Tisha B'Av, Tzalmon, 5780

The Decrees of 4856 (1096) or the events of 4856 are a series of pogroms (massacres) that occurred in the year 1096 (4856) in Europe during the First Crusade, and included a mass slaughter of Jews by the Christians.

Most of the Jews refused to convert their religion and preferred to die for Kiddush Hashem (sanctifying God's name) rather than become Christian, and in many cases, Jews killed their family members and took their own lives so as not to be forcibly baptized into Christianity.

The events were seared as a trauma in the consciousness of the People of Israel, especially in the Ashkenazi tradition. From the decrees, Kinnot (elegies/lamentations) were preserved that were composed in memory of the communities that were destroyed, and especially the Torah centers of Germany in the three cities called by the Jews the SHUM communities - Speyer, Worms, and Mainz. Some of the Kinnot are recited on Tisha B'Av (the 9th of Av) in the synagogues of Ashkenazi communities. Also, descriptions and illustrations were preserved in Christian literature showing the slaughter during the Crusade, both in Europe and along their journey in the Middle East and especially in the Land of Israel.

"A million Jews were killed in 4856 (1096). The decree was on the 23rd [of Sivan], on the 8th of Sivan the decrees were canceled. On the 23rd of 4856, the decree passed. Rebbe Nachman said it shouldn't be like a 'yo-yo' where the decree returns and is canceled; every day the decree changes."

"Because Tisha B'Av is the end of the Seder night... until the 23rd of Sivan, 100,000 Jews were killed."

"'Issachar is a bony donkey' (Genesis 49:14), for he is a complete donkey. He said, 'I only want to be a donkey,' like Eliezer the servant of Abraham who entered Gan Eden (Paradise) with his body. When a person humbles himself and they call him a donkey, then he enters Gan Eden with his body."