History events
1414 — (17th of Shevat, 5174) The Disputation of Tortosa, one of the famous disputations between Jews and Christians of the Middle Ages, which was held in the city of Tortosa, Spain resumed
1575 — (4th of Tevet, 5335) Many Marranos were among the victims of the Auto de Fe at Seville
1598 — (11th of Shevat, 5358) Expulsion of the Jews from Genoa, Italy
1790 — (22th of Tevet, 5550) In France, the Deputies excluded the rights of Jews when considering the rules governing the election of municipal officers
1855 — (18th of Tevet, 5615) The sixth anniversary of the German Hebrew Mutual Aid and Benevolent Society was celebrated this evening in Pythagoras Hall on Walker Street in New York City. The dinner, which began at 7 pm, was attended by two hundred members of the society and their guests. Before the meal began, a Hebrew hymn was chanted in memory of the members of the society who had passed away. Among the speakers for the evening were Rabbis Raphael and Isaacs. The guests gave a “liberal contribution” to the poor before departing from the event
1871 — (15th of Tevet, 5631) The Hebrew Relief Association which was incorporated in 1831 held its annual meeting this morning at the 19th Street Synagogue in New York City. Officers include, President Hendry S. Allen, Vice President A.R.B. Moses and Treasurer E.B. Hart. During this past year, the association distributed $2,500 among the city’s less fortunate Jewish population
1882 — (17th of Tevet, 5642) “Anti-Juif” an anti-Semitic weekly first published at Paris in 1881 is published for the fourth and final time today. (There will be several other publications that will appear using this name.)
1894 — (1th of Shevat, 5654) In an attempt to help those suffering as a result of the “Depression of 1893” Nathan Straus will begin selling coal at 25 per cent less than before. This means that 25 pounds can be bought for a nickel and 100 pounds can be bought for 20 cents. Straus had already started selling fresh bake bread at reduced prices “at his sterilized milk depot.”
1895 — (12th of Tevet, 5655) Establishment of the first «Israel Gymnastic Club» in Constantinople (Kushta), Turkey
1904 — (20th of Tevet, 5664) It was “semi-officially announced that all is quiet at Kishineff” which is consistent with telegrams received in St. Petersburg from Jews living in that town
1907 — (22th of Tevet, 5667) “Jewish Spirit in Austria” published today described a meeting in Lemberg, Galicia, where a meeting of Jews “resolved to create a provincial organization for the the defense of the political rights and economic interests of Jews” at a time when Austria is on the verge of introducing “universal suffrage
1915 — (22th of Tevet, 5675) “Poles and Cossacks Massacre Jews” published today contains a summary of an article written by Dr. Shmaryah Levin, “the noted Zionist leader and member of the first Russian Duma that appeared in The Warheit in which he “reveals the shocking details of massacres of Jews in Poland as a result of the treachery and duplicity of the Poles who caused the most flagrant falsehoods to be circulated impugning he loyalty of the Jews’
1927 — (5th of Shevat, 5687) It was reported today that “new evidence that Nicholas II approved of the anti-Jewish pogroms committed during his reign” have been “published by Isvesita, the official organ of the Soviet Government.”
1929 — (26th of Tevet, 5689) The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that Meir Dizengoff has been chosen to serve as Mayor of Tel Aviv. Dizengoff was one of the founders of the city and has previously held the position of Mayor
1935 — (5th of Shevat, 5687) Today, government in Palestine “began erection of a lighthouse in the estuary of the Yarkon River near Tel Aviv as part of the project” to improve the harbor at Tel Aviv and relieve the congestion at the port of Jaffa
1936 — (13th of Tevet, 5696) It was reported today that “there are 10,000 adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18 years waiting in Germany to go to Palestine.”
