Yahrtzeits – 9 Nissan
-Rav Yosef Yozfe Norlingen (1637), author of Yosef Ometz.
-Rav Yaakov Tzvi Yalish of Dinov (1778-1825). He was born in Premeshyl, but moved in with his grandfather, the Rav of Mezhibuzh, after his mother passed away at an early age. He authored Kol Yaakov (on Torah and Nach), Beis Vaad Lechachamim on the history of the Tana’im and Amora’im, Emes Le’Yaakov on Torah, Chinuch Beis Yehudah (named for his grandfather) on Chanukah, Parashas Derachim Zuta, and his most famous sefer Melo Haro’im.
-Rav Aryeh Levine, the Tzadik from Yerushalayim, Mashgiach, Yeshiva Eitz Chaim (1885‑1969); emigrated to Eretz Yisrael in 1905
-Rav Chaim Meir Hager, the Imrei Chaim (1887-1972). Son of Rav Yisrael of Vizhnitz, he became the son-in-law of Rav Zev of Rachmistrivka. In 1910, he became Rav of Wilhovitz. After World War II, he moved to Eretz Yisrael and established Kiryat Vizhnitz in Bnai Brak where he rebuilt Chassidus Vizhnitz as Rebbe for 35 years.
Yahrtzeits – 10 Nissan
-Miriam Hanevia (1395-1272 or 1270 BCE)
-Rav Betzalel Hacohen, Rav of Vilna, author of Mareh Cohen and Shu”T Reishis Bikkurim.
-Rav Shalom Mashash, Sephardic Rav of Yerushalayim (1909-2003). Born the Moroccan city of Meknes, a city of Torah known as the Yerushalayim of Morocco. Rav Shalom learned under Rav Meir Toledano until the age of 14. His father then sent him to learn under the great sage Rav Yitzchak Sabag. Writing in his sefer, Tevu’as Shemesh, Rav Shalom declares, “The fact that I was able to grow in Torah may be credited to my father, who did not yield to the pressures and offers that I pursue lucrative positions in banks….Thus, all the credit for my Torah learning is his, too.” His other main mentor was his relative from both his paternal and maternal sides, Rav Yehoshua Birdugo, the raavad of Meknes. In 1960 with the petirah of the chief rav and dayan of Casablanca, Rav Dovid Ibn Sussan, Rav Shalom became its raavad and chief rav, serving there for thirty years. In 1978, he moved to Eretz Yisrael to take the position as Chief Sepharic Rav of Yerushalayim.
-Rav Henoch Leibowitz, Rosh Yeshiva of the Chofetz Chaim Yeshiva in New York (1918-2008). Born town of Selechnik, on the border between Poland and Lithuania. The yeshiva was started by Rav Leibowitz’s father, Rav Dovid Leibowitz, in 1933, and was named after the latter’s great uncle, the Chofetz Chaim, who died the same year. Still in his twenties, Rav Hencoh Leibowitz became rosh yeshiva when his father died in 1941. The Rosh Yeshiva’s methodology closely followed that of his father’s, placing an emphasis on the rebbi-student relationship and inculcating in students the importance of mussar. He also encouraged capable alumni to start yeshivas in communities with little or no formal yeshiva instruction in place. There are some two dozen affiliate yeshivas in the United States, Canada and Israel. There are also three affiliate girls’ schools. Rav Henoch’s first wife, Pesha Leibowitz, died in 2002. He had no children, and is survived by his second wife, Rebbetzin Danielle Leibowitz.
Today in History – 9 Nissan
· 57 Jews were killed in Bury St. Edmunds, England, 1190.
· Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Seville, Spain, 1391. The riots took place on Ash Wednesday and initiated a wave of violence which spread rapidly over the Iberian Peninsula, claiming 50,000 Jewish victims before the year was up. A substantial number of Jews escaped with their lives only because they converted. This marked the emergence of Marranos, said to number 200,000, in the kingdoms of Aragon and Castille.
· Jews of Vienna, Austria, were accused of profaning the host. Many of those who refused to embrace Christianity were burned at the stake, 1421.
· Germanyinvaded Yugoslavia and Greece, 1941.
· Nazis established two ghettos in Radom, Poland, 1941.
Today in History – 10 Nissan
· Yehoshua leads bnei Yisrael across the Jordan, 1271 BCE
· Hizbullah operatives bombed a restaurant near the U.S. Air Force base in Torrejon, Spain, killing 18 American servicemen, 1984{Matzav.com Newscenter/Chinuch.org}
