History events
1558 — (20th of Av, 5318) The first printed edition of the Zohar appeared. This popularized the study of Kabbalah, mysticism and Messianism
1578 — (1th of Elul, 5338) This date is considered a Moroccan Purim (Purim de Los Christianos); a celebration of a time when Jews there faced near disaster because forces led by King Sebastian of Portugal nearly succeeded in conquering the country. The Portuguese were defeated at al-Qasr al-Kabir. Their defeat meant that the Inquisition would not be coming to Morocco
1827 — (11th of Av, 5587) In Romania, untold numbers of Jews perished when the Jewish quarter of Jassy was swept by fire
1929 — (27th of Tammuz, 5689) Founding of the Jewish agency for Palestine
1942 — (21th of Av, 5702) The first train with Jews from Belgium went to Auschwitz. The train contained 998 Jews
1944 — (15th of Av, 5704) A limited number of Jewish war refugees arrived in New York Harbor. ….. They then moved to a decommissioned army camp in Oswego New York. Ruth Gerber, an American journalist was selected “to go on a secret mission to escort the refugees to the United States. This journey became ‘the defining Jewish moment’ of Gruber’s life. In her role as a spokesperson for the refugees, Gruber presented the refugees’ journey as a human interest story for the press. She told the New York Times that the refugees represented «a cross-section of every refugee now pouring into Italy,» including Jews, Catholics and Protestants for whom religious services were held onboard the ship. In a touching moment in Haven, her book recounting the voyage, Gruber recalls a rabbi conducting a service as the boat passed the Statue of Liberty, and her pride in telling the Jewish refugees of the Holocaust that the poem on the base was written by Emma Lazarus, an American Jew. The story of these European refugees stands out as a momentary relaxation of America’s restrictive immigration policy. President Roosevelt’s decision provided the refugees with a safe haven as «guests» in the United States during the war, with the assumption that «they were destined to be sent back to their homelands when the peace comes.» While Roosevelt planned to allow the nearly 1000 refugees to reside in the United States only until the end of hostilities, when the end of the war came, Gruber lobbied the President and Congress—with the help of Catholic, Jewish and Protestant clergy—and convinced the officials to let the refugees stay. While the story ended happily for these refugees, sadly it came at the expense of others waiting in displaced persons camps in Europe. Since the overall immigration laws and quotas remained unchanged, the close to 1000 refugees were just subtracted form that year’s quota
2005 — (28th of Tammuz, 5765) Israeli archaeologist Eliat Mazar announced the discovery the site of Palace of David, a 10th Century BCE building in the Old City of Jerusalem. The site is widely recognized as a major find but there is dispute over the identification of the building as being David’s Palace which is described in the Bible
2006 — (10st of Av, 5766) Over 200 rockets were fired at northern Israel, killing three people. At least 86 more were wounded, one critically and five seriously
People
1796 — (29th of Tammuz, 5556) Samuel Cahen, translator of the Bible into French, born
1817 — (29th of Tammuz, 5700) Max Ring, German poet, born
1912 — (22th of Av, 5577) Birthdate of Raoul Wallenberg
1940 — (29th of Tammuz, 5700) Just months before his 60th birthday, Ze’ev (Vladimir) Jabotinsky passed away while inspecting a Betar Camp in New York
1978 — (1st of Av, 5738) Lilya Yuryevna Brik, the so-called «muse of Russian avant-garde» died at the age of 87
2002 — (26th of Av, 5762) Mordechai Yehuda Friedman, 24, of Ramat Beit Shemesh, ….. Sari Goldstein, 21, of Karmiel, Maysoun Amin Hassan, 19, of Sajur, Marlene Miriam Menahem, 22, of moshav Safsufa, Sgt.-Maj. Roni Ghanem, 28, of Maghar, Sgt. Yifat Gavrieli, 19, of Mitzpe Adi, Sgt. Omri Goldin, 20, of Mitzpe Aviv, Adelina Kononen, 37, of the Philippines and Rebecca Roga, 40, of the Philippines were killed and 38 others were injured during a suicide bombing aboard Egged Bus 361 at the Meron Junction for which Hamas took credit