1937 — (25th of Tevet, 5697) It was reported today that when David Ben Gurion testified before the Royal Commission in Jerusalem he “denied that Jewish rights clashed with the rights of Arabs,” pointed out that “the Jews were the first welcome the independence achieved by the Arab States of Iraq and Syria,” and reminded the commissioners that “while our national movement was busy with constructive work, the Arab nationals in Palestine were only busy with politics” and that “as soon as they also begin devoting their energies to constructive activities we can meet and assist each other.”
1938 — (6th of Shevat, 5698) Today, in Berlin, “the Ministry of Education banned the teaching of Hebrew in Germany’s Gymnasia (junior colleges) where the subject had been optional.”
1943 — (2th of Shevat, 5703) Eric Vogel petitioned the Kommandant of Theresienstadt Concentration Camp for permission to create an amateur band, “The Ghetto Swingers.”
1949 — (7th of Tevet, 5709) On the day following RAF intervention in the fighting between Israel and Egypt in which several British planes were shot down “British pilots were issued a directive to regard any Israeli aircraft infiltrating Egyptian or Jordanian airspace as hostile and to shoot them down, but were also ordered to avoid activity close to Israel’s borders.”
1953 — (21th of Tevet, 5713) The Jerusalem Post reported that with the last piece of rock blasted away the new 88-km. Beersheba-Sdom road was opened. The road was expected to revitalize the Potash Works which had been inactive since the road north of the Dead Sea was cut during the 1948 war
1978 — (29th of Tevet, 5738) Terrorists injured three people in a grenade attack at a bus station in Jerusalem
1986 — (27th of Tevet, 5746) Sulayman Khatir, an Egyptian soldier who hadmachine-gunned a group of Israelis, killing three adults and four young children, on the dunes of Ras Burqa in1985, “was found dead in his prison hospital room hanging by a strip torn from a sheet of plastic”
1991 — (22th of Tevet, 5751) Four soldiers were injured when terrorists began throwing grenades at bus crossing from Jordan into Israel
2009 — (12th of Tevet, 5769) Two IDF officers and a soldier were killed today as the IDF penetrated deeper into urban centers in the northern Gaza Strip. Maj. Ro’i Rosner of the Kfir Brigade’s Haruv Battalion was killed and another soldier was lightly wounded, when a Hamas man fired an anti-tank missile at them as they conducted searches near the Kissufim crossing into the Strip.Capt. Omer Rabinovitch, 23, of Arad, was killed in the close-quarter firefights in Zeitoun. Sgt. Amit Robinson, 21, a tank crewman from Kibbutz Magal, south of Baka al-Gharbiya, was killed by a sniper, also in northern Gaza. His parents made aliya from Argentina
2011 — (3th of Shevat, 5771) The 10th Red Sea Classical Festival in Eilat comes to a close
2013 — (26th of Tevet, 5773) Traffic resumed in both directions of Tel Aviv’s main highway, the Ayalon freeway, this afternoon, hours after the road was closed along with other major arteries due to heavy rains that caused waters to rise near road-level
2016 — (27th of Tevet, 5776) “A short-lived but powerful winter storm struck Israel on today, bringing with it torrential rain and tragic consequences after two people were swept away by the floods and killed
2017 — (10th of Tevet 5777) Today, “four IDF soldiers—three women and a man in their 20s—were murdered and 13 wounded when a Palestinian truck driver deliberately rammed into pedestrians on a popular promenade overlooking the walled Old City of Jerusalem”
2019 — (2nd of Shevat, 5779) On the Jewish calendar yahrzeit of “King Alexander Yanni (Jannaeus)” who reigned “from 103 BCE to 76 BCE.”
People
*1984 — (4th of Shevat, 5744): In Netivot (southern Israel), Reb Yisroel Abuchatzeira, the Baba Sali passed away. Rabbi Israel Abuchatzera known as «Baba Sali,» was born in Tafillalt, Morocco in 1890, to the illustrious Abuchatzera family. From a young age he was renowned as a sage, miracle maker and master Kabbalist. In 1964 he moved to the Holy Land, eventually settling in the southern development town he made famous, Netivot. His graveside in Netivot will become a holy site visited by thousands annually