This Day in History – 8 Kislev/November 11

8 Kislev

In c. 3320/442 B.C.E., Yehoyakim Hamelech tossed Megillas Eichah, written by Baruch ben Neriyah, the talmid of Yirmiyahu Hanavi, into the fire.

A taanis tzaddikim was established commemorating the events of this day.

Yahrtzeiten

5429/1668, Harav Moshe, zt”l, mechaber of the Mahadurah Basra

5547/1786, Harav Yitzchak Navon, zt”l, mechaber of Din Emes

5625/1864, Harav Avraham Yitzchak of Tunis, zt”l, mechaber of Mishmeros Kehunah

5632/1871, Harav Aharon of Chernobyl, zt”l

5656/1895, Harav Nachum Dov Schneerson of Ovritch, zt”l

5702/1941, Harav Avraham Mordechai of Komarna, zt”l

5703/1942, Harav Dovid of Sochatchov, zt”l, the Chasdei Dovid

5744/1983, Harav Yaakov Yisrael Twersky of Chernobyl, zt”l

5755/2004, Harav Eliezer Geldzahler, zt”l, Rosh Yeshivas Ohr Yisrael


 

5702/1941

Harav Pinchas Dovid Horowitz, zt”l, the Bostoner Rebbe

Harav Pinchas Dovid Halevi Horowitz was born in Yerushalayim in Elul 5636/1876. His father, Harav Shmuel Shmelke Horowitz, was a direct descendant and namesake of the Rebbe Reb Shmelke of Nikolsburg.

As a young boy he was very close to his maternal grandfather, Reb Elazar Menachem Mendel of Lelov, until the latter’s passing in 5643/1883. He then became a devoted chassid of his uncle, Reb Dovid Tzvi Shlomo of Lelov. He also was part of a small group of boys who learned Mishnayos in depth with Harav Shneur Zalman of Lublin.

After his marriage to the daughter of Harav Aharon Brandwein, he settled in Tzfas near his in-laws.

When his father was tragically niftar at age 36, Reb Pinchas Dovid was forced to move back to Yerushalayim to provide for his mother and younger siblings.

After his wife passed away in 5664/1904, her father, eager to keep his son-in-law in the family, suggested that he marry his granddaughter, Sarah Sosha Brandwein, daughter of his son Rav Yechiel Michel.

In 5673/1913, Rav Pinchas Dovid was sent overseas on behalf of the Yerushalmi Kollel Galicia.

During World War I he managed to escape and find refuge in the United States with the help of Harav Yaakov Meir of Salonika, the Rav of Greece.

In gratitude to the Jews of Boston who helped him procure residential rights in America, he settled in their city. He founded a large beis medrash in the city and became known as the Bostoner Rebbe.

Despite living in Chutz laAretz, Harav Pinchas Dovid yearned for Eretz Yisrael. He visited in 5685/1925 and in 5694/1934. He would also send funds on behalf of aniyei Eretz Yisrael.

In 5700/1940, Harav Pinchas Dovid relocated from Boston to New York, where he was niftar on 8 Kislev 5702/1941 at the age of 65. In fulfillment of his request, the aron of Harav Pinchas Dovid was brought to Eretz Yisrael for re-burial in 5706/1946, when the war was finally over and it became possible to do so.

Zechuso yagen aleinu.


 

The Atlas booster lifting off with the Gemini 12 Space Capsule atop, Nov. 11, 1966. (AP Photo)
The Atlas booster lifting off with the Gemini 12 Space Capsule atop, Nov. 11, 1966. (AP Photo)

November 11

In 1620, 41 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, signed a compact calling for a “body politick.”

In 1831, former slave Nat Turner, who’d led a violent insurrection, was executed in Jerusalem, Va.

In 1889, Washington became the 42nd state.

In 1909, President William Howard Taft accepted the recommendation of a joint Army-Navy board that Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands be made the principal U.S. naval station in the Pacific.

In 1918, fighting in World War I came to an end with the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany.

In 1921, the remains of an unidentified American service member were interred in a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding.

In 1932, a new tomb to house the remains of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1942, during World War II, Germany completed its occupation of France.

In 1960, South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem survived a coup attempt by army rebels. (However, he was overthrown and killed in 1963.)

In 1966, Gemini 12 blasted off from Cape Kennedy with astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin “Buzz”Aldrin Jr. aboard.

In 1972, the U.S. Army turned over its base at Long Binh to the South Vietnamese, symbolizing the end of direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War.

In 1987, following the failure of two Supreme Court nominations, President Ronald Reagan announced his choice of Judge Anthony M. Kennedy, who went on to win confirmation.

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