Jews Are Ousted From Safed
Ottoman Sultan Murad III issues a firman (royal decree) ordering that 1,000 Jews from Safed be sent to live in Famagusta, Cyprus.
Safed Synagogues Upset Sultan
Ottoman Sultan Murad III orders an investigation into the number of synagogues in Safed.
Aeltesten Reglement: Constitution of the Jewish Community of Berlin Is Issued
Berlin’s Jewish community reorganizes with a new constitution, the Aeltesten Reglement.
French National Assembly Debates Citizenship for Jews
Following the French Revolution and the August 26, 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man, the issue of Jewish rights is debated in the French National Assembly for three days with no conclusion.
France Grants Citizenship to Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews living in France are granted equal rights and given French citizenship by the National Assembly.
Chaim Nahman Bialik Is Born in Ukraine
Chaim Nahman Bialik, famed Zionist poet, is born in the village of Radi, near Zhitomir in Volhynia (Northwest Ukraine).
Allahdad: Jews Are Forcibly Converted, Massacred in Mashhad, Iran
The tensions between the local Shiite population and Jews erupt in the northeast Iranian city of Mashhad.
9 Jews Freed After Damascus Blood Libel
September 6, 1840 The nine surviving Damascus Jews accused of killing a Franciscan Capuchin friar and his servant to harvest the blood are freed by order of Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman pasha who controls an…
Pope Pius IX Protests Emancipation for Jews in Italy
Pope Pius IX writes to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold II, to protest the Grand Duke’s decision to grant levels of emancipation to Jews in the Grand Duchy.
Michah Joseph Berdichevski Is Born in Ukraine
Scholar and writer Michah Joseph Berdichevski is best known for his Hebrew writings, which included his lengthy debate with Ahad Ha’am about the nature of Hebrew literature, as well as his extensive recording of Jewish folklore.
Leo Motzkin Is Born
Raised in a traditional Jewish household, early Zionist activist Leo Motzkin is born in present-day Brovary, Ukraine.
Unification of German Empire Leads to Jewish Emancipation
Jews in all of Germany were finally given emancipation when the North German Confederation Constitution was extended to Bavaria.
Czar Alexander II Is Assassinated
Czar Alexander II, the leader of Russia, is assassinated in St. Petersburg when a bomb is thrown into his carriage.
Literary Pioneer Yosef Haim Brenner Is Born
September 11, 1881 Yosef Haim Brenner, the leading Israeli literary figure of the early 20th century, is born in Novi Mlini, Ukraine. He grows up receiving a Jewish education and joins the Bund, a Jewish…
First Gathering of Hovevei Zion Takes Place
Delegates convene in Katowice (presently southern Poland) for the first gathering of the Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) movement.
Theodor Herzl Publishes “The Jewish State”
“Der Judenstaat” (The Jewish State), subtitled, “An Attempt at a Modern Solution to the Jewish Question,” by Theodor Herzl is first published in Vienna. 500 copies are originally printed and distributed.
First Conference of Russian Zionists Is Held in Warsaw
Held a few weeks before the Second Zionist Congress was set to convene in Basle, Switzerland, 160 Russian Zionists from ninety-three cities and towns in Russia meet secretly in Warsaw, Poland.
Protocols of the Elders of Zion Is Published
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the most widely distributed anti-Semitic publication in history, is first published in Znamya, a Russian newspaper.
Orthodox Theologian Eliezer Berkovits Is Born
September 8, 1908 Orthodox theologian and ardent Zionist Eliezer Berkovits is born in Nagyvarad, Transylvania. Berkovits studies the Talmud at yeshivot, and in 1934 he is ordained as a rabbi at the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary,…
Swimmer Judith Deutsch Is Born
September 18, 1918 Champion swimmer Judith Deutsch is born in Vienna, Austria. Most Austrian athletic clubs ban her because she is Jewish, so she begins swimming with a Jewish club, Hakoah Vienna. Between 1933 and…
Republic of Poland Minorities Treaty Is Signed
During the Paris Peace Conference, one of the major initiatives undertaken by the Allies is recognition of minority rights in European states. While addressing the rights of minorities in general, the Polish Treaty specifically mentions Jewish cultural and civil liberties.
Restrictive U.S. Immigration Act of 1924 Boosts Jewish Immigration to Palestine
Unable to immigrate to the US, many European Jews immigrate to the land of Israel. Between 1924 and 1929, the period known as the Fourth Aliyah, 82,000 Jews arrive in Palestine.
Israeli Spymaster Rafi Eitan Is Born
November 23, 1926 Rafi Eitan, whose intelligence career ranges from the high of capturing Adolf Eichmann in Argentina to the low of handling U.S. Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard as a spy, is born on a…
Recha Freier Establishes Youth Aliyah in Germany
The same day that Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul Von Hindenburg, Recha Freier establishes the Committee for the Assistance of Jewish Youth.
