Today in Jewish History

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20 Tammuz

This date marks the passing of Theodor Herzl in 1904. Upon witnessing the Alfred Dreyfus trial in France, Herzl was so affected by the anti-Semitism and injustice, that he committed his life to vigorously pursuing the cause of Zionism. Herzl promoted his vision in two books, The Jewish State, and Old New Land, a novel which pictured the future Jewish state as a socialist utopia. Herzl coined the phrase, "If you will it, it is no dream," which became the motto of the Zionist movement. During his career as president of the World Zionist Organization, he never took a salary and paid for all expenses out of his own pocket. Herzl died, penniless, of heart disease at the age of 44. In 1949, Herzl's remains were brought to Israel and reinterred on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

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21 Tammuz

In 1963, the State of Israel instituted a law prohibiting the raising of pigs on Jewish farms. According to Jewish law, one is not allowed to make his livelihood by dealing in non-kosher products. Beyond this, the Talmud states that one should not raise a pig, even as a pet. Why such great opposition against the pig? The answer may be rooted in the fact that the pig is the only animal in the world possessing the outward symbol of kosher (split hooves), but not the inward symbol (chewing cud). The pig therefore represents that which is kosher in outward appearance, but is in fact unclean on the inside. This type of hypocrisy is described by the Talmud as one of the behaviors that God most detests. For that moral reason, the pig is universally viewed as reprehensible to the Jew.

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22 Tammuz

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero (1522-1570), a great kabbalist known by the acronym of his name, Ramak. He was born in Tzfat, Israel, to a distinguished family of Spanish descent, originally from the town of Cordova. In Tzfat, he studied with Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of the Code of Jewish Law, and he headed his own academy of mysticism, during the time of the great Arizal. Ramak's classic book, Pardes Rimonim (Garden of Pomegranates), written when he was only 26, presents the primary kabbalistic topics in an orderly system. He also authored the popular Palm Tree of Devorah, an ethical treatise devoted to the idea of emulating God. (Some sources list his yahrtzeit as Tammuz 23.)

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23 Tammuz

In 1099, Crusaders captured Jerusalem. The Crusaders were a Church-sponsored movement to "liberate the Holy Land from the infidels." (En route, the Crusaders carried out a campaign of rape and pillage; an estimated 40% of European Jewry was slaughtered in the process.) The day following their conquest of Jerusalem, the Crusaders murdered all the city's Jews, by herding them into a synagogue and setting it on fire. Jews were barred from Jerusalem for the next century. Muslims were also victims of the Crusaders, which historians believe planted a deep-seeded hatred of the West.

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24 Tammuz

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Jacob Joseph (1840-1902), one of the only "chief rabbis" of New York City. A revered leader in Lithuania, Rabbi Joseph was invited to come to America and lead a fledging group of Eastern European immigrants -- at a time when America had little infrastructure for Jewish education, kashrut, and other keys to Jewish continuity. Rabbi Joseph fought vigorously to uphold Jewish tradition, but it was an uphill battle against a Jewish community that was assimilating, and against a government that was not yet fully supportive of religious rights. Tragically, Rabbi Joseph often bore the brunt of mockery and scorn from Jews who saw him as clinging to the "old ways," and he withdrew from public life after suffering a debilitating stroke. A crowd estimated at 100,000 lined the route of his funeral; as the procession passed through an Irish neighborhood, the mourners were attacked by a barrage of bottles and buckets of water. The police were called in and over 300 Jews required medical attention. After Rabbi Joseph's death, a dispute ensued who should be his successor; it went unresolved and the office of Chief Rabbi ended.

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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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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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8 Av

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.

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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, thousands of Jews were murdered (many were burned at the stake) and 146 Jewish communities were decimated. 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. Rindfleisch was later arrested and hanged, and the cities in which Jews had been killed were required to pay fines.

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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.