History events
1519 (20th of Adar I, 5279) — Expulsion of Jews from Regensburg (Germany). They relocated to the town of Stadtamhof, situated on the opposite bank of the Danube, and to nearby villages, but were expelled from there as well in 1551. After the Jews’ departure, the Regensburg synagogue was demolished, and a Catholic chapel was built on its site. Approximately five thousand tombstones from the Jewish cemetery were used in the construction of churches and residential buildings
1849 — (29th of Shevat 5609) In Hamburg a Provisional Decree for the Purpose of Introducing Article 16 of the Basic Rights of the German People with Regard to the Israelites” was “passed by a Resolution of the Council and the City Assembly” today; Due to the civil rights granted under the Frankfurt Constitution which into effect today in Hamburg, forty-two year old lawyer Gabriel Riesser, the grandson of Rabbi Jakob Pinchas Katzenellenbogen and Rabbi Raphael Cohen was able to become a citizen of Hamburg where he was elected to the city’s parliament in 1859
1856 — (15th Adar I, 5616) A blood libel case occurred in Constantinople, with Jews being targeted with violence from Greeks, Armenians, and Turks. This occurred only three days after the Ottoman «reforms» which were to bring equality
1860 — (28th of Shevat 5620) An Imperial decree issued today granted the Jews of Lower Austria, Moravia, Silesia, Hungary, Voywodina, and the Banat, Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, and the Littoral Districts, the right of possessing real property. They cannot, however, exercise the rights of patronage, jurisdiction, or scholastic representation, attached to such possession
1897 — (19th Adar I, 5657) In correspondence bearing today’s date, “leading members of the Jewish community in Tripoli sent a letter to the President of the Alliance that gave a grim picture of Jewish life in rural Tripolitania.» The Jews reported that they were living as “dhimmi.” An Arab mob had destroyed the synagogue in the village of Zliten and in another village the authorities refused to find those who had murdered one Jew and injured his companion
1931 — (4th of Adar 5691) It was reported today that “Jewish craftsmen, doctors, teachers, agricultural specialists and engineers who are said to be disgusted with Rumanian anti-Semitism are streaming in the Soviet Union from Bessarabia
1938 — (20th Adar I, 5698) The Palestine Post reported that The Jewish Agency, The Marine Trust Ltd. and other Jewish organizations asked the government to speed up the development of the Tel Aviv port in order to stop congestion and allow normal passenger traffic. The basin had to be deepened, the quay space doubled, and another lighter basin added to the existing facilities
1939 — (2th of Adar 5699) In a further move to impoverish the Jews, the German government order them “to surrender all objects made from gold, silver, precious stones and pearls.”
1940 (12th of Adar I, 5700) — The Holocaust. Construction began in Poland of the first mass extermination camp – Auschwitz
1946 — (20th Adar I, 5706) British soldiers and policeman are searching for those who attacked the police headquarters tonight in Haifa and Tel Aviv. The attackers in Tel Aviv were armed with machine guns and grenades and set-off at least 6 separate explosions. The attacks followed searches of Jewish settlements by the police that resulted in the seizure of rifles and “a clandestine radio.”
1950 — (4th of Adar 5710) “A major trade showing of imported giftwares made in handicraft shops in Israel” “sponsored by the Palestine Galleries for Arts and Crafts” continued for a second day the Pierre Hotel in New York City
1957 (20th of Adar I, 5717) — U.S. President Eisenhower issued an ultimatum demanding Israel withdraw its troops from the Sinai, captured during Operation «Kadesh» (the Sinai Campaign). Ben-Gurion only managed to secure the right to take retaliatory action in the event of an Egyptian blockade of the Gulf of Eilat
1958 — (1th of Adar 5718) Egypt and Syria having formed the United Arab Republic (UAL) elected the Egyptian dictator Gamiel Nasser as its new President
1960 (23rd of Shevat, 5720) — Metula and all settlements between Sodom and the Galilee were connected to the power grid
1969 — (3rd of Adar, 5729) Two were killed and twenty more wounded in a terrorist bombing attack at a Jerusalem supermarket
1970 (15th of Adar I, 5730) — Terror Attack. A Swissair airplane was blown up by Arabs; all 38 passengers and crew members perished. The plane was en route from Zurich to Tel Aviv. The PFLP claimed responsibility. Among the victims were 15 Israelis
1973 — (19th Adar I, 5733) Israeli Air Force shot down a Libyan airliner over the Sinai during a sandstorm after it failed to comply with an order to land. The plane was headed for Cairo but had strayed off course due to bad weather. 106 people died, mostly Libyan and Egyptian citizens. In discussions of the incident, the press reported that intelligence had information about Arab intentions to hijack a plane and commit a suicide act in a densely populated area of Israel
1974 — (29th of Shevat 5734) Israeli forces left the territory on the western side of the Suez Canal
1978 — (14th of Adar-1 5738) The Jerusalem Post reported that there were at least 2,000 guests at the colorful opening of the 29th Zionist Congress in Jerusalem
2010 (7th of Adar I, 5770) — The Israeli government decided to expand the list of national heritage sites, including the Cave of the Patriarchs («Ma’arat HaMachpelah») in Hebron and the Tomb of the Matriarch Rachel near Bethlehem. The decision provoked loud and aggressive protests from Arabs and many Europeans.
