This Day in History – 24 Nisan/April 4

24 Nisan

In 2449/1312 B.C.E., Bnei Yisrael paused at Marah after they crossed the Yam Suf. The Gemara in Sanhedrin 56b relates: In Marah, Hashem commanded the Jews to observe ten mitzvos: the seven Mitzvos Bnei Noach plus monetary laws, Shabbos, and kibbud av va’em.

In 3412/349 B.C.E, Daniel saw a vision. The passuk says (Daniel 10:5-12): On the shore of the Chiddekel River, a man clothed in linen … his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches … was revealed to Daniel. [According to most meforshim, the man was Gavriel.] And the people (Chaggai, Zechariah and Malachi) did not see him … And the man comforted him: “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to fast before your G-d, your words have been heard.” (See meforshim there for further explanation.)

Yahrtzeiten

5366/1606, Harav Moshe of Premishlan, zt”l, mechaber of Matteh Moshe

5653/1893, Harav Chaim Menachem Heschel of Zhinkov, zt”l

5673/1913, Harav Yosef Friedman of Riminov, zt”l

5677/1917, Harav Eliyahu Akiva Rabinowitz of Poltava, zt”l

5755/1995, Reb Chaim Yitzchak Chaikin, zt”l, Rosh Yeshivah in Aix-les-Bains, France.

5624/1864

Harav Yisrael Dovid Margulies-Yaffe, zt”l, Rav of Pesing

Harav Yisrael Dovid Margulies-Yaffe, born in 5562/1802, was the son of Harav Mordechai Yaffe, a ninth-generation descendant of the famed Harav Mordechai Yaffe, the Baal HaLevushim.

As a young bachur he learned in the yeshivah of the Chasam Sofer in Pressburg.

Noted for his greatness in Torah and his profound oratorical skills, Reb Yisrael Dovid began to deliver shiurim while still a bachur.

After his marriage he was appointed Dayan in Semnitz, a position he held until 5592/1832.

Later he became Rav of Pesing. He led his kehillah with a strong hand and was at the forefront of the battle against those who sought to uproot traditional Yiddishkeit.

Reb Yisrael Dovid wrote many sefarim: Chazon Lamoed, on Hilchos Kiddush Hachodesh of the Rambam; She’eilos U’Teshuvos Mecholas Hachasanim; She’eilos U’teshuvos Har Tavor; and others which were not published.

He wrote several works on Kabbalah as well, which he instructed should not be printed.

On the second day of Pesach, 5624/1864, Reb Yisrael Dovid fell ill. He was niftar just after Pesach, on 24 Nisan, at the age of 62.

Zecher tzaddik livrachah.

April 4

In 1818, Congress decided the flag of the United States would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state of the Union.

In 1841, President William Henry Harrison succumbed to pneumonia one month after his inauguration, becoming the first U.S. chief executive to die in office.

In 1850, the city of Los Angeles was incorporated.

In 1912, China proclaimed a republic in Tibet, a move fiercely opposed by Tibetans.

In 1949, 12 nations, including the United States, signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C.

In 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., 39, was shot to death as he stood on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. (James Earl Ray later pleaded guilty to assassinating King, then spent the rest of his life claiming he’d been the victim of a setup.)

In 1973, the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center were officially dedicated. (The towers were destroyed in the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001.)

In 1975, more than 130 people, most of them children, were killed when a U.S. Air Force transport plane evacuating Vietnamese orphans crash-landed shortly after takeoff from Saigon.

In 1983, the space shuttle Challenger roared into orbit on its maiden voyage. (It was destroyed in the disaster of January 1986.)

In 1988, the Arizona Senate convicted Gov. Evan Mecham of two charges of official misconduct, and removed him from office. (Mecham was the first U.S. governor to be impeached and removed from office in nearly six decades.)