Blood, Spit & Logic (Part 1)

Finding The Kronrots: People often ask Abq Jew how he manages to find so many long-lost relatives on his Family Tree.

As Abq Jew first mentioned in his classic blog post Blood, Spit & Years - actually, almost nobody asks. But just in case someone should ask sometime, Abq Jew offers this wonderfully interesting and entertaining addendum to his now famous Not Strictly Genealogy Methodology.

Finding The Kronrots

A Not Strictly Genealogy Methodology

Blood, Spit & Logic

First: The Kronrots, Abq Jew must tell you, are Mrs Abq Jew's father's family. Mr & Mrs Abq Jew knew some of them, but not a whole lot.

Plus: The Kronrots do not, for all intents and purposes, believe in DNA testing. So the whole geshichte that follows is based on a delectable combination of official records and personal recollections. 

So let’s talk about the Kronrots.

1. Mrs Abq Jew and her brother HG Kronrot are the children of Burton Kronrot z”l.
2.  Burton Kronrot was the son of Jack (Jacob) Kronrot.
3.  Jack Kronrot was a son of Max Israel Kronrot.

For years, that was about all that Abq Jew knew about the Kronrot line.

And then: One day, purely by chance, Abq Jew took a close look at HG Kronrot's Family Tree on Ancestry.

And Abq Jew discovered that HG Kronrot had added Julius Kronrot - Max Israel Kronrot's brother - to his Tree. Along with Julius's entirely new branch of the Kronrot Family Tree.

However – Abq Jew didn’t want to add Julius to his MyHeritage Family Tree until he was absolutely sure.

Well. A remarkably quick search on FindAGrave.com revealed that Max Israel Kronrot's father's name was Zelig Itzhak - which Abq Jew had not previously known. And that Julius Kronrot's father's name was the same - Zelig Itzhak.

Proof enough for Abq Jew.

So now, in our determined and timeless search for Truth - let's talk about Logic. And the name Kronrot.

One might think that

Kronrot = Red Crown

and that the name must be German. But HG Kronrot spent a few years in Germany (doing Opera!) during the 1970s - and couldn't find a single other Kronrot.

True, that was way before The Internet and MyHeritage and Ancestry. But still, one has to admit (yes, one does!) that Kronrot is a pretty weird name.

Which brings us to Abq Jew's Kronrot Family Axiom:

All Kronrots are related.

It must be noted (one supposes) that Abq Jew is not a linguist; not a philologist; not an etymologist. Also not an entomologist - but that's understood.

However (see April 2018's Fame, Fortune, and Four Wives), Abq Jew was formerly known as The Word Man.

Therefore: We proceed.

Eventually, Abq Jew discovered (to his great surprise, after years of just not looking) that there were several other Kronrot Family Trees on MyHeritage and Ancestry - and that those Trees did include a branch for Julius Kronrot. 

But listed as Julius (Yankel) Kronrot. Which really, really bothered Abq Jew.

Why? Abq Jew hears you ask. Because Yankel is Yiddish for Jacob. According to his headstone, Julius Kronrot's Hebrew name was Yoel Zalman. 

"Strange," said Abq Jew. 

But Abq Jew's research was progressing.

And then Miriam Kronrot Goldman showed up.

Miriam Kronrot Goldman

It all started when Abq Jew randomly discovered that one JE Goldman has quite a few Kronrots on his Ancestry Family Tree. So Abq Jew sent a message to JE Goldman, explaining that Mrs Abq Jew is a Kronrot, so, perhaps ... you know, we should talk?

So, we talked (exchanged emails, that is). And JE Goldman proudly showed Abq Jew that his great grandmother was, indeed, Miriam Kronrot Goldman. Married to one Harry B Goldman. One of Julius and Dora Kronrot's many children.

All was well and good until Abq Jew came to realize that JE Goldman had identified Miriam Kronrot Goldman as Miriam Fisher Goldman on FindAGrave. With a birth date of 1883.

Miriam Fisher Goldman's father’s name - on her headstone - was Yaakob Zev (Jacob Wolf). But Julius Kronrot’s name was Yoel Zalman.

"How interesting," said Abq Jew.

Interesting, yes. But what did it mean? Abq Jew wrote an email to JE Goldman, pleading for help! And pointing out that:

1. Abq Jew had been absolutely unable to connect any Miriam Kronrot to Julius Kronrot.
2. Julius Kronrot was born in 1868; he married Dora in 1892 at age 24; and he had Sara (1910 Census) in 1893 at age 25.
3. If Miriam Kronrot was born in 1883 – well, Julius Kronrot was only 15. Before his marriage to Dora Stone. This was highly unlikely.
4. If Miriam Fisher was born in 1890 – that was still before Julius Kronrot and Dora Stone were married. And there’s still the matter of the wrong father’s name on Miriam's headstone.
5. If Abq Jew drops Miriam off the Julius and Dora Kronrot's children's list, their children show (1910 Census) a nice sequence of marriage, followed by a new child every year or two. Miriam throws the whole thing off.

