c 1436 BCE- Last Day of Moshe Rabbeinu's Leadership. Moshe Rabbeinu passed away on the 7th of Adar. Following Hashem's instruction that Yehoshua / Joshua should succeed him and lead the Jewish nation into Eretz Yisrael, Moshe Rabbeinu transferred leadership duties to Yehoshua on the day before he passed away. Thus the fifth day of Adar was the last day of Moshe Rabbeinu's leadership.

 

1473- First massacre of marranos - in Cordova. Although the Inquisition and the auto-da-fe was inflicted on anyone accused of heresy, its main victims were Jews. The Inquisition accused people of backsliding or heresy for actions such as not eating pig, washing hands before prayer, or changing clothes on Saturday. The number of victims in Spain alone is estimated at 39,912, many of whom were burned alive. Approximately 340,000 people, most of them Jews, suffered at the hands of the Inquisition, although the vast majority were given lesser punishments. The last auto-da-fe was held in 1790.

 

Feb. 6, 1957- In 1957, Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula. This followed the Suez War of 1956, in which France, Britain and Israel teamed up to stop Egyptian interference with shipping through the Suez Canal. (The canal was a crucial trade link between Europe and the legions of India, North Africa and the Middle East; two-thirds of Europe's oil passed through the Suez Canal.)

In the war, Israel was able to secure Gaza and the Sinai, but fearing a larger conflict with the Soviet Union, U.S. President Eisenhower forced a cease-fire and persuaded Israel to withdraw. In response to the Suez War, the Egyptian government expelled 25,000 Egyptian Jews and confiscated their property, and sent 1,000 more Jews to prisons and detention camps.

 

Torah Portion

unknown

 

 

or view this week's triennial cycle reading.

Today is

Yom Chamishi, 18 Adar II, 5784

Thursday, March 28, 2024

 

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