Sources & Notes

The Ten Tribes of Israel are exiled by Assyria (Aseres HaShvatim)

Yechezkeil’s first prophecy.

NotesYechezkel 1:1-2 dates it to the 5th year of Yehoyachin's exile = 593 BCE (academic). Traditional count: 429 BCE (3332, Seder Olam).

Beginning of the siege of Jerusalem in the final event of Judahite revolts against Babylon.

NotesTraditional count: 425 BCE (3336, Seder Olam); academic: 589/588 BCE (siege dated 589–587). Date is the fast of Asara b'Tevet.

Nebuchadnezzar’s army breached the walls of Jerusalem.

NotesTraditional count: 423 BCE (3338, Seder Olam); academic: 587 or 586 BCE.

King Cyrus of Persia formally occupied Babylon.

NotesCyrus entered Babylon on 28/29 Oct 539 BCE (=3 Marcheshvan), 17 days after his army took it. Traditional count: Babylon fell in 3389 and Cyrus's reign starts 3390 (371 BCE, Seder Olam).

A delegation of Babylonian Jews arrived in Jerusalem, to ask Zecharia HaNavi if Tish’a b’Av should be discontinued.

NotesZecharia 7:1 – 4 Kislev, 4th year of Darius. Traditional count: 351 BCE (3410, Seder Olam); academic: 518 BCE.

Building of the second Beit HaMikdash was completed.

NotesEzra 6:15 – 3 Adar, 6th year of Darius. Traditional count: 349 BCE (3412, Seder Olam); academic: 515 BCE.

Ezra urged the Jews in Jerusalem to dissolve all intermarriages and to purge the Jewish community of foreign elements and influence.

Notes456 matches neither count. Ezra 10:9 (20 Kislev) follows Ezra's arrival in the 7th year of Artaxerxes = 458 BCE academic (some scholars 398). Traditional count: Ezra arrived 3413; the Kislev assembly falls in 3414 (347 BCE), Seder Olam.

Matityahu b. Yochanan Kohen Gadol dies.

Notes1 Maccabees: died in Seleucid year 146 (spring 166–spring 165 BCE).

Shimon HaChashmona’i drove the Greeks and their allies, the Hellenized Jews, out of the Citadel, their last stronghold in Jerusalem.

NotesWikipedia gives 142/141 BCE; 1 Maccabees 13:51 gives 23 Iyar, Seleucid year 171 (= spring 141 BCE). 142 is acceptable.

Death of Alexander Yannai. Date was celebrated as a holiday, since his strong Sadducee policies and appointments posed a serious threat to Rabbinic Judaism.

NotesDied 76 BCE. The holiday date varies between Megillat Taanit versions (2 or 7 Shevat).

According to Josephus, Hyrcanus' soldiers stoned Choni HaMe'agel to death.

NotesJosephus (Ant. 14.2.1, margin 'An. 65') places Onias/Choni's stoning around Pesach during Hyrcanus and Aretas's siege, before Pompey arrived: 65 BCE (Wikipedia says 'around 63').

Pompey the Great captured Jerusalem and killed 12,000 Jews.

NotesConfirmed: 12,000 Jewish defenders were killed. The month is debated (summer or Yom Kippur, autumn 63), so the Hebrew year is 3698, or 3699 if it was autumn.

King Herod captured Jerusalem.

NotesConfirmed 37 BCE (a minority say 36). The month is debated, so Hebrew 3724 is approximate.

Caius Caligula was assassinated. The day was observed as a holiday, since his decree to put pagan images in the Beit HaMikdash was voided upon his death.

NotesSpelling fixed (Caligula). Megillat Taanit 22 Shevat: the work on what the enemy ordered brought into the Temple stopped.

Roman governor Florus plunders Jerusalem and kills about 3,600 Jews, sparking the Great Revolt

NotesJosephus (War 2.14.9) gives about 3,600 killed, including women and children, in the month Artemisius (Iyar) of 66 CE.

Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai is smuggled out of besieged Jerusalem in a coffin and saves Yavneh

NotesTalmud, Gittin 56a. Dated to the siege, c. 68–70 CE; traditional count c. 3828–3830.

Roman legions under Titus breached the middle wall of Jerusalem. A counter-attack by the Jews restored the wall to their command.

NotesThe Second Wall's middle section was breached about 5 days after the Third Wall. The defenders pushed the Romans back and held it for a few days.

The City of Betar, last independent outpost under Bar Kochba, fell to the Romans.

NotesTisha b'Av 135 CE (a few say 136).

Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi redacts the mishnayos.

Notes220 is closer to Rebbe's death (c. 217). Raavad dates the Mishna's compilation to 3949 (189 CE); scholars say c. 200 CE.

Rav leaves Eretz Yisrael for Bavel and opens the yeshiva of Sura

Notes219 CE per Iggeres Rav Sherira Gaon.

