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1850 - 1921 IGNAZ GOLDZIHER (Hungary)

Islamic scholar. He described in detail the various Islamic sects and the history of Islamic oral tradition (hadith). After the Balfour Declaration he was asked by the Zionists to act as a mediator to help bring about an understanding with the Arabs. He refused.


1850 RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883) (Germany)

Published his first anti-Semitic article Das Judentum in der Musik. The composer attacked the Jews, denying the existence of Jewish cultural creativity. He accused all Jews of being money hungry and condemned them as the "demon causing mankind's downfall" (Untergang). Wagner proposed that they be either assimilated or removed from cultural life. He was a strong supporter of political anti-Semitism. Wagner's daughter married the English/French anti-Semite, Houston Stewart Chamberlain.


1850 "TIDINGS FROM JERUSALEM" WAS PUBLISHED

By Colinda Minor an American evangelist who had arrived in Eretz Israel the year before. She was active in helping the Jewish farm in Artas near Bethlehem and later a one outside Jaffa called Mount Hope where she received some help by Montefiore. Minor hoped to provide work for the local Jews and believed that "Gods time to favor Zion has come…. (He will) set his hand a second time to recover Israel."


1850 September 7, (1 Tishrei 5611 Rosh Hashana) MELEE AT SYNAGOGUE (Albany New York)

While Isaac Mayer Wise was serving as Rabbi of the Beth El Synagogue in Albany New York, he asserted in an address to a reform congregation that he did not believe in the coming of the Messiah nor the resurrection of the dead. Members of the Albany synagogue demanded that he be fired, he refused and forcefully ascended the pulpit. A fistfight broke out which included Wise and the synagogue president. The police had to intervene and close the synagogue. Wise decided to moved to Cincinnati where he founded Congregation Bnai Jeshurum and the first Reform seminary.


1850 December 12, COMMISSION AGAINST VAGRANCY ( Romania)

Interior Minister Ion Bratianu, (1821-1891) instituted a number of anti Jewish legislation's. In his "commission against vagrancy", Jews were defined as a vagabonds who could be expelled at will from the country.


1851 Benedetto Musolino (Calabria, Italy)

Musolino (1809–1885), a Christian, wrote "Gerusalemme e il Popolo Ebreo" - "Jerusalem and the Jewish People". His book, which was never published, called for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine forty –five years before Herzl. Hebrew was to be its national language. He was active in "The Sons of New Italy" movement, and was elected in 1848 to the new parliament of the Kingdom of Naples.


1851 - 1933 FELIX ADLER (Germany - USA)

Educator and social reformer. Adler began his career at Temple Emanuel in New York, but soon decided to reject all forms of traditional Judaism. He served for a while as a professor at Cornell and in 1876 founded the Society for Ethical Culture which was non-sectarian and believed in the philosophy of ethical humanism. Adler became chairperson of the National Child Labor Committee and helped liberalize legislation regarding maternal and child welfare, labor relations, and civic reform.


1851 March 5, IASI ROMANIA

After the establishment of a "Commission Against Vagrancy", 37 Jews were forced onto a Turkish boat to be exiled. Some were thrown overboard.


1851 May 20, - 1929 EMILE BERLINER (Germany-USA)

Inventor and Zionist. He wrote convincingly on the compatibility between Orthodox Judaism and the world of science. He invented the "loose contact telephone transmitter", which was purchased by Bell. Berlinger established the largest telephone company in Europe. He also invented the microphone and the disc record, based on Edison's cylinder inversion.


1851 October 6, (10 Tishrei 5612 Yom Kippur) SAN DIEGO (USA)

The first recorded Jewish religious observance in Southern California was held at the home of Lewis Abraham Franklin.


1852 - 1915 ISAAC LEIBUSH PERETZ (Poland)

A distinguished figure in both Hebrew and Yiddish literature. His writings are generally considered to lean toward Romanticism. In 1887, after ten years of silence he switched from Hebrew to Yiddish, writing poetry and editing journals. Peretz became a socialist criticizing both Hebrew and Zionism, which he referred to as "Diaspora nationalism". Many of his stories relate to Hassidic tales.


