Monday, June 27, 2005

Chaf Sivan (20th of Sivan)

Today is the 20th of Sivan. This day was once a day of mourning in the tiny shtetl in Volhynia where my family comes from. In 1650, the rabbis decreed that the Jews in the Kingdom of Poland observe the 20th of Sivan as a fast day in memory of the tens of thousands of Jews murdered during Gezeiros Tach v'Tat (the Chmielnitzki massacres of 1648 and 1649).

In his sefer "Yesh Nochlin", Rabbi Sheftel Horowitz wrote, "It is known that the third destruction, which has transpired in our own time in the year 1648, during which a great many were killed, was literally comparable to the destruction of the First and Second Temples."

Today I plan to give tzedakah in the merit of these kedoshim, not knowing if my ancestors were among them.

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Note: More information about the horific events of 1648-1649 can be found in Rabbi Nasan Nata Hanover's sefer "Yeven Metzulah", translated into English as "Abyss of Despair."

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* This year I also relate to the 20th of Sivan on a personal level since it marks the first anniversary of my son's bris.

2 Comments:

At July 11, 2005 at 11:23:00 AM EDT, Blogger rabbi neil fleischmann said...

Thanks for pointing this out to me -

Nata Zev Fleischmann

 
At June 2, 2009 at 5:37:00 PM EDT, Blogger Unknown said...

I am mystifyied by derivation the title "Yesh Nochlin", as I am Philip Nochlin endeavoring to decipher the Nochlin Family Geneology. My great-grandfather Philip was a Talmudic Scholar/Rabbi in Bialystok, Poland.

Three of Philip's sons immigrated to NYC (Isidore, Hillel and Yakov). Isidore was my grandfather who came to Ellis Island in 1917 aboard the New Amsterdam. He established Garrison's Bakery at 890 Hunts Point avenue, Bronx, N.Y. with his wife Bessie.

His son Harold had me and my siblings, Evelyn and Bruce. Isidore's brothers Hillel and Yakov each were in their own bakery businesses (Hillel in White Plains). Hillel married Ray and had one son Philip, who was Philosophy Professor at Vassar. His wife Linda has become a renown women's art historian and retained the Nochlin name, despite my Uncle Philip untimely death.
Any information you may furnish me on the above or anything else that sheds light on the Nochlin history would be greatly appreciated. Best wishes.

Sincerely,

Philip Nochlin
(813)876-1463
pt33607@aol.com

 

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