History events
1483 — (20th of Tevet, 5244) The first edition of Talmud Babli Berakot was published in Soncino, Italy by Joshua Solomon Soncino
1488 — (15th of Tevet, 5249) The first edition of the Sefer Mitzvoth Gadol was published in Soncino, Italy. ….. The Sefer Mitzvoth Gadol (The Great Book of the Commandments) was written by Rabbi Moses ben Jacob of Coucy’. Rabbi ben Jacob lived in the first half of the 13th century in Coucy, France. This work—usually designated by its acronym, the Semag—classifies Jewish law according to the traditional enumeration of 613 commandments. The work is divided into two sections. The first deals with the 365 negative precepts of the Torah, and the second with the 248 positive precepts
1781 — (2th of Tevet, 5542) Poll-tax abolished in Austria
1844 — (9th of Tevet, 5605) The Czar abolished all Kahals in the Russian Empire
1857 — (2 Tevet 5618) Letter from the mayor of Odessa to the police chief: «On August 24, Your High Nobility was transmitted the instruction of His Excellency the Novorossiysk Governor-General… on not allowing Jewish weddings to walk with… music on the streets of Odessa.»
1894 — (21th of Kislev, 5655) The trial of Alfred Dreyfus began today at the Cheche-Midi Prison
1903 — (30th of Kislev, 5664) Chaim Zelig Louban, a 27-year-old student, attempts to assassinate Max Nordau at a Chanukah ball of the Paris Zionist society. ….. He approaches Nordau, cries «Death to Nordau, the East African» and fires two shots. Nordau writes to Herzl: «Yesterday evening I got an installment on the debt of gratitude which the Jewish people owe me for my selfless labors on its behalf. I say this without bitterness, only in sorrow. How unhappy is our people, to be able to produce such deeds.» This incident goes to show the depth of feeling surrounding the “Uganda Plan”
1917 — Pogrom in Yampol (Ukraine). This was already the second pogrom in two months. The first took place in October
1918 — (16 Tevet 5679) In the town of Cluj in Transylvania (Hungary), the weekly newspaper of the Zionists, «The New East,» began publication; in 1940 it was closed by the Nazis, and in 1948 it resumed operation in Israel in Hungarian
1919 — (27th of Kislev, 5680) The SS Ruslam reached Jaffa with 671 people aboard. ….. The ship was loaded with doctors, artists, and academics and had been called Israel’s Mayflower. Its arrival marked the period of what is known as the «Third Aliyah,» which lasted four years. Approximately 50% of the 35,000 immigrants were from Russia and 35% from Poland. The «Third Aliyah» was idealistic and marked the time when the first Kibbutzim and Moshavim were established
1924 — (22th of Kislev, 5685) Governor General Primo de Rivera of Spain offered all Sephardim the possibility of reacquiring Spanish nationality provided they acquired this nationality before December 31, 1930
1941 — (29 Kislev 5702) Shoah. The last of the 20,000 Jews of Vitebsk were shot. The destruction began on October 2, continued for 10 days, then on November 6–8.
1947 — (6 Tevet 5708) Members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee were arrested in the USSR.
1948 — (17th of Kislev, 5709) During “Operation Velvetta” 12 more Spitfires were flown to Israel as part of the effort to create a modern air force in the heat of battle.
1948 — (17 Kislev 5709) Israel’s request for admission to the UN was rejected
1952 — (1th of Tevet, 5713) David Ben-Gurion’s government resigned due to a dispute with the religious parties over religious education
1952 — (1th of Tevet, 5713) The Jerusalem Post reported ….. that the resolution of the UN General Assembly’s Political Committee urging direct Arab-Israeli peace negotiations was hindered by a sudden Philippine and Catholic Bloc countries’ amendment demanding the implementation of all old UN resolutions, including the internationalization of Jerusalem. Israel complained to the US and Britain that they continue to arm the Arab states, despite their promise that there should be no arms race in the region
1953 — (13th of Tevet, 5714) Two Unit 101 Squads led by Meir Harzion completed a nighttime attack during which they ambushed a car carrying Mansour Awad, “a Lebanese born doctor serving in the Arab Legion” who died during the attack
1969 — (10th of Tevet, 5730) During the War of Attrition, Israeli aircraft bombed “a group of Egyptian military bases about 30 kilometers from the Suez Canal
1995 — (2th of Kislev, 5756) Roval Elimelech who lives in Kfar Saba, ….. a suburban town north of Tel Aviv, found out that a new border had sprung up overnight not far from her doorstep. About a mile away, Palestinian policemen had moved into Qalqilya, a town on the West Bank’s border with Israel, taking it over from Israeli soldiers who had withdrawn on Saturday night in keeping with an agreement signed in September on expanding Palestinian self-rule. At a new crossing point into Qalqilya this morning, a red sign informed Israeli motorists that they were entering a zone under the control of the Palestinian Authority. The sign warned that they could be stopped by Palestinian policemen and asked to produce drivers’ licenses and other identification, Qalqilya is the closest town to Israel’s main population centers that has changed hands so far. Less than 10 miles separates it from the metropolitan sprawl around Tel Aviv. Under the September agreement, Israel was to complete a pullout from six major West Bank towns and hundreds of neighboring villages by the end of this month. Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus and Qalqilya have already been turned over to Palestinian control. Bethlehem and Ramallah are next. Kfar Sava, a rapidly growing community of 75,000, has a history of neighborly relations with Qalqilya that were disrupted during the seven-year Palestinian uprising that broke out in 1987. Thousands of Israelis used to visit Qalqilya regularly for bargains in its market and shops, but most stayed away during the years of violent unrest. Today, community leaders and ordinary citizens in both towns said they hoped that they could restore old ties on a new footing. The Mayors of both towns have already met to discuss cooperation in sewage projects and waste disposal, and Kfar Sava’s Deputy Mayor was a guest of honor at a festive reception today in Qalqilya
2000 — (22 Kislev 5761) The first International Herzliya Conference began, dedicated to the topic «The Balance of Power and Israel’s National Security.» Leading Israeli and foreign politicians traditionally speak at the conference.
