Sea Point March 2020

Sea Point, Cape Town

29 February 20
Tea at the Winchester Mansions Hotel
Beachfront Walk

6 March 20

With Ian Stein and Dimitri Coutras

Cheryl Edwards

Foggy morning on the SEA POINT beachfront

7 March 20

Marais Road, Sea Point

Bordeaux – cnr Beach Road &  Marais Road

Ruemer Court  – I lived here from 1967 to 1975. Rent – R48 per month!

Green & Sea Point Hebrew Congregation

Queens Road – house once owned by my Zeldin grandparents

Ian & Irene Stein

Leaving Cape Town

Zeldin

Socher and Chassia moved to Queens Road Sea Point in 1953.

Socher Zeldin outside his Queens Road house.
 
 
 
Socher and Chassia Zeldin – outside their house in Sea Point
 
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Socher and Chassia, their 5 married daughters and their husbands.
 

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11 of the 15 his Cape Town grandchildren.

 
The founding of the Arthurs Road Shul, Sea Point in 1953
 
 
Socher passed away on Guy Fawkes Day – 5 Nov 1958 aged 77.
 
 
Pinelands #1
 

Huge Fire At Arthur’s Road Shul

My cousin Sonia Bloch in  Cape Town sent me these photos a short time ago – feeling sad!

 

Video

 

Some history

The official signing on 28 March 1953 – Arthur’s Road, Sea Point.

On the left is my paternal grandfather, Rev. Nachum Mendel Rabinowitz and on the right my maternal grandfather, Socher Zeldin.

Chabad signing 1953

Chabaad Arthur's Road 1953

Framed photo in the shul

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Article in Maccabean Weekly newspaper, Perth, Australia 2013

Arthurs Road

Rabbi Sam Thurgood giving a lesson.

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My interview with Philip Goldman on 22 December 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvcWtWv8Mng

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The shul website:

http://www.morasha.co.za

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From my post in 2013:

Last week I visited the Arthur’s Road Shul in Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa.

My previous visit was in November 2012.

Both also included research at the Kaplan Centre, UCT and the Gitlin Library at the Gardens Shul complex.

I have a personal interest in the shul as both my grandfathers, Rev. N M Rabinowitz and Socher Zeldin were present on 28 March 1953 at the signing of the documents establishing the shul in Sea Point.

Furthermore, my late cousin, Phyllis Jowell and her husband Cecil were linked with the restoration of the shul in more recent times.

The Shul Today

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From my previous posts:

The original shul was in Buitenkant Street. Documents from Kaplan Centre at UCT. Thanks to Veronica Belling.

Buitenkant St Buitenkant St Shul 3 Buitenkant St Shul

StitchSCAN0047-SCAN0049 Chabaad group photo SAJC s

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Buitenkants St Shul News

Framed photos found in the shul under the ladies’ section. Thanks Wendy Berger.

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The names of the men in this photo were found in a newspaper article on the same day  at the Kaplan Centre, UCT.

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Second framed photo found at the shul.

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The shul then moved to Virginia Ave, Vredehoek

Virginia Ave Shul Virginia Ave Shul 2

100th Anniversary Brochure – article by Philip Goldman

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Arthur's Road 100 Anniv 1

The plaque in memory of Lily Segall, mother of Bubbles and daughter of Israel Kellner.

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NY in Images 2017

This is my best – meeting people and taking lots of photos of things I see.

Enjoy!

The skyline and the people of LIC

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Long Island City

Long Island City – Wikipedia

Long Island City (LIC) is the westernmost residential and commercial neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. LIC is noted for its rapid and ongoing residential growth and gentrification, its waterfront parks, and its thriving arts community.[1] LIC has among the highest concentration of art galleries, art institutions, and studio space of any neighborhood in New York City.[2] It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Hazen Street, 49th Street, and New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek—which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brooklyn—to the south. It originally was the seat of government of the Town of Newtown, and remains the largest neighborhood in Queens. The area is part of Queens Community Board 1, located north of the Queensboro Bridge and Queens Plaza; it is also of Queens Community Board 2 to the south.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_City

Manhattan

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Schwartz Family
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On August 6, I made a presentation on Avraham Shlomo Zalman Tzoref to six of his descendants at Dara Reid’s apartment. This was organised by Wilma Solomon.

