Wild Things to Do - Hello Goodman Joffe
Wild Things to Do - Hello Goodman Joffe
[Prologue] [Idelsohn] [Yiska Loves Jesus] [Idelsohn Again] [Joffes and Idelsohns] [Yiska's Story] [Arthur and Joe] [Epilogue] [A.Z. Idelsohn]
Copyright © 2009 Jon Seligman. All Rights Reserved.
[Prologue] [Idelsohn] [Hello Goodman Joffe] [Idelsohn Again] [Joffes and Idelsohns] [Yiska's Story] [Arthur and Joe] [Epilogue]
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Guttman Joffe
? - 1909
? - 1909
Hello Goodman Joffe, my grandfather Arthur's father. Goodman was born and died in Kraslava in Latvia, and had typhoid fever together with his sister Selma. This was the official version. Louis told Selma his wife that he was knocked on the head during the pogroms for being a Jew and suffered terribly as a result before committing suicide. After the attack his mentality suffered greatly.
Then there is Goodman's wife Chaya Musha Yachad from whence I get my Misha (Jonathan Misha Morgan). She was widowed at an early age with four young children and when her husband Goodman died she offered her services to a Jewish butcher to deliver his orders. The butcher saw how hard working she was and offered her a partnership. One day a woman stopped her on the street and said do you know what, the butcher is not honest, he is crooking you. Chaya Musha said I have 4 children to feed, mind your own business. Chaya Musha had 3 brothers and a sister. The eldest was Itse Meishe, then a sister Roche Henne who landed up in the US. Then came Chaya Musha herself and then a brother Meir Yosef, and another Gavriel Leib (Loius Yachad).
Then there is Goodman's wife Chaya Musha Yachad from whence I get my Misha (Jonathan Misha Morgan). She was widowed at an early age with four young children and when her husband Goodman died she offered her services to a Jewish butcher to deliver his orders. The butcher saw how hard working she was and offered her a partnership. One day a woman stopped her on the street and said do you know what, the butcher is not honest, he is crooking you. Chaya Musha said I have 4 children to feed, mind your own business. Chaya Musha had 3 brothers and a sister. The eldest was Itse Meishe, then a sister Roche Henne who landed up in the US. Then came Chaya Musha herself and then a brother Meir Yosef, and another Gavriel Leib (Loius Yachad).
Louis Yachad and his wife had a daughter called Abigail who married Avraham Raichlin. Their son Lewis Raichlin married Gail and I have ended up in business (one of my many adventures) with my cousin Hugh Raichlin. Hugh's great grandfather is my Great Grandmother's (Chaya Musha Yachad's) brother (Gavriel Leib Yachad). Hugh is a lawyer who is frum and who also conducts South African Jews back to their roots on actual excursions to the shtetls of Lithuania and Eastern Europe. We are joined in this venture by Eli Goldstein who is also a cousin and an internet genealogist. Eli conducts the virtual research, Hugh the actual trips, and me the memory box and biography journey. We didn't know each other until a few weeks ago.
So what am I left with? What do I keep?
A herring, smiling eyes, passion for my work, a strong sense of adventure and family (read Kyoko), generosity I will try to live up to, flamboyant retelling skills, strictness turned into looseness (read - lots of yoga), some stillness, and abundant life energy.
Tall order man!
So what am I left with? What do I keep?
A herring, smiling eyes, passion for my work, a strong sense of adventure and family (read Kyoko), generosity I will try to live up to, flamboyant retelling skills, strictness turned into looseness (read - lots of yoga), some stillness, and abundant life energy.
Tall order man!
For an entirely different account of the events of Guttman's (Goodman's) life in the brush factory of Kraslava, the Bundist strike, his arrest with the other workers by the Czarist police and his demise through cholera go to the page on the Jews of Kraslava.