Wednesday, April 20, 2022

 

Important DNA Researcher: Dr. Jeffrey Mark Paull

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               



One of the people that match a little of my DNA is Dr. Jeffrey Mark Paull.  DNA shows that we are 3rd to 5th cousins.  We match on my father's side of the family, the Goldfus/Goldfoot side.  

Speaker Profile: Jeffrey Mark Paull

5 MAY 2016

PaullJeffreyMarkDr. 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.

Dr. Paull has authored numerous pioneering autosomal and Y-DNA studies of rabbinical lineages. His book, A Noble Heritage: The History and Legacy of the Polonsky and Paull Family in America, traces his family’s ancestry over a millennium of history, to the famed biblical commentator, Rashi (1050-1105).  That he also traces back to Rashi is important to me as I belong to the Halpern & Branches group on Family Tree DNA that has ancestors such as Rashi as well.  This is something pretty exciting as Rashi had a pedigree going back to King David.  

My heritage comes from Telsiai, Lithuania and Lazdijai, Suwalki, Lithuania/Poland.  We haven't got a tree that shows our actual connection, but know this through DNA testing.  

Website: A Noble Heritage – http://www.anobleheritage.com/

“The History, Adoption, and Regulation of Jewish Surnames in the Russian Empire” (Sun-125), 3:00-4:15 P.M.

The history of the adoption, regulation, and use of Jewish surnames in the Russian Empire is quite complex. There were a myriad number of ways by which Jewish surnames were created, assigned, or adopted, while tight restrictions were placed on changing or altering surnames. As a result of Russian laws and mandates, many non-related Jewish individuals acquired the same surname, while many related family members acquired different surnames. This situation has created many challenges for genealogists who try to trace the ancestry or locate descendants of a particular Jewish lineage, many of whom have different surnames, as well as for interpreting the results of DNA tests for Jewish descendants.

The purpose of this presentation is to explain the various laws and mandates pertaining to Jewish surnames in the Russian Empire, so that those who are interested in Jewish genealogy will better understand the complexities of Jewish surname adoption and use.

Topics: Ashkenazic research, Beginning genealogists, Cemetery research, Immigration and migration over the ages, Jewish history and culture, Jewish surname adoption and naming patterns, Rabbinic research, Sephardic research

“When Y-DNA and Yichus Tell Different Stories” (Mon-114), 9:00-10:15 A.M.

As valuable a tool in the genealogical research of Jewish paternal lineages as Y-DNA analysis has proven to be, such testing has often produced confounding and unexpected results. Y-DNA results for Jewish descendants who share the same surname, and having paper trails which show descent from the same common ancestor, quite often do not match. Sometimes Y-DNA results are at odds with yichus claims, which leave descendants of that lineage searching for answers.

The purpose of this presentation is to explain some of the major reasons for these unexpected results, including:

  • Men who married into prestigious lineages often took their wives’ surnames.
  • Jewish surname laws required all heads of households to have unique surnames.
  • Some yichus claims and oral histories are known to have been exaggerated.
  • Lineage mistakes are common in rabbinical texts, family trees, and online sources.

Several examples from Y-DNA case studies, which illustrate these points, are presented.

Topics: Ashkenazic research, Beginning genealogists, Cemetery research, DNA research and genetics, Ethical considerations in genealogy, Jewish history and culture, Jewish surname adoption and naming patterns, Rabbinic research, Sephardic research

Resource:

https://www.iajgs2016.org/2016/05/speaker-profile-jeffrey-mark-paull/

https://www.facebook.com/ANobleHeritage/

More in-depth information regarding Dr. Paull’s books, and related genealogy and family history projects, may also be found on his website: https://www.ANobleHeritage.com; and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ANobleHeritage. Research questions may be directed to Dr. Paull at jmpaull@anobleheritage.com.


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# posted by Nadene Goldfoot @ 1:30 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

 

Alpert/Ziegelman-Goldfoot Genealogy From Rabbis of Worms, Germany, Troyes and Dampierre, France

Andi Ziegelman
Nadene Goldfoot                                         
Chateau at Dampierre, France
Ashkenazis of today are now found through DNA testing to have come from 350 Jews who lived 600 to 800 years ago.  That takes us back between 1214 and 1414.  There was a bottleneck that caused the European population to be down to such a low number.
                                                                
King David
1010-970 BCE
RASHi
1040-1105
Rabbi Wertheimer
1658-1724
My Goldfoot line descended from Halpern/Alpert ancestors, many who lived in Worms, Germany.  From Rabbi Wertheimer to Rashi to King David, our genes traveled back to the Kingdom of Judah.  

 Though Goldfoot is of Q1b1a haplotype, we have intermarried with Jews of their haplogroups, such as the Cohen line of J1c3d and E1s and a few others common in European Jews.  The Familyfinder test from FTDNA is an autosomal DNA test that matches chromosomes, and this led to the finding of being connected to the Rabbi of Worms;  actually several of the rabbis living there, who were connected to RASHI.

