History events
694 — (15st of Cheshvan, 4455) Opening meeting of the Seventeenth Council of Toledo during which the Visigoth Catholic monarch, King Egica publicly charged the Jews with planning to «exterminate and (destroy) their homeland.» This charge was the excuse for the enactment of some of the most stringent laws aimed at the Jews of Iberia. The Jews and their property essentially became the possession of the crown, allowing the King to dispose of them as he saw fit. Furthermore, any Christian found helping Jews would be punished
1382 — (3th of Kislev, 5143) Publication date for the Cambridge Yiddish Codex, “the oldest surviving document written in Yiddish
1491 — (7th of Kislev, 5252) Azriel Günzenhäuser printed “Avicenna Canon” at Naples Italy. Azriel Günzenhäuser was a 15th century German printer who was also known as the “Ashkenazi
1526 — (4th of Kislev, 5287) The Jews were expelled from Hungry after being falsely accused of aiding the Turks in the war against Hungary.
1526 — (4th of Kislev, 5287) The Jews of Pressburg (now Bratislava) left the city a month to the day after it had received permission from Queen Maria to expel the Jews “living within its territory.”
1720 — (19th of Cheshvan, 5481) The Rabbi Yehuda Hasid Synagogue in Jerusalem, which later became known as the Hurva Synagogue was set afire. ….. Rabbi Yehuda Hasid and a small group of a few hundred followers arrived in Eretz Israel. The rabbi purchased the courtyard in the Old City for the synagogue, and construction of the facility was started after his death, but was never completed. Due to the non-payment of a loan taken by Jews from Arabs for the construction of the synagogue, Arabs burned down the site, desecrating its 40 Torah scrolls. The destruction wrought at the time became the root of the name of the «Hurva» (ruin) synagogue, and building recommenced in the late 1830s, by Perushim followers of the Vilna Gaon. After its completion in 1864, the Hurva loomed as a cultural and religious symbol in Eretz Israel and Jerusalem. The Hurva retained its status as Jerusalem’s leading synagogue, and public gatherings and celebrations were held in it. Among other events, a prayer gathering to mark the coronation of King George V was held at the Hurva. Two days after the Jewish Quarter fell to Jordanian legionnaires during the 1948 war; the Jordanians blew up the Hurva. The Jordanian commander on the scene reported to his superiors: «For the first time in 1,000 years, there’s not a single Jew left in the Jewish Quarter, and not a single building that hasn’t been damaged. This will make the return of Jews here impossible.» After the 1967 Six-Day War, the Hurva became a memorial to the fall of the Jewish Quarter in 1948. A large square was created around the site of the Hurva; and visitors could measure the dimensions of the synagogue which once stood at the locale. An arch was built at the site which rose to about half the height of the destroyed building, which is as high as the top of the synagogue’s dome. In 2002, the Israeli government adopted a NIS 28 million plan to restore the Hurva synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem and the newly rebuilt synagogue was dedicated on March 15, 2010
1855 — (28th of Cheshvan, 5616) The London School of Jewish Studies was founded as Jews’ College in 1855, a rabbinical seminary in London
1885 — (1th of Kislev, 5678) The Auckland Synagogue was opened
1917 — (24th of Cheshvan, 5616) In London, the British Government made public the letter sent a week earlier which is known as the Balfour Declaration. ….. Herbert Samuel spoke at a thanksgiving rally at Covent Garden in which he finished by intoning, in Hebrew, the age old declaration, “Next Year in Jerusalem.” The declaration was published in the Jewish Chronicle. According to one source, the government had deliberately delayed the public announcement so that it would appear for the first time in a Jewish paper
1937 — (5th of Kislev, 5698) Five members of the Gordonia group working on a Jewish National Fund afforestation project near Kiryat Anavim were ambushed and murdered by Arabs
1938 — (15th of Cheshvan, 5699) Нolocaust. Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) occurs across Germany and Austria. Ninety-one Jews are killed; others are beaten. Thirty thousand male Jews are sent to concentration camps, though most will be released in a few weeks. 267 synagogues are desecrated and destroyed (almost all of the synagogues of Germany and Austria).
1942 — (29th of Cheshvan, 5703) Нolocaust. The Nazis opened another death camp named Majdanek Four thousand Lublin Jews already deported to two other concentration camps, were sent to open Majdanek. Majdanek joined Chelmno, Treblinka, Sobibor and Belzec as factories of death.
1943 — (11th of Cheshvan, 5704) Нolocaust. Two hundred Jews from Venice, Italy, are deported to Auschwitz. Four hundred Jews from Florence and Bologna, Italy, are deported to Auschwitz.
1948 — (7th of Cheshvan, 5709) During the War of Independence Operation Yoav comes to a successful close; The IDF launched Operation Shmone to capture the Tegart fort in the village of Iraq Suwaydan; Israeli forces ended the Arab siege of Negbah
People
1571 — (21st of Cheshvan) Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Ziimra (Radbaz) passed away
1656 — (21st of Cheshvan) Rabbi Moses ben Isaac Judah Levy, author of Helkat Mehokek passed awaу
1874 — (29th of Cheshvan, 5635) Israel Bak, the man who created the first Hebrew printing press, passed away
1949 — (17th of Cheshvan, 5710) Yigael Yadin was appointed as the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, succeeding Yaakov Dori
1952 — (21st of Cheshvan, 5713) Chaim Weizmann First President of Israel and Zionist statesman passed away
2002 — (4th of Kislev, 5763) Sgt.-Maj. Madin Grifat, 23, of Beit Zarzir was killed when a mine exploded during a routine patrol northeast of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip