It was on this day in the year 1799 that, in his campaign against the Ottoman Turks, Napoleon captured the city of Jaffa or, in Hebrew, Yafo, which means, “beautiful.” The city is indeed beautiful and I have been fortunate to have visited it many times. It’s not uncommon to see dozens and dozens of […]
It was on this day in the year 163 B.C. that Antiochus V (not to be confused with Antiochus the IV of Hanukkah fame), granted freedom of religion and political autonomy to the Jews living in the land of Israel. This was to cancel the decrees of his father, who had outlawed circumcision, the study […]
It was on this day in the year 1979 that Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt signed the peace treaty between their countries. Since that time, Israel has enjoyed three decades of relative peace with Egypt. We say, “relative peace,” because Egypt has always represented oppression for Israel and the travail by […]
It was on this day in the year 1940 that the Nazis issued an order barring Jewish physicians from treating Ayrans and Aryan physicians from treating Jews, thus accentuating the separation between the two peoples. The Nazi provocation for this was their hatred of the Jews and the belief that the Jewish race was inferior […]
It was on this day in the year 561 B.C. that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon and the conqueror of Jerusalem, died. Years before, Nebuchadnezzar had been told by the prophet Daniel that he, and by extension Babylon, was represented in a dream by a head of gold, described for us in Daniel chapter 2. In […]
It was on this day in the year 1451 that Pope Nicholas the Fifth issued a bull banning all social interaction between Christians and Jews. His motivation for setting this boundary was a fear that Christians would become Judaized. Indeed, any Christian who converted to Judaism or who adopted what was considered to be “Jewish […]
It was on this day that two prominent events are believed to have occurred. The first is the dedication of the second Temple in 516 B.C; the second is the beginning of the consecration period for Aaron and his sons as they entered the priesthood. The latter is recorded in the book of Leviticus 8:33-35: […]
It was on this day in the year 1917 that the provisional government of Russia, soon to be called the U.S.S.R., eliminated the restrictive laws that had been placed upon Jews under the reign of the Czars. This seeming tolerance for Jews enticed many of them to become rank and file communists. However, Jews, as […]
After obtaining the blessing from his father Isaac, Esau determined to kill Jacob which forced Jacob to flee from him. As he fled toward Haran, Jacob came to a place that would later be called Beth-el, or “House of God.” It was in this place that the God of Abraham and Isaac would also become […]
It’s believed in some sects of Judaism that, on this date in some future year, the Messiah, along with 30,000 pious men, will appear. That’s according to an Apocryphal work called Sefer Eliyahu. The prevailing belief in Judaism says we can’t possibly know the day or the year when the Messiah is going to appear. […]
It was on this day in 1940 that the so-called McDonald-White paper went into effect. This was a document that restricted the sale of “Arab lands” to Jews in the Holy Land and practically voided the Balfour Declaration, a previous document that promoted the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Ironically on this same date on […]
It was on this day in the year 1953 that the Soviet dictator, and murderer, Joseph Stalin died. In fact, his death occurred on the very day that certain Soviet Jews who had been charged with treason were brought to trial. The trial was destined to bring about a guilty verdict and it was intended […]
