Many Thanks to all the members of the SA-SIG who contacted me about the
Rivlins who lived in Johannesburg and Benoni and are buried there .
Unfortunately no one as yet has put me on the tracks of their children but
my experience is that a message in the archives of a SIG may eventually be
picked up by some one with information.

In Jerusalem or the 3 other "holy cities" - Safed, Hebron and Tiberias ,
there was a community known as the Old Yishuv ie who preceded the modern
Zionist immigration to Israel. There were members of these families who
migrated over the years , particularly before and after World War One, to
South Africa.
I am interested in records and family traditions about these families. The
Old Yishuv was relatively small and many of the families of the Old Yishuv
were related to one another.

Thanks,
Jules Feldman
Yizreel
jfeldman@yizrael.org.il

Many Thanks to all the members of the SA-SIG who contacted me about the
Rivlins who lived in Johannesburg and Benoni and are buried there .
Unfortunately no one as yet has put me on the tracks of their children but
my experience is that a message in the archives of a SIG may eventually be
picked up by some one with information.

In Jerusalem or the 3 other "holy cities" - Safed, Hebron and Tiberias ,
there was a community known as the Old Yishuv ie who preceded the modern
Zionist immigration to Israel. There were members of these families who
migrated over the years , particularly before and after World War One, to
South Africa.
I am interested in records and family traditions about these families. The
Old Yishuv was relatively small and many of the families of the Old Yishuv
were related to one another.

Thanks,
Jules Feldman
Yizreel
jfeldman@yizrael.org.il

The Rivlin that Beryl is referring to is probably Hillel Rivlin (1922,
Jerusalem - 1989 Los Angeles).
He taught Hebrew in Cape Town in the fifties.
In the late fifties he returned to Israel and later on moved on to Los
Angeles where he died, leaving a wife , son and daughter.
He was the son of Eliezer Rivlin who wrote the Rivlin Genealogy , "Sefer
HaYachas leMishpachat Rivlin" a book published in 1940.

If any Capetonians have memories to share of him , both I and his brother
Rubin Rivlin ( not the Speaker of the Knesset but a second cousin of his)
will be interested in receiving them.

Jules Feldman
jfeldman@yizrael.org.il

The Rivlin that Beryl is referring to is probably Hillel Rivlin (1922,
Jerusalem - 1989 Los Angeles).
He taught Hebrew in Cape Town in the fifties.
In the late fifties he returned to Israel and later on moved on to Los
Angeles where he died, leaving a wife , son and daughter.
He was the son of Eliezer Rivlin who wrote the Rivlin Genealogy , "Sefer
HaYachas leMishpachat Rivlin" a book published in 1940.

If any Capetonians have memories to share of him , both I and his brother
Rubin Rivlin ( not the Speaker of the Knesset but a second cousin of his)
will be interested in receiving them.

Jules Feldman
jfeldman@yizrael.org.il

Paula STERN, a distant relative of my mother, went to
Johannesburg after 1939,to join her son, Heinz,
there.

from my family tree:

1 Paula Stern (b: 1879 in Rheydt, d: 1950 in
Johannesburg)
married Richard BENJAMIN(b: 1870 in Köln, d: 1944 in
New York City)
Children: Else Benjamin
and Heinz Benjamin.

Is anyone familiar with this family, and if so, can
they please supply me with more information about
them?

Thanks, Adam Yamey <adamandlopa@yahoo.co.uk>

There was a Rivlin who taught in Capetown for little more than a year - in
the 1960s. He was Asher Rivlin - an Israeli sent to SA to teach the South
African born Hebrew teachers Hebrew. My wife, Rita, was a "pupil". He did
not remain in SA for long - a tribute to his teaching? or not?

Donny Loon

Paula STERN, a distant relative of my mother, went to
Johannesburg after 1939,to join her son, Heinz,
there.

from my family tree:

1 Paula Stern (b: 1879 in Rheydt, d: 1950 in
Johannesburg)
married Richard BENJAMIN(b: 1870 in Köln, d: 1944 in
New York City)
Children: Else Benjamin
and Heinz Benjamin.

