J Schamroth asked the meaning of Keile. I think this actually refers to
the Yiddish Name Keilah.

One of my daughter's "Hebrew names" is Keilah. Named after one of my
wife's great aunts. When I researched the name, I found that another
meaning is that it may have come >from an Arabic word that means Crown or
Laurel. Her English name is Katherine, (if written in Hebrew letters, it
spells the Aramaic word for Crowns also). Her second Hebrew name (for my
Grandmother) was Atarah which is Hebrew for Crown. Therefore it works
out, like the teaching goes that she has "Three Crowns for a Good Name."

Philip J. Leonard MD
pjl427@aol.com

J Schamroth asked the meaning of Keile. I think this actually refers to
the Yiddish Name Keilah.

One of my daughter's "Hebrew names" is Keilah. Named after one of my
wife's great aunts. When I researched the name, I found that another
meaning is that it may have come >from an Arabic word that means Crown or
Laurel. Her English name is Katherine, (if written in Hebrew letters, it
spells the Aramaic word for Crowns also). Her second Hebrew name (for my
Grandmother) was Atarah which is Hebrew for Crown. Therefore it works
out, like the teaching goes that she has "Three Crowns for a Good Name."

Philip J. Leonard MD
pjl427@aol.com

I am seeking:
Rachelle (STARK) HOMLER
Jewish Gen researcher (#9055)
former e-mail: Jsav316@aol.com

Can anyone give me her current address?

Many thanks

Michael Bernet
New Rochelle, NY

I am seeking:
Rachelle (STARK) HOMLER
Jewish Gen researcher (#9055)
former e-mail: Jsav316@aol.com

Can anyone give me her current address?

Many thanks

Michael Bernet
New Rochelle, NY

I am looking for information on this town,specifically the LAZARUS family,
who lived there in the 1860s.

I have downloaded a map >from Expedia, but can't make out where this is-nor
when it changed >from a German to a Polish territory. Any info or where to
find info much appreciated. I have found the Cemetery Project info-
that's all. It's near a place called Bydgoszcz & was near Brandenburg
province.


Miriam Margolyes
Santa Monica

searching: RAFFALOVITCH (Raff) Montreal: SHAPIRO (Montreal):
SANDEMAN (UK & South Africa:)GEDALIUS (Berlin): LITTAUER
(Berlin & New York):MICHAELS (London)

I am looking for information on this town,specifically the LAZARUS family,
who lived there in the 1860s.

I have downloaded a map >from Expedia, but can't make out where this is-nor
when it changed >from a German to a Polish territory. Any info or where to
find info much appreciated. I have found the Cemetery Project info-
that's all. It's near a place called Bydgoszcz & was near Brandenburg
province.


Miriam Margolyes
Santa Monica

searching: RAFFALOVITCH (Raff) Montreal: SHAPIRO (Montreal):
SANDEMAN (UK & South Africa:)GEDALIUS (Berlin): LITTAUER
(Berlin & New York):MICHAELS (London)

Steve Axelrath wrote: My grandfather, Samuel AXELROD (AXELROTH) may
have arrived at the Port of New York on March 12, 1890. Morton Allen
directory notes that Red Star Line "Friesland" Antwerp-NY arrived on
that date. . . ."

You need "Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, NY,
1820-1897. Group M237, Roll #544 (Feb 21 - March 22, 1890.)
This information can be found in "Immigrant & Passenger Arrivals,
A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications, 1991",
available >from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Go to http://www.nara.gov/publications/pubindex.html. The booklet sells
for $3.50; instructions for ordering are given on NARA's website where
other usesful indexes of passenger list, census, etc. can also be found.
Go to: http://www.nara.gov/publications/pubindex.html.

Gertrude Singer Ogushwitz
Storrs, CT
gsogush@neca.com

Steve Axelrath wrote: My grandfather, Samuel AXELROD (AXELROTH) may
have arrived at the Port of New York on March 12, 1890. Morton Allen
directory notes that Red Star Line "Friesland" Antwerp-NY arrived on
that date. . . ."

You need "Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, NY,
1820-1897. Group M237, Roll #544 (Feb 21 - March 22, 1890.)
This information can be found in "Immigrant & Passenger Arrivals,
A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications, 1991",
available >from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Go to http://www.nara.gov/publications/pubindex.html. The booklet sells
for $3.50; instructions for ordering are given on NARA's website where
other usesful indexes of passenger list, census, etc. can also be found.
Go to: http://www.nara.gov/publications/pubindex.html.

Gertrude Singer Ogushwitz
Storrs, CT
gsogush@neca.com

J Schamroth asked the meaning of Keile. I think this actually refers to
the Yiddish Name Keilah.One of my daughter's "Hebrew names" is Keilah.
Named after one of my wife's great aunts. When I researched the name, I
found that another meaning is that it may have come >from an Arabic word
that means Crown or Laurel. Her English name is Katherine, (if written in
Hebrew letters, it spells the Aramaic word for Crowns also). Her second
Hebrew name (for my Grandmother) was Atarah which is Hebrew for Crown.
Therefore it works out, like the teaching goes that she has "Three Crowns for a Good Name."


Philip J. Leonard MD
pjl427@aol.com

J Schamroth asked the meaning of Keile. I think this actually refers to
the Yiddish Name Keilah.One of my daughter's "Hebrew names" is Keilah.
Named after one of my wife's great aunts. When I researched the name, I
found that another meaning is that it may have come >from an Arabic word
that means Crown or Laurel. Her English name is Katherine, (if written in
Hebrew letters, it spells the Aramaic word for Crowns also). Her second
Hebrew name (for my Grandmother) was Atarah which is Hebrew for Crown.
Therefore it works out, like the teaching goes that she has "Three Crowns for a Good Name."


Philip J. Leonard MD
pjl427@aol.com

Regarding my previous messages about Wolyn. I have already received a
response that has me rethinking things.

"Volhynia --
Russian gubernia, until 1917, in Pale. Polish province of Wolyn between
the wars. Today, northwestern Ukraine. Chief city: Zhitomer."

So if my grandmother came >from Russia in 1909 and the copy of her ticket
on the Red Star Line says Russia but doesn't say anything about Wolyn but
it's her 1920 marriage license that says she is >from Wolyn Russia, this
could explain some of the confusion?

The copy of the ticket is very faded, but here is what it looks like it says:

Appx. 9 letters long the first letter of the word starts with either an N
or M, it looks like there is an ow and perhaps an r next. I think this is
followed by the letters pa and ends with t. What location could this be?

If anyone has any idea of what this location is could they please let me know?

Very Sincerely,
Phoebe Nix
phoenixxph@aol.com


SIMON/PHILIPSON/SCHAFFERSHAEFFER/ZEILINGOLD/DORFMAN/RITTERMAN/FISCHBEIN/
MARGRILL/MAGRILL/KERMAN/SHUKOW/WHITE/GREEN/SILVERMAN /LONDON/
LIEBOWITZ/ AGDERN/MEROPOL/ALONI/GINSBERG/VASARBELLO/HIRSHFIELD/
SCHWENKER/LIPSCHITZ/HOROWITZ/DEMSKY/LEWISHON and possibly more.

Regarding my previous messages about Wolyn. I have already received a
response that has me rethinking things.

"Volhynia --
Russian gubernia, until 1917, in Pale. Polish province of Wolyn between
the wars. Today, northwestern Ukraine. Chief city: Zhitomer."

So if my grandmother came >from Russia in 1909 and the copy of her ticket
on the Red Star Line says Russia but doesn't say anything about Wolyn but
it's her 1920 marriage license that says she is >from Wolyn Russia, this
could explain some of the confusion?

The copy of the ticket is very faded, but here is what it looks like it says:

Appx. 9 letters long the first letter of the word starts with either an N
or M, it looks like there is an ow and perhaps an r next. I think this is
followed by the letters pa and ends with t. What location could this be?

If anyone has any idea of what this location is could they please let me know?

Very Sincerely,
Phoebe Nix
phoenixxph@aol.com


SIMON/PHILIPSON/SCHAFFERSHAEFFER/ZEILINGOLD/DORFMAN/RITTERMAN/FISCHBEIN/
MARGRILL/MAGRILL/KERMAN/SHUKOW/WHITE/GREEN/SILVERMAN /LONDON/
LIEBOWITZ/ AGDERN/MEROPOL/ALONI/GINSBERG/VASARBELLO/HIRSHFIELD/
SCHWENKER/LIPSCHITZ/HOROWITZ/DEMSKY/LEWISHON and possibly more.

Seeking information about the SCHNEID family >from shtetl Solotwina located
in Ivano-Frankv'sk region of Ukraine. I just learned the name of my gggm,
Maley SCHNEID. She was married to Menashe SOCKEL. The couple had at least
two children, daughter Chaje (ca. 1880-1905) and son Sam "Shaul Aron" (ca.
1883-1967).

I have already sent messages to appropriate researchers registered in the
various JewishGen databases. Any other leads would be greatly appreciated.

Deborah Dworski
Arlington, Virginia U.S.A.


Searching:

DIENER, KOFLER, SCHOR, SONNENBLUM, STUPP(Gorodenka-Ukraine)SCHIEBER/
SCHREIBER, SCHNEID, SOCKEL(Solotwina-Ukraine)GOLDSTEIN, GRZEBIEN became
GESBEN(Sierpc-Poland)BRAMA, BRAUN(Rypin-Poland)DWORSKI, MINSKY(Raczki-Pol;
Sopotskin/Galynka-Belarus)LEVATINSKY(Augustow/Raczki-Poland)

Seeking information about the SCHNEID family >from shtetl Solotwina located
in Ivano-Frankv'sk region of Ukraine. I just learned the name of my gggm,
Maley SCHNEID. She was married to Menashe SOCKEL. The couple had at least
two children, daughter Chaje (ca. 1880-1905) and son Sam "Shaul Aron" (ca.
1883-1967).

I have already sent messages to appropriate researchers registered in the
various JewishGen databases. Any other leads would be greatly appreciated.

Deborah Dworski
Arlington, Virginia U.S.A.


Searching:

DIENER, KOFLER, SCHOR, SONNENBLUM, STUPP(Gorodenka-Ukraine)SCHIEBER/
SCHREIBER, SCHNEID, SOCKEL(Solotwina-Ukraine)GOLDSTEIN, GRZEBIEN became
GESBEN(Sierpc-Poland)BRAMA, BRAUN(Rypin-Poland)DWORSKI, MINSKY(Raczki-Pol;
Sopotskin/Galynka-Belarus)LEVATINSKY(Augustow/Raczki-Poland)

Hello everyone

Today, I have found out that the archives in Lviv, Ukraine does not have
records of the 19th century for Dobromil.

Does the prospect of finding any birth, marriage and death records for
Dobromil in any place now look very improbable?

I really would like to get advice >from an expert researching Dobromil at
this point.
I did find out that my great grandfather Samuel SCHANCZ came >from Dobromil
and therefore his parents Menachem Mendel SCHANCZ and Jennie GOLD SCHANCZ
lived in Dobromil on July 2, 1865. I can reasonably infer the possibility
that my great great grandparents came >from Dobromil >from birth somewhere 20
to 35 years before their son Samuel's birth in 1865 namely >from 1830 to 1845.

I want to trace my lineage to the next generation covering my great great
great grandparents. What do I do now?

Thank you.

Dennis Baer
Bethpage, NY
USA

Hello everyone

Today, I have found out that the archives in Lviv, Ukraine does not have
records of the 19th century for Dobromil.

Does the prospect of finding any birth, marriage and death records for
Dobromil in any place now look very improbable?

