December 7

History events
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»
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
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
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
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

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
1837 — (9th Kislev, 57598) Benjamin Disraeli made his maiden speech in Parliament
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