Hillel II publishes the fixed Jewish calendar, so Rosh Chodesh no longer needs witnesses

NotesSource: Seleucid year 670 = 358/9 CE (per Rav Hai Gaon's tradition); some documents suggest the calendar was fixed later.

The fourth Rabban Gamliel was removed from office by the Romans, thereby ending the last vestiges of Jewish autonomy.

NotesImperial decree of 17 Oct 415 (Wikipedia says 20 Oct). Usually called Gamliel VI, the last Nasi; 'fourth' follows another numbering.

Yahrzeit of Ravina, co-author of Talmud Bavli. His death marks the end of the Talmudic period.

NotesIggeret Rav Sherira gives 499/500; Dorot HaRishonim argues for 474/475.

Byzantine Emperor Justinian ordered that the weekly Torah reading on Shabbat may be read in Greek translation, and banned the Rabbis' oral interpretation (the Mishna, “deuterosis”).

NotesNovella 146 (8 Feb 553) permitted reading in Greek and other languages and banned the 'deuterosis' (Mishna/oral interpretation).

Over 500 Jews were forcibly baptized in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

NotesOver 500 Jews accepted baptism under Bishop Avitus's threat of expulsion; the rest fled to Marseilles.

Jews permitted to remain in Alexandria, with the Arab capture of Egypt. (The Jewish community there was already 1000 years old by that time.)

NotesTreaty of Alexandria (Nov 641): 'the Jews to be suffered to remain at Alexandria'. Wording slightly clarified.

Rav Amram Gaon sends a Spanish kehilla the first known complete siddur

Notesc. 860; exact year unknown.

Yahrzeit of Saadiah Gaon, head of the talmudic academy of Sura, author of Emunot ve-Deot, the first philosophical presentation of Judaism.

Rabbeinu Gershom bans having two wives, and reading someone else's mail

Notesc. 1000; the bans are traditionally attributed to him, exact year unknown. Month unknown: Hebrew year 4760 if Jan–Sept, 4761 if after Rosh Hashana.

Many Jews of Cordova, Spain, were massacred by the soldiers of Suleiman ibn al-Hakam.

NotesBerber troops of Sulayman al-Musta'in sacked Córdoba in spring 1013.

Shmuel HaNagid, a talmid chacham and poet, becomes leader of Granada's Jews and later its vizier and general

NotesNamed Nagid in 1027 at age 34; became vizier later (c. 1038). Month unknown: Hebrew year 4787 if Jan–Sept, 4788 if after Rosh Hashana.

The Worms shul, where Rashi learned, is built

NotesBuilt 1034; destroyed 1938, rebuilt 1961. Month unknown: Hebrew year 4794 if Jan–Sept, 4795 if after Rosh Hashana.

Yahrzeit of Rav Hai Gaon, the last of the geonim of Pumpedita.

NotesDied on Pesach 4798; sources vary between 20 and 21 Nisan.

Rashi is born in Troyes, France

The Norman Conquest brings the first Jewish communities to England.

NotesJews came after the Conquest; first written record 1070. Josce and Aaron of Lincoln were active later, in the 12th century. Date is the Battle of Hastings.

The Rif, at age 75, flees Fez for Spain

Notes1088. Month unknown: Hebrew year 4848 if Jan–Sept, 4849 if after Rosh Hashana.

Crusaders massacre the Jews of Speyer, Worms and Mainz (Gezeiros Tatnu)

NotesMay–June 1096.

Yahrzeit of Rashi, “best friend” of anyone who learns Torah or Talmud.

Yehuda HaLevi, author of the Kuzari, leaves Spain for Eretz Yisrael, and dies soon after

NotesLeft 1140; died 1141. Legend says he was killed at Jerusalem's gates (not confirmed).

William of Norwich disappears and Jewish community of Norwich is blamed. It is the first known medieval accusation against Jews of ritual murder.

NotesDied c. 22 Mar 1144 (Easter week).

Almohad persecution forces the young Rambam's family to flee Córdoba

NotesAlmohads took Córdoba 1148; family wandered ~10 years.

The Jews of Kaifeng, China, build their first synagogue

NotesSynagogue built 1163. Month unknown: Hebrew year 4923 if Jan–Sept, 4924 if after Rosh Hashana.

Rambam reached Jerusalem, five months after his arrival in Eretz Yisrael. He and his family celebrated the date as a private holiday.

NotesLanded at Acre 3 Sivan 4925 (16 May 1165) and reached Jerusalem 4 Cheshvan 4926, about 5 months later. Note the Hebrew year is 4926 (autumn).

Yahrzeit of Jacob ben Meir - Rabbeinu Tam. His reputation as a legal scholar spread far beyond France.

NotesConfirmed.

The Rambam completes his Mishneh Torah

Notesc. 1170–1180. Month unknown: Hebrew year 4940 if Jan–Sept, 4941 if after Rosh Hashana.

