Tevet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tevet (Hebrew: טֵבֵת, Standard Tevet Tiberian Ṭēḇēṯ; from Akkadian ṭebētu) is the fourth month of the civil year and the tenth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It follows Kislev and precedes Shevat. It is a winter month of 29 days. Tevet usually occurs in December–January on the Gregorian calendar.

1 Holidays in Tevet
2 Gregorian New Year
3 This Month in Jewish History
4 External links

[edit] Holidays in Tevet

Hanukkah - Kislev 25 to Tevet 2 (or Tevet 3 if Kislev is short)
The Fast of Tenth of Tevet (Asara b'Tevet)

[edit] Gregorian New Year

The Gregorian new year's day nearly always occurs in this month. Only rarely will it occur in either of the two neighbouring months.

[edit] This Month in Jewish History

1 Tevet - (362 BCE) - Esther made Queen

"And Esther was taken to King Achashverosh, to his palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tevet, in the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won his favor and kindness more than all the virgins; he placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in Vashti's stead" (Book of Esther 2:16-17). This set the stage for the miracle of Purim six years later, on the 13th and 14th of Adar of the year 3504 from creation (356 BCE).

8 Tevet - (246 BCE) - Torah translated into Greek

In a second attempt to translate the Torah into Greek (after an unsuccessful attempt 61 years earlier), the ruling Greek-Egyptian emperor Ptolemy according to legend gathered 72 Torah sages, had them sequestered in 72 separate rooms, and ordered them to each produce a translation. On the 8th of Tevet of the year 3515 from creation (246 BCE) they produced 72 corresponding translations, including identical changes in 13 places (where they each felt that a literal translation would constitute a corruption of the Torah's true meaning). This Greek rendition became known as the Septuagint, "of the seventy" (though later versions that carry this name are not believed to be true to the originals). Greek became a significant second language among Jews as a result of this translation. During Talmudic times, Tevet 8 was observed by some as a fast day, expressing the fear of the detrimental effect of the translation.

9 Tevet - (313 BCE) - Death of Ezra

*Ezra, who led the return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel after the Babylonian exile (423-353 BCE), oversaw the building of the Second Temple, canonized the 24 books of the Holy Scriptures ("bible") and, as head of the "Great Assembly" legislated a series of laws and practices (including formalized prayer) which left a strong imprint on Judaism to this very day, died on the 9th of Tevet of the year 3448 from creation (313 BCE -- exactly 1000 years after the Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai). The death of Ezra marked the end of the "Era of Prophesy."

10 Tevet (Fast Day)- (588 BCE) Siege of Jerusalem

On the 10th of Tevet, the armies of the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. Thirty months later -- on Tammuz 17 -- the city walls were breached, and on Av 9th of that year, the Holy Temple was destroyed. The Jewish people were exiled to Babylonia for 70 years.

11 Tevet - (1668) - Jews expelled from Austria
17 Tevet - (1728) - First New York Synagogue

In 1684, a group of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who fled the Inquisition (see "Today in Jewish History" for Tevet 22) held a Rosh Hashanah service in New Amsterdam, thereby founding congregation Shearith Israel ("Remnant of Israel"). On this 17th of Tevet in 1728, the congregation purchased a lot in Lower Manhattan to erect the first synagogue in New York.

17 Tevet - Death of Toldot Aaron (1754)

Rabbi Aaron Zelig ben Joel Feivush of Ostrog, Russia, author of Toldot Aaron, died on Tevet 17 of the year in 5515 from creation (1754).

17 Tevet - (1841) - Death of Maggid of Dubna (or Dubner Maggid)

Tevet 17 is also the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yaakov Wolf Krantz (1740-1804), the Maggid (itinerant preacher) of Dubna, particularly known for the parables (meshalim) he employed in his sermons and writings.

18 Tevet - (469)- Huna Killed

The Exilarch ("Reish Galuta") of Babylonian Jewry, Huna Mori bar Mar Zutra, was executed in Pumpeditha by order of the Persian emperor on the 18th of Tevet of the year 4229 from creation (469 of the common era). Also killed on that day was Rav Mesharshia bar Pekod (the third Jewish leader who was arrested with them, Rav Ameimar bar Mar Yenuka, was executed two months later).

18 Tevet - (1841) - Death of B'nei Yissachar

The 18th of Tevet the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the death) of Rabbi Zvi Elimelech Shapiro of Dynov (1783?-1841), author of the Chassidic work B'nei Yissachar.

