Shiva Watch: 3 Notables on Erev Xmas

Death came to three notables in the past few days.

Arthur Cores, 52, passed away from cancer in Miami Beach. Born in Brookline and a son of Boston, the philanthropist was one of the founders of a food shop that became Boston Chicken and later Boston Market. The chain, which now number over 500 shops, sold rotisserie chicken and sides, as well as a chicken soup based on recipes of his grandmother. Dr. John Yee, his spouse of over 5 years, told that their first date was on the evening that the chain went public. The IPO stock rose from $20 to $50 a share on the first day and Cores became a multi-millionairre. Cores suggested they eat at a restaurant that evening for which he had a two for one discount coupon.

Jacques Chessex, 75, one of Switzerland’s greatest and most celebrated poets and novelists passed away this month during a lecture at a library. The author of over 80 books, he had just been asked to comment on Roman Polanski’s legal problems when he collapsed and passed away from cardiac arrest. He was the only non Frenchmen to receive the Prix Goncourt, and his latest book, which will be published in English in 2010 was titled “A Jew Must Die” or “Un Juif Pour L’Exemple.” It is based on the true story that involved his neighbors and classmates, about the 1942 murder by Swiss Nazis of a Jewish cattle trader in Payerne. It became a national cause celebre in a country still uncomfortable with its “neutrality” and actions during WWII.

And sadly, Yitzhak Yehiel “Ike” Ahronovitch, 86, passed away this week after a long illness in Northern Israel. He was the 23 year old captain of the refugee steamship “Exodus 1947,” the most famous of the ships of Jewish refugees and Holocasut survivors from Europe that tried to run the British blockade of Palestine. When it was stopped by the British Navy in 1947, and three Jews were killed in the battle, the publicity over Britains deportation of the 4500 Jews to Germany helped to generate worldwide support for the creation of the state of Israel.