History events
-1313 BCE (1st of Nisan, 2448, or 10th of Nisan, March 8th, -1313) On the first day of the month of Nisan, two weeks before the Exodus from Egypt, G-d said to Moses and Aaron: «This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you…»
-1313 BCE (1st of Nisan, 2448) The Egyptian Plague. Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and an impenetrable darkness fell upon Egypt — but in the dwellings of the Children of Israel there was light
1255 — (19th of Adar, 5015) Bishop Richard of Worms transferred to the chapter of the local cathedral, among other revenues from the city, the sum of 40 pounds heller which the Jewish community was obliged to pay annually on St. Martin’s Day which falls on November 11
1276 — (12th of Adar, 5036) Bishop Pierre III Rostaing guaranteed protection to the Jews of Carpentras, France in return for a tax of one-thirteenth of the total seat rents of the synagogue
1348 — (28th of Adar, 5108) At the Cortes of Alcala de Hebares King Alfonso XI issued a decree which forbad Jews and Moors from lending money “at interet”
1382 (14th of Adar I, 5142) In Paris, the uprising known as the «Maillotins’ Revolt» broke out, sparked by the imposition of a new tax amounting to one-twelfth the value of all goods. The rebels, armed with axes, attacked tax collectors, followed by a pogrom during which Jewish homes were looted for four days. The mob considered the Jews to be accomplices of the treasury
1488 — (16th of Adar, 5248) Joshua Solomon Soncino began printing copies of the Bible at Soncino, Italy
1575 — (18th of Adar, 5335) Rabbi Elijah ben Moses de Vidas completed Reishit Hakhmah
1592 — (25th of Adar, 5352) Clement VIII issued Cum saepe accidere, a Papal Bull that forbade the Jews of Avignon from selling new goods
1593 — (6th of Adar-1, 5353) Clement VIII issued Cum Haebraeorum militia, a Papal Bull decreeing that the Talmud should be burnt along with cabalistic works and commentaries, which gave the owners of such works 10 days to turn them over to the Universal Inquisition in Rome and subsequently two months to hand them over to local inquisitors
1675 — (12th of Adar, 5435) An agreement was ratified today that would allow 250 Jewish families to return Vienna and occupy 50 places of business. In return for this privilege, the Jews agreed to make a payment of 300,000 florins and the payment of an annual tax of 10,000 florins. The government agreed to the return of the Jews because the treasury was empty
1677 — (6th of Adar-1, 5437) In Newport, RI, Jewish community purchased land to be used as a cemetery
1829 (25th of Adar I, 5589) At the age of 79, Wolf Breidenbach died — a German banker, financier, and public figure. Thanks to his analytical abilities, he served as a financial advisor to several German princes and dukes and successfully lobbied his «superiors» to abolish the Jewish Leibzoll — a toll Jews had to pay to enter cities where they did not reside or have special privileges. He achieved its abolition in Isenburg on April 25, 1803, and in Homburg on November 1 of the same year. Through his efforts, Aschaffenburg, Schönberg, and finally Frankfurt itself (August 24, 1804) abolished the toll; their example was followed by the princely courts of Nassau-Usingen, Nassau-Weilburg, Löwenstein, Wertheim, Leiningen, and the court of Erbach. In some instances, Breidenbach acted as a syndic or advocate for various Jewish communities. He made an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the Imperial Diet of Regensburg to abolish the Leibzoll across all German lands with a single act and succeeded only in abolishing it in that very city and in Darmstadt (January 19, 1805)
1842 — (18th of Adar, 5602) B’nai Yeshurun, a congregation organized by the German Jews living in Cincinnati, Ohio was incorporated under the laws of the state of Ohio
1887 (4th of Adar I, 5647) A decree by the Romanian government prohibited Jews from engaging in retail trade; artisans had to obtain special permission from local authorities; Jews were also banned from serving in all institutions of the state tobacco monopoly. In factories and plants, including those owned by Jews, at least two-thirds of the workers had to be Romanians five years after their opening. Almost all public service was closed to Jews; the appointment of a Jewish doctor in rural areas was permitted, but only for a short term and if no Romanian doctor claimed the position. The number of «foreigners» treated in hospitals was not to exceed ten percent of all patients. (The Jewish Encyclopedia cites a different year for the decree — 1884.)
