This Day in History – 18 Adar II/March 25

18 Adar

Today is Purim Tzana. Purim Tzana, Yemen, was celebrated in commemoration of a great nes that occurred there. The king of Yemen had a son who was very dear to him. The king was also very close to a certain Jew and appointed him his chief adviser, naturally prompting all his other servants to despise the Jews. They schemed to bring the prince to the shul on Purim and killed him there; then they blamed the murder on the Jews.

The Jews were in dire trouble, and they fasted for three days. After the third day a young and holy child went to the prince’s body and spoke to it. Miraculously, the dead prince sat up and pointed out his killers. The day was later celebrated as Purim of Tzana.

In 5507/1747, the Pope reaffirmed a Church rule forcing Christianity upon a Jewish child who was baptized against the will of his parents and in violation of canonical law.

In 5568/1808, Napoleon I issued a decree suspending for a decade the emancipation of Jews in the French-occupied European countries.

In 5651/1891, a Russian imperial decree ordered the expulsion of all Jewish artisans, brewers, and distillers from Moscow.

In 5661/1901, Jews of Smyrna, Turkey, were attacked by Greeks who charged the Jews with ritual murder.

Yahrtzeiten

5554/1794, Harav Alexander Ziskind of Hordna, zt”l, the Yesod Veshoresh Ha’avodah (Adar II)

5630/1870, Harav Chanoch Henoch, Rebbe of Alexander, zy”a (Adar II)

5655/1895, Harav Avraham Yehuda Leib Kozak, Rav of Brok, zt”l

5687/1927, Harav Avraham Steiner, Rebbe of Kerestir, zy”a

5714/1954, Harav Yisrael Elimelech Moskowitz, zy”a, the Zabriver Rebbe

5734/1974, Harav Yechezkel Levenstein, zt”l, the Mashgiach of Ponevez

5706/1946

Harav Nachum Mordechai Friedman, Rebbe of Tchortkov, Zy”a

Harav Nachum Mordechai Friedman was the son of Harav Yisrael of Tchortkov, zy”a. He was born on 17 Shevat 5634/February 4, 1874, in Tchortkov.

He grew up in the court of his illustrious grandfather, Harav Dovid Moshe, zy”a, in Tchortkov.

When he became of age, Reb Nachum Mordechai married the daughter of Harav Shlomo Friedman of Sadigura, zy”a.

With the breakout of World War I, Rav Nachum Mordechai moved with his father to Vienna.

In 5694/1934, following the petirah of his father, Rav Nachum Mordechai was appointed Rebbe, holding court in Vienna. He would travel from time to time to Tchortkov.

Rav Nachum Mordechai was renowned for his regal middos, and his warmth and concern for others. He was a leading member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisrael.

In 5699/1939, Rav Nachum Mordechai moved to Eretz Yisrael, settling in Tel Aviv.

The war in Europe took its toll on Rav Nachum Mordechai, and he fell ill from the tzaros Yidden were enduring. He was niftar on 18 Adar II 5706/March 21, 1946.

His son, Harav Shlomo, zy”a, succeeded him as Rebbe. His sons-in-law were: Harav Yaakov Heshel of Novominsk and Harav Moshe Morgenstern.

Rav Nachum Mordechai’s divrei Torah were published under the name Doresh Tov, on the Torah and the Yamim Tovim.

Zechuso yagen aleinu.

March 25

In 1634, English colonists sent by Lord Baltimore arrived in present-day Maryland.

In 1894, Jacob S. Coxey began leading an “army” of unemployed from Massillon, Ohio, to Washington D.C., to demand help from the federal government.

In 1911, 146 people, mostly young female immigrants, were killed when fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. in New York.

In 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 people to the Alabama state capitol in Montgomery after a five-day march from Selma to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks.

In 2006, in Los Angeles, half a million people marched to protest federal legislation to make illegal immigration a felony and build more walls along the border.