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Pedat B. Eleazar

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Table of descent and relationship; sometimes given in narrative form. Jews have always carefully recorded their genealogies (see article), but owing to their wide and frequent dispersions very few can trace their descent further back than a couple of hundred years. All persons of the name of Cohen claim descent from Aaron the high priest, but no attempt has ever been made by any Cohen actually to trace his descent through wellauthenticated documentary sources (see see COHEN (2)). After the return from the Exile the need of pedigrees became urgent owing to the rules of PRECEDENCE and the determination to avoid mixed marriages, as seen in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. This especially applied to those of priestly descent, who were not able to marry legally any woman who could not prove the purity of her descent as far back as her great-grandfather. There appears to have been a court at Jerusalem especially devoted to the investigation of cases of this kind (Ḳid. 76b).

Modern Pedigrees.

With the spread of Jews throughout Europe the difficulty of preserving pedigrees increased a hundredfold. The frequent expulsions and persecutions would prevent any written record being retained for any length of time, and traditional knowledge of a pedigree rarely extends beyond four or five generations. The Seder 'Olam Zuṭa professes to give eighty-nine generations, tracing back the exilarchs to Adam. With the rise of historical literature attention was paid rather to the spiritual and intellectual pedigree of teacher and pupil than to physical descent. Descent had little part in determining distinction, which went for the most part with learning in the Law; hence, in references to ancestry, more is made of the fact that a person is the author of a book than that he was the son of such and such a one. In the Middle Ages, besides, there was no registration of population in the ghettos, as a rule, and, consequently, no hereditary rights there which would require municipal records of Jewish descent. In Spain, however, after the rise of the Maranos, an attempt was made to trace their descent so as to avoid contamination by intermarriage with the Old Christians. One of the main objects in recording and preserving pedigrees was the claim, frequently put forward, to descent from David, which would permit of Messianic aspirations. For instance, the Abravanels made this claim, and Manasseh ben Israel appears to have been influenced in his Messianic aspirations by the consciousness that he had married into that family.

Owing to these and other causes it is extremely rare to find a Jewish family that even claims to trace its ancestry further back than the sixteenth century. The only one which has some pretensions to a pedigree reaching back to Talmudic times is the Luria family, which follows its descent back to Rabbi Johanan the sandal-maker (A. Epstein, "Die Familie Lurie," Vienna, 1901). Lucien Wolf attempted to connect the Treves family with that of Rashi in connection with the pedigree of the Marquis of Bute, but two of the links were hypothetical.

Sources.

Of the families whose pedigrees can be checked by tombstone inscriptions those of Frankfort-on-the-Main seem to be traceable the furthest; among these the Schiff family appears to be the earliest, going back to about 1375 (see Schiff Pedigree). It is, indeed, mainly from the tombstone inscriptions that material exists for any lengthy pedigrees among modern Jews. The most voluminous list of names thus found is that contained in Hock's Die Familien Prags," and Horowitz's "Inschriften," relating to Frankfort-on-the-Main. Only a beginning has been made with the important tombstones of Amsterdam; those of Rome relate to the earliest period, and are, therefore, of little use for the compilation of pedigrees; and the London ones have been almost entirely neglected. Berliner's collection of the Venice inscriptions is, perhaps, the next in value to Hock's.

Besides inscriptions, lists of authors often afford clues of family pedigrees. During the Middle Ages a family rarely persisted without producing one or other of the works recorded in the bibliograpḥies. Those who did not write works often printed them, and the list of printers and their assistants, again, is of value. The local records of congregations often contain information of importance in the list of benefactors recited during divine service at least once a year. The earlier list of martyrs in the memor-books is rarely of use, owing to the gap between the records of the fourteenth and those of the sixteenth century. Other sources are the books of the "mohelim," recording the circumcisions in various localities, though very few of these books have been preserved or printed. Local tax-lists ofthe period when Jews were separately taxed have been utilized, and a remarkable series of names was compiled by M. Freudenthal of the Jewish visitors to the Leipsic fair in the last quarter of the seventeenth century (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1902). This list, with the tombstone inscriptions of Frankfort-on-the-Main, Lemberg, and Prague, gives a very fair account of the most important Ashkenazic Jewish families of the seventeenth century.

