Sunday, October 19, 2014
Goldfoot, a Branch of the Kalonymus Family of Southern Italy and the Crusaders
Nadene Goldfoot
The shock to me from the results of my DNA testing was that my Goldfoot family not only had German roots being originally Goldfus, but that before they came from Germany they had come from southern Italy in Lucca. I showed up with a few Italian segments as well. Why not, when I knew we were from Telsiai and Suwalki, Lithnuania, meaning we were Ashkenazi Jews who had come from Judah in the first place. To get to Germany, they went through Italy, mainly Rome for most. Jews were in Rome and had a Jewish community there as early as 139 BCE. They enjoyed some civil liberties but were restricted as to not proselytize and were not allowed to keep Christian slaves or participate in government affairs. It was in Italy that the Ghetto was created to fence in Jews. Jews entered Germany and had communities there from 321 in Cologne on the Rhine.
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8th Century Italy was the home of the Kalonymus family, Jews from Jerusalem's fall of 70 CE. By the 9th century, the family migrated from southern Italy to Germany. We have inherited a few genes from this family. They were the Jewish leaders in Germany during the Crusades, especially during the massacres of 1096 when the Crusades first started. This family continued to issue leaders of the 12th and 13th centuries as well.
The family had many branches off of which we trace our chromosomes. The history of the family was written in about 1220 by Eleazar ben Judah Kalonymus of Worms, the author of the Roke'ah, our ancestor. He gave a list of his family and teachers in order to show the ancient age and reliability of his references of prayers that was printed by Joseph Delmedigo in his MaZrefle-Hokhmah.
Starting with himself, Eleazar ha-Katan to his father, Rabbi Judah, son of Rabbi Kalonymus, son of Moses, son of Rabbi Judah, son of Rabbi Kalonymus, son of Rabbi Moses, son of Rabbi Kalonymus, son of Judah.
Eleazar ha-Katan
Rabbi Judah
Rabbi Kalonymus
Moses
Rabbi Judah
Rabbi Kalonymus
Rabbi Moses
Rabbi Kalonymus
Judah
This southern Italian Jewish family had some of its members move by one of the Carolingian emperors to the Rhine cities in Germany. King Charlemagne is thought by some to be the mover, but it is now accepted that it must have been Charles the Bald who lived in the 2nd half of the 9th century and was born in Franfurt, Germany. "Charles the Bald (13 June 823 – 6 October 877) was the King of West Francia (843–77), King of Italy (875–77) and Holy Roman Emperor (875–77, as Charles II). After a series of civil wars that began during the reign of his father, Louis the Pious, Charles succeeded by the Treaty of Verdun(843) in acquiring the western third of the Carolingian Empire. He was a grandson of Charlemagne and the youngest son of Louis the Pious by his second wife, Judith."
One story is that during the reign of Otto II (973-983), a Kalonymus member saved the life of this monarch in a battle with the Saracens.
Eleazar of Worms and Solomon Luria compiled accounts that give the Italian and German heads of the family which produced for almost 5 centuries the most notable scholars of Germany and northern France. The list ends with the year 1080. and started with Meshullam in 780, Ithiel 1st in 800, Meshullam II in 825, Moses I in 850, Jekuthiel I in 876, Kalonymus I in 900, Moses II in 926, Jekutheil II, Kalonymus II in 950, Meshullam the Great of Rome or Lucca in 976.
It goes on with Kalonymus III of 1000, Hananeel I, Moses III of 1020, Kalonymus IV, Hananeel II, Ithiel II, Jekuthiel of Speyer in 1070, Moses IV of 1060, Moses V of Speyer in 1070, Meshullam of Mainz in 1080. This was listed in the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906.
We know we are related to the Rabbi of Worms (city in the Rhineland) through DNA testing, and it was he, Eleazar of Worms, that stressed that the family received "secrets orally from the Babylonian scholar, Aaron, son of Samuel. Usually the Jewish communities in southern Italy were influenced by the Palestinian center of learning and not the Babylonian. These traditions from generation to generation within these 2 elements of the family were "fused together into one whole" which made our Kalonymus family important among the scholars in Germany.
