History events
1239 — (5th of Tammuz, 4999) Pope Gregory IX ordered the clergy of England, Aragon, Navarre, Castile, Leon, and Portugal to investigate the veracity of a denunciation submitted by the apostate Nicholas Donin from the city of La Rochelle (France) concerning the «malicious fabrications» of the Talmud. Consisting of 35 paragraphs, furnished with quotations from the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds translated into Latin, the translation was mostly accurate; however, the interpretation of the text had a clear tendency to present the Talmud as an anti-Christian work.
1650 — (20th of Sivan, 5410) The central body of autonomous Jewish community self-government in Poland declared national mourning in memory of the first victims of one of the initial pogroms and mass murders committed by Khmelnytsky’s Cossacks in Nemirov. For three years, Polish Jews were forbidden from wearing clothes made of silk or velvet. The annual fast on the 20th of Sivan was strictly observed until the beginning of the 20th century
1790 — (27th of Sivan, 5550) Purim of Florence is celebrated by Florentine Jews because on the 27th of Sivan, 1790 they were saved from a mob by the efforts of the bishop. The festival is preceded by a fast on the 26th of Sivan. The details of the occurrence are related in full by Daniel Terni in a Hebrew pamphlet entitled «Ketab ha-DaṬ,» published in Florence in 1791
1843 — (11th of Sivan, 5603) The Voice of Jacob reported that Mr. Woolfson and Mr. Marks laid the foundation for the new synagogue on St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands
1917 — (19th of Sivan, 5677) It was reported that the Karaites, who under the Czar “held themselves aloof from Jewry from fear of…being subjected to anti-Semitic restrictions” held a conference at Eupatoria where “the opinion gained ground that now” following the overthrow of the old regime “there was nothing in the way of a closer” relationship “between them and the general body of Jews.
1932 — (5th of Sivan, 5692) Launch of the first hydroelectric power station in the Land of Israel, built by P. Rutenberg
1935 — (8th of Sivan, 5695) Anti-Jewish riots occur in Grodno, Poland
1938 — (10th of Sivan, 5698) The Main Synagogue in Munich was burned down. Two thousand Jews throughout Germany were arrested and were sent to concentration camps to do hard labor
1941 — (14th of Sivan, 5701) Bombing of Haifa by Italian aircraft
1945 — (28th of Sivan, 5705) Prime Minister Winston Churchill ….. rejects a written request by Chaim Weizmann for an end to all restrictions on Jewish entry into Palestine now that the war with Germany is over saying “”There can I fear be no possibility of the question being effectively considered until the victorious Allies are definitely seated at the Peace table.” This statement effectively ended Weizmann’s leadership role. Many Zionists viewed this as a betrayal by the British in general and by the supposedly pro-Zionist Churchill in particular
1952 — (16th of Sivan, 5712) The Jerusalem Post reported ….. that banknotes issued in 1948 by the Anglo-Palestine bank as Israel’s legal tender had to be exchanged for new notes, in different colors, issued by Bank Leumi L’Israel. A 10 percent compulsory deduction for a 15-year loan, at 4%, was to accompany each exchange of the old notes for the new, and a similar deduction was to be carried out automatically on all bank deposits. The loan was expected to bring IL 25 million for the Treasury. Three hundred new immigrants marched in Tel Aviv demanding better housing
1953 — (26th of Sivan, 5713) A day after Israel and Jordan signed an agreement, with UN mediation, ….. in which Jordan undertook to prevent terrorists from crossing into Israel from Jordanian territory” gunmen attacked a farming community near Lod, by throwing hand grenades and spraying gunfire in all directions killed one of the residents. The gunmen threw hand grenades and sprayed gunfire in all directions; Tonight, another group of terrorists attacked a house in the town of Hadera
1958 — (21st of Sivan, 5718) Parade of Haganah veterans in Jerusalem
1967 — (1st of Sivan, 5727) The Six-Day War. Nasser announced his resignation from the post of President of Egypt. The attack on Syria began. By this time, 20,000 soldiers, partly redeployed from the south, were concentrated in the North. The offensive began at 11:30 AM. They had to attack uphill against well-fortified positions. The breakthrough occurred in the northern part of the Golan Heights. The troops were commanded by D. Elazar. Power and water supply were restored in Jerusalem. Municipal workers, without waiting for the end of the war, rushed to the eastern part of the city, repairing damaged water lines, dismantling barriers, and clearing rubble. Ben-Gurion demanded the rapid resettlement of the Old City of Jerusalem, Hebron, and Gush Etzion. «We need to secure our rights to these lands, which have belonged to the Jews from time immemorial and were lost during the War of Independence, as quickly as possible.
