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
This is the first in a series called: Know Your Kehila. This week we feature Brest. More details and information can be found on the Brest KehilaLink
Dovid Katz Maps
36 Letters by Joan Sohn
Please send your replies to comments below or to eli@elirab.com
For the list of KehilaLinks we plan to feature in this series, see:
In honour of the Jewish Pedlar or Smous – see Graaf Reinet KehilaLink
My article about the Shanghai KehilaLink has been published in the April 2016 edition of Shemot, the publication of the JGS of Great Britain.
http://www.jgsgb.org.uk/shemot
My interest in family history started in 1992, after my cousin wrote seven ancestors’ names down on a scrap piece of paper.
I have had many genealogical success stories since then. This is due to my often unorthodox, multi focused approach, described by my daughter in law as “tangential”!
In 2011 I visited Eastern Europe for the first time. My heritage travels have taken me back four additional times. I have visited Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Hungary, Germany, the Czech Republic and Turkey.
I started writing KehilaLinks in 2011, the first being for Orla, near Bialystok in Poland in 2011.
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/orla
What is a KehilaLink:
JewishGen KehilaLinks (formerly “ShtetLinks”) is a project facilitating web pages commemorating the places where Jews have lived. KehilaLinks provides the opportunity for anyone with an interest in a place to create web pages about that community. These web pages may contain information, pictures, databases, and links to other sources providing data about that place.
Kehila קהילה [Hebrew] n. (pl. kehilot קהילות): Jewish Community. It is used to refer to a Jewish community, anywhere in the world.
Sites are hosted by JewishGen, the world’s largest Jewish genealogical organisation, an affiliate of the Jewish Heritage Museum in New York City. JewishGen provides amateur and professional genealogists with the tools to research their Jewish family history and heritage.
People are invited to send in their own stories, photos and memoirs. There is no cost in participating in a KehilaLink and it is a great way to share one’s family history
My list has grown to 63 websites with 3 more in the pipeline.
The full list and links are available at
http://elirab.me/litvak-portal/kehilalinks/
The Shanghai KehilaLink
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/shanghai/Home.html
Ironically, the one place I have not been to is Shanghai! Yet, I have been drawn to it by its connection to the Jewish people and especially because of the story of Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul in Kovno, the capital of Lithuania during WWII. Against his government’s wishes, Sugihara issued transit visas to Jews, enabling them to get to Shanghai, and therefore saved many lives. The story only surfaced in the 1970s. See Rabbi Levi Wolff of Sydney Central Synagogue:
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/shanghai/Australia.html
The video:
Sugihara also appears on several of my other KehilaLinks: Mir in Belarus, Kedainiai in Lithuania, and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia.
See also:
http://elirab.me/australia/sugihara-house-museum/
Four New South African KehilaLinks
This week we went live with:
Please visit the sites. If you have connections to these towns or cities, please contact me.
There are already some interesting contributions:
Read about the tribute to the Jewish pedlar (smous) from Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft
Photos of the Wertheim family from Amanda Katz Jermyn: Read Amanda’s story:
Amanda’s grandfather’s uncle, Hermann Wertheim, his wife Mathilde, and children Julius, Max, Fanny and Fritz who lived in Graaff-Reinett. It was taken in about 1892
The general store, Wille & Wertheim, formerly Baumann Bros., where Amanda’s grandfather, August Katz came to work for his uncle Hermann Wertheim.
August Katz, Amanda’s grandfather, in his British Boer War uniform
Grave of Fritz Wertheim, son of Mathilde and Hermann Wertheim. Hermann was a brother of Amanda’s great-grandmother, Mathilde Wertheim.
Kol Tuv
Photo by James Ball – The Heritage Portal
During Ishvara Dhyan’s walking tour of Doornfontein in February, he mentioned the Poswohl Shul.
I did some follow up research and found some very interesting info from:
I want to thank Naomi Musiker and Rabbi Silberhaft for giving of their time and sharing information; my appreciation to Rose Norwich for allowing me to use parts of her dissertation for her Masters in Architecture in 1988; and to Elona Steinfeld and the researchers for the next two volumes of Jewish Life in the Country Communities.
More details about the Poswohl synagogue on my Johannesburg KehilaLink website.
With permission from James Ball The Heritage Portal:
The Poswohl Synagogue – A Memorial to a Community that No Longer Exists
A captivating story appeared in the 1982 issue of Restorica. It was compiled by Hymie Amoils and traces the origins, history and significance of the Poswohl Synagogue in Mooi Street Johannesburg.
