This Day In History 10 Shevat/February 6

10 Shevat

In 4995/1234, seven German Jews were tortured and burned al kiddush Hashem

Yahrtzeiten

5325/1565, Harav Meir Katzenellenbogen, zt”l, the Maharam Padwa

5537/1777, Harav Shalom Sharabi, zt”l, the Rashash, mechaber of Nahar Shalom

5710/1950, Harav Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson of Lubavitch, zt”l

5712/1952

Harav Yitzchak Isaac Sher, zt”l, Rosh Yeshivah of Slabodka

Harav Yitzchak Isaac Sher was born in 5635/1875 in Halusk, Russia. His father was Harav Yosef Chaim Sher.

As a child, he was already known for refined middos. After completing cheder in Halusk, he attended shiurim given by Harav Baruch Ber Leibowitz, zt”l, who was then Rav of Halusk. Then he went on to learn in Volozhin.

In 5663/1903, Reb Yitzchak Isaac married the Alter of Slabodka’s youngest daughter, Maryasha Gittel, and moved to Kelm. There he became close with Harav Simchah Zissel Ziv, zt”l, who played a crucial role in shaping Harav Yitzchak Isaac’s outlook.

A short while later he returned to Slabodka, where, in 5671/1911, he was appointed to the post of Maggid Shiur in the yeshivah.

Reb Yitzchak Isaac was outstanding in both his Torah learning and his perception of mussar, demonstrating that these two areas are not separate entities of Torah, but rather inseparable units. He even titled his monumental mussar work Shiurei Mussar, and not Sichos Mussar, to demonstrate that point.

With the outbreak of World War I, the yeshivah was forced to leave Slabodka and moved to Minsk and Kremenchug. During this trying period, Reb Yitzchak Isaac boosted the morale of the bachurim and strengthened their emunah and bitachon.

In 5680/1920, after the yeshivah finally returned to Slabodka, Rav Yitzchak Isaac headed the Beis Yisrael Kollel, founded by the Alter.

During this period, Reb Yitzchak Isaac began to put his chiddushim in halachah and mussar on paper. Some of them appear in the sefer Beis Yisrael, which he compiled.

In 5688/1928, the Alter went to Eretz Yisrael, along with the majority of the bachurim of Slabodka, and settled in Chevron. At that point, Reb Yitzchak Isaac was appointed Rosh Yeshivah of Slabodka’s European branch, a position which included shouldering the yeshivah’s financial burden. He traveled to America on several occasions to raise funds.

A few weeks before the outbreak of World War II, Reb Yitzchak Isaac traveled to a resort in Switzerland. As a result, he was spared the tragic fate which befell the staff and talmidim of the yeshivah, all of whom perished al kiddush Hashem.

When Reb Yitzchak Isaac finally reached Eretz Yisrael, he first resided in Yerushalayim. Then, at the advice of the Chazon Ish, zt”l, he re-established Yeshivas Slabodka in Bnei Brak.

Reb Yitzchak Isaac was niftar on 10 Shevat 5712/1952 after suffering a heart attack. Many people attended his levayah in Bnei Brak.

Zecher tzaddik livrachah.

Feb. 6

In 1788, Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1815, the state of New Jersey issued the first American railroad charter to John Stevens, who proposed a rail link between Trenton and New Brunswick. (The line, however, was never built.)

In 1899, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain was ratified by the U.S. Senate.

In 1933, the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the so-called “lame duck” amendment, was proclaimed in effect by Secretary of State Henry Stimson.

In 1952, Britain’s King George VI died at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England; he was succeeded as monarch by his elder daughter, who became Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1973, Dixy Lee Ray was appointed by President Richard Nixon to be the first woman to head the Atomic Energy Commission.

In 1987, Wall Street Journal reporter Gerald Seib was released after being detained six days by Iran, accused of being a spy for Israel; Iran said the detention was a result of misunderstandings.

In 1995, the space shuttle Discovery flew to within 37 feet of the Russian space station Mir in the first rendezvous of its kind in two decades.