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Showing posts with label Sephardi_Jews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sephardi_Jews. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Re Weddings Outside Of Shuls, Etc. (Nothing New To Those Whom've Read About & Know My Family History)

I think that that's similar to or exactly what happened with my dad's paternal grandparents (I've yet to find or see the Non-Catholic license, though). They never got their Catholic marriage licensed signed, and Great-Granddad was by no means an actual Catholic: he and his parents were Anusim due to the pogroms and Anti Semitism in the U.S..

Great-Grandma (z"l) was, however, and she and her parents were B'nei Anusim and Anusim. Her mother's parents (Samuel and Rosalia Korschová Munka) converted to avoid Austrian-Hungarian Anti Semitism, and her dad's ancestors (e.g., the Schwarzenbergs turned Czarnogurskys) converted to avoid both Polish-Lithuanian-and-encroaching-Russian and Hungarian Anti Semitism. By the way, both of Dad's paternal grandparents had Sephardic heritage; and, for example, Great-Grandma's matriarch Helena Dudayová was born a Legrádyova.

Also another sidenote: as I think about Great-Grandma, I feel verklempt. If one had met her even once or twice (and I saw her almost every time, if not every time, that I was up in Luzerne County for Dad's mom's family reunion), she'd've been one of the relatives that he or she would have respected the most. She was literally, as I recall, one of the only ones at the time whom treated me—since I have Cerebral Palsy, and her grandson Jamie, whom also has Cerebral Palsy and developmental disabilitieswith as much love and respect as she treated her other great-grandchildren and grandchildren.

From what I hear of my great-granddad, on the other hand and as my granduncle Tony shockingly told me when I said something about my dad and granddad, "Like father, like son." I will never forget that Granduncle Tony wrote that, meanwhile, especially since he normally didn't cross Jack Czarnecki openly (and if you knew my grandfather. you might've been tempted to not stand up to him). Other people talked about how awful Great-Granddad was as well; and I've seen pictures of my dad when he was younger and around Great-Granddad, and you could tell that he did not like him if you'd seen the pictures.

One even had the caption "Doesn't seem to upset at his Grandfather Czarnecki". Dad covered up that part of the caption when he scanned it in and sent it to me.

Great Granddad and Dad


Monday, October 24, 2016

An Issue That's Been On My Mind: How 400-430 Years Could In A Parallel Way In Post-Ancient And Post-Medieval History

I didn't say "exactly 400-430 years". Nonetheless, I've concluded that that 400-430 years again applied to Jews from the time of the Alhambra Decreewhen a disgusting practice of throwing Jews whom paid ship captains overboard happenedto either the time of the Dreyfus Affair—which began with his May 1892 arrest—or May 6, 1922, when strokes incapacitated Lenin and effected that Stalin would become Lenin's successor. At those points, Jews knew that making aliyah would be a wise action:

"13 And He said unto Abram: 'Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 And in the fourth generation they shall come back hither; for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.'"


This time, the Moseses were Herzl and the B'nei Akiva branch of HaPoel HaMizrachi—which was founded in Yisra'el 22 days after Lenin's stroke. Granted that both events occurred in Iyar instead of Nisan in the respective years, and that the Alhambra Decree happened in Adar II of 5251—right before Rosh HaShanah 5252. Still, right in the middle of Adar—the month in which Hadasah saved Persian Jewry from Haman, whom made a decree of ethnocidal murder in Nisan—and Iyar—in which Yisra'el was refounded—is Nisan:

"And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: 2 'This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you[']."

By the way, a generation is 20 years, though generations and lifespans were usually longer back then (cf. the passage from Exodus 6 below. The 120-year life expectancy that was declared in the time of the Flood, by the way, began when Moses died.):

"And the LORD spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 'Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, by their polls; 3 from twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: ye shall number them by their hosts, even thou and Aaron. 4 And with you there shall be a man of every tribe, every one head of his fathers' house.[']

Also, Iyar is the second month—again, when the Dreyfus Affair began and Lenin had his stroke—and Iyar was the time for Zionism to begin—after all, Adar and Nisan were the months that culminated the buildup to the Dreyfus Affair and the beginning of Stalinization. Remember, by the way, that the 12 sons of Ya'akov and others had to pass away before slavery in Egypt began:


"1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt with Jacob; every man came with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls; and Joseph was in Egypt already. 6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. {P}"
"These are the families of Simeon. 16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were a hundred thirty and seven years. 17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. 18 And the sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred thirty and three years. 19 And the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. 20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty and seven years. 21 And the sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, to wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 And the sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. 25 And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites according to their families.
So, a generation's life expectancy by that point—at least among HaB'nei Levi—was 137 years. So, go for 120*4 and 137 * 4, and you get 480 and 548 years. The average is 514 years, and enough below 514 years had passed between 1492-1892 and 1492-1922. Also consider this: the max life expectancy for those whom the Spirit is with (cf. Genesis 6:3) will someday be 100 years, and is pretty much the max life expectancy that by now—which is why centenarians and those whom are older than centenarians are celebrated and make the news:


"19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man, that hath not filled his days; for the youngest shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed 
We can see here that the sinner will die at 100 years and that the redeemed will go on to live past 100 years. By the way, 25 is close enough to 20; and that's when the brain reaches its full-development point. So, generations in terms of biology could really be argued to begin at 25 at max and 20 at minimum.

