From Bernie Mayoff (Abr) of Richardson, TX... I read the Fall issue of the Family Descendant today and took a look at the web page. Another great job... Denise and I are feeling like it was our personal newsletter! The great coverage of Mayoff Day, the section on Beth, and the section on Jeff. Jeff hadn't mentioned to us that he had been in touch with you, so this part was a special surprise.
There was another area of the newsletter that we related to. That is thesection about your parents anniversary. Denise and I were married on September 19, too! Just think, if Denise and I had been married 38 years earlier than we were, you might have been our son. [Editor's note: Huh? ;-)]
It looks like it was a lot harder to get married in Montreal in 1937 than itwas in Chicago in 1965. I didn't have to promise to give Denise $15,000. If I did, I might still be putting money in a piggy bank and we might still be courting. On the other hand, she is suggesting that she likes the idea and that we ought to renegotiate!
Another coincidence: My parents marriage is the marriage of a Mayoff to a Katz, just as your parents were a Mayoff and a Katz. [Another editor's note: Wow!!] And of course you and I both became ham radio operators in our teens. And we're both brilliant and handsome. [Still another Editor's note: And both of us have sons named Rob who are Macintosh computer enthusiasts and we both married wonderful ladies too, didn't we!] The coincidences just go on and on!
I think I missed the point of the Mogilev birth index in the Fall Descendant. What is it about? Thanks for another great job. We're hoping that we'll be able to make the 1998 reunion.
[Bernie (and the rest of our readers), the reason for publishing the birth index of fathers of Jewish males from our suspected ancestral region was to allow our readers to see for themselves that the name Mayoff does not appear in these two different sets of records. A number of Mayoff males were born between the subject years (1864-1894) in the subject locations and in my discussions with the researcher Vitaly Charney, we once again conclude that it is quite likely our surname as we currently know it, was not the same in pre-pogrom Russia. In the challenge of genealogical research we often look for small victories when we don't hit the jackpot and just being able to find an accurate list from our ancestral town of male births beginning with the letter M was one such victory. My current effort is to try to locate citizenship papers, if they ever existed or birth certificates, for your grandfather Abraham or any of his brothers and sisters. I will dedicate a future issue of the newsletter to any family member that produces such a document.
In some correspondence from researcher Jeanne Gold, she tells of her search for birth certificates for four relatives in Ukraine and Belarus. First it was $80 to the archivist in Russia, producing a long winded letter and one single page extracted from some sort of a newsletter and a bunch of forms to fill out and a price list. Then it is another $25.00 per person just to determine if a search is feasible, which in turn would be followed by a report of the kind of information available. The cost of a birth certificate could end up costing about $750.00 per person. But the kicker of it all is that the agency in Russia that is doing this research has indicated that no data was available at this time because some person(s) stole the information and an investigation was currently in progress to find out where it is. Gulp! Art ]
From Menno Nykerk, Webmaster @nljewgen.org - Netherlands Society for Jewish Genealogy... I had a look at your site. Most impressive.
From Gerry Bronstein (Soc) of Milton Ontario... Just glanced over the Fall issue of the Family Descendant and just had to write. You are doing a fantastic job in keeping us informed on what is going on in the family. I also caught the Mayoff.com website. It is very impressive, to say the least. I have been meaning to write, but for one reason or another, kept putting it off....
Each edition of the Newsletter brings back memories. I too have fond memories of your Mom and Dad, Rae and Moe. I don't remember the great toys that Teddy talks about, but I do remember the visits to your house in Montreal. I was a bit surprised that Teddy remembered the visits back and forth to each others houses and especially me. There are many names that appear in the newsletter, that I recall quite vividly. Just in the article that Teddy wrote, he mentions Esther and Hymie Mayoff. I can remember visiting them many times when we were kids. (I am including my brothers of course, Allan and David) and my parents Sarah and Abe.
Just to let everyone know, I was in Windsor, [Ontario] this past weekend and visited my mother Sarah, who now resides in a seniors home and is [having assorted health problems typical of someone of her age.] She is now eighty-four years young. It's too bad that I can't visit her more often.
My wife, Sandy, also reads the newsletters and can't believe how great they are. Just showed her the website and she was amazed. My e-mail address is gbrons@istar,ca.
Thanks for keeping the communication channels open.
From Randi & Ian Morantz of Montreal, Quebec (Ush/Sch)...The Mayoff page on the internet is wonderful. The graphics and the music make it quite a special item. We even printed the picture of Bubby Esther from the internet to give to her. I gave my mother in New York the internet address so that she can show my grandmother, age 103 , the picture. Keep up the good work and we will continue to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
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