My greatgrandfather's grandfather, a certain Yisrael (ROSENBAUM) of Ostrov was
(supposedly) a descendant of the Mahara"l and the Maharsha"l through Reb Naftali
KATZ (a.k.a "The Smichas Chachomim"). The above Yisrael , a student of the "Apta"
rav came to Eretz Yisrael during the first half of the 19th cent. to Tzfat.
According to family lore he moved >from Tzfat to Tveria and then possibly to
Jerusalem.

In a book called "Mazkeret Legedolei Ostrov " he mentions two R' Yisrael of Ostrov
and comments that they may have been the same person. The book doesn't mention the
family name ROSENBAUM, but some researchers in our family believe that was his
name. Eventually his children took the family name, SCHECHTER, according to their
profession. One of the better known SCHECHTERs of this family is Harav Yaacov Meir
SCHECHTER one of the leading Rabbis of the Breslev chassidut.

In the book "Tveria" published in the 1970s there is a list of families who lived
at any time in Tveria without any indication when they lived there. The name
ROSENBOIM appears there.

Are there any descendants of Reb Yisrael of Ostrov who would like to make
connection with me so that we can coordinate our data on our family roots?

Yoni Ben-Ari, Jerusalem

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