Table of Contents
📅 Today in Jewish History
📖 The Killing of Hevel (Abel) — Kabbalistic Tradition
According to the teachings transmitted in the name of the Arizal, following the view of Rabbi Yehoshua, the killing of Hevel by Kayin occurred on 19 of Iyar.
📅 Today’s Yahrzeits
🕯️ Passing of Rabbeinu Rabbi Shimon the Great, son of Rabbi Yitzchak
🕯️ Passing of Rabbeinu Meir ben Rabbi Baruch — the Maharam of Rothenburg
🕯️ Passing of the Holy Rabbi Menachem Mendel ben Rabbi Yosef of Rimanov
🕯️ Fall of the Jewish Quarter — Old City of Jerusalem
🕯️ 1970- Passing of Rabbi Ezra ben Rabbi Yitzchak Attia
👤Their Background[1]
🕯️ Passing of Rabbeinu Rabbi Shimon the Great, son of Rabbi Yitzchak
Year 4054 (294 CE, approx.)
Rabbi Shimon the Great, a renowned paytan and preacher, passed away in this year. According to Kabbalistic tradition, he beseeched the Holy One, blessed be He, not to witness the harsh decrees destined to come upon Israel, and therefore passed away days before they occurred. This concept is alluded to at the conclusion of the Selichos for Musaf of Yom Kippur, in the phrase “Brit Kerusah”.
🕯️ Passing of Rabbeinu Meir ben Rabbi Baruch — the Maharam of Rothenburg
Born: ca. 1215, Worms
Imprisoned: 4 Tammuz 5046 (1286)
Passed away: 19th Iyar 5053 (1293)
Brought to burial: 4 Adar 5067 (1307), Worms
Rabbi Meir ben Rabbi Baruch, known throughout the generations as the Maharam of Rothenburg, was the greatest halakhic authority of Ashkenazic Jewry in the thirteenth century. תלמידי‑רש”י ותוספות, פוסק, פייטן ומנהיג הדור, he answered thousands of responsa and guided Jewish communities across Germany, France, Italy, and beyond during an era of increasing persecution and instability. His rulings shaped Ashkenazic halakhah for centuries, and many later authorities, including the Rosh and the Maharil, saw themselves as transmitters of his tradition.
Historical context: In the late 1200s, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf I declared the Jews servi camerae regis—property of the royal treasury—granting the crown the right to tax, restrain, and imprison them at will. As pogroms intensified and expulsions loomed, many Jews sought to flee central Europe. The Maharam himself favored aliyah and even ruled that settling the Land of Israel justified great sacrifice. In 1286, while attempting to leave the empire with his family and followers en route to Eretz Yisrael, the Maharam was treacherously recognized by an apostate Jew in northern Italy and handed over to imperial authorities. He was imprisoned in a fortress near Ensisheim, held for a colossal ransom demanded by the Emperor.
Refusal of ransom: Although Jewish communities across Europe raised an enormous sum—tens of thousands of silver marks—the Maharam forbade his own redemption, citing the Talmudic principle: “אין פודין את השבויין יתר על כדי דמיהן מפני תיקון העולם”
—captives are not redeemed for more than their value, lest it encourage further kidnappings.
He ruled that paying such a ransom for the most prominent rabbi of the generation would endanger future Torah leaders and devastate communities. In a supreme act of mesirus nefesh, he chose imprisonment—and ultimately death—over compromising the welfare of Klal Yisrael. During his seven years in captivity, he continued to teach and write when allowed, embodying unbroken Torah life even behind prison walls.
Death and delayed burial: The Maharam passed away in prison in 1293, and in an act of added cruelty, the authorities withheld his body from Jewish burial, using it as leverage for ransom. For fourteen years, the body of the gadol hador lay unburied—an unprecedented suffering for Ashkenazic Jewry and a deep national wound.
Redeemed for burial: In 1307, the righteous benefactor Rabbi Alexander Ziskind (or Susskind) ben Rabbi Shlomo of Wimpfen gave his entire fortune to secure the Maharam’s remains solely so that he could be buried according to Jewish law. He requested no honor for himself except one: that upon his own death, he be laid to rest beside the Maharam. When Rabbi Alexander later passed away—on Erev Yom Kippur—he was buried next to him the following day in the Jewish cemetery of Worms. Their twin graves remain among the oldest preserved Jewish tombstones in Europe.
Legacy: The Maharam’s life represents the highest fusion of Torah authority, moral courage, and communal responsibility. His refusal of ransom established a precedent that protected generations of rabbis. His responsa continue to be cited across halakhic literature, and his imprisonment is remembered as one of the most profound sacrifices ever made for the integrity of Jewish law and leadership.
🕯️ Passing of the Holy Rabbi Menachem Mendel ben Rabbi Yosef of Rimanov
Year 5575 (1815)
Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov, a revered Hasidic master, taught that one who kindles a candle, immerses in a mikveh, or gives charity for the elevation of his soul should be shown gratitude. His words are recorded in Yalkut Menachem.
🕯️ Fall of the Jewish Quarter — Old City of Jerusalem
Year 5708 (1948)
In this year, the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Jordanian Legion during the War of Independence. The event marked the destruction of the ancient Jewish presence in the Quarter, the exile of its inhabitants, and the desecration of synagogues and holy sites.
🕯️ 1970- Passing of Rabbi Ezra ben Rabbi Yitzchak Attia
Head of Yeshivat Porat Yosef — zt”l
Rabbi Ezra Attia, one of the foremost Sephardic Torah leaders of the twentieth century and head of Yeshivat Porat Yosef, passed away in this period. His legacy shaped generations of Sephardic rabbinic leadership in Eretz Yisrael.
[1] Please not that these historical notes were prepared with the assistance of Copilot Pro, an AI Research Agent, and have not been independently verified.
