This Day in History – 10 Adar II/March 12

10 Adar II

In 5109/1349, mobs rioted during the Black Death epidemic and massacred Jews in the town of Freiburg, Germany.

In 5609/1849, Jews of the Austrian Empire were granted equal civil and political rights.

Yahrtzeiten

5423/1663, Harav Pinchas of Voldova, zt”l, mechaber of Bris Shalom

5627/1867, Harav Yosef Baruch Epstein, zt”l, Der Gutter Yid of Neustadt, son of the Maor V’Shemesh

5666/1906, Harav Alexander Moshe Lapidos, zt”l, talmid of Harav Yisrael Salanter

10 Adar II 5530/1770

Harav Yosef Yoel Heilprin, zt”l, Rav of Stefan, talmid of the Baal Shem Tov

Harav Yosef Yoel Heilprin was born c. 5445/1685 in Ostroha.

His father, Harav Yaakov Aharon, was Rav in Stefan. The two of them were arrested, ostensibly for committing a robbery. To save his father, Reb Yosef Yoel “confessed” to the theft. He was sentenced to death, with the option of converting to save himself. He was spared at almost the last minute when the real thieves were caught.

Several years later, when Reb Yaakov Aharon was appointed Rav of Lutzk, Reb Yosef Yoel replaced him as Rav in Stefan.

Reb Yosef Yoel, a gaon who was also familiar with works of Kabbalah, was one of the first talmidim and Chassidim of the Baal Shem Tov (in spite of initially being a fierce opponent).

He was a wealthy man who gave generously to the poor, notably aniyei Eretz Yisrael.

His son-in-law, Harav Aharon Shmuel Hakohen of Ostroha, mechaber of V’tzivah Hakohen, succeeded him as Rav of Stefan. Reb Aharon Shmuel was a talmid of the Maggid of Mezeritch.

His son-in-law Harav Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi, son of Harav Avraham Meshulam Zalman (son of the Chacham Tzvi), was Rav of the kloiz in Ostroha.

Harav Dovid Halevi (a son-in-law in his zivug rishon; his wife passed away young, leaving him with four young children) was the Maggid of Stefan.

Reb Yosef Yoel was niftar on 10 Adar II 5530/1770 at nearly 90 years of age, and was buried in Stefan.

Zecher tzaddik livrachah.

March 12

In 1664, England’s King Charles II granted an area of land on the East Coast of North America known as New Netherland to his brother James, the Duke of York.

In 1864, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assumed command as General-in-Chief of the Union armies in the Civil War.

In 1912, the Girl Scouts of the USA had their beginnings.

In 1914, American inventor George Westinghouse died in New York at age 67.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the first of his 30 radio addresses that came to be known as “fireside chats,” telling Americans what was being done to deal with the nation’s economic crisis.

In 1934, a 6.6 magnitude earthquake shook much of northern Utah along with parts of Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming.

In 1938, the Anschluss merging Austria with Nazi Germany took place as German forces crossed the border between the two countries.

In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson won the New Hampshire Democratic primary, but Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota came in a strong second.

In 1989, some 2,500 veterans and supporters marched at the Art Institute of Chicago to demand that officials remove an American flag placed on the floor as part of a student’s exhibit.