History events
70 — (17 Iyar 3830) Jewish War. The Romans suspended military operations. «Titus decided to temporarily halt the siege (of Jerusalem) and give the rebels time to reconsider, to see if they would become more accommodating due to the destruction of the second wall or out of fear of hunger, as the supplies they had plundered could no longer last for a long time.»
1165 — (3th of Sivan, 4925) Maimonides and his family arrived at Acre, Palestine. Having been forced to leave Spain because he would not convert to Islam, Maimonides and his family settled in Fez, Morocco. His work with Jews who had been forced to convert to Islam attracted attention of the local authorities and the family moved on to Palestine. Do to the poverty of the land and the uncertain conditions there, Maimonides finally settled in Egypt where he served both as a physician and leader of the Jewish Community.
1477 — (4th of Sivan, 5237) Abraham dei Tintori produced the first printed edition of the book of Job with a commentary by Levi ben Gerson was published today in Ferrara, Italy
1487 — (23th of Iyar, 5247) Joseph Solomon Sonciino produced the first printed edition of Seder Tahanunim at Soncino, Italy
1648 — (5 Sivan 5408) The flight of the Jewish population from Bila Tserkva (Kyiv region), Pavoloch, Chudnov, and Lyubar (all in the Zhytomyr region) to fortified towns such as Polonne, Zaslavl (now Izyaslav), and Staro Konstantinov (all in the Khmelnytsky region), and Ostrog (Rivne region) began. Nathan Hanover wrote: «And again the flight began. Those who had horses and carts left, while the others took their wives and children and fled, leaving their homes and belongings… Horses with carts were going three abreast along the entire road from Ostrog to the town of Dubno, for seven versts… Along the way, we were overtaken by three horsemen who said: ‘Why are you moving so slowly? The enemies are catching up to us; they are now in Mezhirich, from where we barely escaped.’ This caused unprecedented panic among our brethren…, many women and men lost their children in the commotion and fled into the woods and caves.»
1754 — (24th of Iyar, 5514) Fire ravaged the Ghetto in Prague
1796 — (8th of Iyar, 5556) Emancipation of the Jews of Holland
1854 — (18th of Iyar, 5614) According to an article published today the American Society for Meliorating the Condition of the Jews reported that there are 17 synagogues in New York City that show a membership totaling 25,000. The last census shows that there are 46,000 Jews in the entire United States. The society believes that the census figure is a case of underreporting because it only records people as being Jewish if they self-report. “It is a well-known fact that one-half or more of the Jews in this country call themselves Frenchman, German, Poles, Hungarians and Englishman and never make themselves known as Jews in governmental connections.”
1916 — (13 Iyar 5676) A secret Anglo-French agreement (known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement) on the division of Turkish possessions was concluded. The Middle East was divided into «spheres of influence» of these two great powers. The land of Israel would be partially under French, partially under English, and partially under international administration. The Jewish state was not mentioned in the agreement
1917 — (24 Iyar 5677) On this day, «The Herald of Siberian Jews» (Tomsk, No. 4) published a report on the trip of the community rabbi L. M. Glizburg through Western Siberia to familiarize himself with the activities of Jewish communities.
1919 — (16 Iyar 5679) Civil war. Pogrom in Cherkassy, lasting 5 days. 700 Jews were killed; pogrom in Słoweczno, Volhynia province; pogrom in Aleksandrovka
1919 — (16th of Iyar, 5679) The first Estonian Congress of Jewish congregations which had been convened on May 11 to discuss the new circumstances Jewish life was confronting came to a close today
1926 — (3 Sivan 5686) In Jaffa, former Russian Jews organized the «Union for Return to the Homeland.» In 1928, a group of 100 succeeded in relocating from Eretz-Israel to Crimea and establishing a commune called «Volya Nova.»
1927 — (14th of Iyar, 5687) It was reported today that four thousand six hundred and twenty-eight persons are now living in 41 settlements in Palestine created by the Keren Hayesod, according to the latest figures given out by the Department of Agricultural Colonization of the Palestine Zionist Executive. Sixty-five per cent of this population are workers, and the remainder children
1936 — (24th of Iyar, 5696) A bomb thrown by Arabs kills three Jews at the Edison cinema in Jerusalem. The Haganah demands permission to retaliate, but Ben Gurion refuses. The Edison Cinema was not just a movie theatre. It was a “citadel of secular European culture in Jerusalem. It opened in 1932 with a performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” sung in Hebrew. The Edison was the third largest cinema in the city and popular sport for British soldiers and officials
1938 — (15th of Iyar, 5698) After two and half weeks of touring the country, Britain’s Palestine Partition Commission began its first official session. Because of the continued Arab violence, the meeting was held “in camera under heavy guard.’ While Arab leaders continued to boycott the commission, Jewish leaders Chaim Weizmann, David Ben Gurion, Moshe Shertok and Dr. Bernard Joseph met with the British to discuss possible implementation of partition proposals
1942 — (29 Iyar 5702) Shoah. In Ivano-Frankivsk, several hundred Jews were executed
1943 — (11th of Iyar, 5703) The famous Tolmatsky Synagogue of Warsaw was dynamited by order of General Jurgen Stroop. It marked the last German «major operation» in the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto uprising
1944 — (23th of Iyar, 5704) The first of more than 180,000 Hungarian Jews reached Auschwitz
1948 — (7th of Iyar, 5708) Israel issued its first postage stamps
1948 — (7th of Iyar, 5708) Tonight, “after driving away the enemy” “company of the third battalion of the Yiftach Brigade occupied the Tegart fort called Metzudat Koach by the Israelis which overlooked the Hula Valley; Chaim Weizmann was chosen Chairman of the Provisional State Council of Israel which effectively made him the first president of the State of Israel
1948 — (7th of Iyar, 5708) At approximately one o’clock in the morning Syrian artillery began shelling Kibbutz Ein Gev. At dawn, Syrian aircraft attacked the Kinarot valley villages. Later in the day “Syrian aircraft made bombing runs on Masada, Sha’ar HaGolan, Degania Bet and Afikim
1948 — (7 Iyar 5708) War of Independence. The Arab Legion from Jordan, commanded by British officers and General Glubb, took Ramallah.
1948 — (7 Iyar 5708) The birth of the Air Force. Two out of five American C-46 transport planes for transporting weapons arrived in Israel, which were immediately sent to Czechoslovakia, and the Israeli air service was renamed the Air Force. Israel Amir was appointed as the first commander.
1948 — (7 Iyar 5708) Israel issued its first postage stamps.
1948 — (7 Iyar 5708) (or May 15) The 7th Armored Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces was created. It participated in all of Israel’s wars.
1950 — (29th of Iyar, 5710) Out of a large collection of 120 styles of knit fashions brought to this country from Israel, for merchandising, forty were shown this afternoon at the Plaza Hotel to buyers. The presentation, under the auspices of Service for Palestine, Inc., 2 Park Avenue, was its first show to promote Israel-made products in the American market
1966 — (26th of Iyar, 5726) Two people were killed today during a “landmine attack between Sea of Galilee and Almagor.”
1967 — (6 Iyar 5727) Nasser demanded that UN troops in Sinai relocate to the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General U Thant replied to Nasser that his troops must either continue their mission unhindered or leave altogether.
1994 — (6 Sivan 5754) According to the Oslo Agreement between Israel and the PLO, the IDF left Gaza, remaining only to guard the settlements.
2001 — (23 Iyar 5761) Terrorist attack. A bomb exploded near the Tel Aviv — Haifa railway.
2003 — (14 Iyar 5763) Terrorist attack. An attack on Jewish targets in Casablanca. 28 random passersby were killed in the explosions, and 100 people were injured.
2010 — (3 Sivan 5770) A new desalination plant in Hadera was put into operation — the third such facility in Israel.
2011 — (12 Iyar 5771) In the morning, Israeli Navy ships were forced to open warning fire toward a commercial vessel flying the flag of Moldova, which was attempting to breach the maritime blockade of Gaza. Attempts to establish contact with the ship’s captain were unsuccessful: the vessel did not respond to radio calls. After Israeli ships fired several warning shots into the air, the Moldovan vessel turned 180 degrees and headed back.
2018 — (2 Sivan 5778) A new information technology center was opened in Kibbutz Nir Am, near the border with the Gaza Strip.
2021 — (5 Sivan 5781) The seventh day of the Arab-Jewish confrontation in Israel and Operation «Guardian of the Walls.» At night, 55 rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory. At 5:00 PM, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, a car attack occurred; an Arab driver directed his vehicle at police officers, four of whom sustained minor injuries, and the attacker was shot
People
942 — (26 Iyar 4702) Saadia Gaon, the greatest religious authority of the Geonic period, philosopher, and poet, passed away.
