Schaal (Hebrew: שָׁאַל), sometimes spelled Shaal or Shael, is a Sephardic Jewish and Dutch Surname, common among Jews of French, East-European and Middle Eastern background, descended from Spanish exiles.
Etymology
The source of the name is debated. Some have linked it to the Hebrew phrase "shaal" (to ask, inquire). Some linguists argue that it is rooted in the ancient town ShaalBim as mentioned the bible as a "place of foxes" (Joshua 19:42), indicating that the Schaal name-bearers are members of the Cohen tribe. Due to phonetic differences the Schaal family members who lived in Salonika bore the name Shaul, Shoual or Shaoul, indicating that the name derives from King Shaul.
Since the 18th century, members of the family had settled predominantly in France, South-Eastern Europe and parts of Germany.
People
Schaal family of France
Schaal is the name of a notable Jewish family descended from Spanish exiles who, after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and the following decades, settled in France and Germany. The family includes:
- François Ignace Schaal (1747–1833), French general and commander of the Republican army
Others
- Ben Zion Abba Shaul (1924-1998), Sephardic rabbi, Torah scholar, and halakhic arbiter
- Richard Schaal (1928–2014), American actor
- Wendy Schaal (born 1954), American actress
- Dror Shaul (born 1971), Israeli filmmaker
- Kristen Schaal (born 1978), American actress, voice actress, comedian, and writer
See also
References
- "Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture." – SephardicStudies.org
- Faiguenboim, Guilherme (2003). Dicionário sefaradi de sobrenomes. Dictionary of Sephardic surnames : including Christianized Jews, Conversos, Marranos, Italians, Berbers, and their history in Spain, Portugal and Italy. Avotaynu. p. 131. ISBN 9780195340976.
- Shaal, Hayyim (2000). A separate people. Jewish Women in Palestine, Syria and Egypt in the Sixteenth Century. Brill's seris in Jewish Studies. Vol. 26. Ruth Lamdan. p. 278. ISBN 9004117474.
- Barilan, Yechiel Michal (August 2014). Jewish Bioethics: Rabbinic Law and Theology in their Social and Historical Contexts. Cambridge University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-1886223448.
- "BibleTools - Greek/Hebrew Definitions" – BibleTools.org
- "BibleHub – Dictionary" – BibleHub.org
- "ClassicBible – Dictionary" – NetBible.org
- "Sephardic Names Database" – Sephardicgen.com
- Sanz, Juan Carlos (6 January 2016). "Spain at last welcomes back the Sephardim". Culture. El País. Retrieved 3 Feb 2016.
- Medding, Peter Y. (2007). Sephardic Jewry and Mizrahi Jews. Studies in Contemporary Jewry XXII. Institute of Contemporary Jewry. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. p. 131. ISBN 9780195340976.
Further reading
- Schechter, Ronald. Obstinate Hebrews: Representations of Jews in France, 1715–1815 (Univ of California Press, 2003)
- Graetz, Michael, and Jane Todd. The Jews in Nineteenth-Century France: From the French Revolution to the Alliance Israelite Universelle (1996)
- Ashtor, Eliyahu, The Jews of Moslem Spain, Vol. 2, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America (1979)
- Assis, Yom Tov, The Jews of Spain: From Settlement to Expulsion, Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem|The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1988)
- Baer, Yitzhak. A History of the Jews of Christian Spain. 2 vols. Jewish Publication Society of America (1966).
Surname listThis page lists people with the surname Schaal. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link. Categories: