History events
1462 — Jews were expelled from Mainz, Germany.
1486 — Obadiah ben Abraham of Bertinoro, who had served as the rabbi in Bertinoro and Castello, left Italy and began the journey that would lead him to Jerusalem two years later. He was a student of Joseph Colon Trabotto and authored a commentary on the Mishnah
1833 — Jews of Kur-Hessen granted full emancipation (first in Germany)
1872 — Conference of Jewish notables of western Europe at Brussels, to discuss Rumanian question
1898 — Outside a small Rothschild funded Jewish agricultural settlement, Herzl publicly awaited the Kaiser on his way to Jerusalem. The Kaiser’s and his cortege stopped to speak briefly with Herzl. It was the first public acknowledgement of Herzl as the leader of the world Zionist movement by a major European power.
1910 — Ten men and two women established Degania Alef, the first Kibbutz on the shore of the Lake Kinneret
1930 — (7th of Cheshvan, 5691) At the Budapest University, after a lecture at the Anatomical Institute today attended by legal and medical students who “suddenly attacked and severely thrashed fellow Jewish students
1933 — (9th of Cheshvan, 5694) Jerusalem today became the scene of the bloodshed that has been going on in Palestine since Friday in connection with Arab protests against Jewish immigration, three Arabs being killed and about seventy wounded, fifteen of them seriously, in clashes with the police
1937 — (24th of Cheshvan, 5698) Two Arab ….. gun men fired on Jewish drainage workers who had been working at Herod’s Gate and were getting on a truck to go home. One Jew was seriously wounded by the gunman who had climbed on to the truck; Erev Shabbat, Aaron Alkabat, a 32 year old Jew from Morocco was shot to death and two other Jews were seriously wounded this evening when they were fired on as they returned from praying at the Western Wall
1941 — (8th of Cheshvan, 5702) Нolocaust. ….. The SS and Lithuanian police carried out the brutal massacre of those Kovno Jews who were not «selected» the prior day for work. In groups of a hundred, Jews were stripped naked, marched to the edge of ditches, and then fired upon. Most were killed instantly. Many were left to die slowly of their wounds. Einsatskommando reported the killing of 2,008 men, 2,920 women and 4,257 children
1942 — (18th of Cheshvan, 5703) Нolocaust. ….. Eliyahu Rozanski of the Jewish Fighting Organization assassinates Jakub Lejkin, the new commander of the Jewish police in the Warsaw ghetto. Soon after an additional 13 Jewish police who were very involved with the Warsaw actions of the summer were also killed. The Jewish resistance movements and many others in the ghettos viewed the ghetto police as loathsome collaborators. From their point of view, the police were doing the work of the Nazis. They were herding others off to the death camps in a deluded belief that somehow they and their loved ones could avoid the same fate. While the idea of one Jew killing another Jew may seem troublesome from the distance of six decades, those who were not there have no right to judge those who were in hell we cannot even begin to imagine
1942 — (18th of Cheshvan, 5703 Нolocaust. The Nazis murdered 3230 thousand Jews from Sandomierz, Poland at the Belzec extermination camp; The Nazis killed 16,000 Jews in Pinsk, Russia
1945 — (22th of Cheshvan, 5706) The first ballpoint pen went on sale at that Jewish emporium, New York’s Gimbels Department Store
1948 — (26th of Tishrei, 5709) War for independence. ….. Prior to the launch of Operation Hiram, tonight, Israeli aircraft flew 13 missions, dropping 21 tons on the villages whose capture was part of the goal of an operation intended to ensure that the upper Galilee would be in Jewish hands when the next UN ceasefire began; As part of Operation Hiram, the Israeli Seventh occupied Qaddita, Meirun, Safsaf and Jish. The village of Safsaf was defended by the Arab Liberation Army’s Second Yarmuk Battalion. The battle lasted through the night with both sides suffering serious casualties; Operation Hiram continues with a pitched battle at the strong of Jish which is the same place as Gush Halav where the Jews had fought the Romans 2000 years ago. The difference is that this time the Jews are the
1952 — (10th of Cheshvan, 5713) The Jerusalem Post’s editorial commented ….. on the recent unrest of new immigrants in ma’abarot. While it was a pity that the current, mostly Communist agitation in camps turned the immigrants’ mind aside from the achievements of the government and the Jewish Agency in absorbing the massive immigration under difficult conditions, it was high time that the conscience of the entire Israeli people to be aroused to a nationwide effort to integrate the ma’abarot residents into the life of the country by a practical and abiding personal interest in their problems. Ma’abarot was the name given to the large, temporary camps constructed for newcomers to Israel. The first one was built in 1949 and hundreds more would be built to take care of the influx of immigrants. They were obviously not a perfect solution but they were the best the struggling state could do under the circumstances
