c 1310 BCE- A special offering was brought including a series of gifts by the tribe of Naftali for the inauguration of the Tabernacle.

 

c 582 BCE- On this day King Hezekiah, the greatest of all the Judeaen kings, fell critically ill and was informed by the Prophet Isaiah that he would die, for the LORD was displeased with the fact that Hezekiah refused to have children. Hezekiah had refused to get married because he had prophetically foreseen that his children would lead the Jewish people to sin.

The king turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD and his prayer was accepted. The LORD sent Isaiah to tell him that he would recover and that his life would be extended for fifteen years. Hezekiah recovered three days later, on the first day of Passover. The King later married the prophet Isaiah's daughter. (see 2 Kings chapter 20).

 

c 346 BCE- Ezra and his followers departed from the River Ahava on their way to Jerusalem. A year following the building of the second Temple in Jerusalem, Ezra gathered many of the Jews who had remained in Babylon and began a journey to the land of Israel. Though he certainly wanted to go earlier, his teacher, Baruch ben Neriah was too frail to travel, and Ezra refused to leave him until his passing.

Ezra was the head of the Sanhedrin, who all traveled together with him. On this day, Ezra departed from the River Ahava, the beginning of the long journey to the land of Israel which would last for nearly five months.

 

1302- The Jews of Spain were ordered to bow down upon seeing a priest.

 

1839- Jews from Mashad, Iran were forcibly converted to Islam and a pogrom was perpetrated against them.

 

1917- The Russian revolutionary government granted equality to all Russian Jews for the first time in Russian history.

(In the first decade of the 20th century Russia had about 50 percent of the total world Jewish population under its effective control and domination. The grant of equality by the Russian revolutionary government thus affected a major part of world Jewry. By the end of the second decade Russia had only about 18 percent of the total Jewish population under its jurisdiction.)

 

1941- Three days after entering Yugoslavia and Greece in 1941, Germany occupied Salonika, which had a Jewish population of 54,000. Within a week, the members of the Jewish community council were arrested, Jews' dwellings were expropriated, and the Jewish hospital was requisitioned for the use of the Wehrmacht.

In April-May 1941, Einsatzstab Rosenberg (Rosenberg Operational Staff), aided by units of the Wehrmacht, systematically looted 500-year-old literary and cultural treasures in dozens of private and public libraries and synagogues in this city. Most of the booty was taken to Frankfurt, where the Nazis were establishing a library for the study of Judaism.

 

Torah Portion

unknown

 

 

or view this week's triennial cycle reading.

Today is

Yom Shishi, 19 Adar II, 5784

Friday, March 29, 2024

 

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