Today in Jewish History

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15 Elul

 

In 1827, Czar Nicholas I decreed that all Jewish boys be forcibly conscripted into the Russian Army at age 12. Called "cantonists," these boys were kidnapped from their parents' home, and tortured repeatedly with the implication that conditions would improve if they'd accept Christianity. (Many died of their wounds.) The boys were indoctrinated in military prep school until age 18, and thereafter served 25 years in the army. The authorities saw it as a corrective, forced assimilation of stubborn Jews into Russian society, and as a way to undermine the authority of Jewish communal leaders. Some 50,000 Jewish boys were forced into Czar Nicholas' army, and most never returned to the families they had left at age 12. The policy was abolished in 1855, with the death of Nicholas.

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16 Elul

 

In 1903, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forgery purporting to be the conspiratorial discussions of Jewish leaders plotting to take over the world, appeared for the first time as a serial in the Russian newspaper, Znamia. Protocols gained popularity in anti-Semitic circles, and it was -- next to the Bible -- the best-selling book in the world during the 1920s. In the United States, Henry Ford sponsored its publication. Protocols became a mainstay of Nazi propaganda, and in Mein Kampf Hitler presents it as proof of the alleged "Jewish conspiracy." for which the persecution of Jews is necessary as self-defense. Over the years, dozens of scholars have proved Protocols to be a forgery; it was most likely written by a spy working for the Russian secret police. In recent years, "Protocols" has been widely distributed in the Arab Muslim world.

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Elul 17

In 1935, Nazi Germany passed the Nuremberg laws, a set of racist policies directed primarily against Jews. The Nazis blamed the Jews for poverty, unemployment, and the loss of World War I. Jews were banned from any professional jobs and Jewish stores were boycotted. Anyone with even one Jewish grandparent was stripped of German citizenship, with no basic rights. Within 10 years, the Nazi genocidal machine had swept through eastern Europe, leaving 6 million Jews murdered.

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Elul 18

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yehuda Loew (1525-1609), the famed Maharal of Prague. Maharal was born in Poland, on the night of the Passover Seder, to a distinguished family of rabbis that traced its ancestry to King David. He served as rabbi of Nikolsburg, Posen and then Prague. Maharal embodied a unique blend of classic Talmudic scholarship with deep kabbalistic insights. A prolific author, his works include a major commentary on the Five Books of Moses, volumes on Passover, on exile and redemption, and on character development. Perhaps the most famous legend surrounding Maharal is that he employed kabbalistic incantations to create a Golem, a robot-like being that was to defend the Prague ghetto from anti-Semitic attacks. The account is most likely apocryphal, but it gained popularity and is cited as the source for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Today a statue of Maharal stands in Prague, and his synagogue in Prague, the Altneushul, is still in use.

On this date in 1952, Israel agreed to accept reparation payments from Germany for losses caused by the Nazis during World War II. As early as 1943, Jewish groups had begun to formulate demands for a postwar settlement that would include billions of dollars of indemnity for stolen or destroyed Jewish property (real estate, art, gold), plus payments for slave labor, and reparations for the loss of Jewish life. The 1945 Paris Conference on Reparations chose to ignore the Jewish demands. However, in 1951, German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who viewed Jewish reparations as part of the burden of guilt that Germans needed to confront, offered payments to Holocaust survivors. In Israel, Menachem Begin led the movement against accepting the reparations, arguing that they would somehow "absolve" Nazis of their heinous crimes. Over the years, German companies like Volkswagen, Deutsche Bank and Daimler-Benz have admitted to using slave labor during the war, and set up a fund to compensate workers. In the 1990s, it was revealed that Swiss banks were complicit in the Nazi effort to hide and sell stolen loot, and had engaged in the large-scale theft of deposits made by Jews. After some hesitation, Swiss banks announced their intention to create a fund for Holocaust victims.

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19 Elul

 

In 1941, Charles Lindbergh, who achieved fame by being the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, delivered an anti-Semitic speech on the radio. Lindbergh became an outspoken supporter of Nazi Germany, even recommending in testimony before Congress that the U.S. negotiate a neutrality pact with Germany. At a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, he made an infamous speech claiming that Jews, "for reasons which are not American, wish to involve us in the war... We cannot allow the natural passions and prejudices of other people to lead our country to destruction." Lindbergh also made an implicit threat against Jews, stating: "Instead of agitating for war, the Jewish groups in this country should be opposing it in every possible way, for they will be among the first to feel its consequences."

