THE ANGEL LAILAH

 

EXCERPT Page 65

This is when I came across a beautiful teaching in the Babylonian Talmud that seemed to make perfect sense.  According to this medieval Jewish text, the angel Lailah lives in the womb and watches over the embryo until it is time to be born.  The angel teaches the unborn child everything there is to know about the mysteries of life and his or her own soul.  When the time comes for the child to be born, the angel Lailah puts her finger in front of her own mouth as if to say, "shhh," and then presses the upper lip of the child so all the memories are forgotten.  According to the mouth, the light touch on the child's lip leaves a small indentation above the lip called a philtrum, which is something we all have. I started to think that perhaps the angel Lailah just hadn't pressed quite hard enough on some children's lip's, and this is why they had come into their current life bearing soul memories.

RAISING and LOSING, MY REMARKABLE TEENAGE MOTHER : ANCESTRY WORSHIP GENEALOGY BOOK REVIEW

 

This memoir by Stacey Aaronson, born Stacey Hill, is about a life that many have lived, being the child of a teenager mother who had a brief relationship with their birth father and a marriage to give the child a name.  It moves through the years quickly.  Stacey moved around a lot, between her birth parents, and spent long years not living with her mother, who went through many relationships and marriages.  What I wasn't expecting was that her mother herself had been adopted and that was a mystery.

Stacey is given to mystical powers such as second site and believes that she chose this mother before she was born and had a vision of her mother's birth mother as a child.  But she also feels it was up to her to raise her mother. Since eventually her mother's birth mother was found, this is not a case of Stacey being born again to do that.

In 1990 her mom got the NONIDENTIFYING INFORMATION about her own mother who gave birth to her in the Long Beach, California area in 1952.  That information is given fully in the book and I was surprised at how much information it was. I could imagine putting that all up on an adoption registry.

It turns out that teenage pregnancies among adoptees is common and the theory presented is that this is so the teenager can have someone in their life of their own genetics.  This theory is floated but not detailed.

The book does not say how the person who was hired to get the information unsealing the adoption proceeded, and I did wonder.  Upon the first phone call the birth mother completely denied it.  It took three phone calls.  So, now here is the disappointment.  For the next eighteen years Stacey's mother and her mother's birth mother sent cards and had telephone calls. They developed a relationship slowly but never met in person. Never. There was always a sense that this birth mother was withholding information and herself. It's said that she was a little bit Cherokee.

Stacey was not born Jewish. She discovered and was drawn to Judaism and converted.  She changed her name to Aaronson as part of her acceptance of a Jewish life.  She belongs to liberal Jewish congregations that accept women as Rabbis and accept lesbians.  Her partner is someone she met on the internet and had a long distance friendship with and it took a while for the friends to realize their soul connection and that it was not a "cyber illusion." Also, though she did have a relationship with a man who she was attracted to when she was young, she ended an engagement with another man who she was not attracted to. She realized she's lesbian and has had a long term relationship with a partner. Her mother instantly and fully accepted this. 

In 2016, after her birth mother had died, Stacey's mother got herself a DNA heritage kit and learned that the birth mother had lied on her NONIDENTIFYING INFORMATION....

Her birth father was not part Cherokee, he was Jewish.  And while that could have been a misunderstanding, she also lied about how many siblings she had.  The mystery is therefore one that will go unsolved forever. Not a lot is said about this woman other than that Stacey had been right in her vision of her as a toddler.  She was red haired and a lot like the actress Audrey Meadows.

The voice of this book is young and enthusiastic but it does get into the gritty details of her mother's death.  Somehow I did not get how it is that Stacey raised her mom.

C 2021 Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot

JUDAISM as MATRIARCHAL CULTURE : JEWISH GENEALOGY

Walking the dog, I got into a conversation with a new neighbor who happens to be an obstetrician and Jewish.  Still delivering babies though well past the usual retirement age, the joke goes that he's seen half the town naked - because he delivered them. Must say, he is up on genetic testing as well as invitro. He mentioned that he delivered a woman's grandchild, she being the surrogate for her daughter. He also told me - and I had not heard this before - WHY Jewish culture is matriarchal.  Simply, "The men were taken away as slaves and the women had to carry on."

Jewish genealogy is extremely popular and there are many cooperative projects.  Some of this, I feel, is part of the urge towards Americans finding their roots after forgetting about them for a couple generations, some of it is surely because of the devastating effect of the Holocaust on the Jewish people. DNA is adding an interesting aspect to genealogical research because some people are using it to try to confirm Jewish ancestry just as some are using it to try and confirm Native American ancestry.

