Dec. 6, 2007 — Helene’s Palace Is Believed to Be Found
Helene’s Palace is believed to be the mansion of a royal convert to Judaism who died around 55 C.E. U.S. Library of Congress.
An Israeli archaeological dig discovers the remains of a 2,000-year-old mansion in the Old City of Jerusalem that is believed to have belonged to Queen Helene of Adiabene, a convert to Judaism who died in Jerusalem around 55 C.E. Archaeologists say the building was two stories tall and was demolished by the Romans in 70. The structure is found during a six-month dig at a parking lot outside the walls of the Old City near the Dung Gate.
Dec. 7, 1921 — First Nurses Graduate in Jerusalem
Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold poses with the first graduating class of the Nurses’ Training Institute on Dec. 7, 1921.
Twenty-two women graduate from the Nurses’ Training Institute at Rothschild Hospital in Jerusalem, making them the first nurses to receive degrees in the Land of Israel. Hadassah opened the institute in 1918. Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold speaks at the ceremony. The graduates, representing the diversity of the Yishuv (Jewish community), go to work at Hadassah-run hospitals in Jaffa, Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Haifa.
Dec. 8, 1948 — Historian Benny Morris Is Born
Historian Benny Morris, known for his work on the Israeli government’s role in driving out some Arabs during the War of Independence, also has criticized David Ben-Gurion for not completely expelling Arabs from Israel. By Aude, own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Benny Morris, a renowned Israeli professor of history, is born on a kibbutz in Ein HaHoresh to diplomat Ya’akov Morris and journalist Sadie Morris. His research into the departure of Palestinians from the new State of Israel in 1948 uncovers evidence that many Arabs were expelled by Jews instead of following Arab leaders’ orders to leave. In 1997, Morris joins the faculty of Ben-Gurion University’s Middle East studies department.
Dec. 9, 1914 — Revisionist Zionist “Mookie” Is Born
Shmuel Katz, who served one term in the Knesset, was best known for his writing. Knesset.
Shmuel Katz, a leader of Revisionist Zionism and a founder of Menachem Begin’s Herut party, is born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Known as “Mookie,” he makes aliyah in 1936 and joins the Irgun the next year. He spends World War II in London, raising money for the Irgun and editing the weekly Jewish Standard. He arranges for the Irgun’s 1948 French arms shipment aboard the Altalena, which David Ben-Gurion orders sunk.
Dec. 10, 1952 — Israel Inaugurates Second President
President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi meets with Liberian Ambassador Ernest Jerome Yancy in October 1958. By Moshe Pridan, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, 68, a native of Ukraine who made aliyah in 1907, is inaugurated as Israel’s second president after 30 days of mourning for his predecessor, Chaim Weizmann. The Knesset elected him on the third ballot Dec. 8 with 62 votes against Rabbi Mordechai Nurock (42 votes) and Yitzhak Gruenbaum (five). Ben-Zvi, a signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1948, serves three terms until his death in April 1963.
Dec. 11, 1948 — U.N. Resolution 194 Offers “Right of Return”
Palestinian Arabs flee their homes during the War of Independence in 1948 and become refugees.
The U.N. General Assembly passes Resolution 194, addressing “the situation in Palestine” during the Israeli War of Independence. The resolution never mentions Israel by name and never talks about partition. It does address the status of refugees, saying they should be permitted to return home as soon as possible. Palestinians interpret that clause as endorsing an unlimited “right of return” for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
Dec. 12, 1943 — Settlement Leader Hanan Porat Is Born
Gush Emunim leader Hanan Porat (right) and Rabbi Moshe Levinger are lifted up by fellow settlement activists after the government agrees Dec. 8, 1975, to let settlers move to locations across Samaria, including a military camp near the Arab village of Sebastia. By Moshe Milner, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Hanan Porat, a leader in Israel’s post-1967 settlement movement, is born in Kfar Pines, northeast of Hadera. His family abandons the West Bank village of Kfar Etzion after a massacre of Jews on the eve of Israel’s independence, but he returns to re-establish a religious Jewish settlement there after the June 1967 war. In 1974 he helps found the Orthodox movement Gush Emunim to promote the settlement of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.