Rav Dov Ber Schneerson of Lubavitch (1773-1827), 2nd Lubavitcher Rebbe, known as the Mitteler Rebbe. He was the son and successor of his father Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the Baal HaTanya (the Alter Rebbe), and uncle and father-in-law of the Tzemach Tzedek. Rav Dov Ber assumed the leadership of Chabad upon his father’s passing in 1812. In 1813 he settled in the town of Lubavitch, which was to serve as the movement’s headquarters for the next 102 years. In 1826, Rabbi Dov Ber was arrested by the Czarist government on slanderous charges. His day of release, Kislev 10 is celebrated to this day as a “festival of liberation” among Lubavitch chassidim.
Rav Moshe Shapiro, Rav of Slavita (1837). He established the Slavita Printing Press, which printed exclusively sifrei Kodesh. In 1823, he handed over the work to his two sons, Rav Shmuel Abba and Rav Pinchas.
Today in History – 9 Kislev
· Charles VI ascends to the French throne, 1380 and announces he will not expel the Jews. Screaming “Aux Juifs” a mob plunders and commits murders in the Jewish quarter in Paris for four days. Some Jews take refuge in the royal prison. Hughes Abriot, the Provost, obtains an order for restitution of all property and the return of all infants forcibly baptized. Because of this, he was later accused of converting to Judaism and sent to jail for a year. The Jews of Paris were eventually expelled by Charles VI, 1394.
· Founding of the Verein fuer Cultur und Wissenschaft der Juden, (The Society for Culture and Science of Judaism) by Leopold Zuns and Eduard Gans, 1819, whose goal was to reduce Judaism to a field of study.
· The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (known the “Joint” or “JDC”) was founded in 1914. The organization campaigned on behalf of Jews and distributed funds wherever Jews were in need, especially in Eastern Europe.
· 212 Jews from Milan and Verona, Italy were sent to Auschwitz, 1943. In all, out of a population of 35,000 before the war, approximately 8,500 Jews were killed. An estimated 2,000 Jews fought with the partisans, five of them winning medals for bravery.
· Visit of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Yerushalayim, 1977
Yahrtzeits – 10 Kislev
Rav Moshe Mordechai Margulios, Rav and Av Beis Din Cracow, author of Chasdei Hashem (1616)
Rav Pinchas Menachem Elazar Justman (Yustman) of Piltz, the Sifsei Tzadik (1920). He was a grandson of the Chidushei HaRim.
Rav Refael Dabosh of Libya (1926), son of the famous mekkubal from Lybia, Rabbi Frija Dabush. He was Av Beis Din in Tripoli.
Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein (1866-1934), Rosh Yeshiva of Slabodka and Chevron yeshivos. Born in the town of Bakst in the Vilna district, he learned at Volozhin while still quite young. After his marriage in 1889, he moved to Kovno. Three years later, one of his sisters married Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, one of the greatest of Rav Chaim Soleveitchik’s students. The two developed a close relationship. In 1894, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel offered both of them positions at Yeshiva Kenesses Yisrael of Slobodka. He authored Levush Mordechai. Both Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer and Rav Moshe Mordechai married daughters of Reb Shraga Frank, one of the wealthiest men in Kovno, and in whose attic Rav Yisrael Salanter began teaching mussar to Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel and Rav Yitzchak Blazer.
Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer (1870-1954), author of Even HaEzel, rosh yeshiva of Slutsk and Eitz Chaim-Yerushalayim, disciple of Netziv, Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, and the Chafetz Chaim. Father-in-law of Rav Aharon Kotler, and uncle of Rav Shach.His wife was descended from Rav Meir Eisenstadt, author of Ponim Meiros. Both Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer and Rav Moshe Mordechai married daughters of Reb Shraga Frank, one of the wealthiest men in Kovno, and in whose attic Rav Yisrael Salanter began teaching mussar to Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel and Rav Yitzchak Blazer.
Today in History – 10 Kislev
· The Fourth Lataran Council in 1215 marked the zenith of Papal power. During the papacy of Pope Innocent III (1161-1215) old anti-Jewish decrees were expanded and Jews compelled to wear a yellow “Badge of Shame” to distinguish them from Christians. It was enforced in France, England, Germany and later in Hungary.
· All Jewish wine was dumped by Arabs and heavy fines imposed on the Jewish community of Yerushalayim, 1521.The Arabs blamed the Jewish use of wine for a severe water shortage.
· King Maximilian II attempted to expel the Jews of Pressburg, stating that his edict would be recalled only if they accepted Christianity, 1572. The Jews remained in the city without abandoning their religion.
· 27,000 Jews of the Riga ghetto taken for execution, 1941
· Russian forces launched their winter offensive against the Germans along the Don front, 1942.
· Himmler ordered the destruction of Auschwitz’s crematoria to hide all evidence of the mass murders, 1944.
{Yahrtzeits licensed to Matzav.com by Manny Saltiel and Anshe.org/Matzav.com Newscenter}
{Yahrtzeits licensed to Matzav.com by Manny Saltiel and Anshe.org/Matzav.com Newscenter}
