History events
1349 — (3th of Adar-1, 5109) In Zurich, Switzerland, the town council tried to protect the Jews of the town, they were forced to give in to the mob, resulting in the murder of many of the Jewish inhabitants. The Jews were then forced to leave
1475 — (15th of Adar, 5235) The first known Hebrew book, a copy of the TaNaCh, was printed in Italy
1501 — (4th of Adar-1, 5261) On this day and the following day, two tremendous auto-de-fe’s took place in Toledo. A woman prophet and over 100 of her followers were burned. The woman envisioned those Jews who had previously died as martyrs were taken to heaven, and the Jewish Messiah was speedily going to return the Jews to the Promised Land.
1590 — (28th of Adar-1, 5350) Archduke Maximilian granted the Jews of Mergentheim, Markelsheim, Igersheim and Unterbalbach the right to continue to bury their dead above the village of Unterbalbach for an annual payment of 16 Gulden to the Monastery of Mergentheim
1618 — (7th of Adar, 5378) Rabbi Tanhum Ha-Kohen of Cracow passed away today
1656 — (7th of Adar, 5416) The Jews in New Amsterdam are granted, «A little hook of land situate [sic] outside of this city for a burial place.» This cemetery land was located by the Bowery, near Oliver Street in what is now lower Manhattan. It would be another month before Jews were granted the right to own real estate. Public Jewish worship would not be an accepted matter of fact until the turn of the century. The establishment of a burial society and cemetery is a matter of major importance for any Jewish community. It was sign of permanence and belonging. Following the defeat of the Dutch by the English in 1664, New Amsterdam would become New York
1775 — (22th of Adar-1, 5535) The Jews were expelled from outskirts of Warsaw, Poland
1890 — (2th of Adar, 5650) Menachem Ussishkin one of the originators of BILU, founded the Odessa Committee. The Committee was dedicated to the practical exponent of the Hovevei Zion movement, in establishing agricultural settlements in Eretz-Israel. Ussishkin later served as President of the Jewish National Fund. He was one of the few early Zionist leaders who actually settled in Eretz-Israel
1901 — (3th of Adar, 5661) Over the next three days, Herzl writes letters to Zionists in France, Italy, England and America for parliamentary intervention against immigration restrictions in Palestine. He considers transferring the center of his action to London but drops the plan because he does not want to separate from his parents.
1902 — (15th of Adar-1, 5662) Herzl travels to Munich and meets the banker Reitlinger. Herzl proposes the Turkish suggestion of Jewish immigration to Asia Minor and Mesopotamia and the exploitation of mines. Reitlinger considers the matter too costly, risky and unsafe
1946 — (21th of Adar-1, 5706) The Palmach attacked the Police Tegart fort at Shefa ‘Amr with a 200-pound bomb; in the firefight that followed, the Palmach suffered casualties
1948 — (12th of Adar-1, 5708) As the conflict over the coming partition of Palestine grew, three car bombs arranged by Arab irregulars exploded on Ben Yehudah Street killing 52 Jewish civilians and leaving 123 injured; The Golani Brigade, one of Israeli’s most elite infantry brigades was formed
2004 — (30th of Shevat, 5764) Israel Ilan Avisidris, 41, of Jerusalem; Lior Azulai, 18, of Jerusalem; Yaffa Ben-Shimol, 57, of Jerusalem; Rahamim Doga, 38, of Mevasseret Zion; Yehuda Haim, 48, of Givat Ze’ev;Netanel Havshush, 20, of Jerusalem; Yuval Ozana, 32, of Jerusalem and Benaya Yehonatan Zuckerman, 18, of Jerusalem were murdered today and 60 other people were injured when an Arab terrorist blew up Egged bus #14 in Jerusalem during the Second Intifada
2010 — (8th 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
People
1040 — (5th of Adar, 4800) On the secular calendar birthdate of Rashi ישר, an acronym for Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac or Shlomo Yitzchaki. Rashi was one of the greatest commentators on the TaNaCh and the Talmud
1217 — (6th of Adar, 4977) Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg passed away. Born in 1140 in Speyer, he was also called He-Hasid or ‘the Pious’ in Hebrew and was the initiator of the Chassidei Ashkenaz, a movement of Jewish mysticism in Germany
1455 — (4th of Adar, 5215) Birthdate of Johann Von Reuchlin the German linguist who came to the defense of the Jews when Dominican Friars led by Johann Pfefferkorn sought imperial support to destroy a vast array of Jewish books
1520 — (3th of Adar-1, 5801) 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
1793 — (10th of Adar, 5530) Isaac Marcus Jost, Jewish historian, born