For Fun: Swashbuckling Sephardic Pirates

Are you related to Samuel Pallache, Moses Cohen Henriques or Jean Lafitte?

If so, you now have something infinitely more romantic to research.

The article "Ahoy mateys! Thar be Jewish pirates!" by Adam Wills was in the September 9 Jewish Journal of Los Angeles.

He wrote about a book, as yet untitled, on Ladino-speaking Sephardic Jewish pirates who came to the New World after the Expulsion. The author is Ed Kritzler, and it will be out in spring 2007 (Doubleday).

Sounds like a great Pesach gift!

If this catches on, we'll soon need a Pirate SIG to join the already established special interest groups on JewishGen, Rabbinics, Belarus, Litvak, Latvia, Sefard and the others. The 27th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy program committee should consider lining up Kritzler now for the July event in Salt Lake City. And pirate costumes for Purim will also be on the horizon.

The Genealogue -- the funniest genealogy blog around -- also has a take on it, "Oy Vey ... I mean ARRRGH!" genealogue.blogspot.com/2006/09/oy-vay-i-mean-arrrgh.html

Chris Dunham's The Genealogue is for you if you like your genealogy rib-tickling and mostly irreverent. When you're in need of a light-hearted look at our sometimes obsessive activity, read through his old and new postings, print them out, hang them on your walls. When a particularly sticky research problem has you gnashing your teeth, read a few of Dunham's postings.

And, if you're up for still more swash-buckling, check out International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19),
www.talklikeapirate.com