November 28, 2008
100 Years Ago in the Forward
Police are currently investigating the murder-suicide that occurred in New York City at 123 Clinton Street, in the apartment of Max and Molly Goldstein. As it appears, following a fight, Max, a 75-year-old pushcart peddler, stabbed his wife to death and then killed himself. The couple’s boarders said that Molly was a wonderful and generous person, an absolute jewel, whereas Max was a lazy old crank who constantly berated his wife. One boarder said that he was surprised the old man hadn’t murdered his wife earlier. Goldstein was apparently such an unpleasant character that even his children from his first wife always sided with Molly, their stepmother, whom they loved as a real mother. Although it has been a number of days since the murder-suicide, the bodies are still in the morgue, awaiting burial.
75 Years Ago in the Forward
There are more than 170 colleges in America that matriculate more than 36,000 freshmen per year. In order to get accepted into these colleges, these students must take an “intelligence test,” the score of which weighs heavily on the plate of college admissions committees. This year, the student who scored the highest on this intelligence exam —not just in New York, but also throughout the entire country— is one Leo Sapirstein of the Bronx. Sapirstein is now considered the brightest freshman in the entire country, but he, for one, doesn’t really like the attention. All the other students look at him oddly; though they are proud, some are jealous, as well. On top of that, newspaper reporters have been following him around campus, asking him all kinds of questions. All the attention has become a bit much for Sapirstein, who is only 13 years old.
50 Years Ago in the Forward
Moyshe Oysher, the great cantor and Yiddish film and theater actor, has died of a heart attack at the young age of 51. The death of Oysher, which has hit the Yiddish theater community quite hard, was a shock, as he appeared to be in excellent health. In fact, the president of the Hebrew Actors Union, Seymour Rexite, reported that just a week before Oysher’s death, he and Oysher had discussed performing together for Christmas and New Year’s. But perhaps Oysher had a premonition of his demise, because that very same week, he half-jokingly told his wife that when he dies, he wants only one person to give a eulogy, Khayem Parila, rabbi of the First Roumanian-American Congregation, where Oysher debuted as a cantor 23 years ago.
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