●

Shlomo Gurevich​ and ​David Howard ​in New York

City Aug 2006 attending Horowitz Family Dinner, in conjunction
with International Jewish Genealogical Conference.
●
Various web pages from the worldwide ​Horowitz Families Association​ based in
Israel are mirrored here to make them easier to view. ​Shlomo Gurevich​ is a primary
source for many of these documents. Click on
Return to FamRoots
to go back to the Horwitz Family of Rezekne, Latvia that moved to
Chicago about 1905.

●
This mirror site includes the fascinating information the
Association has gathered about the Horowitz families as well
as their association information. Follow the
Family History​ Link to view
their family history information.
●
Shlomo Gurevich​ - Shlomo is a tremendous source of
information about the Horowitz families of the world. If you follow his personal link to the left you
will find very interesting informationV at VA Tech. Click on
the Shlomo Personal
link to visit his homepage.

● Participate in the Horowitz Y-DNA project

and let your "genes" do their own genealogy for

you. We need wide participation of family members. Click on the
following link now to find out more.
Horowitz Family
Project at FamilyTreeDNA

● The following is the internet version of the introduction to the book written and published by
Shlomo Gurevich​ which is now available in​ English​ as well as in​ ​Russian language: "Gurevich,
Gurovich, Gurvich, Gorvich, Gurvitz, Horowitz and others. History of A Great Family" (Haifa,
1999, ISBN 965-222-971-7)
●
According to family tradition, the name Horowitz is associated with​ ​Horovice​, a small town near
Prague in the Czech Republic, where Jews expelled from Spain were allowed to settle. In the
beginning, they lived in and around Prague, then scattered in Eastern and Central Europe. The
founders of the dynasty were Levites but in time non-Levites also entered the family through
marriage.

●
One of the most remarkable personalities in the whole history of the Horowitz families is the Rabbi
and Philosopher Yeshayahu Halevi Ish-Horowitz (the revered "​Shlah​", author of the work "Shnei
Luchot Habrit"), who immigrated from Prague to Jerusalem in 1621 and is buried on the same site
as the Rambam in Tiberias.

●
We have documentation of the activities of Horowitz Rabbis, authors and people who were active in
their communities in Europe (Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, Germany,​ ​Lithuania​,​ ​Romania​, Russia)
for hundreds of years, and in the last century also in America, South Africa and Australia. Many
members of Horowitz families lost their lives in the Holocaust.
 ● Horowitzes played an important role in the Zionist
Movement and development of the State of Israel. They were among the pioneers of various
settlements, kibbutzim and moshavim. For example, Zvi Hurvitz, a member of the "Bilu" group,
was one of the founders of Gedera; Nachum Horowitz of Kfar Giladi was one of the founders of the
"HaShomer" Movement; David Horowitz, a member of Kibbutz Beit Alfa, was the first Governor of
the Bank of Israel, and Yigal Horowitz, a member of the moshav Nahalal, became Minister of
Finance. Many Horowitzes distinguished themselves in the wars of Israel.

● Nowadays, Horowitzes are active in all areas of life: in

culture, art, science, economics and communications, all over the world. Some Gurevitches exerted
important functions in former Soviet Union, and have suffered from
anti-Semitic persecutions of the regime. In recent years, many Gurevitch families have emigrated to
Israel where they play an increasingly important role in the cultural life and the economy of the
country.

Where We Came From

by Shlomo Gurevich

●
The following is the internet version of the introduction to the book written and published by​ ​Shlomo Gurevich​ which is now available in​ English​ as well as in Russian
language: "Gurevich, Gurovich, Gurvich, Gorvich, Gurvitz, Horowitz and others. History of A Great Family" (Haifa, 1999, ISBN 965-222-971-7)
●
According to all available sources of information on the subject, the Horowitz family - a family of rabbies, scholars, Jewish communitiy leaders -​ ​originated in Medieval Spain​ and
can be traced to​ Rabbi Zerakhyah Ha-Levi​, the author of "Ha-Maor". At the end of the 15th century the family lived in the small town of​ ​Horovice​ (Horowitz, according to its
German spelling) in Bohemia, by which it acquired its name: "Horowitz", or "Ish Horowitz" (the man Horowitz, or the man from Horowitz) or Ish Ha-Levi Horowitz ( The Levite
Horowitz). This surname has been spelled in a variety of ways: Horowitz, Hurwitz, Horvich, and under influence of Russian pronunciation, Gurevich, Gurvich, Gurwitz, etc. Often
the surname of the same person had a number of spellings.
●
The great majority of the bearers of this surname are Levites (except those who acquired it through marriage or for money, in order to escape being conscripted to the Russian
Czar's army). The founder of the family is considered to be R. Yishayahu ben Moshe Asher Ha-Levi Horowitz who lived in Horovice and​ ​later in Prague​ at the beginning of the
16​th​ century (he died in 1514). R. Yishayahu was a prominent and respected member of Prague Jewish community. He had 7 sons, of whom Aharon Meshulam and Shabtai Sheftel
were the best known. Aharon Meshulam built the famous Pinkas Schul​, synagogue in Prague called so in the name of his brother Pinchas who completed its
 construction.

●
R. Aharon Mesulam's grandson, R. Pinkhas ben Israel and nephew, R. Avraham ben Shabtai, a son of R. Shabtai Sheftel, both of whom moved to Poland, marked the beginning of
the family's expansion outside Prague. Within a few decades the name Horowitz became widespread all over the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The members of the family became
rabbis in Prague, Cracow, Vienna, Hamburg, Nikolsburg. The most famous of them in 16-17​th​ centuries were​ ​R. Yishayahu ben Avraham Ha-Levi​ ​known as SheLaH Ha-Kadosh
(the Holy SheLaH), and his son, Shabtai Sheftel.
●
This same period saw the family's penetration into the territory under Russian rule and, consequently, the Russification of the surname's spelling. Thus, for example, the first Jew
who settled in 1560 in a township of Svenzian (Lithuania) was Rachmiel Gurvits.
●
In 17​th - 19​th​ and in the beginning of the 20​th​ century the members of the family served as rabbis of numerous Jewish communities in the cities and towns of
Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary and Germany. The most prominent of them were R. Yakov Yokel Horowitz, the famous brothers R. Pinchas ben
Zvi Hirsh Ha-Levi of Frankfurt, the author of "Sefer Hafla'a", and R. Shmuel (Shmelke) ben Zvi Hirsh Ha-Leviof Nikolsburg, and others.

●
The descendants of R. Shmuel emigrated to USA in the 80-s of the 19​th​ century. After intermarriage of the Horowitz family with the Margareten family, they founded a Matzos
bakery which was called Horowitz-Margareten Bakery. The descendants of these families founded The Horowitz-Maragareten Family Association which has been involved in
social, philanthropic and cultural activity in the American Jewish community.
●
Major changes occured in the Horowitz family in the middle of the 19​th​ century. The processes characteristic of that period related to the Haskalah (Enlightenment)movement,
specifically, the assimilation and emancipation of the Jewish population, swept the Jews beyond their traditional fields of Jewish learning into the great world of non-Jews, the
world of universal ideas, philosophy, natural science, technology, European literature, art, etc. As in earlier periods the descendants of the Horowitz family assume prominent
places in all these fields.
●
Along with the mainstream of European Jewry, the members of the family played an important role in the political and revolutionary struggle in many countries. Some of them
were deported or imprisoned. B. Gurevich spent his last days in the infamous Vladimir prison , A. Gorvitz fell at the hands of Ukrainian nationalist.
●
A number of prominent family members have had different surnames, among them - Karl Marx. Herman Bernard, Fyodor Dan, Nathan Zarkhi, R. Israel Meir Lau, et. al. belong to
this group. The popular Georgian and Russian literary critic and actor-narrator, Irakly Andronnikov and his brother, research scientist in physics and member of the Georgian
Academy of Sciences were grandsons of the famous pedagogue, Yakov Gurevich.

●
The two destructive world wars of the 20​th​ century, the Nazi's regime in Germany and the Bolsheviks in Russia dealt a heavy against the Jewish people, and the members of the
Horowitz family did not escape the common destiny: the fire of the Holocaust wiped out thousands, among them the descendants of R. Yitzhak "the Hamburger" - son of R. Chaim
Arye, A.B.D. (Av Beit Din - Head of Rabbinical Court) of Cracow, R. Eleazar Moshe, the author of 'Tov Ain", and his son, as well as the members of Ropshitz chassidic dynasty
R. Elimelech of Malitsh; R. Eliazar of Borovy, R. Chaim Yechiel of Roznov and his brother, R. Avraham Simcha; R. Avraham, R. Naftali, R. Benzion, R. Chaim Yakov and R.
Asher Lemel - the sons of R. Tuvia of Shendeshov; R. Benzion - AdMor of Maden; R. Alter Yehezkel - AdMor of Dzikov; R. Alter - AdMor of Pokshavnitz; R. Moshe Eliezer -
the last AdMor of Rimanov; R. Reuven - a grandson of R. Chaim Yakov - AdMor of Ulanov; R. Naftali - AdMor of Dembitz, his nephew R. Zvi Elimelech - the last AdMor of
Dembitz, and his brother, R. Chaim Yakov; R. Moshe of Rozvadov and his brother, R. Naftali - the last AdMor of Rozvadov; R. Menashe of Lvov and his brother, R. Simcha
Chaim; R. Yakov and his brother, R. Menachem Mendel - the last AdMor of Linsk. The victims of Stalin's terror were A. I. Gurevich, A. I. Gurvich, Y. Z. Gurevich. ​The Almighty
will avenge their blood.

●
The remnants of the family who survived these calamities and who prior to the beginning of the 20​th​ century had lived ​en masse i​ n Eastern European townsh, left them forever,
finding refuge in Eretz Israel and other countries, mostly USA. Some Chassidic and Mitnagdim "clans" settled permanently on American soil, giving rise to such new categories in
Jewish life as as "Bostoner rebbe", etc.

●
The birth of the State of Israel in 1948, to which such family members as R. Yosef Gorvits, Dov Gurvitz, Yakov Gurvitz, David Horowitz and others made important contributions,
as well as political and demographic processes in the Diaspora, have led to the fact that to-day a major part of Horowitz - related surname bearers reside in Israel (the second in
total numbers after USA). Chapter 6 provides a brief statistical analysis of the current demographic situation.
 The Beginning of the Horowitz Families aaa

●
According to ancient tradition passing from generation to generation, the Horowitz family originated from a dynasty of well-known Spanish and French
rabbis and scholars: R. Yitzhak Ha-Levi of Gerona, the son of R. Pinchas Ha-Levi, the brother of famous HaROeH (R. Aharon Ha-Levi) of Barcelona, the
son of R. Yosef Ha-Levi, the son of R. Banbaneshti Ha-Levi, the son of R. Yosef Ha-Levi, the son of​ ​R. Zerakhyah Ha-Levi​, the author of "Ha-Maor", the
son of R. Yitzhak Ha-Levi of Gerona, the son of R. Zerakhyah Ha-Levi, the son of R. Shem-Tov Ha-Levi, whose roots, in turn, can be traced back to the
prophet Shmuel and the descendants of Yitzhar, the son of Khat, the son of Yakov our Father.
●
And the legend tells as how at the height of anti-Jewish persecutions in medieval Spain "there stood up a man of that high and noble family, took his wife
and his children and went to Eretz Chana'an (pioneers of the Exodus from Spain used this name to refer to Bohemia). And they came to Eretz Chana'an".
●
In that period Vladislas II, the eldest son of Casimir IV Jagiello, King of Poland, reigned in Bohemia (from 1471). After the death of Hungarian king
Matthias Corvinus in 1490, Vladislas was elected King of Hungary (under the name of Ulázló II) and since then spend most of his time in Buda (modern
Budapest). So did his son, Louis, the last Jagiellonian king of Bohemia and Hungary who inherited the throne (under the name of Ludvik II and Lajos II) at
the age of 9 after his father's death in 1516. Louis drowned fleeing the battlefield after his army was defeated by Ottoman Turks at Mohács on the Danube in
1526. The reign of the two Jagiellonians was marked by a decline of royal authority. In this latter period the Catholic lords gained entrance to the royal court
and exercised strong influence on the public affairs of Bohemia which was devastated by incessant wars and conflicts and needed people of skills and
means. On the other hand, the Catholic church's influence was weakened by the Hussite wars and the struggle waged against it by alternative Christian
movements. Under these conditions Jews were permitted to stay there, and they could easily find a place to settle.

●
The miserable wanderer was a wealthy man. He settled in a village (some sources say that he simply purchased it), which later became a town named
Horovice​ (Horowitz, about 50 km southwest of Prague). This man's name was Yishayahu ben Moshe Ha-Levi, and, later, after he moved to Prague and
assumed an important position in its Jewish community, he was called "Yishayahu Ha-Levi Ish Horowitz" - the man of Horowitz, after the name of the
place from where he had come. He purchased a big house on "Gold Street" in the Jewish Town of Prague, where jewelers, merchants and other wealthy
representatives of the Jewish population then lived.
●
The above is an extraction from the internet version of a book written and published by​ ​Shlomo Gurevich​ which is now available in​ English​ as well as in
Russian​ language: "Gurevich, Gurovich, Gurvich, Gorvich, Gurvitz, Horowitz and others. History of A Great Family" (Haifa, 1999, ISBN
965-222-971-7)
 Origin of the Family Name

Horowitz - Horovitz - Hurwitz - Horowicz - Hurvitz - Hourwitz - Harrwitz - Urwitz - Gurvich - Gurewicz - Gorwitz - Gorowitz - Gurevitz - Gurovich

Article taken from: Beth Hatefutsoth Communities & Family Names

"Many Jewish family names can be traced to place of origin or residence.

The names in this group are derived from the town of HORVICE​ in Bohemia. Slavonic forms replace the initial H with G because the Cyrillic Alphabet has no H.

Horowitz is documented as a Jewish surname in Prague since 1500, and also with the polish Talmudist, Abraham Ben Shabbetai Sheftel Horowitz (C. 1550-1615) and the 16th/17th-century
Czech-Born Polish Rabbi, Cabalist and communal leader, Isaiah Ben Abraham Ha-Levy Horowitz.

Distinguished 20th-century bearers of the Jewish family name Horowitz include the Galician-born Israeli economist, David Horowitz, who was first Governor of the Bank of Israel; and the
Russian-born American Pianist, Vladimir Horowitz.

Leo Horowitz was a 20th-century American Geologist.

Horwitz is recorded with the German-born English chess-master, Bernard Horwitz (1807-1885), the American Physician, Pinheas Horwitz (1822-1904), and the 20th-century American-born
Israeli physicist, Lawrence P. Horwitz.

Dov Eliahu Hurvitz was 20th-century Russian-born Israel Government Official.

Hurwitz is documented as a Jewish family name in the early 16th-century in Prague, Bohemia, and in the 20th-century with the Russian-born American attorney, Albert Hurwitz, the
Lithuanian-born Northern Ireland business executive, Barnett Harris Hurvitz, and the Danish criminologist, Educator and Author, Stephan Hurwitz.

Polish-born Zalkind Hourwitz (C. 1740-1812) also known as Hurwitz, was Pioneer of Jewish Emancipation in France.

In the 20th-century, Gurvich is recorded as a Jewish Surname with the Australian soldier, A. Gurvich, who served in the Second World War.

Distinguished 20th-century bearers of the Jewish name Gurewicz include the Polish-born Australian lecturer Sholom Benzion Gurewicz.

City of Horovice (Horowitz) in Czech Republic

 ●
A settlement with a fortified court or fort was founded in Horovice not later than in the middle of the 12th century. The earliest recorded reference to Horovice dates from the 13th
century when it is mentioned in connection with the aristocratic Zirotin family of Horovice whose best known member, Neostup, was in the service of King Wenceslas I. The
Zirotin family were the owners of the castle which stood on the site of the later Old Chateu. At the end of the 14th century Horovice was, for a short time, in the hands of King
Wenceslas IV, who applied the patronage right to the local parish in 1390. Shortly afterwards, Horovice is referred to as being in the hands of Zikmund Huller, probably a relative
of the royal chamberlain and favorite Ondrej Huller, executed in 1405. Zikmund Huller of Horovice is also mentioned in 1430 when captain Jan Zmrzlik of Svojsin took
possession of the estate. In 1437, the owner of nearby Zbiroh and many other estates across West Bohemia, Zdenek of Rozmital, acquired Horovice. Between 1458 and 1475
Horovice belonged to Sezema Stepan of Vrtba, and then to the Litvin family of Ricany, which held it until after the Battle of the White Mountain (1620) when it was confiscated
from them.

The Old Chateu

●
This period was marked with Jewish penetration to Bohemia, caused by the growing scale of their persecution till full expulsion from Spain, and Horovice, situated about 50 km SW from Prague,
was on their route to the East. In this wave some Jewish families came to Horovice and settled in the lower part of the town, scattered along a hillslope (from here comes the town's name - "hora"
in Checz means "mountain"). Nowadays there are no remains of the Jewish presence of that period in Horovice.
●

The view from the upper level of Horovice

●
As to the town itself, it was growing and the beautiful New Chateu was built there in Baroque style by one of the further owners of Horovice, Jan Frantishek of Vrbno, between
1690 and 1705. To-day it is open for public and serves the main tourist attraction of Horovice.

●
The above is an extraction from the internet version of a book written and published by​ ​Shlomo Gurevich​ which is now available in​ English​ as well as in​ ​Russian​ language:
"Gurevich, Gurovich, Gurvich, Gorvich, Gurvitz, Horowitz and others. History of A Great Family" (Haifa, 1999, ISBN 965-222-971-7)

Horowitz in Prague

by Shlomo Gurevich

●
After the death of R. Yishayahu in 1514 the house was inherited by his eldest son Aharon Meshullam, also called "Zalman Horowitz of Prague". We know few details about R.
Yishayahu's life. It is known only, that in later life, when the leaders of Prague's Jewish community decided to printing the Pentateuch with RaShI comments at a newly established
printing house, R. Yishayahu and R. Yekutiel Zalman ben R. Yitzhak Dan Bomsella, committed themselves to financing this publication. But, unfortunately, before the printing of
the two first books "Bereshit" (Genesis) and "Shmot" (Exodus) had been completed, R. Yekutiel moved to Russia and R. Yishayahu died.
●
The son of R. Yishayahu, Aharon Meshullam did not wish to bear the expenses for printing remaining volumes, so the publication of the Pentateuch was postponed for three
additional years, finally being published only in 1518. R. Yishayahu's wife, Rivkah, a daughter of R. Yom-Tov, outlived her husband by only a year and died in 1515. They had 7
sons and a daughter, Rosa, who died early and left behind her a son, Shlomo. He was raised by his uncle, R. Yakov. R. Yakov, the 4th son of R. Yishayahu did not have children of
his own and besides Rosa's son there was one more nephew in his house, his elder brother Aharon Meshullam's son, Moshe.
●
Aharon Meshullam, known also as Zalman and Munk (or Munka, evidently derived from "Menachem" by Czech transliteration of the name of his father-in-law, R. Menachem,
 written in Hebrew), who inherited his father's high position in Prague's Jewish community, towards the end of his life built a synagogue in this city, the "Pinkas (Pinchas) shul"
(Pinkasova sinagoga). The synagogue was named after the second brother, Pinchas who completed its construction. The two brothers were very close to each other, and when in
the year 1500 the authorities intended to inflict severe punishment on them, the brothers sent a petition to the king, protesting the injustice and the danger was averted.
●
R. Aharon Meshullam not only inherited his father's wealth, but multiplied it. He was a successful merchant and money-lender. He built two more houses on Gold Street, one of
which burned down in a fire in 1516 and the property looted by the gentiles. The synagogue which he built was not simply "one more synagogue", it was the second most beautiful
in terms of architectural design and splendor of its interior after the Alter-Neuye shul (Old-New synagogue) which previously had been called Neuye (New) synagogue, and now
the Pinkas shul had become the new one.
●
After the death of Louis (Ludvik II), Ferdinand I of Habsburg, the husband of Louis's sister Anne, laid claim to the vacant throne. He made substantial concessions to the
Bohemian magnates and was elected king in October 1526, the coronation taking place in February 1527. Gradually, he strengthened his rule and curtailed the rights of the
landlords and royal boroughs. Simultaneously, the Catholic Church regained its positions. Thus, the atmosphere of tolerance to the Jewish community which characterized the first
years of Ferdinand's reign was gone. Beginning in the early 1540s, he changed his attitude to the Jews, limited their rights and even revoking those which he himself had granted to
them. In 1541 he ordered their expulsion from the kingdom because of a fire libel which the crowd foisted upon the Jews. In a year, when the innocence of the Jews was proved,
the king ordered they be allowed to return. 18 years later, he once again ordered the Jews expelled, but the expulsion was repeatedly delayed. The frenzied crowd set fire to the
Jewish ghetto, many Jews were killed or wounded, robbed of their property, and the sacred books were confiscated by order of the king. In 1561 Ferdinand ordered the Jews to
convert, but only a few did so, the rest preferred to leave. His son, Maximilian II, who inherited the throne in 1564, was tolerant to Jews and even revoked the Expulsion Act of
1559. But he also continued his father's policy of strengthening the Catholic Church, yet not once during his rule was there an outbreak of Jewish pogroms.
●
The one who succeeded to persuade King Ferdinand in 1542 to revoke the expulsion of the Jews was R. Aharon Meshulam: he worked on the King steadily and persuaded him to
issue still more protective edicts for Prague's Jews granting them permission to live in Prague's Jewish Town.

●
The 3rd son, R. Meir was a wealthy and respected man in Prague, not much less than his elder brother, R Aharon Meshulam. He engaged in various financial operations. When in
the year 1540 the authorities imposed a heavy tax on the Jews - 2,000 guldens, the community appealed to the government, arguing that it could not pay such a sum. Then the
authorities obliged every Jew to make a statement about his possessions and to swear an oath on a Torah scroll. Thus 60 wealthy Jews were identified, and each one of them was
taxed 50 guldens, R. Meir being one of them.

●
The 5th son, R. Zeligman, also called Asher apparently after his great grandfather - in 1534 was a leader of Prague's Jewish community. He was a brave man, he was not afraid of
anything but had a very bad temper. When he was enraged, he could not control himself, even before people more profound in their knowledge of Torah or of higher social
standing. In 1534, when there was controversy between the Horowitz family and other community leaders and its rabbis, an incident happened in which R. Zeligman quarreled in
public with the community's rabbi, R. Altshuller. In the heat of the argument R. Zeligman seemed to completely loose his self-control when in the presence of all he slapped his
opponent. This case was brought before King Ferdinand, and he ordered that R. Asher be punished. Another time, during a trial involving some Christian, R. Zeligman clearly saw
that the judges were biased and obviously inclined in favor of his opponent. Then R. Asher angrily asked them: "I am a resident of the city, the same as he, am I not? And I am
respected and no less important than this Christian! But it was of no avail: the judges retorted that the Jews were not citizens of Prague, and "one may not even compare them with
the Christians!"
●
The controversy and tension between the Horowitz family and other leaders of the Jewish community of Prague were no mere chance. The privileges granted to the family by King
Ludvik were, in the view of their rivals, excessive. According to the king's order, "at all times there should be two community leaders and one rabbi (A.B.D. or head of yeshiva) in
Prague belonging to the Horowitz family". R. Aharon Meshulam used this order to appoint his brother R. Zeligman, a leader of the community, and another brother, Shabtai
Sheftel - a leader and dayan of the Prague Jewish community. These appointments were received with much discontentment by members of the community, either because of envy
and because they were imposed on them by the king's order against their will. Gradually, the community was divided into two groups: the first one headed by Rabbi Avraham ben
Avigdor, A.B.D. of Prague which numbered about 400 men, and the other group - all the Horowitz family, their friends, relatives, devotees and those dependent on them. The
quarrels continued, and at some point, in 1533, someone informed the authorities that Aharon Meshulam allegedly had in his possession letters and articles against the government
and that he had committed treason against the state. The false information reached King Ferdinand, and he ordered that all the papers and letters from R. Aharon Meshulam's home
be seized, an inventory of all his property be made and confiscated in favor of the king's Treasury, and he himself be arrested. Among the confiscated papers was also the edict of
privileges granted by the previous king, Ludvik. Very soon it became clear that there was nothing against the government in his papers, and that all the information about his
treason was false. The king ordered that all R. Aharon Meshulam's property be returned to him, and the six agents provocateurs who had provided false information were
imprisoned. At that point only one problem remained unresolved: the authorities, evidently influenced by the Horowitzes' opponents, did not wish to return to R. Aharon
Meshulam the edict of privileges signed by King Ludvik. But, in the end, in 1534, after R. Aharon Meshulam protested before the king, the document was returned to him. It could
be that exactly then, when he was in great peril, he vowed that if he would be released and his innocence proven, he would build a synagogue in honor of the G-d, blessed be His
name. It could be the second reason why he decided to build the Pinkas shul.
●
At this time the quarrel reached its climax. The letters and articles were sent to famous rabbis of Poland and Germany. As a result, it was suggested that the Prague Jews address
these issues to the most authoritative rabbis. The leaders of the community chose the famous and influential R. Yosef Yuzelman ben Gershon from the Alsacian town of
Rossheim.who was important in the eyes of the emperor and enjoyed very special relations with him. The Prague community leaders hoped that R. Yosef Yuzelman, together with
R. Avraham ben Avigdor, would be able to have strict regulations issued on elections within the community leaders and nomination of its rabbis. But the Horowitzes were against
this project: they did not agree that someone from a foreign country should come and make order in their community without even asking their opinion. There were additional
attempts to invite some reputable mediator but to no avail: quarrels and rivalry continued until 1542, when the danger of expulsion put an end to the controversy.
●
The only knowledge of the 6th son of R. Yishayahu, R. Yosef16 is that the authorities wished to punish him along with his brothers, R. Aharon Meshullam and R. Zeligman. They
appealed to the king to consider their case, and the latter issued a favorable decision on their petition.

●
The 7th son, R. Shabtai Sheftel, the youngest of all was the most prominent in Torah learning. He was dayan in the Jewish community of Prague and one of its leaders. He was by
right reputed to be the best expert on Torah and its most enlightened commentator. Thus, no one was surprised when the outstanding rabbi of that time, R. Akiva Katz, consented
to give him his daughter Yocheved in marriage. Yocheved delivered 3 sons and 3 daughters and died three years after her husband, in 1555.
●
The numerous descendants of R. Yishayahu's sons gave the Jewish world prominent sons and daughters; the biographies of the most famous of them appear in the following
chapters.
●
The son of King Maximilian, Rudolf II, was crowned King of Hungary in 1572 and of Bohemia in 1575. He became emperor after his father's death in 1576. The early part of his
long reign (lasting until 1612) closely reflected Maximilian's policies. But in 1583 Rudolf transferred his court from Vienna to Prague, taking with him government offices and
foreign envoys. The Bohemian capital became once more an imperial residence and a lively political and cultural center. Rudolf II inherited his father's tolerance toward the Jews,
for them his reign opened a period of political, spiritual and intellectual flourishing later called the "Renaissance" or "Golden Age" of Prague Jewry, which ended with the
beginning of the Thirty Year's War (1618-1648). The central figure in the constellation of Jewish scholars who resided there in that period was the famous R. Yehuda Liva ben
 Bezal'el (MaHaRaL of Prague). Also well known are the names of R. Yom-Tov Lipman Heller, the author of "Tosaphot Yom Tov" and R. Avraham Ha-Levi Horowitz, the father
of SheLaH​.

The Pinkas Synagogue in Prague - Holocaust Memorial

by Shlomo Gurevich*

●
The Pinkas synagogue was evidently built on the location of an old 15th century synagogue, after the synagogue in the German town of Regensburg had been destroyed, many of
its Jewish population slaughtered and the famous rabbi R. Shlomo Molcho arrested in Regensburg by Emperor Charles V, who turned him over to the inquisition of Mantua which
burned him at the stake in 1532. Built in the late Gothic style, many design and interior details bore a resemblance to the Pinkas shul in Regensburg. All the more so since R.
Molcho's tallith and kaftan were stored there. Such was R. Aharon Meshulam's response to the calamities which befell the Regensburg Jews - to build a larger and more splendid
synagogue. It was not a simple task to obtain permission from the authorities to build a synagogue, but Aharon Meshulam, being one of the leaders of the Prague Jewish
community, had access to the Burggrave of Prague, Lev of Rozmital and King of Bohemia, Ludvik, who earlier, in 1525, had issued an order granting various privileges to Aharon
Mesulam and all his family. The latter also succeeded in finding a good architect, one of the masters of famous Rejt who built a wing of Hradchany Castle, now known as the
Ludvik Palace, as well as the Lev of Rozmital's new palace at Blatna.
●
The deeds of Aharon Meshulam on behalf of Prague's Jewish community found are enshrined in the inscription on a memorial tablet in the Pinkas sinagogue:
●
A man of the House of Levi has passed, and his name was Aharon Meshulam, and he ascended the stairway of the bounteous spirit, following the steps of his Fathers - Princes and
Leaders - and he built this synagogue, a splendid monument. And his wife, lady Nechama, the daughter of Rabbi Menachem of blessed memory, was a helpmate and companion to
him for the memory of the soul. In the year (5)295 (of the Jewish calendar, i.e. 1535) he began the work, and it was finished in honor of G-d, may He reign supreme, and in honor
of the Torah. Here is the holy community of Prague crowned. The eyes of G-d are on it, it is remembered and guarded. - Aharon Meshulam, a son of Rabbi Yishayahu Ha-Levi of
blessed memory, called Zalman Horowitz.
●
Though the family synagogue of the Horowitzes, it served not only them: among the names of the congregation's members in various periods one can find R. Shlomo Ephraim ben
Aharon of Leczyca, the author of "Keli Yaqar", MaHaRaL of Prague, R. Israel ben Kalman Brandeis, R. Yakov ben Yona Teumim, and others.
 ●
During the German occupation of World War II the Nazis planned to make the synagogue and the adjacent Old Jewish Cemetery part of a postwar "Exotic Museum of an Extinct
Race". After the war it was repaired and restored, and now it is one of the pearls of the Old Jewish Quarter in Prague. The names of 77,297 Czech Jews who perished in the
Holocaust have been inscribed on its walls.

*The above is an extraction from the internet version of a book written and published by​ ​Shlomo Gurevich​ which is now available in​ English​ as well as in​ ​Russian​ language: "Gurevich,
Gurovich, Gurvich, Gorvich, Gurvitz, Horowitz and others. History of A Great Family" (Haifa, 1999, ISBN 965-222-971-7)

Conference on the Golden Age of Lithuanian Jewry

Reported by Menashe Horowitz

On June 25, 2001, the Horowitz Families Association held its 15th annual convention, whose central item was a conference on “ The Golden Age of Lithuanian Jewry”. The conference was
organized in collaboration with the Israel Genealogical Society and the associations of Lithuanian and Vilna immigrants in Israel ( two separate organizations). The meeting took place at the club
of the Association of Lithuanian Immigrants in Tel Aviv.
This meeting followed two previous conferences organized along similar lines: one (in June 1999) was about the “Golden Age” of the Prague Jewish community during the 16​th​ and 17​th
centuries, and another, in September 2000, about the “Golden Age” of the Polish Jewry between the 16​th​ and the 18​th​ centuries. Historical events related to remarkable Horowitz personalities and
important rabbinical families were presented.

The conference about Lithuanian Jewry included three lectures:

1. “Two unusual bright periods of autonomy for Lithuanian Jews” were described by Prof. Dov Levin, from the Institute of Contemporary Judaism in the Hebrew University who is a specialist in
Lithuanian Jewish History.

The first period was during “The Lithuania State Council” (1623-1761), a central community institution active together with the “Four Lands Council” in Poland. The second period occurred at
the beginning of the independent Lithuanian Republic (1920-1924). In the 17th -18th century, Jews of Lithuania enjoyed a prolonged period of relative freedom. While the second period of
autonomy started with great hopes, it didn’t last more than few years due to pressures of anti-Semitic Lithuanian politicians.

2. “The immigration of disciples of the Gaon from Vilna to Eretz-Israel at the beginning of the 19​th​ century, and their contribution to the development of Jewish settlements” was discussed by
Mr. Dany Ofir, manager of the Bible Museum and secretary of HFA.

