Today in Jewish History

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Kislev 14 

 

Birth of Reuven, Jacob's first son and the first of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Genesis 29:32). Jacob had originally worked for seven years in order to marry Rachel, but at the last minute Leah appeared under the chuppah instead. On their wedding night, Reuven was conceived. Though he was first-born, he eventually lost his leadership role, due to a reputation for impetuousness.

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Kislev 15 

 

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi (135 - ca. 220 CE), also known as Rabbi Judah the Prince. He was leader of the Jewish people during the period following the destruction of the Second Temple. Rabbi Yehudah developed a close friendship with the ruling Roman authorities, and was able to secure various benefits for the Jewish community. His greatest achievement was to compile the Mishnah, the Jewish legal teachings which until then had been taught orally, from teacher to student. But with persecutions and exile threatening to break down that chain of transmission, Rabbi Yehudah took the bold step of writing the Mishnah in its final form. He is credited with the wise and humble saying: "I learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues, but most of all I learned from my students."

Also on this date, in 1987, more than 200,000 American Jews marched on Washington to demand that Soviet Jews be allowed to emigrate and practice their faith. The rally was timed to coincide with a meeting between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Russian Jews like Natan Sharansky, Yosef Mendelovich and hundreds of others were imprisoned for the mere act of applying for an exit visa. Their plight, met with indifference by much of the Western world, spawned a massive activist effort on behalf of Soviet Jewry. In the 1970s, when the Soviet Bolshoi Ballet performed in the U.S., they were greeted by Jewish pickets demanding rights for Soviet Jews. In 1974, the U.S. Congress passed the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which linked trade with Russia to freedom of emigration for Soviet Jews. The struggle for Soviet Jewry continued throughout the 1980s, and it was not until the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991, that the gates opened to the emigration of some one million Jews.

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Kislev 16 

 

In 1946, the 22nd World Zionist Congress met in Basle, Switzerland. In the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, Zionist leaders had lost all patience with British stonewalling about the creation of a Jewish state. Thus the Zionists decided to forcibly resist British policy, and Jewish underground movements redoubled their campaign to damage British installations such as rail lines, police stations and army bases. In one night in 1946, Ben Gurion's Hagana blew up 12 critical bridges. The efforts were largely successful, and by 1947 Britain declared its intention to withdraw, thus leading to the UN Partition Plan of November 1947.

On this date in 2009, Aish HaTorah dedicated its new educational center directly across from the Western Wall. The building features an aqueduct used to bring water to the Holy Temple, and reconstructed archways from the Crusader period. The atrium is punctuated by a two-story-tall glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly, entitled “Fire and Water.” On the rooftop terrace directly overlooking the Temple Mount is a 1.2-ton model of the Holy Temple. The building is also slated to house the Explorium of Jewish History.

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Kislev 17 

 

In 1947, the United Nations voted in favor of the partition of Palestine. The Jewish area was split into three non-contiguous plots, with no consideration of security: the eastern Galilee, the coastal plain from Haifa down to Tel Aviv, and the majority being the uncultivable Negev desert. The other half of the land was to form a new Arab state. Jerusalem and its 100,000 Jews was to be completely surrounded on four sides by the Arab state, and administered as an international zone. Despite these unfavorable terms, the Jewish Agency immediately accepted the Partition Plan; the Arabs immediately rejected it. Fighting began soon after, leading to a full-scale assault in 1948 by troops from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi and Yemen.

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Kislev 18 

 

In 1793, the French district of Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine passed an anti-Jewish law prohibiting circumcision and the wearing of beards. It also ordered the burning of books written in Hebrew. The French Revolution, born of the ideals of Enlightenment, had become the first society to emancipate the Jews, permitting them to enter the highest levels of government and finance. Yet all the talk of "equality" did not stop Voltaire from singling out the Jews as "the most abominable people in the world." The invective gained expression in the 1940s when the French Vichy regime took the initiative to round up and hand over 61,000 Jews to the Nazis.

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Kislev 19 

 

Yahrtzeit of the Maggid of Mezrech (1710-1772), the successor of the Baal Shem Tov, who consolidated chassidic teachings into a structured, cohesive movement. Among the ideas he emphasized was the importance of clinging to God in all actions -- business, social and religious. The Maggid also taught of perfecting one's soul in order to bring about the redemption of the world. Today, tens of thousands of chassidim trace their spiritual roots back to the Maggid of Mezrech.

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Kislev 20 

 

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yitzhak Hutner (1906-1980), the brilliant dean of the Chaim Berlin yeshiva in New York, whose thousands of students formed the nucleus of American Jewish leadership in the late 20th century. Rabbi Hutner had a warm, welcoming posture toward all Jews, and two of his disciples, Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld and Rabbi Noah Weinberg, headed the first yeshivas catering to baal teshuvas. In 1970, Rabbi Hutner was on an airplane which was hijacked by Palestinian "Black September" terrorists, and was held hostage on a runway in Amman, Jordan. (After all the hostages were removed, the planes were blown up in front of TV cameras.) Rabbi Hutner's discourses on Shabbat and the holidays, influenced largely by the Maharal of Prague, are collected in the seven-volume, Pachad Yitzhak. He is buried in Jerusalem.

