This Day in Goodlove History, January 9
Jeff Goodlove email address: Jefferygoodlove@aol.com
Surnames associated with the name Goodlove have been spelled the following different ways; Cutliff, Cutloaf, Cutlofe, Cutloff, Cutlove, Cutlow, Godlib, Godlof, Godlop, Godlove, Goodfriend, Goodlove, Gotleb, Gotlib, Gotlibowicz, Gotlibs, Gotlieb, Gotlob, Gotlobe, Gotloeb, Gotthilf, Gottlieb, Gottliebova, Gottlob, Gottlober, Gottlow, Gutfrajnd, Gutleben, Gutlove
The Chronology of the Goodlove, Godlove, Gottlob, Gottlober, Gottlieb (Germany, Russia, Czech etc.), and Allied Families of Battaile, (France), Crawford (Scotland), Harrison (England), Jackson (Ireland), LeClere (France), Lefevre (France), McKinnon (Scotland), Plantagenets (England), Smith (England), Stephenson (England?), Vance (Ireland from Normandy), and Winch (England, traditionally Wales), including correspondence with George Rogers Clarke, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,and ancestors Andrew Jackson, and William Henry Harrison.
The Goodlove Family History Website:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/g/o/o/Jeffery-Goodlove/index.html
The Goodlove/Godlove/Gottlieb families and their connection to the Cohenim/Surname project:
• New Address! http://www.familytreedna.com/public/goodlove/default.aspx
• • Books written about our unique DNA include:
• “Abraham’s Children, Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People” by Jon Entine.
•
• “ DNA & Tradition, The Genetic Link to the Ancient Hebrews” by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman, 2004.
“Jacob’s Legacy, A Genetic View of Jewish History” by David B. Goldstein, 2008.
Birthday: Brian R. Allender 44, Opal I. Shaw Godlove 112
Anniversary: Hannah Johnsonbaugh and Commodore P. Godlove 140
January 9, 1180: Philip Augustus (the new king of France) arrested large numbers of Jews while his father, Louis VII, who tried to protect the Jews (though not always successfully) was still alive. All the Jews found in synagogue on the Sabbath were arrested. Philip agreed to free them for 15,000 silver marks.[1]
January 9, 1349: On an island in the Rhine River, seven hundred Jews of Basel Switzerland were burned alive in houses especially constructed for that purpose. Their children were spared from the burning but were forcibly baptized instead. The first Swiss persecution of the Jews took place in Bern, where the Jewish community was accused of having murdered a Christian boy named Rudolf (Ruff). They were expelled from Bern but then allowed to return shortly after.[2]
January 9, 1554: Birthdate of Pope Gregory XV. Gregory strongly supported the censorship of Hebrew books by the Catholic Church. During his papacy, the Roman Inquisition appointed three different men to serve as “expurgators of Hebrew books.[3]
January 9, 1570 - Tsar Ivan the terrible kills 1000-2000 residents of Novgorod[4]
January 9, 1570: The Inquisition was established in Peru.[5]
January 9, 1751: Christopher Gist’s first journal
According to Christopher Gist‘s January 9, 1751 journal entry while at ―Muskingum a Town of the Wyendotts‖: …this Day came into Town two Traders from among the Pickwaylinees (these are a Tribe of the Twigtwees) and brought News that another English Trader was taken prisoner by the French…[6]
January 9, 1776: The treaty first concluded was that with the Duke of Brunswick. It is dated January 9, 1776. The Duke yields to his Britannic Majesty a corps of three thousand nine hundred and sixty-four infantry men, and three hundred and thirty-six unmounted dragoons. This corps is to be completely equipped at the expense of the Duke, except as to horses for the light cavalry. They are to march from Brunswick in two divisions in February and March, and the King is to take measures to prevent desertion while they pass through his electoral dominions of Hanover on their way to the sea. The King is to pay and feed them on the same scale as his own soldiers, and the Duke engages "to let his corps enjoy all the emoluments of pay that his Britannic Majesty allows them," that is to say, not to pay them on a lower scale and pocket the difference. The British government, however, did not trust him. From the time of the arrival of the troops in America their pay was sent direct to them there, and did not pass through his Most Serene Ducal Highness's hands. This precaution was adopted with all the German auxiliaries but those of Hesse-Cassel, whose landgrave succeeded in getting the handling of the money. The Brunswick soldiers were to be cared for in the British hospitals, and the wounded not in condition to serve were to be transported to Europe at the expense of the King, and landed in a port on the Elbe or the Weser. The Duke agreed to furnish the recruits that should be annually necessary for the corps, to discipline and to equip them, but if it should happen that any of the regiments, battalions, or companies of the corps should suffer a loss altogether extraordinary, either in a battle, a siege, or by an uncommon contagious malady, or by the loss of any transport vessel in the voyage to America, his Britannic Majesty was to make good the loss of the officer or soldier, and to bear the expense of the necessary recruits to reestablish the corps that should have suffered this extraordinary loss.
