Cortesy of Congregation Anshe Emes, Los Angeles

The update of Jewish History of this week

YAHRTZEITS

Sunday, 18 Adar

• Rav Alexander Ziskind, born in Brzhen, but lived most of his life in Horodna (Grodno, Belarus), Lithuania, the product of the teaching of Rav Aryeh Leib Epstein, Rav of Nikolsberg [Konigsberg]. He authored the mussar work, Yesod V'shoresh Ha'avoda, which contains how one should behave every hour of the day and kavanos for tefillos and mitvos, as well as Karnei Ohr, a commentary on the Zohar. (1700-1794)
• Rav Chanoch (Henoch) HaKohen (1798-1870), Alexander Rebbe. He was a disciple of Rav Simcha Bunam of Pshis'cha, Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk and the Chidushei Harim.
• Rav Nachum Mordechai Friedman (1946), Tchortkover Rebbe
• Rav Yechezkel Levenstein, mashgiach of Ponevezh (1885-1974). Born in Warsaw in 1896 to Osminer Chassidim, he lost his mother at age 5. At 13, he joined the yeshiva at Lomza. Early in life, he moved to Radin to learn with the Chafetz Chaim. There, he met the mashgiach, Rav Yerucham Levovitz, who was a talmid of the Alter of Kelm. He then learned in Kelm, where he was fortunate to enjoy the close attention of Rav Tzvi Hirsch Broide (son-in-law of the Alter), at whose table he ate his Shabbos meals. In 1919, while Reb Yeruchom was serving as mashgiach, the Mirrer Yeshiva was exiled from its Hometown of Mir, Poland, into Russia and then to Vilna. Reb Chatzkel, who was then learning in Mir, was asked by the rosh yeshiva, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, to supervise the yeshiva's spiritual welfare until Reb Yeruchom returned. Reb Chatzkel was approached by Rav Aharon Kotler, who headed Yeshivas Eitz Chaim in Kletsk, to come and serve as mashgiach ruchani in his yeshiva. Reb Chatzkel accepted. In 1935, he moved to Eretz Yisrael to serve as mashgiach of Yeshivas Lomza in Petach Tikvah, which was headed by Rav Reuven Katzl, but he moved back to serve as mashgiach in Mir after the petira of Reb Yerucham. After 2 years in America, he served as mashgiach at the Mir in Israel, then - upon the passing of Rav Dessler - at Ponevezh.
• Rav Moshe Weber (1914-2000) would go to the Western Wall from his home in Meah Shearim nearly every day to pray and to help visitors wrap tefillin. Less publicly, he distributed enormous sums of tzedakah to the city's poor. The Lubavitcher Rebbe said of him that he is one of the holiest and kindest people in the world. He published several volumes of Torah insights in Yarim Moshe. There is an ongoing periodical of his teachings distributed weekly called Shemu V'Techi Nafshechem, which also offers for sale his audio recordings.
• Yitzchak Shlomo Zilberman (1928-2001).

Monday, 19 Adar

• Rav Dovid of Dinov (1874), father of Rav Tzvi Elimelech Shapira. Rav Dovid was the author of Tzemach Dovid and the son of Rav Tzvi Elimelech, the Bnei Yissoschar.
• Rav Meir Yechiel Haldshtok (Halshtok), founder of the court of Ostrovtze (1851-1928). A talmid of Rav Elimelech of Grodzinsk, a scion of the Kozhnitzer dynasty. Ostrovtze was one of two courts in Poland known for their yeshivos and high level of learning; the other was Sochatchov. Rav Meir Yechiels intricate sermons, which drew heavily on gematria, came to be known as "Ostgrovotze pshetlach". They have been collected in Meir Einei Chachamim, and his teachings on Bereishis in Ohr Torah.
• Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, av beis din and Rav of Yerushalayim before the State of Israel was established. (1848-1932)
• Rav Yehuda Greenwald, Av Bais Din of Satmar, author of Shevet MiYehuda (1920)
• Rav Shmuel Engel (1853-1935). Born in Tarno, Galicia. Rav of Radomishla (Radimishla) from 1888. Authored Sheilos Uteshuvas Maharash Engel
• Rav Yitzchak Kalish, Amshinover Rebbe, New York (1993). Son of Rav Yosef Kalish of Amshinov, grandson of Rav Menachem Kalish of Amshinov.
• Rav Yaakov Chaim Jofen (Yaffen) (1917-2003), Rosh Yeshiva of Beis Yosef and the son of Rav Avraham Jofen, the son-in-law of the Alter of Novardok. Following his bar mitzvah he studied at Baranovich for one year under Rav Dovid Rapaport, and then for a year under Rav Elchonon Wasserman. During these two years he lived with his uncle, the mashgiach, Rav Yisrael Yaakov Lubchansky. Later he returned to Bialystok to study under his father at Yeshivas Beis Yosef. In 1941, he arrived in the U.S. with his father. He began giving shiurim that year at Yeshivas Beis Yosef, and continued to do so for the next sixty years.

