and Jewish Life
The following article was written by my wife’s cousin, Richard Shavei Tzion.
It has just appeared in Ezra magazine in Israel.
Richard has kindly given me permission to repost it.
He writes beautifully in addition to all the other amazing talents he has – see his bio.
Click on What I Call Beschert
On the subject of the Saevitzon family, below is a video of their Pesach Seder in Cape Town in 1954.
It includes the Bloch and Reitstein families.
Chag Pesach Sameach
Eli
Hi All
I am working on an ancestral town project. Please help by filling in the questionnaire below.
Thanks in advance.
Your comments are also welcome.
Chag Pesach Sameach
Eli
Click on the link above to view the post.
There are several lists of names which are searchable in the WordPress search engine on the top of the sidebar on the right.
Should you wish to receive an email each time I post, please enter your email address and press “subscribe”. Confirm the email that you will receive. It is free!
Details about David Sandler and his books are available by clicking on the link above.
Two weeks ago I spoke on Litvaks on the Move at the Claremont Wynberg Shul in Cape Town:
This week I presented the Perth version of this Litvaks on the Move slideshow at the WA Jewish Historical & Genealogical Society at Noranda Shul.
Perth:
Some slides from the show:
I included slides from my recent trip to South Africa where I visited the Kaplan Centre and Gitlin Library in Cape Town and the Archives and Friends of the Beth Hatsutsoth in Johannesburg.
I also visited the Liliesleaf Museum in Rivonia.
One of highlights was the 4½ walking tour of Doornfontein run by Ishvara Dhyan.
Posts to follow.
At the end of my presentation, Sue Levy presented me with a certificate and the customary book was donated to our local genealogical society library on my behalf.
I was blown away by what book Sue chose!
The title is “Preserving Our Litvak Heritage”, something I have been passionately working on for a while now. The name of the author – Josef Rosin z”l.
In June last year, I noticed that the Birzh KehilaLink had not been updated for long time. I made some enquiries and found out that this website had been compiled by Josef Rosin, who had passed away in Israel in the previous November. When I showed interest in adopting the Birzh site, I was asked by Joel Alpert if I would be happy to adopt 25 others, all the work of late Josef Rosin.
http://elirab.me/litvak-portal/kehilalinks/
I have spent the last eight months updating these Lithuania kehilalinks, the work that Josef Rosin had done so brilliantly over so many years!
A tribute by Joel Alpert to Josef Rosin:
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/birzai/Joseph_Rosin.html
I have previously corresponded with Joel in early 2014. He wanted to use my image of broken matsevot at the Brest Fort for the cover of the new Brest Yizkor book. That photo was one of the slides I used in my Litvaks on the Move presentation – eerie or what!
My Litvaks on the Move talk took place at Claremont Shul last Sunday night.
An audience of about 80, mostly of Litvak heritage, attended the presentation.
Question time was held afterwards. Discussion centred around finding ones shtetl.
Thanks go to Rabbi Matthew Liebenberg and Steven Sherman for organising this most successful event.
[huge_it_slider id=”48″]
Images of the evening’s talk
[huge_it_slider id=”49″]
The main synagogue
[huge_it_slider id=”50″]
[huge_it_slider id=”53″]
The small shul
[huge_it_slider id=”51″]
Walls covered with the history of both Claremont and Wynberg Shuls
[huge_it_slider id=”52″]
[huge_it_slider id=”54″]
Images from the archives at the Kaplan Centre, UCT.
My thanks to the librarian, Juan-Paul Burke, for his assistance and allowing me to use this amazing material housed at the Kaplan Centre.
Jerry Zinn’s barmitzvah photo in 1953. Jerry is not in the photo!
Two quite different schools on opposite sides of the world, will link up in a Litvak Hangout.
A joint session between students of Herzlia, the Jewish Day School in Cape Town, South Africa and those of Atzalyno Gimnazija, a high school in Kedainiai, Lithuania will be held at 11am South African and Lithuanian time.
Eli Rabinowitz will make some introductory comments about Jews of Lithuania and South Africa and how the Litvaks got to SA.
Three of the Lithuanian students will talk about the Jewish history, the importance of Kedainiai and the Jewish sites in the town.
Three Herzlia students will talk about their Lithuanian heritage, their family shtetl, and when and how their family came to SA.
And then we will talk about the future!
