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Re: Toronto, Ontario--Synagogue #general

David Joseph Colman <dybk@...>
 

Daniel Kazez wrote:
I am looking for information on the "University Avenue Synagogue"
in Toronto, Ontario (Canada). Does it still exist? Perhaps
under a new name? (It was in existence in 1908.)
Daniel Kazez <dkazez@mail.wittenberg.edu>
The "University Avenue Synagogue" would have been a nickname for Goel
Tzedek, a grand structure built on what is now a major arterial Avenue
in Toronto. I think it was torn down sometime in the 1950's.

The congregation merged with another one (I don't know its name) and
became the suburban Beth Tzedek - a very large conservative stream
congregation which continues to operate.

David Colman
Toronto, Canada
BRODY family- Baltimore, Wildwood #general

Toby Brief
 

I am looking for descendants of Jack Brody who arrived in Baltimore
Maryland >from the area around Lutsk, Volyn in 1913.
Descendants vacationed in Wildwood, New Jersey with the family of Max
Schaffer in the 1940's. Max and Jack were travelling companions on the way
from Volyn. Thanks

Toby Brief, Campton, New Hampshire
tbrief@hotmail.com

Olyka: HORWITZ, FINKLESTEIN, MATHLESS, ERGA, GINGBURG, GORBATY
Horchiv (Gorokhov): AUERBACH (AVERBUCH), REICHER, RABINOWITZ
Rozhishche: AUERBACH, GOLDWEBER
Torcin: BRONSTEIN, WEISBERG
Volodymyr, Zaslav: BRIEF, BURACK
Oozda #general

Judy Burger <judyb@...>
 

Has anyone ever heard of a shtetl named Oozda? My father, Haskell
Kivowitz (changed to Charles Kivow) told me that he came >from there.
Any info will be appreciated.....JB
Re: Female name: Gisha #general

Prof. G. L. Esterson <jerry@...>
 

On 2 Nov 2000, Lanie Bergman of Oceanside LI NY posted as follows:

>Just came across the name "Gisha" as a Hebrew name. Although I'm skeptical
>about these equivalences, her English name was Hilda. I don't know her
>country of origin, but I have the additional clue that her son's middle
>name is Gersh rather than Hersh, but I haven't heard of Hisha as a name
>either. Anyone out there with a clue?

The Yiddish name Gisha was indeed used for females in Lithuania. Some
of the other Yiddish names linked to this one are:

Gisa, Gise, Gisha, Gishe, Gisia, Giza, Gize

and some diminutives are:

Gisl, Gisala, Gisale

The main differences between the first group of these names is their
pronunciation.

The name was also used in Ukraine.

Shabbat shalom,

Prof. G. L. Esterson, Ra'anana, Israel
<jerry@vms.huji.ac.il>
Re: Lithuanian records: son has father's first name? #general

David Ziants <dziants@...>
 

Colin Plen <evancol@iafrica.com> replied
The situation is made obvious when a man is called up in shul
and they call up Avraham ben Avraham.
I cannot say it is a common occurrence thank God but it does happen
frequently enough that I have seen several men with their father's
name.
----------
Roy Ogus asks regarding a Yankel ben Yankel that he has found and
"Avraham ben Avraham" could be the name of a ger tzedek =
righteous convert. Often the name Avraham is taken on by someone
born a Non-Jew and decides to join the Jewish People and our religion.

I have no idea whether this is the situation in this specific case
of this man being called up in shul, but many men with this name do
fall into this situation.

Avraham avinu(= Abraham our forefather) is known in Jewish teachings
as the father of all converts. Thus "ben Avraham" = the "son of
Avraham", or if a female "bat Avraham" the = "daughter of
Avraham". Even if the convert has a Jewish father with a Hebrew
name, (and a non-Jewish mother otherwise he/she would not need
to convert), but because he/she is sort of spiritually reborn when
converting, the name "... ben/bat Avraham" could still be used.

Similary, when a person is born Jewish because of a Jewish mother,
but has a non-Jewish father, then since the father does not have
a Jewish name, then he/she would be known as ... ben/bat Yisrael
(= ...son/daughter of Israel), designating a descendent of our
forefather with this name, or also designating a son/daughter
of the People of Israel.

