Today in Jewish History

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25 Tammuz

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Gunzberg (1695-1785), popularly known by the title of his book of responsa, Sha'ages Aryeh (the Lion's Roar). Rabbi Gunzberg was born in Minsk, served as rabbi in the town of Voluzhin and later in Metz. His writings, marked by their brilliant insight and depth, are studied widely today.

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26 Tammuz

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried (1804-1886), author of the popular Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (Concise Code of Jewish Law). He was born in Carpathia, and later became a rabbi in Ungvar, Hungary. Ganzfried wrote the Concise Code to provide an easy guide to practical Jewish law, for those Jews who were not in a position to study and comprehend Rabbi Yosef Karo's original Code and its many commentaries. The Concise Code became immensely popular, and it is estimated that over two million copies have been printed. (Other sources list his yahrtzeit as Tammuz 28.)

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Exodus 15:19-27 (Good News Translation)

Embodying Hope and Telling of God's Kindness and Mercy

Introduction

Exodus 15:19-27: Today's passage begins with the prophet Miriam's song celebrating God's victory on behalf of the Israelites. As the celebrating winds down, the struggles of life in the wilderness begin, and the Israelites complain about the bitter water at Marah.

Today’s Scripture: Exodus 15:26

"If you will obey me completely by doing what I consider right and by keeping my commands, I will not punish you with any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians. I am the LORD, the one who heals you."

Today’s Reading

19The Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. But when the Egyptian chariots with their horses and drivers went into the sea, the LORD brought the water back, and it covered them. 20The prophet Miriam, Aaron's sister, took her tambourine, and all the women followed her, playing tambourines and dancing. 21Miriam sang for them: “Sing to the LORD, because he has won a glorious victory; he has thrown the horses and their riders into the sea.” 22Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea into the desert of Shur. For three days they walked through the desert, but found no water. 23Then they came to a place called Marah, but the water there was so bitter that they could not drink it. That is why it was named Marah. 24The people complained to Moses and asked, “What are we going to drink?” 25Moses prayed earnestly to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood, which he threw into the water; and the water became fit to drink. There the LORD gave them laws to live by, and there he also tested them. 26He said, “If you will obey me completely by doing what I consider right and by keeping my commands, I will not punish you with any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians. I am the LORD, the one who heals you. ” 27Next they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; there they camped by the water.

Reflect

Before leading the Israelites, Moses was a shepherd along the edge of the desert. From his experience he knew the sources of available drinking water. It is possible that the water at Marah was a stagnant pool covered with dirt, and throwing wood into the water might have caused the dirt to settle, the bitterness to go away and the sweet water to rise to the surface. How does God's hand interact with human skills?

Pray

Lord of Living Waters, you empower us to use the resources we have to serve your people. Open my mind and heart to new ways in which I can use the gifts you have given me to serve others. Amen.

Prayer Concern

People who lack clean water

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I guess I got the wrong post in here. LOL Here's the right one.

27 Tammuz

In 1205, Pope Innocent III published official Church doctrine that saw Jews doomed to eternal damnation for the crucifixion of Jesus. This charge of deicide was the basis for much anti-Semitism throughout the Middle Ages. It wasn't until 1963, with the Second Vatican Council, that Church doctrine was revised.

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28 Tammuz

In 1922, the League of Nations confirmed the British Mandate of Palestine, territory taken from the Ottoman Empire following World War I. The Mandate charged Britain with securing the establishment of the Jewish national home, and safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine. Just a few months later, Britain decided to lop off 77% of the land and use it to establish the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan (today called Jordan). In ensuing years, Jewish immigration to Palestine created much Arab resentment, and the British responded by placing strict limitations on Jewish immigration. This policy had lethal consequences for Jews fleeing Hitler's ovens. When the British continued to placate the Arabs, for example by restricting Jewish land purchases, a revolt was organized by Zionist groups. By 1948 this pressure had forced the British out of Palestine, clearing the way for an independent State of Israel.

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29 Tammuz

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (1040-1105), pre-eminent rabbinic commentator known by the acronym, Rashi. His commentary on the Five Books of Moses is studied till today by almost every Jewish child and adult, layman and scholar alike. And his monumental commentary on the Talmud, which appears in every standard edition, is the basis upon which nearly all Talmud study is based. Rashi lived in France, where his grandchildren composed the Tosfot commentary on the Talmud, which is second only to Rashi in being indispensable for a proper understanding of the text. Amazingly, Rashi accomplished all his work during the period of the Crusades, when life was extremely dangerous for the Jews. Just as amazing, Rashi made his living as a wine merchant, and wrote rabbinic commentaries in his spare time. Incidentally, Rashi's commentaries are the primary source of information for the study of French language and culture in the Middle Ages. The recent 900th anniversary of his death was widely commemorated in France, with public ceremonies, conferences, and a postage stamp issued in his honor.