Is anyone familiar with this family, and if so, can
they please supply me with more information about
them?

Thanks, Adam Yamey <adamandlopa@yahoo.co.uk>

There was a Rivlin who taught in Capetown for little more than a year - in
the 1960s. He was Asher Rivlin - an Israeli sent to SA to teach the South
African born Hebrew teachers Hebrew. My wife, Rita, was a "pupil". He did
not remain in SA for long - a tribute to his teaching? or not?

Donny Loon

We are delighted to report that November 2005 marks the Fifth Anniversary of
the inauguration of JewishGen's ViewMate. To date over 7,000 images of items
of historical value found lurking in family collections have been uploaded
for analysis. The many quality analysis have aided researchers to discover
new, valued information about their family links and heritage.

We extend special thanks to the many giving volunteers who provide
translations and analysis and to the JewishGen volunteer team members, for
their time and effort.

If you've had an extraordinary success related to a ViewMate aided analysis,
please submit your story to the undersigned.

ViewMate: Where researchers post scanned images of photos and documents and
ask other researchers to help them translate or analyze the contents.
Details at: http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/

--
Bernard Kouchel
bkouchel@jewishgen.org

We are delighted to report that November 2005 marks the Fifth Anniversary of
the inauguration of JewishGen's ViewMate. To date over 7,000 images of items
of historical value found lurking in family collections have been uploaded
for analysis. The many quality analysis have aided researchers to discover
new, valued information about their family links and heritage.

We extend special thanks to the many giving volunteers who provide
translations and analysis and to the JewishGen volunteer team members, for
their time and effort.

If you've had an extraordinary success related to a ViewMate aided analysis,
please submit your story to the undersigned.

ViewMate: Where researchers post scanned images of photos and documents and
ask other researchers to help them translate or analyze the contents.
Details at: http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/

--
Bernard Kouchel
bkouchel@jewishgen.org

Dear Siggers,
I am trying to locate the 2 sons of John Leslie TRACY
(1916-1998) who lived in the south of the UK and died
while on holiday in Spain.John Leslie Tracy was born
in Slovakia in 1916 as Lattsi Tauber volunteered
before WW2 to the French Foreign Legion and during WW2
was part of the Czechoslovak Army.
His second cousin in Israel who started genealogical
research 2 years ago heard about him for the first
time only recently >from another family member who
passed away.
Leslie wife's name is Margery.
Please contact privately.
Thanks.
Jacob Rosen
Jerusalem

Dear Siggers,
I am trying to locate the 2 sons of John Leslie TRACY
(1916-1998) who lived in the south of the UK and died
while on holiday in Spain.John Leslie Tracy was born
in Slovakia in 1916 as Lattsi Tauber volunteered
before WW2 to the French Foreign Legion and during WW2
was part of the Czechoslovak Army.
His second cousin in Israel who started genealogical
research 2 years ago heard about him for the first
time only recently >from another family member who
passed away.
Leslie wife's name is Margery.
Please contact privately.
Thanks.
Jacob Rosen
Jerusalem

Does anyone in the group have easy access to the rabbinical source Ohole Shem
(Ohalei/Oholei Shem), written by SN Gottlieb, Pinsk, 1912? (I also read
somewhere that this book may have been reprinted in Jerusalem around 1983, but
this is unconfirmed).
If so, could you please contact me privately.

Many thanks,
Lisa Brahin Weinblatt
Redball62@aol.com

Does anyone in the group have easy access to the rabbinical source Ohole Shem
(Ohalei/Oholei Shem), written by SN Gottlieb, Pinsk, 1912? (I also read
somewhere that this book may have been reprinted in Jerusalem around 1983, but
this is unconfirmed).
If so, could you please contact me privately.