Shabbat Shalom.
--
David Ziants
Ma'aleh Adumim, Israel
New York City Counties #general

LindaJim Morzillo <jmorzil1@...>
 

Yesterday, Stacy Harris wrote:

<My understanding is that that New York City is in New York County. Is
this correct?>

Sorry Stacy, but you are probably among the thousands under the wrong
impression of what constitutes NYC and you will probably get much e-mail
regarding this. It is confusing!

New York City is made up of 5 boroughs (the term county is not generally
used). They are Manhattan, Kings, Queens, Staten Island and The Bronx. To
further confuse people, Kings is more commonly known as Brooklyn.

Locations in Queens are, in my experience, known by place names such as
Astoria, Forest Hills, Rego Park and Flushing, to name a few and mail is
addressed to these specific locations. But, even though Kings/Brooklyn
also has named sections such as Canarsie, Coney Island, Flatlands and
Sheepshead Bay and many others, mail usually is addressed to Brooklyn.
Both Kings and Queens are geographically located on Long Island along with
Nassau and Suffolk Counties, which are not a part of New York City.
Manhattan and Staten Island are islands and The Bronx is located on the
mainland.

Hope this helps, it will probably make more sense if you consult a map to
visualize the locations. As you probably know, for genealogical purposes,
NYC keeps its own records while records >from Nassau and Suffolk County are
a part of the rest of New York State accessed >from Albany.

Linda Morzillo
Saratoga Springs, NY
Jmorzil1@nycap.rr.com

Researching:

PRESS and SCHNEIDER in Vidukle and Kaunas
AMCHIVSLAVSKY and ERLICHMAN in Rostov-on-Don and previously Kozelsk and
Oster, Chernigov Gubernia
COHEN/KAGAN and BORNSTEIN in Oshmyany, Vilna and France
KOSOFSKY in Stuchin/Szczuczyn/Shchuchyn/Scucyn
SWOTINSKY in Grodno Gubernia Poland/Russia/Belarus
Re: Brothers Give Parents Different Names #general

Jeanne Gold <jeannegold@...>
 

Perhaps someone can explain this difference in names. As explained in a
previous posting, my Dad, Samuel Leaf, had two brothers, Max Leaf and
Morris Lieberman. I had assumed that my grandmother married a second time
and Uncle Morris was a child of that marriage.

Uncle Morris' death certificate, information given by Uncle Max' daughter,
listed his parents names as Father: Samson LIEBERMAN Mother: Alca Ain

Today, I got my dad's application for social security and he lists his
parents as Father: Samson LEAF Mother: Neome Ain

Is there any way that Neome and Alca could be the same? Maybe one in
Russian and one in Hebrew? Also, as previously mentioned, my brother's
name was Victor Samson. In Hebrew, it was Avigdor Shimshon. We always
knew he was named after Dad's parents.

Any ideas on the different surnames of LEAF and LIEBERMAN?
I think you will find they were probably all LIEBERMAN's and some had
changed it to LEAF, rather than grandmother having been married twice.

In the case of the grandmother's name, 2 possible reasons for the difference:
(1) she was named Alca Ain but Americanized her name to Neome Ain
(2) the death certificate is in error -- remember it's done by a
grandchild who may have misremembered the information

I would suggest trying to get the Social Security applications for the
brothers and probably, better still, the passenger record for this family
group if they came >from overseas, and if not, their birth certificates.

Good luck,


Jeanne Gold
El Cajon, CA, USA
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: Toronto, Ontario--Synagogue #general

David Joseph Colman <dybk@...>
 

Daniel Kazez wrote:
I am looking for information on the "University Avenue Synagogue"
in Toronto, Ontario (Canada). Does it still exist? Perhaps
under a new name? (It was in existence in 1908.)
Daniel Kazez <dkazez@mail.wittenberg.edu>
The "University Avenue Synagogue" would have been a nickname for Goel
Tzedek, a grand structure built on what is now a major arterial Avenue
in Toronto. I think it was torn down sometime in the 1950's.

The congregation merged with another one (I don't know its name) and
became the suburban Beth Tzedek - a very large conservative stream
congregation which continues to operate.

David Colman
Toronto, Canada
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen BRODY family- Baltimore, Wildwood #general

Toby Brief
 

I am looking for descendants of Jack Brody who arrived in Baltimore
Maryland >from the area around Lutsk, Volyn in 1913.
Descendants vacationed in Wildwood, New Jersey with the family of Max
Schaffer in the 1940's. Max and Jack were travelling companions on the way
from Volyn. Thanks

Toby Brief, Campton, New Hampshire
tbrief@hotmail.com

Olyka: HORWITZ, FINKLESTEIN, MATHLESS, ERGA, GINGBURG, GORBATY
Horchiv (Gorokhov): AUERBACH (AVERBUCH), REICHER, RABINOWITZ
Rozhishche: AUERBACH, GOLDWEBER
Torcin: BRONSTEIN, WEISBERG
Volodymyr, Zaslav: BRIEF, BURACK
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Oozda #general

Judy Burger <judyb@...>
 

Has anyone ever heard of a shtetl named Oozda? My father, Haskell
Kivowitz (changed to Charles Kivow) told me that he came >from there.
Any info will be appreciated.....JB
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: Female name: Gisha #general

Prof. G. L. Esterson <jerry@...>
 

On 2 Nov 2000, Lanie Bergman of Oceanside LI NY posted as follows:

>Just came across the name "Gisha" as a Hebrew name. Although I'm skeptical
>about these equivalences, her English name was Hilda. I don't know her
>country of origin, but I have the additional clue that her son's middle
>name is Gersh rather than Hersh, but I haven't heard of Hisha as a name
>either. Anyone out there with a clue?

The Yiddish name Gisha was indeed used for females in Lithuania. Some
of the other Yiddish names linked to this one are:

Gisa, Gise, Gisha, Gishe, Gisia, Giza, Gize

and some diminutives are:

Gisl, Gisala, Gisale

The main differences between the first group of these names is their
pronunciation.

The name was also used in Ukraine.

Shabbat shalom,

Prof. G. L. Esterson, Ra'anana, Israel
<jerry@vms.huji.ac.il>
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: Lithuanian records: son has father's first name? #general

David Ziants <dziants@...>
 

Colin Plen <evancol@iafrica.com> replied
The situation is made obvious when a man is called up in shul
and they call up Avraham ben Avraham.
I cannot say it is a common occurrence thank God but it does happen
frequently enough that I have seen several men with their father's
name.
----------
Roy Ogus asks regarding a Yankel ben Yankel that he has found and
"Avraham ben Avraham" could be the name of a ger tzedek =
righteous convert. Often the name Avraham is taken on by someone
born a Non-Jew and decides to join the Jewish People and our religion.

I have no idea whether this is the situation in this specific case
of this man being called up in shul, but many men with this name do
fall into this situation.

Avraham avinu(= Abraham our forefather) is known in Jewish teachings
as the father of all converts. Thus "ben Avraham" = the "son of
Avraham", or if a female "bat Avraham" the = "daughter of
Avraham". Even if the convert has a Jewish father with a Hebrew
name, (and a non-Jewish mother otherwise he/she would not need
to convert), but because he/she is sort of spiritually reborn when
converting, the name "... ben/bat Avraham" could still be used.

Similary, when a person is born Jewish because of a Jewish mother,
but has a non-Jewish father, then since the father does not have
a Jewish name, then he/she would be known as ... ben/bat Yisrael
(= ...son/daughter of Israel), designating a descendent of our
forefather with this name, or also designating a son/daughter
of the People of Israel.

Shabbat Shalom.
--
David Ziants
Ma'aleh Adumim, Israel
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen New York City Counties #general

LindaJim Morzillo <jmorzil1@...>
 

Yesterday, Stacy Harris wrote:

<My understanding is that that New York City is in New York County. Is
this correct?>

Sorry Stacy, but you are probably among the thousands under the wrong
impression of what constitutes NYC and you will probably get much e-mail
regarding this. It is confusing!