The immigrants first arrived to Zefat and then settled in Jerusalem, taking part in the activities of the Ashkenazi communities there. They initiated the establishment of new neighborhoods outside
the walls of Jerusalem (Nahalat Shiva, Me’a She’arim), and participated in founding new settlements, such as Petach Tikva.

3. “Involvement of Lithuanian Jews in the Enlightment and Revival (Haskala ve-Tchiya) Movements", was vividly presented by Mrs. Bilha Halperin, lecturer in Bible and historian of Lithuanian
Judaism.

Interest in external cultural values arose during the time of the Gaon from Vilna at the end of the 18​th​ Century. However, many educated Jews who had hoped that culture would build a bridge
between people were frustrated by the continuing hostility against Jews. They caused them to turn inwards, towards Jewish consciousness and Zionist activities. The Jewish community
developed a remarkable system of education, with many schools teaching in Hebrew. A large number of teachers emigrated to Eretz-Israel, and were among the founders of the Israeli education
system.

During the meeting, two veteran and active members of the association - Gabriel Horowitz and Paltiel Horowitz, were granted Certificates of Recognition.

The Vilna-House Singing Group performance contributed greatly to the success of the evening.

THE HOROWITZ FAMILIES IN ROMANIA

By Dr. Chaim Horovitz*

​Persecution of the Jews, Holocaust, and Zionism in Romania

Romania, a country in Eastern Europe, underwent several political events, and border changes, after becoming an independent state in 1877. The present population of Romania is 24 millions. At
the beginning of WW2 750000 Jews lived in "Greater Romania." As a result of the Holocaust, and mass emigration after the war, about 14000 Jews remain in this country.

It is worth to mention that until the 19​th​ century the Jews, as well as other ethnical groups in Romania, didn’t carry family names, but only their first name, and eventually the description of their
profession. Apparently, beginning with the late 18​th​ century, Horowitz individuals and their families, mainly of origin from rabbinical families, emigrated from Central and Western Europe, and
from the Russian Empire, and settled in various provinces of Romania.

Despite the antisemitism of the Romanian population and discriminatory laws of the officialdom, the Jews were forcefully recruited into the Romanian army, and to participate in wars, though
few Jews were allowed to advance to officer ranks. Many Jews participated in the war of independence of Romania against the Turkish empire in 1877, and among them were ​Hershcu Horovici
and ​Ilie Horovici​ (a Romanian kind of pronunciation of Horovitz), both originating from Iasi. Also, thousands of Jews participated in the Romanian army during WW1, and among the 882 Jews
who were killed, was one ​Fisher Horovitz.​ However, despite the sacrifices of the Jews during the two wars on behalf of the Romanian homeland, the antisemitism and discriminatory laws
continued and even became worse.

Many persecutions, mass expulsion, and tragic incidents mark the history of the Jews in Romania. The Jews were accused of provoking the revolt of the Romanian peasants in 1907, when as a
result of antisemitic incitements, pogroms and plunders happened in villages and small towns in Moldova. More than 2300 Jewish families were killed in these tragic events. At the beginning of
the anti-Soviet war in 1941 gangs of fascist militias "The Iron Guard" and incited Romanian groups provoked pogroms in Iasi, Bucharest, and in other localities, and more than ten thousand Jews
were killed in these awesome events.
The persecution of the Jews increased dramatically during WW2, and in the period 1941-1944 some 360000 Jews were murdered. Among these martyrs were many rabbis, among them ​Moshe
Aharon Horowitz​ from the village Valcaul-de-Jos, ​Naftali Horowitz​ from the village Barsana, ​Elisha B’r Naftali Zwi Horwitz​ and ​Naftali B’r Abraham Abish​ ​Horwitz​ from Bistritza, ​Menachem
Horowitz​ and ​Pinchas Horowitz​ from the town Sighet.

A large Zionist activity developed in Romania between the two world wars, and from 1945, until the era of the communist regime. ​Matatiahu (Mates) Horowitz​ (1906-1942) was a member of the
leadership of Hashomer Hatzair in Romania in the 1930-s, and participated in the Hagana in Haifa, as well as in other activities of the Jewish community of Palestine. ​Mordechai Horowitz
(1925-1995), a descendant of the rabbinical dynasty in Mihaileni, was active in the leadership of the youth organization Hanoar Hatzioni in Romania. After his immigration to Israel, except his
practicing lawyer, Mordechai was active in various social fields. Many individuals named Horowitz were important party activists in the Betar organization, such as ​Moris Horowitz,​ the
commander of Betar in the city Czernowitz in the 1940-s, ​Lonya Horowitz,​ the commander in the village Barshad, and mainly ​Meir (Max) Horowitz​, the commissioner of Betar in Romania, who
was imprisoned by the communist regime in the 1950-s.

At the beginning of the war in 1941 the Zionist youth organizations and political parties went underground and carried out clandestine activities. In 1942 a group of 17 Jewish boys and girls were
arrested for illegal activity, and sentenced to 10-25 years of prison with harsh work, and me, ​Chaim (Carol) Horovitz,​ was among them. After our liberation in August 1944, most of us emigrated
to Israel.

During WW2 campaigns to save the Jews from Romania and from neighboring countries continued, mainly through the Black-Sea port Constantza. However, entering Palestine was dangerous
and hampered, such as happened with the passenger boat Struma. It left Constantza on 12 December 1941 with 769 emigrants on the overloaded boat. But the British mandate authorities didn't
allow the boat to land Palestine. After shifting more than two months with the starved and trembling with cold passengers, on 23 February 1942 the boat was sunk by a torpedo. Among the
victims, except for only one survivor, was the 19-year old ​Daniel Horovitz.​ He was ill treated during the fascist disorders, escaped in 1941 from the concentration camp in Moldova, and hoped
that his family will follow him to arrive to Palestine. In this period I, as well as many other Jewish youngsters and older people, tried to catch a place on the overloaded boats with emigrants
hoping to enter Palestine.

Several Horowitz individuals participated in the struggle for survival of the newly born State of Israel and its later wars. At age nine ​Dov Horowitz​ (1926-1948) immigrated with his parents to
Palestine, postponed his outstanding studies because his activity in the Hagana, and was killed in the war against the Iraqi troops in the Negev. The exceptional musical talent of ​Andrei-Robert
Horowitz​ (1946-1969), was cut when being killed during his service in the Israeli army. At age 17, after passing the concentration camp in Cyprus, ​Biniamin Horowitz​ (1931-1973), born in
Bucharest, participated in the war of independence, and was killed during the Yom Kippur war at the Golan heights. ​David Horowitz​, born in 1934 in Gura Humor, Bukowina, was taken at the
age seven in the concentration camp in Transnistria, Ukraine. In 1952 he immigrated to Israel, and served in the Israeli army in the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Religious Activities. Outstanding Rabbis in Romania

Like the many famous Horowitz rabbis in Europe and America, in Romania there were some twenty rabbis from the Horowitz dynasty, who played an important role in the Jewish life of this
country. To mention several of them:

In the 1820-s rabbi ​Ioske​ ​Leibush Halevi Horowitz​ acted as chief rabbi in Iasi, the capital of the province Moldova, and he was a forerunner of the Chassidic movement in this heavily populated
by Jews region. Later, in the 20ed century acted in Iasi rabbi ​Arieh Horovitz

Falticeni, a city in Northern Moldova, was the first city founded by Jews in 1774, but in later times it became a place of troubles against the Jewish population. Rabbi ​Efraim Halevi Horowitz​ was
installed the rabbi of this city in 1846, and he wrote a commentary of the Psalms.

Mihaileni, a town in Northern Moldova, was a center of Jewish and Hebrew culture, and around 1800 its first rabbi was ​Yehuda Aharon Horowitz​. He was followed by his son, the outstanding
rabbi Naftali Horowitz, known as a paragon personality, with the nickname "the philanthropic rabbi." Another rabbi of this town was ​Moshe Ish-Horovitz,​ who acted at the beginning of the 20th
century.

A specially dynamic personality was ​Yohnatan Benjamin B'r Moshe Yehuda​ ​Halevi Horowitz​ (1866-1940), who was installed as rabbi in 1886 in the town Bistritza, Transylvania. He was
involved in many fields of activities of the Jewish community, and developed good relationships with the local authorities, and the Christian clergy. In the 1920-s he emigrated to Palestine,
became chief of the organization Holland-Deutschland, and was one of the dominant figures of the religious circles in Palestine. Yohnatan Horowitz died in Jerusalem in 1940.

Rabbi ​Zwi Halevi Armin Horovitz​ (1864-1934) was elected in 1894 the chief rabbi in Sibiu, one of the main cities in Transylvania. In 1898 the synagogue in Sibiu was inaugurated, and rabbi
Armin Horovitz became, during his forty years activity, the initiator of many religious, cultural, social and Zionist activities.

Rabbi ​Samuel Horovitz​ developed, together with Dr. Richzeit Zsigmond, a reliand social activity in the reform movement of the Jewish community in the 1870-s in the city Tirgu Muresh,
Transylvania. The activity of this group was combated by the opposing orthodox and conservative movements.

Rabbi ​Pinchas Abraham Zeev Horowitz (​1858-1938) functioned as a religious judge in the city Baia-Mare, Transylvania. He wrote several religious books, known as "Sefer Beit Pinchas."

Rabbi ​Isak Horowitz-Meisels​ imposed his ultra-orthodox principles to the religious life in Bukowina.

Cultural, Social, Scientific and Political Activities in Romania

Several Horowitz individuals contributed to the Jewish and Romanian cultural, social and political activities in this country. To cite some of them:

In the town Valea-lui-Mihai, Transylvania, functioned in the period 1907-1939 a printing house, where several Hebrew books were published. The activity of its founder Eliezer Shifman was
continued by his brother-in-law ​Matatiahu Horowitz​.

The town Sighet, Transylvania, was a center of Hebrew books lovers, where rare and antique books were collected. One of the enthusiastic collectors of antique Hebrew books was rabbi ​Eliahu
Horowitz​ (1833-1927). The town Viseul-de-Sus, Transylvania, was a center of Zionist activities, and in the 1930-s was published the Hebrew and Yiddish newspaper "Kolenu-Unzer Stimme,”
conducted by Iechiel and Moshe Horowitz. The Jews of this town manifested a strong Jewish affinity, and at the 1930 census the absolute majority of the Jewish population declared Yiddish as
their mother language.

Isaac Horowitz,​ Yiddish author, journalist, and translator, born in 1893 in the town Epureni, emigrated to the United States, where he died in 1961. He was the president of the United Romanian
Jews of America.

Moshe Horowitz​ (1844-1910), Yiddish actor and author of theatrical plays, was born in Stanislaw, Poland, spent his youth in Iasi, Birlad and Bucharest, later in Budapest, Vienna and London,
and died in New York. In 1862 he settled in Iasi, and acted as Yiddish teacher. In 1871 he founded the Hebrew and Romanian newspaper "Timpul," but without further success. In 1877 he
founded in Bucharest the Yiddish theater "Israelite Dramatic Society," which competed with the theater founded by Abraham Goldfaden, and other theatrical groups. His first play was "Poilishe
Inghel" (Polish youngster), and further he wrote 89 plays, mainly historic operettas, such as Shlomo Hamelech (King Solomon), Prophet Yermiyahu, Sabetai Zwi, the comic play Dangerous
neighborhood, the melodrama in 3 acts The Tyrannic Banker and others. Except his own plays, Moshe Horowitz translated in Yiddish numerous plays from German, English and Russian authors.
He often participated in these spectacles as actor and director, which were played before Jewish masses in Romania, Poland, England, and America.

After WW2 the Yiddish Cultural Union, IKUF, was organized in Bucharest, and the State Yiddish Theater was at the center of its activity. Among its talented members was the actress ​Edith
Horowitz​ (currently Silbermann)

Aurelia Horovitz,​ born in 1881 in Dragusani, Moldova, was one of the solitary Jewish women in Romania who dedicated to academic activity at the beginning of the 20th century. At the age 26
she sustained her PhD dissertation "The Philosophy of Lessing" at the university Bern, Switzerland.

Filip (Philippe) Horovitz​ (pseudonym Orovan, a kind of Romanian translation of his family name), historian, poet, literary writer and translator, was born in Iasi in 1894. In 1926 he sustained at
the University Iasi his PhD dissertation "The Provinces of the Roman Empire." This was an odd event in the antisemitic atmosphere, which dominated the Romanian academy of this period. He
also wrote historical biographies of the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate, Cleopatra, and the courtesans of antique Greece.

Aaron Horovitz​ was born in Botoshani, Moldova, and came to Canada in 1910, where he became a manufacturer. He served as mayor of the city Cornwall for seven consecutive terms
(1930-1937), and being also active in Jewish affairs, he acted as member of the National council of the Zionist Organization of America.

A. Horovitz-Iasi,​ developed in the 1930-s an activity in Romanian political affairs, and was one of the founders of the Romanian Socialist United Party.

Between the two world wars several Horovitz individuals developed a rich activity in various fields of natural and social sciences, technology, as well as in university, secondary and higher
education. Their activity was presented in numerous published books. To cite some of them: ​Ossi Horovitz​ in chemistry, ​Marcu Horovitz​ in economics, ​Alex Horovitz, Beatrice Horovitz, Bernard
Horovitz, Sorel Horovitz​ in technology, whereas ​Emeric Horovitz​ and ​Donald Horovitz​ were active in social sciences.

Many Horovitz individuals participated in the rich social-cultural activities of the Jewish communities: ​Adolf Horovitz​ was active in the leadership of the community in Iasi in the 1930-es​, S.
Horovitz​ in the community Buhusi, and ​Dr. Horovitz​ in the community Galati. ​Sami Horowitz​ was active in the management of the synagogue Matzmiyah Yeshua in Bucharest between the two
world wars.

S. Horovitz​ performed a pioneering medical research of the Parkinson disease, and published in Iasi in 1906 a book with his results of clinical investigations of atypical forms and anatomical
pathology of this scarcely studied disease at the beginning of the twentieth century.

About my Family and Myself

My great-grand father was ​Mordechai Dov Halevi Horowitz,​ and his wife was Chana. They lived apparently in Southern Poland.

My grandfather ​Shimshon ben Mordechai Halevi Horowitz​ (1848-1931) was born in the place Suchastaw, Poland. He lived with his second wife Perla, born Weidenfeld (Satu Mare 1853-Solca
1937) at the beginning of the 20th century in the villages Ilisheshti and Cacica, Bucowina, which were in this period part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Shimshon had 15 children, but only
eight of them survived: Emil Horovitz, Sacher Horovitz, Todres (Theodor) Horovitz, Chaim Horovitz, Chana Fuhrer, Sali Saphir (Cacica, 1895-Jerusalem, 1983), Lea, and Chaia Ghitel (Gusta)
Grunberger (1905- Bucuresti, 1946). One of Shimshon's brothers was Israel Shlomo Horowitz, who lived in Poland, and died in Palestine, whereas Abraham Horowitz, another brother of
Shimshon, immigrated to America. Moshe Chaim Horowitz was a stepbrother of Shimshon.

My father ​Todres (Theodor) ben Shimshon Halevi Ish-Horovitz​ (20.March, 1900- Jerusalem 9.May, 1980), the youngest son of his father Shimshon, was born in the village Parteshti, Bukowina.
At the age 16 he was taken into the Austro-Hungarian army, where he was severely wounded. In.1924 he married Marietta, born Wexler, and they had three children: Chaim (Carol) born in 1925
in Botoshani, Yehoshua (Mozes), born in 1928 in Cacica, and Ruth Mayer, born in 1932 in Cacica. My father was a simple man, who only finished primary school, but he dedicated his free time
during his whole life to studying the Holy Book and his commentaries, and volunteered as synagogue manager and cantor. He fulfilled his dream to move to the Holy Land and spent with my
mother the happiest, the last years of their life together in Jerusalem. He asked for the inscription on his grave: Todres ben Shimshon Halevi Ish-Horovitz. The family name “Ish-Horowitz”,
which is owned only by few members of the Horowitz dynasty, represents a kind of distinction, like the prefix “von” or “Sir” of distinguished German or English families. Unfortunately, no
details about the attribution of this special ascription to our family are known.

