History events
-423 — (3 Tishrei 3338) On the civil calendar assassination of Gedaliah ben Achikam
1349 (20 Elul 5109). Emperor Charles IV officially pardoned the residents of Strasbourg for the murder of Jews on 14 February and for the appropriation of their property.
1486 — Abraham, a physician from the Spanish city of Lleida, performed a cataract removal surgery on King John II of Aragon. John II the Great (the Infidel) lived 80 eventful years. In addition to Aragon, he held the crowns of Navarre and Sicily. He was the father of Ferdinand, whom he married in 1469 to his niece Isabella of Castile, the heiress to the Castilian throne. This union later contributed to the unification of Castile and Aragon, the final victory of the Christians over the Moors, the birth of the Spanish state, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, and Columbus’s discovery of America.
1553 (4 Tishrei 5314). An edict by Pope Julius III proposing that all sovereign rulers, bishops, and inquisitors everywhere confiscate and burn the Talmud — both the Jerusalem and the Babylonian Talmud. Jews were to be compelled to hand over such books, and Christians were forbidden, under penalty of excommunication, to read these books, to keep them, or even to assist Jews with advice or action in copying or printing them.
1654 (11 Tishrei 5415). The first (public?) celebration of Rosh Hashanah in Manhattan, USA.
1659 (5 Tishrei 5420). A brigantine arrived in Cayenne — the capital of the former French Guiana, which had been captured by the Dutch in 1604 — carrying a group of Portuguese Jews expelled by the Portuguese from Brazil. They established a new settlement, Remire. The Jews built houses and a fortress to protect themselves from pirates, founded sugarcane plantations, and set up industrial sugar production. They also established indigo production. The Jews were the first white settlers to establish relations with the indigenous peoples, thereby securing safety from the jungle. Naturally, the Jews also organized the daily life and religious activities of the community in accordance with Jewish traditions. By the beginning of 1664, the Jewish population in Cayenne had grown to 450 people.
1676 (15 Tishrei 5437). A decree prohibiting the registration of goods belonging to Jews who had come to Moscow secretly at the Great Customs House; the Jews themselves were to be sent to the Foreign Office (“Posolsky Prikaz”) “because, by order of the Great Sovereign of Russia, Jews are not allowed to pass through from Smolensk, whether carrying goods or not.”
1695 — (13th of Tishrei, 5456) The governor of New York was petitioned to allow the Jews to exercise their religion in public. Therefore, the governor declined the petition. Apparently, this ban was not enforced since by the end of the 17th century, a building on Beaver Street in Manhattan was known as the Jewish Synagogue.» In 1730, Congregation Shearith Israel (Remnant of Israel) publicly dedicated its new house of worship
1897 (15 Elul 5657). The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Sholom Dovber, founded the yeshiva “Tomchei Temimim.”
1901 — (28th of Elul, 5661) Gedera was attacked by Arabs.
1931 — (1th of Tishrei, 5692) First organized attack by Nazi storm troopers against Jews took place in Berlin
1933 (21 Elul 5693). A group of young people from Germany arrived in the moshav of Beit Shemen. They were the first of the young German Jews who decided to make aliyah after Hitler came to power
1935 — (14th of Elul, 5695) The New Zionist Organization is founded in Vienna by Zev Jabotinsky. ….. For many years there was tension between the World Zionist Organization and the Revisionist Party. Some of it was the result tactical differences, including the expansion of the Jewish Agency to include «non-Zionists.» In addition there was still strong resentment and political tensions in the aftermath of the Alosoroff murder. The actual break came with a resolution to prohibit any independent political activity of Zionist organizations. Eleven years later they rejoined the WZO. The formation of this organization was just another example of differences between Jabotinsky and his supporters (including Menachem Begin) on the one hand and the Labor Zionists on the other. These differences have continued to this day and may be seen in the electoral politics of Israel in the 21st century
1937 — (7th of Tishrei, 5698) The Palestine Post reported that Shanghai Jews had created a special, volunteer Jewish Zionist defense force to protect their community
1939 — (28th of Tishrei, 5699) Thirty-two Jews taken away in trucks at Pilca, Poland, shot dead and left in woods
1941 — (20th of Elul, 5701) One thousand, two hundred, sixty seven Jews were taken from Vilna and sent to Polna to be shot
1941 (20 Elul 5701). The Shoah. The extermination of the Jews of Berdychiv. The Nazis shot 12 000 Jews — residents of the city and the surrounding areas. In Ladyzhyn and Lipovets (Vinnytsia Oblast), 504 and 183 Jews were shot, respectively.
1942 (1 Tishrei 5703). The Shoah. About 5 000 Jews were deported from Ivano‑Frankivsk to Bełżec; several hundred were killed on the spot. The camp in the village of Skazinets (Mohyliv‑Podilskyi district, Vinnytsia Oblast), where Jews from villages of the Mohyliv‑Podilskyi district and several thousand Jews from Mohyliv‑Podilskyi had been gathered in May, was dissolved. Specialists were returned to Mohyliv; 1 000 Jews were resettled in the villages of Voroshylivka, Tyvriv, and Krasne; several hundred people died in the camp. In Lityn (Vinnytsia Oblast), 580 Jews from a labour camp were shot
1949 — (18th of Elul, 5709) The Knesset passed a compulsory education law.