Now, Abq Jew is forced to concede that Miriam Kronrot does appear on other Ancestry family trees - as one of Julius and Dora Kronrot's children. 

But Abq Jew suspects that this is an all-too-common example of one careless genealogist copying from another careless genealogist without checking the records.

So, Abq Jew hears you ask -

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Almost everything. We've got Julius called Yankel. We've got Miriam not connected to Julius, and Miriam not connected to Max.And we've got Abq Jew's Kronrot Family Axiom:

All Kronrots are related.

So who is Miriam? At this point, Abq Jew just doesn’t know. 

Unfortunately, there’s about a zillion Harry Goldmans and Miriam Goldmans out there – so it looks like it’s going to take a long time to find the right Harry and Miriam. If there's even a record.

Bertha Kronrot Kaiman shows up.

Bertha Kronrot Kaiman

And the city of Shushan was farblonjet.

See Part 2 ... coming soon!

Rosh Hashanah 5787

Dip Your Apple In The Honey: It's Rosh Hashanah! And, as we begin a New Jewish Year, please remember - as Rabbi Adam Rosenbaum of Denver, CO; of Livingston, NJ; and now, once again, of Charleston, SC has taught us -

There is hope for the world.
There is hope for your life.
The way it is now is not the way it must be. 

Abq Jew warmly invites you to check out
this now-classic Rosh Hashanah hit from 5772:

Dip Your Apple!

by The Fountainheads of Ein Prat

No apples, pomegranates, babies, or smartphones

were harmed in the filming of this video.

Please don't feed babies honey.

===============================

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Abq Jew knows (and knows you know), are special times for our Jewish hearts, minds, and souls.

The Ein Prat Fountainheads have - as always! - touched our hearts. 

Now, here is something that will touch our minds and souls.

From award-winning author Dara Horn, a masterful
new work of nonfiction that boldly confronts
and dismantles the myths and lies that have
spread antisemitism from ancient times
until today —and then offers an audacious
but achievable vision for the future.

Dara Horn’s shocking new title hides a serious argument about fighting antisemitism

Five years after 'People Love Dead Jews,' the novelist's new book reframes Jewish hatred as a lie about destruction — and tells Jews they don't have to accept it 

by Gabby Deutch

If you thought People Love Dead Jews — Dara Horn’s 2021 essay collection examining society’s reverence for remembering deceased Jews while failing to support the living ones — was an awkward book to read in public, just wait until you get your hands on Horn’s newest title: The Final Solution to the Jewish Question.

Horn, a celebrated novelist who has become the bard of contemporary antisemitism since Dead Jews was published five years ago, is in on the joke; she likes to say that both titles make great beach reads because no one will dare sit within several feet of you. (Her dad even made a custom People Love Dead Jews beach towel for her to test out the theory.) 

But despite borrowing its title from the name of the Nazis’ infamous plan to rid Europe of its 11 million Jews during World War II, Horn’s latest book, which will be published on Sept. 1, is not a Nazi manifesto.

Instead, the title of Horn’s new book serves as an eye-catching, subversive dog whistle that is meant to pique the interest of antisemites — while also serving as a cheeky summary of Horn’s goal of actually trying to come up with a solution to the wave of antisemitism that has swept the world in recent years. 

Dara Horn tackles enduring antisemitic lies head-on with optimistic ‘Final Solution’  

Inundated by readers sharing painful personal experiences, author of ‘People Love Dead Jews’ parses the hateful phenomenon and proposes an innovative educational fix

by Renee Gert-Zand

For centuries, argues author Dara Horn, people have tried to gain or maintain power by employing the lie that Jews are responsible for destroying whatever a society, government, or institution values most.

Tyrants, totalitarian regimes on both the right and left, and conformist societies in particular, have employed this lie, Horn says, because they are threatened by Jews — and by Judaism’s long history as an anti-tyrannical, countercultural tradition.

It is the central argument of Horn’s new book, “The Final Solution to the Jewish Question,” which was released September 1. The title is every bit as provocative as that of her 2021 bestseller, “People Love Dead Jews” — and its cover is sure to draw attention in bookstores and on social media.

With its direct reference to the Nazis’ nearly successful extermination of Europe’s Jews during World War II, this collection of related essays is, unsurprisingly, about antisemitism. But its subtitle, “A Love Letter to the Living,” hints from the outset that things are not all doom and gloom.

L'Shana Tova Tikatevu –
May you be inscribed for a good year!

