the Living 2014: A journey of a lifetime for Cincinnati teens
This past April, 14 high school seniors from Cincinnati joined more than 12,000 people from around the world to march from Auschwitz to Birkenau and proclaim in a voice 12,000 strong: NEVER AGAIN!
“I am so proud of our group,” explains Abby Solomon, Cincinnati Delegation Head. “They learned so much about themselves and their Jewish identities, something that is crucial before graduating from high school and taking their next steps in life. I am confident that each of them left the trip with the need to teach oth- ers about their journey and feeling empowered to never let something like the Holocaust happen again.”
— May 29, 2014
