History events
519 BCE — Darius had “a crown made for Zerubbabel out of gold sent by Jews in Babylon.”
1546 — (10th of Shevat 5306) The responsa of Rabbi Nissim ben Reuben Gerondi were printed for the first time in Rome
1614 — (13th of Shevat 5374) Jacob Israel Belmonte, the native of “the island of Madeira” arrived today in Amsterdam where he joined with others including Jacob Tirado and Solomon Palache in founding that city’s “Portuguese-Jewish Community
1793 — (29 Tevet 5553) Purim Borghel In 1793, a corsair named Borghel seized Tripoli with his galleys and expelled the ruler Ali Pasha Karamanli. The Jews fell victim to numerous atrocities. Two years later the Karamanli family retook the city, and the anniversary came to be observed as “Purim Borghel.”
1809 — (25th of Tevet 5569) “The Grand Duke Karl Friedrich von Baden. who recognized the Jews of his country as a denomination and equated them with the Christian denominations in religious matters, but not in terms of civic rights” issued an edict today creating “the Oberrat of the Isaeliten” which was to be the governing body for Jews of his realm in religious matters
1825 — (25th of Tevet 5585) Alexander I. of Russia issues edict removing Jews from villages to towns and cities in the governments of Moghilef and Vitebsk
1898 — (19th of Tevet 5658) Emile Zola published «J’Accuse.» This famous letter appeared in Clemenceau’s paper L’Aurore. Zola was a supporter of Alfred Dreyfus and the letter condemned the French establishment for wrongly convicting Dreyfus. (The Clemenceau mentioned above is the same Clemenceau who led France to victory in World War I.)
1903 — (14th of Tevet 5663) Herzl begins the preparations for the meetings with the Foreign Ministry and with Lord Rothschild.
1909 — (20th of Tevet 5669) “Rights For Jews In Finland” published today reported that a committee of the Senate is considering two laws to improve the conditions of the Jews of Finland but that a allowing for “full equality for Hebrews is not contemplated.”
1911 — (13th of Tevet 5671) The first issue of the Yiddishe Baker, a Yiddish weekly appeared in New York City today
1914 — (15 Tevet 5674) The commander of the Warsaw Military District issued an order that, when recommending enlisted men for promotion to reserve ensign, commanders must “ascertain in full detail the nationality of these men,” barring not only Jews who had converted to Christianity, but also their sons and even their grandsons “born into the Jewish faith.”
1914 — (15 Tevet 5674) Six months after moving to Tel Aviv, entrepreneur Moshe Abarbanel signed an agreement with the municipality to build a cinematograph on Lillienblum Street, later to become the famous Eden Cinema. Both Abarbanel and the city invested 11,000 French gold francs in the project
1923 — (25th of Tevet 5683) As of today, there are reportedly 83, 794 Jews living in Palestine
1925 — (17th of Tevet 5685) Today, Ha’Koach, the Vienesse Jewish football (soccer) team defeated a team of English players in Jerusalem by a score of 4 to 2. (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SC_Hakoah_Wien#1924%E2%80%931927:Erster%C3%B6sterreichischer_Meister_im_Profifu%C3%9Fball_und_Amerika-Tournee)
1936 — (18th of Tevet 5696) The Ministry of Public Instruction announced the closing of the University of Vilna for the rest of the school term because of “continued anti-Semitic demonstrations by Polish Nationalist students” who began to riot after their demands that they be separated from the Jewish students were not met
1937 — (1th of Shevat 5697) Speaking on behalf of the Arab High Committee, Jerusalem lawyer Auni Bey Abdulhadi told the Peel Commission that “the Arabs will not compromise” and “they will negotiate only with the British government, not the Jews and they will never agree to cantonization.” (Editor’s Note – Cantonization was the pre-war term for Partition, which is the key to the “two state solution”.)
1937 — (1 Shevat 5697) The Haganah took over security at the Migdal Tzedek quarry of Slonim-Barlevi—the organization’s first successful field deployment. A volunteer group from Petah Tikva, Ramat Gan, and Giv’atayim was led by I. Sadeh. Conditions were harsh at first due to winter weather and the lack of habitable structures, but life soon improved: workers arrived, a dining hall and living barracks were built, and the 50-man guard force was permitted by the British to wear uniforms and bear arms. Migdal Tzedek eventually became a training base for Haganah fighters, establishing a Jewish outpost in a fully Arab area
1938 — (11th of Shevat 5698) The Palestine Post reported on the opening of the Rockefeller archeological museum in Jerusalem, founded by John Rockefeller and named in his honor. The museum’s permanent exhibition revealed the history of mankind as recorded in local archeological finds. No festive opening ceremony took place, due to the tragic murder of archeologist John Starkey; An article in The Palestine Post quoted extensively from the London’s Financial Times, which reviewed the hopeless position of over five million Jews in Central and Eastern Europe, denied the means of existence or possible emigration. The report concluded that «it seemed too much to hope in the present state of the world that a political and economic effort will be made to stop this tragedy.»
