This Day in History – 10 Cheshvan/November 3

Yahrtzeiten

1656/2106 B.C.E., Mesushelach was niftar seven days before the Mabul began (according to some he was niftar on 11 Cheshvan). On this day Noach and his family entered the teivah.

2321/1441 B.C.E., Gad, son of Yaakov Avinu. He was also born on this date in 2196/1566 B.C.E.

5421/1660, Harav Yechiel Michel of Cracow, zt”l, mechaber of Seder Gittin

5510/1749, Harav Aryeh Leib of Stanislav, zt”l, mechaber of Nachlas Aryeh

5550/1789, Harav Meir, zt”l, Rav of Lvov and Ostroha, mechaber of Meir Nesivim

5587/1826, Harav Avraham Oppenheim, zt”l, mechaber of Eishel Avraham on Shulchan Aruch

5592/1831, Harav Yosef Meir, zt”l, Rav of Golina

5612/1851, Harav Yitzchak Schick, zt”l, Rav of Karlin, mechaber of Keren Orah

5633/1872, Harav Meir Shapit of Kobrin, zt”l, mechaber of Nir L’Yerushalmi

5726/1965, Harav Dov Berish Weidenfeld, the Tchebiner Rav, zt”l

5662/1901, Harav Shmuel Zanvil Klapfish, zt”l, Rav in Warsaw

Harav Shmuel Zanvil Klapfish was born in 5585/1825 in Nemirov. When he was still a young boy, he moved to Warsaw with his family.

He was a talmid of Harav Moshe Yehudah Leib Silberberg, the Zayis Raanan, and received semichah from Harav Chaim Davidson, Rav of Warsaw.

Reb Shmuel Zanvil married the daughter of Harav Mordechai, known as Reb Mottele, a Rav in Warsaw.

After the petirah of Harav Nosson (Reb Noske) Spiegelglass of Warsaw in 5633/1873, Reb Shmuel Zanvil was appointed his successor.

Reb Shmuel Zanvil headed a yeshivah in Warsaw, from which many leading talmidei chachamim emerged. He delivered a daily shiur of seven hours’ duration. Later, when the responsibilities of being a Rav took more of his time, his shiur was only (!) four hours long. Reb Shmuel Zanvil purposely located the yeshivah far from his home, so as not to be disturbed with she’eilos while saying shiur.

Many leading Gedolim addressed their she’eilos to Reb Shmuel Zanvil, among them the Chiddushei Harim, zt”l, who knew Reb Shmuel Zanvil from his days in Warsaw; Harav Yosef Ber, the Brisker Rav, zt”l; and Harav Dov Berish Meizlish, zt”l.

Reb Shmuel Zanvil was niftar on 10 Cheshvan 5662/1901, at the age of 76.

He had written chiddushei Torah on many masechtos and also many halachic teshuvos, but these were never printed.

His son was Harav Mordechai, Rav in Warsaw. His sons-in-law were Harav Shlomo Dovid Kahana, Harav Chaim Yehudah Leib Yudkowski and Harav Abba Chaim Miklishanski, all of whom served as Rabbanim in Warsaw; and Harav Chaim Fein, Rav in Radzin.

Zecher tzaddik livrachah

Nov. 3

In 1839, the first Anglo-Chinese War between China and Britain broke out.

In 1852, Emperor Meiji of Japan was born in Kyoto.

In 1903, Panama proclaimed its independence from Colombia.

In 1911, the Chevrolet Motor Car Co. was founded in Detroit by Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant. (The company was acquired by General Motors in 1918.)

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt won a landslide election victory over Republican challenger Alfred M. “Alf” Landon.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, the second manmade satellite, into orbit; on board was a dog named Laika, who was sacrificed in the experiment.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson soundly defeated Republican Barry Goldwater to win a White House term in his own right.

In 1970, Salvador Allende was inaugurated as president of Chile.

In 1979, five Communist Workers Party members were killed in a clash with heavily armed Ku Klux Klansmen and neo-Nazis during an anti-Klan protest in Greensboro, North Carolina.

In 1986, the Iran-Contra affair began to come to light as Ash-Shiraa, a pro-Syrian Lebanese magazine, first broke the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran.