Jewish Tartan

[Macman]

Judah Maccabi is the protagonist of the Chanukah story, which took place in 167 BCE. Another transliteration of the name is Maccabee. Doubt he's related to the MacFie's

I agree, Jake; it just sounded sort of cool if you say MacAbee fast. It's kind of like my wife's mom's maiden name - Mikschewitsch. I kid some of her family members that they're a long lost Scottish clan that ended up in Russia - the McShevich clan.

[ccga3359]

I agree, Jake; it just sounded sort of cool if you say MacAbee fast. It's kind of like my wife's mom's maiden name - Mikschewitsch. I kid some of her family members that they're a long lost Scottish clan that ended up in Russia - the McShevich clan.

Actually if Mac is Son of, then wouldn't that be Son of Vitch?

[gilmore]

This just in from our intrepid informant in Glasgow who talked to his neighborhood rabbi in the most heavily Jewish section of Glasgow, and of Scotland. "He [the rabbi] said he can't think of any tartan other than Gordon that Jewish folk wear, but he says he certainly assumes someone is Jewish if he sees them wearing the Gordon tartan in this area of Glasgow. (Dress or regular.)"

Vox populi vox dei. Gordon seems to be the tartan most authentically associated with Jewish Scots.

Thanks Arlen.

[Mike S]

Instead of trying to unearth some Jewish connection with essentially Scottish Tartans and clans, I vote that a proper "Israeli" or Jewish tartan be submitted for approval in the afore mentioned Blue and White colors. That is if the interest is sufficient outside of this discussion.

That would be a stunning looking tartan if designed in an aesthetically pleasing sett, too.

As a foot note:
Like the "brother against brother" of many other wars, I wonder if these particular Glasgow Jewish soldiers in the WWI photo had to go up against the many German regiments staffed with Jewish/German soldiers in the first world war?

But then, that is another topic.

[macwilkin]

Like the "brother against brother" of many other wars, I wonder if these particular Glasgow Jewish soldiers in the WWI photo had to go up against the many German regiments staffed with Jewish/German soldiers in the first world war?

But then, that is another topic.

But another topic well worth exploring, Mike! I'd love to read something about it.

T.

[gilmore]

Instead of trying to unearth some Jewish connection with essentially Scottish Tartans and clans, I vote that a proper "Israeli" or Jewish tartan be submitted for approval in the afore mentioned Blue and White colors. That is if the interest is sufficient outside of this discussion.

That would be a stunning looking tartan if designed in an aesthetically pleasing sett, too...

The choice has already been made by popular consensus, as noted in my previous post, albeit in Latin. It's not about unearthing a connection, but recognizing and acknowledging what has been in existence for over 200 years: a Jewish-Gordon connection, as set out in this and the prior thread on Jewish tartan. Jewish Scots are already wearing Gordon tartans as an identifier of being Jewish and have for quite some time. There is the photographic evidence posted above going back to the 1950's and 1930's. Scottish Jews wearing Gordon tartan predates the founding of both the state of Israel and of the Scottish Tartan Authority by decades or more.

To my mind this amounts to an authenticity than cannot be rivalled by an American spending thousands designing a tartan never seen before, getting it approved by some kind of questionably authoritative source, probably foreign to Scotland as well(the Knesset?), and then registering it with an association of tartan manufacturers and merchants motivated mostly by profit.

[ccga3359]

Scottish Jews wearing Gordon tartan predates the founding of both the state of Israel and of the Scottish Tartan Authority by decades or more.

Yet we still dont know why Gordon in particular, do we?

[Mike S]

Perhapse they should start calling themselves the "Goy Gordons" instead, no?

[gilmore]

Yet we still dont know why Gordon in particular, do we?

"There are several stories as to the origin of Jewish Gordons.

One, most favored by some, is that the name comes from Grodno, a city in what is now Lithuania.

Another is that it originated with "the Russian adverb gordo (proudly) or the adjective gordyy (proud). Tack an 'in' to the stem 'gord' and you get a prideful person."

