This Day in History – 17 Teves/December 25

In 5488/1727, Congregation Shearith Israel purchased a lot in lower Manhattan on which to erect the first shul in New York. The congregation was a group comprised of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had fled the Spanish Inquisition. The founders of the congregation first met on Rosh Hashanah 5445/1684, in New Amsterdam, where they davened together.

In 5285/1524, the pope approved the organization of a Jewish community in Rome.

Yahrtzeiten

5582/1822, Harav Efraim Fishel, Rebbe of Strikov, zy”a

5610/1850, Harav Arye Leibish Lipshitz, Rebbe of Vishnitza, zy”a, the Arye d’Bei Ilai

5730/1969, Harav Pinchas Epstein, zt”l, Rav of Yerushalayim

5735/1974, Harav Suleiman (Salman) Mutzafi, zt”l

5565/1804, Harav Yaakov Krantz, Zt”l, the Dubno Maggid

Harav Yaakov Krantz was born in 5500/1740 in the town of Zhetil, Lithuania, in the area of Vilna. His father Harav Zev was his primary teacher in his youth. Reb Yaakov was a genius as well as a great masmid. In his later years he once mentioned that, from the age of 18 and on, he never slept after midnight. He also fasted frequently — he would fast every Monday and Thursday and occasionally other days as well.

He married the daughter of Reb Hersh Wahl of the town Yarislov.

He was renowned for his phenomenal oratory skills, and his great power to explain the most complex concepts through parables and homiletical insights, in ways that satisfied the sharpest intellect while at the same time could be grasped by the unlearned.

At the age of 18, he traveled to Mezhrich, Poland (not Mezhrich, Ukraine, town of the Mezhricher Maggid). At first he learned in the beis medrash there; eventually he began giving occasional lectures to small groups in which he entranced his audiences, so that he was asked to speak for the public on Shabbos. At that point he was appointed Maggid of the town, at a very young age. After two years he took up a similar position at Zolkov.

After an apparently short time there he became the Maggid in Dubno, in Ukraine, a post he held for 18 years.

The Vilna Gaon, in his elder years, asked him to come to him and “quench the thirst of my soul.” The Maggid came, and from then on, he considered himself a talmid of the Gaon.

The last 15 years of his life, he served as Maggid in the city of Zamosc, Poland. The only sefer he wrote himself was Sefer Hamiddos, based on Chovos Halevovos. His other works were published by his talmid: Ohel Yaakov on Torah and the haftaros, Kol Yaakov on the five Megillos, and Mishlei Hamaggid MiDubna.

He was niftar on 17 Teves 5565.

Dec. 25

In 1066, William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.

In 1776, Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey, during the American Revolutionary War.

In 1926, Hirohito became emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito.

In 1990, the World Wide Web came into being in Geneva, Switzerland, as computer scientists Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau created the first hyperlinked webpage.

In 1998, seven days into their journey, Richard Branson, Steve Fossett and Per Lindstrand gave up their attempt to make the first nonstop round-the-world balloon flight. They ditched near Hawaii.