 |
Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms |
|
|
|
For the 1st time since our family left Belarus in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Chertoffs gathered for a reunion. Click here to see the photos!
50+ people attended (with just over a month of publicity) from all over Israel, including as far south as Be'er Sheva.
Among the 50+ were 4 generations of Chertoffs, some born in Minsk, some in the USA, one born in Moscow and the majority who were born in Israel.
Two +90-year-old sisters attended who were born in the Minsk area of Belarus and lived in the center of Israel since the 1920s. We projected photos of their last day in Belarus with their family, the day before they made Aliya to live in Israel (they are the two young girls, seated on the floor—aged ±7 & 9).
Two were "new" immigrants, both just over 10 years in the country. One Grigory Chertov, is 72 and was born in Minsk. The other, Igal Chertov, was born in Moscow & finished his active duty in the Paratroopers of the IDF last week. He's 21. They never met each other or any of us till Friday. Get this...each found their grandparents and great-grandparents on the projected graphic tree of Chertovs from Minsk! On the spot, before we actually started the reunion, I entered their information into my database, matching names and birthdates of all (validating the connections to 100%) and we discovered that they are really fourth cousins, once removed on a tree that shows their common ancestry back to 1781!
Most of us spent two days talking, walking, eating, photographing, videoing, swimming and schmoozing together. Some stayed overnight & on Shabbat we took a short walk across the road to the holiest shrine in the Bahá'í faith and came back to relax in the soothing waters of the kibbutz pool. After that, most of those who stayed over headed back to the center of the country. But some stayed to join my family at our home for lunch and more scouring of the trees to find the "missing links."
We concluded our first session with, “Ba’shana ha’ba-ah b’Yerushalyim!” (Next year in Jerusalem.) And we were talking about an amazing appetite for a second reunion, this time being international with hundreds of Chertoffs from all over the world. So, unless you have a better place to offer (like a relative who owns a resort in the Catskills who will give us the place for a weekend), let’s start the ball rolling and get to know each other better. Believe me, there wasn’t a person from any generation who didn’t enjoy the event and come away wanting to know more and become more acquainted.
We saw all the branches in graphic form, looked for common ancestors that might connect us all and discussed goals and means for future research. However, my own two main personal goals for the event were achieved:
We had a professional photographer on-hand for Friday afternoon. He took photos in various configurations that will be posted here later this week:
 | Individual branches |
| All together |
| Direct descendant Chertoffs |
Those who came from off the kibbutz, and stayed for the Shabbat, stayed at the Bed & Breakfast of the kibbutz.
If you're interested in more details about the reunion, please contact me. This 1st time was geared for those of us in Israel.
Other pertinent links in this site are to
Chertoff Family
Reunion Photos |
Chertoff Family |
Chertoff Links |Chertoff
Photos|Chertoff
Names Index|Portal to the Graphic
Branches of the Chertoff Database
This site was last updated 15-02-2005
© 2003, Moshe Chertoff