Jews In Jerusalem

Except when barred by one conqueror or another, Jews had lived in Jerusalem since King David. Prior to Jordanian rule in 1948, there was a Jewish majority for 150 years. In 1864, eight thousand of the fifteen thousand population was Jewish. By 1914, two thirds of the sixty five thousand residents were Jewish. In 1948 the United Nations Partition Plan divided the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. Jerusalem was to be initially an international city, with access guaranteed for all. This plan was rejected by the surrounding Arab nations, which attacked Israel in concert immediately upon the UN vote. When the truce was declared, Israel had survived, but East Jerusalem(walled Old City) was in procession of TransJordan. The Jordanians subsequently destroyed over 50 synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, which dated back to the 1400's. For hundreds of years both Christians and Jews were prohibited from building higher than Muslim structures. The few synagogues which survived were the ones built mostly below street level. The oldest surviving synagogue, The Jerusalem Synagogue, was built by the Karaite Jews in around 900. Shown above is the Ben Kakai, a Sephardic Synagogue built in the 16th Century.

Perhaps the most famous synagogue destroyed by the Jordanians was the Ashkenazi Hurva Synagogue built in 1720, it's dome visible in the top center of this photograph from the 1920's. It's replacement was completed in 2010.

This post was first printed in April of 2010, and titled The Synagogues of Jerusalem

A Family Story

This post is unusually personal for this blog.  My grandfather came to Allentown from Russian Lithuania  in 1891.  In the next few years he was joined by his parents, and five siblings.   The family settled on 2nd Street, along with many other Jewish immigrants of that period.  He worked in various jobs, including a cigar factory, until he could establish himself as a butcher, as in the old country.  Because we were here for over a hundred years,  I consider myself somewhat of a local historian.

As a boy growing up in Lehigh Lehigh Manor, on the ridge above Lehigh Parkway, I explored the WPA structures when they were still comparatively new.  Because of that background, I was able to uncover the Boat Landing, and advocate for our  traditional park system.  One of my father's uncles worked for the park system, caring for Lehigh Parkway.

What brought me to this post is my great grandmother's tombstone in Fountain Hill, which I recently visited.  She is buried in an old Jewish cemetery that is no longer in use. Although, her tombstone is very old, it replaced an even older one , that then laid behind the former Wentz's tombstone factory at 20th and Hamilton, for many decades.  I am the last Molovinsky in Allentown.

photo taken behind Wentz's before recent demolition of that facility.

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Obama's Parting Shot At Israel

For those who support Israel,  Obama's parting shot of not vetoing the UN resolution against the little country, was not a surprise. He has demonstrated indifference to outright hostility, since his first term in office. Ironically, his middle eastern sympathies  provide little comfort to our citizens as we brace for possible attacks during this holiday season.  Support for Israel is a controversial issue, even among some Jews.  It is not my intention to debate the general topic here, but to note Obama's departure from the historical American position, of not imposing pre-conditions on a country surrounded by sworn enemies.

As a Jew, I'm perplexed as to why he garnered so much Jewish support, in both 08 and 012.  Jews, like other minorities, were nursed on the belief that the Democrats better represent them. Despite outright hostility to Netanyahu for four years, he loss only 8 points of Jewish support for his second term.

This post should not be misconstrued as a partisan indictment of Democrats.  Rather,  it is my contention that voters should mature beyond preconceived notions about one party or the other.

ALLENTOWN SPEAK OUT

                                    REPRINTED FROM 2012

In the best use, molovinsky on allentown chronicles my efforts in the community, in addition to being an alternative news source for local issues. Last week a small victory resulted from such efforts. Our local dignitaries broke ground for a new garage at Lanta. Several years ago, when the garage plans were first announced, it was to be built on the parking lot of Bicentennial Park. Allentown needed money, and Lanta had a grant to build a new garage. Lanta claimed that the ball park property was the only feasible location, and the City claimed that Bicentennial Park had outlived it's usefulness.

Bicentennial Park is virtually the history of baseball in Allentown. First opened in 1939 as Fairview Field, it was home to the minor league team of the Boston Braves; The Allentown Dukes played there through 1948, when Breadon Field was built in Whitehall, site now of the Lehigh Valley Mall. Over the years thousands of Allentown kids had the yearly thrill of playing "Under The Lights". In addition to hosting the Allentown Ambassadors, it currently serves women's fast pitch softball. In addition to the outrage in our park system, I will be adding the ballfield as a topic in my upcoming SPEAK OUT ALLENTOWN MEETING. from Lanta Mugs City, May 14,2009  

I conducted a meeting at a small local church, which attracted a couple members of City Council and the Hunsicker Family, who led the drive to build the park, decades ago. City Council went on to pass a resolution recommending that the park not be sold, and Lanta did eventually figure out an alternative space for the garage. Needless to say, I wasn't one of the dignitaries invited to the ground breaking, nor were my efforts even mentioned in the newspaper article, but a small victory, never the less.

