History events
-1313 — (17 Nisan 2448) BCE. The Exodus. The Jews journeyed from Egypt for two days. Only a few days’ journey remained to the land of their forefathers. But, following God’s command, Moses turned the people from the Arabian Desert towards the Red Sea: they camped near the shore, at Pi-Hahiroth (west of Etham).
-1273 — BCE (10 Nisan 2488). The Jews crossed the Jordan. The river had overflowed all its banks. The priests advanced with the Ark of the Covenant, and when the soles of their feet touched the waters of the Jordan, the water at that place ceased to flow and stood up in a heap, while the rest of the water flowed downstream. Thus, a dry path was formed in the river, and all the people crossed to the opposite bank.
-1273 — BCE (10 Nisan 2488). Miriam, the elder sister of Moses, died. Her prophetic gift, like that of Aaron, is considered inferior to the prophetic gift of Moses. Nevertheless, together with Moses and Aaron, she is presented as a messenger of God for leading the Jews during their wanderings in the desert. She died in the 40th year after the Exodus from Egypt at Kadesh, where she was buried
-457 — (12th of Nisan, 3303) Ezra and his followers departed from the River Ahava on their way to Jerusalem
1391 — (9 Nisan 5151). An attempted pogrom in Seville. Its instigator was the Dominican monk F. Martinez, who preached «to destroy the synagogues where the enemies of God and the church, who call themselves Jews, perform their idol-worship.» The pogrom failed; the agitated crowd was dispersed by the authorities of Seville.
1519 — (13 Nisan 5279). The Senate of Venice learned the preliminary cost of constructing an arsenal in the city. It proved enormous, and a severe new tax was required to raise the funds. At the same time, the question of expelling the Jews, following the example of Spain and Portugal, was actively discussed in the city. They then decided to allow the Jews to remain for five years under the same conditions as before, and to allocate the annual tribute of 10,000 ducats received from them towards the construction of the Arsenal. This would eliminate the need for a new tax. The Jewish bankers were informed; they requested a delay, which was denied; on May 2, they paid the first installment of the tribute amounting to 4,000 ducats. The attitude towards them in the city changed noticeably. When a certain itinerant monk, who had previously delivered anti-Semitic sermons in Padua, came to Venice, he was immediately warned not to dare sow religious discord. In the senate, an orator who began to speak against the Jews was drowned out by shouts.
1808 — (16 Adar I 5568). By decree of Emperor Napoleon, Le Consistoire central israelite de France was established — the official body of the Jewish communities of France. It ceased to exist as a result of the 1905 law on the separation of church and state.
1820 — (29 Adar I 5580). A Jewish women’s charitable society was established at the Shearith Israel synagogue in New York. It existed until 1870, when it merged with a similar men’s society.
1848 — (10 Adar II 5608). The Jews of Pest (Budapest), the majority of whom supported the liberating Hungarian anti-Austrian revolution, inspired by the resolution adopted the day before by the Committee of Public Safety, the fourth point of which stated: «equality of all faiths,» began enlisting in large numbers in the National Guard. For what came of this, see April 19, April 20, 1848, and February 11, 1849.
1869 — (3th of Nisan, 5629) Prussia does away with the Oath More Judaico or Jewish Oath
1884 — (18th of Adar, 5644) Peddling prohibited in Rumania; 20,000 Jews are thus deprived of a livelihood
1886 — (8th of Adar-1, 5646) Yeshiva Etz Chaim was founded in New York. It was the first American yeshiva to include the study of Talmud
1900 — (14th of Adar, 5660) Parts of the body of Ernst Winter, a student who had disappeared in Konitz, West Prussia were discovered in a nearby lake and an arm was found in a cemetery.