A hitherto unexplored source for Sephardic families is the Inquisition records, mainly in Spain and Portugal, but found also in Mexico and South America. These contain a whole series of investigations into the family histories of persons accused of "Judaism," and it also frequently happens that, for one reason or another, Spanish families claim to have had their purity of blood ("limpieza de sangre")—that is, their freedom from Jewish blood—determined by the officers of the Inquisition. In both cases elaborate pedigrees were drawn up, which are of Jewish interest. One of these has been published by R. Gottheil in the "Jewish Quarterly Review" (1904), and further instances are referred to by Joseph Jacobs in his "Sources of Spanish-Jewish History" (Nos. 2, 14, 16). It is almost invariably a requirement for the establishment of the right to bear arms granted at the various heralds' colleges of Europe that a pedigree of the family making the claim shall be deposited in the herald's office. Many of these grants are of modern date, and the pedigrees supplied are often very scanty, but they are a hitherto unworked source of Jewish genealogies, and the list given under COAT OF ARMS must also be regarded as offering to those having access to the heralds' colleges material for the pedigrees of Jewish families.

From these and other sources a certain number of pedigrees of Jewish families have been compiled and printed separately, of which the following is a tentative list:

• Baer, B.—Stammtafeln der Familie Speyer. Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1896.
• Carmoly.—Sefer Dibre ha-Yamim. Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1850 (Ibn Yaḥya).
• Eisenstadt.—Da'at Ḳedoshim. St. Petersburg, 1898. (Families Eisenstadt, Bacharach, Ginzburg, Heilprin, Horowitz, Minz, Friedland, Katzenellenbogen, Rapoport.)
• Epstein, D.—Die Familie Lurie. Vienna, 1901.
• Freudenthal, S.—Aus der Heimat Mendelssohn's (containing Wolff pedigree), Berlin, 1900.
• Friedberg, B.—Gesch. der Familie Schorr. Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1901.
• Harkavy, A.—Stammbuch der Familie Harkavy. New York, 1903.
• Kahana, Samuel.—Familienstammbaum der Bekannten Jüdischen Familien Horowitz, Heilpern, Rappoport, Margulies, Schorr, Katzenellenbogen, etc. Cracow, 1903.
• Kaufmann and Brann.—Die Familie Zunz. Breslau, 1895.
• Krochmal, A. B.—Ma'alot Yuḥasin. Lemberg, 1900. (Margoliouth family.)
• Neustadt, L.—Stammtafeln der von Liebmann-Schwarzschild (1555-94) Abstammenden Familien. Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1886.
• Ullmann, E.—History of the Worms Family. Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1887.
• Wolf, L.—The Families of Yates and Samuel of Liverpool. London, 1901.

Apart from these, a certain number of pedigrees have been privately printed.

The largest collection of Jewish pedigrees ever made is that contained in the volumes of The Jewish Encyclopedia; they are indicated in the following list, which is intended as a guide to those investigating Jewish pedigrees. Besides the pedigrees therein contained (see names below in capitals) it gives also a number of articles on important families (names italicized), and these frequently contain sufficient material for pedigrees. The names of families bearing coats of arms are also given (marked with asterisks). In addition to these, there are the names of families contained in the great tombstone inscriptions of Frankfort-on-the-Main (marked F), Prague (P), and Rome (R); and for Italy the list contained in Mortara's "Indice" (M) often gives valuable information. The list of visitors to the Leipsic fair (L) at the end of the seventeenth century, made by Freudenthal, includes family lists that are practically equivalent to pedigrees. The pedigrees contained in Steinschneider's "Bodleian Catalogue" are given (St). It sometimes happens that information about certain Jewish families is contained in all or in a number of these sources.

1. *Abarbanel
2. *Abarbanel de Sousa
3. *Abarbanel da Veiga
4. *Abdala
5. Abeles (P)
6. *Abendana
7. Abi Zimra
8. *Aboab (M)
9. *Abolais
10. *ABRAVANEL
11. Abudarham
12. Abudiente
13. ABULAFIA
14. *Acosta
15. Adelkind
16. ADLER
17. Adret
18. *Aguilar (or D'Aguilar)
19. Ahron (St)
20. Alashkar
21. Alatino
22. (M)
23. Albalia
24. Alexander
25. ALFANDARI
26. Alfual
27. Alhadib
28. ALMANZI
29. Almoli
30. Almosnino
31. ALNAQUA
32. (P)
33. *Alvarez
34. Amsterdam (F)
35. (P, St, M)
36. *Andrade (or D'Andrade)
37. Antunes
38. Ardit
39. *Arnstein (F)
40. Ascoli (M)
41. Askenazi (P)
42. *Asser
43. ASTRUC
44. Athias
45. Attar,Ibn
46. (P)
47. Austerlitz (L, P)
48. *Avernas-le-Gras
49. *Azevedo
50. *Azevedo-Coutinho
51. AZULAI
52. (P)
53. Bachi (M)
54. Back (P)
55. Bagi
56. Bak (St)
57. (St)
58. Basilea
59. Bassani (M)
60. *Bassevi von Treuenfels
61. Bathyra
62. *Bebri
63. Beck (L, P)
64. BELINFANTE
65. BELMONT
66. *BELMONTE
67. Bendiner (L, P)
68. Benveniste
69. Berlin (P)
70. *Bernal
71. *Bessels
72. Bethel (R, M)
73. Bettelhein
74. Bierschenk (P)
75. Bing (F)
76. BISCHOFFSHEIM
77. *Bleichroder
78. (P)
79. Bondi (P)
80. Bonn(R)
81. BOTON
82. Bozeechi
83. Brandeis (L)
84. Brandes (P)
85. Braunschweig (F)
86. *Brito
87. Brody (F)
88. Buch (F)
89. Buchsbaum (F)
90. *Bueno
91. Bumslau (P)
92. Busch (P)
93. Caballeria, de la
94. (M)
95. *Caceres-Solis
96. *Cahen d'Anvers
97. *Camondo
98. (L)
99. Cantor (L)
100. *Capadose
101. Capsali
102. Carabajal
103. *CARDOZO
104. *Carvajal
105. Cases (M)
106. Caslari
107. Castellazzo
108. *Castello
109. *CASTRO, DE
110. Cavallero
111. *Cesana
112. Chalfon (St)
113. Chasan (F)
114. Chasid (St)
115. Chaves
116. Chezighin (M)
117. Clive (F)
118. Coen (M)
119. *Cohen
120. *Cohn
121. Conegliano
122. (M)
123. *Coronel
124. *COSTA, DA
125. Cousseri
126. Coutinho
127. Covo
128. *Curiel
129. Dajan (F, P)
130. Dalpuget
131. Darmstadt (F)
132. Darshan (P)
133. Darum (F)
134. David
135. Deiches
136. De Lattes (R)
137. *Delmar
138. Delmedigo
139. Derenburg
140. De Rossi (R)
141. De Sola (R)
142. Deuz (F)
143. Deweles (P)
144. Diaz de Soria
145. Diena (M)
146. *DISRAELI
147. Drach (F)
148. DURAN
149. Duschenes (P)
150. Dusselsheim (F)
151. Edels (P)
152. (P)
153. *Eichthal
154. Eidlitz (L, P)
155. Eisels
156. Eisensiadt (P)
157. ELIEZER
158. *Elkan von Elkansberg
159. (F)
160. Emden (F)
161. Emmerich (F)
162. Engel (F)
163. *Enriquez
164. (P)
165. *Erlanger
166. *Eskeles
167. *Espinosa
168. Estrumsa
169. Etting
170. Ettinger
171. Falk (F)
172. Fano (M)
173. *Faudel-Phillips
174. Finzi (M)
175. Fischeles (P)
176. Fleckeles
177. Foa
178. *Fonseca
179. Forti (M)
180. *Fould
181. Francia
182. *Franco
183. *Franco-Mendes
184. Frank (F)
185. FRÄNKEL (L)
186. Frankel-Spira (P)
187. Franks
188. Freund (P)
189. Friedburg (F)
190. Friedenwald
191. (P)
192. Fuchs (F)
193. Fuld (F)
194. Fulda (F)
195. Furie (P)
196. Fürst (L)
197. Fürth (P)
198. Gabbai
199. Gagin
200. GALANTE
201. Gallico (M)
202. Gamburg (F)
203. Gans (F, P)
204. Gatigno
205. Geiger (F)
206. Gelhaüser (F)
207. Gentili (M)
208. Gerondi (St)
209. Ghez
210. Ghiron (M)
211. Ghirondi
212. *Gideon
213. Gins (F, P)
214. Ginzburg (P)
215. Glogau (P)
216. *Goldschmidt (L)
217. *GOLDSMID
218. *GOMEZ
219. *Gomez de Sossa
220. Grab (P)
221. Gracian
222. GRADIS
223. Graetz (P)
224. Graf (P)
225. (P)
226. Gregor (P)
227. Gumpels (P)
228. *GÜNZBURG
229. *Haber
230. Habern (P)
