B"H
Yom Yom
B"H Yom Yom from
Day by Day in Jewish History
by Rabbi Abraham P. Bloch z"l
[6 Iyar]
Many Jews of Cordova, Spain, were massacred by the soldiers of Suleiman ibn Al-Hakim, 1013.
Special privileges and immunities were granted to the Jews of Burgos, Spain, 1295.
Yahrzeit of Rabbi Levi b. Gershom (Ralbag also known as Gersonides), 1344.
The British mandate over Eretz Yisrael went into effect, 1920. This date became known as San Remo Day.
The British mandate over Eretz Yisrael came to an end, 1948. exactly 28 years after it began.
The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded Israel, 1948.
The Arab Legion captured Neve Yaakov, the last Jewish settlement north of Jerusalem, 1948.
[May 11]
Tel Aviv became the first all-Jewish municipality, 1921.
Israel admitted as the 59th member of the U.N., 1949, this, on the anniversary of Turkey's declaration, 1917, of its intention to free Eretz Yisrael of the entire Jewish population.
Adolf Eichmann, charged with the implementation of the "final solution", was captured in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1960. Eichmann was in charge of all transportation required for the shipment of Jews to the extermination camps. The height of his career was reached in Hungary in 1944, when he managed to transport 400,000 Jews to the gas chambers in less than five weeks.
The Pope condemned the Talmud, 1415.
A great number of Jews of Styria, Austria, were burned and the balance were expelled from the country, 1421.
[7 Iyar]
The new walls built by Nechemya around Jerusalem were dedicated, 443 B.C.E. This date was observed as a holiday in ancient times. A little over 500 years later, the Jews surrendered the wall, on the same day, to the Romans.
The Rindfleisch massacres of Jews began at Rottingen, Germany and spread through more than 150 Jewish communities, 1298.
[May 12]
The first Aliya to the Negev began with the establishment of Kibbutz Gevulot, 1943. The first three settlements, Gevulot, Revivim, and Bet Eshel, were experimentally established in 1943 to determine the feasibility of permanent settlements in the Negev. As a result of the information gathered in the experimental stage, eleven new settlements were established in the Negev in 1946, and an additional seven in 1947. These settlements served also as strongpoints to defend the Yishuv from attack by an enemy advancing from the south. The Egyptian army suffered its first defeat at Nirim, one of the settlements established in 1946, on the anniversary of the first Aliya to the Negev.
Jews of Sicily were forbidden to display any funeral decorations in public, 1393.
The brothers Hayyim and Joshua Reizes of Lemberg, famous for their piety and scholarship, were tortured and executed on charges of influencing the apostate Jan Filipowicz to return to Judaism, 1728.
The Pope issued a bull against blood-ritual accusations, 1540.
Bet-Shean was captured by the Hagana, 1948.
[8 Iyar]
Jews of Speyer were massacred in the First Crusade, 1096.
Venice became the first city in the world where the term ghetto was associated with the Jewish quarter, when the Jews were compelled, in 1516, to move into a restricted area. The area was formerly the site of a foundry which manufactured weapons for the government of Venice. The Italian term for "foundry" is geto. The first official document which uses the word ghetto to describe an area restricted to the residence of Jews exclusively was a papal edict from 1562.
Many Jews perished in anti-Jewish riots in Lemberg (Lwow), 1667. The anniversary was proclaimed a fast-day.
Napoleon was defeated in his Near Eastern campaign at Acre, Eretz Yisrael, 1799. Israel captured Acre, 1948.
[May 13]
Germany established diplomatic relations with Israel, 1965. (This, 20 years after its unconditional surrender, at the end of World War II, and 17 years after the establishment of the State of Israel.
The first degrees of Doctor of Medicine were awarded to 62 graduates of the Hebrew University - Hadassah Medical School, 1952.
Yarhzeit of Rabbi Israel Ashkenazi of Shklov, leader of the Aliya of the followers of the Gaon of Vilna to Eretz Yisrael, 1839. The dynamic force of early Hasidism clashed head-on with the dynamic force of Ashkenazic traditionalism generated by the GR"A. The momentum of both movements created the two major aliyot of the pre-Zionist times. Rabbi Israel of Shklov arrived in Eretz Yisrael in 1808. In 1815 he moved to Jerusalem, where he founded the modern Ashkenazic community. The location of his grave was unknown for a long time. It was discovered in 1964, 125 years after his death, in Tiberias.
[9 Iyar]
End of a three-month period of grace, given by the Portuguese to the Jews of Brazil to leave the country, 1654. Those who remained after this deadline were surrendered to the Inquisition.
