Geneabloggers: New blogs

So many new blogs! So little time to catch up with them!

Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.com frequently posts lists of newly discovered gen blogs. Here's the recent roundup of his discoveries. Find out more about each here.

These new ones focus on personal family history, Australia, surnames, New York, write family history, New Zealand, Midwest, Minnesota, New England and family reunions.

An American Dynasty: The Story of a Dakota Family
Individual family history

Blog, blog, blog
Australian genealogy, Individual family history

Davis Genealogy Project (Fitz-Henry Family History)
Surname blog

• Part of a one-name study and is a collaborative project with individuals in the US, UK and Australia.

From the Shadows to the Page
Writing Your Family History blog

• To share and connect with those interested in writing from life, recording their personal histories, writing a memoir for publication and/or personal use, and all things related to writing one’s story.

Hempstead Family – Bklyn, NY
Individual family history, New York genealogy

Inside History Magazine
Australian genealogy, New Zealand genealogy

Jack and Pauline
Individual family history (SIULINSKI and ALBERT)

Lewisville, Minnesota
Individual family history, Midwest genealogy, Minnesota genealogy

Martha Carrier’s Family
Family reunion blog, Individual family history, New England genealogy

• Accused witch Martha Carrier was hanged in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.

My Mouse Is Broken
Individual family history

To learn more about this batch of new blogs, click here.

Minnesota: Sephardic Jews connect in Twin Cities

Google alerts are a valuable resource and inform Tracing the Tribe about happenings around the world, as well as provide pointers to outposts of diverse groups of Jews in places one wouldn't ordinarily expect to find them.

The American Jewish World is the Jewish community paper in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In an April article I learned that Sephardic Jews were connecting there. Minnesota is not considered a hotbed of Sephardic life, so I was somewhat pleasantly surprised to read this story.

In an effort to connect with his heritage, local engineer Joseph Israel joined the Sephardi Minyan when he moved to Minnesota in 2002. The minyan, which was started by Lebanese immigrant David Khabie and former Minnesotan Abe Sclar more than 30 years ago, is a welcoming group for local Sephardic Jews who want to retain the worship melodies and traditions with which they grew up.

“Being Sephardic is a state of mind in the broader sense,” said Israel, who is now a co-leader of the minyan. “We come from so many different countries with so many different influences, but there is a commonality among the way we do things, the food we eat, our histories.”

Of the 14 million Jews in the world, about 3 million of them are of Sephardic origin, meaning that they trace their roots to Spain, Portugal and countries of the Middle East (also known as Mizrachi origin).

This minyan (group of at least 10 Jewish males) conducts monthly services in the basement of Kenesseth Israel Congregation in St. Louis Park, and approximately 40 people have attended services on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

The space for the Orthodox minyan is donated by Kenesseth Israel, and the group has been accepted by Kenesseth’s leadership, including Rabbi Chaim Goldberger.

“Many local Sephardic Jews already belong to synagogues here,” Israel said. “We are not trying to create our own synagogue. Rather, we just want to get together periodically and do things the way we remember doing them with our parents and our grandparents.”

The minyan provides an opportunity for Sephardic Jews to join together, socialize and pray using their traditional melodies and customs.

“We have beautiful traditions, and it feels so soothing to hear the melodies that we use for prayer and Torah reading,” Israel said. “I am reminded of how I felt sitting with my father in our synagogue in Egypt when I was a boy.”

Israel’s father was the hazzan in his Cairo, Egype synagogue and at Ahi Ezer Congregation in Brooklyn, New York. Yom Tov Israel, his great-great-great-grandfather, was Egypt's chief rabbi 1866-1891.

No one knows how many Sephardim live in the Twin Cities area, but he hopes to find all of them. So far, the minyan's presence has only been spread via word of mouth, but perhaps the newspaper story found more of them. He wants to reach more local Sephardim, those who are Sephardim at heart or who simply want to experience a Sephardic service - all are welcome.

In reference to the story, Israel said,“I hope that this article will create more awareness about the local Sephardic community, bring the diverse Sephardi community together for Shabbat and holidays, help the Sephardi Minyan to grow, and expose the broader Jewish community to the beauties of Sephardic culture.”

A Lebanese woman, her husband and brother are believed to be the only local Jews raised in that country. Lili Khabie hopes to bring women together to celebrate Sephardic culture.

