History events
1190 — (20th of Adar, 4950) During the Lenten Fair, Crusaders filled “with passion for crusade” and jealousy over the supposed wealth of the Jews, slaughtered them at Stamford, England
1236 — (21st of Adar, 4996) The Jews of Narbonne began celebrating the Purim of Narbonne after Don Aymeric, the governor, intervened to protect the Jews from marauding Christians who had already carried off the library of Reb Meir ben Isaac as they made their riotous way through the Jewish quarter
1822 — (14st of Adar, 5582) Turkish soldiers killed 60 Jews in Bucharest
1849 — (13st of Adar, 5609) The Emperor Franz Joseph “promulgated his own constitution which granted equal civic and political rights to all citizens, regardless of religious confession” as a result of which “the Jews were emancipated by imperial fiat and not by the popularly elected Reichstag.”
1851 — (3st of Adar, 5611) A poll tax levied on Russo-Polish Jews entering Austrian Galicia was discontinued
1912 — (18th of Adar, 5672) Hadassah was founded by Henrietta Szold. “At a meeting at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, Henrietta Szold, a noted scholar, teacher, journalist, editor, social worker and pioneer Zionist, convinced the Daughters of Zion study circle to expand its purpose and embrace “practical Zionism,” proactive work to help meet the health needs of Palestine’s people. Because the meeting was held around the time of Purim, the women called themselves “The Hadassah chapter of the Daughters of Zion,” adopting the Hebrew name of Queen Esther. Hadassah also means “myrtle,” a hardy Levantine plant with agricultural and biblical significance. Henrietta Szold became the first president
1918 — (23th of Adar, 5678) The Palestine Fund Restoration Commission announced to today that “plans have been completed for the establishment of a great Jewish university in Jerusalem” and “that one of the first duties of the commission, which is going to Palestine under the auspices of the fund, would be the founding of this university” on the site which has already been chosen and acquired
1933 — (9th of Adar, 5693) “The Nazis hoisted their swastika flag over a synagogue at Bochum this morning.”; At Konigsberg, a bomb which was thrown into the local synagogue “exploded near the ark, setting fire to the curtain.”
1940 — (18th of Adar-1, 5700) As Jews continued to protest against the newly enacted British laws limiting purchase of land in Palestine by Jews, the Chief Rabbis and leaders of the Vaad Leumi led a protest demonstration through the streets of Jerusalem while other Jews took part in a work stoppage in Haifa. In reaction to the protest in Jerusalem, the British imposed an over-night curfew on the Jewish quarter of the City of David
1944 — (12th of Adar) At Birkenau, 3,860 Jews who had been living in «family quarters», were sent to the gas chambers. Five days earlier, in their special «family quarters», they were shown off to Red Cross representatives (who were not allowed to see the rest of the camp.)
1947 — (15th of Adar, 5707) As the British continued their efforts to pacify Palestine, 5,000 troops and policemen surrounded Rehoveth, Nathanya and Hadera and began searching the communities for “terrorists” and weapons. The raid netted thirty-two detainees and a small cache of arms
1949 — (6th of Adar, 5709) During Operation Uvda, “Golani forces conquered the village Ein Harouf; “the Alexandroni Brigade moved from Beersheba through Mamshit towards Sodom and then made an amphibious landing near Ein Gedi through the Dead Sea.”; The IDF established a based Ayn Husb at the junction of the Beersheba-Sodom and Sodom-Eilat tracks
1979 — (8th of Adar, 5739) Twelve people were injured when a bus was detonated on a bus at the Plaza hotel, while nobody was injured when a second bomb was detonated on another bus in Tel Aviv
2003 — (3rd of Adar II, 5763) Two Israelis were killed and five were wounded when armed terrorists infiltrated the community of Kiryat Arba and attacked during Shabbat. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack
2007 — (17th of Adar, 5767) The Ministry for the Development of the Negev and Galilee decided to move the national archive of Israel from Jerusalem to Arad
People
1361 — (30th of Adar) Rabbi Simeon ben Zemah Duran, author of Sefer ha-Rashbaz passed away
1612 — (13th of Adar II, 5372) Mordecai ben Avraham Yoffe, the son of Abraham ben Joseph passed away at Prague. Born in 1530, he was the Rosh Yeshiva in Prague and author of “Levush Malkhut, a ten-volume codification of Jewish law that particularly stressed the customs of the Jews of Eastern Europe
1809 — (19th of Adar, 5569) Birthdate of Meïr Leibush ben Yehiel Michel Weiser the Russian rabbi known by the acronym Malbim the opponent of Reform whose literary works included a commentary on “Esther” published in 1845
1860 — (13th of Adar, 5620) Joseph Almanzi, bibliophile and poet, died