Jews of Corfu were granted the right to practice law, 1680.
A letter of Empress Catherine II of Russia, 1764, opened the way for limited settlement of Jews in Riga.
[May 14]
The Nazis interned 3,600 naturalized Jews of Russian origin, 1941.
Jews of Venice were denied the right to practice law, 1637.
[10 Iyar]
The ark of the covenant was captured by the Philistines. Chofni and Pinchas, sons of Eli HaCohen were killed by the Philistines. Eli, Kohen Gadol, died.
Yahrzeit of Rabbi Isaac Alfasi (RIF), 1103.
A storm at sea threatened the ship aboard which Rambam and his family had sailed for Eretz Yisrael after their escape from North Africa. Rambam set aside this date as an annual private fast-day, 1165.
Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Shpola and Ananyev, Russia, 1881.
[May 15]
The Warsaw ghetto was reduced to ashes and the uprising came to an end after an active resistance of four weeks, 1943.
Anti-Jewish riots in Odessa, Russia, 1881.
An English Jew, saved the life of King George III, 1800.
A community of Jewish slaves, captured over a period of two centuries and held for ransom by the Knights of St. John on the isalnd of Malta, was officially dissolved, 1800
Sedeh Boker was founded on an ancient Nabatean site never before inhabited by Jews, 1952.
Nazi deportation of Jews from greater Hungary began, 1944.
[11 Iyar]
Purim of Angora, a private communal Purim.
The first printed edition of Mishnayot with Rambam's commentary was published in Naples, 1492.
1,500 Hebrew books and manuscripts were seized in Frankfort, Germany, 1510.
The Judenordnung provided for the abolition of discriminatory laws enacted against the Jews of Galicia, Austria, 1789.
Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Wasilkow and Konotop, Russia, 1881.
The Israeli air force went into action for the first time in Israel's War of Independence, 1948.
The Syrian army, which had advanced to Deganya, was halted and repulsed, 1948. The defeat of the Syrians was Israel's first significant victory in the War of Independence. It came on the anniversary of the end of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
[May 16]
Chaim Weizmann was elected first president of the State of Israel, 1948.
The Egyptian army suffered its first defeat at Nirim, in the Negev, 1948. The Egyptians entered Gaza, 1948.
The famous Tolmatsky Synagogue of Warsaw was dynamited by order of General Jurgen Stroop, 1943. It marked the last German "major operation" in the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
Yahrzeit of Saadiah Gaon, 942. The outstanding scholar of his age. He was a recognized authority on the Talmud, and a profound student of philosophy and philology.
Marranos of Segovia, Spain were massacred, 1474.
Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Warsaw, 1790.
[12 Iyar]
Roman legions under Titus breached the middle wall of Jerusalem, 70 C.E. A counter-attack by the Jews restored the wall to their command.
The Pope refused to grant permission to the Jews of Cordova, Spain, to build a new synagogue, 1250.
The Pope granted liberal privileges to the Jews of Rome, 1402.
Tel Aviv was sacked by the Arabs, 1917.
[May 17]
Russia recongnized Israel, 1948.
Israeli forces captured Acre, Nebi Yusha, and Tel el-Kadi, 1948.
The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School was opened in New Jerusalem, 1959.
The White Paper of the McDonald government of Britain, which reversed the policy of the Balfour Declaration, was published, 1939. It nullified, in effect, the aims and legal commitment of the Balfour Declaration.
[13 Iyar]
A church synod in Vienna, ordered distinctive garb for Jews, 1267.
All Jews were expelled from Berne, Switzerland, 1427. Expulsions of Jewish communities continued unabated throughout the 15th century.
Jews of Leipzig, Saxony, were permitted to organize themselves into a religious community and to establish a synagogue, 1837.
The U.N. Security Council ordered a cease-fire in the Israeli-Arab war, 1948.
Nasser repudiated the cease-fire between Egypt and Israel, 1969.
[May 18]
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Uruguay, and Nicaragua recognized Israel, 1948.
The Arab Legion captured the police fort on Mt. Scopus, 1948. The army of Saudi Arabia joined the other Arab armies in their invasion of Israel, 1948.
Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Algeria, 1897.
Jew of Worms were massacred by Crusaders, 1096.
Over 500 Jews were forcibly baptized in Clermont-Ferrand, France, 576.
The City of Acre was captured by Muslims bringing to an end the Christian Kingdom of Eretz Yisrael. The persecution of medieval Jewry in England dates from the 12th century, with the launching of the Crusades. The persecutions led to the expulsion of the Jewish community in 1290. The vestiges of the Crusaders' Kingdom in Eretz Yisrael came to an end in 1291.
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