WORD OF THE MONTH

A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem...

Thanks to RB/Raanana for pointing out the following: 
Kristallnacht is the name given to the Nazi pogroms of November 9-10, '38 during which 7500 Jewish businesses were destroyed, hundreds of shuls were burned (many totally destroyed), thousands of Jews were rounded up to be sent to concentration camps, many Jews were severely beaten, 91 Jews were killed. Ludicrously, the Nazi high command held the Jews accountable for financial losses of the night. Most significantly, many historians see Kristallnacht as the beginning of the Holocaust. Although the secular date for Kristallnacht is well known, we should also be mindful of its Jewish date - the 16th of Cheshvan. That falls on Thursday night - Friday, November 1-2. It would be appropriate for us to mark the Hebrew date, perhaps with lighting a memorial candle, saying of T'hilim, and/or the learning of Mishnayot.