History events
1552 BCE — (14 Heshvan 2209): The biblical Rachel, mother of Joseph and Benjamin and wife of Jacob, died.
66 CE — (9 Heshvan 3847): Josephus: “For five days, the Romans made attempts from all sides, achieving no result; but on the sixth day, Cestius formed a strong detachment of elite soldiers, added archers to them, and launched an attack on the northern side of the Temple. The Jews defended from the heights of the galleries and repeatedly repelled the assault on the walls, but were ultimately forced to retreat under the intense volley of arrows. The Romans then formed the so‑called ‘tortoise’ formation: the frontline soldiers firmly pressed their shields against the walls; those following pressed their shields against the previous ones, and so on. Arrows falling onto this canopy slid along the surface without effect: the soldiers could now calmly dig under the wall and had already made preparations to set the Temple gates on fire. A terrible panic now seized the rebels. Many were already fleeing the city, expecting its imminent capture. Despite the desperation of the besieged, Cestius suddenly ordered the soldiers to withdraw, abandoned any hope of success—even though he had suffered no failure—and left the city in a most unexpected manner.” (The date of 16 October follows from Feuchtwanger’s and Josephus’s explanations regarding 17 October.)
1656 — (18 Heshvan 5417): Russian troops and the rebels of B. Khmelnytsky, having captured Lublin (Poland), carried out (contrary to their promise to leave the population of Lublin in peace in exchange for a contribution of ten thousand zlotys) a massacre of Jews. During the pogrom, almost the entire Jewish community of Lublin was killed, as well as many Jews from the surrounding areas who had sought refuge in the city.
1852 — (3 Heshvan 5613): “In accordance with the ministry’s proposal,” the Jewish school in Odessa was closed, and in its place, two state‑run boys’ schools and one girls’ Jewish school were opened
1898 — (30nd of Tishrei, 5659) Jewish quarter of Kossow, Galicia, attacked; ten Jews killed
1936 — (30 Tishrei 5697): In the port of Jaffa, while unloading a ship carrying cement, a huge shipment of weapons for the Haganah was accidentally discovered. Arab newspapers launched a campaign under the slogan “The Jews are preparing for war!”—and ten days later, a general strike of Arab workers followed, which escalated into violent demonstrations in the port of Jaffa. A couple of days later, the prominent preacher Sheikh Izz ad‑Din al‑Qassam called on his followers to launch an armed uprising
1940 — (14nd of Tishrei, 5701) Warsaw Ghetto established
1941 — (25nd of Tishrei, 5702) Нolocaust. The Germans murdered 4,500 Jews outside of Lubny, Urkaine
1941 — (25 Tishrei 5702): Shoah. In Kozova (Ternopil Oblast), about 500 Jews were murdered; in Delyatyn and Kosiv (Ivano‑Frankivsk Oblast), 1,950 and 900 Jews, respectively, were killed
1942 — (5 Heshvan 5703): Shoah. Another 200 Jews were executed in Ostroh.
1943 — (17 Tishrei 5704): Shoah. The roundup of Jews in Rome was not very successful for the fascists, because Italians helped save the Jews
1944 — (29nd of Tishrei, 5705) Нolocaust. In Rome, the roundup of the Jewish population began. “SS troops surrounded the Lungotevere, the former ghetto area, where some 4,000 of the city’s 12,000 Jews still lived.” The SS selected 1,000 men, women and children for immediate shipment to Auschwitz.
1948 — (13nd of Tishrei, 5709) During Operation Yoav, Israeli forces were repulsed after heavy fighting as they tried to open the road to Jewish settlements in the Negev and Beersheba; Arab Legion forces at the Arab-held Zion Gate attacked the Jewish positions on Mount Zion, but were driven off after fierce fighting.”
1950 — (5 Heshvan 5711): The first exercises of the Israel Defense Forces’ reserve troops were held. The mobilisation call signs “Passover Seder” and “Sleeping Beauty” were announced on the radio. During the exercises, the telegraph service, medical facilities, and transport were placed at the army’s disposal. The ports were placed under the command of the fleet commander. The exercises were led by the Chief of the General Staff, Y. Yadin.
