History events
1655 — (15th of Cheshvan, 5416) In New Amsterdam, the government refused to allow Jews to stand guard, requiring them to pay a tax instead. ….. In effect, this made Jews “second class citizens.” Jacob Barsimon and Asser Levy refused to pay the tax petitioned to stand guard. At first they were met with resistance, but Asser Levy performed the guard duties anyway just like any other burgher of the town. He would later be granted full citizenship rights in New Amsterdam, the first for a Jew in North America
1735 — (1th of Kislev, 5596) In Mantua, a town in the Italian province of Lombardy, a pact between the Jewish community and the local high school was mediated by the Secretary of State. In return for the Jewish community providing liquor, and other gifts to the school on St. Catherine’s day, the students would not press their right to throw objects at any Jew who passes the school
1925 — (18 Heshvan 5686) The Kharkov GOSET opened. That evening, the folk performance “Purim-Shpil” was staged (author and director Z. B. Loiter, with the participation of Alexander Granovsky).
1933 — (16 Heshvan 5694) The first floor of the Harbin Jewish Hospital was built, and an outpatient clinic was opened
1937 — (1th of Kislev, 5698) The Palestine Post reported that an Egged bus driver and two his passengers were wounded when their vehicle was fired on, at the infamous Kilometer 5 of the Jerusalem-Jaffa road
1941 — (15 Heshvan 5702) The Shoah. In Berezna (Chernihiv Oblast), 10 Jews were shot; in Ilyintsy (Vinnytsia Oblast), 42 Jews; in Peremyshliany (Lviv Oblast), about 400 non‑working Jews; and in Ochakiv (Mykolaiv Oblast), 97 Jews. The Jews of Rivne were ordered to appear on the 6th at a specified location for “resettlement”
1942 — (25th of Cheshvan, 5703) Нolocaust. The Nazis deported the last 1,800 Jews from Ciechanow, Poland; Jewish men from Stopnica, Poland, are sent to a slave-labor camp at Skarzysko-Kamienna, while 400 old people and children are shot in the town cemetery; Six hundred Jews from Borislav, Poland, are deported naked to prevent resistance; In France, 745 Jews, including 35 residents of the Rothschild Old Age Home, are deported from Paris to Auschwitz
1943 — (7th of Cheshvan, 5704) Нolocaust. Operation «Harvest Festival» continued at Poniatowa as 15,000 Jews were killed in one day. The children of the Siaulia Ghetto in Lithuania were deported to Birkenau and perished. The Nazis murdered 17,000 prisoners at Majdanek
1943 — (7 Heshvan 5704) The Shoah. Ukrainian guards, under the direction of SS officers, killed about 800 children and elderly people in the Shauliai ghetto
1948 — (3th of Cheshvan, 5709) War for independence. Israeli forces retake Yad Mordecai from the Egyptians
1948 — (3 Heshvan 5709) The War of Independence. During Operation “The Ten Plagues of Egypt”, soldiers of the Givati Brigade entered the town of Midgal for the first time, encountering virtually no resistance from the town’s few remaining inhabitants. Of the total population of about 20,000, only about 2,000 Arabs remained in the town at that time. A few months later, these Arabs voluntarily left Midgal, in coordination with the Israeli military command and UN representatives. From that moment, the history of the modern Israeli city of Ashkelon began
1949 — (13 Heshvan 5710) El Al opened 2 new routes: to Geneva and London. The first was an extension of the flight to Rome, the second — to Paris. The airline operated 4 “Sky Master” aircraft, each with a capacity of 44 passengers
1953 — (27th of Cheshvan, 5714) Armed Jordanians murdered a guard in a nighttime attack upon a post along the railway track north of Hadera in the coastal plain
1956 — (1 Kislev 5717) The USSR threatened Britain, France, and Israel with war if they did not withdraw from Egypt.
1956 — (1 Kislev 5717) Operation Kadesh (the Sinai Campaign). Day 8. Sharm El‑Sheikh — the last Egyptian fortified point on the Sinai Peninsula — was captured by the IDF
1967 — (2th of Cheshvan, 5728) The last of Aden’s Jews arrived in Israel marking the end of this ancient Jewish community
2011 — (8th of Cheshvan, 5772) «It will take a year, two years, but I will return. I will never leave you again». ….. These words were written by missing IAF navigator Ron Arad, whose plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986, to his wife Tami and his daughter Yuval. Arad’s diaries were obtained by Channel 2 and shown today. He most likely wrote them during his first weeks in captivity. The notes were written on pages ripped from books Arad’s captors gave him. «To my dearest of all, Tami and Yuval, I am trying to forget you because I get a lump on my throat with every memory,» he wrote. «I love you, and you are the only reason keeping me from thinking about the worst of all. I promise you this at least: I will return. A year, two years – I will never leave you again, even if I have to stop flying. We will have a warm and loving and good home like we never had.» Arad writes to his wife Tami: «I had a dream about you last night. It was wonderful. We both met on the grass after a long workday and talked as usual, and I was with you again. I woke up in a sweat, but it gave me a few minutes of happiness.» Arad’s letters remained in Lebanon for 20 years. They were returned to Israel three years ago as part of a swap deal with Hezbollah (in which Israel received the bodies Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser). In some of the letters Arad wrote the address of his parents’ house in Hod Hasharon, suggesting he believed his captors would mail them to his loved ones
1968 — (14 Heshvan 5729) In the Iraqi city of Basra, 9 Jews were arrested on charges of spying for Israel: Yakov Georgi Nimrodi, David Jali, David Yehezkel Dalal, Yehezkel Tsalah, Noim Kaduri Khalali, Haim Sabah, Ezra Nagi Zilcha, Fuad Gabay, and Charles Raphael Khoresh. Two months later, the trial began, and on January 26, they were sentenced to death. That same night, they were publicly hanged in Baghdad and Basra. That day was declared a non‑working public holiday in Iraq. A district in Herzliya was named in honour of the victims.
