History events
1563 — (22 Adar-1 5323) During the war between Ivan the Terrible’s Russia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Polotsk was taken after a three-week siege. All the Jews living in Polotsk were drowned in the Dvina River
1641 — (5th of Adar, 5401) Sara Copia Sullam, the daughter of a prominent Venetian family passed away. She was a truly unique figure for her time since she was not only a prolific poetess but a religious philosopher who wrote “The Manifesto of Sara Copia Sulam” in which she refuted accusations that she had denied the immortality of the soul
1655 — (18th of Adar-1, 5415) The twenty-three Sephardic Jews who arrived in the fall seeking sanctuary from the Inquisition are officially admitted into New Amsterdam over Governor Peter Stuyvesant’s objections
1798 — (29 Shevat 5558) Following the occupation of Rome by French troops, local republicans annulled the Pope’s decree requiring Jews to wear a distinguishing badge—a yellow circle—and proclaimed equality. Two days later, a Tree of Freedom was planted by the Jews in gratitude near the synagogue. However, on September 30, 1798, Neapolitan troops entered Rome and restored the old order
1809 — The London Society for Promoting Christianity Among the Jews was founded
1864 — (8 Adar-1 5624) Sultan Muhammad IV of Morocco issued a decree granting Jews equal rights to justice. This decree was reaffirmed by his son, Hassan, upon ascending to the throne in 1873 and again on September 18, 1880. However, these decrees were not enforced locally due to the deeply rooted hatred of the populace. For instance, Sultan Suleiman (1795-1822) ruled that the Jews of Fez could wear shoes; yet so many Jews were killed in broad daylight for adhering to this decree that they themselves pleaded with the sultan to revoke it
1870 — (14th of Adar-1, 5630) Founding of Mikveh Yisrael home of the first Jewish agricultural school in Palestine. The Hebrew name Mikveh Yisrael means Hope of Israel. It was one of the earliest attempts to connect a return to Promised Land with the literal re-building of the land through the agrarian life
1883 — (8th of Adar-1, 5643) Founding of Congregation Oheb Sholom in Goldsboro, NC which holds services on Friday evening and Saturday morning, operates a religious school, owns a cemetery and whose members included Henry Weil, S.S. Spier, Joseph Isaac, Joseph Schwab, Edward Lehman and Samuel Cohn
1889 — (14 Adar-1 5649) The first issue of the anarchist newspaper in Yiddish, «Varkheit,» was published
1891 — (7th of Adar-1, 5651) Representatives of Jewish organizations from throughout the United States met in Philadelphia, PA today where they formed the Jewish Alliance of America. The goal of the Alliance is to alleviate the suffering among Russian Jews by helping them to establish and maintain “farm colonies” in the American West
1900 — (16th of Adar-1, 5660) Herzl is received by Austrian Prime Minister Ernest von Koerber. Herzl writes a memorandum about the Jewish Colonial Bank. The subscriptions to the Bank are prohibited in Austria and Herzl wants to prevent that little people will lose their money
1903 — (18th of Shevat, 5663) Herzl sends a new proposal to the Sultan: Colonization in the Sanjak of Acre in return for a guaranteed annual payment of 100.000 Turkish pounds. In a move that would place him at odds with the “Territorialists” Herzl is already thinking about Jewish colonization in Africa but is willing to make this one last attempt to deal with the rulers of the Ottoman Empire
1919 — (15 Adar-1 5679) Civil War. A pogrom occurred in Felshtein.
1919 — (15 Adar-1 5679) Civil War. A pogrom took place in Proskurov. Ataman Samosenko ordered the exclusive use of cold weapons, resulting in the deaths of 1,600 Jews within four hours by sabers and bayonets.
1919 — (15 Adar-1 5679) Civil War. The Jewish militia successfully thwarted an attempted pogrom in Ternopil, initiated by Ukrainian peasants from nearby villages.
1923 — (29 Shevat 5683) The magazine «Ha-Olam,» published in Berlin, reported: «Construction of the power plant in Tel Aviv, part of Pinchas Rutenberg’s program, has been completed. The station has begun supplying electricity to its subscribers. The first lamps powered by this station are already illuminating the streets of Tel Aviv. The first underground electrical cable has been laid beneath Allenby Street.»
1939 — (26 Shevat 5699) An Arab attack occurred in the Kiryat Aman area near Haifa; terrorists infiltrated a house and killed a resident. In response, Hagana fighters, led by Levi Avrahami, infiltrated the village of Arab-Zbiydat and shot three individuals.
1942 — (28 Shevat 5702) Holocaust. Sonderkommando 4b executed 1,224 Jews in Artemivsk (Donetsk region). On this day, 400 Jews from Odessa were killed in the village of Zhovtneve (Berezovsky district of Odessa region). Sonderkommando 10b in Feodosia executed 35 Jews in the first half of the month, while Sonderkommando 11b in Simferopol executed several dozen Jews during the same period.
1942 — (28 Shevat 5702) Holocaust. In the village of Solenoe near the city of Sinelnikovo, 49 Jews gathered from surrounding villages were executed
1943 — (10th of Adar I, 5703) Four hundred fifty of the Jews remaining in the ghetto at Drohobych were taken out of the ghetto to Bronica Forest where they were murdered
1945 — (2th of Adar, 5705) Launch of the HMS Sanguine, the British submarine which was sold to the Israeli Navy in 1958 and later renamed “Rahav.”
1948 — (5 Adar-1 5708) Israel. The newspaper «Ma’ariv» was founded by Azriel Karlibakh and a group of journalists
1968 — (16th of Shevat, 5728) A group of 26 Jewish lawyers, doctors and scientists in Vilnius (Vilna) addressed a letter to the Central Committee of Lithuania’s Communist Party describing the widespread discrimination against the Jewish people and demanding the right to immigrate to Israel
1987 — (16 Shevat 5747) In Israel, the trial of I. Demjanjuk began, accused of the deaths of thousands of Jews in Treblinka. It lasted four years and resulted in Demjanjuk’s acquittal due to lack of evidence.
1988 — (27 Shevat 5748) The Knesset adopted a Basic Law on the State Comptroller.
2008 — (9 Adar-1 5768) An earthquake measuring between 4.2 and 5.3 was felt from 12:35 to 12:38, including in Tel Aviv
2010 — (1th of Adar, 5770) Israeli archaeologists said today that they’ve discovered an unusually shaped 1,400-year-old wine press that was exceptionally large and advanced for its time. The octagonal press measures 21 feet by 54 feet (6.5 by 16.5 meters) and was discovered in southern Israel, about 40 kilometers south of both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
2015 — (26 Shevat 5775) A new bus route No. 3 of the «Egged» cooperative was opened in Dimona, connecting the Ar Noff district through the city center to the «Peretz» shopping center and back.
2023 — (24 Shevat 5783) By court order, security forces destroyed a vineyard allegedly planted unlawfully near the settlement of Shilo in the Binyamin district, belonging to the Ben-Eliyahu family. The justification was that the vineyard was located on disputed land. After the vineyard was destroyed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a temporary freeze on the destruction process to «allow for further negotiations with the landowner.»
2024 — (6 Adar-1 5784) War with Gaza. Day one hundred thirty-two. The IDF continued shelling targets in Gaza with all types of weaponry. Alarm sirens sounded in Kiryat Shmona and the village of Tel Hai. At least eight rockets were launched from Lebanon toward Israeli territory
People
1722 — Execution of P. Shafir. A baptized Jew and associate of Peter the Great, he served as Vice-President of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1717. In 1723, he was accused of embezzlement and sentenced to death. Just as the axe was raised above his head, his death sentence was commuted to exile
1780 — (9th of Adar-1, 5440) Karol Asher was born—a Dutch lawyer and author of works on jurisprudence and the history of Dutch Jewry. At the initiative of Napoleon’s brother, Louis Bonaparte, he drafted the charter of the Jewish consistory in 1808. He died in 1836
1850 — (3 Adar-1 5610) Jonah Kremenetsky was born in Odessa—a Zionist activist, electrical engineer, and industrialist. He died on October 25, 1934.
1910 — (6 Adar-1 5670) D. A. Dragunsky was born—a Colonel-General and twice Hero of the Soviet Union. He led the Anti-Zionist Committee of Soviet Public Opinion. He died on October 12, 1992.
1910 — (6 Adar-1 5670) Irena Sendler was born—a Righteous Among the Nations, who saved 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto. She passed away on May 12, 2009.
1923 — E. G. Bonner was born—a human rights activist and wife of academic Andrei Sakharov. She passed away on June 18, 2011.
2002 — (3 Adar-1 5762) During a military operation in the village of Seiba, Colonel E. Weiss, commander of the IDF special unit Duvdevan, was killed.
2003 — (13 Adar-1 5763) In northern Gaza, an IDF tank was blown up by a mine. Tank crew members N. Bahagon, A. Belitsky, D. Cohen, and I. Mizrahi were killed.
2007 — (27 Shevat 5767) Yitzhak Nadel passed away—a writer and longtime editor-in-chief of the Short Jewish Encyclopedia, and one of the founders of the «Library-Aliyah.»
2015 — (26th of Shevat, 5775) Copenhagen Jewish community guard Dan Uzan was murdered early this morning following an attack on synagogue where a bat mitzvah celebration was taking place
2024 — (6 Adar-1 5784) War with Gaza. Day one hundred thirty-two. In a battle in the southern sector, 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Rotem Saar-Adar from Kfar Aviv was killed.
2025 — (17 Shevat 5785) As a result of a ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza, hostages Alexander Trufanov, Sagi Dekel-Hen, and Yair Gorn were released. In response, Israel released 369 Arabs, including 36 murderers sentenced to life in prison