My mother Marietta, was born in Corni, a village in Northern Moldova, on 17.February, 1904, where her father Chaim Wexler owned a water mill, which sustained his family with six children.
The family escaped from the pogrom of the peasant’s revolt in 1907, and moved to the nearest town Botoshani. When my grandmother Rosa died of cancer, my mother, the oldest child, of 16
years old, has taken care of her younger brothers and sisters, and the whole household. Chaim married later Cha, the sister of my father, and she was involved in the marriage of my father Todres
with Marietta. My mother died on 13.8.1984 in Jerusalem. She had two brothers Joseph (1902-1982) and Marcu (1907-1984), and three sisters: Saly, Chana (Ana) and Mina (1915-)

I, ​Chaim ben Todres Halevi Horovitz,​ was born on 10.5. 1925 in the city Botoshani, in the house of my mother's father. When visiting several years ago my birthday place, I was upset to realize
that this house and the whole picturesque old neighborhood disappeared, and in its place new ugly buildings for the "working class" were erected by the communist regime.

I spent my childhood in Cacica, a mixed village of Romanians, Poles, Slovaks, Germans, and a few Jews, where I learned early from first hand about antisemitism. My parents made a life from a
shop, where the peasants were buying, without paying in cash, and asking to write down their debts, for a later payment. Once my workaholic and energetic mother asked a debtor to pay at least
part of his big debt. He angrily replied: If you want to see more your children, forget about my payment. As a result of the antisemitic tendencies between the two world wars, the “Conversion”
legislation voted by the Romanian parliament in the 1930-s annulated all the debts of the peasants, a measure, which was addressed in special against the Jewish businesses.

I was the only Jewish child in the primary school class. One day I presented to my schoolmates several exemplars of the illustrated journal "Copilul Evreu" (The Jewish Child), with which I was
proud to boast. The teacher observed this, and ordered me to stop bringing them to the school. My mother explained to me the difference between other children and me.

After moving with my family in 1935 to Bucharest, my education in the State secondary school was interrupted in 1940, because of anti-Jewish laws. During the disorders of the fascist
organization "The Iron Guard" in Bucharest in January 1941 I was smacked up by a gang, and put at a wall to be shut down. However, as a miracle, I succeeded to escape from their bullets, when
this gang was busy with catching also an old Jewish woman. I don't know what happened to this ill-fated woman.

During my teenage years I manifested some literary skills. Under the influence of reading with avidity an enormous number of classical literatures, I wrote several sonnets, and even a long
historical novel. The authors who most impressed me were Jack London, Pearl Buck, Lew Tolstoi, Lion Feuchtwanger, and Shalom Aleichem. I read with passion the novel “Sufferings of the
young Werther” by Goethe. Later, under the communist era, Maxim Gorki, Ilf, and Petrov, Boris Pasternak, and Mikhail Sholohov captivated me. I enjoyed reading poetry, and knew by heart
French poets and Heinrich Heine. Until today I like to read from time to time the wonderful verses of the Romanian poet George Topirceanu, and the Russian Jewish poet Samuil Marshak.

My Zionist activity in the youth organization "Hashomer Hatzair" was interrupted in 1942, when I was arrested together with a group of youngsters. We were maltreated during the investigation
under the accusation of anti governmental and illegal activities. At two o’clock in the morning the convictions of 20-25 years of hard labor were pronounced, and three youngsters of our group
passed dead sentences, and executed. My parents, and those of the other members of our group considered at this moment that a wonder happened, because they feared that all of our group would
be sentenced to dead. During my three years of prisons and concentration camp it happened that I, and part of our Zionist group of detainees, were converted to the communist ideology, as a
result of the propaganda of political prisoners, a major part of them being Jews. They succeeded to convince us with demagogic arguments that the Jewish problem can be solved only by
communism, as happened in the Soviet Union. Once I asked my mentor: What will happen beyond the evolution of the world from socialism to communism, and the fulfillment of this highest
level of human society. He angrily apostrophized me:

"You idiot, there can't be anything better than communism !"

At the liberation from the concentration camp on August 1944, I returned to Bucharest, full of expectations for a New World. I stood at the University Square, and applauded, together with not
too many people, the marching Soviet troops. I observed a Russian officer, who seemed to be Jewish, and I tried to get in touch with him, through Yiddish. Our short discussion ended with his
advice: "Yingele, nem di fis in loif!" (Boy, run away). However, I didn't follow his advice, finished the interrupted high schools, and started my studies of agronomy. This profession seemed to
me to fit with the communist ideology of transforming the Jews in a "productive, sound" class. At nights I worked at a printing house, to cover my studies.

When I finished my studies of chemical agronomy in Timishoara, I was sent for further study for the PhD degree at the Moscow Academy of Agriculture. In this period it was considered in
Romania, and in other countries brought under the Soviet umbrella, a great honor to study in the Soviet Union, where there existed "the most advanced science and culture in the world." Once
every two weeks, I listened the lectures of the Academician Lysenko, and was fascinated about his oratorical skills. But gradually, I realized that beyond the demagogic slogans, there is nothing
of scientific value in his theories.

I married in 1954, and am proud of my three children: Elena, born in 1955, Simona, born in 1958, and Sergej, born in 1959.

My son, ​Shimshon (Sergej) ben Chaim Halevi Horovitz​ is the only man from the numerous descendants of my grandfather Shimshon, who is continuing our family name.

When Stalin died in 1952, I, as well as many people, were terribly disturbed, and couldn't imagine how could we live without our genius Father. I came to a great idea, and wrote a letter to
Gheorghiu-Dej, the communist leader who captured by force the power in Romania. I wrote him a "personal" letter, in considering that he will pay attention to my writing, since we spent
together years of detention, and ate the same thin bean soup and hard mamaliga (maize porridge). I proposed to him to change the name of the Danube river to "River Stalin," arguing that this big
river is uniting many peoples in their "struggle for peace." Long time I wondered why no reply is coming to my proposal. Instead, the city Brashov was renamed "Orasul Stalin" (City Stalin), and
I regretted that I didn't suggest this alternative change.

Antisemitic manifestations of the authorities and of individuals stired up my interest for the Jewsih heritage, which I desfyied for two decades. Once my aunt Ana, my father’s sister, a typical
clever Jewish woman, expresed with a Yiddish ironical remark the way people were forced to eulogise the regime. Reffering to the obligations of institutions and individuals to decorate with
slogans houses at communist holydays, the first of May or 7th November, she remarked: Men shtelt arois a bichale un a fin, in siz shoin yomtiv {You put (in the window) a booklet (written by
Stalin) and a (red) flag, and the feast is going on}. I came gradually to the conclusion that, except for the oligarchy of the regime, there is no future in the dictatorship of Ceausescu. After several
years of communist convictions and activity I have taken a risky decision, and I left Romania illegally.

I emmigrated to Israel in January 1969, when I was seized by the euphoria after the Six Days War. The blooming citrus plantations, pastoral views of kibutzim, Kineret, and Banias, flourishing
Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa appeared me the fulfillment of Zionist ideals, which I imagined earlier when reading “Exodus” by Leon Uris.

My scientific career, which I developed in Romania, Israel, Germany and the United States, was marked by ups and downs. I invested my workaholic qualities, which I inherited from my mother,
to the investigation of an obsessive question: Why are the majority of the chemical elemeconsidered inessential for life ?. My two volumes work "Biochemistry of Scandium and Yttrium" (two
chemical elements which are scarcely investigated), published in 1990-91, represent an endeavor which took six years of hard work. My forty years of scientific research was summarized in this
work, in which I explained that all the chemical elements are apparently involved in life processes.

Following my retirement from my former research activity in natural sciences, I am dedicating my interest to the investigation of the Jewish culture, and in particular to "The Song of Songs
which is Solomon’s." I am amazed to discover how this more than two thousand years old biblical poem of love continues to influence various spheres of human affairs. The findings of the
existing relationships between love, world literature, art, music and science gives me a great satisfaction. At the sunset of my life I am trying to summarize critically the religious, secular and
literary commentaries of "Shir hashirim,” which were written by many hundreds exegetes.

My love for books brought me to accumulate a big library in Bucharest, which was unfortunately lost, when leaving illegally my birthplace country. Today I am proud with the library I
succeeded to accumulate again in the last decades, with emphasis on illustrated editions of “The Songs of Songs”, Judaica subjects and art.

I survived in my life dangerous moments and various events, of which only few of them are mentioned here. My optimistic nature, inherited from my parents, are strengthening me until today,
when terror and war are endangering the essence of the State of Israel. I am pleased to belong to the outstanding Horowitz dynasty and to the Jewish nation.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

*Chaim Horovitz, biochemist, is investigating, in the frame of the Horowitz Families Association, the history of the Horowitz families in various countries, and in particular in Romania, and
compiles a bibliography of the Horowitz members around the world. The presented information and data are considered preliminary, and need further verification and completion. Persons who
are aware about these subjects are requested to provide available information, including documents, pictures, personal, and community stories. Please contact: Dr. Chaim Horovitz, Hershensohn
Str 64, Rehovot 76484, Israel, e-mail: ​c-horov@zahav.net.il

R. Zerakhyah ben Itzhak Ha-Levi

by Shlomo Gurevich*

●
R. Zerakhyah ben Yitzhak Ha-Levi (Ha-Gerondi), also known as RaZaH, RaZBI and "Baal Ha-Maor" (author of the book "Ha-Maor") was born about 1135 in the town of Gerona,
Spain - that's why "Ha-Gerondi" (Geroner) is sometimes added to his name - and died after 1186. He was a famous rabbi, Torah and Talmud commentator and a poet. He was born
into a known and respected family called Ha-Izhari (in accordance with the family origin). In his youth he moved to Provence and studied with the scholars of Narbonne (one of
them was the famous R. Moshe ben Yosef). At the age of 19 he wrote a piyut i​ n Aramic and devoted himself to ​halakhic​ problems. For many
years thereafter he lived in Lunel (studying with R. Meshullam ben Yakov), but the conflicts, disputes and quarrels constantly splitting the community forced him to leave. R.
Yehudah ben Shaul ibn Tiv'on said of R. Zerakhyah: "he was unique in his generation and wiser than I", and praised him for his elaborate style of writing. R. Yehudah sent his son
Shmuel to study with R. Zerakhyah.
●
R. Zerakhyah knew Arabic well and quickly absorbed the disciplines studied in Provence, but from his writings one could easily feel the tension that existed between him and his
surroundings. Fame of a scholar and expert on ​halakhic​ problems came to him thanks to his book "Ha-Maor" which was completed in the 1180s. The book is divided into 2 parts:
"Ha-Maor Ha-Gadol" and "Ha-Maor Ha-Katan". In the first part the issues connected to Talmudic tractates "Brakhot", "Mo'ed" and "Chullin" are discussed, and in the second part
- "Nashim" and "Nezikin". In this book Ha-RaZaH consistently and critically objected to R. Yitzhak Alphasi’s views, but at the same time held him and his works in high regard.
●
These writings belong to a special kind of Rabbinical literature - so-called "objections" raised by the scholars of Provence against attempts by the scholars from "Eretz Islam" to
force the adoption of their ​halakhot ​and commentaries. From this point of view, R. Zerakhyah stands together with Ha-RaBaD (R. Avraham ben David) of Posquieres, known
because of his objections to RaMBaM (Maimonides), though even between them there was sufficient difference of opinion. R. Zerakhyah, in many cases, prefers the variants of
commentaries supplemented by RaShI, and, to a great extent, he relies upon the methods of the scholars of France in commentaries on ​Gemarah​. From this point of view, the
works of R. Zerakhyah reflect a mingling of the school of ​halakha​ and the ​drasha​ of the scholars of Spain and France not uncommon in Provence.

●
Additionally, R. Zerakhyah wrote the book "Sefer Ha-Tsava", which explained 13 principles of ​drasha,​ used in ​Gemarah, and composed various
halakhot​ related to ​shcheta,​ ​tehorat ha-mishpacha,​ etc.
●
At this stage, major differences in opinion emerged between R. Zerakhyah and Ha-RaBaD who wrote objections to "Ha-Maor". R. Zerakhyah replied in kind, writing objections to
RaBaD's work "Baalei Ha-Nefesh" which were full of sarcasm and personal attacks. He won in the argument over the most of the issues. "Ha-Maor" influenced greatly the
 following generations of rabbis and scholars, and some of them wrote ​responsa​ in his defense, and among them - RaMBaN (Nahmanides), who previously had been his
irreconcilable critic. Even HA-RABAD, who outlived his friend and rival by 13 years, softened his tone after R. Zerakhyah's death and wrote about him with great respect,
criticizing him only on the substance of issues under consideration.
●
The poetic heritage of R. Zerakhyah has been implemented in various ​piyutim​ included in Sephardic ​machzorim.​

*The above is an extraction from the internet version of a book written and published by ​Shlomo Gurevich which is now available in English as well as in ​Russian language: "Gurevich,
Gurovich, Gurvich, Gorvich, Gurvitz, Horowitz and others. History of A Great Family" (Haifa, 1999, ISBN 965-222-971-7)

Rabbi Yishayahu bem Avraham Ha-Levi Horowitz

(The Holy ShLaH)

by Shlomo Gurevich

●
R. Yishayhu ben Avraham Ha-Levi (about 1565, Prague - 1630, Tiberias), known under the name of “SheLaH Ha-Kadosh” (The Holy SheLaH, which is the initials of the title of
his most famous book “Shnei Luchot Ha-Brit” -Two Tablets of the Covenant"), son of R. Avraham ben Shabtai Sheftel, author of “Emek Berakha” - prominent scholar, rabbi,
kabbalist, a leader of his generation, one of the great framers of Jewish ethics and morality in the modern era.

●
Still a child he moved to Poland with his father who became his first teacher. His other teachers in Poland were R. Meir ben Gedalyahu (MaHaRaM) of Lublin, one of the leading
Polish halakhic authorities, R. Shlomo ben Yehudah Leib from Cracow, one of the most famous teachers in Polish yeshivot, and R. Yehoshua Falk Ha-Cohen, the author of the
book "SaMa".

