This Day in History – 21 Sivan/May 30

21 Sivan

In 2450/1311 B.C.E., according to Seder Olam, today marked the end of the unfortunate incident of Kivros Hataavah in which all those who ate the slav bird died over a period of 30 days.

In 2450/1311 B.C.E., Miriam Haneviah was afflicted with tzara’as, according to Seder Olam, after speaking lashon hara about Moshe Rabbeinu. She was quarantined outside the machaneh for seven days, and only afterward did Klal Yisrael continue its travels. (Bamidbar 12:10)

In 5213/1453, the Muslim conqueror of Constantinople granted equal rights to Jews and other non-Muslims. This created a haven for many Jews who were expelled from Spain 39 years later, during the Spanish Inquisition.

Yahrtzeiten

5624/1864, Harav Elazar Horowitz of Vienna, zt”l, mechaber of Yad Elazar

5653/1893, Harav Shlomo of Munkacs, zt”l, the Shem Shlomo

5669/1909, Harav Aryeh Leibish Horowitz of Stanislav, zt”l, the Harei Besamim

5681/1921, Harav Yehoshua Heschel Fried, zt”l, Rav of Kapish, Hungary

5696/1936, Harav David Menachem Babad of Tarnopol, zt”l, the Chavatzeles Hasharon

5704/1944

Harav Shimon Sofer, Rav of Erlau, the Hisorerus Teshuvah, Hy”d

“Reb Shimon Hatzaddik,” as he was fondly called by Harav Yehoshua of Belz, was born in Pressburg, Slovakia. His father was Harav Avraham Shmuel Binyamin, the Ksav Sofer, son of the Chasam Sofer; his mother was Rebbetzin Chavah Leah. Young Shimon was diligent and displayed supreme talent. Before his bar mitzvah he had already completed maseches Beitzah 60 times!

Harav Shimon married the daughter of Harav Yitzchak Fried of Kleinvardein, but his Rebbetzin passed away, childless, at a young age. He later remarried, and lived in Russia for a while. After a divorce, he married Rebbetzin Esther Malkah, the daughter of Harav Zalman Spitzer, son-in-law of the Chasam Sofer. His sons were Harav Akiva of Stanislav; Harav Shmuel Chaim, Rav in Zhgrev; Harav Moshe, Dayan in Erlau; Harav Avraham, Rav in Guritzia; Harav Zalman of Vienna; and Harav Yaakov of Uhel. He also had four daughters.

For six years, beginning in 5634/1874, he lived in Russia, where he was venerated by all

the local Gedolei Torah. In 5640/1880, when he was 31 years old, he was called upon to assume the Rabbanus of Erlau, Hungary, where he served as Rav for 64 years. In Erlau, northeast of Budapest, he also served as Rosh Yeshivah, delivering intricate shiurim to the bachurim, while also giving several daily shiurim to the townspeople as well.

He greatly honored his grandfathers. Often in his older years, he would ask that certain pieces of Chiddushei Rav Akiva Eiger, his great-grandfather’s writings, be read to him.

He became one of Hungary’s uncontested manhigim, and he stood at the forefront of the battles to preserve Yiddishkeit in purity.

His Rebbetzin supported her illustrious husband with all her resources. The Rav once complained that he did not have enough money to print the sefarim of his grandfather, the Chasam Sofer. The Rebbetzin immediately went out and sold all of her jewelry to obtain the money that was needed. Harav Shimon subsequently printed many of the Chasam Sofer’s sefarim.

His own sefarim were She’eilos U’teshuvos Hisorerus Teshuvah and Shir Maon al haTorah. With great humility, he refused to put his name on his sefarim, printing them anonymously. He added the following to every page: “Do not rely on this sefer for halachah l’maaseh.”

Harav Shimon was a rarity in his meticulous observance of mitzvos. Nothing could inspire him with simchah like davening, learning or sitting in the sukkah. He was stringent in the mitzvah of tefillin, donning Rashi, Rabbeinu Tam and the Shimusha Rabba tefillin.

Along with 3,000 of his fellow Jews, Rav Shimon was transferred from the Erlau Ghetto to Auschwitz, where the 95-year-old Rav was viciously sent in his wheelchair to the gas chambers. His son, Harav Moshe, was also killed on this day, Hy”d. The current Erlauer Rav, Harav Yochanan Sofer, shlita, is the son of Harav Moshe.

May 30:

In 1883, 12 people were trampled to death in a stampede sparked by a rumor that the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge was in danger of collapsing.

In 1913, the Treaty of London was signed, formally ending the First Balkan War. (The Second Balkan War broke out the following month.)

In 1922, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in a ceremony attended by President Warren G. Harding, Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Robert Todd Lincoln.

In 1937, 10 people were killed when police fired on steelworkers demonstrating near the Republic Steel plant in South Chicago.

In 1943, during World War II, American troops secured the Aleutian island of Attu from Japanese forces.

In 1958, unidentified American service members killed in World War II and the Korean War were interred in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1971, the American space probe Mariner 9 blasted off from Cape Kennedy, Fla., on a journey to Mars.

In 1972, three members of the Japanese Red Army opened fire at Lod Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 26 people. Two attackers died; the third was captured.

In 1981, the president of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated in a failed military coup.