tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19844602.post1769797295738884829..comments2023-10-31T06:43:04.636-04:00Comments on Scilly's Spot: Letter to my sister regarding our mysterious Jewish maiden namePriscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17112988669895238674noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19844602.post-38474282816433996532017-07-16T07:14:04.041-04:002017-07-16T07:14:04.041-04:00Fascinating!Fascinating!Stacyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16627220631916138723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19844602.post-28987928060351917422017-06-30T13:01:24.745-04:002017-06-30T13:01:24.745-04:00This is interesting.
I also have been "mis...This is interesting. <br /><br />I also have been "mistaken" for a Jew. It probably had a lot to do with being named ruth and growing up in Minnesota, where everyone is blond and blue eyed (I have brown hair and eyes). When I was at the University of Minnesota, the Jewish students took me under their wing and showed me all the best places to park and buy books. They were so good to me, as if I were a little sister. As far as I know, I am not Jewish, although my mother's family is German and emigrated in the early 1900s, which could have been a strategy for avoiding persecution. However, there were a lot of protestant clergy in that lineage, which makes Jewishness seem unlikely. <br /><br />I was never persecuted for being though a Jew; rather, I was embraced by Jews. I loved them, but was afraid what they would think if they found out I was a Baptist. Actually, one sweet Jewish boy asked me straight out, after a college Russian class one day, whether I was Jewish, and when I told him I was Baptist, his jaw dropped and he blurted out, "But aren't baptists black?"<br /><br />I was very used to identifying with Jews. After I moved to New York, I was having my hair cut one day, and the cosmetologist made a snide comment about Jewish women. I felt not only offended, but very personally affronted.Ruthiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02530688574636829317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19844602.post-244629088172545362017-06-19T09:47:23.790-04:002017-06-19T09:47:23.790-04:00What a very interesting history lesson, Priscilla....What a very interesting history lesson, Priscilla. I really enjoyed reading it! Sorry about the professor.joekshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02667559017050803003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19844602.post-66463435463764257662017-05-29T11:24:12.142-04:002017-05-29T11:24:12.142-04:00I'm wondering now if they started out in Germa...I'm wondering now if they started out in Germany....then had to move o Poland because the boundaries of the Pale changed.Priscillahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17112988669895238674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19844602.post-2951841842999813872017-05-29T07:50:44.197-04:002017-05-29T07:50:44.197-04:00It's all terribly interesting and mysterious. ...It's all terribly interesting and mysterious. I love the history (as well as the mystery). It's a piece of our family we will probably never fully know until we reach the other side. <br /><br />I read once that Plotzker meant "dweller by a fence and so found this statement in your article on The Pale interesting. "The archaic English term pale is derived from the Latin word palus, a stake, extended to mean the area enclosed by a fence or boundary."<br /><br />Thank you for your memories and the history lesson.<br />:0)Marthahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293816902877287168noreply@blogger.com