This Day in History – 27 Iyar/May 7

27 Iyar

A Yom Tov is cited in Megillas Taanis commemorating the defeat of the Yevanim (Syrian-Greeks) by the Chashmona’im. The Yevanim desecrated Eretz Yisrael by hanging crowns of roses in many locations while singing songs to their avodah zarah. They also wrote their heretical messages on the horns of bulls and donkeys.

In 5705/1945, the Theresienstadt (Terezín, Czech Republic) concentration camp was liberated. Of the approximately 144,000 Jews who were sent to Theresienstadt, 25 percent died there, mostly because of the appalling conditions (hunger, disease and a typhus epidemic at the very end of the war). About 88,000 were sent from there to Auschwitz and other extermination camps. When the war ended, a mere 19,000 had survived.

Yahrtzeiten

5660/1900, Harav Shlomo Zalman of Kopust, zt”l, mechaber of Magen Avos

5736/1976, Harav Yerachmiel Yehudah Meir Kalish of Amshinov, zt”l

5704/1944, Harav Eliezer Zev of Kretchenif, hy”d

5375/1615

Harav Avraham Shmuel Bachrach, zt”l, Rav of Worms (Vermeiza)

Harav Avraham Shmuel was one of the Gedolei Torah of his time. He was the son-in-law of Harav Yitzchak Hakohen of Prague, mechaber of Paneach Raza and Chassan Damim, who in turn was the son-in-law of the Maharal of Prague.

Reb Avraham Shmuel’s Rebbetzin, Chavah, was known for her cleverness and tzidkus. Her grandson Harav Ya’ir, the Chavos Ya’ir, named his sefer “Chavos” in honor of his grandmother Chavah. She was the sister of the great geonim Harav Chaim Katz, Rav of Posen, and Harav Naftali Katz, the Semichas Chachamim.

In the hakdamah to his sefer, the Chavos Ya’ir goes into minute detail about the nobility of his grandmother, citing her greatness in Torah and other things.

Reb Avraham Shmuel served as Rav in Worms, where he suffered greatly from persecution by government authorities. Then, in 5375/1615, all the Jews of Worms were expelled and the shuls demolished. He was almost killed during the expulsion, but his life and the life of his son were miraculously spared.

These events caused the Rav great anguish, and he was niftar a month later, at about age 40. His Rebbetzin was only 30 at that time; out of respect for her husband she never remarried.

He left a son, Harav Moshe Shimon, mechaber of Shemen Hama’or, who was known as a great darshan and maggid and was the father of the Chavos Ya’ir.

Reb Avraham Shmuel’s she’eilos u’teshuvos are found in the sefer Chut Hashani.

Zechuso yagen aleinu.

May 7

In 1763, Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa Indians, attempted to lead a sneak attack on British-held Fort Detroit, but was foiled because the British had been tipped off in advance. (The Ottawa Indians and other tribes then launched an all-out war with the British that came to be known as Pontiac’s War.)

In 1915, nearly 1,200 people died when a German torpedo sank the British liner RMS Lusitania off the Irish coast.

In 1942, U.S. Army Gen. Jonathan Wainwright went on a Manila radio station to announce the Allied surrender of the Philippines to Japanese forces during World War II.

In 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, ending its role in World War II.

In 1954, the 55-day Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces.

In 1963, the United States launched the Telstar 2 communications satellite.

In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford formally declared an end to the “Vietnam era.” In Ho Chi Minh City — formerly Saigon — the Viet Cong celebrated its takeover.

In 1992, the latest addition to America’s space shuttle fleet, Endeavour, went on its first flight.

A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise received enough votes for ratification as Michigan became the 38th state to approve it.