Fall 2026 @ OASIS Abq

 Great Courses of Jewish Interest

Abq Jew is pleased to inform you that
OASIS Albuquerque has just announced
their Fall 2026 line-up of classes!
Registration opens on
Wednesday September 2
but you can Wish List your selections now.

OASIS Albuquerque Executive Director Scott Sharp and his staff continue to bring you new and interesting class offerings, and continue to make sure there are courses of Jewish interest.

This session's courses and instructors include,

but are by no means limited to:

The Season of The Great Ingathering

Monday September 28  @ 2:00 - #185

Instructor: Paul Citrin

What It Is: Sukkot, sometimes referred to as Tabernacles, is the season of the most varied and abundant harvest in the Land of Israel. Over the centuries, it has been a celebration of the material rewards of hard work, a time for renewing community, studying sacred texts, caring for the poor, and reaffirming deeply held values. The class includes biblical and Talmudic texts, explores Ethical Wills as a form of personal harvest from ancient times to today, and offers hands-on engagement with key ceremonial objects used in the holiday. Note: This talk is given at Congregation Albert, inside the congregation’s Sukkah.

Antisemitism and Anti-Science
A Deadly Overlap

Monday October 26 @ 10:00 - #200

Instructor: Jack Shlachter

What It Is: The anti-science movement involves the “rejection of mainstream scientific views and methods or their replacement with unproven or deliberately misleading theories, often for nefarious and political gains.” It has appeared in the guise of climate change denialism and anti-immunization, and it can be seen historically in opposition to advances in psychology and physics. This class examines five modern examples of the deadly convergence of antisemitism and anti-science.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Notorious RBG

Tuesday October 27 @ 12:30 - #158

Instructor: Dianne R Layden

What It Is: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in September 2020, is celebrated for her work as an attorney, federal judge, and Supreme Court justice, notably on behalf of gender equality. Through narrative, handouts, and slides, this lecture reviews Ginsburg’s early life, family, friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia, love of opera, and visits to the Santa Fe Opera in 1995-2018, which she called the finest summer opera company in the world.

What Our Fathers Did
Friday November 20 @ 12:30 - #131

Friday At The Movies

What It Is: A bracingly rigorous examination of inherited guilt and pain, What Our Fathers Did explores the relationship between two men, each of whom are the children of very high-ranking Nazi officials but possess starkly contrasting attitudes toward their fathers. 

The film was written and is hosted by eminent human rights lawyer Philippe Sands, who became fascinated by its central figures, Niklas Frank and Horst von Wächter, while researching the Nuremberg trials. The film comes to a climax when they travel to Lviv in Ukraine, where it becomes clear that Frank and von Wächter’s Nazi fathers were responsible for the annihilation of Sands’ own Jewish grandfather’s entire family. What Our Fathers Did is a compelling examination of brutality, self-deception, guilt and the nature of justice.

Synchronous Sin & Synesthesia at Sinai

Monday November 23 @ 10:00 - #188

Instructor: Jack Shlachter

What It Is: The Biblical text describing the revelation at Mount Sinai can be literally translated as “The entire people saw the thunder and the flames and the sound of the shofar…” People with synesthesia experience involuntary stimulation of one sensory pathway when another is triggered. We explore synesthesia, learn about a few famous synesthetes, and examine this verse from a range of sources in Jewish texts.

A 76-Trombone Milestone

Celebrated By Musical Fans Everywhere: Abq Jew here reminds his loyal readers (who, of course, do not need to be reminded) that it was just about twelve (12) years ago that Abq Jew turned 64 (see For Vera, Chuck & Dave). 

Yes, that makes this the completion of the magical 76th year. And Abq Jew must celebrate (he must! he must!) with just a snippet from Meredith Willson's The Music Man, one of the very few (only Adolph Green and Betty Comden's Singin' In The Rain and Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls comes to what is left, after all these years, of Abq Jew's mind) perfect musicals ever!

As Abq Jew once again reflects on what he has (and has not yet) accomplished
during his 76 trips around the sun, he keeps in mind what his father, 
Richard W Yellin, of blessed memory, would have said
on his upcoming 102nd birthday: 

"When Mozart was your age,
he had been dead for 41 years." 

As for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -
he lived but 35 years, 10 months, and 9 days.
He was privileged to see 13,097 sunsets,
 but not one of them in Rhode Island.

The insightful New Mexico Jewish Journal was recently kind enough to fully acknowledge Abq Jew's modest contribution to Jewish life in the Land of Enchantment. (The New Mexico Jewish Historical Society also published a condensed appreciation in the Summer 2026 issue of The Legacy.) 

Thank you, Diane Joy Schmidt and Dianne R Layden!

To which Abq Jew can only add - and this very blog post shows -