If you don't believe me, look at both Tanakh and at these Google searches, and peruse the sources that you find:


  1. 10:42 AM
    www.google.com
  2. 10:42 AM
    www.google.com

As I concluded, then, 400-430 years on a literal level and on parallel levels have applied to Sephardi, Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, and other Jews to this day.


Sunday, April 10, 2016

Re: Krempasky/Kremposky of Smithfield, Haydentown PA [Re A Query On Ancestry]

We're a clan; that's for sure. The first baptism records show up for us in the late 1600s (1688, 1691, and 1698 per FamilySearch). Our surname is, according to Ancestry, "Czech or Slovak (Krempaský): descriptive nickname from krepy ‘squat’, ‘square-built’." We're not nobility or anything, though; and records are fairly scant for us (for the four main surname variants, 7,498 on Ancestry and 7,189; so, the surname in this case has to be simply lingual and not connected to ethnicity, etc..

I grant that, e.g., the Roman Catholic Church stopped releasing records to the LDS in 2009 or thereabouts over attempts to baptize decedents; what's online is updated over time, etc.. Still, "Krempasky" and variants are not connected to nobility, Czech or Slovakian ethnicity, etc.. The big clues are these:


  1. Again, scant records despite updates, etc.. How long has Ancestry/FamilySearch/the LDS been doing what they do, by the way?
  2. You state, "Nothing was really handed down to us ". That's going to be a really-big clue.
  3. Somehow, the Krempaskys et. al. all ended up in pretty much the same areas, whether or not the stick-together schtick was intentional.


There are other factors, though look at these:


  1. https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2013/10/12/ten-years-later-revelation-john-kerry-ancestry-has-new-chapter/89pyoQEfOJs8PqvazCYqHO/story.html
  2. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/16/us/kerry-s-grandfather-left-judaism-behind-in-europe.html?_r=0
  3. http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-desperate-plight-of-the-bnei-anusim/?fb_comment_id=10151241725430620_33775847
  4. https://www.geni.com/projects/Sephardic-and-Crypto-Jews-of-New-Mexico/18121


My own branch of the Krempaszkys—through Rosalia Czarnogurskÿová Krempaszkÿová—became Czarnogurskÿs, with one variant of their surname being Czarnogorsky. Doing the research, etc., you find quite quickly that they were originally Schwarzbergs, Schwartzenbergs, etc. whom became Anusim (Crypto Jews) and Slavicized their name at some point (See FamilySearch for quite a few of the variants, etc. ). Perhaps they even carried it over as a Sephardic surname which later became an Ashkenazi surname—I have read about this, and this happened on my Andrulewicz side unless we dropped our original name and eventually took up a new one when we came to Poland and Lithuania (The Andrulevič[i]uses are kohanim, by the way.).

Mária Krempaszkÿová married a Jákob Trudnyakov (Trudnyak when we inherited it. Sadly, an Odesa, Ukraine branch of the Trudnyakovs was affected directly by the Holocaust.); Mihály Trudnyak married Mária Nagyová (a granddaughter of Rosalia Dudayová Nagyová , whose father's family used "Duday" as a kinnui for "Kohen" and mother's family were of the Sephardi Légrádis. Mária's maternal grandmother was Elizabetha Levaiová Nagyová.).

Mária Krempaszkÿová Trudnyaková's grandson through Mihály was also Mihály. In Sephardic custom, this naming custom is used; and Mária, by the way, as a variant of "Miryam" is fine among Ashkenazim, as a late cousin's grandnephew told me. The younger Mihály Trudnyak, meanwhile, did not name his first daughter Mary (Neither was his first sister named "Mária": she was named "Aurelia Zsuzsana".).

The younger Mihály Trudnyak also married a child of Anusim, a daughter of Sámuel and Rosalia Korschová Munka. Her name was Anna Amalia Munková, and sheunlike her sister Anna Amalia, for whom she either was named or took her own namewas left unbaptized (Samuel and Rosalia baptized no girls after their daughters Paulina, whom died in 1887, and the first Anna Amalia, whom died just shy of her first birthday, died. The final child whom was baptized, Augustinius Samuel Munka, was baptized in September 1887, months after Paulina died.).

Mihály and Anna became Michael and Anna Monka Trudniak (also "Trudnak"). Mary Trudnak married the oldest child of Alexandria Andrulewicz Czerniecki, Anthony John Czarnecki (Czerniecki by birth). Needless to say, as I found out, Alexandria (from a Litvish family), was unamused: as I figured out from what I heard, etc., she deplored that her son would marry for love (Granduncle Tony said that, that was the reason.) and not through shidduch (Granduncle Tony talked about how parents chose in the old country. I figured out that, that meant going through shidduch [matchmaking].).

