MarnieTOCArticlesAishPublished

On State Road 45 in Pennsylvania a marker reads: “Aaronsburg, named for Aaron Levy, founded 1786\"— the first town planned by and named for an American Jew! The savvy, humanist, came to America from Holland as a teen and established Aaronsburg, hoping to make it a center of government and commerce. In 1789, he gave the Salem Lutheran Church two lots to demonstrate interfaith brotherhood. One hundred and fifty years later, the Church offered a kiddush cup to New York’s Shearith Israel, symbolizing the return of the gift. OK, yes. Today, with fewer than 400 dwellers, it isn’t the center of anything, like a Wall Street or a Capitol Hill, but Aaronsburg still stands for brotherhood.Uriah P. Levy & JeffersonIt wasn’t easy rising from cabin boy to Commodore. Especially if you were a Jew in the early 1800s. And most especially, if you opened your pisk about beatings in the Navy. Yet that’s exactly what Levy did, who had become the highest ranking officer in the Navy, having distinguished himself in the War of 1812. For his opposition to corporal punishment, he was court marshaled, which was overturned by President Tyler. As if this weren’t enough, the generous and patriotic Levy, did what no other citizen had done before him: Gave the country a gift. A big one. The statue of Thomas Jefferson in the Capitol rotunda! A huge admirer, Levy also bought Jefferson’s estate, Monticello, and willed the historic home to the American people. In 1959, the Navy's oldest Jewish Chapel in Norfolk, Virginia, was renamed the Commodore Levy Chapel, and in 2005, the U.S. Naval Academy opened a Jewish Chapel also named for Levy. At the dedication, The Navy Glee Club, sang the Navy Hymn, and “Adon Olam\" in perfect Hebrew!A Model JewRebecca Gratz the first U.S. Jewish woman college student (now Franklin & Marshall) was born in 1781, into the prestigious Philadelphia Gratz family. Along with her ground-breaking work for orphans, she founded the Jewish Sunday School system in 1838! Her friend, Washington Irving, told Sir Walter Scott of her inner and outer beauty, who then immortalized her as the model for Rebecca in Ivanhoe.The Lonely WatchmakerIn 1817, watchmaker Joseph Jonas shlepped from New York to Ohio no easy feat ––becoming the first permanent Jewish settler in “the wilds.” Not a lot to do or pals to talk to. Worse, how many watches could they use in the boonies? But more, there weren’t enough Jews for a minyan within hundreds of miles. Two years it took him to persuade his brothers and two other Jews to join him. Minyan short, nevertheless, in 1819, prayers rang out in the “outback” when this tiny group celebrated Rosh Hashanah! Things picked up. In 1824, Jonas

established the first Jewish congregation in Ohio, Kahal haKodesh Bene Israel, (now, the Rockdale Avenue Temple). Jonas became a leading macher, and “made time” to serve in the Ohio legislature during the 1860s.Talk about Multi-tasking!America’s first official photographer on a scientific expedition was Sephardic Jew, Solomon Nunes Carvalho, who accompanied John C. Fremont when, in 1853, he sought to map the route for the transcontinental railway. Carvalho, born in 1815 in South Carolina, was chosen because of his expertise in daguerreotype photography. This historical contribution was enough, but Carvalho had more much more to offer. He was also a portrait painter (who –captured Lincoln on canvass), an inventor, and religious philosopher who was later active in Jewish affairs in Baltimore, and New York.First Jewish Supreme Court Nominee Says ......... Nah!When most of us think of the early Supreme Court, Louis D. Brandeis jumps to mind as the first Jewish nominee. Wrong. In 1853, Southerner Judah Philip Benjamin declined the nomination by President Fillmore. The ardent Southerner preferred to remain a Senator from Louisiana – and deliver Louisiana’s secession speech! (There were Jews on both sides of the conflict.) He was such a macher in the Confederacy as Attorney General, and Secretary of State, and War in Jefferson Davis’s Cabinet, that he became the face on the Confederate two- dollar bill. After the War, when his own bill couldn’t buy him a good boiled chicken, Benjamin fled to England, where he was finally admitted to the British bar at age 55. His rep in Britain grew and he lived out his life as a VIPPY attorney, proving once again, MOTs just don’t quit!The “First” Jewish ChaplainIn 1861, only Christians could be chaplains. This didn’t bode well with the mostly Jewish 65th Regiment of the Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry (Cameron’s Dragoons). The 1,200 men did things their way by electing 30-year-old Michael Mitchell Allen a Philadelphia cantor, chaplain!, Complaints flew from the Calvary. With his usual common sense, President Lincoln pushed legislation allowing non-Christians the role, which was passed in 1862, thanks in part, to the courage and conviction of the “first” Jewish chaplain, and his “Jewish” regiment.When Lincoln became president in 1861, he received an American flag (or painting of a replica) with Hebrew verses that came from the Book of Joshua. The gift was from Abraham Kohn , later a city clerk in Chicago. In 1860, a meeting between the men inspired Kohn to think of Lincoln as an American Moses. After the assassination on April 14, 1865, Kohn was one of the citizens appointed to escort the train bearing Lincoln’s body to Chicago.A Jew & The Declaration of Independence

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.President Lincoln was a frequent visitor to read and send field dispatches. It was young Edward Rosewater with the Telegraphers Corps of the Union Army, who transmitted The , President’s Gettysburg Address in 1863. After the war, Rosewater who had a way with words –even if they weren’t his own – founded the Omaha Daily Bee!At the Foot of the PrezLincoln: “My chiropodist, Isachar Zacharie , has so many times ‘put me upon my feet' that I would have no objection to giving his countrymen ‘a leg up.'\"When the greatest chiropodist in America meets the biggest, most important feet in America, what do you get? A perfect fit! Which was the case between President Lincoln and Isachar Zacharie, a Jew who worked his way up, toe-by-toe, through Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Secretary of War, Stanton. When Zacharie soothed Lincoln’s tootsies, the two became buds, and Zacharie took on another role: peacemaker between North and South. His “plan” supposedly involved conquering Mexico. OK, he “tripped” up. But, his was an important “step” in establishing close ties between American leaders and Jews.Wolf Grants Grant L’ChaimSimon Wolf, whose friends included both Grant and Sherman, published the names of 7,000 Jewish Civil War veterans, in 1895 And while on the subject, Ulysses S. Grant met with Wolf at . the White House in 1869 regarding the harsh treatment of Russian Jews, resulting in Grant sending a letter to the czar. Wolf honored him by inviting the President to be godfather at his son’s circumcision and naming the infant Adolph Grant Wolf. Grant’s earlier feelings toward Jews came under fire based on an exclusionary General Order in 1862 (expelling Jews from areas in Tennessee. Mississippi, Kentucky). Prominent Jews (no doubt Wolf) considered this more a judgment lapse than anti-Semitism. Hmmmm. The Emmes? Who knows?

https://www.aish.com/j/f/98997524.htmlWE JEWS: PART 8Jul 24, 2010by Marnie Winston-MacauleyJ ew s in m Aeri c apost Ci ivl W a rLast time, we looked at a few lesser known MOTs (Members of the Tribe) who played a fascinating role in U.S. history, through the end of the Civil War. In this piece, we’ll see a sampling of We Jews who helped re-build America afterward. For you “listers” out there, I end with a few fascinating bullets!Rosa Drachman was Tucson’s first Yiddishe MamaMother DrachmanThere were only two Anglo women in Tucson when Rosa Drachman arrived. Her son, Harry Arizona, was the first child born in Tucson to American parents(1869). Nine more followed. In 1889, her husband died, leaving Rosa to raise the children and continue running his saloon and cigar store. Ah, but she became Tucson’s first Jewish mama... teaching, mentoring, and building the community. Rosa’s tombstone refers to her as “Mother Drachman,” to honor the great matriarch.Ship Named for JewessOn October 20, 1944, Frances Y. Slanger, R.N., who was in the first nursing basic training program with the Army Nurse Corps, wrote the Stars and Stripes expressing her gratitude for the privilege of working with the wounded. Tragically, and ironically, the very next day, the 31-year-old Jewish woman became the first American nurse to be killed in Europe after D- Day (in Belgium during a German artillery attack). When her poignant letter was published after her death, Americans everywhere mourned. In June 1945, the Frances Y. Slanger set sail, returning the wounded from Europe. In 1947, over 1,000, including Boston’s mayor attended her re-burial in her hometown of Boston.EULOGY BY RABBI GITTLESOHN AT IWO JIMA

On February 19, 1945, the battle on Iwo Jima began. Among the 70,000 marines embroiled in the five week bloodbath, 1,500 were Jewish. One can’t think of Iwo Jima without recalling the most famous Pulitzer Prize winning WWII image taken by Jewish photographer Joe Rosenthal of the second flag-raising over Mount Suribachi. Less known is the remarkable eulogy by American Rabbi Roland B. Gittlesohn, following the battle, at the dedication of the Marine Cemetery. Rabbi Gittlesohn, the decorated first Jewish Marine chaplain, ministered to all faiths at Iwo Jima.[Excerpted]\"Here are Protestants, Catholics, and Jews together ... Among these men there is no discrimination. No prejudices. No hatred. Theirs is the highest and purest democracy! ... To this , as our sacred duty, do we the living now dedicate ourselves: To the right of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, of White men and Negroes alike, to enjoy the democracy for which all here paid the price. Out of this and from the suffering and sorrow of those who mourn this, will come the birth of a new freedom for the sons of men everywhere.\"The words struck those of all faiths and were repeated and republished everywhere from Time magazine to the wire services. The sermon was inserted into the Congressional Record, and eulogy was broadcast to American troops around the world.The U.S.S. Harry S. Truman “Jewish?”Lt. Col. Scott Rutter was looking for signs of ancient Babylonian Jewry in 2003.He was interrupted. The Jewish Colonel and the “2-7\" were busy capturing Saddam Hussein International Airport (which he renamed the Baghdad International Airport) during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was rewarded with the Silver Star to keep his Bronze Star that he earned during the Gulf War, company.Oh Captain, My CaptainNo foolin’. The grandson of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants who settled in Philadelphia was Captain of the U.S.S Harry S. Truman! (2007-2010). Capt. Herman “Herm” Shelanski earned his Command after 30 years of naval service and what a command it was including bringing –“Jewish” on board. On the Truman, Shelanski has hosted kosher Seders for the crew, and attended Shabbat services in the ship's chapel. Jewish history took its place with a Lithuanian Torah aboard, saved from the Holocaust. The son of a doctor who served in the Navy during World War II, “Herm” made the Navy his career to “give back” to America. Though family members died in the Holocaust, immigration saved his grandparents from the same fate. He firmly believes that America’s strength is tied to Israel’s safety.SOME FACTS ABOUT JEWISH OFFICERS

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.The following are some fascinating facts about Jews in the military:- The first Jewish officers in the New World fought in the French and Indian Wars. They were Jacob Judah, Michael Isaacs, Isaac Moses and Isaac Meyers. Meyers led a company across the Allegheny Mountains and served as captain.- The banking firm of Seligman Brothers provided financial support to the Union Army.- Surgeon General David de Leon of S.C. was the first Surgeon General of the Confederacy —and his counterpart for the Union was Dr. Jonathan Horowitz.- When General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Grant, present at the ceremony in 1865, was Benjamin B. Levy, one of a six (some sources say seven) Jews awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.- Brigadier General Edward S. Salomon was appointed governor of Washington Territory by Grant.- General L. C. Newman, of New York, fatally wounded during the Civil War, died while –President Lincoln, who appointed him Brevet Brigadier General, was at his bedside.- Major General Frederick Kneffler, was noted for bravery at the Civil War Battle of Chickamauga.- Sergeant Leo Karpeles, of the 11th New York (more than half composed of Jews) was the first Jew to receive Medal of Honor, issued in 1870 for heroism in the Battle of the Wilderness.We Made Our Mark. Come Visit!Across North America, Jewish place names dot our map. According to author David C. Gross, there are 92 towns, villages, hamlets, lakes, and forests in 34 states named for Jews who contributed mightily to these areas! Here are a just a few:-Enjoy fishing? Levy Lake on Florida’s Gulf Coast was named for Moses Levy, whose son David, the first Jew elected to Congress as Florida’s Congressman-at-large in 1841.- Like climbing? Try Mount Rothstein in King’s Canyon National Park, California, named for an early Jewish settler.- Into railroads? Weiner is a spot on the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad in Arkansas, named for a Jewish train official!

https://www.aish.com/j/f/We-Jews-Pioneer-American-Jewish-Mothers.htmlWe Jews: Pioneer American Jewish MothersMay 4, 2013by Marnie Winston-MacauleyA sMo erth’sDa aypproa c h e sw e lut ts aehree rega t p o eerinA m eri c a nJ ew i sh mothers.Much has been written about Jewish male early settlers in America. Less documented are the hardships that Jewish pioneer mothers faced, especially when they ventured into untamed territory. Imagine shlepping two sets of dishes and Menorahs in the 1800s to the frontiers of America, or trying to maintain a Kosher home in the wilderness? These Yiddishe mamas not only used great resourcefulness for example, raising livestock and growing their own veggies, but once settled they often contributed mightily to the growth of the outreaches of the American West.Imagine shlepping two sets of dishes around in the 1800s to the frontiers of America!As Mother’s Day approaches, we honor three of these extraordinary Jewish mothers, many of whom had to summon enormous courage to support their husbands’ dreams, pass on their heritage to theirchildren and to their burgeoning communities.MOTHER DRACHMAN: THE TUCSON MATRIARCHRosa Katzenstein Drachman: Born in Baltimore in 1848, Rosa married Philip Drachman in 1868 in New York. Talk about a honeymoon! The couple got on the Overland schooner to San Francisco to put together provisions for the Western wilderness. They departed for Tucson in October, 1868, traveling by hitching a four horse ambulance! The trip took a month, as they camped across the desert among the Indians. They finally arrived in Tucson, which wasn’t exactly teeming with Jews. In fact, while there were Anglo men, there was only one other white woman. Rosa, eventually the mother of ten (she named first child Harry Arizona Drachman, the first Anglo child born in the area) had a difficult life. Her husband died young leaving this Yiddishe Mama and the kinder to run his saloon and cigar store.Despite her load, Rosa became confidante, teacher, social worker and advocate to the new influx of women. There were a number of Jewish men who had married Mexican women. They turned to Rosa to teach them Judaism and Yiddishkeit, including how to keep a proper home.

More, Rosa made sure all the kinder could read and write English.Rosa died on July 25, 1918. Her tombstone reads: \"Mother Drachman,\" for the great matriarch who helped build Tucson's community.Rosa’s sister-in-law, Jennie Migel-Drachman and her husband Samuel were devoutly religious. In 1887, less than a day after their son was born, Jennie was on a stage to California despite –rutted paths and Indians to find a mohel to perform the circumcision in time. More, she –organized Tucson’s first Purim Ball, and was active in the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society while Sam was the first president of Temple Emanu-El. The couple were a major influence, succeeding to keep Judaism alive in the desert southwest.FROM THE FRONTIER TO THE UNITED NATIONSJulia Frank Zeckendorf: Born in Germany in 1840, Julia immigrated as a youngster to New York. At age 18, she married William Zeckendorf. Also from Germany, William went to work with his brothers in New Mexico, then Arizona. The couple honeymooned by train across country. Departing San Diego, Julia was shocked as her new husband changed into his western garb pistols on hips and rifle in hand. The couple left for Tucson and had four –children. Julia entertained elegantly for the Jewish community. Eventually, they returned to New York, but the Zeckendorf name is part of the historical records of Arizona and New Mexico for their involvement in merchandising, mining, cattle raising, and farming. In New York, generations of Zeckendorfs built a real estate empire. Julia’s grandson put together the land parcel that John D. Rockefeller donated to the United Nations.JEWISH MOTHER OF 21 TURNS ACTIVIST!Rebecca Machado Phillips: Born in 1746 into an eminent Jewish family of Portuguese crypto-Jews all this changed when in 1762, at the age of sixteen, Rebecca married Jonas Phillips (1735-1803), an Ashkenazic Jew, born in Prussia and reared in London. The couple first lived in New York, where Jonas was a businessman. Within a year, Rebecca had given birth to the first of their twenty-one children. The business failed due to England’s colonial trade restrictions and the family became debtors. In 1765, Jonas secured a position as shochet and bodek, (for which he was trained in London) for Congregation Shearith Israel, a role he held for four years.In addition to childbearing and child-raising, Rebecca, made cloth, clothing, soap, candles, and prepared processed comestibles to serve as their winter food supply. As observant Jews, Rebecca also supervised her kitchen to make sure all was done according to Halacha.The years 1763 to 1772 were filled with both tragedy as four of Rebecca’s children died before reaching their first year, but also with financial success. In 1769, Jonas again went into business, but this time in Philadelphia, where Rebecca’s family resided. They became quite

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.wealthy and contributed generously to Congregation Mikveh Israel, where Jonas became powerful in the Congregation while Rebecca took an active part in communal affairs and fund-raising. At age 55, in 1801, she was one of the founding members of the Female Association for the Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances. The organization, assisted yellow fever victims, supported a ‘soup house,’ and provided food and clothing to indigent women and children.Two years later, Rebecca was widowed, leaving her a single mother of sixteen children.Yet, at age 74 she served as first directress and one of thirteen managers serving on the board of the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society of Philadelphia, created in 1819 to assist the Jewish indigent.Rebecca Phillips was an uncommon colonial mother who bore 21 children, raised two of her grandchildren, yet was a tireless community activist and philanthropist roles that Jewish –mothers would continue to embrace in this new land.Happy Mother’s Day to all of our heroic Jewish mothers!

https://www.aish.com/j/f/We_Jews_Presidential_Jewish_Firsts.htmlWe Jews: Presidential Jewish FirstsFeb 18, 2012by Marnie Winston-MacauleyIn honor of President’s Day, We Jews honor American presidents and their famous Jewish firsts.From colonial times, We Jews have played a vital, if sometimes unsung role in the lives and administrations of our Chiefs. Many actively supported the Revolutionary War and settled new territories during America's westward expansion. In the more recent past, Jews such as Henry Kissinger, Elliott Abrams, and Ari Fleischer have become household names. Just recently Jacob Lew, an Orthodox Jew, was appointed White House chief of staff.Jacob Lew, an Orthodox Jew, was just appointed White House chief of staff.Various Presidents helped move us forward in their administrations which benefited both our country, and countless others. Here is a sampling of …Famous Presidential-Jewish Firsts*George Washington (1789-97): First to visit asynagogue, Touro, in Newport. Washington also wrote: “May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants; while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.” It should also be noted that Polish-born Jew, Haym Salomon was a major force during the Revolution as a secret agent in British-occupied New York. More, his financial skills helped rescue the Continental government. A member of Mikveh Israel Congregation, he made the largest contribution toward its first building in 1782. In Chicago there’s a statue linking Washington, Salomon and Robert Morris, with the words \"...The government of the United States which gives to bigotry no sanction to persecution no assistance.\"*Thomas Jefferson (1801-09): First to propose religious freedom for Jews in his 1779 Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia (adopted in 1785). He also appointed the first Jew, Reuben Etting, to a Federal post: U.S. Marshall for Maryland (1801).

*James Madison (1809-1817): First to appoint a Jew, the irrepressible Mordecai Manuel Noah, as Consul to the Barbary pirates of Tunisia (1813) to negotiate the release of imprisoned Americans. Madison recalled him, with the smear of anti-Semitism wafting around the recall. He was later exonerated, but Noah grew passionate about a Jewish homeland which he tried to create near Buffalo, calling it Ararat.*Martin Van Buren (1837-41): First to order an American consul to intervene on behalf of Jews abroad. In 1840, he instructed the U.S. consul in Alexandria, Egypt to protect the Jews of Damascus who were under attack because of a false blood ritual accusation.*John Tyler (1841-45): First to nominate a U.S. consul to Palestine (1844), Warder Cresson, a Quaker convert to Judaism.*Franklin Pierce (1853-7): First whose name appears on the charter of a synagogue. Pierce signed the Act of Congress in 1857 that amended the laws of Washington D.C. to enable the city's first synagogue, the Washington Hebrew Congregation, to incorporate.*Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-81): First to designate a Jewish ambassador for the purpose of fighting anti-Semitism. In 1870, he named Benjamin Peixotto Consul-General to Romania.Hayes also ordered the employment of a Jewish woman who had been denied a position in the Department of the Interior because of her refusal to work on Shabbat.*Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09): First to appoint a Jew to the cabinet, Oscar S. Straus (Secretary of Commerce and Labor ,1906). In 1919, when Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts while President to settle the Russo-Japanese War, “Teddy” donated part of his prize to the National Jewish Welfare Board.*William Howard Taft (1909-13): First to attend a Seder while in office (1912) as a guest of Colonel Harry Cutler, first president of the National Jewish Welfare Board. The Seder was held at the Cutler family home on Glenham Street in Rhode Island.*Woodrow Wilson (1913-21): First to nominate a Jew, Louis Dembitz Brandeis, to the U.S. Supreme Court, holding firm, despite pressure to the contrary. He also publicly endorsed a national Jewish philanthropic campaign: the United Jewish Relief Campaign which was raising funds for European War aid.“Here is a great body of our Jewish Citizens from whom have sprung men of genius in every walk of our varied life; men who have .... led enterprises with spirit and sagacity ... They are not Jews in America, they are American citizens.” -- Woodrow WilsonWarren Harding (1921-23): First to sign a Joint Congressional Resolution endorsing the Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate supporting the establishment in Palestine of a national Jewish home for the Jewish people. The resolution was signed September 22, 1922.