I really would like to get advice >from an expert researching Dobromil at
this point.
I did find out that my great grandfather Samuel SCHANCZ came >from Dobromil
and therefore his parents Menachem Mendel SCHANCZ and Jennie GOLD SCHANCZ
lived in Dobromil on July 2, 1865. I can reasonably infer the possibility
that my great great grandparents came >from Dobromil >from birth somewhere 20
to 35 years before their son Samuel's birth in 1865 namely >from 1830 to 1845.

I want to trace my lineage to the next generation covering my great great
great grandparents. What do I do now?

Thank you.

Dennis Baer
Bethpage, NY
USA

Dear Sherri

There is no mention of a Rabbi Broude in the section on Kimberley in
'The Jews in South Africa by Louis Hermann', nor in the book of memoirs
by ND Hoffman which deals with SA Rabbis, nor in the section of Kimberly
in the 19129 SA Jewish Yearbook.

Your best source may be the Library at Jews College, now called the
Institute of Jewish studies, in Albert Street, Hendon.
Have a look at the Kimberley sources ( Library and Jewish Community) on
the website http://www.jewishgen.org/SAfrica

The Jews in South Africa by Louis Hermann, Victor Gollancz:London 1930


saul


P 232-234 DIAMONDS AND GOLD

Scarcely had the sifting and digging of the diamondiferous ground begun
in 1869 when Jews on the Diamond Fields met and formed a congregation
for divine service when the Holy Days came round. For the first two
years there was no regular organisation, but in 1871 a number of Jews on
the Diamond Fields formed a temporary organisation they called the "
Griqualand West Jewish Association." Amongst the members were Isaac
Lewis, Woolf Joel, and Lionel Phillips, and when the High Festivals
occurred, a corrugated iron building was hired and filled to overflowing
with worshippers. The initiative was taken by Joel Myers. Mr.
Rabinowitz, the Minister in Cape Town, communicated with Myers regarding
the celebration of the High Festivals at the diggings. He hoped that
their Jewish friends would unite with Myers " to celebrate the New Year
with due solemnity and devotion." He sent them several sets of festival
prayer-books and a Shofar, a gift >from the mother congregation in Cape
Town. A Sepher Torah could not be spared, but the festival was duly
celebrated at the diggings that year, and Mr. Rabinowitz sent a copy of
Ascher's Book of Life, a well-known Jewish devotional work, to Joel
Myers as a present. In 1873 a permanent congregation was formed, and by
the exertions of Joseph Wallach, the first synagogue was erected in
Kimberley. The foundation-stone was laid by Mrs. C. Sonnenberg in the
presence of a numerous congregation and a large number of Christian
friends, amongst whom was Sir Richard Southey, the Administrator of the
Diamond Fields. The same year the first Jewish marriage on the Diamond
Fields was celebrated in the synagogue. There was no Minister, but H.
Gabriel, as official Jewish marriage officer, performed the ceremony. It
was that of David Harris, a cousin of the Barnatos, to Rosa Gabriel,
Colonel Sir David Harris, K.C.M.G., M.L.A., remained closely associated
with the Kimberley Synagogue, being warden with E. H. Bonas for many
years, and a trustee of the synagogue.

He was one of the early Diamond Fields settlers, coming to the Cape in
1871 at the age of nineteen. He fought under Sir Charles Warren as an
officer in the Diamond Fields Horse in 1878 through the Gaika-Galecka
War, and in the Griqua War was mentioned in dispatches for gallantry in
the field. He saw a good deal of active service subsequently. He
represented Kimberley in Parliament for many years, and has long been at
the head of the De Beers Consolidated Mines.

The synagogue was without a Minister for many years. >from time to time
some person more or less suitable would conduct the service. There is on
record an unscrupulous self-styled rabbi, engaged in the earlier years
of the community's existence, who had to be dismissed for behaviour not
becoming his profession, and who revenged himself by sitting at the door
of his tin habitation near the synagogue and publicly desecrating the
Day of Atonement by eating forbidden food in the sight of the
congregation, what time he jeered at the scandalised worshippers. In the
eighties, after the Rev. Joel Rabinowitz had retired >from Cape Town and
returned >from England, he officiated for a time as Minister at
Kimberley. The first permanent Minister was the Rev. Meyer Mendelssohn,
who extended his ministrations all over the Diamond Fields and
officiated >from time to time in the Transvaal and the Free State
Republics before the discovery of the gold mines. He was the first
Jewish marriage officer for British Bechuanaland. His son, Sidney
Mendelssohn, was subsequently one of the first writers on South African
Jewish history, the compiler of the famous Bibliography of South African
Literature, and the donor to South Africa of the Mendelssohn library of
Africana.

In 1884 the Rev. Abraham Ornstein, son of the Cape Town Minister, A. F.
Ornstein, succeeded Mr. Mendelssohn. He was a youth of twenty-one,
gifted and full of enthusiasm, who greatly endeared himself to his
congregation in the short period that his ministrations lasted. He died
at the age of twenty-two, his end hastened, it was said, by his zeal and
devotion to his work. He received a public funeral, and the magnificent
tombstone which adorns his grave was erected by public subscription. The
Rev. M. L. Harris, who succeeded him, afterwards went to be Minister in
the first synagogue in Johannesburg. The Rev. E. Joffe officiated for a
short period before 1890 when the Rev. Harris Isaacs took over the task
of pastor to the Kimberley congregation.

About 1885 the gold mines of the Rand began to attract fortune-seekers

from the Diamond Fields, where the mines had got into the hands of great

joint-stock companies and the chances for individual diggers and buyers
had considerably diminished. Amongst the crowd that poured into the new
Tom Tiddler's ground Jews were not inconspicuous.






<<First Rabbi of Kimberley, South Africa
From: "Sherry Landa and/or Russell Johnson"
<russell.johnson1@virgin.net>
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 10:58:58 -0000


Dear Friends,
I did ask on the South Africa list but no one responded. I am trying to
find out about Rabbi BROUDE who was the first Rabbi of Kimberley in
South
Africa. One of his daughters, Annie (Rachel), married my great-uncle
David
LANDAU. Annie was born in Warsaw, in about 1867, she married David in
Kimberley in abt 1885. I believe that Rabbi BROUDE had other children. I
was sure that there must be something in some archives about him?
Once more, any help on this would be gratefully received.
Best Wishes,
Sherry Landa (in Chorleywood, Herts)
russell.johnson1@virgin.net

--
Dr Saul Issroff

In message <LYR18021-130060-1999.11.14-00.00.10--saul#swico.demon.co.uk@
lyris.jewishgen.org>, Haim pogrund <pogrund@cc.huji.ac.il> writes

Can you please let me know who are the publishers of the "Jews In Zambia"
Haim Pogrund

Cross post

saul

------- Forwarded message follows -------

THE * JEWISH * STUDIES * BOOK * REVIEW
Book Reviews and Cross-Posted Book Reviews
Published by H-Judaic: The Jewish Studies Network
____________________________________________________________
Book Review XIX [n.s.] * November 1999 * Readership = 6200+
for additional information: http://h-net.msu.edu/~judaic
____________________________________________________________

Macmillan, Hugh and Shapiro, Frank. _Zion in Africa. The Jews of
Zambia_.
London/New York: I.B. Tauris, in association with the Council for Zambia
Jewry, 1999. ix + 342 pp. Illustrations, maps, notes, sources, index.
Cloth. ISBN 1-86064-405-8.

Reviewed for H-Judaic by Yael Even-Levy, Near Eastern and Judaic
Studies,
Brandeis University. E-mail: evenlevy@brandeis.edu

from Yiddish-speaking cattle traders and adventurers in the nineteenth

century to intellectuals and professionals in the twentieth, _Zion in
Africa_ chronicles the history and culture of the small Jewish community
in Zambia and affirms that Zambian Jewry, as an ethnic group, indeed
exists. The book is supplemented by maps of Zambia (also known before
its
independence in 1964 as Northern Rhodesia), with its eight neighboring
countries in south central Africa, and central African cattle-trails (c.
1900s-1960). In addition to secondary sources, its eleven-page
bibliography provides explanations on the sources, list of interviews,
archives, and private collections. Photographs >from the early 1900s to
1997 provide visual insights into the appearance of Zambian Jewry, their
Synagogue, shops, and the like. The book also includes a list of
abbreviations, copious endnotes, and a thirteen-page index.

The opening chapter provides a wide definition of the "Jewishness" of
the
people discussed in this book. Unlike the strict religious definition
that
values maternal descent, the authors provide an ethnic definition to
include anyone of Jewish descent, including those who converted to
Christianity, and others who consider themselves Jewish through paternal
descent and for other reasons. Jews in Zambia are viewed by Macmillan
and
Shapiro as "a fairly common social phenomenon: an immigrant ethnic group
which, through the force of historical circumstances, rather than
heredity
[specializes ...] in a particular field of economic and commercial
activity" (p.1). For the benefit of future descendants, this book lists
almost everyone in Northern Rhodesia/Zambia who falls under this
category,
including those who have emigrated to, were born or raised in, and those
who settled for a while and then left. Macmillan and Shapiro's
fascinating in-depth research deals with Jewish settlers and refugees,
both men and women, often with meager financial means, who have
emigrated
to the welcoming Northern Rhodesia/Zambia and became successful to a
certain degree. Regardless of how secular or assimilated many of these
immigrants were -- be they Yiddish-speakers >from eastern Europe,
German-speakers >from Germany, Ladino-speakers >from the former Ottoman
Empire, or Anglophones >from South Africa, England and Ireland -- all had
in common their ethnic identity and their social position as a minority
group. This resulted in building an infrastructure that included such
institutions as Hebrew congregations, synagogues, and even a commitment
to
the secular national movement, Zionism.

The early grain or cattle-traders, risk-taking entrepreneurs, and
farmers
endured great difficulties, such as widespread anti-Semitism and local
racism among the white population, blackwater fever, and bankruptcy.
Despite these hardships, they established trading communities along the
railway, in the geographic area known as the Line of Rail, and the
copper
mines on the Copperbelt, they built rural stores, developed farms and
ranches, and they played a significant role in developing towns and in
the
new Zambian industries such as textiles or the Tranz Zambezi Industries
(TZI). Macmillan and Shapiro state that "the status of the Jews as
economic or political refugees did give them a greater commitment to the
development of national interests, and national capital, than most other
settlers" (p.291). What is undeniable is that a strong motivation to
succeed, the predominance of close-knit family networks, and, what is
most
important, a system of direct links with London merchants, personal
trust,
and the extension of credit system were crucial elements that
contributed,
for instance, to the eventual success of the Diamond family's business,
or
that saved the Susmans >from bankruptcy. Zambian Jewry's investment in
the
land may be simply summed up with the words of Helen Mohrer, a German
Jewish refugee: "Northern Rhodesia was very good to us, and as Northern
Rhodesia grew, so we grew with the country" (p.293).

Several chapters are devoted to the history of prominent families in a
more explicit fashion. Chapter Two, for example, recounts the history of
the Susman family >from their humble beginnings as cattle traders to
their
contributions to the economic development of both Northern and Southern
Rhodesia. Both brothers Elie and Harry Susman came >from an Orthodox
family
in the Lithuanian shtetl of Riteve. As pioneer cattle-traders, they had
overcome the risks posed by the tsetse fly, lions, and crocodiles when
crossing the Zambezi river. Chapter Four provides information on Moss
Dobkins, a Jewish trader who arrived >from England in 1905 and died at
the
age of ninety in 1984. The information relies upon Dobkins' diary and
his
partial autobiography. It describes his life and that of his family, his
joining the Northern Rhodesian Volunteer Force, Mobile Column (known
also
as the Northern Rhodesia Rifles) in World War I, his relationship with
Christian missionaries and Freemasonry, and "how it felt, and what it
meant, to be an immigrant Jew in central Africa in the early years of
the
twentieth century" (p.70). Abe Galaun, discussed in the tenth chapter,
is
another example of economic success. This chairman of the Lusaka Hebrew
Congregation and former member of the Lusaka Chamber of commerce arrived
as an immigrant >from the shtetl of Vorne in the Russian Empire. Abe
Galaun and his siblings came to Africa "because the United States was
effectively closed to them by the quota system" (p.182). With their
agricultural activities, the Galauns flourished economically in the
country, even during the post colonial period of economic decline, as
owners of eight farms totaling 25,000 acres of land, and of a vast
amount
of retail businesses such as butcheries, grocery stores, a hotel, and
the
first non-segregated movie theater in Lusaka. Their contributions to
the
economic development of Zambia manifested itself by supplying cattle,
developing dairy production, and exporting tobacco, coffee, and
horticultural items.

Macmillan and Shapiro give us some information, although not enough,
about
the Jewish women who emigrated to the area although they admit that
women
held a central role in the formation of a Jewish community life in the
region. Their absence on the frontier in Northern Rhodesia in the early
years may help explain the difficulties in observing religious customs.
Macmillan and Shapiro tell us that "it was only with the arrival of
Jewish
women and the formation of families, which went together with the
development of modern towns along the Line of Rail, that there was any
attempt at organized religious activity" (p.207). Women such as Frieda
Glasser, Helenne Illion, Peggy Rabb, or Hessie Lowenthal, just to name a
few, were active and independent. The devoutly orthodox Frieda Glasser,
for instance, owned the first bakery and dairy in Lusaka. We learn that
Peggy Rabb, the federal president of the Women's International Zionist
Organization (WIZO) and national president of the Union of Jewish Women,
was also the former president of the Women's Institutes of the
Federation,
and former member of the Northern Rodesian Education Advisory Board.
These
women were clearly active in Jewish communal organizations and were
important in the building of Hebrew congregations, but unfortunately we
do
not learn about them in this book as much as we do about the men.

In addition to the detailed accounts of the early days on the frontier,
the strongest part of _Zion in Africa_ is the in-depth examination based
on archival documents and immigration files such as the 1930s Colonial
Office discussions about Jewish immigration which opposed Jewish
settlement in the area. The hardship involved in the settlement and
absorption of Holocaust survivors in the region is another interrelated
issue addressed in the book. Unlike the earlier settlers who spoke
Yiddish, the newcomers spoke German and were assimilated into German
culture resulting with a difficult period of adjustment. _Zion in
Africa_
includes Jewish involvement in politics and contributions to Zambia's
history, all the while not neglecting to provide the reader with a
general
history of central and southern Africa and providing details on several
riots on the Copperbelt and government mismanagement. Contributions to
public life and involvement in local government are manifested in the
position Jewish men held in this arena. Among them, just to mention a
few, are Hyan Schulman, the first Jewish mayor of Ndola in 1937, Maurice
Rabb twice mayor of Livingstone in 1951 and 1956, and Dennis Figov,
twice
mayor in Luanshya. In the national politics, the civil engineer Simon
Zukas was appointed in 1991 deputy Minister to President Chiluba's
Zambian
government. This immigrant refugee resigned following political
disagreements with the new constitution which "contained clauses
debarring
immigrants, or their children, >from running for the office of President"
(p.258). The book at times is too detailed. Nevertheless, its lucid
style
makes the fifteen chapters a pleasure to read.

Although mentioned briefly, more attention perhaps should have been
given
to the relationship between the Jewish minority and the African majority
and other immigrant groups, or to the African shop-assistants' and
customers' perceptions of the Jewish immigrants. But that may be a topic
for a whole new book. Although Macmillan and Shapiro prove that Jewish
immigrants were able to adapt quickly to tropical Africa in the years
before and after independence, this volume emphasizes, and almost
glorifies, the economic role of Zambian Jewry. Expressing their concern
that such a book may be useful to anti-Semitic theorists, Macmillan and
Shapiro say the economic roles of Zambian Jewry fits more closely with
Braudel's view of "showing that their relationship to places of economic
growth was as much symbiotic as catalytic " (p.287).

To our great benefit, Macmillan and Shapiro succeed in using their
subject
matter to the fullest and thus fulfil the book's potential. _Zion in
Africa_ is quite enlightening and accomplishes what it sets out to do
with
great skill and insight and provides a welcome addition to other books
dealing with Jewish communities in Africa, such as B.A. Kosmin, _Majuta:
A
History of the Jewish Community of Zimbabwe_ (Gwelo, 1980); M. Kaplan, _
Jewish Roots in South African Economy_ (Cape Town, 1986); G. Saron and
L.
Hotz (eds.), _The Jews in South Africa: A History_ (Cape Town, 1955); G.
Shimoni, G. _Jews and Zionism: The South African Experience, 1910-67_
(Cape Town, 1980); I. Suttner (ed.), _Cutting Through the Mountain:
Interviews with South African Jewish Activists_ (London, 1997); S.
Mendelssohn, _ The Jews of Africa_ (New York: 1920); and J. Williams,
_Hebrewism of West Africa: >from Nile to Niger with the Jews_ (New York,
1967). _Zion in Africa_ may be best categorized in the field of social
history and the reader should find the biographical details valuable and
interesting.

By the 1960's most Jews left Northern Rhodesia. Although the Zambian
Jewish community of the 1990s is much smaller that it used to be
following
World War II, it still exists and should be recognized as Zambian Jewry.
_Zion in Africa_ makes a substantial contribution to our understanding
of
a Jewish community in Africa. Specialists in Jewish Studies may welcome
this book for the information it presents on this little-known topic.
This volume may be also valuable to readers interested in immigrant
communities or to economic development on this continent. Finally, _Zion
in Africa_ should find its place in every college and university
library.

