Reuben and Rose Mattus, Polish-Jewish immigrants, founded Häagen Dazs in New York in 1961. Reuben invented the name to sound Danish, honoring Denmark’s rescue of Jews during WWII.
Reuven Goldstein
1,627 posts
Reuven Goldstein
@curatorWH
Curator of The Witness to History Collection.
Joined April 2023
- “Some people like the Jews, and some do not. But no thoughtful man can deny the fact that they are, beyond any question, the most formidable and the most remarkable race which has appeared in the world.” ~Winston Churchill
- “As an actor I’ve always felt Jewish,” said Harrison Ford. His mother was Jewish actress Dorothy Nidelman whose family was from Minsk,Belarus. He’s spoken of feeling a strong bond with his Jewish identity, especially through his work with director Steven Spielberg.
- Hedy Kiesler Lamarr, born in 1914 to a Jewish family in Vienna was a Hollywood actress, and a brilliant inventor. During WWII she developed a frequency hopping system to prevent enemy jamming of torpedoes. That technology later help pave the way for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,and GPS.
- Chabad of Midtown, has a large public sukkah on Fifth Ave near Bryant Park. Visited by thousands, it’s city approved and known as the central Sukkah spot in Midtown Manhattan.
- David Rubinger's iconic photo showing Israeli paratroopers, Zion Karasenti, Yitzhak Yifat, and Chaim Oshri. Standing in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, during the Six-Day War June 7 1967.
- A Hebrew Selichot prayer manuscript, dating to the 9th century. It was discovered in 1908 among the famed Dunhuang Caves in Gansu Province, China. This rare relic of Jewish liturgy from medieval Central Asia is now preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.
- Sandy Koufax on not pitching on Yom Kippur of 1965. ”There was never any decision to make, because there was never any possibility that I would pitch. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish religion. The club knows I don’t work on that day.”
- The Synagogue of Padua, built in 1584, is the city’s only surviving synagogue from the Renaissance era. Once home to several thriving congregations in this great university town, it remains a living testament to Padua’s rich Jewish heritage.
- The Spanish Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam has no internal electric lighting system and is lit by candles on dozens of brass holders throughout the main hall,as has been done since its opening in 1675.
- Bagels have deep Jewish roots originating with Ashkenazi Jews in Poland in the 1600s. Boiled then baked, they were sold by street vendors and became a staple. Immigrants brought them to NYC in the early 1900s, where bagels became a beloved symbol of Jewish American culture.
- Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist, saved 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories now known as “Schindler’s List.” Risking his life,he forged documents and bribed Nazi officials. His courage remains a light in history’s darkest hour.
- Baking matza in the Łódz ghetto,1943. From the Yad Vashem archives.
- The Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem hosts the world’s largest indoor sukkah, a grand space built under the hotel’s glass atrium. Lavishly decorated and climate controlled, it blends luxury and tradition, allowing guests to celebrate Sukkot in comfort steps from Jerusalem’s Old City.