Saladin captured Jerusalem from the Crusaders, and allowed Jews to return to the City after an absence of 88 years.

NotesJews were permitted to resettle (Crusaders had held the city since 1099).

Jews of York, England, committed mass suicide rejecting an invitation to submit to baptism

NotesClifford's Tower, Shabbat HaGadol. About 150 died.

Yahrzeit of the Rambam, a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages.

NotesSome give 12 Dec.

Pope Innocent III promulgated a Church doctrine that the Jews were doomed to perpetual servitude and subjugation because they had killed Jesus.

NotesLetter Etsi Judaeos: Jews subjected 'to perpetual servitude, since they crucified the Lord'.

King John of England signs the Magna Carta

Notes15 June 1215.

Purim of Narbonne, oldest private Purim on record, commemorated the community’s escape from a mob.

All copies of the Talmud were seized from the Jews of France. This led to the decline of Rabbinic scholarship in France.

NotesSeized on Shabbat 3 March 1240 on Gregory IX's order; the Paris Disputation followed in June 1240.

The famous disputation between the Ramban and Pablo Christiani began. King Jayme of Aragon rewarded the Ramban with 300 gold coins for his “most admirable defense of a wrong position”

NotesJames I gave 300 gold coins and said he had never heard 'an unjust cause so nobly defended'.

Yahrzeit of Rabbeinu Yona (Gerondi). After the burning of the Talmud he publicly admitted that he had been wrong in instigating the authorities to burn Miamonides' books.

NotesDied in Toledo in Cheshvan 5024 (autumn 1263), so the Hebrew year is 5024. The repentance story is tradition; some call it a myth.

The Ramban arrives in Jerusalem and founds a shul to rebuild its tiny Jewish community

Notes1267. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5027 if Jan–Sept, 5028 if after Rosh Hashana.

Yahrzeit of the Ramban, who was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Sephardic rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator.

NotesDied c. 1270 in Eretz Yisrael. The yahrzeit 11 Nisan is traditional.

The first written evidence of Yiddish literature, a brief rhyme inscribed in the manuscript of a Hebrew prayer book—from the city of Worms.

NotesWorms Mahzor dated 1272. The month is unknown (Hebrew 5032 or 5033).

Last of the Jews of England expelled by King Edward I left.

NotesDeadline All Saints' Day, 1 Nov 1290 (edict 18 July = 9 Av 5050). 16,000 is an old estimate; modern estimates are as low as 2,000. Number removed.

The city of Acco was captured by Muslims, bringing to an end the Christian domination of Eretz Yisrael.

Rindfleisch massacres destroy 146 Jewish communities in Germany; many thousands killed.

Notes146 communities were destroyed and estimates run from about 20,000 to 100,000 dead, not 200. Began April 1298 (Hebrew 5058).

The Rosh flees Germany and becomes Rav of Toledo, Spain

NotesLeft Germany 1303; became Rav of Toledo 1305 (Encyclopaedia Judaica). Month unknown: Hebrew year 5065 if Jan–Sept, 5066 if after Rosh Hashana.

Rashba proclaimed a ban on the study of metaphysics and philosophy by students under 25. The Cheirem was both famous and controversial.

Notesthe ban covered under-25s, not under-30s (medicine exempt).

The body of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg was released for burial, 14 years after his death.

NotesDied 1293; Alexander ben Shlomo Wimpfen ransomed the body 14 years later.

Massacre of the Jews of Nuremberg in Black Death riots.

NotesNuremberg massacre on 5 Dec 1349 (Charles IV had granted the city immunity).

Disputation of Tortosa: Spanish rabbis forced into 21 months of debate before the antipope

NotesFeb 1413 – Nov 1414.

Wiener Gesera: the Jews of Vienna are expelled, and those who stay are burned

Notes1420–1421; burnings 12 March 1421.

The Maharil, source of many Ashkenazi minhagim, passes away

NotesDied 14 Sept 1427 (22 Elul 5187).

Printing press invented by German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg.

NotesNo exact date. Gutenberg began experimenting in Strasbourg in the late 1430s; the press is usually dated c. 1440 (Bible c. 1455). 1436 is an early-end estimate. Hebrew year approximate.

Muslim conqueror of Constantinople granted protection and religious freedom to Jews and other non-Muslims.

NotesConquest 29 May 1453.

First printing of Rashi on Torah, Reggio di Calabria, Italy (the first dated Hebrew printed book).

NotesPrinted by Abraham ben Garton in Reggio di Calabria, Feb 1475 (10-11 Adar 5235).

First burning at the stake of the Spanish Inquisition (auto-da-fé in Seville).

Notes6 Feb 1481, Seville: six people burned.

Torquemada was appointed Inquisitor-General of Spain.

NotesAppointed Inquisitor General 17 Oct 1483.

