History events
70 — (15th of Nisan, 3830) The Siege of Jerusalem begins in earnest as Titus, son of Emperor Vespasian, surrounds the Jewish capital, with four Roman legions
73 — (19th of Nisan, 3833) According to the Jewish historian Josephus, 967 Jewish zealots committed mass suicide within the fortress of Masada on this last night before the walls were breached by the attacking Roman Tenth Legion
1660 — (13th of Iyar, 5420) Seven Jews were burned at the stake in Seville
1859 — (10th of Nisan, 5619) In Galatz, Rumania, Jews were accused of taking blood from a Christian child (for the baking of matzos) though not of killing him. Fifteen «culprits» were arrested. The next day a mob broke into the synagogue, killing some of the worshippers, destroying some fifty scrolls and demolishing the synagogue. The fifteen were soon released with no convictions, yet the government refused to allow the synagogue to be rebuilt for nearly twenty years.
1869 — (3th of Iyar, 5629) Deutsch-Israelitischer Gemeindebund founded
1870 — (13th of Iyar, 5630) In London, Nathan Adler and Lionel Cahn established the United Synagogue. It united the Ashkenazi synagogues of London for charities and civic affairs
1921 — (6th of Iyar, 5681) The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that “Tel-Aviv has been officially recognized as an independent township
1938 — (13th of Nisan, 5698) The Palestine Post reported that 35 families from Rexigen in south Germany were settled, together with a number of other families in a new village, south of Nahariya. Work went on erecting buildings, the defense stockade and a search-light tower
1941 — (17th of Nisan, 5701) Two hundred Flemish supporters of the Nazis burned two synagogues in the Oosten straat as part of what is called the “Antwerp Pogrom.”
1944 — (21th of Nisan, 5704) The first transport of Athenian Jews left Greece for Auschwitz
1947 — (24th of Nisan, 5707) Two thousand five hundred fifty-two illegal immigrants reached Haifa on board the Guardian. Three of them had been killed while unsuccessfully resisting a Royal Navy boarding party which was in the process of transporting them to Cyprus
1948 — (5th of Nisan, 5708) Surrounded by armed Arabs, the Jews of Safed awaited the final onslaught and their death when a Palmach platoon that was the spearhead of Operation Yiftach entered the city after marching through the mountains
1949 — (15th of Nisan, 5709) First Day of Pesach in the newly created state of Israel
1953 — (29th of Nisan, 5713) The Jerusalem Post reported that the tenants of the houses administered by the Custodian for Abandoned Property had from then on been allowed to sell, or transfer their flats or rooms for an agreed sum. However one-third of the price would have to be paid to the custodian; that in Jerusalem’s Zion Square, hundreds of singing and dancing men celebrated the conclusion of the fourth complete reading of Gemara
2004 — (23th of Nisan, 5764) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon formally announced his plan for withdrawing from Gaza today in a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, stating that «there exists no Palestinian partner with whom to advance peacefully toward a settlement.»
People
1712 — (19th of Nisan, 5472) Rabbi Elijah Shapira of Prague, author of Eilyahu Rabba, passed away
1861 — (4th of Iyar, 5621) Birthdate of Belarusian native Israel Belkind a founder of the Bilu and a leader of the Fist Aliyahn
1897 — (12th of Nisan) Seventy-eight year old French rabbi and author Lazar Wogue “best known for his translation of the Pentateuch…and for his history of Bible exegesis” passed away today in Paris
1944 — (21th of Nisan, 5704) Henk Drogt, a 24 year old Dutch military policeman, was executed by the Nazis eight months after having been arrested by the Nazis for his refusal to arrest Jews and then joining the Resistance
1980 — (28th of Nisan, 5740) Jewish comedian Shimon Dzigan who along with Israel Shumacher formed “the most famous Yiddish comic duo of ‘Dzigan and Schumacher’” passed away today