Next week I embark on my next journey to London, Germany, Lithuania, Israel and Scotland. These travels are in honour of Rabbi Shalom Coleman a great friend. Rabbi always likens me to:
Benjamin of Tudela, Spain, a famous world traveler of the 12th century [1173 C.E.] is considered by some modern historians as giving the most accurate description of every-day life in the Middle Ages. Written originally in Hebrew, it was translated into Latin and later became an extremely popular piece of Jewish literature in many languages. The modern reader might regard it as an exotic tale. But the author actually intended to give his contemporaries a factual account of his travels.
What exactly did Benjamin plan to accomplish when he started out on his fantastic journey? At first, probably nothing but a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. which. despite the Crusades, retained a magic attraction for the pious Jew. A pilgrimage-an Aliyah-probably with the thought to stay there for the rest of his life. But the fact is that he did take the long road, stopping frequently, meeting people, visiting places, describing occupations and giving a demographic count of Jews in every town and country.
I hope I do not disappoint!, after a four year break! Follow me on
Tonight, 10 Heshvan 5783, 3 November 2022, is the 20th yahrzeit of my dad, Cantor Hirsh Zvi (Harry) Rabinowitz
Harry’s abridged ancestral family tree (extends to over 20 generations)
Harry was born in Volksrust, Transvaal, South Africa on 28 September 1914.
Volksrust – Wikipedia
Volksrust is a town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa near the KwaZulu-Natal provincial border, some 240 km southeast of Johannesburg, 53 km north of Newcastle and 80 km southeast of Standerton.
Please join us for a meeting to review the year’s CHOL – Community History On-Line activity where 6 speakers will give (and show) us a short update on their work.
