History events
1481 — (12th of Kislev, 5242) Auto da fé held at Seville
1794 — (11 Heshvan 5555) This happened during the uprising led by Tadeusz Kościuszko, who sought to resist Russia’s attempt to once again partition Poland. Bereck Józelewicz, a Warsaw Jew, called on his fellow Jews to join the rebels in order to “win the freedom promised to us, just as to other people… so that our children may live without wandering like wild people.” Five hundred people responded. The unit was tasked with defending the Praga suburb of Warsaw from Russian troops. During the assault on November 4, almost the entire unit perished. The wealthy Jew S. Zbikower announced a reward for anyone who would rescue a wounded Jew and bury the dead. Thanks to this, all the wounded were saved and all the dead were buried
1922 — (13th of Cheshvan, 5683) Hashomer Hatzair alpha settlers from Poland who had helped to start Kibbutz Geva in 1921 established the modern kibbutz, Beit Alpha, located in the Lower Galilee on the site of a 6th century Jewish settlement
1923 — (25 Heshvan 5684) The Russian‑language journal “Rassvet” published an article by V. Jabotinsky titled “On the Iron Wall (We and the Arabs)”, which outlined the main conclusions he had drawn from the Jewish pogroms in Eretz Israel in 1920–1921 and from earlier events
1941 — (14th of Cheshvan, 5702) Нolocaust. Last of a twenty train convoy made its way from Germany to the Lodz ghetto. In all, 19,837 Jews were taken. Banishment became official as the Reich Treasury issued directives that «Jews not employed in businesses of importance to the people’s economy will be banished to one of the cities in the East. The property of the Jews who are to be banished will be confiscated»
1942 — (24 Heshvan 5703) Shoah. 2,500 Jews were deported from Zolochiv (Lviv Oblast) to Bełżec
1943 — (6th of Cheshvan, 5704) Нolocaust. The Jews of Florence, Italy were rounded up and deported
1945 — (28th of Cheshvan, 5706) Anti-Jewish riots broke out in seven cities in Libya, including Tripoli. The riots would last for four days during which ten synagogues were burned an looted and Jewish homes and businesses were broken into and looted
1951 — (5 Heshvan 5712) Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett informed the Knesset that Israel had received US financial aid amounting to $64,950,000.
1956 — (30th of Cheshvan, 5717) Sinai Campai. An IDF force of 180 vehicles successfully made the trek through the Sinai wilderness and took Sharm es Sheikh from the Egyptians. After six hours of fighting, the IDF prevailed and opened the Straits of Tiran
1966 — (21 Heshvan 5727) A military alliance was concluded between Syria and Egypt
1980 — (25th of Cheshvan, 5741) A suicide operation carried out by the Shiite Muslims and supported by Syria killed thirty six Israeli soldiers in Lebanon. The attack came after both sides had agreed to a cease-fire
1983 — (28 Heshvan 5744) Terrorist attack. A bomb exploded at the IDF headquarters in Tyre. A truck loaded with explosives, driven by a suicide bomber, drove into the headquarters courtyard. The explosion killed 28 Israelis and 32 captive militants who were being held in the building.
1993 — (20 Heshvan 5754) Channel 2 of Israeli television began broadcasting commercial programs
1995 — (11th of Cheshvan, 5756) Yitzchak Rabin, Prime Minster of Israel, was assassinated by a right wing fanatic who was opposed to Rabin’s efforts to bring peace to Israel and its Arab neighbors
2001 — (18 Heshvan 5762) Terrorist attack. Arab gunmen opened fire on a passenger bus. Sh. Ben‑Yishai, 16 years old, and M. Regev, 14 years old, were killed; many others were wounded.
2004 — (20 Heshvan 5765) On the night between Friday, November 4, and Saturday, the Electric Company transported a 220‑ton transformer from the Elkav factory to the Ashkelon power station. Two senior officials of the Company were dismissed for violating Shabbat observance rules.
2014 — (11 Heshvan 5775) A plant for producing wings for fifth‑generation F‑35 combat aircraft opened in the industrial zone near Ben‑Gurion Airport.
2015 — (22 Heshvan 5776) Terrorist attack. In Gush Etzion, a car driven by an Arab rammed into a group of soldiers. Two people were injured.
2023 — 4 November 2023 (20 Heshvan 5784) The war with Gaza. Day 29. The following were killed: Captain Yehuda Cohen, 25; Senior Sergeant Gilad Nitzan, 21; Senior Sergeant Yonadav Levinstein, 23; Warrant Officer Lior Arazi, 25; Reserve Junior Warrant Officer Yedidya Eliyahu, 23. Almost a month after the massacre carried out by Hamas militants and “civilians” from Gaza in the kibbutzim adjacent to the Strip, the name of another servicewoman who died that day became known: Sergeant Yam Glass, 20.
2024 — (3 Heshvan 5785) The Chief of the General Staff was presented with a plan to form the Hashmonaim Brigade, which is to include ultra‑Orthodox soldiers
People
1762 — (18th of Cheshvan, 5523) Moses Levi Ulff, the son of Levi Ulff, passed away today. In 1714 Levi Ulff had moved his ribbon factory from Wesel to Charlottenberg and the king appointed him as his Court Jew ordering the royal regiments to secure their ribbons from his factory. In 1720, when Moses took over from his father “the order was renewed and Crown Prince Frederick required the younger Ulff to supply all the royal regiments with the necessary braid
1844 — (22 Heshvan 5605) Prince Shcherbakov, the Governor‑General of Moscow, allowed M. Shain, a merchant from Mogilev, to live in Moscow while his paralyzed son Noah was being treated in a hospital. Three years later, Noah’s condition improved (his father had by then left); he converted to Christianity, became Pavel Vasilyevich Shein, and gained fame as a scholar known for collecting Russian folklore
1847 — (25th of Cheshvan, 5608) Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, composer, died
1847 — Paul Oskar Gustav Hirschfeld, a German archaeologist, was born. He died on 10 April 1895
1897 — (9 Heshvan 5658) Semyon Zakharovich Ginzburg, the first People’s Commissar (minister) of Construction of the USSR (1939–1946), was born. He died on 15 May 1993.
1905 — Ya. Kreizer, general and commander of the 51st Army, was born. He died on 29 November 1969.
1916 — (8 Heshvan 5677) Ruth Mosco Handler, the “mother” of the Barbie doll, was born.
1929 — (1 Heshvan 5690) Yeshayahu, an Israeli theater and film actor, director, and screenwriter, was born. He died on 17 August 1987
1948 — (2th of Cheshvan, 5709) Birthdate of Shaul Mofaz, the native of Tehran who became the IDF’s 16th Chief of the General Staff in 1998
2001 — (18th of Cheshvan, 5762) Shoshana Ben Ishai, 16, of Betar Illit and Menashe (Meni) Regev, 14, of Jerusalem were killed when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire with a sub-machine gun shortly before 16:00 at a No. 25 Egged bus at the French Hill junction in northern Jerusalem. 45 people were injured in the attack
2002 — (29th of Cheshvan, 5763) Security guard Julio Pedro Magram, 51, of Kfar Sava, and Gastón Perpiñal, 15, of Ra’anana, both recent immigrants from Argentina, were killed and about 70 people were wounded in a suicide bombing at a shopping mall in Kfar Sava. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack