Nadene Goldfoot
Andi Ziegelman nee Alpert, co founder of Halpern & Branches on Family Tree DNA, had written," My particular interest comes from having an ancestor, Nachum Eliyahu Halpern, who claimed descent from Jehiel Heilperin, a great talmudist from Minsk, Belarus. There are other HALPERN who descend from rabbinic families of the Russian Empire, as well as others who simply adopted the surname in the 19th century when it became necessary to chose a name.
So I am looking to dissect the different HALPERN groups to see which, if any, share a common ancestry.
As of now (August of 2009), it looks as if my HALPERN family does NOT descend from the large HEILPERIN descended from Zebulun HEILPERIN, at least not via a direct male line. If I do descend from Rabbi Jehiel mentioned above, its likely also through a female line that later adopted the surname (or, alternatively, I either do not relate to Jehiel at all, OR Jehiel does not descend from this greater Heilperin family, as documented by Rabbi Meir Wunder.)"
https://www.jewishgen.org/rabbinic/journal/wunder.htm
The Reliability of Genealogical Research
in Modern Rabbinic Literature
 |
| Rabbinic literature deals very sparsely with genealogical research, a fact that is quite surprising, considering the importance that is ascribed to family yuchsin (lineage). | |
|
Rabbinic literature deals very sparsely with genealogical research, a fact that is quite surprising, considering the importance that is ascribed to family yuchsin (lineage). In the Tanach (Bible) almost all of Chronicles I deals with yuchsin, and the seeming contradictions to the genealogical facts recorded in the Torah and the Prophets are explained away by the classic commentaries.
Toward the end of the Babylonian Exile, we find Ezra the Scribe clarifying the yuchsin of the returnees to Eretz Yisrael, so that the fourth chapter in Tractate Kiddushin of the Babylonian Talmud begins, “The people who came up from Babylon were of ten types of familial background.” It also states in the same chapter (70:2), “The Almighty's Presence dwells only among families of pure lineage in the Nation Israel.” True that in Ezra's time there were still prophets able to make the clarification through prophesy, but even lacking this, there were live eyewitnesses among the older people who remembered and could identify individuals in the relatively short historical span of 70 years. (beginning of long essay).
Dan Rottenberg in his book, Finding Our Fathers, tells us that Heilperin has many derivatives: Halpern, Heilbronn, Heilbroner, Heilperin, Heilpern, Heilborn, Hallperin, Helpern, Alpron,Alpern, Galpern, Heilprin, Galperin, Halper, Helpern:
He explains that it is a German name derived from the town of Heilbronn in Wurttemberg. All Jews with variations of this name are not necessarily related. Many Jews of Austria, Germany and Russia indiscriminately assumed these names when ordered to take family names in about 1800. However, there are 4 distinct branches of the Heilprin name. JE )Jewish Encyclopedia) has charts for 3 branches: many Heilprins in Russia claimed in 1900, descent from the 4th branch.
The oldest branch dates back to Zebulon Heilprin: 16th century, whose son, Moses of Brest-Litovek, was the father-in-law of Samuel Edels.
Another branch descends from Lithuanian rabbi, Jehiel Heilprin (1660-1746), a descendant of Solomon Luria, who traced his genealogy back through RASHI (1040-1105) which is a very important fact.
A Heilprin branch is also related to the BAAL SHEM TOV, founder of Hasidism. There evidently are many biographies in JE, most from Poland, Russia and Germany.
Also, see EJ article on Abraham ben Hayyim of Lublin, Poland who died in 1762, grandson of Isser, whose son married Fortis.
CAJ has a Heilprin family tree. LBl has a Heilbrunn family tree beginning 1683. LBIS has notes of a Heilbron family from Posen. CAJ has Halpern family records. Relationships to other prominent rabbinical families can be traced in Anaf Ex Aboth, by Samiuel Kahan, and Da'at Kodoshim, by Israel Eisenstadt.
Relatives include: Katzenellenbogen, Hurwitz, Horovitz, Jaffe, Wahl, Hen-Nigson, Ornstein, Kaminski, Epstein and Raphael.
Also see JE article on Pinsk, Russia, where Samuel Halpern was rabbi."
