1901 Census Document, Gateshead, England
Just recently my oldest son, Aaron, found and forwarded the page above taken from the 1901 Census in Gateshead, England. The red box sets off the names of Abraham Cowan, my great-grandfather on my father’s side, and his wife, Rachel. (You may not be able to see it, but in the upper right hand corner there are number keys for enumerating people who are (1) blind, (2) deaf & dumb, (3) lunatic, and (4) imbecile or feeble-minded. Obviously Political Correctness had not yet reached Northern England in 1901.)
The census also includes my great-grandparents’ address from over 100 years ago. 200 Askew Road West, Gateshead, England. That information, a bit of web research and Google Maps led me to something pretty interesting about my family’s past.
I grew up understanding that my great-grandparents came from Newcastle, England, via Russia and the pogroms. Well, almost. As you can see from the map below Newcastle is just across the River Tyne from Gateshead, which is and apparently was part of “Greater Newcastle.” But Abraham is listed on the census as a British Subject born in Germany. Rachel, a British Subject born in Russia.
So far nothing really new, but I also learned that 200 Askew Street West still exists ( Red dot “A” in the map above) and after some generic research on the city (note above the proximity of Askew to Bensham Road) found this tidbit:
The Bensham district is home to a community of Haredi Jews consisting of about 500 families and is referred to as Little Jerusalem by its non-Jewish residents. Within the community is the Gateshead Yeshiva, the largestYeshiva in Europe, and other Jewish educational institutions with international enrolments. Following the holocaust, the area became home to the largest Orthodox Jewish education complex in postwar Europe and the most significant outside of the United States and Israel. (Source.)
So my great-grandparents most likely lived in an orthodox community of Jews in England before migrating to the United States (before 1910, when they appear in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin census).
Little Jerusalem, 1901…Big Jerusalem, 2011.
Now, it’s not surprising that they lived in a Jewish enclave…
For several centuries before the emancipation of European Jewry, most of Europe’s Jews were forced to live in closed communities, where both the culture and their religious observances were preserved. This occurred both because of internal pressure within the communities and because of the outside world’s refusal to accept them otherwise. In the overwhelmingly Christian society of the time, the only way for Jews to gain social acceptance was to convert, thereby abandoning all ties with one’s own family and community. Few avenues existed, especially in the ghetto, for individuals to negotiate between the dominant culture and the community, because this was handled by the larger community as a whole. (Source.)
..but it amazes me that they apparently lived in a Haredi, sometimes termed, Ultra-Orthodox, community. Because of my secular upbringing I would have never guessed such a close tie to the Orthodox. Frankly, no one in my family spoke well of them. In Israel, I think it’s safe to say that among the secular and non-orthodox Jews, the Haredi are, at very best, tolerated. They dress differently. They keep to themselves. They, as a matter of belief, decline to serve in the IDF.
The Haredi do not accept me as a Jew because my mother was not Jewish. This is the law in Israel and I am therefore “without religion” in the eyes of the state.
The Haredi willingly set themselves apart from all others and their dedication to the strict observance of rabbinical dictates impacts their every waking moment, especially during the Sabbath and the Feasts.
But without the Orthodox, would a distinct Jewish identity, and therefore modern Israel, exist?
The easy and correct answer is yes, because God said it would, but it appears the Haredi are part of His plan. The Jews…
“…violated the rules of history by staying alive, totally at odds with common sense and historical evidence. They outlived all their former enemies, including vast empires such as the Romans and the Greeks. They angered the world with their return to their homeland after 2000 years of exile and after the murder of six million of their brothers and sisters. ” (Spuriously attributed to Olive Schreiner, who died in 1920, but still true.)
To balance my negativity I’ll mention Chabad.
… in over 1000 cities around the world. By 2010, there were an estimated 3,600 Chabad Institutions worldwide, in 70 countries, providing outreach and educational activities for Jews through Jewish community centers, synagogues, schools and camps. (Source.)
“Chabad” is an acronym for Chochmah, Binah, Da’at (חכמה, בינה, דעת): “Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge.” I’ve spoken to three Chabad-aligned rabbis since we’ve moved to Jerusalem. Each of them, ignoring one notable area of blindness, seems to be wise, understanding and knowledgeable in accordance with the ideals of their organization. One of them told me, “There are three things in the world that can be found everywhere, F15s, Coke and Chabad.”
As for the last of these (and the Haredi role in prophecy as it unfolds), I’m grateful.
