This Day In History 16 Teves/January 3

In 5399/1639, the Turkish Sultan, Morad the 4th, conquered, with the help of the Jews, the city of Baghdad for the second time from the Persians. Because of that event today was celebrated as “Purim Baghdad.” In the Baghdad kehillah Tachanun was not recited.

In 5542/1782, Emperor Joseph II of Austria issued an Edict of Toleration which repealed most restrictions on Jews that had been imposed by the Church. Unfortunately, it also led to assimilation.

5762/2001, Harav Chaim Kreiswirth, Rav of Antwerp, Zt”l

Harav Chaim was born in the town of Voinitch in 5679/1919, to his father Harav Avraham Yosef, zt”l, who descended from many esteemed Rabbanim, and his mother Pearl. His father sent him away to learn in the town of Tarnow, and he learned there diligently. His bar mitzvah was held in the Belzer shtiebel in Tarnow where Harav Ahron, Rebbe of Belz, zy”a, put tefillin on him for the first time.

In 5694/1934, he was accepted to Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, where he was considered one of the most esteemed talmidim, and developed a close relationship with the famed Rosh Yeshivah, Harav Shimon Horowitz of Zhelichov, zt”l. At 17, he moved to Cracow, and at 18 he was already delivering a daily shiur in the Tchechoiv-Sanz beis medrash in Cracow, where he became known as the “Iluy of Cracow.”

Subsequently he transferred to Warsaw and was accepted as Rosh Yeshivah in the yeshivah of the Piacezne Rebbe, zy”a, author of “Chovas Hatalmidim.” He also gave a high-level shiur to talmidei chachamim in Warsaw.

At the outbreak of World War II, he fled to Kovno, Lithuania. Despite difficult wartime conditions, Harav Chaim married the daughter of Harav Avraham Grodzenski, zt”l, Hy”d, the Mashgiach of the Slabodka yeshivah. Soon afterwards they were forced to flee to Vilna and miraculously survived.

In 5701/1941, Harav Chaim reached the shores of Eretz Yisrael, where he was able to devote himself to learning day and night. He was close to many Gedolim in Eretz Yisrael, who held him in very high esteem. He eventually went to the United States where, in 5707/1947, he accepted a position as Rosh Yeshivah in Chicago, Illinois. There, he attracted huge numbers of talmidim, many of whom went on to become marbitzei Torah throughout the world.

In 5713/1953, Rav Kreiswirth accepted the position of Rav of Antwerp, which he held for 50 years. With his charismatic character and unswerving principles, he became the acknowledged Mara d’Asra, rebuilding the once-thriving community that had been decimated by the Holocaust. Over the years, Rav Kreiswirth strengthened the basis of Yiddishkeit in his city, supervising kashrus, mikvaos, providing behavioral guidelines and establishing Torah institutions. The effects of his work were felt all over Europe.

His extraordinary geonus was both penetrating and extensive; he knew by heart entire tracts from both Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi, Rishonim as well as Acharonim.

Twenty years before he was niftar, he fell victim to a malignant disease. It was at this time that he decided to dedicate himself wholly to chessed, offering relief to orphans and widows, the poor and the downtrodden, and he traveled far and wide for this purpose. Harav Chaim Kreisworth is buried on Har Hamenuchos.

Jan. 3

In 1868, Japan’s Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of the emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as shoguns; the upheaval paved the way for Japan’s drive toward becoming a modern power.

In 1870, groundbreaking took place for the Brooklyn Bridge.

In 1911, the first postal savings banks were opened by the U.S. Post Office. (The banks were abolished in 1966.)

In 1938, the March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who himself had been afflicted with the crippling disease.

In 1958, the first six members of the newly formed U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held their first meeting at the White House.