Calvin Coolidge (1923-29): First to participate in the dedication of a Jewish community institution (May 3, 1925): the Washington, D.C. Jewish Community center.Franklin D. Roosevelt (1993-45): First to be given a Torah as a gift -- a miniature Torah from Young Israel and another that had been rescued from a burning synagogue in Czechoslovakia. However, his administration's failure to expand the existing refugee quota has caused many to argue over Roosevelt's response to the Holocaust.Harry S. Truman (1945-53): On May 14, 1948, just 11 minutes after Israel's proclamation of independence, he was the first head of a government to recognize Israel. He also received Israel’s President, Chaim Weizman, and Israeli Ambassador Eliahu Elat in 1948. More, Truman obtained $140 million from Congress to help Israel manage the mass immigration to the tiny country in 1951-52.Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-61): First to participate in a national TV program sponsored by a Jewish organization in 1954 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the American Jewish community.“I grew up believing that the Jews are the chosen people, that they gave us the high ethical and moral principles of our civilization.” -- EisenhowerJohn F. Kennedy (1961-3): Despite his father’s notorious anti-Semitism, JFK named two Jews to his cabinet: Abraham Ribicoff as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and Arthur Goldberg as Secretary of Labor. He also approved the sale of defensive U.S. weapons to Israel. The annual peace award of the Synagogue Council of America was re-named the John F. Kennedy Peace Award after his assassination in 1963.Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69): Only recently has the full extent of LBJ’s personal and often emotional connection to Jews and Israel been revealed from his early years through his Presidency. While he was in office, the U.S. became Israel's chief diplomatic ally and primary arms supplier. But more, while a congressman in the late 1930s, he supplied visas and false passports to Jews in Eastern Europe – an illegal act which could have sent LBJ to jail. It’s estimated that his actions saved 400 Eastern European Jews, including musician/conductor Erich Leinsdorf. During World War II Johnson raised a substantial sum for arms for Jewish underground fighters in Palestine. U.N. Resolution 242 in November 1967 that called for “secure and recognized” boundaries after the Six-Day War was crafted during Johnson's watch. When Soviet premier Aleksei Kosygin asked Johnson why the U.S. supported Israel when there were 80 million Arabs and only three million Israelis, the straight-talking Texan simply said: \"Because it is right.\"

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.Jimmy Carter (1977-81): stated his concern for human rights and stressed the right of Russian Jews to emigrate. He is credited with negotiating the Camp David Accords. Carter, however, has angered American Jews by likening Israeli policy in the West Bank to apartheid South Africa in his book \"Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.\" Though he apologized in 2009, fences haven’t been completely mended.George H.W. Bush (1989-93): in 1985 as Vice President played a personal role in 'Operation Joshua,' the airlift which brought 10,000 Jews out of Ethiopia directly to resettlement in Israel. Then, again in 1991, as President, the U.S. played a critical role in 'Operation Solomon' which secured the escape of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews. Most dramatically, Bush insisted the U.N. revoke its 1975 'Zionism is Racism' resolution.Bill Clinton (1993-2001): appointed more Jews to his cabinet than all of the previous presidents combined, and nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer to the Supreme Court.George W. Bush (2001-09): “ NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America … do hereby proclaim April 22 through 29, 2001, as Jewish Heritage Week.” “W” had a warm relationship with the Jewish people and the State of Israel as did many of his presidential forbearers.Finally, no discussion of Jews and Presidents would be complete without noting Bernard Baruch. Born on August 18 in 1870, he became not only one of the great American financiers, but also close confidante and adviser to nine Presidents, from Woodrow Wilson to Lyndon Johnson. America’s “unofficial president” came from an exceptional family. His father, Dr.Simon Baruch, was a pioneer in hydrotherapy and appendectomies. Despite heavy responsibilities, Baruch refused to work on Yom Kippur. On June 14, 1946, he authored the official U.S. policy on international control of atomic energy presented at the United Nations.

https://www.aish.com/j/f/What-Jewish-History-Forgot.htmlWhat Jewish History ForgotMar 26, 2016by Marnie Winston-MacauleyWyatt Earp, Elv i sP resleya n dA lex a n derH am ilto n ll ah d aJ ew i s h c onne c t io n s.We all know that Western gunslingers became a staple of TV and films, but did you know that the first film cowboy hero was the son of a Rabbi? What about the Royal Family of Monaco? (Hint: There was a Jewish princess a –real one!), or that Elvis cut his “Houndog” teeth to Cantorial music? For every great Jewish story we heard or believe, there are thousands more that are untold. The is the real story and claims behind the story. In my new series, What Jewish History Forgot, these fascinating facts and claims will come alive.LEGENDARY WORLD CHANGERS’ SURPRISING JEWISH ROOTS & CONNECTIONSWe all know Elvis Presley as the southern boy who became the King of rock and roll as well as a cultural icon. But did you know that from an early age, The King was heavily influenced musically by a rabbi? That many of his song-writing teams were Jewish, and more, there has been serious speculation that Elvis himself, was “technically” a Jew? Or, that Founding Father and first secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, attended a Jewish school? A Jewish pirate with a mission? The legendary Jean Lafitte had his reasons. A legendary gambler and gunfighter buried in a Jewish cemetery (undercover?) Wyatt Earp, married to Jewess Josephine “Josie” Marcus in 1880 had his ashes laid to rest in the Marcus family plot at the Little Hills of Eternity Jewish cemetery, in Colma, California which was founded by Senator –and Presidential candidate, Barry Goldwater’s Jewish grandfather, Michael Goldwater!Let’s look.ELVIS: THE HIP-IEST JEWISH KING?

When Elvis Presley was a teen living on Alabama Street in Memphis, his family lived below Orthodox Rabbi Alfred Fruchter, the leader of Temple Beth El Emeth. The Rabbi and his rebbitzen owned something the Presley’s lacked: a phonograph. According to Tim Boxer’s Jewish Celebrity Anecdotes, young Elvis, while washing his fifty dollar 1942 Lincoln Zephyr coupe, would hear the rabbi’s cantorial records of artists such as Shlomo Koussevitsky and Moishe Oysher. In 1954, Elvis asked to borrow the rabbi’s record player. He had recorded a song called “I Love You, Mama.”During his frequent visits with Rabbi Fruchter he celebrated Shabbos with the family, and wore a yarmulke in their home. Reportedly, he had a Star of David engraved on his mother’s tombstone and was generous in his contributions to Jewish causes. He wore a “chai” (the Hebrew letters chai and yud, meaning life) which, according to some accounts, he was buried with.Years later, Rabbi Fruchter said Elvis, when as a young man played his song, it had a strangely familiar rhythmic sound. Could it be the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was influenced by liturgical music? More, many of his early hits, including “Hound Dog” and “Jailhouse Rock” were written by the Jewish duo, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Sadly, they never composed “All Farmisht Up.” Throughout his career Elvis continued to use a number of Jewish song writers.But wait … it may go further.It's a little-known fact that Elvis Presley the most Christian icon of American pop culture ––may have been Jewish. According to his biographer, Elaine Dundy, Elvis’s Jewish connection is through maternal great-great-grandmother, Nancy Tackett, a Jewess. In the book Shmelvis: Searching for the King’s Jewish Roots written by Jonathan Goldstein with the help of a Canadian Hasidic Jewish Elvis impersonator, Dan Hartel, whose stage name has been Schmelvis,\" Goldstein claims to have traced Elvis's Jewish roots all the way to the ancient kingdom of Israel.Jewish? Not Jewish? One thing we DO know. The King was aware of and admired his Jewish roots.ALEXANDER HAMILTON ATTENDED CHEDER?Our first Secretary of the Treasury was not a practicing Jew, but his mother, Rachel Fawcett Levine, probably was or converted to Judaism when she married her first husband at age 16 (in the 1750s), one John Michael Levine, a Danish Jew living in the West Indies. Alexander Hamilton’s biological father, James Hamilton was a non-Jewish Scotsman. But young Alexander, born in the West Indies on this date in 1757 (or 1755), attended a Jewish school, because as Rachel had never divorced her first husband, he was considered illegitimate in the eyes of the church.

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,IS THIS A JOB FOR A “JEWISH” BOY? JEAN LAFITTEVocation: Pirate? The legendary French-American pirate, Jean Lafitte who sailed the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century, claimed Jewish ancestry through his grandparents in a journal entry. As for his “career” choice, he had his reasons. A free-thinker, buccaneer, alchemist, but loyal family man, was greatly influenced by his bubbe, Zora Nadrimal, who raised him. According to his diary, he was born in Port-Au-Prince in 1782. His mother, Maria Zora Nadrimal, died soon after, and the young Jean was raised by his Jewish grandmother, Zora.His grandfather, Abhorad Nadrimal, was jailed, tortured and died in prison in Spain. Jean was raised on stories of his suffering, and thus he developed a hatred of all things Spanish. Lafitte described his grandmother as also training him in the habits necessary to the development of a strong personality, prepared him to face the vicissitudes of life with a firm and determined will and capable of ignoring all obstacles that would retard the development of his mind.WYATT EARP SPENDS ETERNITY IN A JEWISH CEMETERY FOUNDED BY BARRY –GOLDWATER’S ZAYDEThe gambler and gunfighter of OK Corral fame was “believed” to be married to his beloved Jewess and his ashes are spending eternity in a Jewish cemetery. Earp met the young and –exciting Josephine “Josie” Marcus in 1880. Together, for over 40 years they lived an adventure, going from boom town to boom town, investing in mines, real estate, entertainment establishments, and oil wells. Upon his death in 1929, his ashes were buried in the Marcus family plot at Hills of Eternity, a Jewish cemetery in Colma, California. Josie was laid beside him in 1944.While working as a sports writer and Western film consultant in Los Angeles (where he helped promote much of the Earp myth), he died of liver failure in 1929. His wife brought his ashes to be buried in her family plot which they still own in Colma.The plot gets JEW-cier! The late Presidential candidate, Barry Goldwater’s pop and zayde, originally Polish, were religious Jews. The Senator's grandfather, Michael Goldwater, was very active in Jewish affairs on the western frontier. In California he was a VIP in three Jewish congregations. In San Francisco, he was chairman of the committee that founded Hills of Eternity Cemetery at Colma, California (the very same place where Earp and his Jewish wife, Josephine Sarah Marcus were buried). His zayde also headed the first Hebrew Benevolent Society and chaired the first Zionist meeting in San Francisco in 1898, where Barry Goldwater’s father, Baron, was Bar Mitzvahed.

