IYAR

'Iyar' (Hebrew: 'אִייָר' or 'אִיָּר', Standard ''Iyyar'' Tiberian '' ; from Akkadian '', meaning "Rosette; blossom") is the eighth month of the civil year and the second month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. The name is Babylonian in origin. In the Bible it is called 'Ziv' (). It is a spring month of 29 days. Iyar usually falls in April–May on the Gregorian calendar.

Contents

Holidays in Iyar

This Month in Jewish History

References

Holidays in Iyar

★ 4 Iyar: Yom Hazikaron (Hebrew: Memorial Day)

★ 5 Iyar: Yom Ha'atzma'ut (Hebrew: [Israeli] Independence Day)

★ 14 Iyar: Pesach Sheini ("Second Passover")

★ 18 Iyar: Lag Ba'omer = Lag la‘omer (Hebrew:The Thirty-third of the Omer)

★ 28 Iyar: Yom Yerushalayim (Hebrew: Jerusalem Day)

This Month in Jewish History

'2 Iyar' - (1788) - Death of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok


★ Chassidic master Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok (1730?-1788), also known as Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, was one of the leading disciples of the second leader of the Chassidic Movement, Rabbi DovBer of Mezeritch. Upon the latter's death in 1772, R. Menachem Mendel was regarded by his colleagues as the leader of the Chassidic community in Russia, and Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi considered him his rebbe and mentor. In 1777, R. Menachem Mendel led a group of 300 Chassidim to the Holy Land and established Chassidic communities in Safed and Tiberias. Rabbi Menachem Mendel died on the 2nd of Iyar of 1788, and is buried in Tiberias.
'4 Iyar' - (1165) - Maimonides Saved


★ The 4th of Iyar was observed by Maimonides (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon), 1135-1204) as a personal day of fasting and prayer. Maimonides recounts that when he and his family were fleeing Islamic persecution from Fez, Morocco to the Holy Land, their ship was caught in a fierce storm at sea. He cried out to G-d in prayer and vowed to fast each year on this date.
'5 Iyar' - (1948) - State of Israel Proclaimed


★ The British mandate to govern the Holy Land expired on Friday, May 14, 1948, by decree of a United Nations resolution passed six months earlier endorsing the establishment of a Jewish state in the biblical homeland of the Jewish people. That afternoon, the state of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv. The date -- Iyar 5 on the Jewish calendar -- is celebrated in Israel as the Israeli "Independence Day".
'7 Iyar' - (498 BCE) - Jerusalem Walls Dedicated


★ The rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem was celebrated with great jubilation nearly 88 years after they were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia.
'8 Iyar' - (1096) - First Crusade Massacres Begin


★ In the early 1070s, the Moslem Turks commenced an offensive against the Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem. Pope Gregory VII offered his help to defend the Greek Christians, but the army he promised never materialized. In 1095, his successor, Urban II, began to call for a holy war to liberate the Christians in Jerusalem. By the next year more than 100,000 men had rallied to his call, forming the first Crusade. Urban and the local clergymen in Europe felt that the Crusade had another purpose as well--to annihilate all non-Christians in Europe who refused to convert to Christianity. On their way to Holy Land the mobs of crusaders attacked many Jewish communities. On the Shabbat, the 8th of Iyar, the Jews of Speyer (Bavaria), Germany were massacred. Many of the Jews of Worms, Germany were also massacred on this day; some of them took refuge in a local castle for a week before being slaughtered as they recited their morning prayers (see This Month in Jewish History" for Sivan 1).
'10 Iyar' - (1103) - Death of the Rif


★ Rabbi Isaac Al-Fasi (1013-1103), known by the acronym "Rif," was one of the earliest codifiers of the Talmud. In 1088 he was forced to flee his hometown of Fez, Morocco, to Spain, where he assumed the position of rabbi in Alusina (Lucene).
'11 Iyar' - (1510) - Jewish Books Confiscated


★ 1,500 Jewish books were confiscated in Frankfurt am Main, Germany at the instigation of an apostate (Meshumad) on the 11th of Iyar.
'11 Iyar' - (1881) - Riots in Wasilkow and Konotop


★ Anti Jewish riots (pogroms) continue to escalate in Russia and break out on the 11th of Iyar in Waslikow and Konotop. The Jews were blamed for the assassination of Czar Alexander II, who was assassinated by revolutionaries. The riots continued for three years across the entire Russia.
'11 Iyar' - (1948) - The Battle at Deganya


★ The Israeli Army defeated the advancing Syrian Army, following the shelling at the entrance of Deganya, which began at sunrise and lasted nine hours. It is considered the first Israeli victory following the start of the War of Independence.
'13 Iyar' - (1427) - Jews Expelled from Berne


★ The Jews of Berne, Switzerland were expelled on this date in 1427. Berne had a long history of expulsions and anti-Jewish riots.
'14 Iyar' - (1312 BCE) - "Second Passover"


★ A year after the Exodus, G-d instructed the People of Israel to bring the Passover offering on the afternoon of Nissan 14, and to eat it that evening, roasted over the fire, together with matzah and bitter herbs, as they had done on the previous year just before they left Egypt. "There were, however, certain persons who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, and could not, therefore, prepare the Passover offering on that day. They approached Moses and Aaron ... and they said: '...Why should we be deprived, and not be able to present G-d's offering in its time, amongst the children of Israel?'" (Numbers 9). In response to their plea, G-d established the 14th of Iyar as a "second Passover" (pesach sheini) for anyone who was unable to bring the offering on its appointed time in the previous month.
'14 Iyar' - (1605) - Jews of Bisenz Massacred


★ The Jews of