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Ger (Hasidic dynasty)

Ger (Yiddish: גער, also Gur, adj. Gerrer) is a Polish Hasidic dynasty originating from the town of Góra Kalwaria, Poland, where it was founded by Yitzchak Meir Alter (1798–1866), known as the "Chiddushei HaRim". Ger is a branch of Peshischa Hasidism, as Yitzchak Meir Alter was a leading disciple of Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1765–1827). Before the Holocaust, followers of Ger were estimated to number in excess of 100,000, making it the largest and most influential Hasidic group in Poland. Today, the movement is based in Jerusalem, and its membership is estimated at 11,859 families, as of 2016, most of whom live in Israel, making Ger the largest Hasidic dynasty in Israel. However, there are also well-established Ger communities in the United States and in Europe. In 2019, some 300 families of followers led by Shaul Alter, split off from the dynasty led by his cousin Yaakov Aryeh Alter.

History
In his early years, Yitzchak Meir Alter became a close disciple of Simcha Bunim of Peshischa, who preached the ideals of Talmudic-rationalism, and the pursuance of personal authenticity, which would later go on to be foundational tenets of Ger Hasidism. After Simcha Bunim's death in 1827, Yitzchak Meir Alter was among his more radical supporters who followed Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, rather than Simcha Bunim's son, Avraham Moshe. The Kotzker Rebbe continued in the ideological tradition of Peshischa, and after his death in 1859, the vast majority of his followers, accepted Yitzchak Meir Alter as his successor, rather than his son Dovid. Yitzchak Meir Alter was living in Warsaw at the time, where he operated a Kotzker shtiebel. Shortly after accepting the role of Rebbe, Yitzchak Meir was appointed as the Av Beit Din of Góra Kalwaria (Ger in Yiddish), where he established his own Hasidic court. After his death in 1866, his followers wanted his eighteen-year-old grandson, Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, to succeed him. When Yehuda Aryeh Leib refused to accept this position, most of the Hasidim became followers of the elderly Hasid, Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin, after whose death, Yehudah Aryeh Leib, acceded to the request of the Hasidim to become their next rebbe. The Gerrer movement flourished under the leadership of Yehudah Aryeh Leib and his eldest son and successor, Avraham Mordechai Alter, known as the "Imrei Emes". In 1926, in a bold departure for Polish Hasidim, Avraham Mordechai established a yeshiva in Jerusalem, naming it for his father, the Sfas Emes. The first rosh yeshiva was Rabbi Nechemiah Alter, a brother of the Imrei Emes. Today, the yeshiva remains the flagship of the Ger yeshivas.Under the leadership of the fifth Gerrer Rebbe, Yisrael Alter, known as the "Beis Yisrael", the Ichud Mosdos Gur or Union of Gerrer Institutions, was established as the responsible body for funding all the educational institutions affiliated with Ger in Israel. Currently, there are about 100 such institutions. The Beis Yisrael helped rebuild the Ger movement after its virtual destruction in World War II.

Distribution of Gerrer Hasidim
Almost all Ger Hasidim living in pre-war Europe (approximately 100,000 Hasidim) were murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust. Avraham Mordechai Alter, who managed to escape, set about the task of rebuilding the movement in the British Mandate of Palestine. Under its post-war leaders, the movement began to flourish again. With approximately 12,000 families, Ger is the third-largest Hasidic dynasty in the world today, comprising 9.2% of the world population of Hasidim. Large communities of Gerrer Hasidim exist in Israel, in Bnei Brak (2294 families / 19% of the Hasidic population), Ashdod (2218 families / 45%), and Jerusalem (1921 families / 12%), and a slightly smaller community of 1,027 families (6% of the Hasidic population) exists in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Smaller communities with hundreds of families have also been established in Israel, such as Arad, Beit Shemesh, Kiryat Gat, Hatzor HaGlilit, Haifa, Dimona, Tel Aviv, and Petah Tikva. Internationally, hundreds of families reside in London, Antwerp, Zürich (where they are the largest Hasidic group), Manchester, Monsey, and Lakewood, with tens more living in Los Angeles, Queens, Montreal, Melbourne, and Chicago. Ger maintains a well-developed educational network of Talmud Torahs, yeshivas, and kollels, as well as Beis Yaakov schools for girls. The dynasty is the wealthiest in Israel, and its leaders dominate the Agudat Israel political party.

Center
The group's headquarters is located in Jerusalem. During and after the British Mandate, the group's beth midrash was at the Sfas Emes Yeshiva, near Mahane Yehuda. Later on, the synagogue moved to Ralbach Street in the Geula neighborhood, and in the late 1990s, the Great Beth Midrash Gur was inaugurated on Yirmeyahu Street, near the Schneller Orphanage complex. In 2015, an extension to the building was begun, and on Rosh Hashanah 2018 (5779), the second wing of the Beth Medrash was inaugurated. In 2022, the building was finished when the two wings were joined, making it the largest synagogue in the world, with the main sanctuary seating up to 20,000, and having an area of approximately 35000 m2.

Beginning with the emigration of Avraham Mordechai Alter to Israel, the rebbes of Ger lived in Jerusalem, with the exception of the current Rebbe Yaakov Aryeh Alter, who moved to Jerusalem only in 2012. The group has "shtibelekh" in most ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in the city. As other Hasidic courts, Ger also expanded in Jerusalem following the immigration of young couples from Europe and the United States.

Identifying features of Ger
The men are distinguished by their dark Hasidic garb, and by their pants tucked into their socks, called hoyzn-zokn (not to be confused with the breeches, called halber-hoyzn, worn by men in some other Hasidic groups). They wear a round felt hat, and a high, almost-pointed kapel. They raise their sidelocks from the temples, and tuck them under the yarmulke, nearly hiding them. On Shabbos and Jewish holidays, married men wear the high circular fur hat of the Polish Hasidim, called a spodik by Galicianers (not to be confused with the much flatter shtreimel worn by married men in Hasidic groups which do not hail from Congress Poland). Ger has produced some of the most prolific composers of Jewish liturgical music of all time, such as Yankel Talmud (1885–1965), who was known as "the Beethoven of the Gerrer Rebbes".

Kehilas Pnei Menachem
In October 2019, a group of Gerrer Hasidim under the leadership of Shaul Alter split from the main hassidic court, forming a new kehilla: "Kehilas Pnei Menachem". The split, the first in Ger's history, followed two decades of repeated tensions between Alter, son of the former Gerrer Rebbe, and his cousin, the current one—tensions which only increased when the latter closed the prestigious yeshiva where Alter was Rosh Yeshiva in 2016, then failed to invite him to his grandson's wedding in 2019. On 22 October 2019, Alter held a public Sukkot event, where donations and school enrollment forms for the new group were passed out, marking the split.

On November 8, 2021, the Jerusalem Post reported that Kehilas Pnei Menachem numbers some 500 families in Israel, with another 300 in the USA, while the mainstream Gur community in Israel is thought to number as many as 100,000 people (the equivalent of 11,494 families, according to a November 2021 report by Israel's National Economic Council which averages 6.7 children per Haredi family).

In May 2022 violent clashes erupted between Hasidim of both communities in Ashdod, Bnei Brak and Jerusalem. Hundreds of men stormed Alter's yeshiva, and he had to be escorted home by police.

Gerrer dynastic leadership

 * Grand Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter (1798–1866), (the Chiddushei HaRim), first Gerrer Rebbe from 1859 to 1866
 * Grand Rabbi Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin (1798–1870), second Gerrer Rebbe from 1866 to 1870
 * Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter (1815–1855)
 * Grand Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847–1905), (the Sfas Emes), third Gerrer Rebbe from 1870 to 1905
 * Grand Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter (1866–1948), (the Imrei Emes), fourth Gerrer Rebbe from 1905 to 1948
 * Grand Rabbi Yisrael Alter (1895–1977), (the Beis Yisroel), fifth Gerrer Rebbe from 1948 to 1977
 * Grand Rabbi Simchah Bunim Alter (1898–1992), (the Lev Simcha), sixth Gerrer Rebbe from 1977 to 1992
 * Grand Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter (born 1939), eighth Gerrer Rebbe from 1996 to present
 * Grand Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter (1926–1996), (the Pnei Menachem), seventh Gerrer Rebbe from 1992 to 1996
 * Rabbi Shaul Alter (born 1957), leader of Kehilas Pnei Menachem (an offshoot from the Ger Hasidic Dynasty) from 2019 to present

Takanot
Ger is known as having the strictest views among Orthodox Jews regarding sexual relations. In 1948, Rabbi Yisrael Alter established the "Ordinances on Holiness", known as the takanot (called takunes in the vernacular of Yiddish used by Ger Hasidim), which regulate daily living. The rules were passed on verbally, and were never written down until 2016, when a former member of the Ger Hasidic sect published them on Facebook. The takanot prescribe, for example, that a couple should not have sex more than twice a month, should do so silently and quickly, and the man should always be on top.