"This project has as its goal the expanding the Autosomal DNA (atDNA) Family Segments, for each branch – and some sub-branches – of the greater Halpern family. These segments have been made through the use of the triangulation software utility on the web site, GedMatch.com.
If you have an unsubstantiated oral tradition of Halpern descent, or if you see a large number of Halperns on your FamilyFinder match list, and you thus suspect that you may be a Halpern, this project is for you. All you need to do is join our project and then upload the RAW DATA and X FILES from your FamilyFinder Autosomal DNA test to the web site, GedMatch.com, and inform the project’s administrators that you have done so. If you have difficulty carrying out the task, just ask the project’s administrators for help. Once on GedMatch, this project’s administrators will try to triangulate “suspected Halperns” on Halpern atDNA Family Segments. If successful, such triangulations will be a very good indication to this project’s members, of belonging to the Halpern family.
The main branches of the Halpern family are Halpern, Alperovich, Wertheim/er Rubenstein and Guggenheim. The Halpern branch breaks down into the Heilbronner, Heilbron, Heilborn, Heilprin, Halperin, Hellman/Hillman, etc. sub-branches.
The Alperovich branch apparently is a sub-branch of the Zevulun Eliezer Heilprin branch. The Wertheim/er branch is one of two sub-branches of the family tree of R. Isaac of Worms; the second sub-branch of R. Isaac’s family tree is the Rubenstein/Rubinstein branch. And some descendants of R. Isaac bore the Heilprin/Halpern surname. The Guggenheim branch is connected by Y DNA to the R. Zevulun Eliezer Heilprin sub-branch; the Guggenheims never went by the Heilprin/Halpern surname." To know more, see the rest of the page of Halpern & Branches.
I want to know more about Rabbi Meir Wunder ! I found http://www.jgaliciabukovina.net/134921/worker/rabbi-meir-wunder. He is a historian, Author of "Meori Galicia: The Encyclopedia of Galician Rabbies and Scholars".
Meorei Galicia: Encyclopedia of Galician Sages by rabbi Meir Wunder is one of the most extensive and reliable sources of rabbinical genealogy written in the twentieth century. Its six volumes, published from 1987 contain extensively detailed genealogies of Galician rabbinical families, arranged alphabetically by surname according to the Hebrew alphabet. For prominent rabbis of each family biographical material is included, in particular, rabbinical compositions, responsa correspondence, and photographs.
Now you can enjoy a free access to a limited edition of this collection with a minimal charge for access to the full edition. We invite you to a unique insight into the Jewish world of Galicia. To register click the big red button on top.
He's listed on a Chabad page. https://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/23121/jewish/Meir-Wunder.htm. Rabbi Meir Wunder is the founder and director of the Center for Torah Libraries. He was interviewed in his home in Jerusalem in February of 2011.
Posted on May 5, 2007 by tribetracing
The May 14 meeting of the Israel Genealogical Society’s Tel Aviv branch features Rabbi Meir Wunder on new possibilities in contemporary genealogical research of rabbinical families. His talk will be in Hebrew.
Born in Haifa, Wunder studied at the Paniewicz Yeshiva (Bnei Brak) and at Hebrew University’s School for Librarians (Jerusalem). For 30 years he headed the National Library’s Legal Deposit. Wunder has authored many books and articles, including the seven-volume Meorei Galicia: Encyclopedia Lekhakhmei Galicia (Encyclopedia of Galician Sages).
The program will begin at 7 p.m., at Beit Hatanach, 16 Rothschild Blvd., TelAviv. The library will be open from 6-7 p.m. Non-members, NIS 20.
Meorei Galicia: Encyclopedia of Galician Sages by rabbi Meir Wunder is one of the most extensive and reliable sources of rabbinical genealogy written in the twentieth century. Its six volumes, published from 1987 contain extensively detailed genealogies of Galician rabbinical families, arranged alphabetically by surname according to the Hebrew alphabet. For prominent rabbis of each family biographical material is included, in particular, rabbinical compositions, responsa correspondence, and photographs.
