Jewish and Proud in Provincial Kazakhstan

The Beit Rachel Synagogue in Astana, Kazakhstan

Living on the far edge of the Jewish world can be difficult (JPOST). 

Click here to read the full article or the links below to learn more about Jews of Kazakhstan:

• Jewish Kazakhstan
• Jewish Virtual Library
• Mitsva of Kazakhstan
• Description of the Beit Rachel Synagogue from the website of the Kazakhstan embassy in Malaysia
  
• Connect with others who are researching family roots from Kazakhstan 

Success! Finding a Link to Family in Belfast via the JewishGen Blog

Posted By Ann Rabinowitz

It is always wonderful to hear from JewishGen Blog readers regarding success stories of their connections to family as a result of my postings. Such was the case when I published a piece on the Blog on Tuesday, March 17, 2009, entitled “Green Bagels and Matzoh Balls – It’s That Time Of The Year Again.”

Naomi Barnett in Australia read the story and remembered that her friend Mervyn Silverstein, who also lives in Australia, had been born in Belfast and perhaps he might enjoy reading the article too. So, in that time-honored tradition amongst friends, she forwarded the link onto Mervyn via e-mail on April 14, 2009.  Mervyn avidly read the story and saw a photo which included Harold Moss, who had married Rose Coss, the daughter of his grandmother’s sister, Millie Leopold.

Given that inspiration, he clicked on the link for the Irish Jewish Community in Belfast which was also provided. He then proceeded to register on the Jewish Belfast site and submitted his bio on April 19, 2009.  Within two days, Mervyn had found his cousin Dickie Leopold who lives in America.  Mervyn’s grandmother Dorothy (or Dolly as she was known by her Belfast family) and Dickie’s mother Edith were sisters.

His response to me on receiving this remarkable contact was as follows:

“The internet can be such a powerful tool, but so is serendipity.  Ann, you wrote a blog that Naomi read.  She, in turn passed it to me.  I thought it might be interesting and I clicked a link.  Had Dickie Leopold not been registered in this site, then it might have just ended as quickly as it started.  As they say, the rest is history.  Both of you have performed a mitzvah and only good should happen in your lives.”

Not only had Mervyn found Dickie, his mother’s first cousin, but a whole load of relatives he never knew existed and certainly never knew had remained in Belfast after his family had left for Canada in 1951 and then gone onto Australia in 1961.

Imagine his surprise, when he also learned that the family, who were now spread out to the UK, Zimbabwe and the United States, had a reunion in Sydney, Australia, only a few weeks before.  If he had only known of them then!

Utilizing the 1911 Irish Census, I was further able to direct Mervyn to his great grandparents, Philip Leopold and his wife Rose Patchunsky Leopold, both born in 1877, in Russia, who lived at 27, Rose Street, Clifton, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.  Listed along with this couple were their children: Bessie, Dorah (Mervyn’s grandmother Dorothy/Dolly), Edith (Dickie’s mother), Rebecca, Minnie and Nettie.  The last two children in the family, Sonny and Lillian, were not listed as they had not been born yet.

Further family research had determined that Philip Leopold’s original name was actually Lepar and that he was born in Kriukai, Lithuania, the son of Yehuda-Leib Lepar.  This, in turn, could be confirmed by a search in the All-Lithuania Database (ALD) on JewishGen which turned up several Lepar families in Kriukai, Lithuania.  All of a sudden, in what amounted to a blink of an eye, Mervyn had been able to connect with his ancestors from Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the 20th Century, back to Kriukai, Lithuania, in the 19th Century.  The years almost melted away, like the peel of an onion, to reveal his Litvak roots.

A ten page family tree was then sent to Mervyn by his relatives as well as a number of family photographs which included his branch of the family.  The following wedding photograph is thought to be the wedding of Harry Cowen and Dorothy/Dolly Leopold, who were the grandparents of Mervyn Silverstein.  The seven Leopold sisters are shown in the photograph, but only four of the sisters are identified according to an educated guess by the relatives.  The next photo depicts Bessie Leopold, the eldest sister, at her wedding to Samuel Freedman.  The final photo is of the grandfather and mother of Mervyn Silverstein - Harry Cowen, husband of Dorothy/Dolly Leopold, and his daughter Gladys Cowen.  