In 2009, a Gerrer woman, Sarah Einfeld, appeared in a short documentary film, titled in English Shrew (in Hebrew, Soreret). During the filming, she decided to desert Ger, and to adopt a secular way of life. In her blog, she reported on the "repression" of women in Ger, highlighting the suppression of sexuality under the regime of these rules.

title: Ger (Hasidic dynasty)


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Skull and Bones

Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class society at the university, Skull and Bones has become a cultural institution known for its powerful alumni and various conspiracy theories.

Skull and Bones is considered one of the "Big Three" societies at Yale University; the other are Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head. The society is known informally as "Bones", and members are known as "Bonesmen", "Members of The Order" or "Initiated to The Order".

19th century
Skull and Bones was founded in 1832 after a dispute among Yale debating societies Linonia, Brothers in Unity, and the Calliopean Society over that season's Phi Beta Kappa awards. William Huntington Russell and Alphonso Taft co-founded "The Order of the Skull and Bones". The first senior members included Russell, Taft, and thirteen other members. Alternative names for Skull and Bones are The Order, Order 322 and The Brotherhood of Death.

The first extended description of Skull and Bones, published in 1871 by Lyman Bagg in his book Four Years at Yale, noted that "the mystery now attending its existence forms the one great enigma which college gossip never tires of discussing."

In a 1974 book, Brooks Mather Kelley attributed the interest in Yale senior societies to the fact that underclassmen members of then freshman, sophomore, and junior class societies returned to campus the following years and could share information about society rituals, while graduating seniors were, with their knowledge of such, at least a step removed from campus life.

Since its founding, Skull and Bones annually selects 15 members of the junior class to join the society. Skull and Bones selects new members among students every spring as part of Yale University's "Tap Day", and has done so since 1879. It taps those that it views as campus leaders and other notable figures for its membership.

20th century
In the 1960s, secret societies adapted in response to criticism for elitism and discrimination. Skull and Bones admitted its first black member in 1965, and the president of Yale's gay student organization in 1975.

Yale became coeducational in 1969, prompting some other secret societies such as St. Anthony Hall to transition to co-ed membership, yet Skull and Bones remained fully male until 1992. The Bones class of 1971's attempt to tap women for membership was opposed by Bones alumni, who dubbed them the "bad club" and quashed their attempt. "The issue", as it came to be called by Bonesmen, was debated for decades.

The class of 1991 tapped seven female members for membership in the next year's class, causing conflict with the alumni association. The trust changed the locks on the Tomb and the Bonesmen instead met in the Manuscript Society building. A mail-in vote by members decided 368–320 to permit women in the society, but a group of alumni led by William F. Buckley obtained a temporary restraining order to block the move, arguing that a formal change in bylaws was needed. Other alumni, such as John Kerry and R. Inslee Clark, Jr., spoke out in favor of admitting women. The dispute was highlighted on an editorial page of The New York Times. A second alumni vote, in October 1991, agreed to accept the Class of 1992, and the lawsuit was dropped.

21st century
In recent years, Skull and Bones, like other elite Yale institutions, "utterly transformed", according to The Atlantic. The society tapped its first entirely non-white class in 2020. Few descendants of alumni get in, and progressive activism is an asset. The class of 2021 admitted no conservatives.

Symbols and traditions
The society's badge is gold and consists of a skull that is supported by crossed bones, with the number 322 on the lower jaw. Its members worshipped Eulogia, a fictional goddess of eloquence.

The number "322" appears in Skull and Bones' insignia and is widely reported to be significant as the year of Greek orator Demosthenes' death. A letter between early society members in Yale's archives suggests that 322 is a reference to the year 322 BC and that members measure dates from this year instead of from the anno domini. In 322 BC, the Lamian War ended with the death of Demosthenes and Athenians were made to dissolve their government and establish a plutocratic system in its stead, whereby only those possessing 2,000 drachmas or more could remain citizens. Documents in the Tomb have purportedly been found dated to "Anno-Demostheni."

One legend is that the number represents "founded in '32, 2nd corps", referring to a first Corps in an unknown German university. Another possible reference of 322 is the Freemasonic Lodge of Virtue and Silence no. 322, in Suffolk, UK, signaling a fraternal but unspoken sponsorship between the two "secret society" organizations, regarding which silence is considered virtuous. Lodge 322 was founded in 1811, 21 years before the creation of the Skull and Bones association in 1832.

Crooking
Skull and Bones has a reputation for stealing keepsakes from other Yale societies or campus buildings; society members reportedly call the practice "crooking" and strive to outdo each other's "crooks". The society has been accused of possessing the stolen skulls of Martin Van Buren, Geronimo, and Pancho Villa. In January 2010, Christie's auctioned a human skull with links to Skull and Bones.

Tomb
The Skull and Bones Hall, located at 64 High St. in New Haven, Connecticut, is otherwise known as the "Tomb". The building was built in three phases: the first wing was built in 1856, the second wing in 1903, and Davis-designed Neo-Gothic towers were added to the rear garden in 1912. The front and side facades are of Portland brownstone in an Egypto-Doric style. The 1912 tower additions created a small enclosed courtyard in the rear of the building, designed by Evarts Tracy and Edgerton Swartwout of Tracy and Swartwout, New York. Evarts Tracy was an 1890 Bonesman, and his paternal grandmother, Martha Sherman Evarts, and maternal grandmother, Mary Evarts, were the sisters of William Maxwell Evarts, an 1837 Bonesman.

The architect was possibly Alexander Jackson Davis or Henry Austin. Architectural historian Patrick Pinnell includes an in-depth discussion of the dispute over the identity of the original architect in his 1999 Yale campus history. Pinnell speculates that the re-use of the Davis towers in 1911 suggests Davis's role in the original building and, conversely, Austin was responsible for the architecturally similar brownstone Egyptian Revival Grove Street Cemetery gates, built-in 1845. Pinnell also discusses the Tomb's esthetic place about its neighbors, including the Yale University Art Gallery. In the late 1990s, New Hampshire landscape architects Saucier and Flynn designed the wrought iron fence that surrounds a portion of the complex.

Deer Island
The society owns and manages Deer Island, an island retreat on the St. Lawrence River (44.35906°N, -75.90934°W). Alexandra Robbins, author of a book on Yale secret societies, wrote:"The forty-acre retreat is intended to allow Bonesmen to 'get together and rekindle old friendships.' A century ago the island sported tennis courts and its softball fields were surrounded by rhubarb plants and gooseberry bushes. Catboats waited on the lake. Stewards catered elegant meals.'"

Bonesmen spend a week in the late summer getting to know each other at Deer Island.

Russell Trust Association
The Russell Trust Association is the business name of Skull and Bones Society. It was incorporated in 1856 by William Huntington Russell as president and Daniel Coit Gilman as treasurer. The association holds the society's assets, including its endowment and property, and oversees property upkeep.

According to its 2016 filing with the IRS, the Russell Trust Association, filing as RTA Incorporated, has assets of $3,906,458, including Deer Island and the Skull and Bones Hall.

As of 2024, the organization had an endowment of $17 million.

Notable members
Skull and Bones' membership developed a reputation in association with the "power elite". Regarding the qualifications for membership, Lanny Davis wrote in the 1968 Yale yearbook: "If the society had a good year, this is what the 'ideal' group will consist of: a football captain; a Chairman of the Yale Daily News; a conspicuous radical; a Whiffenpoof; a swimming captain; a notorious drunk with a 94 average; a film-maker; a political columnist; a religious group leader; a Chairman of the Lit; a foreigner; a ladies' man with two motorcycles; an ex-serviceman; a negro, if there are enough to go around; a guy nobody else in the group had heard of, ever..."

Like other Yale senior societies, Skull and Bones's membership was almost exclusively limited to white Protestant men for much of its history. While Yale had exclusionary policies directed at particular ethnic and religious groups, the senior societies were even more exclusionary. While some Catholics were able to join such groups, Jews were more often not. Some of these excluded groups eventually entered Skull and Bones using sports, through the society's practice of tapping standout athletes. Star football players tapped for Skull and Bones included the first Jewish player (Al Hessberg, class of 1938) and African-American player (Levi Jackson, class of 1950), although Jackson declined the tap, instead electing to join Berzelius.