Tuesday, 20 Adar

• Rav Meir Schiff, the Maharam Schiff (1608-1644). Born in Frankfurt am Main, he became Rav of the nearby town of Fulda at the age of 17. His chidushim on the Talmud are terse, incisive, and profound. In 1644, he was appointed Rav of Prague, but he died at the age of 36 shortly after his arrival there. [6 Nissan according to Yated 2007]
• Rav Yoel Sirkes of Cracow, (the Bach) (1561-1641), author of Bayis Chadash on the Tur, in which he traced each law to its source in the gemarah. In his youth, he studied under Rav Shlomo Leibush of Lublin and Rav Meshulam Feivush in Brisk. He had several rabbinic appointments throughout Poland, lastly as Chief Rabbi of Cracow in 1619. He was the teacher and father-in-law of Rav Dovid HaLevy, the Taz.
• Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (1910-1995), born in the Shaarei Chesed neighborhood of Yerushalayim to Rav Chaim Yehuda Leib Auerbach, author of Chacham Lev and rosh yeshiva of Shaar Hashamayim. Rav Shlomo Zalman learned at Etz Chaim yeshiva. He married Chaya Rivka Ruchamkin on erev Purim 1930. During the next 19 years he wrote Meorei Eish on the laws of electricity, Maadeanei Haaretz on laws regarding agriculture in Eretz Yisrael, as well as a commentary on Shev Shmaatsa. In 1949, he left Etz Chaim to succeed Rav Yechiel Schlesinger as Rosh Yeshiva of Kol Torah Yeshiva in the Rechavia section of Yerushalayim. He was the author of Minchas Shlomo. His brother-in-law was Rav Shalom Schwadron. His piskei halacha on Shabbos are found throughout the sefer Shmiras Shabbos Kehilchasa, written by his talmid Rav Yehoshua Neuwirth.
• Rav Raphael Blum, the Kashau Rav, who replanted his Chasidic community from Europe to Bedford Hills in Westchester County, NY (1910-2005)
• 21 Adar
• Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk, author of Noam Elimelech, (1717-1787). Learned under the Maggid of Mezritch. Among his students were Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apta, The Chozeh of Lublin, the Maggid of Kozhnitz, and Rav Menachem Mendel of Rimanov.
• Rav Yitzchak Elchonon Spector, rav of Kovno (1817-1896), lived in Kovno 1866-1896. The 3rd son of Rav Yisrael Isser ben Elchonon, the rav of the Lithuanian town of Roush, located in the Grodno district. After he married (to Sara Raizel), he moved to Volkovisk where his father-in-law comfortably supported him. The rav in Volkovisk at that time was Rav Binyamin Diskin. A great luminary in and of himself, he was also famous for his illustrious son, Rav Yoshua Leib Diskin, the rav of Brisk, who later moved to Eretz Yisrael. Rav Binyamin Diskin was so impressed with Yitzchak Elchonon that he set up a special chavrusa to study with him Choshen Mishpot two hours a day. In 1837, when he was 20 years old, he accepted the offer to become rav of the small village of Zebelen, and then became rav in Baraze in 1839. He became rav of Novardok in 1851 and Rav of Kovno in 1864. He held the position in Kovno for 32 years. He authored Beer Yitzchak and Eyn Yitzchak (both teshuvos) and Nach al Yitzchak on Choshen Mishpat.
• Rav Itzele Ponevezher, Rosh Yeshiva in Slabodka and Ponevezh (1919)
• Rav Moshe Shmuel Glasner, a great-grandson of the Chasam Sofer, was born in Pressburg and later moved with his family to Klausenberg, where his father served as Rabbi. Rav Moshe succeeded his father in that post in 1878. His best known work is Dor Revi'i on Tractate Chullin, in which he explains those places where Rambam's understanding differs from that of other Rishonim. (1924)
• Rav Yitzchak Horowitz of Stetchin (1862-1940). His father was a direct descendent of Rav Naftali Tzvi of Ropshitz, and his uncle was the Imrei Noam of Dzikov. Rav Yitzchak was succeeded by his son Rav Yehuda, who moved to New York before passing away in 1982.
• Rav Shlomo Yosef Zevin, founding editor of the Talmudical Encyclopedia (1976)
• Reb Avraham Dov Kohn, Principal of Gateshead Seminary (1988)
• Rav Sholom Shnitzler, the Rav of Tchaber of London (1989)

Thursday, 22 Adar

• Rav Yaakov of Novominsk (1902). Father of Rav Yehuda Aryeh Perlow of Vlodova (1878-1961) and Rav Alter Yisrael Shimon Perlow of Novominsk.
• Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829-1908). Born in Bobroysk, author of the Aruch Hashulchan, Rav of Novardok for 34 years, father of Rav Baruch HaLevy Epstein (author of Torah Temima) and grandfather of Rav Meir Bar-Ilan, with whom he learned in Novardok.
• Rav Eliezer Dovid of Radoshitz (1927)
• Rav Avraham Dov Ber Kahana-Shapiro, Chief Rabbi of Kovno before and during World War II (1870-1943). Born in Kobrin on Yom Kippur, his father, Shlomo Zalman was a descendant of Rav Chaim Volozhiner. Rav Avraham attended the Volozhin Yeshiva. He was president of the Agudas Ha-Rabbanim of Lithuania and came to the US in March 1924 with Rav Kook and Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein, to collect funds for Torah institutions in Israel and Europe. He died in the Slobodka ghetto on. His piskei halacha can be found in the sefer Dvar Avraham.
• Rav Reuven Grozovsky, Rosh Yeshivas Kamenitz and Torah Vodaas (1896-1958). Successor of Rav Baruch Ber Lebowitz at Kaminetz. When Rav Reuevn was a young man studying in the Slobodka Yeshiva, his father, the Dayan of Minsk, passed away. His colleagues at Slobodka included Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Halevi Ruderman, Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky, Rav Aharon Kotler and Rav Yitzchak Hutner.
• Rav Yisrael Moshe Dushinsky (1921-2003). Born in Chust, Hungary, to Rav Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, Rav of Chust (later to beomce Rav and Av Beis Din of the Eida Charedis of Yerushalayim), he was his fathers first son, when his father was 50 years old. After many years and many brachos, Rav Rav Yosef Tzvi received a bracha from Rav Yechezkel Shraga of Shinava, who also gave a him his sefer, Ayalah Sheluchah, printed in the memory of the Shonava Ravs son, Naftali, who was nifter on the 21st of Kislev, 1864. The following year, on the exact date of Reb Naftalis yahrtzeit, Yisrael Moshe was born. His middle name was in honor of his great uncle, the Maharam Shick. The family moved to Eretz Yisrael in Adar of 1930, one month before the petirah of Rav Yosef Chaim Zonenfeld. He was married to the daughter of Rav Dovid Yehoshua Gross, Rosh Hakohol of the Satmar Kehillah, in 1945. On Erev Sukkos of 1949, his father was niftar, and the 27-year-old Rav Yisrael Moshe was appointed Rosh Yeshiva of Dushinsky. In 1969, he was inducted as a member of the Eidah Charedis. He became Sgan Beish Din after the Satmar Rebbes petira and the Av Beis Din in 1996.
• Rav Yeshaya Shimonowitz, Rosh Yeshivas Rav Yaakov Yosef, U.S.
• 23 Adar
• Rav Chaim Cheikel (Chaikel) of Amdur (Indura) (1787). Born to Rav Shmuel in Karlin, he was a disciple of the Vilna Gaon, and later became a student of Rav Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mazerich. Rav Chaim became one of the first Chassidic Admorim in 1772-73. He authotred Chaim Vochesed. Amdur is about 25 miles south of Grodno (Hrodno). Amdur and Grodno are located in the northwest corner of what is now the independent country of Belarus, close to the Lithuanian and Polish borders. During the Cossack revolt of 1648 against Polish landowners and gentry, over 100, 000 Jews, mostly in Ukraine and southern Belarus, were murdered. However, the marauders did not advance north to the Grodno region. Jews comprised 80% of the population in Grodno at that time. Rav Chaims daughter married Moshe, the brother of Aharon, founder of Karlin Hassidism. Rav Chaim was succeeded by his son, Rav Shmuel of Amdur.
• Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Rabinowitz of Biala (Divrei Bina) (1905), youngest son of Rebbe Nathan Dovid, son-in-law of Rebbe Yehoshua of Ostrovoh (the Toldos Adam), and great-grandson of Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowitz, the Yid Hakadosh of Peshischa.
• Rav Raphael Shapiro, the Toras Raphael, rosh yeshivas Volozhin (1837-1921). After the Volozhin Yeshiva was closed down in 1892 by order of the Russian government, he reopened it, on a smaller scale in 1899. He was also a son-in-law of the Netziv and the father-In-Law of Rav Chaim Soloveichik of Brisk
• Rav Michel Dovid Rozovsky (1869-1935). Born in Svarjen, near Stoibetz, he learned in Mir and Volozhin. After his marriage, he was appointed Rav in Grodna, in which capacity he remained for 40 years. He was the father of three sons: Rav Yehoshua Heschel, who served as Rav in Grodna, until he was murdered by the Nazis; Rav Yosef, who served as Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Yisrael in Petach Tikva; and Rav Shmuel, who would become Rosh Yeshiva in Ponevezh in Bnai Brak.