Following the death of a student in Konitz, Poland, local Jews are faced with another “blood libel” episode. While Count Plucker promoted riots against the Jews, Wolf Israelski was accused and arrested. After Israelski was proven innocent, two other Jews, Moritz Lewy and Rosenthal, were arrested on the same charge. Rosenthal and Lewy were acquitted, yet Lewy was sentenced to four years for denying he knew the victim. All the evidence was based on the testimony of a petty thief named Masloff who later received only one year for perjury
1912 — (26th of Adar, 5672) The Turkish Ministry of the Interior to the Governor of Jerusalem issued a decree permitting the Jews to place benches and light candles in front of the Western Wall
1930 — (15 Adar I 5690). Three large, double-walled fireproof safes arrived at the port of Haifa. They contained weapons: 148 rifles without stocks, 60,000 rounds of ammunition. Following a tip-off, they were discovered and confiscated
1936 — (21th of Adar, 5696) In Tel Aviv, shops were closed “as a sign of grief for the plight of the Jews of Poland said to be the victims of renewed pogroms.” The economic protests “coincided with a mass meeting called by the Jewish National Council of Palestine.” According to published reports, Polish Jewry is facing a threatened prohibition of kosher slaughtering in the Polish republic
1937 — (3th of Nisan, 5697) The Palestine Post reported that after Shlomo Gafni and Hanoch Metz were murdered and robbed near Nazareth, Gedaliah Geller, 36, Moshe Zalman Ben-Sasson, 33, and Yehuda Eliovitz, 28, of Yavneel were murdered nearby
1939 — (24 Adar I 5699). The Shoah. Bohemia and Moravia were occupied by German troops and declared a protectorate of Germany. The Jews living there were stripped of all civil rights and the opportunity to participate in the economic, political, and cultural life of the country, attend public educational institutions, or use public transportation and telephones
1942 — (26th of Adar, 5702) The First Dünamünde Action, a murderous assault designed “to execute Jews who had recently been deported to Latvia from Germany, Austria, Bohemia and Moravia” conducted by the Nazis and their Latvian collaborators began today in the Biķernieki forest, near Riga, Latvia
1942 — (26 Adar I 5702). The Shoah. In the village of Stadnaya Balka (Berezovsky district) and the village of Novo-Petrovka (Andree-Ivanovsky district, Odessa region), over 200 and 165 Jews from Odessa, respectively, were shot. On the same day, in the settlement of Askania-Nova (Kherson region), 240 Jews were shot. The Chief of Police in Lviv, Dr. Ulrich, announced to the chairman of the Jewish council that the latter must select 30,000 Jews for resettlement within 10 days
1943 — (8th of Adar-1, 5703) The Shoah. The deportation of the Jews from Thrace began. When Hitler was dismembering the Balkans, he gave Thrace to Bulgaria. The price was for the Nazis largesse was the extermination of the local Jewish population. The Jews of Thrace ended up at Treblinka
1946 — (12 Adar II 5706). Restoration of Birya. Word of the «assault» (see March 14) spread instantly. In the evening, hundreds of Haganah fighters from Safed and Rosh Pina set out to resettle Birya. Trucks delivered volunteers to the site. Rabbis permitted baking bread on the Sabbath. The British had to concede. On March 17, a decision was made allowing 20 settlers to remain
1947 — (23th of Adar, 5707) For the first time, British authorities have shipped “authorized immigrants” from Palestine to Cyprus on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. The immigrants are Jews who had come to Palestine aboard the Susannah
1948 — (4 Adar II 5708). War of Independence. The Haganah unopposed occupied the airport near Kibbutz Hatzor Ashdod (opened in 1942), which had been abandoned by the British. Since then, Hatzor has been one of the main bases of the Israeli Air Force
1952 — (18th of Adar, 5712) In Tangiers, a Muslim demonstration supporting union with Morocco turned violent and «many Jewish-owned shops were among those looted and burned.»
