A millennial Jewish timelineJewish Telegrahic Agency
The following is a list of some of the important Jewish dates of the last 1,000 years, with an emphasis prior to the 20th century:1009 - The oldest existing text of the full Hebrew Bible is written. 1070 - Rashi, a French Jewish thinker, completes his commentaries on most of the Bible. 1096 - Participants in the First Crusade massacre Jews in several Central European cities, beginning centuries of pogroms linked to the Crusades. In 1099, Jerusalem falls to the crusaders. 1124 - Records of a Jewish gate in Kiev attest to the presence of a Jewish community there. 1139 - Judah Halevi completes his influential philosophy of Judaism known as "The Kuzari." He is a friend of commentator Abraham Ibn Ezra, who also left Spain for the life of a wandering Jewish scholar. 1144 - Jews in Norwich, England are accused of murdering a Christian child in what is believed to be the first ritual murder charge. The incident, as well as others in England that follow in the 12th century, incites anti-Jewish violence. 1195 - Moses Maimonides completes "The Guide to the Perplexed," considered the most important work of medieval Jewish thought. 1232 - The Jewish community of Marrakesh, Morocco, is re-established. An Islamic political revolt leads to massacres of Jews. 1239 - Pope Gregory IX orders the kings of France, England, Spain and Portugal to confiscate Hebrew books. The Talmud is condemned and burned in France and Rome. 1286 - Moses de Leon of Spain completes a commentary on the Torah, the Zohar, which remains a central text of Jewish mysticism. 1290 - King Edward I banishes all Jews from England. It is the first of numerous expulsions of European Jews during the Middle Ages. 1333 - Casimir the Great takes power in Poland and brings with a him a sympathetic attitude toward the Jews, who benefit as a result. 1488 - The first complete edition of the Hebrew Bible is printed in Soncino, Italy. 1492 - The Jews of Spain are expelled as part of the Spanish Inquisition. The majority flee to Portugal, and eventually to North Africa and Turkey. 1516 - Jews in Venice are relegated to a ghetto, the most extreme segregation to which Jews had been submitted. Over time, Jews in many lands are similarly segregated. 1525-1609- The life of Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague, creator of the legendary Golem, the mythical creature that protects Prague Jews from their enemies. 1526 - The Prague Haggadah, which contains the oldest known printed Yiddish poem, is published. 1543 - German religious reformer Martin Luther writes "About the Jews and Their Lies," considered the first modern anti-Semitic tract. 1559 - Pope Paul IV allows the first printing of the Zohar. 1565 - The Shulchan Aruch, Joseph Caro's authoritative code of Jewish law, is first printed in Venice. 1569 - Jewish mystic Isaac Luria settles in Safed. 1622-1629 - Persian Jews are forced to convert to Islam. 1648 - Ukrainian peasants led by Bogdan Chelmniecki revolt against their Polish landlords and Jewish agents. Some 100,000 Jews die in the uprising. 1654 - Jacob Barsimon, regarded as the first Jew to settle in what will become the United States, arrives in New Amsterdam. 1666 - The false messiah Shabbetai Zevi converts to Islam, after being faced with the possibility of death if he remains a Jew. 1719 - Glueckel of Hameln, a Jewish businesswoman, completes her memoirs. These remain an important source of Jewish history and culture of the time. 1740 - The Ba'al Shem Tov, the founder of Hassidism, takes up residence at Medzibezh, Podolia, now part of Ukraine. 1777 - The Jews of New York are granted equality under the law. 1791 - France emancipates its Jews, beginning the period known as the Enlightenment, in which Jews are granted equal rights. 1794 - The Russian Pale of Settlement, in which Jews are allowed to live only in certain areas of the Russian Empire, is first established. 1795 - The Third Partition of Poland culminates a process bringing hundreds of thousands of Jews under Russian rule. 1840 - The first Hebrew printing press in India is established. 1840s - The use of the word "Jew" as a verb comes into popular parlance in North America. "To Jew" means to strike a bargain or employ questionable business practices, according to this prejudicial usage. 1880-1925 - Masses of Jews emigrate from Eastern Europe to the United States. More than 2.5 million make their way to the New World. 1881 - The word "pogrom" enters the English language, as Russian mobs begin a series of violent attacks against Jews and their property. 1894 - Sholem Aleichem begins writing the first episode of the life of Tevye the Dairyman. 1897- The First Zionist Congress, held in Basel, Switzerland, heralds the growth of modern Zionism. 1939-1945 - The Nazis kill 6 million Jews across Europe in the worst genocide the world has ever known. 1948 - The State of Israel is established. 1967 - Israel wins the Six-Day War. All of Jerusalem is now in Jewish hands for the first time since 70 C.E. 1993 - Israel and the Palestinian Authority sign the Oslo peace accord. This timeline was compiled, using "The Timetables of Jewish History," by Jewish Telegraphic Agency staff writer Peter Ephross. |