Dec. 21, 1860:
Birthday of Henrietta Szold, known as the “Mother of the Yishuv,” founder of the Hadassah women’s organization and Youth Aliyah, which saved thousands of Jewish children in Europe and brought them to pre-state Israel.
Dec. 22, 1878:
Hebrew poet Naftali Hertz Imber wrote the lyrics for “Hatikvah,” which eventually became the national anthem of the State of Israel.
As long as in the heart within,
The Jewish soul yearns,
And toward the eastern edges, onward,
An eye gazes toward Zion.
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope that is 2,000 years old,
To be a free nation in our land,
The Land of Zion and Jerusalem.
Dec. 23, 1791:
Empress Catherine II of Russia created the Pale of Settlement, forcing Jews out of the major cities and ports into the area known as White Russia, beyond which Jewish residency, permanent or temporary, was mostly forbidden.
Dec. 24, 1868:
Birthday of Emanuel Lasker, mathematician and World Chess champion for an unprecedented 27 years, from 1894 to 1921.
Dec. 25, 2 BCE:
The date traditionally held to be the birthday of Jesus of Nazareth, a Galilean Jew whose life and teachings inspired the Christian religion, still the largest faith in the world.
Dec. 26, 1936:
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was founded, playing its first concert under the direction of maestro Arturo Toscanini.
Dec. 27, 2008:
After Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza fired more than 2,000 rockets into Israel between 2005-2008, killing four Israeli civilians and wounding 75, the IDF launched Operation Cast Lead. Israel’s stated goal was to stop the indiscriminate Palestinian rocket fire into Israel and weapons smuggling into Gaza. The operation ended on Jan. 18, 2009, without achieving its goal.
Tevet 8, 3515 (246 BCE):
The Greek translation of the Torah, known as the Septuagint, undertaken at the initiative of Egyptian King Ptolemy for inclusion in the library of Alexandria, was completed.
Seventy-two sages were isolated and wrote separate translations. When the 72 were compared they were all identical, including 13 changes to the text [Megillah, 9a].
The date was observed as a fast day during Talmudic times. The Septuagint opened up the Bible to the masses – helping spread the Jewish ideals of monotheism, peace, and justice.
Tevet 9, 3321 (440 BCE):
Death of Ezra the Scribe, leader of the return to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile in 457 BCE. Author of the books Ezra and Chronicles, and founder of the Great Assembly, a body in which was vested supreme religious authority to interpret the law.
In addition, he adopted the square Hebrew script, which is still in use today; instituted public Torah readings on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; and established the synagogue in its central position in Jewish life. The passing of Ezra marked the end of the Era of Prophecy.
Tevet 10 (Asara Betevet):
One of four fast days commemorating the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the First Temple, mentioned by the prophet Zecharia (8:19). More recently, Tevet 10 was chosen to serve as a “general Kaddish day” for the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis, many of whose day of martyrdom is unknown.
Dec. 31, 1963:
Israel’s first desalinating water facility opened in Eilat. Today, Israel’s national water company, Mekorot, operates 29 desalination plants, enabling Israel to no longer be solely dependent on natural sources.
Jan. 1, 1911:
Birthday of Hank Greenberg, Detroit Tigers slugger and two-time MVP. In 1938 he was a serious challenger to Babe Ruth’s 60 home-run record but ended up with 58, since he was “pitched around” so a Jew wouldn’t break the record.
Known as the “Hebrew Hammer,” Greenberg grew up in an observant Jewish household, did not play baseball on Yom Kippur, and in 1954 became the first Jew to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“Every home run I hit,” he once said, “was a home run against Hitler.”
<br><strong>Jan. 2, 1924: </strong>
The Simon & Schuster publishing company was founded by Richard Simon and Max Schuster with $8,000. Their initial project, the first-ever crossword puzzle book, was a runaway bestseller.
By 2017, the company had grown into the third-largest publisher in the United States, publishing 2,000 titles annually under 35 different imprints. Simon & Schuster and its imprints have won 56 Pulitzer Prizes. The company has been the recipient of numerous National Book Awards; National Book Critics Circle Awards; Grammy Awards; and Newbery and Caldecott Medals.
Jan. 3, 1975:
The Trade Act of 1974 – which included the Jackson-Vanik amendment that limited US trade relations with countries that restricted freedom of emigration and other human rights – was passed by both houses of the United States Congress unanimously and signed into law by president Gerald Ford.
This law was instrumental in freeing Jewish refuseniks from the USSR, eventually leading to an estimated one million Soviet Jews immigrating to Israel and half a million to the US.
Tevet 15, 4817 (1056):
Yahrzeit of Shmuel Hanagid (Rabbi Shmuel ibn Naghrillah), leader of Spanish Jewry, scholar, soldier, merchant, statesman, and poet, who lived in Iberia during the golden age of Jewish culture.
Best known as the first Hebrew poet of the Middle Ages to compose secular poetry, he was perhaps the most politically influential Jew in Moorish Spain, serving as the vizier and top general (commanding a Muslim army) of the king of Granada.