Alexandria also deplored that Mary Trudnak was a Believing Jew, and a Believing Jew whom was a daughter of Anusim! Great-Grandma really was a Believing Jew, by the way: while I didn't know that we're Jews until much later (and that's a long story!), I do remember that she was a believer, and the example of her being a believer that sticks out to me is from when my dad's family was up in Luzerne County for his mother's annual family reunions and would go visit Great-Grandma each year.

Every time that we visited, she treated me (one of her son Jack's granddaughters) and Jamie (her son Jim's son) as equally as the other grandkids and great-grandkids there; and since Jamie and I each have Cerebral Palsy (and Jamie's is much more severe and was not present from birth), that really sticks out to me. She was also a quiet and frail elderly woman (Much of the frailty had to do with years of abuse that worn her down later, as I figured out.).

I hope that this helps, even if it just gives you a lens on it from my side of the family/clan/mishpacha [family]/beit-mishpacha m'Yisra'el [house of a family among Israel].

PS Great-Granddad's families were also Anusim (on our branches, anyway), as our Grandma's families (again, on our branches, anyway). I forgot to mention, and I should mention, that "Krempasky" could have even been borrowed from neighbors or other people—Grandma's Rusnak family, for example, somehow borrowed "Kvetkovits" when Gyorgy Rusznak became an Anusi. 

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea, Part One


Prologue And Introduction
Prologue
      I first became interested in my topic for this paper when I came across a poem of the Medieval poet al-Ghazal[i]. I really had no choice in becoming interested in the topic—much less in writing the paper—, since I had to write the paper for Dr. John W. Birkenheimer’s History 362—Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean World—class. Therefore, I had to be interested in one or another way[ii].  So, as I was reading through my class textbook (Barbara H. Rosenwein’s third edition of A Short History of the Middle Ages[iii]), I found the inspiration for my topic and a source to for it to boot[iv]— the topic being the life of a Jew in the time of Al-Andalusia[v].
By the way, I did not use the term “Muslim” (“submitter”) or “Islam” (“submission”), given that those two Arabic words did (and still do) not exclusively belong to Muhammad. Besides, if and since I—as a Christian—can call myself by what was originally a Syrian pejorative for a talmid(ah)-HaDerech (follower of The Way), I am sure that Mohammedans can handle being called what they were called by others up until recently[vi][vii].  In fact, I, in reading the parts of The Legacy of Muslim Spain[viii] that were relevant to my topic, was actually a little surprised to find that even Maimonides—who did not like Messianic Jews or Messianic Judaism—found Mohammedism more dangerous than Messianic Judaism[ix] [x]. Nonetheless, Maimonides and I agreed on something.
      This is important to note so that I can be in full disclosure and not unnecessary offend anyone by my (if you will) political incorrectness. In the same vein, I used “Vaticanists” to refer to “Catholics” (“Universalists”). By the way, my dad’s relatives (and some of my mom’s relatives) were “Catholic” Anusim[xi], so I can speak about Vaticanists as such[xii]. Also, I have no reason or motive to lie about any of this—and I cited what was not knowledge that I had prior to writing this introduction and the rest of the paper, just so you know[xiii].
      I furthermore hope that you understand that, since this paper is called “Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea”, my writing was informed by my family history (See the endnotes.). As I stated before, the topic of this paper is the life of a Jew in Al-Andalusia—namely, one of my imagined(?)[xiv] ancestors in Al-Andalusia. Therefore, I had to contextualize my paper by prologuing[xv] my topic with a summary of part of my family history. Thus, I ask you to bear with me as you read this following part.
      My dad’s ancestors were Ashkenazi Jews, perhaps of Sefardi descent. For example, the Levitical Foczkos used the Arabic name “Halva” (meaning “sweetmeat”) for one of their children[xvi]. Also, Dad’s dad’s parental grandparents (né Czernecki and née Andrulewiczówna) baptized their son as “Antoni Jan Czarniecki”, who shared his birthday (October 24th) with to-be Vaticanist saint and notable Spanish clergyman Anthony Claret—Julian and Aleksjondria Alicja Andrulewiczówna Czernecki[xvii] were well aware of the events in Sefarad[xviii].
The Foczkos resigned to living as Anusim in Aranyida once they were banished from Warszawa by Foczko relatives who had not become Anusim, and some Anusi relatives were already in cities such as Gelnica. The Andrulewiczówna-Czernecki family did not become Anusim until the pogroms, although some Andrulewiczes had been Anusim and living in Gmina Sejny in Suwałki Gubernia, Polish-Russian Pale[xix] when Aleksjondria was born in Bose, Sejny[xx].
As I aforestated, I hope that you understand that my writing of “Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea” was informed by my family history. Therefore, I had to contextualize my paper by prologuing my topic with a summary of part of my family history. So, I thank you for bearing with me.



