1515 — (14th of Tevet, 5275) Jews were expelled from Laibach, Austria
1549 — (2nd of Shevat, 5309) Elia Levita also known as Elijah Levita, Elias Levita, Eliahu Bakhur («Eliahu the Bachelor») a Renaissance-period Hebrew grammarian, poet and one of the first writers in the Yiddish language passed away. Born in 1469, he “was the author of the Bovo-Bukh the most popular chivalric romance written in Yiddish, which, according to Sol Liptzin, is ‘generally regarded as the most outstanding poetic work in Old Yiddish.’”
1565 — (28th of Tevet, 5325) A papal decree issued today order that “the fines levied on Jews for possessing scrip certificates of indebtedness, lending money on interest, or engaging in certain occupations were to go to the support” of Houses of Catechumens, “a Roman institution for converting Jews to Catholicism.”
1577 — (13th of Chevat, 5337) Pope Gregory XIII decreed that all Roman Jews, under pain of death, must listen attentively to the compulsory Catholic conversion sermon given in Roman synagogues after Friday night services
1578 — (22th of Tevet, 5338) Pope Gregory XIII signed into law a tax forcing Jews to pay for the support of a “House of Conversion” to convert Jews to Christianity.
1581 — (26th of Tevet, 5341) Pope Gregory XIII ordered his troops to confiscate all sacred literature from the Roman Jewish community. Thousands of Jews were murdered in the campaign.
1594 — (19th of Tevet, 5354) Rodrigo Lopez, a Marrano who was serving as physician to Queen Elizabeth, was arrested on charges of trying to poison the English Monarch
1627 — (13th of Tevet, 5387) A press belonging to Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel published a prayer book, which was the first work produced by this Hebrew particular printing press.
*1702 — (12th of Tevet, 5462) Jair Ḥayyim Bacharach, German rabbi, died
1714 — (25th of Tevet, 5474) Leffmann Behrends, the son of Issachar Barmann and the grandson of Isaac Cohen of Borkum, who was a leading German financier who used his influence to protect his co-religionists, died
1798 — (13th of Tevet, 5558) The first Jewish censor was appointed by the Russian government to censor all Hebrew books printed in Russia or imported from other countries
*1807 — (21th of Tevet, 5567) Rabbi Asher Sammter, born
*1807 — (21th of Tevet, 5567) Abraham Kohn, the Chief Reform Rabbi of Lemberg, born
1808 — (1th of Tevet, 5568) Several restrictions on Jewish ownership of land went into effect in Russia
*1812 — (16th of Tevet, 5572) In Brighton, Sussex, Hannah Benjamin and Levi Emanuel Cohen gave birth to Australian newspaper man Abraham Cohen
*1834 — (20th of Tevet, 5594) In Blieskastel, Salomon Oppenheimer and Johanetta Kahn gave birth to their fourth son David Oppenheimer who eventually settled in Vancouver, BC where he became a successful businessman and served as the city’s second mayor, d. 31 Dec. 1897 in Vancouver
*1834 — (20th of Tevet, 5594) Birthdate of Salomon Stricker, the native of Waag-Neustdadt which was part of the Autro-Hungarian Empire at that time who became a note pathologist and histologist. D. 2 April 1898
*1834 — (20th of Tevet, 5594) Birthdate of Ludovic Halévy, a member of the famed Halevy clan whose artistic and social activities spanned at least three centuries starting in 1760 Halevy was prominent in the musical theatre of 19th century France. One of his most famous works was the libretto for the opera “Carmen.” D. 7 Mai 1908
1837 — (24th of Tevet, 5597) Several thousand Jews killed by an earthquake at Safed and Tiberias. Nissim Zerahiah Azulai “editor and annotator of Shabbethai Cohen’s «Shulḥan ha-Ṭahor» (The Pure Table), a treatise on the 613 commandments, perished in the earthquake at Safed
*1869 — (18th of Tevet, 5629) Milton Joseph Rosenau was an American public health official and professor who was influential in the early twentieth century, died April 9, 1946
*1878 — (26th of Tevet, 5638) In Louisville, KY, David Henry and Selma Franko Goldman a professional pianist gave birth to Edwin Franko Goldman — аmerican composer and conductor. Died February 21, 1956
1879 — (6th of Tevet, 5639) Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum opened its facility today with four children
1882 — (10th of Tevet, 5642) Leon Pinsker anonymously published “Auto-Emancipation,” a pamphlet whose subtitle was Mahnruf an seine Stammgenossen, von einem russischen Jude (Warning to His Fellow People, from a Russian Jew) in which he urged the Jewish people to strive for independence and national consciousness
*1884 — (3th of Tevet, 5644) Birthdate of Moses “Mosey” King, the New England lightweight boxer and longtime Yale boxing coach who “was Connecticut’s’ first boxing commissioner.”