He wrote:
Shake off, shake off [the dust], and receive the day of salvation!
Your days of mourning are over, your pain is past, your balm has been found.
Arise, O drunk and storm-tossed one, intoxicate those who intoxicate you.
Now, he who has been seen but [has] not [risen until] now, will rise up like a lion.
Zion, which became a withered tree, will bear fruit,
Those who disgraced you will be disgraced, and no longer will you be called a rebellious people.
Jan. 5, 1895:
Captain Alfred Dreyfus – accused, tried, and convicted in France on what turned out to be fabricated evidence – was subjected to public military degradation. Theodor Herzl, a journalist at the time, witnessed the ceremony and was moved to write Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), the book that set modern Zionism into motion. In November 2025, the French government promoted Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general, 130 years after his wrongful accusation.
Jan. 6, 1921:
Birthday of Wolfgang Lotz, Israeli spy who posed as a former Nazi officer in Egypt during the 1960s, while providing intelligence on the Egyptian military and its industries. He was arrested by Egypt in 1965 and subsequently repatriated to Israel in a prisoner exchange.
Jan. 7, 1949:
During Operation Horev, the IDF forced the Egyptian Army to withdraw from the Western Negev and accept a ceasefire.
Jan. 8, 1910:
Birthday of Jacob Rabinow, engineer and inventor with 229 US patents on a variety of mechanical, optical, and electrical devices. Among them are the first disc-shaped magnetic storage media for computers (1954); the first self-regulating clock (1960); and his “reading machine” (1960), which was the first to use the “best match principle” and was the basis for the reading, sorting, and processing machines still used today by banks and post offices.
Tevet 20, 4966 (1204):
Yahrzeit of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam; also known as Maimonides), Talmudist, codifier, physician, and philosopher, widely regarded as the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages. Born in Cordova, Spain, he fled after its capture by the Al Mohadan fanatics, and settled in Cairo. There, in addition to leading the Jewish community, he was a top physician who served in the royal court of the sultan of Egypt.
His magnum opus, the Mishneh Torah, a comprehensive 14-volume code of Jewish law, has since been the subject of more than 300 commentaries. He also wrote Guide for the Perplexed, which explains Jewish theology in light of Aristotelian philosophy and science. He is buried in Tiberias.
Tevet 21:
Hebrew Language Day
Every year on the Hebrew birthday of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the extraordinary story of the revival of the Hebrew language, unparalleled in history, is celebrated in schools, in the IDF, and in cooperation with the Zionist Organization in the Diaspora.
A language with roots dating back more than 3,000 years, Hebrew was brought back to life after centuries during which it effectively lay dormant. It’s now flourishing, with more than nine million Hebrew speakers worldwide, the majority of whom are native Hebrew speakers.
Jan. 11, 1907:
Birthday of Abraham Joshua Heschel – scholar, philosopher, and prolific author in the fields of Jewish theology, law, and mysticism. He gained wide recognition for marching with Martin Luther King for Black civil rights in America.
“Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed,” he said.
Jan. 12, 1906:
Birthday of Emmanuel Levinas, Russian-born French philosopher best known for his writings on themes of Jewish philosophy, existentialism, and ethics.
Tevet 24, 5573 (1812):
Yahrzeit of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, student of the Maggid of Mezritch, founder of the Chabad hassidic movement, and author of Tanya, the basic work of Lubavitch Hassidim, combining intellectualism and mysticism.
Jan. 14, 1925:
Birthday of “Reb” Shlomo Carlebach. The “singing rabbi” inspired tens of thousands of young unaffiliated Jews from the 1960s until his death (and beyond) through his songs, stories, and teachings.
Jan. 15, 1969:
Soviet cosmonaut Boris Volynov became the first Jew in space, flying on the Soyuz 5 mission.
Tevet 27, 5648 (1888):
Yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, German theologian, prolific author, philosopher, and dynamic leader of Modern Orthodox Jewry. He revitalized German Jewry during the tumultuous times of Enlightenment by advocating a philosophy of Torah im derech eretz – combining Torah study while integrating into modern society.
Jan. 17, 1945:
Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat instrumental in saving approximately 100,000 Hungarian Jews from the Nazis, disappeared in Budapest under mysterious circumstances, two days after the city was liberated. “To me, there was no other choice,” he said of his activities.
Tevet 29, 5766 (2006):
Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, known as “the eldest of the Kabbalists.” Born in Baghdad, he studied under the Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Chaim, 1835-1909, a legendary Sephardi sage and Kabbalist) and was regarded as a prodigy. He immigrated to the Land of Israel in 1922, earning his living for many years as a bookbinder, even while thousands flocked to him to receive his counsel and blessing.
When he passed away at the age of 108, hundreds of thousands attended his funeral in Jerusalem.
This column is a highly abridged monthly version of Dust & Stars – Today in Jewish History. To receive the complete newsletter, go to: dustandstars.substack.com/subscribe. Special arrangements are available for organizations.