A third possibility is Lord George Gordon (26 December 1751 - 12 November
1793), third and youngest son of Cosmo George Gordon, 3rd Duke of
Gordon, who converted to Judaism in 1787 at age 36. He took the name
of Yisrael bar Avraham Gordon. It appears that he died without issue,
but interestingly lived shortly before Jews on the Continent started
taking surnames in large numbers. Russian Jews were required to take surnames starting in 1804. For a brief accound of Gordon's life, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_George_Gordon

A fourth alternative is that it came from Scottish merchants and mercenaries in the Baltic in the 1600s/1700s, eg in Kedainiai, Lithuania.

A fifth sounds quite improbable, but may have a bit of truth somewhere in it: "Huntly House [on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh] was the home of the Earl of Huntly, chief of Clan Gordon. who gave money in the 16th century to start the University of Aberdeen, the 2nd oldest university in Scotland. The Earl of Huntly gave this money on condition that three of the students would be Jewish. Out of gratitude and honor, a Jewish person took the name GORDON...and thus the Scottish Gordon clan was born." "


"I came across this in "Between Two Worlds" by Benjamin L. Gordon, published in 1952. It is the autobiography of a Lithuanian Jew who was born around 1870 and emmigrated to the US.

The author's father's great-grandfather took the surname Gordomy, form the village where he lived. It was changed to Gordon by the author's grandfather:

"In the latter part of the eighteenth century there lived an English [sic] nobleman in London named Lord George Gordon (1751-1792), son of the third duke of Gordon. He accepted the Jewish faith.... It was customary in those days for pious Jews to travel abroad, in order to see with their own eyes the actual living conditions of their brethren in the Diaspora, so Lord Gordon traveled to the lands where most of his new co-religionists lived. He visited the city of Vilna, known as the Jerusalem of Lithuania, and there he became known as the Ger Tseddek (the Righteous Proselyte). His name quickly became a byword in the Jewish world. Parents came to use his name when blessing their sons, and many families adopted his name as a surname. It was thus that my grandfather changed Gordomy to Gordon." "



---From the earlier thread: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/j...ghlight=jewish

Here is the Wikipedia article on Lord George Gordon:

"Lord George Gordon (26 December 1751 – 12 November 1793), third and youngest son of Cosmo George Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon, and the brother of Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon... His life ended after a number of controversies, as well as surrounding his conversion to Judaism for which he was ostracized. He died in prison.


Early life
George Gordon was born in London. ...

The "Gordon Riots"
In 1779 he organized, and made himself head of, the Protestant associations, formed to secure the repeal of the Catholic Relief Act of 1778. On 2 June 1780 he headed a mob that marched in procession from St George's Fields to the Houses of Parliament in order to present a huge petition against Emancipation. After the mob reached Westminster the "Gordon Riots" began. Initially, the mob dispersed after threatening to force their way into the House of Commons, but reassembled soon afterwards and, over several days, destroyed several Roman Catholic chapels, pillaged the private dwellings of Catholics, set fire to Newgate Prison, broke open all the other prisons, and attacked the Bank of England and several other public buildings. The army was finally brought in to quell the unrest and killed or wounded around 450 people before they finally restored order. For his role in instigating the riots, Lord Gordon was charged with high treason. However, thanks to a defense by Baron Erskine, he was acquitted on the grounds that he had no treasonable intent.


Imprisonment
In 1786 he was excommunicated by the archbishop of Canterbury for refusing to bear witness in an ecclesiastical suit; and in 1787 he was convicted of defaming Marie Antoinette, the French ambassador and the administration of justice in England. He was, however, permitted to withdraw from the court without bail, and made his escape to the Netherlands. On account of representations from the court of Versailles he was commanded to quit that country, and, returning to England, was apprehended, and in January 1788 was sentenced to five years imprisonment in Newgate.


Conversion to Judaism
In 1787, at the age of 36, Lord George Gordon converted to Judaism in Birmingham, something unheard of in the England of his day. He took the name of Yisrael bar Avraham Gordon ("Israel son [of] Abraham" Gordon -- since Judaism regards a convert as the spiritual "son" of the Biblical Abraham) and underwent brit milah ("circumcision"). Gordon thus became what Judaism regards as, and Jews call, a "Ger Tsedek"—a righteous convert.