1919 — (28th of Adar-1, 5679) Following the decision to combine two Yiddish newspapers whose readers were “the younger and more progressive Orthodox Jews, the Day-Warheit appeared for the first time today
1921 — (20th of Adar-1, 5681) Fire destroys 120 homes and a large amount of shops in the Jewish quarter of Kouskoundjouk, Constantinople. Most of these belonged to poor Jews
1928 — (7th of Adar, 5688) The Soviets decided to set up a Jewish district in Biro-bijanin Eastern Siberia. Most of its 14,200 square miles were uninhabitable due to floods. It was to be used as a buffer zone against China
1938 — (27th of Adar-1, 5698) During the Arab revolt, “an armed Arab mob” attacked Tirat Tzvi, “a kibbutz in the Beit She’an Valley; The Palestine Post reported that The Union of Romanian Journalists expelled all Jews who became members after December
1940 — (19th of Adar-1, 5700) The British adopted the MacDonald White Paper that included restriction of sale of Arab land to Jews in Eretz Yisrael. This document nearly voided the Balfour Declaration
1942 (11th of Adar I, 5702) The Holocaust. In Nikopol (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast), about 20 Jews from Kamianka-Dniprovska (Zaporizhzhia Oblast) were shot. The «cleansing» of Voyinka ended; during the «cleansing,» 70–80 Jews were shot. In the villages of Der Emes, Lekkert, and Frunze (Larindorf District, Crimea), about 100 Jews were shot. All Jews (over 500 people) in Yenakiyevo (Donetsk Oblast) were herded into four barracks
1943 — (23th of Adar-1, 5703) In Kovono Ghetto, thousands of Jews attend the funeral of Rabbi Avraham Duber Shapiro, Chief Rabbi of Kovno despite an order from the Nazis forbidding them to do so
1948 — (18th of Adar-1, 5708) The famed Golani Brigade was formed today during the Israeli War for Independence when the Levanoni Brigade in the Galilee split into the 1st Golani Brigade and the 2nd Carmeli Brigade
1949 — (29th of Shevat, 5709) Following evacuation by an Egyptian brigade, today Israel too control “of the Faluja pocket.”
1950 (11th of Adar I, 5710) Near the Ben Shemen forest, immigrants from Morocco established the moshav Gamzo
1950 (11th of Adar I, 5710) In Jerusalem, with the participation of members of the Israeli government and thousands of residents, a solemn ceremony was held for the burial of soldiers who fell in the War of Independence while defending the city.
1950 (11th of Adar I, 5710) The airport in Eilat was opened
1952 (2nd of Adar I, 5712) Israel and Bulgaria concluded a barter deal under which Israeli factories would produce 30,000 pairs of expensive shoes for Bulgaria, and Bulgaria, in turn, would supply Israel with a large shipment of onions, which were in short supply in the country. On the same day, it was decided to reduce the price of air travel to the USA, but only until the start of the tourist season
1955 — (5th of Adar, 5715) Three days after Arab terrorists had murdered an Israeli civilian at Rehovot, paratroopers from a brigade under the command of Ariel Sharon implemented Operation Black Arrow that included an attack on an Egyptian base in Gaza and the ambushing of the relief column – an action in which the Israelis lost eight men while he enemy lost 37 men with “many more wounded.”
1972 — (13th of Adar, 5732) “Israeli forces withdrew today from southern Lebanon after a four day reprisal operation against Palestinian commandos based there, an Israeli Army spokesman reported.”
2003 — «Sometimes it seems to me that it is only the Jews who haven’t yet given up on Russia — everyone is bustling about, everyone needs something from it, which leads one to think that the indigenous population of Russia is actually them. That’s why nothing really works out for them in Israel — the land there is foreign. Eternal war, unceasing strife… It’s hard to eat without salt, but one cannot live on salt alone. And in America, despite all their influence there, Jews haven’t appropriated history, nor in France, nor in Poland… But in Russia — they are everywhere: in the cultural, political, and economic elite. Because the so-called indigenous population watches with a certain schadenfreude as, once again, nothing works out for them. That’s why I can’t call them a minority: a quantitative minority is not the point here. One should evaluate by influence: ‘each Jew is a lot,’ noted Guberman.» (Dmitry Bykov — writer, poet, literary scholar, publicist, public figure, «liberal.» Konservator, No. 7, February 28 — March 6, 2003)
2007 (10th of Adar I, 5767) Israel. A bridge serving as a traffic interchange at the Glilot Junction (the northern entrance to Tel Aviv from Coastal Highway No. 2) opened
2007 (10th of Adar I, 5767) The spring bird migration began. In the Hula Valley, a flock of storks — several thousand birds — was spotted. They made a stopover in the country on their way to Europe. Israel lies on the central axis of bird migration from Europe and Asia to Africa. Annually, up to half a billion birds of hundreds of species cross the skies over Israel during seasonal migrations. Storks are the first to set off, followed by birds of prey, cranes, pelicans, and songbirds. The spring migration lasts from early March to May
2009 — (4th of Adar, 5769) From January 1 through today, there were 64 terrorist attacks that took place in the West Bank or were carried out by terrorists from the West Bank
2024 (19th of Adar I, 5784) The Gaza War. Day One Hundred Forty-Five. Fierce fighting in Khan Yunis and in the Zaytun area of Gaza City; artillery and airstrikes on Hamas targets throughout the sector
People
1616 — (20th of Adar, 5376) Vincent Fettmilch and his chief accomplices executed, Frankfort
1720 — (30th of Adar-1, 5480) Judah Monis, an Algerian born Jew who would become the first American author of a Hebrew grammar book arrived in New York
1812 — (15th of Adar-1, 5572) Berthold Auerbach, German novelist, born
1820 — (13th of Adar-1, 5580) Rachel, French actress, born
1898 (6th of Adar I, 5658) In New York, the famous American Jewish performer Molly Picon was born. Died April 6, 1992.
1906 (3rd of Adar I, 5666) B. Siegel was born — an American gangster who pioneered the gambling industry in Las Vegas. Died June 20, 1947.
1922 — G. Hoffman was born — pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union, writer. Died May 22, 1995.
1922 — Yuri Lotman was born — writer, literary scholar, author of books about Pushkin and Karamzin. Died October 28, 1993.
1929 — Efram Owen Goldberg was born — one of the greatest contemporary architects, a pioneer of architectural deconstructivism. Winner of the Pritzker Prize in 1989. Died December 5, 2025.
1938 (27th of Adar I, 5698) In Ein HaShofet, a Haganah member, Avraham Goldschlager, was killed
1945 — (15th of Adar, 5705) Walter Süskind, the German born Dutch Jew who saved over six hundred Jewish children died either at Auschwitz or one of the death marches inflicted on Jews by their Nazi captors as the war came to a close
1991 — (14th of Adar, 5751) A twenty-five-year-old Jewish religious student, Elhanan Atali, was found in an abandoned storeroom in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. His throat had been slit and he had been stabbed in the back
1999 (12th of Adar I, 5759) In the security zone of southern Lebanon, a car carrying IDF General E. Gerstein hit a mine. Along with him, Warrant Officer A. Abu-Rosh, Sergeant O. Elkabetz, and military correspondent I. Roe were killed.
2002 (16th of Adar I, 5762) IDF Sergeant H. Bahar was killed by a sniper’s bullet in the Balata refugee camp