Many thanks,
Lisa Brahin Weinblatt
Redball62@aol.com

Has anyone researched the artist Alfred H. LEVITT, who
lived >from 1894 to 2000? If so, I would appreciate any
information about his family tree that you could share
with me.

My mother saw his photo in a magazine, and she was
struck by his strong resemblence to one of her uncles.
This started me wondering whether he was related to my
large LEVITIN family.

Some web research yielded a number of biographies and
articles. Next I found Alfred’s WWI draft
registration, which indicated that he was originally

from Starodub in the Chernigov gubernia of Russia, a

few miles >from the town >from which my LEVITIN family
came.

I sent away for his Social Security application and
learned that his full name was Alfred Hyman LEVITT and
that his parents were Hyman and Sadie nee LEVITT. A
note on the application confirms that her maiden name
and married name were the same. It also said that he
came >from Starodub.

Searching for his passenger manifest was a challenge,
but by searching on the town Starodub I finally found
the family coming through Ellis Island on the SS Birma
on November 21, 1911. The family appeared in three
locations in the manifest and were indexed as "Leroit"
and "Leirit." No wonder they were hard to find! The
manifest showed Michla, 18; Abram, 16 (and already
listed as a painter); Meische, 11; and Mendel, 9; and
their parents Chaim and Scheine, ages 63 and 50. All
were listed under the last name of LEWIT. The manifest
said that they came >from Starodub and were going to
Chaim’s son, D. LEWIT. His address was difficult to
read but was probably 193 E. 100 Street in New York.
It may have been 173 E. 101 Street. Their nearest
relative in the old country was Itze LEWIT of
Starodub.

So far I have been unable to find any members of this
family in the 1930 or 1920 censuses, although I have
tried numerous search strategies and inventive
spellings.

Thank you for any help you may be able to provide.


Beth Galleto
Greenbrae, CA
galleto@pacbell.net

Has anyone researched the artist Alfred H. LEVITT, who
lived >from 1894 to 2000? If so, I would appreciate any
information about his family tree that you could share
with me.

My mother saw his photo in a magazine, and she was
struck by his strong resemblence to one of her uncles.
This started me wondering whether he was related to my
large LEVITIN family.

Some web research yielded a number of biographies and
articles. Next I found Alfred’s WWI draft
registration, which indicated that he was originally

from Starodub in the Chernigov gubernia of Russia, a

few miles >from the town >from which my LEVITIN family
came.

I sent away for his Social Security application and
learned that his full name was Alfred Hyman LEVITT and
that his parents were Hyman and Sadie nee LEVITT. A
note on the application confirms that her maiden name
and married name were the same. It also said that he
came >from Starodub.

Searching for his passenger manifest was a challenge,
but by searching on the town Starodub I finally found
the family coming through Ellis Island on the SS Birma
on November 21, 1911. The family appeared in three
locations in the manifest and were indexed as "Leroit"
and "Leirit." No wonder they were hard to find! The
manifest showed Michla, 18; Abram, 16 (and already
listed as a painter); Meische, 11; and Mendel, 9; and
their parents Chaim and Scheine, ages 63 and 50. All
were listed under the last name of LEWIT. The manifest
said that they came >from Starodub and were going to
Chaim’s son, D. LEWIT. His address was difficult to
read but was probably 193 E. 100 Street in New York.
It may have been 173 E. 101 Street. Their nearest
relative in the old country was Itze LEWIT of
Starodub.

So far I have been unable to find any members of this
family in the 1930 or 1920 censuses, although I have
tried numerous search strategies and inventive
spellings.

Thank you for any help you may be able to provide.


Beth Galleto
Greenbrae, CA
galleto@pacbell.net

Mr HASSE, my grandfather, fathered my mother Flora by his wife Nelly alias Nellie,
in April 1895 at Boston, Mass. Nelly died in January 1911 at age 43. Sometime
after her mother's death my mother visited her father at Detroit, where he had
moved. Seek all info posssibe re: Mr. Haase.
s/ Henry D. Marcus, Smithville, NJ
hdmarcus@verizon.net or marcushd@juno.com.
Thanks in advance.

