Tribe of Judah (Jewish)
Jewish — the global Jewish people, with villages from Israel and the diaspora.
HaShem brought me home (more than 30 years back) as one who is born of Zion...... Tehillim (Psalms) - Chapter 87 6[When] the Lord counts in the script of the peoples forever, [He will say,] "This one was born there." Rashi: The Lord counts in the script of the peoples, “This one, etc.”. This is a transposed verse, and סלה, forever, which is said at the end, refers to the beginning: When the Lord counts in the script of the peoples forever. That means that in the future, when the Holy One, blessed be He, inscribes the nations for an abhorrence, He will count the Israelites who are assimilated among them and those who were coerced [to abandon Judaism] among them and extract them from their midst, and [He shall] say, “This one was born of those of Zion,” and He will choose them for Himself. This is what Isaiah says (66:21): “And from them, too, will I take for priests and for Levites.” From the nations bringing them for tribute, I shall take those assimilated among them. And there will be among them priests and Levites who are unrecognizable, but they are revealed to Me, says the Lord. Now where did He say it? (Deut. 29:28) “The secret things belong to the Lord, our God.”
I am a convert since Elul 22, 2023. My family tree claims we were Jewish 10 generations ago, whereby my relative took a ship entitled "Lydia" to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The spelling of our name at that time was Hirsch, and was changed to Hirsh, and then to Hersh. The father of the family didn't make it on the boat to Philadelphia. His name is on the list when they left, but not on the manifest when they arrived in 1740 (according to the family tree I was given by my aunt who is now deceased). It is assumed he died during the trip. There was a legend that their village was scheduled to be destroyed, and the night before it was to occur they fled for their lives. They supposedly lived somewhere in southern Germany very close to the border of France. Once they reached the top of the hill at their village, the son turned and said to his father "look father, we left the candles burning," and the father said "let the candles burn, we have our lives to save." They then went to the coast to catch a ship to the US. The wife made it with the children, the spelling of our name was changed upon arrival. It is assumed she was forced to convert, and then remarried. I had a great uncle who traveled to Israel several times, and the newspaper article says he brought back with him "holy books." Before my father died, his final request of me is that I never lose my last name, but he never mentioned that we are Jewish. I was told by my mother when I was about 7 years old that there was a rumor in the family that we were Jewish, and my aunt on my father's side confirmed it to me over a phone call after my father died. That's about all I know. My father and mother divorced when I was 3 years old, and I had extremely limited contact with his side of the family. Most everyone has passed away...I have a few cousins, but I have no contact with them. The details don't really matter to me any more. While it would be wonderful to know the true story of my family, what matters the most to me is the Truth. It is so sad to me that I wasn't raised Jewish or that my family would have felt they had to hide their identity for the sake of survival. Nevertheless, I like to think that I've somehow brought my family line back to Judaism in some way. Only Hashem knows.
I am a Convert Originally from Denver, Colorado in the process of Aliyah in Ramat Gan
we are in Jerusalem and grandfather said we had left Spain 1400's then to Europe travelling east to Poland for 300 years plus mom's sude, dad side White Russia then 1900 to NJ in USA and now Jerusalem
My paternal heritage is from Freda Goldstein of Romania; her family owned many groceries in NY; my grandfather's tombstone
What an event!
Grateful to be here
hi