1967 — (1st of Sivan, 5727) The departure of Jews from the USSR for permanent residence in Israel was temporarily suspended (see February 26, 1971, 1973)
1968 — (13th of Sivan, 5728) The 27th Zionist Congress opened in Jerusalem.
1982 — (18th of Sivan, 5742) Operation «Peace for Galilee.» The beginning of Operation Artsav (lit. «Cedars») to defeat the Syrian military force in Lebanon. The decision to carry it out was made the previous day. It continued until June 11
2007 — (23th of Sivan, 5767) In an effort to encourage people to get out of their cars and start riding bikes instead, municipal authority packed Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square with bicycles for riders who wish to spend part of their day on an urban bicycle trek
2012 — (19th of Sivan, 5772) Israel completed the construction of a separation barrier near Metula, on the border with Lebanon, stretching 1.2 kilometers and reaching a height of seven meters.
2015 — (22nd of Sivan, 5775) Shoah. Luxembourg apologized to the Jews for the suffering caused to them during the Holocaust and acknowledged the state’s responsibility. Luxembourg was occupied by the Nazis on May 10, 1940. After the transfer of power to a civilian administration on August 7, 1940, 355 enterprises and 380 farms belonging to Jews were confiscated. Of the 3,500 Jews in Luxembourg, 1,950 perished.
2021 — (29th of Sivan, 5781) The newest missile corvette «Oz» of the Sa’ar-6 class arrived at the naval base in Haifa. It was built for Israel in Germany
People
1171 — (4th of Tammuz, 4931) Yaakov ben Meir Tam, a preeminent 12th-century Jewish scholar, passed away
1693 — (5th of Sivan) Rabbi Gershom Ashkenazi author of Avodat ha-Gershuni passed away
1856 — (6th of Sivan, 5616) Birthdate of Aaron David (A.D.) Gordon, the founder of Hapoel Hatzair
1891 — (3rd of Sivan, 5651) Eighty-one year old Samuel Adler “a leading German-American Reform rabbi, Talmudist, and author” passed away
1899 — (1st of Tammuz, 5659) Moshe Koussevitzky, a hazzan and singer (lyric tenor), was born. He died on August 23, 1966.
1916 — 8th day of the month of Sivan, 5676. Rabbi Arye Leib Frumkin, the rabbi of Petah Tikva who built the first real house there, passed away. (Born in 1845).
1919 — I. Boleslavsky, a chess grandmaster, theoretician, and trainer, was born. He died on February 15, 1977.
1929 – Grigory Kanovich, writer and playwright, was born. He died on January 20, 2023.
1939 — Letty Cottin Pogrebin, feminist, journalist, and writer, was born.
1959 — (3rd of Sivan, 5719) Benny Gantz, an Israeli military commander, 20th Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, and politician, was born.
1967 — (1th of Sivan, 5727) While fighting on the Golan as part of the 78th patrol platoon of the Alexandroni reserve infantry brigade 27 year old Igal Pazi “stepped on a foot mine on the platoon’s way to Dabashia” costing him “his right leg below the knee.” In a display of indomitable will, Pazi turned himself into Gold Medal winning member of the Israeli Paralympic volleyball team
1981 — N. Portman, an American-Israeli film actress, was born
1995 — (11th of Sivan, 5755) Today Irene Gut Opdyke, ….. a Polish nurse who gained international recognition for aiding Polish Jews persecuted by Nazi Germany during World War II” and “was honored as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem for risking her life to save twelve Jews from certain death, was honored with a papal blessing from Pope John Paul II at a joint service of Jews and Catholics held at Shir Ha-Ma’alot ,synagogue in Irvine, California, along with an invitation from Pope John Paul II for her to have an audience with him