●
He married Chaya, daughter of wealthy R. Avraham Maul from Vienna and apparently all his life he lived in favorable material conditions, and thus he could spend a considerable
part of his income on charity and books which were very expensive in that period and affordable by just a few. He could also afford himself to invite his numerous disciples to his
table. Very soon he became one of the leaders of the Jewish community of Poland, known for his expert knowledge of Torah and Talmud. In 1590 he took part in one of the
meetings of the Council of Four Lands in Lublin, and his signature appears under the decree condemning the purchase of rabbinic positions.
●
In 1597 R. Yishayahu published the book “Emek Berakha” written by his father and to which he added his own commentary under noticeable Kabbala influence. This work made
the name of R. Yishayahu well known in the Jewish world, and he received offers to take high rabbinic positions in major Jewish communities.
●
In 1600 R. Yishayahu became A.B.D. of Dubno, in 1602 - A.B.D. and Head of the yeshiva in Ostraha (Volyn), in 1606 – A.B.D. in Frankfurt-am-Main. In 1614, together with
other Jews, he was expelled from Frankfurt shortly before the Jewish quarter was plundered. He then returned to his native Prague. Here he was a dayan, head of the yeshiva and
shared the position of the rabbi of Prague with R. Shlomo Ephraim Luntshits (R. Shlomo ben Aharon of Leczyca, the author of "Keli Yaqar") until 1620 when his wife died. Soon
after her death R. Yishayahu left for Eretz Israel.
●
In accordance with family tradition R. Yishayahu kept his intention to go to the Holy Land in secret until the last moment. He did so for he did not wish to confuse the whole
community which would try to dissuade him from leaving. Only his eldest son knew about his plans and asked him to change his mind, but in vain: R. Yishayahu was determined
to go to the Land of Israel, where he hoped to achieve two goals: to strengthen the Jewish community and to study Kabbala which then played a central role in his philosophy. This
is clearly discernible in his most important work, "Two Tablets of the Covenant" which he began to write in Prague shortly before his departure in 1621 and completed in 1623 in
Jerusalem.
●
The first part of R. Yishayahu's route was to Frankfurt, he evidently wished to say good-bye to the community which was so important to him. From Frankfurt he travelled to
Venice, and, finally, embarked by boat from Italy. In 22 days, on the day of Rosh Ha-Shana (Jewish New Year) the boat arrived in Tripoli where heavy fighting prevented him
from disembarking. A group of armed men pursued him, but he managed to escape and set sail for Syria, where he went ashore just before Yom Kippur. He was received with
much warmth and honor by local Sephardi communities, which he modestly attributed to his father's notoriety, but which in fact was attributable to his own. In Damascus and
Caleb (Aleppo) he looked for books on Kabbala and, quite surprisingly, he found one in the house of R. Shmuel Vital, a son of famous Damascus Rabbi Chaim Vital. This was the
manuscript of the latter’s book “Ez Ha-Chaim” (“The Tree Of The Life”).
●
Two delegations came to R. Yishayahu - from Safed and Jerusalem, both of which asked him to be the Ashkenazi rabbi of their town. Despite the kabbalistic tradition in Safed, he
preferred Jerusalem – “because of the great holiness of this city”. Another reason for his decision could be that walled Jerusalem seemed to be much safer than Safed which was
not surrounded by walls.
●
In 1621 R. Yishayahu arrived in Jerusalem, after visiting Safed "in order not to hurt its community" and pray at the graves of its great kabbalists. He almost immediately became
Ashkenazi A.B.D of Jerusalem and shortly thereafter remarried, evidently prompted by the kabbalistic belief of the time that an unmarried Jew had no right to live in Eretz Israel.
He was also appointed the head of the Ashkenazi yeshiva, thus strengthening his leadership in the Ashkenazi community of Jerusalem. He enjoyed high esteem and respect with
the city's Sefardi community as well. In 1625, together with 15 other Jewish scholars, rabbis and communal workers, he was imprisoned by the Pasha (Ibn Faruh) – a local Muslim
ruler appointed by the Turkish Sultan. They were held in prison for about two and a half weeks, starving and tortured, until an exorbitant sum of money had been paid as a ransom.
●
R. Yishayahu came back to Jerusalem and very soon discovered that after the payment of the ransom both the Ashkenazi and Sefarfi communities found themselves deep in debt,
and he tried to improve the situation with help from abroad. But it was clear that to stay in Jerusalem was very dangerous, and along with the other leaders of the Ashkenazi
community, he fled to Safed.
●
He lived his remained years in Safed and Tiberias, where he died and was buried by R Yohanan ben Zaccay and his disciples who put stones on the grave which lacked a matzevah
(tombstone). R. Yishayahu’s grave lies close to that of Ha-RaMBaM. His second wife, Chava, a daughter of R. Eleazer, and their daughter died soon after his death. From his first
marriage he had two sons, R. Shabtai Sheftel and R. Yakov, and a daughter. R Yakov married Sarah, a daughter of the famous R. Eleazer, one of the prominent Cracow scholars, a
son of R. Naftali Chayot, A.B.D. of Prague. R.Yakov began to publish his commentaries on his father's siddur "Shaar Ha-Shamaim", but he died before publication had been
 completed. In Cracow R. Yishayahu's daughter, Nechama, was married to R. Chaim Faivel, a son of famous R. David Zakharya, called "Mendelin".

●
R. Yishayahu who descended from a well-to-do family and married into an even wealthier one, lived a comfortable life, not knowing what need or economic dependence is. In
Eretz Israel, too, there was a servant in his spacious and well furnished apartment, which was allotted to him by the Ashkenazi community of Jerusalem. For his part he refused to
receive a salary for his work and spent much on philanthropy, particularly to support Torah scholars.
●
R. Yishayahu made a great contribution to the development and strengthening of Ashkenazi communities in Eretz Israel. He lent a big sum of money to the community of
Jerusalem which remained in debt to his daughter even after his death.
●
R. Yishayahu came to Eretz Israel for the purpose of dedicating himself to studying Torah and fulfilling the mitzvoth connected with life in Eretz Israel. He was happy that he had
been privileged to teach his fellow Jews Torah in Eretz Israel, the Holy Land, and in Jerusalem, the Holy City, to instruct them and to guide them to love and fear the Lord,
“faithfully and with all one’s heart”. He hoped and planned that thousands of Jews would come after him, and he himself would achieve great heights in Torah learning and
administration of community life. He hoped for the revival of the Jerusalem Ashkenazi community under his leadership and as a result of his extensive contacts with Ashkenazi
communities in the Diaspora.
●
By reason of R. Yishayahu’s profound personal respect for eastern Sefardi communities, they influenced him greatly as a result of his encounter with their culture, customs and
tradition. He was happy when he had an opportunity to pray with and provide a drasha in a sephardic congregation, “in the Holy Language, very clearly”, and he adopted some of
their liturgical traditions.
●
In Eretz Israel the works of Ha-ARI (R. Yitzhak Luria), R. Moshe Cordovero and R. Yosef Karo made a strong impression on R. Yishayahu. He called them “three great holy
ones….true angels of the Almighty”. His study of the writings of these scholars reinforced the kabbalistic elements in his works. For him Kabbala was a teaching of the “sages of
truth who have been initiated into the secrets of the Almighty passed in an unbreakable chain from man to man beginning with Moshe Rabenu (Moses) on Mount Sinai”.

●
R. Yishayahu believed that the moment of revelation of the secret knowledge contained in the book "Zohar" as part of the preparations for the approaching geula (Salvation) had
come: “this last generation is allowed to learn the Secret Teachings in public because they are close to geula and will make no errors”. In accordance with this, in his approach to
Torah learning, the fulfillment of mitzvoth and questions of faith R. Yishayahu prefers RaMBaN’s and other kabbalists' point of view as opposed to that of RaMBaM and other
rationalists.
●
The best known of all R. Yishayahu’s writings is his pioneering work “SheLaH” – “Two Tablets of the Covenant“. The first edition was published in Amsterdam in 1649. Later
this book was reissued at least 10 times. Some of these editions were made possible by his son – R. Shabtai Sheftel who added to it his preface – "Vavei Ha-Ammudim".
●

●
The title page of Amsterdam (1698) edition of "Shnei Lukhot Ha-brit

●
Another important work by R. Yishayahu is his commentary to siddur "Sha’ar Ha-Shamaim" (The Gates of Heaven) which was published by his great grandson in 1717 also in
Amsterdam. The title of the siddur originated from the words contained in parashat ha-shavua (weekly portion of the Torah) "Vayetzeh" about the time he arrived in Jerusalem:
"How awful this place is, this is nothing but the House of G-d and this is the Gate of Heaven" (Bereshit, 28.17).
●
His book "Shmot Gittin" deals with importance of monitoring carefully the correct spelling of names in the work done by sofrei gittin – scribes of divorce certificates.
●
Later, besides his glosses to his father’s "Emek Brakha" (Cracow, 1597) and "Yesh Nohelin" (1617), R. Yishayahu wrote commentary to the book "Mordekhai" on the Talmudic
tractate "Mo'ed", only a part of which was published in 1757 under the title "Bigdei Yesha", chiddushim to "Moed", which constituted a response to "Chiddushei Ha-RITBA" and a
commentary on the calendar of Mordekhai ben Hillel, a part of which was published together with "Emek Brakha" in 1787. Also his "Letters from Eretz Israel" which contain
valuable autobiographical material, the article "Mitzvot Tefillin" and commentary on the "Zohar" have come down to us. Much biographical data is contained in the work of his
son, Shabtai Sheftel, "Vavei Ha-Ammudim".
●
Generations of Jews in Central and Eastern Europe until the end of 18th century walked in the light of the Holy SheLaH. It is very probable that this work influenced greatly the
 foundations of chassidism as conceived by BeShT. Many of its tenets, such as transforming bad qualities into good ones and joy in everything one does became essential elements
of the principles and way of life of that movement.
●
Nowadays the grave of the Holy SheLah in Tiberias is visited by numerous believers, especially those who wish to find themselves a spouse or resolve the problems of education
of their children. To this end they recite the wonderful prayer composed by R. Yishayahu. The tombstone on the grave, once without any identifying inscription and later with one
not befitting the greatness of the man, was repaired in 1999 by the Horowitz Families Association and a new inscription was made on its white marble:

Here lies
THE HOLY SheLaH
Our teacher Rabbi YISHAYAHU ben Rabbi AVRAHAM HA-LEVI HOROWITZ
Blessed be the memory of the righteous one
Who served as head of the Rabbinical Court in the great communities of Europe
Came from Prague to Eretz Israel in the year 5381 - 1621
Served as rabbi in the communities of Jerusalem, Safed and Tiberias
Composed the books "TWO TABLETS OF THE COVENANT" and others
Passed away in Tiberias on the 21st of Nissan 5390
May his soul be bound in the bond of life.

The above is an extraction from the internet version of a book written and published by​ ​Shlomo Gurevich​ which is now available in​ English​ as well as in​ ​Russian​ language: "Gurevich, Gurovich,
Gurvich, Gorvich, Gurvitz, Horowitz and others. History of A Great Family" (Haifa, 1999, ISBN 965-222-971-7)
 MEMBERS

Israel

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Dr. Chaim Horovitz Rechovot Romania c-horov@zahav.net.il

Monique Zaroni Tel Aviv France zaronipr@zahav.net.il

Shlomo Gurevich Hoshaya Chislavichi, Belarus shl2gur@yahoo.com

Uzi Ish-Hurwitz Tel Aviv uziish@netvision.net.il

Moshe Lehrer Petach-Tiqva Eretz Israel moshelrr@netvision.net.il

Shavit Ben-Arie Hertzelyia jacob@isdn.net.il

Zehava Shachak Rechovot Busk, near Lemberg, Galicia shachak@barak-online.net

Jules Horowitz Giv'ataim Antwerp, Dukla elite2000@goldmail.net.il

Eti Horovitz Karmiel horovitze@bezeqint.net

Moshe Devere Jerusalem marsdraw@netvision.net.il

Sarah Horowitz Petach Tiqva petah-tikva@keren.org.il

Avi Gurevitch Ramat Gan Riga avigur@post.tau.ac.il

Oded Horowits Petah Tiqva odedho@zahav.net.il

​FRIENDS

USA

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Judy Wolkovitch Rolling Hills Estate, CA judywolk@mindspring.com

Charles Horwitz Mission Viejo, CA chorwitz@fea.net

Jeanne Gold El Cajon, CA GoldFamily@Digging4Roots.com

Gina Horowitz Hornell,NY ginarose@linkny.com

Joan C. Lieberman Boulder, Colorado Warsaw, Poland JCL-RSP@worldnet.att.net

Ilana Danielle Weinberg New York, NY ilanaw10@hotmail.com

Gina Horowitz Hornell, NY ginarose@linkny.com

Judy Horowitz Pinon Miami, Florida miaexecsearch@att.net

David Harris Silver Spring, MD Galicia dharris1@erols.com

Sheri Rikelman Lake Forest, CA Palestine srikelman@home.com

Jacqueline Horwitz Framingham, MA Gnesen, Prussia Jacquihh@aol.com

Michael B. Sturm Staten Island, NY Oswiecim and Krakow, Poland mikesturm@att.net

Don Horowitz Coral Springs, FL Bransk, Grodno gubernia, Belarus don@chucksbackhoe.com

Jim Horvitz Rancho Mirage, CA Hjh4blh@aol.com

Shana Rudnitsky Lithuania srvolts@worldnet.att.net

Steve Cohen East Windsor, NJ Lachwa, Belarus scohen@rutchem.rutgers.edu

Benjamin M. Horowitz West Hills, CA Minsk gubernia horowitzb@syncor.com

Lee Horwitz N. Monte Turvitz chiamleb18@aol.com

Alvin Holtzman Walden Lane Galati, Romania inkwell177@aol.com

Leone Schoenberg Gladwyne, PA LeoneSch@aol.com

Michael Newton Phoenix, AZ michael@newtonfund.com

Arthur J. Horowitz Weston, Florida ahorowitz@amerop.com

Denise Azbill Las Vegas, NV Czernowitz (of former Bukovina) Famaz1@hotmail.com

Charles Gluckman Sierra Vista, AZ Romania cgluckman@yahoo.com

Georg Horowitz Highland Park, NJ Przemysl, Poland georg49@aol.com

Toby Brief Campton, NH Olyka, Volhyn tbrief@hotmail.com

Lewis E. Hurwitz Alameda, CA LewsHome@pacbell.net

Joel Horowitz Cherry Hill, NJ jehorowitz@aol.com

Howard (Chaim) Sternfeld Brooklyn, NY hsternfeld@hotmail.com

Kerry Horwitz Boca Raton, Fl Cape Town, South Africa kez428@hotmail.com

Shalom Gurewicz Chicago, IL shalomg@att.net

Mayer Schames California mschames@attbi.com

Roger Horowitz Palm Beach Gardens, FL Prague hashelah@bellsouth.net

Shirley Flaum Bellaire, TX Bucharest, Romania Seflaum@aol.com

Nancy Collier Holden Pasadena, CA Kobylnik, Belarus; Kovno gubernia nholden@interserv.com

Jane Horowitz Bick Atlanta, GA jhbick@mindspring.com

Reuben Gross Teaneck, New Jersey Kolomea, Ukraine Reuben.Gross@verizon.net

Art Mayoff Benicia, CA Kishenov, Bessarabia art@mayoff.com

Amnon Ish-Hurwitz Buffalo Grove, IL a.ish-hurwitz@attbi.com

Lainey Melnick Austin, TX Svencionys/Svintsian, Lithuania>Riga, lmelnick@austin.rr.com

Latvia>US

Rabbi A. Marmorstein New York, NY mehadrin@aol.com

Ilana Horowitz Ratner Cleveland, Ohio Ilanahr1@aol.com

Sharon Kaiser Prescott, AZ Lepel, Vitebsk gub., Belarus gandsk@mindspring.com

Edward Greenberg Glen Cove, NY woodygreenberg@theoffice.net

Canada

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Ronald Greene Victoria, B.C. ragreene@coastnet.com

George Farkas Montreal Hungary, Slovakia gfarkas@xbrlpower.com

Marilyn Harriett Kalman Vancouver Montreal,Canada; Bucharest,Pitesti, Focsani, Galati, Romania artists1@mdi.ca

Argentina

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Rafael Gurovich Buenos Aires rafaelgurovich@fibertel.com.ar

Guifan Sofia Marta Azul-BsArgentinantii guifansm@copetel.com.ar

Hector Guillermo Arellano Gurovich Cordoba Argentina musicavcp@tutopia.com

Brasil

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Cesar Horovitz Sao Paulo chorovit@amcham.com.br

Nelson Horowitz Porto Alegre nelsontz@terra.com.br

Eliana Aizim Rio de Janeiro Ukraine aizim@uol.com.br

Chile

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Alberto Gurovich Santiago gurovich@terra.cl

Peru

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Anita Hurwitz Oynick Lima Topolinken, Germany animey@terra.com.pe

South Africa
 Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

David Horwitz Waterfront Voekovist, Poland dhorwitz@ched.uct.ac.za

Stan Colman Sandown Meluoniai (Molene), Lithuania stancol@54.co.za

Lily Becker-Hurwitz Wynberg Kamai and Rakiskas,Lithuania beckerl@humanities.uct.ac.za

Belgium

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Luk Van Elsen Brussels lukvanelsen@chello.be

Mendel Kuppemann Antwerp Krakow , Tuna , and Lancut mskup@pandora.be

Isi Horowitz Schoten isi.horowitz@idhdiamonds.com

Benjamin Angel Brussels Praha and Cracow benjamin.angel@cec.eu.int

Netherlands

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Eliyahu Ish-Hurwitz Krommenie eli@ish-hurwitz.net

Germany

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Simon Srebrny Berlin Brody, Piotrokow Trybunalski, Srebrny@mac.com

Poland

Natalie Hassman Garmisch-Partenkirchen Orsha, Belarus HassmanN@marshallcenter.org

Sergej Horovitz Berlin Romania, Russia sergej.h@berlin.de

Sweden

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Roland Tompowsky Varberg South Africa roland.tompowsky@telia.com

Switzerland

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

 Herbert David HOROVITZ Veyrier ztivoroh@iprolink.ch

United Kingdom

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Michael Horowitz London michor14@aol.com

Anne Diamond Stanmore, Middx Annediamond1@aol.com

Elaine Goldman Bournemouth Mogilev and Sklov, elaine@elainegoldman.freeserve.co.uk

Belarus

Yisrael Shmuel London Frankfurt AM, Germany euroshield@hotmail.com

Horovitz

Yosef Horowitz London Stanislow and Sassov, josdoc@btinternet.com

Galicia

France

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Frederic Horwitz Les Adrets de l'Esterel frederic.horwitz@wanadoo.fr

Ukraine

Name Place of Residence Roots E-mail address

Olga Dolberg Kharkov dolb@kharkov.ua

Contact us

The Horowitz Families Association

The Bible Museum

16 Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv 66881

Israel

Tel: 03-5166393/5177760 Fax: 03-5107661

E-mail: ​horowitzassociation@yahoo.com

Webmaster: ​shl2gur@hotmail.com

Horowitz Families Association Background

Established in conjunction with the Diaspora Museum and the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research of the Jewish Family Heritage.
General Information

The Horowitz Families Association was set up in order to collect and document information about the important part played by Horowitzes in the history of the Jewish people both in the
Diaspora and in Israel, and to make connections between the various family branches.
In an attempt to achieve these aims, the Families Association holds national and international conferences and study days, organizes visits to places with family connections, publishes material on
historical subjects and initiates various activities intended to perpetuate the family heritage amongst the younger generation and the new immigrant population.
The activities of the Horowitz Families Association are intended for all branches of the Horowitz Families, whether their name is Ish-Horowitz, Horowitz, Hurwitz or Gurevitch.