Leaders came out of this family which we have read about from the chronicles telling of the massacres of the crusaders from 1096 to the middle of the 13th century. German Jews along with the Kalonymus family suffered greatly during this period. From the family came the most prominent halakhists and talmudic scholars of the time. Hasidei Asshkenaz were led by family members who formulated their esoteric theology and created their code of ethical and pious behavior.
Members of the Kalonymus family resettled in Mainz and Speyer. These are cities that became Jewish centers and were some of the first attacked besides Worms by the Crusaders.
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Another member of the family was Kalonymus ben Shabbethai, alias Kalonymus of Rome, born there in about 1030. His father was president of the Jewish community and he had a reputation as a Talmudic authority which extended far beyond the boundaries of Italy. He received halakic questions from Worms, Arles and many other places. When Jacob bar Yakar died in 1070, Kalonymus was called to the rabbinate of Worms and he held the title there until 1096 when he fell as a victim to the persecutions of the Crusaders. Along with Eleazar ben Judah, this Kalonymuks relative directed the rabbinical school of Worms, and had among his pupils such people as Yakar ben Samuel ha-Levi and the French exegete (bible commentary) , Joseph Kara (1060-1130) who lived in Troyes, where Rashi was from. His commentary covers almost all of the Tanakh and is very similar to Rashi's style except that Kara only quotes aggadic interpretations as illustration of a point and never relies on them to explain the text.
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Rashi (1040 to 1105) or Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaki ben Isaac studied in the Rhineland and then returned to Troyes, France. He was related to the Rabbi of Worms, to the family of Kalonymus. He supported his family with his vineyard.
Kalonymus is a surname from Greek. It stands for "good name" in Greek and is a translation of the Hebrew, Shem-Tob/Tov meaning name-good.
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We have chromosomes from the Rabbi of Worms, who was born in 1160 in Mainz, Franconia Germany and died in 1238 in Worms. His name was Eleazar ben Judah of Worms, but was originally .named Eleazar Ben Judah Ben Kalonymos, alias Eleazar Rokea. He was a rabbi, mystic, Talmudist and codifier. His teacher and spiritual master, which is important to know, was Judah ben Samuel the Hasid of Regensburg. Eleazar's wife worked as a businesswoman, far ahead of her time, so that Eleazar could devote himself to his studies. In 1196 his wife, Dulcina, 2 daughters, Belat and Hannah and son Jacob were killed by 2 crusaders who broke into his home and slaughtered them. Amazingly, this rabbi continued to teach the love of humanity after this attack. He was the rabbi at Worms in 1201 and in 1223 was part of a synod in Mainz. They studied questions brought up as to business relations with Christians and favored Jews exempted from government taxes.
Jewish communities in Speyer, Worms and Mainz were destroyed by Crusaders. These were new persecutions of Jews where peasant crusaders from France and Germany attacked Jews, copying the Christian royalty that came from far and wide.
Resource: http://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/autosomal-test-showing-italian.html
http://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.com/2014/10/history-of-jews-from-worms-germany.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_the_Bald
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_10655.html
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/0176-kalonymus-ben-shabbethai
http://en.wikipedia.org/widi/Kalonymos_family
Rabbi of Worms http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleazar_of_Worms
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/182298/Eleazar-ben-Judah-Of-Worms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kara
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhineland_massacres
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Germany
The shock to me from the results of my DNA testing was that my Goldfoot family not only had German roots being originally Goldfus, but that before they came from Germany they had come from southern Italy in Lucca. I showed up with a few Italian segments as well. Why not, when I knew we were from Telsiai and Suwalki, Lithnuania, meaning we were Ashkenazi Jews who had come from Judah in the first place. To get to Germany, they went through Italy, mainly Rome for most. Jews were in Rome and had a Jewish community there as early as 139 BCE. They enjoyed some civil liberties but were restricted as to not proselytize and were not allowed to keep Christian slaves or participate in government affairs. It was in Italy that the Ghetto was created to fence in Jews. Jews entered Germany and had communities there from 321 in Cologne on the Rhine.
