This Day in History – 9 Iyar/April 19

9 Iyar

In 2870/891 B.C.E., the Jews went to war with the Plishtim, and lost.

In 5414/1654, this date marked the end of a three-month grace period given by the Portuguese to the Jews of Brazil to leave the country. Those who remained after this deadline were handed over to the infamous Inquisition.

In 5524/1764, a letter by Empress Catherine II of Russia opened the way for limited settlement of Jews in Riga.

Yahrtzeiten

5609/1849, Harav Yitzchak Barneis, zt”l, Rav of Hamburg

5686/1926, Harav Moshe Hager of Shatz, zt”l, son of Harav Baruch of Vizhnitz

5759/1999, Harav Moshe Hager, zt”l, Rosh Yeshivah of Seret-Vizhnitz, Haifa.

5199/1439

Harav Avigdor Kara, zt”l, Rav of Prague

Harav Avigdor Kara was the son of Harav Yitzchak.

He married the sister of Harav Yehudah Lowy (I), the grandfather and namesake of the Maharal of Prague.

He served as Dayan in Regensburg, and later was appointed Dayan in Prague.

Harav Avigdor served in this capacity as Dayan together with Harav Yom Tov Lipman Milhausen, the mechaber of Sefer Nitzachon, and Harav Menachem Shalem.

Following the pogrom against the Jews of Prague, on Acharon shel Pesach 5549/1389, Reb Avigdor composed a kinah, “Es Kol Hatla’ah” which was added to the Ashkenaz machzor in Minchah of Yom Kippur.

He also composed other piyutim, which were sung at events, as well as She’eilos U’teshuvos that were recently published.

According to some accounts, Rav Avigdor enjoyed a high reputation and associated with King Wenceslaus of Bohemia, who liked to converse with him on religious matters. The King agreed with Rav Avigdor on many issues and gave much freedom to the Jews.

Rav Avigdor was niftar on Shabbos 9 Iyar 5199/1439, and was buried on Sunday, 10 Iyar. His was the first kever in Prague’s old cemetery.

His son Harav Avraham served as Dayan in Prague.

Zecher tzaddik livrachah.

April 19

In 1775, the American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.

In 1861, a week after the Civil War began, President Abraham Lincoln authorized a blockade of Southern ports.

In 1912, a special subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee opened hearings in New York into the Titanic disaster.

In 1933, the United States went off the gold standard.

In 1943, during World War II, tens of thousands of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto began a valiant but ultimately futile battle against Nazi forces.

In 1951, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his Far East command by President Harry S. Truman, bade farewell in an address to Congress in which he quoted a line from a ballad: “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”

In 1960, South Korean students began an uprising that toppled the government of President Syngman Rhee a week later.

The South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO) was founded in Namibia.

In 1982, astronauts Sally K. Ride and Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first woman and first African-American to be tapped for U.S. space missions.

In 1993, the 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended as fire destroyed the structure after federal agents began smashing their way in; dozens of people, including sect leader David Koresh, were killed.

In 1995, a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. (Bomber Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.)