Number 24: Some direct ancestry strands of Yair & Maya Schkolne; Mia & Timor Skolni, trace back from Jerusalem, Babylon and France, to Spain and Portugal.

One particular line traces through 19 generations to the early 15^th Century. Rabbi Isaac Aboab is a direct Ancestor at the 18^th generation level. Known as “the last Gaon of Castile”, (Gaon meaning “giant” or very learned man), born in Toledo Spain,  he, in 1492, negotiated the escape of his Jewish Community from Spain to the city of Porto in Portugal, where he passed away in January 1493. His Community were required to live in the newest Jewish Quarter of Porto: the “Judiaria do Olival”.  The “Judiarias” were closed residence quarters, where the Jewish inhabitants had to live. They all had gates and guards, and no Jew was to be found outside this ghetto after the bells of the churches rang for the evening prayer of “Ave Maria”. So powerful the visceral experience in June 2018 of a special guided tour for Sheryl and I through this ghetto.  In 1497 the Jews of Portugal  – both native and refugees from Spain, who had not yet escaped, were not allowed to leave Portugal and were forcibly converted. The ancient 15^th Century synagogue of the “Anusim” or “Conversos”: Jews who were forcibly converted and practiced their Judaism secretly, was discovered recently in Judairia do Olival.

Rabbi Isaac Aboab’s son, Abraham Aboab, (also the name of Isaac’s father) received as New-Christian the name of Duarte Dias. The family escaped to Hamburg Germany where they did not need to hide anymore as “Conversos” and secretly practice their Judaism. After some generations one strand of this family settled in Amsterdam, Netherlands, another in Curacao in the Caribbean for some generations before moving to Amsterdam. Jacob ‘a Cohen Treves and his wife Sophia ‘nee Olman, both born in Amsterdam where their families had lived for some generations moved to Cape Town, South Africa in 1929 and initiated a Diamond Cutting Factory there. Their second daughter, Marcelle is the Grandmother of Yair, Maya, Mia and Timor, all born in Israel.

 The 19 Generations:

19	Abraham Aboab
18	Isaac Aboab
	Birth: 1433 In Toledo, Toledo Spain
	Occupation: Last Gaon of Castile
	Death: 1493 Porto, Porto Portugal
17	Abraham Aboab
16	Miguel Dias
	1529-1603
15	Duarte ‘Miguel’ Dias
	1555 to 1603
14	Isabella Henriques alias Hannah ‘Duarte’ (Dias) Henriques      (married Dr Rodrigo ‘Andreas’ Namias de Castro, alias David ‘Jacob’ Namias de Castro) Born 1581; Married 1602 Hamburg; Poetess Died 1653 Altona; Hamburg; Schleswig-Holstein
13	Daniel David Namias de Castro
	Born: 1608 Hamburg Germany
	Physician
	Died: 1659 Glukstadt Holstein Germany
12	Jacob Namias de Castro
	Born 1647 Amsterdam
	Died: 17/06/1699
11	Abraham Namias
	1665 Amsterdam
	Married: 17/08/1689
	Death 20/12/1728
10	Rachel Namias de Castro
	nee de Abraham Namias de Crasto
	Born 1694 Amsterdam
	Died 16/10/1778
9	Imanuel de Imanuel Namias de Castro
8	Rachel Emanuel Nunes Lopes Dias
	nee: Namias de Crasto  Born: 20/04/1765
	Died:15/12/1810  Born & Died in Amsterdam
	Buried Oudekerk
7	Esther Oeb Brandon nee Lopes Dias
	22/12/1797 – 15/12/ 1858
	Buried Oudekerk, Amsterdam
	Portugees-Israëlitische Kerk
6	Mirjam a’ Cohen Treves nee Oeb Brandon
	27/08/1840 – Buried Oudekerk 2/03/1892
5	Moses a’ Cohen Treves
	Born 5/07/1874  Amsterdam
	Married 22/08/1895 Amsterdam
	Died 12/07/1944 Theresienstadt
4	Jacob a’ Cohen Treves
	10/11/1897 – 28/03/1978
	Occupation: Briljantslijper
	Born: Amsterdam; Died Cape Town
3	Marcelle Schkolne ‘nee a’Cohen Treves
	27/11/1927 – 05/02/2014
	Born: Amsterdam; Died 5/02/2014: CapeTown
2	Raymond Treves Schkolne
	Born 17/06/1957
	Cape Town
1	Yair Edelstein Schkolne
	Born 24/12/1985; Nahariya Israel
	Maya Golda Schkolne
	Born 2/09/1988; Haifa Israel