With the Solomon family also descendants of Tzoref
The Solomon family, also descendants of Tzoref

Manhattan Scenes

Buildings

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Synagogues

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Fire destroyed this old synagogue

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Fire Damages New York Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue

Fire Damages New York’s Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue

The abandoned building on the Lower East Side, built in 1850, once housed the city ’s oldest Jewish Orthodox congregation. No injuries were reported in the blaze.

Source: www.nytimes.com/2017/05/14/nyregion/lower-east-side-fire-beth-hamedrash-hagodol-synagogue.html

New York Public Library

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New York Public Library – Wikipedia

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Library

Russ & Daughters

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Russ & Daughters – Wikipedia

Russ & Daughters is an appetizing store[1] opened in 1914. It is located at 179 East Houston Street, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. A family-operated store, it has been at the same location since 1914.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_&_Daughters

Meeting My Cousin Mendel – With A Twist!

Meeting My Zeldin Family in Brooklyn NY

Our first meeting ever took place at the Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn New York on Sunday 6 August 2017 at 9:30am

After finding the whereabouts of my cousin Zara Smushkovich in September 2016 in Toronto, I sadly discovered that her brother Mendel had passed away less than two months before in Brooklyn NY.  Mendel, originally from Riga, Latvia, had only ever met one of his Zeldin first cousins, the late Phyllis Jowell in Riga in 1960.

Chassia & Isadore Zeldin, my maternal grandparents

Here are the children and grandchildren of Isocher and Chassia Zeldin


Isadore and Chassia with 11 of their 17 grandchildren c1953

The children and grandchildren of Mendel Zeldin. There are also a couple of great grandchildren not listed here.

Meeting My Cousin Zara Smushkovich

Meeting My Cousin Zara Smushkovich

Toronto, Canada 30 July 2017 I meet my first cousin Zara Zeldin Smushkovich again after 42 years. It is a delightful reunion at a restaurant and then at her condo. The only other time we met was in…

Source: elirab.me/meeting-my-cousin-zara-smushkovich/

New York

The early August morning view from my room in my brother, Michael’s apartment in LIC, NY.

When I arrived in New York,  I called Mendel’s daughter Bella. She invited my brother Michael and me to meet her, her brother Alex and their families at the Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn on the Sunday morning.

Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn NY

Washington Cemetery is an old, historical, and predominantly Jewish burial ground located at 5400 Bay Parkway in Mapleton, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Cemetery_(Brooklyn)

 

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Why did we meet at the cemetery?

It was our first cousin Mendel’s unveiling! Strange “meeting” my cousin for the first time at his unveiling.

With my brother Michael
With Bella. Lucy, Estee, Jonathan, Alex and Michael and Lucy’s daughters – all descendants of Isadore and Chassia Zeldin, my grand parents
With late Mendel’s carer, Estee, Bella and Innes

We then had lunch at a Russian Jewish restaurant in Flatbush. After many vodkas and a few speeches in honour of our departed cousin, it was off to Bella’s house for tea and more reminiscing! 

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With Mendel's children, Bella & Alex

Riva, Mendel’s wife

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David Zeldin, my mother's brother
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? & Zara
With Michael, Estee and Jonathan
Saying goodbye – Estee, Jonathan & Alex

Alli Passes On

Alli Bak Itzkowitz – The last of her generation

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dallasmorningnews/obituary.aspx?n=Alli-Bock-Itzkowitz&pid=186445752

A month after I met Alli Bak Itzkowitz for the first time, she passed away.

Alli was my mother Raele (Ray) Zeldin Rabinowitz’s first cousin.

They never met!

When Alli and I met in North Dallas in July, we shared stories, laughed, held hands and exchanged Yiddish rhymes

Here are photos from my visit:

A family dinner held on 20 July 2017

Part of the Zeldin family tree that Marny printed.

Alli and her son Gene

Videos

From my previous post

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Meet Alli Bak Itzkowitz

A young Alli

 

Here is my relationship chart to Alli, my mother’s first cousin and the last of her ZELDIN generation. They never met.

Allis’ paternal Bak grandparents – Leib and Naomi

 

Alli’s dad, Avram Bak
Alli and her late husband Julius
Alli’s sister Luba & husband Jasha
Alli’s family. The mother Sonia in the front
Alli’s family in Memel, Lithuania
Alli, Morris Back and Harry Bock
My mum, Ray and my grandfather Socher Zeldin
Back of the photo
Gene & Vicki with their daughter, Marny and her husband Cody

Alli is a Holocaust Survivor and has  her  testimony recorded  at USHMM as well as the Spielberg Foundation.

The USHMM link is here:

Oral history interview with Alli Itzkowitz – Collections Search – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Source: collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn506601

My Dallas Visit

My thanks go out to my second cousin, Gene Itzkowitz and his wife Vicki for being such great hosts during my first visit to Dallas.

I met Gene’s mother, Alli Itzkowitz, my mother’s last surviving cousin. Sadly, Alli passed away a few weeks later on 20 August 2017.

I also met my second cousins Steven, Lawrence and David Bock and the extended Bock and Itzkowitz families.

My visit to Southfork Ranch

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Dallas (1978 TV series)

Dallas (1978 TV series) – Wikipedia

Dallas is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1978, to May 3, 1991. The series revolves around a wealthy and feuding Texas family, the Ewings, who own the independent oil company Ewing Oil and the cattle-ranching land of Southfork. The series originally focused on the marriage of Bobby Ewing and Pamela Barnes, whose families were sworn enemies with each other. As the series progressed, oil tycoon J. R. Ewing became the show’s breakout character, whose schemes and dirty business became the show’s trademark.[1] When the show ended in May 1991, J.R. was the only character to have appeared in every episode.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_(1978_TV_series)

My visit to Cabela’s.

Quite normal in Texas, scary elsewhere!

Cabela’s Inc. is an American direct marketer and specialty retailer of hunting, fishing, boating, camping, shooting, and related outdoor recreation merchandise, based in Sidney, Nebraska. The company was founded by Richard N. Cabela in 1961 and went public in 2004, with that fiscal year’s revenue reaching $1.56 billion, a 50% growth since 2001.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabela’s

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J.F. Kennedy’s Assassination Site And Museum

With cousins Gene Itzkowitz and Steven Bock.

Texas School Book Depository – Wikipedia

The Texas School Book Depository, now known as the Dallas County Administration Building, is a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, United States. The building is most notable as the vantage point of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. An employee, Lee Harvey Oswald, shot and killed Kennedy from a sixth floor window on the building’s southeastern corner. The structure is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. It is located at 411 Elm Street on the northwest corner of Elm and North Houston Streets, at the western end of downtown Dallas.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_School_Book_Depository

The Dallas Holocaust Museum

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Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education & Tolerance – Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Holocaust_Museum/Center_for_Education_&_Tolerance

Perot Museum of Nature and Science

Cousin Steven Bock is a volunteer at the Perot Science Museum.

Perot Museum of Nature and Science

Source: www.perotmuseum.org

George W. Bush Presidential Center

with Vicki and Gene

 

George W. Bush Presidential Center – Wikipedia

43rd President of the United States

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush_Presidential_Center

My first Texas BBQ

Yummy Henry’s

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Family Photos

with Alli

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Alli and her younger son Gene
With Marny and the Zeldin Family Tree

Walmart

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On The Road

 

Alli – The Last of her Generation

Meet Alli Bak Itzkowitz

A young Alli

Only 3 hours 15 minutes from Perth to Sydney, but 15 and a half hours to Dallas!

