History events
65 — (16th of Sivan, 3825) Jewish insurgent forces captured the fortress of Antonia in Jerusalem. This battle marked the outbreak of the Jewish revolt against Rome. This revolt would end with the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E.
1664 — (25th of Sivan, 5424) King John Casimir of Poland denied the Jews of Vilna the right to deal in non-Jewish books
1881 — (11th of Sivan, 5641) Anti-Jewish riots in different parts of Russia, especially in Kiev
1938 — (9th of Sivan, 5698) A year before the Nazis invade Poland, anti-Semitic riots began in Warsaw today
1948 — (1th of Sivan, 5708) During The War of Independence, David Ben-Gurion orders his military leaders to attack the fortress at Latrun for a third time. ….. This is one time that Ben-Gurion will not be able to bully the opposition into doing things his way. Ben-Gurion is desperate to break the Arab stranglehold on the road to Jerusalem and to ensure that the “City of David” is part of the new Jewish state. Yigal Allon, the chief of staff and his brigade commanders oppose the attack. Allon’s position gains additional credibility when Mickey Marcus adds his voice to the opposition. Marcus is a West Point graduate who reached the rank of Colonel in the American Army during World War II. No longer on active duty, Marcus is serving as “military advisor” to Ben-Gurion. In fact, under the name Stone, Marcus has been given the responsibility of opening the road to Jerusalem. The military leaders all oppose the attack for the same reason it will fail just as the first two attacks have with great loss of life. Besides which, they do not see the capture of Latrun as being the key to opening the road to Jerusalem. Two Israeli soldiers have discovered an alternative route to Jerusalem. It is a donkey trail that goes beyond Latrun. If the Israelis are lucky, the can widen the path, turn it into a passable road and break the siege. The Jews must work on the project at night and quietly enough that they will not attract attention from the Arab army. If their presence is discovered, they will be sitting ducks, the road will not be completed and Jerusalem will not be united with the Tel Aviv before the impending cease-fire
1954 — (7th of Sivan, 5714) Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel founded
1967 — (29th of Iyar, 5760) President Nasser of Egypt accepted the cease-fire ordered by the Security Council. This came too late to save the Egyptian military. In a change of plan, Dyan had already given orders for the Israeli forces to push on to the Suez Canal. The Egyptians continued to fight and in the end would leave 15,000 dead in the Sinai
2002 — (28th of Sivan, 5762) Today Jerusalem had its first gay pride parade, over loud protests from Orthodox Jewish politicians and some demonstrators, who condemned it as a celebration of sin.
People
1662 — (1th of Tammuz, 5422) Asser Levy bought a lot from Barent Gerritsen on Hoogh Straat (Stone Street) in New Amsterdam (New York City). By doing this Levy became the first Jewish landowner in what is now the United States of America
1723 — (16th of Sivan, 5483) ) Seventy-nine year old Isaac Vita Cantarini, “Italian poet author, physician and rabbi who was the author of Pahad Yizhak passed away
1948 — (1th of Sivan, 5708) Today twenty-four year old Newark, NJ native Gideon Lichtman became the first fighter pilot in the young Israeli Air Force to shoot down an enemy fighter in aerial combat, a feat that would make him a target for terrorists and force him use an assumed name while teaching high school in Florida for thirty years
2000 — (5th of Sivan, 5760) Joshua Myron, one of the last of the camel-mounted Zionist brigade that fought with Vladimir Jabotinsky against Turkey in Palestine during World War I, passed away today in Manhattan at the age of 102. ….. With the outbreak of World War I, Mr. Jabotinsky, then a Russian journalist, realized that the Ottoman Empire was likely to lose to the British and that it would pay for the Zionist settlers in Israel to back the winning side. He spread the idea of forming a Jewish Brigade, sometimes called the Jewish Legion, to fight beside the British. The British Army unit, which recruited Jews from both the Middle East and Europe, used camels to move from front to front, and Mr. Myron rose to become company sergeant in charge of transport. The brigade is believed to have contributed significantly to the British war effort, and Mr. Jabotinsky believed its aid was a major factor in winning the Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which Britain announced support for a Jewish national home in Palestine. »Half the Balfour Declaration belongs to the Legion,» Mr. Jabotinsky wrote. Among the other members of the brigade was David Ben-Gurion, later the first prime minister of Israel. Mr. Myron was born at Rishon Lezion, the first officially Zionist settlement in Palestine, and devoted his life first to battling for a Jewish homeland, then to supporting Israel after its establishment in 1948. After emigrating to New York and becoming a pharmacist, he remained active in raising arms and money for Israel. Mr. Myron’s father, Feivel Miransky, left Russia with a group of pioneers called the Biluim to go to Palestine as one of the founders of Rishon Lezion. Jews already lived in Palestine, but had not banded together in settlements in support of the Zionist ideal. The settlement of Rishon and other Zionist towns was financed by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, who established a large vineyard there. Mr. Miransky set up a carriage service to link Rishon with Jaffa, which became Tel Aviv. At the time, the trip took more than two hours on a sandy, muddy road. Mr. Myron was born on Aug. 17, 1897, into a frontier existence. His grandson Marc Lubin told of the time some of Mr. Myron’s father’s horses were stolen when he was 16. He reported the theft to the police and was told he was on his own. He ended up crossing the Jordan River and taking his horses back. After the war, Mr. Myron decided to move to the United States. He immediately experienced what he regarded as a stinging insult and a great inconvenience when the British refused to grant him traveling papers, saying he was officially a Turkish subject. So, officially at least, he arrived in America as a Turk. He had intended to study veterinary medicine at Columbia University but the school was not accepting new students at that time. He studied pharmacy at Albany College of Pharmacy. While there, he married Sybil Berkowitz, who died in 1973. In the early 1930’s, they returned to Palestine, where their daughter, Naomi Scheurer, was born. She now lives in Manhattan; Mr. Myron is also survived by three grandchildren. Eventually, the Myrons moved to Suffern, N.Y. Mr. Myron commuted to Manhattan, where he owned two Midtown pharmacies. Before the modern state of Israel was created, he sent money and arms to those fighting to create it, his grandson said, and he never lost his pugnacious streak. At his funeral, the rabbi remembered his response to a move in his synagogue, the Congregation of the Sons of Israel, to share more equally the honor of reciting prayers during holy days. It was decided that each member would be limited to just one reading. Mr. Myron said that sounded good. Then he asked, »Which two things am I doing?»