1958 — (2 Heshvan 5719): On the first day of Operation Kadesh, a curfew from 17:00 was declared for all Arab villages in northern Israel. Soldiers were ordered to shoot at violators. At 18:00, a border guard unit shot and killed 43 residents of the Arab village of Kfar Kassem, who had no knowledge of the curfew. The investigation lasted two years. On 16 October, the court found 8 out of 11 border guards guilty of murder. Among them were Major Shmuel Malinki, commander of the border patrol; his deputy, Gabriel Dahan; and six soldiers. The major was convicted of obeying an unlawful order and inciting murder and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
1959 — (14 Heshvan 5720): Due to pressure from Arabs, the Renault company refused to cooperate with Israel.
1972 — (8 Heshvan 5733): In Rome, the Mossad eliminated W. Zuiter, the head of Black September.
1973 — (20 Tishrei 5734): Yom Kippur War. Two hundred paratroopers of the brigade commanded by D. Mota crossed the Suez Canal. By day, 30 tanks joined them. While the crossing continued, Sharon’s forces fought a fierce night tank battle in an attempt to secure the approaches to the critical Akavish–Tirtur crossroads south of the Chinese Farm. Sharon’s forces lost approximately 70 tanks and the Egyptians approximately 150 in this battle. Several 175 mm M107 self-propelled guns joined the paratroopers on the western bank of the Canal. On the northern flank of the 2nd Army, attacks by other units were launched to convince the Egyptians that all the commotion around the Akavish–Tirtur crossroads was merely part of an Israeli plan to crush their flanks. Sharon’s losses and the strong Egyptian pressure prompted the deployment of Adan’s 162nd Division into the battle to keep the road open. By day, the Egyptians launched a major counterattack with two tank brigades on the Akavish–Tirtur crossroads, which peaked in the early morning of 17 October
1977 — (4 Cheshvan 5738) (or 1 November, 20 Cheshvan). The Halamish settlement was established in Samaria
1986 — (13nd of Tishrei, 5747) The Jonathan Netanyahu Memorial by Buky Schwartz, was dedicated outside the entrance to the National Museum of American Jewish History, along the walkway between 4th and 5th Streets north of Market Street today
1986 — (13 Tishrei 5747): An Israeli Air Force Phantom was shot down over Sidon; the pilot was picked up by a rescue helicopter, while the navigator Ron Arad was taken captive by Arabs
1995 — (22nd of Tishrei, 5756) Six Israeli soldiers were killed and a seventh was wounded today in the deadliest attack by Muslim guerrillas in southern Lebanon this year.
2006 — (24 Tishrei 5767): Shoah. In Hungary, a memorial plaque was unveiled in memory of the Swiss representative of the International Red Cross, Eduard Benedikt Brunnschweiler, who participated in the rescue of Hungarian Jews at the end of the Second World War.
2009 — (28 Tishrei 5770): The UN Human Rights Council adopted the Goldstone Report, accusing Israel of crimes against humanity during Operation Cast Lead. Voting against the report: USA, Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Slovakia, and Ukraine. The United Kingdom and France declined to participate in the vote. Representatives of two countries — Kyrgyzstan and Madagascar — were absent. Abstaining countries: Bosnia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Belgium, South Korea, Slovenia, and Uruguay. Countries voting against Israel: Russia, China, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cuba, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Brazil, Nicaragua, Mauritius, Nigeria, and Chile
2011 — (18nd of Tishrei, 5772) Two Palestinians who participated in the 2000 lynching of two Israel Defense Forces soldiers in Ramallah will be released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap deal, an official prisoners list indicated today
2015 — (3 Heshvan 5776): Arabs set fire to the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem, sacred to Jews. The fire caused significant damage to the shrine.
