History events
-1312 BCE — (1 Nisan, 2449) The Tabernacle (the Holy Tabernacle) was finally erected
-796 — (1st of Nisan, 2956) Based on computations using the Bible and archaeology, possible date for the death of Jehoash, King of Jud
1190 — (8st of Nisan, 4950) The Crusaders completed the massacre of Jews of York England slaughtering 500 Jews on this particular day
1398 — (28st of Adar, 5158) Today “The city council of Worms enacted an ordinance that every Jew or Jewess over twelve should pay one old tournois in Leibzoll, but not one farthing more.”
1616 — (9st of Nisan, 5376) In Holland, under the rule of Prince Maurice of Orange, it is decided that each city could decide for itself whether or not to admit Jews. In those towns where they were admitted they would not be required to wear a badge of any sort identifying them as Jews
1636 — (20st of Adar-1, 5396) Urban VIII issued “Cum allias piae” a Papal Bull that ordered the “Synagogues of the Duchies of Ferarri and Urban, to pay a tax of 10 ecus.”
1678 — (4 Nisan, 5438) Isaac Cardoso completed his treatise Las Excelencias y Calunias de los Hebreos (The Excellences of the Jews and Slander Against Them), which was published in Amsterdam in 1679
1808 — (18 Adar I, 5568) Napoleon issued three decrees in an attempt to secure Jewish equality and integrate Jews into French society. The third decree restricted Jewish lending (Catholics were not allowed to engage in usury—that is, to charge interest as profit on loans), annulled all debts owed to Jews by married women, minors, and soldiers, voided all loans with interest rates exceeding 10 percent, and restricted the residence of Jews from newly acquired territories in France, limiting their business activities but permitting work in agriculture and crafts. The decree applied only to Jews in eastern France; Jews in Bordeaux, Paris, and the departments of Gironde and Landes were unaffected.
(Same event, alternative version)
Napoleon issued a decree that, for ten years, prohibited Jews (except those living in the departments of Gironde and Landes) from practicing certain professions, settling in some departments, and, in some cases, claiming debt repayment or providing substitutes for military conscription (unlike other French citizens). Over time, Napoleon exempted most departments from this decree. By 1811, it applied only to eight eastern departments of France—though these housed the majority of French Jews. In 1812, the article prohibiting Jews from providing substitutes for military service was repealed. The decree remained in force after Napoleon’s fall and expired only after the ten‑year period, in 1818.
1918 — (4 Nisan, 5678) Civil War. Pogroms. Eyewitness account. In Seredyna‑Buda (Sumy Oblast, Ukraine), Bolshevik troops entered on 17 March 1918. The soldiers immediately scattered across the town and began looting Jewish shops. After plundering them, they moved on to Jewish homes, where in most cases the owners were no longer present: Jews had hidden themselves, often deliberately leaving keys on tables so that the pogromists would not break open cabinets and doors. However, the absence of people angered the attackers, who began killing anyone who had not managed or chosen not to hide. A total of 20 people were killed. On 20 March, the Germans arrived, and with the new Bolshevik offensive, the Jews left together with the Germans, who provided them with train cars.
1942 — (28 Adar I, 5702) Shoah. The Germans began the mass extermination of Jews in Lublin. Thirty thousand people were murdered at the Belzec death camp (23 March), four thousand in the so‑called “model ghetto” of Majdan Tatarski (9 November 1942), and at Majdanek (3 November 1943)
1943 — (10th of Adar I, 5703) Dimitur Peshev and 40 other members of the Sobranje, the Bulgarian parliament, sign a petition demanding that deportations of Jews from Bulgaria to Occupied Poland end. Archbishop Kiril of Plovdiv sends a telegram to Tsar Boris III informing him of his intention to lie down on the tracks in front of any trains transporting Bulgarian Jews
1948 — (6th of Adar I, 5708) The Naval Service, which became the Israeli Sea Corps, was formed today and the members for the Plugat HaYam (the naval arm of the Palmach) were ordered to join
1948 — (6 Adar II, 5708) War of Independence. North of Kiryat Motzkin, a Haganah ambush destroyed an Arab weapons convoy bound for Haifa. Seventeen Arabs were killed, including the commander of Haifa’s Arab paramilitary forces. Subsequently, two Haganah fighters, Avraham Avigdorov and Emanuel Landau, were posthumously awarded the title Hero of Israel
1953 — (1 Nisan, 5713) Israel. The first social housing lottery—for state‑owned apartments—was held. Of 2 500 participants, 564 families won the right to receive a state apartment with 2.5 rooms.