• Rav Yitzchak Meir Alter of Ger (Chidushei HaRim) (1799-1866). The founder of Gerer dynasty, grandfather of Sfas Emes, Reb Yitzchak Meir was able to trace his lineage back to Rav Meir ben Baruch (the Maharam) of Rottenberg (1215-1293). His mother, Chaya Sarah, was orphaned early in life and was raised by her relative, the Kozhnitzer Maggid. The Maggid had a great influence on Yitzchak Meir during the latters early years. As he grew, he became a disciples of Rebbi Simcha Bunem of Pryschicha and then R' Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. At the insistence of the Chassidim, the Rim became leader after the death of the Kotzker. At the first Chassi dic gathering over which he presided he declared, "Reb Simchah Bunem led with love, and R' Menachem Mendel with fear. I will lead with Torah!" He had 13 children and outlived them all, a tremendous personal tragedy. Yet, he accepted it all with love.
• Rav Shlomo Zafrani (1970), born in Aram Soba (Aleppo). He became a close disciple of Rabbi Ezra Sha'in. Together with Rav Moshe Tawil, he founded the Degel HaTorah yeshiva. His community supported him as well as the yeshivah. At the age of 68, he moved to Eretz Yisrael and settled in Tel-Aviv. He lived there for nine years, until his death.
• Rav Yehuda Moshe Danziger (Danzcyger), Alexandria Rebbe of Bnai Brak (Emunas Moshe) (1973)
• Rav Yisrael Grossman (1922-2007). Born in the old city of Yerushalayim, Reb Yisrael studied at the yeshiva of Rav Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, where he learned meseches Kiddushin 30 times. He later learned at Yeshivas Kaminetz. After Rav Baruch Shimon Schneerson became Rosh Yeshiva in Tchebin, Reb Yisrael replaced him as Rosh Yeshiva in Yeshivas Chabad, where he remained for 30 years. He also served as a dayan for the beis din of Agudas Yisrael for over 40 years and later opened a beis din for monetary laws with Rav Betzalel Zolti and helped found Mifal Hashas. He was also very involved with Chinuch Atzmai.
• 24 Adar
• Rav Yitzchak Eizik Margulies of Prague (1525).
• Rav Chaim Algazi of Kushta, author of Nesivos Hamishpat. Student of Rav Shlomo Algazi Rabbi of Rhodes.
• Rav Eliyahu HaKohen Ha'Itamari of Izmir, author of Shevet Mussar (according to some - 22 Adar) (c 1650-1729). He was the son of Rav Shlomoh HaKohen the Itamari, whose lineage apparently dates back to Itamar, the son of Aharon HaKohen. In his book, Ve'lo Od Ela, Rav Eliyahu describes the earthquake that shook Izmir, on a Shabbos in 1688, and the many miracles that occurred to the Jews of the city. All of the synagogues and batei medrash in the city remained intact, while all of the Moslem mosques collapsed. An hour after the earthquake, a huge fire burst forth and spread throughout the city, destroying what remained of it. However, the fire ceased at the Jewish Quarter, and did not penetrate it. His other works included Me'il Tzeddakah on the importance of giving tzeddakah, Medrash Talpiyot, Yado BaKol, Medrash Eliyahu, Aggadas Eliyahu, a two-volume commentary on the aggados of the Talmud Yerushalmi, Chut shel Chessed on the Chumash, Dana Peshara, on Shir HaShirim, Rus and Esther, almost 40 sefarim in all.
• Rav Betzalel Yair Danziger of Lodz (1761).
• Rav Binyamin Diskin of Horodna and Vilna (1844)
• Rav Yitzchak Meyer of Alesk (1829-1904). Born in Belz to Rav Chanoch Henach of Alesk, author of Lev Sameyach, and Rebbetzen Freide, daughter of the Sar Shalom of Belz. After learning with his maternal grandfather, he became a chasid of Rav Yisrael of Ruzhin, and later of his son, Rav Dovid Moshe of Chortkov. With his fathers petira in 1884, Rav Yitzchak became Rav in Alesk. He had one daughter, and his son-in-law succeeded him.
• Rav Shlom Elyashiv, author of Leshem Shevo Veachlama (1927)
• Rav Yitzchak of Stutchin (1940)
• Rav Chaim Asher of Radoshitz (1941)
• Rav Yehoshua Menachem Ehrenberg (1904-1976). Born in Kemesce, Hungary. In 1921, he moved to Tarnow to learn in the yeshiva of Rav Meir Arik. Living in Cracow, Rav Ehrenberg published his first sefer, Rashei Besamim on the Rokeach, in 1937. During WWII, he was interned in the Cracow ghetto. He was included in the "Kastner train", escaping to Switzerland. In 1945, he moved to Yerushalayim. In November of 1947, he heeded to request of Rav Herzog to be the Chief Rabbi of the internment camp on Cyprus; he stayed until the camp was entirely dismantled and came back to Eretz Yisrael on the last ship. He was appointed Av Beis Din in Yaffo. When Yaffo was joined to Tel Aviv, he served as a specialist on Gittin, and was widely regarded as the foremost posek in this area. He wrote the sefer Teshuvos Dvar Yehoshua.
• Rav Gad (Godel) Eisner (1985), taught at the Talmud Torah of Rav Gershon Eliyahu Liz in Lodz before WWII, and for many years as maggid shiur and Mashgiach ruchani at Yeshivas Chidushei haRim in Tel Aviv

