This week in Jewish history: Moses ascends Mount Sinai, a massacre shakes Hebron

BySTEVEN DRUCKERAUGUST 15, 2026 08:49Elul 1, 2448 (1312 BCE): Moses ascended Mount Sinai for the third time and remained there for 40 days, during which time he obtained God’s wholehearted forgiveness for the people of Israel. He then came down on the 10th of Tishrei (Yom Kippur) with the second Tablets of the Law (Exodus 33:11). Ever since, the month of Elul serves as the “month of Divine mercy and forgiveness.”Aug. 15, 2005: The Gaza Disengagement began with 14,000 IDF soldiers and police officers forcibly evicting more than 8,500 Jewish residents who chose to remain in their homes in 25 towns. The government’s hopes that the Disengagement would open “new opportunities” in relations with the Palestinians were bitterly disappointed. The vacated settlements were used to launch terrorist at