Introduction
As I stated in the prologue, I hope that you understand that my writing of “Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea” was informed by my family history. As I also stated, the topic of this paper is one of my imagined(?)[xxi] ancestors in Al-Andalusia. I have no records or access to any records of my paternal ancestors who were born prior to the 1700s or outside of Ashkenazi[xxii] Europe before then—if any were born there at all[xxiii]. My family were P’rushi[xxiv] Jews, so making my ancestor a Qara’i[xxv] Jew would have been pointless, anyway. Besides, I do not remember the Al-Andalusian  Qara’it[xxvi] instructor’s name[xxvii]; and I was going to mention her through my “ancestor” if I had remembered her name on my own. Also, while few—if any—P’rushim did follow Qara’i practice in terms of tzitziyot[xxviii],  most Sefardim[xxix] still do not use techelet[xxx] unless it comes from the chilazon or what is possibly the chilazon. What I did recall was that tallitot were not worn until the 13th Century or the 1300s[xxxi]tzitziyot were just worn on one’s outfits, and even tallitot katanot were not a concern until then.
By the way, there were natural fabrics such as linen and wool—and silk and cotton if one was lucky enough to have access to those kinds of fabrics. Thus, acrylic and other synthetic fabrics did not even exist. Furthermore and in short—and as my mom imparted to me—life was basically the same across time until the Space Age/Age of Technology[xxxii]. Even the Ages of Exploration  and Colonization[xxxiii], and the Industrial and Scientific Revolutions[xxxiv] were precendented and precendental compared to the Space Age. Keep in mind, nonetheless, that the Medieval/“Dark” Ages came before and transitioned into the  Even the Ages of Exploration  and Colonization, and the Industrial and Scientific Revolutions.
As a result, you will already have at least somewhat idea of what my “ancestor”’s life was like in the 10th-11th Centuries if you truly keep the Medieval Ages in mind and think about Medieval Spain and Portugal, Medieval Jewry, and Medieval Mediterranea. Specifics about my “ancestor”’s life and lifetime will become clear to you as you read this paper (and pay attention to the endnotes!).
To give you a general idea, nonetheless, I will tell you that my “ancestor” lived in Al-Andalusia for 120 years (929-1049[xxxv]), before the First Crusade. She, who was named Rachel Miriam HaLevit bat Yosef Ele’azar HaLevi v’Miriam[xxxvi], also kept kashrut, wore tzitziyot, lived in a patriarchal household and society, was a Levit, married a Levi cousin, and was a stay-at-home daughter and wife who—with the mandate of her family—could read and write. She followed even the “positive mitzvot”—which P’rushi women are exempted or even prohibited from doing by the P’rushi clergymen[xxxvii]. She followed Sefardi P’rushi minhag v’nusach, knew the Tanakh and halachah, etc.. She lived in Córdoba, attended a synagogue and sat on the women’s side of the mehitzah, was not allowed to make aliyot to the bimah, and provided for her own and her family’s necessities by gardening, cooking, sewing, and doing whatever other household activities Medieval and Sefardi Jewish women did.


Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea



Bibliography
Prologue And Introduction
Jayyusi, Salma Khadra, ed. The Legacy of Muslim Spain, Volume 1. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 1994.
Rosenwein, Barbara H.. A Short History Of the Middle Ages, Third Edition. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.

Imagining(?) An Ancestor In Al-Andalusia in Medieval Mediterranea
 Jayyusi , Salma Khadra, ed. The Legacy of Muslim Spain, Volume 1. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 1994.
Rosenwein, Barbara H.. A Short History Of the Middle Ages, Third Edition. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.
[Note as of 24 September 2013: Other sources to be used after 26 September 2013].

     



