This Day in History – 29 Av/August 25

In 2449/1312 B.C.E., Moshe Rabbeinu came down from Har Sinai after the second 40-day period. (According to other opinions, this occurred on 29 Av; see the sefer Dvar Yom B’Yomo)

In 3334/427 B.C.E., the days of Yechezkel Hanavi lying in bed came to an end. He said his subsequent nevuah on 5 Elul.

In 5522/1762, the Vaad Arba Aratzos (Council of Four Countries), the sovereign governing body of Polish Jewry, met for the last time in Piltz.

Yahrtzeiten

5591/1831, Harav Moshe of Zaloshen, zt”l, mechaber of Mishpat Tzedek

5669/1909, Harav Shmuel Salant, zt”l, Rav of Yerushalayim

5671/1911, Harav Yisrael Shalom Yosef Heschel of Mezhibuzh, zt”l

5702/1942, Harav Menachem Mendel Alter, Hy”d, Rav of Pavianiecz

5705/1945, Harav Avraham Dov of Rachmastrivka, zt”l

5742/1982, Harav Eliezer Zusha Portugal, zt”l, the Skulener Rebbe.

5677/1917

Harav Yosef Meir of Machnovka, zt”l

Reb Yosef Meir Twersky was born in 5620/1860 in Skver. He was the son of Reb Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Skver.

Reb Yosef Meir was the son-in-law of Reb Menachem Nachum Twersky of Loyav, like him a descendant of the Chernobyl dynasty.

After the petirah of his father in 5246/1886, Reb Yosef Meir was appointed Rebbe in the village of Machnovka in Ukraine.

His court attracted many thousands of chassidim, and his influence was tremendous. Reb Yosef Meir was revered by his generation; many tzaddikim said that he was worthy of being among the talmidim of the Baal Shem Tov.

Reb Yosef Meir was known as a baki in sifrei Kabbalah. He endured fasts and other self-inflictions.

During World War I, many Yidden found refuge in his beis medrash, despite the mesirus nefesh this demanded of him.

Reb Yosef Meir was niftar on Erev Rosh Chodesh Elul 5677/1917 in Machnovka. He was 57.

His son, Reb Avraham Yehoshua Heshel, succeeded him as Rebbe. He later moved to Eretz Yisrael, where he rebuilt the Machnovka court in Bnei Brak.

Reb Yosef Meir’s sons-in-law were Reb Dovid Leib Twersky; Reb Nachum Twersky of Zlotipoli, the son of Rav Dovid of Skver; and Reb Yehoshua Rokeach of Yaroslav.

Zechuso yagen aleinu.

August 25

In 1718, hundreds of French colonists arrived in Louisiana, with some settling in present-day New Orleans.

In 1825, Uruguay declared independence from Brazil.

In 1916, the National Park Service was established within the Department of the Interior.

In 1921, the United States signed a peace treaty with Germany.

In 1943, U.S.-led Allied troops liberated New Georgia in the Solomon Islands from Japanese forces during World War II.

In 1944, during World War II, Paris was liberated by Allied forces after four years of Nazi occupation. Romania declared war on former ally Germany.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure providing pensions for former U.S. presidents and their widows.

In 1967, George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, was shot to death in the parking lot of a shopping center in Arlington, Virginia; former party member John Patler was later convicted of the killing.

In 1981, the U.S. spacecraft Voyager 2 came within 63,000 miles of Saturn’s cloud cover, sending back pictures of and data about the ringed planet.

In 1989, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Neptune, its final planetary target.