History events
-1275 BCE (15 Av 2486) — On this day, Moses regained the full strength of prophecy, which had left him when the people refused to enter the Land (see 9 Av 2446).
-423 BCE — After three weeks of fighting in the city, on 7 Av 3338, the Babylonians broke into the Temple (June 12, 423 BCE).
425 (7 Av 4185) — Prefect of Gaul Amatius prohibited Jews and pagans from practising law and holding public office, so that Christians would not become dependent on them.
507 (12 Tammuz 4267) — A Jewish pogrom in Daphne (near Antioch, Syria). It began after a chariot race between the “Greens” and the “Blues”. The “Greens” suddenly attacked the local synagogue, killing those who were praying inside.
551 (20 Tammuz 4311) — An earthquake measuring 5–6 on the Richter scale struck Israel. There was damage in Jerusalem.
1236 (5 Av 4996) — In Augsburg, a Bull with the golden seal of Emperor Frederick II was issued. First, it extended to all Jews in Germany the privileges granted in 1157 by his grandfather Frederick I to the Jews of Worms. Second, in an extensive paragraph devoted entirely to the blood libel, it cleared Jews of all accusations and prohibited the further spread of false rumours
1391 — (7nd of AV, 5151) A rabbi’s personal letter written in Saragossa, ….. on this date is one of the few firsthand accounts of the total chaos in Spain: «If I were to tell you here all the numerous sufferings we have endured you would be dumbfounded at the thought of them…On the day of the New Moon of the fateful month Tammuz in the year 5151, the Lord bent the bow of the enemies against the populous community of Seville where there were between 6,000-7,000 heads of families, and they destroyed the gates by fire and killed in that very place a great number of people; the majority, however, changed their faith
1718 (21 Tammuz 5478) — Duke Philippe d’Orléans, who ruled France until the majority of Louis XV, issued a decree concerning the Jews of Metz. The number of Jews was strictly limited; women were forbidden to marry Jews who did not reside in Metz. They could live only in the Jewish quarter, were not allowed to rent or lease buildings in other districts, and were prohibited from practising various professions.
1733 (8 Av 5493) — The first letter from Abigail Levy Franks to her son Naphtali in London was written. In total, 35 of her letters between 1733 and 1748 are known, which provide insight into the lives of Jews in America at that time. Naphtali moved to London from New York at the age of 16, either for business or to find a wife. His mother’s letters reveal the strategies that helped Jewish merchant families on both sides of the Atlantic preserve their identity and survive. They also describe the degree of Jewish integration into non‑Jewish American society. The author of the letters paid great attention to arranging marriages for her children. Her greatest sorrow came when her daughter married a non‑Jew. Historians often discuss, using these letters as an example, the challenges of preserving Jewish identity in Europe and America — although Abigail’s sons married Jewish women, her grandchildren went on to form non‑Jewish families.
1746 (3 Av 5506) — A pogrom in Przemyśl. A mob of students from the Jesuit college broke into the synagogue, destroyed the Ark, tore out and shredded the parchment Torah scrolls, destroyed an archive with valuable documents, injured the rabbi and several community members with stones, and then looted private homes.
1884 — (16nd of Tammuz, 5644) Lord Rothschild takes his seat as first Jewish peer in the British House of Lords
1920 (23 Tammuz 5680) — With the approval of the Central Committee of the RCP(b), the Jewish Public Committee for Aid to Victims of Pogroms (Evobshcheskom) was established.
1921 (3 Tammuz 5681) — A pogrom in the Belarusian town of Kopatkevichi, carried out by units of S. Bulak‑Balakhovich. About 120 Jews were killed
1938 — (10nd of Tammuz, 5698) Two seventeen year old Jewish hikers were stabbed and seriously wounded this morning “while passing through an Arab village, a mile from Tel Aviv on the main Jaffa-Jerusalem road. They were stripped and left by the roadside until found by a passing motorist.” The attack marked the end of bloody week in which Arab attackers had killed 12 Jews and wounded another 24
1938 (10 Tammuz 5698) — Shoah. By Hitler’s order, the building of the Great Synagogue of Munich was demolished. On the night before the demolition, members of the community removed sacred books and religious objects from the synagogue.
1941 (14 Tammuz 5701) — Shoah. The killings of Jews in Chernivtsi were largely completed: 2 300 people were killed over four days. The killings in the village of Boyany also ended: 86 people were murdered over three days. On the same day, in the localities of Kitsman, Sokyryany, and Zvinyache (Chernivtsi Oblast), 27, about 100, and 130 Jews, respectively, were killed. In Rivne, Sonderkommando 4a shot 240 Jews.