The Duke was to nominate the officers, and fill vacancies among them. He engaged that they should be expert persons. He reserved to himself the administration of justice. He stipulated that his troops should not be required to render any extraordinary services, or such as were beyond their proportion to the rest of the army.
The King of England agreed to pay to his Most Serene Highness, under the title of levy-money, for every soldier the amount Of 30 crowns banco, equal to £7 4s. 4 1/2d. He was to grant, moreover, an annual subsidy amounting to £11,517 17s. 1 1/2d. from the day of the signature of the treaty so long as the troops should enjoy his pay, and double that amount (viz., £23,035 14s. 3d.) for two years after the return of the troops into his Most Serene Highness's dominions. In consideration of the haste with which the troops were equipped his Majesty granted two months' pay previous to their march, and undertook all expenses from the time of their leaving their quarters.
One more provision of this treaty deserves special notice, as it has excited the well-warranted indignation of all who have execrated these bargains for the sale of human blood. It runs: "According to custom, three wounded men shall be reckoned as one killed; a man killed shall be paid for at the rate of levy-money." This clause, which does not appear in the subsequent treaty with Hesse-Cassel, stands in the Brunswick treaty in the same article with, and immediately before, the provision for making good any extraordinary loss from battle, pestilence, or shipwreck. It may be taken to mean that the King of England undertook to bear the expense of a recruit to fill the place of a Brunswick soldier actually killed in battle, but that the Duke must replace at his own cost one who deserted from the ranks or died of sickness, unless in case of an "uncommon contagious malady." Yet if this be the interpretation, what is the meaning of the " three wounded men." Kapp, moreover, rejects this explanation, and asserts that new recruits were paid for by levy-money in addition to the 30 crowns received for the killed and wounded, and that this blood money was pocketed by the prince and not by the family of the soldier, nor by himself, if wounded (Sybel's "Historische Zeitschrift," II, 6 - 42, 1879, p. 327.) At any rate, the fact remains that the Duke of Brunswick contracted to receive a sum amounting to about $35 for every one of his soldiers who should be killed in battle, and $11. 66 for every one who should be maimed. It is probably now impossible to discover how much England actually paid out on this account. The payments were not entered under their proper heading in the bills sent to Parliament from the War Office. Kapp suggests that the cabinet did not care to meet the criticism which this item in the accounts would have raised.[7]
The American armies were recruited by the help
of liberal promises. Twenty dollars and one hun-
dred acres of land were guaranteed every private and
non-commissioned officer. Recruits could be got
only by bounties and pay. The Germans were used
to being sent outside their own country to serve
under foreign flags, but the money paid for their ser-
vices went to their sovereigns. Those sent to Amer-
ica brought home much useful knowledge of actual
war, and the Hessians and Brunswickers, who had
fought in America, were among the best soldiers in
the German army during the wars of the French
Revolution. Their operations in America were
closely followed at home; newspapers and journals
were filled with their letters.
A Hessian officer who had served as adjutant
with Don op and Knyphausen, wrote afterwards :
" No one found fault with our going into the Brit-
ish service for pay," and none of the officers
or men complained. There were many volunteers,
especially in Hesse, among them v. Ochs, later Gen-
eral, and in the letters home, from soldiers and offi-
cers, there was no complaint, but all showed a thoroughly German spirit of discipline wherever they were ordered.
When England found its need of allies, it natur-
ally turned to its old comrades of the Seven Years'
War. Hesse Cassel and Brunswick were first
approached. George the III. wrote to their princes
the wives were both Bnglish princesses and
offered not only a subsidy for their troops, but
treaties of alliance and protection, for it was easily
to be anticipated that France would side with the
rebels and threaten Germany. The troops from
Hanover were sent, five battalions, to Gibraltar,
relieving Bnglish soldiers sent to America. Hesse
Hanau and Waldeck joined the other German allies.
Toward the end of 1775, Col. William Faucit, of
the Guards, came to Germany to make the Treaties
for the allied forces. On January 9, 1776, that with
Brunswick was signed, on the i5th that with the
Hessian government, and on the 5th of February
that with Hanau ; that with Waldeck had been made
in London on April 25, 1775. Hesse Cassel agreed
to supply fifteen Regiments, each of five Companies,
four Grenadier Battalions, two Yager Companies,
and some artillery, in all 12,500 men. Brunswick
promised a corps of 4,000 men, four Infantry, one
Dragoon, Regiments, one Grenadier, and one Light
Infantry Battalion. Hesse Hanau promised one In-
fantry Regiment and some artillery, in all 900 men ;
Waldeck, one Regiment 750 strong.
