History events
-353 — On the first day of the month of Elul, 3408, the prophet Haggai rebuked Zerubbabel and Joshua, saying they were listening to those who claimed “the time has not yet come to rebuild the Temple”. According to the prophet, poverty and the recent drought were punishments for the delay in construction, and rebuilding the Temple would bring prosperity
1295 — (24th of Av, 5055) Bolko I. of Silesia grants Jews «Privilegium Fredericianum»
1785 (1 Elul 5545) — Decree by Emperor Joseph II of Austria abolishing the autonomy of Jewish kahals (community councils).
1903 (14 Av 5663) — Entry in Herzl’s diary upon arriving in Russia: “Everywhere… I was awaited… Their situation is so dire that I, powerless, seem to them a saviour.”
1927 — (9th of Av, 5687) The Maccabee soccer team of Palestine defeated the Brooklyn Wand-erers by a score of 2 goals to 1 at Hawthorne Feld in Brooklyn today, thus completing their tour of the United States with an even break of five victories, five losses and one tie
1930 — (13th of Av, 5690) Today, Nationalist students forced their way aboard the Bucharest-Czernowitz express at a wayside stop and began cudgeling Jewish passengers as anti-Semitic disorders have broken out again in Romania
1941 (14 Av 5701) — The Shoah. In Zhytomyr, Sonderkommando 4a shot 402 Jews and hanged two. In Radomyshl (Zhytomyr Oblast), a unit of this squad executed 110 Jews. In Zdolbunov (Rivne Oblast), several hundred Jews were shot. The Security Police attempted to return another 4 500 Jews to Bessarabia; when the Romanians prevented this, the Jews were driven to Yampil. Along the road near the village of Yaruga, about 500 Jews were shot.
1942 (24 Av 5702) — The Shoah. Mass shooting of Jews in the Belarusian city of Navahrudak. The 36th Estonian Police Battalion took part in the massacre.
1942 (24 Av 5702) — Apparently, 2 000 Jews were shot in Torchin (Volyn Oblast)
1944 — (18th of Av, 5704) Holocaust. ….. Approximately 68,000 Jews remained in the Lodz Ghetto.. This was the largest gathering of Jews outside of the camps left in all of Europe. Of this remnant, 67,000 of were told they were to be resettled. Instead they are sent to Birkenau. The shipment of Jews that began today lasted 23 days, finally ending on August 30. Once there, most of the Jews meet the usual horrific fate — selection, death by gas, and then the cremation of their bodies. Some of the crippled were specially selected by Dr. Mengele. He still had plenty of subjects to use for his medical «studies» and experiments
1948 (2 Av 5708) — The conscription of women and girls born between 1920 and 1930 into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began.
1948 (2 Av 5708) — UN Envoy Bernadotte urged the Security Council to approve the right of Arab refugees to return to Israel. The Israeli government agreed to discuss the matter only within the framework of a peace settlement.
1949 (12 Av 5709) — The first train since the War of Independence ran from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Its cargo was symbolic: flour, cement, and Torah scrolls. Railway service between the cities was restored after a long interruption.
1955 — (19th of Av, 5715) Bar Ilan University was founded
1957 (10 Av 5717) — International telephone area codes were established: Jerusalem 02, Tel Aviv 03, Haifa 04. Direct dialing was permitted from 3 p.m. to 8 a.m.
1963 (17 Av 5723) — Israel. Two new government agencies were established: the Nature Reserves Authority and the National Parks Authority.
1967 (1 Av 5727) — A one‑day strike by Arabs in Jerusalem, protesting the city’s unification. An additional cause of unrest was the military governor’s decision to expel four influential Arabs who had been inciting discontent.
1970 (5 Av 5730) — War of Attrition. A ceasefire agreement was reached on the front with Egypt. The parties agreed not to reinforce their armies within 50 km of the confrontation line. The day after the agreement was signed, the Egyptians violated it by moving anti‑tank and Anti‑aircraft missiles closer to the front line.
2011 (7 Av 5771) — A new 220‑meter‑long section of an underground tunnel opened in the City of David (Ancient Jerusalem). The tunnel served as a drainage channel for the city’s central street, which descended from the Western Wall of the Temple Mount (Wailing Wall) to the Shiloah Pool through the City of David.
2022 (10 Av 5782) — The Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck the Al‑Hafa Military Base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah, located on Mount Nakam west of Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, in areas controlled by the Houthis. To reach the Al‑Hafa base, Israeli aircraft had to cover 2 918 km — the longest distance in the IAF’s history
People
1904 (26 Av 5664) — Ralph Johnson Bunche was born, an American diplomat. Between 1948 and 1949, he played a decisive role in resolving the Arab‑Israeli conflict. Initially, he was an assistant to Folke Bernadotte, the UN mediator in the Middle East. After Bernadotte’s assassination in September 1948, negotiations were entrusted to Bunche. He succeeded in securing a ceasefire and later a peace agreement. For his role in conflict resolution, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, becoming its first African‑American laureate. He died on 9 December 1971
1942 — (24th of Av, 5702) Janusz Korczak, a Polish-Jewish educator, children’s author, and pediatrician known as Pan Doktor («Mr. Doctor») or Stary Doktor («Old Doctor») who wrote under the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit died with the orphans he had been caring for at Treblinka
1948 — (2th of Av, 5708) Birthdate of Dan Halutz who served as Commander of the Israeli Air Force and Chief of Staff of the IDF
1950 — Robert Shapiro was born, an Israeli businessman, owner of the Hapoel Haifa football club. He died in 2001.
1954 — Jonathan Pollard was born, an American Jew and former U.S. Navy Intelligence officer, convicted in the U.S. of spying for Israel and sentenced to life imprisonment
2001 — (18th of Av, 5761) Zohar Shurgi, 40, of Moshav Yafit in the Jordan Valley, was shot and killed by terrorists while driving home at night on the Trans-Samaria Highway
2003 (9 Av 5763) — Senior Sergeant Oren of the Israel Defense Forces was killed in the Aскар refugee camp in Shechem (Nablus)
2006 — (13th of Av, 5766) Three Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and four others wounded in fierce fighting with Hezbollah militants today in southern Lebanon. Two of them were identified as Major Yotam Lotan, 33 of Kibbut Beit Hashita and Staff Sergeant Malk Moasha Ambao, 22, from Lod
2008 (6 Av 5768) — Legendary Israeli basketball coach Ralph Klein died, who brought Israel its first international basketball trophy. Under his leadership, Maccabi Tel Aviv won the European Champions Cup in 1977.
2021 (29 Av 5781) — On the penultimate day of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Linoy Ashram became the all‑around rhythmic gymnastics champion