s liv
one ' Two Branches Of Mizrachi Clan Traced To The East

Mizrachi is a surname of
Hebrew origin meaning Easterner or
Middle Easterner. The name was
likely adopted in the Land of Israel
and referred to a person with origins
in Persia or Kurdistan. There were
many prominent rabbinical authors
who used this surname. One branch
of the family lived in Jerusalem and

the other in Constantinople
(Istanbul, Turkey). Biographies
beginning in the 14th Century can
be found in the Jewish
Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia
Judaica. Elijah Mizrachi (1450-1526)
was the greatest rabbinical authority
of his time in the Ottoman Empire.
It is interesting to note, that he was

of Romaniot origin, meaning he was
one of the original Jews of Turkey,
as opposed to those who came
from Spain after the Inquisition. He
is especially noted for his
commentary and supercommentary
to Rashi (Venice, 1527).
Chani Cohen and Deena
Sandock of Oak Park, have

Here's a dig full of rocks to explore.
Color all the rocks that have dots and
see what turns up!

FACTS ABOUT TELS AND DIGS:

• Tels and digs turn up all over Israel. One day, a farmer was ploughing a
wheat field and began to find building stones and clay pots. "Stop plough-
ing!" said the archaeologists. They dug carefully under the field and found
a Roman city called Caesarea.
• Today, archaeologists are digging near the Kotel (the wall), the site of the
Temple in Jerusalem. They are finding houses, dolls, cooking pots, and
tools that people used in the days of King Solomon.

•

• '

requested further information about
the family Katzenellenbogen, to
whom they are related. The
Unbroken Chain by Dr. Neil
Rosenstein is probably available
locally at the Midrasha Library or
the Maple/Drake Jewish Community
Center Library. The
Katzenellenbogen family is also
discussed in Scattered Seeds by
George I. Sackheim. Dr. Sackheim
has many family trees in his
publication which include this family
and related families. It may be
ordered from R. Sackheim
Publishing Co., 9151 Crawford
Avenue, Skokie, Ill. 60076. Both of
the aforementioned authors are
related to one another and are also
part of the very large
Katzenellenbogen clan.
Portnoy is another surname
which was taken from the
occupation of an ancestor. In the
Slavic language Portnoy means
tailor.
Robbie Wine inquired about his
surname. Persons named Wine
probably had an ancestor who was
a dealer or maker of wine. This is
also true for the surnames, Wein,
Weiner and Weinglass. Wiener,
however, is a name taken from a
location — meaning from Vienna.
Unger denotes in
Yiddish/German a family of
Hungarian roots. Nineteenth Century
biographies place the family in
Germany, Poland, Hungary and
Austria. There was an "Unger
Chassidic Dynasty" founded by
Rabbi Mordecai David Unger who
died in 1843.
Chasin as a surname suggests
an ancestor who was a chazan or
cantor. Variations are Kazen, Hazan,
Chason, Cantor, Kantor.
Many names came from
geographical locations. This did not
occur, however, until our ancestors
moved to another locale. The
geographical name thus became a
source of identification for our
wandering people. Examples:
Littauer, Litvak, Lutvak mean in
Yiddish/German coming from
Lithuania. In Yiddish Terkel means
of Turkish origin. In Ladino (Spanish
Jewish) Turco also means of Turkish
origin. Maaravi in Hebrew means
Moroccan. In Yiddish, German and
Dutch, Hollander denotes that one
was Dutch. Deutsch, Deitsch, Daitch
all mean in Yiddish and German
that a family came from Germany.

Betty Provizer Starkman is the past president
and founder of the Jewish Genealogical
Society of Michigan.