My experience is that while some European Jewish records are superior to Christian records, because they give interesting information not found in most Baptismal records, overall there are special challenges.  For instance the name of the midwife and/or the name of the Rabbi who did a circumcision, which may indicate the congregation or temple a family belonged to, is listed.  This seems to be about a concern that the baby be handled in a kosher way and a certainty of Jewishness.

I once had a student who started the class with a negative attitude, that because her family had all "perished" she could not do genealogy. This is simply not true.  Genealogy like history is so niche specific. At the time I was teaching that class there were websites for people to register themselves as survivors similar to the ones that match birth parents with children they gave up for adoption. I showed this woman where she could let the world know she survived and possibly someone would find her. 

Today I find the Yad Vashem website to be increasingly comprehensive and a wealth of information.

Truly it seems as if there is more information on Jewish people of the holocaust era than ever.

C 2019 Ancestry Worship Genealogy - All Rights Reserved

POLAR VORTEX FREEZES ME INTO PLACE

Here in Southern California, few people actually have the appropriate outer wear for cold, rain, or snow.  So it's kind of funny to be having coffee at a coffee house near a transportation hub, nice and warm inside, see the rain pouring down outside, and watch all the people who have used plastic trash bags to fashion rain-coats of sorts or who are holding plastic bags over their heads, racing down the streets. 


Umbrellas are sold here, particularly by enterprising street venders who buy some wholesale downtown and head out.  They are mostly made in China and good for one storm, one blast of cold air.  Then they turn inside out or break off and go into the trash bins.


It's been raining off and on for a couple days, and I'm seeing men outside without hats or  umbrellas, without sweaters or jackets.  I'm seeing women who have matching hats and scarves; they must have them stored away for years for the opportunity to wear them!


Maybe you can appreciate that we endured weeks of above average temperatures - in the nineties and the hundreds - this past summer, and that means that when it goes down into the forties or fifties we've experienced a temperature crash.  I'm OK with the outside temperature in the 60's but one recent morning at five, I needed to take my very patient dog outside already, and it was thirty seven degrees and windy.  There was black ice on the street.  I was creaking.  Steam came up from under the dog as she went.


THAT'S COOOOLD. 


But I promised I wouldn't complain about the cold when it was too hot out.


On the news, the POLAR VORTEX, the reason for this FREEZE.  I looked at the map and long underwear sales must be fierce in much of the United States.


I think of our ancestors who came to the states from the cold and remained living in the cold, as if cold was their heritage and their inheritance.  Seems like many of these people were bodily acclimated to cold weather.  Did they really not notice it?  Not mind it?  Were they just sturdier people?  I think of Native Americans.  I think of Colonials.  I think of dwellings without insulation or central heating.  Hovering near a fire place.


For me, this stretch of rain and cold just makes me want to burrow in.  If I could, I'd be cabin bound.  Instead I'm doing a little more decorating, baking, sewing, and crocheting, than usual.


Happy Holidays to All My Readers!

SUGIHARA - CONSPIRACY OF KINDNESS : ANCESTRY WORSHIP GENEALOGY FILM REVIEW

How a heroic Japanese diplomat saved Jewish refugees in World War II

C 2005 Dentsu Inc.

In 1939, as Hitler advanced through Eastern Europe and Jews fled, Japanese diplomat CHIUNE SUGIHARA decided that he would provide handwritten (in Japanese) passports to thousands of others.  He risked his career and ultimately was punished and by the time he returned to his family he was a changed man, for the worse, unsmiling and perhaps depressed.

He was the Japanese Counsul to Litrhuania and more than 2000 Sughihara visas allowed families to flee through Russia to Japan and then abroad.  He is the Japanese Shindler.  For today there are at least 40,000 people alive due to his decision to act upon his innermost values. 

In a case like this I always hope that this person has their reward in the afterlife and in future incarnations.

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HOW JEWISH IS THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE, CATHERINE? HOW ABOUT HER HUSBAND WILLIAM?

Once upon a time I took Journalism classes in college and I'm miffed.  Why are so many publications simply refusing to call the former Catherine "Kate" Middleton, her proper name which is, since her marriage, Catherine Windsor, or Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge?  

Since she is now expecting another child, there is so much press coverage of Catherine and her husband, William Windsor, Duke of Cambridge, and reading around it for a couple hours the other night I discovered that there is a controversy circulating that Catherine is Jewish, or some small part Jewish.  One website I looked at said "She is not Jewish but she has Jewish ancestry."