1951 — (11th of Elul, 5711) The Cabinet approved today a declaration by Finance Minister Eliezer Kaplan that ….. funds raised through the sale of Israeli bonds in the United States would be invested mainly in industrial and agricultural expansion and not diverted to meet «current and pressing emergency needs.» Despite the worsening food situation, Mr. Kaplan said this action was necessary if Israel was to “achieve economic independence for our rapidly growing population.” Prime Minister Ben Gurion endorsed the plan even though it could mean a great deal of privation for the current generation
1952 — (22th of Elul, 5712) The Jerusalem Post published the full text of the agreement on German reparations to Israel
1956 — (7th of Tishrei, 5717) Three Druze guardsmen — Nawaf Abu-Ghazi, Suleiman Hatoum and Rafik Abdullah – were killed tonight when a Palestinian Fedayeen squad entered Israel from Jordon and attacked the Ein Ofrarim facility near Hatzvea setting the stage for an Israeli response – Operation Shoshana
1961 (2 Tishrei 5722). A theatre opened in Haifa.
1972 (4 Tishrei 5733). In Tripoli, the funerals were held for five terrorists killed in combat while attempting to free the Israeli Olympic hostages they had taken. Huge crowds in Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, and Beirut chanted “Death to Israel” and “We are all ‘Black September’.”
2005 — (8th of Elul, 5765) The eviction of all residents, demolition of the residential buildings and evacuation of associated security personnel from the Gaza Strip was completed today
2007 (29 Elul 5767). Statistics on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. There are currently 13.2 million Jews living on planet Earth. The largest Jewish community in the world is in Israel — 5.4 million people. The United States ranks second with 5.3 million Jews. Europe has a total of 1.15 million Jews, about 0.5 million of them in France.
2009 (23 Elul 5769). The film Lebanon, directed by Israeli filmmaker Shmoulik Maoz, won the top prize at the 66th Venice Film Festival. The film became the first work of Israeli cinema to win the Golden Lion in Venice
2015 — (28th of Elul, 5775) After almost a week of choking dust blanketing Israel – the worse sandstorm to hit Israel in its history – the Environmental Protection Ministry said today that the thick yellowish-brown particles filling the air have begun to dissipate
2024 (9 Elul 5784). The war with Gaza. Day 343. The IDF announced that the 162nd Division had defeated a Hamas brigade in Rafah during an operation that lasted about three months
People
1736 — (18th of Tishrei, 5497) Austrian Rabbi David Ben Abraham Oppenheim whose work included novels and response and who developed one of the largest libraries of his time that he developed from a collection left by his Uncle Samuel Oppenheim
1869 (7 Tishrei 5630). Morris Michtom was born — an American businessman and inventor of the Teddy bear. He died on 21 July 1938.
1891 (9 Elul 5651). Arthur Hays Sulzberger was born — publisher of The New York Times from 1935 to 1961. He died on 11 December 1968
1898 — (25th of Elul, 5658) Birthdate of Ben Shahn, famed painter, muralist and printmaker
1898 — (25th of Elul, 5658) Birthdate of Soviet photographer Arkady Shaiket, who like Robert Capa and Joe Rosenthal was another Jewish photojournalist who provided iconic WW II photographs
1901 — Samuel Horowitz was born in Vilnius — an Israeli agricultural scientist, professor, and recipient of the Israel Prize. He died in 1999.
1911 (19 Elul 5671). Gerhart Moritz Riegner was born — a German philosopher and Secretary General of the World Jewish Congress from 1965 to 1983. On 8 August 1942, he sent the famous Riegner Telegram, warning the West about Hitler’s planning of the “Final Solution.” He died on 3 December 2001.
1914 (21 Elul 5674). Shmuel Katz was born — one of the top commanders of the Etzel, one of the founders of the Herut party and its representative in the Knesset, historian, writer, journalist, and publisher, author of the book Land of Discord. He died on 9 May 2008
1921 — (9th of Elul, 5681) Birthdate of Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem
1936 — A. Kushner was born — a poet.
1941 — V. Spivakov was born — a musician, violinist, and conductor
1943 — (12th of Elul, 5703) Abraham (Avrom) Sutzkever, the famous Yiddish poet and his wife escaped from the Vilna Ghetto. Sutzkever’s mother and infant son had already been killed by the Nazis. After escaping, Sutzkever joined with his fellow Yiddish poet Shmerke Kaczerginsky to fight against the Nazis as part of Jewish partisan unit under the command of Moshe Judka Rudnitski
1949 — Irina Rodnina was born — a figure skater and Olympic champion (her mother was Jewish)