1852 PRAGUE (Bohemia)

The ghetto was officially abolished.


1852 - 1870 REIGN OF NAPOLEON III OF FRANCE

Charles Louis Napoleon, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, was a tyrant who also tried to grant liberal reforms. Though elected to the presidency, he also established himself as a dictator. During the Mortara Case (1858), he joined the protest against the actions of the Church.


1852 - 1931 ALBERT ABRAHAM MICHELSON ( Poland - USA)

Physicist known for his work on measuring the speed of light. His theories provided Einstein with the basis for developing his Theory of Relativity.. Michelson was the first (along with Francis G. Pease) to measure the diameter of a star other than the Sun (Betelgeuse). In 1869 he received a special appointment to the naval academy in Annapolis by President U. S. Grant. He received a Nobel Prize in physics in 1907 being the first American to win that prize. His books include The Velocity of Light and Studies in Optics.


1852 - 1937 Hayyim Pereira Mendes ( England -USA)

The descendant of a long list of rabbinical leaders he was called to New York's Congregation Shearith Israel to fill a position as preacher. He served there for 60 years, Mendes was active in setting up the Jewish theological seminary) 1866), the Union of Orthodox Congregations (1897), the Young woman's Hebrew Organization (YWHA) (1902). He founded the Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids (1884), and the Horeb Home and School for Jewish Deaf-Mutes (1906). Mendes was also an ardent Zionist and served as vice-president of the American Federation of Zionists.


1852 POPE PIUS IX

Persuaded Tuscany to ban the use Jewish doctors.


1852 January 16, MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL (New York, USA)

The first Jewish Hospital in the United States (originally known as "Jews Hospital of New York") was founded by a group of mostly German Jewish immigrants. One of its founders was Samson Simson, one of the first Jewish lawyers in New York City who had studied under Aaron Burr. That same year, he also helped found the Beth Hamedrash Hagodal. Other contributors included Samuel Myer Isaacs, who helped found Maimonides College in Philadelphia, and Adolphus Simeon Solomons, who in 1881 helped Clara Barton found the Red Cross.


1852 February 21, POPE PIUS IX (1792 – 1878)

Protested the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II’s, decision allow them to live outside the ghetto. In his objection he wrote "Otherwise, it will open the door to requests for other civil rights for Jews and for other non-Catholics."


1852 June 4, BETH HAMEDRASH HAGADOL (New York, USA)

A congregation for Russian Jews was formed with the help of former German Jewish immigrants. This traditional congregation opened a school and soon became the center of Orthodoxy in the U.S. Abraham Joseph Ash, an halachic authority, was elected as its rabbi in 1860 and held the position until his death in 1888. So as not to be dependent on a community salary, he also tried his hand in business without much success.


1853 ABRAHAM SCHREINER (Galicia)

A merchant who discovered the uses of petroleum. He built a distillery which caught fire, leaving him impoverished. He ended up selling liquor to peasants.


1853 - 1927 MARCUS SAMUEL BEARSTEAD (England)

Viscount, Lord Mayor of London, and philanthropist. He imported ornamental shells and later founded an oil company which he named "Shell".


1853 JERUSALEM

According to Cesar Famin (1799-1853), a French diplomat and historian, there were 8,000 Jews 4000 Muslims and 3490 Christians in Jerusalem. For the most part, from that time on the Jews remained the dominant religion if not the actual majority in Jerusalem, other reports date it from 1844.


1853 - 1918 (21 Av 5678) HAYYIM SOLOVEICHIK (Rav Chayim Brisker) (Russia)

Rabbi of Brest-Litvosk. He served as head of the Volozhin Yeshiva and was author of Reb Chayim Al Harambam on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah. A great scholar and brilliant talmudist, he evolved new trends in analytical talmudic study. As its undisputed leader, R. Hayyim spent much of his time organizing and helping the community. After the 1895 fire he did much to help rebuild the town. Though stringent in his personal observance, he was often lenient in his decisions for others.


1853 KEREM AVRAHAM ("Abraham's Vineyard")

Was purchased by James Finn (1806-1872) the British council in Jerusalem . Its purpose was to train Jews in agriculture and other trades so as to become financial independent of the Halukah system. Today it is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, near Geulah.


1853 - 1932 MOSES ALEXANDER (USA)

The first Jewish Governor of an American State, Alexander was born in Germany, began his political career as the mayor of Chillicothe Missouri, and then became mayor of Boise, Idaho before becoming governor. He was active in the Jewish community and helped found the first synagogue in Idaho. The town of Alexander, Idaho is named after him.


1853 MOUNT HOPE FARM (JAFFA)

Was established by protestant Christians from the USA and Prussia including the Dickson family, Colinda Minor and the (Gross) Steinbeck family. They believed that by helping Jews return to the land of Israel they would hasten the coming of the messiah. The grandson of Johann Steinbeck was the author John Steinbeck.


1853 February 10, - 1933 VICTOR MORDECHAI GOLDSCHMIDT, (Germany-Austria)

German mineralogist. Goldschmidt made important studies of crystallography. His books The index of Crystal Forms and the Atlas of Crystal Forms are considered classics of mineralogy.


1853 May 2, CONSITUTION IN ARGENTINA

Called for religious freedom for all Argentineans. The constitution still provided government support for Catholic institutions and stipulated that the president and his deputy must be Roman Catholic.


1854 - 1944 EMANUEL LOEW (Hungary)

Naturalist and botanist. His four volume work "Flora of the Jews" names and examines the nature of plant life in the Bible and the place of plant life in Jewish law and legend. He listed 117 names of plants in the Bible and 320 in talmudic literature.


1854 M. DAVIDSON (Germany)

Built and drove the first electric automobile.


1854 - 1917 PAUL EHRLICH (Germany)

First expounded the theory of immunity which led to the development of serums. Ehrlich enabled people to study blood cells by injecting dyes. He won the Nobel Prize (1908) for his development of the "606" treatment for syphilis. Ehrlich was also a noted Zionist.


1854 - 1923 HERTHA AYRTON ( Phoebe Sarah Marks) (England)

Physicist , engineer and inventor. In 1899 she became the first woman to read her own paper before the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE ) and later ( 1904) to do the same before the Royal society. She registered 26 patents and her publications include The Electric Arc, and The Origin and Growth of Ripple Marks.


1854 MOTZA

A Jewish farm was purchased from the nearby Arab village of Qalunya by Shaul Yehuda an Iraqi Jew, with the help of the British council James Finn. A number of Jewish families joined him and an inn was set up by Yehoshua Yellin(1843-1924). Herzl planted a tree there in 1898, but it was cut down by the Turks during WWI for firewood.


1854 March 28, CRIMEAN WAR

Britain and France joined the Ottoman empire in the war against Russia. Although the immediate cause were the rights of the Greek orthodox church in the holy land, The real reason was the expansion of Russia at the expense of the weakened Ottoman empire. Jews fought on all sides, especially the Russian side. The outbreak of war led to the cessation of any transfer of funds to Eretz Israel, which in turn resulted in great hardships. One outcome of the war was the expansion of counselor offices and the renewed interest in the area.


1855 - 1927 HOUSTON STEWART CHAMBERLAIN (England)

Son-in-law of Richard Wagner, the composer and anti-Semite. He was a proponent of the superiority of the Teutonic race. Chamberlain was the author of "Foundation of the Nineteenth Century" which Julius Streicher, the Nazi founder of Der Stuermer, called "the greatest book since the gospel".


1855 DAVID EINHORN (USA)

Appointed as Rabbi of the Har Sinai Congregation in Baltimore. A noted German reformist, he was more radical than Isaac Mayer Wise, yet was against intermarriage. Due to his anti-slavery views he was forced to flee during the Civil War. In 1866 was appointed rabbi in New York at Congregation Adath Jeshurun.


1855 - 1881 REIGN OF CZAR ALEXANDER II OF RUSSIA

Alexander became Czar after his father's death during the Crimean war. Although by no means a liberal, the disaster of the war and comparisons with the West prompted him to make certain changes which included revoking serfdom, establishing local councils (Zemstovs) and reforming the legal system in 1864). Alexander's rise to the throne gave hope to the Jewish population after the harsh policies of Nicholas I. Although he refused to do away with the Pale, he did abolish the forced abduction of Jews into the army and allowed Jewish merchants (for the first time) to temporarily live in Moscow.


1856 - 1929 LOUIS MARSHALL (USA)

Constitutional lawyer and Jewish leader. He defended Jewish and minority rights and, although he was not a Zionist, he supported the Balfour Declaration.


1856 - 1922 AARON DAVID (A.D.) GORDON (Russia-Eretz Israel)

A Hebrew writer and philosopher of the "religion of labor", he was considered to be the ideological pillar of the kibbutz movement. Born in 1856 in Russia, he only came to Eretz Israel at the age of 48. Neither his age or health impeded his drive to work in agriculture. He helped found Kibbutz Degania in 1909. Gordon's philosophy included a call for a return to nature. He believed that the self-improvement of each individual rather than external changes (i.e. Marxism) were the means to change Jewish destiny.


1856 - 1914 DAVID WOLFFSOHN (Lithuania-Germany)

Second president of the World Zionist Organization. He met Herzl in 1896 and formed a symbiotic relationship. He is credited with providing the business aspect to the Zionist movement. He is also recognized by some with the suggestion to use a blue and white talit (prayer shawl) for a flag and the Skekel as a membership fee.


1856 JERUSALEM (Eretz Israel)

Population consisted of 4,000 Sephardim (Orientals) and 1,700 Ashkenazim (Europeans).


1856 - 1941 LOUIS BRANDEIS (USA)

Liberal jurist and lawyer, he was known as "the people's attorney". He opposed monopolies and fought for higher wages and freedom of speech. In 1916 Woodrow Wilson nominated him to the position of Supreme Court Justice. Brandeis was an ardent Zionist, and in 1939 he resigned to devote himself to the Zionist cause. Although he disagreed with Weizmann regarding what he considered to be the economic and organizational inefficiency of the World Zionist Organization, he continued to be involved with the establishment of the Palestine Economic Corporation and the Palestine Endowment Fund. Brandeis fought the Peel Partition Plan of 1937, maintaining that the Jews had a right to all of Mandated Palestine. Kibbutz Ein Hashofet was named in his honor.


1856 SPECIAL TAX ON NON MUSLIMS ABOLISHED ( Ottoman Empire)

By Sultan Abdulmecid I. Non Muslims were also permitted to serve in the Ottoman army.


1856 March, COMMITTEE FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF THE JEWS (Russia)

Was appointed by the Czar Alexander II to seek ways to help "fuse" the Jews into Russian society and separate them from the "historical solidarity" of the Jews among themselves.


1856 May 6, - 1939 SIGMUND FREUD, 'Father of Psychoanalysis' (Vienna, Austria)

Developed revolutionary techniques of psychoanalysis, including the idea that dreams represented the disguised fulfillment of subconscious desires. Freud formulated new theories of childhood development (such as the Oedipus complex). Though not a practicing Jew (he considered formal religion a neurosis), he encountered anti-Semitism many times and defended his Jewishness with dignity. His many works include The Ego and the Id, The Interpretation of Dreams, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, and Moses and Monotheism (on the foundation and characteristics of Judaism). His students included Jung, Adler, and Frenezi.


