30/10/2024
These are my mom and my daughter. When my daughter, Sasha, starts asking about our family roots, what can I tell her? For example, I can begin with the surnames in our family. On my mom's side, we have two of them.
One is "Brodskaya" — the surname of my great-grandmother. This name indicates her family came from the town of Brody, now in Western Ukraine, but historically part of Poland and, then the Austrian Empire.
The Jews of Brody were renowned as great merchants, bringing among other goods Siberian furs to the European market. They were highly educated and among the first to embrace "Haskalah," the Jewish Enlightenment movement in Eastern Europe. No wonder there are quite a few world-renowned Jews named Brodsky, including Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Brodsky!
The other surname is "Shekhter." This is a common Jewish surname linked to one of the central roles in the traditional Jewish community: the shoikhet. The shoikhet — a ritual slaughterer — was absolutely essential to Jewish life, and these men were typically educated, strong, and highly respected.
I believe these two stories can be the start of a fascinating puzzle we can piece together as we learn more about our ancestors.
To help you uncover your family history I've prepared a special talk dedicated to the origins and history of Ashkenazi Jewish surnames, the link you can find in the pinned post of my page.
