History events
-357 BCE — (13 Nisan 3404) The day before the holiday of Passover, decrees were sent in the name of Achashverosh to all one hundred and twenty-seven provinces under Persian rule: «to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Yehudim—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.»
70 CE — (8 Nisan 3830) The Jewish War. Ominous portents in the Jerusalem Temple. «On the eighth day of the month Xanthicus (Nisan), at the ninth hour of the night, the altar and the sanctuary were suddenly illuminated with such a bright light as at midday, and this brilliant radiance lasted for about half an hour. To the ignorant this seemed a good omen; but the scribes immediately guessed the consequences it portended, which indeed came to pass. On that same festival, a cow led by the high priest to the altar gave birth to a calf in the sacred precinct. Furthermore, the eastern gate of the inner court, made of brass, so heavy that twenty men could scarcely shut it in the evenings, fastened with iron bars and fitted with bolts deeply sunk into a threshold made of a single stone—this gate suddenly opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night. The temple guards immediately reported this to their captain, who came to the spot, and by his order the gate was with difficulty shut again. Again, the profane saw this as a fine sign, saying that God would open the gates of salvation to them; but learned men saw something else in it, namely, that the security of the temple was gone, that its gates would open proactively for the enemy, and they considered this sign a harbinger of destruction.» (Josephus)
1486 — (2th of Iyyar, 5246) The first prayer book (Siddur) was printed in Italy by Soncino. This was the only time that the Siddur was published during the 15th century
1919 — (7 Nisan 5679) The Russian Civil War. Pogrom in Chernobyl
1920 — (19th of Nisan, 5680) The Arab Riots in Jerusalem which had begun on the second day of Pesach came to an end today. 1920 — (19 Nisan 5680) V. Jabotinsky was arrested (see April 6). He was accused of possessing weapons, conspiracy, and arming the population for the purpose of carrying out robberies and murders. Jabotinsky defended himself with evidence, not denying his participation in the defense, but asserting that the instigators and initiators of the disorders were Arabs; however, his words had no effect on the British
1925 — CE (13 Nisan 5685) The fourth exhibition of the Association of Hebrew Artists, the «Tower of David,» opened. It lasted for a month
1930 — (9th of Nisan, 5690) It was reported today that Palestine Mandatory Authority is preparing a plan for dividing Palestine into cantons, like Switzerland which it will then submit to the government in London. “The first experiment with such cantons will be the establishment of special Jewish district comprising Tel Aviv…with 47,000 inhabitants” and 40 nearby settlements including Petach Tikvah, Rishon Lexion and Rehoboth that would form a contiguous entity with 70,000 Jewish inhabitants. The aim is to ultimate create 15 or 16 such cantons, seven of which be Moslem, three would be Christian and five or six which would be Jewish
1932 — (1th of Nisan, 5692) The first radio station in Palestine was opened today in Tel Aviv under a license from the British Mandatory Government. Mendel Abranovitch operated Radio Tel Aviv
1933 — (11 Nisan 5693) The Shoah. In Germany, the «Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service» was enacted, establishing the concept of «non-Aryan» even before the issuance of the Nuremberg Laws and leading to the dismissal of about two thousand Jews from the civil service
1937 — (26 Nisan 5697) The first graduation of trainees from the legal guard forces courses in Jewish Palestine, organized by the British (see April 1, 1938). On this occasion, a parade was held in their honor at Givat Haim, attended by senior British officers
1937 — (26th of Nisan, 5697) The Palestine Post reported from London that according to British political circles, the Royal (Peel) Commission on Palestine might propose the setting up of two separate Jewish and Arab states, leaving Jerusalem, Bethlehem and other holy places under British Mandate. Haifa was to be a common seaport for all
1941 — (10 Nisan 5701) The Shoah. The ghettos in the Polish city of Radom—one large, another smaller—were sealed off from the city. About 25,000 people were concentrated there.
1944 — (14 Nisan 5704) A. Wetzler and W. Rosenberg managed to escape from Auschwitz; two weeks later they reached Slovakia. From them, the governments and public of Western countries received for the first time reliable information about what was happening in the camp.
1946 — (6 Nisan 5706) In the port of La Spezia, near Genoa, 1014 passengers of the ship «Fede,» who were making aliyah, began a hunger strike in protest against the British attempt to prevent them from entering the Land of Israel. The hunger strike lasted 75 hours and ended in victory because they succeeded in attracting the attention of the world community. The ship soon arrived in Haifa.
1951 — (1 Nisan 5711) Due to drainage work in the Hula Valley swamps, the Syrian army shelled the workers and the soldiers guarding them. Twenty soldiers were killed, and a kindergarten in Kibbutz Ein Gev was affected
1952 — (12th of Nisan, 5712) The Jerusalem Post reported that The Jerusalem Municipal Council voted for a new entertainment tax and fixed salaries of town councilors and deputy mayors
1954 — (4 Nisan 5714) The Knesset passed the «Tenants’ Protection Law,» specifying, for example, that «a room of no less than 6 sq. m. and no more than 8 sq. m., or a hallway of 8 sq. m. or more, counts as half a room.»
1956 — (26th of Nisan, 5716) Production of domestic sugar began at a factory in Afula. Initially, it was from imported raw materials. But in the summer, after the sugar beet harvest, it was from domestic sources.
