[Belle]

cynic, on 29 June 2010 - 10:36 PM, said:

Glad to be of service, although I'd much rather be related to Count Chocula.

aka Shaina, I presume?

[cynic]

Didn't think of that, but we are connected anyway. (I am probably connected to everyone somehow. All that blue blood in me. )
I meant the real Count Chocula, or at least the Count from Sesame Street. Vlad the Impaler doesn't do much for me.

[Sweet]

Well, I finally have something to add to this thread. There have always been several ancestry related artifacts in my family, including a Sefer Menoras Hamaor from 1639, wherein the blank and title pages in the beginning are filled with details of my family's history. (It's not quite as good as it sounds; the details aren't nearly as old as the book. They were mostly put in by my great grandfather, 1880-ish - 1960-ish.)

Also, there was a heavy, boring looking tome with pictures of anonymous gentlemen and gravestones in Frankfort, as well as two extensive books of family trees. I've tried to look through these books in the past, but without a little insight and context, they were impenetrable.

I spent this past shabbos with a family member who gave me enough information to get a little bit of history from the books.

We're talking my great-great-great-grandfather.

He was born in a small town in Germany to a poor family. His family was so poor, in fact, that when a circus would come to town, they would sign up as tightrope walkers for (I guess) a sideshow, to bring in a few Marks, which even in those days, was not a lot of money. As a young man, he left the town to seek his fortune. He became a successful antiques dealer in Frankfort am Main. Apparently, he had a very lucrative business procuring and reselling antiques. But (the implication in one of the letters is) he really hit the jackpot when the Rothchilds entrusted him to be the (something - curator? Buyer?) over their collection. This gave him great prestige, as well as opening doors for him to also deal with clients such as the Kaiser and the Czar of Russia. He became immensely wealthy.

He was a participant in the Austritt of Rabbi Hirsch, and contributed heavily to the new community's institutions. The book had a picture of several plaques that were displayed in honor of his donations, and reportedly one of them still hangs in KAJ in Washington Heights until this day.

The letters in the memorial book include correspondence from Rabbi Hirsch about donations and community projects that this ancestor was involved in. One letter was written to him By Rabbi Hirsch to introduce a meshulach who was visiting Frankfort from Kovno, sent by R' Yitzchak Elchanan to raise money for a new Kollel. There are also letters from Baron Edmond de Rothschild and a few of the other Rothschilds. There are some banking certificates (debt? Bonds? it was unclear) issued by several European royal houses to him.

Most of his generosity seems to have been the result of his meticulousness toward ma'aser. He wrote a few letters on the subject during his life, and in his will, he instructed his children to give ma'aser again from their inheritance. (He made reccomendations as to who should get it, but left it up to them.)

This philanthropist seems to have been very fond of family. One of the first things he did when he started to climb the social ladder was to invite his parents to live in his home in Frankfort. His father left little house in the small town, and moved to Frankfort, but soon after settling down, the father received a letter from an elderly blind man in his hometown. The man said that since the father had left, there was no one who would take him for walks and lead him around town. So the father moved right back to the small town, where he lived until the blind man died.

Back to the rich guy: His son married, and also moved into the house with his new family. The son had a baby who would sleep in a room near the wealthy grandfather. When the baby would cry, the parents worried that the baby's grandfather would awaken. They suggested that they alter the sleeping arrangements, but he replied that he was happy to be awoken at night by such a happy thing as a baby.

When the wealthy patron died, he was the subject of many letters of condolence and obituaries in many German newspapers. Several of the Rothschilds paid their respects. He was burid directly next to Rabbi Hirsch and his wife (Although I'm not sure if he or Rabbi Hirsch died first). The cemetery is still intact, and while I'm not including his name because of ridiculous anonymity concerns, you can find it out fairly easily if you visit Frankfort.

He had several children who did not remain frum, and a few who did. If I understood this part correctly, the last remnant of his estate, an antique sefer torah, was recently sold by my distant cousin.

[Sweet]

Further googling reveals that my second cousins sold a few pieces recently for large amounts of money.

[Arizona]

Just saw this because of Sweet's update. (Which was very interesting, btw.)

Gabbe, on 29 June 2010 - 07:30 PM, said:

I found the thread. There is no way it could be interpreted to mean I am 35.

That is correct. You are clearly below the age of 35 because you were enough below the age of 30 several years ago to make comments about those over 30. However, since several years had passed, I updated it to 35 since you might no longer be below 30 but would be definitely below 35.

Arizona, on 29 June 2010 - 04:15 PM, said:

In all fairness, I was the one who jokingly updated Gabbe's thread to 35. It seemed appropriate since 5 years had passed. My official stance is that I do not know how old Gabbe is.

[FYI]

Sweet, cool.

[mosheshmeal]

So, sweet, was your great great zaidy the guy whgo has his head chopped off in slobodka or am I confusing him with someone else?

[Sweet]

mosheshmeal, on 13 July 2010 - 07:59 PM, said:

So, sweet, was your great great zaidy the guy whgo has his head chopped off in slobodka or am I confusing him with someone else?

Not to my knowledge. What story is that?

[mosheshmeal]

Sweet, on 14 July 2010 - 09:54 AM, said:

Not to my knowledge. What story is that?

One of the rabbunim in slobodka had his head chopped off during the war. While he was learning gemureh. I forget his name.

[Sweet]

mosheshmeal, on 14 July 2010 - 09:58 PM, said:

One of the rabbunim in slobodka had his head chopped off during the war. While he was learning gemureh. I forget his name.

Which part of my story could possibly have implied that I had an ancestor in Slabodka?

[sapphire]

mosheshmeal, on 15 July 2010 - 02:58 AM, said:

One of the rabbunim in slobodka had his head chopped off during the war. While he was learning gemureh. I forget his name.

OMG. find out who, please! I bet it was a crazy shamash with a challa knife.

[mosheshmeal]

I'm not sure why you think someones head being chopped off is amusing, but hey...