Judith Ann Schiff, Chief Research Archivist at the Yale University Library, has written: "The names of its members weren't kept secret—that was an innovation of the 1970s—but its meetings and practices were." While resourceful researchers could assemble member data from these sources, in 1985, Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt provided Antony C. Sutton with rosters and records that had belonged to her father, a member of the organization. This membership information was kept privately for over fifteenyears, as Sutton feared that the photocopied pages could somehow identify the member who leaked it. He wrote a book on the group, America's Secret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull and Bones. The information was finally reformatted as an appendix in the book Fleshing out Skull and Bones, a compilation edited by Kris Millegan and published in 2003.

Among prominent alumni are former presidents William Howard Taft (a founder's son), George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. In the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, both the Democratic and Republican nominees were members of Skull and Bones. When asked what it meant that he and George W. Bush were both Bonesmen, former presidential candidate John Kerry said, "Not much, because it's a secret."

Members are assigned nicknames. Examples include "Long Devil", the tallest member, "Boaz", a varsity football captain, or "Sherrife", prince of the future. Many of the chosen names are drawn from literature (e.g., "Hamlet", "Uncle Remus") religion, and myth. The banker Lewis Lapham passed on his nickname, "Sancho Panza", to the political adviser Tex McCrary. Averell Harriman was "Thor", Henry Luce was "Baal", McGeorge Bundy was "Odin", and George H. W. Bush was "Magog".

Literature and print

 * Tom Wolfe mentions Skull and Bones in his 1976 book, The Me Decade, writing, "At Yale the students on the outside wondered for 80 years what went on inside the fabled secret senior societies, such as Skull and Bones. On Thursday nights one would see the secret society members walking silently and single file, in black flannel suits, white shirts, and black knit ties with gold pins on them, toward their great Greek Revival temples on the campus, buildings whose mystery was doubled by the fact that they had no windows."
 * Skull and Bones have been satirized from time to time in the Doonesbury comic strips by Garry Trudeau, Yale graduate and Scroll and Key member. There are overt references, especially in 1980 and December 1988, concerning George H. W. Bush, and again when the society first admitted women.
 * George W. Bush wrote in his autobiography, "[In my] senior year I joined Skull and Bones, a secret society; so secret, I can't say anything more."

Film

 * The Skulls (2000) and The Skulls II (2002) films are based on the conspiracy theories surrounding Skull and Bones. A third film, The Skulls III (2004), is based on the first woman to be "tapped" to join the society.
 * In The Good Shepherd (2006) the protagonist becomes a member of Skull and Bones while studying at Yale.
 * In Baz Luhrmann's 2013 film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway calls Tom Buchanan Boaz. Tom in turn calls Nick Shakespeare. Nick said earlier that he met Tom at Yale. It is thereby implied that they were in Skull and Bones together. In the novel, Yale is not explicitly mentioned (rather, they were at college in New Haven together) and it is only stated that they were in the same senior society.

Television

 * In Season 1, Episode 33 of the 1966 Batman TV series, "Fine Finny Fiends" there is a gathering at Wayne Manor during which one guest points out a portrait of Bruce Wayne's great-grandfather wearing a Yale sweater. He asks if it is true that Bruce's ancestor was tapped for Skull and Bones, to which Aunt Harriet replies that he was not tapped for it, but "he founded Skull and Bones!"
 * In The Simpsons season 8 episode "The Canine Mutiny" (1997), after doing a secret handshake with a dog, Mr. Burns says: "I believe this dog was in Skull and Bones".
 * In Family Guy episode, "No Chris Left Behind", (2007) when Chris Griffin is being bullied by the richer students at Morningwood Academy, Lois Griffin asks her father, Carter Pewterschmidt, to help Chris. So Carter invites Chris to join Skull and Bones with the other students, who begin to accept him. As part of his initiation, Carter and Chris adopt an orphan and lock him out of the car, which is filled with toys and a puppy, and then drive away when he is unable to get in. At the initiation ceremony, Carter tells Chris that he must spend "Seven minutes in heaven" with their most senior member, Herbert. Chris feels uncomfortable about joining and convinces Carter to help him get back into his old school.
 * On Meet The Press, Tim Russert asked both President George W. Bush and John Kerry about their memberships to Skull and Bones, to which the president replied, "It's so secret we can't talk about it." Kerry replied, "You trying to get rid of me here?"
 * In The Simpsons season 28 episode "The Caper Chase" (2017), Mr. Burns visits the Skull and Bones society to meet with Bourbon Verlander about for-profit universities.
 * In Gossip Girl season 2 episode "New Heaven Can Wait" (2008), Chuck Bass is kidnapped by Skull and Bones members while visiting Yale. They make him pass a series of tests to assess his loyalty as they think Chuck is the ideal Skull and Bones candidate. Chuck eventually declines the offer and tricks them into performing illegal acts while filming them in order to have blackmail leverage in case he ever needs something from them in the future.

Conspiracy theories
Skull and Bones is featured in books and movies which claim that the society plays a role in a global conspiracy for world control. There have been rumors that Skull and Bones is a branch of the Illuminati, having been founded by German university alumni following the order's suppression in their native land by Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria with the support of Frederick the Great of Prussia, or that Skull and Bones controls the CIA.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Skull and Bones


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Samael

Samael (סַמָּאֵל, Sammāʾēl, "Venom/Poison of God"; سمسمائيل, Samsama'il or سمائل, Samail; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel) is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic lore; a figure who is the accuser or adversary (Satan in the Book of Job), seducer, and destroying angel (in the Book of Exodus).

Although many of his functions resemble the Christian notion of Satan, to the point of being sometimes identified as a fallen angel,  he is not necessarily evil, since his functions are also regarded as resulting in good, such as destroying sinners.

He is considered in Midrashic texts to be a member of the heavenly host with often grim and destructive duties. One of Samael's greatest roles in Jewish lore is that of the main angel of death and the head of satans. Although he condemns the sins of man, he remains one of God's servants. He appears frequently in the story of the Garden of Eden and engineered the fall of Adam and Eve with a snake in writings during the Second Temple period. However, the serpent is not a form of Samael, but a beast he rode like a camel. In a single account he is also believed to be the father of Cain, as well as the partner of Lilith. In early Talmudic and Midrashic literature he is not identified with Satan yet. Only in later Midrashim he is entitled "head of satans".

As guardian angel and prince of Rome, he is the archenemy of Israel. By the beginning of Jewish culture in Europe, Samael had been established as a representative of Christianity, due to his identification with Rome.

In some Gnostic cosmologies, Samael's role as source of evil became identified with the Demiurge, the creator of the material world. Although probably both accounts originate from the same source, the Gnostic development differs from the Jewish development of Samael, in which Samael is merely an angel and servant of God.

Second Temple period and posteriority

Samael was first mentioned during the Second Temple Period and immediately after its destruction. He is first mentioned in the Book of Enoch along with other rebellious angels. In Enoch 1 he is one of the Watchers who descended to Earth to copulate with human women, although he is not their leader, this being Semyaza.

In the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch, he is the dominant evil figure. Samael plants the Tree of knowledge, thereupon he is banished and cursed by God. To take revenge, he tempts Adam and Eve into sin by taking the form of the serpent.

He appears further as the embodiment of evil in the Ascension of Isaiah, often identified as:

 * Melkira (מלך רע, melek ra, 'king of evil, 'king of the wicked');
 * Malkira / Malchira (מלאך רע, malakh/malach ra, 'messenger of evil' or 'angel of iniquity');
 * Belkira (prob. בעל קיר, baal qir, 'lord of the wall'); or
 * Bechira (בחיר רע, bachir ra, 'the elect of evil, chosen by evil').

The names Belial and Satan are also applied to him and he gains control of King Manasseh in order to accuse Isaiah of treason.

Talmudic-Midrashic literature
In Talmudic-Midrashic literature, Samael's role as an agent of evil is rather marginal, but from the fifth or sixth century onward, this name again becomes one of the most prominent among the demonic entities. Samael has not been identified with the angel of death in the Talmud.

In the Exodus Rabbah, Samael is depicted as the accuser in the heavenly court and tempting to sin, while Michael defends Israel's actions. Here, Samael is identified with Satan. While Satan describes his function as an "accuser," Samael is considered to be his proper name. He also fulfills the role of the Angel of Death, when he comes to take the body of Moses and is called the leader of satans.