1942 — (24th of Tevet 5702) The deportation of 10,000 Jews from Lodz began at the rate of 700 a day. They are all sent to Chelmno to be gassed. Nine transports of about 90 people each were buried in Chelmno. Five of the nine men unloading the corpses were shot when the day was done
1942 — (24 Tevet 5702) Five Jews were shot in the village of Haichur in the Novo-Nikolaevsky district of Zaporizhzhia. Another 986 Jews were deported from Odessa. In the village of Krasno-Vladimirovka (Mostovsky district, Odessa region), 750 Jews—including 345 children—brought from the Berezovka station on 12 January, were executed.
1943 — (7th of Shevat 5703) Fifteen hundred Jews are deported from Radom, Poland, to Treblinka
1944 — (17th of Tevet 5704) “The Sosnowiec labor camp, which had been established on the site of the Srodula ghetto was liquidated today and its prisoners sent to Auschwitz.”
1944 — (17th of Tevet 5704) Two United States Treasury Department officials—Josiah DuBois and Randolph Paul—threaten to resign and make public the report on their investigation into the State Department’s scandalous activities in regard to the Jews. The report is originally entitled «Report to the Secretary [of the Treasury] on the Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of the Jews.» The report indicts officials of the State Department for their «willful attempts to prevent action from being taken to rescue Jews from Hitler.» «They have not only failed to use the governmental machinery at their disposal to rescue Jews from Hitler, but have even gone so far as to use this governmental machinery to prevent rescue of the Jews
1948 — (2nd of Shevat, 5708) In attempt to secure the road to Mt. Scopus, site of Hadassah Hospital, the Haganah launched an attack on Sheikh Jarrah. Having dislodged the Arab gunmen from the area, the Jews were forced to hand it over to the British who promised not to permit armed Arabs into the area. Within forty eight hours, the British gave it back to the Arabs
1948 — (2 Shevat 5708) War of Independence. In response to yesterday’s Arab attack on a convoy from Gush Etzion, the defenders of the enclave struck at Arab vehicles on the Jerusalem–Hebron road.
1948 — (2 Shevat 5708) In Minsk, NKVD agents assassinated Solomon Mikhoels
1953 — (26nd of Tevet, 5713) An article published today in Pravda touched off a wave of virulent anti-Semitism throughout Russia: As the “Doctors Plot” campaign which accussed Jewish medical professionals of planning to kill Stalin and other officials, as well as being “agents” of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), an international social welfare agency” began Pravda published “Dastardly Spies and Assassins in the Guise of Professors and Doctors.”
1953 — (26nd of Tevet, 5713) The Jerusalem Post reported that the losses due to drought in the Negev topped $3 million. The heavy rain came too late, and not a drop fell in the Migdal-Ashkelon-Safieh region, where the loss was over IL 10m.
1971 — (17nd of Tevet, 5731) “Lupo.!”, a comedy with a script by Ken Globus and Menahem Golan who also served as director and co-producer was released today in Israel
1974 — (14th of Tevet, 5739) One person died and five more were injured when Palestinian terrorists tried and failed to seize a hotel in Maalot
1975 — (1 Shevat 5735) A rocket attack targeted an El Al aircraft at Orly Airport. The rockets hit a nearby Yugoslav airplane, injuring two people
1999 — (25th of Tevet, 5759) Terrorists killed an Israeli soldier near Hebrwon
2003 — (10 Shevat 5763) Among the “construction debris” removed by the Waqf from the Temple Mount, a letter of King Joash of Judah was discovered. Dated to the year 3085 from Creation (2,678 years ago), it read: “Joash, son of Ahaziah, King of Judah. I carried out repairs in the capital (in the Temple) when the hearts of all the people of the land overflowed, in the wilderness and in all the cities of Judah, and all brought holy offerings to purchase hewn stones, cypress wood, and the copper of Edom, to perform work pleasing to God. I repaired the damage to the entire House (the Temple), all its surrounding walls, wooden structures, lattices, ascents, all cavities, and doors. And today I declare that we have prospered in the work according to the command of the Almighty and for the good of all the people.”