The three treaties were printed at Frankfort and Leipsic in 1776, and in the Parliamentary Transactions, Nos. 17 and 18. For each man England
agreed to pay thirty marks hand money, one-third
one month after the execution of the Treaties, the
balance within two months. For every man killed,
wounded or captured, or made unserviceable by
wounds or sickness, a like sum was to be paid, and
like provision was made for those lost in sieges or
by infectious disease or on shipboard, but for desert-
ers no compensation was to be made.
To meet the heavy expenses of so quickly equip-
ping so large a force, England paid in advance for
two months, besides all the transportation from the
first day's march. The Brunswick Treaty provides
that the subsidy should begin to run from the date
of its execution at the rate of 64,500 German thalers,
as long as the soldiers received pay, and when that
ended, it was to be doubled, and this 129,000 thalers
should be paid for two years after the return home of
the troops. They were to take an oath of service to
the King of England, thus putting them under
double allegiance to their own sovereign and to that
of Great Britain. Their own princes were to supply
equipments and keep up the standard by new re-
cruits, and were to maintain their legal control over
their subjects. Food and clothing were to be sup-
plied just as to the British army. The forage money
paid to the officers was a handsome addition to their
regular pay. Gen. v. Riedesel, who was of an eco-
nomical turn of mind, was said to have saved 15,000
thalers from this source on his return to Brunswick.
This was the tenth treaty of the kind that Hesse
had made since the seventeenth century. The King
of England pledged himself, in case of great loss in
any regiment, to equalize its strength as best he could
with the others. With Brunswick and Hesse Cassel
he specially agreed to employ their soldiers only in
the North American Continent, and not in the un-
wholesome West Indies. It is not easy to ascertain
the exact amounts paid by England to Germany
under these treaties, for the details were kept secret,
although the public approval by Parliament annually
shows that the following were about the amounts
thus voted, viz. :
Hesse Cassel, eight years, . . . ^2,959,800.
Brunswick, . . . 750,000.
Hesse Hanau, " ... 343,130.
Waldeck, . . . 140,000.
Ansbach-Bayreuth, seven years, . 282,400.
Anhalt-Zerbst, s~ ! x years, . . . 109,120.
I
As these subsidies were to continue for two years
after the close of the war, that would be ^1,150,000.
The bounty for 20,000 men at ^6, would be ^120,000.
The Artillery received an additional ^28,000, and the
annual subsistence cost ^70,000. Altogether, with
additional allowances, ^850,000 annually must have
been paid to the German princes for their soldiers,
out of which, of course, they paid the expense of
equipping, keeping their arms, etc.
The Treaty with Hesse Cassel was even better for
that prince than that with Brunswick or Hanau, and
Cassel received yearly ^50,000 more than it ever got
before for the same number of its soldiers.
Baron v. Schlieffen made a special visit to London
on behalf of Cassel he was an old soldier, had served
in the Seven Years' War in command of Hessian
troops, and was Adjutant of the Duke of Brunswick,
and was as good in using his pen as with his sword ;
his Memoirs have been highly commended by later
historians. When he went to London, the only man
in the English Ministry he knew was Lord George
Germain, who, as Lord Sackville, had been discredited
by his conduct in the Seven Years' War. Schlieffen,
however, gained such a foothold with the Secretary
of State, Lord Suffolk, that he was able to recover for
Cassel ^40,000, an old claim for hospital moneys
spent in the Seven Years' War.
An offer of an additional sum, as compensation
to Cassel for Schlieffen's services in rescuing the
great magazine at Osnabruch, and thus helping to
win the victory at Minden, was refused, but he
secured for himself the honor of maintaining his
independence and personal honesty, and for his
native country a welcome increase of the growing
reserve in its well-stocked treasury.
The later debates in the British Parliament often
turned on the avarice of the German princes in
thus securing the payment of old claims, in addi-
tion to the liberal amounts paid for the subsidies
given by treaty ; but it must be borne in mind that
England was in the position of asking for help, and
the Germans were not offering it, so that of course
the latter were justified in making the best terms
they could. [8]
January 9, 1777: Col Valentine Crawford
BIOGRAPHY: Valentine died at age 52, Intestate (without a will). He fell through the ice while returning home, in Washington Co., PA. Colonel William Crawford took the body to Bullskin Creek, Shepherdstown, WVA, and buried it beside his mother, Honora Crawford Stephenson, born Honora Grimes. His body was interred Jan. 9, 1777 in West Virginia, Bullskin Church Cemetary, WV. He married three times. His first wife was Catherine ??, then Sarah Morgan ( or Ann Connell), then Rachel ??. Valentine Crawford Jr., and his brother William Crawford, enlisted in the British Army in 1754 at Winchester , VA. Both took oath to the King of England. Valentine was commissioned Colonel in the Virginia Militia in December of 1776 and served as Wagon Master General. Valentine acted as a secretary or an assistant to George Washington. He is reported to have been elected to the Virginia House of Burgess and voted in that body in 1758. Valentine was a private in the Augusta Co.,VA militia in 1775, stationed at Fort Finecastle. On October 1, 1776, he was stationed at Fort Henry (now Wheeling, WV). He was a Colonel in the Virginia State Militia Troops from 1776 to 1777. He was a resident of Tyrone Township, Fayette Co.,PA in 1772-1775. Valentine Crawford Jr. applied for 100 acres of land in Frederick Co.,VA in 1748, about the time of his marriage and purchased (paid for) the land on 6-21-1754.
