July 2014 – tangential travel

July 24, 2014

Are you from Port Elizabeth, Pretoria or Oudtshoorn?

I have set up three basic websites for PE, Pretoria and Oudtshoorn, forerunners of the Kehilalink websites.

These websites celebrate and document the Jews of these cities from its pioneers, through the families who lived and worked in these cities over the decades to those still there today. It will tell the story of the Jewish institutions, the shuls and other Jewish buildings and cemeteries.

The site is hosted by the Jewish Genealogical Society. It is managed by Eli Rabinowitz

Please join us on this journey – and if you or your family have connections with these cities then we look forward to hearing from you and receiving your stories, memories, photographs and family biographies. Only by doing so, will the story of Jewish life will be revealed and available for the benefit of current and future generations – wherever they may be. We have made a start in July 2014 and created the possibility – now please will you help to fill in the details by telling us about your family.

Time is of the essence as the number of those that can “tell the story” and the remaining community dwindles. So please contact me to send material and for any queries.

Here are the links:

Port Elizabeth

http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/port_elizabeth

Pretoria

http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/pretoria

Oudtshoorn

http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/oudtshoorn

Please send in your photos and stories and fill in the questionnaires

To see a working kehilalink, visit Kimberley:

http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/kimberley

Thanks again to Geraldine Auerbach MBE in London, who has been an inspiring partner in the Kimberley kehilalink project.

Those from Kimberley, please send us your photos and stories as well.

Thanks

July 17, 2014

Kehilalinks: Seeking Information

I am currently setting up the following new Kehilalinks for JewishGen:

Port Elizabeth
Pretoria
Oudtshoorn
Cape Town
Johannesburg

Berlin
Sydney
Melbourne
Perth

I would appreciate any relevant input including stories, memoirs and photos that could be shared on these sites:

My South African Kehilalinks are – click the images to visit

Geraldine Auerbach MBE in London is the driving force behind the Kimberley Kehilalink. She is energetically providing me with lots of great ideas on the new structure and input.

Thanks also to Charlotte Wiener in Iarael for her input on Pietersburg.

My other Kehilalinks are:

July 8, 2014

Andrew Denton and I Share Common Roots

Andrew Denton discovers that he is part of the illustrious Katzenellenbogen Rabbinic Family Tree.

So we are connected!

He discovers this in Episode 1 Series 6 of Who Do You Think You Are Australia.

http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/10?gclid=CjwKEAjwre6dBRC94d-Gma7g3wcSJACNatZedFxoCLkfbRNyTWh3wQKp_Kl9yCQjIdWIE4FnPjRNsBoCqqHw_wcB?__federated=1

My connection to my 12th great grandfather, Saul Wahl Katzenellenbogen, King of Poland for a day:

Relationship Chart Eli Moses Rabinowitz:Shaul Wahl Katzenellenbogen

For more visit:

http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/orla/16,accounts-memories/36383,eli-rabinowitz-talks-about-his-family-from-orla/

From my zaida’s shtetl of Orla to Suchowola, Andrew’s shtetl, both in the Grodno Guberna:

To learn more on Shaul Wahl Katzenellenbogen, Brest and Yizkor Books visit:

https://elirab.me/2014/06/03/brest-litovsk-vol-ii-encyclopedia-of-the-jewish-diaspora/

and

http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/brest

My visit to Grodno in 2012:

https://elirab.me/2012/05/16/grodno-novogrudok-14-may-2012/

With Tamara Vershitskaya, who has been on several episodes of Who Do You Think You Are and Tatiana, director of the Grodno Archives, who appears on Andrew’s episode.

Treblinka:

https://elirab.me/2012/05/12/orla-11-may-2012/