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1 Av

Yahrtzeit of Aaron (1395-1272 BCE), the elder brother of Moses and the first High Priest of Israel. Aaron was a great prophet and righteous man, who was known for bringing peace between people. During the period of Jewish slavery in Egypt, Aaron accompanied Moses in deliberations with Pharaoh. After the giving of the Torah, when Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai and the people became impatient, Aaron worked to minimize damage from the building of the Golden Calf. All Kohanim in history are descended from Aaron; indeed, DNA research in recent years supports this tradition.

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2 Av

In 1942, the first trainload of Jews in Holland were sent to concentration camps. A few years earlier, tens of thousands of Jews had fled from Germany to Holland, which maintained an open-door immigration policy. But soon after, the Nazis occupied Holland and proceeded to make it Judenrein (clean of Jews). Perhaps the most famous Dutch Jew was Anne Frank, a teenage girl whose diary has become the most widely-read account of life during the Holocaust. In 2005, Holland's prime minister apologized for his country's collaboration with the Nazis.

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3 Av

In 1881, the first shipload of Russian Jewish immigrants arrived in New York City. This began the mass immigration of eastern European Jews to America, and in the next half-century over 2 million Jews would flee Russian pogroms for the safety of the U.S. This influx indelibly altered the demographics of American Jewry; according to the U.S. census of 1940, 1.75 million Jews spoke Yiddish at home.

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4 Av

In 333 BCE, the prophet Nechemia began to rebuild the destroyed wall around Jerusalem, as recorded in the biblical Book of Nechemia. This was a first stage in the restoration of the Jewish capital, crowned by the construction of the Second Holy Temple a few years later.

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5 Av

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yitzhak Luria Ashkenazi (1534-1572), the father of modern Kabbalah, known popularly by the acronym, Arizal. He was born in Jerusalem, and later moved to Egypt where he studied under the great sages, Radvaz and Shita Mekubetzet. At age 22, he became engrossed in the study of the Zohar, and spent the next seven years in near-total seclusion and meditation. At age 36, he moved to Tzfat in northern Israel, where his colleagues included rabbis Yosef Karo (author of the Code of Jewish Law), the kabbalist Moshe Cordovero (Ramak), Shlomo Alkabetz and Moshe Alshich. Arizal taught extensively about reincarnation and transmigration of souls. His primary student, Chaim Vital, collected Arizal's lectures into a six-volume work entitled, Aitz Chaim (Tree of Life). Arizal died at age 38, and till today his tomb in Tzfat is a place of pilgrimage and prayer.

The 5th of Av is also the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzensky (1863-1940), talmudic scholar and leader of eastern European Jewry. His father was a student of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, the founder of the Mussar ethics movement. Rabbi Grodzensky was gifted with an infallible memory (he could recite complex texts word-for-word), and he testified that he never experienced "forgetting." In the years between the World Wars, he was the central rabbinic figure in Lithuania, at that time the world center of Torah scholarship. He authored a book of responsa, entitled Achi'ezer, drawn from the thousands of questions sent to him from all parts of the world.

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6 Av

In 1656, the Jewish elders of Amsterdam issued an excommunication notice against Baruch Spinoza. Spinoza was a philosopher who postulated that God and nature are equivalent, and that the Bible is purely allegorical. Spinoza is known as the "Jewish Atheist," and he is considered the founder of modern biblical criticism. Spinoza believed that there is no Divine intervention, and that all events are fatalistically destined to occur (thus there is no free will). For these and other heretical ideas, Spinoza was officially shunned by the Jewish community.

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7 Av

In 1920, Keren Hayesod (United Israel Appeal) was founded. Its purpose was to provide financial investment for building and developing the Jewish homeland. Over the years, Keren Hayesod has assisted in bringing 3 million immigrants to Israel and facilitating their absorption. Keren Hayesod has also helped establish and develop over 800 villages and towns in Israel. Its managing director, Leib Jaffe, was amongst those killed in 1948 by a bomb explosion in the Jewish Agency courtyard.