 Below is the work from our Halpern leader through Family Tree DNA, Andi Ziegelman who said, "We both descend from this guy below."  Andi Ziegelman.                                                                                             

     *** ISAAC BEN SAMUEL HA-ZAKEN of Dampierre ***

 French tosafist and Biblical commentator:  flourished at Ramerupt and Dampierre in the twelfth century.  He died, according to Gratz ("Gesch." vi.210),
about 1200;  according to Gross ("Gallia Judaica," p. 161, and "R.E.J."vii.76),
between 1185 and 1195; and as he is known to have reached an advanced age, Gross supposes that he was not born later than 1115.  

 On the other hand, Michael ("Or ha-Hayyim," p. 512) says that as Isaac b.Samuel was spoken of as "the sainted master" ("Sefer ha-Terumah," 55
131, 161; Tos., Zeb. 12b.59b), a term generally given to martyrs, he may have been killed at the same time as his son, Elhanan (1184). 

 On his father's side Isaac was a grandson of R. Simhah of Vitry, author of the Hahzor Vitry;  on his mother's side he was a nephew of R. Tam of RAshbam, and of Isaac b. Meir (RiBaM), a great-grandson of Rashi, and a relative of R. Eleazar of Worms.  
                                                    

The Rabbi of Worms was Eleazar Ben Judah (1160-1238), a native of Mainz, Germany and from 1201, he was rabbi at Worms, Germany.  His wife and 2 daughters were slaughtered by Crusaders before his eyes in 1196.  His works made the Ashkenazi theory of practical kabbalah popular which stressed the doctrine of repentance.  His ethical teachings were embodied in his code, Sepher ha-Rokeah (The Book of the Spice Dealer).  Then he was known as Eleazar Rokeah.  

 Isaac ben Samuel was surnamed "ha-Zaken" (the elder) to distinguish him from another tosafist of the same name, Isaac b. Abraham, surnamed "ha-Bahur" (the younger).  He is often quoted as R. Isaac of Dampierre ("Maimuniyyot,  "Ma'akalot Asurot, No. 5;  "Shibbole ha-Leket" ii., No. 40,
                                                     

  It seems that he lived first at Ramerupt, where his maternal grandfather resided ("Sefer ha-Nayyar," p. 162; "Maimuniyyot,"l.c.).  It was also at Ramerupt that he studied under his Uncle R. Tam (Luria, Responsa, No.29). After the latter had gone to Troyes, Isaac b. Samuel directed his school.  
The village of Ramerupt is a small village located north east of France. The town of Ramerupt is located in the department of Aube of the french region Champagne-Ardenne. The town of Ramerupt is located in the township of Ramerupt part of the district of Troyes. 

 Isaac settled in Dampierre later, and founded there a flourishing and well-attended school ("Or Zarua", i.126).  It is said that he had sixty pupils, each of whom, besides being generally well grounded in Talmud, knew an entire treatise by heart, so that the whole Talmud was stored in the memories of his pupils (Menahem, "Zedah la-Derek," Introduction).  As he lived under Philip Augustus, at whose hands the Jews suffered uch, Isaac prohibited the buying of confiscated Jewish property, and ordered that any so bought be restored to its original owner.  

 A particular interest attaches to one of his responsa, in which he relies on the oral testimony of his aunt, the wife of R. Isaac b. Meir, and on that of the wife of R. Eleazar of Worms, a great-granddaughter of Rashi ("Sefer ha-Nayyar," p. 167.a). 

 Isaac's tosafot completed the commentary of Rashi on the Talmud (Romm of Wilna included in his edition of the Talmud, Isaac ben Samiuel's tosafot on Kiddushin).  He also compiled and edited with great erudition all the preceding explanations to Rashi's commentary.  His first collection was entitled "Tosefot Yeshanim," which, however, was afterward revised and developed.  He is quoted on almost every page of the Tosafot, and in various works, especially in the "Sefer ha-Terumah" of his pupil Bariuch b. Isaac of Worms, and in the "Or Zarua" of Isaac b. Moses.  

 Isaac is mentioned as a Biblical commentator by Judah b. Eliezer ("Minhat Yehudah," p. 8b), who quotes also a work of Isaac's entitled  "Yalkute Midrash" (ib. p. 22a); by Isaac ha-Levi; by  Hezekiah b. Manoah in his "Hazzekuni"; and in two other commentaries (see "Kerem Hemed," vii.68).  Isaac b. Samuel is supposed to be the author also of several liturgical poems, of a piyyut to the Haftarah (Landshuth, "ammude ha-'Abodah," p. 108, and of a piyyut for Purim (Mahzor Vitry, No. 255; comp. Luzzatto in Berliner's "Magazin," v. 27, Hebr.part).  The authorship of these piyyutim may, however, belong to the liturgical writer, Isaac b. Samuel of Narbonne.  