(Evelyn Pope)[9]
January 9, 1777: Their first contact with the enemy occurred at Fort Washington on November 16 and resulted in seven killed and 13 wounded. Following the battle the regiment marched back to New York. After a short short stay in
Perth Amboy it was quartered in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. On January 9, 1777 it returned to Perth Amboy. It was then moved to a camp on Staten Island when it was ordered to cover the right flank against American units positioned near Morristown. The unit remained in camp until October 20, 1778 when it boarded ship and sailed for Pensacola, Florida. Five ships of the line, 12 frigates and about 110 transport ships set sail on 3 November (November 3), stopping once en route at Kingston, Jamaica. The armada arrived at Pensacola on January 17, 1779. The first Waldeckers to be taken prisoner fell into the hands of the Spaniards on Lake Pontchartrain because they were ignorant of the state of war between Spain and
England. When Baton-Rouge capitulated, the first 53 prisoriers were joined by nearly half of the 1400-man garrison. The rest of the Waldeckers were sent to New York after the fall of Pensacola, having pledged never to fight the Spaniards again (May 1781). The Waldeckers encamped during September 1781 in Newtown, Long Island, in October 1782 in New York and on November went into winter quarters in Flatbush. A transport of recruits stayed in Halifax, Nova Scotia. On January 21, 1783 the regiment received new flags. The Waldeckers remained in Flatbush until the summer of 1783 and the return voyage from New York began on 25 July 1783 (July 25). [10]
January 9, 1780: On January 9th we were at latitude 29° 58’ north, off St. Augustine. Toward evening a severe storm arose, mingled with sleet and hail, which lasted until the morning of January 10th, [11]whereupon a complete calm ensued with such warm air that one could remain outside in his shirt. We thanked God that we could move our legs again and take fresh air on the deck. A ship sailing alongside ours gave us the doleful news that all the horses had been thrown overboard, and that many ships were dismasted and shipwrecked. [12]
January 9, 1787
Petition of Hannah Crawford to the House of Delegates
[13]
January 9, 1788: Connecticut became the fifth state to join the Union.[14]
January 9, 1789: The American government sent General Arthur St. Clair into the Ohio Country to reestablish peace. He had been instructed to offer back to the tribes some lands north of the Ohio River and east of the Muskingum River in exchange for the disputed territory. St. Clair however defied orders and instead threatened and bribed several pliable chiefs into a one sided agreement. St. Clair and the chiefs of several tribes signed the Treaty of Fort Harmar on January 9, 1789.
Several nations, most notably the Shawnee who had been excluded from the negotiations, refused to abide by the new treaty and conflict continued. The raids continued until the tribal alliance was defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and the 1795 signing of the Treaty of Greenville.[15][16]
January 9, 1789: Treaty of Fort Harmar
The Treaty of Fort Harmar was an agreement between the United States government and numerous Native American tribes with claims to the Ohio Country. it was signed at Fort Harmar, near present-day Marietta, Ohio, on January 9, 1789. Representatives of the Six Nations and other groups including the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi and Sauk met with Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, and other American leaders such as Josiah Harmar and Richard Butler.
