📅 Today in Jewish History – 26th iyar
תשכ״ז – Outbreak of the Six‑Day War (1967)
In Iyar 5727 (June 1967) the Six‑Day War broke out, when the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, having openly declared their intent to destroy the State of Israel, mobilized along its borders. In the weeks preceding the war, Egypt expelled UN forces from Sinai, closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and massed large forces opposite Israel’s southern frontier, while Syria intensified shelling from the Golan Heights and Jordan entered a military alliance with Egypt. Faced with an existential threat and diplomatic paralysis, Israel launched a pre‑emptive strike on 26 Iyar 5727 (June 5, 1967) against Egyptian airfields, destroying much of the Egyptian air force on the ground within hours. The fighting rapidly expanded to the Jordanian and Syrian fronts, and within six days Israel defeated the combined Arab armies, capturing Sinai, Gaza, Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, fundamentally altering the political, military, and religious landscape of the region.
Throughout the weeks before and during the war, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, stood out as a voice of confidence and religious clarity at a time of widespread fear. While much of the world predicted Israel’s destruction, the Rebbe repeatedly emphasized the verse “The Guardian of Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers,” declaring that there was no reason for panic and that Jewish lives in the Land of Israel were under Divine protection. In public talks delivered just days before the war, he stated unequivocally that G‑d protects the Jews in the Holy Land and would grant success beyond natural expectation. After the victory, the Rebbe characterized the outcome as a miraculous deliverance, stressing that it was not merely a military achievement but one brought about by Torah, mitzvot, prayer, and Jewish unity throughout the world. He taught that Jews everywhere—through acts such as donning tefillin and reciting Psalms—were partners in the victory, and he urged Jewish leadership to recognize the moment as a spiritual turning point, a time when the opened hearts of the Jewish people could be guided toward Torah and commitment rather than fear or complacency.
📅 Today’s Yartzites – 26th Iyar
🕯️ Rabbi Saadia ben Rabbi Yosef al‑Fayyumi (Rabbi Saadia Gaon)
(d. 942 CE / 4702)
Gaon of Sura, Rabbi Saadia al‑Fayyumi was the foremost rabbinic authority of the Geonic period. He authored Emunot VeDe’ot, the first systematic presentation of Jewish theology, as well as Sefer HaEgron, the earliest extant Hebrew dictionary and treatise on grammar. His writings shaped post‑Talmudic Jewish philosophy, linguistic study, and the defense of Rabbinic Judaism against Karaite critiques.
🕯️ Rabbi Aharon Lippa
(d. 5287 / 1527)
Author of Bnei Aharon, Rabbi Aharon Lippa represents early‑modern Ashkenazic rabbinic scholarship. His work reflects the transition from medieval Tosafist methods to the structured halakhic literature of the sixteenth century.
🕯️ Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (the Ramchal)
(1707–1746 / 5506)
Author of Mesillat Yesharim, Derech Hashem, and numerous works in ethics, Kabbalah, philosophy, and Hebrew literature, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto was one of the most original figures of early‑modern Jewish thought. Later scholarly investigation—including the testimony of Rabbi Chaim Friedlander, editor of the Ramchal’s writings—established that he was buried in Tiberias, near the tomb of Rabbi Akiva, rather than in Acre, a position also supported by kabbalistic tradition, including that of Rabbi Salman Muzafi. In later generations, this date became adopted in some study frameworks as the beginning of systematic learning of Mesillat Yesharim.
🕯️ Rabbi Yitzchak ben Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin
(d. 5611 / 1851)
Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin, Rabbi Yitzchak continued the Lithuanian yeshiva tradition after his father, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. His leadership preserved the institutional and intellectual framework that defined the “mother of all yeshivot” in the nineteenth century.
🕯️ Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu of Zvolin
Son of Rabbi Yechezkel of Kozmir
A figure of Polish Hasidism, Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu represents continuity within the Kozmir lineage during the late nineteenth century, preserving its teachings in the period following the founding generation.
🕯️ Rabbi Pinchas ben Rabbi Yitzchak Yoel of Kantikov
(d. 5669 / 1909)
Rabbi Pinchas was part of the Hasidic leadership of Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, active within the regional dynastic framework of that era.
🕯️ Rabbi Moshe Yisrael ben Rabbi Ephraim Paladman
Av Beit Din of Dragomirești
Author of Olelot Moshe on his father’s works (Yedut Ephraim and Shem Yisrael), Rabbi Moshe Yisrael served as a major rabbinic authority in Romania. He was murdered al kiddush Hashem in 5704 (1944) during the Holocaust.
🕯️ Rabbi Shlomo ben Rabbi Mordechai Goldman
(d. 5705 / 1945)
Rabbi Shlomo Goldman’s life bridged Eastern Europe and Jerusalem. His passing is remembered in rabbinic chronicles with the phrase “He stood between the dead and the living”, reflecting the spiritual rupture marking the end of the European rabbinic world after the Shoah.
📅 Today in Chabad History – 26th Iyar
🕯️ Rabbi Yitzchak Eizik HaLevi Epstein of Homel
(c. 1770 – 26 Iyar 5617 / 1857)
Rabbi Yitzchak Eizik HaLevi Epstein, widely known as Reb Eizik of Homel, was a leading rabbinic and Hasidic figure of the early Chabad movement. Born around 1770 into a distinguished rabbinic family, he became one of the most prominent disciples of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (the Alter Rebbe) and later of Rabbi Dov Ber, the Mitteler Rebbe, maintaining close ties with Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (the Tzemach Tzedek) as well. In 1805 he was appointed rabbi, Av Beit Din, and head of the yeshiva of Homel (Gomel), positions he held continuously for more than fifty years until his passing. His authority in Talmudic and halakhic scholarship earned respect even among opponents of Hasidism, while within Chabad he was regarded as a model of the learned Hasid who combined mastery of nigleh with deep intellectual engagement in Chassidic thought. Rabbi Yitzchak Eizik authored a series of original Hasidic works, most notably Channah Ariel on the Torah and the collection known as Asarah Ma’amarot, which are characterized by systematic structure, close engagement with Kabbalistic sources, and an approach that favored disciplined contemplation over emotional display. After the passing of the Mitteler Rebbe, senior Hasidim urged him to assume leadership of the movement; although he briefly agreed, he ultimately declined, recalling earlier instruction from the Alter Rebbe not to take on the role of Rebbe, and instead actively supported the accession of the Tzemach Tzedek. Rabbi Yitzchak Eizik passed away on 26 Iyar 5617 (1857) and was buried in Homel, where he had served as the community’s central rabbinic authority for decades, leaving a lasting imprint on the intellectual and spiritual character of early Chabad Hasidism.