First printing of the whole Tanach (Soncino, Italy).

NotesSoncino printed the first complete Hebrew Bible in 1488. Hebrew date 11 Adar per OU.

Rav Ovadya Bartinuro, best known for his popular commentary on the Mishnah, arrived in Jerusalem.

NotesHe arrived the day before Pesach (13 Nisan 5248).

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella signed a decree expelling Jews from Spain

NotesAlhambra Decree signed 31 March 1492.

Columbus sets sail from Spain on 3 August, the day after Tisha B'Av, as the Jews are being expelled

Notes3 Aug 1492 = 10 Av 5252.

Yahrzeit of the Abrabanel, a Portuguese Jewish statesman, philosopher, Bible commentator, and financier.

NotesDied in Venice in 1508. JPost gives 29 Tishrei 5269 (autumn 1508); Wikipedia gives the year only. Medium for the day.

Venice becomes the first city in the world where the term ghetto was associated with the Jewish quarter.

NotesDecree of 29 March 1516; 'ghetto' from the foundry (getto) on the site.

Daniel Bomberg, a Christian printer in Venice, completes the first full printed Shas, with today's daf numbers

NotesPrinted 1519/1520–1523; every Shas since follows its pagination.

Rabbi Yaakov Berav tries to renew semicha in Tzfat, ordaining Rav Yosef Karo

Notes1538. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5298 if Jan–Sept, 5299 if after Rosh Hashana.

Dona Gracia Nasi arranges a boycott of the port of Ancona in response to the pope's burning of Portuguese ex-conversos there.

NotesPope Paul IV had 24-25 conversos burned in Ancona in spring 1556; the boycott followed in 1556.

The Paradesi Synagogue is built in Cochin, India

Notes1568. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5328 if Jan–Sept, 5329 if after Rosh Hashana.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Tzfat, the Ari Z”l, considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah.

Notes5 Av 5332 = 15 July 1572 (Julian); Wikipedia shows 25 July (Gregorian).

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Moses Isserles (the Rama), an eminent Polish Ashkenazic rabbi, talmudist, and posek (expert in Jewish law).

NotesDied Lag BaOmer, 18 Iyar 5332, in Cracow. Grammar fixed. Wikipedia gives 11 May 1572 (Gregorian); 1 May in the Julian calendar then in use.

Yahrzeit of the Maharshal, known for his work of Halakha, Yam Shel Shlomo, and his Talmudic commentary Chochmat Shlomo.

NotesDied in Lublin.

Yahrzeit of Rav Yoseph Caro, the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Beit Yosef, and its popular analogue, the Shulchan Arukh.

NotesDied in Safed.

The Gregorian calendar replaces the Julian; 10 days vanish overnight

NotesOct 1582.

First Jewish author in America - Luis de Carvajal the Younger, his mother and sisters, burned to death in Mexico City by the Inquisition.

NotesAuto-da-fé of 8 Dec 1596 (he was garroted, then burned).

Yahrzeit of Yeshayahu Menachem b. Yitzchak of Cracow. He was the originator of the Heter Iska.

NotesIsaiah Menahem ben Isaac ('Mendel Avigdors'), died 16 Aug 1599.

Yahrzeit of the Maharal of Prague, an important Talmudic scholar, and philosopher, as well as the subject of a 19th-century legend that he created the Golem of Prague.

Galileo turns a telescope to the sky which allowed him to become the first to see the Moon's rugged craters.

Earliest known mention of the bagel in the Kraków rules about gifts for women after childbirth

Purim Vinz: Frankfurt's Jews celebrate the hanging of Vincenz Fettmilch, who had led the mob that expelled them

Notes20 Adar 5376.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Hayyim Vital, famous kabbalist.

NotesDied in Damascus, 30 Nisan 5380: 23 April 1620 Julian / 3 May 1620 Gregorian (Haaretz).

The Mayflower lands at Plymouth

NotesNov/Dec 1620.

The Shla HaKadosh kidnapped and imprisoned, together with 15 other Jewish rabbis and scholars, by the Pasha (Ibn Faruh) and held for ransom.

NotesArrested by officers of the governor (Ibn Farukh) on Shabbat 11 Elul 5385 (Sept 1625) with 15 rabbis.

First issue of the Hebrew printing press of Amsterdam (the Siddur).

NotesMenasseh ben Israel's first Hebrew book, a siddur (1 Jan 1627).

Yahrzeit of the Shla HaKadosh, a prominent rabbi and mystic.

NotesDied in Tiberias.

Yahrzeit of the Ba”Ch, major commentator on the Shulchan Aruch.

NotesDied in Cracow.

Don Lope de Vera y Alarcon HY”D, Spanish nobleman, convert to Judaism, known as Judah the Believer, was burned at the stake by the Inquisition in Valladolid.

NotesBurned 25 July 1644, Valladolid.

England's first coffeehouse opens in Oxford, run by a Jew named Jacob

NotesOxford, 1650 (the Angel), run by 'Jacob'; some sources say 1651.

Recife, Brazil conquered by Portugal, ending the legal existence of the prosperous Jewish community there.

NotesDutch surrender of Recife, 26 Jan 1654 (OU's 29 Tevet = 18 Jan).

Yahrzeit of the Tosfot Yom Tov, one of the major Talmudic scholars in Prague and in Poland during the "Golden Age".

NotesHe died in Cracow in 1654 (6 Elul 5414), not 1616. His Tosfot Yom Tov was published around 1614-17.

Peter Stuyvesant refuses to let the Jews of New Amsterdam (New York) build a shul

Notes13 March 1656.

Shabbetai Tzvi, the false messiah, converts to Islam, shattering the hopes of thousands

Notes16 Sept 1666 = 16 Elul 5426.

The Great Fire of London

Notes2–6 Sept 1666.

Yahrzeit of the TAZ, author of the popular commentary on Shulchan Aruch.

NotesDied in Lvov, 20 Feb 1667.

The Jewish community of Newport, R.I. bought land for burial.

NotesBought by Mordecai Campanal and Moses Pacheco in 1677. The day (26 Adar I = 28 Feb 1677) comes from the OU calendar.

Isaac Newton publishes his laws of motion and gravity (Principia)

Notes1687. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5447 if Jan–Sept, 5448 if after Rosh Hashana.

The Baal Shem Tov is born (traditionally on 18 Elul)

Notes18 Elul (Aug/Sept 1698) by Chassidic tradition; historians say c. 1700.

Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid arrived in Jerusalem. He died a few days later. A shul was built on land he had purchased for that purpose. This would later become the Hurva.

NotesArrived 14 Oct 1700 (1 Cheshvan 5461); died c. 17-19 Oct, 3-5 days later.

A fire starting in the rabbi's house burns down nearly the whole Frankfurt Jewish ghetto

NotesFire began in the house of Rabbi Naftali Katz on 14 Jan 1711.

The Vilna Gaon was born. According to legend, he had committed the Tanakh to memory by the age of four.

NotesBorn first day of Pesach 5480.

The brothers Hayyim and Joshua Reizes of Lemberg, were tortured and executed on charges of influencing the apostate Jan Filipowicz to return to Judaism.

NotesExecuted in Lemberg, May 1728.

Curaçao's Mikve Israel shul is completed. It's the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas

NotesCompleted 1732; congregation founded 1651. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5492 if Jan–Sept, 5493 if after Rosh Hashana.

Joseph Süss Oppenheimer ('Jud Süss'), court Jew of Württemberg, is executed in Stuttgart

NotesExecuted in Stuttgart (Württemberg), not Vienna, on 4 Feb 1738.

Jews of Sicily and Naples were invited to return (having been expelled previously) by Charles the Bourbon.

NotesEdict of 3 Feb 1740 (Shevat 5500) invited Jews back to the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily; revoked 1746/47.

The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh arrives in Jerusalem

NotesArrived mid-1742 (5502); died 1743.

Empress Elizabeth ordered the expulsion of all Jews from Great Russia.

NotesDecree dated 2 Dec 1742 (Old Style; some cite 1 Dec). Exempted Jews who converted. Old Style (Julian) date as in Russian records; Gregorian is 12 days later.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Moses Hayyim Luzatto, author of Mesilat Yesharim.

NotesRamchal died 26 Iyar 5506 (May 1746) in Acre, likely of plague. Some older sources say 1747.

Ben Franklin flies a kite in a thunderstorm

NotesJune 1752.

The Noda BiYehuda becomes Chief Rabbi of Prague

NotesAppointed Rabbi of Prague in 1755 (some sources say 1754). Month unknown: Hebrew year 5515 if Jan–Sept, 5516 if after Rosh Hashana.

Touro Synagogue is dedicated in Newport, Rhode Island

NotesDedicated 2 Dec 1763.

Harvard created a professorship of Hebrew and Oriental languages.

NotesEndowed by Thomas Hancock's will (1764). The College created the professorship on 12 June 1765, and Stephen Sewall was named to it on 19 June 1765.

Yahrzeit of the Magid of Mezrich, early leader of Chasidut.

NotesPassed 19 Kislev 5533 = 15 Dec 1772 (Gregorian), in Hanipol. Not 1771.

Jewish homes on the outskirts of Warsaw, in a settlement known as “New Jerusalem”, were demolished and the Jews of Warsaw were expelled.

NotesMarshal's guard demolished New Jerusalem on 22 Jan 1775, followed by expulsion.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Jacob Emden (Ya’vez), scholar and controversial figure, author of Bet Yaakov, a standard prayerbook.

Emperor Joseph II of Austria issued an Edict of Toleration, lifting many restrictions on Jews.

