History events
-833 BCE — (1 Iyar 2928) King Solomon began the construction of the Temple.
1233 — (25 Nisan 4993) In the bull «Etsi Judaeorum» («Although the Jews»), Pope Gregory IX called for Jews in Christian lands to be treated with the same humanity that Christians wish to be shown towards them in pagan lands
1878 — (1nd of Nisan, 5638) In Singapore, the new Maghain Aboth Synagogue on Waterloo Street which had been financed in part by Menasseh Meyer, “supposedly the richest Jew in Asia,” was consecrated today
1884 — (9nd of Nisan, 5644) In Pest, The Supreme Tribunal has confirmed the acquittal of all the Jews who were charged with murdering Esther Salomossy. It was alleged that they had killed her to obtain blood to mix with “Passover Bread”
1887 — (10nd of Nisan, 5647) Opening of the Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition in the Royal Albert Hall, London,
1901 — (15nd of Nisan, 5661) Today, “The Morning Leader published the following dispatch from Vienna: ‘At Smyrna, on the strength of rumors that the Jews had murdered a Greek lad for ritual purposes 10,000 infuriated Greeks stormed the Ghetto” after which “the Turkish troops charged the mob with bayonets, one person being killed and fourteen others wounded.”
1918 — (22 Nisan 5678) The newspaper «Haaretz» was founded in Jerusalem. However, the first issue was only published on June 19, 1919
1920 — (16nd of Nisan, 5680) Arab orators in Palestine roused crowds into a fiery mob which attacked and killed Jews in three days of violent rioting that began today. At least five Jews were killed and hundreds more were injured during the Arab riots in Jerusalem. The riots were fomented to protest Jewish immigration. In a portent of the future, the British arrested the Jewish leaders, including Vladimir Jabotinsky and others for organizing a self-defense league
1921 — (25 Adar II 5681) 32 soldiers and sergeants from the Jewish Legion were settled in the British military camp at Tzrifin (Sarafand) with the intention of creating a Jewish regiment of 600 men to maintain order in Palestine, similarly intending to form an Arab regiment. Nothing came of the idea.
1924 — (29nd of Adar II, 5684) The British and French end their dispute over the northern border of Palestine. Metula and its environs are included in the territory of the British Mandate.
1924 — (29nd of Adar II, 5684) The first issue of the periodical «Kiryat Sefer» appears. It is published by the National Library in Jerusalem
1933 — (8nd of Nisan, 5693) In Germany, a Civil Service Law prohibiting Jews from holding public service jobs was adopted; A front-page article in the German-Jewish newspaper Jüdische Rundschau exhorted Jews to wear the identifying Yellow Star with the headline, Tragt ihn mit Stolz, den Gelben Fleck! (Wear it with Pride, the Yellow Badge!). The article was one of a series written a German Jew, Robert Weltsch, all of which were based on the same theme:»Say ‘yes’ to our Jewishness.» The original article was written in response to the to the April 1, 1933 Nazi-led boycott of Jewish shops, which was the first meaningful anti-Jewish action of the newly-empowered Nazis
1934 — (19 Nisan 5694) The first meeting of the Association of Painters and Sculptors of Israel took place in Tel Aviv
1936 — (13nd of Nisan, 5696) “The United Palestine Appeal issued a statistical analysis showing that 36,372 Jews from Germany entered Palestine from January, 1933 to December, 1935.”
1942 — (17 Nisan 5702) The Shoah. In Horodyshche (Cherkasy Oblast), over 300 Jews were shot; a ghetto was established in Dubno (Rivne Oblast), holding about 8,000 Jews. In Pohrebyshche (Vinnytsia Oblast), 6 Jews from the village of Kuleshiv were shot.
1943 — (28 Adar II 5703) The Shoah. On April 4th and 5th, the majority of the Jews from the Švenčionys ghetto (in eastern Lithuania) and several towns north and east of Vilnius were shot in Ponary (Lithuania).
1944 — (11 Nisan 5704) The Shoah. A transport of Jewish prisoners from Italy arrived at Auschwitz. They had been deported on March 28th from the Risiera di San Sabba concentration camp near Trieste. Most of the prisoners were murdered in the gas chambers, some were assigned to forced labor. None of the Jews brought to Auschwitz on this transport survived.
1946 — (3 Nisan 5706) A resolution of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPSU «On measures to assist the regional committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of the Jewish Autonomous Region in organizing… cultural and educational work among the population.» Permission was granted to publish the newspaper «Birobidzhaner Shtern» twice a week instead of once; to increase the print run of the Russian-language newspaper «Birobidzhanskaya Zvezda» to ten thousand copies and its volume to four pages; to establish a book publishing house in the region and publish a literary almanac in Yiddish
1948 — (24nd of Adar II, 5708) The Arab Liberation Army opened an attack on kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek with a barrage from 7 artillery pieces supplied by the Syrian Army which elicited a successful counter-attack by the Haganah
1951 — (27nd of Adar II, 5711) In what was the first outbreak of anti-Semitism in postwar Austria, 26 Jews were wounded in Salzburg
1951 — (27 Adar II 5711) Seven IDF soldiers were killed by Jordanian Arabs in the Hamat Gader area — a tract in the Yarmouk River valley, on the Israel-Jordan border. In response, the Israeli Air Force bombed Jordanian territory.
1953 — (19 Nisan 5713) An announcement was made by the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs stating that «as a result of an investigation, it was found that the doctors were arrested wrongly, without any legal grounds.» It was acknowledged that the doctors’ testimony was obtained using impermissible investigative methods, and that the arrest of the doctors and the preparation for their trial were intended to incite feelings of national enmity (without specifying towards whom).
