History events
1348 — (7th of Tevet, 5109) Massacre of the Jews of Augsburg Germany
1790 — (22th of Kislev, 5551) The Jews of Hungary handed a petition, in which they presented their claims to equality with other citizens, to King Leopold II at Vienna. ….. Written in Latin, probably at the behest of the Rosenthal family, “it read, in part ‘At long last, permit us to be citizens useful taxpayers of the fatherland. In the whole world, outside Hungary we have no fatherland, no other father than the King…no other brothers than those with whom we live and die one society.’”
1820 — (23th of Kislev, 5581) In New York City, first publication of Israel Vindicated by an anonymous author who styled him or herself as “An Israelite.” ….. “The work was ‘a refutation of the calumnies propagated respecting the Jewish nation; in which the objects and views of the American Society for Ameliorating the Condition of the Jews are investigated.’” The original subtitle also contained the additional words “‘and reasons assigned for rejecting the Christian religion.’” In his monograph entitled “The Freethinker, the Jews and the Missionaries,” Professor Jonathan Sarna contends that the book was the work of a freethinker named George Houston who was assisted by a Jewish printer named Abraham Collins
1938 — (6th of Kislev, 5699) Establishment of the 29th “tower and stockade” kibbutz, Mishmar Zevulun which would be moved to a new site in 1940 and renamed Kfar Masaryk in honor of the first President of Czechoslovakia
1942 — (20th of Kislev, 5703) The Jewish Fighting Organization of the Warsaw Ghetto assassinated the economic head of the Jewish Council who was an active German collaborator
1946 — (6th of Kislev, 5707) British Court in Palestine rejects a petition to prevent deportation of Jews to Cyprus
1947 — (16th of Kislev, 5708) In one of the most historic moments in Jewish history, ….. the General Assembly of the United Nations voted to accept the recommendation of the United Nations Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP). UNSCOP recommended the partition of Palestine into two states – one Jewish and one Arab with Jerusalem to governed by an international authority. The vote was thirty-three in favor, thirteen against and ten abstentions. In a rare moment of Cold War solidarity, both the United States and the Soviet Union supported the UNSCOP plan which guaranteed the creation of the state of Israel in May of 1948. One other recommendation of the UNSCOP plan was the opening of a port on February 1, 1948 to Jewish immigrants. Almost three years after the ovens of the Holocaust had cooled, boatloads of displaced persons would finally have a final destination. When news of the partition vote reached the public, “there were celebrations in New York, in Palestine, wherever Jews lived. Traffic stopped in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as people danced in the streets until the early hours of the morning.” In the words of Rabbi Isaac Herzog, “After a darkness of two thousand years, the dawn of redemption has broken.” Arabs say they are not bound by decision and charge that U.S. and Soviet Union coerced smaller countries to vote for partition.[ Starting on the next day, the Arabs responded with violence that would continue until the end of the mandate and unfortunately has continued literally
1948 — (27th of Cheshvan, 5709) Israel applied for admission to the United Nations
1974 — (15th of Kislev, 5735) “Ben-Gurion House,” “an historic house museum in Tel Aviv which served as one of the residences of David Ben-Gurion between 1931 and 1968 was opened to the public today where visitors can take guide tours and participate in symposiums about the early days of Zionism
People
1919 — (7th of Kislev, 5680) In Montreal, Louis and Anna Weider gave birth to Josef Weider who gained fame as bodybuilder Joe Weider
1954 — (4th of Kislev, 5715) On this cold and rainy night Esther Borenstein was on duty when a «mosquito» plane was hit by lightning and crashed while landing. ….. Esther ran towards the burning plane, rescuing the badly injured navigator. Although ammunition on the plane began to explode, Esther did not hesitate and ran in again to rescue the pilot, Ya’akov Shalmon. When they reached a hiding spot, the entire plane blew up. Esther was awarded a Badge of Courage for this operation by Moshe Dayan, then Highest in Command of the IDF. Esther was born in Bulgaria, and during the Second World War, her family was ousted to Italy. As early as her childhood, Esther always loved the Land of Israel, and at age 11, left her home in an attempt to come to Israel. At 16, she indeed arrived, with her brother, and shortly afterwards, in spite of her early age, joined the Israel Defense Forces. She joined the Air Force, completed a medic’s course, and viewed army service as an honor and not a duty. After completing her army service, Esther continued to work as a nurse with the Israeli Red Cross, and was the first female ambulance driver in the country. Later, she looked for a job that would express her love for the country and chose to be a tour guide. At that same time, the 6-Day War broke out, and Esther joined the paratroopers, where under constant fire and shelling, she tended to injured soldiers, receiving the nickname «Angel of the Paratroopers». She volunteered during the Yom Kippur war as well, and in 1973, she received the Medal of Honor for saving the pilot. In February 2003, she passed away during a trip to Italy, and was buried there at her family’s request. In February 2005, Bridges of Viewpoint was built in memory of Esther Borenstein on a quiet corner on the banks of the Jordan River, opposite the basalt arches of the 2,000 year old Roman-era bridge
1969 — (19th of Kislev, 5730) Yakov Grigorevich Kreizer, a general in the Soviet Army passed away today at the age of 64
2001 — (14th of Kislev, 5762) Тerrorist attack. ….. Samuel Miloshevsky, 45, of Herzliya, Yehiav Elshad, 28, of Tel Aviv and Yehiav Elshad, 28, of Tel Aviv were murdered today and nine more people were injured this evening when a terrorist from either Fatah or Islamic Jihand (they both claimed credit) set off a bomb aboard an Egged bus traveling between Nazareth and Tel Aviv as it passed through the town of Pardes Hanna-Kaurkur. In Jenin, about 3,000 Palestinians marched and celebrated the bombing an Egged bus