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20 Elul

 

On this date in 1941, a group of Jews in Japan sent a telegram to Jerusalem asking which day is Yom Kippur. Several hundred yeshiva students and their families had escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe and found asylum in Kobe, Japan. Although they did not cross the conventional International Date Line (an imaginary line zig-zagging just west of New Zealand), that dateline was chosen due to convenience, and the Jews in Japan were unsure as to the International Date Line as recognized by Jewish law. Indeed, a 12th-century Talmudic commentary indicates that the line is six hours ahead of Jerusalem (90 degrees east of Jerusalem), running through the Philippines). In actuality today, most rabbis recommend observing the day according to local practice.

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21 Elul

 

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yonasan Eibeschutz (1690-1764), a great rabbinic commentator. A child prodigy, he headed the yeshiva of Prague at age 21. Eibeschutz was also a kabbalist, and he wrote amulets for Jews who valued their mystical powers. Unfortunately, the Jewish people was just recovering from the tragic era of Shabbetai Tzvi, a false Messiah who wreaked havoc in the Jewish world. Thus, Eibeschutz's kabbalistic leanings came under suspicion, and a number of great rabbis including Rabbi Yaakov Emden sharply criticized him. This dispute between two Torah giants was one of the bitter consequences of the Shabbetai Tzvi era, and it even involved the intervention of the King of Denmark. Still, Rabbi Eibeschutz is revered today for his rabbinic writings, including Urim V'tumim, Ya'arot Devash and Kereisi U'pleisi.

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22 Elul

 

In 1939, during the Polish September Campaign, the Nazis occupied Krakow, Poland, a thriving Jewish community of 70,000 Jews. Jews were consigned to forced labor, and all Jews were required to wear identifying armbands. Synagogues were ordered closed and all their valuables turned over to Nazi authorities. In May 1940, the Nazis ordered a massive deportation of Jews from the city, leaving only 15,000 behind in Krakow's Jewish ghetto, crammed into 3,000 rooms. German businessman Oskar Schindler came to Krakow to take advantage of the ghetto labor, and subsequently worked furiously to save Jews, as portrayed in the film, Schindler's List. In March 1943, the Nazis carried out the final 'liquidation' of the ghetto.

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23 Elul

 

On September 11, 2001, Islamist terrorists hijacked four U.S. domestic airplanes, crashing two into the World Trade Center in Manhattan, one into the Pentagon, and the fourth into a rural field in Pennsylvania. Some 3,000 people died in the attacks, the most lethal ever on American soil. It was not long before Hezbollah's al-Manar television concocted a conspiracy theory that Israeli and Jewish employees did not show up for work at the WTC on 9/11, supposedly based on a tip from the Israeli General Security apparatus, the Shabak. In fact, the attacks claimed an estimated at 400-500 Jewish victims, including five Israelis. However, it has been speculated that indeed many Jews may have been late for work that day, since the attack occurred a few days prior to Rosh Hashana, when Jews extend their morning prayers with the "Slichot" service.

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24 Elul

 

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (1838-1933), popularly known as the Chafetz Chaim, the title of his groundbreaking book on the laws of proper speech. The Chafetz Chaim lived in Radin, a small town in Poland that became a center of attention for world Jewry, given the Chafetz Chaim's saintly stature and active involvement in Jewish affairs. The Chafetz Chaim published over 20 books, including Mishnah Berurah, a monumental commentary on the daily living section of the Code of Jewish Law. The six volumes of Mishnah Berurah took 25 years to complete, and it has achieved universal acceptance as the definitive guide to Jewish law for Ashkenazic Jewry. The Chafetz Chaim was equally revered for his sterling character. The Chafetz Chaim passed away in 1933 at age 95, and is buried in Radin.

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25 Elul

 

This is the traditional day of the beginning of Creation, as recorded in the first chapter of Genesis. While other religions 'start' their calendar from the founding of the religion, the Jewish calendar begins with Creation. In Jewish consciousness, every nation is integral to humanity: Non-Jews were welcome to bring offerings to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which the prophet Isaiah referred to as the "house for all nations." Technically, the Jewish calendar does not begin until day six of Creation (Rosh Hashana), which commemorates the birth of mankind. This is because human beings are the pinnacle of Creation, enjoined to protect the world and to utilize all its resources to bring the world to its spiritual completion.

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26 Elul

 

In 1972, Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic village in Munich, Germany, and held the Israeli Olympic team hostage with the demand that Israel release convicted Arab terrorists from jail. After hours of tense negotiations, the Palestinians and hostages were taken to an airport, where German sharpshooters attempted to kill the terrorists. A bloody firefight ensued, with the resulting loss of 11 Israeli lives. Jewish-American swimmer Mark Spitz, after having won seven gold medals, was whisked away from Munich. The Olympic committee went on with the Games, and subsequent attempts to establish a permanent Olympic memorial to the slain athletes have gone unanswered. Three of the terrorists were captured, but one month later, when Palestinians hijacked a German airplane, German authorities capitulated to their demands and released the Olympic terrorists. They were later eliminated by Israeli agents, the subject of Steven Spielberg's film, Munich.