 From the New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, I find that Isaac, also known as Rabbi Isaac ha-Zaken, who was born before 1115 and died after 1184 was a French tosaphist.  He succeeded his uncle, Rabbenu Tam, as head of the Ramerupt Yeshivah and later settled at Dampierre.  His tosaphot (critical and explanatory notes on the Talmud by French and German scholars of the 12th to 14th centuries) are quoted by his pupils, while his responsa are scattered through many contemporary works.  

 His commentary on the Pentateuch has not survived.  The tosaphots were initially supplementary to Rashi's Talmud commentary, which they frequently criticize and modify.  The tosaphists soon developed a new independent mode of Talmud study.  They also investigated in detail the form and content of the talmudic discussions and demonstrated that these too contained implicitly a considerable body of law which they proceeded to render explicit.  
                                                  
Crusaders went through Europe killing Jews while on
the way to Jerusalem

Isaac was interested in mysticism and was in touch with the Kabbalists of southern France.  His scholarly son, Ethanan, was martyred in his lifetime and died in 1184.  

 From Andi:  See below all the rabbis that studied under R. Isaac ben Samuel of Dampierre, in Isaac's school.

 I don't have time now to check, but if I remember correctly, all these students of Isaac's went on to lead synagogues in their home towns of France.  Each synagogue had to have nine more men in addition to the rabbi.  At the time these students lived, there were also Jews in Germany and Italy and a few in Poland.  
Our Halpern ancestors wrote (I don't know where - in their books I guess) that because life was so hard from 1200 -1500, they didn't have a family tree for that period.  
So maybe in the 1100s there were more Jews in Europe than in the 1400s.  I don't know.

 "The bottleneck was in this case in the interval 950-1250 AD. The size of the Ashkenazi population dropped to some 350 people. "

 "The second admixture occurred according to [1] in Eastern Europe 10-20 generations ago. That gives the time span 1400-1700 AD. No mass conversions to Judaism are known from early Jewish communities in Eastern Europe."

"According to the estimates for 2007 of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, the world population of Jews is 13.2 million.[1] Adherents.com cites figures ranging from 12 to 18 million Jews.[2] These statistics incorporate both practicing Jews affiliated with synagogues and the Jewish community, and approximately 4.5 million unaffiliated and secular Jews. In 2007, 41% of the world’s Jews were living in Israel."  We are 0.02% of the world population. 

 Have you ever read the entries in the online JewishEncyclopedia for FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, POLAND?  They are very informative.
 Best, Andi.
                                                   
  Search for "Isaac ben Samuel of Dampierre" by:

RASHI (1040-1105) (SOLOMON BAR ISAAC) born in Troyes, France
studied in the Rhineland.
He was at Worms for a time, his first teacher being Jacob b. Yakar, of whom he speaks with great veneration.  After Jacob's death his place was successively filled by Isaac ben Eleazar ha Levi, or Segan Lewiyah, and by...name of Yarhi, applied to him as early as the 16th century, originated in a confusion of Solomon bar Isaac with one Solomon de Luinel, and a further error caused the town of Lunel to be regarded as Rashi's....Rashi's relative, Isaac b. Judah, the head of the school of Mayence, a school rendered illustrious through R. Gershom b. Judah (the "Light of the Exile), who may be regarded as Rashi's precursor, although he was.....
1. SAMUEL BEN JOSEPH OF VERDUN...French tosafist of the 12th and 13th centuries.  He was a disciple of Isaac ben Samuel the Elder of Dampierre, with whom he corresponded, and is mentioned in the Tosafot, in "Or Zarua," and in ...Haggahot Maimuniyyot" as "ha-bahur" (the Yunger).  He is sometimes confounded with Samuel ben Hayyim, likewise cited as "Samuel of Verdun." Bibliography:  

 2. DAMPIERRE...debtor the seigneurs of Dampierre and the abbey of Saint-Loup of Troyes.Rabbis:
    (1) Isaac ben Samuel the Elder, abbreviated, surnamed "the Saint".
    (5) Isaac ha Laban ben Jacob..Brussel,... the Middle Ages there was a somewhat important Jewish community in this village.  King Philippe-Auguste, after an agreement with the Countess of Champagne, and Gui.Seigneur of Dampierre in 1206 ordered the Jews...

 3. SOLOMON BEN JUDAH OF DREUX...French  tosafist and Bible commentator of the 12th and 13th centuries.  He was a disciple of Isaac ben Samuel the Elder of Dampierre, and presided over the school of Dreux during the 1st quarter of...who corresponded with Isaac ben Abraham of Dampierre;  was most probably a son of the subject of this article.   Bibliography. 

 4. DAVID THE PIOUS...him with R. David ben Joseph, who, with Isaac ben Abraham of Dampierre, Isaac ben DAvid, and Joseph ben Moses, adopted the decisions of the synod of Troyes which had met about 1160 under the auspices of Rabbenu...Together with Solomon ben Judah the Saint of Dreux, the two brothers Simson and Isaac ben Abraham of Dampierre, Samson of Corbeil, Abraham of Touques, and Eliezser be Aaron of Burgundy, he was among those scholars of...Tam.Samuell of Falaise (Sir Morel) probably referred to David the Pious when he spoke of as being a contemporary of Sir Leon of Paris ("Rev. Et.Juives"vii.47....

