Rappaport family

Rappaport family ראפאפארט (רפא מפורטו)‎
Arms of the Rapoport family of Krotoschin
Parent family	HaKohen family of Mainz (earlier HaKohen family of Nehar Pekod)
Current region	North America and Israel
Etymology	Rappa may derive from the Hebrew word "Doctor" and Porto being the town in Italy from where the family originated
Place of origin	Porto, Mantua, Italy
Founded	1450; 572 years ago (1450)
Founder	R. Meshulam Jekuthiel Rappa or Porto
Traditions	Judaism
Cadet branches	Rapoport-Bick

The Rappaport family (Hebrew: רפפורט; Yiddish: ראפאפארט) is a prominent Kohanic rabbinic family, who are generally considered to possess the oldest and best recorded Kohanic pedigree. The modern origins of the family can be traced back to R. Meshulam Jekuthiel HaKohen Rappa (d. 1450) who settled in Porto, Mantua, Italy after the Jews were expelled from his hometown of Mainz, Holy Roman Empire. From the 17th century and onward, the Rappaport family occupied some of the most prestigious rabbinic positions in Europe, specifically in Eastern Europe. The Rapoport-Bick rabbinic dynasty is a branch of the Rappaport family. ^[1]

Origins of the family[]

R. Meshulam Jekuthiel's father was R. Moses HaKohen of Mainz who was a paternal descendant of R. Judah ben Meir HaKohen (fl. 1000). R. Judah's descendants would go on to occupy several positions in the rabbinate of Mainz and are sometimes referred to as the "HaKohen family of Mainz".^[2] R. Judah's father, R. Meir b. Jacob was originally from Babylonia and immigrated to the Holy Roman Empire right before R. Judah was born. R. Meir's father was the Gaon (Dean) of the Sura Academy in Babylonia from 911-924 and was descended from a long line Babylonian Geonim who traced their origin back to R. Jacob of Nehar Pekod who was the Gaon of Sura from 712-730. R. Jacob traced his linage back to R. Eleazar ben Azariah who was a 1st-century tanna in the Land of Israel and was a 10th-generation descendant of the Biblical figure Ezra.^[3][4][5]

History[]

By the middle of the 17th century authors belonging to the Rappaport family were living in Poland and Lithuania, and where particularly concentrated in Krakow and Lviv; in the latter place, in 1584, was born the famous Talmudist R. Abraham Rappaport and R. Simhah Rappaport in 1650, the latter's son, R. Khaim Rappaport was the progenitor of the Rapoport-Bick dynasty and an ancestor of the Soloveichik dynasty. By the late 17th-century members of the Rappaport family lived in Dubno and Krzemeniec, where they occupied the town's rabbinate. By the 18th-century members of the family began to immigrate out of Eastern Europe such as R. Isaac Rappaport who lived in Smyrna and later Jerusalem and R. Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport lived in Moravia. R. Solomon's grandson Arnold Rapoport [cs] was a leader of the assimilationists in Galicia and was a deputy of the Austrian Reichsrat from 1879 to 1907 representing the Polish party. In 1890 he was ennobled, receiving the title "von Porada". About 1750 there were two members of the Rappaport family living in Dyhernfurth (Silesia): one named R. Israel Moses and the other R. Meïr; the former came from Pińczów, the latter from Krotoschin who received a Coat of Arms. Some members of the family became involved in the Haskalah such as Charles Rappoport, Shloyme Zanvl Rappoport and Emil Stanisław Rappaport. That being said, the family still continued to produce rabbis such as R. David Rappoport and more currently R. Chaim Rapoport and R. Gamliel Rabinowitz-Rappaport.^[1]

The Rappaport family are one of the three families that the Baal Shem Tov testified to be of pure lineage in the Jewish nation holding the position of Kohanim. The other two being the Horowitz family, who are Levites; and the Spira family (Shapiro), who are Israelites.^{[citation needed]}

References[]

External links and other articles[]

• Rapa: Elijah ben Menahem Rapa Elijah ben Menahem Rapa, or Elijah Rapaporto - Jewish Encyclopedia
• Portorapa: Simchah ben Gershon ha-Kohen Rapa (Portrapa) - Jewish Encyclopedia
• Rapa Porto: Menahem Abraham ben Jacob ha-Kohen Rapa (Porto) ; Menahem Rapoport - Jewish Encyclopedia
• The Center for the Study of the Rapaport Family
• Chapin, David A. and Weinstock, Ben, The Road from Letichev: The history and culture of a forgotten Jewish community in Eastern Europe, Volume 1. ISBN 0-595-00666-3 iUniverse, Lincoln, NE, 2000.