2005 — (18 Kislev 5766) A. Sharon suffered his first stroke. Two days later he was discharged from the hospital.
2005 — (18 Kislev 5766) Major Lutfi Falah became the first Bedouin head of a city police department.
2008 — (22 Kislev 5769) The Hamas organization in Gaza announced a unilateral withdrawal from the truce that had continued since June 19.
2008 — (22th of Kislev, 5769) Haaretz reported that a rare half shekel coin, first minted in 66 or 67 C.E., was discovered by 14-year-old Omri Ya’ari as volunteers sifted through mounds of dirt from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem
2014 — (27th of Kislev, 5775) For the third time since the end of Operation Protective Edge Palestinians in Gaza fired a Kassam rocket at an Israeli community in the Eshkol region near the Gaza Strip this morning
2015 — (9 Tevet 5776) On Saturday evening, two Israeli Air Force planes fired four missiles at a building in the Jarmana area (southeast of Damascus). The building was completely destroyed, and at least 9 people were killed — commanders and militants of Hezbollah. Among those killed were Samir Kuntar, who directed Hezbollah militant operations in the Syrian part of the Golan Heights, and field commander Farhan Shaalan. In 1979, as a 17-year-old youth, Kuntar took part in a terrorist attack — an assault by militants of the «Palestine Liberation Front» on Nahariya. The militants shot 28-year-old Dani Haran in front of his 4-year-old daughter Einat, then Kuntar smashed the girl’s head with a rifle butt, and the Arabs burst into the house. The mother — Smadar Haran — hid in the attic with her 2-year-old daughter Yael and pressed her palm over the girl’s mouth so she would not scream — the girl suffocated and died. A policeman died in the shootout with the terrorists. Kuntar himself, after being detained, claimed that he had killed no one, since he had been wounded in a shootout with police before the Israelis died. On July 16, 2008, together with four other terrorists, Kuntar was released from prison in exchange for the bodies of Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, killed by Hezbollah militants in July 2006. After his release, speaking at celebrations organized in his honor by the Hezbollah leadership, Samir Kuntar openly stated that he had killed peaceful Israelis and vowed to continue «killing Zionists.»
2023 — (7 Tevet 5784) War with Gaza. Day seventy-four. Fighting continued in Gaza. Weapons depots and tunnels were discovered, and houses were blown up. The IDF reported taking control of Jabalia (a city in the northern Gaza Strip with a population of 84,000). Reserve Sergeant Major Daniel Yaakov Ben-Arush, 31, Reserve Captain Rotem Yosef Levi, 24, Reserve Sergeant Major Maoz Fenigstein, 25, and Reserve Captain Lior Sivan, 32, were killed. Several fighters were seriously wounded. Shelling of Israel from Lebanon.
2024 — (18 Kislev 5785) At 3:15, Operation «White City» began, the goal of which was to strike strategic objects controlled by the Houthis in Yemen. The first strikes were carried out less than 40 minutes after sirens in Israel and the fall of fragments of a missile on Ramat Gan. The Air Force attacked a number of Houthi military targets, including ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Houthis used for their military activities. Dozens of aircraft, including refueling planes, were involved in the operation, carried out more than 1,700 km from Israel’s border. The operation was carried out in two stages. First, eight Houthi vessels were attacked in Yemeni ports, which could be used to deliver weapons and weapons components, then two targets in the oil complex in the Ras Issa area, and two power plants in the south and north of Sanaa
People
1728 — (28 Tevet 5489) Rabbi David Nieto died at the age of 74 — one of the most educated Jews of his generation, equally distinguished as a Talmudist, philosopher, poet, and mathematician, astronomer, leader of the Sephardic community in London, originally from Venice.
1851 — Born Boris Mikhailovich Shapirova (original surname Shapiro) — military doctor, sanitary inspector of the Separate Corps of the Border Guard (1896–1912), chairman of the medical commission of the Main Directorate of the Russian Red Cross Society. Honorary life physician of the Court of His Imperial Majesty, actual privy councillor, holder of the Order of Alexander Nevsky. Died August 2 (15), 1915.
1852 — Born A. Michelson — American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate. Died May 9, 1931.
1882 — (9 Tevet 5643) Born Bronisław Huberman — violinist, initiator of the creation of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Died June 15, 1947.
1900 — Born Ditmar Ilyashevich Rozental — linguist, one of the researchers and developers of the rules of the Russian language. Died July 29, 1994.
1910 — (18th of Kislev, 5671) Birthdate of David Raziel, one of the founders of «The National Military Organization in the Land of Israel» better known at the Irgun.
1933 — Born G. Volchek — chief director of the Sovremennik Theater. Died December 26, 2019.
2005 — (18 Kislev 5766) A. Sharon suffered his first stroke. Two days later he was discharged from the hospital.
2006 — Died K. Unger — veteran of the IDF, employee of the Jewish Agency, participated in all operations to rescue Jews from hot spots of the former USSR: Tajikistan, Transnistria, Abkhazia…
2010 — (12th of Tevet, 5771) The body of Kristine Luken, a US citizen living in England who was visiting Israel, was found south of Mata, approximately 400 meters from the road between was discovered around 6:30 a.m. today. She was one of two women who were stabbed while were hiking in the wooded hills west of Jerusalem on Saturday
2012 — (6 Tevet 5773) After a prolonged illness, retired Lieutenant General Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, the 15th Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, died. He was 68 years old.