History events
66 — (28th of Tevet, 3826) The Sanhedrin elected Joseph ben Gorion and the High Priest Anan as the administrative heads of the government of Judea replacing King Agrippa
1882 — (20th of Tevet, 5642) The London Times published the first of two articles that had been “smuggled over the Lithuanian border” that described the pogroms taking place in Russia
1882 — (20 Tevet 5642) A conference of Romanian Zionists opened in the city of Focșani, where the Central Committee for Jewish Settlements in Palestine and Syria was established. Its mission was to support the emigration of Romanian Jews to Eretz-Israel. It was this committee that organized the group which, on August 25, departed for Palestine aboard the ship Tadts and went on to found the settlements of Rosh Pina and Zikhron Ya’akov
1898 — (17th of Tevet, 5658) Anti-Semitic riots broke out in Paris after Ferdinand Esterhazy was acquitted by a secret French Military Court of charges that he, and not Dreyfus, was the spy who had sold military secrets to the Germans
1904 — (23th of Tevet, 5664) In Limerick, Ireland, after “Father John Creagh, a Redemptorist, gave a sermon attacking Jews” the Jews living on Colooney Street closed their shops and “remained locked in their homes” as the “menacing mobs” moved through the Jewish neighborhood
1917 — (17 Tevet 5677) The Provisional Council of the Jews of Palestine was established, the precursor to the Vaad Leumi
1919 — (10th of Shevat 5679) Romania’s Jewish population grew today when it annexed Transylvania. Romania promised that it would grant full emancipation to its Jewish population at the time of the annexation. The changes were met with opposition by the National Christian Defense League and riots by right-wing students
1920 — (20th of Tevet, 5680) Today “Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the head of the Jewish Administration Commission, who has just returned from Palestine” said “the present situation there is favorable for Jewish immigration” and that he believed “that this year 30,000 Jews”…will be transported to Palestine
1935 — (7th of Shevat 5695) Hakibbutz Hadati, the religious kibbutz movement was founded. Actually, the movement was styled after the moshav, which allowed for ownership of private property. It was affiliated with the HaPoel Ha Mizrachi movement the religious Zionist Labor Organization. Its idea was to combine religious life and labor in a communal agricultural settlement the first being Tirat Tzvi
1937 — (28th of Tevet, 5697) The American Jewish Committee reported that in Rumania ‘the anti-Jewish faction has been gaining ground and is coming ‘closer and closer to victory’” thanks, in part, to the propaganda conducted by German Nazi Agents
1938 — (9th of Shevat 5698) Today, “in a move dictated both by humane considerations and a desire to strip the ‘unitarian’ Vargras Government of every possible appearance of Nazism or Fascism, Brazilian authorities have suspended deportation order that would have returned 800 to 1,000 Jewish immigrants who ae illegally in” Brazil
1939 — (20th of Tevet, 5699) Official figures published tonight show that there are 250,000 refugees on Czech soil of whom 20,000 are Jewish and 15,000 are Sudeten Jews
1940 — (1th of Shevat 5700) “Rigid enforcement of the 8 o’clock curfew decree for Jews in the Bohemia-Moravia Protectorate began” today “when the police raided restaurants and coffee houses arresting all the Jews they found there or on the streets” while “Gestapo agents converged on special rooms set aside for Jews in restaurants and coffee houses.”
1942 — (22th of Tevet, 5702) The Nazis seized 1,500 Jews in Vienna and sent them by train to Riga
1945 — (26th of Tevet, 5705) The deportations of Jews from Hungary to Austria have ended. In Budapest, 120,000 Jews await in protected housing for the arrival of the Red Army. Hungarian Fascist Nyilas thugs entered «protected» Jewish houses throughout Budapest, murdering dozens of residents. A gang of eight Nyilas enter one of the houses and kills 15 men, 26 women and one child. Another group surrounds the Jewish hospital, torturing and killing 95 patients
1949 — (10th of Tevet, 5709) The American Jewish Committee charged today that “seventy-five thousand Jewish residents of Egypt have been the victims of a «general reign of terror» for the last eight months…”
1954 — (7 Shevat 5714) The government approved a law to purchase the Electric Company (Hevrat Hashmal), which until then had been privately owned by the English Lord Nathan. At first he had been offered the option of joint ownership, but he refused. With the change of ownership, the company’s employees demanded compensation, and when the government refused even to discuss it, the electrical workers attempted to strike. Until January 26 the country experienced intermittent power outages
1956 — (27 Tevet 5716) Twenty kilometers southeast of Ashkelon, at the crossroads of the Tel Aviv–Be’er Sheva and Jerusalem–Ashkelon highways, the first residents arrived in the settlement of Kiryat Gat. In 1972 Kiryat Gat was officially declared a city
1961 — (23th of Tevet, 5721) The Egoz, a small boat leased by the Mossad to smuggle Jews from Morocco to Gibraltar, capsized. All forty-four of the olim drowned, half were children. After the Egoz disaster, the Jewish Agency and the Mossad worked with threatened Moroccan communities to rescue the children first. In Operation Mural, 530 Moroccan Jewish children were sent by their families on an ostensible holiday in Switzerland—and, from there, flown to Israel
1968 — (10th of Tevet, 5728) Moshe Zvi Segal an eminent Israeli rabbi, linguist and Talmudic scholar passed away. Segal was born in Lithuania in 1876. In 1896, he moved with his family to Scotland and subsequently to London. He was ordained as a rabbi in 1902 and later obtained a degree from Oxford University. He emigrated to the then British Mandate of Palestine in 1926. In 1936 (jointly with Raphael Patai) and again in 1950, Segal was awarded the Bialik Prize for Jewish Thought. In 1954, he was awarded the Israel Prize, for Jewish studies
1971 — (14th of Tevet, 5731) Israel’s population reached 3,000,000
1978 — (3 Shevat 5738) The beginning of a dialogue with Egypt at the level of military delegations
1989 — The High Court has overturned an Israeli military censor’s ban for the first time, allowing the publication of criticism of the head of the Mossad intelligence agency. In its ruling today, the court said the Tel Aviv weekly Ha’ircould print an article questioning the competence of the Mossad chief, whose name is barred from publication. A Ha’ir journalist, Aluf Ben, 24 years old, said his article, which is to be published Friday, criticized Mossad’s role in the Iran-contra arms scandal and the Pollard spy affair, in which an American naval analyst passed American secrets to Israel. The article, which has been banned since August, also blames the Mossad chief for the discovery of Israeli-faked British passports in West Germany and the expulsion of Mossad agents from Britain last year, Mr. Ben said. The evening newspaper Maariv printed more criticism of the agency’s director, but some other newspapers said their reports had been censored. Mossad Chief to Retire The Mossad chief is to retire soon after six years at his post. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s office denied any link between the retirement and publication of the article.Mr. Ben said the Mossad director was appointed hastily in
2026 — (22 Tevet, 5786) — A ceremony marking the establishment of the new settlement of Rehavam took place in Samaria. Ten pioneer families moved into newly built homes, officially putting the settlement on Israel’s map
2006 — (11 Tevet 5766) Rainy weather spread across the entire country, reaching even Eilat. The downpour that fell there was the first of the winter. Unfortunately for most residents, it happened at night, so they could only admire the wet sidewalks and cars in the morning. Still, for the first time that winter, Eilat’s children wore jackets on their way to school and kindergarten. The meteorological station reported 2 mm of rainfall in the area, while the annual average is 30 mm. In other parts of the country the rains were much heavier and were accompanied by strong winds
2007 — (21th of Tevet, 5767) The free newspaper Israeli which is poised on the brink of closure published its last edition. Israeli is a Hebrew language daily with a press run of 150,000 copies that is handed out free at such locations as bus and train stations, as well as malls and other business centers
2010 — (25th of Tevet, 5770) Remains of a prehistoric Tel Aviv building, which is the earliest ever discovered in the area and estimated to be 7,800-8,400 years’ old, have been unearthed in an archaeological excavation ,the Israel Antiquities Authority announced today
2022 — (9 Shevat 5782) Riots broke out in Bedouin communities of the Negev in response to forest-planting efforts by the Jewish National Fund (JNF).
2024 — (1 Shevat 5784) War with Gaza. Day ninety-seven. Fighting continued in the areas of al-Maghazi (in the central sector) and Khan Yunis (in the southern sector)
2026 — (22 Tevet, 5786) — A ceremony marking the establishment of the new settlement of Rehavam took place in Samaria. Ten pioneer families moved into newly built homes, officially putting the settlement on Israel’s map
People
1775 — (19 Tevet 5536) For the first time in the United States, a Jew—Francis Salvador—was elected to public office. This took place in South Carolina.
1805 — (11 Shevat 5565) Lelio della Torre was born in Cuneo, Italy—a theologian and poet. Beginning in 1829, he served as professor of Talmud and homiletics at the newly founded Rabbinical Seminary in Padua. He became renowned for his teachings on homiletics, his sermons, poetry, commentary on the Pentateuch, and for translating and annotating psalms and prayers into Italian. He died in 1871
1808 — (11th of Tevet, 5568) Birthdate of novelist Abraham Mapu. Died Oct. 9, 1867
1846 — Abel Aharon Amansky entered service in the Cavalry Guards Regiment, where he served for 50 years as a sergeant major, managing to preserve his faith while earning the respect of both soldiers and officers.
1905 — (5 Shevat 5665) Rabbi Yehuda Leib Alter, the second Rebbe of the Polish-German Hasidic dynasty and author of the renowned work Sefat Emet, died at the age of 58. He was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai.
1907 — Rabbi Joshua Abraham Heschel was born in Poland—scholar, poet, and philosopher. In 1939 he moved to the United States. He died in 1972.
1907 — (25 Tevet 5667) — Pierre Mendès France, a prominent French political and public figure, was born. He died on October 18, 1982.
1928 — (18 Tevet 5688) Erwin Moskovitz, philanthropist, was born in Poland. He died on June 16, 2016
1929 — (29th of Tevet, 5689) Birthdate of Rafael «Raful» Eitan, the native of Afula who became Chief of Staff of the IDF, an MK and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
1935 — (29 Tevet 5689) Rafael Eitan was born—participant in all of Israel’s wars and Chief of Staff during the Lebanon War. He died on November 23, 2004.
2025 — (11 Tevet 5785) War in Gaza. Day four hundred sixty-three. As a result of an explosive device detonated in Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the sector, soldiers of the 931st Battalion of the Nahal Brigade were killed: Staff Sergeant Danila Dyakov, 21, of Ma’ale Adumim; Sergeant Yahav Ma’ayan, 19, of Modi’in; Sergeant Eliav Astyuker, 19, of Ashdod; and Reserve Warrant Officer Alexander Fedorenko, 37, of Bat Yam. Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Hadi Falah Elhaib of the Nahal Brigade was severely wounded in the same battle. Five more soldiers sustained moderate injuries