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Search this new list of Jewish family names from Cairo, Alexandria, Baghdad, Damascus, Aleppo and Beirut
(JTA) — In his retirement, Jacob Rosen-Koenigsbuch is passionate about surnames. Specifically, the last names of Jews who were living in the Arab world before the Mizrahi exodus in the middle of the 20th century around the establishment of Israel.
Rosen-Koenigsbuch spends much of his time with his head buried in archival material from bygone communities searching for names. And when he feels that he’s collected a critical mass of names from any particular city — it would be impossible to find them all — he compiles an index. So far, he’s done Cairo, Alexandria, Baghdad, Damascus and Aleppo, and earlier this month, he published his latest, Beirut — which lists nearly 800 surnames, from Abadi to Zilkha.
“I have the time. And I love it. So I don’t mind sitting for five, six hours to dig out a name,” he said.
If you’re assuming the last name Rosen-Koenigsbuch makes him Ashkenazi, you’re not wrong. And if you’re wondering why he decided to spend his retirement as a genealogist focused on other peoples’ heritage, he gets it and he likes to joke about it.
“I connect with a lot of people who see my work through social media and it’s very nice but you probably realize that if a guy called Rosen-Koenigsbuch is asking questions about Egypt, or Beirut, it sounds a bit suspicious,” he said with a long chuckle.
The answer to the question of why he does what he does is that he spent his career as a diplomat for Israel, including a few years as ambassador to Jordan, and after investigating his own Polish roots, he came to realize something: Much of his family perished in the Holocaust, but at least he can learn something about them because the archives in Europe are open. Jews with Middle Eastern roots and a genealogical itch, on the other hand, have only scraps of written material available, like circumcision ledgers and community newspapers.
This distinction in access aside, neat geographic lines don’t neatly separate Jewish identity categories like Mizrahi, Ashkenazi and Sephardic. Rosen-Koenigsbuch has been surprised to learn of the extent of geographic intermixing long before the Israel ingathered the Jewish diaspora.
“For example, I found out that at least 20% of Jews of Cairo and Alexandria were Ashkenazim,” Rosen-Koenigsbuch said. It was a “big, big, beautiful thing,” he said, when he got hold of the document, “Annual Report of the Ashkenazi Community of Cairo 1938.” “It has hundreds of names!” he said.
As another example, the standard story on Baghdadi Jewry is that the community was massive, at one point making up one-third of the metropolis, with roots going back to antiquity when the Jews were exiled from the Holy Land and held captive by a Babylonian Empire. While that narrative is not exactly wrong, successive plagues in the 19th century wiped out much of the city’s population and Baghdadi Jewish families are to a large degree transplants who arrived afterward.
“You could see by the names that people started coming from other places,” Rosen-Koenigsbuch said. “Shirazi, Darshatim, Yazdi — Persian place names — or Kirkuki. Some people came from Georgia. That’s why we see the given name Gorgi. And Iraq was part of the Ottoman Empire. So you have families from Thessaloniki.”
When a name appears on Rosen-Koenigsbuch’s list, that means it came from a historical document somewhere. If you’re doing genealogical research, now you’ve got a paper trail, a lead. Rosen-Koenigsbuch makes himself available through his Facebook profile to people who’d like to get or give more information, or make a correction.
“There is a new generation of young Jews all over the world who are trying to figure out where they hail from,” he said. “This searchable index reveals to them that their surname existed also in Aleppo or Damascus or Beirut.”
Sarina Roffé, a leading expert in Sephardic genealogy, called Rosen-Koenigsbuch a “genius.”
“Jacob loves lists and is meticulous about them. I love the data that goes with the lists, names and dates and what they are for,” said Roffé, the founder of the Sephardic Heritage Project and a past board member of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.
Up next for Rosen-Koenigsbuch is an index for Basra. Or maybe Mosul. Or Port Said.
“They all deserve an index,” he said. “The work is never-ending.”
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The post Search this new list of Jewish family names from Cairo, Alexandria, Baghdad, Damascus, Aleppo and Beirut appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Movie ‘Irene’s Vow,’ About Maid Hiding Jews in Nazi Officer’s Basement During Holocaust, Opens in US
Sophie Nélisse as Irene Gut Opdyke in a scene from “Irene’s Vow.” Photo: Fathom Events
A film about the true story of a Polish Catholic woman who risked her life to hide 12 Jews from the Nazis during World War II opened in theaters across the US on Monday.
Irene’s Vow follows the heroic efforts of Irena Gut Opdyke, who worked as a housekeeper in the home of a highly regarded Nazi officer and hid the Jews in the basement of the house for two years during the Holocaust. She protected them amid a number of countless Nazi parties at the home, even after being blackmailed and also as one of the Jews in hiding gave birth to a child.
Opdyke was 19 at the start of World War II and was a nursing student before it began. She died in 2003 and was named by Yad Vashem, Israel’s national memorial to the Holocaust, as Righteous Among the Nations, which is an honor given to non-Jews who risked their lives by saving Jews during the Holocaust. She was also presented with Israel’s Medal of Honor, the country’s highest recognition, and her heroism during the Holocaust is part of a permanent exhibit in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. She is played in Irene’s Vow by Canadian actress Sophie Nélisse.
