History events
1490 — (20th of Kislev, 5251) Lodovico Maria Sforza expelled all Jews from the duchy of Milan today
1685 — (16th of Kislev, 5446) King Charles XI of Sweden ordered the governor-general of the capital to see that no Jews were permitted to settle in Stockholm, or in any other part of the country, «on account of the danger of the eventual influence of the Jewish religion on the pure evangelical faith»
1878 — (7th of Kislev, 5639) Settlers arrive at Petach Tikvah in what Israel is now. ….. Petach Tikvah is Hebrew for Gateway of Hope. The land was purchased by Jews living in Jerusalem from a Greek landowner after the Sultan of Turkey had thwarted their efforts to buy land near Jericho. The village they built was in an area prone to malaria outbreaks. In 1882, the settlers gave up the village, due in part to poor harvest. At the time only 66 people were living in ten houses
1881 — (11th of Kislev, 5642) «Some Minor Foreign Facts” (The New York Times) published today include estimates of the Jewish population that “have been prepared in Rome showing that there are 6,568,000 Jews in the world, 5,500,000 of whom live in Europe, 240,000 in Asia, 500,000 in Africa and 308,000 in America
1898 — (17 Tevet 5659) In Philadelphia, the private humanitarian Gratz College opened its doors — the third Jewish institution of higher education in the United States
1937 — (29th of Kislev, 5698) The Palestine Post reported that the total official population of Palestine was given at the end of September 1937 as 811,347 Moslems, 389,504 Jews, 108,433 Christians and 11,588 others
1938 — (10 Kislev 5699) Shoah. Stalin’s response to the proposal by the British government to reach an agreement and create a collective system for saving German Jews (after Kristallnacht): «We must tell the English that according to the Constitution we can grant the right of asylum only to foreigners ‘persecuted for defending the interests of the working people, or for scientific activity, or for the national liberation struggle,’ and that therefore we can accept only people of science from among the German Jews. I. Stalin. V. Molotov.»
1941 — (13th of Kislev, 5702) Amidst the misery of the Lodz Ghetto, a newly arrived Viennese Pianist, Leopold Birkenfeld held a concert for his fellow Jews. He played Shubert, Liszt and Beethoven brilliantly
1941 — (13 Kislev 5702) Shoah. The «Jewish action» in Kerch ended; in total, over three days, 2,500 Jews were shot. On the same day, 380 Jews were shot in Voronovytsia (Vinnytsia Oblast), and in Sloviansk (Donetsk Oblast) — several hundred Jews.
1941 — (13 Kislev 5702) Shoah. All the Jews of Bakhchysarai (Crimea) were shot.
1942 — (24 Kislev 5703) Shoah. Another Jewish action was carried out in Ivano-Frankivsk
1945 — (28th of Kislev, 5706) Abdul Azzam Bey, Arab League secretary general, announces that member states will boycott all Jewish-produced goods from Palestine beginning January 1, 1946.
1947 — (20th of Kislev, 5708) Тerrorist attack. Arab violence continues with an attack on a synagogue in the Old City. Following threats by Arab gangs to burn their dwellings, еight Jews living in a house in the Musrara Quarter outside the Damascus Gate were forced to leave their homes.
1947 — (20 Kislev 5708) Retaliation operation for the attack on Jewish workers the day before. Houses of Arabs were blown up in Abu Kabir. Abu Kabir was a typical Arab settlement, not laid out in streets, where houses stood interspersed with gardens and sheep wandered between them. It developed quickly — the residents of Abu Kabir were quite successful in trade at the produce market and soon replaced the flimsy temporary dwellings with stone houses. During the War of Independence, many gangs ate their meals in the settlement, since it was located close to Tel Aviv and to the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem road. The road was within direct reach, and the bandits could shoot at it right from a window. The «hospitable» residents of the village hosted several such groups. When a Haganah unit captured the village, the Arabs abandoned it, and the future Israelis destroyed the very houses from which the bandits had fired
1952 — (15th of Kislev, 5713) The Jerusalem Post reported….. the Israeli denial that its troops crossed the armistice lines in the vicinity of Jerusalem and tried to lay mines in Jordanian-occupied territory. The Israeli spokesman complained, however, that Jordan failed to control the scores of infiltrators who crossed the armistice lines every night in order to rob and murder. Only a week earlier, infiltrators killed two Israeli watchmen in the Jerusalem ‘corridor’ and escaped over the lines to Jordan
1956 — (29 Kislev 5717) Israel and Austria established diplomatic relations
1958 — (21st of Kislev, 5719) Тerrorist attack. Terrorist killed one and injured thirty-one others in an attack on Gonen, a kibbutz in northern Israel in the Upper Galilee
1990 — (16th of Kislev, 5751) Тerrorist attack. ….. One Israeli was killed and five were wounded today in a stabbing attack aboard a bus in Israel, officials said. The police said three West Bank Palestinians climbed aboard the bus just outside Tel Aviv this morning, rode a few stops sitting in the back, then got up screaming «Allah Akhbar,» or God is great, as they drew knives and stabbed four Jewish passengers. One of the Israelis, a 24-year-old student at a religious school, died in a hospital a short time later. Witness accounts said that as the Arabs were slashing him and other passengers, the bus driver opened the doors so the Jews could flee. Then the driver pulled a gun, holding the attackers at bay until the police arrived
2012 — (19th of Kislev, 5773) ….. Australia’s largest natural gas and oil company, Woodside Petroleum, has taken a 30 percent stake in Israel’s Leviathan off-shore gas drilling operation, it was announced today. Located in the Mediterranean 130 km. west of Haifa, Leviathan is estimated to contain up to 17 trillion cubic feet of usable natural gas, making it one of the largest fields in the world
2012 — (30 Kislev 5774) Construction of the electronic fence on Israel’s border with Egypt was completed. 245 km of barriers were erected over three and a half years. The fence stopped the influx of illegal immigrants from Sudan and Eritrea.
2014 — (11 Kislev 5775) The first section of the Begin South highway in Jerusalem (Highway No. 50) was opened, allowing a trip from the north of the city to Kiryat HaSport and the Malha railway station without a single traffic light. This is the first stage in extending the Begin highway to the Gilo neighborhood.
2023 — (20 Kislev 5784) War with Gaza. Day fifty-eight. The IDF began a ground operation in the south of the Strip. IDF tanks reached the northern outskirts of the city of Khan Yunis. The Air Force attacked targets in the north of Gaza. The Navy shelled Hamas facilities in the west of the Strip. It is reported that Sergeant Ashalvu Sama, 20, died last night from wounds received in battle on November 14 in the north of the Gaza Strip, and Master Sergeant (res.) Or Brandes, 25, was killed last night in battle in the center of the Gaza Strip. Towns near the border with the Strip were shelled from Gaza. Israel’s territory was fired upon from Lebanon and Syria: 11 wounded.
2024 — (2 Kislev 5785) At a technical base in Haifa, a graduation ceremony was held for a course for 26 level «A» technicians for soldiers from the ultra-Orthodox sector. During the course, the soldiers received qualifications as level «A» technicians to work with F-16 fighter jets. This was the first training course for level «A» technicians for the ultra-Orthodox sector
People
1225 — (1 Tevet 4986) died Yehuda Alharizi — one of the last brilliant poets of the «golden age» of medieval Spanish-Hebrew literature (born in 1165).
1795 — Born historian, educator, and writer Mordkhe Aron Gintsburg. Died in 1846
1800 — (16th of Kislev, 5561) Birthdate of Émile Péreire who along with his brother Isaac were leading French financiers who, among other things created the Crédit Mobilier bank and were considered the Sephardi equivalents of the Rothschilds
1811 — (17th of Kislev, 5572) Eduard Bendemann, German painter, born
1819 — (15th of Kislev, 5780) Birthdate of Daniel Abramovich Chwolson, the native of Vilna who became a distinguished Orientalist
1875 — (5th of Kislev, 5636) Birthdate of Father Bernhard Lichtenberg ….. German clergyman, anti-fascist and outspoken defender of the Jews of Germany. For example, after Kristallnacht while the German churches kept their silence in face of the vicious attack upon the Jews, Lichtenberg was the only Church man to raise his voice publicly and fearlessly against Nazi brutality. “We know what happened yesterday, we do not know what lies in store for us tomorrow. But we have experienced what has happened today: Outside burns the temple. This is also a place of worship.” From that evening until his arrest in 1941, Lichtenberg continued to pray daily from his pulpit in the St Hedwig Cathedral for both the Jews and Jewish Christians as well as other victims of the regime. Following his two-year imprisonment, Lichtenberg turned the Gestapo’s offer to leave him alone if he would stop speaking out against the regime. Lichtenberg asked to be allowed to accompany the Jews and Jewish Christians being sent to the Ghetto at Lodz, Poland. The Church refused his request because of his failing health. Instead, the Gestapo ordered him to be sent to Dachau. The sixty-seven-year-old priest died on November 5, 1943 while waiting to be shipped to the concentration camp
1880 — (1 Tevet 5641) Born Joseph Trumpeldor — Jewish political and public figure, organizer of the first Jewish self-defense units in the Land of Israel. Killed March 1, 1920.
1885 — (25 Kislev 5646) Born Edward Lasker — American chess player, five-time U.S. chess champion. Died March 25, 1981
1903 — (1th of Kislev, 5664) Birthdate of mathematician John von Neumann. Born in Hungary, von Neumann brilliant career included work on the project to build the hydrogen bomb as well and development of logical design. This work was critical in the development of the modern computer. He won the Medal of Freedom in 1956 a year before his death
1952 — (15th of Kislev, 5713) Rudolph Slansky, former secretary-general of the Czech Communist Party, Rudolf Margolius and 9 of their co-defendants were hanged after a show trial aimed at purging alleged Zionist conspirators