This week in Jewish history: The Black Death pogroms, death of Rabbi Sacks

A highly abridged weekly version of Dust & Stars.

By STEVEN DRUCKER NOVEMBER 17, 2024 11:05

An artistic portrait of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. (photo credit: Jgavant/Wikipedia)

Nov. 15, 1348: 

As the Black Death decimated Europe, Christians accused Jews of causing the plague by poisoning the wells in an effort to wipe out the gentile population. This resulted in the masses persecuting and killing tens of thousands of Jews throughout the continent.

Cheshvan 15, 3622 (139 BCE): 

Yahrzeit of Mattityahu ben Yohanan, leader of the uprising against the Syrian Greeks. His five sons, the Maccabees – Yehudah, Yohanan, Shimon, Elazar, and Yonatan – carried on the battle after his death to eventual victory, celebrated each year by Jews the world over on Hanukkah.

Nov. 17, 1922: 

Birthday of Stanley Cohen (1922-2020), the American biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986 for the isolation of the nerve growth factor and the discovery of the epidermal growth factor. His research on cellular growth factors has proven fundamental to understanding the development of cancer and designing anti-cancer drugs. 

Cheshvan 17: 

The mishna in Ta’anit 19a teaches that a three-day fast would be declared in the Land of Israel in any year that had no rainfall by this date. Only eating and drinking would be prohibited during such a fast; bathing, etc. would be allowed, and it would be limited to daytime hours.

Nov. 19, 1933: 

Birthday of Larry King (Lawrence Harvey Zeiger) (1933-2021), an American TV and radio host, whose awards include two Peabodys, an Emmy, and 10 Cable ACE awards. 

Larry King (credit: REUTERS)

Over his career, he hosted more than 50,000 interviews. CNN’s Larry King Live became “the longest-running television show hosted by the same person, on the same network, and in the same time slot,” and was recognized for this by the Guinness Book of Records. He retired in 2010 after taping 6,000 episodes of the show.

Nov. 20, 1977: 

President Anwar el Sadat of Egypt, on his historic and unprecedented visit to Jerusalem, addressed the Knesset with these words: “Today I tell you, and I declare it to the whole world, that we accept to live with you in permanent peace based on justice.”

Cheshvan  20, 5781 (2020): 

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, chief rabbi of Great Britain from 1991-2013, international religious leader, philosopher, theologian, university professor; Life Peer in the House of Lords; award-winning author (over 40 books); and respected moral voice. In addition to 21 honorary doctorates, Rabbi Sacks was awarded the 2016 Templeton Prize for his “exceptional contributions to affirming life’s spiritual dimension.”

Described by King Charles III as “a light unto this nation” and by former British prime minister Tony Blair as “an intellectual giant,” Rabbi Sacks was a renowned public speaker at prestigious academic institutions and venues around the world (his 2017 TED talk has been viewed almost two million times).

He leaves behind a legacy as one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, one who bridged the religious and secular worlds through his remarkable and ground-breaking canon of work.

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