Today, 17 Av, this year August 18h, marks the 80th anniversary of the Hebron massacre. With cries of “Slaughter the Jews” and “Allahu Akbar,” the mob broke into homes, tortured, raped and murdered men, women and children.
Benzion Gershon, a pharmacist @ Hadassah hospital, known throughout the region for helping Jews and Arabs alike, was tortured and murdered after being forced to watch the mobs rape and butcher his daughter. 67 Jewish men, women and children were killed. @billmaher history class
The survivors escaped to Jerusalem, and for the first time in hundreds of years, Hebron was empty of Jewish life. In 1968, after Israel’s victory in the 6 day war, Jews were allowed to return to Hebron. @billmaher history class
History records a Jewish presence in Hebron from time of Abraham, approximately 3800 years ago. It was specifically Hebron that Abraham purchased land to use as a burial plot for his wife. The Patriarchs, Matriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca & Leah R buried in Hebron
Some 800 years later, King David established his capital in Hebron: “And it came to pass afterwards that David inquired of G-d, saying, shall I go up into any of the cities of Judea? And G-d said to him, go! And David said, Where shall I go to? And He said: To Hebron!”
In 1819, Rabbi Dovber of Lubavitch, son of Rabbi Schneor Zalman of Liadi sent a group of followers to establish a Chabad community in Hebron. Rabbi Dovber acknowledged the dedication this move required, and blessed Jews who chose to live in Hebron
Rabbi Dovber himself later purchased a synagogue next to the Avraham Avinu Synagogue to personally participate in building Hebron’s Jewish Community.
A second group of Chabad Chasidm immigrated to Hebron during the years 1840-1845. The group included Menashe Chaikin, Rabbi Ya’akov Slonim and his wife Menucha Rachel, daughter of Rabbi Dovber.
During the 1929 massacre, almost the entire Slonim family was killed, save a one year old child named Shlomo.
The pogrom took place before there was a state of Israel and before 1967. As an American Jew, I support peace but let us not forget how we go here. #NeverAgainIsNow @billmaher history class.
Oops. Sorry. Typo. The 90th anniversary since the attack in 1929.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Everyone is safe, and I am not aware of any incidents in the neighborhood.
Around 4:30 pm, I walked to the museum with a group of neighbors, and here are my observations:
The parkway had a notable presence of visibly Orthodox Jews…(1)
Including people who regularly walk on the parkway and those who were there specifically to express their Jewish identity and show that they are unafraid.
Upon arriving @ the museum, we found that the rally had shifted towards the Brooklyn Bridge, and the crowd had dispersed (2)
However, we observed several unsettling elements, including posters displaying swastikas on street poles, posters supporting an intifada, and posters related to Ronald Lauder, accompanied by claims about Jewish financial influence in the world. (3)
A 65 year old Jewish man was beaten and left blooded in the streets of Crown Heights last night. The attackers are being charged with a hate crime. This was a very serious incident & we call on @BrooklynDA to vigorously prosecute the case to fullest extent of the law @NYPD71Pct
Last night, in an unprovoked attack, a 65 year old Jewish male was beaten and left bloodied in the streets of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. This is but the latest incident in a recent spike in hate crimes against Jews in the Crown Heights community.
Some 10 people were violently attacked in the last 60 days alone.
The Jewish Future Alliance condemns in the strongest possible terms these type of cowardly attacks on innocent civilians, and we call on the NYPD to drastically increase police presence throughout the community.