In answer to Carol Hoffman’s query:
Tell me please, would this shul have been settled by Litvaks who had come from what is now known as Pasvalys?
From Rose Norwitz
From Jewishgen.org
With Rabbi Silberhaft
We continue on Ishvara Dhyan’s walking tour of Doornfontein
Beit Street For many generations immigrant Jews would make their way to Beit Street, a supportive Jewish enclave in Doornfontein. Beit Street used to be the commercial hub of the suburb, crowded with kosher butcheries, shoemakers, tailors, blacksmiths, carpenters and barbers, interrupted by bicycles, horses and carts or trams making their way down the middle of the street. Hawkers and pedlars crowded the pavements, with live chickens, eggs, ice and coal on sale. (City of Johannesburg – Jews mark 120 years)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Although the Jews were allowed equal rights after the Boer War, they again became subject to persecution in the days leading up to World War II. In 1930, the Quota Actof 1930 was intended to curtail the entry of Jews into South Africa. The vast majority of Jews immigrating to South Africa came from diaspora communities in Lithuania. The 1937 The Aliens Act, motivated by a sharp increase the previous year in the number of German Jewish refugees coming to South Africa, brought the migration to almost a complete halt. Some Jews were able to enter the country, but many were unable to do so. A total of approximately six-and-a-half thousand Jews came to South Africa from Germany between the years 1933 and 1939.[12] Many Afrikaners (i.e., Boers) felt sympathy for Nazi Germany, and organizations like Louis Weichardt’s “Grayshirts” and the pro-Nazi Ossewabrandwag were openly anti-Semitic. During World War I, many Afrikaners, who had little respect for Britain, objected to the use of “Afrikaner women and children from the British concentration camps” in fighting the German territory of South West Africa on behalf of Britain. This had the effect of drumming up pro-German sentiment among a population of Afrikaners. The opposition National Party argued that the Aliens Act was too lenient and advocated a complete ban on Jewish immigration, a halt in the naturalization of Jewish permanent residents of South Africa and the banning of Jews from certain professions.[13] After the war, the situation began to improve, and a large number of South African Jews, generally a fairly Zionist community,[6] made aliyah to Israel. While it is understandable that many South African Jews would feel uncomfortable with formerly pro-Nazi Afrikaners rising to power in 1948, many leading apartheid-era Afrikaner politicians publicly apologized to the South African Jewish community for their earlier anti-semitic actions and assured it of its continued safety in South Africa.
During this time, there were also two waves of Jewish immigration to Africa from the island of Rhodes, first in the 1900s and then after 1960.[14][15]
Education Several Jewish schools were built, and one, the Jewish Government School, now the IH Harris Primary School in Davies Street, Doornfontein, still goes strong. Yiddish used to be the only language heard in the playground. (City of Johannesburg – Jews mark 120 years)
From Ishvara
* Great Synagogue ( Wolmeraans St ) 1914
* Lion Shul ( Harrow Rd ) 1905
* Beit Hamedrash HaGodel ( Sherwell St ) 1931
* Altesheim Shul ( Louisa St ) 1927
* Chassidishe Shul ( Siemert St ) 1930
* Ponevez Shul ( Hilner St ) 1931
* Poswohl Shul ( Mooi St ) 1921
The Beth Hamedrash HaGodel is where famous Latvian Cantor Berele Chagy sang 1932 – 1941
Photo courtesy of Virtual Shtetl Portal – Wirtualny Sztetl
From: Glenn Kurtz
Dear Friends of Nasielsk!
I am very pleased to announce that the restoration and rededication of Nasielsk’s Jewish cemetery will take place this summer, from 3 – 8 July 2016.
You are invited to participate! Volunteers are welcome for all or any part of the project: a day, a few days, or the entire week.
As those of you who have visited Nasielsk know, the former Jewish cemetery is now a mature forest, overgrown and unkempt. Since no (or very few) headstones remain, our work this summer will be to clear the brush and the forest floor. We expect it will be a multi-year project. Once we have cleared the ground, we can discuss and decide on a memorial and a preservation plan.
We are fortunate and grateful to be partnering with the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODŻ), based in Warsaw, and the Matzevah Foundation, based in Atlanta. FODŻ, which has helped restore cemeteries and synagogues throughout Poland, will manage the legal and community relations aspects of the project, while the Matzevah Foundation will help with logistics and labor.