Apparently this is a big issue because there is also speculation that Diana, Princess of Wales, the mother of William Windsor, Duke of Cambridge, was also Jewish, through her mother, and if the speculation is to be believed, Diana's genetic father may have been a Jewish man that her mother might have been having an affair with, making her the half sibling of Jemima Khan and the Goldsmiths.  One site declares that someday both the King and Queen of England will be Jews.

I find this all interesting, and I suppose the main importance of it would be that someday if William becomes King, it will be up to him to uphold and be the head of the Church of England.

On the side of "is Jewish" is that the surname Goldsmith, which is the maiden name of Catherine's mother, is supposed to be a "Jewish only" name from the days when only Jewish people were to be involved in precious metals and the making of jewelry.  One sit ehad a chart of the women in her mother's line, first names, surnames, and dates.  Back in the 18th century there was a Rebecca, for instance.  Well, I know Christian Rebecca's. 

Then there is the long held Jewish notion that the child is Jewish if the mother is.  That's by Jewish standards. But this doesn't take into account that people may have been practicing another religion for generations or be uninterested in religion.  Here, after many generations, we have the ONE DROP philosophy, which is that if a person has one ancestor who is Jewish, or Black, then they ARE, as if all those other ancestors should be discounted.  Having met people who wished to self identify with this rather flimsy evidence I back off and say "as you will." 

How someone looks has something to do with it, no doubt.  How society and culture in a time and place looks at a person, also has something to do with it.  DNA may also throw such controversies to the curb; I know one Black woman who just found out that her first American ancestor was a white Irish woman in early America in indentured servitude and who married a Free Black man.  She feels this has thrown her self identity.

Historically there have been a lot of people forced into conversion.  But there are also people who openly and willingly change religions.  Dare I say there are a lot of people who don't care all that much and just go along with the program?  For instance, in Europe people changed religion by command of whomever owned the land they lived on.

Clearly, when it comes to belief, both William and Catherine are members of the Church of England, which is Protestant Christian.  They are not Jewish.  They are not Catholic.  They were married in the Church of England.  Their children will be raised in the Church of England.  To me, no matter what their DNA, or the history of their families, they are what they are in the here and now.


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CHABAD.org explains about YIZKOR PRAYER and GIVING

"In addition to reciting Yizkor for one's parents, one may recite Yizkor for any Jew who has passed on, including relatives and friends. When reciting Yizkor for more than one person, repeat the Yizkor paragraph each time, and substitute the words "Aböh Mori" (my father), or " Imi Morösi" (my mother), with the appropriate title, as follows: For a Husband: "Ba-ali." Son: "B'ni." Brother: "Öchi ." Uncle: "Dodi." Grandfather: "Z'kainy" . Wife: " Ishti." Daughter: "Biti." Sister: "Achosi." Aunt: "Dodosi." Grandmother: "Z'ken-ti."

Read more by linking the site above!

ALL SOULS - CHRISTIAN AND BUDDHIST or HINDU or JEWISH PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD GOLDFISH?

...to be released from Purgatory or Bardo to Heaven or Eternal Bliss...

I believe there is an afterlife. I also believe there is an experience best described as reincarnation. I eagerly read about the experiences those who "almost died" come back with. Although the tunnel of light and loving ancestors and friends who have passed on seems to be the most commonly reported experience, I have also read some very dark stories, some intent on converting the reader.

My most favorite reference to the near death experience is from prolific author and psychic, famous through television, Sylvia Browne. Sylvia has such a forthright personality. She tells it as she sees it, even if it's a little ouchy, at first.

OK, Sylvia Browne says that all the PETS you have owned and loved in ALL YOUR INCARNATIONS are also waiting for you when you make it through that tunnel of light to the OTHER SIDE... the very idea makes me smile.

CAN YOU IMAGINE YOUR PET FISH over there swimming, swimming, swimming in the ether? Waiting, waiting, waiting...

You know what? I can't. I am afraid that long ago I accidentally, through ignorance, killed some pet fish! One time I killed three fancy goldfish in their mucky mucky because I had the brilliant idea to put clean fresh water in their bowl! But maybe in eternal bliss they forgive me.

The turtle that never came out of hibernation in our basement: him too?


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NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY YIZKOR BOOKS

There are several resources for Yizkor books (Books that Record and thus Remember those Jews killed in the Holocaust of World War II) but I just found this one from THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, which gives you VIEWABLE books on line... THIS IS AN EXPERIENCE!

