History events
418 — (17 Adar-2 4178) A letter from Severus, the bishop of the island of Menorca, concerning the relations between Jews and Christians on the island. The letter states that certain relics of Saint Stephen were brought to the city of Magona (modern Port-Mahon), which bolstered the faith of local Christians and their zeal to convert their Jewish neighbors. Public debates between Christians and Jews persisted for several days, culminating in a pogrom, the looting and burning of the local synagogue from February 4 to 9; many Jews fled to the countryside. Ultimately, under constant pressure, the leaders of the Jewish community converted, and some of their fellow Jews followed suit. The new converts financed the demolition of their burned synagogue and erected a church at their own expense. The letter ends with a call for the bishops of the Mediterranean to carry out conversions of Jews within their own communities. The narrative is woven with numerous captivating details of Jewish life in the Western Empire
1267 — (12 Adar 5027) A church synod in Breslau decreed that Jews were prohibited from residing near Christians in baths, hotels, and public festivities; Jews were required to wear a distinctive sign—a special conical headdress (Pileum Cornutum); their homes were to be separated from Christian homes by a fence or ditch; during Christian holidays, Jews were instructed to keep their doors and windows closed. No more than one synagogue was to exist in a community
1288 — (4th of Adar 5048) Pola, a female copiest who belonged the Avanim family from Rome completed working on a book of the Bible as can be seen from the colophon which revealed “the name of her father, her forefathers, her first husband and the date of completion”
1466 — (23 Shevat 5226) Pope Paul II compelled Jews to participate in “jocular races” during the carnival in Rome. For the Christian spectators, it was an entertaining spectacle, but for the Jews, it was a profound humiliation
1749 — (2th of Adar 5509) Benedict XIV issued a papal bull, “Singulari Nobis consoldtioni” that prohibited marriages between Jews and Christians
1784 — (17 Shevat 5544) An edict from Emperor Joseph II of Austria stated that all Jewish tenants of distilleries, breweries, and taverns must liquidate their businesses and leave their residences within three years. The edict aimed to draw Jews into productive labor and divert them from trade
1807 — (1th of Adar-1 5567) Napoleon convened the French Sanhedrin. The first meeting in Paris of the Napoleonic Sanhedrin was under the leadership of The Assembly of Jewish Notables. It opened amid great pomp and celebration under the direction of Abraham Furtado. The Sanhedrin was modeled on the ancient Tribunal in Jerusalem and consisted of 71 members — 46 Rabbis and 25 laymen. Rabbi David Sinzheim of Strasburg was its President. They were presented with 12 questions regarding the positions of Jewry regarding polygamy, divorce, usury, other faiths, and most important whether they considered France to be their Fatherland
1808 — (11th of Shevat 5568) In Westphalia, a large delegation of Jews visited King Jerome, the brother of Napoleon to express their thanks for his granting them full emancipation. During the audience he told them: Tell your brothers to enjoy the rights that were granted to them. They can depend upon my protection on a par with the rest of my children.»
1880 — (27th of Shevat 5640) It was reported today that Hebraica, which has been published as a monthly supplement to the Jewish Messenger will now be published as a weekly featuring articles on Hebrew literature and the science of the Bible
1890 — (19 Shevat 5650) (Old Style) The charter of the Society for the Assistance of Jewish Farmers and Artisans in Syria and Palestine, established in Odessa by L. Pinsker, A. Tsederbaum, M. G. Morgulis, Y. Lubarsky, and others, was approved by the Minister of the Interior of Russia
1891 — (1th of Adar-1 5651) The Baron de Hirsch Fund whose purposed was “to Americanize and assimilate the immigrants with the masses and teach them to become good and self-supporting citizens and to prevent by all proper means their congregating in large cities” was organized today
1917 — (17th of Shevat 5677) The 600-year-old synagogue of Congregation Shaari Zedek in Tunis was destroyed by fire
1920 — (20 Shevat 5680) An entry in the diary of S. Dubnow: “Reports of the Jewish pogroms turned out to be more terrifying than anything I had heard before. A complete massacre across Ukraine, in the very cities where the Haidamak movement roamed in the 17th and 18th centuries… 353 communities were destroyed or scattered; over 30,000 individuals were killed, wounded, women were raped, and children tortured during the summer months of 1919… I read, and tears filled my eyes.»
