History events
1196 — (22 Kislev 4957) The entire family (wife, 2 daughters, and a son) of Rabbi Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus of Worms was killed by the Crusaders.
1348 — (23 Kislev 5109) Amid the devastating impact of the Black Death, which ultimately killed 25 million Europeans, a government official in Switzerland announced that Jews (under torture) had confessed to poisoning the wells in the Rhine Valley. This marked the beginning of the “year of terror,” during which most Jewish communities in the region were destroyed and thousands of Jews were burned alive.
1380 — (17 Kislev 5141) The start of a four‑day Jewish pogrom in Paris, instigated by the nobility, who believed that violence would free many from their debts to Jews.
1491 — (13 Kislev 5252, or November 16, 14 Kislev) The Inquisition passed a death sentence on six Jews and five converts from La Guardia near Toledo, accused of intending to destroy Christianity using black magic, a consecrated prosphora, and the heart of a crucified child. All of them were burned at the stake the following day.
1658 — (29th of Cheshvan, 5419) Alexander VII., in bull «Ad ea per quæ,» orders Roman Jews to pay rent even for unoccupied houses in ghetto, because Jews would not hire houses from which Jews had been evicted
1727 — (13st of Kislev, 5488) Act passed by General Assembly of New York permitting Jews to omit «upon the faith of a Christian» from the oath of abjuration
1843 — (22 Heshvan 5604) By decree of the Russian State Council “On Granting Karaites Honorary Citizenship,” Karaites were granted the status of a privileged class of citizens: they were exempted from conscription and corporal punishment, and were allowed to live anywhere, to elect and be elected to municipal public offices without any restrictions. This followed a petition by Simkha Babovich, a first‑guild merchant from Yevpatoria, who argued that Karaites, unlike Jews, did not recognize Talmudic teaching and therefore possessed such civic virtues as diligence and loyalty to the throne. Moreover, Babovich claimed that the ancestors of the Karaites had allegedly appeared on the peninsula in the 5th century BCE and thus bore no responsibility for the crucifixion of the Savior. Babovich’s appeal was fully granted, and he himself became the first spiritual leader of the Taurida and Odessa Karaite Spiritual Board.
1892 — (25 Heshvan 5653) A decree ordering the eviction from Moscow of Jewish lower ranks from the Nicholas‑era recruitment drafts — that is, former soldiers of the Russian army. (See October 15, 1892; it is possible that this refers to the same decree.)
1896 — (10 Kislev 5657) The first conference of the National Council of Jewish Women of the USA opened in New York. The Council had been founded on September 4, 1893.
1936 — (1 Kislev 5697) Israel Rokach was appointed mayor of Tel Aviv.
1938 — (21 Heshvan 5699) Shoah. Jewish children were prohibited from attending German schools.
1938 — (21 Heshvan 5699) Shoah. The “Kindertransport” operation. Five days after the events of “Kristallnacht” (“Night of Broken Glass”) in Germany and Austria, a delegation of British Jewish leaders personally appealed to the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, among other things, requesting permission to temporarily admit Jewish children into the country without parents or other accompanying persons. After parliamentary discussion, the request was granted.
1940 — (14 Heshvan 5701) Shoah. Jews were forbidden to leave the Warsaw Ghetto.
1941 — (25 Heshvan 5702) Shoah. In the village of Peretsfeld (Fraidorfsky district, Crimea), 103 Jews were shot; in Odessa, about 1 000 Jews; and in Kremenchug, 103 Jews. The deportation of Jews (28 391 people) from Chernivtsi across the Dniester River was completed.
1942 — (6 Kislev 5703) Shoah. About 1 200 Jews from Stryi (Lviv region) were transported to Belzec; several hundred were killed on the spot
1945 — (10th of Kislev, 5706) A complete curfew is declared at noon in Tel Aviv, Palestine by the British government
1948 — (13th of Cheshvan, 5709) Salah el-Kuntar, leader of Druse tribesmen’s National Army, says Druses want their 4,000-square-mile area shifted from Syria to Israel. Druses helped drive Syrian troops out of Upper Galilee
1949 — (23 Heshvan 5710) After nearly a year of discussions, the government approved the decision to unify Tel Aviv and Jaffa into a single municipal structure
1973 — (20th of Cheshvan, 5734) Egypt and Israel exchange prisoners of war following the Yom Kippur War
1977 — (5 Kislev 5738) Egyptian President A. Sadat received an official invitation to negotiations from the Prime Minister of Israel.
