Ha' rav Alexander Ziskind mentioned on page 2 of
the Rambam Family Tree document sounds very familiar.
Does anyone have any idea who this could be?
See Maimonides "Rambam" Under documents
http://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=600000000994774320
I just officated at the wedding of a descendant of R.Ziskind, who was a major figure in early Hasidism. Many descendants go by the name of Braz( abbrev of R Alexander Ziskind) and the groom was named Avi Braz.
The Israeli writer, Amos Oz, has an extensive description of the family history in his work " A Tale of Love and Darkness", and the excerpt is available on line through google books
:http://books.google.com/books?id=t4D4khmZ4LoC&pg=PA83&lpg=P...
There was another R. Alexander Ziskind Maimon, of Lithuania, and there is a brief notation on him in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Ziskind_Maimon.
The names "Moshe" and "Maimon" repeat inthe family, so there may be a connection with the Rambam.
Rabbi Weinberg, thank you so very much for your fascinating information. It is so kind of you to take the time to respond.
http://www.adamsstreet.org/about-us/rabbi-weinberg/rabbi-recent-vid...
Intrigued, I followed the Amos Oz book link you supplied, and indeed
the story of his family history is mesmerizing.
http://books.google.com/books?id=t4D4khmZ4LoC&pg=PA83&lpg=P...
From what I could glean, Ha'rav Alexander Ziskind was Amos Oz's GGGG Grandfather.
• Ha'rav Alexander Ziskind
• Yossele Braz ("B"en "R"av "A"lexander "Z"iskind)
• Alexander Ziskind Braz
• Menahem Mendel Braz + sister, Rasha-Keila who married - Yehuda Leib Klausner
• Alexander Klausner (Ziskind) known as Zusia , married - cousin Shulamit Levin (Rasha Keila's daughter)
• Yehuda Arieh Klausner
• Amos Oz
There is a profile on Geni for this R' Alexander Ziskind
Rabbi Alexander Ziskind (of Grodno)
Another R' Alexander Ziskind profile on Geni
Alexsander Ziskind (ha-Rav) Harkavy c.1785-1850
Might be the same as;
"Rabbi Alexander Ziskind and his brothers, Reb Eliahu Bar Gershon and Reb Moshe Harkavy all played prominent parts as
leaders of the Novogrudok community life."
http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Novogrudok/nov042.html
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You mentioned the Wikipedia R. Alexander Ziskind Maimon from Lithuania.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Ziskind_Maimon
This Lithuanian R' Ziskind occurs in another family tree said to be
a descendant of Maimonides.
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/f/o/r/Frederick-W-Ford/i...
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2907...
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If a timeline of the Maimonides family tree could be calculated, it might help us figure out which R' Alexander Ziskind appears in the document.
Is 25 years / generation the accepted genealogical estimate?
Maimonides "Rambam"
Alexander Ziskind Maimon
The ancestry of Alexander Ziskind Maimon looks very suspect.
First, isn't his father named Moses, not Shmuel?
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transc...
Second, is there confusion between the other Alexander Ziskind b. 1809?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Ziskind_Maimon
Here's a new link for Ziskind found in "Darkness."
https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Tale_of_Love_and_Darkness/qC...