The treaty was supposed to address issues left over from the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix and the 1785 Treaty of Fort McIntosh; however, the new agreement did little more than reiterate the terms of those two previous documents with a few minor changes. The document failed to address the most important grievances of the tribes, the settlement of New Englanders in the Firelands portions of the Western Reserve, an area that extended into the territory set aside for the tribes. Governor Arthur St. Clair had been authorized by Congress and Secretary of War Henry Knox to offer back some lands reserved for American settlement in exchange for the disputed Firelands of the Western Reserve. St. Clair however refused to give up these lands and instead, through threats and bribery, negotiated a treaty that simply reiterated the terms of previous treaties. Furthermore, several tribes such as the Shawnee were excluded from the negotiations. The Shawnee refused to abide by the treaty. The new treaty did almost nothing to stop the rash of violence along the frontier. The failure of the treaty led to an escalation of the Northwest Indian War that would continue for another six years until the tribal alliance was defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. As the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, the tribes were forced to give up claims to most of what is now the state of [Ohio]. This treaty divided the northwest territory into two parts; one for the Native Americans and one for the settlers.[17][18]
January 9, 1804: John Crawford’s records in the Ohio State Auditor’s office are as follows: Warrant No. 21, John Crawford (heir), 3666 acres. January 9, 1804, No. 2679, 955 1/3 acres to Thomas Armat. Vol. 3, page 140.[19]
January 9, 1817: William Vance, born 1776 (or November 30, 1775 in Washington Co PA), died April 8, 1856. William inherited Joseph's homestead at Cross Creek, was a captain in the war of 1812, a member of the PA legislature in 1815-1816. His first wife was Rachel, daughter of William Patterson. She was born June 3, 1778 in Washington Co PA and died January 9, 1817. She died in Washington Co PA. William and Rachel were married December 24, 1799. William and Rachel had nine children.[20]
January 9, 1861: Mississippi secedes from the union.[21]
Sat. January 9, 1864
Went to marion put up sale notice got home at 4 o’clock[22]
January 9, 1864: Winans, William B. Age 25. Residence Cedar Rapids, nativity Ohio. Enlisted December 6, 1863. Mustered January 9, 1864. Mustered out July 17, 1864, Savannah, Ga.[23]
January 9, 1873: Emperor Napoleon III of France passed away.[24]
January 9, 1873: At the request of the Grant Administration, Abraham de Sola delivered opening prayer at the House of Representatives. [For some strange reason we remember Grant’s unfortunate Order #10 while overlooking items like this.][25]
January 9, 1881: Herman Gottlieb, January 9, 1881 in Hamburg. Resided Hamburg. Deportation: from Hamburg. November 8, 1941, Minsk. Missing. Killed at Tuchinka? [26]
January 9, 1890
(Pleasant Valley) Miss Nettie Goodlove is spending her vacation at home her aunt Miss Cora Goodlove, who is spending the holidays at her home.
January 9, 1913: Birthdate of Richard M. Nixon.[27]
January 9, 1926: The Fascists confiscated property of the Craft in Italy, January 9.[28]
January 9, 1929: At the end of December 1928 a work crew from kibbutz Beth Alpha (founded 6 years earlier) was digging yet another drainage canal when someone’s shovel started picking up pieces of mosaic.
Work on the channel stopped at once. They called the Hebrew University (then all of 3 years old!) and within a fortnight Eliezer Lippa Sukenik1 and Nahman Avigad had begun to excavate the site. Work began on January 9, 1929, and continued for 7 weeks, until February 26, despite heavy rains (610 mm instead of the usual 400 mm) that flooded the valley that year.
The mosaic they uncovered was almost complete, its astonishing preservation caused by a layer of plaster, thrown down from the ceiling by the earthquake that destroyed the building, that covered and protected the floor from the damage of falling stones. When it was completely exposed, the mosaic measured 28 meters long and 14 meters wide. It had an inscription at the doorway leading to three panels in the central apse: a rectangular panel, a square panel with a circle in the middle, and then another rectangle at the far end.
The middle square, the first to be uncovered, was the most spectacular. Figures of four women were at the four corners, with inscriptions (in Hebrew) identifying each as a season of the year. Inside the square was a wheel, 3.12 meters in diameter, with a smaller circle (1.2 m) in its center. The wheel was divided into 12 panels, each with a figure and a name identifying it as a sign of the zodiac. And in the center, a man was pictured driving a quadriga (four-horse chariot) through the moon and stars. Rays of the sun were coming out of his head; it was clear that he was Helios, god of the sun.
In the square panel of the Beth Alpha mosaic was a zodiac wheel with all 12 symbols and names of the zodiac, surrounded by four female figures at the corners, identifying the seasons of the year. Credit: Art Resource, NY
What had they found? Could this have been the temple of a Jewish community (it had to be Jewish; everything was written in Hebrew and Aramaic) turned pagan? Further digging dispelled that notion, for there, just above the central square of the mosaic, they found a mosaic panel of symbols instantly familiar to any Jew of that century (or this): the Ark of the Covenant (aron kodesh), eternal light (ner tamid), seven-branched candelabrum (menorah), palm frond (lulav), citron (etrog), and an incense shovel (mahta).2
Many of the symbols included in the uppermost mosaic panel reaffirmed the Jewish nature of the synagogue at Beth Alpha: the Ark of the Covenant at the center (aron kodesh), eternal light (ner tamid), two seven-branched candelabra (menorot; plural, menorah), palm frond (lulav), citron (etrog), and an incense shovel (mahta). From these items it takes the type name of a synagogue panel.
Then, in a third panel, closer to the front door, they uncovered a scene easily recognizable to anyone who knows the Bible. We are in Genesis 22, and Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac. In case we might have forgotten our Bible class, the names of the principals—Abraham, Isaac and the ram—are spelled out in inscriptions above their heads, and the hand of God stopping the sacrifice is clearly marked with the words “do not put forth your hand [against the lad].”
In the lower rectangular panel, closer to the door, the familiar story of Genesis 22 is depicted on the mosaic. Abraham is preparing to sacrifice Isaac (at right) as the hand of God reaches from heaven to stop him. Nearby the ram is caught with its horns in a thicket, and a servant waits at far left with the donkey. This type of scene came to be known as a righteous ancestors panel and is found in several other synagogue mosaics.
So this was definitely a synagogue, a Jewish house of worship, in a basilica building that dates to about 520 C.E.3 The building was destroyed in an earthquake soon after it was built,4 hence the near-perfect preservation of its mosaic floor; their misfortune became our good fortune. And because Beth Alpha is the best preserved of the seven synagogues we know, we use it here as the basis for our discussion.5
Now, of course, we have problems. We know that Jewish life moved to the Galilee after the total destruction of Jewish Jerusalem that followed the Bar-Kokhba Revolt of the 130s C.E. We are, therefore, not surprised to have found—and to keep finding—synagogues from the following centuries all over the Galilee and Golan. It isn’t the synagogues themselves that are the problem; it is the decorations in them. What in heaven’s name were they doing? How could they be making pictures, especially in the synagogue? Didn’t they know the second commandment?
You shall not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them” (Exodus 20:4–5)
That problem is not as formidable as it first appears. The second commandment can be read in several ways because the Hebrew original of this text is entirely without vowels and punctuation points. We, writing English, have put in a period after the word “earth.”6 But if the period weren’t there, the verse could be read as a long conditional clause: “make no graven images … which you worship.” In this case it’s not the making that is prohibited, but the worshiping. Historically, the Jewish community often understood that it was acceptable to make images as long as one doesn’t worship them. And there is, consequently, a long and varied history of Jewish art, beginning with the cherubim over the Ark in the desert (Exodus 25:18), recorded presumably not long after the giving of the Commandments, and without protest.
A second problem is less easily resolved. The zodiac is pagan religion. It is what we see in the horoscope in every weekend newspaper on earth, generally the stuff of amusement. We know this system; it is based on the (extraordinary) assumption that the stars control the earth and that what happens on earth is a result of influences from what happens in the sky. All we need in order to understand the earth (that is, about our destiny) is to understand the stars. If, according to this view, one knows the exact date and time of one’s birth, and can chart the exact position of the heavenly bodies at that moment, then forevermore one knows what is fortunate, unfortunate, worth doing, worth avoiding, wise, unwise, etc. Our universe, therefore, is fixed and determined. There are no values, no good, no evil and no repentance. We live in a great mechanical machine of a cosmos.
The conflict of interest is obvious, and we are not surprised to learn that Jews detested that idea. For if the cosmos is like that, why do we need God giving the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai? The Christians also had their own very strong reservations. If the cosmos is like that, who needed God to sacrifice His son for the sins of the world? Who indeed? The early Church in fact absolutely prohibited the making of zodiacs, and there is not one zodiac mosaic in a church that dates before the Middle Ages, and very few even then. The zodiac/horoscope perception is the antithesis and enemy of monotheistic religion. An ancient and honorable enemy, to be sure, far older than Judaism and Christianity, but still the enemy.
It is true that one who goes through Jewish literature with a fine-tooth comb can find a citation here and there that seems to recognize the phenomenon of mosaic decoration, presumably zodiac, in synagogues. “In the days of Rabbi Abun they began depicting figures in mosaic and he did not protest against it.”7 More to the point, we find a line in Aramaic translation, “… you may place a mosaic pavement impressed with figures and images in the floors of synagogue; but not for bowing down to it.”8 There is even a Midrash that attempts to justify the zodiac phenomenon: “The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him [Abraham]: just as the zodiac [mazalot] surrounds me, and my glory is in the center, so shall your descendants multiply and camp under many flags, with my shekhina in the center.”9
But this is surely grasping at straws. The odd line here and there accounts for nothing in view of the overwhelming opposition in rabbinic literature to anything related to the making of pictures of any sort, and doubly so the fierce opposition to anything suggesting idolatry and pagan worship. Indeed, one of the ways to say “pagan” in rabbinical Hebrew is by the abbreviation עכומ[ (ovedei kokhavim u-mazalot,"worshipers of stars and constellations"). The rabbis of the Talmud recognized the popularity of astrology and were even prepared to admit that there might be truth in its predictions, but opposed the whole endeavor on principle. Ein mazal le-Yisrael (literally, "Israel has no constellation") is perhaps the most commonly quoted opinion on the subject,10 but it is only one of many.