Leopold Family Wedding in Belfast, c. 1921-1923
(Left to right: Nettie Leopold, Unkn, Unkn, Harry Cowen, Dolly Leopold, Lillian Leopold, Unkn, Bessie Leopold Freedman)

Wedding of Sam Freedman and Bessie Leopold, Belfast, c. 1921-1922
(Bessie was oldest daughter in Leopold family)

Harry Cowen and daughter Gladys, Belfast, c. 1939
(Grandfather and mother of Mervyn Silverstein)

Once the initial link was established between Mervyn and Dickie, e-mails flew back and forth and these too provided additional relatives who were copied on the messages.  Now, Mervyn had an overwhelming sense of family and the continuity of it despite the distances involved and years that had passed without contact.

This success story proves that it is especially important to register on sites like the one for Belfast, if you are looking for family from a specific place or even on the JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF) site.  As it so happens, none of Mervyn’s family names are registered under Belfast on the JGFF.  Now, that Mervyn knows his family names and where they are from, he can sign up for the JGFF and perhaps, he in turn, can help someone else who is searching for his family names.

Another aspect of this story is that Mervyn was basically a non-genealogist and unfamiliar with JewishGen or the JewishGen Blog.  However, he had a thoughtful friend, Naomi Barnett, who was interested in genealogy and who had the forethought to contact him and let him know about the Blog article and the link to Belfast.

It is hoped that this story encourages others who may not think they have surviving relatives or those who know very little about their origins to pursue these kinds of on-line links on the Internet.  It takes a little effort, but it is well worth it!

Nicknames

What do the names Roni, Tzipi, Yuli, Buji, Avi, Rafi and Ami have in common? No, they're not characters in a children's book. They're nicknames for ministers in the previous cabinet. Their parents named them Aharon, Tzipora, Yael, Isaac, Abraham, Raphael and Amichai, but their nicknames are so familiar that no one uses their given names, sometimes even in official documents.

In contrast, in Israel's first cabinet, no ministers were known by a nickname. That custom only came into fashion in the 1980s with the media adopting the names Arik (Sharon), Roni (Milo) and Yossi (Beilin).

According to research by linguist Dr. Ruth Burstein of the David Yellin College of Education in Jerusalem, this phenomenon reflects sociolinguistic change in Israel over the past generation. In the early decades of the state, the use of nicknames was confined to family and friends. But recently, "certain names have caught on completely and even appear in official publications, especially Avi, Eli and Dani," Burstein says.

The change has also been felt in the classroom. In the 1950s and '60s, teachers did not address their pupils by a nickname. Eventually, however, expressing distance in this way gave way to demonstrations of friendship and superficial closeness even among strangers, which also affects the language of address, Burstein says.

Among the sons and daughters of the deceased whose names appeared in the notices, 40 percent were nicknames. However, when it came to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the deceased, less than 5 percent were mentioned by their nicknames. "There is an effort today to give children very beautiful names and to keep them in their original form," Burstein says.

How does an Israeli nickname come into being? Burstein found that each generation has its own style. At the beginning of the 20th century it was common to add a suffix from Yiddish or Slavic languages to the Hebrew name; for example, Rivkale, Haimke or Shmulik. Burstein says these monikers are on their way out.

Nowadays the more common nicknames among adults end with an "i," with or without shortening the name, giving us Tali, Dadi, Rami, Yoni and Kobi. "In the United States, names with 'i' at the end indicate childishness or are considered diminutives. Children and sometimes women are given these names. But in Israel they have no negative connotation," Burstein says.

Instead, a new kind of diminutive is being used. "Today we're going back to a shortening of names, which is very common in other languages. In the days of the Palmach [pre-state strike force] they made Ben-Tzion into Bentz, and Yossi became Yos," Burstein says. A present-day example, she adds, is Daf for Dafna. (Haaretz)

Click here to read the entire article.

The IAJGS Conference Is Only One Month Away

Posted By Anne Feder Lee

We are very pleased to share the following good news with everyone.

1. All conference registrants staying at the Sheraton hotel will receive complimentary internet access in their guest room.  If you have not yet made your hotel reservation, do so without delay to take advantage of this great deal. Use the link at the conference website (the Hotel  Registration button) to do so.

2. Not only will the banquet include the announcement of the IAJGS Achievement Awards, the wonderful entertainment by Yisrael Campbell, but there will also be drawings for 3 prizes. Those prizes are 4 hours of
research by the following individuals (and the country of research): Jordan Auslander (U.S.); Michael Goldstein (Israel); and Anthony Joseph (U.K).  If you have not yet purchased your banquet(s), be sure to do so before the deadline of July 19, 2009 (midnight U.S. central time).  Don't miss out on the fun way to end the hectic conference week.

We thank Jordan, Michael, and Anthony for generously contributing their professional time and expertise for these drawings.

We also encourage you to look at the list of breakfasts with experts, SIG lunches, workshops and tours. Any one, or more of them, will enhance your conference experience because they are certainly worth attending.  Make sure you purchase your ticket(s) for these events to guarantee that you get a space.

One of the workshops is already full and we have added a repeat performance (A second beginner/intermediate Family Tree Maker session will be held on Thursday, August 6 from 8:15 to 10:15 AM.)

The breakfast (Monday, August 3, 7 AM - 8 AM) with Miriam Weiner and Olga Muzychuk, experts, is almost filled to capacity.  Don't wait a moment if you want to attend that breakfast.

See you in a month,

Anne Feder Lee and David Mink
Philly2009 Co-Chairs

Correction on CA AB 130 Posting

Recently, I posted to the IAJGS Leadership Forum and the JewishGen Discussion Group about an updated Legislative Alert which included information on pending California legislation, including AB 130 which addresses marriage records and non-comprehensive indices. Other bills are included in the report.

I have learned that one part of the information posted regarding CA AB 130 is incorrect. The bill does not redact mother's maiden name from informational copies of marriage records. As originally, correctly, stated, the bill, does not include mothers' maiden names in the data files (i.e. non-comprehensive indices) making it difficult to determine (for example) if the Harry Cohen married Sarah Goldberg in the index is the marriage you are searching. The IAJGS website [www.iajgs.org] Latest_Alert (under the legislation tab) has been updated to reflect this correction.

Jan Meisels Allen
Director, IAJGS and
Chairperson, Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

New California (USA) System for Redacting Information on Birth and Death Records

A new California system, Vital Records Image Redaction and Statewide Access (VRIRSA) started in April 2009 requiring redaction of Social Security numbers, any signatures or sensitive health information from informational copies of birth and death records. The system was mandated by legislation enacted in 2002 which authorized informational certificates and established a committee to make recommendations on protecting individual privacy, inhibiting identity theft, and preventing fraud involving birth and death certificates while providing needed access to birth and death record information to those seeking it for legitimate purposes. Those recommendations led to the new, automated system that redacts certain data from birth and death records. At this time marriage records are not included, but if AB 130 passes it is conceivable that marriage records willbe included in the system.

The new system requires anyone requesting an informational copy from the state/local /county registrar, that the registrar request the redacted copy from the state California Department of Public Health, which is the responsible agency for the system. The certificate is then automatically redacted for the specific data (Social Security number, any signatures, or sensitive health information) contained in the certificate and sent to the local/county registrar for printing and submitting to the requester.

The purpose of VRIRSA is a single state-wide system for accessing redacted records. At present, the VRIRSA system fulfills public requests for informational copies of birth certificates from 1985 to present, and for death certificates from 1996 forward. As additional birth and death records are converted to computerized images over the next several years, more informational copy requests will be handled by VRIRSA. The state is in the process of digitizing all back records and will announce the release of the records as soon as they are available in VRIRSA. The records are being processed in yearly batches and will be released on flow basis.

