This Day in History – 28 Iyar/May 8

28 Iyar

The Rambam observed this day as a personal Yom Tov in honor of his discovery of Ezra Hasofer’s sefer Torah.

In 5677/1917, the Turkish government that ruled Palestine at that time authorized the return of the Jews who had been expelled from Yaffo and Tel Aviv.

In 5727/1967, the Old City of Yerushalayim was re-captured during the Six-Day War, and the Kosel once again became accessible.

Yahrtzeiten

2882/879 B.C.E., Shmuel Hanavi, zt”l. A taanis tzaddikim commemorates his yahrtzeit (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 580). In Megillas Taanis his yahrtzeit is cited as 29 Iyar.

5672/1912, Harav Yaakov Leib Twersky of Trisk, zt”l

5040/1280

Rabbeinu Yitzchak of Couerville, the mechaber of Sefer Mitzvos Hakatan (the SeMaK)

Rabbeinu Yitzchak was the son of Rabbeinu Yosef and the brother-in-law of Rabbeinu Mordechai.

He was the talmid, and later son-in-law, of Rabbeinu Yechiel of Paris. He also learned under Rabbeinu Shmuel of Aubra, who was one of the French Baalei Tosafos. Harav Shmuel was a close associate of Rabbeinu Peretz and Rabbeinu Yonah of Girodni.

One of the last of the Baalei Tosafos, Rabbeinu Yitzchak is best known for his work Sefer Mitzvos Hakatan, also known by its acronym SeMaK. This is a compilation and a more concise listing of the 613 mitzvos, based on the concept of the Sefer Mitzvos Gadol (SeMaG) of Rabbeinu Moshe of Coucy, but it does not delve into the arguments behind the decisions.

Rabbeinu Yitzchak dispatched the Sefer Mitzvos Hakatan at his own expense to Jewish communities in Western Europe so that they might copy its contents as a record of the mitzvos they were obligated to fulfill.

His sefer was divided into seven parts, called Amudei (Pillars of) Golah, for the seven days of the week. He explains which mitzvos are applicable in these days, in a clear format — hence the name Golah, applicable even in galus.

Many of the Rishonim, and later the Acharonim, wrote notes on the SeMaK.

Rabbeinu Yitzchak was niftar on 28 Iyar 5040/1280.

Zecher tzaddik livrachah.

May 8

In 1541, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River.

In 1794, Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, was executed on the guillotine during France’s Reign of Terror.

In 1884, the 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, was born in Lamar, Mo.

In 1886, Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton invented the flavor syrup for Coca-Cola.

In 1921, Sweden’s Parliament voted to abolish the death penalty.

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced on radio that Nazi Germany’s forces had surrendered, and that “the flags of freedom fly all over Europe.”

In 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon was shoved, stoned, booed and spat upon by anti-American protesters in Lima, Peru.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon announced that he had ordered the mining of Haiphong Harbor during the Vietnam War.

In 1973, militant American Indians who’d held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered.

In 1993, the Muslim-led government of Bosnia-Herzegovina and rebel Bosnian Serbs signed an agreement for a nationwide cease-fire.