The title of satan is also applied to him in the midrash Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, where he is the chief of the fallen angels, and a twelve-winged seraph. According to the text, Samael opposed the creation of Adam and descended to Earth to tempt him into evil. Riding the serpent, he convinces Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. His role here might be similar to the Islamic idea of Iblis, who refused to prostrate himself before Adam because he consists of fire and Adam merely from dust. The midrash also reveals Samael fathered Cain with Eve.

In the Midrash Konen, he is the ruler of the third hell. Several sources, such as Yalkut Shimoni (I, 110) describe him as the guardian angel of Esau relating him to Rome, the one who wrestled with Jacob, the angel who ordered Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, and a patron of Edom.

Kabbalah
In Kabbalah (A. E. Waite, 255), Samael is described as the "severity of God," and is listed as fifth of the archangels of the world of Briah. Among his portions are Esau, the people who inherit the sword and bring war; the goats and se'irim (demons); and the destroyer angels.

Although both Samael and Lilith are major demons in earlier Jewish traditions, they do not appear paired until the second half of the thirteenth century, when they are introduced together. Lilith is a demon created alongside Adam, originally created for the role Eve would fill, who then becomes Samael's bride. With her, Samael created a host of demon children, including a son, the "Sword of Samael" (or of Asmodai).

In the Kabbalistic work Treatise on the Left Emanation, Samael is part of the qlippoth, prince of all demons, and spouse of Lilith. The two are said to parallel Adam and Eve, being emanated together from the Throne of Glory as a counterpart. Asmodeus is also mentioned to be subservient to Samael and married to a younger, lesser Lilith. According to the treatise, God castrated Samael in order not to fill the world with their demonic offspring, this being the reason why Lilith seeks to fornicate with men.

In the Zohar, one of Kabbalah's main works, Samael is described as a leader of the divine forces of destruction, being part of the qlippoth. He is mentioned again as the serpent's rider, and is described as having mated with Eisheth Zenunim, Na'amah, and Agrat bat Mahlat, all being "angels" of sacred prostitution. Notably, the same work later calls him Azazel, which might be a case of mistaken identity, as Azazel may be himself in Zoharistic lore a combination of the angels Aza and Azrael.

It is also said that the Baal Shem Tov once summoned Samael to make him do his bidding.

Other tradition
Samael is also depicted as the angel of death and one of the seven archangels, the ruler over the Fifth Heaven and commander of two million angels such as the chief of all the destroying angels.

According to apocryphal Gedulat Moshe (The Apocalypse of Moses, "The Ascension of Moses" in The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg) Samael is also mentioned as being in 7th Heaven:

"In the last heaven Moses saw two angels, each five hundred parasangs in height, forged out of chains of black fire and red fire, the angels Af, 'Anger', and Hemah, 'Wrath', whom God created at the beginning of the world, to execute His will. Moses was disquieted when he looked upon them, but Metatron embraced him, and said, 'Moses, Moses, thou favorite of God, fear not, and be not terrified,' and Moses became calm. There was another angel in the seventh heaven, different in appearance from all the others, and of frightful mien. His height was so great, it would have taken five hundred years to cover a distance equal to it, and from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he was studded with glaring eyes. 'This one,' said Metatron, addressing Moses, 'is Samael, who takes the soul away from man.' 'Whither goes he now?' asked Moses, and Metatron replied, 'To fetch the soul of Job the pious.' Thereupon Moses prayed to God in these words, 'O may it be Thy will, my God and the God of my fathers, not to let me fall into the hands of this angel.'"

Gnosticism
In the Apocryphon of John, On the Origin of the World, and Hypostasis of the Archons, found in the Nag Hammadi library, Samael is one of three names of the demiurge, whose other names are Yaldabaoth and Saklas.

After Yaldabaoth claims sole divinity for himself, the voice of Sophia comes forth calling him Samael, due to his ignorance. In On the Origin of the World, his name is explained as "blind god" and his fellow Archons are said to be blind, too. This reflecting the characteristics of the Christian devil, making people blind, as does the devil in 2 Corinthians 4. Also Samael is the first sinner in the Hypostasis of the Archons and the First Epistle of John calls the devil as sinner from the beginning. These characteristics combined with his boasting conflates the Jewish god with the devil. His appearance is that of a lion-faced serpent. Although the Gnostics and Jewish originally used the same source, both depictions of Samael developed independently.

Samael is sometimes confused in some books with Camael, who appears in the Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians also as an evil power, whose name is similar to words meaning "like God" (but Camael with a waw missing). The name might be explained, because in Jewish traditions, the snake had the form of a camel, before it was banished by God.

Anthroposophy
To anthroposophists, Samael is known as one of the seven archangels: Saint Gregory gives the seven archangels as Anael, Gabriel, Michael, Oriphiel, Raphael, Samael, and Zerachiel. They are all imagined to have a special assignment to act as a global zeitgeist ('time-spirit'), each for periods of about 360 years.

title: Samael


text:
West Coast Region

The West Coast (Te Tai Poutini) is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island. It is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. It comprises the territorial authorities of Buller District, Grey District and Westland District. The principal towns are Westport, Greymouth and Hokitika. The region, one of the more remote areas of the country, is also the most sparsely populated. With a population of just 32,900 people, the West Coast is the least populous region in New Zealand. The population in the region grew by 0.4% over the year to July 2023.

The region has a rich and important history. The land itself is ancient, stretching back to the Carboniferous period; this is evident by the amount of carboniferous materials naturally found there, especially coal. First settled by Kāi Tahu in approximately 1200 AD, the area was famous across New Zealand for its richness in pounamu greenstone. Kāi Tahu traded millions of modern New Zealand dollars' worth of the stone across New Zealand, making Te Tai Poutini one of the wealthiest regions in the country.

After the arrival of Europeans, the region became famed for its vast and mostly untapped gold reserves, which historically had not been highly valued. The region was subsequently settled by thousands of Irish Catholics after the Irish Famine, who constitute the majority of the population, alongside the indigenous Kāi Tahu and those who come from admixing between the two populations. The region was also heavily sought after by nuclear weapons states in the 1950s for its abundant resources of uranium, which many West Coasters found objectionable. The West Coast is the only region of New Zealand where coal mining is still widely practiced.

Naming
The name Westland is used by some New Zealanders to refer to the whole of the West Coast, including Grey District, Buller District and Fiordland, and can also refer to the short-lived Westland Province of 1873–76.

Fiordland is on the west coast, but is in the Southland Region rather than the West Coast Region.

Inhabitants of the West Coast are colloquially known as "Coasters".

Geography

The region reaches from Kahurangi Point in the north to Awarua Point in the south, a distance of 600 km. It has an area of 23,276 km2. To the west is the Tasman Sea (which like the Southern Ocean can be very rough, with four-metre swells common), and to the east are the Southern Alps. Much of the land is rugged, with a coastal plain where much of the population resides. It is divided into the three local government districts of (from north to south) Buller, Grey and Westland.

The land is very scenic, with wild coastlines, mountains and a very high proportion of native bush, much of it native temperate rain forest. It is the only part of New Zealand where significant tracts of lowland forest remain: elsewhere, for instance on the Canterbury Plains and in the Firth of Thames, they have been almost completely destroyed for settlement and agriculture.

Scenic areas include the Haast Pass, Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers, Hokitika Gorge, Lake Brunner, the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki, the Oparara Arches and the Heaphy Track.

The region has very high rainfall due to the prevailing northwesterly wind pattern and the location of the Southern Alps, which give rise to heavy orographic precipitation. The rain shadow effect is responsible for the relatively arid climate of the Canterbury Plains on the other side of the Southern Alps.

History

The region is home to Ngāi Tahu, who value it for the greenstone (pounamu) found there in abundance.

The region was only occasionally visited by Europeans until the discovery of gold near the Taramakau River in 1864 by two Māori, Ihaia Tainui and Haimona Taukau. By the end of the year there were an estimated 1800 prospectors, many of them around the Hokitika area, which in 1866 was briefly the most populous settlement in New Zealand.

The region was divided between Nelson Province and Canterbury Province from 1853: in 1873 the Canterbury portion of the region formed its own province, the Westland Province, until the abolition of the provincial system in 1876. The West Coast Gold Rush between 1864 and 1867 created numerous gold rush towns such as Ōkārito, which at one time was the largest town on the West Coast but quickly almost vanished as miners moved on. After that time, the population dwindled, but the main towns that still exist had become established.

Following greenstone and gold, the next valuable mineral was coal. Discovered near the Buller River in the mid-1840s, mining began in earnest during the 1860s. By the 1880s coal had become the region's main industry, with mines throughout the northern half of the region, especially around Westport. Many of these continued in operation until the mid-20th century, and several survive.

Timber has also long been a major industry, although in recent years there has been an uneasy balance between forestry for wood and forestry for conservation. Much of the region is public land administered by the Department of Conservation and the region has some of the best remaining stands of native forest, along with a wealth of rare wildlife. Ecotourism is now an important industry, and this goes hand in hand with the conservation efforts.

Population
The West Coast region covers 23245.65 km2 and has an estimated population of as of, 0/0*100% of New Zealand's population. It is the least populous of New Zealand's sixteen regions. The West Coast is also the most sparsely populated region, with just 0/23245.65 people per square kilometre (0/8975.18 per square mile).

West Coast Region had a population of 33,390 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 1,815 people (5.7%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 1,242 people (3.9%) since the 2013 census. There were 18,564 dwellings. The median age was 48.1 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 5,448 people (16.3%) aged under 15 years, 4,515 (13.5%) aged 15 to 29, 15,867 (47.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 7,560 (22.6%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 89.7% European/Pākehā, 13.5% Māori, 1.6% Pasifika, 4.0% Asian, 0.5% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders, and 2.2% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

West Coast Region had a population of 31,575 at the 2018 New Zealand census. There were 13,503 households, comprising 16,041 males and 15,534 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.03 males per female.

The percentage of people born overseas was 12.0, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 53.2% had no religion, 35.1% were Christian, 0.3% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.6% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.3% were Buddhist and 1.7% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 2,934 (11.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 7,026 (27.1%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $26,400, compared with $31,800 nationally. 3,078 people (11.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 12,501 (48.1%) people were employed full-time, 4,083 (15.7%) were part-time, and 822 (3.2%) were unemployed.

Cities and towns
There are only four towns with a population over 1,000: Greymouth, Westport, Hokitika and Runanga. These four towns, plus Reefton (population ), are recognised as urban areas by Statistics New Zealand.

During the gold rush days, Hokitika had a population of more than 25,000 with more than 100 pubs. A recreation of an early New Zealand settlement is at Shantytown. Other towns and settlements include:

 * Ahaura
 * Blackball
 * Fox Glacier
 * Granity
 * Haast
 * Hari Hari
 * Kaniere
 * Kumara
 * Ngakawau
 * Ross
 * Waimangaroa

Regional council
The West Coast region is governed by the West Coast Regional Council. Currently, it is chaired by Peter Haddock.

Councillors

 * Brett Cummings
 * Allan Birchfield
 * Andy Campbell
 * Frank Dooley
 * Mark McIntyre
 * Peter Ewen

Economy
The subnational gross domestic product (GDP) of the West Coast was estimated at NZ$2,373 million in the year to March 2022, 0.7% of New Zealand's national GDP. The regional GDP per capita was estimated at $72,127 in the same period.

The region had one of the strongest growing regional economies of New Zealand in 2022, though from a rather small base.

Industries include mining for coal and alluvial gold, forestry and wood processing, fishing (including whitebaiting), tourism and farming.

Dairy farming has grown strongly – the local dairy co-operative Westland Milk Products remained independent when most others merged to form Fonterra in 2001. In the 2019–2020 season, there were 150,000 milking cows on the West Coast, 3.0% of the country's total herd. The cows produced 50,700 tonnes of milk solids, worth $365 million at the national average farmgate price ($7.20 per kg).

Other industries are the manufacturing and sales of greenstone jewellery, sphagnum moss gathering and stone-collection for garden landscaping. Monteith's brewery is in Greymouth.

The region has been included in the "Top 10 Coastal Drives of the World" by Lonely Planet.

Flora and fauna
The region has the only New Zealand nesting place of the kōtuku (white heron), at the Waitangiroto Nature Reserve, visited by tours from the small farming township of Whataroa. This rare bird appears on the $2 coin.

Over 80% of West Coast land is administered by the Department of Conservation, much of this being in National Parks. These include from north to south, parts of Kahurangi NP, Paparoa NP, parts of Arthurs Pass NP, Westland NP, parts of Aspiring NP plus the South Westland World Heritage Area. Each of these parks have flora and fauna common to all areas, as well as species, like kiwi, particular to those areas.

Transport
Four roads run into the West Coast Region. The main road running the length of the region is State Highway 6. It connects to the Tasman District in the north through the Buller Gorge, and to Otago in the south via Haast Pass. Two roads connect to Canterbury to the east, State Highway 7 through Lewis Pass to North Canterbury and State Highway 73 via Arthur's Pass to Christchurch.

The Midland railway line is the only railway line into the region. It links to Christchurch via Arthur's Pass. The TranzAlpine train service runs return between Christchurch and Greymouth daily and freight lines extend to Ngākawau and Hokitika.

Daily passenger flights operate into the region. Air New Zealand flies between Christchurch and Hokitika and Sounds Air between Wellington and Westport.

title: West Coast Region


text:
Talk:1917

Russia
The entry for July 7th is incorrect. The establishment of the Russian Provisional Government and the end of Tsarist Russia occured between March 2rd (when it was proclaimed, headed by Prince G.E. Lvov) and 4th (when Grand Duke Michael declined the throne) (A.F. Kerensky, Russia and History’s Turning Point (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1965), 209-216.) The date of July 7th likely refers to when Kerensky became prime minister, replacing Prince Lvov. Nonetheless, it was not the date the Provisional Government was formed, and certainly not the date of the end of the Tsarist monarchy (hence why they call it the "Feburary Revolution"). Dates here are new style (Gregorian calender). Relavent topics: Russian Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky Shane Lin 12:54, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Date style
In regards to above, March 2nd and 4th are Old Style dates, as is the original date of July 7th. July 7th OS is July 20th NS, and the entry has been changed to the new date, with the more correct information. A note for the official ascension of the Provisional Government has been added as well.Shane Lin 03:05, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Danish West Indies
The sale of the Danish West Indies to the US is entered under both the 17 and the 25 January.
 * I noticed that. My sources are not always correct on some of these things -- I didn't put it into the 25th article, but I didn't take it out, either, because I'm not sure which one is correct.  -- Zoe

Year in topic
I think the page layout for "year in topic" in some places where it is flagged in the box as on this page 1915 is better. I seek opinions before making them all the same. In this particular case the duplication from the year in sport would need to go BozMo(talk)

Prostitution
Does anyone else think that the 25 January prostitution thing either deserves trimming or its own article? --Improv 19:03, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Agreed, it does seem a bit of a large entry -- Cjrother 00:45, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Agreed, most of that information could be cut, and written in an article specifically dealing with that topic. Csmills

Replacement for what?
With reference to the formation of the NHL on November 26: it is described as a "replacement", but for what exactly? I don't know hockey, I'm afraid, so I wouldn't know where to begin researching this one. JFH78 (talk) 22:43, 6 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Never-mind my question; presumably the NHL was a replacement for the National Hockey Association; I've made a clarification to this effect in the article. JFH78 (talk) 22:52, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

The Kingsland, New Jersey explosion
I have modified the entry for this event to reflect that this event was only one of the events which led to U.S. involvement in WWI. I'll go on to add the other causative events of U.S. involvement in WWI to Wikipedia, at least those which have been overlooked. JFH78 (talk) 20:19, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

Format
[See: Talk:1950. -Wikid77 13:44, 22 December 2006 (UTC)]

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title: Talk:1917


text:
East Coast

East Coast or east coast may refer to:

Entertainment

 * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop
 * "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017
 * "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004
 * East Coast FM, a radio station in Co. Wicklow, Ireland
 * East Coast Swing, a form of social partner dance

Places

 * The east coast of Australia, particularly:
 * Australian south-east coast drainage division, an area of southern Australia
 * Eastern states of Australia
 * The east coast of Canada, particularly:
 * Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador
 * Eastern Canada (by extension of the above)
 * The east coast of India, particularly:
 * Coromandel Coast, southeastern India
 * Eastern Coastal Plains
 * The east coast of Peninsular Malaysia
 * The east coast of New Zealand, particularly:
 * Gisborne District, area of New Zealand referred to as the East Coast
 * East Coast (New Zealand electorate)
 * The east coast of Singapore, organized as its East Region
 * The east coast of Spain, known as Levante
 * The East Coast of the United States

Transportation

 * East Coast (train operating company), 2009 to 2015 UK railway company
 * East Coast Buses, a subsidiary of Lothian Buses in Scotland
 * East Coast Greenway, biking and walking route in U.S.
 * East Coast Main Line, major UK railway line
 * Virgin Trains East Coast, 2015 to 2018 UK railway company, now LNER
 * East Coast Parkway, an expressway on the southeastern coast of Singapore
 * East Coast Railway Zone (India), one of the sixteen railway zones of Indian Railways
 * Florida East Coast Railway, a Class II railroad operating in the US state of Florida
 * Lumo (train operating company), train company in the United Kingdom formerly known as East Coast Trains
 * New Brunswick East Coast Railway, a historic Canadian railway that operated in New Brunswick

Other

 * East coast akalat, a small passerine bird native to the east coast of Africa
 * East Coast bias, the bias towards news and sport from the East Coast in American media
 * East Coast Borough Council, proposed renaming of the Ards and North Down Borough Council, Northern Ireland, UK
 * East Coast of Africa Station, a former position in the British Navy

title: East Coast


text:
Fritz Haber

Fritz Haber (9 December 1868 – 29 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber–Bosch process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas. This invention is important for the large-scale synthesis of fertilizers and explosives. It is estimated that a third of annual global food production uses ammonia from the Haber–Bosch process, and that this supports nearly half the world's population. For this work, Haber has been called one of the most important scientists and industrial chemists in human history. Haber also, along with Max Born, proposed the Born–Haber cycle as a method for evaluating the lattice energy of an ionic solid.