231. *Haber von Lindsberg
232. *Halevi
233. Halfon (P)
234. Hamburg (P)
235. Hammerschlag (L)
236. Hamon
237. Harby
238. Harkavy
239. Hart
240. Hasan (P)
241. Hayet (P)
242. Hayot (P)
243. HAYS
244. HAZZAN
245. Hecht
246. Heid (P)
247. HEILPRIN
248. *HEINE
249. *Heine-Geldern
250. Held (P)
251. HENDRICKS
252. HENRIQUES
253. *Herschell
254. Hesch (F)
255. *Hirsch von Gereuth
256. Höchheimer
257. Hock (P)
258. *Hofmann von Hofmannsthal
259. *Hönig von Hönigsberg
260. Horwitz (P)
261. *Hurtado de Mendoza
262. Hurwitz (St)
263. Hyneman
264. Ibn Shoshan
265. Ibn Tibbon
266. Israel
267. Itzig
268. Jachja (St)
269. Jacobson
270. Jafe (St)
271. JAFFE
272. Jare
273. Jeiteles
274. Jeitteles (P)
275. Jellinek
276. Jerushalim (P)
277. Jess (P)
278. *Jessel
279. Jesurun
280. Jetstein (P)
281. JOAB
282. *Joel von Joelson
283. Johnson
284. Joseph
285. *Josephs
286. Jost
287. Judah
288. Kadisch (P)
289. Kaffky (L)
290. Kalisch (P)
291. Kalonymus
292. Kapkis (P)
293. Karmi
294. Karpeles (P)
295. Karsah (L)
296. Katz (P)
297. KATZENELLENBOGEN
298. *Kaulla
299. Kaz (St)
300. Kimchi
301. Kimḥi
302. Kisch (P)
303. Kish (P)
304. Klabess (P)
305. Köhn (L)
306. Koinis (L)
307. Königswarter
308. Konpei (L)
309. *Kusel
310. Labi
311. *Lämmel
312. LANDAU
313. Landsberg
314. Laniado
315. Lara, Cohen de
316. Lattes (M)
317. Leberls (P)
318. Lehren
319. Leipan (P)
320. Lekeles (P)
321. *Lemos, De
322. Leon (P)
323. *Leon, De
324. Levi P, M)
325. *Levin
326. *LEVY
327. Lichtenstadt (P)
328. LINDO
329. LIPKIN
330. Lipkowitz (P)
331. Lipmann (L)
332. Lipschitz (P)
333. Lipschütz
334. Lobato
335. Lombroso
336. *Lopez
337. *Lopez de Fonseca
338. Lopez Rosa
339. *Lopez-Suasso
340. *Lopez-Suasso-Diaz-Da Fonseca
341. *Losada y Lousada, De
342. LOUSADA
343. *Lowenthal
344. LUNTZ
345. Luria
346. (M)
347. Maarssen (St)
348. *MACHADO
349. *Machiels-Clinbourg
350. Machorro
351. (P)
352. Marini (M)
353. *Marx von Marxburg
354. Massarani (M)
355. *Mattos, De
356. *Mayer - Ketschendorf
357. Me'ati, ha-
358. Medina
359. Meisel (P)
360. Melammed (P)
361. (M)
362. Melli
363. Mendel (P)
364. MENDELSSOHN
365. *MENDES
366. *Mendez
367. Menken
368. *Mesquita
369. Meyuḥas
370. Michaels (P)
371. Mieses
372. Minir
373. MINIS
374. Mintz (P)
375. (M)
376. Mirles (P)
377. Mizraḥi
378. *MOCATTA
379. Modena (M)
380. Moïse
381. Mölln
382. Monstrete (P)
383. *Montagu
384. *MONTEFIORE
385. *Morenu
386. *Morpurgo (M)
387. Moscheles (P)
388. Murowitz (P)
389. Mustatel (P)
390. Myers
391. Nabon
392. Nahmias
393. Najara
394. Nassy
395. Nathan
396. Netira
397. *Nieto
398. Norsa (M)
399. Norzt
400. Oes (P)
401. *Oliveira
402. Öls (P)
403. *Oppenheim
404. *Oppenheimer
405. Otiz (P)
406. Ottolenghi (M)
407. Pache
408. Padova (M)
409. Paiva
410. *Palache
411. Panzieri
412. *Pardo (M)
413. *Parente
414. *Pas, De
415. Peixotto
416. *Pereira
417. *Pereira-Arnstein
418. Perez (P)
419. Perles (P)
420. Perugia (M)
421. Pesaro
422. Pfann (P)
423. Phillips
424. Pick (P)
425. Pietosi, Dei (M)
426. *Pimentel
427. Pina
428. Pino
429. Pinto
430. *Pinto, De
431. Polack (L, P)
432. Polen (P)
433. Pomis, de
434. Popper (P)
435. Porges (L)
436. *Porges von Portheim
437. Portaleone
438. Porto (St? M)
439. Prager (L)
440. Pressels (P)
441. Provenzal (M)
442. (P)
443. Rappoport
444. Raudnitz (L, P)
445. Racanati (M)
446. Reggio (M)
447. *Reinach (P)
448. Reiner (P)
449. *Reuter, De
450. *Ricardo
451. Riess (L, P)
452. Rieti (R, M)