 5. NATHANAEL OF CHINON...French tosafist: flourished about 1220.  He was a disciple of Isaac ben Samuel of Dampierre.  After 1224 Nathanael was director of the yshibah in Chinon and was in correspondence with the most famous and...learned of his contemporaries, including Samuel ben Sheneor of Evreux, Isaac of Evreux (author of "Sha'are Dura"), Jehiel of Paris and Isaac ben Todros.  The last, in answer to Nathanael of Chinon's reuest for his...opinion concerning a question at issue between himself and Jehiel, wrote that he dared not speak in the presence of the "pillars of the world."  Nathanael wrote tosafot to the treatises Bezah, Hullin, Berakot, and...

 6. ELIEZER BEN SAMUEL OF VERONA...Italian tosafist, lived about the beginning of the 13th century. He was a disciple of Rabbi Isaac the elder, of Dampierre, and grandfather of the philosopher and physician HILLEL OF FORLI. He had...resulted, into which other rabbis were drawn, Eliezer ben Samuel is often quoted on Biblical and halakic questions.  Mordecai, in speaking of Eliezer, calls him "Eliezer of Verdun," though undoubtedly meaning "Verona...sanctioned the second marriage of a young woman whose husband had probably, though not certainly, perished by shipwreck.  But Eliezer ben Joel ha-Levi refused to endorse the permission, and a protracted controversy....
                                                        

7. ISAAC BEN SAMUEL HA-ZAKEN...says that as Isaac b. Samuel was spoken of as "the sainted master", a term generally given to martyrs, he may have been killed at the same time as his son...quoted as R. Isaac of Dampierre ("Maimuniyyot," Ma'akalot Asurot, NO.5; "Shibbole ha-Leket"ii,No.40), but it seems that he lived first at Ramerupt, where his maternal grandfather resided ("Sefer ha-Nayyar,"p...a Talmud (Romm of Wilna included in his edition of the Talmud Isaac ben Samuel's tosafot on Kiddushin).  He also compiled and edited with great erudition all  the preceding explanations to Rashi's commentary.  His first...
8.ABRAHAM OF TROYES... incident.  Eleazar ha-Nadib (the word nadib denotes a Jewish Maecenas), against whom he had brought an action, demurred to appearing before the rabbinical court at Troyes;  and being supported by Isaac ben Samuel...of Dampierre, had his ase referred to another tribunal (ross, "Gallia Judaica," pp. 165, 239).  Yom Tob ha-Nadib, the son of Eleazar, being placed in a similar position, also refused to be judged at Troyes, and...was sustained in his contention by Judah Sire Leon of Paris ("Rev. Et.Juives," vii.42(.  At the same time, Simson ben Abraham of Sens took the part of the son-in-law of Simson of Troyes, who, being afraid of the...

 9. JONATHAN BEN DAVID HA-KOHEN OF LUNEL...went with Tobiah and Samuel ben Simson;  he corresponded with Isaac ben Abraham of Dampierre, who had sent him a Talmudic responsum on a subject concerning the Holy Land.

 10.BARUCH B. ISAAC (ha Kohen?)...  Isaac b. Samuel of Dapierre, Baruch wrote tosafot to several treatises (e.g., Kiddushin, Nazir, Shabbat, Hullin):  nearly all those extant on the order Zebahim are his  A. Epstein believes that the ...tosafist and codifier; flourished about 1200.  He was born at Worms, but lived at Regensburg;  hence he is sometimes called after the one and sometimes after the other city.  A pupil of the great Tosafist...commentary on the Sifra contained in the Munich MS. No.59 is the work of this Baruch.  He is the author also of the legal compendium, "Sefer ha-Terumah" (book of the Heave-Offering, Venice 1523;  Zolkiev, 1811...

 11. JUDAH BEN ISAAC...French tosafist, born in Paris 1166, died there 1224 (Solomon Luria, Responsa,No.29).  According to Gross he was probably a descendant of Rashi, and a pupil of Isaac b. Samuel of Dampierre and his son...associated with Abraham,  occurs the name of Leo blund, whom Jacobs identifies with Judah ben Isaac (ib.p.88; comp. Bacher, in "J.Q.R."vi.360).  Sir Leon must have left Paris in  1182...when all Jews were expelled from the French king's dominions;  he did not return till 1198.  According to Gross, however, he received his chief training at Dampierre under Simson of Sens, Simson of Coucy, Solomon of...

 12. SAMSON BEN ABRAHAM OF SENS...School of Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel ha-Zaaen of Dampierre, after whose death he took charge of the school of Sens.  Asheri says of him that after R. Tam and Isaac ben Samuel, he exercised the greatest influence upon....the Younger to distinguish him from his t eacher, Isaac the Elder (Isaac ben Samuel), whom he succeeded as principal of the school of Dampierre; is also onae of the prominent toafists.  He wrote, too, some....Talmudic studies in France and in Germany during the 13th century.  Joseph Colon declares that Isaac ben Samiuel, Judah Sir Leon of Paris, and Samson ben Abraham formed the three strong pillars of the northern...

 13. SAMSON BEN SAMSON ....Museum.)  Samson was a disciple of Isaac "ben Samuel the Elder of Dampierre and one of the prominent rabbis to whom Meir ben Todros Abulafia addressed his letter of protest against Maimonides...
Isaac ben Moses of Vienna, with whom Samson corresponded, was one of his pupils.  Many of Samson's ritual deisions are mentioned in the rabbinical works "Or Zarua"," "SeMaG," "Orhot Hayyim," and "PIske Rekantati...commentator.  Samson was a descendant of Joseph b. Samuel Bonfils, a nephew of the tosafist Judah of Corbeil, and a brother-in-law of Moses of Concy, who in "SeMaG" often quotes him.  In the glosses of Perez on "SeMaG....

 14. TOUL...mentioned R. Eliezer of Toul, the author of tosafot; and his brothe Abraham, a pupil of Rabbi Isaac the Elder of Damierre and identical, according to Gross, with Abraham of V12p211002.jpg.   

 15. CHATEAU-THIERRY...ALSO ASCRIBED TO HIM (zUNZ, "z.g."P.38).  ZUNZ (l.c.) says that Samuel was the son of R. Yom-Tob of Evreux and the disciple of R. Isaac b. Abraham of Dampieerre.  Gross ("Gallia Judaica," p. 39) on the ...contrary, identifies him with R. Samuel ben Shneor, the correspondent of R. Jehiel of Paris, and Nathaniel, the Elder, of Chinon.  R. Isaac and his son Bonne Vie are two scholars of this place only known through...the Pious, one of the celebrated French rabbis to whom R. Meir ben Todros Abuilafia of Toledo addressed, about 1204, his letter against the theory of the resurrection as propounded by Maimonides.  Samuel of...

 16. ABRAHAM BEN NATHAN...abraham-ben-david-of-posuieres
His regular rabbinical studies, however, were pursued at Dampierre, in northern France, at the academy of R. Isaac ben Samuel, called R....epistolary conclusion:  Shalom!  A.B.N." (Greeting!  Abraham ben Nathan).  The 2nd part contains extracts from the halakic works of Alfasi, Isaac ibn Giat, and Isaac ben Abba Mari, a relative of Abraham's.  The...French author, born in the 2nd half of the 12th century, probably at Luinei, Languedoc.  He received his education in that town, after which he is sometimes called ("RABN"=RABBI ABRAHAM BEN NATHAN...

 17. TOSAFOT...
It is the critical and explanatory note on the Talmud by French and German scholars of the 12th-14th centuries, first meant to be supplements to Rashi's Talmud commentary.  What is the Talmud? We have 2 of them; the Babylonian version and the Palestinian version.  They are the records of academic discussion and of judicial administration of JEWISH LAW.  
 Samuel ha-Zaen (RI) of Dampierre, whose tosafot form a part of the Tosafot Yshanim (see below).  Isaac was succeeded by his pupil ben-abraham-of-sens" Samson ben...No.6).  After the death of Isaac ben Samuel, Isaac ben Abraham succeeded him as head of the school of Dampierre, after which place he is often called ("Or Zarua", i.225a).  Isaac ben Abraham was oneof the...tosafot (for example, those to Kiddushin by Isaac b. Samuel ha-Zaken of Dampierre, and those to 'Abodah Zarah by his son, Elhanan b. Isaac); (3) a collection of old tosafot published by Joseph Jessel b. Wolf ha-Levi...

                                                   

Interestingly, the Crusaders have a story as well about Guy de Dampierre and a damsel named Rebecca.  Could it be that a Crusader fell in love with a Jewish maiden?  It's a Scottish tale.  She is the image of Elizabeth Taylor, who did convert to Judaism, by the way.  It's the story of IVANHOE: Loyal British knight Wilfred of Ivanhoe (Robert Taylor) sets out on a mission to free the kidnapped King of England, Richard the Lionheart (Norman Wooland), in this rousing adventure tale. The brave Ivanhoe must eventually confront the devious Prince John (Guy Rolfe) and the fierce Norman warrior Brian de Bois-Guilbert (George Sanders), while also juggling the affections of the beautiful maidens Rowena (Joan Fontaine) and Rebecca (Elizabeth Taylor).
Bibliography:

 Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim, i.;
Michael, Or haHayyim, pp. 511-513;
Qwiaa, Soe, ic.286, 342, 349;
Gratz, Gesch. 3d ed., vi. 210, 211, 214;
Gross, Gallia Judaica, pp. 161- 168, 638
idem, in R.E.J.vii. 76;
Neubauer, ib. xvii.67

Resource:
https://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.com/2014/10/goldfoot-genealogy-from-rabbis-of-worms.html
https://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.com/2015/08/unusual-connecting-to-wertheimer-family.html
http://www.pienisalaliittotutkimus.com/2018/02/17/origins-of-the-ashkenazi-jews/





  

                            

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# posted by Nadene Goldfoot @ 4:17 PM 0 comments

Monday, April 30, 2018

 

The Gaon of Vilna Connection: Rubenstein

Nadene Goldfoot                                   
RASHI, famous biblical and Talmudic commentator whose thoughts are in our prayer books
b: 1040 in Troyes, France, d: 1105 France
Studied in the Rhineland 
Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaki (ben Isaac) =RASHI
   
   I woke up with an idea brewing in my head.  It finally bubbled up and I knew what to search.  When I had spoken with my 3rd cousin, Stanley Goldfoot, many years ago in Jerusalem, he had mentioned that he thought the Goldfoot line was related to the Gaon of Vilna, a Lithuanian Rabbi of great esteem of the Mitnaggedim branch of Jewish thought.  Goldfoot or the original name of Goldfus is not listed as a descendant of the Gaon in Chaim Freedman's book, ELIYAHU'S BRANCHES, the bible of genealogy for the Gaon.  I surmised at the time that Stanley's connection must have been from his mother's side.  She was a Tavriger.  I promptly put aside the thought that we might be connected.
                                                                       
Rabbi Samson Wertheimer
b: 1658 Worms, Germany; d: 1724 Vienna, Austria
Nephew of Samuel Oppenheimer
We already belong to Halpern and Branches, a DNA group of people  on Family Tree DNA that have found out their connection to Rabbi Samson Wertheimer who led to RASHI who also led to King David.  I wondered today if it were possible to have roots with both of these famous rabbis.

Another route to RASHI, I was told, was through the surname, Rubenstein.  I'm not sure which one is the common ancestor.  Rabbi Wertheimer was one route the group had discovered and another was Rubenstein.

There was a Rabbi Isaac Rubinstein b: 1880-d: 1945.  In 1906 he was appointed as the rabbi in Vilna by the government.  In 1920 he was made Minister of Jewish Affairs in the Lithuanian government.  Vilna, a center of Jewish learning in Lithuania, was annexed to Poland in 1922.  Rubinstein was elected to the Polish Senate where he fought for Jewish rights. until the Nazis came.  He became joint chief rabbi of Vilna in 1928.  Then Soviet Russia annexed Lithuania in 1940.  Rubinstein left the country then for New  York and taught at the Rabbi Isaac ElhananYeshivah. 
                                                                             
My family tree has an extensive history of Stanley's family who left Lithuania at about the same time my grandfather, Nathan Abraham Goldfus did.  Stanley's mother's history of Tavriger is found only in Ireland, where Stanley's parents and my grandfather also lived after leaving Lithuania;  mine being a very short period there.  A Tavriger was married to a Reubenstein, not a Rubenstein.  That spelling doesn't come up much anymore if ever.
                                                                             
I checked my matches on Family Tree DNA and lo and behold, I had 8 matches of Rubenstein; 2 males and 6 females of which all were 5th cousins except for a male and female 4th cousins.   Then I found that I matched 5 Rubinsteins of which 4 were 4th cousins and one was a 5th.            They probably gave us more paths to RASHI.  However, my 1st cousin, daughter of my father's sister, had 13 Rubenstein matches; seven 4th cousins and five 5th cousins.   She also matched 15 Rubinsteins.                                               
The Gaon of Vilna
b: 1720 in Lithuania d: 1797 in Vilna, Lithuania
Claimed descent from King David
  One of her Rubenstein 5th cousins bore this exciting information:  that she was a descendant of the Gaon of Vilna. She also had Katzenellenbogen on her tree.   

 Katzenellenbogen  is an important surname and is found in the book by Dan Rottenberg, FINDING OUR FATHERS-a guide to Jewish Genealogy.  In this book on page 11 is chart B with RASHI's traditional ancestors.  On page 12 is chart C with Rashi and his Descendants.  On page 13 is chart D of the Luria family showing an unbroken line almost back to RASHI.  On page 14 is the last chart of E, showing how he families Rashi, Treves, Luria, Minz, Katzenellenbogen, WAhl, Drucker, Horowitz, Isserles and even Karl Marx are all related to each other.  

 The relationship to the Gaon of Vilna also includes: Claire Oppenheim and Nora Oppenheimer. Also, there are 4 Rubensteins listed in Freedman's book that connect to the Gaon.   

   Rabbinical families tended to intermarry if they were within distance and in the same generations.  With traveling in today's world, we are brought together and have wonderful ancestry to mix with each other.  While not from rabbinical families, my aunt and her husband married, not ever knowing that they were distantly related. He just managed to get out of Germany in 1939 and our family had left Germany possibly by the 1500's when we could have entered Lithuania.   This was discovered through a tool on GedMatch through her daughter's DNA.  I wonder if I"ll match someone related to the Gaon of Vilna.  
                                                                   
David ruled from 1010 BCE to 970 BCE over Israel. He took over from King
Saul. That's over 3,000 years ago.  He was Jesse's 8th son and was from
the tribe of Judah while King Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin.  

