History events
1039 — (1 Elul, 4799) — From this day in the year 4799, the Jews of Granada established a local Purim. It commemorates the salvation from an assassination plot against Shmuel Ha-Nagid, a statesman of Granada
1263 — (17th of Elul, 5023) The Jews in Barcelona received permission to build a new synagogue. Four years later the building needed repairs, and the government authorized the Jewish community to go ahead with the repairs on March 24, 1267
1349 — (9th of Elul, 5109) Three thousand Jews slaughtered in Erfurt; Some ten thousand Jews were massacred during riots in two of the largest communities of Germany — Mainz and Breslau. They were killed because the Jews were deemed responsible for the bubonic plague that was sweeping Europe
1391 — (23th of Elul, 5151) On Majorca, ….. Jewish homes were sacked; and even the houses of Christians sheltering Jews in concealment were not spared. About 300 Jews were put to death, 800 saved themselves in the royal castle, and the rest underwent baptism. When Queen Violante was informed of the outrage, she condemned the inhabitants of the islands to pay a fine of 150,000 florins (or, according to some authorities, 104,000 florins). A year later (1392), however, Juan I. granted full amnesty to all who had practiced violence against the Jews or «the Calle,» because they had done it for the welfare of king and state; and he further declared all debts of the Christians to the Jews to be null and void
1489 — (27th of Elul, 5249) In a letter written to his brother from Jerusalem” Obadiah ben Abraham Bartenura, a 15th century Italian rabbi known for his commentary on the Mishnah” a leader who helped to rejuvenate Jerusalem’s Jewish community “mentions that Jews flock to Jerusalem from Egypt, Damascus, Aleppo and other places in order to worship God
1614 — (29 Elul, 5374) Vincent Fettmilch, the leader of the craftsmen’s guild in Frankfurt am Main who had effectively seized power, ordered the expulsion of Jews from the city. 1,380 people (mostly men; women and children had been evacuated in advance to safe places) left Frankfurt am Main. The exiles settled in surrounding towns and villages
1855 — (10th of Elul, 5615) Publication of the first issue of «Die Deborah» a German-language newspaper focused on serving women’s interests. ….. Die Deborah, the most important German-Jewish newspaper in the U.S. in its time. Reform leader Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise served as editor and published Die Deborah as a German-language supplement to his English-language The Israelite (later The American Israelite) and designed it particularly for «the instruction and the intellectual entertainment of the ladies»
1857 — (4 Elul, 5617) A decree by the Governor-General of Novorossiya, Count A.G. Stroganov, «prohibiting Jewish weddings from parading with… music in the streets of Odessa.» The decree, however, was not promptly enforced by anyone.
1898 — (6 Elul, 5658) The consecration of the Brodsky Choral Synagogue in Kyiv.
1928 — (8 Elul, 5688) A reader’s letter was published in the newspaper «Trud» (Labor): «Why are Jews being allocated the best lands in Crimea? They won’t work on them anyway; they’ll lease the land out and walk around with their hands in their pockets, while Russians will work for them.»
1929 — (18th of Av, 5689) Arab attacks continued on Jews living in the section of Jerusalem known as Talipot. ….. Women and children had to be evacuated to the New City. Arab mobs looted Jewish homes including that of the author S.J. Agnon. They destroyed his collection of rare documents related to the history of Palestine; By August today, another 17 Jews had been killed in the Jerusalem area. The worst killings occurred in Hebron and Safed while others were killed in Motza, Kfar Uria, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv; (18th of Av, 5689): On Shabbat, Arab mobs killed five members of the Maklev family and their two house-guests one of whom was an 85 year old Rabbi; Arab rioters attacked Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, laying waste to the three year old settlement; In Hebron, Arabs massacred fifty-nine Jews including five rabbis and eight American students studying at a local Yeshiva. This slaughter would lead to Jews being driven out of the city putting an end to this ancient Jewish community and making the home of the Cave of Machpelah “Jew free” except for the remains of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Jews would not be able to return to their ancient community until after the 1967 war
1936 — (6th of Elul, 5696) Two more Jews fell victim tonight to the murderous Arab violence that began on April 19, bringing the Jewish death toll to sixty-six. One of the victims was Julius Vagshall, “an employee of the Palestine Electric Company was murdered…near Mikveh Israel
1941 — (1 Elul, 5701) At a rally of the Jewish public held at the State Jewish Theater in Moscow, S.A. Lozovsky, then Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, appealed to Jews worldwide to help the Soviet Union.