-----

Copyright (c) 1999 by H-Net and JSN, all rights reserved. This work may
be copied for non-profit educational use if proper credit is given to
the
author and H-Judaic. For other permission, please contact the JSN.


--
Dr Saul Issroff

Dear Sherri

There is no mention of a Rabbi Broude in the section on Kimberley in
'The Jews in South Africa by Louis Hermann', nor in the book of memoirs
by ND Hoffman which deals with SA Rabbis, nor in the section of Kimberly
in the 19129 SA Jewish Yearbook.

Your best source may be the Library at Jews College, now called the
Institute of Jewish studies, in Albert Street, Hendon.
Have a look at the Kimberley sources ( Library and Jewish Community) on
the website http://www.jewishgen.org/SAfrica

The Jews in South Africa by Louis Hermann, Victor Gollancz:London 1930


saul


P 232-234 DIAMONDS AND GOLD

Scarcely had the sifting and digging of the diamondiferous ground begun
in 1869 when Jews on the Diamond Fields met and formed a congregation
for divine service when the Holy Days came round. For the first two
years there was no regular organisation, but in 1871 a number of Jews on
the Diamond Fields formed a temporary organisation they called the "
Griqualand West Jewish Association." Amongst the members were Isaac
Lewis, Woolf Joel, and Lionel Phillips, and when the High Festivals
occurred, a corrugated iron building was hired and filled to overflowing
with worshippers. The initiative was taken by Joel Myers. Mr.
Rabinowitz, the Minister in Cape Town, communicated with Myers regarding
the celebration of the High Festivals at the diggings. He hoped that
their Jewish friends would unite with Myers " to celebrate the New Year
with due solemnity and devotion." He sent them several sets of festival
prayer-books and a Shofar, a gift >from the mother congregation in Cape
Town. A Sepher Torah could not be spared, but the festival was duly
celebrated at the diggings that year, and Mr. Rabinowitz sent a copy of
Ascher's Book of Life, a well-known Jewish devotional work, to Joel
Myers as a present. In 1873 a permanent congregation was formed, and by
the exertions of Joseph Wallach, the first synagogue was erected in
Kimberley. The foundation-stone was laid by Mrs. C. Sonnenberg in the
presence of a numerous congregation and a large number of Christian
friends, amongst whom was Sir Richard Southey, the Administrator of the
Diamond Fields. The same year the first Jewish marriage on the Diamond
Fields was celebrated in the synagogue. There was no Minister, but H.
Gabriel, as official Jewish marriage officer, performed the ceremony. It
was that of David Harris, a cousin of the Barnatos, to Rosa Gabriel,
Colonel Sir David Harris, K.C.M.G., M.L.A., remained closely associated
with the Kimberley Synagogue, being warden with E. H. Bonas for many
years, and a trustee of the synagogue.

He was one of the early Diamond Fields settlers, coming to the Cape in
1871 at the age of nineteen. He fought under Sir Charles Warren as an
officer in the Diamond Fields Horse in 1878 through the Gaika-Galecka
War, and in the Griqua War was mentioned in dispatches for gallantry in
the field. He saw a good deal of active service subsequently. He
represented Kimberley in Parliament for many years, and has long been at
the head of the De Beers Consolidated Mines.

The synagogue was without a Minister for many years. >from time to time
some person more or less suitable would conduct the service. There is on
record an unscrupulous self-styled rabbi, engaged in the earlier years
of the community's existence, who had to be dismissed for behaviour not
becoming his profession, and who revenged himself by sitting at the door
of his tin habitation near the synagogue and publicly desecrating the
Day of Atonement by eating forbidden food in the sight of the
congregation, what time he jeered at the scandalised worshippers. In the
eighties, after the Rev. Joel Rabinowitz had retired >from Cape Town and
returned >from England, he officiated for a time as Minister at
Kimberley. The first permanent Minister was the Rev. Meyer Mendelssohn,
who extended his ministrations all over the Diamond Fields and
officiated >from time to time in the Transvaal and the Free State
Republics before the discovery of the gold mines. He was the first
Jewish marriage officer for British Bechuanaland. His son, Sidney
Mendelssohn, was subsequently one of the first writers on South African
Jewish history, the compiler of the famous Bibliography of South African
Literature, and the donor to South Africa of the Mendelssohn library of
Africana.

In 1884 the Rev. Abraham Ornstein, son of the Cape Town Minister, A. F.
Ornstein, succeeded Mr. Mendelssohn. He was a youth of twenty-one,
gifted and full of enthusiasm, who greatly endeared himself to his
congregation in the short period that his ministrations lasted. He died
at the age of twenty-two, his end hastened, it was said, by his zeal and
devotion to his work. He received a public funeral, and the magnificent
tombstone which adorns his grave was erected by public subscription. The
Rev. M. L. Harris, who succeeded him, afterwards went to be Minister in
the first synagogue in Johannesburg. The Rev. E. Joffe officiated for a
short period before 1890 when the Rev. Harris Isaacs took over the task
of pastor to the Kimberley congregation.

About 1885 the gold mines of the Rand began to attract fortune-seekers

from the Diamond Fields, where the mines had got into the hands of great

joint-stock companies and the chances for individual diggers and buyers
had considerably diminished. Amongst the crowd that poured into the new
Tom Tiddler's ground Jews were not inconspicuous.