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27 Elul

 

In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands on the White House lawn, signaling the start of a peace process known as the Oslo Accords. Israel agreed to transfer autonomy to the Palestinians, in exchange for a cessation of violence. However, Palestinian terrorists carried out a spate of bus bombings and roadside shootings throughout the 1990s. In July 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak attempted to reach a final agreement, offering the Palestinians 93 percent of the territories -- later upped to 99 percent -- but Arafat balked. As U.S. chief negotiator Dennis Ross would later explain: "Arafat could not accept [the offer]... because when the conflict ends, the cause that defines Arafat also ends." Instead, the Palestinians launched a terror war, known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which claimed the lives of over 1,000 Israelis and 4,000 Palestinians.

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28 Elul

 

In 1849, the first synagogue was dedicated in Cape Town, South Africa, called Tikvat Israel -- "Hope of Israel," referring to the Cape of Good Hope. Originally, the Dutch East India Company's rules required that all residents must be Christians. Only after freedom of religion was introduced in 1803 did Jewish settlers from England and Germany come in significant numbers to Cape Town. Around the turn of the 20th century, the development of diamond and gold mines attracted a large number of Jewish immigrants. South African Jewry enjoyed great prosperity, strongly represented in the commercial and professional sectors. The Jewish community was characterized by a deep attachment to traditional Jewish values and strong bonds with Israel. The Jewish population of South Africa reached a peak of 120,000 in the early 1970s, but with political turmoil and the dissolution of Apartheid, tens of thousands of Jews left to settle in Israel, Australia and the U.S. Tikvat Israel synagogue -- South Africa's first -- is still standing today.

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29 Elul

 

In 2000, Palestinian Arabs launched a campaign of terror which came to be known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Two days earlier, an Israeli soldier was killed by his Palestinian counterpart while on joint patrol, and the next day, Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount. The next day, on the eve of Rosh Hashana, Palestinian violence erupted across Israel. (Later investigations indicate that the Palestinian Authority had pre-planned the intifada.) Tuvia Grossman, a 20-year-old Jewish student from Chicago, was thrust into the international limelight on when The New York Times published a photo of him -- bloodied and battered -- crouching beneath a club-wielding Israeli policeman. The caption misidentified him as a Palestinian victim of the intifada. The truth was the total opposite, and the realization that Israel was being unfairly portrayed in the media led to the founding of media monitoring groups such as HonestReporting.com. Over the next four years, Palestinian violence -- bolstered by incitement in the Palestinian media -- would claim the lives of over 1,000 Israelis and 4,000 Palestinians. The attacks included a wave of over 100 suicide bombings that targeted Israeli restaurants, synagogues and buses.

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1 Tishrei

 

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, commemorates the creation of mankind. God gave Adam a soul, distinguishing him from all other living beings, in his ability to make moral choices and to build a relationship with the Creator. On Rosh Hashana, each person's allotment of life and livelihood is subject to renewal. The Talmud says that on Rosh Hashana, the prayers of the barren women -- Sarah, Rachel and Chana -- were answered; on this day they became pregnant with Isaac, Joseph and the prophet Samuel, respectively. (Sarah's story is the Torah reading on the first day of Rosh Hashana, and Chana's story is the Haftarah.)

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2 Tishrei

 

In 1941, experimental executions by gassing began at the Auschwitz death camp in southern Poland. The entrance to Auschwitz was cynically marked with a sign, "Work makes you free." Arriving prisoners would be subject to a "selection," often administered by Josef Mengele, where a wave of the hand decided who would be used for medical experiments, who sent to forced labor, and who murdered that day. The latter group was sent to a gas chamber pumped with Zyklon B; the bodies were then burned in the Auschwitz crematoria. Jewish leaders begged Roosevelt and Churchill to bomb the railway lines leading to Auschwitz, but the Allies never gave the plan priority. In its four years of operation, the Nazis murdered more than one million Jews at Auschwitz.

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3 Tishrei

 

The day after Rosh Hashana marks the Fast of Gedalia, one of the "minor fast days." It commemorates the tragic murder, 2,500 years ago, of a Jewish leader named Gedalia, which led to the end of Jewish settlement in Israel for many years. Also on Tishrei 3, in 1825, an American diplomat named Mordechai Manuel Noah laid the foundation stone for Ararat, the first modern-day attempt to establish a national Jewish homeland. To implement his plan, Noah petitioned the New York State legislature for rights to Grand Island, a 27-square-mile parcel of land located between Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls. Noah also levied a "redemption tax" upon each Jew in the world. Despite a grand opening ceremony, the plan fizzled when no Jews moved to Ararat / Grand Island.

