April 23

History events

1615 — (4th of Iyar, 5375) Louis XIII. of France issues edict forbidding Christians under penalty of death, to shelter Jews or converse with them
1803 — (1th of Iyar, 5563) Poll-tax in territories of Brunswick-Lüneburg abolished
1940 — (15th of Nisan, 5700) The Nazis ordered the Jews to jump in cesspool at the Stutthof Labor Camp. The short ones drowned
1946 — (22th of Nisan, 5706) Forces of the Irgun including Dov Bel Gruner attacked the police station in Ramat Gan. Two policemen were killed and Gruner, who was wounded in the attack, was taken prisoner
1948 — (14th of Nisan, 5708) Erev Pesach the rations given out in Jerusalem for the observance of Passover included 2 lbs. of potatoes, ½ lb of fish, 4 lb. of matzo, 1 ½ oz. dried fruit, ½ lb. meat, and ½ lb. of matzo flour. As one who was there later wrote, “For the trapped citizens of Jerusalem, who had become accustomed to privation, the Passover provisions seemed like a banquet; The port of Haifa was captured by elements of the Israeli Carmeli Brigade

People
1571 — (28th of Nisan, 5331) In Venice Diana Rachel and Isaac of Modena gave birth to Leon (Judah Areyh) of Modena, famed Italian scholar, rabbi and Poet
1620 — (20th of Nisan, 5380) Hayyim ben Joseph Vital passed away at Damascus. Born at Calabria in 1543, he was a foremost exponent of Lurianic Kabbalah, recording much of his master’s teachings
1661 — (4th of Iyra, 5421) Birthdate of Issachar Berend Lehmann, the native of Essen, Westphalia whose many accomplishments led him to become “the Court Jews for Elector Augustus II, the Strong of Saxony
1720 — (26th of Nisan, 5480) Birthdate of Elijah (Eliyahu) ben Shlomo Zalman «Kremer» better known as the Vilna Gaon