Several roads lead to being the descendants of King David.  "Most families claim descent from King David through Rashi. Several families claim descent "ben akhar ben"(father to son) in a direct line, most notably the Dayan, Shealtiel and Charlap/Don Yechia, families*."Hillel, Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, Yochanan Hasandler, Rashi, the Rambam and Yosef Karo as well as the more contemporary gedolim like the Baal Shem Tov, the Breslevor Rebbe and the first Lubavicher Rebbe, Shneur Zalman of Liadi, to name but a few have traced their family back to King David.

 Wives of David, King of Israel,  

1  [1] King of Israel David b: in 1000 BCE Bethlehem d: in 960 BCE Occupation: King of Israel
.. +Bathsheba b: in Giloh, Judah
*2nd Wife of [1] King of Israel David:
.. +Ahinoam of Jezreel
*3rd Wife of [1] King of Israel David:
.. +Michal the First, Daughter of Saul
*4th Wife of [1] King of Israel David:
.. +Abigail b: in Carmelite
*5th Wife of [1] King of Israel David:
.. +Maachah Fromgeshur
*6th Wife of [1] King of Israel David:
.. +Merab
*7th Wife of [1] King of Israel David:
.. +Haggith
*Partner of [1] King of Israel David:
.. +Abital
*8th Wife of [1] King of Israel David:
.. +Eglah
*9th Wife of [1] King of Israel David:

.. +Maacah
His ancestors were: . (JESSE20, OVED OBED19 JUDAH, KINSMAN OF NAOMI18 BOAZ, JUDAH17, JACOB-ISRAEL16, ISAAC15, ABRAM-ABRAHAM14, TERAH13, NAHOR12 I, SERUG11, REU10, PELEG-ABRAHAM9, EBER8, SHELAH7, ARPACHSHAD6, SHEM5, NOAH4, LAMECH3, METHUSELAH2, ENOCH1

 More children: born in Jerusalem were the following 4 from Bathsheba, the daughter of Ammiel
1. Shimea
2. Shobab
3. Nathan
4. Solomon

These were all the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines, and Tamar their sisterl" (1 chronicles 3:1-9 K.IV)
1. Ibhar
2. Elishama
3. Eliphelet
4. Nogah
5. Nepheg
6. Japhia
7. Elishama
8. Eliada
9. Eliphelet
Also included among the wives of David were the on-again, off-again political marriages with the 2 daughter of King Saul, Merab and Michal

David had additional concubines and wives from Jerusalem after his coming from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to David. 

His  18 children:
Amnon
Chileab
Absalom
Adonijah
Shephatiah
Ithream
Shammua
Shobab
Nathan
Solomon
Ibhar
Elishua
Nepheg
Japhia
Elishama
Eliada
Eliphalet
Tamar

More About KING OF ISRAEL DAVID:
DNA: Y haplogroup J1 ? and mother ? and J1-arab line
Individual 1: Hillel the Great 70 BCE-10 CE descendant
Individual 2: Raised the orphan, Afghana,  when Solomon became king
Namesake: Pashtun (Hazrat Daood Alahis Salam)
Occupation: King of Israel
Residence 1: Hebron for 7 years 6 months
Residence 2: Jerusalem for 33 years

Notes for MICHAL THE FIRST, DAUGHTER OF SAUL:
9/1/14 King Saul gave Michal, his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti, the son of Laish."

More About ABIGAIL:
Individual: First wife of King David

More About MAACAH:
Individual: Daughter of neighboring king
       
Children of KING DAVID and BATHSHEBA are:
2.                i.       KING OF ISRAEL22 SOLOMON, b. 961 BCE; d. 920 BCE.
                  ii.       SHAMMUA.
                 iii.       SHOBAB.
                 iv.       NATHAN.

       
Child of KING DAVID and AHINOAM JEZREEL is:
                  v.       AMNON22, b. Hebron.

More About AMNON:
Individual: Raped 1/2 sister, Tamar, then killed for it by 1/2 brother, Absalom

       
Children of KING DAVID and ABIGAIL are:
                 vi.       ADONIJAH22.
                vii.       DANIEL THE SECOND, b. Hebron.

       
Child of KING DAVID and MAACHAH FROMGESHUR is:
               viii.       ABSALOM THE22 THIRD, b. Hebron; d. Woods of Ephraim.

       
Child of KING DAVID and HAGGITH is:
                  ix.       ADONIJAH THE FOURTH22 DAVID, b. Hebron.

       
Child of KING DAVID and ABITAL is:
                   x.       SHEPHATIAH THE22 FIFTH, b. Hebron.

       
Child of KING DAVID and EGLAH is:
                  xi.       ITHREAM THE22 SIXTH, b. Hebron.

       
Children of KING DAVID and MAACAH are:
                 xii.       ABSALOM22.

