October 30, 2002
Contents:
1. Looking for Shmuel ben Yaacov in Australia

2. To order "Biblical Truth"
3. Martha N. Holman: Nebraska
4.Myron Martin:Cultural diffusion in Canada
5. COLONIAL NAMING CUSTOMS
by Myra Vanderpool Gormley
6. Robert Happy: Eden, Arizona.
7.  Michael Freund: Marranos No More
 
 

1. Looking for Shmuel
Will Shmuel ben Yaacov in Australia (not the one in Israel, though I would
be happy to hear from him as well)
please contact us, ASAP.

2. To order "Biblical Truth"
send $30 to
Yair Davidiy
POB 595
Jerusalem 91004
Israel

3. Martha N. Holman: Nebraska
Subject: Biblical Place Names in the U.S.

I must say, I am really enjoying your newsletters. Your new series on
Biblical place names in the U.S. will be very interesting.
I see that you are arranging your articles on this alphabetically by the
name of the state. Since it will be awhile before you get to Nebraska, I
just thought I would share that if you don't already have this place
name on your list, there is a town in Nebraska named Hebron (I believe
the population is somewhere around 1500 or so).
In Nebraska this town name is pronounced "HEE'-brun". I am told that the
city in Israel is pronounced "Heh-BRAHN'".
I am so intigued I think I will look on a map of Nebraska, because I
know there are other Biblical place names.
In South Dakota there's a little town named Sinai. (I think in South
Dakota, if I remember correctly, they pronounce it "SIGH-knee-eye.")
And there's a little country church about 5 miles from a small town
Astoria, named Singsaas Lutheran Church, where in the churchyard there
is a monument built by the founders of the church (who all immigrated
from Norway). The nomument is a three-sided pyramid of natural stone and
has a plaque quoting a Bible verse mentioning "Ebenezer."
One time I read through my aunt's (she's a Mormon) chart on my mother's
family, and I noticed a lot of Biblical first names. Do you think
there's any significance to this? (For example, my maternal
grandmother's maiden name was Kate Keturah Howerton. I have never met
another person named after Abraham's second wife.)
Anyway, I am enjoying your material.
Sincerely,
Martha N. Holman

4.Myron Martin:Cultural diffusion in Canada

Dear Yair: I can relate to my fellow Canadian "Rusty" as per his comments
below in a recent newsletter (127?) A "Hindu mosque has been built a mile
down our street along with several new subdivisions that are mostly being
settled by various Asians and a nearby city is frequently referred to as
"Brangladesh" another neighbouring one is dominated by Sikhs and their
temples are also springing up everywhere. Canada is one of the most
"multi-cultural" nations in the world and our government is "very proud" of
the tolerance and open-mindedness of it's citizens with Ontario's capital
Toronto having perhaps the most diverse ethnic mix of any major city in the
world.
So far this "mixing of cultures and religions" HAS NOT thankfully broken
out into the internecine warfare evident in so many others nations, but
there are definite "strains" that may well engender more strife in years to
come. I see a definite trend towards the fullfilling of the prophecy that
"the strangers among you shall mount up higher and higher above you, and
you shall come down lower and lower -- he shall lend to you and you shall
not lend to him, he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail" (Deut.28:
43-44) in fact, there is hardly a convenience store or gas station in the
"golden horseshoe" and beyond, with over 10% of our total population, that
is not owned/managed by Asians of non Christian cultures and traditions.
There is both a positive and negative side to this, there are more "street
gangs, crime etc. but many are also hardworking and ambitious to get ahead
and will work long hours for low pay, live 2-3 families to a house etc. to
the point that some additional industries are under threat of being "taken
over" at wages that the original culture can not compete with and maintain
their normal living standard. There has been a serious erosion in faith in
our political process with fewer and fewer people bothering to vote, but
the newcomers are "anxious" to do so, recognizing the potential for
increased political power. The new cultures have managed to elect their own
people to both provincial and national parliaments, so it is only a matter
of time until they potentially will have sufficient "political clout" to
reflect their religious and cultural values rather than those a of the
original "Israelite" culture.
We have nobody to blame but ourselves if we become slaves to a foreign
culture in our own land. If I wrote the above to a local/national newspaper
"letters to the editor" I would quickly be branded a bigot and racist even
though it is an honest observation of the facts. Myron Martin

5. COLONIAL NAMING CUSTOMS
by Myra Vanderpool Gormley
From: Betty
Subject: Re: Biblical Names-1

Interesting article on names in America from:
http://www.intersurf.com/~rcollins/names.html
COLONIAL NAMING CUSTOMS
by Myra Vanderpool Gormley
"The trend of History is often reflected in the very names borne by
the men and women who played a part in it", according to Donald Lines
Jacobus, often considered the father of American genealogy. The
history of given (first) names in early America offers a glimpse at our
forebears and their customs, as well as clues to their origins.
New England's first settlers bore names of three different types:
those of English origin, those of Hebrew derivation, and those intended
to have a moral significance. Old English names, connected with the
Church of England, were not often favored by the Puritans. Puritans
named their children somewhat differently than other English-speaking
settlers, preferring Biblical names. Evidently, some parents shut
their eyes, opened the Bible, and pointed to a word at random--what
else could account for a child being named Notwithstanding or Maybe?
The early Massachusetts Brewster family had two sons, Love and
Wrestling, and two daughters named Patience and Fear. The names
Humility, Desire, Hate-evil, and Faint-not also appeared in the region.
Other New England onomastic Practices included obscure references
and names that commemorated an occasion--such as Oceanus Hopkins, who
was born on the Mayflower in 1620. Early settlers seemed to favor
names for their associated moral qualities. Among girls' names,
which were no doubt intended to incite their bearers to lead godly
lives, were: Content, Lowly, Mindwell, Obedience, Patience, Silence,
Charity, Mercy, Comfort, Delight and Thankful. In many families, the
first names of the father and mother were given to the first-born son
and daughter, respectively.
In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 53 percent of all females were
named Mary, Elizabeth, or Sarah. Other popular girls' names were
Rebecca, Ruth, Anne, Hannah, Deborah, Huldah, Abigail, and Rachel.
Meanwhile, prevalent boys' names included John, Joseph, Samuel,
Josiah, Benjamin, Jonathan, and Nathan.
In Virginia, Biblical references were less common. Early settlers
often named sons for Teutonic warriors, Frankish knights, and English
kings. Favorites included William, Robert, Richard, Edward, George,
and Charles. Daughters received name of Christian saints and
traditional English folk names, such as Margaret, Jane, Catherine,
Frances, and Alice, along with English favorites Mary, Elizabeth,
Anne, and Sarah. First-born children were named for their
grandparents, and second-born for their parents.
A popular custom in both Virginia and New England was the use of
surnames as given names. This occurred mostly with boys, but it was
not unknown for girls. Some names were also chosen for their magical
properties, and astrologers were consulted in attempt to find a
"fortunate" or "lucky" name.
Among Quakers in Colonial Pennsylvania and Delaware, babies went
through a ritual called nomination. An infant's name was carefully
selected by the parents, certified by friends, witnessed by neighbors,
and then entered in the register of the meeting. First-born children
were named after grandparents, honoring maternal and paternal lines
evenly, often with an eldest son named after his mother's father and
an eldest daughter after her father's mother. While this practice
was not universal among Quaker families, it was common in the Delaware
Valley. Many names came from the Bible, with favorites for boys being
John, Joseph, Samuel, Thomas, William, and George; and for girls,
Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Anne/Anna/Hannah, and Esther/Hester. Also
popular among the Quakers was Phebe, which rarely appeared in New
England or the South. They also favored the names Patience, Grace,
Mercy, and Chastity. One family's eight children were named Remember,
John, Restore, Freedom, Increase, Jacob, Preserve, and Israel.
Naming patterns differed in the "back country" of early America,
which was heavily populated by Scotch-Irish as well as German,
Scandinavian, Irish, Scottish, French, and Dutch families. In these
rural areas, many given names were "Americanized," making it difficult
for genealogists to identify a family's ethnic origins. As a general
rule, the patterns included a mixture of Biblical, Teutonic, and
saints' names. Among the most popular given names for boys were:
John, Robert, Richard, Andrew, Patrick, and David. Celtic names such
as Ewan (and variants Ewen and Owen), Barry, and Roy were often used,
as were Archibald, Ronald, Alexander, Charles, James, Wallace, Bruce,
Percy, Ross, and Clyde. Again, eldest sons were often named after
their grandfathers, and second or third sons after their fathers--
similar to patterns found in early tidewater Chesapeake families.
One peculiar naming pattern found among the back-country settlers
was the one bestowing unusual--sometimes made-up--given names. From
an early date, these rugged pioneers cultivated a spirit of onomastic
individualism, a spirit still found today in this country as parents
search for a special, perhaps unique, name for their baby. Others
prefer to select a name from their family tree that has been passed
along for generations.
.................................by Myra Vanderpool Gormley
Colonial Homes, February 1996, pg 24.
http://britam.org
http://matteson.us