1856 June 12, BAN ISSUED AGAINST THE LAEMEL SCHOOL (Jerusalem)

The school had been established a month earlier by Eliza Herz n’ee Laemel and the poet Ludwig August Frankl (1810-1894), making it the first Jewish school in Jerusalem to combine religious and secular study. A ban against any school which would include secular subjects was issued by the Ashkenazi Jewish community in Jerusalem. One of the co-signatories was Rabbi Samuel Salant. Other Rabbis, including Yehiel Michal Pines (1849-1913) and David Friedman of Karlin (1823-1917) as well as members of the Sephardic community, declared the ban invalid, and demanded it be rescinded. In actually, it was reinforced later on by Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin (1818–1898) to include all Ashkenazi Jews anywhere in the land of Israel.


1856 August 5, - 1927 ASHER GINSBERG (Ahad Ha'am - "one of the people") (Russia-Eretz Israel)

Essayist, philosopher, and founder of Cultural Zionism as opposed to Herzlian Zionism (which advocated diplomacy and mass immigration). He viewed Eretz Israel as a "spiritual center" to be slowly built through cultural and historical devotion rather than settlement activity. He was editor of the Hebrew periodical Hasheloach until 1903.


1856 September, FIRST KINDERGARTEN OPENED IN THE USA (Watertown, Wisconsin)

By Margarethe Meyer Schurz (1832 – 1876). She had studying under Friedrich Froebel, who is considered the father of the kindergarten. The language of her kindergarten was German. In 1859 she met Elizabeth Peabody who founded the first English speaking kindergartens . Margarethe's husband Carl served as a Major General in the Union Army and later became the U.S Secretary of the Interior.


1856 November 10, LONDON (England)

Jews College was opened by Rabbi Nathan M. Adler. Its main goals were to offer courses and training in both Jewish and secular subjects as well as to establish a Jewish secondary school. The secondary school only lasted about 20 years.


1857 - 1894 HENRICH HERTZ (Germany)

Pioneer in the science of electricity, demonstrating the presence of electro-magnetic waves of slow frequency. They are popularly known today by his name, "Hertz Waves".


1857 - 1893 JULIUS POPPER (Romania-Argentina)

Explorer. Popper succeeded in finding gold on the Island of Tierra del Fuego and established himself there as a representative of a mining company. To protect himself against poachers he brought in armed men. After a number of "battles" he became the "Sovereign" of the Island, printing money and even stamps. As the mines began to produce less money he returned to Argentina where he lived as a popular literary figure. He died under uncertain circumstances.


1857 DAGGATUNS (Western Sahara)

A Jewish tribe, was described by Rabbi Mordechai Abi Serour. The Daggatuns were part of the Tuareg tribes, but lived their own lives with Jewish practices. According to some they had been driven into the desert by Abd al - Malik (see 693). Eventually they assimilated into the Muslim community and disappeared as a Jewish entity. Abi Serour returned with his brother a few years later managed to form a tiny community in Timbuktu serving as Rabbi. But due to the hostility of the area, plus the lack of support the community proved unsustainable, and he moved to Algiers.


1857 JOHANNES FRUTIGER ARRIVED IN ERETZ ISRAEL

As head of the Chrischona Mission. Frutiger a Swiss businessman and banker hoped to invest and use his profits for the mission. Frutiger (1836-1899) eventually opened a bank “Bankhaus J. Frutiger & Co”. Together with Shalom Konstrum and Joseph Navon, he established the Mahane Yehuda neighborhood in 1887 and Abu Tor a few years later. He helped finance many other projects, including Mea Shearim, and the Jerusalem Jaffa railroad.


1857 September, TUNISIA

Under a direct threat from Napoleon III's troops, Muhammad al-Sadiq-Bey (1857-82) proclaimed the Pacte Fondamental which gave equal rights to Jews. It was enforced following the execution of a Jew, Batto Sfez, for allegedly blaspheming Islam. By 1864 the new constitution was abolished by the Bey due to pressure from the population.


