Belarus and Its Rabbi Mendel Leib Levine, Grandfather of Herman Wouk, Writer

                               

                    A rabbi on Shabbat  

Rabbi Mendel Leib Levine was born on February 1, 1865 in Kurenets, Minsk, Belarus.  He is the grandfather of Herman Wouk, writer of "This Is My God", a well-known book about Judaism.  

Rabbi Leib  Levine was a rabbi in Minsk, New York and Tel Aviv.  "His lifetime of 94 years stretched from the last days of Abraham Lincoln to the first days of the nuclear era.  He served as a Jewish jurist and minister under czarism and communism, in the freedom of America, and in the reborn land of Israel, where his bones lie"

He's a good example of how family and genes can influence children. 

He died in 1957.

He was the son of Naftali Hertz Levine and Nechama Risha Levine; husband of Malke Levine and Chaya Sara Levine; His children were Azriel Levine, Beryl Levine, Naphtali Hertz Levine, Sonia Edelman, Esther Wouk and one other ;  and he was the brother of Faiga Rocha Feldman, Chaia Gelman, and half brother of Hannah Zipa Levine, Shosha Yente Levine,  Mary Alpert Levine and Abraham Mayer Levin. 

update: Marka Levine was a daughter of Avraham b: bef. 1865 and Shosha  and wife of Naftali Hertz Levine, mother of Hanna Zipa Levine, Shosha Yente Levine, Mary Alpert and Abraham Mayer Levin.  

Rabbi Leib Levine was Brother of Faiga Racha Rocha Feldman;and  Chaia Gelman

                                                    

Esther Wouk (Levine)-daughter of Rabbi Mendel Leib Levine Esther Wouk, Herman Wouk's mother,  was born Esther Levine on December 5, 1890 in Belarus.  She died in November 1984 at age 93 in New York, NY, and was the daughter of Rabbi Mendel Leib Levine and Chaya Sara Levine.  Esther married Abraham Isaac Wouk b: 1885 in Minsk, Russia and was the mother of Irene Sara Green, Herman Wouk and Victor Wouk.   Her siblings were Chashke Levine and she was also the half-sister of Azriel Levine, Beryl Levine, Naphtali Hertz Levine and Sonia Edelman.

I belong to the group Halpern on FTDNA of which Nachum Eliyahu Halpern, who claimed descent from Jehiel Heilperin/Heilprin, Ben Solomon b: 1660-1746, a great talmudist from Minsk, Belarus; who had a wide secular education and was a student of kabbalah.   There are other HALPERN who descend from rabbinic families of the Russian Empire, as well as others who simply adopted the surname in the 19th century when it became necessary to choose a name.

An Alpert is mentioned.  I am connected to the Halpern family who connect to to the Alpert family by change of name.  In fact, on my tree we also have a Mary Alpert (born 1906 in Scotland who is married to Solomon Goldfoot born 1904 in Dublin, Ireland.  They married in 1933 in Capetown, South Africa.  Ian Goldfoot was their son.  I believe that Mary Alpert's father was Hyman Alpert of Lithuania, but I could be wrong.     The Mary Alpert on the Levine tree was  born between 1837 and 1897.  She was the daughter of Naftali Hertz Levine and Merka Levine, and the wife of Morris Alpert.  Her children were Philip Alpert and Harry Alpert.  She was the sister of Hannah Zipa Levine, Shosha Yente and Abraham Mayer Levin.  She was the half sister of Rabbi Mendel Leib Levine, Faiga Racha/Rocha Feldman, Chaia Gelman.  Can the two Mary Alperts be connected?  (Mary is not a common Jewish name).   Naftali Hertz Levine (Lewin), father of Rabbi Mendel Leib Levine was born in 1825 in Liya, Vileyka district, Minsk Region, Belarus.  He died in 1905 at about age 79-80.  He was the son of Beryl Lewin and Sheina Lewin.  He was the husband of Nehama Risha Levine and Merka Levine.  His children were Rabbi Mendel Leib Levine, Faiga Rocha Feldman, Chaia Gelman, and Hannah Zipa Levine and 3 others.  His brother was Zalman Srol Abramov Levine and Volf Levin.    I notice how in the 2nd marriage, the children born bore the surname of the mother's maiden name. Naftali went from being a Lewin to his wife's Levine.  DNA is about the only thing that can be used to keep families straight in such circumstances.    I have a Barbara Feldman married to a  Stuart Ullman

 

 Nadene Goldfoot                                     

Belorussia was originally called White Russia. Now it's called Belarus.   Minsk was a White Russian town where Jews entered in the 15th century from Poland. They were living in Grodno in the 12th century and Brest-Litovsk in the 14th century and Pinsk from 1506.  I see all but Minsk have disappeared off the map.  Massacres of Jews occurred at Polotsk in the north in 1563.  Homel in 1649, Mohilev and others in 1655.  

The partition of Poland  in the latter 18th century brought the Jews of White Russia under Russian rule and led to the abolition of their organized communal framework. 

White Russia was an important center of Jewish scholarship.  Hasidism (especially of the Habad/Chabad), and Haskalah.   

Also born in Belarus was the artist Marc Chagall.

Update: 

 Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has supported its eastern neighbour in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before the start of the offensive, Belarus allowed the Russian Armed Forces to perform weeks-long military drills on its territory; however, the Russian troops did not exit the country after they were supposed to finish. Belarus allowed Russia to stage part of the invasion from its territory, giving Russia the shortest possible land route to Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.

Belarus initially denied involvement with the conflict, but has since admitted to allowing Russian missile launchers stationed on its territory to shoot at Ukrainian targets. Several reports emerged among the Belarusian opposition and Ukrainian military that Belarusian troops were in Ukraine fighting together with Russians, but Belarus's leader, Aleksander Lukashenko,  dismissed them and said that the Belarusian Armed Forces would not participate directly in the conflict.

Resource:

Book: This Is My God by Herman Wouk

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia 

https://www.geni.com/people/Abraham-Wouk/6000000006356319514

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/halpern/about

https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/belarus.htm#:~:text=Belarus%20has%20a%20population%20of,%2D%20and%20Ukrainian%2Dspeaking%20minorities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarusian_involvement_in_the_2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine#:~:text=Belarus%20initially%20denied%20involvement%20with,to%20shoot%20at%20Ukrainian%20targets.