ja chank 2008 - South African Jewish Board of Deputies

More documents

Recommendations

Info

THE YODAIKENS: MIGRATIONS AND RE- MIGRATIONS OF A JEWISH FAMILY Anne Lapedus Brest Anne (Lapedus) Brest was born in Dublin, Ireland, immigrating to South Africa in 1961. She is a professional photographer, and has been involved in genealogy and family history research for over ten years, also on a professional basis. She runs a Jewish Irish Group for Irish Jews on the Internet called “Shalom Ireland”. The Yodaiken family (aka. Judeikin, Jodaiken, Yudaiken, etc) has been traced back to the mid-1600s. Their original progenitor Yodaiken was Hirsh Hacohen, born 1641 in Lithuania. They were Cohanim and from Judeike, as well as places like Kalnel, Zagera, Wenden, and Voru. 117 The author’s great-grandfather, Avraham Menachem Mendel Yodaiken (1857–1932) and his wife, Basia (nee Lapedus, 1860-1918) moved to Ireland from Lithuania in around 1890. There were Yodaiken cousins in Dublin already, which was probably why they went there. At the time of their move, they had five children, Sam (b.1875), Paulina (b.1880), Isaac Joe (b. 1876), Myer (b. 1886), and Rosie (b. 1890). They later had a 6 th child, Maurice Simon (b.1892). 118 “Why Ireland?” people often ask. There are many theories, probably none of them correct. Some say that the Jewish émigrés got tired of being on the boat, and got off at the first port of call. Others say that when the boat docked in Cork Harbour, and they heard ‘Cork’ being called out, our grandparents thought that they heard “New York” and disembarked. Hardly likely, but this is what we believed, as children, growing up in Dublin. The very first Jews in Ireland are believed to have arrived in 1067. More arrived around 1200, although nobody knows where they came from. In 1492, some Spanish/Portuguese Jews ended up in Ireland to escape the Spanish Inquisition. The first shul in Ireland dates back to around 1660 and the oldest cemetery to 1800. In the mid 1800s through to 1890 came a large Jewish influx, mainly from Lithuania and Latvia. (There was a smattering of Jews coming in from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany, but these were very much in the minority). Although they arrived virtually penniless, the new arrivals prospered. Many were door to door peddlers, some went into the drapery business, others became tailors, traveling 117 The research in this regard was done by the author’s cousin Lennie Yodaiken, a noted genealogist. 118 There had originally been seven Yodaiken siblings but two died in very early infancy. One can see this in the family photograph, because there are three adult and three young children.
salesmen, butchers and bakers. From whatever little money they made, they put some towards educating their children. Thus, the next generation of Irish Jews were dental surgeons, doctors, solicitors, barristers, and opticians One of these success stories was Robert (Bobby) Briscoe, (whose mother was a Yodaiken, related to Avraham Menachem Mendel). Briscoe participated in the struggle for freedom in Ireland, and ran guns and ammunition for the IRA (Irish Republican army) during Ireland’s War of Independence. He was also involved in the effort to create the state of Israel and helped many European Jews escape Nazi Germany and Europe. After World War II, he was elected to the Irish Parliament (the ‘Dáil’) and became the first Jewish Lord Mayor of Dublin. Newly arrived Jewish immigrants to Ireland spoke Yiddish, read Yiddish newspapers and stuck together, reminiscing about “der Heim”. They also brought their Jewish foods with them. Dublin’s South Circular Road district was predominately a Jewish area, comparable to Johannesburg’s Doornfontein around the same time. Known as “Little Jerusalem”, it included several delicatessens and approximately six kosher butcheries, where we bought our ‘fowl’ (‘chickens’ as they call them in South Africa), vuurst (polony) and sausages. There were three large Orthodox shuls with choirs, and one Progressive temple, in addition to numerous small shtiebl-type shuls, mainly in houses. The Irish Jews, like their South African counterparts who were also of Lithuanian stock, loved their gefilte fish, gehackter herring, pickled herring, chopped herring, Danish herring and potted herring. We sang the same tunes in shul, had the same trops for the leining and had a kiddush (‘brocha’) every Shabbat after services as our counterparts in South Africa. Then, we used the Singer siddur (today they use the Artscroll). The Irish Jewish community was at its peak in the 1940-1960 period, numbering close on 5500 souls. Everyone knew everyone else, and Irish Jews were noted for their infamous fariebels. Today the community is closer to 1600, with 1200 in the Republic and 400 in Northern Ireland. Avraham Menachem Mendel Yodaiken was a scrap metal merchant, operating out of a yard in Clanbrassil Street, in the South Circular Road district. An ardent Zionist, in 1912 he took himself off to the then Palestine to plough the land in Hadera (between Cesaria and Tel Aviv). He died and was buried there in October 1932. Of the six Yodaiken siblings, four (Isaac Joe, Paulina, Myer and Maurice Simon) went off to South Africa and Rhodesia, the lands of sunshine and golden opportunity. Rosie and Sam remained behind. Myer (1886-1954) was the first to leave Ireland, arriving in Worcester, Western Cape, in 1900. He spent some years in Southern Rhodesia, served in the South African forces during the German South West Africa campaign and afterwards returned to South Africa, marrying Rebecca Samuels on 31 July 1918. The couple lived in Worcester for a time, with Myer working in his brother-in-law, Louis Sakinofsky’s general store. They then moved to Southern Rhodesia, where Myer had a chrome mine and a transport business for moving his chrome ore and African Mines chrome ore to the rail head for loading into railway trucks. He also had a farm with around 25000 head of cattle. Unfortunately, he
Page 3 and 4: OBITUARIES Shortly before going to
Page 5 and 6: Johannesburg College of Education.
Page 7 and 8: To put the matter into proper persp
Page 9 and 10: Eden did not say that the Jews had
Page 11 and 12: have been humane and far-sighted”
Page 13 and 14: As is evident from the Rosenman col
Page 15 and 16: where the mean high temperature in
Page 17 and 18: Auschwitz book, p322 for example, t
Page 19 and 20: Was this a problem solved or a prob
Page 21 and 22: them, his brothers held him fast so
Page 23 and 24: prevalent. 58 The subsequent 1902 a
Page 25 and 26: associated with darkness and dampne
Page 27 and 28: and rebuilt. 82 Those living in the
Page 29 and 30: stories overheard as I walk, everyb
Page 31 and 32: from every part of the Continent, c
Page 33 and 34: perform those practices one chooses
Page 35 and 36: invoke absent health benefits in fe
Page 37 and 38: of circumciser to women but not usi
Page 39: If the above facts are accepted, an
Page 43 and 44: surviving children, Clarrice Jeanet
Page 45 and 46: These days, a Jewish left wing acti
Page 47 and 48: While still a member of the Hashome
Page 49 and 50: ostracized Jewish victims of bannin
Page 51 and 52: One could add several more expressi
Page 53 and 54: SOME JEWISH BOOKSELLERS AND BOOKSHO
Page 55 and 56: Wendy Levitt, the present Manager o
Page 57 and 58: usiness. In 2000, Hyman expressed p
Page 59: this. Please accept this record of

ja chank 2008 - South African Jewish Board of Deputies

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?