1956 — (24th of Cheshvan, 5717) The Sinai Campaign known in Hebrew as the Mivtza Kadesh began. ….. It lasted 8 days; it was coordinated with both France and England. The reasons for the war were twofold: The increased attacks on civilians by the Egyptian backed Fedayeen from Gaza had caused 1300 casualties in Israel. The second was the blockade of the Gulf of Aqaba which denied the Red Sea shipping routes to Israeli ships or the ships of other nations that would be bring goods to Israel. This meant that Israeli shipping was limited to Mediterranean ports which meant that Israeli’s economy was “breathing on one lunge.” The French and English on the other hand were concerned with Egypt’s decision to nationalize the Suez Canal. While Israel attacked Gaza and pushed into half of Sinai, the French and English secured the canal itself. On the Israeli side 171 people were killed with several hundred wounded. Under massive United States and Soviet pressure Israel was forced to withdraw from the Sinai. The campaign began with an audacious paratroop drop by Israeli forces at the Straits of Tiran which opened the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping. As Chief of Staff, Moshe Dayan masterminded the lightning campaign that swept across the Sinai Peninsula. The man with eye patch became an international symbol for the “new Jew,” a resourceful fighter, the citizen soldier building and defending the ancient Jewish state. The Suez Campaign actually lasted for about 100 hours
1956 — (24th of Cheshvan, 5717) Sinai Campaign. ….. Four Israeli propeller-driven P-51 fighters cross into the Sinai. Flying at 12 feet above the ground, they use their propellers to cut the telephone lines connecting the Egyptian air force and army communication centers. The Egyptians have the larger force. It is well supplied by the Soviets with the latest in equipment. But the Israelis have the “advantages” of audacity and desperation. This was followed by a drop of less than 400 paratroopers at the eastern end of the Mitla Pass. The Mitla Pass was the key to the Israeli advance across the Sinai
1956 — (24th of Cheshvan, 5717) Sinai Campaign. ….. Border Police platoon shot and killed 48 unarmed Arab civilians in the village of Kafr Kasim east of Petah Tikvah because the residents were unknowingly in violation of a curfew imposed on the village due to the onset of the Sinai Campaign. The subsequent trial and conviction of the border policemen created a legal precedent that determined that certain military orders — such as those to shoot unarmed curfew violators — are so manifestly illegal that they must be disobeyed. The President of Israel apologizes publicly for this episode in a speech on December 21, 2007
1956 — (24th of Cheshvan, 5717) Sinai Campaign. A regiment of paratroopers under the command of Rafael Eitan (Raful), lands near the eastern entrance of the Mitla Pass. The rest of the brigade forces move through the Sinai desert, capturing on their way several Egyptian strongholds after swift battles. Rafael Eitan’s regiment deploys near the dropping zone and waits for the rest of the brigade to join
1957 — (4th of Cheshvan, 5718) A blast from a hand grenade or a bomb in the Knesset wounded David Ben Gurion and four cabinet ministers
1964 — (23th of Cheshvan, 5725) The town of Carmiel which is “twinned” with Baltimore, MD was established today
1991 — (21th of Cheshvan, 5752) Today, the Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel was founded on the hospital grounds, the largest such facility in Israel. It opened to the public in April 1992. It spans an area of 35,000 sq. meters.
People
1911 — (7th of Cheshvan, 5672) Joseph Pulitzer passes away. The life of this Hungarian born Jew who served in the Union Cavalry during the Civil War, reminds one of a colorful novel more than the life of an American newspaperman who built what we would call today a media empire. After his death in Charleston, SC, his estate funded the Pulitzer Prizes which honor excellence in journalism and other field of culture and art
1993 — (14th of Cheshvan, 5754) Chaim Mizrahi, resident of Beit-El, was kidnapped by three terrorists from a poultry farm near Ramallah. He was murdered and his body burned
2007 — (17th of Cheshvan, 5768) Israel “Poli” Poliakov, actor, singer and member of the legendary comedy trio Hagashash Hahiver (The Pale Scout) died of cancer at Petah Tivkva’s Rabin Medical-Beilinson Campus at the age of 66