Baseball Memoirs, June 3, 2009

above reprinted from 2012
UPDATE DECEMBER 2016: The meetings mentioned above, in 2008 and 2009, I conducted at Faith Baptist Church on N.12th St.  Among the topics were parking meter increases, Lanta,  Bicentennial Park, and Fairview Cemetery.  They provided an informal public venue for citizens and council to interact.  Years later, I would conduct more meetings at the library on preserving the WPA structures.  Unfortunately,  Allentown and South Whitehall have demonstrated little regard for our historic structures.  The mission continues.

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Rumble Over Wehr's Dam

This striking photograph of Wehr's Dam was taken recently by local professional photographer Hub Willson, and featured on his facebook page. Among the many who complimented the photograph was Randy Cope, Park and Recreation Director of South Whitehall. Randy cooperated with efforts by the Wildlands Conservancy to demolish the dam, and still calls for its demolition in his Parks Master Plan. After I spent the last 30 months defending the dam against the Wildlands and South Whitehall, I couldn't refrain from reminding Randy that if he had his way, the dam wouldn't have been there last week for Hub to photograph.

When the former Allentown Park Director allowed The Wildlands Conservancy to demolish the quaint Robin Hood Dam in Lehigh Parkway,  he told me that the dam could be replaced with a nice sign and picture of the former dam.

Just as the Democrats were surprised that Trump won in November,  Randy Cope, The Wildlands Conservancy and the South Whitehall Commissioners never expected the Wehr's Dam Referendum to pass. They expected the residents to vote the dam away, when threatened with a tax increase for restoration. They thought that they could accommodate the Wildlands Conservancy with no political consequence. They still hope to demolish the dam.

Hub has understandably deleted the posting and controversy from his page, and I apologize for my intrusion there.  Sometimes, in the course of fighting for our history,  I must cross some boundaries; For that I make no apology.

photograph of Wehr's Dam by Hub Willson


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Politics 2016, When Well Spoken Was No Longer Enough

I'll grant my liberal late night friends that Barack and Bill are both well spoken and cool. We saw Barack with Anthony Bourdain and Jerry Seinfeld, tres cool. You like your pols well spoken and witty. How you enjoyed Trump and Palin being ridiculed on SNL. How you loved Jon Steward bashing those low information Republicans. How you loved the beautiful entertainers campaigning for Hillary.   Well, friends, the proverbial fat lady has sung.

 Bill Clinton's explanation of Hillary's loss marks the end of his commentator days. Anybody with a shred of insight knows that the election was over well before the FBI announcement or any Russian hacking leaks. Bill's lack of candor also spells the end of Hillary, because her main credential was him. Likewise, Barack Obama's explanation of the loss was way less than candid. He was the quintessential inspirational speaker, who failed to bring any change with his hope. Democrats fail to realize that when there's no factories anymore, union bosses telling you whom to vote for doesn't carry much weight.

 There's even Republicans who loss big in this election, like the Bush clan. Of course, all this is the good news. The bad news is that I don't see this country coming together.  That would require the cooperation of the media, which is soundly married to the concept of polarization. With the country so split, it is more profitable to take a side, and stick with it. Alec Baldwin will have his Saturday night job for at least the next four years.

The Self Righteousness of the Left.

The last ditch attempt by the Democrats to reverse our election process has failed, although the results won't be official until January 6. Prevailing upon the electoral college members to vote their conscience, instead of their mandate under the Constitution,  required a heavy dose of self righteousness on the Democrat's part.  Unlike votes in swing states,  that is something in which they abound.

Worse, they don't seem to understand the true nature of their loss.  While they rave on about winning the popular vote,  but for New York City and Los Angeles,  they would have lost that also. While they rant on about not steering enough voters out to the polls on election day,  the Republicans had virtually no organized ground game under Trump.  What they did have was highly self- motivated voters, wanting to see some fundamental changes in their government.

I don't think  that the two post election strategies of having a recount, or subverting the Electoral College, will endear more voters to the Democratic Party.  Bill Clinton speaking of "angry white men", and using every excuse for Hillary's loss, won't help either.  Obama spending his final days in office muttering about Putin hacking our system, is just another example of poor losing.  He would have served righteousness better confronting Russia about the carnage in Syria.  Michelle Obama told Oprah Winfrey that the country is losing hope under president elect Trump.  She apparently doesn't understand that voters were looking for more than hope, they want progress, both for themselves and the country.

Bill White's Christmas Fruit Cake

If Pawlowski needed any indicator that his goose is cooked in Allentown, he need look no further than Bill White's column on Sunday. For the second year in a row,  Bill abandoned his usual Sunday Christmas Light Column for the low hanging fruit called Pawlowski. Last year's column already recommended that the mayor resign.  Understand, that White by nature isn't a boat rocker.  White's use of the previous mayors in the Pawlowski dream sequence was a very clever vehicle. I note that of one of the expressions he used,  shenanigans,  has appeared along with Pawlowski's name on this blog dozens of times.

Although, White has apparently decided that Pawlowski is now definitely Hall of Shame material, he  still shields the NIZ from such scrutiny.  He knows that Pawlowski really wasn't responsible for the new construction in Allentown, and that it just happen on his watch.  He knows that the NIZ is J.B. Reilly's handiwork,  who now even owns the Morning Call building and office, from where Bill wrote his column.

Since its been over a year since White called for Pawlowski's resignation, we certainly must give Mayor Ed credit for being resilient.  He may even decide to run for a 4th term.