JEWISH HISTORY

Sunday, 18 Adar

• Byzantine Emperor Heraclius entered Yerushalayim as conqueror after being assisted by the Jews to overcome the Persians in return for a promise of amnesty, 629. The local priests convinced him that killing Jews was a positive commandment and that his promise was therefore invalid. Hundreds of Jews were massacred and thousands of others fled to Egypt, bringing the sizable Jewish life in the Galil and Judea to an end.
• Jews were expelled from Syria, 1496.
• The Pope reaffirmed a Church rule forcing Christianity upon a Jewish child who was baptized against the will of his parents, 1747.
• David Emmanuel, the first Jewish governor in the United States, was sworn in as governor of Georgia, 1801.
• Napoleon I issued a decree suspending for a decade the emancipation of Jews in the French-occupied European countries, 1808.
• Alexander I of Russia prohibits the employment of Christian servants by Jews, 1820
• A Russian imperial decree ordered the expulsion of all Jewish artisans, brewers, and distillers from Moscow, 1891.
• Jews of Smyrna, Turkey were attacked by Greeks charging the Jews with ritual murder, 1901.
• 19 Adar
• Pope Martin V (1417-31) issued a papal call, reminding Christians that Christianity was derived from Judaism and warned the Friars not to incite against the Jews.
• Vincents Fettmilch (Vintznitz Patmilech), who had expelled the Jews from Frankfurt-on-Main half a year earlier on 27 Elul, was executed on this day, 1616. Frankfurt Jews for generations commerated this "Purim Vincents".
• The Brest-Litovsk Treaty signed between Russia and Germany formally takes Russia out of WWI, 1918, and in so doing, relinquishing control of the Ukraine to Germany.
• The restriction of the sale of Arab land to Jews in Palestine, as stated in the MacDonald White Paper, went into effect on this date, 1940.
• Capture of Ein Gedi by Israel, 1949, brought to an end the military engagements of the War of Independence.
• Israeli fighter planes shot down Libyan Airlines Flight 114 over the Sinai desert, killing more than 100 people.

Tuesday, 20 Adar

• Uziah Hamelech was afflicted with tzora'as and was forced to abdicate his throne, 618 BCE
• Choni Hameagel's prayer for rain answered (Megillas Taanis) [Taanis 23a].
• Jacob Lumbrozo, the first Jew known to have settled in the colony of Maryland, was arrested in 1658 under the Toleration Act of 1649. This act imposed the death penalty on anyone denying the basic tenants of Christianity.
• Napoleon had his first encounter with "Palestinian" Jews when he captured Gaza, 1799.
• Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy, father of the law abolishing corporal punishment in the U.S. Navy, died, 1862.