453. Rivera
454. *Rodriguez
455. Rofe (P)
456. Rokeah (P)
457. Roma (M)
458. Rophe (P)
459. Rosello (R)
460. Rosenberg (P)
461. Rossi, De
462. *ROTHSCHILD (L)
463. Sabteka (P)
464. Sachs (L)
465. Sadukes (P)
466. *Salomons
467. *Salvador
468. *Salvador-Rodrigues
469. *Sampayo
470. *SAMUEL
471. *Samuel de Vahl
472. Saraval (M)
473. Sarchi
474. *Sarmiento
475. Sasportas
476. *Sassoon (M)
477. Scazzocchio (R)
478. (L)
479. Schilpl (L)
480. Schmelkes (P)
481. Schochet (P)
482. Schomberg
483. Schor
484. SCHORR
485. Schuk (P)
486. SCHWARZSCHILD
487. Scialon (M)
488. Segre
489. Segri (M)
490. Seixas
491. *Seligmann
492. Sephardi (M)
493. Sforno
494. Shames (P)
495. Shapin (P)
496. Shapiro
497. Sheftall
498. Shemariah (R)
499. Sheshet
500. Shoeb
501. Shor
502. *Simson
503. Sinigaglia (M)
504. SOLA
505. SOLIS
506. (St)
507. *Sonnenfels
508. Sopher (P)
509. Sousa
510. (P)
511. Spira (P, St)
512. Stern (L)
513. *Suasso
514. SULZBERGER
515. Sussmann
516. *Sylva, Da
517. Tales (P)
518. Tatar (P)
519. Taussig (P)
520. Tebeles (P)
521. *Tedesco
522. *Teixeira
523. *Teixeira de Mattos
524. Teller (P)
525. (R)
526. Teomim-Frankel
527. Teplitz (P)
528. Terracini
529. Texeira
530. Thein (P)
531. Todros (P)
532. Toledano
533. Trabot (M)
534. Trabotto
535. *Treves (R, M)
536. Trevoux
537. Tuska (P)
538. Ulma (P)
539. *Vahl, De
540. Vecchio
541. Veit (L)
542. Ventura (M)
543. *Vidal
544. Viterbo (R, M)
545. (P)
546. *Waley (P)
547. Wallerstein (P)
548. *Wandsworth
549. Warburg
550. *Wartenegg von Wertheimstein
551. *Weil von Weilen
552. Wele (P)
553. *Weling
554. Welsch (P)
555. *Wertheimer
556. Wessel (P)
557. Wien (P)
558. Wiener (Prague) (L, P)
559. Winternitz (P)
560. WORMS
561. *Worms, De
562. *Ximenes
563. *Ximenes-Cisneros
564. Yaḥya, Ibn
565. YATES
566. Zahalon
567. Zahen
568. Ẓarfati (M)
569. Zifroni
570. Zoref (P)
571. ZUNZ

It is, of course, obvious that such pedigrees deal in the main with male descendants, and the intermarriages of the families can only be ascertained by the investigation of the communal lists of "ketubot," which rarely exist except among the Sephardim of London and Amsterdam. Consanguineous intermarriages are so frequent among Jews that any well-worked-out pedigree which includes the marriages tends to connect almost all important families. Thus, the Speyer pedigree gives references in its indexes to no less than 194 families with which that family has intermarried during the last three centuries. It would not, indeed, be difficult to connect all the Sephardic families of the United States by one sketch pedigree showing their intermarriages with the Seixas family. Indeed, as the study of Jewish pedigrees proceeds, the proverb that "All Israel are brethren" is seen to be literally true. It is, indeed, extremely rare that, as in the case of the Samuel and Yates families, the ancestry can be traced back to a mixed marriage (also Purity of Race).

The study of Jewish pedigrees is still in its infancy, and, considering the materials at hand, but little has hitherto been done toward the compilation of such pedigrees of Jewish families. The scattering of Jews all over the world renders such compilations extremely difficult; but, on the other hand, the great number of names that have been brought together of recent years gives material sufficient, in most cases, to indicate the directions in which search should be made.