Chaim Freedman: Chaim Freedman examines traditional rabbinic genealogies

Chaim Freedman examines traditional rabbinic genealogies

Nu ? What's New ?

The E- zine of Jewish Genealogy

Gary Mokotoff, Editor

Volume 7, Number 1 February 19, 2006

Chaim Freedman Stirs the Pot

There are some people with names not very familiar to the general Jewish genealogy community who have made significant contributions to genealogy and Jewish history. The person I would like to cite in this issue is Chaim Freedman of Israel.

Chaim has made a number of breakthroughs in the realm of rabbinic genealogy. He is a descendant of the Vilna Gaon (1720-1797) and has devoted a lifetime to researching the genealogy of this great scholar and his descendants. Avotaynu published in 1997 the results of his research in Eliyahu's Branches: The Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and His Family. It identifies more than 20,000 descendants of the Vilna Gaon.

But the important part of the book is not the list of descendants. It is the introductory portion where Freedman conjectures about the genealogy of the Gaon's family (how many children did he have, the order of their birth, etc.). It is this scholarly portion of the book that is Freedman's contribution to Jewish history. Freedman has also found entries for the Gaon's household in the 1764, 1784 and 1795 censuses of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It helped him understand the order in which the Gaon's children were born.

Now Freedman is stirring the pot in areas of rabbinic genealogy that were previously considered proven. He claims he now has evidence that the MaHaRaL of Prague (1525-1609) was not descended from King David in the manner previously believed for three centuries. He has disproved the accepted pedigree of the MaHaRaL by a method seemingly lacking in rabbinic genealogy: primary source evidence. Much of rabbinic genealogy is based on lore; information passed down from one generation to another. Freedman disproved the MaHaRaL line to King David by examining the tombstone of the MaHaRal's alleged great-great grandfather, Yehudah Leib (Liwai) Hazaken. Apparently the tombstone was misread three hundred years ago and the error has been perpetuated. Yehudah Leib Hazaken died in 1540 not 1440 and, therefore, was a contemporary of the MaHaRaL not an ancestor.

Freedman's evidence appears in the Spring issue of AVOTAYNU.

Another yichus (pedigree) Freedman is challenging is that the Jaffe family can trace its ancestry back to King David through Rashi. Freedman claims there is no convincing evidence. He believes that the confusion arose from a comment by Yosef Levinstein on page 154 of Ir Tehilah published in 1885 where he states that Yekhiel Mikhel Epstein was a son-in-law of Mordekhai Jaffe, known as the Levush, and that the son-in-law of Yekhiel- Mikhel (Avraham Heilprin) was a descendant of Rashi. But that does not mean that the Levush was descended from Rashi. This error was perpetuated in the Jewish Encyclopedia (Funk and Wagnalls, 1903). Freedman is also planning an article on this subject.

I still recall that shortly after Freedman published his opus on the family history of the Vilna Gaon, I was contacted by one of the recognized experts on rabbinic genealogy who challenged some of Freedman's claims. "On what basis did Freedman conclude such-and-such," implying the expert was very knowledgeable on all known lore about the Vilna Gaon. My answer was "birth records."

Additional information about Eliyahu's Branches: The Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and His Family can be found at http://www.avotaynu.com/books/gaon.htm.

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Chaim (Keith) Freedman was born in 1947 in Melbourne, Australia to parents of eastern European origins. He was educated at Mount Scopus College in Melbourne. In 1977, he immigrated with his wife to Israel. Chaim is a noted genealogist having lectured at numerous genealogical and historical conferences including The International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, Jerusalem 1984,1994 and 2004. He has published his research in Avotaynu, Sharsheret Hadorot, Search, RootsKey, the Journal of the Australian Jewish Historical Society and Yated Ne'eman. Freedman edited "Jewish Personal Names: Their Origin, Derivation and Diminutive Forms" by the late Rabbi Shmuel Gorr, published in 1992 by Avotaynu. Freedman wrote several books about his immediate family, "Our Fathers' Harvest", a history of the Komisaruk and other families involved in Jewish agricultural colonization in the Ukraine, and "The Pen and the Blade", a history of the Super family. Chaim Freedmans major work "Eliyahu's Branches, The Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and His Family" was published in 1997 by Avotaynu. The book is the culmination of thirty years of research of the Vilna Gaon, and includes 20,000 names with valuable biographical and historical details. Freedman's particular expertise in Rabbinical genealogy was published in 2001 in his book "Beit Rabbanan, Sources of Rabbinical Genealogy". Much of the content of this book appears on the RavSIG site http://www.jewishgen.org/Rabbinic/ Freedman's presentation of Rabbinical genealogical sources has been published in Avotaynu's "Guide to Jewish Genealogical Research" (2004). Freedman acted as a consultant to Beit Hatefutsot's exhibition on the Vilna Gaon in 1998. He provided material for Beit Hatefutsot's 1983 exhibition "The Jewish Agricultural Experience in the Diaspora". Freedman has lectured to the Israeli Genealogical Society in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and to the Jewish Family Research Association in Tel Aviv and Petah Tikvah. His lectures always draw a good and attentive audience who appreciate the opportunity to hear of his activities in genealogical research and learn from his wide experience in using a range of valuable sources. Many of his compositions appear on the Internet

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Torah and Genealogy

Torah and Genealogy By Chaim Freedman Reprinted from Eliyahu's Branches, the Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and His Family (Avotaynu 1997) Yikhus (lineage) has always been an integral part of Judaism. In the opening chapters of the Bible, in the weekly Torah portion, the concept of recording the history of mankind appears with the use of the term Sefer Toldot Adam (Book of the history of man), Bereishit (Genesis) 5:1. The Midrash (Midrash Rabba, Parasha 24) explains this term to indicate that Adam, the first man, was given a preview of all the generations that were destined to descend from him: God revealed to Adam each generation with its scholars, each generation and its wise men, each generation and its writers, each generation and its leaders. Adam was the only one who saw the yikhus which descended from him, until the end of all generations. (Yalkut Shimoni) The Midrash asserts that the Messiah will arrive only when all those generations that were predestined to live have in fact been born. The course of the Biblical narrative revolves around the sequence of the generations, from the early generations descended from Adam, through the division of the nations descended from Noakh, and down to the Jewish Patriarchs: Avraham, Yitskhak and Yaakov (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). Each major figure is introduced in the Bible first by a narration of his descent, connecting him with all the previous generations. Thus, the great Jewish teacher Moshe (Moses) is introduced through his father's descent from the tribe of Levi. From the time of the descent of the Children of Israel to Egypt and following their liberation from Egyptian bondage, their genealogy is noted at the very beginning of the book of Shmot (Exodus). Time and time again throughout the Bible, lengthy genealogical lists are recorded. The Torah includes 477 genealogical records. The Prophets and other books of the Bible include 2,756 genealogical records. Divrei Hayamim (Chronicles) is almost entirely concerned with genealogy. For the Jews returning from the Babylonian Exile, it was particularly important that they retained knowledge of their descent. This knowledge conferred upon them their status in society, which was often based on their relationships with prominent families, in particular, the ruling House of David. Those who had assimilated with their non-Jewish neighbours in Babylon found that their lineage was held in suspicion, particularly if they belonged to the priesthood. Such problems are portrayed in detail in the book of Ezra: They sought their genealogical records, but they were no longer available, and so they were banished from the priesthood. Those immigrants could not state which was their father's house or whether they were of the seed of Yisrael. (Ezra 2:62) The Talmud in the Tractate Kiddushin (Chapter 4) stresses the importance of yikhus: Ten lineages emigrated from Babylon. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, does not bestow his Divine Presence, other than on Israeli families of noble Yikhus. Yet the Rambam (Mishne Torah, Hilkhot Melakhim, Chapter 12, Halakha 3) gives hope in the future for those who have lost the records of their lineage: In the time of the king Mashiakh, when his kingdom is established and all Yisrael are gathered, their lineage will be revealed by the Holy Spirit which will rest upon him, and he will announce to everyone in Yisrael to which tribe he belongs. The Torah places importance on yikhus because man is influenced by the qualities and characteristics of his forefathers, both genetically and by the moral values that are passed from generation to generation. The book of Mishlei (Proverbs, 1:8) states: Heed, my son, the moral advice of your father, and do not abandon the teaching of your mother. The Gaon of Vilna comments on this sentence: Man has three partners: the Holy One Blessed Be He, his father and his mother. This theme is taken up in the Talmud (Avot 3:1): Know from whence you came, and where you are going, and to Whom you will have to give account in the future. Only if we know from where we originate in terms of our family heritage will we be in a position to decide what path in life we should take in the future. The late Rabbi Shmuel Gorr, who dedicated his entire life to genealogical research, believed: Just as we perform many Mitzvot as an act of zeikher le'maaseh bereishit (commemoration of the act of the creation), so the study of our family history can be considered as another aspect of this Mitzvah. When we see ourselves obligated to preserve the continuity of our people's existence in the world, so will we fulfill our task as it was prescribed by the Holy One Blessed Be He from the time of the creation of Man. The study of genealogy, therefore, can be considered as an act of zeikher le'maaseh