This Day in History – 13 Teves/December 21

13 Teves

In 5387/1627, the first siddur was printed on the Hebrew printing press of Amsterdam.

5628/1868, Romanian Jews were barred from the medical profession.

Yahrtzeiten

5495/1735, Harav Yitzchak Eizik of Ostraha, zt”l

5611/1850, Harav Moshe, Rebbe of Lelov, zt”l

5667/1906, Harav Nosson Nota Segal Landau, zt”l, mechaber of Kerem Nota

5735/1974, Harav Yechiel Mordechai Gordon, zt”l, mechaber of Nesivei Yam, Rosh Yeshivas Lomza

5737/1977, Harav Yitzchak Huberman, the tzaddik of Raanana, zt”l

5697/1936

Harav Shraga Feivish Hager of Zelitchik, Zy”a

Harav Shraga Feivish Hager was the son of Harav Baruch of Vizhnitz, zy”a, the Imrei Baruch. He was born c. 5630/1870.

He married the daughter of Harav Chaim Menachem of Zinkov, a grandson of the Ohev Yisrael of Apta. In his zivug sheini, Rav Shraga Feivish married the daughter of Harav Moshe of Kossov, zy”a, a relation.

After his father’s passing, Rav Shraga Feivish was appointed Rebbe in Zelitchik. He fled during World War I and settled in Chernowitz.

Although most of his father’s Chassidim traveled to the courts of his older brothers, Harav Yisrael of Vizhnitz, zy”a, and Harav Moshe of Antiniya, zy”a, his court had a large following.

Among his sons-in-law were his nephew, Harav Baruch Hager, son of his brother Harav Yechiel Michel of Horodenka; Harav Dovid Moshe Friedman of Sadigura-Gwadzhitz; and Harav Moshe Tzvi Twersky of Tolna in Philadelphia, zechusam yagein aleinu.

Rav Shraga Feivish’s son Harav Avraham Yehoshua Heshel, zy”a, served as Kossover Rebbe of America, and his son, Harav Shraga Feivel Hager, is Kossover Rebbe, shlita, in Boro Park.

Rav Shraga Feivish was niftar on 13 Teves 5697/1936 in Vizhnitz.

Zechuso yagen aleinu.

Dec. 21

In 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman concluded their “March to the Sea” as they captured Savannah, Georgia.

In 1913, the first newspaper crossword puzzle, billed as a “Word-Cross Puzzle,” was published in the New York World.

In 1968, Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.

In 1976, the oil tanker Argo Merchant broke apart near Nantucket Island off Massachusetts almost a week after running aground, spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil into the North Atlantic.

In 1991, 11 of the 12 former Soviet republics proclaimed the birth of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the death of the Soviet Union.