Table of Contents
📅 Today in Jewish History
📅 28 Nisan — The Fall of Jericho
In the year 2488, on Shabbat, the walls of Jericho fell, as recorded in Joshua chapter 6. The city was conquered and burned, and Rahab and her family were spared, in fulfillment of the oath given to her. Our Sages note that Achan’s trespass of the consecrated property occurred on this same day, leading to Israel’s initial defeat at Ai. Following God’s revelation to Yehoshua that Israel had sinned by taking from the ban (cherem), Yehoshua arose early, assembled the tribes, and Achan was identified, as detailed in Joshua chapter 7.
📅 5704 (1944) — Miracle of Salvation of the Skulen‑Kretschneff Rebbe
In 5704, a miraculous salvation occurred for Rabbi Eliezer Zusha Portugal, the Kretschneff Rebbe, who was saved and later rebuilt Torah life in Jerusalem. His rescue is remembered as a manifestation of Divine mercy amid the devastation of that era.
📅 Today’s Yahrzeits
Rabbi Shabtai Sheftel Horowitz — author of Vavei HaAmudim
🕯️ Rabbi Yiḥya ben Yosef Ṣalaḥ (Maharitz) — author of Etz Ḥayyim and Pe’ulat Tzaddik
🕯️ Rabbi Yehoshua of Ostrova
🕯️Rabbi Yosef Yozpa Rosenberg
🕯️Rabbi Shalom ben Avraham Mordechai Kleinberg
👤Their Background[1]
🕯️ 5420 (1660) — Passing of Rabbi Shabtai Sheftel Horowitz
Rabbi Shabtai Sheftel ben Yeshayahu ha‑Levi Horowitz (c. 1590–1660) was a distinguished rabbinic scholar, ethicist, and kabbalistically‑inclined talmid chacham, and the son of the Shelah HaKadosh, Rabbi Yeshayahu Horowitz. Born in Ostroh and active in the great Torah centers of Prague, Fürth, Frankfurt, and finally Vienna, he served in rabbinic leadership during a period of intense upheaval for European Jewry. His principal work, Vavei HaAmudim (“Hooks of the Pillars”), was published as an appendix to his father’s monumental Shenei Luchot HaBrit, and contains ethical guidance, halachic insights, and spiritual instruction rooted in Torah and kabbalistic tradition. He also authored an ethical will (Tzava’ah) emphasizing charity, disciplined religious life, and fear of Heaven. Rabbi Shabtai Sheftel passed away in Vienna in 1660, where he is remembered as a bridge between the scholarly‑mystical worldview of his father and the practical religious leadership of his generation.
🕯️ 5765 (1805) — Rabbi Yiḥya ben Yosef Ṣalaḥ (Maharitz) — author of Etz Ḥayyim and Pe’ulat Tzaddik
Rabbi Yiḥya Ṣalaḥ (1713–1805), universally known as the Maharitz, was the foremost halachic authority of Yemenite Jewry and a central architect of its religious continuity. Born in Ṣanʻā’ into a family that had survived the Mawza Exile, he initially supported himself as a craftsman and sofer before rising to become Av Beit Din and chief rabbinic judge of the community. His works include Etz Ḥayyim, a comprehensive commentary on the Yemenite Baladi prayer rite grounded firmly in the rulings of Rambam, and Pe’ulat Tzaddik, a major corpus of responsa addressing communal life, halacha, and minhag. Maharitz is especially revered for defending ancient Yemenite traditions while responsibly incorporating select kabbalistic and Sephardic customs, thereby preserving unity within the community. He passed away in 1805, and his hillula in Sana’a was observed with great public participation, reflecting his enduring stature as the supreme halachic voice of Yemen.
🕯️ 5633 (1873) — Passing of Rabbi Yehoshua of Ostrova
Rabbi Yehoshua of Ostrova, son of Rabbi Shlomo Leib of Lenczna, author of Toldot Adam, passed away in Warsaw. He is remembered for his depth in Torah and his legacy within the Polish rabbinic tradition.
🕯️ 5665 (1905) — Passing of Rabbi Yosef Yozpa Rosenberg
Rabbi Yosef Yozpa, son of Rabbi Menachem Tzvi Rosenberg, author of Yad Yosef and Ravidei HaZahav, passed away in Pishpek (Bishkek), Lodania. His works reflect a fusion of halachic rigor and clarity.
🕯️ 5703 (1943) — Martyrdom of Rabbi Shalom ben Avraham Mordechai Kleinberg
Rabbi Shalom, son of Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Kleinberg, author of Ahalei Shem, of Zaloshitz, was murdered al Kiddush Hashem during the Holocaust. His son, Rabbi Moshe, also perished. May their memory be a blessing.
[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.
Today in Chabad History
📅 28 Nisan 5714 (1954) — The Niggun “Tzama Lecha Nafshi”
On 28 Nisan 5714, during a farbrengen, the Lubavitcher Rebbe personally taught the chassidic niggun “Tzama Lecha Nafshi”, based on the verses from Tehillim 63:2–3 expressing the soul’s deep yearning and thirst for closeness to G‑d. Although the melody is traditionally attributed to the Alter Rebbe, it was not widely known, and the Rebbe introduced it by first rejecting several attempted melodies before himself beginning to sing it and patiently repeating it until the chassidim learned it. The Rebbe later explained that the structure of the niggun mirrors the verse itself: its opening movements convey an ascending thirst and longing, while the later phrases express intense yearning to behold Divine presence. From that point on, Tzama Lecha Nafshi became one of the most beloved and frequently sung niggunim at the Rebbe’s farbrengens, identified with inward longing, sincerity, and spiritual yearning in Chabad avodah.
📅 28 Nisan — The “Famous Sicha” of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (5751 / 1991)
28 Nisan occupies a unique and powerful place in Chabad history due to the impassioned sicha delivered by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, on the eve of 28 Nisan 5751 (April 11, 1991). In this address—later known simply as “The Famous Sicha”—the Rebbe spoke in unusually personal and anguished terms about the continued delay of the Redemption. After decades of teaching, inspiring, and mobilizing world Jewry, the Rebbe declared that he had done all that was within his power and now placed the responsibility squarely upon each individual: “I have done whatever I could… from now on, you must do everything you can to bring Mashiach, here and now, immediately.” This sicha marked a turning point in Chabad consciousness. The Rebbe emphasized that the path forward lay in increasing Torah study—both nigleh and Chassidus—strengthening mitzvah observance with hiddur, and actively demanding the geulah through personal spiritual growth and positive action. Since then, 28 Nisan has been observed within Chabad as a day of reflection, recommitment, and intensified effort toward fulfilling this charge, serving as a lasting call to transform longing for redemption into concrete action.