Died December 10, 1956
1885 — (14th of Tevet, 5645) “An English Society for the Conversion of the Jews” announced that during 1884 it had converted “four Jews at an average cost of about $21,000 each.”
1890 — (9th of Tevet, 5650) “A mass meeting of down-town” Jews held this evening at the Pythagoras Hall on Canal Street to discuss the construction of a new hospital to be built on the Lower East Side. The up-town hospitals cannot accommodate the influx of sick Jewish immigrants.
1890 — (9th of Tevet, 5650) Birthdate Ellis Mark Zacharias — was a Rear admiral and naval attaché to Japan, who served in World War I and World War II. After World War II, he was appointed as the deputy director of US Naval Intelligence, and post-retirement he narrated the 1958–59 NBC television docudrama series Behind Closed Doors. Died June 27, 1961
1892 — (1th of Tevet, 5652) The SS Masilia whose passengers include a large number of Russia Jews whose passage had been paid by the Baron Hirsch Fund left Marseilles today for a four week voyage to New York
*1892 — (1th of Tevet, 5652) Birthdate of Bertha Solomon, one of the first women’s rights activists in South Africa. Dead November 22, 1969
1892 — (1th of Tevet, 5652) The Ellis Island Immigrant Station in New York opened. Millions of mostly eastern European Jews would pass through Ellis Island on their way to New York’s Lower East Side or other such urban locations. Оn the same day Colonel John Weber, the first Commissioner of Immigration at the port of New York, gave a $10 gold Liberty coin to the first immigrant processed at Ellis Island
*1895 — (5th of Tevet, 5655) In Kansas City, MO, Robert and Bessie White Ginsberg gave birth to University of Missouri graduate and University of Pennsylvania trained cardiologist A. Morris Ginsberg, the husband of Zora Tasman Ginsberg and the father of P. Mortimer Ginsberg who passed away without reaching his third birthday
1896 — (15th of Tevet, 5656) As of this date, there were 43, 658 Jews living in Minsk. There were forty synagogues along with numerous less formal “houses of prayer.” The city boasted a large number of Yeshivot including Blumke’s Yeshivah, the Little Yeshivah and the Yeshivah at the Synagogue of the Water Carriers. At this time Minsk was also home to a Jewish Trade School that offered training for locksmiths and carpenters as well as providing instruction in Hebrew and Religion. The Jewish hospital had accommodations for 70 patients and the Jewish poorhouse had beds for 80 indigent patrons
1896 — (15th of Tevet, 5656) “Destroying the Old Relic” published today described the destruction of the Rolls House which had originally been “built by Henry III as a House of Maintenance for converted Jews” but was converted to other uses by Edward III when the supply of Jewish converts ran out
*1897 — (27th of Tevet, 5657) Birthdate of Austrian poet Theodore Kramer who fled to England after the Anschluss and whom Thomas Mann called “one of the greatest poets of the young generation.” Date of death — 3 April 1958
1899 — (19th of Tevet, 5659) Leopold Cohn sent a letter to President McKinley concerning the anti-Semitic prejudice that exists in Brooklyn and Manhattan which is manifested by “acts of violence” aimed the poor Jews of these cities. Cohn, a former Rabbi, converted to Christianity and now is a missionary for the Baptist Church
1899 — (19th of Tevet, 5659) As of today, not counting officers, there eighty-two Jews serving in the British Army and forty-six serving in the militia
1900 — (1th of Chevat, 5660) In Natchez, Mississippi, founding of the Jewish Relief Association which would be managed by Rabbi S.G. Bottigheimer.
*1900 — (1th of Chevat, 5660) Birthdate of Chiune Sugihara “ a Japanese diplomat who served as Vice-Consul for the Empire of Japan in Lithuania who risked his career and life by issuing travel documents to thousands of Jews so that they could escape the Nazis by appearing to be traveling to Japan
1901 — (10th of Tevet, 5661) As of today, the city of Warsaw “had a population of 711,988 inhabitants” of whom 400,395 were Poles, 36,659 were Russians and 254,712 were Jews meaning that the Jews were 36 per cent of the city’s population and that it has the largest Jewish population
*1904 — (13th of Tevet, 5664) Birthdate Louis Kerzner, who gained fame Louis Cohen a New York mobster who murdered labor racketeer «Kid Dropper» Nathan Kaplan and was an associate of labor racketeer Louis «Lepke» Buchalter. Date of death — january 28, 1939
1910 — (20th of Tevet, 5670) The first issue of Das Yiddishe Levben, an “English and Yiddish monthly” which was an “organ of the United Hebrew Charities was published today
1912 — (11th of Tevet, 5672) As of today, “according to official statistics” there 11,817,783 Jews in the world of which 1,894,400 live in America while only 53,000 Jews live in Jerusalem
1917 — (7th of Tevet, 5677) The Temple, a monthly publication which was the “organ of Congregation B’nai B’rith” was established today in Denver, CO.
