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levite · 05-21-2010, 12:52 AM

Jewish, of course. But that begs the question.

On my dad's side: second generation American. His dad and family came originally from Odessa, but had to flee from the local mafia (his dad's dad was a bit of a shady character). They went to Galitzia, which used to be a small semi-autonomous territory not far from the Ukraine, on the border between Poland and Austria (it used to change hands on an almost weekly basis between the two powers). It was there that my graddad met my grandma, whose family had lived in Galitzia for time out of mind. Her dad was a Hasid, and used to walk from Galitzia to the Ukraine a couple of times a year to spend holidays at the court of the Chortkover Rabbi. He accompanied my grandparents when they emigrated to America in the late 1920s, but didn't live long once they got here. On his deathbed, he predicted that my grandma (who had been childless for years) would have a son, and instructed that they must educate that son Jewishly, because that boy would follow in his (my great-granddad's) footsteps. My dad was born less than a year later, and they named him for my great-granddad: my dad did grow up to be a rabbi.

On my mom's side: sixth generation American. My mom was not only fifth generation American on her mom's side, but also fifth generation Chicagoan. My far ancestor on that side opened what appears to have been the first stationary store in Chicago, and owned the building it occupied, right on Michigan Avenue. Unfortunately, he was uninsured, and lost everything in the Great Chicago Fire. So much for our family fortune! The stationer and his family came to America in the late 1850s from mostly Vienna and Saltzburg. On my maternal granddad's side, I am third or fourth generation American: the ancestors mostly came from Munich and its environs, and we don't know too much about them. One was the town shochet (ritual slaughterer) in Musketeen, Iowa around the turn of the century. He and his children were mostly teetotalers, due to the pervasive influence (even on Jews) of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. They seem to have been a solemn lot, but solid folks.

05-21-2010, 12:52 AM	#7 (permalink)
levite Minion of Joss Location: The Windy City	Jewish, of course. But that begs the question. On my dad's side: second generation American. His dad and family came originally from Odessa, but had to flee from the local mafia (his dad's dad was a bit of a shady character). They went to Galitzia, which used to be a small semi-autonomous territory not far from the Ukraine, on the border between Poland and Austria (it used to change hands on an almost weekly basis between the two powers). It was there that my graddad met my grandma, whose family had lived in Galitzia for time out of mind. Her dad was a Hasid, and used to walk from Galitzia to the Ukraine a couple of times a year to spend holidays at the court of the Chortkover Rabbi. He accompanied my grandparents when they emigrated to America in the late 1920s, but didn't live long once they got here. On his deathbed, he predicted that my grandma (who had been childless for years) would have a son, and instructed that they must educate that son Jewishly, because that boy would follow in his (my great-granddad's) footsteps. My dad was born less than a year later, and they named him for my great-granddad: my dad did grow up to be a rabbi. On my mom's side: sixth generation American. My mom was not only fifth generation American on her mom's side, but also fifth generation Chicagoan. My far ancestor on that side opened what appears to have been the first stationary store in Chicago, and owned the building it occupied, right on Michigan Avenue. Unfortunately, he was uninsured, and lost everything in the Great Chicago Fire. So much for our family fortune! The stationer and his family came to America in the late 1850s from mostly Vienna and Saltzburg. On my maternal granddad's side, I am third or fourth generation American: the ancestors mostly came from Munich and its environs, and we don't know too much about them. One was the town shochet (ritual slaughterer) in Musketeen, Iowa around the turn of the century. He and his children were mostly teetotalers, due to the pervasive influence (even on Jews) of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. They seem to have been a solemn lot, but solid folks. __________________ Dull sublunary lovers love, Whose soul is sense, cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove That thing which elemented it. (From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne) Last edited by levite; 05-21-2010 at 12:55 AM..