All the more are we astonished by the figure of Helios, Sol Invictus, pagan god of the sun, riding his quadriga right through the middle of the synagogue! This doesn't look like it belongs here. And we need to ask again, what was this all about?
To set our minds at rest (for the time being), we can say what all this wasn't. It could not have been astrology (predicting the future, etc.) and it could not have been scientific astronomy, because the seasons in the corners are in the wrong places. The upper right corner at Beth Alpha is marked טבת (Tevet), the winter month, and the upper left corner ניסן (Nissan) the month of Passover in spring. But between them you have the zodiac sign of Cancer, the Crab, which falls in mid-summer, not early spring. The same thing with the sign for Libra, the Scales. The mosaic has placed it between the spring and summer seasons, whereas it belongs in the fall. Clumsy astronomy.
The conclusion is inescapable: whoever did this mosaic hadn't a clue about real astronomy or astrology, doubtless because he was a Jew and couldn't care less.11
For the same reason, this mosaic floor could not have been a calendar, an idea that has been suggested by several important scholars of the subject.12 The incorrect placement of the seasons would have made that completely impossible.
Then perhaps it's all just decoration, pretty pictures, the common designs of the era. That is the most common explanation, the one found in guide books. But it can't be true. In the first place, the designs were by no means common in the Byzantine era. The Church, as stated, absolutely banned their use. More important, these signs are too loaded with meaning. We might argue "pretty pictures" if Beth Alpha were a solitary, unique find. We could then, at best, say that we had found here a group of Jews who had become so Hellenized that they had slipped over into paganism. But Beth Alpha is not unique; we will visit half a dozen other synagogues before we're done. In addition, we have found hundreds of Jewish tombstones and catacombs from all over the Roman Empire. And despite the fact that there are countless millions of possible symbols, forms, designs, pictures, animals, etc. they could have used, the fact is that they all use the same 10-12 symbols.13 We are forced to conclude that these were more than pretty pictures.[29]
January 9, 1942: : One thousand Jews are deported from the Theresienstadt camp/ghetto to Riga, Latvia. [30]
January 9, 1942: On January 9, Nimitz gave Halsey his orders. Halsey, Enterprise, and Task Force 8 would escort the Yorktown group to Samoa. The sisterships would then raid Japanese bases in the Gilberts and Marshalls. Lexington CV-2, under Vice Admiral Wilson Brown, would strike Wake Island, while Saratoga CV-3 would watch over Hawaii. [31]
January 9, 1955: Simon GUTLEBEN was born on December 17, 1875 in Colmar,Upper Rhine,Alsace and died on January 9, 1955 in , Alameda,CA at age 79. John married Charlotte J. FROHLIGER on July 11, 1916 in ,,CA. Charlotte was born in 1897 in ,,OH and died on January 3, 1943 in ,Alameda,CA at age 46. John next married Lucy MULKEY in September 1948 in ,,CA. Lucy was born on August 27, 1876 in ,Butler,KS and died on August 29, 1974 in Forest Grove,Lane,OR at age 98. [32]
January 9, 1960
The Protestant Episcopal Church approves some forms of birth control.[33]
January 9, 1978: The Shah gave a public statement in support of President Sadat’s Middle East peace initiatives. He declared Egypt is doing “precisely what we believe is right.”[34]
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[1] http://thisdayinjewishhistory.blogspot.com/
[2] http://thisdayinjewishhistory.blogspot.com/
[3] http://thisdayinjewishhistory.blogspot.com/
[4] beginshttp://www.historyorb.com/events/date/1570
[5] http://thisdayinjewishhistory.blogspot.com/
[6] In Search of the Turkey Foot Road, page 32.
[7] http://www.americanrevolution.org/hessians/hess2.html
[8] http://www.archive.org/stream/germanalliedtroo00eelkuoft/germanalliedtroo00eelkuoft_djvu.txt
[9] http://www.dave-francis.com/genealogy/obanionfamily/pafn15.htm
[10] (Ubersetzung von Stephen Cochrane) VEROFFENTLICHUNGEN DER ARCHIVSCHULE MARBURG INSTITUT FÜR ARCHIVWISSENSCHAFT Nr. 10
WALDECKER TRUPPEN IM AMERIKANISCHEN UNABHANGIGK EITSKRIEG (HETRINA) Index nach Familiennamen Bd.V Bearbeitet von Inge Auerbach und Otto Fröhlich Marburg 1976
[11] Diary of the American War, A Hessian Journal by Captain Johann Ewald pgs.191-196.
[12] Diary of the American War, A Hessian Journal by Captain Johann Ewald pgs.191-196.