1919 — (29th of Tevet, 5679) Prince Faisal “submitted a formal memorandum to the Supreme Council of the Peace Conference outlining his vision for Arab nationalism throughout the Middle East. It was not monolithic or pan-Arab. It sought only one territory: Syria.”
1919 — (29th of Tevet, 5679) Birthdate of J.D. Salinger who is as famous for being a recluse as he is for being the author of Catcher in the Rye. “Salinger was born in 1919 in New York City. His mother was Irish Catholic and his father was Jewish. And because many people in the early half of the 20th century were often openly racist toward Jews, being half-Jewish was hard on Salinger’s psyche. What also hurt Salinger’s relationship with his father was the fact that he wa
1929 — (19th of Tevet, 5679) The Labor Party has been defeated in the elections for the Municipal Council of Tel Aviv. Labor had controlled the council for the past three years but had only won five of the fifteen seats on the council in this year’s election. It would appear that the United Centre Party has captured a majority of the seats which means that Meir Dizengoff will return as Mayor of the Jewish metropolis since the council elects the mayor. Dizengoof had resigned three years ago in a dispute with the Laborites
1934 — (14th of Tevet, 5694) The Nazis remove Jewish holidays from the official German calendar
1936 — (6th of Tevet, 5696) Section 3 of the Nuremberg Laws – “Jews will not be permitted to employ female citizens under the age of 45, of German or kindred blood, as domestic workers” – went into effect
1936 — (6th of Tevet, 5696) In a New Year’s message made today by the United Palestine Appeal, “Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine declared that there was room in Palestine for Jews and Arabs and both peoples could live in harmony.”
1937 — (18th of Tevet, 5697) The New York Times describes the very successful performance in Tel Aviv of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. The site of an Italian maestro conducting a Jewish orchestra in front of a predominately Jewish orchestra is proof to the Times of “how completely forgiven and forgotten is the serious misunderstanding between the two peoples that arose under Titus and Hadrian a couple of thousand years ago”
1938 — (28th of Tevet, 5698) The Namensänderungsverordnung went into effect today forcing 87 year old German mathematician Alfred Pringsheim to legally change his name to Alfred Israel Pringsheim
1939 — (10th of Tevet, 5699) In Germany, The Decree for the Elimination of Jews from German Economic Life took effect. This was part of what was known as the compulsory Aryanization process in which all Jewish retail businesses were to be eliminated. All stock was forbidden to be traded on the free market, but it had to be «sold» to a German competitor or association. This edict was signed just a month earlier by the Economic and the Justice ministries
1947 — (9th of Tevet, 5707) A British Military Court sentenced Dov Bela Gruner to be hanged for his part in the attack on the police station at Ramt Gan. Gruner, a 33-year-old veteran of the British Army, is a member of the Irgun and claimed that he should have been treated as a prisoner of war and not a criminal
1948 — (19th of Tevet, 5708) After the “Pan York” and the “Pan Crescent”, two ships each carrying “7,500 people from Romania, Bulgaria and Transylvania” arrived in Cyprus having been forced to go there by British ships trying to keep Jews from Palestine, crew member Gedda Schochat, Dave Lowenthal, Teddy Vardi and Avi Livney were taken thrown into “a jail cell of the Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry” where, based on their appearance the following day, they were beaten. (As reported by Avi Livney)
1949 — (30th of Kislev, 5709)As promised by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, Israeli troops began withdrawing from the Sinai Peninsula
1952 — (3rd of Tevet, 5712) Either late last night or early this morning Leah Feistinger was raped and murdered. “The Mixed Armistice Commission (MAC) investigating officer, Major Loreaux, reported that the body of the girl, Leah Feistinger, had been found hidden in a cave about a mile from the Jordan border, the girl had been raped and murdered her face had been mutilated. While it was believed by Israeli police that this atrocity had been committed by Jordanians, they did not find evidence of an infiltration. The case had not been discussed by the Commission. Major Loreaux expressed the opinion that the Israeli police would have a better chance of finding the killer than the Arabs would”
1953 — (14th of Tevet, 5713) The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel continued to protest against the increased British, French and US arms sales to the belligerent Arab states, at least until they agreed to negotiate peace. While Britain, threatened by the Egyptian guerrilla war against its forces stationed at Suez, had temporarily suspended her arms shipments there, France and the US had no such problem and continued to arm Israel¹s neighbors without any restrictions
1964 — (16th of Tevet, 5724) Publication of the third edition of A History of the Jews of England by Cecil Roth
1968 — (30th of Kislev, 5728) During a reception today, “President de Gaulle…assured the Grand Rabbi of France that it was from his intention to insult the Jews when he call them an ‘elite people, sure of itself and domineering.’”
