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in which i vaguely deploy my archives degree
So my uncle is dying. My aunt, a few days ago, asked if I knew my late grandparents' Hebrew names. (This was before she'd said how bad it was; I foolishly assumed this information would be used only in people's prayers for his recovery, but now I know it will likely be used on his headstone.) I knew my grandfather's, but had never been told my grandmother's. My late father would have known, but he and his late sister are obviously not in a position to tell us. I suggested that my grandmother's brother—side note, poor guy is about 85 and when this is over will have buried his parents, his only brother, all three of his sisters, and all three of one of those sister's children; like, what vindictive deity's corn flakes did he pee in as a kid?—might know; there's also a cousin in Chicago and one in Houston who seem like the sort of record keepers who might know or be able to find out such a thing.
No dice. Totally distraught great-uncle doesn't know; Dad's cousin S doesn't know; Grandma's cousin L doesn't know. Mom can't find it in any of Dad's family-tree stuff. L and her husband, as well as my mother-in-law, assure us that lacking a parent's Hebrew name one can substitute Avram (for men) or Sarah (for women), because Abraham and Sarah were the father and mother of us all. But just asking three people and then giving up isn't how we do things here.
I called the cemetery where my grandparents are buried and got a nice woman who said they don't have records that specific but if I send her all the details I have she might be able to get me the name of the rabbi who officiated at their funerals and would have provided the names for their inscriptions. I sent along all the details, but I happen to know (because I was there) that there are no Hebrew inscriptions on their stone, so I'm not positive the rabbi will be any help if she does manage to put me in touch with him.
Today I also called the town hall where my grandparents were married. In 1944. It's not that I think the marriage license will have anything but their legal names on it. But it should also have the name of the rabbi who officiated at their wedding. Of course he's bound to be long gone by now, but if I can find the name of the synagogue he was attached to, they might have a record of the ketubah (= marriage contract), right?, and that should have their Hebrew names on it.
The synagogue mentioned on the Wikipedia page of the town in question is mentioned there because it's on the National Register of Historic Places—it was built in 1952 on the foundation of a synagogue that was built in 1933 and subsequently destroyed by fire. Let's all hang in there and hope the ketubah I'm after wasn't burned, or that my grandparents' rabbi was with some other shul, or something like that. Indeed.
No dice. Totally distraught great-uncle doesn't know; Dad's cousin S doesn't know; Grandma's cousin L doesn't know. Mom can't find it in any of Dad's family-tree stuff. L and her husband, as well as my mother-in-law, assure us that lacking a parent's Hebrew name one can substitute Avram (for men) or Sarah (for women), because Abraham and Sarah were the father and mother of us all. But just asking three people and then giving up isn't how we do things here.
I called the cemetery where my grandparents are buried and got a nice woman who said they don't have records that specific but if I send her all the details I have she might be able to get me the name of the rabbi who officiated at their funerals and would have provided the names for their inscriptions. I sent along all the details, but I happen to know (because I was there) that there are no Hebrew inscriptions on their stone, so I'm not positive the rabbi will be any help if she does manage to put me in touch with him.
Today I also called the town hall where my grandparents were married. In 1944. It's not that I think the marriage license will have anything but their legal names on it. But it should also have the name of the rabbi who officiated at their wedding. Of course he's bound to be long gone by now, but if I can find the name of the synagogue he was attached to, they might have a record of the ketubah (= marriage contract), right?, and that should have their Hebrew names on it.
The synagogue mentioned on the Wikipedia page of the town in question is mentioned there because it's on the National Register of Historic Places—it was built in 1952 on the foundation of a synagogue that was built in 1933 and subsequently destroyed by fire. Let's all hang in there and hope the ketubah I'm after wasn't burned, or that my grandparents' rabbi was with some other shul, or something like that. Indeed.
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