Millions of people who were not Jewish were also killed by the Nazis, such as Rom (gypsies), Catholic clergy, and Polish Christian Intelligentsia, and it is my hope that there will be comprehensive memory books for them too someday.

POSTCARDS FROM HEAVEN by DAN GORDON : ANCESTRY WORSHIP BOOK REVIEW

POSTCARDS FROM HEAVEN by DAN GORDON
Messages of Love from the Other side
C 2008 Dan Gordon
Freepress / Simon and Schuster

This short but eloquent book is about family who've died and the uncanny experiences that lead the author, Dan Gordon, to believe, that yes, they have let others know they are in heaven. From the appearance of a jackrabbit who uncharacteristically remained Buddha-like as a sign, or the way his son Zaki smelled sweet - and a grandparent thought of him in terms of dimming light - before a killing car accident just months out of film school, Dan Gordon presents those ah-ha moments.

Here is what The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles had to say : "Gordon hails from 13 generations of Chasidic rabbis, and while his immediate family has long shed strict, Chasidic Jewish tradition, the stories in his book illustrate, in secular terms but with the skill of a master Chasidic raconteur, the presence of God in everyday life. "The recirculation of the soul, kind of the belief in reincarnation, isn't foreign to Judaism at all or our literature," Gordon said. Orit Arfa writing.

Zaki had asthma. Page 85 "I had become aware of a sickly sweet odor that emanated from Zaki's scalp just before the onset of an asthma attack. I told his doctor this and it in fact never failed. From then on, the minute I smelled that smell on his hair, we started his medication as a prophylactic. Thus, when Debi said that he smelled like my deceased father, I immediately took a whiff. Maybe his asthma is about to come back, I thought, as if only asthma could do him harm. But the sickly sweet smell wasn't there.

"I don't smell anything," I said.

"Well I do!" Debi said defiantly. "I don't know how you can say you don't smell anything. He smells just like Uncle Abe!"

Debi seemed to be getting genuinely angry about the whole thing. I tried logic. "Debi, I said, "that's silly. I don't even remember what my father smelled like."

"We'll I do," she said, eyes flashing now in defense of the memory of my father's particular smell. "And he," she said, pointing at Zaki, "Smells just like him." ...

C 2009-2015 Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot 

All Rights Reserved Including Internet and International Rights

THE JEWS OF THE UNITED STATES BY HASIA DINER

From a small boat load of Brazilian Jews into New Amsterdam, to a mere 2000 at the time of the Declaration of Independence as a beginning, the Jews immigrated by the millions and have since participated in and effected American life. Today, particularly because of those who perished in the Holocaust, Jewish genealogists are documenting their heritage and family life.

This book is quite interesting a read for anyone, Jewish or not, interested in American History. And as most genealogist know, reading around the history is likely to give you clues when you are researching, especially when it comes to following patterns of migration.

Jews of the United States
1654-2000
by Hasia R. Diner
University of California Press

WHEN SCOTLAND WAS JEWISH by DONALD YATES and ELIZABETH CALDWELL HIRSCHMAN

WHEN SCOTLAND WAS JEWISH

by Donald Yates and Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman

DNA Evidence, Archeology, Analysis of Migrations, and Public and Family Records Show Twelfth Century Semitic Roots.

McFarland and Company Publishers -Jefferson, North Carolina and London

Fascinating! The DNA evidence may be the clincher to a controversial theory that the authors intend to prove to their best ability, that common assumptions about Scotland and the Scottish are erroneous, and that many people of Jewish ancestry came to prominence, developing the culture of the country. Bagpipes were a Middle Eastern instrument first, for instance.

The population of developing Scotland was heavily influenced by an influx of Sephardic Jews from the 12th century on, and many of the famous CLANS and SEPTS have this root heritage.

Covered here are Campbell, Forbes, Fraser, and several other surnames thought commonly to be genetically Scottish. The evidence begins with portraits from the National Gallery showing the portraits of early famous aristocrats sporting head-wear and faces that are considered to be Semitic. It moves onto the DNA testing of representatives of these surnames from around the world.

Did Presbyterianism have had its roots in Proto-Jewish communities that practiced a Torah aware version of Christianity as a kind of cover for Judaism? These researchers think so. Yates and Hirschman also dip in to the whole Knights Templar, Freemasons, and Cabala controversy which of late seems to also wind up in Scotland.

These researchers started out a few years ago with their pioneering research into the Melungeons of the South-eastern United States, a heritage they both share, and also believe to have begun in Iberian - Mediterranean Sephardic-Jewish and Arabian populations.

C 2009 Ancestry Worship - Genealogy