1970 — (23th of Tevet, 5730) In Jerusalem, five people were injured by a terrorist grenade
1978 — (22th of Tevet, 5738) The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli population toward the end of 1977 stood at 3,650,000 3,076,000 Jews and 574,000 non-Jews.
1981 — (25th of Tevet, 5741) It was reported today that “889 Jews had left the Soviet Union in December, 1980.”
1995 — (29th of Tevet, 5755) The full text of report compiled by the Agranat Commission, except for 48 pages, was made public today.
1995 — (29th of Tevet, 5755) “The final phase of the Free Trade Agreement was fully implemented today when Israel and the United States completely eliminated all duties and tariffs on manufactured goods.”
2001 — (6th of Tevet, 5761) A car bomb rocked the commercial heart of the Israeli coastal city of Netanya today wounding more than 30 people, at least one seriously
2006 — (1th of Tevet, 5766)The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Kafka: The Decisive Years by Reiner Stach, Savage Shorthand The Life and Death of Isaac Babel by Jerome Charyn, Siegfried Sassoon: A Life by Max Egremont and Why She Married Him Myriam Chapman’s first novel based on her grandmother’s recently discovered manuscript describing a childhood in turn-of-the-century czarist Russia, close escapes from its brutal pogroms and life as a Jewish émigré in Paris
2007 — (11th of Tevet, 5767) Jane Doe Buys a Challah and Other Short Stories, the first publication of Ang-Lit Press, a newly established English publishing house based in Tel-Aviv goes on sale in Israel. The book is the first ever anthology of short stories by Israeli Anglo writers
2010 — (15th of Tevet, 5770) In Jerusalem Hama’abada and The Visual Theatre present a unique collaboration: «Snow Will Fall Tonight» including the following three shows: «Pollyamoria» by Ma’ayan Moses, Pets» by Anat Arbel—tragi-comic dance theatre and «To Raise You Wild»—by Shai Persil.
2010 — (15th of Tevet, 5770) The Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility today for firing two Grad-type rockets at the Netivot area from Gaza on last night.
2010 — (15th of Tevet, 5770) Two mortar shells hit open areas in southern Israel this evening. There were no reports of casualties or damage in both attacks. One of the projectiles landed near the Kerem Shalom border crossing at the southeastern end of the Gaza Strip and the other hit an open area in the Sdot Negev region, and has not yet been located
2011 — (25th of Tevet, 5771) Arab terrorists launched a mortar attack near Sderot this evening. One woman was treated for shock. The IDF noted that 6,500 residents live in the immediate area, which includes several kibbutzim. The IDF retaliated by bombing a terrorist base and a weapons factory in northern and central Gaza later that night
2011 — (25th of Tevet, 5771) An earthquake hit northern Israel on this evening, being felt most strongly in the region of Beit Shean and Afula; residents of Tzfat reported feeling motion as well.
2012 — (6th of Tevet, 5772) Israeli politicians responded to last night‘s ultra-Orthodox demonstration in Jerusalem’s Kikar Hashabbat (Sabbath Square), with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni expressing outrage over protesters use of Holocaust symbolism to protest what they termed the exclusion of Haredim
2015 — (10th of Tevet, 5775) “Palestinians threw three Molotov cocktails at building in a Jewish neighborhood on the Mount of Olives on the first night of 2015. (As reported by Lazar Berman)
2017 — (3th of Tevet, 5777) “Islamic authorities managing the Temple Mount attempted to have a veteran Israeli archaeologist ejected from the Jerusalem flashpoint holy site today for using the term “Temple Mount” in a lecture to American students.”
2022 — (28th of Tevet, 5782) The New York Times included reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Traces in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency by Andy Greenberg and Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins by Aidan Levy