Scattered Wide and Far: Generations 1, 2, 3 ...

Ruth and Meir Novice, 2015

Dave and I were honored and very, very glad to meet Ruth (née Minden) and Meir Novice in Brookline (part of greater Boston) last month. I will write more later about the gathering, brought about graciously by Ruth and Meir's daughter Judi Roth (generation 3). Meanwhile, here is a photo of this amazing couple.

One question I had hoped to resolve during this get-together was the reason that the Mindens of Generation 1 scattered so definitively -- not just geographically but also in terms of how the family in the next two generations (including mine) has not stayed very much in contact. Ruth confirmed that the embrace of very different religious paths among generations 1 and 2 contributed significantly to this pattern. We are fortunate to have among us those who have taken their Judaism to heart in many ways; those who found a home within Roman Catholicism, Protestant faiths, and Christian Science; and others who felt most drawn to rational moral living, without a particular religious belief underpinning it.

In our Vermont home.

Now, in a modern culture that allows us to gently connect via social media, e-mail, and of course letters and visits, I am pleased to find the re-connections in some ways easier than they might have been a hundred years ago.

Dr. Henry Minden, Lawyer (Generation 1)

I am still trying to pull together the experiences of my childhood with the information I'm learning now. Dr. Henry Minden (Generation 1), a lawyer, was a brother of my grandfather Ernest Minden; I see from his great-grandson David Roth's article (see previous post) that he lived for decades in Golders Green, London. I'm adding here a notice from the February 1972 issue of AJR Information, published by the Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain. It acknowledges Dr Minden's death in December 1971.

I met Dr Henry Minden and his wife Anna once when I was a child -- a meal was provided for their visit at the home of yet another Henry (Henri) Minden, this one living in Great Neck on Long Island, New York. I'm guessing it was around 1964. I also visited my grandmother Lena's home in England in 1959 and 1967 (after her divorce from Ernest Minden), and I believe that too was in Golders Green. I don't think I met Henry and Anna during those visits; probably the varied styles of Jewish life did not encourage such a visit at that time. But I met Lotte Gore there, I'm sure -- when I figure out how she connects to all this, I'll annotate this mention. UPDATE: Lena's home was at 56, Clifton Gardens, London NW 11.


Onward!

Generation 3: Cousins Beth and Judi Meet as Adults

Judi Roth (Gen. 3; granddaughter of Henry Minden Gen. 1, daughter of Ruth Gen. 2) and I, Beth Kanell (born Elizabeth Lancy Minden, Gen. 3; granddaughter of Ernest Minden Gen. 1, daughter of Walter Minden Gen. 2), met near Boston on November 8, 2014, for the first time.

Or so we believed at the time. Since then, Judi's mother Ruth has added a detail neither Judi nor I knew: Ruth and her husband visited my parents in 1964, when they moved from England to the US. And Judi and I must have met -- but maybe we were both too overwhelmed by being in the midst of changes in our lives to pay enough attention to that moment 50 years ago.

It's wonderful to connect in person, and to hear each other's stories and begin to catch up on being each other's family members. And the flood of information that we and the other "second cousins" (Gen. 3) and their parents are already providing is why I decided to start this blog, to organize and share the details. More of that, soon. Meanwhile, here is a very special photo: one of Judi (on the right) and me, November 2014, Dedham, MA, taken by Judi's friend Steve. - BK