1990 — (18 Adar I 5750). A vote of no confidence in the right-wing government of Y. Shamir passed in the Knesset. It was initiated by Labor and SHAS over Likud and Shamir’s disagreement with another American peace plan developed by Secretary of State Baker. But since only a month remained until the elections, and Labor and SHAS could not reach an agreement, the President of Israel tasked Shamir with forming a new government
2001 — (20th of Adar, 5761) Thirty-seven year old Khalid Abu Elba, the Palestinian buse drive who ran over and killed eight Israelis last month, told reporters in Tel Aviv, while speaking in Hebrew that “I am not sorry.”
2005 — (4 Adar II 5765). After five years of construction, the new building of the Yad Vashem complex was opened in Jerusalem.
2009 — (19 Adar I 5769). Terror attack. Police officers Staff Sergeant David Rabinovich (42) from Rosh HaAyin and Sergeant Major Yechezkel Ramzarker (50) from Ma’ale Efraim were killed by Arabs at the Masua junction. Highway 90 and the Jordan Valley in general were considered a very quiet and safe place. The previous attack occurred there in 2004. On March 15, hours before the tragedy, the IDF announced the removal of the Beit Iba checkpoint west of Shechem (Nablus). The leadership of the Judea and Samaria settlements expressed confidence that it was the removal of the checkpoint that allowed the terrorists to travel unhindered from Shechem to the Masua junction and murder the police officers.
2010 — (29 Adar I 5770). The opening ceremony of the Hurva Synagogue took place in Jerusalem.
2011 — (9 Adar II 5771). Israeli naval commandos from the 13th Flotilla intercepted a vessel in the Mediterranean Sea carrying a cargo of weapons for terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
2024 — (5 Adar II 5784). The Gaza War. Day one hundred and sixty-one. Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu approved IDF operational plans in Rafah.
2025 — (15 Adar I 5785). A SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket carrying a payload of nine nanosatellites created by Israeli schoolchildren launched from Vandenberg Base in California
People
1817 — (27 Adar I 5577). Samuel Naumburg was born in Germany — conductor, composer, and researcher of liturgical music. In 1845, he was appointed cantor of the Great Synagogue of Paris and professor of liturgical music at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Paris. Died May 1, 1880
1830 — (20th of Adar, 5590) Birthdate of Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse, the first Jew to win the Nobel Prize for Literature
1855 — (25 Adar 5615). Eduard Glaser was born in Germany — orientalist, Arabist, archaeologist, traveler, explorer of South Arabia, where he made four journeys. Died May 7, 1908.
1860 — (21 Adar I 5620). V. Khavkin was born in Odessa — epidemiologist who first developed effective vaccines against cholera, plague, and typhus. He devoted the last 15 years of his life (died in 1930) to the study of the Torah
1879 — (20th of Adar, 5639) Albert Cohn, Orientalist and philanthropist, died
1899 — Akiva Ernst Simon was born — Israeli philosopher, recipient of the Israel Prize. Died August 18, 1988
1899 — Wolf Isaac Ladejinsky was born — American economist and statesman, agricultural specialist. He played a key role in the development and practical implementation of agrarian reforms in occupied Japan and Taiwan. Died July 3, 1975.
1933 — Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born — the first Jewish woman to be sworn in as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court on August 10, 1993. Died September 18, 2020.
1933 — Boris Messerer was born — Russian theater artist, set designer
1943 — (8th of Adar II, 5703) At the Theresienstadt Ghetto, Trude Neumann died of starvation. She was the daughter of Theodor Herzl, founder of the Zionist movement
1944 — (20th of Adar, 5704) Abba Berditchev parachuted into Yugoslavia. His “mission was to assist the Jews, gather intelligence and help rescue members of the air forces who were captured or had parachuted into Romania. He did not succeed in reaching Romania, instead returning to Bari, Italy. In August 1944 Berditchev traveled to Slovakia, where he participated in the Slovak National Uprising. After two months of fighting in the mountains, Berditchev was captured by the Germans and transferred in December 1944 to Mauthausen along with other captives, where he was brutally tortured and murdered by the Nazis.”