This Day in History – 8 Iyar/April 18

8 Iyar

In 4856/1096, the Jews of Speyer, Germany, were massacred in the First Crusade. The event occurred on Shabbos. Hashem yinkom damam.

In 5276/1516, the first ghetto for Jews was established in Venice.

In 5427/1667, mass anti-Jewish riots erupted in Lemberg, Galicia. The day was observed as a fast day.

In 5559/1799, Napoleon was defeated in his Near Eastern campaign at Acre, Eretz Yisrael.

Yahrtzeiten

5424/1664, Harav Shimon (Rav of Lvov), Harav Mordechai and Harav Shlomo, the sons of the Taz, were killed al kiddush Hashem in Lvov together with many other prominent Rabbanim and parnassim. (For further details, see sefer Melitzei Aish.) Hy”d.

5591/1831, Harav Yerachmiel Rabinowitz of Peshischa, the Kedushas Ha’yehudi, zt”l

5608/1848, Harav Chaim Avraham Gaghin, zt”l, Rishon LeTzion of Yerushalayim, mechaber of Chukei Chaim and Minchah Tehorah

5628/1868, Harav Mordechai Michael Yaffa, zt”l, Rav of Zadon, talmid of Harav Akiva Eiger, zt”l

5703/1943

Harav Moshe Mordechai Twersky of Trisk-Lublin, Hy”d

Harav Moshe Mordechai Twersky was born in 5634/1874. His father, Harav Yaakov Aryeh of Trisk, was a descendant of the holy Chernobyler dynasty.

He was the son-in-law of Harav Asher of Karlin in his zivug rishon, and in his zivug sheini, son-in-law of Harav Baruch Meir Twersky of Azarnitz, also from the Chernobyler dynasty.

After the petirah of his father, on 28 Iyar 5678/1918, Reb Moshe Mordechai was appointed Rebbe. He moved to Lublin, and became known as Reb Moshe Trisker.

Reb Moshe was known for his spirited tefillos and sweet voice, which attracted a large crowd to his beis medrash. Many were inspired by his “Shalom Aleichem” on Leil Shabbos and “Ribbono shel Olam” after Sefiras HaOmer.

During the Nazi occupation, when the Nazis began sending Jews to the concentration camp of Majdanek, they also took the Rebbe and his family. They were first held in the courtyard of the Jewish neighborhood, along with all the other local Jews. From there, they were all taken away.

The German SS officer came to Lublin with papers to take the Rebbe and his family to Switzerland. But Reb Moshe adamantly refused. He sent a letter to the committee in Geneva, saying that when the ship is sinking, the captain must stay on board. He must first save the lives of the passengers, then his own — and not the opposite! Reb Moshe insisted on sharing the fate of the other Polish Jews.

The day before he was killed, Reb Moshe said divrei Torah to one of his Chassidim who managed to escape. He spoke of Parashas Shoftim, where the parashah begins talking of war, and ends with the laws of eglah arufah. The next parashah, Ki Seitzei, also talks of war. The question is: why does the Torah divide up the parashiyos of war with the parashah of eglah arufah? The Rebbe answered that in the parashah of eglah arufah, the beis din of the city closest to the dead body must pronounce, “We did not spill this blood.” This shows that even during war, when life looks like it is hefker, the Torah tells us that we still have to account for and show importance for every Jewish life. If, chas v’shalom, a Jew is killed, the beis din must say they were not responsible for his death.

The Rebbe was killed the next day, 8 Iyar, 5703/1943, in the forest of Kempnitz, along with his Rebbetzin.

Reb Moshe had four sons and two daughters. His son, Harav Aharon Dovid, the Rav of Gorshkov and mechaber of Sefer Hayachas Mi’Chernobyl, was killed. Harav Avraham Yitzchak lived in London and later in America. Harav Yochanan of Horbishow was killed during the War. Harav Baruch Meir settled in America. His son-in-law Harav Aharon Twersky was killed along with his wife, Rebbetzin Gittel, in the War. His other son-in-law was Harav Menachem Tzvi Eichenstein, Rav in St. Louis.

His divrei Torah have been printed in the sefer Ohel Moshe.

His grandson, Harav Moshe Mordechai Eichenstein, shlita, is Trisker Rebbe in Yerushalayim.

Zechuso yagen aleinu.

Hashem yinkom damo.

April 18

In 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British were coming.

In 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.

In 1910, suffragists showed up at the U.S. Capitol with half a million signatures demanding that women be given the right to vote.

In 1942, an air squadron from the USS Hornet led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.

In 1943, during World War II, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, was killed as his plane was shot down by U.S. fighters while approaching Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.

In 1955, physicist Albert Einstein died in Princeton, N.J., at age 76.

In 1978, the Senate approved the Panama Canal Treaty, providing for the complete turnover of control of the waterway to Panama on the last day of 1999.

In 1983, 63 people, including 17 Americans, were killed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, by a suicide bomber.

In 1988, an Israeli court convicted John Demjanjuk, a retired auto worker from Cleveland, of committing war crimes at the Treblinka death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. (However, Israel’s Supreme Court later overturned Demjanjuk’s conviction.)