Big Mazal Tov

Happy 100th Birthday to Holocaust survivors Phillip Maisel and his twin sister Bella Hirshorn #MazalTovSource: @jwireaus

Jemima Montag

Meet Jemima Montag – an Australian racewalker and the grandchild of Holocaust survivors. Jemima is a champion in her sport; she won the gold medal in back-to-back Commonwealth Games and competed in the 2020 Olympics. But the piece of gold metal that matters most to her is not the one […]

Aly Raisman

On August 7, 2012, 18 year old Aly Raisman won the gold medal for Women’s Gymnastics Floor Routine at the London Olympics. Raisman chose ‘Hava Nagila’ as the floor music for her first place performance and became the first U.S. woman to win gold in the category. 2012 marked the […]

Tisha B’Av

On one of his travels across Europe, the great French leader, Napoleon Bonaparte led his troops through a small Jewish town. He passed by a synagogue where everyone was sitting on the floor crying and reading little books by the light of small candles. Napoleon asked his aide, “What is […]

Arlyne Frankel

85 year old grandmother, Arlyne Frankel fulfilled 3 of her lifelong dreams: She traveled to Israel for her 70th birthday and volunteered in the Israeli Army, she celebrated her bat mitzvah at 80 years old; and this week she graduated college, from FIU, with honors! “Never give up, it’s never […]

Tony Bennett

Did you know that legendary American jazz singer Tony Bennett captured Nazis and liberated a concentration camp!? Drafted into the Army in 1944, Cpl. Bennett was assigned to the 255th Infantry Regiment of the 63rd Division. His team moved through France into Germany, where they fought on the front lines. […]

Einstein

Recognize this photo? Here’s the story behind it. On March 14, 1951, Albert Einstein’s 72nd birthday, United Press photographer Arthur Sasse was trying to persuade him to smile for the camera, but having smiled for photographers many times that day, Einstein stuck out his tongue instead. Editors were initially reluctant […]

Chiune and Yukiko Sugihara

Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara and his wife Yukiko spent 18-20 hours a day writing and signing transit visas by hand in Lithuania for more than 6,000 Jews for 29 days from July 31 to August 28, 1940. When it was time for them to depart, Sugihara said, “Please forgive me. […]

Eva

Originally from Hungary, Eva miraculously survived the Holocaust as a young girl. Her mother told all five children that no matter what happened they would meet in Israel after the war. They did. Eva married fellow Hungarian Tibor in Netanya, Israel and raised two beautiful children. Today she is a […]

Norman Lear

Happy Birthday Norman Lear! This week, the legendary producer celebrated his 100th birthday. Born July 27, 1922, in New Haven Connecticut, Lear went on to write/produce/develop/create over 100 popular shows. #MazalTov to this television icon! Photo: Peter Yang / AUGUST /normanlear.com

Vladimir.

Vladimir, my 92 year old friend, has a place of honor in Jewish and human history.During World War II, when Jews across Europe became a living target, Vladimir and his family hid and fed an entire Jewish family for two and a half years!And this is despite, they did not […]

Brian George

He is best known for his sitcom roles on Seinfeld and The Big Bang Theory, but did you know that actor Brian George was born in Jerusalem? Both of his parents immigrated to Israel from India. His father was born in Lebanon, grew up in Bombay and of Baghdadi Jewish […]

Shaul Ladany

Beautiful moment at the Maccabiah Fun Run today. 86 year old Shaul Ladany completed the half marathon in 4 hours, 27 minutes. The two-time Olympian and Holocaust survivor represented Israel at the 1972 Olympics. He holds the world record in the 50-mile walk, and the Israeli national record in the […]

80th Anniversary of the Vél d’Hiv Roundup

This past weekend marked the 80th anniversary of the Vél d’Hiv Roundup. On July 16, 1942, the French police began a mass roundup of foreign Jews living in Paris and its surrounding suburbs. Over the course of two days, more than 13,000 Jews were arrested and held in the Vélodrome […]

Crock Pot

Who knew! The inventor of the slow cooker Crock Pot was Jewish! Bring on the Cholent!Irving Naxon (born Irving Nachumsohn) invented the crock pot, the then-called Naxon Beanery. He retired in 1971 and sold his business to Rival Manufacturing. They streamlined the design, renamed it the crock pot.It all started […]

Elizabeth Zuckerman Bleiman

Erzsébet Zuckerman Bleiman was born on July 10th in Ófehertó, Hungary. Her parents were Rachel and Yaakov (Jenö) Zuckerman. Elizabeth was with her parents when the entire town was deported to Auschwitz. Her parents were murdered right away when they arrived at Auschwitz. Elizabeth survived to marry Motel Bleiman, a […]

Dr. Howard Tucker

Happy 100th Birthday to beloved Cleveland Neurologist! Dr. Howard Tucker was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 10, 1922 and holds the Guinness World Record as the oldest practicing physician. #mazaltov! Video: What’s Next? Movie

Mother Daughter Reunion

Mother and daughter reunite after 80 years apart! In 1939, Gerda Cole an only child living in Vienna, was sent by her parents to England for safety. In 1942 at just 18 years old, Gerda had to give away her newborn daughter, as she was a Jewish refugee at the […]

Exodus

75 years ago today, July 11, 1947, more than 4,500 Jewish refugees from Europe, set sail on the Exodus, from the Port of Sete near Marseilles, with the hopes of reaching the Jewish homeland. These heroes who survived the horrors of the Holocaust would live to see the revival and establishment […]

Operation Entebbe

#OnThisDay Operation Entebbe or Operation Thunderbolt was a successful counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by the IDF at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on July 4, 1976.Michel Bacos, the captain of Air France flight 139, was awarded a medal by the Israeli government for refusing to leave his Jewish passengers behind. […]

Miami 1974-1990

HistoryMiami’s 2017 exhibit, “South Beach, 1974-1990: Photographs of a Jewish Community,” captures the time when the area was predominantly Jewish. The Miami Beach building that was home to the legendary nightclub Mansion and performances by Rick Ross and Deadmau5 was once a vaudeville theater known for its Yiddish entertainment. The […]

Sally Dauman

This is Sally Dauman visiting her father’s grave for the first time, during the 2017 March of The Living trip. Sally was blonde, very small, and German looking when she was a child, so while she and her family were in the Lodz ghetto, she would go under the fence, […]

Largest Aron Kodesh

Pictured here is Rabbi Shmuel Bistritzky standing in the largest Aron Kodesh (Torah Ark) in the world, housing 430 Torah scrolls intended for each battalion that goes out for IDF operational activities. ‘An exciting and empowering feeling to be surrounded by hundreds of Torah scrolls’. Source: Rabbi Shmuel Bistritzky/ בית חב”ד […]