Mr HASSE, my grandfather, fathered my mother Flora by his wife Nelly alias Nellie,
in April 1895 at Boston, Mass. Nelly died in January 1911 at age 43. Sometime
after her mother's death my mother visited her father at Detroit, where he had
moved. Seek all info posssibe re: Mr. Haase.
s/ Henry D. Marcus, Smithville, NJ
hdmarcus@verizon.net or marcushd@juno.com.
Thanks in advance.

Hi and shalom,

For my PhD research I am looking for living relatives and/or
acquaintances of Eliahu BEN-DROR (1901-1971) who lived in Rehovot,
Israel, when he died on October 14, 1971, after undergoing surgery.
Eliahu BEN-DROR was born in the region of Suwalki as the son of Moshe
KATZ. As a young man he left Europe and immigrated to Palestine.
During the riots in Palestine (1936-1938) BEN-DROR joined in the Jewish
defence of Jerusalem. Towards the end of the 1930s BEN-DROR was at the
head of the training of the Jewish Settlement Police Force. During World
War II, now Captain BEN-DROR was the Jewish Agency's liaison officer
with the British military authorities in Palestine and later commanded a
Jewish combat unit attached to the British Eighth Army. His role and
activities during Israel's 1948 war are unknow to me. In a death notice
on BEN-DROR the New York Times describes him however as "a noted
military figure in Palestine and in Israel's war of independence" (NYT,
Oct. 17, 1971). I have asked several Israeli historians specializing in
the relevant subjects whether they knew anything about BEN-DROR - none
of them had ever heard of him.

from 1951 to his death in 1971 BEN-DROR finally worked for the Israel

Bond Organization in the United States as a field executive.
In 1971, his wife Tamar lived in Rehovot, Israel. His son, Michael
Robert, in New York. One unnamed grandson is also mentioned in the death
notice. BEN-DROR's two sisters were also still living in New York: Clara
ROBINSON (Dr. Jacob ROBINSON's wife) and Luba STONE.

I'd be grateful for any hints and ideas.

Omry Kaplan-Feuereisen.

Hi and shalom,

For my PhD research I am looking for living relatives and/or
acquaintances of Eliahu BEN-DROR (1901-1971) who lived in Rehovot,
Israel, when he died on October 14, 1971, after undergoing surgery.
Eliahu BEN-DROR was born in the region of Suwalki as the son of Moshe
KATZ. As a young man he left Europe and immigrated to Palestine.
During the riots in Palestine (1936-1938) BEN-DROR joined in the Jewish
defence of Jerusalem. Towards the end of the 1930s BEN-DROR was at the
head of the training of the Jewish Settlement Police Force. During World
War II, now Captain BEN-DROR was the Jewish Agency's liaison officer
with the British military authorities in Palestine and later commanded a
Jewish combat unit attached to the British Eighth Army. His role and
activities during Israel's 1948 war are unknow to me. In a death notice
on BEN-DROR the New York Times describes him however as "a noted
military figure in Palestine and in Israel's war of independence" (NYT,
Oct. 17, 1971). I have asked several Israeli historians specializing in
the relevant subjects whether they knew anything about BEN-DROR - none
of them had ever heard of him.

from 1951 to his death in 1971 BEN-DROR finally worked for the Israel

Bond Organization in the United States as a field executive.
In 1971, his wife Tamar lived in Rehovot, Israel. His son, Michael
Robert, in New York. One unnamed grandson is also mentioned in the death
notice. BEN-DROR's two sisters were also still living in New York: Clara
ROBINSON (Dr. Jacob ROBINSON's wife) and Luba STONE.

I'd be grateful for any hints and ideas.

Omry Kaplan-Feuereisen.