1857 September 15, JAMES FINN (Eretz Israel)

The second British Consul in Jerusalem, wrote to the Foreign Secretary the Earl of Clarendon offering a plan to settle Jews in agriculture in Eretz Israel to help the land prosper. He proposed "to persuade Jews in a large body to settle here as agriculturalists on the soil ... in partnership with the Arab peasantry”.


1858 - 1935 ANDRE-GUSTAV CITROEN (France)

"The Henry Ford of France". After taking over the Mors automobile plant in 1908, he became one of the largest producers of cars.


1858 BARON JULIUS REUTER (Germany-England)

Inaugurated the first news service agency to furnish European papers with political and general news (England). He started it in Germany (1849) using pigeons.


1858 - 1917 EMILE DURKHEIM (France)

A descendant of a French rabbinical family, he became a noted sociologist. He explored suicide, religion, the conscience, and "anonymity" by using scientific research methods.


1858 - 1925 MORDECAI SPECTOR (Russia-America)

Yiddish satirist and contributor to Sholem Aleichem's "Folksblatt". After moving to America he became a frequent contributor to the American Yiddish press.


1858 MOSCOW (Russia)

The Jewish population of the entire Moscow district consisted of only 340 men and 104 women. Most of the men were former Cantonists, forcibly conscripted for 25 years (see 1827).


1858 - 1942 HANNAH SOLOMON (USA)

Civic leader and founder of the National Council of Jewish Women (1893) Solomon was elected as the Council's first president and served until 1905. Together with and Susan B. Anthony she represented the Council of Women of the United States at a convention of the International Council of Women in Berlin in 1904. In an effort to help new immigrants she organized the Bureau of Personal Service in Chicago.


1858 - 1948 STELLA CORCOS (USA- Morocco)

Educator philanthropist. In 1885 she founded an English speaking girl's school Kavod ve-Omets (Respect and courage) in Mogador (present day Essaouira). Born in New York she married a wealthy Moroccan merchant (Moses Corcos) in England settling in Morocco. She was influential in improving the living conditions of the poorer Jews of Morocco. Corcos encouraged the study of English and even established what is considered Morocco's first Jewish theater group.


1858 January 7, - 1922 ELIEZER BEN YEHUDA PERELMAN (Lithuania-Eretz Israel)

Hebrew essayist and compiler of the first modern Hebrew dictionary. He is credited with transforming Hebrew into a modern language. To this end he established the Vaad Halashon (Language Council) for the purpose of coining new words. He began work on a dictionary of which the last two volumes were later completed by Moshe Zvi Segal.


1858 January 11, MT HOPE FARM (JAFFA)

Was attacked. Fredrich Steinbeck was murdered, his wife and his mother in law were raped. The Ottoman authorities refused to take any action, prompting the United States to send Edward de Leon the American consul in Cairo and Uriah Levy the commander of the USS Macedonian, to the governor of Jaffa. They forced him to arrest and sentence some of the murderers but the colony itself was abandoned. The Hatikava quarter in Tel Aviv is named after the farm.


1858 March 12, - 1935 ADOLPH OCHS (USA)

Newspaper publisher. Ochs began working with newspapers at the age of 11. After his success with the Chattanooga Times, he went on to buy the New York Times, which had been losing money, making it one of the major newspapers in the United States. Ochs fought against yellow journalism believing that editorials should be unbiased and advertisements not be deceptive.


1858 June 23, MORTARA CASE (Bologna, Italy)

Edgardo Mortara, a seven year old Jewish boy, was kidnapped by the Roman Catholic Church on the pretext that a servant girl claimed that she had baptized him. The Pope, Pious IX, refused to surrender him despite much protest. The combination of the Damascus Affair and this affair led to the unification of many Jews, and later to the establishment of the Alliance Israelite Universelle.


1858 July 26, SIR LIONEL NATHAN ROTHSCHILD (England)

For eleven years after his election to the House of Commons, Baron Rothschild had been unable to take his seat owing to the disagreements between the houses regarding the Oath's law. A compromise motion was finally reached whereby each house of Parliament was permitted to determine its own type of oath, thus allowing him to take his seat for the City of London.