https://www.aish.com/j/f/What-Jewish-History-Forgot-Amazing-Covert-Rescues.htmlWhat Jewish History Forgot: Amazing Covert RescuesDec 3, 2016by Marnie Winston-MacauleyWi l f r id I sr e real s c u e d te n s to fh o u s a n d so fJ ew sfrom t h eN az , t i sye e fwh v ae heard of him.Jews have an ironic rep in the world. On the one hand there are jokes abound about “The Nice Jewish Boy” who, among other things, evoke images of a skinny American Jewish kid in a kippah. On the other hand, mention the IDF and Israelis, and even Jew-haters twist our successes to vanquish the mortal fear of the Jew with a temper, a target, and the unstoppable quest to survive using brains plus brawn. Apart from the fight for Statehood, the Israeli raid on Entebbe, perhaps more than any covertly planned operation, with its strategy, speed, daring, and success took the world’s collective breath away! In honor of the 32 year anniversary of Operation Moses, we look at three other covertly planned or little-known pperations.MIKTZE TEIMANMost of us knew in March of 2016, that Israel had successfully managed to rescue the last Jews of Yemen and bring them “home” to Israel. These Jews left behind a country engaged in both civil war and steeped in anti-Semitic attacks. But did you know that the details of the airlift have not been released, as the rescue is considered a “complex covert operation?” Another fascinating fact: One of the 19 Yemenite Jews rescued was Rabbi Saliman Dahari, who brought with him an 800 year-old Torah Scroll! Said Natan Sharansky: “This is a highly significant moment in the history of Israel … Yemenite Jewry’s unique, 2,000-year-old

contribution to the Jewish people will continue in the State of Israel.” The name of the mission, “Miktze Teiman,” essentially translates from the Hebrew biblical verse “from the ends of Yemen.”WILFRED ISRAEL: LITTLE-KNOWN CLANDESTINE JEWISH RESCUERSome of us know that Jewish-British heartthrob, Leslie Howard (born Steiner) of Gone With the Wind fame was killed during WW ll when, on June 1, 1943 his civilian plane, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, flight 777 (from Lisbon to Bristol) was attacked by a German fighter plane.There has been much speculation about the role of Howard during the war and whether he was in fact the target. But did you know that the passengers on that doomed flight also included a British intelligence officer, a Winston-Churchill look-alike … and German Jewish businessman Wilfrid Israel who rescued tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis, yet few have heard of him. Through the work of Kibbutz Hazorea and Naomi Shepherd, the truth about this man is now being revealed.Wilfrid Israel, the elusive, secretive, sometimes taciturn man sought no glory or recognition. The clandestine work he did on behalf of Jews prior to and during the Holocaust put him in constant danger. Anonymity was safer, especially as he and his family were well-known in Germany – a “privilege” he would use time and again in his mission.Wilfrid Israel was born in 1899 to the wealthy owners of the Kaufhaus N. Israel, a large German department store with 2,000 employees. Through bribery and financial power, the business remained afloat long after others had been banished. His work was secretly started in the 1920s. Using his connections, status, and fortune he created ways to send European Jewish children to Eretz Israel and saved tens of thousands of Jews throughout Europe. He initiated, supported and funded various projects to send European Jewish children to the land of Israel and other countries.As the situation worsened, he helped two-thirds of his Jewish staff to escape, also providing them with additional funds.He seemed almost invulnerable to the Nazis with often amazing results. After the Reichstag was burnt, on March 30, 1933, the Nazis raided the store, demanding Israel fire all his Jewish workers. He refused. Though arrested, he was released at the intervention of an employee, a Nazi.Using bribery, he arranged for the release of his Jewish employees, arrested on Kristallnacht, November 9, 1938 and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. In return, the camp commander could shop at the department store for free that Christmas!

By means of a clandestine plan he set up with two partners, Israel helped release many more from concentration camps using gelt, permits and connections with influential Nazis. His largest rescue project was the Kindertransport, in which, just prior to WWII, he sent about 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi Europe to Britain.After he sold the business and moved to Britain, he supplied critical information and assessments to the British government. He was among the first to warn of “The Final Solution.”Over the years, Wilfrid Israel visited Palestine and was particularly impressed by the pioneers and the kibbutzim, particularly the German-Jewish kibbutzniks of Hazorea. He intended to join them after the war.When the plane was shot down, Israel had with him 97 certificates to help move Jewish refugees in Spain and Portugal. Those certificates went down with him on that fatal flight. Was then, Wilfred Israel the true Nazi target?On June 7, 1939 he received the following letter from Albert Einstein Dear Mr. Israel:I was extremely glad with your friendly letter and especially with the fact that you are finally safe. What you have done was truly heroic, but I couldn't get rid of the feeling that you are too good for this world, but even more so for the environment, in which you insisted on staying for so long.With the hope of seeing you again once more in this life, heartily regards to you and yours,Yours,A. EinsteinTo learn more and to help publicize this remarkable story, go to: http://www.wilfridisraelfilm.org/MOSSAD EXODUSThe year was 1977. Prime Minister Begin, meeting with the Mossad had an unusual covert assignment for them: rescue thousands of Ethiopian Jewish refugees and bring them from the Sudan to Israel. And so a cover base was created for a handful of operatives in a Sudanese holiday area. It was from here, the operatives were to carry out the plan to launch and oversee the exodus of the refugees by air and sea in the early 1980s. A thrilling and chilling challenge, the Mossad team ran a vacation spot for rich tourists by day, while by night, despite the huge risks, stole into the Sudanese desert to rescue the refugees. This hazardous,

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.covert operation succeeded, with the help of the American administration that facilitated the airlift of the refugees. The CIA stationed in Khartoum also saved the last Mossad agents, fleeing from the Libyan secret service, by sending the Mossad operatives out in specially designed “boxes” labelled as Diplomat Mail! You can read more about it in Mossad Exodus written by Gad Shimron, an operative on the mission.

https://www.aish.com/j/f/What-Jewish-History-Forgot-Amazing-Events-During-the-High-Holy-Days.htmlWhat Jewish History Forgot: Amazing Events During the High Holy DaysOct 4, 2016by Marnie Winston-MacauleyAfter being pulled from the game, Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale said, \"I bet you wish I was Jewish, too.\"The High Holidays are upon us. Today we take a look back at some of the majestic events –from sports, media, to unimaginable sacrifices that took place during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.GOOD JEWISH SPORTS: HANK! A HERO AMONG HEROESSandy Koufax and Ron Blomberg made an indelible impression when each refused to play ball during the High Holidays. Koufax in particular did so during the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and Hall of Famer one of the most famous Jewish athletes in American sports, made national headlines when he refused to pitch in the first game of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.How many know that when Koufax’s replacement Don Drysdale was pulled from the game for poor performance, he told the Los Angeles Dodgers’ manager Walter Alston, \"I bet you wish I was Jewish, too.\" But 31 years earlier, it was Hank Greenberg who set the bar … and took the greatest risk.We all know that in 1934, Detroit Tigers first baseman Hank Greenberg who lead the team to win their first American League pennant, decided not to play in a game during a tight pennant race because it fell on Yom Kippur. Edgar Guest wrote of this momentous decision: \"We shall miss him on the infield and shall miss him at the bat, but he's true to his religion –and I honor him for that.\" The Detroit Free Press published a special greeting to him on its

front page in 1934 in Hebrew. The man that Joe DiMaggio called \"one of the truly great –hitters\" Henry Benjamin Greenberg born in New York on September 16, 1911, was the first ––Jew elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956.But how many know that “Hammer’n Hank” took an unprecedented and highly risky stand? In “Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes,” journalist John Rosengren tells the story on and off the field. What you may not know is that given the time, anti Semitism was as rampant in –baseball as it was throughout the world. Hank suffered enormous prejudice. Jewish players were routinely baited with Nazi salutes and comments. Notable was Henry Ford’s rantings which included: “American baseball has passed into the hands of Jews” and called on “good Christians to reclaim the national pastime.” When Greenberg embraced his religious and ethnic identity and faced down prejudice, he, according to Rosengren “single – handedly changed the way Gentiles viewed Jews” and “transformed the national pastime into a true meritocracy, a model of democracy.”On a semi lighter note:–Earlier, in 1930, after just ending his rookie stint with the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg returned to his home in the Bronx. Driving in his Model A, he was pulled over for running a red light. Asked by the police officer what he did for a living, Greenberg said that he was a baseball player. The cop peered at his name on the driver’s license and laughed: “Who ... ever heard of a professional ballplayer named Greenberg?”In short order we all would.OBSERVANCE DURING THE HOLOCAUST: JEWISH COMMITMENT AND YIDDISHE KOPS.There are countless stories of Jews who, despite enormous risk, still celebrated Judaism’s High Holidays in the horrific early days, and throughout Holocaust. Most remain unsung heroes.Here are two.From Rabbi Huberband’s diary (published in English under the title “Kiddush Hashem,” edited by Professors Jeffrey Gurock and Robert Hirt): In the aftermath of the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, all public observances of Yom Kippur had been outlawed. Jews debated whether or not they should open their stores, lest they be accused by the Germans of closing them in honor of the holiday.According to Rabbi Huberband Jewish shopkeepers devised a remarkable scheme to avoid doing business on Yom Kipper while eluding the Nazis’ revenge: “Jews’ shops were open. The ‘salesmen’ were all women. Actually, the women didn't sell anything; people took

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.merchandise, but without paying for it. The women didn't take any money, but they did on the other hand give away money. They took their tribute payments over to the [Judenrat] office, Yom Kippur being the last day, the deadline for the tribute.”From Prof. Yaffa Eliach’s book Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust: The year was 1944. A Hungarian Jewish slave labor battalion attached to a retreating German army along the Polish ––Slovakian border region, were tortured. On Erev Yom Kippur, the German commanding officer warned them that anyone who fasted “will be executed by a firing squad.” On Yom Kippur, it rained heavily where they were working, and the area was covered in deep mud. When given their meager rations, the Jewish prisoners pretended to eat but instead “spilled the coffee into the running muddy gullies and tucked the stale bread into their soaked jackets.” Those who had memorized portions of the Yom Kippur prayer service recited them by heart until finally, as night fell, they prepared to break the fast. Just then they were confronted by the German commander, who informed them he knew that they had fasted, and instead of simply executing them, they would have to climb a nearby mountain and slide down it on their stomachs. “Tired, soaked, starved and emaciated,” the Jews did as they were told – 10 times “climbing and sliding from an unknown Polish mountain which on that soggy Yom Kippur night became a symbol of Jewish courage and human dignity.”Eventually the Germans tired of this sport and the defiant Jewish prisoners were permitted to break their fast and live at least for another day.–And so, on the High Holidays, we rejoice, we repent … we fast and live for another day. Shana tova

https://www.aish.com/j/f/What-Jewish-History-Forgot-Passover-Edition-Vol-II.htmlWhat Jewish History Forgot: Passover Edition Vol. IIApr 8, 2017by Marnie Winston-MacauleyMatzah in space?!It is a time when We Jews everywhere celebrate freedom, liberty and courage. In telling the Passover story we’re forever reminded of our history of slavery and our liberation. The –remarkable events of Pesach are, sadly, more than a commemoration. Similar circumstances still exist throughout the world, which has made the principles of Passover constantly relevant to peoples of all racial and ethnic groups. Our holiday, then, is reflective of the world we have, and do live in. Did you know …“Passover” President Lincoln passed away on the 5 day of the th holiday.THE “PASSOVER” PRESIDENT: ABRAHAM LINCOLNThe time: Sunday, April 9, 1865. The place: Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. The event: General Lee surrendered to Grant. The Civil War that took over a half million American lives, was over. Did you know that the news broke the next day, which was also the morning before Passover was to be observed? “Union” Jews couldn’t miss the irony, the congruence of the two events. And, for survivors of the bloody war, the question, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” no doubt had multiple meanings.

When Lincoln died on April 14, the fifth day of Passover, from his wounds, inflicted by John Wilkes Booth, virtually the entire Jewish community mourned, deeply and personally. What you probably don’t know is that the first official words of mourning in a religious setting for the assassinated President came from a synagogue! As Lincoln died on a Saturday, Congregation Shearith Israel in New York, the oldest congregation in the U.S. in its Shabbos services, deviated from the norm and the rabbi recited a prayer for the slain President. This was also likely the first time this was ever done for a non-Jew (which brought about some controversy). Jews throughout the land draped their altars in black, Yom Kippur hymns replace Passover music and many rabbis cried openly and unabashedly, as did their congregants.President Lincoln’s friendship with Jewish Americans was a matter of record. For example, he overturned Grant’s anti-Semitic General Order#11, and supported Jewish military chaplains. More, in his eulogy for Henry Clay in 1852, before the Civil War, he used imagery from the Torah saying: “Pharaoh’s country was cursed with plagues, and his hosts were drowned in the Red Sea for striving to retain a captive people, who already served them more than four hundred years. May like disasters never befall us!” Did you know that after the assassination, an analogy was drawn in The Jewish Record between Moses dying before seeing the Israelites enter the Promised Land, and Lincoln dying before seeing the North and South re-unite? The parallels between Lincoln and Passover are profoundly etched, as are the principles.A RARE, MYSTICAL JEWISH HAGGADAH IS IN DISPUTE IN ISRAEL?How many have heard of the legendary Bird’s Head Haggadah? If so, did you know it is the oldest illustrated Passover manuscript that has survived? The Haggadah has taken on almost mystical properties as the Israelites are portrayed with bird-like heads; a fact that has confounded scholars. Some believe the heads on the figures are those of a beloved mythical creature, the griffin, which doesn’t violate the biblical prohibition forbidding representing human likeness. The writer, known only as Menahem created the work around 1300 in Southern Germany.The conflict: The masterpiece has been housed in the Israel Museum after being purchased years earlier by its forerunner, the Bezalel National Museum. Less than a year ago, a Jewish family descended from the Marum family claimed rightful ownership of the Haggadah and –wants a settlement.Here are the claims and the moral dilemma. You decide.–Eli Barzilai, who lives in Jerusalem, is pursuing ownership on behalf the family claiming the 14th-century Haggadah was a wedding gift from his grandmother's family to his grandfather, Ludwig Marum, a lawyer from Karlsruhe who served in Germany's parliament and opposed

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.Hitler. Ultimately Marum was killed in the Kislau concentration camp.Years later, Marum’s former law partner, Shimon Jeselsohn, who fled the Holocaust and after WW ll, moved to Israel, read about the museum purchase. Recognizing the piece, as Marum kept it in their office, Jeselsohn followed up with the museum. He was told it was brought to Jerusalem by an immigrant after the war who sold it to the museum. Jeselsohn grew suspicious after talking to the immigrant and got in touch with Barzilai’s aunt Elisabeth in New York. After traveling in 1984 to see it, Elisabeth wrote the museum, explaining that while the immigrant sold it illegally, the family wanted it to stay at the museum \"for the benefit of the public.\" And there it stayed.The family did nothing more, as according to Elisabeth’s daughter, Dominique Avery, her late mother believed she had no recourse. Her cousin, Barzilai, however, did. Several years ago he heard a speech by E. Randol Schoenberg, the attorney responsible for retrieving the Klimt paintings, and retained him.Barzilai, age 75, is seeking a compromise with the Museum over the priceless piece, and reportedly asking under 10 million dollars.While the museum has acknowledged the Marum family’s ownership of the manuscript until 1933, the moral dilemma is sensitive as the museum is not only a prized national institution, but has acted as caretaker of a large number of cultural pieces of the victims of the Holocaust.THE MOST FASCINATING PASSOVER VIEW WAS TAKEN FROM OUTER SPACE?Many of us know that right before Passover in 1985, Jewish astronaut Jeff Hoffman, asked to bring matzah with him into space. Worried that matzah crumbs might find their way into something important (like a heat shield), he took a mezuzah along, which he velcroed on the sleeping bunk. (Nailing it to the door might also present problems.) Ah, but did you know it was astronaut Jeff Williams, who, days before Passover, 2016 showed us our homeland from outer space. The non-Jewish astronaut, who has always loved history, a love passed to him by father, a history teacher, wrote that he was “fascinated” by this extraordinary view.To all, a happy, healthy, and hopeful Passover!

Savehttps://www.aish.com/j/f/What-Jewish-History-Forgot-Passover-Edition.htmlWhat Jewish History Forgot: Passover EditionApr 16, 2016by Marnie Winston-MacauleyDo you know who made the first American Haggadah? If you think it was Manischewitz, think again!You won’t see most of these amazing finds in courses or history books, yet this information is not only edu-taining, but will forever change the way the world sees Jews and Jewish culture.In 1973, Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan shouted, \"Man, oh, Manischewitz.\"For thousands of years Jews everywhere have celebrated the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt in the second millennium B.C.E.as told in the Bible (Exod. 1 15). Passover begins on the evening of the–fourteenth of Nisan, and is observed for seven daysin Israel and eight days elsewhere. Jews are required to recite the Exodus story (Exod. 13:8) at the Seder, eat the unleavened bread of affliction, matzah, and are prohibited from eating foods containing leaven (hametz). But did you know that …………. Let’s look.THE FIRST AMERICAN HAGGADAH?When many American Jews think “Haggadah” (the narrative recounting the Jewish Exodus from Egypt) they think Manischewitz, a giant leading Jewish food and wine company that also produces Haggadahs. But I bet few think of Solomon Henry Jackson! Yet, this immigrant from England (who died ca. 1847 probably in New York) was a pioneer Jewish printer. Establishing the first Hebrew printing press during the 1820s, his material was written using both Hebrew

and English fonts. In addition to many Jewish works, it was Jackson who published the first American edition of the Passover Haggadah in New York in 1837! On both editions, the title pages reads, “Translated into English by the late David Levy of London.”The “second” American edition was published by his son, John M. Jackson, who succeeded his father. The material is essentially the same with a few “external” changes. On the back cover the younger Jackson announces that he can supply blank ketuboth (marriage contracts) printed to order “on parchment if required” along with a family and pocket luach (calendar).On the second edition, published in 1850, the only attribution reads: J. M. Jackson, 190 Houston Street and 203 Bowery. The Hebrew chronogram on both reads “Next Year in Jerusalem.” Meanwhile papa Solomon was also the first to print a translation of the Sephardi prayer book into English: The Form of Daily Prayers, According to the Custom of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (1826). Between 1823 and 1825 he edited and published the first Jewish periodical in the U.S. called The Jew. More, as an active member of the evrat innukh ḤḤNe'arim, he was an ardent supporter of promoting Jewish education.MAN-O-MANISCHEWITZAnd while we’re on the subject, Dov Behr, in 1888, a Lithuanian immigrant opened the first matzah-making factory in Cincinnati, Ohio. He adopted the name Manischewitz, naming his factory the B. Manischewitz Company and developed an entirely automated method of matzah production. By 1920, he was the world's largest matzah producer — at 1.25 million rectangular, sheet-like matzahs a day — but always adhered to the original kosher rules.Manischewitz endured some controversy for his use of machines, but did you know that after Behr spent 13 years studying the Talmud in Jerusalem, even the most hardened traditionalists eventually considered him an acceptable authority on matzah.In 1973, Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan shouted, \"Man, oh, Manischewitz,\" the matzah company's slogan, in the middle of his moonwalk.DID YOUR AUNT RIVAH REALLY HOLD THE LARGEST SEDERS? THE CHABAD IN NEPAL DOES!Who among MOTS doesn’t have a relative (or maybe it’s us) who throws a Seder for the entire family, with “kin” shlepping in from Florida to Jerusalem? Ah, but did you know that the Nepalese Chabad Center probably holds the record for the biggest Pesach celebration, welcoming thousands of participants. More fascinating, as prior to 1986, there was no organized Judaism or indigenous Jews in Nepal! The credit goes to The Jerusalem-based NGO Tevel b'Tzedek ('The world with Justice'), under its orthodox head Micha Odenheimer who reached out to young Israelis to teach sophisticated farming techniques to inhabitants of small villages. In 1986, the Israeli embassy in Kathmandu organized a Passover celebration for the 7,000 Israelis who visit Nepal yearly. In 1999, the Nepalese Chabad House, inaugurated by

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz and his wife Chani took over the event. By 2006, the annual Passover Seder hosted 1,500 “guests.”The \"world's largest Seder\" requires 1,100 pounds of Matzah! By 2014 the event drew 1,700 although there was a threatened by a strike that delayed a shipment of matzah. The “doings” at the successful Chabad House Nepal was the basis of an Israeli miniseries, \"Kathmandu\" in 2012 by the network Reshet.THE FLYING MATZAHOne thing we know. Matzah is easily breakable but rarely on the perforations! But did you –know that in 2014, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) told Jewish travelers: they’ll take care of our Passover matzah! The TSA offered ways to safeguard our precious bread that included sensitive pat-downs on inspection. Instead of putting our boxes in the plastic containers that slide through a scanner, Jews could opt for a more gentle screening of the holiday food. Their website on the matters said: “Passengers traveling with religious items, including handmade matzah, may request a hand inspection by the TSO [transportation security officer] of the items at the security checkpoint. Some travelers will be carrying boxes of matzah, which are consumed as part of the Passover ritual. Matzah can be machine or handmade and are typically very thin and fragile, and break easily.”PASSOVER BOOSTS KOSHER FOOD SALES!While Pesach makes up only three percent of the calendar, did you know that some say that the celebration the most widely observed of the Jewish holidays in the United States-- –accounts for over 40 percent of kosher food sales in the U.S. each year boosting it to a $2 billion industry? More, yearly new kosher for Pesach products are introduced. For example, in 2001 alone there were 600 new ones According to Kosher Today, celebrants can now choose from more than 4,000 items from pizza to noodles. Could it be that Passover, with all these –new alternatives may lose some of its traditional culinary traditions? Is this a case where history may indeed “forget?”LEFTOVERS?According to John Cooper in Eat and Be Satisfied, the Jews in the Rhineland developed the breeding and fattening of geese, as far back as the middle ages. The slaughter of a duck or goose on Hanukkah provided the fat used for frying latkes, while the remaining fat and skin was rendered separately to be set aside for Passover, proving once again, We Jews love our leftovers!Have a miraculous Passover!