From theFAQs listed on the site, it says manual redaction is not required for records that predate the range of records currently in VRIRSA. However, informational copies must still contain the legend "INFORMATIONAL, NOT AVALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY."

If you are interested in reading more on VRIRSA, go to:
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/data/informatics/tech/Pages/VRIRSA.aspx

Jan Meisels Allen
Director, IAJGS and
Chairperson, Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

Tablet Magazine and Vox Tablet

Posted By Ann Rabinowitz

There is a new daily on-line Jewish magazine in town, Tablet Magazine, which came into being in June, 2009.  Covering such areas as Arts & Culture, Life & Religion, News & Politics, and The Scroll, the magazine’s articles are varied and quite individualistic.

One such article, “In the Palm of His Hand, A look at Abraham Hochman, 19th-century Lower East Side clairvoyant”, gives a comprehensive look taken from the Yiddish press of the modern-day equivalents of ancient prophets.  These individuals can be considered performance psychics in Jewish life.

Another piece is entitled “Words of Our Fathers, What a 1942 essay contest revealed about immigrants’ lives, in the Old World and the New”.  It discusses a contest sponsored by YIVO on the theme “Why I left Europe and what I have accomplished in America” which requested 25 notebook pages of text and then resulted in the submission of 223 essays.  These essays were a wonderful source of genealogical material.

In addition to its regular articles, the magazine has a weekly pod cast segment entitled Vox Tablet hosted by Sara Ivry.  The pod casts in Vox Tablet are fascinating and succinct discussions of various Jewish cultural topics which include some of the following:

The Queens of Bollywood

Sulochana (Ruby Myers) and Zillo in Saubhagya Sundari
Credit:  Courtesy Neepa Majumdar

Rose Ezra, Ruby Myers and Farhat Ezekiel Nadira, were beloved stars of Indian film in the 1920’s-1930’s and even later and they were Jews.  This program gives much insight into a little known aspect of Indian film and Bollywood, as it is known today.  Highlighted are Jewish women from the Indian Baghdadi community who were given prominent roles due to acting being forbidden, at that time, by religious restrictions to Hindu or Muslem women.
 

Oral Tradition
Yiddish Radio in the 1930’s and 1940’s.  Host Sara Ivry interviews Professor Ari Y. Kelman, University of California, Davis, author of “Station Identification:  A Cultural History of Yiddish Radio in the United States”.   Professor Kelman discusses Yiddish programming in all its vibrant and exciting aspects.
 

Bloomsday Meets Second Avenue 

Caraid O’Brian, is a translator and performer of Yiddish theater.  Ms. O’Brian gives a lyrical description of how an Irish Catholic girl from Galway, Ireland, became involved in the Yiddish theater.  She is known for her performances in New York as Molly Bloom from James Joyce’s “Ulysses”.  This year she appeared on Blooms Day, June 16, 2009,
 

Prying Eyes 

Eve Sicular, is a klezmer musician, who developed “J. Edgar Klezmer”, a multimedia look into the life of her paternal grandmother Adele Sicular, a government psychiatrist.  In her genealogical search for the roots of her grandmother’s life, she describes how her request for her grandmother’s FBI files, enabled her to create songs based on those files for her performance.

In conclusion, “Tablet Magazine” is a unique addition to the growing abundance of Jewish publications on the Internet.  It is expected that it will grow apace with its well-written and interesting topics and pod cast capabilities.

Facebook is subject of JGS Conejo Valley and Ventura County July 12 Meeting

The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County (California) will be meeting on July 12, 2009 from 1:30-3:330 p.m at Temple Adat Elohim.

Program: Facebook: The Ins and Outs of the On-Line Social Networking Utility to Find Relatives and Others

Originally launched in 2004 at Harvard, Facebook grew to be the most popular social networking web site in English-speaking countries today with over 200million users. In minutes, with no prior experience you can find, those elusive cousins (and maybe some others you did not know about).

