History events
-1313 — (14 Iyar 2448 BCE) The Jews who left Egypt departed from Eilim and set up camp in the desert of Sin by evening
1302 — (12th of Nisan, 5062) A decree was issued ordering the Jews of Barcelona to kneel when meeting a priest with the sacraments
1443 — (11 Iyar 5203) The authorities of Venice issued a decree allowing Jews to practice medicine in Venice.
1649 — (9 Iyar 5409) An auto-da-fé in Mexico. 109 people were burned, 108 of whom were accused of secretly following Judaism
1772 — (8 Nisan 5532) The first cherem (the highest form of condemnation in the Jewish community) was imposed on the Hasidim in Vilna. This was a result of the struggle between the Hasidim and the followers of the Vilna Gaon, Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman. The influence of the leaders of Hasidism was based on the unquestionable authority of their personalities, while for the followers of the Vilna Gaon, the main criterion determining a person’s status in society remained rabbinic scholarship
1823 — (30 Nisan 5583) Tsar Alexander I issued a decree requiring the Jews of Belarus to cease all wine production by January 1, 1824, and to relocate to towns and villages by January 1, 1825. By January 1824, about 20,000 people had been expelled, many of whom were left homeless and wandered the roads. The dire situation of the exiled prompted the Russian cabinet to address the issue. Condemning the haste with which the Jews were expelled from the villages, it did not propose to annul the decree of April 11 but merely extended the deadline for its implementation to eight years (later, in 1835, the State Council was forced to acknowledge that the expulsion from the countryside «devastated the Jews, and it was not at all evident that the condition of the peasants improved as a result»). The Emperor’s decree was a reaction to the severe plight of the peasants in Belarus following another poor harvest in 1821. The blame for the poverty was placed on the rural Jews
1891 — (3th of Nisan, 5651) An eight year old Jewish tailor’s daughter disappeared on the island of Corfu, Greece. Rumor spread that she was a Christian girl ritually killed and these charges resulted in a pogrom
1899 — (1 Iyar 5659) The first Jewish community was established in Caracas (Venezuela)
1904 — (26 Nisan 5664) In Vienna, in accordance with the opinion of the 6th Zionist Congress, a decision was made to send an expedition to East Africa to assess the possibilities of establishing a Jewish national home in Uganda
1909 — (20th of Nisan, 5669) In one of the great moments of modern Jewish History, Tel Aviv (Hill of Spring), the first modern Jewish city, was founded on the sand dunes north of Jaffa with the building of 60 houses
1912 — (24th of Nisan, 5692) The Technikum, later to be known as the Techinion (Israel’s M.I.T.) was founded in Haifa
1921 — (3th of Nisan, 5681) The British created The Emirate of Transjordan
1938 — (10th of Nisan, 5698) Forty-six days after The British High Commissioner had declared Tel Aviv Harbor open Eliezer Steinlauf, a resident of Tel Aviv who had been born in Austria, disembarked from his ship at Tel Aviv making him the first passenger to disembark at the world’s first “Jewish port.”
1938 — (10th of Nisan, 5698) The Palestine Post reported that the new «Eden» hotel opened in Jerusalem
1941 — (14 Nisan 5701) The Shoah. In Holland, all Jewish press was banned except for the newspaper of the Jewish Council, which was controlled by the fascists
1942 — (24 Nisan 5702) The Shoah. In Klewani (Rivne region), 48 hostages were executed, including 30 Jews
1942 — (24th of Nisan, 5702) Three thousand Jews from Zamosc, Poland, were deported to the Belzec death camp
1944 — (18th of Nisan, 5704) The trains filled with Jews from Ioannina, Arta, Volvos, Preveza, Chalkis, Patras, Trikala, Larissa, Kastoria and other Greek cities arrived at Auschwitz
1948 — (2 Nisan 5708) War of Independence. The connection between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea enterprises was interrupted. This occurred after the British ceased escorting transports from the Dead Sea
1948 — (2th of Nisan, 5708) “The first westbound convoy in almost three weeks fought its way through” to Jerusalem today from Tel Aviv having fought its way “along the 40 mile hazardous route” where it faced at least 2,000 Arab fighters
1956 — (30th of Nisan, 5716) Terrorists opened fire on a synagogue full of children and teenagers, in the farming community of Shafir killing three children and a youth worker while wounding five more, three seriously including Albert Edery, 14, of Lod, Kamus Amos Uzan, 15, of Shafrir, Yaakov Harari, 13, of Shafrir, Simcha Silberstrom, 25, a teacher from Shafrir, Shlomo Mizrahi, 16, of Shafrir abd Nisim Assis, 13, of Jerusalem
