History events
-175 — (11st of Tevet, 3587) This day marked the completion of the Septuagint translation of the Bible into the Greek language. ….. According to a letter from Aristeas to Philocrates, 72 sages, (six from each Israelite tribe) were brought to by Ptolemy II Alexandria to translate the Bible into Greek. Based on the legend, each sage was isolated and wrote a separate translation, but when all 72 were compared, they were all identical. The text of the Septuagint and the Tanach are not the same. Some viewed this translation as a positive event because it showed an interest of Greek intellectuals in Jewish thought and philosophy. Others contend that this translation was necessary because the Jews of Alexandria had such limited knowledge of Hebrew that they could no longer read the text in the original
1503 — (9st of Tevet, 5264) Judaizing followers of R. Zechariah of Kiev burned at Moscow
1504 — (20th of Tevet, 5265) «Proselytizing» Jews in Moscow and Kiev were expelled after a few high officials converted to Judaism
1850 — (22 Tevet 5611) Nicholas I issued a decree according to which, for every missing Jewish recruit in the community, three others were taken; for every 2,000 rubles of unpaid taxes, the community paid with a recruit, while the debt was not forgiven. For a runaway conscript, two others were taken, and one who was caught was flogged and handed over as a soldier without being credited to the community.
1878 — (1 Tevet 5639) Founding of Petah Tikva
1937 — (23th of Tevet, 5698) The Haganah decides to establish Field Companies under the command of Itzhak Sadeh
1941 — (7 Tevet 5702) Shoah. Under the pretext of deportation for work to the Poltava region, Sonderkommando 4a shot at least 500 Jews in Kharkov
1945 — (23rd of Tevet, 5706) In the greatest mass arrests in the history of Palestine more than 1,500 people were taken into custody tonight after unidentified people blew up the British police station in the center of Jerusalem
1945 — (23 Tevet 5706) Haganah attack on British command headquarters in Jerusalem and Jaffa; 7 British policemen were killed during the attack on the British intelligence building in Jerusalem, and 1 soldier was killed during the attack on a British military camp in northern Tel Aviv
1947 — (14 Tevet 5708) From the Bulgarian port of Burgas, the ships Pan York and Pan Crescent set out for the shores of Eretz Israel with Jews making aliyah. Two days later, while crossing the Sea of Marmara, the ships met six British warships — two submarines and four destroyers — intending to carry out arrests. The situation was dangerous, but the captain of the ships, Harel, managed to arrange for the passengers to disembark in Cyprus, where thousands of refugees were already located at that time
1948 — (25th of Kislev, 5709) War for independence. Israel bombs Arab forces in Gaza; Fighting between Israeli and Egyptians in Fallujah; During Operation Horev, an Israeli armored brigade attacked al-Auja. The successful attack led to the surrender of Egyptian forces in the area.
1954 — (2 Tevet 5715) Transport Minister Yosef Sapir informed the Knesset about the deaths of 1,027 people who had been victims of traffic accidents over the previous five years. Two-thirds of the dead were pedestrians.
1960 — (8 Tevet 5721) The 25th Zionist Congress opened in Jerusalem
1969 — (18th of Tevet, 5730) By 2 a.m., during Operation Rooster 53, ….. when the paratroops had taken apart the radar station and prepared the various parts for the CH-53’s, the two helicopters were called in from across the Red Sea. One CH-53 carried the communications caravan and the radar antenna, while the other took the heavier, four-ton radar itself. The two helicopters made their way back across the Red Sea to Israeli controlled territory
1970 — (29th of Kislev, 5731) The Golani Brigade took part in a retaliatory strike came against the village Yatar, a major guerrilla base.
1972 — (22 Tevet 5733) In Jerusalem, the first congress of the «Black Panthers» began — a movement of Mizrahi Jews in Israel for their social rights. It ended in noisy disputes and without results.
1985 — (15 Tevet 5746) Two groups of Arabs simultaneously attacked El Al terminals at the airports of Rome and Vienna. Their goal was to kill passengers of the Israeli airline directly in the airports. Despite the surprise, all the attacks were repelled by Shin Bet operatives. At the Vienna airport, they shot three terrorists and captured one alive; at the Rome airport, one attacker was shot and two of his accomplices were seized. During the repelling of the terrorist attacks, 16 civilians were killed and 120 were wounded, but the terrorists did not achieve their criminal goals. Responsibility for the attacks was claimed by the Palestinian terrorist organization of Abu Nidal, closely linked to Syrian intelligence and the East German intelligence service «Stasi.»
2002 — (22nd of Tevet, 5763) Terrorist attack in the settlement of Otniel south of Hebron. Two Arabs, disguised as soldiers, penetrated the kitchen area of the local yeshiva. Four unarmed men on duty were there. They were shot. One managed at the last minute to lock the door leading to the hall, where there were about seventy people at that moment. Then the Arabs began shooting through the window, from the kitchen into the hall. Everyone lay down on the floor with the first shots, and several people opened return fire through the kitchen door and window; the Arabs retreated and tried to hide. By that moment, soldiers had already arrived. One of the terrorists climbed into the school building and was finished off there; the pursuit of the second continued for about two hours. At first contact with him was lost, but later soldiers from Nahal who arrived from Hebron found him in a wadi a few kilometers from the settlement. He was also shot dead, but he managed to wound several soldiers
2005 — (27 Kislev 5766) The ski season opened on Mount Hermon
2006 — (6th of Tevet, 5767) Heavy snow fell on Jerusalem forcing the Egged bus company to shut down its routes “citing dangerous road conditions. Snow began falling on the Golan Heights in the early morning hours and by evening reach as far south as Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev
2008 — (30 Kislev 5769) The IDF operation in Gaza, «Cast Lead,» began.