New York City is made up of 5 boroughs (the term county is not generally
used). They are Manhattan, Kings, Queens, Staten Island and The Bronx. To
further confuse people, Kings is more commonly known as Brooklyn.

Locations in Queens are, in my experience, known by place names such as
Astoria, Forest Hills, Rego Park and Flushing, to name a few and mail is
addressed to these specific locations. But, even though Kings/Brooklyn
also has named sections such as Canarsie, Coney Island, Flatlands and
Sheepshead Bay and many others, mail usually is addressed to Brooklyn.
Both Kings and Queens are geographically located on Long Island along with
Nassau and Suffolk Counties, which are not a part of New York City.
Manhattan and Staten Island are islands and The Bronx is located on the
mainland.

Hope this helps, it will probably make more sense if you consult a map to
visualize the locations. As you probably know, for genealogical purposes,
NYC keeps its own records while records >from Nassau and Suffolk County are
a part of the rest of New York State accessed >from Albany.

Linda Morzillo
Saratoga Springs, NY
Jmorzil1@nycap.rr.com

Researching:

PRESS and SCHNEIDER in Vidukle and Kaunas
AMCHIVSLAVSKY and ERLICHMAN in Rostov-on-Don and previously Kozelsk and
Oster, Chernigov Gubernia
COHEN/KAGAN and BORNSTEIN in Oshmyany, Vilna and France
KOSOFSKY in Stuchin/Szczuczyn/Shchuchyn/Scucyn
SWOTINSKY in Grodno Gubernia Poland/Russia/Belarus
JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen Re: Brothers Give Parents Different Names #general

Jeanne Gold <jeannegold@...>
 

Perhaps someone can explain this difference in names. As explained in a
previous posting, my Dad, Samuel Leaf, had two brothers, Max Leaf and
Morris Lieberman. I had assumed that my grandmother married a second time
and Uncle Morris was a child of that marriage.

Uncle Morris' death certificate, information given by Uncle Max' daughter,
listed his parents names as Father: Samson LIEBERMAN Mother: Alca Ain

Today, I got my dad's application for social security and he lists his
parents as Father: Samson LEAF Mother: Neome Ain

Is there any way that Neome and Alca could be the same? Maybe one in
Russian and one in Hebrew? Also, as previously mentioned, my brother's
name was Victor Samson. In Hebrew, it was Avigdor Shimshon. We always
knew he was named after Dad's parents.

Any ideas on the different surnames of LEAF and LIEBERMAN?
I think you will find they were probably all LIEBERMAN's and some had
changed it to LEAF, rather than grandmother having been married twice.

In the case of the grandmother's name, 2 possible reasons for the difference:
(1) she was named Alca Ain but Americanized her name to Neome Ain
(2) the death certificate is in error -- remember it's done by a
grandchild who may have misremembered the information

I would suggest trying to get the Social Security applications for the
brothers and probably, better still, the passenger record for this family
group if they came >from overseas, and if not, their birth certificates.

Good luck,


Jeanne Gold
El Cajon, CA, USA
Re: Re Yelisevetgrad #ukraine

MarkGrekin@...
 

In a message dated 11/3/0 6:31:25 PM, HELENHARV@aol.com writes:

<< Recently, Dmitry wrote about Yelisavetgrad and said the place was renamed
by the Soviets to Kirovograd. I had the notion the more recent name is
Kirovohrad and it was located in the gubernia of Cherson. Could someone
inform me regarding which name is correct? >>

Hi Harvey,

All three names are correct. This town was originally named Yelisavetgrad
to honor Epmress Elisaveta, during the Soviets it was re-named Kirovograd
(or Kirovgrad) to honor one of prominent Communist leaders S. M. Kirov and
the final version Kirovohrad (or Kirovhrad) is its Ukrainian spelling
today, when the Ukraine became independent state.
So your question should be phrased in this way: "at what period in history
this town carried each of these three names?"

Mark Grekin
Ukraine SIG #Ukraine Re: Re Yelisevetgrad #ukraine

MarkGrekin@...
 