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Kislev 21 

 

According to Megillat Taanit, in the 4th century BCE, Alexander the Great met Shimon HaTzaddik, the High Priest of the Holy Temple. Shimon feared that Alexander would destroy Jerusalem, so went out to meet him before he arrived at the city. Upon seeing the High Priest, Alexander made the rare move of dismounting and bowing. When asked to explain his actions, Alexander said that he'd previously seen the High Priest in a dream. Alexander interpreted this vision as a good omen and thus spared Jerusalem, peacefully absorbing Israel into his growing empire. In gratitude, the Sages decreed that the Jewish firstborn of that time be named Alexander -- which remains a Jewish name to this very day.

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Kislev 22 

 

In 1622, in an effort to attract enterprising merchants with disposable capital, King Christian IV of Denmark wrote a formal letter to the Amsterdam Jewish council, inviting Jews of Portuguese descent to settle in Denmark. King Christian promised religious freedom for the Jews -- an attractive safe haven as the Thirty Year War raged in central Europe.

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Kislev 23 

 

In 1348, amidst the devastating Black Plague which would eventually kill 25 million Europeans, a government official in Switzerland announced that Jews (under torture) had confessed to the poisoning of wells in the Rhine Valley, as part of an international Jewish conspiracy. The report was readily accepted by nobles who resented the Jews as economic competitors and to whom they were indebted for loans. Thus began a "year of terror" which saw the destruction of most of the Jewish communities in the region, and thousands of Jews burned alive.

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Kislev 24 

 

In 354 BCE, the prophet Chaggai encouraged the Jews to rebuild the Holy Temple -- a construction project which had begun 18 years earlier, but was halted due to political pressure. The Temple would stand for 420 years, before being destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. On this same day, Chaggai prophesied the downfall of the great Persian empire, which would ultimately lead to the salvation of the Jews. This is recorded in the biblical Book of Chaggai, chapter 2.

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Kislev 25 

 

In 165 BCE, the Maccabees defeated the Greek army and rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Finding only one jar of pure oil, they lit the Menorah, which miraculously burned for eight days. Also on this day -- 1,100 years earlier -- Moses and the Jewish people completed construction of the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary that accompanied them during 40 years of wandering in the desert. The Tabernacle was not dedicated, however, for another three months; tradition says that the day of Kislev 25 was then "compensated" centuries later -- when the miracle of Chanukah occurred and the Temple was rededicated. Today, Jews around the world light a Chanukah menorah, to commemorate the miracle of the oil, and its message that continues to illuminate our lives today.

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Kislev 26 

 

In 1763, the Touro Synagogue was dedicated in Newport, Rhode Island. It is the oldest existing synagogue in the United States, founded by Spanish Portuguese families who came from Curacao, in the West Indies. The magnificent synagogue is built of brick imported from England, and stands at an acute angle to the street -- so that the Holy Ark faces toward Jerusalem. The synagogue is named after Abraham Touro, who left money in his will for the ongoing care of the synagogue. George Washington had issued a famous letter to the congregation promising religious freedom, and in 1982 the United States Postal Service issued a stamp featuring Touro Synagogue, to coincide with the 250th anniversary of Washington's birth.

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Kislev 27 

 

In 1966, Shmuel Yosef (Shay) Agnon (1888-1970) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Agnon's writings deal with the conflict between traditional Jewish life and language, and the modern world. Agnon, a religious Jew, also attempted to capture the fading traditions of the European shtetl (village). Agnon was born in Ukraine, the son of an ordained rabbi. At age 20 he moved to Israel. In his speech at the Nobel Prize ceremony, Agnon spoke in Hebrew: "As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the exile. But always I regarded myself as one who was born in Jerusalem." Today, Agnon's image is featured on the Israeli 50-shekel bills.

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Kislev 28 

 

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Chizkiyah Da Silva, commonly known as the Pri Chadash, the name of the commentary he authored on the Code of Jewish Law. He was born in Italy and at age 20 traveled to Jerusalem to further his studies. He died in 1698 at the age of 39, and is buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. (Two centuries later, the illustrious Ohr HaChaim asked to be buried next to him.) Till today, "Pri Chadash" is printed in the standard edition of the Code of Jewish Law and is widely studied by rabbinic scholars.

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Kislev 29 

 

In 1914, Jews of Tel Aviv were expelled by the Turkish authorities and sent to Egypt. Just three years later, the Turks would order the remaining 9,000 Jews out of Jaffa, in advance of the British military offensive. The Jews fled north, where they suffered from disease and starvation. They were allowed to return with the British ousting of the Turks in 1917.

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Tevet 1 

 

In 355 BCE, Esther, after having won a kingdom-wide beauty pageant, was taken to King Achashverosh (Esther 2:16). Esther's presence in the king's palace enabled her to advocate on behalf of the Jews, and gain a reversal of Haman's decree to annihilate the Jewish people. This series of miraculous events is recorded in the biblical Scroll of Esther, and commemorated each year on the holiday of Purim.