More About ABSALOM:
Individual: killed his half brother, Amnon  for raping Tamar

3.             xiii.       TAMAR.
Research:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashi
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
Finding Our Fathers by Dan Rottennberg
Eliyahu's Branches by Chaim Freedman 
http://eliyahusbranches.blogspot.com/2011/02/ancestry-of-gaon-of-vilna-descent-from.html
http://www.davidicdynasty.org/*
Tanakh, the Stone Edition (bible) 

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# posted by Nadene Goldfoot @ 3:04 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

 

Alperovitch: Our Goldfoot Connection to Rabbi Wertheimer of 1658-1724 Germany and Austria

Nadene Goldfoot                                                   
Nathan Abraham Goldfus/foot of Telsiai, Lithuania
Zlata Jermulowske of Lazdijai, Lithuania
Our genealogy connects through Alperovitch somehow.  My grandparents were Zlata Jermulowske and Nathan Abraham Goldfus of Lithuania.  Alperovitch connects to Wertheimer, and the man of genealogical importance to us was Rabbi Samson Wertheimer 1658-1724.
                                      
Dmitri Alperovitch

I found an Alperovitch in Russia.  Son of Michael Alperovitch, he was born in 1980 in Russia.  He's even made it to Wikipedia.   Now he's an American and had attended Georgia Institute of Technology.   "Alperovitch was awarded the prestigious Federal 100 Award for his contributions to the U.S. federal information security   and was recognized in 2013 and 2015 as one of Washingtonian (magazine)'s Tech Titans for his accomplishments in the field of cyber security."

" In August 2011, as vice president of threat research at McAfee, he published Operation Shady RAT, a report on suspected Chinese intrusions into at least 72 organizations, including defense contractors, businesses worldwide, the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee." 

 My family has computer geniuses.  Is it the genes?  Could be.  

 In the book, "Finding Our Fathers" by  Dan Rottenberg:  , Alpern says, See Heilprin.  
Heilprin says, also:  Halpern, Heilbronn, Heilbrunn, Heilperin, Heilbron, Heilbroner, Heilperin, 
Heilpern, Heilborn, Halperin, Helpern, Alpron, Galpern, Heilprun, Galperin, Halper, Heilpern.
Heilborn, Halperin, Helpern, Alpron, Galpern, Heilprun, Galperin, Halper, Helpern.

 It's a German name derived from the town of Heilbronn in Wurttemberg.  All Jews with these 
variations are not necessarily related.  Many Jews of Austria, Germany and Russia 
indisciminately  assumed these  names when they were ordered to take family names.
However, 4 branches of the Heilprin name have been found.  JE encyclopedia has charts
for 3 of the branches.  Many Russians claim the 4th branch. 

  The oldest is Zebulon Heilprin of the 16th century.  His son was Moses of Brest-Litovsk and
 was the father-in-law of Samuel Edels.  

 Another branch comes from Lithuanian Rabbi Jehiel Heilprin (1660-1746), a descendant of
Solomon Luria, who traced his genealogy back through RASHI (1040-1105).  I lived in Safed,
Israel where his synagogue was built and where he lived.

 Another Heilprin branch is also related to the BAAL SHEMTOV,  founder of Hasidism.  
Biographies are in JE.  Most people are from Poland, Russia and Germany.   There is an EJ
article on Abraham ben Hayyim of Lublin Poland who died in 1762.  He was the grandson of
Isser, whose son married FORTIS.  CAJ has a Heilprin family tree.  LBI has a Heilbrunn family 
tree beginning in 1683.  LBIS has notes of a Heilbron family from Posen. CAJ has Halpern
family records.  

 Relatives found include KATZENELLENBOGEN  and others listed in the book.  Goldfus
was not there.  
JE=Jewish Encyclopedia
EJ=Encyclopedia Judaica
CAJ=Central Archives, Jerusalem
LBI=Leo Beck Institute, NY
LBIS=Leo Beck Institute, Rudolf Simonis collection
                                                                   
RASHI

RASHI traces back to King David.  Rashi was a famous Talmudic rabbi and the most famous 
Talmudic commentator of the 11th century France.  His is supposed to have descended in the
33rd generation from Johanan ha- Sandalar, who lived in 2nd century Egypt.  Johanan was a
great-grandson of Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder, who was in turn the grandson of Hillel the Great,
the sage who lived in Jerusalem during the time of King Herod and Jesus.  
                                                                          
Hillel of 1st century BCE

Hillel is the scholar who was once asked by a scornful heathen to explain Judaism while stand-
ing on one foot.  Hillel replied, "What is hateful to thee, do not unto thy fellow man.  This is the
whole law, the rest is mere commentary."  


Resource:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Alperovitch
Finding Our Fathers, a guidebook to Jewish Genealogy, by Dan Rottenbergm 1977.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/philosophy-and-religion/judaism-biographies/rashi 

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# posted by Nadene Goldfoot @ 9:55 AM 0 comments

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