https://www.aish.com/j/f/What-Jewish-History-Forgot-Three-Fascinating-Jewish-Fathers.htmlWhat Jewish History Forgot: Three Fascinating Jewish FathersJun 18, 2016by Marnie Winston-MacauleyE ver e r ohad S l lfoFoer es h im ?W o u ldJ ew be e e e e e pliv h h lp du t a aw yBilly th e Kid?Make a speech in front of any group of Jews and ask them their first reactions to these two words: “Jewish Mother.” Wear protective gear as they start. Never in the history of any culture has the word “mother” evoked such controversy, such connection.Now, if Jewish mamas have staked their emotional claim with intensity, Jewish papas are frequently shrouded in mystery. Some see him as the titular head of the household (“Ask daddy”) who, like the old saw, makes the Big Decisions such as which mortgage company won’t steal from us while we’re paying off the house Mama chose. He’s often back-seated, in stereotype and in media.Yet, many have been blessed with extraordinary dads. Papa, the learned; the bearer of Big Principles; the Permission giver who took us by the hand out of mama’s grasping one, to introduce us to the world, even if he was out-voted by mama on the big sweet vs. sour gefilte issue.THREE JEWS DADS: UNCOMMON HEROESJEWISH PIONEER PAPA TAKES ON BILLY THE KID?We’ve all heard of Billy the Kid but how many have heard of Sol Floersheim, the 5’, 110- pound dynamo who took on any man who expressed anti-Semitism in his presence and played a key role in the capture of infamous Billy the Kid? (At least according to his son’s 1953 memoirs. Several other accounts exist.)

The German-born Floersheim (b. 1856) came to New York at age 22. Believing there was more gelt and better ops across the county, he Westward Ho’d. In Trinidad, Colorado as a clerk, he had a falling out with his boss and kept moving west, to Las Vegas, New Mexico, eventually working as both clerk and collector for a Mr. Charles Ilfeld. According to Floersheim’s son, on July 12, 1881, one collecting trip near Fort Sumner, New Mexico was a stand-out for his father and the Spanish-speaking colleague he brought. Looking for directions to lodging the men entered a saloon. The lone customer insisted Floersheim drink a whiskey … at gunpoint.While they were talking, even discussing trading guns Floersheim was asked to take another drink. He now got the fact that the odd stranger, was, in fact, Billy the Kid. Oy vey. He got out of “Dodge” and landed at a ranch house. Who was in the house? Friends. The legendary Sheriff Pat Garret and his family. After spilling all, Garrett was thrilled and invited Floersheim to help get his man. He declined the honor. The very next evening (July 13, 1881), Pat Garrett shot and killed Billy the Kid Bonney! Who would know that it was a Jew behind the death of the infamous outlaw?In 1897, Floersheim “the fearless” bought a ranch near Springer, New Mexico and later opened stores in other New Mexico towns. He was also skilled at frontier medicine (he delivered 300 babies). Sol took pride in his Judaism and not only founded Congregation Montefiore but stood up to anti-Semitism. When a young fellow referred to Sol, age 70, as “a dirty Jew,” Floersheim reportedly gave him some licking. More, in an era of exploitation, Sol treated his employees humanely and fairly. He eventually created a dynasty with and for his three sons and daughter.FATHERS TO SON: THE BARUCHSMany a Jewish father has passed down his values about enriching the world to his children. But one example is the Baruchs. History buffs of course know that Bernard Baruch was “the man” behind “THE men” – United States Presidents, including Wilson, Harding, Hoover, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, JFK and Johnson. How many know that his papa, an advocate of cleanliness as preventive medicine, made medical history? Doctor Simon Baruch (1840- 1921), a Prussian-Polish immigrant, who served in the Confederacy as a surgeon, moved to New York City and opened America’s first public bath. More, he was the first doctor to diagnose the need for — then perform an appendectomy in 1888. Relatively speaking, —could there be a connection between clean people and clean politics?A FATHER TO TEL AVIV AND TO HIS DAUGHTERThe names Moshe Dayan and Yitzhak Rabin are known world-wide. They, along with other distinguished names courageously fought for Israel in the War of Independence in 1948.

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.But how many of you are familiar with Layos Lenovitz (Lou Lenart) the U.S. marine who was referred to as “The Man who Saved Tel Aviv?”Born in Hungary in 1921, at the age of 10, the farm boy came with his family to live in the coal-mining town of Wilkes-Barre, P.A. As a youngster he was mocked and teased for being a Jew. Yet he grew to be a hero. At age 18, Lenart joined the U.S. Marines and after a year-and- a-half of training he entered flight school. After WWII, in 1948 he flew clandestine missions in Okinawa and Japan to smuggle war planes into what was to become Israel, evading the British and Egyptians. He took on this dangerous task in anticipation of Israeli independence, especially when he learned that 14 of his relatives were killed in Auschwitz.Ultimately, the Egyptian troops, who had been assured that the Israelis had no aircraft, halted their advance on Tel Aviv. Lenart also participated in the airlift of Iraqi Jews to Israel. But more, he became a movie producer (“Iron Eagle” and “Iron Eagle II,” among others). This “father” of Tel Aviv has left Israel another legacy in his daughter Michal, who followed in her father’s footsteps by serving in the Israel Air Force. His exploits during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War were the subject of the 2015 film A Wing and a Prayer.

https://www.aish.com/j/f/What-Jewish-History-Forgot-Yom-Kippur-Edition.htmlWhat Jewish History Forgot: Yom Kippur EditionSep 24, 2017by Marnie Winston-MacauleyStudies show that stock prices are tied to Yom Kippur?!As we celebrate the High Holidays, let’s look at some fascinating facts about Yom Kippur Some are known, many have faded from memory. We start by finishing a story…UNITED NATIONS RECOGNITION OF YOM KIPPUR?Two years ago, I wrote about a brouhaha afoot in the United Nations in 2014, asking for the international body to recognize Yom Kippur as an official U.N. holiday. Among the 10 official holidays at the time, Christmas and Good Friday and the Muslim holidays Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha were recognized and Yom Kippur was not. Thirty-two countries wrote on behalf of the proposal to the General Assembly. What happened? You tell me: “General Assembly January 2015: Sixty-ninth session (A/res/69/250), Article 5: [The United Nations] acknowledges that Yom Kippur is a significant local holiday which is observed in the host city of the Headquarters of the United Nations, invites United Nations bodies at Headquartersand other duty stations where observed to avoid holding meetings on Yom Kippur, and in this regard encourages this arrangement be taken into account when drafting future calendars of conferences and meetings.” Did you know that Yom Kippur was “Local to Manhattan” and members are “invited” not to meet? Wow. In addition to the many languages spoken at theU.N. we also have “government ese” –- an odd, razor sharp lingo designed to make things unintelligible. After giving up, I finally called and spoke to a U.N. Librarian from Ethiopia. I asked her simply: “Do you work on Yom Kippur?” Her answer? “Yes.”

To bring us up to speed, the United Nations also stated that, beginning in 2016, they would have nine official holidays and seven floating holidays which each employee would be able to choose one of. It stated that the floating holidays will be Yom Kippur, Day of Vesak, Diwali, Gurpurab, Orthodox Christmas, Orthodox Good Friday, and Presidents' Day. This was the first time the United Nations officially recognized any Jewish holiday.Did you know that according to the U.N. We Jews are celebrating a holiday that “floats”?1973: THE YOM KIPPUR WAR: WHAT GOLDA KNEW?Dateline: October 6, 1973. As Israeli Jews were observing our most sacred holiday, Yom Kippur they were shocked by the blast of an air raid siren. Radio was resumed to alert them –of the attack on Israel by Egypt and Syria. The Yom Kippur War started. The day before, The Jerusalem Post reported that the country would come to a virtual standstill on Yom Kippur.Civilian aircraft as well as taxis would cease running for 24 hours. It also published the call for Israelis, especially those praying at the Wall, to extend their fast for an additional hour and pray for those Jews incarcerated in the Soviet Union. A special prayer for an ailing prisoner at the infamous Potma camp would also be recited.This astonishing attack had long been thought of and is still reported as a surprise, but ––was it? Did you know that 40 years later, in January of 2014 The Jerusalem Post said the attack was indeed not a total surprise. Veteran army and government photographer Moshe Milner, who was retiring from 30 years of service, where he travelled with the highest government officials claimed a warning was given by Austrian chancellor –Bruno Kreisky to Golda Meir, that a strike was planned.Milner was with the PM when she flew to Vienna, after Kreisky acceded to the demand of the al-Sa’ika Palestinian terrorist group, who had high jacked a train on September 28, 1973 on the Austrian-Czechoslovakian border carrying Jewish emigrants from the Soviet Union on their way to Israel. They held them hostage, threatening to murder the group unless Kreisky closed the Schoenau transit camp which the Jewish Agency operated as temporary housing for the Soviet emigrants.Milner was with her during the meeting and claims she was so outraged over Kreisky giving in to the terrorists’ demands, she didn’t believe his warning about an Egyptian-Syrian strike against Israel.The results of the War have been debated by both sides, with Israel being cited as coming out the stronger, however we have to wonder if and what would have happened had the alleged warning been heeded.THE HIGH HOLIDAYS … AND WALL STREET?