<<First Rabbi of Kimberley, South Africa
From: "Sherry Landa and/or Russell Johnson"
<russell.johnson1@virgin.net>
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 10:58:58 -0000


Dear Friends,
I did ask on the South Africa list but no one responded. I am trying to
find out about Rabbi BROUDE who was the first Rabbi of Kimberley in
South
Africa. One of his daughters, Annie (Rachel), married my great-uncle
David
LANDAU. Annie was born in Warsaw, in about 1867, she married David in
Kimberley in abt 1885. I believe that Rabbi BROUDE had other children. I
was sure that there must be something in some archives about him?
Once more, any help on this would be gratefully received.
Best Wishes,
Sherry Landa (in Chorleywood, Herts)
russell.johnson1@virgin.net

--
Dr Saul Issroff

In message <LYR18021-130060-1999.11.14-00.00.10--saul#swico.demon.co.uk@
lyris.jewishgen.org>, Haim pogrund <pogrund@cc.huji.ac.il> writes

Can you please let me know who are the publishers of the "Jews In Zambia"
Haim Pogrund

Cross post

saul

------- Forwarded message follows -------

THE * JEWISH * STUDIES * BOOK * REVIEW
Book Reviews and Cross-Posted Book Reviews
Published by H-Judaic: The Jewish Studies Network
____________________________________________________________
Book Review XIX [n.s.] * November 1999 * Readership = 6200+
for additional information: http://h-net.msu.edu/~judaic
____________________________________________________________

Macmillan, Hugh and Shapiro, Frank. _Zion in Africa. The Jews of
Zambia_.
London/New York: I.B. Tauris, in association with the Council for Zambia
Jewry, 1999. ix + 342 pp. Illustrations, maps, notes, sources, index.
Cloth. ISBN 1-86064-405-8.

Reviewed for H-Judaic by Yael Even-Levy, Near Eastern and Judaic
Studies,
Brandeis University. E-mail: evenlevy@brandeis.edu

from Yiddish-speaking cattle traders and adventurers in the nineteenth

century to intellectuals and professionals in the twentieth, _Zion in
Africa_ chronicles the history and culture of the small Jewish community
in Zambia and affirms that Zambian Jewry, as an ethnic group, indeed
exists. The book is supplemented by maps of Zambia (also known before
its
independence in 1964 as Northern Rhodesia), with its eight neighboring
countries in south central Africa, and central African cattle-trails (c.
1900s-1960). In addition to secondary sources, its eleven-page
bibliography provides explanations on the sources, list of interviews,
archives, and private collections. Photographs >from the early 1900s to
1997 provide visual insights into the appearance of Zambian Jewry, their
Synagogue, shops, and the like. The book also includes a list of
abbreviations, copious endnotes, and a thirteen-page index.

The opening chapter provides a wide definition of the "Jewishness" of
the
people discussed in this book. Unlike the strict religious definition
that
values maternal descent, the authors provide an ethnic definition to
include anyone of Jewish descent, including those who converted to
Christianity, and others who consider themselves Jewish through paternal
descent and for other reasons. Jews in Zambia are viewed by Macmillan
and
Shapiro as "a fairly common social phenomenon: an immigrant ethnic group
which, through the force of historical circumstances, rather than
heredity
[specializes ...] in a particular field of economic and commercial
activity" (p.1). For the benefit of future descendants, this book lists
almost everyone in Northern Rhodesia/Zambia who falls under this
category,
including those who have emigrated to, were born or raised in, and those
who settled for a while and then left. Macmillan and Shapiro's
fascinating in-depth research deals with Jewish settlers and refugees,
both men and women, often with meager financial means, who have
emigrated
to the welcoming Northern Rhodesia/Zambia and became successful to a
certain degree. Regardless of how secular or assimilated many of these
immigrants were -- be they Yiddish-speakers >from eastern Europe,
German-speakers >from Germany, Ladino-speakers >from the former Ottoman
Empire, or Anglophones >from South Africa, England and Ireland -- all had
in common their ethnic identity and their social position as a minority
group. This resulted in building an infrastructure that included such
institutions as Hebrew congregations, synagogues, and even a commitment
to
the secular national movement, Zionism.

The early grain or cattle-traders, risk-taking entrepreneurs, and
farmers
endured great difficulties, such as widespread anti-Semitism and local
racism among the white population, blackwater fever, and bankruptcy.
Despite these hardships, they established trading communities along the
railway, in the geographic area known as the Line of Rail, and the
copper
mines on the Copperbelt, they built rural stores, developed farms and
ranches, and they played a significant role in developing towns and in
the
new Zambian industries such as textiles or the Tranz Zambezi Industries
(TZI). Macmillan and Shapiro state that "the status of the Jews as
economic or political refugees did give them a greater commitment to the
development of national interests, and national capital, than most other
settlers" (p.291). What is undeniable is that a strong motivation to
succeed, the predominance of close-knit family networks, and, what is
most
important, a system of direct links with London merchants, personal
trust,
and the extension of credit system were crucial elements that
contributed,
for instance, to the eventual success of the Diamond family's business,
or
that saved the Susmans >from bankruptcy. Zambian Jewry's investment in
the
land may be simply summed up with the words of Helen Mohrer, a German
Jewish refugee: "Northern Rhodesia was very good to us, and as Northern
Rhodesia grew, so we grew with the country" (p.293).

Several chapters are devoted to the history of prominent families in a
more explicit fashion. Chapter Two, for example, recounts the history of
the Susman family >from their humble beginnings as cattle traders to
their
contributions to the economic development of both Northern and Southern
Rhodesia. Both brothers Elie and Harry Susman came >from an Orthodox
family
in the Lithuanian shtetl of Riteve. As pioneer cattle-traders, they had
overcome the risks posed by the tsetse fly, lions, and crocodiles when
crossing the Zambezi river. Chapter Four provides information on Moss
Dobkins, a Jewish trader who arrived >from England in 1905 and died at
the
age of ninety in 1984. The information relies upon Dobkins' diary and
his
partial autobiography. It describes his life and that of his family, his
joining the Northern Rhodesian Volunteer Force, Mobile Column (known
also
as the Northern Rhodesia Rifles) in World War I, his relationship with
Christian missionaries and Freemasonry, and "how it felt, and what it
meant, to be an immigrant Jew in central Africa in the early years of
the
twentieth century" (p.70). Abe Galaun, discussed in the tenth chapter,
is
another example of economic success. This chairman of the Lusaka Hebrew
Congregation and former member of the Lusaka Chamber of commerce arrived
as an immigrant >from the shtetl of Vorne in the Russian Empire. Abe
Galaun and his siblings came to Africa "because the United States was
effectively closed to them by the quota system" (p.182). With their
agricultural activities, the Galauns flourished economically in the
country, even during the post colonial period of economic decline, as
owners of eight farms totaling 25,000 acres of land, and of a vast
amount
of retail businesses such as butcheries, grocery stores, a hotel, and
the
first non-segregated movie theater in Lusaka. Their contributions to
the
economic development of Zambia manifested itself by supplying cattle,
developing dairy production, and exporting tobacco, coffee, and
horticultural items.