The family had many branches off of which we trace our chromosomes. The history of the family was written in about 1220 by Eleazar ben Judah Kalonymus of Worms, the author of the Roke'ah, our ancestor. He gave a list of his family and teachers in order to show the ancient age and reliability of his references of prayers that was printed by Joseph Delmedigo in his MaZrefle-Hokhmah.
Starting with himself, Eleazar ha-Katan to his father, Rabbi Judah, son of Rabbi Kalonymus, son of Moses, son of Rabbi Judah, son of Rabbi Kalonymus, son of Rabbi Moses, son of Rabbi Kalonymus, son of Judah.
Eleazar ha-Katan
Rabbi Judah
Rabbi Kalonymus
Moses
Rabbi Judah
Rabbi Kalonymus
Rabbi Moses
Rabbi Kalonymus
Judah
This southern Italian Jewish family had some of its members move by one of the Carolingian emperors to the Rhine cities in Germany. King Charlemagne is thought by some to be the mover, but it is now accepted that it must have been Charles the Bald who lived in the 2nd half of the 9th century and was born in Franfurt, Germany. "Charles the Bald (13 June 823 – 6 October 877) was the King of West Francia (843–77), King of Italy (875–77) and Holy Roman Emperor (875–77, as Charles II). After a series of civil wars that began during the reign of his father, Louis the Pious, Charles succeeded by the Treaty of Verdun(843) in acquiring the western third of the Carolingian Empire. He was a grandson of Charlemagne and the youngest son of Louis the Pious by his second wife, Judith."
One story is that during the reign of Otto II (973-983), a Kalonymus member saved the life of this monarch in a battle with the Saracens.
Eleazar of Worms and Solomon Luria compiled accounts that give the Italian and German heads of the family which produced for almost 5 centuries the most notable scholars of Germany and northern France. The list ends with the year 1080. and started with Meshullam in 780, Ithiel 1st in 800, Meshullam II in 825, Moses I in 850, Jekuthiel I in 876, Kalonymus I in 900, Moses II in 926, Jekutheil II, Kalonymus II in 950, Meshullam the Great of Rome or Lucca in 976.
It goes on with Kalonymus III of 1000, Hananeel I, Moses III of 1020, Kalonymus IV, Hananeel II, Ithiel II, Jekuthiel of Speyer in 1070, Moses IV of 1060, Moses V of Speyer in 1070, Meshullam of Mainz in 1080. This was listed in the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906.
Leaders came out of this family which we have read about from the chronicles telling of the massacres of the crusaders from 1096 to the middle of the 13th century. German Jews along with the Kalonymus family suffered greatly during this period. From the family came the most prominent halakhists and talmudic scholars of the time. Hasidei Asshkenaz were led by family members who formulated their esoteric theology and created their code of ethical and pious behavior.
Members of the Kalonymus family resettled in Mainz and Speyer. These are cities that became Jewish centers and were some of the first attacked besides Worms by the Crusaders.
Kalonymus is a surname from Greek. It stands for "good name" in Greek and is a translation of the Hebrew, Shem-Tob/Tov meaning name-good.
Jewish communities in Speyer, Worms and Mainz were destroyed by Crusaders. These were new persecutions of Jews where peasant crusaders from France and Germany attacked Jews, copying the Christian royalty that came from far and wide.
Resource: http://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/autosomal-test-showing-italian.html
http://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.com/2014/10/history-of-jews-from-worms-germany.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_the_Bald
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_10655.html
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/0176-kalonymus-ben-shabbethai
http://en.wikipedia.org/widi/Kalonymos_family
Rabbi of Worms http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleazar_of_Worms
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/182298/Eleazar-ben-Judah-Of-Worms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kara
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhineland_massacres
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Germany
Labels: DNA testing, Germany, Germany rabbis, Italy, Lucca, Rhineland, Rome, southern Italy, Worms