On the High Holidays, We Jews wish to be free of worldly distraction to focus on reflection and self-appraisal. So, how does that affect stock prices? Robert Johnson, president of The American College of Financial Services, told The Street.com. that since 1950, September is generally a bad month for the S&P 500, while October is bullish.Data from Bespoke Investment Group released in 2014 found that the strategy worked in eight out of the previous 13 Jewish High Holy Days periods.A study was done by economists from Nova Southeastern University in 2010, looking at the daily returns of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1907 to 2008. The results? Those who bet stocks will fall during Rosh Hashanah then rise after Yom Kippur \"would have produced statistically and economically significant returns.\"Significant?. Experts Pam Yatrakis and Albert Williams said that a huge investment would have to be made for a relatively modest return.Meanwhile, this phenomenon isn’t unique to the Jewish High Holidays. Did you know that in general, stocks generally do better before all holidays, perhaps in anticipation of time off and good cheer.Ah, but did you also know that our holiday, however has an “adage” on The Street? \"Sell on Rosh Hashanah and buy on Yom Kippur.”DATELINE: OCTOBER 6, 1943: ORTHODOX RABBIS PROTEST ON PENNSYLVANIA AVENUEIt must have been quite a sight for government officials. Four hundred Orthodox rabbis, in their black hats and beards marching from the D.C. railroad station to Capitol Hill two days prior to Yom Kippur. They had a life-saving mission, and were following the injunction of pikuach nefesh (saving a life). They wished to speak to both Congress and President Roosevelt to rescue Jews from German concentration camps. When they reached the Hill, they were met by Vice President Henry Wallace and members of Congress. The rabbis read a petition aloud in English and Hebrew calling for a federal agency to rescue European Jews and for the U.S. to increase Jewish immigration. Their requests were met with a minimal response. The President would not see the rabbis and left through a back door of the White House.Did you know that these courageous rabbis, however, picked up invaluable PR support. The next day the headline in the Washington Times-Herald read, “Rabbis Report ‘Cold Welcome’ at the White House.”In response, Congress introduced a resolution that called for a federal agency to rescue refugees. Ultimately the President announced the creation of the War Refugee Board which saved at least 200,000 Jews. When these rabbis returned to their congregations, they didn’t

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.know that on October 6, 1943, in observing pikuach nefesh, their gargantuan effort saved hundreds of thousands of Jews from annihilation.

https://www.aish.com/j/fs/Whats-On-Tap.htmlWhat’s On Tap?Aug 22, 2015by Marnie Winston-MacauleyBottled water companies are waging a war on tap water.Yankel went with a tour group to Israel. Unfortunately, he got separated and the bus left. After shlepping a mile in the boiling heat he started murmuring, “Vater ... Vater ... .” The sun baked his skin; he started to stumble. Just as he was sure he was a goner, a small house appeared on the horizon. Yankel crawled and scratched at the door. A women opened it, and Yankel, on his knees, whispered, “...vater ... vater!\"\"Of course!\" said the woman, who ran, returning with a glass. “Here!” Brightening, Yankel stared, “Did you let it run a little?\"Tap water costs less than 1 cent per gallon; bottled water $8 per gallon. A Yiddishe kop pays forthis?!Now, if Yankel asked: “Ah, but is it Aquafina?!” he’d be a sand dune.I started noticing it about 15 years ago. Young people like my son were buying massive cases of water in huge plastic containers. At first I thought itwas because we lived near Area 51 and should therebe an alien escape at least we’ll be clean for the welcoming. It could also be that it’s summer, and at 118 degrees, we’re not only thoisty … but without H2O, we’ll shrivel like a raisin.But, like bed bugs, the bottle trend spread to a $14.4 billion market. For you Greenies, I’m not talking 3 world countries where clean water is a critical problem. But in Flushing, New York? rd Des Moines, Iowa? Sioux Falls, South Dakota.? Miami, Florida?

Suddenly, humans in developed countries were convinced by ad agencies that if God forbid, tap water touched their lips, they’d glow orange and need to be de-toxed in a government clean room.Yesterday, my personal water meter hit boil! First, I got a gorgeous discount offer from a bottled water company. For only 344 dollars a month I could buy enough cases of some magic elixir to fill up the Grand Canyon. Thinking that was the government’s job, I “deleted.” Then I saw an ad for Kona Nigari Water, from which I can sip, lose weight, reduce stress, and become gorgeous – all this from an ocean in Hawaii. The cost? $402 per 750 ml. I figure it’s cheaper to make the trip, bring a thermos, and pretend to drown.This beats turning on a tap? I checked my supermarket and there were dozens of brands of water. Half had names like “Mystery Springs” and “One Hundred Percent Pure” but neglected to say “pure what, from where, from when.” I could be drinking old stuff from some 20-year- old entrepreneur’s shark tank that outsources from Nigeria being pushed by Mad Men.I was particularly interested as We Jews have always had a special relationship to water. Noah and Moses alone had a hugely intimate relationship with God and water, and our customs involve both cleanliness and water rituals. We Jews also see ourselves as God’s stewards, whose job it is to work and guard the Earth.So, is bottling water doing the job? For you my beloved readers, I researched.TAP FACTS*Tappy Happy: Is the bottled stuff safer than tapping away your thirst? The bottles? Stunning. Facts about the stuff inside might stun you. Celia Kuperszmid-Lehrman, deputy home editor for Consumer Reports says: “You can be pretty confident in the water coming out of your tap.” Over 90% of U.S. water systems meet all regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency. A perfect system it’s not, but at least they have rules, and they check so you can check. Now, what’s in those plastic bottles? It’s marginally checked, but mostly “self- regulated,” which leaves the poor consumer to decide who we distrust more: the government, or “BlueGoldSprings” – which may be a division of the billion dollar Platinum Mining Corporation that also sells neutron septic tanks.*What is in those bottles? Despite the fancy slogans involving “glacial sand” and angelic mountaintops almost half the stuff comes from … local municipal supplies; the same place your faucet gets it! Forty per cent of those mega-water-bottle people you see biking, jogging, and turning themselves into pretzels could stop shlepping and sip from a fountain. More, many bottled water companies have been oddly effective at keeping their contents a mystical secret from well, us and the government. Mr. Wizard told us bacteria can grow in bottles,

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.especially if the bottle has been sitting there since Shavuot, 2012. Do we know dates? Unlike tap suppliers, bottlers can hide, then shred test results or violations after two years; altogether a terrific idea for the IRS instead of H2O.*What are those bottles? Many are made of polyethylene terephthalate. If it sounds scary, it is. They may or may not leach stuff that causes cancer, and neurological problems in children. This is going to make me glow? Maybe my X-Ray.Gelt leaking: Is there an accountant in the house? Tap water costs less than 1 cent per gallon, while bottled water adds up to about $8 per gallon. A Yiddishe kop should pay for exactly the same shmutz we can tap? Or, as our mamas used to say “Why buy the cow, if you can get the milk for (practically) free?”*Garbage, garbage everywhere! Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic trash per year. According to Food and Water Watch, that plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil to produce. Instead of recycling, over 80 percent are simply thrown away, spinning in the world's oceans and landfills for up to 1,000 years, leaking toxic waste and killing marine life.Money, garbage, pollution, waste, danger … all to stay “healthy” instead of using that big bottled water gelt to build a safe global water supply.So, my friends, I say tap, filter if you must, so when we sip, we can truly say “L’Chaim” – to life–and mean it.

https://www.aish.com/f/p/When_Children_Lie.htmlWhen Children LieMar 25, 2012by Marnie Winston-MacauleyWhy small children lie and what to do about it.For young children, lying isn’t necessarily a moral issue. Developmentally they lack the capacity to comprehend the broader implications. This ability kicks in from about age six to eight. So why do children lie?The world of the young child is fantastical, laced with reality. With heads filled with fairy tales, gumdrop trees, and blue cartoon heroes, their thoughts muddle between what could be, and what . Young children lie for several reasons.is1. To socialize and impress. Listen to these three 4-year-olds in the nether world between truth and fiction:David: “A fly flew right into my mouth!” Reva: “I once ate a huge, hairy bug!”Jeremy: “Last Summer this huge pelican came straight at my mouth!And … hit me with his elbow!”Welcome to pre-school “socializing.” Announcing they had a bowl of cereal isn’t nearly as interesting as weaving an exciting fantasy. (And, well, pelicans may have elbows.)2. To express what they wish or hope for. By listening to the “lie” we can often hear what young children desire:Benjy: “I got a blue Plasmacar for Hanukkah that lifts me up in the air!”Ariel: “The teacher said my finger painting was the best she ever saw!”Jonah: “I have this Monster Robot who will do everything I say, and he even talks ‘alien’!”

Clearly, Benjy dreams of taking off on a futuristic “magic carpet,” Ariel seeks admiration, while Jonah is on a youngster’s “power” quest.3. In fear and self-defense: How often, when faced with a broken toy, a small accident, a spill, have we heard our little “offender” counter with:“I don’t know how it happened!” “I didn’t touch her doll!” “Maybe a robber broke it.”If telling a lie is “safer” than the truth, the young child will often choose what he considers is the path of least resistance.Related Article: Will Your Child Grow Up To Be A Thief?Helpful Responses to Small Children’s LiesOf course we want to raise honest children who understand that lying is not permissible. The first step, however, is understanding that their tales are not a moral defect. The second step is allowing our children to tell us the truth, without provoking more lies! Here are steps we can take to move them toward internalizing truth even at young ages.1.Help them separate reality from fantasy. Now that we know their grandiose “stories” aren’t a character flaw, we can stop “disproving.”“Benjy, you know that’s not true. You didn’t get a car for Hanukkah, and it certainly didn’t lift you up!”versus“Wow! You wish you had that fancy blue car!”“You wish you could go anywhere, any time you’d like to!” “Now, what did you get for Hanukkah?”By dealing with the wish, we make it known that there’s a difference between wishful thinking and reality without embarrassment or humiliation. The child is now ready to truth-tell without feeling defensive.2. Allow children to tell us the truth even the unpleasant ones. Our youngster tells us –passionately: “I hate pre school!”-“No you don’t.” “That’s not nice.” “You’re a smart boy who will love school!” versus“Wow! I see a boy who had a bad day. Tell me about it.”