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Tevet 2 

 

On this date in 1947, the Arab Legion surrounded Jerusalem and isolated its 100,000 Jews from the rest of the Israeli population. By March 1948 the city was under full siege, and in May, Jordan invaded and occupied east Jerusalem, dividing the city for the first time in its history, and driving thousands of Jews into exile. The Arabs proceeded to destroy all 58 synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, and used Jewish gravestones on the Mount of Olives to build roads and latrines. The Western Wall would be off-limits to Jews (in spite of the cease-fire agreement granting freedom of access to holy places), restored again with Israel's victory in the 1967 war.

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Tevet 3 

 

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz (1902-1979), dean of the famous Mir Yeshiva for more than 40 years, who was known for his boundless love of God and humanity. When World War II broke out, Rabbi Shmulevitz and his students miraculously obtained transit visas, issued at great risk by Mr. and Mrs. Sugihara of the Japanese Consulate. They travelled out of war-torn Lithuania, via the trans-Siberian railroad, to a safe haven in Shanghai, China. After the war, Rabbi Shmulevitz reestablished the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, which has since grown to a student body of 5,000. His ethical discourses, many of which have been published in English, are considered classics.

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Tevet 4 

 

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Joshua Isaac Shapira, a leader of 19th century European Jewry known by the nickname Reb Eisele Charif. The story is told that when his daughter was ready to get married, Reb Eisel sought out the top yeshiva student. He entered the study hall and announced: "I have a very difficult question on a passage in the Talmud. Whoever can supply the correct answer will have my daughter's hand in marriage." Soon a long line formed, and one by one the students tried to provide the answer. And one by one, Reb Eisel explained how the answers were incorrect. This went on for days, but when no one came up with the correct answer, Reb Eisel packed up and left. He had just reached the edge of the city, when he heard a voice shouting after him: "Reb Eisel, Reb Eisel!" He turned around to see a young man running in his direction. The student explained: "I know I wasn't able to satisfy the condition for marriage, but just for my own sake, could you please tell me the correct answer?" "Aha!" shouted Reb Eisel. "If you have such a desire to know the truth, then you will be my son-in-law!"

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Tevet 5 

 

In 422 BCE, the prophet Ezekiel heard the news of Jerusalem's conquest by a foreign power, as recorded in the biblical Book of Ezekiel (33:21). In Jewish law, a period of mourning (for example, upon the death of a loved one) can begin upon "hearing" the bad news. Some Talmudic commentators thus recommended that the 5th of Tevet be instituted as a public fast day.

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Tevet 6 

 

In 1949, six British RAF warplanes enforcing a UN ceasefire were shot down by Israeli forces over the Israel-Egypt border. Throughout the 1948 War of Independence, Israel was terribly outnumbered in manpower and weapons -- initially the army did not have a single cannon or tank, and its air force consisted of nine obsolete planes. The United States had imposed an arms embargo on the region, forcing the Israelis to smuggle weapons, mainly from Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, the British provided large quantities of weapons to Arab forces: Jordan's Arab Legion was armed, trained and led by British officers.

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Tevet 7 

 

In 468 CE, Rabbi Amemar, Rabbi Mesharsheya and Rabbi Huna, the heads of Babylonian Jewry, were arrested and executed 11 days later. The Jewish community of Babylon had existed for 900 years, ever since Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Israel, destroyed the Holy Temple, and exiled the Jews to Babylon. Seventy years later, when the Jews were permitted to return to Israel, a large percentage remained in Babylon -- and this eventually became the center of Jewish rabbinic authority. Things began to worsen in the 5th century, when the Persian priests, fighting against encroaching Christian missionaries, unleashed anti-Christian persecutions which caught the Jews of Babylonia in its wake. Eventually the situation improved, and Babylon remained as the center of Jewish life for another 500 years.

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Tevet 8 

 

This date marks the completion of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible in the third century BCE -- the oldest Bible translation. The Septuagint derives its name from the Latin word for ' seventy,' alluding to the 72 Jewish scholars drafted by Egyptian King Ptolemy to translate the Bible for inclusion in the Library of Alexandria. The project was viewed tragically by the rabbis, as it promised to drain Jewish vitality and increase the ability of non-Jewish sects to proselytize the Jews. Legend says that the rabbis tried to disrupt the project: Although the translators were kept in separate chambers, they all produced identical versions of the text -- including 15 intentional "mistranslations." On the positive side, the Septuagint opened up the Bible to the masses -- helping to spread Jewish ideals of monotheism, peace and justice, which became the basic moral standards of the civilized world.

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Tevet 9 

 

Yahrtzeit of Ezra, the leader of the Jewish people at the time of their return from Babylonian exile and the building of the Second Temple. Ezra was the founder of the Great Assembly, a body of 120 prophets and sages who established important matters like the standard text found in Jewish prayer books today. He was an outspoken critic of assimilation, particularly of the masses of Jews who preferred to stay in Babylonia rather than return to Israel. His life and times are recorded in the biblical Book of Ezra. He died in the 4th century BCE.