This Day in History – 12 Adar 1/February 12

12 Adar I

Today is cited as a Yom Tov in Megillas Taanis. The Roman Caesar Tureinus caught Lulianus and Papus, two righteous brothers, in the city of Lod, and had them killed.

The Gemara relates (Taanis 18) that when they were captured and brought before the Caesar, he exclaimed, “If you are from the same nation as Chananyah, Mishael and Azaryah, who were previously saved through a miracle, then a miracle is expected to occur for you, too!”

They responded, “We are not as righteous as they were, and you are not great enough for a miracle to happen through you. We will die because we deserve to be punished.” They were then killed al kiddush Hashem.

Immediately thereafter, the Caesar was killed by a legion of the Roman army, and the rest of the Jewish communities were saved, which led to the declaration of this day as a Yom Tov. The Yom Tov was subsequently canceled because two other brothers, Shmayah and Achiyah, who were great men, were killed on this day.

Yahrtzeiten

5676/1916, Harav Mordechai Rotblatt, zt”l, of Slonim (Adar I)

5679/1919, Harav Shlomo of Sassov-Levov, zt”l (Adar I)

5697/1937, Harav Alter Eliezer Horowitz, zt”l, the Beitcher Rebbe

5665/2005, Harav Naftali Tzvi Halberstam of Bobov, zt”l


 

5726/1966

Harav Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum, zt”l, the Sassover Rebbe

Harav Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum was the son of Harav Chanoch Heinich, the Sassover Rebbe. He was born in 5666/1906. He was named for his maternal great-grandfather, Harav Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum, the Kedushas Yom Tov, father of his grandfather Harav Chaim Tzvi, the Atzei Chaim.

Reb Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa became the son-in-law of his uncle, Harav Yoel of Satmar, marrying his daughter Reizel. He settled in Satmar, where he was asked to head his father-in-law’s yeshivah. Later, Reb Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa was appointed Rav in Semihali. At the request of the kehillah of Satmar, Reb Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa returned to serve as Rav in the city, and was beloved by all the residents.

During World War II, Reb Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa managed, through many nissim, to escape together with his Rebbetzin from the inferno in Europe and reach Eretz Yisrael. After Harav Yoel escaped (on the Kastner train), he too made his way to Eretz Yisrael, where his daughter and son-in-law then lived. Sadly, Rebbetzin Reizel passed away childless in Eretz Yisrael.

In 5708/1948 Reb Lipa moved to America, where he established his own court. He named his court Sassov, after his maternal grandfather, Harav Shlomo of Sassov, zt”l. He remarried at that time.

In 5723/1963 Reb Lipa returned to Eretz Yisrael, where he laid the foundation for Kiryas Yismach Moshe/Sassov in Petach Tikva. However, he did not live to see its completion; he was niftar on 12 Adar, 5726/1966, at the age of 60, and buried in Teveria.

He was survived by his sons, among them Harav Yosef Dovid, Sassover Rebbe in Kiryas Yismach Moshe in Eretz Yisrael, shlita, and Harav Chanoch Heinich, Sassover Rebbe in Monsey, shlita.

Zechuso yagen aleinu.


 

February 12

In 1809, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born in present-day Larue County, Ky.

In 1818, Chile officially proclaimed its independence, more than seven years after initially renouncing Spanish rule.

In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded.

In 1912, Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, abdicated, marking the end of the Qing Dynasty.

In 1914, groundbreaking took place for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (A year later on this date, the Memorial’s cornerstone was laid.)

In 1959, the redesigned Lincoln penny — with an image of the Lincoln Memorial replacing two ears of wheat on the reverse side — went into circulation.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with a reception at the White House.

In 1973, Operation Homecoming began as the first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam conflict took place.

In 1999, the Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.

In 2013, President Barack Obama set up high-stakes clashes over guns, immigration, taxes and climate change in his State of the Union address.

A bitterly divided Senate Armed Services Committee approved, 14–11, President Obama’s nomination of Chuck Hagel to be defense secretary.

Defying U.N. warnings, North Korea conducted its third underground nuclear test.

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