2024 (12th of Adar I, 5784) — Gaza War. Day One Hundred and Thirty-Eight. IDF strikes on targets in Khan Younis, Rafah, and Nuseirat (central Gaza Strip). Mortar fire from Gaza on communities near the border. Combat engineering special forces and units from the 98th Division discovered and destroyed a kilometer-long tunnel belonging to Hamas leadership in Khan Younis. The battle with terrorists took place underground
People
1520 — (2th Adar I, 5280)Birthdate of Moses Isserles, the Ashkenazic rabbi from Cracow best known for writing HaMapah (The Table Cloth) a “gloss” on The Shulchan Aruch (Set Table) of Joseph Karo. Karo relied primarily on Sephardic sources. Isserles used Ashkenazic sources to create a table cloth that would cover the set table thus making Caro’s work viable for the large number of Jews living in Northern and Eastern Europe
1619 — (17th of Adar 5379) Rabbi Ephraim Solomon ben Aaron of Luntshits, author of Keli Yakar passed away.
1677 — (19th Adar I, 5437) Philosopher Baruch de Spinoza passed away
1683 — (5th of Adar 5443) Birthdate of Johann Christoph Wolf, the “German Christian Hebraist” who created the 4 volume Biblotecha Hebrae published between 1715 and 1733 which among other things provided many Christians with their knowledge of the Talmud for more than 150 years
1821 (19th of Adar I, 5581) — Born: Rachel (Élisa Rachel Félix), a French actress. Died January 3, 1858.
1866 — Born: August von Wassermann, a German bacteriologist and immunologist. Died March 16, 1925.
1878 (18th of Adar I, 5638) — Born in Budapest: Alfréd Hajós, a Hungarian swimmer and two-time Olympic champion at the 1896 Games. Died November 12, 1955.
1895 (27th of Shevat, 5655) — Born: Szmul Zygielbojm, a Polish politician. On May 12, 1943, he took his own life in protest against the results of the so-called Bermuda Conference.
1902 (14th of Adar I, 5662) — Born in Ukraine: Dov Sadan, a literary scholar, publicist, Knesset member, and recipient of the Israel Prize. Died in 1989.
1912 (3rd of Adar I, 5672) — Born: British Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld, one of the participants and organizers of the so-called «Kindertransport» operation – the rescue of Jewish children from Austria by bringing them to England. Died February 6, 1984
1982 — (28th of Shevat, 5742) Gershom Scholem passed away. Born on December 5, 1897, Scholem, was a Jewish philosopher and historian who was raised in Germany. He is widely regarded as the modern founder of the scholarly study of Kabbalah, becoming the first Professor of Jewish Mysticism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Scholem is best known for his collection of lectures, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941) and for his biography Sabbatai Zevi, the Mystical Messiah (1973). His collected speeches and essays, published as On Kabbalah and its Symbolism (1965), helped to spread knowledge of Jewish mysticism among non-Jews. He was awarded the Israel Prize in 1958 and was elected president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 1968
2011 (17th of Adar I, 5771) — Died in Holon at the age of 70: Boris Semyonovich Podolsky, an Israeli linguist, lexicographer, leading specialist in Hebrew and Semitic languages. Author of the historical «A Concise Grammar of Hebrew,» the «Comprehensive Hebrew-Russian and Russian-Hebrew Dictionary,» and the largest online Yiddish-Russian dictionary