2015 — (15 Tevet 5776) Attacks using cold weapons: in Jerusalem a serviceman was wounded; two IDF soldiers were wounded near Shechem. Two Arab attackers were shot, two were arrested.
2015 — (15 Tevet 5776) A ceremony dedicated to the creation of the new special forces brigade «Commando,» which included the units «Egoz,» «Maglan,» «Duvdevan,» and «Rimon.» The first commander of the brigade was the former commander of the Egoz special forces, Colonel David Zini.
2016 — (27 Kislev 5777) The cornerstone-laying ceremony took place for the construction of a railway station in Mazkeret Batya, 10 km south of Ramle; the goal is to provide a direct connection between Mazkeret Batya and its surroundings with Beersheba and Tel Aviv.
2022 — (3 Tevet 5783) Israel. Fifty-eight years after the completion of the National Water Carrier, the company Mekorot completed work on laying the «Reverse Water Carrier» in order to deliver desalinated water from the Mediterranean Sea to Lake Kinneret and thereby prevent the water level in the lake from dropping below the «black» line during drought years.
2023 — (15 Tevet 5784) War with Gaza. Day eighty-two. More than 30 rockets were launched from Lebanon at Kiryat Shmona and its surroundings; several houses and cars were damaged. In battle in the northern part of the Strip, 23-year-old Senior Lieutenant Yaron Eliezer Chitiz, deputy company commander, 20-year-old Senior Sergeant Itay Buton, and 21-year-old Senior Sergeant Ephraim Yachman were killed. An explosion occurred near the Israeli embassy building in New Delhi, the capital of India. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel: «The genocide committed by the terrorist state of Israel in the Gaza Strip is a humiliation of all humanity.» Jordanian King Abdullah and Egyptian President el-Sisi issued a joint statement rejecting «any attempts to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and from Judea and Samaria.» In New York and Los Angeles, anti-Israel activists blocked access roads to airports — they lay down on the roadway, not letting people pass. Passengers had to abandon their cars and walk with their suitcases to the terminal.
2024 — (26 Kislev 5785) War in Gaza. Day four hundred forty-eight. In connection with receiving intelligence information about the presence of Hamas terrorists on the territory of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern part of the Strip, forces of the 401st armored brigade «Ikvot Ha-Barzel» (162nd Division) began an operation in that area. In October the IDF had already carried out a clearing operation there, but then withdrew.
2024 — (26 Kislev 5785) Terrorist attack in Herzliya. An Arab killed with a knife an 83-year-old woman, a resident of a nursing home, who was waiting outside for her daughter, who was going to take her to the doctor. The moment of the attack was caught by a video camera. Hamas commented: «Footage of the heroic knife operation as a result of which a settler was killed in Herzliya near Tel Aviv.»
People
1812 — (24th of Tevet, 5573) Shneur Zalman of Liadi founder of Chabad Hasidism passed away
1856 — (30 Kislev 5617) Born the poet Naftali Herz Imber — author of the words of Israel’s national anthem «Hatikvah.» Died October 8, 1909.
1859 — (1 Tevet 5620) Born L. Zamenhof — ophthalmologist, inventor of Esperanto. Died April 24, 1917.
1866 — (19 Tevet 5627) Born Oskar Gruzenberg — lawyer and public figure. He rejected an offer to remain at the department because of the requirement to accept Christianity. One of the most prominent lawyers of Russia, but as a Jew until 1905 he could not obtain the title of «sworn attorney» and for 16 years was listed only as an «assistant to a sworn attorney.» Jews called him the «national defender.» He actively participated in numerous anti-Jewish court cases, in particular the «Beilis case.» In 1917, after the publication of the Balfour Declaration, he became close to the Zionists; after emigrating from Soviet Russia, he represented Lithuania in the Jewish Agency. Died in Nice in 1940
1889 — (4th of Tevet, 5650) Eduard Bendemann, German painter, died
1919 — (5 Tevet 5680) Born Nikolai Epstein — USSR master of sports in ice hockey, honored coach of the USSR. For a long time he led Voskresensk’s «Khimik.» In 1976 he left «Khimik» for the position of senior coach of the team «Sibir» (Novosibirsk); in 1978 he was head of HC «Spartak.» Subsequently he coached the Israel national team. In the last years of his life, Epstein suffered from a most severe illness — Alzheimer’s disease. On the morning of August 19, 2005, secretly from everyone, he left a dacha in the Naro-Fominsk district and did not return. On August 26, the emaciated Epstein was found in an abandoned house in Aprelevka and taken to a hospital in Selyatino, where he died half a day later. His body was sent to the morgue, where it was discovered by his son only on September 6 among the unidentified.
1925 — Born Moshe Arens — Israeli statesman. He held the posts of Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and was a Knesset member. Died January 7, 2019
1953 — (21st of Tevet, 5714) Poet Julian Tuwim passed away