The Rappaport family (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: רפפורט;
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
: ראפאפארט) is a prominent
Kohanic rabbinic family, who are generally considered to possess the oldest and best recorded Kohanic pedigree. The modern origins of the family can be traced back to R. Meshulam Jekuthiel HaKohen Rappa (d. 1450) who settled in
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
,
Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
after the Jews were expelled from his hometown of
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
,
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
. From the 17th century and onward, the Rappaport family occupied some of the most prestigious rabbinic positions in Europe, specifically in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
. The
Rapoport-Bick rabbinic dynasty is a branch of the Rappaport family.
History
By the middle of the 17th century authors belonging to the Rappaport family were living in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and
Lithuania, and were particularly concentrated in
Krakow and
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...
; in the latter place, in 1584, was born the famous
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
ist
R. Abraham Rappaport and
R. Simhah Rappaport in 1650, the latter's son, R. Khaim Rappaport was the progenitor of the
Rapoport-Bick dynasty and an ancestor of the
Soloveichik dynasty. By the late 17th-century members of the Rappaport family lived in
Dubno
Dubno ( uk, Ду́бно) is a city and municipality located on the Ikva River in Rivne Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Dubno Raion (district). The city is located on intersection of two major ...
and
Krzemeniec, where they occupied the town's rabbinate. By the 18th-century members of the family began to immigrate out of Eastern Europe such as
R. Isaac Rappaport who lived in
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
and later
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and
R. Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport lived in
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The m ...
. R. Solomon's grandson Arnold Rapoport
cs.html"_;"title=":cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada.html"_;"title="nowiki/>:cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada">cs">:cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada.html"_;"title="nowiki/>:cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada">cswas_a_leader_of_the_
cs.html"_;"title=":cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada.html"_;"title="nowiki/>:cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada">cs">:cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada.html"_;"title="nowiki/>:cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada">cswas_a_leader_of_the_Cultural_assimilation">assimilationists
_
Cultural_assimilation_is_the_process_in_which_a_minority_group_or_culture_comes_to_resemble_a_society's__majority_group_or_assume_the_values,_behaviors,_and_beliefs_of_another_group_whether_fully_or_partially.
The_different_types_of_cultural_assi_...
.html"_;"title=":cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada.html"_;"title="nowiki/>:cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada">cs">:cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada.html"_;"title="nowiki/>:cs:Arnold_Rapoport_von_Porada">cswas_a_leader_of_the_Cultural_assimilation">assimilationists