[i] Barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages, Third Edition (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009), 114. Cited on Roseinwein 137.
[ii] In other words, I was going to be either positively interested (writing about a topic which I liked—since I was actually free to choose the topic) or negatively interested (obligatory, so to speak, dragging my feet through writing a college-class paper and hopefully receiving a good grade for what work I begrudgingly did).
[iii] Barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages, Third Edition (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009).
[iv] The source being (as I later found out, two volumes of) The Legacy of Muslim Spain (Salma Khadra Jayyusi, ed., The Legacy of Muslim Spain, Volume 1 (Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 1994), 327. Also see Rosenwein 114 and 137.). 
[v] Today, Portugal and most of Spain. See Roseinwein 115 and 148.
[vi] I even read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin once, and religiously-tolerant Deist Ben Franklin called self-identified “Muslims” by the name “Mohammedans”.
[vii] Also, I—as a Jew and a “Muslimah” to “Isa” (submitter to Jesus—the real Jesus, not Mohammed’s perversion of Jesus)—find Mohammedism (especially the more that I learn about it) offensive (and one of the tenants of Mohammedism that I immediately and especially find offensive is the idea that Ishma’el and Esau [the Arabs] replaced Isaac and Jacob).
[viii] Salma Khadra Jayyusi, ed., The Legacy of Muslim Spain, Volume 1 (Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 1994).
[ix] Ibid., 195-197.
[x] Christianity; and nowadays, many—if not most—make historical Jews seem like they favored Mohammedism over Christianity—or at least saw it as the lesser of what they saw as two evils, anyway.
[xi] Some still are—Dad’s, for example, being Roman and Byzantine. If you need more information on this, by the way, feel free to do a Google search for my family tree on Ancestry.com and my blog on Blogspot/Blogger.
[xii] To make a long story short (and to get back to my point), Vaticanists (similarly to Mohammedans after them) used a form of Replacement Theology (what I call “Replacementism”)—specifically, they replaced Mount Zion (G-d’s “holy hill”, as He says in the Old Testament) with Vatican Hill (and if you care to look at the Wikipedia entry on Vatican Hill that I once read, feel free to do so.).
[xiii] Incidentally, that whole copyright and citation drek and schpiel did not start until Queen Anne Stuart’s Copyright Act back of 1708-1710—nothing is new under the sun (as Ecclesiastes makes quite clear); but I could get my tuchus sued by feinshmekers for one little—even one little unknown—mistake in citation because of Her Royal “Highness” (or shall I say “Macher”ness or “Feinshmeke”ness?). Also, I hope that you can tell that I come from an Ashkenazi Jewish family and have some working (albeit, basically-self-taught) proficiency in Yiddish, though (given that my proficiency is limited) I am letting you choose between “Mache”ness (“big-shot”-ness) and “Feinshmeke”ness (“high-falutin”-ness) to describe the monarchical ancestor of the Modern Language Association, the American Psychological Assocation and its publication manual, and Kate Turabian and her Chicago/Humanities style.
[xiv] Or, perhaps, not so imagined if G-d really works through me in a similar way that He worked through the Bible scribes. In the Gospel writers’ cases, they were writing down the very Word of G-d. In my case, I was  writing down history passed onto me by the Holy Spirit—e.g., who knows if I did not actually write down one of the names of my ancestors?—and history based on my sources (which, as I stated, I cited).
[xv] “Prologuing” was used here as a gerund of “prologue” as a verb.
[xvi] See "Hungary Catholic Church Records, 1636-1895," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XCPB-VHH : accessed 20 Sep 2013), Halva Wyzkiewicz, 1895.
I found this record way before and seized on this fact. Although the name does have a Greek meaning as well, the Foczkos/Fockos were Roman—not Byzantine/Greek—Vaticanist Anusim in Slovakia (including Zlatá Idka and Košice—then Aranyidka and Kassa, when Slovakia was a part of Hungary) and Hungary (including Miskolc and Diósgyőr, where my great-great-granduncle Frantisek György “Frank George” Foczko was born and baptized in October of 1888, shortly before his cousin Halva). Incidentally, my grandmother Joan Gaydos Czarnecki (whose maternal grandmother was Juliana Foczková Rusznaková) followed Sefardi custom by naming my aunt “Mary Joan” for my dad’s grandmothers (Mary Czarnecki née Trudniak and Mary Gaydos née Rusnak) and herself (Ashkenazim generally did and still do not name children for living relatives, though those who follow Sefardi and Biblical custom do. Keep in mind, for example, that Absalom named his daughter “Tamar” after his sister; and John the Baptist was almost named “Zachariah” for his dad.).
[xvii]  With the latter having a brother named Ignacy Andrulewicz—perhaps for Saint Ignatius or Ignacio de Loyola, unless his parents used the common name “Ignacy”/”Ignatzy” for him
[xviii] Including what was Al-Andalusia. Sometimes, many or even all Non-Ashkenazi Jews (including Mizrahi Jews) are labeled as “Sefardim Yehudim”.