1948 — (2nd of Tammuz, 5708) During the War of Independence, ….. Egyptian artillery opened fire on Kfar Darom. This was followed by an attack led by an armored column and infantry. When the Egyptians entered the settlement, they found that the Jews had already decamped. Goliath had beaten David, but it was a pyrrhic victory, since the defenders had upset the Egyptian timetable for taking Tel Aviv. This military action took place during what was supposed to be a four week cease fire between the Arabs and the Israelis; The four week cease fire between the Israelis and the invading Arab armies was set to end. The Arabs rejected attempts by Count Bernadotte, the U.N. envoy, to extend the cease fire for another ten days; Israeli forces launched Operation Danny, an offensive designed “to capture territory east of Tel Aviv” and then open the road to Jerusalem in a bid to break the Arab stranglehold on the city. The offensive was named after Danny Mass, the commander of “Convoy 35” and was under the command of Yigal Allon and Yitzhak Rabin. The undertrained and poorly armed Jewish forces were up against the Arab Legion, the elite British trained army of Jordan. The ultimate key to victory would in the need to capture the seemingly impregnable Arab position at Latrun. “Convoy 35” refers to an attempt made by a detachment of Haganah troopers to bring supplies to the Gush Etzion kibbutzim in January of 1948. Thirty-five died in the attempt and many of their bodies were mutilated beyond recognition; Israeli forces launched an all-night bombardment as part of an attempt to re-take the Old City
1951 — (5nd of Tammuz, 5711) The Jerusalem Post reported that Jerusalem was assured of a regular supply of ice for domestic purposes from outside of the city and that the government granted a subsidy, due to the cost of the transport of ice from the coast
1953 (26 Tammuz 5713) — Suspects in subversive activities and the attack on the USSR Embassy were brought before a military court. The court found 13 of the 15 defendants guilty. In addition to the embassy attack, they were charged with establishing an underground organisation that posed a threat to the state’s internal security. They were sentenced to imprisonment of up to 10 years
1958 — (21nd of Tammuz, 5718) Shayetet 13 operatives infiltrated Beirut harbor in Operation Yovel. They were discovered, and a gunfight and chase ensued. The commandos were able to retreat without any casualties
1967 (1 Tammuz 5727) — A concert of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, took place on Mount Scopus — the first concert in united Jerusalem
1969 (23 Tammuz 5729) — War of Attrition. In broad daylight, Egyptian artillery opened heavy fire on Israeli Army positions along the entire line of the Suez Canal and launched an infantry raid on the eastern bank of the canal. Two Israeli tanks were destroyed, eight soldiers were killed, and nine were wounded. One tank crew member was captured; his body was later returned to Israel
1973 — (9nd of Tammuz, 5733) The Ninth Maccabiah games open in Tel Aviv
1976 — (11nd of Tammuz, 5736) In response to the demands of African governments, the UN Security Council is met today “to take up their charge that Israel’s recuse of hijacked hostages at Entebbe airport in Uganda was a case of ‘wanton aggression.’
2000 (6 Tammuz 5760) — Israel. The Torah scroll from Fort Mezah was returned to the homeland. For eight days, the fort’s defenders had repelled Egyptian attacks during the Yom Kippur War and only surrendered upon orders. They had taken the scroll with them, but the Egyptians later seized it. Thirty‑five days later, as part of a prisoner exchange, the defenders of Mezah returned home, but the fate of the scroll remained unknown. It turned out that it had been transferred to the Egyptian Army Museum, and now, 27 years later, the Egyptians returned it. On July 9, at the residence of the President of Israel, in the presence of the fort’s defenders, the scroll was handed over to the Chief of the General Staff of Israel, Shaul Mofaz.
2004 (20 Tammuz 5764) — The International Court of Justice in The Hague declared illegal the “security wall” being built by Israel, which separates the lands of the Jewish state from “Palestinian territory” in Judea and Samaria.
2006 (13 Tammuz 5766) — A solemn cornerstone‑laying ceremony for a new synagogue was held in Modi’in.
2007 (23 Tammuz 5767) — The railway station “Haifa‑Central” was renamed “Haifa, Centre of the Eight”, in memory of the eight depot workers who died during the Lebanese shelling of Haifa in 2006.
2013 (2 Av 5773) — The Knesset passed a law stating that the age for admission to schools and kindergartens would be determined by the Gregorian calendar, not the Hebrew one. Previously, the cut‑off date for determining whether a child could start school that year or the next had been the Hebrew date Alef be‑Tevet — the first day of the month of Tevet
People
1825 — (23nd of Tammuz, 5585) Julius Oppert, Orientalist, born
1858 (27 Tammuz 5618) — Franz Uri Boas, an American anthropologist, linguist, and natural scientist, one of the founders of modern anthropology, was born. He died on December 21, 1942.
1941 — Yosey Siloamsky, an Israeli theatre and film actor, was born. He died in 2011.
1944 — Aharon Barnea, an Israeli journalist, was born.
1947 — Aryeh Moscona, an Israeli film actor and laureate of the Israeli Film Academy Award, was born
1948 — (2nd of Tammuz, 5708) Twenty-six year old Robert “Bob” Vickman a WW II veteran of the USAAF who was a member of 101 Squadron died today while fighting against aircraft from the REAF
2025 (13 Tammuz 5785) — War with Gaza. Day 642. Senior Sergeant Abraham Azulay, aged 25, was killed in Khan Yunis during a combat operation while trying to prevent a kidnapping