Each participant will be responsible for independent transportation to Warsaw. The Matzevah Foundation will collect a $300 fee to defray administrative and material expenses. Details regarding lodging, local transportation, etc., will be forthcoming in late April.
Our project has the support of Mayor Ruszkowski of Nasielsk and of the local community. We anticipate that high school students and other local volunteers will join us to assist with the clean up. Under the auspices of the cemetery project, we will have the opportunity to share the importance of Jewish history with local community members. As always, we hope our presence will encourage the local community to preserve the memory of Nasielsk’s Jewish history and to incorporate it into the school curriculum.
Finally, during our stay we may be privileged to participate in a ceremony honoring Helena Jagodzińska, sponsored by Yad Vashem and held at the new POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. Helena helped Nasielsker Maurice Chandler to survive the war and was named a Righteous Gentile in January 2016. Her family (who accompanied us to the Polin Museum in October 2014) will receive the official commendation.
Please contact me or Michael Valihora with any questions or if you would like to participate.
We hope you will join us!
Glenn
Visit the Nasielsk KehilaLink
From the past when it was the Great Synagogue:
My thanks to Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft for giving me the book he compiled which included the above article.
A sound clip of Chief Rabbi Louis Rabinowitz, showing his style of oratory. It was part of the toast he made to our Rabinowitz family at my sister, Sorrel Rabinowitz and Gidon (Clive) Katz’s wedding in 1961. Here is the Chief Rabbi making the point that we were not related, and so aren’t most Rabinowitzes!
[sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://elirab.me/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Chief-Rabbi-Louis-Rabinowitz-1961-Short.mp3″]
The book about Rabbi L I Rabinowitz written by my late cousin, Rabbi Gerald Mazabow z”l
The Great Synagogue, Wolmarans Street is today The Revelation Church of God.
We continue on Ishvara Dhyan’s Walking Tour of Doornfontein;
On the outside:
The scenes inside
Some video footage of the remarkable scenes around and inside the building:
Marc Latilla’s excellent work on the old suburbs of Johannesburg.
https://johannesburg1912.wordpress.com
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.
Berele Chagy Soundclip
Ishvara Dhyan’s Walking Tour – the shuls in Doornfontein
My thanks to Naomi Musiker of the archives at Beyachad for showing me this two volume set and to Rose Norwich for writing them and giving me permission to use extracts. Rose’s thesis has never been published. Hopefully someone will take on this project!
Rose and Naomi
Poswohl Synagogue
Ponevez Shul
Ponevez Sick & Benevolent Society 1949
The First Chevra Kadisha on the grounds of the University of Johannesburg
Beth Hamedrash Hagadol – The Berele Chagy Shul. It is now a gym on the campus.
Berele Chagy
Chagy – soundclip
1. The world-famous cantor, Berele CHAGY (HAGGAI), was born in Dagda, Latvia on July 25, 1892. He emigrated to the United States in 1913.
(Information from Paul Silverman)
2. The famous Cantor (Chazan) Berele (Boris) CHAGY, the son of Yitzchak and Sheine CHAGY was from Dagda.
(Information from Eli Goldstein, Johannesburg, South Africa)
3. Berele Chagy was a great hazzan and officiated at Smolensk by 17. Later he had congregations in USA (New York, Detroit and Boston) and in South Africa (BETH HAMEDRASH HAGADOL). The last few years he was at the great Brooklyn shul Bethel (Bethel Synagogue created some rushes towards a movie of its great cantors). He went from Dagda to Riga to study, thence to Smoilensky (a cigarette case given to him with inscriptions in Hebrew “From the Hassids of Smolensk” is still in the family). Because of his youth he required special permission to be a cantor presiding there.
His father and his father’s father are supposed to have all been cantors. At nine he was accompanying his own father in singing and praying. One day he ran away to another village and was found davvening there!
He married very early a young woman, Esther, who was very active as a Zionist, though they never made aliyah together and she visited only late in life. His sons became philosophers and pianists. His grandchildren are in the arts.
He had a hard time escaping the army and came to America. He died while praying in Newark, New Jersey, in l954.
(He is listed in many Jewish encyclopedias.)
(His students – or those who sang under him are – interesting: From Jan Peerce and Danny Kaye to others.)
(Information from David Shapiro, New York, USA)
Any further information about Berele CHAGY (HAGGAI) will be greatly appreciated. Write to: Elsebeth Paikin
Marc Latilla’s blog
Next time – The Great Synagogue, Wolmarans Street.
