One of our correspondents noted that family lore held "all the Sepharadim are related one way or another." It certainly seems that way, as we read about the inter-relationships between families and the population centers in the region. To read about towns other than Monastir, and the families that came from them, try some of these links.

• The Temuco Colony. The Chilean frontier town of Temuco saw an explosive growth of Jews --mostly from Monastir--from 14 in 1907 to 280 in 1920.
  The families listed include Albala, Arueste, Calderon, Camhi, Cassorla, Chame, Ergas, Hasson, Israel, Levy, Massot, Nahmias, Navon, Negrin, Pardo, Russo, Sarfati, Testa.
  • Assael-Calderon Descendants. Sons of Shabitay Assael and Ana Calderon emigrated to Temuco in the 1920s and 1930s. Related Sefaradí families: Albenda, Argus, Aroesty, Assael, Behar, Camhi, Elias Cassorla, Cohen, Farash, Meshulam, Nahmias, Pardo, Pesso, Testa.
  • A Russo-Arueste family. Isaac Russo and Sara Arueste arrived in 1916.
• Kirklareli. This town in Turkey had a concentration of Sepharadim from Italy.
• Kastoria. Kastoria had a historically close relationship with Monastir, and many families from both towns are heavily interrelated. This town in Northern Greece was a center of furs and pelts commerce. The Sepharadim of Kastoria had many furriers. They developed a distinctive method of cutting pelts, and constructing garments, which is recognizable by knowledgeable furriers to this day.
• Several other cities and families. This site has information about other families, many from Rhodes (Rhodeslis) and from Syria.

Notes and annotations

1. Markers. The lists of descendants are marked with various symbols, enclosed in square braces [ ]. The meanings of those markings are listed below.
   1. [*] Those marked with an asterisk were born in Monastir.
   2. [Rabbi] Many members of these families have achieved the distinction of being rabbis. They are so noted.
   3. [Titles, degrees and ranks] Are included as we learn about them.
   4. [??] Designates an unknown name. If one part of the name is known, it is shown, and the placeholder appears to mark the unknown part.
   5. Indicates an e-mail capable person. If you click on the icon, and your browser allows e-mail, you may communicate with the person.
   6. The traditional "zayin lamed" abbreviation for the Hebrew words "zichronó liv'rachá," meaning "of blessed memory" marks those known to be deceased.
      If you hover your mouse cursor over this icon, it will reveal the año of the person, if known.
2. Names.
   1. Sol is a female name in Ladino. The list is not coded for gender.
   2. The names follow a pattern. It was the tradition to name a first son for the paternal grandfather, the second son for the maternal grandfather. This pattern was followed, in the Sefardi minhag even if the namesake was still alive. This practice is one of the many ways in which Sefaradí custom and tradition differ from the Ashkenazim.
   3. I've tried to show people's names in as many different ways as they were known. For some entries, there is a name in English, a nickname, a Ladino name, a transliterated Hebrew name, and maybe one or more additional names by which they were known in the family--in one or more languages.
3. "It runs in the family."
   1. [T] or Twins seem to "run in the family" for some branches.
   2. [R] Red-headedness also seems to "run in the family" for some branches. Reflecting this attribute, one Cassorla family in Rochester was known as the red Cassorlas, to distinguish them from other Cassorlas in conversation. Information about this genetically transmitted attribute can easily die out, since the hair color changes as we age. If you know more about this, please pass it along. In the meantime, I've begun to code the list with [R] for those known to have this distinctive family characteristic. In some cases, red-heads (called royos in Ladino) married into the family, also.
   3. [FMF] Familial Mediterranean Fever (a hereditary affliction among Sefaradim) has been diagnosed and confirmed in some branches. Occurrences are not shown here, but will be added if family members want to include that information.
4. Dates.
   1. CE and ce mean the Common Era or the Christian Era, to distinguish from Hebrew year dates.
   2. At this point, many life-cycle dates are omitted. We would like to develop a consensus of what data people feel comfortable publishing on the net. It's probably a good idea to have a record of birth and death dates, so that años can be properly observed. But if you would rather have this information in a restricted access section, that would be OK.
5. Variations and quirky spellings.
   In order to get as many hits as possible from people searching the Web for information, we are using as many different spelling variants as possible, for non-English words .

Familial Mediterranean Fever

• Familial Mediterranean Fever (also called periodic peritonitis and familial recurring polyserositis) is an inherited disorder which occurs primarily in Sephardic Jews, Arabs and Armenians. FMF presents with recurrent serositis (inflammation of peritoneal membrane), high fever, abdominal tenderness, and what looks like "surgical abdomen" (rigid, board-like abdomen). Inflammation can also occur in heart and lungs as well.

  One of my colleagues (Professor Eldad Ben-Chetrit) is one of the leading experts in the world on FMF but Eldad, unfortunately, doesn't have Internet access. I know that their group has been investigating antibodies in FMF and that this may eventually lead to faster diagnosis (and prevent unnecessary surgical laparotomies).

  I think the drug of choice for FMF is still colchicine.