This week in Jewish history: Yom Kippur War turning point, birth of Hebrew and Nazi ghettos

Oct. 11, 1973: 

Following a bitter battle to retain control of the Golan Heights, Israeli troops under Gen. Rafael Eitan launched a counterattack into Syrian territory in what proved to be the turning point of the Yom Kippur War.

Tishrei 10, 2449 (1312 BCE): 

Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the second set of Tablets (the 10 Commandments), indicating that God had forgiven the Jewish people for the sin of the golden calf (Exodus 34:29-30). Henceforth, that date became known as Yom Kippur, a day of fasting, atonement, and forgiveness.

Oct. 13, 1881: 

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and his friends agreed to use Hebrew exclusively in their daily conversations, marking the modest beginnings of the revival of Hebrew as a living language. Ben-Yehuda invented dozens of additional words, necessary for the modernization of the ancient language, and compiled a comprehensive dictionary. Today, over 10 million people worldwide speak modern Hebrew.

Oct. 14, 1938: 

Hermann Goering announced the Nazi plan for the establishment of ghettos for Jews in all big cities under German control. The first mass deportation of German Jews to East European ghettos didn’t begin until three years and a day later.

Oct. 15, 1894: 

Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, the only Jewish officer on the French Army’s general staff, was arrested and falsely accused of espionage against France. His subsequent trial and conviction resulted in a major outbreak of antisemitism, unlike anything that had been seen in France for over a century. This Jew hatred was the first major impetus for the modern Zionist movement.

Oct. 16, 1886: 

Birthday of David Ben-Gurion (David Gruen), founding father and first prime minister and defense minister of Israel, founder of the Labor Party and the Histadrut. From 1937, he worked for the creation of a democratic Jewish state. On May 14, 1948, he proclaimed the founding of the State of Israel, and then led it to victory in the War of Independence. Ben-Gurion’s impact on the history of the modern State of Israel was unmatched by any other figure.

Tishrei 15, 2449 (1312 BCE):

The construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) began in the desert, and the Clouds of Glory – which had led the Jews across the desert but disappeared after they built the golden calf – reappeared and became a protective cover over the camp of Israel. To commemorate this and to internalize that “neither wealth, nor possessions, nor land are life’s safeguards” (The Book of Our Heritage), Jews leave their homes and symbolically “dwell” in a frail sukkah (booth) for the seven days of the festival of Sukkot.■

The above is a highly abridged weekly version of Dust & Stars. To receive the complete newsletter every day with all the events and remarkable Jews who have changed the world: dustandstars.substack.com/subscribe