OUR SOCIETY'S LIFE
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FAMILIES
The Weils are many, but some are special
The author JB develops his Alsatian genealogy started in the early 1980ies and identifies his great-great-grandmother Weill remembered in the family lore, finding in sequence her actual given name Rachel, her birthplace Schirrhoffen and finally her parents. Her father Elias Weil originates in Sulzburg, Baden, Germany. The well-read JB also remembers a footnote read in 1938, about Alexandre Weill (1811-1899), born in Schirrhoffen, journalist and writer. Shortly after World War II, JB read Alexander Weil’s memoirs and novels and was shocked by the description of the backward way of life lead by the Alsatian Jewry in the early 19th century. But he discovers that Alexander is not only related to both his ancestral lines, he writes the full history of their common family, which belongs to the Stühlingen/Sulzburg rabbinical Weil dynasty, including Meir Rothenburg, and has been broadly discussed and published. The lesson: read, read, contact others and combine.
Bollwiller, the berth of the Grumbach family.
DENIS INGOLD compiles all and any citation of Jews in Bollwiller, from 1449 to the 18th century, in order to assess the advent of family names. In addition to well-known sources the author makes a wide use of forensic documents from the Bollwiller lordship.
More about the ancestors of Claude Lévi-Strauss
GUY WORMS elaborates on the article by Bernard Lyon-Caen in the issue 96 of this very journal, written and published shortly after the 100th birthday of Claude Levi-Strauss. He complements the list of ancestors over five generations, all of them originating in Alsace.
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MISCELLANEOUS
The role of given names in North African Jewish anthroponimy
JACQUES TAÏEB develops a statistical analysis of given names that are found in North African Jewish family names, according to their linguistic origin. He uses the data of his own book, published by our Society in 2004, complemented by additional new information. He analyses the social meaning and the aim (conjuring, votive, etc.) of these given names. Their use within the tradition-bound North African Jewish society reflects its concept of the world.
How to use the search engines of our website?
Our webmaster GEORGES GRANER elaborates on the online instructions for using the three available search engines: the general search engine, the library search engine and the question-answer search engine. All three tools benefit from online French and English instructions.
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BOOK REVIEW
Analysis of books recently included in our Library.:
La communauté juive de Metz et ses familles (1565-1700) by Pascal Faustini
La Plage de Trouville by Carole Achache
Les Litvaks by Henri Minczeles, Yves Plassereaud, and Suzanne Pourchier.
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NEW DOCUMENTS IN OUR LIBRARY
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PRESS REVIEW
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