I live in Newcastle, and I’d say that your great-grandparents probably didn’t live in a Haredi community. The Ultra-Orthodox community in Bensham (in Gateshead) has only really been there since the end of the war, in 1901 they were a lot more scattered and the greater Newcastle area is and was home to many less devout Jews. The address your great-grandparents were listed in isn’t in Gateshead’s modern Jewish quarter, and since it was 50 years before the community really became established, we can’t really make a judgement that they were Haredi.
Gateshead’s emergence as a Haredi hub really happened in the second half of the 20th century. It has 3 yeshivot, but if we look at it in more detail, we can see that one of yeshivot was founded in a different nearby city, Sunderland, in the 1940s and only moved to Gateshead in the 1980s. Before the war, the Jewish community in the greater Newcastle area was much more scattered and was very diverse. This Haredi hub in Bensham is really a later thing, it’s more likely that your great grandparents were more moderate Jews and just happened to live not too far from what would become a centre for ultra-Orthodoxy. In fact, many of the more moderate Jews left the region later on, your grandparents were probably part of this group.
Thanks for the information. That may explain why, in America, the family was so thoroughly secular.
Well I feel that Iran is a threat to Israel. Since they may have nuclear weapons. Please excuse me for writing this but I know Israel is strong enough to go ahead and bomb Iran. They have threatened them already. Plus I have read that reports of F-15’s etc seen in Iran and of course they are being blamed on Israel. Plus I read from United for Israel a link that reads American troops have been deployed to Israel. So it may be close. I pray daily for Israel’s peace. If you think I need some education, Cliff, don’t be afraid to tell me. 🙂
Praying for you and Marsha.
Shalom, Dellanie
Apparently the US “troop deployment” to Israel has to do with an X-Band antimissile system in response t the threat from Iran. This sounds like just a handful of US personnel.
Cliff I went back and found the site I was telling you about Ahmadinejad being impeached. Here it is http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2012/01/ahmadinejad-facing-impeachment.html
I found another site talking about 1000’s of soldiers sent to Israel. Here
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=250249
Shalom
My great-grandparens came from England, Cliff. My grandmother, Fanny Chic, was a maid to Queen Victoria. Fanny left England at about the age of 16 and met my great-grandfather, Grandpa Richards (formerly Rickert(?)), in Michigan, I believe. He was of Jewish descent and had lived in England. I am not certain of the nationality of Fanny. It is fascinating to trace our roots back to similar places as that of our dear friends who moved to Israel!
Hi Cliff,
I really liked reading about our family history because I know little about the earlier generations. Thanks for the information. I hope that you and Marcia continue to enjoy your experiences in Jerusalem and I hope to visit you someday.
Shabbat Shalom! G-d’s awesome plan revealed.
Hi Cliff and Marcia,
Thanks Cliff for the information. it’s great to hear from you and also learn and understand our world a little better. It is very interesting. Talk to you soon, I hope.
Sherolyn
Wow Cliff! Thank you for the informative history. I learned so much! Isn’t it interesting when we learn of out past? 🙂
And all of those ancestral roads somehow merged together to bring you to understanding. God is good!
It contiues to fascinate me as your journey unfolds!
We were also told that most of our kin came from England. I have always been extremely curious how white people ended up with the surname Black…my mothers maiden name… We found out that 4 generations back, about the 1700’s a man with the last name of Schwartz came to America from Wurtzburg Germany. Upon his arrival, his name was changed to the English name Black, which was suppose to mean the same thing in German. I did a historical search of Schwartz in Germany and it said that people born in the Rhine named Schwartz were Jewish. We also know that many of them changed their Jewish names when they arrived in America to avoid antisemitism…It was pretty amazing! I would have never thought! Then, all these years later, I was born in Wurtzburg Germany because of my Father being in the military! How crazy is that? … It is amazing what you can find when you start digging! I hope you get to make a trip to the street your Grandfather lived on and get to see where some of your history occured! When you do, get some pictures!
Is it possible your rabbi told you (us): war, money (and everything it does to us) and spiritual understanding?
Fascinating stuff, Cliff.
Thanks for the kind word. I was just thinking about the underlying meaning of this entry’s title, whether intentional or not. The F15s have apparently been “freely” distributed to Israel and its potential enemies and so means what, in terms of the US relationship with Israel? Coke is as symbolic of money as anything. Chabad is an outreach, only to Jews as I understand it, but it definitely is something quite different than a universal jet fighter or the world’s most recognizable brand name.