1956 — (30 Nisan 5716) Egyptian Minister Hassan al-Bakuri declared in a radio address: «There is no reason why fedayeen (saboteurs) who hate the enemy should not penetrate into Israeli territory to turn the lives of its population into hell.» (The fedayeen were subordinate to the Egyptian military intelligence and were stationed in three camps in the Gaza Strip. At the time of their establishment, the number of such units was 700)
1961 — (25th of Nisan, 5721) The trial of Adolph Eichman on charges of genocide opened in Jerusalem
1973 — (9th of Nisan, 5733) In the wake of the Munich Olympic Massacre, Zaiad Muchasi, the replacement for Hussein Al Bashir in Cyprus, was killed by a bomb in his Athens hotel room today
1974 — (19 Nisan 5734) Golda Meir resigned as Prime Minister. The ruling party, which she led, was divided over the assessment of Moshe Dayan’s actions as Minister of Defense during the Yom Kippur War. Many considered it unjust to place the blame for the miscalculations solely on Chief of Staff David Elazar and to justify Dayan’s actions. Golda Meir was unable to lead the party and the country in such an environment
1974 — (19th of Nisan, 5734) Eighteen Israelis, including 8 children were murdered today and 15 more Israelis were injured today when three terrorists belong to of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — General Command crossed the Israeli border from Lebanon and attacked the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona
1985 — (20 Nisan 5745) Terrorist attack. Due to a Molotov cocktail thrown into a car with the Moses family traveling to the settlement of Alfey Menashe, a child and a woman died in the fire, and a man and three other children sustained burns
1987 — (12th of Nisan, 5747) An Israeli woman was killed by a firebomb thrown into her car in the occupied West Bank today, and in response hundreds of Jewish settlers rampaged in the West Bank town of Kalkilya overnight, breaking windows and setting cars ablaze. The Israeli woman was killed near Alfe Menashe, a Jewish settlement on the West Bank about 25 miles north of here. Her husband and two of her children, who were also in the car, were reported in serious condition. Her third child and a young family friend were treated for light burns. The army imposed a curfew on Kalkilya, located 17 miles from Tel Aviv, but security sources said they were unable to stop an estimated 600 angry Jewish settlers from entering the town
1987 — (12 Nisan 5747) An inconclusive, secret meeting between Israeli Foreign Minister Peres and King Hussein of Jordan regarding peace negotiations between the countries. Hussein was not opposed to peace but had to consider public opinion in his country, the intifada in the territories, Hezbollah in Lebanon, etc
1990 — (16 Nisan 5750) The first International Children’s Theater Festival started in Haifa, which became an annual event.
1996 — (22 Nisan 5756) Israel. The beginning of the retaliation operation «Grapes of Wrath» against Hezbollah for regular artillery shelling of northern Israel (from 1993 to 1996, 282 shells fell on Israeli territory), which lasted 16 days and consisted mainly of airstrikes.
2024 — (3 Nisan 5784) War with Gaza. Day one hundred and eighty-eight. At night, the 162nd Division began another operation in the central part of the sector. Dozens of Hamas targets were attacked on the ground and underground.
2025 — (13 Nisan 5785) Tel Aviv’s «Maccabi» won the second game of the final series of the Eurocup basketball against «Gran Canaria» 103:94 and became the trophy holder. The team became the second Israeli club after Jerusalem’s «Maccabi» (2004) to win the Eurocup
People
1715 — (19 Nisan 5475) Yaakov Rodriguez Pereira was born — a Marrano, educator, scholar, and public figure. In 1734, he moved to France (the city of Bordeaux), where he openly returned to Judaism. He studied medicine and created the first scientific system for teaching the deaf and mute in France, based on «reading» lip movements rather than just gesturing. He moved to Paris in 1749; he wrote works on mathematics and navigation. From 1751, he was the head of the Sephardic community in Paris. He died on September 15, 1780
1717 — (11th Iyyar, 5477) Talmudist Abraham ben Saul Broda, the son of Saul Broda and a student of Rabbi Isaac ben Ze’eb Harif, passed away today in Frankfort on Main.
1825 — (23th of Nisan, 5585) Ferdinand Lassalle, socialist agitator, born
1893 — (25 Nisan 5653) Lev Zodov was born — head of the counterintelligence of Batka Makhno, later an operative of the GPU in Odessa. He was executed in the Kyiv NKVD prison on September 29, 1938. He was rehabilitated in 1990.
1908 — (10 Nisan 5668) Fanya Bergshtein was born — an Israeli poetess. She died on September 18, 1950