1954 — (12 Adar II, 5714) Terrorist attack. Terrorists ambushed a passenger bus of the Egged cooperative travelling from Eilat to Tel Aviv. Eleven people were killed. The attackers came from Jordan and set up the ambush at Ma’ale Akrabim in the Negev, at a sharp turn where drivers typically slow down.
1962 — (11 Adar II, 5722) A Golani Brigade operation against Syrian forces near the village of Nuqeiba, north of Kibbutz Ein Gev. Eight Israeli soldiers were killed. The attack was launched in response to repeated Syrian shelling of Israeli fishing boats on Lake Kinneret, Ein Gev Kibbutz, and its surroundings.
1965 — (13 Adar II, 5725) An Israeli tractor driver was killed by Syrian fire near Almagor. The incident was used as a pretext for another tank attack on a Syrian water diversion project diverting the Jordan River from Lake Kinneret. Within minutes, 11 targets were destroyed: 2 bulldozers, 4 compressors, and other equipment.
1969 — (27 Adar I, 5729) Following the death of L. Eshkol, a transitional government—the 14th—was formed, headed by G. Meir.
1987 — (16 Adar I, 5747) The Knesset passed a law equalising the retirement age for men and women
1992 — (12th of Adar I, 5752) The Islamic Jihad used a truck bomb to attack the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires Argentina killing 29
1998 — (8 Adar I, 5757) In the morning, Jerusalem experienced a dust storm with temperatures above 20 °C; rain fell during the day, and snow fell in the evening. On the morning of 18 March, Jerusalem residents found snowdrifts in the streets
2002 — (4st of Nisan, 5762) Terrorist attacks. In central Kfar Saba, a terrorist opened fire on pedestrians. A 16‑year‑old girl was killed and 7 people wounded. In Jerusalem, at the Giva Tzafrit intersection, a suicide bomber detonated, injuring seven
2010 — (2 Nisan, 5770) Clashes between Arabs and IDF units occurred in parts of Judea and Samaria. Incited by Hamas and Arab Knesset members, Arabs protested against “Israel’s intention to occupy and destroy the Al‑Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.”
2017 — (19 Adar I, 5777) The Israeli Air Force carried out several missile strikes in Syria, destroying weapons prepared for transfer to Hezbollah.
2019 — (10 Adar II, 5779) Terrorist attack near Ariel in Samaria. An Arab killed Sergeant Gal Keidan and 47‑year‑old Rabbi Ahiad Ettinger, a resident of the Eli settlement and father of 12 children, and severely wounded 20‑year‑old soldier Alexander Dvorsky, an immigrant from Moldova. On 20 March, the terrorist was killed during arrest.
2024 — (7 Adar II, 5784) Gaza War. Day 163. Engineering units of the 162nd Division, in coordination with engineering special forces, destroyed Hamas’s longest tunnel (over 2.5 km), which connected the northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip
2026 — (28 Adar I 5786) The IDF officially confirmed for the first time the operational use of the Or Eitan laser‑based missile defense system — in countering a Hezbollah attack
People
1860 — (23 Adar I, 5620) Sassoon Ezra Ezekiel, an Iraqi statesman and politician, was born in Baghdad. He served as Minister of Finance in five Iraqi governments and represented the Jewish community of Iraq in Baghdad. On the lands he purchased, the moshav Kfar Ezekiel was established in the Harod Valley in 1921. He died in 1932 in Paris
1862 — (15th of Adar II, 5622) Composer Jacques François Fromental Élie Halévy passed away
1862 — (15th of Adar I, 5622) Judah P. Benjamin becomes secretary of war of the Confederacy of America
1877 — (3 Nisan, 5637) Max Avelyevich Kuss, a military musician and composer, author of the famous waltz Amur Waves, was born.
1884 — (20 Adar I, 5644) Nahum Nir, an Israeli statesman, member of the early Knesset convocations, and its Speaker in 1959, was born in Poland. He died on 10 July 1968.
1921 — (7 Adar II, 5681) Meir Amit, a Haganah member, Israeli intelligence officer, Mossad agent, public and statesman, recipient of the Israel Prize, was born in Tiberias. He died on 17 July 2009
1969 — (27th of Adar, 5729) Golda Meir became Prime Minister of Israel