1165 — (3 Sivan 4925) The family of Maimonides safely arrived from Fez to Akko in the Holy Land, and Maimonides vowed that this day would be for him a day of joy, celebration, feasting, and charity
1617 — (11th of Iyar, 5377) Judah Löb Sarava, the Rabbi at Venice who is quoted in the ritual work «Mashbit Milḥamot,» in connection with a question in regard to the ritual bath” and “translated into Hebrew Saadia’s commentary on Canticles” passed away today
1746 — (26th of Iyar, 5506) Moshe Chaim Luzzatto passed away. Born in 1707, this Italian rabbi known by the Hebrew acronym RaMChal was noted philosopher and student of kabbalah
1775 — (16th of Iyar, 5535) Veitel-Heine Ephraim who served as “Jeweller to the Prussian Court and Mint Mast under the Prussian Kings Frederick William I and Frederick the Great for whom he played a critical role in financing the Seven Years War passed away today
1785 — (7th of Sivan, 5545) Rabbi Chaim Abraham ben Moses Israel of Ancona, author of “Bet Avraham” passed away
1823 — (6th of Sivan, 5583) Heyman Steinthal, philosopher and linguist, born
1845 — (9th of Iyar, 5605) Birthdate of Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, also known as Eli Metchnikoff. Born in the Ukraine, he was a Russian microbiologist best remembered for his pioneering research into the immune system. Mechnikov received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1908, for his work on phagocytosis. He passed away in Paris in 1916
1864 — (2 Sivan 5626) Nathan Birnbaum, a writer and philosopher, one of the founders of Zionist ideology, was born in Vienna. He died in 1937.
1881 — Amy L. Lawman, an American journalist and literary critic, was born in New York. She died on December 11, 1955.
1892 — Richard Tauber, an Austrian opera singer, was born. He died on January 8, 1948.
1893 — (1 Sivan 5653) Tehilla Lichtenstein, one of the organizers of the Society for Jewish Science in the USA, was born in Jerusalem. She died on February 23, 1973.
1908 — (15 Iyar 5668) Poet Ovsiy Driz was born. He died on February 14, 1971.
1916 — (13 Iyar 5676) The fourth president of Israel (1973-1978), biophysicist E. Katzir, was born.
1973 — Tori Spelling, an American actress, was born
1984 — (14th of Iyar, 5744) Irwin Shaw passed away at the age of 71
2007 — (28 Iyar 5767) A monument to Dr. Tsemach Shabad, the prototype of the main character in the famous fairy tale by Korney Chukovsky «Doctor Aybolit,» was unveiled in the Old Town of Vilnius
2009 — (22nd of Iyar, 5769) Mordechai Limon, the first commander of the Israel Navy, passed away today at the age of 85
2014 — (16 Iyar 5774) Colonel Zeev Liron, a military pilot and senior intelligence officer of the Mossad, passed away at the age of 92. During World War II, he was a prisoner in a ghetto in Poland, escaped from a concentration camp in Auschwitz, and was recaptured. Miraculously, he was not executed after his escape. After the war, he repatriated to Mandatory Palestine, where he trained as a pilot and fought in the ranks of the newly established Israeli Air Force during the War of Independence. During his service, he commanded a squadron and held the position of Chief of Intelligence of the Air Force. He was the one who recruited the Iraqi Air Force pilot Munir Radfa, who hijacked and delivered a MiG-21 aircraft to Israel. After his discharge, he worked for the Mossad and headed its European representation.
2015 — (27 Iyar 5775) Rabbi Levinger, one of the founders of the Jewish neighborhood in Hebron, passed away at the age of 80.
2024 — (8 Iyar 5784) War with Gaza. Day two hundred and twenty-three. Fighting occurred throughout the sector. At the border with the sector, reserve sergeant Ran Yavetz, 39 years old, was killed. In the same incident, another fighter was injured. Three soldiers were wounded in the Metula area as a result of an attack from Lebanon using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). One of the wounded is in serious condition, while two are lightly injured
2026 — (29 Iyar 5786) Captain Maoz Israel Recanati, 24, was killed in a battle in southern Lebanon