History events
-1553 — (11th of Cheshvan, 2207) On the civil calendar, this date marked the death of Rachel, the matriarch and wife of Jacob, at the age of 36. She died during the childbirth of Benjamin, near Efrat, and is buried in Beit Lechem (Bethlehem)
-336 — (24th of Tishrei, 3425) According to the Book of Nechemia, Ezra and Nechemia convened the Jewish community in Jerusalem
1228 — (20 Cheshvan 4989) Pope Gregory IX spoke in favor of paying interest on the debts of the Crusaders to Jews, but also of granting a «moratorium» on repayment
1391 — (22 Cheshvan 5152) The Jews who survived and did not leave Mallorca converted to Christianity
1468 — (5 Cheshvan 5259) The bishop of the city of Speyer in Germany issued a decree according to which all Jewish men had to wear a piece of yellow cloth in the shape of a wheel on their clothing for five years as a distinctive badge, and all Jewish women of the same age had to wear veils with two blue stripes. Jews did not have the right to take part in public assemblies or entertainments, to keep Christian servants, or to occupy housing in different parts of the city; they had to live close to one another; during high Christian holidays they were not to appear on the streets; they were forbidden to participate in monetary transactions. The decree was the bishop’s response to the Jews’ refusal to be baptized
1491 — (17 Cheshvan 5252) The printer Shem Tov Ibn Halaz and his sons published Bachya ben Asher ibn Ha-Levi’s Commentary on the Pentateuch
1533 — (2 Cheshvan 5294) In Venice, books of the Talmud were burned
1893 — (11th of Cheshvan, 5654) Israelitische Theologische Lehranstalt of Vienna founded
1905 — (22 Tishrei 5666) A pogrom in Krasnoyarsk, organized by the local branch of the «Union of the Russian People»
1916 — (16 Tishrei 5677) Kibbutz Kfar Giladi was founded in the Northern Galilee
1930 — (29 Tishrei 5691) The Passfield White Paper was published; H. Weizmann resigned as chairman of the Jewish Agency in protest. As a result of this campaign, on February 13, 1931, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald sent Chaim Weizmann a letter that became public, in which he promised to practically cancel the measures planned in the White Paper
1938 — (26 Tishrei 5699) In a grove near Kibbutz Shfaim, the first test firing of the first five locally produced mortars took place. In 1939, the Haganah had 48 mortars and 5,000 shells for them
1941 — (30th of Tishrei, 5702) Нolocaust. Residents of the Jewish community at Koidanov, Belorussia, are murdered; Thousands of Jews are murdered at Kraljevo, Yugoslavia; The first transport of Jews left Cologne, Germany for the Lodz Ghetto
1942 — (10 Cheshvan 5703) Shoah. About 4,000 Jews were deported from Zbarazh and Skalat (Ternopil region) to Belzec; 130 Jews were killed on the spot in Zbarazh and 153 Jews in Skalat. Another Jewish action was carried out in Ivano-Frankivsk
1943 — (22nd of Tishrei, 5704) Нolocaust. During the final Aktion in Minsk, Belorussia, about 2000 Jews are murdered at Maly Trostinets
1946 — (26th of Tishrei, 5707) The HMS Moon, a British minesweeper captured the SS Alma off the coast of Lebanon and towed her to Haifa. ….. The vessel contained 800 Jewish refugees trying to enter Palestine despite the White Paper and the British Blockade. According to reports by the British, the Jews “took strong but unsuccessful action” in an attempting to prevent British sailors from boarding the Alma and tying tow ropes to the vessel
1947 — (7th of Cheshvan, 5708) In the little town of Raanana on the coastal plain between Tel Aviv and Nathanya a new children’s village and farm school was dedicated today by the Mizrachi Women’s Organization of America
1948 — (18nd of Tishrei, 5709) War for independence. ….. Israeli naval vessels supported by planes from the Israeli Air Force shelled Egyptian positions in Gaza; At four in the morning, Israeli troops attack the fortified positions of the Egyptians outside of Beersheba. The Egyptians are taken by surprise since they did not know that the Israelis had opened the road to the Negev two days earlier. The Egyptians surrendered and the ancient place to which Abraham returned after “the binding of Isaac” was in Jewish hands; During Operation Ha-Har, “Moshe («Morris») Ben-Dror, the commander of the Fifth Battalion, put together a battle corps consisting of two companies of riflemen, a support company and saboteurs, who were instructed to take Bayt Nattif and to destroy its houses, whose inhabitants had fought against the Convoy of thirty-five fallen soldiers who were sent to aid their beleaguered comrades in Gush Etzion
1952 — (2th of Cheshvan, 5713) The Jerusalem Post reported ….. that Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion met «Hazon Ish,» the supreme authority on interpretation of the Jewish law for extreme Orthodox Jewry. After an hour of animated discussion, the area of disagreement between the two leaders remained fundamentally as wide as ever, but they came closer on the need for the mutual understanding. “Hazon Ish” was the appellation applied to the famed Talmud scholar Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz. Born in Poland in 1878, he moved to Eretz Israel in 1933. He settled in B’nai B’rak (yes the same place mentioned in the Haggadah) where he severed as communal leader while writing forty books on a variety of religious topics. Although principally an academic scholar, he applied himself to practical problems such as the use of milking machines on Shabbat and the cultivation of hydroponics during the sabbatical year, when it is forbidden to cultivate land in Eretz Yisrael. He was even once consulted by Prime Minister David Ben Gurion on the question of drafting young women to the Israel Defense Forces. He passed away in 1953
1959 — (19 Tishrei 5720) — the Carmelit underground funicular system was opened in Haifa
1965 — (25 Tishrei 5726) The first vessel entered the port of Ashdod — it was the Swedish ship «Vingald,» which brought 1,621 tons of sugar to Israel
1967 — (17 Tishrei 5728) Near the shores of Egypt, after attacks by an Egyptian missile boat, the destroyer «Eilat» was lost. In total, 47 people died in the attack
1973 — (25nd of Tishrei, 5734) Yom Kippur War. ….. Israeli forces, led by reserve Maj. Gen. Avraham Adan, encircled the Egyptian Third Army while forces led by Sharon take up positions less than 40 miles from Cairo; During the Battle of Ismailia, Egyptian forces “abandoned the Touscan strong point” after having beat off an attack by the Israelis while other Israeli forces who had “attacked Heneidac at dawn…captured the position before noon; Israeli forces sustained serious casualties as they fought to re-capture Mount Hermon from the Syrians. The Israelis referred to the 8,200 high mountain as “the eyes of the State of Israel.” Henry Kissinger flew from Moscow to Tel Aviv where he pressured the Israelis into accepting a cease fire
1975 — (16 Cheshvan 5736) Israel. Hadassah Hospital opened, having ceased operations during the War of Independence
1996 — (8 Cheshvan 5757) In Israel, the «Bulgarian Memorial Grove» opened, where plaques were installed in honor of those who contributed to the rescue of the Jews of Bulgaria during the world war: Lilyana Panitsa, D. Peshev, Metropolitan Stefan, Tsar Boris III
1996 — (8 Cheshvan 5757) Arafat’s speech in the Deheishe refugee camp: «We know only one word — jihad, jihad, jihad!»
2002 — (15 Cheshvan 5763) Terrorist attack at the Karkur junction (near Hadera) on bus No. 841. 14 killed, more than 50 wounded
2007 — (9 Cheshvan 5768) Israel. The «Egged» bus cooperative introduced a new route from Nazareth Illit to Jerusalem via Highway No. 6.
2007 — (9 Cheshvan 5768) Israeli archaeologists participating in excavations on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem came upon a historical layer dating to the time of the First Jewish Temple; fragments of a ceramic table and animal bones were discovered, dated to the period of the First Jerusalem Temple, 6th-10th century BCE.
2012 — (5 Cheshvan 5773) In Israel, exercises began for the IDF Home Front Command and emergency services on actions during a 7.1 magnitude earthquake
2022 — (26 Tishrei 5783) Statistics established: the number of Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria exceeded half a million and amounted to 500,270 people. The largest Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria was the city of Modi’in Illit, where 85,012 people lived. The smallest settlement was the village of Naaran in the Jordan Valley with 117 residents. Almost half of the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria (237,806) were under 18 years old. Almost 29,000 people were over 65 years old
2023 — (6th of Cheshvan, 5784) Attacks by Hezbollah from Lebanon have increased, the 22,000 residents of Kiryat Shomona have been ordered to evacuate and the country faces a new threat from the Houthi in Yemen whose rockets have already been shot down by an American destroyer
2025 — (29 Tishrei 5786) (or a day, two, or three earlier) The Strauss Group in the Western Galilee [opened] a plant-based milk factory, intended to produce a variety of plant-based products — drinks, yogurts, and desserts
People
1270 — (15 Cheshvan 5031 or 11 Nisan 5030 (April 4, 1270)) Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman died — philosopher, poet, and physician
1328 — (9th of Cheshvan, 5089) Asher ben Jehiel an leading German Rabbi who moved to Spain after Rudolf I instituted renewed persecution of the Jews passed away today in Toledo
1896 — E. Schwartz was born — playwright. Died January 15, 1958
1898 — G. Roshal was born — film director. Died January 11, 1983
1900 — V. Ardov (Zilberstein) was born — satirical writer. Died February 25, 1976
1908 — Zh. Ya. Kotin was born — Soviet designer of tanks and tractors. Died October 21, 1979
1912 — Sir Georg Solti was born — English conductor and pianist. Died in 1997
1927 — (25nd of Tishrei, 5688) After having been arrested and later released by Soviet authorities, today, Rabbi Schneerson, “accompanied by the eight members of his family” arrived in Riga along with :his entire library consisting of 10,000 books and valuable manuscripts
1932 — (21 Tishrei 5693) Writer F. Kandel was born
1949 — (28nd of Tishrei, 5710) Birthdate of rightwing Israeli politician and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
1969 — (9 Cheshvan 5730) War of Attrition. Artist A. Feldman died from a missile hit directly during a performance before soldiers
1973 — (25nd of Tishrei, 5734) Yom Kippur War. Yitamar Barne’a and Gil Haran ejected from their F-4E Phantom Jet after it fell victim to a Syrian MIG-21, the most advanced Soviet aircraft of that period. Barne’a was taken prisoner. It is unclear as to whether Haran was captured or killed