2004 — (19nd of Tevet, 5764) “Prime Minister Ariel Sharon raised the possibility today that the Israeli military could one day withdraw from the Gaza Strip…’
2005 — (3 Shevat 5765) A terror attack at the Karni checkpoint at the entrance to the Gaza Strip killed six people.
2010 — (27 Tevet 5770) The 20th international agricultural exhibition Agro-Mashov opened at the “Ganei HaTa’arucha” complex in Tel Aviv, featuring more than 150 Israeli and international agribusiness companies. It lasted two days.
2012 — (18 Tevet 5772) A major public-transport reform took effect in Jerusalem. Routes of 22 bus lines—running from Kiryat Menachem to Kiryat Moshe through 17 neighborhoods—were modified to improve connections with the light rail
2017 — (15nd of Tevet, 5777) “The Anti-Defamation League called on the Huffington Post’s Arabic-language edition to remove a blog post claiming a Jewish woman poisoned the Prophet Muhammad with arsenic.”
2024 — (3 Shevat 5784)War with Gaza, Day 99. Fighting continued throughout the Strip.
2025 — (13 Tevet 5785) War with Gaza, Day 465. A booby-trapped house in the northern Gaza Strip exploded with a large charge, killing reconnaissance soldiers of the Nahal Brigade: Captain Yair Yaakov Shushan (23, of Ma’alot-Tarshiha), Staff Sergeant Yahav Hadar (20, of Kfar Tavor), Staff Sergeant Guy Karmiel (20, of Gedera), Staff Sergeant Yoav Feffer (19, of Herzliya), and Staff Sergeant Aviel Weisman (20, of Poria Illit). Eight other soldiers from the unit were seriously wounded
People
1654 — (5 Shevat 5414) Birth of David Nieto — scholar, physician, and rabbi of the Sephardi community of London. Died 10 January 1728.
1778 — (10th of Tevet 5538) In London, Rachel Kijser and Asher Aron Goldsmid gave birth to Sir Isaac Goldsmid, a Sephardic Jew, who was a prominent London banker, a founder of the University of London and the husband of Isabel Goldsmid with whom he had eleven children
1803 — (19th of Tevet 5563) Birthdate of Dr. Nathan Marcus Adler, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire and one of the most prominent Jewish clerics of the 19th century
1810 — Warsaw Birth of Louise Ernestine Potovska (Ernestine Rose) — feminist, atheist, and early champion of women’s rights. Died 4 August 1892.
1858 — (27 Tevet 5618) Birth of Oskar Minkowski — physician who demonstrated the role of the pancreas in diabetes by discovering that it contains regulators of blood-sugar levels. Died 18 June 1931.
1884 — (15 Tevet 5644) Birth of Sophie Tucker — hugely popular American vaudeville star and singer. Died 9 February 1966.
1889 — (11 Shevat 5649) Birth of L. Z. Mekhlis — Army Commissar 1st Rank, Colonel-General. Assistant to Stalin (1924–30), later editor of Pravda, member of the CPSU Orgburo (1938–52), and head of the Red Army’s Political Directorate (1937–40). Khrushchev described him as “truly honest, but in some ways insane.” He fought ruthlessly against “enemies” and “traitors,” seeing them everywhere. His influence declined sharply after the failure of the 1942 Kerch offensive, after which he was demoted and stripped of several posts. Died 13 February 1953.
1893 — (25 Tevet 5653) Birth of Chaim Soutine — expressionist painter of the Paris School. Died 9 August 1943.
1898 — (19th of Tevet, 5658) Eighty-one-year-old Talmudist and Biblical commentator Yehoshua Yehudah Leib Diskin also known as the Maharil Diskin, who established the Diskin Orphanage in Jerusalem and the Ohel Moshe (Tent of Moses) Yeishiva passed away today
1922 — Birth of V. S. Frid — writer and screenwriter (Two Soldiers, The Shadow, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, How Tsar Peter Married Off His Moor, Air Crew). Died 8 September 1998.
1931 — Birth of Arkady Vayner — writer. Died 24 April 2005.
1948 — (2nd of Shevat, 5708) Solomon Mikhoels was killed by the secret police under Stalin’s orders, as part of a campaign to eradicate Jewish intellectualism and culture. Born in 1890, Mikhoels was a leading Russian and Yiddish actor famed for his roles as Tevye and King Lear. During the war he had tried to win support for the Russian war effort by touring England and the United States
1955 — (19 Tevet 5715) In a Syrian prison, Israel Defense Forces soldier Uri Ilan (of the Golani Brigade) committed suicide. He had sewn a note into his clothing reading: “I did not betray.”