Yahrtzeit of Ezra, the leader of the Jewish people at the time of their return from Babylonian exile and the building of the Second Temple. Ezra was the founder of the Great Assembly, a body of 120 prophets and sages who established important matters like the standard text found in Jewish prayer books today. He was an outspoken critic of assimilation, particularly of the masses of Jews who preferred to stay in Babylonia rather than return to Israel. His life and times are recorded in the biblical Book of Ezra. He died in the 4th century BCE.