This Day, July 20, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
July 20356 BCE: In Macedonia, King Philip II and Queen Olympia give birth to Alexander the Great. You can draw a straight line from Alexander’s Hellenization of Asia Minor to Chanukah to Tisha B’Av,...
View ArticleThis Day, July 21, In Jewish HIstory by Mitchell A. Levin
July 21285: Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler. This was part of an attempt to shore up the imperial authority. In another such step, Diocletian “ordered all the people …to accept his...
View ArticleThis Day, July 22, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
July 22 1099: During the First Crusade Godfrey of Bouillon elected first Defender of the Holy Sepulcher of The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Having driven out the Muslims and Jews (including the slaughter of...
View ArticleThis Day, July 23, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
July 23501: A violent earth quake hit Eretz Yisrael. The town of Akko was totally destroyed. 636: Following the Battle of Yarmuk Arabs took control of most of Eretz Yisrael from the Byzantine Empire....
View ArticleThis Day, July 24, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
July 241148: Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade. The Second Crusade gained nothing for the Christians. The failure of the crusade may help explain“the long period of...
View ArticleThis Day, July 25, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
July 25306: Constantine I was proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops. Under the rule of Constantine, Christianity would in effect become the official religion the Roman Empire. This was the beginning...
View ArticleThis Day, July 26, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
July 26412: “Emperors Theodosius II and Honorius ban compulsion of public service or court appearances for Jews on the Sabbath or any other Jewish holy day. Thus all legal issues involving Jews must be...
View ArticleThis Day, July 27, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
July 27 1192: As Richard the Lionheart and Saladin continued their conflict during the Third Crusade, Saladin laid siege to Jaffa.1214: French King Phillip II defeats the forces headed by Otto IV, the...
View ArticleThis Day, July 28, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
July 28 450:Theodosius II the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor from 408 to 450 passed away. His reign was not a good period for the Jews people. In 425 “on the death of the Jewish Patriarch Gamaliel...
View ArticleThis Day, July 29, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
July 291099: Pope Urban II, the man behind the First Crusade, passed away. Considering the impact of the Crusades on the Jews of Europe, his impact on Jewish history is self-obvious.1336: Led by John...
View ArticleThis Day, July 30, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
July 30762:Caliph Al Mansur founded the city of Baghdad. By the start of the 10th century wealthy Jewish merchants were playing the role of “court bankers” and were reportedly lending funds to the...
View ArticleThis Day, July 31, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
July 31904: Thessaloniki, which is also known as Salonica, is sacked and looted by Saracens (an Arab group). The Jewish population of Thessaloniki dates back at least to the first century of the...
View ArticleThis Day, August 1, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
August 130 BCE: Mark Antony died. Following the victory of Octavian and Antony over those who had murdered Julius Caesar, Antony became ruler of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire. Antony did name...
View ArticleThis Day, August 2, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
August 2 338 BCE: A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean. Phillip was...
View ArticleThis Day, August 3, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
August 3 8 C.E.: Roman Empire general Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus. As the stepson of Augustus, Tiberius would become Caesar four years after this victory. Tiberius did appoint...
View ArticleThis Day, August 4, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
August 470: According to some record, the date on the secular calendar when the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans.367: Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-August by his...
View ArticleThis Day, August 5, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
August 5 135: Betar fell to the Romans1100: Henry I is crowned King of England at Westminster Abby. During Henry’s reign the first attempts were made to introduce the continental principle - that all...
View ArticleThis Day, August 6, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
August 6 412:Roman emperors Honorius and Theodosius II command that Jews should not be persecuted because of their religion or have their property confiscated without cause but Jews are warned not “to...
View ArticleThis Day, August 7, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
August 7117: The Roman Emperor Trajan passed away. Trajan came to think of himself as another Alexander the Great and moved east towards Babylonia with the intent of extending the boundaries of the...
View ArticleThis Day, August 8, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin
August 8 117 C.E.: Hadrian named Emperor of the Roman Empire. He is remembered as the man who accepted the limits of the Roman empire, as can be seen by the construction of Hadrian’s Wall in what is...
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