1956 — (23 Nisan 5716) 5 soldiers were killed during an Egyptian attack on an Israel Defense Forces post near Kibbutz Nirim.
1964 — (22 Nisan 5724) A special resolution of the CPSU Central Committee, published in the newspaper Pravda, criticized the works of T. Kichko «Jewish Religion, Its Origin and Essence» (in Ukrainian, Kyiv, 1962) and «Judaism Without Embellishment» (Kyiv, 1962). The appearance of the latter book, illustrated with crude anti-Semitic caricatures, provoked sharp protests in the world press, including in several communist publications
1977 — (16nd of Nisan, 5737) The Jerusalem Post reported that El Al planes took off for overseas flights without cabin crews who had absented themselves to protest against El Al’s refusal to compensate them for duty on holidays
1984 — (2 Nisan 5744) The 10th Knesset voted to dissolve itself. The reason was the severe financial situation due to military actions and loss of life in southern Lebanon
2002 — (22nd of Nisan, 5762) “Rachel Charhi, 36, of Bat-Yam, critically injured in a suicide bombing in a cafe on the corner of Allenby and Bialik streets in Tel-Aviv on March 30, died of her wounds. Some 30 others were injured in the attack
2002 — (22 Nisan 5762) Operation Defensive Shield, the start of the Nablus clearing operation. At night, under the cover of helicopters, infantry and engineer units, along with tanks, entered the city. Over 1000 Arabs were arrested
2008 — (28nd of Adar II, 5768) Army radio reported that Palestinian militants had opened fire on farmers working in the fields of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, near Gaza. Thirty of the fieldworkers being shot at were volunteers from kibbutzim from different parts of Israel who had come to aid their counterparts at Ein Hashlosha, which has been the target of repeated sniper attacks
2011 — (29 Adar II 5771) A battery of the Iron Dome system was deployed to protect Ashkelon and Ashdod from «Qassam» and «Grad» rockets launched by Arabs from Gaza. The first Iron Dome battery had been deployed in the vicinity of Beersheba a week earlier.
2011 — (29 Adar II 5771) The privatization of the Port of Eilat was launched. In October 2012, the Ministry of Finance announced that management of the port had been transferred for 15 years to the company «Papo Shipping,» with an option for a 10-year extension.
2016 — (25 Adar II 5776) The first tsunami response drills in Israel’s history were held in Ashdod.
2019 — (28 Adar II 5779) The remains of Zachary Baumel, who fell during the Lebanon War, were buried at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Preparation for the operation to return his body had been underway for several months. The Mossad and Shin Bet took part. The remains of the IDF soldier and his personal effects were brought to Israel on an El Al flight from a third country at the end of March 2019
People
1270 — (11 Nisan 5030) Rabbi Moses ben Nahman (Nahmanides) — commentator on the Torah, philosopher, and physician — died at the age of 76
1693 — (27th of Adar II, 5453) Eighty-eight year old Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, a kabbalist, scholar and leader of the Dutch Jewish community passed away
1772 — (1 Nisan 5532) Rabbi Nachman of Breslov was born — founder of Breslov Hasidism. He died on October 6, 1810, in Uman.
1775 — Sam Elias (Dutch Sam) was born — one of the strongest heavyweight boxers in England of that era. He invented the uppercut (this was an innovation for the English school of boxing). He died on July 3, 1816.
1862 — (4nd of Nisan, 5622) Birthdate of Leonid Pasternak, the native of Odessa who became a noted post-impressionist painter and was the father of Boris Pasternak
1877 — (21 Nisan 5637) Mordechai Gebirtig was born — a poet and songwriter. He wrote in Yiddish and was the author, among other works, of the song «Our Town is Burning» («Es brent»), which has often been performed since World War II in memory of the Jews who perished. He died in the Krakow Ghetto on July 4, 1942.
1883 — (26th of Adar II) Menahem Cattawi Bey, known as the «Egyptian Rothschild” passed away today
1899 — (24 Nisan 5659) Hillel Oppenheimer was born in Berlin — a botanist, founder of the Faculty of Agriculture at the Hebrew University, and recipient of the Israel Prize for agricultural research. He died in 1971.
1902 — (26 Adar II 5662) Menachem Mendel Schneerson was born — the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe. He died on June 12, 1994.
1920 — Paul Ben-Haim (born Paul Frankenburger) was born — an Israeli composer, conductor, and teacher. He is considered a founding father of the Israeli classical music style. He died on January 14, 1984
1923 — (18th of Nisan, 5683) Forty-nine year old Yuily Osipovch Martov, the Russian Revolutionary who led the Mensheviks – one of the many parties to be outlawed by Lenin and his Bolsheviks – passed away as an exile living in Germany
1928 — Elina Bystritskaya was born — an actress. She died on April 26, 2019.
1928 — (14 Nisan 5688) Eliyahu Zeira was born in Haifa — a Major General. He headed the Paratroopers Brigade, the Operations Directorate of the General Staff, and the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate. He resigned after the publication of the Agranat Commission’s report (1974), which placed responsibility for Israel’s unpreparedness for the start of the Yom Kippur War on the IDF command in general and personally on the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate. He died on November 21, 2025 (1 Kislev 5786).
1948 — (24 Adar II 5708) Avi Toledano was born in Morocco — an Israeli composer.
1982 — (11 Nisan 5742) Israeli diplomat Yaakov Bar-Simantov was shot dead in Paris.
1985 — Dudi Sela was born — one of Israel’s leading professional tennis players
2026 — (17 Nissan 5786) 21-year-old Senior Sergeant Guy Ludar was killed in southern Lebanon