[13] George Rogers Clark papers [microform] Microfilm 1070 Reel 12 #764
[14] http://thisdayinjewishhistory.blogspot.com/
[15] Laurence M. Hauptman, Conspiracy of Interests: Iroquois Dispossession and the Rise of New York State (2001).
[16] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Fort_McIntosh
[17] Laurence M. Hauptman, Conspiracy of Interests: Iroquois Dispossession and the Rise of New York State (2001
[18] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Fort_Harmar
[19] From River Clyde to Tymochtee and Col. William Crawford by Grace U. Emahiser, 1969. pg. 186.
[20] Ancestors of Forrest Roger Garnett p. 1820.14
[21] State Capital Memorial, Austin, Texas, February 11, 2012
[22] William Harrison Goodlove Civil War Diary
[23] http://iagenweb.org/civilwar/books/logn/mil508.htm
[24] http://thisdayinjewishhistory.blogspot.com/
[25] http://thisdayinjewishhistory.blogspot.com/
[26][1] Gedenkbuch, Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden unter der nationalsozialistischen Gewaltherrschaft in Deutschland 1933-1945. 2., wesentlich erweiterte Auflage, Band II G-K, Bearbeitet und herausgegben vom Bundesarchiv, Koblenz, 2006, pg. 1033-1035,.
[2] Gedenkbuch (Germany)* does not include many victims from area of former East Germany). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, Israel Gutman, Editor, page 1768.
[27] http://thisdayinjewishhistory.blogspot.com/
[28] http://www.mastermason.com/bridgeportlodge181/MASHST11.HTM
[29] 1 E.L. Sukenik, The Ancient Synagogue of Beth-Alpha, (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1932)
2 The incense shovel was a universally recognized Jewish symbol in the Byzantine era. It disappeared from the Jewish iconographic lexicon because the Jews stopped using incense when the Christians started.
3 The Aramaic inscription at the front door was damaged. It says that the mosaic was made “during the … year of the reign of the emperor Justinus”. The exact year is missing. The reference is probably to the emperor Justin I (adopted uncle and immediate predecessor of Justinian the Great) who ruled from 518-527 C.E. and whose coins were found on the site. It is of course possible that the building was older than the mosaic floor.
4 The earliest possible “candidate” was a major quake that hit the country on July 9, 551. It was the earthquake that finally destroyed Petra. More likely was an earthquake of lesser magnitude but located closer to the site which did great damage to the Jordan Valley in 659/660.
5 We have not entered into a discussion of the artistic merits of this work of art. It is the writer’s opinion that this work, with its naive and primitive style, has a child-like immediacy and freshness that makes it one of the masterpieces of world art.
6 Thus the new JPS Tanakh. The King James translation puts a colon after the word “earth”, while the New American Bible (Catholic) and the Revised Standard Version (Protestant) translations both use a semi-colon instead of period at this point.
7 From a Geniza manuscript of JT Avoda Zarah
8 In the Pseudo-Jonathan Targum to Lev. 26:1
9 From a Geniza fragment of Midrash Deut. Rabba) These quotations are cited by Michael Klein, “Palestinian Targum and Synagogue Mosaics,” Jerusalem, Immanuel 11 (1980)
10 The matter is discussed in BT Shabbat, 156a
11 At Beth Alpha the signs and the seasons both progress counter-clockwise, although they are misaligned. The Hammat Tiberias zodiac shows both signs and seasons also rotating counter-clockwise, and in correct alignment with each other. At Na’aran the seasons run counter-clockwise, as above, but the signs go clockwise!
12 That position was argued by Prof. Avi-Yonah, among many others, and by the excavator of Hammat Tiberias. See Moshe Dothan, Hammath Tiberias, (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1983). Hammat Tiberias is the only mosaic we know where the signs and seasons are correctly aligned, which may have influenced the excavator’s judgment as to its purpose
13 The cataloging of all of these finds and the interpretation of what they might mean constitute the magnum opus of Erwin Goodenough (1893-1965), Professor of Religion at Yale and one of the greatest scholars of religion America ever produced. Goodenough’s 13 volume study, E.R. Goodenough, Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period, (New York: Pantheon, 1958), form the core text for the study of this subject, Everyone who has subsequently dealt with the subject is in his debt. The book has been re-issued in a 1-volume paperback, abridged and edited by Jacob Neusner (Princeton: Bollingen Series, 1988)
[30] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Chronology_1942.html
[31] http://www.cv6.org/1942/marshalls/marshalls_2.htm
[32] Descendents of Elias Gotleben, Email from Alice, May 2010.
[33] On This Day in America by John Wagman.
[34] Jimmy Carter, The Liberal Left and World Chaos by Mike Evans, page 500.
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