19 Tevet - (1854) - Judah Touro

The 19th of Tevet the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the death) of American Jewish philanthropist Judah Touro (1775-1854).

20 Tevet - (1204) - Death of Maimonides

Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, Talmudist, Halachist, physician, philosopher and communal leader, known in the Jewish world by the acronym "Rambam" and to the world at large as "Maimonides", died in Egypt on the 20th of Tevet in 1204.

20 Tevet - (1483) - Printing of the Talmud

The first volume of the Babylonian Talmud, the tractate Berachot, was printed in Soncino, Italy, on the 20th of Tevet of the year 5244 from creation (1483).

22 Tevet - (1496) - Portuguese Expulsion

Just four years after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain -- many of whom found refuge in the neighboring country of Portugal -- a decree was issued giving all the Jews living in Portugal one year to either convert to Christianity or leave the country. Over the next 350 years, the infamous Inquisition persecuted, tortured and burned at the stake thousands of "marranos" throughout Spain, Portugal and their colonies for continuing to secretly practice the Jewish faith.

22 Tevet - (1622) - Prague rescue

In the yearbook of the Meisel Synagogue in Prague, the 22nd of Tevet is designated to commemorate the escape of Yosef Thein from the gallows in the year 5383 from creation (1622).

24 Tevet - (1812) - Death of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi

The founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), died on the eve of the 24th of Tevet, at approximately 10:30 pm, shortly after reciting the Havdalah prayer marking the end of the Shabbat. The Rebbe was in the village of Peyena, fleeing Napoleon's armies, which had swept through the Rebbe's hometown of Liadi three months earlier in their advance towards Moscow. He was in his 68th year at the time of his death, and was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Dov Ber of Lubavitch.

24 Tevet - (1837) - Safed Earthquake

A devastating earthquake struck northern Israel, killing four thousand Jews in Safed and between 700 to 1000 Jews in Tiberias.<br

24 Tevet - (1852) - Mt. Sinai Hospital

The first hospital in America under Jewish direction, Mount Sinai Hospital, was founded in New York on this date in 1852.

25 Tevet - (1559) - Chovat Halevavot published

Chovat Halvavot, the classical work on Jewish ethics, was authored by Rabbi Bachya ben Yosef ibn Paquda [see: Bahya ibn Paquda] (the first "Rabbeinu Bechayei") on or before 1161, and translated into Hebrew from the original Arabic by the famed translator R. Judah idn Tibbon in 1167. It was first published on the 25th of Tevet of the year 5319 from creation (1559).

26 Tevet - (1369) - Jews of Sicily are required to wear a special badge
26 Tevet - (1826) - Maryland adopted a law which allowed Jews to hold public office

On condition that they accept the concept of reward and punishment in the afterlife. Maryland was founded as an asylum for Catholics in 1634, and in the early days the denial of Christianity was a capital crime in Maryland. Anyone speaking negatively about Mary or the Apostles was subject to a fine or public whipping. The practice of Judaism was finally legalized in Maryland in 1776, but other restrictions remained in place. It was not until 50 years later that Jews became qualified for public office.

27 Tevet - (1888) - Death of R. Samson Raphael Hirsch

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888), Talmudist, scholar, philosopher, prolific author and Rabbi of Frankfurt am Main, revitalized German Jewry, bringing thousands back to the teachings of the Torah at a time when assimilationist trends threatened to extinguish Jewish life in Western Europe.

28 Tevet - (81 BCE) - Sadducees ejected from Sanhedrin

Shimon ben Shetach successfully completed the expulsion of the Sadducees (a sect which denied the Oral Torah and the authority of the Sages) who had dominated the Sanhedrin (Supreme Court), replacing them with his Torah-loyal Pharisaic disciples, on the 28th of Tevet of the year 3680 from creation (81 BCE).

29 Tevet - (2006) - Death of R. Yitzchak Kaduri

Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri, known in recent years as "the eldest of the Kabbalists," in the Holy Land, was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1898. As a youth, he under the great "Ben Ish Chai" (Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, 1840-1913) and was regarded as an illu (prodigy) by the sages of the venerable Baghdad Jewish community. In 1922, Rabbi Yitzchak emigrated to the Holy Land and joined the ranks of the Jerusalem Kabbalists, even as he earned his living for many years as a bookbinder. Over the years his fame grew, and thousands flocked to him to receive his counsel and blessing. Rabbi Kaduri died on the 29th of Tevet of 2006, age 108. Hundreds of thousands attended his funeral in Jerusalem.