This Day in History – November 27/11 Kislev

11 Kislev

In 5703/1942, 7,000 Jews of Minsk were executed by the Nazis, Hy”d.

Yahrtzeiten

5495/1734, Harav Yehoshua Katz, Rav in Cracow, zt”l

5523/1762, Harav Yaakov Yitzchok Halevi of Pressburg, zt”l, mechaber of Imrei Ravreve

5546/1785, Harav Simcha, Rav of Dessau, zt”l

5546/1785 Harav Tzvi Hirsh ‘Charif’ Yanover, zt”l, Rav of Furth and Posen

5653/1892, Harav Yoel Tzvi Roth of Chust, zt”l, mechaber of Bais HaYotzer

5622/1861, Harav Yechiel, zt”l, Rav of Suvalk, mechaber of Amudei Ohr

5685/1924 Harav Yitzchok Friedman, Rebbe of Sadigura-Rimanov, zt”l

5739/1978, Harav Tzvi Aryeh Bentzion Rosenfeld, zt”l, renowned teacher of Breslov Chassidus for English speakers

5770/2009, Harav Yaakov Nayman, zt”l, Rav in Chicago for half a century

11 Kislev 5734/1973

Harav Herschel Friedman, zt”l, Rosh Yeshivas Nachlas Tzvi of Munkacs

Harav Tzvi Hersch Friedman, zt”l, was born in Beregsazs, Hungary in 5655/1895. Following his marriage, he moved to the nearby city of Munkacs.

In the early 1930s, Rav Herschel founded Yeshivas Nachlas Tzvi for young bachurim, which prepared them to learn in the famed Munkatcher Yeshivah, headed at the time by the Minchas Elazar, zy”a. Rav Herschel’s main focus was to teach the talmidim how to learn a blatt Gemara on their own and to understand each sugya. However, he also put strong emphasis on middos tovos and yiras Shamayim.

Many of Rav Herschel’s chiddushim on sugyos haShas were lost during the Holocaust. Upon arriving in America after World War II, Rav Herschel was determined to save at least some of his divrei Torah from being forgotten. He wanted to have the opportunity to instill Torah and yiras Shamayim into the next generation, and was indeed successful in publishing his new chiddushim al haTorah in his sefer Chemdas Tzvi.

For many years he would give a daily shiur in the Shomer Shabbos shul of Boro Park. This shiur was established for baalei batim who had the fire of Torah burning within them; they were known as Chevrah Lomdei Torah B’rabbim. In three hours they would cover a blatt Gemara, Chumash and Rashi, Midrash and Shulchan Aruch.

Rav Herschel was also known for the unique niggunim that he composed, which have inspired many people, including Gedolei Yisrael. It is told that the Satmar Rebbe, zy”a, would particularly enjoy singing Rav Herschel’s niggunim, and that for many years he would sing one of them for the naanu’im on Sukkos. Rav Herschel’s niggunim are still sung today at many Rebbishe tischen.

Rav Herschel was niftar on 11 Kislev 5734/1973.

Zecher tzaddik livrachah

Nov. 27

In 1701, astronomer Anders Celsius, inventor of the Celsius temperature scale, was born in Uppsala, Sweden.

In 1910, New York’s Pennsylvania Station officially opened.

In 1962, the first Boeing 727 was rolled out at the company’s Renton Plant.

In 1970, Pope Paul VI, visiting the Philippines, was slightly wounded at the Manila airport by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest.

In 1973, the Senate voted 92-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew, who’d resigned.

In 1999, Northern Ireland’s biggest party, the Ulster Unionists, cleared the way for the speedy formation of an unprecedented Protestant-Catholic administration.

In 2010, the State Department released a letter from its top lawyer to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, warning that an expected imminent release of classified cables would put “countless” lives at risk, threaten global counterterrorism operations and jeopardize U.S. relations with its allies.