Macmillan and Shapiro give us some information, although not enough,
about
the Jewish women who emigrated to the area although they admit that
women
held a central role in the formation of a Jewish community life in the
region. Their absence on the frontier in Northern Rhodesia in the early
years may help explain the difficulties in observing religious customs.
Macmillan and Shapiro tell us that "it was only with the arrival of
Jewish
women and the formation of families, which went together with the
development of modern towns along the Line of Rail, that there was any
attempt at organized religious activity" (p.207). Women such as Frieda
Glasser, Helenne Illion, Peggy Rabb, or Hessie Lowenthal, just to name a
few, were active and independent. The devoutly orthodox Frieda Glasser,
for instance, owned the first bakery and dairy in Lusaka. We learn that
Peggy Rabb, the federal president of the Women's International Zionist
Organization (WIZO) and national president of the Union of Jewish Women,
was also the former president of the Women's Institutes of the
Federation,
and former member of the Northern Rodesian Education Advisory Board.
These
women were clearly active in Jewish communal organizations and were
important in the building of Hebrew congregations, but unfortunately we
do
not learn about them in this book as much as we do about the men.

In addition to the detailed accounts of the early days on the frontier,
the strongest part of _Zion in Africa_ is the in-depth examination based
on archival documents and immigration files such as the 1930s Colonial
Office discussions about Jewish immigration which opposed Jewish
settlement in the area. The hardship involved in the settlement and
absorption of Holocaust survivors in the region is another interrelated
issue addressed in the book. Unlike the earlier settlers who spoke
Yiddish, the newcomers spoke German and were assimilated into German
culture resulting with a difficult period of adjustment. _Zion in
Africa_
includes Jewish involvement in politics and contributions to Zambia's
history, all the while not neglecting to provide the reader with a
general
history of central and southern Africa and providing details on several
riots on the Copperbelt and government mismanagement. Contributions to
public life and involvement in local government are manifested in the
position Jewish men held in this arena. Among them, just to mention a
few, are Hyan Schulman, the first Jewish mayor of Ndola in 1937, Maurice
Rabb twice mayor of Livingstone in 1951 and 1956, and Dennis Figov,
twice
mayor in Luanshya. In the national politics, the civil engineer Simon
Zukas was appointed in 1991 deputy Minister to President Chiluba's
Zambian
government. This immigrant refugee resigned following political
disagreements with the new constitution which "contained clauses
debarring
immigrants, or their children, >from running for the office of President"
(p.258). The book at times is too detailed. Nevertheless, its lucid
style
makes the fifteen chapters a pleasure to read.

Although mentioned briefly, more attention perhaps should have been
given
to the relationship between the Jewish minority and the African majority
and other immigrant groups, or to the African shop-assistants' and
customers' perceptions of the Jewish immigrants. But that may be a topic
for a whole new book. Although Macmillan and Shapiro prove that Jewish
immigrants were able to adapt quickly to tropical Africa in the years
before and after independence, this volume emphasizes, and almost
glorifies, the economic role of Zambian Jewry. Expressing their concern
that such a book may be useful to anti-Semitic theorists, Macmillan and
Shapiro say the economic roles of Zambian Jewry fits more closely with
Braudel's view of "showing that their relationship to places of economic
growth was as much symbiotic as catalytic " (p.287).

To our great benefit, Macmillan and Shapiro succeed in using their
subject
matter to the fullest and thus fulfil the book's potential. _Zion in
Africa_ is quite enlightening and accomplishes what it sets out to do
with
great skill and insight and provides a welcome addition to other books
dealing with Jewish communities in Africa, such as B.A. Kosmin, _Majuta:
A
History of the Jewish Community of Zimbabwe_ (Gwelo, 1980); M. Kaplan, _
Jewish Roots in South African Economy_ (Cape Town, 1986); G. Saron and
L.
Hotz (eds.), _The Jews in South Africa: A History_ (Cape Town, 1955); G.
Shimoni, G. _Jews and Zionism: The South African Experience, 1910-67_
(Cape Town, 1980); I. Suttner (ed.), _Cutting Through the Mountain:
Interviews with South African Jewish Activists_ (London, 1997); S.
Mendelssohn, _ The Jews of Africa_ (New York: 1920); and J. Williams,
_Hebrewism of West Africa: >from Nile to Niger with the Jews_ (New York,
1967). _Zion in Africa_ may be best categorized in the field of social
history and the reader should find the biographical details valuable and
interesting.

By the 1960's most Jews left Northern Rhodesia. Although the Zambian
Jewish community of the 1990s is much smaller that it used to be
following
World War II, it still exists and should be recognized as Zambian Jewry.
_Zion in Africa_ makes a substantial contribution to our understanding
of
a Jewish community in Africa. Specialists in Jewish Studies may welcome
this book for the information it presents on this little-known topic.
This volume may be also valuable to readers interested in immigrant
communities or to economic development on this continent. Finally, _Zion
in Africa_ should find its place in every college and university
library.

-----

Copyright (c) 1999 by H-Net and JSN, all rights reserved. This work may
be copied for non-profit educational use if proper credit is given to
the
author and H-Judaic. For other permission, please contact the JSN.


--
Dr Saul Issroff