In a message dated 11/3/0 6:31:25 PM, HELENHARV@aol.com writes:

<< Recently, Dmitry wrote about Yelisavetgrad and said the place was renamed
by the Soviets to Kirovograd. I had the notion the more recent name is
Kirovohrad and it was located in the gubernia of Cherson. Could someone
inform me regarding which name is correct? >>

Hi Harvey,

All three names are correct. This town was originally named Yelisavetgrad
to honor Epmress Elisaveta, during the Soviets it was re-named Kirovograd
(or Kirovgrad) to honor one of prominent Communist leaders S. M. Kirov and
the final version Kirovohrad (or Kirovhrad) is its Ukrainian spelling
today, when the Ukraine became independent state.
So your question should be phrased in this way: "at what period in history
this town carried each of these three names?"

Mark Grekin
Re: Father's mid name/son's first? #general

Harold Rabbie <hzrabbie@...>
 

Howie,

You don't say where your great-grandfather and his father are buried.
This particular naming pattern was almost universal among Dutch Ashkenazim.
A son's middle name was always his father's first name. And if a son was
named after his grandfather, then the son's first name was therefore the
same as his father's middle name.

Incidentally, the same applied to daughters. The daughter's middle name
was often her father's first name, even though that name was masculine.
So for example, my great-grandmother's name was Kitty Nathan Wins,
daughter of Nathan Levie Wins.

This naming pattern originates >from the Jewish custom of using patronymics,
i.e. X ben/bat Y, which predated the use of surnames.
--
Harold Zvi Rabbie
Los Gatos, California
http://members.home.net/hzrabbie


<JEDI318@aol.com> wrote in message news:90.b857f68.2733190f@aol.com...

Genners,
My great-grandfather, Jacob Abrams (~1886-1940) was Yaakov in Hebrew.
On the tombstone it says "Yaakov ben Aron."

Now..I have a picture of the tombstone of his father, Aron (~1855 - ~1920)
and the Hebrew says "Aron Yaakov ben Pinchas."

Can anyone offer any perspective about Jacob's first name being the same
as his father's middle name. Doesn't this go against traditional
Ashkenazic naming??

Thanks!
-Howie Zakai
Staten Island & Binghamton, NY
Researching: ABRAMOVICH/ABRAMOWITZ (Silale, Lithuania);
MARK/MARKS (Lithuania, possibly Lida district); inter alia...
Only person researching KYJAWSKI? #general

Naidia Woolf <rnwoolf@...>
 

My paternal grandfather Simon Wolf KYJAWSKI was born in Lodz, Poland circa
1878. Grandfather left Poland (in the mid 1890's) when he was 15 or 17.
After arriving in England, he made his way to Birmingham where he
eventually married my grandmother, Annie Isaacs (in 1901).

So far I've been unable to trace my grandfather's roots in Poland. Two
years ago I wrote to Mr. Symcha Keller of the Jewish Community in Lodz,
asking him to check his records for an Isaac KYJAWSKI (variant spelling
KUJAWSKI), my great-grandfather. Mr. Keller sent me the death certificates
for an Icek (Izaak) KUJAWSKI son of Mojsze who died in 1937 aged 70 and a
Wolf KUJAWSKI (same father) who died in 1936 aged 69, on the assumption
that Icek was my great-grandfather. Obviously, neither of these individuals
could have been my great-grandfather but they might have been relatives.
According to Rabbi Joseph Schachtner of Yad Vashem the Russian "U" is
written as a "Y"; consequently I should be researching the name "KUJAWSKI."
About the same time I also wrote to the Society of Former Residents of Lodz
in Tel Aviv to ask if any of the society's members remembered my ancestors
from Lodz. (I never received a reply so assume the answer was negative.)
Rabbi Schachtner sent me several pages of German and French deportation
lists, including 3 pages for KUJAWSKI >from the Lodz ghetto lists. (Again),
it's possible that some of the victims may have been related to my paternal
grandfather but I have not been able to verify this. Naturally my fervent
hope is that my father's family left Poland before the war (or died of
natural causes in their country of birth).

To the best of my knowledge, my grandfather Simon KYJAWSKI never applied
for British Citizenship; there was no application for naturalization on
file at the Public Record Office at Kew (London, England) Consequently I
have no proof that my grandfather was born in (or at least came from) Lodz.
On his marriage certificate, my grandfather gave his father's name as Isaac
WOLF rather than KYJAWSKI (possibly because by that time my grandfather had
dropped KYJAWSKI and was using his 2nd given name of WOLF as his surname).

According to members of my family, my father's cousin Willie KYJAWSKI and
wife Regina visited the family in England before the 2nd world war (no
date, no year even) while en route for America or maybe Canada (the story
varies, depending on the source.) Because I know so little about Willie and
Regina, I've been unable to find out where they went or what happened to
them, and have given up looking for them or their descendants.

Although I've researched the 19 century (Lodz) vital records for my
KYJAWSKI family (including my grandfather's birth record and BMD records
for his parents and other family members) so far I haven't found any
definite matches.

If anyone is researching the name KYJAWSKI (or a variant thereof), please
contact me privately.

Naidia Woolf
San Francisco, CA
rnwoolf@earthlink.net

Researching:
KYJAWSKI, Simon Wolf: Lodz, Poland
DROZDIASZ (DROZDASH, or variant thereof): Karczew, Poland
SAFIRSTEIN (SUPERSTIAN, or variant thereof): Karczew, Poland
ISAACS, Solomon: anywhere in Poland
ISAACS, Sarah (nee Morriss): anywhere in Poland
Lithuanian records sources? #general

Irene Newhouse <newhoir@...>
 

A professional researcher in Vilnius has found some interesting references
that he doesn't know how to follow up [and is pretty sure they're not in
Vilnius].

2 of my relatives were made members of the merchants 2 guild, & in 1915
were stricken >from the list for failure to present some form. The
researcher suspects they may have left town due to WWI - there were
armies fighting 100 km >from Vilnius at the time - or that the war
disrupted business to the point they couldn't pay the tax required to
remain in the merchant 2 guild. The records indicate
a reference number to the striking off in the records of the 'Treasury' or
'Treasurer' of Vilna Guberniya. Does anyone know about such records &
how one obtains copies?

The second reference: in a family list, it mentions that a 3rd family
member was exiled to Siberia >from the army via a decree of the Tsar. The
number of the decree is given. The army unit in which the relative was
serving is not. Does anyone know how I can get a copy of this decree?

Thanks!
Irene Newhouse
Kihei HI
Ancestry.com NYC Births and 1920 Census #general

Steve Harris <ccchs@...>
 

Because they are potentially useful to NYC researchers, I'd like to
clear up some things about two recent databases on Ancestry.com.

1. The "New York City Births, 1891-1902" database is just what it says.
It contains name, borough, birthdate, and certificate number, and can be
searched by these elements (you must use the correct date format). If an
ancestor is found, their certificate can be ordered >from the FHL (using
their site to find the appropriate microfilm roll) or >from the NYC
archives. Like most Ancestry.com databases, it is frustratingly
impossible to search by wild card. It also has some anomalies, such as
the Irish-ization of Esther Osherovitz to O'Sherovitz. Contrary to the
information displayed on Ancestry's site, it is not an extraction from
the usual hard-to-use and often illegible index books, because it has
full names and middle initials that are truncated in those books. It is
most likely taken >from index cards or the documents themselves. >from my
experience so far, it is (randomly) missing about 20% of the names in
the index books. It is still free, but won't be for much longer. We can
fervently hope that more records are posted in the future, or wait for
the NYC Archives to complete their long-awaited index automation
project.

2. The Census Images are part of Ancestry's larger, extremely ambitious
project to make all censuses available on the Web. They are census page
images of not-great, but usable, resolution. So far, the larger (i.e.,
all NYC) counties are not posted; the Ancestry rep I spoke to said they
will be in the next few weeks, though he was a bit skeptical. The site
also mentions that a head-of-household on-line index is being prepared,
which would be great if it actually happens. There is no 1920 index
on-line now, but the Enumeration District descriptions are on-line,
which facilitates searching by address.

Steve Harris
Berkeley, CA
551701 - 551720 of 656508