This week in Jewish history: Roman emperor Titus attacks Temple court

Aug. 2, 1923: 

Birthday of Shimon Peres, the ninth president of the State of Israel and winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize (together with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat) for the peace talks that he participated in as Israeli foreign minister, producing the Oslo Accords. In a political career spanning over 66 years, Peres served twice as prime minister, has been a member of 12 cabinets, and was one of the fathers of Israel’s nuclear program.

Aug. 3, 2001:

After working on the idea of wireless capsule endoscopy for almost 20 years and creating a prototype in 1998, Israeli electro-optical engineer Gavriel Iddan received FDA approval for a disposable pill-sized camera that passes straight through the digestive tract, continuously broadcasting to an external receiver. Since then, there have been over 500,000 ingestions of the capsule and nearly 1,000 scientific articles about its clinical use.

Tammuz 29, 4865 (1105):

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi), preeminent rabbinic commentator and one of the outstanding intellectual giants of medieval Jewry. His commentaries on the Torah and the Talmud, which appear in all standard editions, is still studied today by laymen and scholars alike. His clear and precise comments illumine the most complex and obscure passages of the Talmud with logic and incisive analysis; but he also did not hesitate to admit that “I don’t understand.” Rashi accomplished all his work during the period of the Crusades, when life was extremely dangerous for the Jews. He made his living as a wine merchant, and wrote his commentaries in his spare time.

Av 1, 2487 (1274 BCE):

Yahrzeit of Aaron, the older brother of Moses and first high priest of Israel – the only yahrzeit explicitly mentioned in the Torah (Numbers 33:38). Jewish tradition regards him as the model peacemaker, “loving peace, pursuing peace” (Ethics of the Fathers 1:12). DNA research shows that all Kohanim are descended from him.

Av 2, 3830 (70 CE): 

Roman emperor Titus began battering operations against the wall of the Temple court (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:4).

Aug. 7, 1955: 

Bar-Ilan University (named in honor of Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan/Berlin, who led Jews from the ashes of Europe to rebirth and renaissance in Israel) was founded, with the mission of blending ancient Torah tradition with modern scholarship. It is Israel’s largest academic community, with 32,000 students, scientists, and staff.

Aug. 8, 1809: 

A group of 70 disciples of the Vilna Gaon (Genius from Vilna) arrived in Israel, after traveling via Turkey by horse and wagon, becoming pioneers of modern settlement in Israel. Today, the descendants of that group are among the most prominent families in Jerusalem.■

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