[xix] Our branch was pretty much the holdout. There was a Rochla Andrelewitz whose family did not convert, and a Jacob Androlowicz who identified as Jewish and was buried in a Roman Vaticanist cemetery—his next of kin at the time, according to his Jewish World War Two Soldiers’ card, was Mary S. Strout née Andrulewicz. By the way, a Rusznak in-law cousin tells me that “Maria” was used as a variant of “Mariam” among Jews in Hungary.  Also, I have a Foczko cousin named Mariama Focková Valková—and there was a cousin named Miriam Fockowa who was a victim of the Holocaust back in Poland.
[xx] Her parents, an unknown Andrulevičus and an unknown Morgevičutė from Stakliškės, moved from Stakliškės when her cousin Shmuli Morgovich died in April of 1882. She was born in Bose on June 26, 1882.
[xxi] See the prologue.
[xxii] Eastern, Central, and Non-Sefardi Western (e.g., German) Europe. In fact, Eastern and Central European Jews are descended from Diasporan Jews who came from places such as the Rhineland, Sefardi Jews who escaped the Inquisition and (as I cited) who escaped Al-Andalusia and the Reconquista, and “Khazar” Jews who escaped the fall of the Byzantine Empire (Sidenote: Kevin Alan Brook’s Khazaria.com is where I got a substantial amount of my prior knowledge. When I first encountered the “Khazar Theory”, I was—figuratively and literally—pulling my hair to prove that Ashkenazi Jews are Jews and not, as Anti Semites and Self-Hating Jews like to claim, Khazars and Edomite posers.).
[xxiii] See the prologue. If nothing else, the Foczko Wyzkiewiczes and Andrulewicz Czerneckis were well aware of Sefardi Jewish experiences and history.
[xxiv] Pharisee, “Rabbi”nate, “Rabbi”nical, Talmudic. “P’rushi” literally means “self separating” or “self cutting off”.
[xxv] Karaite, “Scripturalist” (“Kara” or “Qara” means “Scriptualist”, viz. “Tanakh-only”). At your own risk, see Nehemia Gordon’s Karaite Korner website (I qualify my statement with “at your own risk” because he is Anti Messianic/Anti Christian—not Anti Christ—, as I learned the hard way when he twisted my defense of his argument that “Rashi” (Shlomo Isaacides) was not Messianic. For more on this, see my YouTube video “Verbal Abuse From Nehemia Gordon And Evidence Thereof”—which Nehemia even managed to get removed with a false cyberbullying report until I uploaded it again and explained that he is a public figure. As knowledgeable as Nehemia Gordon is, he is not a trustworthy person—which is why I qualify my statement regarding Karaite Korner with “at your own risk”. A better website is http://www.karaitejudaism.org/, especially because the person does not seem to be abusive as is Nehemia Gordon. You may also want to look at http://kahana.hubpages.com/, which is maintained by a Karaite kohen and has at least some good content. Also keep in mind that Qara’im, like P’rushim, generally do not believe in Yeshua (Jesus)—though Nehemia Gordon’s affirmative “No” to the question “Do Karaites believe in Jesus?” is false, as some Qara’im (including Tzdukim— “Zadokians”, “Sadducees”, literally “Righteous Ones” [cf. Ezekiel 44:15-16, 48:11]) and P’rushim have believed in Yeshua throughout time.
[xxvi] “Karaitess”
[xxvii] All I remember is that Nehemia Gordon stated that she was in Spain in the 10th Century and that her name began with “al”, and was something like “al-Malmudah” or “al-Malhudah”. Besides, I am not going back to Nehemia’s website ever again if I can help myself.
[xxviii] And other matters as well; such as the calendar, Torah parshot, and eating the fat of the tailbone (included among chelev, or forbidden fat).
[xxix] Most Sefardim, like most Non Sefardim, are P’rushim. Even many Messianic Jews are P’rushi or follow P’rushi minhagim v’nusachim—Pharisee traditions and customs (e.g., from the Talmudim Bavlim v’Yerushalayimi).
[xxx] E.g., When I used to shop at Eichlers.com, Sefardi tallitot did not include the option for techelet. In full disclosure, by the way, I use the Microsoft® Word 2003 “Research” bar or (if I could not find what I wanted in the Research bar) Google to double check my Hebrew, prior knowledge, etc.; so I did not cite what I double checked and/or corrected unless I needed to absolutely cite it. I did not want to be compulsive about citing. By the way, as I stated before, nothing is new under the sun—so much for the MLA, the APA, Kate Turabian, and others paying attention to (if not the Word of G-d itself, at least) the wisdom of Solomon, though. Also, I have Obsessive Compulsive/Generalized Anxiety, Major Depressive, and Attention Deficit Disorders; and I did and will not kill myself with obsessive citing.
[xxxi] I cannot remember which. I just remember reading it. I have read a source that have said that tallitot were used back in the days of Sh’mu’el.
[xxxii] My mom was born in the 1950s in the United States of America, by the way.
[xxxiii] 15th-20th Centuries
[xxxiv] Including the “Age of Reason/Age of Enlightenment”; beginning with Galileo Galieli, 15th-20th Centuries
[xxxv] P’rushi years 4689-5709 AM. The Qara’im generally follow the Biblical calendar, and there are 165 missing years—thus, the years are actually probably closer to 4853/4854-4973/4974 AM. (Today is Tishri 18, 5773 AM/5774 AM; perhaps 5938/5939 [September 24-25, 2013].). The Jewish New begins for P’rushim in Tishri, and for Qara’im in Aviv.
[xxxvi] I could not write out her Hebrew name in Hebrew lettering, as Word kept giving me problems pasting it from when I typed and checked it with http://www.linguanaut.com/hebrew_keyboard.htm, translate.google.com, http://alittlehebrew.com/transliterate, and even Notepad and Blogger (to see if I could paste it unscrambled from one of those two sources).
[xxxvii] Not “rabbis”, “Chazal”, or “sages”. See Jeremiah 8:8-9 and Matthew 23:8-10. 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