Activities

The Association holds annual meetings and sponsored an international conference in Tel Aviv in 1996, which made possible the meeting of many members of the families from Israel and abroad.
As a result, a parallel association was set up in the USA for Horowitz family members from abroad.
The following are some of the Association's recent activities: An excursion in November 1998 toured the Judean Hills in the wake of Horowitzes who fought in the War of Independence; in May
1999, a tour of the Western Galilee offered the opportunity to visit educational institutions and factories founded by members of the family. In November 1999, the excursion included Migdal on
the Kinnereth founded by Hurwitzes, and a pilgrimage to the tomb of R. Yeshayahu Halevi Ish-Horowitz in Tiberias, which was restored with the help of the Horowitz Families Association.
In June 1998, a conference was held to mark the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel; the Chanukah conference, in December 1998, was dedicated to the history of the "Bilu" pioneer Zvi
Hurvitz, and in June 1999 a study day was held which dealt with the role of Horowitzes and other prominent families in the "Golden Age" of Jewish Prague in the 16th century. In February 2000,
a social gathering brought together established Horowitzes and Gurevitch newcomers. In September 2000 a study day was devoted to the "Golden Age" of Polish Jewry, in May 2001 - of
Lithuanian, and in June 2002 - of Romanian Jewry. The study day which was held in May 2003 dealt with "The Horowitz Family in the Periods of Rise and Decay of Russian Jewry".
The Association, which was established in cooperation with the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research of the Jewish Family Heritage and the Diaspora Museum, was formally registered as a
Foundation in 1991 (no. 58-019-634-3). The Executive Board and the Association's various committees meet at regular intervals.
Chairman of the Association Mr. Gabriel Horowitz

Honorable Members​ - Prof. Yitzhak Halbrecht, Mrs. Mira Chomsky

The Executive Committee

The Association's Treasurer Menachem Argov

The Association's Secretary Daniel Ophir

Phone: 03-5166393

Fax: 03-5107661

The Chairman of the Committee for Excursions Gabriel Horowitz

The Chairman of the Committee for Connections with the Family Branches in Diaspora Shlomo Gurevich

Phone: 972-4-6552169

E-mail:​ shl2gur@yahoo.com

The Board

Dr. Menashe Horowitz E-mail: ​menorick@netvision.net.il

Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Ubitz

Yitzhak Ish-Horowitz

Shulamit Bar-Eli

Shoshana Brenner

Avraham Horowitz

David Horowitz
Jules Horowitz

Dr. Chaim Horovitz E-mail: ​c-horov@zahav.net.il

Moshe Horowitz

Paltiel Horowitz

Rina Horowitz

Sarah Horowitz

Eliezer Horowitz

Monique Zaroni E-mail: ​zaronipr@zahav.net.il

Angela Cohen

Dana Kogan

Avraham Lorberbaum

Chairman of the Control Commission

Accountant Mr. Yosef Horowitz

● aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
WHAT IS OUR FAMILY NAME?

Horwitz, Horowitz, Gurevich, Guravich, Hurowitsch, Gurewitsch,

Hurwitsch, Hurwitz
The Answer is All of the Above. Jump to Topics on This Page
HORWITZ is the version most the members of our family took when they
came to Chicago 1905-1908. Max took the last name Hurwitz one of Eliah and Gutta's Gurevich = Horwitz
son's took the name Gurevitch. Nathan and his family who stayed in Riga used
the name Gurewitsch. Abe's sons Harry and Bernie later changed Horwitz to
Howard. Origin of Horowitz Surname
●
WHY SO MANY VERSIONS OF THE SAME Russian Jewish Names
NAME?

Our family members lived in a part of the world which from Henoch Hirsh - Jewish
time to time was dominated by Sweden, Poland,
Germany, Russia and other governments. First & Second Names

They were required to spell their surname in the current local

language. Some of these languages did not have a
soft "H" sound to start a name so they used a "G". The "v" sound
was spelled with the letter "w". Instead of "itz" their version
would be "itch" (sometimes spelled "itsch" or "ich".).

The vowel sounds for the first and second "o" came out as
"a", "e", "u" as well as "o".

Sometimes the second "o" sound would be swallowed up and

disappear.

While there are family members with tombstones that

spell the family name in Hebrew characters HORVITZ
they more commonly used the second vowel sound HOROVITZ.

Phonetically HOROVITZ becomes ГУРЕВИЦ in

Russian which transliterates to English as GUREVICH.
●
GUREVICH = HOROWITZ

Alexander Beider,
has this to say about Gurevich
“(common in Mogilvev gub., Vitebsk, Rezhitsa,
Lepel’, Borisov, Bobrujsk, Riga, Poltava gub.)
Rabbinical, see Gorovits.” –
The geographical areas he mentions are all
around Riga and Southwest around Minsk, Belarus, within 200
to 300 miles of Riga.
○

This is Dr.
Beider's comment on Gorovitz. "This is a Rabbinical
surname. From the town of
Hořovice​ (Horowitz in German) (Bohemia) The
founder of the family Horowitz
(traditional spelling of this surname in Latin
characters) was Isaiah ben Moses Ha-Levi (died 1517), who
lived in Prague. His
grandson Abraham moved to Poland and dwelt in
Kraków (cracow) and Lwów (Lemberg, L’vov),
where he was elected
judge of the province (EJ, 8:983-84). The members of the family
Horowitz are considered
Levites." Click here to read
the actual entry​.
●
 ○
Click on Photo above to find out where our
family name comes from. You will be transferred
to pages prepared by the World Wide Horowitz
Families Association based in Israel. To return to these pages click on
link to FamRoots Home.
○
We know that our family name since about 1500
was taken from the city in the Czech Republic
just outside of Prague by the name of HOROVICE. (See
the information below.)
●
●
We have thought that the we were related to the famous rabbinical family that
had come from Girona, Spain that had previously used the surname of Ha-Levi.
However, our Y-Chromosome DNA does not go back to Spain at all. It goes back to
Siberia.
 Russian Jewish Names

●
A Hebrew Name – The Religious Name
●
A Yiddish Name – The one they probably used on a daily basis
and was their “real’ name when they were living in Europe.
●
A Russian Name – This would be the name they used on their
official records for dealing with the government (army, passport, etc.)
●
American Name – If they came here to live they usually took
an English
●
Nick Names – Many of the full names had abbreviated forms or
more endearing forms
●
German Name – This might be the translation of their Yiddish
name into Latin letters
●
​Click Here for an Authoritative Discussion of Russian Jewish Names by Dr.
Alexander Beider.
 Henoch Hirsh Horowitz

First & Second Names

●
There are variations of his name according to the members of our family. However, they are
all variations of the Bible name translated into English as Enoch.

●
In Yiddish his name was pronounce more as Khenoch or Khenech. We are using Henoch in
this record because so many of his grandsons were given first names starting with an "H" in
his honor.

●
The Russians replaced the H sound at the start of his name with a "G" and he appears in the
historical records as Genech. On Abe's Russian passport his Patronymic was Genehov.

●
His middle name was Hirsch. Since there were several other of his relatives in Rezekne who
also had the first name og Henoch he may have gone by Henoch-Hirsh to distinguish him
from his cousins and uncles. See the additional discussion of this popular name in the column
to the right.

The Deer as a Hebrew Symbol and Name - Hirsch

●
Dr. Beider explains that the deer is a reference to such names as Hirsch, Herschel, etc. The
deer is a symbol of the tribe of Naphtali, Jacob's sixth son whose mother was Rachel's
handmaid (Genesis 30: 7-8). The Talmud states: "Be as enduring as the tiger, as free as the
eagle, as fleet as the deer, as strong as the lion, so as to fulfill the will of your Father in
Heaven." Source is Struan Robertson's website on
Hamburg History.
24 September 2008
DNA: The Epstein-Horowitz-Benveniste Projects

Are you an Epstein? Do you know an Epstein? What about a Horowitz or the many variations of this name? Or a Benveniste?

Itzhak Epstein of New York is looking for Epsteins around the world to participate in a DNA project designed to see how the various family branches are related ... or not.

Itzhak's​ ​project​ is at FamilyTreeDNA.com and can also be accessed through JewishGen. At the bottom of that link, check the map which shows heavy concentration of participant origins in
Belarus and environs.

Itzhak recently wrote about the progress of this project to encourage others to participate in the painless mouth swab procedure.

We are working on identifying the various branches of our principal cluster, identifying additional members of our minor clusters, and on connecting our members to cousins. To accomplish this
goal and to create as broad a search as possible, we need more male EPSTEINs to contribute a cheek swab as a DNA sample.

If you are female or an EPSTEIN through female ancestors, a sample from an EPSTEIN male relative can represent your family in the test. If you are not an EPSTEIN please share this post with
male EPSTEINs who may want to participate in this project.

Names in this project include Ast, Chernin, Easton, Ebstein, Eppstein, Epshteyn, Epsteen, Epstein, Epsten, Epstien, Epsztajn, Epsztein, Epsztejn, Esten, Eylat, Levin-Epstein, Levitsky, Mulwitz,
Ochs and Polonovsky.

Through the end of September - what a great Rosh Hashana gift from Family Tree DNA - prices are discounted and two tests even include a free mtDNA test for the price of the Y-DNA test
only!
To join the EPSTEIN surname project through JewishGen, which receives a portion of the proceeds for each test ordered through this link, click​ ​here​.

To date, the project has 38 tested members, with a principal cluster of 15 members, who were mostly strangers to each other, yet appear to be related.

According to Itzhak, these members are likely descended from the historic EPSTEINs of Frankfurt am Mein, in the late 14th century.

- Four of the 15 cannot identify any EPSTEIN ancestry, but are included because of their uniquely close genetic relationship.

- Seven pairs of project members may also be mutually related.

- The other nine members are unrelated to any other current EPSTEIN surname project member.

- Most members are closely related to men whose surnames are other than EPSTEIN.

The tentative conclusion is that about half of the EPSTEIN ancestors chose the surname when authorities mandated Jews to take surnames in the early 19th century.

Other families are either related to the historic EPSTEINs from before the original surname's origination in Frankfurt or are EPSTEINs who chose a different surname at a later date.
To join the EPSTEIN surname project through JewishGen, which receives a portion of the proceeds for each test ordered through this link, click​ ​here​.

As for the historic EPSTEIN ancient origins, says Itzhak, the haplogroup shows that ancient origins are probably in the Alps and not in the Levant.

Modern Epstein genealogy started with the publication of Gvurot He'ari by Efrayim Mordechai Epstein in 1888 and the issuance the Epstein family tree by Shim'on Arye Epstein in 1908. Both
document ancestry back to the mid-17th Century. There are also references to earlier but lost Epstein genealogies. Family tradition connects us to the Benvenestes of medieval Spain. The
historic Epsteins are Levites. There is a documented Levite Epstein family in Frankfurt aM in the 15th Century. Nevertheless, at this stage of Y-DNA research, we are unsure of whether there is
more than one historic Epstein family.

Most of the tested HOROWITZ share a modal haplotype with about 50% of Ashkenazi Levites and there are also Khazar speculations. The EPSTEIN belong to a haplogroup whose ancient
origins are probably in central Europe and rare in Iberia.

For more information about the project, click​ ​here​.

There is also another twist to the story that needs more volunteers. Itzhak is asking for Sephardic families named BENVENISTE to test for another FamilyTreeDNA project​ ​here​.

Two prominent Ashkenazi families claim descent from two brothers who lived in Spain during the 13th Century CE. The Epsteins’ alleged patriarch is Rabbi Aharon de na Clara ben Yosef
haLevi. The Horowitzes’ alleged patriarch is Rabbi Pinhas, Rabbi Aharon’s older brother and mentor. These brothers are the direct male descendants of Rabbi Zerahyah ben Yitzhak haLevi
Gerondi (died after 1186). Epstein family lore asserts that Aharon’s surname was Benveniste.

The first known male Horowitz is Yishayahu ben Moshe haLevi Ish Horowitz who came to Prague in the late15th Century from the village of Horovice. The first known male Epstein is Yaakov
(Koppelman) ben Natan haLevi von Eppstein who came to Frankfurt am Main in the early 15th Century from the town of Eppstein.
Benvenistes were prominent in Spain and, after the expulsion, were prominent in the Balkans. We do not know whether there have been several Benveniste families or only one. We know that
many Jews assumed the Epstein and Horowitz surnames in he 19th Century.

Itzhak says that from the EPSTEIN and HOROWITZ participants he has, they are probably not related. However the sample is still very small and more research - and participants - are required.

Says Itzhak, "Though my research is not that scientific, the Epsteins' and Horowitzes' most recent common ancestor was "R1" who allegedly lived around 18,500 years ago."

Why not participate now and learn more about your family and further the goals of these projects? The more participants in the projects, the more likely are matches. Learn more about your
family and yourself, and enjoy the special FamilyTreeDNA discounts through September 30.

Help solve a mystery, learn more about your origins and receive a discount. What could be better?

Posted by SCHELLY TALALAY DARDASHTI at​ ​3:01 PM

Labels:​ ​DNA​,​ ​Genetics​,​ ​Jewish History​,​ ​Jewish Names​,​ ​Sephardim

2 comments:

Unknown​6:27 AM
Please add Berman to your Epstein list. I urged my maternal uncle Sam P. Berman to do the DNA test to find our Berman's and went through the Berman surname project,
and no Berman's matched, only Levitt, Levitan, and Levin and Epstein! My maternal grandmother was the daughter of Masha Levin, a Rabbi Levin's and Sara Singer, also
a daughter of Rabbi Singer. , at 37 marker Levin Epstein and Epstein, no Berman!
My maternal Grandmother. Said that Her Levin line went back centuries and all rabbinical, five brothers originally Luria, and parents died or were killed and a kind Levin
family adopted all of them or a couple of them? They all became Levin rabbis. Gurevich was connected, as an aunt married a Gurevich, who for all I know could have
been cousins as so many Singer and Levin cousins married in my families, considered a mitzvah. The story of the Levite Rabbis was confirmed by Eilat Gordan Levitan
with info he sent me about a long Levin line in 1700's Germany, thru early 1800s. My grandmother's cousin Yitchak Gurevich came to the house here upon arrival from
Vilnius in the late 70s and told us of his connection to Granma Lieba/lily Chidekel Berman, daugter of Levin, who was his mother's sister, whom my grand mother told me
she used to visit w kids, a dressmaker widow. All wer in Vilna Giberna.

