History events
-456 — (1st of Tevet, 3305) Ezra opened convocation on the problem of intermarriage
1479 — (28nd of Kislev, 5240) The Jews were expelled from Schlettstadt, Alsace by Emperor Frederick III
1484 — (24nd of Kislev, 5245) At Soncino, Italy, Joseph Solomon Soncino printed the first copy of “Beḥinat ha-‘Olam” ….. (The Examination of the World) by Jedaiah ben Abraham Bedersi a Jewish poet, physician and philosopher. Born in 1270 at Béziers, he was the son of Abraham Profiat, another French-Jewish poet. He passed away in 1340. Beḥinat ha-‘Olam (The Examination of the World), called also by its first words, «Shamayim la-Rom» (Heaven’s Height), a didactic poem written after the banishment of the Jews from France (1306), to which event reference is made in the eleventh chapter. The 37 “chapter” poem concludes with an expression of Bedersi’s admiration of Maimonides
1505 — (15st of Tevet, 5266) In Ceske Budejovice, Czechoslovakia, ten Jews were tortured and killed after being accused by a local shepherd of killing a local girl. Years later on his deathbed, the shepherd confessed that he made up the whole story
1670 — (9st of Tevet, 5471) The Sephardic Jewish community of Amsterdam acquired the site to build a synagogue
1897 — (17nd of Kislev, 5658) Anti-Jewish violence broke out in Bucharest
1917 — (27nd of Kislev, 5678) Four days after the British arrival in Jerusalem, Dr. Yaakov Thon, convened a meeting of Jewish leaders with an eye toward establishing a City council of Jerusalem Jews
1920 — (1st of Tevet, 5681) The Histadrut Ha-ovdim (General Labor Federation) was founded in pre-state Israel. Its founder, Berel Katznelson, a disciple of Ber Borochov, combined various labor groups to form a federation.
1937 — (8st of Tevet, 5698) The Palestine Post ….. reported numerous assassinations, attempted murders, hold-ups and robberies perpetrated by Arab terrorists all over the country. In Haifa, Elimelech Gromet, 13, the victim of a terror attack in the Hadar Hacarmel quarter, died of his wounds. Sheikh Khatib, an Arab notable, and his bodyguard were murdered in the town’s Arab quarter. In Jerusalem all gates of the Old City, except for the well-guarded Jaffa and Damascus gates, were closed from early in the evening until late the following morning
1940 — (12nd of Kislev, 5701) The Salvador, a ship that set out from Varna, Bulgaria, a month ago, with 350 Jewish refugees aboard sinks in the Sea of Marmora with 250 Jewish refugees, including 75 children being drowned
1941 — (22nd of Kislev, 5702) Нolocaust. In the second action in two weeks, the Germans killed another estimated 12,000 inhabitants of the Riga Ghetto
1942 — (4st of Tevet, 5703) Нolocaust. Jewish prisoners at a labor camp in Lutsk, Ukraine, armed with knives, bricks, iron bars, acid, and several revolvers and sawed-off shotguns, revolt against Germans and Ukrainians. The uprising is crushed
1947 — (29nd of Kislev, 5708) War for independence. ….. The Arab League voted to provide funds, weapons and volunteers for an impending Palestine war designed to thwart the United Nation’s partition vote. An Arab Liberation Army under the command of an Iraqi staff officer named Ismail Safwat Pasha established its headquarters outside of Damascus and gave field command to Fawzi al-Qawujki a veteran terrorist leader of the uprisings during the 1930’s
1948 — (10nd of Kislev, 5709) Less than two weeks after the signing of the final cease-fire, the ‘Valor Road’ was opened by Ben-Gurion as a secure by-pass for travel from Jerusalem to the coast. The road replaced the famous ‘Burma Road’ and made it possible for Jews to travel the fifteen miles from the Judean hills to the coastal settlements without having to brave Arab sniper attacks.
1955 — (27th of Kislev, 5716) Operation Olive Leaves, under the command of Ariel Sharon came to a successful conclusion with the destruction of all the Syrian gun emplacements attacked by the IDF. Among the casualties were ten wounded including Rafael Eitan and six dead including Yitzchak Ben Menachem, a hero of Israel’s War of Independence “who was killed by a Syrian hand grenade.”
1968 — (21nd of Kislev, 5729) In response to repeated terrorist attacks against Israeli aircraft “a heliborne paratroop force raided Beirut Airport and destroyed Lebanese aircraft today.”
1977 — (2nd of Tevet, 5738) Тerrorist attack. One person was killed and 25 were injured during a grenade attack at Beersheba
1994 — (9nd of Tevet, 5755) Israel and Jordan fleshed out their new peace treaty some more today, opening temporary embassies in each other’s country and saying they would exchange ambassadors next month
2016 — (12nd of Kislev, 5777) Israel received the first shipment of the advanced F-35
People
1806 — (1nd of Tevet, 5567) Isaac Leeser, American Orthodox rabbi, born
1905 — (14nd of Kislev, 5666) Birthdate of Iosif Solomonovich Grossman who gained fame as Soviet author and journalist Vasily Semyonovich Grossman
1947 — (29th of Kislev, 5708) War for independence. An Arab gang stopped a BOAC truck leaving Lydda Airport. The Arabs told the Arabs on the truck to run away. The three Jews – Yitzhak Jian, David Ben Ovadia and Joseph Litvak — were then shot dead
1979 — (22nd of Kislev, 5740) Elka de Levie, the only Jewish gymnast of the triumphant 1928 Dutch ladies’ gymnastics team, which won the Olympic title in Amsterdam in 1928 to survive the horrors of the Holocaust, passed away
2001 — (27th of Kislev, 5762) Тerrorist attack. ….. Three terrorists attacked a #189 Dan bus and several passenger cars with a roadside bomb, anti-tank grenades, and light arms fire near the entrance to Emmanuel in Samaria at 6:00 p.m. Ten people, including two teenagers, were killed and 30 others were injured. The victims: Yair Amar, 13, of Emmanuel; Esther Avraham, 42, of Emmanuel; Border Police Chief Warrant Officer Yoel Bienenfeld, 35, of Moshav Tel Shahar; Moshe Gutman, 40, of Emmanuel; Avraham Nahman Nitzani, 17, of Betar Illit; Yirmiyahu Salem, 48, of Emmanuel; Israel Sternberg, 46, of Emmanuel; David Tzarfati, 38, of Ginot Shomron; Hananya Tzarfati, 32, of Kfar Saba; Ya’akov Tzarfati, 64, of Kfar Saba