Resource:
https://www.jewishgen.org/rabbinic/journal/wunder.htm
Labels: Baal Shem Tov, dna, family trees, Germany, Halpern & Braanches, Poland, Rabbi Meir Wunder, Russia
Nadene Goldfoot
Helping a young first cousin once removed to do research on her genealogy via the internet, I told her about our connection to the Kalonymos family that I had been told were on our family tree. My young cousin wanted verification, facts for proof. This family was so important to our Ashkenazi line, which went back, it was said, to Hillel and Rashi who had a pedigree to King David. Rashi's tree can be found in Dan Rottenberg's book, FINDING OUR FATHERS.
He wrote on page 255, "Kalonymus--Prominent family from 8th century, Italy and 10th century Germany. JE has a family tree and 12 biographies. LBI also has a family tree relate to Ullstein. Also see JE articles on David ben Jacob Meir, David ben Kalonymus, David Kalonymus of Naples, and Mayence (Mainz) and see EJ article on Eleazar ben Judah of Worms. Related to Salman, Darshan and Jaffe." (JE=Jewish Encyclopedia,, LBI=Leo Baeck Institute, EJ=Encyclopedia Judaica.)
Kalonymos or Kalonymus (Hebrew: קָלוֹנִימוּס Qālōnīmūs) is a prominent Jewish family who lived in Italy, mostly in Lucca and in Rome, which, after the settlement at Mainz and Speyer of several of its members, took during many generations a leading part in the development of Jewish learning in Germany. The family is according to many considered the foundation of Hachmei Provence and the Ashkenazi Hasidim.
A genealogy tree from 1080 has been developed. Our group of DNA testers on Family Tree DNA have discovered that Kalonymos is one of the founders of the Halpern & Branches group. It's an important surname for many of the Jewish people who are doing genealogy research.
I finally got so curious that I used Kolonymos in Family Tree DNA where I have my test and up came someone with Klonymus Kalman. We connected and messaged.
The tombstone on the grave of Klonimus Kalman Epstein, author of Maor Vashamesh. On the left is the gravestone of his son Aharon (2016).
I just now discovered right on Wikipedia, 2 rabbis, related to each other. Rabbi Klonymus Kalman Epstein born in Nowy Korczyn (Neustadt), Poland, 1753 – Kraków, 1825) son of Aaron Halevi Epstein, descendant from the Prophet Samuel and King David. ; was a rabbi and Kabbalist, one of the great leaders of the Chassidic movement, known as the Maor Vashamesh (מאור ושמש) after his sefer.
His gggrandson was Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira of Piaseczna, Poland, born May 20, 1889 . He was the Grand Rabbi of Piaseczno, Poland, who authored a number of works and was murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Rabbi Shapira's only son, his daughter-in-law, and his sister-in-law were killed during the Nazi aerial bombing of Warsaw in September, 1939. After the invasion of Poland, Rabbi Shapira was interned with a few of his hasidim in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he ran a secret synagogue. He invested enormous efforts in maintaining Jewish life in the ghetto, including arranging for mikveh immersions and kosher marriages. Rabbi Shapira was able to survive in the ghetto until its liquidation, avoiding the tragic deportations to Treblinka in the summer of 1942, because of the support of the Judenrat. Like other notables, he was given work at Schultz's shoe factory—a path to ongoing survival.
After the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was crushed in 1943, Rabbi Shapira was taken to the Trawniki work camp near Lublin. Although offered the opportunity to escape from the concentration camp, he apparently refused. Following the Jewish uprising in the Treblinka death camp (August 2, 1943) and in Sobibor extermination camp (October 14, 1943), there was increasing concern among the Nazi authorities that there would be further outbreaks of violence at other concentration camps. For this reason, Aktion Erntefest (Operation Harvest Festival) was launched. During this operation, carried out on November 3, 1943, all the remaining Jews in Trawniki, including Rabbi Shapira, were shot to death.
Resource:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klonimus_Kalman_Epstein
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalonymus_Kalman_Shapira
Finding Our Fathers-a guidebook to Jewish genealogy by Dan Rottenberg
Labels: Ashkenazim, genealogy, Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, Klonimus Kalman Epstein, Poland, Rabbis
Dr. Jeffrey Mark Paull is a genealogist, author and writer, with an avid interest in Jewish history and genetic genealogy. He has a public health and environmental science background, having earned his Doctorate and Master of Public Health degrees from Johns Hopkins University, and his MS and BS from the University of Pittsburgh.
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