Shas Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Is Born
September 23, 1920 Ovadia Yosef, a Sephardi rabbi, politician and community leader, is born in Baghdad. He moves from Iraq to Jerusalem at age 4 with his family. While studying at Porat Yosef Yeshiva, he…
Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan Writes Article Leading to Reconstructionist Movement
Rabbi Mordechai M. Kaplan, publishes “A Program for the Reconstruction of Judaism” in the Menorah Journal. His ideology eventually leads to the creation of a fourth American Jewish denomination, the Reconstructionist movement.
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,…
Orthodox Union Is Founded, Expresses Support for Zionism
The Orthodox movement created the Orthodox Union, and adopted a constitution and by-laws at their meeting at Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in New York.
Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz Is Born
November 7, 1878 Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz, who becomes one of the 20th century’s leading Talmud scholars, is born in Kosava, Russia, now part of Belarus, to the head of the local rabbinical court, Rabbi Shmaryahu…
Rav Kook Is Born
September 7, 1865 The first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Palestine, Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, known for promoting religious Zionism and for writing “Orot” and other religious books, is born in Griva, Latvia. In 1884,…
Reform Rabbinical Conference Ends in Frankfurt
Thirty-one rabbis meet in Frankfurt am Main for a two-week assembly. The assembly ultimately decides that while Jewish law allows prayer in any language, it is necessary to recite certain prayers – including the Barechu and Shema – in Hebrew.
Shabbetai Zevi Declares Himself Messiah
Shabbetai Zevi was born on August 1, 1626 in Smyrna (Izmir), Turkey. A gifted scholar, he showed signs of mental instability early in his life, causing unpredictable mood swings from extreme depression to euphoria.
Amsterdam Jews Excommunicate Baruch Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza’s ideas about Judaism are rejected by the Amsterdam Jewish community, eventually leading to his excommunication. He goes on to become one of the most important philosophers of the Jewish Enlightenment, which seeks to reconcile the world of Jewish faith with secular, empirical reality.
Sultan Questions Number of Synagogues in Safed
Sultan Murad III orders an investigation into the number of synagogues in Safed in the Land of Israel, then under Ottoman Control.
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.
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