1956 — (26 Nisan 5716) Terrorist attacks by Egyptian infiltrators. A water pipeline was blown up on the section between Ashkelon and Yad Mordechai. In Ahuza [likely Achuzam], a jeep belonging to civilians was fired upon; one Israeli was killed, another wounded. In Shuval, a truck belonging to civilians was fired upon; one person was killed, another wounded. An army truck was fired upon at Tel Kuntira [likely Tel Kunteira]; two wounded. An army truck near Achuzam was fired upon and set on fire; three wounded. Another army truck near Achuzam was fired upon; two wounded. A resident of Ashkelon was killed when terrorists threw grenades at her home. Two residents of Kibbutz Givat Haim were killed when terrorists fired on their car between the Plugot junction and Mishmar HaNegev. Houses and cars were grenaded and fired upon in Nitzanim and Ktziot. One person was killed, three others wounded
1967 — (26th of Adar II, 5727) An air battle over the Golan Heights between Syrian and Israeli fighter jets. Six Syrian planes were shot down. IAF aircraft had sortied to bomb heavy artillery positions on the Golan that were shelling the valley below. Syrian planes rushed to help. The battle took place in the skies from the Heights to Damascus
1968 — CE (9 Nisan 5728) The Hall of Names was opened at the Yad Vashem museum. Relatives, friends, and descendants were given the opportunity to record and perpetuate the names of the victims by filling out a special questionnaire—a «Page of Testimony.» A «Memorial Book of Destroyed Jewish Communities» was also placed in the Hall of Names.
1977 — CE (19 Nisan 5737) Maccabi Tel Aviv won the European Champions Cup in basketball.
1977 — CE (19 Nisan 5737) Yitzhak Rabin withdrew his candidacy for the position of head of government due to a scandal involving his wife’s dollar bank account in the United States, which was prohibited by Israeli law at the time. Shimon Peres, who replaced Rabin as chairman of the Labor party, faced Menachem Begin in the elections.
1977 — CE (19 Nisan 5737) Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. The country was represented by singer Anna Dresner.
2006 — CE (9 Nisan 5766) The High Court of Justice ruled that rabbinical courts do not have the authority to decide monetary and property disputes between divorcing spouses.
2011 — (3th of Nisan, 5771) Today, the Iron Dome missile defense system successfully intercepted for the first time a Grad rocket that was fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon from the Gaza Strip
2011 — (3 Nisan 5771) A «yellow» bus, i.e., a bus carrying children, was fired upon from Gaza. A teenager was seriously wounded; he died ten days later. On the night of April 8, the IAF carried out a series of retaliatory strikes on Gaza. At least seven Arabs were killed and about forty wounded.
2011 — (3 Nisan 5771) Two passenger trains collided in the Netanya area. About 60 people were slightly injured.
2012 — (15 Nisan 5772) The «Flower Show»—an international flower exhibition—opened in a park on Haifa’s seafront.
2022 — (6 Nisan 5782) Terrorist attack in Tel Aviv. An Arab opened fire on patrons at a cafe. Two people were killed, 8 wounded. The terrorist fled to Jaffa but was located and killed in a shootout with security forces.
2023 — (16 Nisan 5783) Terrorist attack in Samaria. On Route 57 near Hamra, Arabs from their car shot at a vehicle with Israeli license plates, wounding the driver and female passengers. They then caught up with the car, which continued moving, rammed it, and shot the Israeli women at close range. Two sisters, residents of the Efrat settlement (Gush Etzion, Judea), were killed. The mother of the murdered girls was seriously wounded and died in the hospital a few days later. In the evening, a vehicular terror attack occurred on the Tel Aviv promenade. An Italian tourist was killed, 7 people wounded. The driver of the car was an Arab with Israeli citizenship.
2024 — (28 Adar II 5784) The Gaza War. Day one hundred and eighty-four. Forces of the 98th Division, which had been operating in Khan Yunis, withdrew from the sector. The 162nd Division remained in Gaza; a rocket alert sounded in several communities near the Gaza border; five rockets were launched from the Khan Yunis area, which Israeli forces had vacated shortly before. Two rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system
People
1285 — (1th of Iyyar, 5045) After a journey of almost two years “German Talmudist Judah ben Asher” arrived in Toledo, Spain today
1645 — (21th of Iyyar, 5405) Michael Cardozo became the 1st Jewish lawyer in Brazil. The Dutch West India Company granted Michael Cardoso the right to practice law in Brazil a privilege no other Jew enjoyed at that time anywhere else
1654 — (30th of Iyyar, 5414) Manuel Teieira (Isaac Hayyim Senior Teixeira), the Lisbon born son of Diego Teixeira and Sara d’Andrade who followed in his father’s footsteps as “the financial agent and resident minister of Queen Cristian of Sweden married his second wife Esther Gomez des Mesquita today in Hamburg, Germany
1880 — Vera Garbovskaya was born — philanthropist. With her help, a well-equipped hospital was built in Tiberias. Grabovskaya died on March 20, 1938.
1927 — In exile, in Alma-Ata, the Zionist Ts. Lisogor-Peretz died by suicide.
1938 — (6 Nisan 5698) Haganah members E. Titkin and E. Korngold were killed by Arabs while defending the settlement of Ein HaShofet, east of Haifa.
1938 — N. I. Babalikashvili was born — Semitic scholar, specialist in the Hebrew language and Jewish literature, translator. He died on May 10, 1986.
1946 — M. Rudinstein was born — film producer, organizer of film festivals. He died on December 5, 2021.
1992 — (4th of Nisan, 5752) Eighty year old Chess Grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky passed away today