I did the DAA tests and I am from The Halpogroup H6 one of the oldest from Arabians, the Middle East, which is my maternal line, which matches what you a
Referred to for the line. Kkirshner@aol.com, East Meadow, NY, USA.
Reply
Horowitz Millenial Descent Chart (E. Gelles)
Millennial Descent from Shem Tov Halevi of Gerona
The Shem Tov Halevi of Gerona and some other leading families including the Benveniste moved between
Provence and Aragon. The Hebrew name Shem Tov and the Greek Kalonymos meant “of good name”. They
were related to the Kalonymos Nesiim of Narbonne.
1 Shem Tov Halevi of Gerona (a leading Talmudic scholar in Provence)
(the Ha-Yitzhari family claimed direct descent from Samuel the Prophet)
2 Zerachiah
3 Yitzchak (scholar in Provence)
4 Zerachiah Halevi Girondi 1125-1186 (author of Ha-Maor and other works)
5 Joseph Halevi
6 Benveniste Halevi
7 Joseph Halevi ben Benveniste m Clara bat Asher ben Meshullam ben Jacob of
Lunel (reputedly of Davidic descent)
8 Pinchas Halevi - lived near Perpignan (elder brother of Aharon Halevi, 1235-
1305, who gives his descent from Zerachiah Halevi in Bedek Habayit )
9 Yitzchak Halevi
10 Joseph Halevi
11-13 (?)
From the Shem Tov Halevi of medieval Spain and Provence a sprig transplanted to Bohemia in the 15th
century became the Horowitz family, taking their name from the town of Horovice near Prague where they
settled before moving to Prague and beyond
14 Moshe Halevi
15 Isaiah ben Moshe Halevi Ish Horowitz ca.1440-1515 – in Prague 1480
16 Ahron Meshullam Zalman Horowitz 1470-1545 aka Zalman Munka
17 Israel Horowitz 1500-1572 of Prague
18 Pinchas Halevi Ish Horowitz Prague 1535 – Cracow 1618
President of the Council of the Four Lands - m sister of Rabbi Moses Isserles
19 Jacob Horowitz died in Vienna 1630
20 Joshua Horowitz ABD of Przemysl died 1661
21 Shmuel Schmelke Horowitz ABD of Tarnow died 1694 m granddaughter
of Yehoshua Heschel Charif, Chief Rabbi of Cracow (author of Meginei Shlomo)
22 Meir Horowitz of Bolechow, Zloszow, and ABD of Tykocin died 1743
m daughter of Menachem Manish Katz, son of Isaiah Katz of Brody
(descendants of Judah Loew of Prague )
23 Jacob Jokel Horowitz ABD of Glogau and Brody died 1755
24 Isaac Horowitz ABD of Brody, Glogau, and Hamburg died 1767
25 Beile Horowitz m Menachem Mendel Rubin ABD of Lesniow etc. died 1803
26 Jacob Jokel Horowitz ABD of Bolechow 1773 - 1832
27a Efraim Fischel Horowitz ABD of Munkacz died 1860
27b Yehuda Ahron Horowitz of Solotwina and ABD of Mihaileni
28a Sarah (?) m David Isaac Gellis ca 1790 – 1868
28b Gittel Horowitz (?) m Hirsch Leib Weinstein ABD of Solotwina died 1884
29 Nahum Uri Gelles ABD of Solotwina died 1934 m Esther Weinstein died 1907

30 David Gelles of Vienna 1883-1964 m Regina Griffel 1900 - 1954

31 Edward Gelles 1927-
This chart is copyrighted by and posted with the permission of Dr. Edward Gelles. All
rights reserved. May not be reproduced or disseminated without the author’s permission.
This chart and information concerning the families discussed therein may be found in Dr.
Gelles’ books, including: Meeting my Ancestors (Shaker Publishing, Maastricht, 2011),
ISBN 978 90 423 0403 1.
This chart and information concerning the families discussed therein will also be included
in Dr. Gelles’ forthcoming volume of essays, to be entitled A Millennial Journey of
European Jews.

Benveniste Nessiim of Barcelona and Shem Tov Halevi of Gerona (E. Gelles)
Benveniste Nessiim of Barcelona and Shem Tov Halevi of Gerona

Salomon Baron [Nasi] ------------- connections to Makhir-Kalonymos line of Narbonne -----------------Shem

Tov Halevi
m Bonadona Shealtiel Benveniste from Narbonne to Saragossa & Barcelona of Gerona
| Joseph ibn Benveniste of Saragossa
|
Perfet Sheshet | Zerachiah
fl. 1120’s- 30’s
|
m Barzillay Isaac ibn Benveniste of Barcelona Yitzchak
| [Nasi ] |
Isaac ________________________________ Zerachiah Halevi
Girondi
[Nasi] | | b. Gerona 1125 – d.
Lunel 1186
___________|______ Sheshet Benveniste | Benveniste ibn Benveniste Baal Ha
Maor
| | aka Perfet Joseph [Nasi] |
Sheshet Boneta m [Nasi & Alfaquim] Embassy to King of Morocco Joseph
Halevi
 [Nasi & Bailiff] 1131 -1205 fl. Saragossa, d. after 1210
m Shealtiel | | |
________________________
_____________________
| | | | |
Perfet Makhir m Tolosana Mira m Isaac Benveniste Joseph Benveniste Benveniste
Halevi
fl 1190’s –1226 [ Nasi & Alfaquim] fl. Montpellier 1190
[Nasi & Bailiff ] d. ca 1224 |
his grandmother was of Joseph Halevi (ben)
Benveniste
the Kalonymos m. Clara, daughter
of Asher
Nessiim of Montpellier Samuel Benveniste b. Meshullam b. Jacob
of Lunel
of Tarragona d. after 1356
Royal physician
__________________|_______
▼ |
| |
Abraham Benveniste Ahron
Benveniste Pinchas
Rab de la Corte b. 1406 – d. 1452 b. ca 1235 – d. 1305
elder brother
Counsellor to King John II of Castile
fl. Perpignan

▼
▼ ▼
JOSEPH NASI, Duke of Naxos 1566 EPSTEIN
HOROWITZ

The above chart focuses on Sheshet ben Isaac ben Joseph Benveniste, also called Perfet (Catalan for the Hebrew name
Meshullam),
his brother Benveniste ibn Benveniste and his nephew Isaac Benveniste. They were Jewish community leaders with the title
of Nasi and also served Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and succeeding Kings of Aragon in more than one
capacity.
(Alfaquim = counsellor; Bailiff = financial administrator). Their connections to other leading Jewish families such as the
Shealtiel
and Barzillay are indicated on the chart.
(References: Elka Klein, Jews, Christian Society, and Royal Power in Medieval Barcelona, Univ. of Michigan Press, 2006;
Moshe Shealtiel-Gracian, Shealtiel, Academy Chicago Publishers,2005).

A later Benveniste line runs to the family of Joseph Nasi, whose economic and political services to the Ottoman Empire
were recognized when he was made Duke of Naxos in 1566 (Cecil Roth, The House of Nasi : Dona Gracia, p 13, Jewish
Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1948).

According to family traditions, the Epstein and Horowitz families descend respectively from Aharon and his elder brother
Pinchas,
the sons of Joseph Halevi (ben) Benveniste and his wife Clara, although some believe that a brother of Pinchas and
Aharon, named
Benveniste, was the progenitor of the Horowitz line (see Meir Wunder, Meorei Galicia, Vol. 6 : 450, Jerusalem 2005).
Rabbi Aharon de na Clara ben Yosef Halevi of Barcelona in his book Bedek Habayit gave his paternal pedigree as follows:
Aharon Halevi b. Yosef b. Benveniste b. Yosef b. Zerachiah b. Shem Tov. Later scholars had Zerachiah as the son of
Yitzchak son of
Zerachiah (see Chayim Josef David Azulai, Shem Hagedolim, Jerusalem 1979, Vol.1 page 18; Itzhak Epstein, Epstein
Research
message 112 posted 31. 12.2002). So it appears that descent from Zerachiah ben Yitzchak Halevi Girondi to Aharon Halevi
proceeded via Zerachiah’s son Joseph to a Benveniste (grandfather of Aharon and Pinchas Halevi), and then to their
father
Joseph Halevi ben Benveniste (see also Henri Gross, Gallia Judaica, new edition, Philo Press, Amsterdam 1969 pp 330 et
seq).
A Joseph Benveniste is believed to have been the brother of the Nasi Isaac Benveniste (see Jewish Encyclopedia article on
Benveniste
and Neil Rosenstein, Ashkenazi rabbinic families, RAV-SIG online journal). This Isaac Benveniste, a distinguished leader
of
Aragonese Jewry, died at a mature age circa 1224 and is identified as a son of Benveniste ibn Benveniste (Elka Klein, loc cit
). Aharon
Halevi was born around 1235 to 1240 (H, Gross, loc cit) and one of his teachers was his elder brother Pinchas. Their father
Joseph
might have been born round about 1195-1205 so he could not be a brother of the Nasi Isaac ben Benveniste. However, a
Joseph
Benveniste is recorded as living in Montpellier around 1190. The connections indicated in the chart appear to reconcile
most of the
details in the above references.
© Edward Gelles 2008
This chart is copyrighted by and posted with the permission of Dr. Edward Gelles. All rights reserved. May not be
reproduced or disseminated without the author’s permission.
This chart and information concerning the families discussed therein may be found in Dr. Gelles’ books, including:
Family Connections: Gelles-Shapiro-Friedman (Shaker Publishing, Maastricht, 2009), ISBN 978 90 423 0370 6.
This chart and information concerning the families discussed therein will also be included in Dr. Gelles’ forthcoming volume
of essays, to be entitled A Millennial Journey of European Jews.

Horowitz Roots & Branches (E. Gelles)

Horowitz Roots and Branches
Generations of Shem Tov Halevi in Barcelona and Gerona
▼
Isaiah ben Moshe Halevi Horowitz of Provence (ca 1440-1515) also known as Zalman Horovsky
|
Yocheved m Shabatai Sheftel Horowitz (d. 1555 in Prague) -------------Ahron Meshullam Zalman Horowitz (1470-1545) aka Zalman Munka
bat Akiba Katz
| |
Avraham Horowitz Israel Horowitz (1500-1572) of Prague
| |
Isaiah Halevi Horowitz (1568-1627) Pinchas Halevi Horowitz (Prague 1535- Cracow 1618)
the ” Shelah “ - Frankfurt, Prague, & Safed President of Council of the Four Lands

| m sister of Moses Isserles of Cracow

Shabatai Sheftel Horowitz (ca 1600-60) their daughter Hinde m Meir, son of Saul Wahl
m. dr of Moses Halevi Yollis of Cracow
Jacob Horowitz (d.Vienna 1630)
possibly son of Pinchas Halevi Horowitz and father of Joshua Horowitz
( cf Meir Wunder, Meorei Galicia, vol 2, 110-111 and 119-120)
Joshua Horowitz (d. 1661)
ABD of Przemysl
|
Shmuel Shmelke Horowitz (d. 1694)
ABD of Tarnow
|
daughter of Menachem Manish Katz m Meir Horowitz (d.1743)
son of Isaiah Katz of Brody Maharam of Tiktin
|
Jacob Jokel Horowitz (d. 1755) ------------------------- Zvi Hirsch Horowitz (d.1754)
ABD of Glogau & Brody ABD of Czortkow
| |
Isaac Horowitz Shmuel Shmelke Horowitz ----------Pinchas Horowitz
(d. 1767 ) (1726-1778) (1730-1805)
ABD of Brody, Glogau, and Hamburg ABD of Nikolsburg ABD of Frankfurt

© Edward Gelles 2007

This chart is copyrighted by and posted with the permission of Dr. Edward Gelles. All rights reserved. May not be
reproduced or disseminated without the author’s permission.
This chart and information concerning the families discussed therein may be found in Dr. Gelles’ books, including:
Family Connections: Gelles-Horowitz-Chajes (Shaker Publishing, Maastricht, 2008), ISBN 978 90 423 0338 6.
Does the Horowitz Family from Bohemia
Really Descend from the Benvenisti Halevy
Family from Spain? [AB-067]
Filed Under​ ​AB-067 R1a-Z93-M582​,​ ​Europe - Eastern​,​ ​Europe - Western​,​ ​Rabbinic genealogy​ By​ ​Avrohom Marmorstein​ on March 11, 2016

Share This
Share it if you Like
Share on FacebookShare
0
Share on TwitterTweet
Send emailMail

Many published family trees of the historical​ ​Horowitz family of Prague and Horovice, Bohemia​ trace the origins of the family back to Catalonia, Spain and to Lunil, Provence, France, in
particular to the esteemed Benvenisti Halevi Family, which included renowned early rabbinic authorities​ ​Rabbi Aaron Halevi​ of Barcelona and​ ​Rabbi Zerachiah Halevi​ of Girona, author of ​Baal
Hamaor​ (the Book of Light). The purpose of this article is to review the descriptions of the Horowitz genealogy to ascertain where and when this tradition might have developed.

Early Sources

Ethical will of Rabbi Sheftel (Shabtai) Halevi Horowitz (1590-1660)

Circa 1650. ​The great scholar​ ​Rabbi Yeshaya ha-Levi Horowitz​ (c.1565–1630) authored the encyclopedic ethical work S​ hnei luḥot ha-berit, published 1648 in Amsterdam by the publisher
Immanuel Benvenisti​ (1608-1665) (both book and author are​ k​ nown by the acronym ​Shelah)​ . There is no indication in the book that there is any family connection between the author and
publisher. The earliest known mention of the origins of the Horowitz family is found in the ethical will of​ ​Rabbi Sheftel (Shabtai) Halevi Horowitz​ (1590-1660) which was appended to ​Yesh
Nochlin​ (1615), a tome written by his grandfather​ ​Rabbi Abraham (son of Shabtai) Horowitz​ (1540-1615) and published in 1701. Rabbi Sheftel writes very strongly about the importance of
knowing one’s family history, but makes no mention of an Iberian background:

As is well known the third destruction (after the destruction of the two temples in Jerusalem) in the year 1648 caused massive loss of life and also caused confusion about
​ hmelnytsky Uprising​].​ The sages of that time tried to salvage the family lineages but there was a limit to how much they could do,
family identity ​[ed. – referring to the K
and there is reason to fear that in later times people will claim to be part of a distinguished family or to place a blemish in a holy seed. Therefor it is important for anyone
who lives in such a time to write a clear pedigree and leave it for his children so that they may know precisely from whom they are descended. I therefore wish to tell you
my beloved young and wise son​ ​Isaiah​ (SG”L) that you are my son, and I am the son of the Gaon and pious​ ​Rabbi Yeshaye​ SG”L author of ​Shnei Luchos HaBris,
grandson of​ ​Rabbi Avrohom​ son of​ ​Rabbi Sheftel​, author of Emek Brachah, and Rav Sheftel was the son of​ ​Rabbi Yeshaye​ SG”L and he (Rabbi Yeshaye) was the
son-in-law of the prince​ ​Akiva of Oben​ (Obuda, now part of Budapest) who is buried in the holy community of Prague near the grave of my mother. My mother​ ​Chaya
was said in her time to have performed all the good deeds of the matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. She was the daughter of a Torah scholar, who was also a
great philanthropist, and [your] mother, too, was from a great family the daughter of​ ​Rabbi Moshe Charif​ (the sharp mind) son of​ ​Rabbi Israel of Lublin​, and all of them
were of pure family lineage. I have written this not that I wish to boast of it just that you and my daughter should know who you are and who are your ancestors, and you
should instruct your children, and they to their children for all time, for the Holy One blessed be He only rests His presence on those of pedigree.
 Yesh Nochlin, published 1701

Circa 1740. ​A further Horowitz genealogy does not appear for another century, in the work of​ ​Rabbi Pinchas Katzenellenbogen​ (1691–1767,), a great-grandson of the famed​ ​Rabbi Pinchas
Horowitz​ of Cracow (through his daughter​ ​Hinda​). Rabbi Katzenellenbogen wrote a masterful historical memoir named​ ​Yesh Manchilin​ containing many genealogical details and family trees.
This invaluable source remained only in manuscript form in the Oppenheim collection in the​ ​Bodleian library​, until transcribed and published by Rabbi Isaac Feld in 1986 (Machon Chasam
Sofer, Jerusalem).​[1]​ There are several chapters devoted to Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz and the Horowitz family. In Chapter 135 Rabbi Katzenellenbogen writes about the family but says nothing of
Iberian origins:

I will copy that which I saw in a manuscript volume of​ ​Rabbi Aryeh Leib​, the rabbi of​ ​Boskovitz​, the son of​ ​Rabbi Menachem Mendel​, rabbi of​ ​Raustitz​ and head of the
rabbinical court of​ ​Nikolsburg​, son of the elder sage​ ​Rabbi David​, rabbi and av beth din in​ ​Trebitsch​.My ancestor wrote the order of genealogy of the family Horowitz in
Prague: This is what I have been told by​ ​R. Zalman Fischhof​ of Vienna.​ ​R. Yisrael​ S.G.L.: his son​ ​R. Pinchas​ built the synagogue in Prague; his son​ ​Yeshaye​ (son of
Pinchas);​ ​Zalman​ (son of Yeshaye); three daughters of R. Yeshaye were (1)​ ​Raizel​, (2)​ ​Nechama​, and (3)​ ​Nissel​.​ ​R. Lipman​ (in the manuscript it says in
parenthesis—“this may be​ ​Rabbi Uri Lippmann​ [the famed preacher in Vienna and Prague-ed.] who was the father of the well-known printer in Sulzbach who lived to a
great age,​ ​R. Aron​”) was the son of the aforementioned Raizel, the wife of​ ​R. Uri Kelma​ [Kuma, Kamen];​ ​R. Shimon​ son of Raizel;​ ​R Zalman Fischhof​ son of
Shimon.​[2]​ [As for] the above-mentioned R Lipman: (in the manuscript it says “If this is the R Lipman who was the father of R Aron the printer, then R. Aron would be
the brother of​ ​Hendel​ who is the maternal grandmother of the above-named Rabbi David, and that seems illogical to assume that R. Aron could be a sibling of Rabbi
David’s grandmother, and that is a sufficient discussion.”).

