Friday, January 05, 2007

Ramchal and Mayor LaGuardia: Related?

So it was a dark and dreary night in gotham, and I was at my computer lazying away by aimlessly wandering Wikipaedia. As I was wandering down the list of Jewish-American politicians I surprisingly found late New York City Mayor Fiorrello De LaGuardia listed. Of course our famed Italian-American Mayor was known for his good relationship with the Jewish community, coming out strongly against Adolf Hitler, but I was suprised he was listed as Jewish. Turns out his mother was an Italian Jew from Istria, and her name, Irene Coen-Luzzatto. Of his mothers religion, mayor LaGuardia said, "My mother undoubtedly had Jewish blood in her veins, but I never thought I had enough to justify boasting of it". LaGuardia considered himself to Episcopelian, from his father's side of the family.

Another famous Luzzatto that I am familiar with is the famous Italian-Jew Rabbis Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (RAMCHAL), known for his works on Jewish religious thought and Kabballa; Mesilat Yesharim and Derech Hashem notably. In fact it turns out that the Luzzatto lineage happens to have many notable Jewish figures, including Italy's second Jewish prime minister Luigi Luzzatti.

Of course the question still begs itself, is mayor LaGuardia a member of the famed Luzzatto lineage and a relative of the famed RAMCHAL and other Luzzatto's? At this point I have yet to see any internet proof that there is any connection other than a shared last name, but yet the this find does open seem to be quite interesting.




4 Shpeils

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Blogger Metal Israel said...

Derech Hashem is awesome, even if you can't understand it...but it gives some sort of comfort by showing some formula of how everything works.

Monday, March 19, 2007 10:34:00 PM  

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Blogger Amos said...

Don't forget ShD"L also.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007 12:07:00 AM  

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Anonymous ramchal said...

BS"D

I beg to disagree. Derech Hashem is not so difficult. It needs some concentration, but the reward is huge: finally many things about Judaism which they never taught us as kids become clear.
Also Mesilat Yesharim and Maamar Haikarim (much shorter) are excellent Jewish Hashkafa texts.

Monday, May 11, 2009 9:09:00 AM  

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Blogger Unknown said...

These are interesting pieces of information. Thanks for posting.

Keep sharing!

Thursday, August 26, 2010 4:03:00 AM  

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