This Day in History – 11 Sivan/May 20

In 5318/1558, Germany’s Kaiser restricted certain rights that had previously been given to the Jews by the government.

Yahrtzeiten

5679/1919, Harav Shmuel Rosenberg of Unsdorf, the Be’er Shmuel, zt”l

5704/1944, Harav Mordechai Brisk, Hy”d, of Chanad, Hungary, mechaber of She’eilos U’teshuvos Maharam Brisk

5749/1989, Harav Yehudah Horowitz of Dzikov, zt”l

Harav Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss, zt”l, mechaber of Minchas Yitzchak and Rav of the Eidah Hachareidis, Yerushalayim

5763/2003, Harav Simcha Rubin, the Sassover Rebbe of London, zt”l

5704/1944

Harav Yosef Elimelech Kahana, zt”l, Rav of Ungvar

Harav Yosef Elimelech ben Harav Yitzchak Eizik Kahana was born in 5626/1866, in Rudnawitz.

As a bachur, he learned in the yeshivah of Harav Chaim Tzvi Manheimer, in Ungvar, and later in the yeshivah of the Shevet Sofer in Pressburg.

Reb Yosef Elimelech was given semichah by Harav Shlomo Gantzfried, the mechaber of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, as well as by the Shevet Sofer.

At the age of 26, he was appointed Rav of Dzandany, and later was Rav in Bonihad and in Tzehelem. In all of these cities, besides serving as Rav, Reb Yosef Elimelech also headed a yeshivah.

In 5691/1931, Reb Yosef Elimelech was appointed Rav of Ungvar.

As Rav, he was well admired by the local Jews and non-Jews alike. Even the local bishops respected the Rav and asked his opinion on local issues.

As Rosh Yeshivah, Reb Yosef Elimelech taught the bachurim to learn with diligence and toil, not to be satisfied with less than perfection and to fully utilize time. He also instructed the bachurim to always daven from a siddur, not by heart.

Reb Yosef Elimelech would travel to the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, and later to his son Harav Yechezkel of Shinev. He also traveled to the court of Harav Yehoshua of Belz.

In Sivan of 5704/1944, Reb Yosef Elimelech was among the nearly 25,000 Yidden of Ungvar who were rounded up and sent in three groups to Auschwitz. Reb Yosef Elimelech was in the last transport, on the second day of Shavuos, arriving in Auschwitz on 10 Sivan.

The next day, 11 Sivan, he was killed al Kiddush Hashem.

Reb Yosef Elimelech was 82 at his death.

Hashem yinkom damo.

May 20

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which was intended to encourage settlements west of the Mississippi River by making federal land available for farming.

In 1902, the United States ended a three-year military presence in Cuba as the Republic of Cuba was established under its first elected president, Tomas Estrada Palma.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, N.Y., aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. (Because of weather and equipment problems, Earhart set down in Northern Ireland, instead of her intended destination, France.)

In 1939, regular trans-Atlantic mail service began as a Pan American Airways plane, the Yankee Clipper, took off from Port Washington, N.Y., bound for Marseille, France.

In 1942, during World War II, the Office of Civilian Defense was established.

In 1959, nearly 5,000 Japanese-Americans had their U.S. citizenship restored after renouncing it during World War II.

In 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Ala., prompting the federal government to send in U.S. marshals to restore order.

In 1969, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Ap Bia Mountain, referred to as “Hamburger Hill” by the Americans, following one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.

In 1970, some 100,000 people demonstrated in New York’s Wall Street district in support of U.S. policy in Vietnam and Cambodia.