From the Pages -- October 27, 2022

JEWISH BICENTENNIAL

Each week The American Israelite will print one milestone related to the history of the Cincinnati Jewish community over the last 200 years, provided by the Jewish Cincinnati Bicentennial. Each milestone weaves Jewish history within the greater context of our community’s development, and our country at large.  

 1997 | The Orthodox Jewish Home for the Aged and the Home for the Jewish Aged (Reform-affiliated) merge to form Cedar Village. 

Learn even more about the history of Jewish Cincinnati at https://www.jewishcincy200.org/historical-milestones

This Jewish Bicentennial ad is sponsored by The American Israelite

150 YEARS AGO

Increase of Rain

It is a curious fact that as the settlements spread beyond the Mississippi, rains increase both in frequency and amount of water. Many beds of streams, which were uniformly dry in summer only ten years ago, are now full throughout the year. Travelers say the Laramie Plains were once destitute of vegetation; now they have a luxuriant growth and will raise large crops of wheat. Denver was built on the banks of an extinct creek, perfectly dry. Now it is full of water and needs to be crossed by bridges. Salt Lake is seven feet higher than ten years ago, and is steadily rising. The vast plains which engineers once pronounced uninhabitable and fit only for droves of buffalo, because destitute of streams and springs, may yet become great States, the home of crowded population.

Varieties

Say little and do much, for deeds speak louder than words.

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There are in Wilna 47,373 Jews, and 33,627 Gentiles 

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The Jesuits of Regensberg, Bavaria, lately received notices of the government to leave in three days.

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Count Julius Andrassy, prime minister of Austria, presented to a Hebrew congregation in Hungary the lots and building materials to erect a temple and parsonage. 

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In Bombay, India, the corner-stone was laid to a Hebrew high school, to cost about three hundred thousand dollars, in gold, one fourth of which has been donated by the house of David Sassoon & Co. The same firm gave 50,000 francs to the congregation of Bagdad for the same purpose. 

Editor's Note: David Sassoon & Co was a trading company that operated in Bombay (today known as Mumbai) that began with property investments and then branched out into dealing in precious metals, silks, spices, wool, wheat, and even opium. The business was very successful and its founder very charitable. This charitable behavior continued even after the founder’s death. When adjusted for inflation, the $75,000 donated by the company (one fourth of the full $300,000 cost of the school) amounts to $1,824,639.34 today. 

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The election of Governor Moses, in South Carolina, gives us one Israelite, and the first, too, in the position of Governor of a state in these United States. Mr. Moses, we believe, is a native of Charleston, South Carolina, a descendent of a Portuguese Hebrew family. The clamor of bribery in the nominating convention, raised against him, and the nomination of an anti-Moses ticket on the strength of it, did not defeat him after all. Moses prevailed, and we send him our congratulations. 

—October 25, 1872 

125 YEARS AGO

In the Bible Kesef is money and Kesef is silver (in Latin too) hence silver is money according to the good book and the Latin classics. But we speak now English, and so gold is the dollar or shekel, and silver is the dime or guera (twenty guera make one shekel. Exodus 30:13). Moses in building the tabernacle and its furniture and making the priestly garments, used gold, because it was the rich man’s coin; he used no silver, because it was the poor man’s money; the golden calf, of course, was not made of silver. All of this Bible wisdom was not utilized but the free silver orators, which shows plainly that they had no rabbi among them. 

Editor’s Note: The free silver orators to which this article refers were supporters of the Free Silver Movement. The movement was aimed at providing unlimited silver coinage that would ultimately aid in subverting the gold standard. The “Silverites” hoped that the expansion of the currency system to include more silver would aid average citizens in the fight against the powerful bankers and robber barons of the period. The debate persisted until 1873, when the Fourth Coinage Act was passed, making the gold standard the only metallic standard in the country and quashing the Silverites’ campaign. 

Jottings

Another Jewish journal has been added to the New York City list, viz: “Our Clubs.” It is to be, as its name indicates, the organ of the social organizations. Rev. E.M. Myers is the editor and publisher.

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In Baltimore a Normal School for training Sabbath-school teachers for Jewish congregations was opened at the Eutaw-Place Temple. It is under the auspices of the Rabbinical Association, and Dr. Benjamin Szold, President of the Association, is head of the faculty.

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At Fort Wayne, Ind., a year ago, the congregation elected Rabbi Frederick Cohen for two years. At its annual meeting this year, without Mr. Cohen’s knowledge and without being requested to do so by him, they increased his salary by a nice addition and notified him of their act in a letter, which Mr. Cohen will probably keeping during his whole life as a cherished treasure. 

— October 28, 1897

100 YEARS AGO

According to a recent report from Constantinople, as soon as the Kemalist authorities are installed in Eastern Thrace and Constantinople, total prohibition of alcoholic drinks will be enforced. Violators of this law will be liable to punishment consisting of forty-nine lashes, three months of imprisonment and a fine from sixty to three hundred pounds, Turkish. This will make Turkey and the United States the two prohibition countries of the world. The Mohammedans are the original prohibitionists. The Americans have only been their followers. 

Jottings

One of the assassins of the Hungarian Jew, the late Mr. Adolf Landau, who was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, has been released on 100,000 kroner bail. 

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It is anticipated that the Soviet Government will grant amnesty to political prisoners on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Bolshevist revolution. Zionists who had been imprisoned for illegal assembly and rabbis arrested for demanding liberty of conscience will be included in the amnesty, it is said.

—October 26, 1922 

75 YEARS AGO

Teentimers Plan Halloween Dance at Jewish Center

A Halloween Dance is being planned by the Teentimers Committee for Nov. 1st, at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Center. The price of admission will be 75 cents per couple. Teentimers, consisting of 7th and 8th graders, is organized to plan social affairs for Center members in their age group. 

Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr Exchange Lecturer at HUC Nov. 17th - 19th

Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr, famed Christian theologian, educator and editor, will present this year’s Jeanette Miriam Goldberg Memorial Lectures at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. 

Dr. Nelson Glueck, president of the College, announced that Dr. Niebuhr will present the lectures on the evenings of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 17th, 18th and 19th. 

Dr. Glueck extended a cordial invitation to the public to attend the lectures at the college. 

Dr. Glueck himself will present the College’s series of the exchange lectures this year at the Union Theological Seminary Nov. 17th-21st. 

Personals 

Dr. Arthur M. Spark, a member of the staff of the Schenley Research Laboratory, Lawrenceburg, Ind., is the co-discoverer of three new types of penicillin. News of the findings of Dr. Spark and his co-worker, Dr. Walter A. Winsten, appeared in a recent issue of Science Magazine. 

— October 23, 1947

50 YEARS AGO

Bar Mitzvah

Dr. and Mrs. Theodore Wohl, 922 Oregon Trail, announce the forthcoming Bar Mitzvah of their son, Thomas Alan, Saturday, Nov. 4th, at the Isaac M. Wise Temple, Eighth and Plum Streets, at 10:45 a.m. 

Relatives and friends are cordially invited to worship with the family and attend the Kiddush following the service. 

Thomas is the grandson of Rabbi and Mrs. Samuel Wohl of Cincinnati and Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Gallittee of Leesburg, Fla. 

Rabbi Amiel Wohl of Sacramento will speed at the the services. 

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Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hopmeier proudly announce the forthcoming Bar Mitzvah of their son, Paul Steven, on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 9 a.m., at Adath Israel Synagogue.

Our friends are cordially invited to worship who us and enjoy the Kiddush following the service.

Paul is the grandson of Mrs. Herbert Dorbian and the late Mr. Dorbian of Glen Rock, N.J., and the late Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hopmeier of Fair Lawn, N.J.

Bas Mitzvah

Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon C. Cohen, 7800 Elbrook Avenue, are pleased to announce the forthcoming Bas Mitzvah of their daughter, Jill, on Saturday, Nov. 4th, at 11 a.m., at Temple Sholom, 3100 Longmeadow Lane. 

Relatives and Friends are cordially invited to worship with the family and attend the Kiddush following the services.  

—October 26, 1972

25 YEARS AGO

Yavneh plans Internet class

Word about Yavneh Day School’s computer class is spreading. To meet the demand, Yavneh is one again offering a class entitled “Introduction to Personal Computing for the Internet,” No previous computer experience is required. 

Participants will learn Internet basics such as how to select an Internet provider and how to enter the Internet. They’ll also use different Internet tools and learn about publishing on the Internet and using E-mail. 

NCJW members to help kids on Election Day

National Council of Jewish Women, Cincinnati Section, will be working inside the polls on Election Day, helping children cast their ballots at special booths which will be located at polling places throughout Hamilton and Clermont County. 

Kids Voting is a non-partisan, not-for-profit program, designed to promote voter participation and to educate children regarding the voting process. Students in kindergarten through grade 12 will experience the voter registration process by accompanying their parents to their neighborhood polling places on Election Day to cast their ballots. The students’ votes will be tabulated and reported to the media in the same was as official adult votes. During the 1996 election, 46,000 children cast their ballots through the Kids Voting Program. 

Encouraging children to vote alongside their parents not only helps them grow up with the habit of voting, but also increases adult voter turnout as well, organizers say. 

— October 30, 1997

10 YEARS AGO

Retirement communities are taking the hopes and dreams of Ohioans to Western Wall 

Residents from two Greater Cincinnati retirement communities will be taking handwritten notes to Jerusalem—with the hopes and dreams of hundreds of people—and placing them in the Western Wall. 

It’s a sacred act to be carrying the prayers—part of a groundbreaking interfaith mission by Cedar Village Retirement Community and Otterbein Senior Lifestyle Community. 

The nonprofit retirement communities will be taking the 6,000-mile journey to better understand each other’s faiths. Cedar Village in Mason is affiliated with the Jewish community; Otterbein in Lebanon is connected to the United Methodist Church. 

The mission, called Building Bridges at Any Age, will arrive in Israel on Thursday, Oct. 25 and return on Sunday, Nov. 4. Thirty people will be traveling, including eight Cedar Village residents and five Otterbein residents. Some are in their late 80s. 

It’s customary for Jews visiting the Western Wall to place prayer notes between the huge blocks of stones. Some people bring a few notes from friends and relatives. But it’s extraordinary to bring hundreds of prayers. 

—October 25, 2012