1941 — (1 Elul, 5701) The Shoah. The shooting of 180 Jews in Baranovka (Zhytomyr region) and over 1,000 Jews in Izyaslav (Khmelnytskyi region). On the same day, 283 Jews were shot in the Zviahel-Korosten area.
1942 — (11 Elul, 5702) Approximately 4,000 Jews were shot near Kostopil
1950 — (11th of Elul, 5710) Operation Magic Carpet, ….. which brought 45,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel, was concluded. This rescue of the ancient Yemenite community began shortly after the creation of the Jewish states. Anti-Jewish riots broke out even though the Jews of Yemen had done nothing. The easiest way would have been to bring them to Israel by ship, but the Egyptians would not let the Israelis use the Suez Canal. So the Israelis mounted an airlift (hence the name magic carpet) and flew the people to safety with between 500 to 600 Yemenites on each flight. Many had never seen a plane before. Many people remembered the words of the prophet who said the Jews would be redeemed on Wings of Eagles. This was the first large scale saving of a Jewish community
1954 — (25 Av, 5714) The Knesset passed the Bank of Israel Law.
1956 — (17 Elul, 5716) The Ministry of Social Welfare decided to stop providing allowances to residents of the Pardes Hanna new immigrant camp who refused to move into new housing
1980 — (12th of Elul, 5740) One person was killed and twelve were injured when a terrorist bomb went off in Jerusalem gas station
2009 — (4 Elul, 5769) An agreement was reached between the Tiberias Magistrate’s Court and landowner Tzipori to begin excavations of a tomb that may contain the remains of the famous 3rd-century rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi.
People
1811 — Jacob Samuda was born — an English shipbuilding engineer, inventor, and owner of a shipbuilding firm. He died during the testing of one of his ships on November 12, 1844.
1841 — (8 Elul, 5574) Herz Homberg passed away — a writer who compiled a commentary on a significant portion of Deuteronomy. He was the first Jewish student at the University of Jena and the first Jewish lecturer in philosophy. All his children abandoned Judaism
1844 — (9th of Elul, 5604) Aaron Chorin (Choriner), Hungarian rabbi, died
1884 — A.Y. Brushtein was born — a writer. She died on September 20, 1968.
1911 — Győző Braun was born — a multiple-time world champion in table tennis. He died on February 28, 1972.
1915 — Yaakov Perry was born — an Israeli military figure, statesman, and public activist, a participant in the War of Independence. He died in 2001.
1918 — (16 Elul, 5678) M. Gefter was born — a philosopher, historian, and founder of the «Holocaust» foundation. He died on February 15, 1995.
1923 — Y. Karasik was born — a film director. He died on January 23, 2005.
1927 — Harry Markowitz was born — an American economist, recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize. He died on June 22, 2023.
1941 — (1th of Elul, 5701) Eighty-six-year-old Dr. Jacob Wigodsky, longtime leader of the Jews of Vilna, Lithuania, is arrested and imprisoned. He will be executed a week later at Ponary, Lithuania
1944 — Steven Katz was born — a philosopher, chairman of the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies at Boston University in Massachusetts.
1953 — Roni Leibovich was born — a famous bank robber in Israel. In total, he robbed 14 banks.
2024 — (20 Av, 5784) The Gaza War. Day three hundred twenty-three. The fallen include: Reserve Staff Sergeant Daniel Pechenyuk, 26; Reserve Staff Sergeant Nitai Metodi, 23; Reserve Sergeant Major Yaniv Yitzhak Oren, 35; and 20-year-old Reserve Staff Sergeant Amit Tsadikov