bereishit, as we seek to link ourselves, through the generations of our ancestors, with the first living man, Adam. Yet, from the outset, the Biblical commentators explained that illustrious lineage alone was not worthy of note. Commenting on the verses of Bereishit 6:9B10: These are the generations of Noakh; Noakh begat three sons. Rashi explains: The essence of the history of righteous men is their deeds. One of the most comprehensive collections of genealogical quotations based on Jewish religious sources appears in Rabbi Yosef Zekhariah Stern's Zekher Leyehosef (1898). The following are some examples: It is worthy of all who seek righteousness to look to the rock from which they were hewn (Yeshayahu, Isaiah 52) and should be Asons of sons are a crown to the elderly, and the glory of sons are their fathers. (Mishlei, Proverbs 17) Like a crown without a kingdom and a gold ring in the nose of one who embraces garbage, so is the value of ancestral Yikhus without personal Yikhus to abandon evil ways. (Yalkut Shimoni; Rashi) If you see a Tsaddik who is the son of righteous fathers, he will not hastily sin (Midrash Mishlei 14) But what of the person who is not descended from ancestry worthy of note? Stern answers: It is important to the Almighty that man should abandon the ways of his ancestors (if they were not worthy) and follow the ways of God about whom it is said, "Peace to the distant, who is the seed of distant ones, but came close."Stern stresses the duty to perpetuate the memory of former generations: How can we not stretch out in our hearts to our ancestors who may be forgotten within two or three generations as if they never existed? In our generation, after our ancestors left the countries where their families lived for many generations and emigrated to other countries, we should perpetuate their history. In particular we have a duty to immortalise the memories of the communities and families that perished for the sanctification of the Holy Name during the Holocaust or during anti-Semitic acts throughout the course of Jewish history: To do justice with the deceased and give them a memory upon the face of the earth. The Midrash (Midrash Rabba, Parasha 37) explains the origin of man's naming system: The early generations that knew their lineage well, gave names to commemorate an event. But we, who do not know well our lineage, give names after our ancestors. The Gaon of Vilna comments on the term used in reference to a deceased person, "May the righteous be remembered for a blessing, and may the name of the wicked decay" (Mishlei, Proverbs 10:7): Remembrance is recalling that which happened in the past, that is, after the death of a righteous person, he is not just a memory, but he is a blessing. But as for the wicked, even his name is contemptible. Throughout Jewish prayer the concept of recalling our ancestors is a recurrent theme. The central prayer of the three daily services, the Shmonah Esreh, begins with: God of Avraham, God of Yitskhak, God of Yaakov...remember the good deeds of our fathers and bring the redeemer to their sons' sons. Amongst the most important statutes given to the People of Israel, the Ten Commandments, is the commandment: Honour your father and your mother.... In the High Holy Day liturgy the relationship between God and man is couched in familial terms: If you regard us as sons, have pity upon us like a father. Our Father, our King.... The tracing of family history is a most effective way to appreciate Jewish history on a personal level. As we recite in the Hagaddah of the Pesakh (Passover) festival: In each generation man must regard himself as if he himself came out of Egypt, as it is said and you should relate it to your son on that day, saying... People make history by their reaction to the demands and opportunities of their environment. An awareness of personal family history establishes a link in the chain of Jewish existence. Jews left Babylon and Eretz Yisrael and spread out through the Diaspora. Many of their genealogical records were lost. Yet certain families painstakingly preserved their traditions of descent. The scholarly family of the Kalonymides left Babylon about the eighth century, settled in Italy, and then moved to the Rhineland and France in the ninth and tenth centuries. From this family emanated the great Biblical and Talmudic commentator Rashi (1040-1105). Rashi's family and disciples established centers of learning in many towns in Western Europe and later, in the fourteenth century, in Eastern Europe. Thus a vast interrelated dynasty of rabbinic families spread across Europe, establishing a framework for future genealogical research. Sources: Many of the sources quoted above were collected by the late Rabbi Shmuel Gorr as part of an article he wrote titled "Torah and Genealogy."

Chaim Freedman

Chaim Freedman examines traditional rabbinic genealogies

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