Not much is known about his life as a Jew in Birmingham, but the Bristol Journal of Dec. 15, 1787 reported that Gordon had been living in Birmingham since August, 1786 (its incorrect perceptions and interpretations of Judaism notwithstanding):

“ Unknown to every class of man but those of the Jewish religion, among whom he has passed his time in the greatest cordiality and friendship... he appears with a beard of extraordinary length, and the usual raiment of a Jew... his observance of the culinary (kashrut) laws preparation is remarkable. ”

...

“ He was surrounded by a number of Jews, who affirmed that his Lordship was Moses risen from the dead in order to instruct them and enlighten the whole world... It appears that (he) has officiated as a chief of the Levitical Order... ”

While in jail, Gordon lived the life of an Orthodox Jew, and he adjusted his prison life to his circumstances. He put on his tzitzit and tefillin daily. He fasted when the halakha (Jewish law) prescribed it, and likewise celebrated the Jewish holidays. He had kosher meat and wine, and Shabbat challos. The prison authorities permitted him to have a minyan on Shabbat and to affix a mezuza to his room. The Ten Commandments were also hung on his wall for Shabbat to transform the room into a synagogue.

Lord George Gordon associated only with pious Jews; in his passionate enthusiasm for his new faith, he refused to deal with any Jew who compromised the Torah's commandments. Although any non-Jew who desired to visit Gordon in prison (and there were many) was welcome, he requested that the prison guards admit Jews only if they had beards and wore head coverings.

He would often, in keeping with Jewish chesed (Mercy and Charity) Law, go into other parts of the prison to comfort prisoners by speaking with them and playing the violin. In keeping with tzedaka (Charity) laws, he gave what little money he could to those in need.

Charles Dickens, in his novel Barnaby Rudge, which centres around the "Gordon" riots of 1780, describes Gordon as a true Tzadik (Pious Man) among the prisoners as follows:

The prisoners bemoaned his loss, and missed him; for though his means were not large his charity was great, and in bestowing alms among them he considered the necessities of all alike, and knew no distinction of sect or creed ...


Death
On the 28th of January, 1793, Lord George Gordon's sentence expired and he had to appear to give claim to his future good behaviour. When appearing in court he was ordered to remove his hat, which he refused to do. The hat was then taken from him by force, but he covered his head with a night cap and bound it with a handkerchief. He defended his behaviour concerning his kippah by quoting the Hebrew Bible "in support of the propriety of the creature having his head covered in reverence to the Creator." Before the court, he read a written statement in which he claimed that "he had been imprisoned for five years among murderers, thieves, etc., and that all the consolation he had arose from his trust in God."

Since he had brought as guarantors two Jews, whom the court would not accept as witnesses, Gordon was again remanded to his prison cell. Although his brothers; the 4th Duke of Gordon and Lord William, the future Vice-Admiral; and his sister, Lady Susan; offered to cover his bail; Gordon refused their help saying that to "sue for pardon was a confession of guilt."

In October of the same year Gordon caught the typhoid fever that had been raging in Newgate throughout 1793. Christopher Hibbert, another biographer, writes that scores of prisoners waited outside his door for news of about his health; friends, regardless of the risk of infection, stood whispering in the room and praying for his recovery - but George Gordon died on November 1, 1793 at the age of 42.

He figured as a character in Charles Dickens' historical novel Barnaby Rudge.

References
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. "

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_George_Gordon

[Galician]

This just in from our intrepid informant in Glasgow who talked to his neighborhood rabbi in the most heavily Jewish section of Glasgow, and of Scotland. "He said he can't think of any tartan other than Gordon that Jewish folk wear, but he says he certainly assumes someone is Jewish if he sees them wearing the Gordon tartan in this area of Glasgow. (Dress or regular.)"

Vox populi, vox Dei. Gordon seems to be the tartan most authentically associated with Jewish Scots.

Thanks Arlen.

Wow, what a thought, that one would be assumed to be JEWISH from wearing a kilt!

But just as there are differences of liturgy and language between Shepardic and Ashkenazim, why not accept that other tartans could be developed for Jewish identification? Personally, I wonder if one would want to be identified as a Gordon OUTSIDE of that region if the link is one's status as a son of the covenant.