Upload
isragen
View
112
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
The digitalization project of the 19th Century censuses in Eretz Israel done under the auspices of Sir Moses Montefiore
Citation preview
The digitalization project of the 19th Century censuses
in Eretz Israel done under the auspices of Sir
Moses Montefiore
Thanks to the Montefiore Endowment
Introducing the 3 ladies
behind the project
A Window on Eretz IsraelA Reconstruction of the Jewish
Population
Five Cenuses of Eretz Israel 1839 1849 1855 1866 1875 and 1840 of
Alexandria
A Window on Eretz IsraelA Reconstruction of the Jewish
Population
The censuses that Montefiore conducted enables us to see a picture of the demographic situation in most of Eretz Israel, that together with the facts from macro-history gives us our micro-history.
wars 1831 Ibrahim Pasha conquers Eretz Israel 1834 peasant revolt 1838 Druse revolt(Galilee)
natural disasters Jan.1,1837 earthquake over 2,000 deaths in Safed and Tiberias
philanthropic students of Torah just plain poor
Why the First Census?Safed after the
earthquake
How many Jews were in Eretz Israel in the 19th century?
According to Montefiore’s census database 6,570 in 1839 and 9,891 in 1855 But what is known about this population? Females vs Males? Martial Status? Adults vs Children? Where are they from? Where are they living in Eretz Israel? Age distribution?
Does the census include everyone?
NO, it does not ! Not all communities included: Pekiin & Kfar Yasif Some known people are not included Lists of those who received money include names not in the census (according to the publication by the Dinur Center) When building the database we included
those without names so you have demographic information
The Source Original records are kept at the Montefiore Endowment in London Microfilms for all five censuses can be found at the Institute of the Hebrew Microfilmed Manuscripts (Jerusalem) They do not cover the entire Jewish population as some extremely orthodox Jews refused to cooperate and give any details
Problems – General & Specific Many of the microfilms were unreadable.
(sample slides)
The printed standardized form came into use in
all the communities only in 1855. Four types of forms for the population: Rabbis & Wiseman, Bnei Israel, Widows, Orphans Scripts: square letters, Rashi script, cursive script and sometimes numbers were even written in Arabic numbers Transliteration of names - guidelines implemented by the National Library in Jerusalem
Problems – General & SpecificSecond marriages from either side –
loss of information People living with other people than the parent – added to comments Orphans often had little information about the parents Places of birth - IGS added the country that that town is found in today. In the English version, the present day name of the town is given rather than the name at the time of the census in Yiddish & Ottoman names.
How was the info organized?
The Ashkenazim are registered according to the Kolel (in the 19th century, a support society based on their European origins). The records cover whole families “Kollel”s are according to Jewish communities abroad: Habad, Volin, Holland & Deutchland
How was the info organized? The Sephardim and the Oriental Jews are registered as one single group, without any regard to their various origins. The exception – the “Westerners” from North Africa The censuses are divided by locality as they have been conducted. 11 localities for 1839 and only 6 for 1875 What happened?
Safed 1839, 1875
Communities in the censuses
Tiberias 1839, 1875
Jaffa 1839, 1875
Jerusalem 1839, 1875
Hebron 1839, 1875
Nablous 1839
Djermak 1839Tiberias 1839, 1875
Haifa 1839, 1875
Acre 1839
Sidon 1839
Shefaram 1839
Details Available in Censuses (sometimes)
Family name, first name, Age, date of arrival (aliyah), Place of birth, marriage, Name of spouse (not always), children
and their ages (not always), Occupation, financial status and
notes Each Kolel includes a list of leaders,
the families, the widows and the orphans.
1839
1875based on
an incomplete version done in 2004Increase
%of increas
e
Total Seph. Population :4,5827,5732,99131%
Total Ashk Population1,7698,5786,80969%
TOTAL POPULATION6,35116,1519,800
Population Distibution
18391875 (based on an incomplete version done
in 2004)
SephardimAshkenazimSephardimAshkenazim
Haifa11624516
Hebron254159460534
Jaffa153667
Jerusalem2,3254904,8754,325
Safed694622None3,584
Tiberias3344551,0551351 kollel
Acre198
Djermak19
Nablous51
Shefaram98
Sidon359
Subtotal4,5821,7697,5738,578
Total635116,151
Identity Elements18391875
# surname4,53771.5 %8,67357 %
# father’s name1,56424.5 %5,57637 %
# grandfather’s name
371 %4773%
# place of birth2,39137.7 %6,47842.8 %
More Sephardim in the population
May explain why you can’t find someone !
Jerusalem- 19th Century
They were busy with just existing!