1992 — (9 Heshvan 5753) During military exercises in the Negev Desert, a combat missile was accidentally fired at a group of servicemen. Five soldiers were killed and six were wounded. The names of the deceased are: Lieutenant Elad Shilo, Senior Sergeant Arye Cohen, Sergeant Shimri Shafran, Sergeant Sharon Tamir, and Junior Sergeant Eran Wexelbaum.
2006 — (14 Heshvan 5767) An attack was carried out on the office of the Jewish charitable centre “Mitzvah” in Surgut, Russia.
2012 — (20 Heshvan 5773) The All‑Israel Labour Disputes Court issued a ruling in a case that had dragged on for 5 years. Israeli Arab Ahmad Khatib was killed in the Old City of Jerusalem while attempting to take a guard’s weapon. Khatib’s family was awarded compensation due to the loss of the breadwinner. The National Insurance Institute “Bituach Leumi” filed a lawsuit in the Labour Disputes Court in Haifa, seeking to cancel the decision to pay compensation to Khatib’s relatives. “Bituach Leumi” argued that Khatib had been attempting to carry out a terrorist attack and therefore his relatives were not entitled to compensation. The Haifa court ruled that Khatib had merely intended to steal the guard’s pistol. “Bituach Leumi” appealed, and the All‑Israel Labour Disputes Court ultimately accepted its arguments. The relatives of the terrorist lost the compensation for the loss of the breadwinner but continued to receive a subsistence allowance.
2014 — (12 Heshvan 5775) Terrorist attacks in Jerusalem and Judea. Arab drivers rammed their cars into Jews waiting for public transport at bus stops. Two people were killed, and many were injured.
2016 — (4 Heshvan 5777) The new railway station built in the Sapir industrial zone in Netanya began operating, simplifying the city’s connection to the industrial zone. The “Sapir” station in Netanya became the 61st railway station in Israel.
2017 — (16 Heshvan 5778) The largest international military exercise in Israel’s history, “Blue Flag 2017”, began in the Negev Desert. In addition to Israel, combat aircraft and ground personnel from seven countries — the USA, Greece, Italy, Poland, Germany, France, and India — took part, with more than a thousand crews in total.
2023 — (21 Heshvan 5784) The war with Gaza. Day 30. The 36th Armoured Division of the IDF, which had been encircling the city of Gaza, completed a cross‑line between the eastern border of the Strip and the Mediterranean Sea, thereby dividing the Strip into two parts: northern and southern. Senior Sergeant Shahar Cohen‑Mivtah, aged 22, was killed in battle. There was rocket fire on населённых пунктов adjacent to the Strip and on central Israel. Shelling from Lebanon became more frequent. A resident of Kiryat Shmona was killed when an anti‑tank missile struck the city.
2024 — (4 Heshvan 5785) Israeli Prime Minister B. Netanyahu dismissed Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Israel Katz, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was appointed Defence Minister, and Gideon Sa’ar will take over as Minister of Foreign Affairs
People
1826 — (5th of Cheshvan, 5587) Élie Halévy, a French Hebrew poet and author passed away
1828 — (28 Heshvan 5589) Ber‑Isaac de Türick Ber, a French politician, owner of a tobacco manufactory and a bank, died at the age of 84. On October 14, 1789, Ber delivered a speech in the National Assembly on behalf of Alsace, Lorraine, and the Three Bishoprics, addressing the issue of equal rights for Jews. The speech was later published as a separate edition and translated into German, Dutch, and Russian.
1860 — (20 Heshvan 5621) The Fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom Dovber, was born. He died on March 21, 1920
1864 — (6th of Cheshvan, 5625) David Sassoon, Indian financier, died
1880 — Richard Oswald, an Austrian producer, director, and screenwriter, was born. In 1919, he created one of the earliest films in cinema history to address homosexuality, titled “Different from the Others”. He died on September 11, 1963.
1932 — (6 Heshvan 5693) Yossi Banai, an Israeli artist and singer, was born. He died on May 11, 2006.
1935 — Nurit Govrin, an Israeli literary scholar, was born
1963 — (18th of Cheshvan, 5724) In Tel Aviv journalist and politician Yosef «Tommy» Lapid, who served as Justice Minister, and novelist and playwright Shulamit (Giladi) Lapid gave birth to Yair Lapid, the 14th Prime Minister of Israel, the father of three and the husband of Lihi Lapid
1974 — (20 Heshvan 5735) The writer S. Tsemakh died in Jerusalem at the age of 88.