January 7

1256: Berechiah De Nicole, the Chief Rabbi of Lincoln was released after having
been imprisoned in London on charges related to the death of “Little Hugh of
Lincoln.”  The son of Rabbi Moses ben Yom
Tov of London, Reb Berechiah was an E…

January 2

438: Empress Eudocia, the wife of Byzantine Emperor Theodius II, who
spent the last years of her life in the Holy Land allowed the Jews to return to
Jerusalem and pray at the site of the Temple at the same time her husband was
“announcing le…

December 31

335: End of
the Papacy of Sylvester I “who convinced Constantine to prohibit Jews from
living in Jerusalem.”

535:
Byzantine General Belisarius took the city of Syracuse which marks the
completion of the conquest of Sicily. In 536 he would…

December
29

584 BCE
(10 Tevet 3175): The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar,
began his siege of Jerusalem leading to the destruction of the first Temple.
This day is commemorated as one of the “minor” fasts, lasting from
sunrise to sunset.  Of cours…

December 27

175 BCE (Tevet 3585): This day
marked the completion of the Septuagint
translation of the Bible into the Greek language. According to a letter from
Aristeas to Philocrates, 72 sages, (six from each Israelite tribe) were brought
to by Ptole…