When Are They Anusim (Crypto Jews)? some Clues and Hints

  1. They have uncommon surnames. According to JewFAQ, "One reason for the frequency of German names among Jews is a 1787 Austro-Hungarian law. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, which controlled a substantial part of Europe at the time, was the first country in Europe that required Jews to register a permanent family surname, and they required that this surname be German. A copy of the decree can be found on the Polish-Jewish genealogy website, Shoreshim. This explains the frequency of German surnames in Western Europe, but it doesn't explain the frequency of German surnames for Jews in the Russian Empire, where German surnames for Jews are also common. The frequency of German family names among Russia may be due to migration from Western Europe." (http://www.jewfaq.org/jnames.htm) In Russia, surnames were not required until 1804. "In the Austrian Empire, which ruled much of southern and eastern Poland, Jews were ordered to take such names in the 1780s and ’90s; in Germany, in 1797; in tsarist Russia, in 1804." (http://forward.com/articles/13721/how-did-jews-choose-their-last-names-/#ixzz2cWvkzAwz) In order to comply, some Jews--especially Anusim--made up or took gentile or gentile-sounding names to pass at least the lines of acceptability, assimilation, etc..
  2. A gentile name doesn't necessarily mean that they are gentiles. In fact, "Jews living in gentile lands have historically taken local names to use when interacting with their gentile neighbors. Anyone with a name that is hard to pronounce or to spell will immediately understand the usefulness of this! The practice of taking local names became so common, in fact, that by the 12th century, the rabbis found it necessary to make a takkanah (rabbinical ruling) requiring Jews to have a Hebrew name!" (ibid.)
  3. Baptism records don't show up too much before 1700, if at all. In fact, for example, Slovakian baptism records "Many church books from earlier time periods were lost during the Turkish invasions and Slovak rebellions around 1600-1700. Those which carry over past the early 1900's (even though they may have begun earlier) are still located in local city halls or other institutions. The Family History Library has copies of almost all birth, marriage, and death registers for the following religions: Catholic (the majority religion), Evangelical Lutheran, Reformed, Jewish, Greek Catholic, and Orthodox. Filming of the records was done from 1991-2009. The images in this collection are from those films." (https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Slovakia_Church_and_Synagogue_Books_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)) Also, "Starting in 1869, the civil authorities took charge of keeping records of births, marriages, and deaths, although the individual churches continued to actually record these events. The official legal copy was kept by local officials. This action was prompted when many of the clergy refused to perform Catholic rites for non-Catholics. Everyone was registered under this new system (not only Catholics or Protestants)." In fact, Andrew Rusna's granddad had to be "acquitted to marry" because his conversion was not believed to be geniune--he had to go through a dispensation to maintain his Anusi Yahadut (Crypto Judaism).
  4. Religious freedom was really nominal in any given state for at least the commoner, even in de jure terms. Also, gentiles could not convert "down", though Jews could (and often had to) convert "up". According to Wikipedia, the story of Count Potocki could not be true. "There is some evidence that the Potocki legend is an embellishment of a true story. A report published in the July 1753 edition of The London Magazine describes the story of a very similar execution. The correspondent dated his report June 11, two days after the end of the Shavuot holiday. It describes "an apostate named Raphael Sentimany, a native of Croatia", who converted to Judaism and adopted the name Abraham Isacowicz." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_ben_Abraham) Also, "Tazbir notes that the tragic fate of Potocki, passed through Jewish oral tradition, remains unconfirmed by 18th–century Polish or Jewish primary sources and that there is no evidence in any archives or genealogy tree that Potocki existed.[7] He also notes that the Polish nobility was guaranteed the freedom of faith (by acts like Neminem captivabimus and the Warsaw Confederation), and capital punishment was extremely rare.[7] "
  5. Some Ashkenazim did follow Sephardi/Biblical practice by naming their children after living relatives. Many, however, did follow Ashkenazi custom of naming children after decedents, including deceased children. This continued among Anusim.
  6. Ashkenazim were well aware of the events in Sepharad. In fact, Ashkenazim were also among the first Anusim. "The vituperation heaped on Jews by Christian ecclesiastics, and the violent methods employed by the church in the fourth century (see Jewish *History, Middle Ages), led to many forced conversions. There is clear evidence that anusim existed in the Frankish kingdoms of the sixth century, for the typical pattern of mass violence combined with threat of expulsion is already present in the mass conversion of many Jews to Christianity in *Clermont-Ferrand in 576. The almost inevitable result of the creation of a Jewish "underground" within the Christian society is also clearly visible." (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0002_0_01173.html) Also, "In Jewish sources, the term anusim is applied not only to the forced converts themselves, but also to their descendants who clandestinely cherished their Jewish faith, attempting to observe at least vestiges of the *halakhah, and loyalty to their Jewish identity. Both the elements of compulsion and free will enter the psychological motivation of the forced convert. The concept denoted by the term anusim, therefore, is fluid, bordering on that applying to apostates and even to *Marranos; it has been the subject of much discussion."