I left Perth at 5:15 am and arrived in Dallas at 2pm the same day.  A 13 hour time change!

A nice and warm 38C –  100F  day in Dallas.

My first time here, and the first time I’m meeting my Texas family.

I was met  at the Dallas – Fort Worth Airport by Gene Itzkowitz, my second cousin on our mothers’ sides. Gene and his wife, Vicki are hosting me here in Dallas.

This must be Texas!

Alli and her younger son Gene

Here is my relationship chart to Alli, my mother’s first cousin and the last of her ZELDIN generation. They never met.

Allis’ paternal Bak grandparents – Leib and Naomi

 

Alli’s dad, Avram Bak
Alli and her late husband Julius
Alli’s sister Luba & husband Jasha
Alli’s family. The mother Sonia in the front
Alli’s family in Memel, Lithuania
Alli, Morris Back and Harry Bock
My mum, Ray and my grandfather Socher Zeldin
Back of the photo
Gene & Vicki with their daughter, Marny and her husband Cody

Alli is a Holocaust Survivor and has  her  testimony recorded  at USHMM as well as the Spielberg Foundation.

The USHMM link is here:

Oral history interview with Alli Itzkowitz – Collections Search – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Source: collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn506601

Remembering Uncle Moisey

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Is this Uncle Moisey, my mother’s brother?

There is nobody alive today who can tell us his story or would recognise his image! As kids, my cousins and I were told that he perished in the Holocaust in Latvia.

With his generation now gone, no one can remember the details.

My cousin Sonia Bloch and I found this photo recently  – we believe it is Moisey Zeldin!

In 2011 I commissioned Rita Bogdanova of the Latvian State Archives in Riga to research my mother’s family.

This is what she found specifically about Moisey.

Moisey’s parents (my grandparents):

1.5 Ishochor (Zachar) Zeldin  a petty bourgeois from Dvinsk, aged 23, married on May 22, 1905 in Riga to Hasia Jonje  – Hase Jonin, daughter of Jossel Jonin, a petty bourgeois from Dvinsk, aged 20, and marriage was registered in the marriage records of the Riga Jewish community for 1905. Ktuba – 100 rubel. Isochor and Hase:

1.5.1. son Moisey Zeldin, born on October 14, 1905 in Daugavpils (see copy of his birth registration entry). He was not married, lived in Riga at Parka Street 1–4  and Lačpleša Street 129–4.

 

Moisey_birth_registration_1905

Birth registration entry Nr. 411 in the birth records of the Dvinsk Jewish community for 1905:

Moisey Zeldin was born on October 14, circumcised on October 21, 1905 (Julian calendar) by Abram Leib Evzin.

Father – Dvinsk petty bourgeois Isochor son of Leib Zeldin.

Mother – Hasia daughter of Josel Jonin.

 

My mother, her 5 sisters and parents were all in South Africa by 1937.

Sisters

Moisey’s brother David somehow survived, as did David’s wife Esther and their two children who escaped to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

All members of the family were struck off the house-register of Lačpleša Street 129–4 on June 26, 1941 which means that they had fled.

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David, his wife and  children were living back in Riga when my late cousin, Phyllis Jowell met them in 1960.

Mrs_Jowell's-Diary-headerDavid Esther & Sophka Wedding

Esther and her daughter Sofka were last seen in Israel in the early 1980s. They then moved to Canada.

We have lost contact!

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In the last few months, I wrote to the Names and Fates Project so that they could update their database at:

http://names.lu.lv/en.html

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http://names.lu.lv/cgi-bin/one?lang=en&code=889014574631

 

I now have written to Yad Vashem to include Moisey on their database of Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

 

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In Latvian Army uniform

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Latvian Army Uniform

We remember Moisey today on Holocaust Remembrance Day

 

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