Haber, a known German nationalist, is also considered the "father of chemical warfare" for his years of pioneering work developing and weaponizing chlorine and other poisonous gases during World War I. He first proposed the use of the heavier-than-air chlorine gas as a weapon to break the trench deadlock during the Second Battle of Ypres. His work was later used, without his direct involvement, to develop Zyklon B, used for the extermination of more than 1 million Jews in gas chambers in the greater context of the Holocaust.

After the Nazis' rise to power in 1933, Haber resigned from his position. Already in poor health, he spent time in various countries before Chaim Weizmann invited him to become the director of the Sieff Research Institute (now the Weizmann Institute) in Rehovot, Mandatory Palestine. He accepted the offer but died of heart failure mid-journey in a Basel hotel on 29 January 1934, aged 65.

Early life and education
Haber was born in Breslau, Kingdom of Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland), into a well-off Jewish family. Despite Haber being a common family name in Breslau, the family has been traced back to a great-grandfather, Pinkus Selig Haber, who was a wool dealer from Kempen (now Kępno, Poland). An important Prussian edict of 13 March 1812 determined that Jews and their families, including Pinkus Haber, were "to be treated as local citizens and citizens of Prussia". Under such regulations, members of the Haber family were able to establish themselves in respected positions in business, politics, and law.

Haber was the son of Siegfried and Paula Haber, who were first cousins who married in spite of considerable opposition from their families. Haber's father Siegfried was a well-known merchant in the town, who had founded his own business in dye pigments, paints and pharmaceuticals. Paula experienced a difficult pregnancy and died three weeks after Fritz's birth, leaving Siegfried devastated and Fritz in the care of various aunts. When Haber was about six years old, Siegfried remarried to Hedwig Hamburger. Siegfried and his second wife had three daughters: Else, Helene, and Frieda. Although his relationship with his father was distant and often difficult owing to Fritz being associated with the death of his first wife, Haber developed close relationships with his stepmother and his half-sisters. Siegfried displayed love and care for his three daughters but never fully accepted Fritz as his son.

By the time Fritz was born, the Habers had to some extent become assimilated into German society. He attended primary school at the Johanneum School, a "simultaneous school" open equally to Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish students. At age 11, he went to school at the St Elizabeth classical school, in a class evenly divided between Protestant and Jewish students. His family supported the Jewish community and continued to observe many Jewish traditions, but were not strongly associated with the synagogue. Haber identified strongly as German, less so as Jewish.

Haber successfully passed his examinations at the St Elizabeth High School in Breslau in September 1886. Although his father wished him to become an apprentice in the dye company, Haber obtained his father's permission to study chemistry at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin (today the Humboldt University of Berlin), with the director of the Institute for Chemistry A. W. Hofmann. Haber was disappointed by his initial winter semester (1886–87) in Berlin, and arranged to attend the Heidelberg University for the summer semester of 1887, where he studied under Robert Bunsen. He then returned to Berlin, to the Technical College of Charlottenburg (today the Technical University of Berlin).

In the summer of 1889, Haber was conscripted and left university to perform his one-year volunteer service in the Sixth Field Artillery Regiment. Upon its completion, he returned to Charlottenburg where he became a student of Carl Liebermann. In addition to Liebermann's lectures on organic chemistry, Haber also attended lectures by Otto Witt on the chemical technology of dyes.

Liebermann assigned Haber to work on reactions with piperonal for his thesis topic, published as Ueber einige Derivate des Piperonals (About a Few piperonal Derivatives) in 1891. Haber received his doctorate cum laude from Friedrich Wilhelm University in May 1891, after presenting his work to a board of examiners from the University of Berlin, since Charlottenburg was not yet accredited to grant doctorates.

With his degree, Haber returned to Breslau to work at his father's chemical business, where their relationship continued to have difficulties. Through Siegfried's connections, Haber was assigned a series of practical apprenticeships in different chemical companies to gain experience. These included Grünwald and Company (a Budapest distillery), an Austrian ammonia-sodium factory, and the Feldmühle paper and cellulose works. These experiences drove Haber to learn more about technical processes, and persuaded his father to let him spend a semester at the Polytechnic College in Zürich (now the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), studying with Georg Lunge. In the Fall of 1892, Haber returned again to Breslau to work in his father's company, but the two men continued to clash and Siegfried finally accepted that they could not work well together.

Haber had received a PhD in chemistry by this time, but his father required him to take handwriting courses and become a salesman to learn more about the company. Haber urged his father to transfer from natural to synthetic dyes, but his father refused. Eventually, his father followed global business trends and switched to synthetic dyes. Haber's next suggestion was for his father to purchase calcium hypochlorite which at the time was the only known treatment of cholera. The current cholera epidemic ended up being isolated and thus resulted in their possession of a sizeable amount of unused calcium hypochlorite, which is unstable. This caused a rift between Siegfried and Haber, with his father telling him to go back to his university studies as he did not belong in the business world.

Early career
Haber then sought an academic appointment, first working as an independent assistant to Ludwig Knorr at the University of Jena between 1892 and 1894. During his time in Jena, Haber converted from Judaism to Lutheranism, possibly in an attempt to improve his chances of getting a better academic or military position. Knorr recommended Haber to Carl Engler, a chemistry professor at the University of Karlsruhe who was intensely interested in the chemical technology of dyes and the dye industry, and the study of synthetic materials for textiles. Engler referred Haber to a colleague in Karlsruhe, Hans Bunte, who made Haber an Assistent in 1894.

Bunte suggested that Haber examine the thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons. By making careful quantitative analyses, Haber was able to establish that "the thermal stability of the carbon-carbon bond is greater than that of the carbon-hydrogen bond in aromatic compounds and smaller in aliphatic compounds", a classic result in the study of pyrolysis of hydrocarbons. This work became Haber's habilitation thesis.

Haber was appointed a Privatdozent in Bunte's institute, taking on teaching duties related to the area of dye technology, and continuing to work on the combustion of gases. In 1896, the university supported him in travelling to Silesia, Saxony, and Austria to learn about advances in dye technology.

In 1897 Haber made a similar trip to learn about developments in electrochemistry. He had been interested in the area for some time, and had worked with another privatdozent, Hans Luggin, who gave theoretical lectures in electrochemistry and physical chemistry. Haber's 1898 book Grundriss der technischen Elektrochemie auf theoretischer Grundlage (Outline of technical electrochemistry based on theoretical foundations) attracted considerable attention, particularly his work on the reduction of nitrobenzene. In the book's foreword, Haber expresses his gratitude to Luggin, who died on 5 December 1899. Haber collaborated with others in the area as well, including Georg Bredig, a student and later an assistant of Wilhelm Ostwald in Leipzig.

Bunte and Engler supported an application for further authorization of Haber's teaching activities, and on 6 December 1898, Haber was invested with the title of Extraordinarius and an associate professorship, by order of the Grand Duke Friedrich von Baden.