  7. Anusim often hoped that their descendants would someday return to Judaism, especially when (as they believed) Mashiach would come (since they did not generally believe that Yeshua is Mashiach). Many Biblical verses can point to this, and "Anusim and Chuetas keep traditions and have great motivation to return fully and openly to Judaism. Unfortunately, many come across the shock of official Orthodox Rabbinical Halacha as a barrier to their acceptance into Israel. When we open our gates to the Anusim and Chuetas we will see the next great Aliyah, and a massive return to Judaism." (http://israeltheviewfromhere.blogspot.com/2012/10/anusim-maranos-conversos-chuetas-secret.html) Again, this does not apply to just Sephardim Anusim. In fact, one group states their mission as "We are a group of Orthodox Jews (Ashkenaz & Sephard), "Returnees" and converts sensitive to the issues concerning return of B'nei Anusim to their ancestral heritage." () Be aware that this group is extremely Anti Messianic and even Anti B'nei Anusim in some cases--e.g., "As advocates for B'nei Anusim we facilitate Halachic Return and Halachic Conversions, rescue B'nei Anusim misled, or deceived, by Messianic Groups, and lobby for broader recongition of B'nei Anusim in Authoritative Rabbinic Groups." and "This is understood to mean that if parents do not pass down Jewish customs and traditions to their children - then by the 5th generation those descendants are considered non-Jews (even with their Jewish geneology [sic.]). In such a case, Halachic Conversion is required to be accepted back into the Jewish community - this holds true for all Jews, at all times, in all lands - not just B'nei Anusim."
  8. Look for inconsistencies in records, names, etc.. In fact, I just found that Regina Jantozonková Czarnogurskyová gave her names as "Antonizonka" and "Jantozonka" (See FamilySearch.org). Also, Andrew Rusnak's granddad borrowed "Kvetkovits" from his neighbors to use as an alias. 
  9. Look to see if they kept in contact with their Non-Anusi relatives. Sometimes, they did not because the Non-Anusi relatives were angry at the Anusi ones and sat shiva for them. In the Czernecki and Andrulewicz families, as my granduncle Tony wrote to me (though he had "serious doubts" that we are Anusim, although he basically--albeit unitentionally--gave a clue away), "Periodically a church pastor would run a heritage trip back to Poland for a group.  Very few of those who immigrated would return.  Occasionally someone "in the family" in America would join a relative for the return trip, Usually meeting the Polish or Slovak relatives for the first time and occasionally maintaining a letter writing relationship afterwards.  This DID NOT happen in our family. There was not very much correspondence with the Polish family.  Only an infrequent letter.  There were no exchanges other than through the Polish Church which would have clothing drives and send clothes to Poland in general, but not to specific family members.  Bertha's photos which came after the trips were the only contact until they asked for the deed to be changed in the mid 1960's." As for the famous "Kerry" (Kohn) family, they did (Search for a Rusznak in Budapest, and you will find that "Otto Kerry" is associated with that Rusznak--who, as far as I know, has no direct relation to us [and with "direct" meaning besides that we're related as Jews, anyway].). As for the story re Vilmosz Rusznak and Mary Rusnak Gaydos, let's just say that she betrayed his trust in any Jew who professed to believe in Jesus--one of whom he obviously wrote to as a means of last resort and per piku'ach nefesh
  10. Think about the Kerrys. They assimilated and pretended to be gentiles. Similarly, the Czerneckis, "settled among Polish, Slavic, Hungarian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian people just like themselves.  Similar language, similar customs, similar faces, houses, churches, etc.  But life was much better than on the farm.  They were quite happy in America and much better off.  The motherland, Poland, was far off and just a memory, not to be forgotten but no regrets for leaving either." The pogroms, being rejected by family living with, and Anti Semitism in even the United States were not worth dealing with for them--they didn't want the pogroms in Polish Russia, their conversions questioned in the same, or to be called "Christ killers" in the United States (Open Jews in the U.S. did get called epiphets such as "dirty Jew". In fact, in The Color of Water, James McBride relates that his mother recalled a classmate asking her, "'Ruth, when did you become a dirty Jew?'"--and after she took the name "Ruth" to assimilate a little, since that was seen as a more-gentile name--although Ruth the Moabite converted to Judaism, but "Ruth" was seen as more gentile than "Ruchel Dwjoa Szlyska" or "Rachel Deborah Shilsky".).
  11. Remember that sometimes only one parent would become an Anusi Yehudi, or both would become Anusim for a time, go back to Judaism, or even perhaps go between Anusi and regular Judaism. Also, keep in mind that children were sometimes considered "illegitimate" when they were "legitimate" but did not have their dads backing their mom's decisions.
I could also gave plenty more clues, I think.