1859 - 1941 HENRI BERGSON (France)

Mystic philosopher. He disavowed platonic doctrine and championed intuition rather than strict rationalization, as well as the optimistic place of man in nature. His greatest works are "Creative Evolution", "Time and Free Will, and Two Sources of Morality and Religion. He won the Nobel Prize in 1928.


1859 JOSEPH MICHAELSEN (Denmark)

Devised the International Postal Service Union, to overcome the confusion of the international mail system.


1859 - 1938 SAMUEL ALEXANDER (Australia-England)

Born in Australia, he proved himself a brilliant student and became the first Jew to be awarded a fellowship to Oxford, England. His was considered one of the greatest philosophical minds of the twentieth century. Alexander's most important work is entitled Space, Time and Deity.


1859 GARIBALDI (Italy)

126 Jews joined Garibaldi's volunteers ("Red Shirts") in helping to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies for the Kingdom of Italy. At this time, there were less than 30,000 Jews in all of Italy.


1859 - 1936 BERTHA PAPPENHEIM (Austria)

Social activist, feminist, poet and author. She founded the Jewish Women's Association and the League of Jewish Women ( Judischer Frauenbund) in Germany in 1904. Pappenheim suffered from an emotional illness and became Joseph Breuer's (Freud's mentor) patient. Known as Anna O, her treatment is regarded as marking the beginning of psychoanalysis. She fought to strengthening women's rights, education, and career opportunities. But is most remembered for her tireless war against human trafficking. Although she was originally against the idea of the emigration of children to Eretz Israel, she changed her position after the passage of the Nuremberg Laws.


1859 - 1936 NAHUM SOKOLOW (Poland-England)

Articulate and versatile essayist and publicist. During the 1930s he headed the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization. He was also editor of Hatsefirah and published a history of Zionism, which mainly dealt with the period from 1917-1920. His Hebrew translation of Herzl's Altneuland was entitled Tel Aviv, which subsequently became the name of the first new Jewish city in Eretz Israel. Sokolow collaborated with Weizmann in London to negotiate the Balfour Declaration and its acceptance by Britain's allies.


1859 - 1938 OTTO WARBURG (Germany)

Botanist, and Zionist leader. Warburg was a strong supporter of mass settlement but only with the approval of a charter. His main contribution to the Zionist movement was in practical actions such as buying land and encouraging investment. He also served as the third president of the World Zionist Organization. During the 1920's, he directed the Botany Department of the Hebrew University but died in Germany.


1859 WILLIAM THOMSON

An American evangelist, published "The land and the Book", an idyllic and unrealistic picture of sites from his pilgrimages and stories from the bible. The book was popular and encouraged missionaries and others to visit the holy land. It went through 30 editions.


1859 January 1, JAMES FINN (JERUSALEM)

The British consul, reported that Muslims made up a little more than 25% of Jerusalem.


1859 March 2, - 1916 SHOLEM (ALEICHEM) RABINOWITZ (Kiev, Russia)

Famed Yiddish novelist, he wrote in Russian, Yiddish and Hebrew. The characters he created, such as Tevye the Milkman for example, are vivid and memorable. Stempeyu, his first Yiddish novel, helped establish his credentials as the "Yiddish Mark Twain". Sholem Aleichem wrote happy children's tales as well as romances. His pseudonym was originally used to disguise his writings so that his father would not know who wrote them. His father, one of the Maskilim, praised Hebrew and condemned Yiddish.


1859 April 14, GALATZ (Romania)

Jews were accused of taking blood from a Christian child (for the baking of matzos), though not of killing him. Fifteen "culprits" were arrested. The next day a mob broke into the synagogue. Tney killed some of the worshippers, destroyed some fifty scrolls, and demolished the synagogue. The fifteen were soon released with no convictions, yet the government refused to allow the synagogue to be rebuilt for nearly twenty years.




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