NotesEdict for the Jews of Lower Austria (Vienna), 2 Jan 1782; Bohemia's came Oct 1781. It eased state restrictions rather than Church ones. Same event as row 189.

The British evacuate New York and American forces take back the city.

NotesEvacuation Day: British troops left and Washington's army marched in.

Yahrzeit of the No’am Elimelech, the founder of Hasidism in Poland-Galicia.

NotesRebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk passed 21 Adar 5547.

George Washington is inaugurated as the first U.S. president

French National Assembly granted full and equal citizenship to the Portuguese and Avignonese Jews. France was the first European country to pass such liberal legislation.

NotesAshkenazi Jews of Alsace-Lorraine followed on 27 Sept 1791. The US had granted equality earlier, but France was first in Europe.

The Baal HaTanya publishes the Tanya

NotesFirst edition, Slavita, 5556–5557 (1796).

The Vilna Gaon passes away on Chol HaMoed Sukkos

Notes9 Oct 1797 (19 Tishrei 5558).

Rabbi Shneur Zalman, the Baal HaTanya, was released from prison. YUD-TET KISLEV is celebrated by Chabad chasidim.

Napoleon captured the city of Jaffa, Palestine.

NotesSiege of Jaffa, 3–7 March 1799.

Pulver Purim: the Chayei Adam survives a gunpowder explosion in Vilna and declares a family Purim

NotesGunpowder blast in Vilna on 18 Nov 1804, 15 Kislev 5565 per the OU calendar (some sources give 16 Kislev). R' Avraham Danzig survived and instituted the day.

Yahrzeit of the Dubno Maggid, famous for his parables that teach lessons from Jewish tradition.

NotesR' Yaakov Kranz passed in Zamosc on 17 Tevet 5565.

The Chasam Sofer becomes Rav of Pressburg

Notes1806. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5566 if Jan–Sept, 5567 if after Rosh Hashana.

Napoleon convenes a 'Grand Sanhedrin' of rabbis and Jewish laymen in Paris.

NotesThe Grand Sanhedrin first met in Paris on 9 Feb 1807.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sasov.

NotesPassed 4 Shevat 5567 (January 1807), not 1808.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, known as the "defense attorney" for the Jewish people.

NotesPassed 25 Tishrei 5570 (October 1809).

First reform temple opened in Seesen, Germany.

NotesIsrael Jacobson's temple in Seesen was dedicated 17 July 1810.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov passes away in Uman

Notes16 Oct 1810 (18 Tishrei 5571).

Judah Benjamin born, one of the first Jewish US senators.

NotesBorn on St. Croix. He was the second Jewish-born US senator, after David Levy Yulee.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady, the Baal HaTanya, founder of Chabad.

NotesPassed motzaei Shabbos 24 Tevet 5573 (late December 1812) while fleeing Napoleon's army.

The Mir Yeshiva is founded in the town of Mir

NotesFounded 1815 (some sources 1817). Month unknown: Hebrew year 5575 if Jan–Sept, 5576 if after Rosh Hashana.

The Chozeh of Lublin passes away on Tisha B'Av

Notes1815

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, who founded the Volozhin Yeshiva with the view of applying the methods of the Vilna Gaon.

NotesDied 14 Sivan 5581 (June 1821). One Yizkor book gives 12 Sivan.

Locomotion No. 1 became the world's first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public line.

NotesOpening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Falls after Rosh Hashana, so it's 5586.

Czar Nicholas I decreed the draft of Jewish boys from the age of 12 (the Cantonists).

NotesNicholas I's conscription statute (26 Aug 1827, Old Style). Boys 12–18 went to Cantonist schools before 25 years' service. Old Style (Julian) date as in Russian records; Gregorian is 12 days later.

Rabbi Akiva Eiger leads Posen through a cholera epidemic with strict health rules

Notes1831. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5591 if Jan–Sept, 5592 if after Rosh Hashana.

The Queen-Regent of Spain abolished the Inquisition.

NotesDecree of regent Maria Christina, 15 July 1834.

Yartzeit of the Chatam Sofer, a teacher to thousands, and a powerful opponent of the Reform movement in Judaism.

Notes25 Tishrei 5600 (October 1839), so the Hebrew year is 5600, not 5599.

At a St. Petersburg rabbinical conference, the Tzemach Tzedek refuses the Czar's reforms

Notes1843 St. Petersburg conference (Tzarist rabbinical commission). Month unknown: Hebrew year 5603 if Jan–Sept, 5604 if after Rosh Hashana.

Karl Marx (with Friedrich Engels) publishes the Communist Manifesto.

NotesCo-written with Friedrich Engels.

The Jews of Hungary were emancipated.

NotesVoted by the revolutionary National Assembly. It was repealed weeks later after the revolution was crushed; lasting emancipation came in 1867.

6-year-old Edgardo Mortara is seized by the Papal States after a former servant claims she secretly baptized him when he was ill.

NotesSeized in Bologna by Papal States police.

Baron Lionel de Rothschild became the first Jew to sit in the British Parliament, after the oath was changed to drop its reference to Christianity.

NotesTook his seat on 26 July 1858 after the Jews Relief Act let him swear on the Hebrew Bible without 'on the true faith of a Christian'.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, well known for his incisive and down-to-earth philosophies, and sharp-witted sayings.

First U.S. Jewish army chaplain, Rabbi Jacob Frankel, appointed.

NotesCommissioned 18 Sept 1862, after Congress changed the chaplaincy law in July 1862.

Jews ordered expelled from Grant's military district (parts of Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky) by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

NotesGeneral Order No. 11 covered Grant's district (parts of Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky). Lincoln revoked it in January 1863.

Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor becomes Rav of Kovno

Notes1864. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5624 if Jan–Sept, 5625 if after Rosh Hashana.

S.A. Bierfield was lynched by the KKK in Franklin, Tennessee, believed to be the first lynching of a Jew in the U.S.

The Chofetz Chaim publishes his first sefer, Chofetz Chaim, on lashon hara

Notes1873. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5633 if Jan–Sept, 5634 if after Rosh Hashana.

Telshe Yeshiva is founded in Lithuania

NotesFounded 1875. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5635 if Jan–Sept, 5636 if after Rosh Hashana.

Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone

NotesMarch 1876.

Yahrzeit of the Malbim. At 14 he married but soon divorced, then went to Warsaw, where he became known as "the Illui from Volhynia."

NotesDied 1 Tishrei 5640. Fixed the order: per Encyclopaedia Judaica he married at 14 and divorced, and only then went to Warsaw. Wikipedia says Artzos HaChaim came out at 25, but it was published in 1837, when he was 28, so I dropped the age.

Romm printers in Vilna begin the Vilna Shas, the edition on our shelves today

NotesFirst edition 1880–1886 (Encyclopaedia Judaica, 'Romm').

Yosele Rosenblatt born in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine. He was regarded as the greatest cantor of his time.

NotesBorn 9 May 1882 in Bila Tserkva (then Russian Empire).

The Brooklyn Bridge opens

Notes24 May 1883.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, dynamic leader of the Mussar Movement, which came about to fight against the inroads of assimilation in Europe.

NotesDied Friday 25 Shevat 5643 in Königsberg.

Yahrzeit of Sir Moses Montefiore, British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London.

NotesSpelling fixed (Montefiore). He died at age 100 in Ramsgate.

Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Vilna arrives as New York's first and only Chief Rabbi

NotesChief Rabbi of New York 1888–1902.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, German Orthodox leader and vocal opponent of Reform Judaism.

NotesHe died in 1888, before political Zionism (1897), so 'Zionism' now reads 'early proto-Zionist efforts' (he opposed Kalischer's activities).

120 Jewish families arrived in Buenos Aires on the ship Weser, "giving birth" to the modern Argentinean Jewish community. (The community today numbers about 180,000 Jews, most of them in Buenos Aires.)

NotesDate confirmed: 14 Aug 1889. The population figure was out of date and self-contradictory. It's now about 180,000 core Jewish population (about 330,000 counting relatives).

Russian government closed the Volozhin Yeshiva.

NotesClosing order of 22 Jan 1892 (Russian calendar) = 3 Feb 1892 (5 Shevat 5652).

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yosef Dov (Joseph Baer) Soloveitchik, former co-head of the Volozhin Yeshiva and later Rav of Brisk, author of the responsa Beis HaLevi.

NotesDied 4 Iyar 5652. He was assistant/co-rosh yeshiva at Volozhin until 1865 (Rav of Slutsk, then Brisk), not its head when he died.

Yahrzeit of the NETZIV, HaRav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin, author of Haamek Davar.

NotesDied 28 Av 5653 in Warsaw.

Emile Zola published “J’Accuse” in defense of Alfred Dreyfus.

NotesPublished in L'Aurore on 13 Jan 1898.

The Wright brothers make the first powered airplane flight

Yahrzeit of the S’fat Emet, the 2nd Gerer Rebbe.

NotesDied 5 Shevat 5665.

New York's first subway line opens

Notes27 Oct 1904.

Pogrom in Odessa took over 400 Jewish lives.

NotesWikipedia gives over 400 Jewish victims, and historians estimate 800+.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yechiel Michal Epstein HaLevi of Novogrudok, Russia, author of the Aruch haShulchan.

NotesDied 22 Adar II 5668.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, chief rabbi and leader of the Ashkenazi community of Jerusalem.

NotesDied 29 Av 5669.

The Chazon Ish publishes his first sefer, anonymously

Notes1911. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5671 if Jan–Sept, 5672 if after Rosh Hashana.

The Titanic sinks

Notes15 April 1912.

Agudat Yisrael was founded in Kattowitz (then Germany, today Katowice, Poland).

NotesFounding conference in Kattowitz, May 1912 (OU: 12 Sivan). Kattowitz was in German Upper Silesia then.

Solomon Schechter founds the United Synagogue of America, the organizational base of the Conservative movement.

NotesThe Conservative movement grew from JTS (1886). What Schechter founded in 1913 was the United Synagogue (23 Feb 1913).

A Kiev jury acquits Mendel Beilis of blood libel after a two-year ordeal

NotesAcquitted Nov 1913.

Yom Tov Ehrlich born in Kozhan-Gorodok, Russian Empire (today Belarus).

NotesBorn 1914. The exact date is unknown, so it could be 5674 or 5675. I gave 5674. 'Russia' now reads Russian Empire (today Belarus).

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik, credited as the founder of the popular Brisker approach to Talmudic study within Judaism

NotesDied 30 July 1918, 21 Av 5678.

Sara Schenirer establishes the first Bais Yaakov teachers' seminary.

NotesFounded in 1923 in Kraków with Rabbi Leo Deutschlaender. The month is unknown (5683 or 5684); 5683 is more likely.

Daf Yomi started.

NotesBegan on the first day of Rosh Hashana 5684. Proposed by R' Meir Shapiro in Aug 1923.

Massena, NY: on Erev Yom Kippur the town's Jews are accused of blood libel over a missing girl, who is found alive

NotesThe girl went missing 22 Sept 1928, and the rabbi was questioned on Erev Yom Kippur (23 Sept, 9 Tishrei 5689). She was found alive.

Rabbi Meir Shapiro opens Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin in a grand new building

NotesOpened 1930 (yeshiva active 1930–1939).

The first Siyum HaShas of Daf Yomi is celebrated, with thousands in Lublin

NotesFirst Siyum HaShas on 15 Shevat 5691, with the main event in Lublin.

Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany.

Yahrzeit of the Chafetz Chaim, whose house became known as the Radin Yeshiva as students flocked from all over Europe.

NotesDied 24 Elul 5693.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein arrives in America

NotesStayed in Luban until 1937, then left for America. Month unknown: Hebrew year 5697 if Jan–Sept, 5698 if after Rosh Hashana.

Mussolini cancels civil rights of Italian Jews.

NotesThe first racial decrees came 1–5 Sept 1938 (foreign Jews expelled, Jews banned from schools). The main laws followed on 17 Nov 1938. Same year either way.

Kristallnacht.

Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat, writes thousands of visas that save the Mir Yeshiva

NotesJuly–Aug 1940.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman, HY”D.

NotesMurdered 11 Tammuz 5701 (6 July 1941). The OU calendar lists 12 Tammuz.

Mir yeshiva reopens in Kobe, Japan.

NotesReopened in Kobe in March 1941 (Adar/Nissan 5701). Moved to Shanghai later in 1941.

Jews in the Warsaw ghetto put up their first resistance to the Nazi effort at liquidation.

Notes18 Jan 1943 (12 Shevat 5703). Typo fixed (fist became first).

Yeshiva College received its university charter, becoming Yeshiva University, the first American university under Jewish auspices.

NotesIt became a university in Nov 1945 (OU: 11 Kislev). It had been chartered as a college in 1928.

The Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, arrives in New York on Rosh Hashana and settles in Williamsburg

NotesArrived 27 Sept 1946 (2 Tishrei 5707, second day of Rosh Hashana) aboard the Vulcania.

The State of Israel is declared (5 Iyar)

Yeshivat Kol Ya’akov was established in Moscow.

NotesOpened in 1957 at the Moscow Choral Synagogue (OU: 6 Jan 1957).

Eichmann sentenced to death.

New Square, NY, is incorporated as a chassidic village

NotesIncorporated 6 Nov 1961 (Cheshvan 5722).

Yahrzeit of HaRav Aharon Kotler, founder of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.

NotesDied 2 Kislev 5723.

Man lands on the moon

Notes20 July 1969.

The order of the expulsion of the Jews of Spain (associated with Tish'a b'Av) was officially voided on the first day of Chanuka.

NotesRevoked 16 Dec 1968 (25 Kislev 5729). Spacing fixed.

Yahrzeit of the Ponevezher Rav, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, rosh yeshiva of the Ponevezh Yeshiva.

NotesDied 20 Elul 5729 in Bnei Brak. His name was added.

Israeli forces trap the Egyptian 3rd army on the eastern side of the Suez during the Yom Kippur War.

NotesThe encirclement was completed around 22–24 Oct 1973, and the 24 Oct ceasefire froze it. OU lists 30 Tishrei (26 Oct).

Kiryas Joel, the Satmar village in Orange County, is founded

NotesEstablished 1977 with about 500 residents.