6. Robert Happy: Eden, Arizona.
Yair,
I live in Graham county Arizona.
FYI - Eden is a small area of farms and homes, more of a rural neighborhood
and not really a town, which is 10 miles more rural than where I am living.
It was originally settled by Mormons in the 1880's who named it Eden, and
named most other places around here after their leaders.
Robert Happy

7. Michael Freund: Marranos No More
The Jerusalem Post, October 30, 2002
Marranos No More
By Michael Freund
The look of pain on his face said it all.
Over five hundred years ago, his Jewish ancestors had been forcibly
converted to Christianity, victims of the Spanish monarchy?s obsession
with purging its realm of Jews. Many were given a choice between
expulsion and baptism, but numerous others were not, his family among
them.
Now, centuries later, on a recent visit to Spain, I sat and listened as
he spoke about his valiant but often painful struggle to return to his
roots and rejoin his people, the people of Israel.
Outwardly, his forbears had lived as Catholics, attending mass and
feigning piety in an attempt to ward off those who persecuted them. But
behind closed doors, they clung tenaciously to the faith of their
ancestors, preserving the flame of Judaism and passing it on to future
generations.
In secret, they lit Sabbath candles, building a special cabinet to hide
them from the prying eyes of their hostile neighbors. Yom Kippur was
observed a day or two later than its traditional date, lest the agents
of the Spanish Inquisition discover their clandestine fidelity to
Judaism and decide to burn them at the stake.
Throughout Spain and Portugal, many anousim (Hebrew for ?those who were
coerced?) were careful to marry among themselves, desperately wishing to
preserve their connection to the Jewish people, even if circumstances
required that it be kept hidden.
Some sought refuge beyond the grasp of the Spanish authorities. The
halachic literature of the Middle Ages is replete with accounts of
anousim undergoing formal ceremonies of ?return? as they rejoined the
Jewish community.
But others were not so lucky. The Inquisition followed the ?New
Christians?, as they were called, to the far ends of the earth, reaching
as far afield as India, Angola and South America, according to the late
historian Cecil Roth, in his book A History of the Marranos. It was only
in the late 19th century ? yes, barely one hundred years ago ? that the
Inquisition formally ceased to function.
Centuries of persecution, of living in fear from one?s neighbors and
associates, obviously take their toll. With anguish in his voice, my
Spanish friend described the trauma of the Inquisition as if it had
happened yesterday, rather than over half a millennium ago. The raw
emotion and, at times, even rage, which the expulsion of 1492 and its
aftermath had left imprinted on his soul was as unmistakable as it was
real.
As I listened to his story, and to others like it during a recent visit
to Spain and Portugal to meet with descendants of the anousim, I
realized that the Inquisition was far more than just a historical event
of long ago. It was, in fact, a devastating human tragedy as well, one
that continues to haunt untold numbers of people throughout the world.
Indeed, across the Spanish-speaking world, thousands of people are
emerging from the shadows of history, rediscovering their Jewish roots
and grappling with its meaning and relevance in their lives.
Spain and Portugal?s embrace of democracy nearly three decades ago,
combined with the growth of the Internet in recent years, have all
contributed to a growing movement toward return, as more and more
anousim seek to reverse what Torquemada and his inquisitorial henchmen
wrought on their ancestors.
Over a decade ago, a community of some 150 anousim in the remote village
of Belmonte, Portugal, underwent conversion by a special rabbinical
court dispatched from Israel. They live today as Jews, celebrating the
Sabbath and the holidays, and confronting the same challenges faced by
Jewish communities everywhere.
In the past three years, dozens of other anousim have studied at Machon
Miriam, the Spanish-language conversion and return institute in
Jerusalem run by Amishav, the organization which I head. Graduates
undergo formal conversion by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, and nearly all
now lead fulfilling Jewish lives here in Israel.
The Chief Rabbis of Barcelona and Madrid both told me that they are
inundated by calls and letters from anousim seeking to find out more
about their heritage. ?There are many lost Jewish souls here,? said
Barcelona?s Rabbi Jacob Carciente. ?And we need to help them.?




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"And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your
name great.
And you shall be a blessing.
"And I will bless they who bless you, and curse him who curses you.
And in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
(Gensis 12;2-3).

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3. Acknowledgement of The Israelite Identity of many people amongst
Western Nations.
4. recognition of ?Captive Jews? meaning Israelite or Jewish descendants
who lost their identity and emerged from amongst dominantly non-Israelite
peoples. The destiny of these ?Captive Jews? is bound up with that of the
Lost Ten Tribes even though
the Lost Ten Tribes retained some degree of communal cohesion, and they did
not.

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