Ber, son of Isaac, is my great-great-grandfather. Not that much is known about him but we can glean some information from JewishGen.org.

He was considered poor (lower class) and had to pay a Candle Tax, which was a tax on Shabbath Candles and was used for Jewish Education. When he was 65, he was listed as a Rabbi Elector. Rabbi Elector’s were permanent residents of a town who could vote to pick their Rabbi.

In 1882, he was listed as illiterate. Illiterate only meant that he was not fluent in the language of the paper he had to sign. He was probably a very learned man. Also, in Lithuania, a learned man often had more respect than one with a lot of money.

Jewish Gen Tax and Voter List for Blieden

As of July, 2022, we do not know who his wife was, but we know he had a least 2 sons: Aron Isaac and Judel Reuven. Aron was my great-grandfather and you can learn more about him by clicking on Aron and Hannah under the Blieden Menu. You can learn more about Judel Reuven, by clicking on his name under Aron’s Slblings under the Blieden menu.

How did I decide that Ber, son of Isaac, was my ancestor when there were other Ber’s listed in the Tax and Voter’s List? Based on Ber’s approximate birth date, and based on when his son Aron starting having children, it makes Isaac the best guess for his father. Also, 2 professional genealogists, one of whom went to the archives in Lithuania, listed Ber, son of Isaac, as the father of Judel Reuven.

From looking at the All Lithuania Revision List Database and the Lithuania Taxpayers and Voters on JewishGen.com when searching on Blieden, we can deduce that Ber had at least 3 brothers: Samuel, Abram, and Eyzer. Abram and Eyzer we do not know anything about, but we do have some information about Samuel’s descendants. Click on the Samuel Blieden link under Isaac to learn more about him.


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