An ugly feeling from our children hurts ! Yet when we rush in to deny we inadvertently usteach “denial” and discourage “truth.” Allowing the feeling invites truth, and more conversation to help our child look at different perspectives and perhaps modify.“Ah … so you had an argument with your best friend. That’s tough. So, who did you play with?”“ Rebecca. We went on the slide.” “That must’ve been fun.”“Yeah. I’ll ask her again tomorrow.”3.When young children “cover” their obvious mistakes or naughty behavior we don’t ignore it. We call them on it without provoking even more defensive lies.Four-year-old Adam broke his LeapFrog computer when struggling to take it from his three-year-old sister, Lisa. He quickly threw it in the attic, where it was not only further smashed, his parents found it.DAD: “Where’s your new computer?”ADAM: “Hmmm. Dunno.”DAD: “Well, find it!”ADAM: “Maybe Lisa stole it.”DAD: “She did NOT steal it. YOU BROKE IT. You’re lying. I hate liars!” then spanked him.VersusDAD: “I see your new computer is broken. Too bad. I know you liked it. Maybe if I’d seen it earlier I could’ve helped fix it.”ADAM: “Can I have another one?!”DAD: “’Fraid not. It was expensive, and needed to be taken care of.”This dad above didn’t get hysterical, prophesize or preach. He stayed practical and factual. Adam learned that a) I can tell Dad the truth without catastrophe; b) It might have been in my best interest to do so; c) I need to take care of my things.If we, as adults, model truth by accepting it, understand what our child is communicating, react calmly, teach that escaping consequences through lying is only a temporary and not acceptable “fix,” and realize that in short order he or she will understand the moral

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.implications, we can not only relax a bit, but help them on their way to decent, honorable Jewish behavior – that doesn’t involve orange jumpsuits.

https://www.aish.com/sp/so/When_Debras_Heart_Stopped.htmlWhen Debra's Heart StoppedApr 2, 2011by Marnie Winston-MacauleySometimes love can create miracles.Debra and Avi fell in love at age 13. It was the start of a lifetime for this unlikely couple. Avi was tall and gangly, with a rapid-fire mouth, endless energy, and always a \"scheme.\" At 17, he started a scuba diving business which he tested – in New York’s East River – to find out if the pollution would eat through the gear. If he lived, he'd go public.For every Clyde, there's a Bonnie. His was Debra. A tiny, feisty, totally adorable bundle with flashing blue eyes, a gazillion freckles, crowned with a glorious flame-red mane, she carried up the rear like a zany and proud partner in crime.It was my late mother who determined they should \"stop futzing already\" and get married. So, they did. They studied, worked, and had fun. They bought a huge home in a terrific neighborhood, had a daughter, then a son, and when Avi graduated from business school, Deb ran his office.Over the years, their home became Family Central for a myriad of in-laws, cousins (like me) and friends. The busier they were, the more they did. All the while, they continued to \"date.\" Two nights a week was \"their\" night. Then, after 20 years, they decided to increase their bounty, and had two more children. Little boys! Their life cycle was renewed yet again.It was October when I got a call. It was Avi. Debra needed a heart bypass. His young, vibrant wife needed heart surgery? Unthinkable! She was the calm eye in his storm. She'd be fine. It was routine.After the surgery, when Avi was told that all went well, he went to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. He returned to a blood-curdling sound. An alarm ran through him.Debra's heart had stopped.The surgeon re-opened her chest and massaged her heart back to life with his hands.

After what seemed like an eternity, it finally started beating again. But she'd suffered several strokes. Her condition, now unstable and critical, forced them to induce a coma. Her heart simply couldn't withstand the pressure.She remained in a coma as the weeks passed. Avi never once left her side. He had a bed moved into her room.But the unthinkable happened again. Medication had reduced her blood flow, causing gangrene in her leg. Avi had to make the decision to amputate to save her life, as she lay in a coma.Two weeks later, the other leg failed. This too was amputated.Every night we'd brace ourselves to make that call. Hear that message. We'd hear Avi’s voice, laden with disbelief, grief, exhaustion.Over time, he left daily updates on his answering machine. But the news grew ever grim: Her heart was underperforming... massive infection... strokes. His message always ended with, \"Your calls mean so much. Please, pray for Devorah.” He'd taken to using her Hebrew name.As she remained in the coma, her body failing, Avi kept up his vigil. He was her partner in this, as theywere all of their lives. He massaged her. Talked of every memory they'd shared over the years. He showed her photos that she couldn't see. He shut down his business. His life was focused solely on saving hers, even as some family members gently suggested it might be time to \"let her go.\"Every night we'd brace ourselves to make that call. Hear that message. And every night we'd hear Avi's voice, laden with disbelief, grief, exhaustion. Days turned to weeks, Indian summer to Fall.It was a Thursday. I picked up the phone and dialed. But this time Avi's voice was quiet, barely audible.\"No update today. There's... somebody here... who will do it for me.\"And then we heard it. Seven words. In a small rasp. With a twinkle. A tiny-feisty-flashing-blue- eyed-freckled-flame-red twinkle.\"Hi, guys... It's me, Debra... I'm back.\"The moment I saw her again, in a wheelchair, laughing, planning, whispering a mile a minute, with Avi as always by her side, I knew that I had never before seen anything so beautiful.

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.Debra told me that while she was in the coma, she felt Avi's touch. And when she awoke, they both knew they wouldn't let a moment go by, wasted.They became, in that instant, my heroes.I saw them recently. Debra walks a mile a day on \"the most fashionable legs known to plastic.\" She is back at the helm of Avi's office, tends to her children, and has thrown major family celebrations. The only remnant of the strokes is \"a weird giggle.” That's not to say she doesn't have moments of mourning for the independence compromised.When I look at Avi and Debra, I don't see what's been lost. I see that tiny, feisty, totally adorable 20-year-old with the flashing blue eyes, a gazillion freckles, crowned with a glorious bright-red mane. And that gangly, zany, wild boy who fell in love at 13.I see a radiance that only time can bestow.I see what can be borne from monumental love, connection to one another. But more, I see the will, the persistence, the faith to create miracles.

https://www.aish.com/f/p/When_Siblings_Fight.htmlWhen Siblings FightSep 17, 2011by Marnie Winston-MacauleyFive helpful tips.It's inevitable children fight. Despite our best efforts to encourage a spirit of cooperation –and our attempts to “equalize” everything from cookie distribution to love, we parents all hear our little ones say things to one another we wouldn’t say to our worst enemy, taunt, tease, grab, fight, and bellow, “It’s not FAIR!” “You love HER better!” when we try to play Solomon.Are there ways to intervene helpfully? You bet.Five Tips for Parents When Our Children Fight1. Equal means lessEquality may work for constitutions, but not our little ones’ “constitutions.” Children need to be loved and provided for uniquely, as they are unique with different needs. How much better to lose the measuring tape, assure each they are special, and will get what’s required.When Mark starts arguing “Not Fair” that his brother got a larger hamburger, simply say, “Are you still hungry? Would like another half or can you handle two?”If Rachel asks, “Who do you love best?” instead of reassuring, “I love you both the same,” it’s more helpful and realistic to reply: “Each of you is special to me. There’s not another Rachel in the whole universe!”When Eli, impatient and angry while you’re helping his sister prepare for a math test, complains, “Mommy, you’re talking to her longer than you talk to me!” you might explain that this math test is important, but when you finish, you’re eager to hear what’s on his mind.2. Get off the bench and put down the gavelAs the parent, our children look to us to be judge and jury. This, of course, is a lose-lose situation, as one child will “lose” – and so will we. First, prioritize. Not every little squabble is our “business.” Whenever possible, let them sweat solutions over the small stuff.

The “bigger stuff” does require our attention, but rather than playing cop or judge, the goal is to teach them how to settle things themselves.For example, Shayna, 7, and Michael, 6, are arguing furiously over a Sing-A-Ma-Jig. Each is screaming and holding onto it with the strength of Sumo wrestlers. Our natural inclination is to yell and investigate. “Stop it this minute!” “Who started it? The truth!” “Shame on you Shayna, give it to your little brother and play with your Barbie!” “Can’t you learn to share?!” “No one gets it! Time out for both of you!”-We know the above will send us and them on a merry-go-round, creating even more frustration and resentment as they will claim or think “I won/lost,” “But that’s unfair!” “They always take his/her side.” “Why should I share?!”How much more helpful to simply:a)Identify the feelings: “I see two children who are angry at each other.”b)Identify the conflict: “Hmmm. Shayna, you were playing with it, then Michael wanted to play too. Wow. This is tough. Both of you wanting to play with the same toy now.”c)Throw it back: “If you think hard together, I know you can find a fair solution.” Then, get “outta” there.I hear you groaning, “Right.” But, believe it or not, most children, when you show them you have confidence in their ability to work things out will figure it out! And you’ve managed to avoid the fall-out and charges of favoritism that come with being the mommy-in-the-middle.3. Stopping the bully/victim cycleIn many sibling relationships a “bully” vs. “victim” cycle develops. How often have we heard these words between them: “If you don’t get out, I’ll ....” as the “bully” threatens or grabs, while the “victim” withers, whines, tattle-tales, and looks to us to punish the offender? This is a rough one, as our sympathies are often with the victim.For example, David, 10, is hitting his 8-year-old sister’s boombox, threatening, “If you don’t get out of here, Anna, I’ll smash it!!” while Anna is hysterical. Rather than saying: “David!You’re bullying again! Knock it off!” it’s more helpful to say, “No teasing or smashing! You know how to ask for what you want without nicely, and I expect you to do it right now.”As for the “victim,” instead of going the “poor baby” route, the task here is to help her learn to stand up for herself. Comments such as: “You can tell your brother ‘I got it for my birthday. It’s my toy’” or, “If he teases you with a mean face, tell him ‘You don’t scare me!’”

Teaching our little ones that bullying is unacceptable and they need not be “victims” prepares them to behave in a civilized manner with confidence.4. When the bigger stuff gets out of handIn a perfect world, the above will work, but as we know, at times things may spiral out of control, and of course we must step in to avoid a potentially dangerous situation!For example, you hear screaming and find your 9-year-old twin boys clobbering one another. First, inquire: “Is this a real or ‘play’ fight?” (Play fighting is allowed only by mutual consent.Real fights are not.) If you quickly determine they’re out for blood, describe it: “I see two furious boys who may hurt each other.” Then, separate them, saying, “This is NOT safe. You both need to cool down. Quick, to your rooms (or other separate areas), now!”Sometimes intervention is needed.5.The “Meeting Hall”Among sibs, there are persistent triggers in specific situations. Your Eli, 14, babysits when you go out for short hops, but becomes a mega-macher, ordering his 12-year-old sister, Becca, around, and calling the shots over everything from TV viewing to iPad apps. If she disobeys, he pinches her.a. Call a family meeting to discuss the situation.b. Invite each child to express his or her feelings and concerns.c.Write them down and read them aloud to make sure you’re all on the same page.d. Ask the kids to offer fair solutions, then write them all, without judgment.e.Establish the final rules with them. For example: “No bosses.” “No hurting.” Devise a TV schedule, along with suitable apps that Becca may choose from without interference from her brother.f. Follow-up a week later to see if all are satisfied with the new strategy in place.Just imagine brothers and sisters growing up in homes where hurting isn’t tolerated; where children learn to negotiate fairly; and where cooperation rather than competition is encouraged. From such a home, they will have the tools and the confidence to grow together, rather than apart.

Copyright © 1995 - 2020 Aish.com, https://www.aish.com.Aish.com is a non-profit and needs your support. Please donate at: aish.com/donate,or mail a check to: Aish.com c/o The Jerusalem Aish HaTorah Fund PO Box 1259 Lakewood, NJ 08701.