November 12

History events
1787 — (1st of Kuslev, 5548) Law regulating the adoption of family names by Jews in Austria
1841 — (28st of Cheshvan, 5602) The first edition of The Jewish Chronicle appeared in London, UK
1924 — (15st of Cheshvan, 5685) The Yeshivah of Slobodka opened a branch in Hebron
1937 — (8st of Kuslev, 5698) The Palestine Post reported that two Arabs were killed and five wounded by a bomb which exploded outside the National Bus offices, off Jaffa Road in Jerusalem. The bomb, which appeared to be home-made, exploded with a tremendous force. A curfew was imposed on the city. Jewish extremists were suspected of having thus responded to the murder of five young Israelis at Ma¹aleh Hahamisha
1947 — (29st of Cheshvan, 5708) British troops attacked a house in Ra’anana where Lehi was conducting a firearm course for a group of youths and in the attack, 4 children aged 15-18 and a 19-year-old instructor were killed
1954 — (16st of Cheshvan, 5715) Ellis Island, the gateway to America for millions of immigrants, including untold number of Jews, closed today
1997 — (12st of Cheshvan, 5708) Today marked the grand opening of a new fortified complex encasing Rachel’s Tomb, the traditional burial place of the wife of the biblical patriarch Jacob

People
1558 — (21st of Cheshvan, 5319) Rabbi Shalom Shakna ben Joseph passed away. ….. Born in 1500, Shalom Shakna was the Rabbi of Lublin, Poland and later of the entire province. Shakna and two of his contemporaries, Rabbi Moses Isserles and Rabbi Solomon Luria laid the groundwork for the great Yeshivot of Poland. Prior to this period, Polish Jews were dependent upon the academies in Austria and Germany. Considering the importance of study to Jewish survival, the development of Polish centers of learning was critical to the spiritual and communal foundation of the growing Jewish community in Poland and Lithuania. Shakna was also instrumental in founding the inter-communal government that regulated the life of Jewish Poland