This Day in History – 2 Tammuz/June 10

2 Tammuz

In 4856/1096, the Crusaders arrived in the city of Weltzk, assembled all the Jews and led them to their deaths. Hy”d.

Yahrtzeiten

2310/1451 B.C.E., according to most opinions, Yosef Hatzaddik. He was also born on this date, in 2200/1561 B.C.E. According to other opinions he was niftar on 27 Tammuz.

5525/1765, Harav Nachman of Horodenka, zt”l

5649/1889, Harav Avraham Twersky, zt”l, the Trisker Maggid

5678/1918, Harav Eliezer Nisan of Dzikov, zt”l

5623/1863

Harav Mordechai Zev Itinga, zt”l, mechaber of Mefarshei Hayam

Harav Mordechai Zev Itinga was the son of Harav Yitzchak Aharon. He was born in 5565/1805.

In his younger years he learned under Harav Naftali Hirtz Sochotchov, Rav of Lvov. Later he learned under his famous uncle, Harav Mordechai Zev Orenstein, the Yeshuos Yaakov.

Reb Mordechai Zev was renowned as an outstanding talmid chacham who dedicated all his time to learning Torah. Although he could have served as a Rav, Reb Mordechai Zev preferred not to support himself from Torah.

His greatness in Torah and halachah is evident in his Maamar Mordechai, his correspondence with the other Gedolim of his generation. His other sefarim include Magen Gibborim, on Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, which has become one of the basic sefarim on Orach Chaim; and his notes, written together with his brother-in-law Harav Yosef Shaul Natanzohn under the name Mefarshei Hayam are also well known.

Reb Mordechai Zev was also known for his acts of tzedakah and chessed, especially towards the poor of Eretz Yisrael.

Reb Mordechai Zev was niftar on 2 Tammuz 5623/1863, at the age of 58.

Zecher tzaddik livrachah.

June 10

In 1692, the first official execution resulting from the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts took place as Bridget Bishop was hanged.

In 1861, during the Civil War, Confederate troops routed Union soldiers in the Battle of Big Bethel in Virginia.

In 1921, President Warren G. Harding signed into law the Budget and Accounting Act, which created the Bureau of the Budget and the General Accounting Office.

In 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron, Ohio, by Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith and William Griffith Wilson.

In 1940, Italy declared war on France and Britain; Canada declared war on Italy.

In 1942, during World War II, German forces massacred 173 male residents of Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in retaliation for the killing of Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed into law the Equal Pay Act of 1963, aimed at eliminating wage disparities based on gender. The same day, Kennedy delivered a commencement address at American University in Washington, D.C., in which he declared, “If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can make the world safe for diversity.”

In 1967, the Middle East War ended as Israel and Syria
agreed to observe a United Nations–mediated cease-fire.

In 1971, President Richard M. Nixon lifted a two-decades-old trade embargo on China.