Wednesday, 21 Adar

• Death of Nevuchadnetzar, king of Babylonia, who destroyed the Bayis Rishon.
• Frederick Barbarossa was "convinced" (i. e. bribed) in 1188 by Moses bar Joseph Hakohen of Mayence to issue a decree declaring "that anyone who wounds a Jew shall have his arm cut off, and he who slays a Jew shall die". This decree succeeded in preventing most of the excesses of the previous crusades in the Third Crusade that soon followed.
• Narbonne Purim - the oldest private Purim on record, 1236. When a Jew quarreled with a non-Jewish trader leading to the latters death, this set off a pogrom in which the Jews homes were plundered, and seforim were confiscated. Fortunately the governor of the city and the city authorities succeeded in establishing order and in restoring the Jewish property that had been carried off.
• The first dated edition of the Mishneh Torah was published, 1490.
• A child was forcibly baptized in Rome after his father jokingly remarked that he would not mind if the Pope acted as godfather, 1639. As a result, two of his children were taken, one of them a baby, and were carried in a ceremony by the Pope. The Jews rioted and were violently crushed.

Thursday, 22 Adar

• Receswinth, King of the Visigoths, forced converted Jews in Toledo to swear loyalty to the Church or die, 654. They were also forced to spend Jewish and Christian holy days with the clergy, but were exempt from eating pork.
• Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) decreed against Jews holding office anywhere in Christian lands, 1078. Jews were forced to wear a badge distinguishing them, forbidden contact with Christians, barred from administration, deprived of lands, forbidden to own shops, and were herded into ghettos that were bolted at night.
• Jews of Uberlingen, Switzerland, were massacred during the Black Plague, 1349.
• King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella signed a decree expelling the Jews of Spain, 1492.
• In Argentina, the Inquisition is officially abolished, 1813.
• Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Lubny, Russia, 1881.
• In Poland, the Sejm (Parliament) outlaws the ritual slaughter of meat, 1938. Bechasdei H", the bill was never enforced because the Sejm dissolved in September during the Czech crisis.
• The heavy cruiser USS Houston was sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait, with 693 crew members killed, 1942.
• The Dachau concentration camp was established, originally designated as a prison camp for political prisoners. Over 200, 00 Jews passed through its gates, most of whom perished. Although a gas chamber was built there, it was never used. Dachau was liberated in April 1945 by the U.S. army.
• A lynch in Ramallah, 1948. Sixteen Jewish fighters who left Atarot to attack Arab travelers in reaction to the slaughter of Jewish travelers, were caught. The six captured alive were brutally tortured to death.
• The Egyptian parliament unanimously approved a peace treaty with Israel, 1979.

Friday, 23 Adar

• Second Beis HaMikdash was dedicated, 516 BCE
• Massacre of the Jews of Estella, Spain, 1328.
• Jews were excluded from public office and dignities in the Roman Empire, 1418.
• The provisional government in Russia abolishes all restrictions against the Jews, 1917
• The republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, opening the way for Nazi occupation of Czech areas and the separation of Slovakia, 1939
• The Knesset approves the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, by a vote of 95 for, 18 against, 1979.

Shabbos, 24 Adar

• Jews of Wurtzburg were massacred by the Crusaders, 1147.
• King Henry III of England enforced the Yellow Badge Edict, 1218. The badge was a piece of yellow cloth in the shape of the Luchos and was worn above the heart by every Jew over the age of seven.
• Jews of Mayence, Germany, were massacred, 1283.
• The Pope issued a bill banning all social interactions between Christians and Jews. 1451.
• Jews of Lithuania were granted permission to return to the country after a brief exile of 8 years, 1503.
• Lorenzo Bertran subjected to an auto-da-fe in Seville, 1799. He was the last person to be punished for Judaizing in Spain.
• Czar Alexander of Russia declared the infamous Blood Libel to be false, 1817. (Unfortunately, nearly 100 years later, the blood libel against Mendel Beilis in Kiev was officially sanctioned. )
• Jews of White Russia were forbidden to wear distinctive clothes which would set them apart from the rest of the population, 1856.
• Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy, U.S. Navy commodore, died, 1862.
• First organized Arab assault on a Jewish settlement (Petach Tikva), 1886.
• Jews of Gluchor massacred by Ukrainian mob, 1918.
• German troops marched into Prague, 1939.
• Germany occupied Hungary, 1944.

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