Читать книгу In the Land of Israel: My Family 1809-1949 - Nitza Rosovsky - Страница 12

Armed with the names of relatives and information from the yortzeiten recorded in the Humashim, I turned to the Montefiore Censuses to learn more about the Jews living in Palestine in the nineteenth century. The five censuses, or mifkadim, taken between 1839 and 1876, were commissioned by Sir Moses Montefiore and his wife, Lady Judith. The son of a successful Sephardi merchant, Montefiore grew up in England where he became well known for his contributions to civic causes and was knighted by Queen Victoria. He remained a committed Jew who tried to help his people, especially the ones in Eretz Israel who were living in poverty, spending their days in prayer and study.

Jewish immigration to Palestine had increased during the first part of the nineteenth century, but few newcomers could earn a living largely because of the poor economic conditions in the country. Most Ashkenazi Jews existed on welfare, on haluka, which further discouraged them from seeking work. Montefiore tried to motivate them to get jobs, to engage in farming and manufacturing. He and his wife visited the country in 1839, two years after the earthquake that had flattened Safed and Tiberias and killed thousands of people, the majority of whom were Jews. Montefiore wished to assess the damage caused by the disaster and provide aid to the victims. He might have also wanted to assure the fair allocation of funds. The first census was taken during that visit, recording the names of 6,048 Jews.

Community representatives in every town and village set out to list the first name and age of each Jewish male, the date and place of his birth and, if he was born abroad, the year of his arrival in the country. The man’s occupation, marital status, and the number of children under thirteen living in his household were noted. Most of the later censuses included the names of wives and children as well. The inhabitants were divided into Sephardim and Ashkenazim. The latter were further divided into Hasidim and Perushim (also known as Mitnagdim), and into kolelim, groups organized by place of origin. The censuses were not perfect yet they provide priceless information.⁵

Combining the data I had from interviews and the Humashim with what I found in the censuses, I was able to construct a family tree (above). The names that appeared in the censuses are marked by an asterisk. And a reminder to help the reader: Esther Ashkenazi Brandeis, listed last in the segment on the left, was my great-grandmother.

Every researcher, detective, or crossword puzzle addict knows the sense of exhilaration when a bit of information falls into place and a picture begins to emerge. I was thrilled when I found my ancestors’ names in the censuses. Not that I ever doubted the accuracy of the Humashim but they only contained evidence of death. When the same names appeared in the censuses it made their bearers’ lives so very real: I found out when and where they were born, when they came to the Land of Israel, and where and how they lived.