“I love the Jewish community here and I feel very much a part of it,” Khabie said. “But you don’t forget who you are and where you come from, and you don’t ever stop longing for those traditions that are most familiar to you… I believe that all Jews should know where they came from, and one way to do that is for the women to keep our Sephardic traditions alive and share them with the whole
community.”

Those who may want more information, may email the group.

Read the complete story at the link above. The story was published around Passover and includes some information on different Passover food customs for Sephardim.

Humor: Mrs. Rabitowitz is Jewish!

Terry Nelson, a painter in Minnesota, writes the Abbey-Roads blog, and I just read his delightful post here.

A surprising story.

Before going out to remove snow this afternoon, I put out more food for Mrs. Rabbit. I don't know if I mentioned this, but she sits only a few yards away from the little table I feed her at while I cover the top with food. I always make sure some of it falls on the ground for the mice and the voles. The table is actually an upside-down plastic litter-box that has never been used. It suits her perfectly as she sits on her haunches and feeds herself like a little person seated at a dining table.

Anyway, as I was putting out the trail mix and baguette crumbs, I heard a little voice say quietly, "Thank you. The food has been especially delicious this winter."

I looked up, quite surprised to see the rabbit speaking, having moved closer to me, less than a foot away I'd say. "You're quite welcome... err... Mrs. Rabbit." I answered.

She giggled slightly and proceeded to inform me that her name was Mrs. Rabitowitz. I asked if she was Polish or Jewish and she explained that her heritage was indeed Jewish, but she couldn't be certain about the Polish part. "You look surprised Mr. Nelson, but most rabbits are of Jewish ancestry, although we don't go to temple. That explains why we are often depicted in art bringing eggs to children at Easter. The Catholics are all at Church and we deliver the eggs and candy for their celebrations."

"Why of course!" I exclaimed, "that makes perfect sense. I just never heard that
explanation before." ...

The story goes on to posit ethnic and geographical origins of household pets. Do read the complete post at the link above. Thanks, Terry!

Is it possible that the Jewish Graveyard Rabbit is a relative of Mrs. Rabitowitz? If you'd like to research this and add to the comments, I'd be happy to compile them!

Minnesota: Jewish history archives

The Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest (JHSUM) has gathered and presented the Upper Midwest Jewish story - in Minnesota and the Dakotas - for almost 25 years. It encourages people to donate stories, documents, photographs and artifacts to its collections.

Open through October 6, is "We Couldn't Live at Home" at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, focusing on the Jewish Sheltering Home for Children which cared for young Minnesotans unable to live with their parents.

JHSUM's agenda includes plans to support multi-generational development, collection growth and collaborative programming. It is the repository for all types of regional Jewish historical materials illustrating the challenges and contributions of Jewish residents.

The Kaplan Family Jewish History Center (Barry Family Campus, Minneapolis) houses the offices and collections of family and oral histories, photography, videos and genealogy, including the Steinfeldt Family Photography Collection and the Ackerman Family South Dakota Collection. The Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives (Andersen Library, University of Minnesota) hold synagogue and Jewish institutional records and rural Midwest community historical materials.

JHSUM has contributed 90 images and several documents to the Minnesota Reflections shared photo archive, depicting Jewish family and community life (late 1940s-1959):

The document selection includes the congregational charter, written in Yiddish, of Agudas Achim Synagogue; a government commendation for a Minneapolis scrap dealer from WWII; and several examples of anti-Semitic business correspondence coupled with responses.

It is part of the Minnesota Digital Library Coalition (MDLC), along with libraries, archives, historical societies and museums creating a computer-accessible collection of photos, maps and documents.

More than 8,000 unique photos and images are in the searchable database, including some 500 photos from the Steinfeldt Photography Collection covering early Minnesota Jewish life through 1949; more will be added. The digitized materials will be available here.

See the JHSUM link above for more information on other exhibits:

- Teacher Annie Ginsberg, an extraordinary legacy
- Saving World War II Memories: The Upper Midwest Jewish Story
- Too Short? Jews and Sports in Minnesota
- Rabbis in Top Hats: Early 20th century assimilation
- The Shanedling Family of Virginia, Minnesota
- "We Knew Who We Were: Memories of the Minneapolis Jewish North Side."
- "Jewish Roots in Hurley, Wisconsin"
- Unpacking on the Prairie
- Belonging: Jewish Teen Life in the Twin Cities, 1945-1970