Haber worked in a variety of areas while at Karlsruhe, making significant contributions in several areas. In the area of dye and textiles, he and Friedrich Bran were able to explain theoretically steps in textile printing processes developed by Adolf Holz. Discussions with Carl Engler prompted Haber to explain autoxidation in electrochemical terms, differentiating between dry and wet autoxidation. Haber's examinations of the thermodynamics of the reaction of solids confirmed that Faraday's laws hold for the electrolysis of crystalline salts. This work led to a theoretical basis for the glass electrode and the measurement of electrolytic potentials. Haber's work on irreversible and reversible forms of electrochemical reduction are considered classics in the field of electrochemistry. He also studied the passivity of non-rare metals and the effects of electric current on corrosion of metals. In addition, Haber published his second book, Thermodynamik technischer Gasreaktionen: sieben Vorlesungen (1905) trans. Thermodynamics of technical gas-reactions: seven lectures (1908), later regarded as "a model of accuracy and critical insight" in the field of chemical thermodynamics.

In 1906, Max Le Blanc, chair of the physical chemistry department at Karlsruhe, accepted a position at the University of Leipzig. After receiving recommendations from a search committee, the Ministry of Education in Baden offered the full professorship for physical chemistry at Karlsruhe to Haber, who accepted the offer.

Nobel Prize
During his time at University of Karlsruhe from 1894 to 1911, Haber and his assistant Robert Le Rossignol invented the Haber–Bosch process, which is the catalytic formation of ammonia from hydrogen and atmospheric nitrogen under conditions of high temperature and pressure. This discovery was a direct consequence of Le Châtelier's principle, announced in 1884, which states that when a system is in equilibrium and one of the factors affecting it is changed, the system will respond by minimizing the effect of the change. Since it was known how to decompose ammonia in the presence of a nickel-based catalyst, one could derive from Le Châtelier's principle that the reaction could be reversed to produce ammonia at high temperature and pressure.

To further develop the process for large-scale ammonia production, Haber turned to industry. Partnering with Carl Bosch at BASF, the process was successfully scaled up to produce commercial quantities of ammonia. The Haber–Bosch process was a milestone in industrial chemistry. The production of nitrogen-based products such as fertilizer and chemical feedstocks, which was previously dependent on acquisition of ammonia from limited natural deposits, now became possible using an easily available and abundant base: atmospheric nitrogen. The ability to produce much larger quantities of nitrogen-based fertilizers in turn supported much greater agricultural yields, supporting half the world's population.

The discovery of a new way of producing ammonia had other significant economic impacts as well. Chile had been a major (and almost unique) exporter of natural deposits such as sodium nitrate (caliche). After the introduction of the Haber process, naturally extracted nitrate production in Chile fell from 2.5 million tons (employing 60,000 workers and selling at US$45/ton) in 1925 to just 800,000 tons, produced by 14,133 workers, and selling at $19/ton in 1934.

The annual world production of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is currently more than 100 million tons. The food base of half the current world population is based on the Haber–Bosch process.

Haber was awarded the 1918 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work (he actually received the award in 1919). In his acceptance speech for that Nobel Prize Haber commented "It may be that this solution is not the final one. Nitrogen bacteria teach us that Nature, with her sophisticated forms of the chemistry of living matter, still understands and utilizes methods which we do not as yet know how to imitate."

Haber was also active in the research on combustion reactions, the separation of gold from sea water, adsorption effects, electrochemistry, and free radical research (see Fenton's reagent). A large part of his work from 1911 to 1933 was done at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry at Berlin-Dahlem. In 1953, this institute was renamed for him. He is sometimes credited, incorrectly, with first synthesizing MDMA (which was first synthesized by Merck KGaA chemist Anton Köllisch in 1912).

World War I
Haber greeted World War I with enthusiasm, joining 92 other German intellectuals in signing the Manifesto of the Ninety-Three in October 1914. Haber played a major role in the development of the non-ballistic use of chemical warfare in World War I, in spite of the proscription of their use in shells by the Hague Convention of 1907 (to which Germany was a signatory). He was promoted to the rank of captain and made head of the Chemistry Section in the Ministry of War soon after the war began. In addition to leading the teams developing chlorine gas and other deadly gases for use in trench warfare, Haber was on hand personally when it was first released by the German military at the Second Battle of Ypres (22 April to 25 May 1915) in Belgium. The team Haber assembled consisted of more than 150 scientists and 1,300 technical personnel. Haber also helped to develop gas masks with adsorbent filters which could protect against such weapons.

A special troop was formed for gas warfare (Pioneer Regiments 35 and 36) under the command of Otto Peterson, with Haber and Friedrich Kerschbaum as advisors. Haber actively recruited physicists, chemists, and other scientists to be transferred to the unit. Future Nobel laureates James Franck, Gustav Hertz, and Otto Hahn served as gas troops in Haber's unit. In 1914 and 1915, before the Second Battle of Ypres, Haber's unit investigated reports that the French had deployed Turpinite, a supposed chemical weapon, against German soldiers.

Gas warfare in World War I was, in a sense, the war of the chemists, with Haber pitted against French Nobel laureate chemist Victor Grignard. Regarding war and peace, Haber once said "during peace time a scientist belongs to the world, but during war time he belongs to his country". This was an example of the ethical dilemmas facing chemists at that time.

Haber was a patriotic German who was proud of his service during World War I, for which he was decorated. He was even given the rank of captain by the Kaiser, which Haber had been denied 25 years earlier during his compulsory military service.

In his studies of the effects of poison gas, Haber noted that exposure to a low concentration of a poisonous gas for a long time often had the same effect (death) as exposure to a high concentration for a short time. He formulated a simple mathematical relationship between the gas concentration and the necessary exposure time. This relationship became known as Haber's rule.

Haber defended gas warfare against accusations that it was inhumane, saying that death was death, by whatever means it was inflicted and referred to history: "The disapproval that the knight had for the man with the firearm is repeated in the soldier who shoots with steel bullets towards the man who confronts him with chemical weapons. [...] The gas weapons are not at all more cruel than the flying iron pieces; on the contrary, the fraction of fatal gas diseases is comparatively smaller, the mutilations are missing".

Haber received much criticism for his involvement in the development of chemical weapons in pre-World War II Germany, both from contemporaries, especially Albert Einstein, and from modern-day scientists.

Between World Wars
From 1919 to 1923 Haber continued to be involved in Germany's secret development of chemical weapons, working with Hugo Stoltzenberg, and helping both Spain and Russia in the development of chemical gases.

During the 1920s, scientists working at Haber's institute developed the cyanide gas formulation Zyklon A, which was used as an insecticide, especially as a fumigant in grain stores.

From 1919 to 1925, in response to a request made by German ambassador Wilhelm Solf to Japan for Japanese support for German scholars in times of financial hardship, a Japanese businessman named Hoshi Hajime, the president of Hoshi Pharmaceutical Company, donated two million Reichsmark to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society as the 'Japan Fund' (Hoshi-Ausschuss). Haber was asked to manage the fund, and was invited by Hoshi to Japan in 1924. Haber offered a number of chemical licences to Hoshi's company, but the offers were refused. The money from the Fund was used to support the work of Richard Willstätter, Max Planck, Otto Hahn, Leo Szilard, and others.

In the 1920s, Haber searched exhaustively for a method to extract gold from sea water, and published a number of scientific papers on the subject. After years of research, he concluded that the concentration of gold dissolved in sea water was much lower than that reported by earlier researchers, and that gold extraction from sea water was uneconomic.

By 1931, Haber was increasingly concerned about the rise of National Socialism in Germany, and the possible safety of his friends, associates, and family. Under the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service of 7 April 1933, Jewish scientists at the Kaiser Wilhelm Society were particularly targeted. The Zeitschrift für die gesamte Naturwissenschaft ("Journal for all natural sciences") charged that "The founding of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes in Dahlem was the prelude to an influx of Jews into the physical sciences. The directorship of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical and Electrochemistry was given to the Jew, F. Haber, the nephew of the big-time Jewish profiteer Koppel". (Koppel was not actually related to Haber.) Haber was stunned by these developments, since he assumed that his conversion to Christianity and his services to the state during World War I should have made him a German patriot. Ordered to dismiss all Jewish personnel, Haber attempted to delay their departures long enough to find them somewhere to go. As of 30 April 1933, Haber wrote to Bernhard Rust, the national and Prussian minister of Education, and to Max Planck, president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, to tender his resignation as the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, and as a professor at the university, effective 1 October 1933. He said that although as a converted Jew he might be legally entitled to remain in his position, he no longer wished to do so.

Haber and his son Hermann also urged that Haber's children by Charlotte Nathan, at boarding school in Germany, should leave the country. Charlotte and the children moved to the United Kingdom around 1933 or 1934. After the war, Charlotte's children became British citizens.

Personal life and family

Haber met Clara Immerwahr in Breslau in 1889, while he was serving his required year in the military. Clara was the daughter of a chemist who owned a sugar factory, and was the first woman to earn a PhD (in chemistry) at the University of Breslau. She converted from Judaism to Christianity in 1897, several years before she and Haber became engaged. They were married on 3 August 1901; their son Hermann was born on 1 June 1902.

Clara was a women's rights activist and according to some accounts, a pacifist. Intelligent and a perfectionist, she became increasingly depressed after her marriage and the resulting loss of her career. On 2 May 1915, following an argument with Haber, Clara committed suicide in their garden by shooting herself in the heart with his service revolver. She did not die immediately, and was found by her 12-year-old son, Hermann, who had heard the shot.

Her reasons for suicide remain the subject of speculation. There were multiple stresses in the marriage,  and it has been suggested that she opposed Haber's work in chemical warfare. According to this view, her suicide may have been in part a response to Haber's having personally overseen the first successful use of chlorine gas during the Second Battle of Ypres, resulting in over 67,000 casualties. Haber left within days for the Eastern Front to oversee gas release against the Russian Army. Originally buried in Dahlem, Clara's remains were later transferred at her husband's request to Basel, where she is buried next to him.

Haber married his second wife, Charlotte Nathan, on 25 October 1917 in Berlin. When out travelling, Fritz was staying at the Adlon Hotel which was near the Deutscher Klub. At this establishment, Fritz met Nathan, who was one of the secretaries and sparked his interest with her accomplishments despite not having extensive experience or education. On the day that he met her, it had been raining and she gave him an umbrella to use to which he replied "I lay the umbrella into your arms and myself and my thanks at your feet". She replied "I'd rather like the contrary". They began seeing each other and he would soon propose to her. Charlotte rejected the proposal at first due to their large age difference but eventually, she agreed. Charlotte, like Clara, converted from Judaism to Christianity before marrying Haber. The couple had two children, Eva-Charlotte and Ludwig Fritz ("Lutz"). Again, however, there were conflicts, and the couple were divorced as of 6 December 1927.

Haber and Clara's son, Hermann Haber, lived in France until 1941, but was unable to obtain French citizenship. When Germany invaded France during World War II, Hermann and his wife and three daughters escaped internment on a French ship travelling from Marseilles to the Caribbean. From there, they obtained visas allowing them to immigrate to the United States. Hermann's wife Margarethe died after the end of the war, and Hermann committed suicide in 1946. His oldest daughter, Claire, committed suicide in 1949; also a chemist, she had been told her research into an antidote for the effects of chlorine gas was being set aside, as work on the atomic bomb was taking precedence.

Fritz Haber's other son, Ludwig Fritz Haber (1921–2004), became an eminent British economist and wrote a history of chemical warfare in World War I, The Poisonous Cloud (1986). Hermann's daughter Eva lived in Kenya for many years, returning to England in the 1950s. She died in 2015, leaving three children, five grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. Several members of Haber's extended family died in Nazi concentration camps, including his half-sister Frieda's daughter, Hilde Glücksmann, her husband, and their two children.

Death
Haber left Dahlem in August 1933, staying briefly in Paris, Spain, and Switzerland. He was in extremely poor health during these travels. Haber specifically suffered attacks from angina. Repeated angina attacks can cause lasting damage which likely contributed to his death the next year.

In the meantime, some of the scientists who had been Haber's counterparts and competitors in England during World War I now helped him and others to leave Germany. Brigadier Harold Hartley, Sir William Jackson Pope and Frederick G. Donnan arranged for Haber to be officially invited to Cambridge, England. There, with his assistant Joseph Joshua Weiss, Haber lived and worked for a few months. Scientists such as Ernest Rutherford were less forgiving of Haber's involvement in poison gas warfare: Rutherford pointedly refused to shake hands with him.

In 1933, during Haber's brief sojourn in England, Chaim Weizmann offered him the directorship at the Sieff Research Institute (now the Weizmann Institute) in Rehovot, in Mandatory Palestine. He accepted, and left for the Middle East in January 1934, travelling with his half-sister, Else Haber Freyhahn. His ill health overpowered him and on 29 January 1934, at the age of 65, he died of heart failure, mid-journey, in a Basel hotel.

Following Haber's wishes, Haber and Clara's son Hermann arranged for Haber to be cremated and buried in Basel's Hörnli Cemetery on 29 September 1934, and for Clara's remains to be removed from Dahlem and re-interred with him on 27 January 1937 (see picture). Albert Einstein, his longtime friend, eulogized Haber with the following words: "Haber's life was the tragedy of the German Jew – the tragedy of unrequited love".

Estate and legacy
Haber bequeathed his extensive private library to the Sieff Institute, where it was dedicated as the Fritz Haber Library on 29 January 1936. Hermann Haber helped to move the library and gave a speech at the dedication. It still exists as a private collection in the Weizmann Institute.

In 1981, the Minerva foundation of the Max Planck Society and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) established the Fritz Haber Research Center for Molecular Dynamics, based at the Institute of Chemistry of the Hebrew University. Its purpose is the promotion of Israeli-German scientific collaboration in the field of Molecular Dynamics. The Center's library is also called Fritz Haber Library, but it is not immediately clear whether there is any connection to the 1936 homonymous library of the Sieff (now Weizmann) Institute.

The institute most closely associated with his work, the former Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry at Dahlem (a suburb of Berlin), was renamed Fritz Haber Institute in 1953 and is part of the Max Planck Society.

Awards and honours

 * Foreign Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1914)
 * Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1918)
 * Bunsen Medal of the Bunsen Society of Berlin, with Carl Bosch (1918)
 * President of the German Chemical Society (1923)
 * Wilhelm Exner Medal, 1929
 * Honorary Member, Société Chimique de France (1931)
 * Honorary Member, Chemical Society of England (1931)
 * Honorary Member, Society of Chemical Industry, London, (1931)
 * Rumford Medal, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1932)
 * Elected a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences, USA (1932)
 * Honorary Member, USSR Academy of Sciences (1932)
 * Board of Directors, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, 1929–1933; Vice-President, 1931
 * Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft (Goethe Medal for Art and Science) from the President of Germany

Dramatizations and fictionalizations
A fictional description of Haber's life, and in particular his long-term relationship with Albert Einstein, appears in Vern Thiessen's 2003 play Einstein's Gift. Thiessen describes Haber as a tragic figure who strives unsuccessfully throughout his life to evade both his Jewish ancestry and the moral implications of his scientific contributions.

BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play has broadcast two plays on the life of Fritz Haber. The description of the first reads: from the Diversity Website:

"Bread from the Air, Gold from the Sea'' as another chemical story (R4, 1415, 16 Feb 01). Fritz Haber found a way of making nitrogen compounds from the air. They have two main uses: fertilizers and explosives. His process enabled Germany to produce vast quantities of armaments. (The second part of the title refers to a process for obtaining gold from sea water. It worked, but didn't pay.) There can be few figures with a more interesting life than Haber, from a biographer's point of view. He made German agriculture independent of Chilean saltpetre during the Great War. He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, yet there were moves to strip him of the award because of his work on gas warfare. He pointed out, rightly, that most of Nobel's money had come from armaments and the pursuit of war. After Hitler's rise to power, the government forced Haber to resign from his professorship and research jobs because he was Jewish."

The second play was titled The Greater Good and was first broadcast on 23 October 2008. It was directed by Celia de Wolff and written by Justin Hopper, and starred Anton Lesser as Haber. It explored his work on chemical warfare during World War I and the strain it put on his wife Clara (Lesley Sharp), concluding with her suicide and its cover-up by the authorities. Other cast included Dan Starkey as Haber's research associate Otto Sackur, Stephen Critchlow as Colonel Peterson, Conor Tottenham as Haber's son Hermann, Malcolm Tierney as General Falkenhayn and Janice Acquah as Zinaide.

In 2008, a short film titled Haber depicted Fritz Haber's decision to embark on the gas warfare program and his relationship with his wife. The film was written and directed by Daniel Ragussis.

In November 2008, Haber was again played by Anton Lesser in Einstein and Eddington.

In January 2012, Radiolab aired a segment on Haber, including the invention of the Haber Process, the Second Battle of Ypres, his involvement with Zyklon A, and the death of his wife, Clara.

In December 2013, Haber was the subject of a BBC World Service radio programme: "Why has one of the world's most important scientists been forgotten?".

His and his wife's life, including their relationship with the Einsteins, and Haber's wife's suicide, are featured prominently in the novel A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell. The characters are named Lenz and Iris Alter.

Haber's life and relationship to Albert Einstein was portrayed in Genius which aired on National Geographic Channel from 25 April to 27 June 2017.

title: Fritz Haber