Circa 1800. ​Some genealogists have claimed that the encyclopedic work ​Shem Hagedolim​ of​ ​Rabbi Chaim David Azulai​ (1724-1806) is evidence of the Spanish Benveniste origins of the
Horowitz family. However, the Horowitz family is mentioned only briefly as a prestigious family of scholars, and no mention is made of any Spanish and Provencal antecedents.

19th and 20th Century Sources: the Lewenstein Connection

 Rabbi Joseph Lewenstein of Serock

It is well known that there was a sudden outpouring of rabbinical biography and genealogy published at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, including several dedicated to our subject
matter. It is in these compilations that we here of Horowitz Iberian origins for the first time. ​[3]

1883. ​The first such printed documentation mentioning the Spanish connection is an article by​ ​Yitzchak Meir Lewenstein​, the son of​ ​Rabbi Yosef Lewenstein​ of Serock​, in the newspaper
​ ebruary 26 1883, with further installments March 9 and 22. This long Horowitz genealogy claims to be based on a handwritten family yichus brief discovered in the possession of his
Hamelitz F
father. What Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Lewenstein actually wrote (incidentally two of his grandchildren died just last year at age 95 and 98!) was:

Hamelitz March 9, 1883

….. Rabbi Akiva Kohen’s daughter married Yeshaye from Horovitz in Bohemia. He was an offshoot of the tree of our Rabbi Isaac the Levite (who is quoted in the
talmudic novellae of R. Solomon b. Aderet on megilah 26 and Gittin 41b) who was the son of Rabbi Pinchas the Levite (who is quoted by R. Yomtov b. Ashevili in
many places) the brother of Rabbi Aaron the prince of the Levites of Barcelona, author of the book of education (Hachinuch) and Bedek Habayit, who was called the
Re’ah and was a disciple of Nachmanides and R Solomon b. Aderet; son of R. Yosef.

Rabbi Lewenstein’s use of the term “Prince of the Levites” is an indication that he may have based his conclusion on the colophon found in the Shulchan Aruch of Cracow printed in 1617 by
Shmuel Horowitz​ (1560-1622): “Shmuel son of the great Gaon, prince of the princes of the Levites, the complete and pious Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz.” This title, according to my computer
searches, has only been used by about three people since the first usage in Chumash Bamidbar, the author of ​Yad Rama​h, Rabbi Aron Halevi of Barcelona and Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz.
 Shulchan Aruch edition of Cracow 1617, printed by Shmuel Horowitz available on Otsar Haposkim

1899.​ ​Moshe Yaakov Schwerdscharf​ published ​Daat Lenvonim​ in Munkach, and he followed this with another genealogical work ​Geza Tarschishim​ published in Lemberg (Lwow) in 1905. This
is just one of the many genealogical works written in rabbinic Hebrew which are now available online without charge from​ ​http://www.hebrewbooks.org/​ In both these works, Schwerdscharf
appears to quote the article by ​Rabbi Lewenstein​ verbatim, although without mentioning his source:

Yeshaye Halevi​ from the city of Horovice in Bohemia, according to what is told he owned the village of Horovice and was therefore known as “Ish Horowitz.” And he
was a descendant of​ ​Rabbi Yitzchak Halevi​, son of​ ​Rabbi Pinchas Halevi​ who was the brother of​ ​Rabbi Aron Halevi​ of Barcelona, prince of the Levites, who was known
as Re’ah and author of Bedek Habayit and the Sefer Hachinuch. They were sons [descendants] of​ ​Rabbi Zerachiah Halevi​, son of​ ​Yitzchak Halevi​, son of​ ​Rabbi
Zerachiah Halevi​, author of Baal Hamaor, which he completed in Lunil in 4910 (1150) where he died in 1186.

1900. ​ ​Rabbi Chaim Aryeh Horowitz​ of Cracow published a volume of his talmudic novellae titled ​Chaye Aryeh​ and added a preface with his family history. He writes of the first known
Horowitz, Yeshaya Horowitz of Prague, “it was said of him that he was an emigrant from Spain, a descendant of R. Yitzchak Halevi, son of R. Pinchas Halevi the brother of Rabbi Aron Halevi.”

1902. ​Pinchas Pessas of Dubna published another Horowitz genealogy which he called ​Ateret Haleviim​ ​(​Crown of the Levites). Here too, the author cites the tale of Spanish origin, but as
something that is told. He does not give a specific source although the book is otherwise thoroughly footnoted and sourced.

1903. ​Rabbi Shmuel Zanvil Kahana​ published​ Anaf Etz Avot​ (branches of the tree of ancestors). It is a highly organized work with tables of ancestors and descendants, with each generation
numbered and indexed. There is a part of the book devoted to the Horowitz family and he lists this Halevi ancestry, and gives as sources a letter from the famed genealogist​ ​Rabbi Joseph
Lewenstein​ of Serotsk​, and a book entitled ​Ohr Hachaim​ (Ch. 293). ​Ohr Hachaim i​ s the bibliographic and historical work of​ ​Heimann Joseph Michael​ of Hamburg (1792-1846) published in
Frankfurt-am-Main in 1891. However, while the chapter cited gives the genealogy of the Halevi family of Barcelona and Lunil, it never mentions a link to the well-known Horowitz family.

1905. ​Avrohom Michelsohn​, a son of the famed rabbi and genealogist​ ​Rabbi Zvi Yechezkel Michelsohn​, published an historical and genealogical introduction to an anthology of the teachings of
Rabbi Shmelke Horowitz​ of Nikolsburg (1726-1778) named ​Shemen Hatov​.​[4]​ Michelsohn repeats the tale of the Horowitz family being descended from Rabbi Zerachiah Halevi.

“My father the great rabbi (Zvi Yechezkel Michelsohn) is the son of Rabbi Avraham Chaim, who was the son of Rabbi Yaakov Yechiel Mechel. Rabbi Yaakov Yechiel Michel was the
son-in-law of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch (Levin) who was the son-in-law of Rabbi Avraham Yoel Halevi Ish Horowitz, son of Rabbi Zvi Yehoshua [rabbi of Trebic (and Prosnitz)], son of Rabbi Shmelke
Horowitz and son-in-law of his uncle Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz of Frankfurt. They (i.e. Rav Shmelke and Rav Pinchas) were the sons of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Horowitz rabbi of Czortkov, son of
Rabbi Meir Horowitz of Tiktin, son of Rabbi Shmelke of Tarny, son of Rabbi Yehoshua Ha-Aruch, son of Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz of Krakow [brother-in-law of Rema rabbi Moshe Isserles], son
of Rabbi Yisrael Halevi Horowitz of Prague, son of the great Rabbi Aaron Meshulam Halevi son of the prince and nobleman Rabbi Yeshaye Halevi from the town of Horovice in Bohemia. He
was the owner of the town and later moved to Prague where he was called Ish Horowitz. He was the son of Yosef from the family of Yitzchak Halevi son of Pinchas [brother of Rabbi Aron
Halevi author of Sefer Hachinuch] son of Rabbi Yosef son of Rabbi Benvenisti, son of Rabbi Yosef, son of Rabbi Zerachiah, son of Rabbi Yitzchak, son of Rabbi Zerachiah Halevi who is called
Baal Hamaor. ​All this is what is written in Daas Lenevonim, Ateres Haleviim, and look also at Anaf Etz Avos.”

So Rabbi Michelsohn makes it clear to us that the descent from the Spanish family is something he read in these sources.
Rabbi Michelsohn wrote around 1905 that he read it in ​Daas Lanevonim​ which was written a few years earlier by his relative Rabbi Moshe Yaakov Schwerdscharf and published in Munkacz in
1899. I have copied the passage from ​Daas Lenevonim

Rabbi Michelsohn also quotes from ​Ateres Haleviim,​ a book written by Pinchas Fesses and published in Warsaw in 1902, it is a biography of Rabbi Yeshaye Horowitz the author of ​Sheloh
Hakodosh​. This too is available online. He does not give a source but does quote a personal letter from Rabbi Yosef Levenstein the rabbi of Serotsk, and here is the passage:

Anaf Etz Avos​ is a genealogical work from the same time period, written by Rabbi Shmuel Zanvil Kahan and published in Krakow in 1903. Here is the relevant passage, no source quoted, and
actually no specific decent just that a branch of the family of…..

Therefore, it is clear that Rabbi Michelsohn did not have an independent source for the claim of Spanish descent.

1909. ​In Piotrków, Abraham Joseph Fisher, from the town of Aleksandrów near Lodz, published a book of Talmudic commentary by Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz of Prague and Krakow, whom I
mentioned above. The title page accurately describes R. Pinchas as having come from Prague to Krakow and as a brother-in-law of​ ​Rabbi Moshe Isserles​ (the renowned Rema), a relative of the
Tosfos Yom Tov​ (who married a great-niece of R. Pinchas) and a relative of Rabbi Yeshaye Horowitz the author of ​Shelah​. The introduction includes a great deal of genealogical material,
although much of it duplicates that which was published elsewhere in the few years prior. But the most important factor is that the manuscript of ​Beth Pinchas​ was in the possession of ​Rabbi
Lewenstein of Serock​ who gave it to Fisher to transcribe and publish.​[5]

1928. ​Rabbi Zvi Halevi Horowitz of Dresden​, a scholar and historian, produced a family history of the Horowitz clan. This was first published in the ​Zeitschrift fur die geschichte der juden in
die Czechoslovakei II 89–109, 222–229, and III 127–137, 221–22; a​ lso as an appendix to a talmudic work published by his brother​ ​Rabbi Moshe Horowitz​, ​Tov Ayin,​ and as a separate book
Toldot Mishapachat Horowitz​ (Cracow 1928). In the German version he cites more sources, but the only ones he presents for this earlier ancestry are his father’s introduction to ​Chaye Aryeh​ and
the ​Megilas Yuchson ​of​ ​Rabbi Meir Perels​ in the Warsaw edition of 1889. The ​Megilas Yuchsin​ however seems to say no more and no less than is found in the will of Rabbi Sheftel Horowitz that
has been previously mentioned. ​The Megilas Yuchsin does not mention the Spanish antecedents​, rather it is in a footnote in the Warsaw edition that it was added by the publisher, thus not giving
us any earlier source for the tale.

2004. ​Another discussion of the early ancestry of the Horowitz dynasty is found in a thorough article by Rabbi David Nachman Rotner of Jerusalem, published in the journal of the Stoliner
chassidim in ​Kovetz Bais Aron VeYisrael​ (No. 113, page 155–161) in 2004. He quotes the Prague museum and archives wherein there are several mentions of R. Asher Zalman (Zelikman)
Horowitz, father of R. Yeshaye Horowitz whom the earlier genealogists consider the first known generation of Horowitzes. Rabbi Rotner appears to have made a very intense study of the
original records, even finding an earlier generation in the original Prague records. I was hopeful he might shed some more light on the Spanish connection, but he does not.
There are certainly more examples of references to the Spanish origins of the Horowitz family in private genealogies of the past 100 years. Judy Goldberg writes: “I have​ ​a hand written document
that is titled “Seder Ha’Dorot” ‫ סדר הדורות‬in our family that starts in Barcelona with Aharon and Pinchas Ha’Levi and ends with my great-grandfather the last rabbi of Dubova, Ukraine​ ​Moshe
Aharon (Bernstein) Berdichevsky​ (1845-1919). We do not know who wrote it but we think it was either written by his oldest son​ ​Yechiel Micha Yoseph Berdichevsky​ (1865-1921) or by his wife
and his right hand​ ​Rachel (née Ramberg) Berdichevsky​ (1879-1955).”

One wonders whether – given the fact that a devoted genealogist of the family living in the 1740’s had not heard of a connection to the illustrious ancestor Rabbi Zerachya Halevi and the
Benveniste Family – this family legend documented 140 years later should be considered reliable? Was it merely inferred from the fact that the ​Shnei Luchot Habrit​ was published by Immanuel
Benveniste?

Perhaps we should consider it more of a tradition and legend than an established fact, particularly since:

(1) Rav Sheftel Horowitz, the son of Rabbi Yeshaye Horowitz, writing between 1650 and 1660, while recalling his family lineage with pride, does not include the prior generations before Rabbi
Yeshaye Horowitz (the 1st), and

(2) the careful genealogies of the family only allude to the Benveniste connection as ‫“( כפי המסופר‬as has been told”) or ‫“( מספרים במשפחתנו‬they tell in our family”) and only those who wrote much
later incorporated it as documented fact ​[6]

Rabbi Avrohom Marmorstein is the rabbi of Congregation Minchas Chinuch of the West Side in New York City. Born in England and educated there and in the USA, he has long enjoyed finding
more ancestors and relatives of his wide-ranging family. He also works as a hospital chaplain, and director of a kosher certification agency.

Notes

[1]​ In the appendix to this chapter, Rabbi Feld notes that the chapter was especially hard to read and notes that newer technology may be able to restore greater legibility. Perhaps a volunteer
would peruse the Bodleian manuscript with better lighting and photo-corrective scans which would add some information to this chapter.

[2]​ We have not been able to reconcile this account of the ancestors of R. Zalman Fischhof. Compare​ ​http://www.geni.com/people/Meshulam-Zalman-Auerbach/6000000004957016884​ ​with
http://www.geni.com/people/Zalman-Fischhof/6000000040838745842.

[3]​ The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) includes an article on​ ​Pedigree​ by Joseph Jacobs with a list of families with pedigrees in the Encyclopedia.

[4]​ Incidentally,​ ​Rabbi Shmelke Horowitz​ taught his disciples that he felt a special connection to the prophet Samuel, as recorded in the book ​Nazir Hashem, ​but he did not mention to them that
he was a descendant of the venerated prophet though he too was from this prestigious line.

[5]​ This in itself gives more strength to the Levensteins as guardians of the Horowitz heritage. I remember that when I first went to study in the ​yeshiva i​ n Gateshead, the tractate studied at the
time was ​Yevamos,​ and it was this volume of commentary that was most popular for insights into Tosfos comments. I must have handled it a hundred times without giving a glance at the
introduction.

[6]​ Coincidentally, the latest issue of ​Vayisyaldu,​ a Hebrew language e-zine dedicated to rabbinical genealogy, authored by a Rabbi Wettstein, is devoted to the​ ​Charlap family​ and its illustrious
history. There too he finds that the first mention of ancestry traced back to​ ​King David​ is in a journal article in 1890 issue of ​Knesset Hagedolah​ (Warsaw). He also notes with surprise that (just
as we questioned the phenomenon that the elders of the Horowitz family wrote about their lineage but did not mention the Spanish connection) the elders of the Charlap /Don Yichya/ Ibn Yichya
family did not mention their Davidic descent. Only their descendants knew of their illustrious ancestry.​ ​Rabbi Gedalya Ibn Yechya​ 1526-1588 wrote a family history and says nothing about it.