The film will be screened in theaters throughout the United States on Monday and Tuesday. Each screening will be accompanied by exclusive video footage featuring Jeannie Smith, Opdyke’s real-life daughter; Roman Haller, the baby that was conceived and born in captivity; Dan Gordon, the film’s screenwriter; Nélisse and director Louise Archambault. Gordon also wrote the 2009 Broadway play of the same name that starred four-time Tony nominee Tovah Feldshuh.
“I knew Irene for 10 years at the end of her life and would listen to her tell her story to various groups,” Gordon said. “She was like a grandmother to me. I was determined to get this film made. The story is so improbable, yet it is true. She hid Jews for many months right under a Nazi officer’s nose in his own house.”
Watch the trailer for Irene’s Vow below.
The post Movie ‘Irene’s Vow,’ About Maid Hiding Jews in Nazi Officer’s Basement During Holocaust, Opens in US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Actress Plays Mary in New Biblical Film About Jesus’s Mother Also Starring Anthony Hopkins
Passion of Jesus; sculpture of Crucifixion of Jesus observing Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus (known as Pieta). Photo: National Gallery of Slovenia via Petar Milošević/Wikimedia Commons
Israeli actress Noa Cohen is starring as the title character in the new film Mary, which follows her New Testament life story including the birth of Jesus.
Shunned after the godly conception of her child even though she was a virgin, Mary is forced into hiding. But King Herod’s desire to maintain power pushes him in the film to launch a murderous hunt for Mary’s newborn child, Jesus, who he sees as a threat to his reign on the throne. Audiences will see Mary and her husband Joseph flee and try to hide their infant son from the king, who will be played by Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins.
Filming for the movie recently concluded in Morocco, according to Deadline. The publication added that Cohen, 21, was chosen to portray Mary in the film following a worldwide casting call. The Israel native — who was reportedly raised only an hour away from Nazareth, where Mary was born — has previously starred in the Israeli young adult series My Nephew Bentz, Infinity, and the 2022 film Silent Game.
Nadav Levi, from the Bold talent agency in Israel that represents Cohen, told Ynet: “It’s an exciting achievement. Choosing an Israeli actress for such a project is definitely a triumph.”
Mary is directed by DJ Caruso and the original screenplay was written by Timothy Michael Hayes after consulting with priests, bishops, Baptist pastors, rabbis, Mormons, Muslims, biblical scholars, and theologians, according to Deadline. The production team includes hair and makeup artist Karen Hartley-Thomas, who was Oscar nominated for her role in Israeli director Guy Nattiv’s film Golda, about former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.
“I want to give the world a portrayal of the real human Mary,” Caruso said of his film. “Her story has a lesser-known beginning; it is profoundly worthy of being told. Portraying her from birth through childhood and presenting her as a human being with apprehensions and fears will be a celebration of everything inspiring and gut-wrenching about her journey.”
The post Israeli Actress Plays Mary in New Biblical Film About Jesus’s Mother Also Starring Anthony Hopkins first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Artist Delays Opening of Israeli Pavilion at Venice Biennale Until Gaza Ceasefire, Hostages Released
A sign displayed outside the Israeli pavilion of the 60th Venice Biennale. Photo: Screenshot
The artist and curators representing Israel at the 60th Venice Biennale announced on Tuesday their decision not to open the nation’s pavilion until the Jewish state and Hamas sign an agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization during its attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
A sign sharing the news was displayed in the window of the Israeli national pavilion on the first day of media previews for the international fair in Italy devoted to contemporary art. The sign, written in English, read: “The artist and curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition when a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is reached.”
The 60th Venice Biennale opens on Saturday and runs until Nov. 24. Israel is among 88 national participants this year and the country’s pavilion is titled (M)otherland, which is a video installation by artist Ruth Patir. The exhibit “reimagines fertility goddesses from ancient Judean times as real-life mothers” in the technological and digital world, according to a previous description of the exhibit. It explores topics such as fertility, gender representation, and reproductive rights. The exhibit is partially funded by Israel’s Ministry of Culture and Sports and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with additional support from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Center for Contemporary Art (CCA) Tel Aviv-Yafo.
Patir shared a statement on her Instagram Story explaining the move to delay the opening of the Israeli pavilion at the Venice Biennale. She said she and her curators, Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit, “stand by” their decision.
“I feel that the time for art is lost and I need to believe that it will return. And so if I am given such a remarkable stage, I want to make it count,” Patir said. “I am an artist and educator, I firmly object to cultural boycott, but since I feel there are no right answers, and I can only do what I can with the space I have, I prefer to raise my voice with those I stand with in their scream.”
She concluded by saying, “Ceasefire now, bring the people back from captivity. We can’t take it anymore.”
The Tel Aviv-based studio called 3SISTERS, which helped create the (M)otherland video installation, released a statement on its Instagram account saying it stands by Patir’s decision. “[We] support the action of bringing attention to the fact that the Israeli hostages are still in Hamas captivity for more than half a year,” the studio said. “This war must end with the defeat of Hamas terror organization.”
The national pavilions at the Venice Biennale run independently from the main show and each nation decides its own show.
In February, thousands of artists, curators, and critics signed an open letter calling on the Venice Biennale to expel the Israeli national pavilion from this year’s event in protest of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. However, Italy supported Israel’s participation.
The post Artist Delays Opening of Israeli Pavilion at Venice Biennale Until Gaza Ceasefire, Hostages Released first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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