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4 Tishrei

 

Tishrei 4 is the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Rabbi Avraham Danzig (1748-1820), author of Chayei Adam, a book of Jewish law dealing with daily conduct, prayer, Shabbat and holidays. Rabbi Danzig lived in Vilna, and authored other acclaimed works including Chochmas Adam, Nishmas Adam, and Binas Adam.

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5 Tishrei

 

In 134 CE, the great Talmudic sage, Rabbi Akiva, was taken captive by the Romans, and executed five days later in Caesarea, Israel. Rabbi Akiva had been a 40-year-old shepherd who could not even read the Aleph-Bet. One day, he came across a stone that had been holed out by a constant drip of water. He concluded: If something as soft as water can carve a hole in solid rock, how much more so can Torah -- which is fire -- make an indelible impression on my heart. Rabbi Akiva committed himself to Torah study, and went on to become the greatest sage of his generation, with 24,000 students learning under him at one time. The Roman authorities eventually arrested him for "illegally" teaching Torah. As he was being tortured, Rabbi Akiva rejoiced in fulfilling the biblical command to "love God with all your life." As he died, Rabbi Akiva uttered the words of Shema Yisrael. His self-sacrifice for Torah continues to inspire Jews till today.

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6 Tishrei

 

In 1948, Egypt launched a large-scale offensive against the Negev region of Israel. This was part of the War of Independence, an attack by five Arab armies designed to "drive the Jews into the sea." Though the Jews were under-armed, untrained, and few in number, through ingenuity and perseverance they staved off the attacks and secured the borders. Yet the price was high -- Israel lost 6,373 of its people, a full one percent of the Jewish population of Israel at the time.

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7 Tishrei

 

In 1802, Rabbi Chaim of Voluzhin (a village in Lithuania) issued a proclamation to establish a new yeshiva. The Voluzhin Yeshiva eventually became the center of Torah scholarship in Europe, hosting tens of thousands of students who went on to become leaders of the Jewish world. The yeshiva was persecuted ruthlessly by the Czarist government, and in 1892 the government closed the yeshiva. Yet in a deeper sense, Voluzhin survived; most of the thousands of yeshivas today follow the Voluzhin model. The Jewish people are immeasurably enriched, for as Chaim Nachman Bialik once said, a yeshiva is "the creative factory of the Jewish people."

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8 Tishrei

 

In 825 BCE, the Jewish people began a 14-day celebration to dedicate the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple project was initiated by King David, and built by his son, King Solomon. Solomon's Temple was the spiritual center of Jewish life for 410 years, until its destruction by the Babylonians in 422 BCE.

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9 Tishrei

 

In 1941, the Nazis carried out executions at Babi Yar, as thousands of Jews were buried in a ravine near the Ukrainian city of Kiev. The Nazis had instructed all 175,000 Jews of Kiev to report to the cemetery. Most thought they would be deported. Yet the Nazis killed the Jews in retaliation for a series of bombings against German installations (though a secret Russian agency was actually responsible). With the aid of Ukrainian citizens, 35,000 Jews were ordered to undress, beaten if they resisted, and then shot at the edge of the Babi Yar gorge. Many people were buried alive, suffocated by the mass of bodies atop them. All told, an estimated 100,000 people -- including Soviet POWs -- were shot at the site.

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10 Tishrei

 

In 1312 BCE (Hebrew year 2449), Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the second set of Tablets, indicating that God had forgiven the Jewish people for the sin of the Golden Calf. This day henceforth become Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when a person's soul is cleansed of transgressions.

Also on this date in 1965, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax refused to pitch in the first game of the World Series, choosing instead to attend Yom Kippur services in the synagogue and observe the fast. The World Series went to a seventh and deciding game, and Koufax threw a three-hit shutout to win the Series and earn the MVP award. Koufax is arguably the greatest left-handed pitcher of all time; he unanimously won the Cy Young Award three times. Arthritis ended his career at the age of 31, and he became the youngest person ever elected to the baseball Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame slugger Willie Stargell said: "Trying to hit [against Koufax] was like trying to drink coffee with a fork." Yet despite all his achievements on the field, Koufax is still remembered best for his Yom Kippur break, which instilled Jewish pride in millions of Americans. In 2001, in the thick of a pennant race, Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green ended his streak of 416 consecutive games in order to observe Yom Kippur; he cited Koufax's decision as motivation for his own.