Locals will gather around a very special Upper West Side memorial on 106th and Broadway this Saturday to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the renaming of Straus Park in honor of Isadore and Ida Straus. We covered the 100th anniversary of their death aboard the Titanic here.
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To commemorate this fine Jewish couple they could have picked a better time than on the Jewish Sabbath. Incidentally isidore’s brother Nathan traveled with him on this European trip but decided to extend the trip with visit to Jerusalem. This decision saved his life.
Maria:
I certainly appreciate the sentiment. I’m afraid, however, that it may be misplaced in this case; by all indications that I am aware of, the Straus couple being commemorated were far from being Sabbath-observant Jews. On the contrary, it would appear to be a near-certainty that although Jewish, they were quite secular and assimilated. At any rate, I certainly see no evidence to suggest that the organizers of this event, in its scheduling, intended– or even were guilty of– any disrespect toward Judaism or observant Jews.
Yeah – how insensitive of the Titanic to sink on April 15 which happens to fall on the Sabbath in the year 2017.