Titles
with the Ashkenazim = Haver 'ח
with the Sephardim = Hakham 'ח
Variations in MeaningsListed as part of the name
AbbreviationsWe hope to list them with their translations on the IGS websitehttp://www.isragen.org.il/siteFiles/1/153/7433.asp
So many different descriptions for being poor!
-destitute, beggarאביון, נשאר אביוןpoverty - ,בדוחק גדול, בדוחק גמור, בדוחק ובצער
בדוחק ישיבות, בדוחק למדן, בדוחק מקצבתו, בדוחק עני,
בדוחק, נזון בדוחק,impoverished - ,ירד מנכסיו
ירד,charity - ,מצדקה
dole - ,מקצבתוneedy - ,נצרך
poor - עני, עני גמור, עני דחוק, עני הגון נ"א, עניואביון, עני ודל, עני וירד מנכסיו, עני ורש, עני מטופל,
עני מרוד
Occupations (1839)
25% have an occupationlisted
9% are “studying” – this includes adults in the Beit Midrash, studying Psalms, Gemora, etc.
Sometimes the occupation is listed in the financial status column
If listed as studying & occupation, the occupation was chosen
Rabbis and Sages, without an indication of any other occupation
The earliest date of someone born in Eretz Israel according to the
census1749 – Shlomo Sibon age 90 lives in Safed,
married, born in Safed
1749 – Shimon Maimaran age 90 lives in Jerusalem, possibly available, born in Jerusalem
1759 – Avraham Palatchi age 80 lives in Safed, blind, born in Safed
1759 – Elihau Arazi, age 80 lives in Safed, lives with grandson, born in Safed
1761 – Nehemia Castel, age 78 lives in Hebron, available, born in Gaza
Comments found for Safed & Tiberias
plague מגפה
plague & earthquake מגפות ורעש
plague, confiscation & earthquake מגפות ושלילות ורעש
plague, 2nd confiscation & earthquake
מגפות ב' שללות ורעש
earthquakeרעש
damaged by earthquakeהוזק ברעש
house damagedהיה לו היזק בית
earthquake & confiscation רעש ושלל
2nd plundering & earthquakeב' שללות ורעש
2nd plundering (1838 Druse Revolt)'שלל ב
Individuals variations including value of property loss
רעש היה לו היזק בתים אלף. 30ורכוש בערך
איש מכובד הונף והורם גודל חכמתו
Examples of additional information found in various
columnsמשרתת בחצר ח' חיים מאסאראנו
נשברה רגלה והיה לה הוצאות רבות שנה שבא 20עיקרו מאשכנז זה
מסאלוניקי(a servant living in the courtyard of Haim who broke
her leg and had many expenses, she immigrated from Ashkenaz 20 years ago from
Saloniki)
(needs to get married) צריך לנשואין
Wife only eleven (written in English)
והוא כלוא בביתומדבר ולובש כמו אשכנזי
להשתטח בקברות הצדיקים ((under financial status
Genealogy even then!Names of some Rabbis
include lineageFootnotes of the Sephardim
in Jerusalem – Chief Rabbi Navon - 4th generation
4 mentions of a person being the grandson and great grandson of a Rabbi
11 mentions of being a grandson of …
2 mentions of being a grand daughter of …
Examples from the database
The format for displaying the information
Simple BE CREATIVE – searches family & first name
Year: 1839, 1840, 1855, soon 1849
Matches/Begins with/Contains/Ends with
Language: English/Hebrew
Orphans & Widows Safed 1939
Alexandria 1940
Hebrew Search
Advanced
Surname Given Name BE CREATIVE
Birth Place DD Country of Birth DD
Residence DD Kolel DD
Occupation Economic Status
Eretz Israel / Ottoman Empire
Eretz Israel / Ottoman Empire
Eretz Israel / Ottoman Empire
Eretz Israel / Ottoman Empire
Kolels (1839 &
1855)
Ashkenazim
Habad
Hassidim
Holland
Holland & Deutschland
Hungary
North Africans
Prushim
Raysin
Russia
Sephardim
Sephardim & Ashkenazim
Tiberias
Varsha
Volin
Volin & Osterreich
Today’s country added to town
Occupation & Economic Status
Try a search, see what you find
Aliyah – Year of Arrival
Once all five are online
Trace families through this time period Did they move? Children appear and disappear Occupation & economic situation Change in Kolels or not
This is only a beta site, and there are three more censuses to be completed.
Will there be corrections?Only if they are typos!
Lets try it online
www.montefiorecensuses.org
IGS and the Jewish people thank
Sir Moses Montefiore for his initiative 171 years ago!