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Av 8

In 1942, the Nazis ordered the deportation of all Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto. The Warsaw Ghetto held 400,000 people (30% of the entire population of Warsaw), crammed into a tiny area. In its three years of existence, thousands of Jews died of disease and starvation. Yet despite all, the Jews managed to continue religious and cultural activities in the ghetto. Then on the eve of Tisha B'Av, the saddest day of the Jewish year, the Nazis began the deportation of 265,000 Jews, lasting for a period of two months, to the Treblinka death camp. When the Nazis sought to liquidate the ghetto, Jewish resistance fighters took action, digging hundreds of bunkers under the houses, connected through the sewage system. In the spring of 1943, some 750 Jewish partisans began the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, killing approximately 300 Germans in one month of fighting.

ps: so I'm guessing that if the FBI kept records of terrorist acts back to 1942! I wonder if this would fall into that catagoriry (sp)!!!!!

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9 Av

In 423 BCE, the first Holy Temple was destroyed by fire, as Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian troops conquered Jerusalem. Also on this day, the second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Tisha B'Av has long been a day of calamity for the Jewish people: On this day, during the time of Moses, Jews in the desert accepted the slanderous report of the spies, resulting in the decree postponing entry into the Land of Israel. Other grave misfortunes throughout Jewish history occurred on the Ninth of Av: The Spanish Inquisition culminated with the expulsion of Jews from Spain on Tisha B'Av in 1492. World War I broke out on the eve of Tisha B'Av in 1914 when Germany declared war on Russia; German resentment from the war set the stage for the Holocaust. On the eve of Tisha B'Av 1942, the mass deportation began of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to Treblinka. Today, Tisha B'Av is the Jewish national day of mourning, when we don't eat, drink or bathe. Lights in the synagogue are dimmed, and we read the Book of Lamentations, Jeremiah's poetic lament over the destruction of Jerusalem.

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10 Av

In 2005, the government of Israel began the Gaza Disengagement, where 9,000 Jewish residents were evicted from their homes. Despite mass rallies against the disengagement, and an orange-ribbon campaign, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon implemented the plan with the hope of reducing security concerns and diffusing the demographic problem of Gaza's 1.5 million Arabs. Upon completion of the evacuation, all 21 Jewish communities in Gaza were bulldozed and destroyed. Only the synagogues were left standing; these were then torched by Arab mobs.

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11 Av

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yitzhak Blazer (1837-1907), a leader of European Jewry prior to World War I and the author of Pri Yitzhak. At a young age, he became the rabbi of St. Petersburg, a position he held for 16 years. He was one of the leading disciples of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, the founder of the Mussar ethics movement. Rabbi Blazer spent the last few years of his life in Jerusalem.

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12 Av

In 1263, the famous Disputation began between Nachmanides and a Jewish convert to Christianity, Pablo Christiani. King James of Spain had authorized the religious debate, to try to "prove" which religion is true. Nachmanides reluctantly agreed to take part, only after being assured by the king that he would have full freedom of expression. Nachmanides won the battle, but lost the war: His arguments earned the king's respect (and a prize of 300 gold coins), but the Church ordered Nachmanides to be tried on charges of blasphemy, and he was forced to flee Spain. At age 72, Nachmanides moved to spend his final years in Jerusalem.

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13 Av

Yahrtzeit of Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885), outstanding Jewish philanthropist. Montefiore was also a leading stockbroker, served as the Sheriff of London, and was knighted by Queen Victoria. Montefiore retired from business at age 40 and devoted the rest of his life to humanitarian causes on behalf of the Jewish people. He traveled to the Sultan of Turkey in 1840 to defend the Jews of Damascus against a blood libel; to Rome in 1858 to try and free the Jewish youth Edgar Mortara, kidnapped and baptized by his Catholic nurse; to Russia, Morocco and other points to ask government authorities to stop persecution of the Jews. But it was the Holy Land that was dearest to his heart. He made the arduous journey to Israel seven times. His first visit to Jerusalem had a profound affect on him spiritually, and from then on he lived a life of Torah observance. In Israel, he dispensed charity, sought to promote industry, education and health, and sponsored several agricultural settlements. In Jerusalem, he built the first neighborhood outside the Old City Walls. (The area is recognized by a landmark windmill, though due to the lack of wind in Jerusalem, the windmill has never worked.) His tireless efforts made him a beloved folk hero; his 100th birthday was celebrated by Jewish communities around the world.

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14 Av

In 1298, the Jews of Bischofsheim, Germany were massacred by Rindfleisch troops. Rindfleisch was a German knight who was unable to repay a loan to the Jewish community, so he concocted a slander and claimed to have received a mission from heaven to exterminate "the accursed race of the Jews." Rindfleisch stirred up a mob, and his band of his Juden-schachters (Jew-slaughterers) marched through Austria and Germany, from city to city, pillaging, burning, and murdering Jews along the way (except those who accepted Christianity). Within six months, 100,000 Jews were murdered (many were burned at the stake) and 146 Jewish communities were decimated. Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Mordechai ben Hillel (1240-1298), author of the Mordechai commentary on Talmud, and his entire family were among those murdered. The Jews of Germany, having repeatedly rebuilt their communities after such attacks, lost heart, and many migrated to the Land of Israel (then under Islamic rule). Rabbi Asher Ben Yechiel, a great sage known as the Rosh, survived the Rindfleisch massacres and moved to Spain.

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15 Av

On this date, four historical events occurred: (1) the Jews of the Exodus generation stopped dying in the desert, (2) intertribal marriage was permitted to post-Exodus generations, (3) the tribe of Benjamin was saved from extinction, (4) the Romans permitted the burial of Jews killed in the Beitar revolt (138 CE). After the Romans had destroyed the Second Holy Temple, the emperor Hadrian planned to transform Jerusalem into a pagan city-state with a shrine to Jupiter on the site of the Temple. This led to the great Jewish revolt of Simon Bar Kosiba (Bar Kochba), whose guerilla army succeeded in actually throwing the Romans out of Israel and establishing, albeit for a brief period, an independent Jewish state. It required large numbers of Roman troops to crush the revolt. Bar Kochba made his final stand in the city of Beitar, located southwest of Jerusalem. It was estimated that hundreds of thousands of Jews lived in Beitar, and they were all massacred "until their blood flowed into the Mediterranean Sea." Further, the Romans did not allow the Jewish bodies to be buried. According to Jewish tradition, the bodies lay in the open but did not rot, until three years later on the 15th of Av, burial was finally permitted. Today, the standard "Grace After Meals" includes a special blessing recalling this event in Beitar.

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16 Av

In 1946, the British government ordered all illegal immigrants bound for Palestine to be deported to camps on the island of Cyprus. According to the terms of the British White Paper of 1939, immigration to Palestine was limited to 75,000 Jews over a period of 10 years. Following the end of World War II, many Holocaust survivors had nowhere else to go, so they crammed onto old ships bound for the Holy Land. Some ships succeeded in slipping through the British naval blockade and unloading their human cargo on desolate beaches. Several ships sank in tragic circumstances. Other ships were apprehended and the passengers sent to British detention camps -- complete with barbed wire, military towers and guards. The Exodus is the most famous immigrant ship from this era. Today, one of the ships, the Af-Al-Pi ("in spite of it all"), stands in a museum in Haifa.

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17 Av

In 1889, 800 Jews arrived in Buenos Aires, marking the birth of the modern Jewish community in Argentina. These immigrants were fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia, and moved to Argentina because of its open door policy of immigration. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina. Juan Peron's rise to power in 1946 was an ominous sign, as he was a Nazi sympathizer with fascist leanings. Peron halted Jewish immigration to Argentina, introduced mandatory Catholic religious instruction in public schools, and allowed Argentina to become a haven for fleeing Nazis. (In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Adolf Eichmann from a Buenos Aires suburb.) Today, Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America with 250,000, though terror attacks have prompted many young people to emigrate. In 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 32 people. In 1994, the Jewish community headquarters in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 87 people. The perpetrators have never been apprehended.

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18 Av

In 1929, Arab mobs attacked Jewish communities throughout Israel. False rumors -- fueled by inflammatory sermons in the mosques -- declared that the Jews were preparing to take control of the holy places, and that Jews were carrying out "wholesale killings of Arabs." Muslims mobs went on the attack, killing 17 Jews in Jerusalem and 18 in Tzfat. The worst atrocities occurred in Hebron, where only one British policeman guarded the entire city and was powerless to stop the rampage. In Hebron, 67 Jews including 12 Americans were murdered. The survivors were relocated to Jerusalem, leaving Hebron barren of Jews for the first time in centuries.

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19 Av

On this date in 1955, Bar Ilan University was founded with the mission of blending ancient Torah tradition with modern scholarship. Bar Ilan is currently Israel's largest academic community with 32,000 students, scientists and staff. Bar Ilan has been at the forefront of archeological research, social work, and Torah-dissemination projects. The Bar Ilan Responsa Project places a vast computerized library of thousands of rabbinic commentaries at the easy disposal of scholars around the world. The university's name was chosen in honor of Rabbi Meir Bar Ilan (Berlin), who led Jews from the ashes of Europe to rebirth and renaissance in Israel.