1988 — (6 Kislev 5749) In Tunisia, at the 19th session of the Palestine National Council, Arafat proclaimed the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
1988 — (5 Kislev 5749) 88 UN member states supported PLO Chairman Arafat’s initiative to proclaim an independent Palestinian state
2002 — (10th of Kislev, 5763) Twelve people — 9 soldiers and three civilians from the Kiryat Arba emergency response team — were killed and 15 others wounded in Hebron when Palestinian terrorists opened fire and threw grenades at a group of Jewish worshipers and their guards as they were walking home from Sabbath prayers at the Cave of the Patriarchs
2003 — (20 Heshvan 5764) Terrorist attacks. Cars exploded simultaneously at the entrances to two major synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey. The “Neve Shalom” synagogue was hosting a bar mitzvah celebration, while morning prayers were being held at “Beit Israel.” The two synagogues were about 5 kilometers apart. Nine Jews and 14 Turks (mostly passers‑by) were killed, and about 300 people were injured. On the same day, a Jewish school was set on fire in Paris, France.
2005 — (13 Heshvan 5766) Israel’s second‑largest bank, Leumi, was transferred to private (American) ownership.
2006 — (24 Heshvan 5767) In the morning, at least four Qassam rockets exploded in western Negev: two north of Sderot, and two more in the city center. Two Israelis were seriously injured. One of the victims (aged 57) died from her injuries; the other, a 24‑year‑old man, had both legs shattered by shrapnel, and doctors were forced to amputate them. At 17:00, four Qassams exploded in Ashkelon. At 17:30, Arabs fired Qassam rockets at Sderot again. A rocket exploded in the city center, and a 17‑year‑old teenager sustained a shrapnel wound to the abdomen. The Sderot municipality urged residents not to leave their homes due to the danger of rocket attacks. At 22:30, Arabs launched two more Qassam rockets from the northern part of the Gaza Strip. One rocket exploded in an open area in northern Sderot; the other landed near the local council building of Kibbutz Sha’ar HaNegev.
2012 — (1 Kislev 5773) During the exchange of strikes in Operation Pillar of Defense, a Grad rocket fired from Gaza directly hit a 4‑story residential building in Kiryat Malachi, killing four people and injuring six. Among the injured were a 4‑year‑old boy with severe injuries and a 1‑year‑old girl with minor injuries. The girl’s father sustained injuries of moderate severity.
2022 — (21 Heshvan 5783) A terrorist attack in the Ariel area. An Arab killed two people with a knife and ran one of them over with a car.
2023 — (2 Kislev 5784) The war with Gaza. Day 40. The IDF launched an operation in the Shifa Hospital area. It was preceded by an attempt to evacuate patients and displaced persons located there; a special humanitarian corridor was opened for this purpose. The hospital’s management was informed in advance of the army’s plans. Soldiers stormed Shifa Hospital, breaking down doors and walls, and began searching the basement areas of the medical complex. IDF military equipment surrounded the hospital in a tight ring. Fierce fighting took place near the hospital, and areas adjacent to the clinic were subjected to aerial bombardment. Captain of the Reserve Omri Yosef David, 27, Captain Yedidya Asher Lev, 26, Captain Asaf Master, 22, and Captain Kfir Itzhak Franco, 22, were killed. Six servicemen were seriously wounded. Israeli territory was subjected to rocket fire from Gaza and Lebanon.
People
1660 — (22st of Kislev, 5421) Asser Levy was licensed as the first kosher butcher in New York City
1688 — (28th of Cheshvan) Rabbi Zev Wolf, author of Nahlat Binyamin, passed away
1898 — (1 Kislev 5659) S. Goldman was born — an American merchant who invented shopping carts. He died on November 25, 1984.
1900 — (23 Heshvan 5661) Yvonne Feyerick Nevejean was born — a Righteous Among the Nations who saved more than 4 000 Jewish children in Belgium by placing them with Christian families. She died on August 10, 1987.
1925 — Y. Daniel was born — a writer. He died on December 30, 1988.
1930 — (24 Heshvan 5691) Robert Cohen was born — a boxer. He was the NBA lightweight world champion from 1954 to 1956.
1932 — (16 Heshvan 5693) Rabbi Chaim Drukman was born — an educator and public figure of religious Zionism. He died on December 25, 2022
1936 — (1st of Kislev, 5697) Israel Rokach begins serving as Mayor of Tel Aviv
2012 — (1st of Kislev, 5773) Mirah Scharf, 25, Aharon Smadja, 49, and Itzik Amsalem, 27 were murdered by Hamas rockets at Kiryat Malachi