Click here for the link to watch this event live on YouTube:
http://youtu.be/dvnv7q6arAY
Several people around the world have been working hard to make this event happen:
Laima Ardaviciene, the English teacher at Atzalyno in Kedainiai
Mark Helfrich, Curriculum Head at United Herzlia Schools, Cape Town
Steve Sherman, Chief Imagination Officer at Living Maths, Cape Town
Eli Rabinowitz, Perth Australia.
Read more about Eli’s bond with Atzalyno:
http://elirab.me/australia/my-bond-with-atzalyno-gimnazija-a-school-in-kedainiai-2/
The students take me on a multicultural tour of Kedainai, the last stop being the two former synagogue complex, one of only a handful in Lithuania. The centre is run by Rimantas Zirgulis, director of the Museum and includes a permanent Jewish display, one of the first towns in Lithuania to do so.
The video report on a Lithuanian TV channel with a synopsis in English by two of the students: Juste & Julija
Kedainiu Zinios 7:21 – 9:55 – meeting at our school
The English teacher Laima Ardavičienė surprises her students every single lesson. She is diversifying her lessons with various tasks and even guests.
Laima says, „ Last year I was working on a project and the main idea was to introduce different cultures to students. I found a video of Jewish weddings which reflected Jewish traditions. After watching this video, I asked the author if I was able to use it and I got shocked when he replied „ Laima, you can use it. By the way, you can be really surprised, but I‘m rooted in Kėdainiai“. The author of the video was our guest Eli Rabinowitz. It‘s the second time Eli Rabinowitz is visiting our school. Last year he was a participant in our project too, while students were learning about different communities in Kėdainiai. Meetings like this never end. We keep in touch via skype and have skype meetings with students.
An article in the Lithuanian press:
Anglų kalbos pamokos kitaip
Iš arčiau 2015/05/29 by Vilija Mockuvienė
Vieni „Atžalyno“ gimnazijos mokiniai mokytojos Laimos Ardavičienės anglų kalbos pamokų laukia su baime, kiti – su džiaugsmu. Gimnazistai žino, kad šios patyrusios pedagogės pamokose nebus nei nuobodulio, nei tuščio laiko leidimo.
Paįvairindama pamokas „Atžalyno“ gimnazijos mokytoja Laima Ardavičienė į Kėdainius pakvietė Australijoje gyvenantį žydą E. Rabinovičių, kuris turi sąsajų su šiuo miestu ir mielai bendrauja su jaunimu.
For further see:
http://muge.eu/anglu-kalbos-pamokos-kitaip/
My images are supplemented with some provided by Vilius, a delightfully engaging student, who would like one day, to have sports photography business, possibly in South Africa!
[huge_it_slider id=”19″]
I am pleased to advise that I am now working on five new KehilaLinks.
I compile and manage these Jewish websites as a volunteer for Jewishgen.org, the world’s largest Jewish genealogical organisation.
JewishGen should be the first stop in the journey of discovery of your family history.
If you have roots in these towns, please contact me at eli@elirab.com
I hope you are able to share your family’s story and photos of Jewish life in these places.
Ziezmariai (Zhezhmir)
Ukmerge (Vilkomir)
Jelgava (Mitau)
Benoni
Graaff Reinet
Have a look at the list of KehilaLinks I manage:
http://elirab.me/litvak-portal/kehilalinks/
Thanks
Eli
Just launched:
The essential 36 page guide to visiting Jewish Lithuania and its ten key sites which highlight Jewish history and cultural heritage. This is the project of AEPJ European Routes of Jewish Heritage, published by the private Institute for Tourism Development and financed by the Lithuanian Jewish Commuity’s Good Will Foundation.
One of the sites featured is Kedainiai, previously known as Keidan, a town of great Jewish importance. Keidan just also happens to be my Litvak shtetl!
All you need to build the perfect tour is more information on your own shtetl, and someone familiar with the territory to help you with your shtetl research, itinerary and bookings!
For all this and more, please contact me at eli@elirab.com
For more details on the guide, click Kedainiai Kehilalink.
[fb_pe url="https://www.facebook.com/eli.rabinowitz.3/posts/10153754480551070" bottom="30"]
http://elirab.me/australia/my-bond-with-atzalyno-gimnazija-a-school-in-kedainiai/
Regards Eli