2017 — (26 Tishrei 5778): During excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem, at a depth of eight metres, a solid underground fragment of the Western Wall and a Roman theatre were discovered.
2023 — (1 Heshvan 5784): On Sunday, the print shop in Kibbutz Be’eri — a tenth of whose residents fell victim to terrorists on 7 October — resumed operation.
2023 — (1 Heshvan 5784): Gaza War. Day ten. The independent international UN Commission of Inquiry on the situation «in the occupied Palestinian territory,» including so-called East Jerusalem (the Arab neighbourhoods of the Israeli capital) and the rest of Israel, concluded that «rocket and mortar fire by Palestinian armed groups at civilian population centres is inherently indiscriminate and therefore clearly constitutes a war crime.» At the same time, in the experts’ opinion, «the damage and casualties caused by Israeli attacks were not proportionate to the military advantage, and therefore these actions also constitute a war crime.» Residents of Sderot were evacuated. The evacuation of residents of 28 settlements located less than 2 kilometres from the border with Lebanon was organised.
2024 — (14 Tishrei 5785): Gaza War. Day three hundred and seventy-six. The IDF eliminated Yahya Sinwar, head of the Hamas politburo and leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
2025 — (24 Tishrei 5786): Zikim Beach was opened to the public. Since the beginning of the war, it had been considered a closed military zone.
2025 — (24 Tishrei 5786): A new power plant began operating in the Alon Tavor industrial zone, increasing the production capacity of the Israeli electricity market by 230 megawatts.
People
1590 — (27th of Tishrei, 5351) Roman born “physician and Talmudic authority” Eliezer Isaac Cohen ben Abraham, the brother-in-law of David de Pomis both of whom were “distinguished in medicine and rabbinical literature” passed away today
1655 — (25th of Tishrei, 5416) Joseph Solomon Delmedigo a rabbi, author, physician, mathematician, and music theorist passed away
1679 — (20th of Cheshvan, 5440) Fifty-seven year old Roger Boyle, the 1st Early of Orrery, the Anglo-Irish dramistis who works included “Herod The Great” and “Tryphon” which “enacted the story of the pretender to the throne of Syria in the 2nd century BC as related by Josephus in History of the Jews and in the First Book of Maccabees passed away today.
1810 — (18th Tishrei, 5571) Nachman of Breslov also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Nachman from Uman, or simply as Rebbe Nachman (in local Yiddish reb Nokhmen Broslever) passed away
1874 — (5th of Cheshvan, 5605) Rabbi Zevi Hersh Kalisher passed away. ….. Born in 1795 in the Polish town of Lissa that had just become part of Germany, Kalisher was unique because he was an Orthodox Rabbi who believed that Jews develop a practical program for returning to Eretz Israel instead of just waiting for the coming of the Messiah. In 1860, he published Derishat Tziyyon , his blueprint for the return to the Holy Land. Almost forty years before the advent of Herzl and Zionism he called for a systematic purchase of land, the development of agriculture, the development of a self-defense force and the need to develop viable businesses to replace the charitable institutions that traditionally supported the Jews in Palestine. The Reform opposed Kalisher because of the nationalist content of the proposal. The Orthodox saw it as a form of blasphemy. One of the practical results of his work was the establishment of Mikveh Israel, a school located near Jaffa, designed to teach the new generation of pioneers the scientific agricultural skills that would enable them to reclaim the land
1886 — (17th of Tishrei, 5647) In Plonsk, Scheindel Grun and Avigdor Grun, a lawyer and a leader in the Hoevei Zion movement gave birth to David Grun who gained fame as David Ben-Gurion. He passed away on December 1, 1973
1948 — (13th of Tishrei, 5709) Twenty-seven year old Mordechai “Modi” Alon died today when his plane crashed after returning from an attack on Egyptian forces
1981 — (8th of Tishrei, 5742): Moshe Dayan passed away
1986 — (13nd of Tishrei, 5747) Ron Arad, Israeli Weapons System Officer, is captured by Lebanese Shi’ite militia Amal