| July 27, 1923 | Born, Radom, Poland |
| Father: Leibush Mendel Zisserman (b. 1895, Radom, d. 1942, on the way to Treblinka) Mother: Chana Chava Kleiman (b. 1894, Dzialoszyce, d. Auschwitz, 1944) Siblings: Rayzel Chaya (b. 1917, d. 1943 or 1944, Treblinka), Beila Yehudit (b. 1919, d. 1942, Treblinka), Pinchas (b. 1925, d. Radom, 1938), Ester Rachel (b. 1927, d. 1943 or 1944, Treblinka) |
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| 1929 | Began heder (traditional orthodox education) at age 6 |
| Fall 1937 | Attended preparatory yeshiva for Yeshivas Hachmey Lublin, Rakhev, Poland |
| Spring 1938 | Brother, Pinye (Pinchas) died, in spring after Pesach. Returned from yeshiva to study at home for semester. Observance of the year of mourning prevented family from emigrating to Israel. |
| Summer 1939 | Studied in Otwock with Hasidim |
| 1939-1944 | September, 1939: Nazis entered Radom.
Lived with family and Jews of Radom in the Radom ghetto. Active in underground heders for Jewish children during occupation His father, Leibush Mendel, organized aid for the ill in the ghetto. |
| 1944-45 | Summer, 1944: transferred from the Radom ghetto to Auschwitz and then to concentration camp in Kochendorf, Germany.
March, 1945: escaped while on march to Dachau Liberated from Ulm prison by US Army Worked as clerk for the US Army Lived in Feldafing displaced persons (DP) camp |
| February 1947 | Was sponsored by Jakob Gold family, Philadephia, and brought to USA |
| 1947-1950 | Taught Hebrew school in Louisville, Kentucky |
| 1950-53 | Attended Roosevelt University and College of Jewish Studies in Chicago
M.H.L., College of Jewish Studies (1952); B.A., Roosevelt University (1953) Began studies at Jewish Theological Seminary, New York (1953) |
| 1955-1956 | Spent year in Israel. In spring, helped to build fortification trenches to protect border kibbutzim from attacks by Egyptian Fedayeen |
| 1957 | Granted M.H.L degree and ordained as rabbi by Jewish Theological Seminary of America |
| 1957-58 | Director, B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation and Interim Professor of Jewish Studies, Iowa State University |
| 1958 | Appointed Associate Director of Harvard Hillel, where he began his efforts to inspire, teach, and mentor Jewish students, faculty, staff and alumni at Harvard and in the surrounding community |
| 1958 | Married Carol Goldschmidt |
| 1959 | First daughter Hannah born |
| 1962 | Second daughter Merav born |
| 1965 | Founded a small egalitarian congregation primarily attended by students, later to become the Worship and Study congregation at Harvard Hillel, attended by students, faculty, and community |
| 1967 | Became Director of Harvard Hillel |
| 1965-1990, at Harvard Hillel | Instituted Friday night Table Talks with songs in Yiddish and Hebrew and with talks by professors at Harvard
Nurtured Jewish faculty connections to Judaism through activities including regular lunch meetings at Harvard Faculty Club Invited renowned writers and thought leaders to speak at Harvard Led annual egalitarian High Holiday services at Harvard that included interactive discussion and that grew in size to over three thousand attendees |
| 1973 | Instituted annual music programs on Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) devoted to celebrating the music and culture of the Jews in Europe before World War II |
| 1974 | Celebrated the the move of Harvard Hillel to the Reisman building on 74 Mt. Auburn Street in Harvard Square after the successful fundraising and completion of the renovation of the building |
| 1976 | First recording session of 11 songs he remembered from his childhood in session with Jane Myers |
| 1990 | Retired from Harvard Hillel; became Rabbi Emeritus
Publication of Tradition and Contemporary Reality: Sermons and Talks of Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold |
| 2002 | Publication of Boston Review article, “The Diaspora and the Intifada: The Responsibility of American Jews,” based on April 2002 talk at Harvard Hillel |
| 2003-2010 | Jane Myers returns to record 16 more songs |
| 2007 | His book, The Life of Jews in Poland before the Holocaust: A Memoir, published by University of Nebraska Press |
| October 14, 2012 | Touching the Memory: Songs Remembered from a Childhood in Poland, a CD of recordings collected by Jane Myers released at an event at Harvard Hillel |
| April 8, 2013 | Interviewed for the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project |
| April 18, 2016 | Died in his home, Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold 