History events
468 — (7 Tevet 4229) During the reign of Peroz (459–484) of the Sasanian dynasty, the leaders of Babylonian Jewry, Rabbi Amemar ben‑Mar Yanuka and Masharshiya, were arrested and executed 11 days later
1158 — (15th of Tevet, 4919) Abraham Ibn Ezra, under the influence of an inspiration or vision he had on that Shabbat day, ….. decided to defend the traditional reckoning of the Jewish holidays and Sabbaths against the trend to begin them only at daybreak rather than the previous night. Immediately after the Sabbath he began to write his Iggeret Shabbat («Shabbat Letter») in which he used both religious and astronomical sources to defend his position. He wrote it while visiting England, making it one of the few Hebrew works composed there prior to the expulsion of the Jews in 1290
1660 — (15th of Tevet, 5421) Today’s Order in Council read ….. “Upon reading and debate on petition of the merchants and tradesmen of the City of London for the expulsion of the Jews, and also the petition of Maria Fernandez Carvajal, widow, and others ,merchants, Jews by birth for his Majesty’s protection to continue to reside in his dominions; His Majesty judging it a business of great importance is pleased to refer said petitions to the consideration of the Parliament desiring their advice thereon, ordered both the petitions to be delivered to one of his Majesty’s most honorable privy councilors (a member of the House of Commons) to be presented to Parliament»
1936 — (23 Kislev 5697) The Kfar‑Hittim moshav was founded using the “Fence and Watch Tower” method
1941 — (17 Kislev 5702) The Holocaust. 141 Jews were shot in the village of Buzul (Crimea), and probably 130 Jews in the village of Kary in the Fraydorf district (Crimea)
1941 — (17 Kislev 5702) The Holocaust. The extermination of prisoners at the Chełmno concentration camp began
1941 — (17th Kislev, 5702) Нolocaust. ….. SS and Latvian firing squads began a slaughter of the Jews of Riga. Between December 7 and December 9, 1941, 25,000 Riga Jews were put to death by firing squads. Combined with previous actions by the SS and their Latvian allies, only 20% of original Jewish population in Riga now remained. This ghetto was now ready to house German Jew deportees. Among the victims is a preeminent Jewish historian, 81-year-old Simon Dubnow
1942 — (28th Kislev, 5703) Нolocaust. ….. Today, “during the pacification action around Ciepielów, a group of 14 Christian Poles were shot by the gendarmes for hiding Jews including Wojciech Skrzak, Marianna Skwira, Barbara Stefanek, the Wdowiak family including Benedykt (58), Aleksandra (17) and Marianna (94); as well as the Wojewódka family with Ignacy (50), his wife Marianna (45) and children Wacław, Jan, Stanisław, and Józef, age 7$ German troops enter the Polish village of Bialka and murder 96 villagers suspected of shielding Jews fleeing the anti-Jewish Aktion in the nearby Parczew Forest
1942 — (28 Kislev 5703) The Holocaust. The liquidation of the ghetto in Rava‑Ruska (Lviv region) began; it housed about 8,500 Jews from the town and surrounding areas.
1944 — (21st of Kislev, 5705) Нolocaust. ….. The Kasztner transport’s 1, 368 Jews who had left Bergen Belsen on December 4 crossed the border into Switzerland today. The Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum (1887-1979), was rescued from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, along with 1,368 other Jews, through the efforts of Rudulf Kastner, head of the Zionist rescue operation in Hungary (an earlier transport of 1,686 Jews had been rescued on Av 29). The Satmar community celebrates the 21st of Kislev as a day of thanksgiving
1947 — (24 Kislev 5708) War of Independence. The General Staff of the Haganah approved the “Instruction for Transport Security Planning,” which established rules for escorting transport convoys
1948 — (5th Kislev, 5709) War for independence. ….. On the third and final day of Operation Assaf, the Egyptians prepared to counter-attack and drive the Israelis back. “However, Israeli Air Force reconnaissance revealed the Egyptian preparations in the morning. The Israeli assault battalion was sent to the Egyptian’s north (left) flank and stormed their forces southwards, then chased the retreating Egyptians westward, eventually stopping in face of strong anti-tank Egyptian positions.” With the end of Operation Assaf, the Israelis cleared the area of mine’s and built defensive lines in case the Egyptians came back, before being withdrawn to take part in Operation Horev
1952 — (19th Kislev, 5713) Yigael Yadin resigned today, over disagreements with prime minister and defense minister David Ben-Gurion about cuts to the military budget, which he argued should be at least one third of the national budget. Mordechai Maklef became the I.D.F.’s Chief of Staff
1953 — (1 Tevet 5714) Prime Minister Ben‑Gurion resigned for personal reasons. Moshe Sharett was temporarily appointed in his place, and Pinhas Lavon took the post of Minister of Defense.
1982 — (21 Kislev 5743) The 30th Zionist Congress opened in Jerusalem.
1988 — (28 Kislev 5749) US Secretary of State Shultz received a written statement from Arafat stating that the PLO Executive Committee condemns individual, group, and state terrorism and will not resort to it
1992 — (12th of Kislev, 5753) Hamas murders three Israeli soldiers
1993 — (23rd of Kislev, 5754) Palestinian gunmen killed a Jewish settler and his son today and wounded three other sons near the West Bank town of Hebron, apparently in revenge for the weekend killing of an Arab by settlers
2011 — (11th Kislev, 5772) Israel’s Yav Vashem Holocaust memorial said today it has received its largest private donation ever — a $25 million gift from U.S. casino mogul Sheldon Adelson
2012 — (23 Kislev 5773) Quotes and opinions. Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who on December 7 stepped onto the Gaza Strip for the first time in his life, declared: “First, Palestine from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea, from north to south, is our land, our right, and our homeland. We will not leave or give up a single inch, not a single part of it. Second, Palestine was, is, and will always be Arab and Islamic. It belongs to the Arabs and the Islamic world. Palestine belongs to us and to no one else. This is the Palestine we know and believe in. Third, since Palestine belongs to us and is the land of Arabism and Islam, we must never recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation. The occupation is illegal, and therefore Israel is illegal and will remain so over time. Palestine belongs to us, not to the Zionists. Jihad and armed struggle are the true and real way to liberate Palestine and restore our rights. The liberation of Palestine — all of Palestine — is a duty, a right, and an intention. It is the responsibility of the entire Palestinian people, as well as the Arabs and the Islamic nation. The West Bank is inseparable from Gaza. Gaza is inseparable from the West Bank, and both are inseparable from Haifa, Jaffa, Beersheba, and Safed. <…> Liberation will precede statehood. A real state will be the result of liberation, not negotiations. There is no alternative to a free Palestinian state with real sovereignty over all of Palestine. Jerusalem is our soul, our history, our collective memory, our past, our present, and our future. It is our eternal capital, which we hold firmly to and which we will liberate inch by inch, block by block, stone by stone — every place sacred to Islam and every place sacred to Christianity. Israel has no right to Jerusalem.” (source)
2014 — (15 Kislev 5775) The Israeli Air Force attacked missile depots intended for Hezbollah near Damascus International Airport and a military base located in a Damascus suburb.
2021 — (3 Tevet 5782) Construction of the barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip was completed — a wall made of iron and concrete that runs not only along the land but also protects Israeli territory from the sea. The total length of the structure is 65 km. It has both above‑ground and underground sections. Construction of the barrier lasted 3.5 years
People
1237 — (18th Kislev, 4998) Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon the son of Maimonides aka the Rambam who followed his father as the leader of the Egyptian Jewish community passed away
1793 — (4th of Tevet, 5554) Herz Cerfbeer of Medelsheim the military contractor and philanthropist passed away today at Strasbourg. ….. Born Naphtali Ben Dov-Beer at Alsace in 1730, he was granted citizenship rights by Louis XVI in 1775. A spokesperson and supporter of the Jewish community he published rare Hebrew books including Lechem Setarim by Solomon Nissim Algazi the 17th century Talmudist who served as a rabbi by Smyrna and Jerusalem
1830 — (21 Kislev 5591) Yehuda Leib Gordon, Jewish poet, novelist, and publicist, was born. Died on September 28, 1898
1837— (9th Kislev, 57598) Benjamin Disraeli made his maiden speech in Parliament
1847 — (29 Kislev 5608) Solomon Schechter, scholar of Talmudic and rabbinic literature, theologian, and leader of Conservative Judaism in the USA, was born. Died on November 19, 1915
1868 — S. Yushkevich, writer and playwright, was born. Died on July 12, 1927
1893 — (28 Kislev 5654) Paula Ackerman, the first woman in the USA to perform the functions of a rabbi and who headed the National Committee for Religious Schools, was born. Died on January 12, 1989
1895 — (20th Kislev, 5656) Birthdate of Peretz Davidovich Markish, the Russian poet whose language of choice was Yiddish
1953 — (1th of Tevet, 5714) To the amazement of the Israeli public, Ben-Gurion resigned as Prime Minister and retired to the small farming community of Sde Boker in the Negev
2023 — (24 Kislev 5784) The war with Gaza. Day sixty‑two. The Shujaiya district in Gaza is largely under IDF control. Fighting is ongoing in Khan Yunis, in the central part of the Strip. Reserve sergeant Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, and reserve sergeant Yonatan David Deitch, 34, were killed in action; three soldiers were seriously wounded. At 10:00, Sderot and the settlements of Nim‑Am, Ivim, and Gabim, as well as Sapir College, were shelled. Shelling of northern Israel continued from Lebanon. A farmer working on his land was killed.
2024 — (6 Kislev 5785) The war with Gaza. Day four hundred and twenty‑eight. Captain Avraham Ben Pinhas, 24, was killed in combat in the southern part of the Strip.