This Day in History

9 Adar

Today is a taanis tzaddikim (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 480:2).

In 5700/1940, Harav Yosef Yitzchok of Lubavitch, zt”l, disembarked in New York, following his miraculous rescue from Nazi-occupied Warsaw.

Yahrtzeiten

5361/1601, Harav Mordechai Meisels of Prague, zt”l

5594/1834, Harav Menachem Stern of Sighet, zt”l, mechaber of Derech Emunah

5635/1875, Harav Shmuel Klein, zt”l, Rav of Chust and Selish and mechaber of Tzror Hachaim

5689/1929, Harav Yisrael Yaakov of Chust, zt”l

5704/1944, Harav Shmuel Dovid Ungar of Nitra, Hy”d

5749/1989, Harav Chaim Efraim Zaitchek, zt”l, Rosh Yeshivah of Ohr Chodosh

5761/2001, Harav Yehudah Zerachia Segal, zt”l, Rav of Kiryas Shalom–Tel Aviv


5548/1788

Harav Shlomo Zalman of Volozhin, zt”l

Harav Shlomo Zalman of Volozhin was born on 26 Sivan 5516/1756. His father, Harav Yitzchak, was parnas of Vilna. His older brother was the famed Harav Chaim Volozhiner, and together they learned in the yeshivah of the Vilna Gaon.

His kedushah was already noticeable when he was a baby: from age one he never drank milk without making a brachah beforehand. At the age of 2½ he began learning the alef-beis. From then on, whenever he lay in bed he took the sefer alef beis with him

Harav Shlomo Zalman went on to learn under the Vilna Gaon and became one of his top and closest talmidim. It is related that when Reb Zalman tragically passed away at a young age, the Gaon tore kriah over his prized talmid.

As a young avreich of 24, Reb Zalman was renowned as a genius with an amazing memory who did not forget anything he ever learned. He was well versed in Torah Shebichsav and Torah Sheb’al Peh, Nigleh and Nistar. Whenever a talmid chacham needed a source for his drashos or sefarim, he would ask Reb Zalman, who would pinpoint the source with accuracy.

Reb Zalman was known for his hasmadah and for learning with much dveikus. He barely went down the street in order to avoid contact with the outside world.

It is said of Reb Zalman that in his mere 32 years on this world he achieved more than an average person could achieve in a lifetime as long of that of Mesushelach — in his love of Torah, knowledge of all facets of the Torah, kedushah and middos.

Reb Zalman was niftar on 9 Adar 5548/1788.

A sefer with his chiddushim and stories about him was written by his close associate, Harav Yechezkel Feivel, and the sefer was called Toldos Adam. The sefer was adorned with haskamos from Vilna’s leading Rabbanim.


 

Thomas A. Edison poses with the the tin-foil phonograph, which he exhibited at the National Academy of Science in Washington and later demonstrated for the president at the White House, on April 18, 1878. (AP Photo)
Thomas A. Edison poses with the the tin-foil phonograph, which he exhibited at the National Academy of Science in Washington and later demonstrated for the president at the White House, on April 18, 1878. (AP Photo)

February 19

In 1803, Congress voted to accept Ohio’s borders and constitution.

In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr, accused of treason, was arrested in the Mississippi Territory, in present-day Alabama. (Burr was acquitted at trial.)

In 1846, the Texas state government was formally installed in Austin, with J. Pinckney Henderson taking the oath of office as governor.

In 1878, Thomas Edison received a U.S. patent for “an improvement in phonograph or speaking machines.”

In 1881, Kansas prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which cleared the way for the U.S. military to relocate and intern Japanese-Americans.

Japanese warplanes raided the Australian city of Darwin; at least 243 people were killed.

In 1945, during World War II, some 30,000 U.S. Marines began landing on Iwo Jima, where they began a successful month-long battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces.

In 1959, an agreement was signed by Britain, Turkey and Greece granting Cyprus its independence.

In 1976, calling the issuing of Executive Order 9066 “a sad day in American history,” President Gerald R. Ford issued a proclamation confirming that the order had been terminated with the formal cessation of hostilities of World War II.

In 1986, the U.S. Senate approved an international treaty outlawing genocide, 83–11, nearly 37 years after the pact had first been submitted for ratification.

In 1997, Deng Xiaoping, the last of China’s major Communist revolutionaries, died at age 92.

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