1925 — (15th of Shevat 5685) The Technion opened in Haifa
1937 — (28th of Shevat 5697) Following violent demonstrations last night during which 22 Jewish students were injured, nationalist students at the university in Vilna proclaimed today as “A day without Jews” and barred Jewish students from entering the classroom
1938 — (8th of Adar 5698) The Jerusalem Post reported that in elections to the Jerusalem Communal Council (Va’ad Kehila) out of 9,404 votes cast, Labor won 1,417, Revisionists 877, General Zionists 416, Mizrahi 413, and the rest was divided among 13 small political parties
1940 — (30 Shevat 5700) The Shoah. A letter from E. M. Chekmenyov, head of the All-Union Resettlement Committee, to Molotov: “The Resettlement Administration of the USSR Council of Ministers has received two letters from the Berlin and Vienna resettlement bureaus regarding the organization of the resettlement of the Jewish population from Germany to the USSR—specifically to the Birobidzhan region and Western Ukraine. According to the agreement between the Soviet government and Germany on the evacuation of the population, only Ukrainians, Belarusians, Rusyns, and Russians are to be evacuated to the territory of the USSR. We believe that the proposals from the indicated resettlement bureaus cannot be accepted.”
1941 — (12th of Shevat 5701) The Shoah. Dutch Nazis sparked the first anti-Jewish riots in Amsterdam. Among other damage, the Nazi collaborators destroyed the pro-Jewish café Alcazar Amsterdam. Alcazar refused to hang «No Entry for Jews» signs in front of café
1944 — (15th of Shevat 5704) Tarnow, Poland ‘was declared ‘Judenrein’ – Jew free – today; The Lodz Ghetto received machinery and a factory was set up that helped to secure survival for a while longer for many Jews. Unknown to them, the machinery came from Poniataw, where the Jewish population had been obliterated in November of 1943
1948 — (29th of Shevat 5708) The Stern Gang blew up two Arab owned building in Jerusalem from which Arab snipers had been shooting at Jews
1953 — (24th of Shevat 5713) The Jerusalem Post reported that three marauders were killed and eight captured along the Jordanian border; that the cabinet had decided on the establishment of the State Bank, agreed to hold the Conquest of the Desert Exhibition and allocated land for the Hebrew University Givat Ram development
1962 — (5 Adar 5722) Finance Minister L. Eshkol announced a sharp devaluation of the lira. 3 liras = 1 dollar, whereas previously, the lira was equivalent to 1.8 dollars.
1974 — (17 Shevat 5734) The religious-political settlement movement Gush Emunim was founded. The main goal of the movement is to establish new settlements in territories controlled by Israel
1994 — (28th of Shevat 5754) Israeli minister Shimon Perez signed a peace accord with PLO’s Arafat
2017 — (13 Shevat 5777) A terrorist attack. A 19-year-old Arab from Shechem attacked passersby in Petah Tikva. He first opened fire with a homemade submachine gun “Carl Gustav,” then began stabbing with a screwdriver. Six people were injured. The terrorist was neutralized near a craft and sewing store when someone struck him with a sewing machine.
2024 — (30 Shevat 5784) War with Gaza. Day one hundred and twenty-six. Intense fighting in the Rimal and Sheikh Ajlin neighborhoods of Gaza City. A helicopter landed on the western outskirts for the evacuation of the wounded; a strike was carried out on a building near the Palestine Bank in Jabalia al-Balad, in the northern sector; fighting continued in the Khan Yunis area and central and northern Gaza. In the northern part of the country, air raid sirens were heard in the settlements of Shtula, Shomera, Arab al-Aramshe, Yaara, Hanita, Zarit, Gornot HaGalil, Goren, Eylon, Idmit, Even Menachem, Fasuta, Netua, Alkosh, Abirim, and Netua. The IDF attacked Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon—in the areas of Maroun al-Ras, Mis al-Jabal, and An-Nakura. Throughout the day, IDF artillery targeted several areas in southern Lebanon.
2025 — (11 Shevat 5785) The IDF announced the expansion of Operation «Iron Wall» in Nur ash-Shams, east of Tulkarem; Israel Defense Forces were withdrawn from the “Nitzrim axis,” which separated northern Gaza from other areas of the sector. Equipment that had been set up by the military earlier in the area was dismantled, removed, or destroyed
People
1815 — (29th of Shevat 5575) Birthdate of Austrian Talmudist and historian Isaac Hirsch Weiss best known for his 5 volume work Each Generation and Its Scholars, “a history of the Halakha, or oral law, from Biblical times until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain at the end of the 15th century.”
1880 — (27th of Shevat 5640) Isaac Adolphe Crémieux, French statesman, died
1910 — The renowned theater director, dancer, and choreographer Anna Sokolova was born to immigrant parents Samuel and Sarah Sokolovsky. She passed away on March 29, 2006.
1916 — L. Gutman, an Israeli sociologist and statistician, was born in Brooklyn. He was a recipient of the Israel Prize and died on October 25, 1987.
1932 — (2 Adar 5692) Yael Rom-Finkelstein, the first female pilot of the Israel Air Force, was born in Tel Aviv. She died on May 24, 2006.
1979 — I. Slutskaya, a figure skater and multiple world and European champion, representing Russia, was born.
2005 — (30 Shevat 5765) Sylvia Rafael passed away. She gained fame for her service in the Mossad during the hunt for the terrorists of «Black September.»