Michael Gallop, will discuss his success on Facebook and demonstrate how to make your family tree come alive and provide invaluable knowledge about your family! Michael has been working on his genealogy for almost 20 years and has collected a tremendous amount of information about his family. However, it wasn't until he joined Facebook that he actually developed a relationship with many of his relatives and realized how useful those relationships were in helping him uncover information on his relatives he never would have been able to obtain otherwise. Imagine being able to use your computer to connect with your relatives and have them help you with your research just as if you had interviewed them all personally. Michael is an estate and charitable planner. Following Michael's presentation, JGSCV Board Members will share their successes with Facebook.

The meeting is open to all and there is no charge.

The meeting is co-sponsored with and held at Temple Adat Elohim, Thousand Oaks, CA For more information regarding the meeting, including directions to the location, visit our website, www.JGSCV.org

Jan Meisels Allen
President, JGSCV

Cornerstone laid for Museum of Polish Jews in Warsaw

The cornerstone of the long-awaited Museum of the History of Polish Jews, a major step towards reviving Poland's Jewish heritage after the Holocaust, was laid in Warsaw Tuesday. 

"Prior to the Holocaust, the Shoah, Warsaw was one of the world's main centers of Jewish life where politics, culture, publishing and Jewish theatre thrived -- in fact it was the leading centre, surpassing other cities in the US and Europe," project director Jerzy Halbersztadt told guests at the site.

During the Holocaust, the district was inside the infamous Warsaw Ghetto, where the Nazis imprisoned more than 400,000 Polish Jews, many of whom died of starvation or disease or were sent to death camps.

The bricks used as the cornerstones came from the World War II-era foundations of the last headquarters of the Council of Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto, the scene of a famous wartime uprising, Halbersztadt said.

Led by the Jewish Fighting Organisation (ZOB), the doomed World War II rebellion was among the first armed insurgency by partisans against the Nazis in all of occupied Europe. The museum will face the imposing monument dedicated to those who died in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Designed by Finnish architects Rainer Mahlamaeki and Ilmari Lahdelma, the facade of the future museum will be symbolically ruptured, opening onto undulating walls in an allusion to the Biblical parting of the Red Sea. The museum's virtual arm -- the "Virtual Shtetl" web portal was launched in June -- is aimed at giving it a head start online before its doors open.

Prior to World War II, Poland was home to some 3.5 million Jews, roughly 10 percent of it's pre-war population with nearly a millennium of Jewish settlement within its borders. Some three million Polish Jews perished in the Holocaust which claimed six million of pre-WWII Europe's estimated 11 million Jews.(EJP)

Click here to read the entire article.

Note: Be sure to visit JewishGen ShtetLinks to see which shtetls and Jewish communities already have a presence on JewishGen.

Remains of Israeli MIA Found After 61 Years

Sixty one years after he was declared missing, the remains of a soldier were discovered buried in Jerusalem's military cemetery under a different name.

A report in Yedioth Aharonoth Tuesday said the remains of Yaakov Aviad were discovered in the Mount Herzl military cemetery.

Since the War of Independence, Aviad has been missing, his burial site unknown, the paper said.

"Every year I passed by the grave site when attending the annual remembrance day ceremony for Israel's fallen. It never entered my mind my father was buried there," Yehuda Aviad said.

Aviad was born in Yemen and at the age of 20 immigrated to Israel. With the founding of the state of Israel, he joined the army and fell in the battle against Jordanian soldiers at Jerusalem's Mandelbaum Gate in July 1948, the paper said. At the time military officials said Yaakov was buried under the rubble, and declared him missing, place of burial unknown.

In 2004 there was a breakthrough after it was discovered the bodies of two men with similar names had been taken to a Jerusalem hospital, and later buried at the Mount Herzl cemetery at the time of the battle, the paper said. (UPI)

Click here to read the entire article.