Yichus
Yichus (יִחוּס), a Hebrew-based Yiddish word for family tree or genealogy, to those who take it seriously, is the gatekeeper to considering potential marriage partners.
Colloquially it refers to the chain of origin for a statement, creative work or object.[1]
Etymology
The biblical spelling used in Nech. 7:5 סֵפֶר הַיַּחַשׂ (Book of Lineage)[2] differs in the last letter, compared to both Yiddish and modern Hebrew (יִחוּס, sometimes ייחוס).
Although the word yichus originated in Hebrew[3][4], the term is generally accepted as a Yiddish word that has flowed into Modern English.
The Anglicized word has been transliterated as
In Judaism
Despite the fact that being Jewish from birth is universally accepted based on the religion of the mother[10], that same universally accepted definition says "(the tribal affiliation, tradition, customs and nusach of prayer) are determined by the Jewish father." To the obvious question[11] there is the question of why "Rabbah bar Bar Chanah"[12] and the matter of the Blasphemer, Lev. 24:10-23, not accredited to the tribe of Dan.
As far back as the Talmudic era, being son-in-law to someone widely respected was valued.[13] Subsequently, even the Yichus of being son-in-law to the son-in-law and similar lineage links were on one side, versus "meritocratic leadership based on scholarship" on the other, in the areas of "the arrangement of marriages and determination of hierarchical social distinctions."[6]
There were those who, for the above[14] and other reasons, devalued or hid it:
- Dem gonefs yikhes (The Thief's Genealogy) - a song[15]
- "In Lithuania some Jewish families hid their Yikhus (lineage)"[16]
Yichus book
The family trees, or pedigree charts, of Jewish families, listing genealogy and family history records, have been identified with several names, among which are:
To help a child trace lineage, some families would write a "Yichus book"[23]
The focus of a Yichus brief (letter of relationship)[24] is not as extensive as a Yichus Book[25][24][26] whereas a Yichus book or Yichus record/"sefer yuchsin"/registry[21] is community-oriented.
Some families also kept a separate "Register of Circumcisions"[23].
Family name
For various reasons, Last names[27]/family names were changed, and sometimes reverted[23]. Hence certain family names, such as Cohen, are not as strongly indicative of being a Kohen as Katz.
References
- ^ Talk:Midrash (timestamped 17:19, 15 May 2007), QUOTE: If the original source has "yichus" (i.e., Jewish Encyclopedia or Brittanica) ...
- ^ capitalized here by Artscroll, but not for the directive לְהִתְיַחֵשׂ, "trace your lineage"
- ^ "Parshas Bamidbar (5771) - Got Yichus?".
- ^ Nechemia,7:5
- ^ "Dina Abramowicz, 90, Librarian and Yiddish Expert, Dies". The New York Times. 9 April 2000.
- ^ a b "Yivo Encyclopedia - Yikhes".
- ^ Ironically, it was in the Obituary of a YIVO expert who spelled it Yikhes that the NY Times spelled it Yichus.
- ^ "Jewish English Lexicon".
- ^ Dynner, Glenn; Hundert, Gershon. "Yikhus and the early Hasidic movement". McGill University.
- ^ "Yichus - definition and meaning - Wordnik".
- ^ what if the father isn't Jewish
- ^ A sage in the Talmud. "Bar" means son of. "bar Bar" means son of son of. Chanah is a feminine name.
- ^ Gittin,31b,re being son-in-law of the Reish GaLuSa, the Exilarch.
- ^ meritocracy
- ^ "Mark Glanville - Dem gonefs yikhes (The Thief's Geneology)".
- ^ "Rabbinical Genealogy" (PDF). Center for Jewish History.
- ^ "Registry of "Who is a Jew" Realpolitik". aishdas.org. January 2000.
- ^ "Issues of Jewish Identity".
- ^ "a "golden book" of "Jewish yikhes" - from an archive about Jewish life in Poland". YIVO Archives.
- ^ "Margolios Family Yichus Brief". davidbaisrebeinu.com.
- ^ a b "MK Porush: Approval of Civil Marriages Spells Disaster". Israel National News. June 22, 2004.
- ^ "R'Metzger deviates from chareidi view".
- ^ a b c Gilman, Sander L. (1997). Smart Jews: The Construction of the Image of Jewish Superior Intelligence. Doubleday. ISBN 9780803270695.
- ^ a b "From the Henry F. Skirball Collection: Some Recollections and Reflections". archive.org.
- ^ Sefer HaYichus, singular, or Sefer HaYichusim, plural - on the word Yichus.
- ^ "... drawn up about 15 years ago for one of our relatives. The letter dealt with the ancestors of ..."
- ^ written in some cultures "last" hence the terminology