Yichus#Mechutan
{{Short description|Jewish concept of family lineage}}
Yichus ({{Script/Hebrew|יִחוּס}} yḥws), a Hebrew-based Yiddish word meaning "lineage". In some past and present Jewish communities, good {{Transliteration|he|yichus}}—meaning descent from a family of high reputation—is necessary for a person to be considered as a potential marriage partner. Colloquially, the term refers to the chain of origin for a statement, creative work or object.See the entry at Talk:Midrash (the "unsigned comment" that is the 3rd entry at Talk:Midrash#Midrash Rabbah) that is timestamped "17:19, 15 May 2007". QUOTE: << If the original source has "yichus" (i.e., Jewish Encyclopedia or Britannica) ... >>
Etymology
{{Transliteration|he|Yichus}} first appeared in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Ezra.{{Cite magazine |last=Johnson|first=George|title=Jewish Word: Yiches|url=https://momentmag.com/jewish-word-yiches/|magazine=Moment Magazine|language=en}} It appears in {{Bibleverse|Ezra|2:62|HE}} and {{Bibleverse|Nehemiah|7:5|HE}}), where the Hebrew root (yud-chet-sin) means "relation to" or "related to." In the later rabbinic Hebrew, the last letter of the root changed from sin ({{Script/Hebrew|ש}}) to samekh ({{Script/Hebrew|ס}}), though the pronunciation and meaning remained unchanged. The latter spelling (yud-hey-samech) appears frequently in rabbinic literature.[https://www.sefaria.org.il/search?q=%D7%99%D7%97%D7%A1&tab=text&tpathFilters=Talmud&tvar=1&tsort=relevance&svar=1&ssort=relevance Sefaria search: יחס]
Although the word {{Transliteration|he|yichus}} originated in Hebrew,{{cite web |url=https://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=158
|title=Parshas Bamidbar (5771) - Got Yichus?}}Nechemia,7:5 the term is generally accepted as a Yiddish word that has flowed into modern English. The anglicized word has been transliterated as {{Transliteration|he|yichus}},{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/09/nyregion/dina-abramowicz-90-librarian-and-yiddish-expert-dies.html |date=9 April 2000
|title=Dina Abramowicz, 90, Librarian and Yiddish Expert, Dies}} {{Transliteration|he|yikhes}},{{cite web |url=http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Yikhes|title=Yivo Encyclopedia - Yikhes}}It was in the obituary of a YIVO expert who spelled it {{Transliteration|he|yikhes}} that The New York Times spelled it {{Transliteration|he|yichus}}. {{Transliteration|he|yiches}},{{cite web |url=http://www.jewish-languages.org/jewish-english-lexicon/words/618
|title=Jewish English Lexicon}} and {{Transliteration|he|yikhus}}.{{cite web
|url=http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=27940&local_base=GEN01-MCG02
|title=Yikhus and the early Hasidic movement|author-link1=Glenn Dynner |last1=Dynner |first1=Glenn
|last2=Hundert |first2=Gershon |website=McGill University}}
History
As far back as the Talmudic era, being son-in-law to someone widely respected was valued.Gittin 31b, regarding being son-in-law of Exilarch. Subsequently, even the {{Transliteration|he|yichus}} of being son-in-law to the son-in-law and similar lineage links were valued. From the 14th century onwards, {{Transliteration|he|yichus}} was an important concern for Eastern European Jews. Good {{Transliteration|he|yichus}} could refer to Torah scholarship or wealth, while bad {{Transliteration|he|yichus}} resulted from the suspicion of illegitimate descent. However, many rabbis disapproved of the concept of {{Transliteration|he|yichus}}, instead insisting on judging individuals based on their personal merits. "In Lithuania some Jewish families hid their {{Transliteration|he|italic=no|Yikhus}} (lineage)".{{cite web|url=http://www.cjh.org/pdfs/Rabbis.pdf|title=Rabbinical Genealogy |website=Center for Jewish History}} There was a tension between {{Transliteration|he|yichus}} on one hand, and "meritocratic leadership based on scholarship" on the other. Judgments of {{Transliteration|he|yichus}} became one of the mechanisms which determined social hierarchies. From the 19th century, the significance of {{Transliteration|he|yichus}} declined as more marriages were based on romantic love,[https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/2394/whats-yichus-got-to-do-with-it/ What’s Yichus Got to Do with It?] and reformers criticized {{Transliteration|he|yichus}} for leading to inbreeding within small circles of "acceptable" families. However, nowadays {{Transliteration|he|yichus}} is still an important qualification for marriage in charedi communities.Samuel C. Heilman, Defenders of the Faith: Inside Ultra-Orthodox Jewry, p.280Block, Sima Zalcberg. “‘The Art of the Deal’: Preferences in Spouse Selection among Parents in a Hasidic Community.” Israel Studies Review 28, no. 2 (2013): 61–82.
