Jewish Calendar Friday, February 10, 2023 19 Shevat, 5783
Jewish Calendar Friday, February 10, 2023 19 Shevat, 5783 Candle Lighting Light Candles at 4:41 PM Jewish History Jews of Basel Burned Alive (1349) With the Black Death raging throughout Switzerland, poison was reported to have been found in the wells at Zofingen. Some Jews were put to the "Dümeln" (thumbscrews) test, whereupon they "admitted" their guilt of the charges brought against them. This discovery was then communicated to the people of Basel, Zurich, Freiburg-im-Breisgau, and even Cologne. The Jews of Basel were burned on an island in the Rhine on January 9, 1349, in wooden huts that were especially built for the occasion. Their children, who were spared, were taken and forcibly baptized. R. Aryeh Leib of Shpoli Saved From Drowning (1793) On his way back from participating in a brit milah ceremony in Bohuslav (in what is now Ukraine), R. Aryeh Leib, known as the “Grandfather of Shpoli” was crossing over the frozen Ros River when the ice suddenly broke be...