The family trees, or pedigree charts, of Jewish families, listing genealogy and family history records, have been identified with several names, among which are yichus book,{{cite web |url=http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol04/v04n263.shtml
|title=Registry of "Who is a Jew" Realpolitik |date=January 2000
|website=aishdas.org}}{{cite web |url=http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2013/11/weiss-dodelson-gital-face-of-agunot.html
|title=Issues of Jewish Identity|date=17 November 2013 }}{{cite web|url=http://polishjews.yivoarchives.org/archive/?p=collections/controlcard&id=21384
|title=a "golden book" of "Jewish yikhes" - from an archive about Jewish life in Poland |website=YIVO Archives}} yichus brief,{{cite web
|url=https://davidbaisrebeinu.com/2013/09/29/margolios-family-yichus-brief
|title=Margolios Family Yichus Brief
|website=davidbaisrebeinu.com|date=29 September 2013
}} and yichus record.{{cite news |newspaper=Israel National News
|date= June 22, 2004
|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/64446
|title=MK Porush: Approval of Civil Marriages Spells Disaster}}{{cite web |url=http://daattorah.blogspot.de/2009/12/r-metzger-deviates-from-chareidi-view.html
|title=R'Metzger deviates from chareidi view|date=7 December 2009 }} To help a child trace lineage, some families would write a "yichus book".{{cite book
|title=Smart Jews: The Construction of the Image of Jewish Superior Intelligence
|last1=Gilman |first1=Sander L.
|date=1997 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=9780803270695
|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0803270690}} The focus of a yichus brief (letter of relationship){{cite web
|url=https://archive.org/stream/henryfskirballf001/henryfskirballf001_djvu.txt
|title=From the Henry F. Skirball Collection: Some Recollections and Reflections
|website=archive.org|year=1990
}} is not as extensive as a yichus bookSefer HaYichus, singular, or Sefer HaYichusim, plural - on the word Yichus."... drawn up about 15 years ago for one of our relatives. The letter dealt with the ancestors of ..." whereas a yichus book or yichus record/"sefer yuchsin"/registry is community-oriented. Some families also kept a separate "Register of Circumcisions".
Types
Being the {{Transliteration|yi|italic=no|mechutan}} (מְחוּתָּן, father of one's child's spouse[https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/359 Jewish English lexicon: mechuten]) of a notable person is sometimes considered important enough to include in a wedding invitation and in giving other credentials.{{cite web |title=Video: Rav Yisroel Brog: How I Found My Mechutan |date=January 11, 2013
|url=http://matzav.com/video-rav-yisroel-brog-how-i-found-my-mechutan}} "Rav Yisroel Brog is the beloved and brilliant rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Tiferes Avigdor in Cleveland, Ohio. Rav Brog is... (link to Rav Avigdor Miller, ZTL)
::ex. "When he was 20 years old, he married the daughter of the Vilna Dayan, who was the son-in-law of ..."{{cite magazine|magazine=Pirchei weekly |date=May 5, 2018 |page=4 |title=R'Chaim Ozer Grodzinski|publisher=Agudas Yisroel of America}} Although primarily used for same generation relatives, it can be used beyond that generation.Ex. That man is a Mechutan to me - his grandson is married to my grand-daughter. Being a {{Transliteration|he|ben achar ben}} (literally son-after-son, i.e. patrilineal) descendant is sometimes considered more notable than other forms of descent.{{cite book
|title=Who Will Lead Us?: The Story of Five Hasidic Dynasties in America
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DOCIDgAAQBAJ&q=ben-achar-ben |isbn=978-0520966482
|quote = Each group could claim that its candidate had the necessary family ties. Benzion Aryeh Leib was a holy seed and was the recognized {{Transliteration|he|rav-tza'ir}}, as well as the {{Transliteration|he|ben-achar-ben}}, son, grandson, and great-grandson of the first, second, and third Bobover Rebbes. Although he had no sons, Naftali, the Fourth Rebbe, had two daughters, and [...] |page = 126 |author=Samuel C. Heilman |date=2017| publisher=Univ of California Press }}(FIL=Father-in-law) {{cite web
|title=Rebbe Eliezer Chaim Rabinowitz |website=kevarim.com
|url=http://kevarim.com/rebbe-eliezer-chaim-rabinowitz
|date=December 17, 2007
|quote=My FIL is a ben achar ben}}{{cite web
|url =https://hamodia.com/2017/03/08/beis-medrash-rebbe-reb-elimelech-lizhensk-miraculously-redeemed
|title=Beis Medrash of the Rebbe Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk Miraculously Redeemed
|quote=... a ben achar ben of the famed ...
|date=March 8, 2017 |website=hamodia.com}}{{cite web
|title=Rebbe Avroham Yosef Yuska Gottesman
|url=http://kevarim.com/rebbe-avroham-yosef-yuska-gottesman
|quote=.. is a descendant ben achar ben of ..}}
For various reasons, surnames/family names were changed, and sometimes reverted. Thus, Jewish family names have not always been a reliable indicator of ancestry. For example: certain family names, such as Cohen, are not as strongly indicative of being a Kohen as Katz.
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [https://klezmo.com/disko_esw_liner.html Dem Ganefs Yiches (The Thief's Lineage)], a 19th century song parodying the concept of yichus
{{Jewish life}}
Category:Hebrew words and phrases