Steve and I owe much to the late Stanley Maurice Wax, who dedicated endless time and effort to the Zacuto research and collected invaluable information. His research was generously made available to the wider public by his family after his death in 1992.
While I have great respect for Steve's work, I have not yet incorporated this data in my database because there are a few gaps in the lineage for which I have not yet been able to establish the proper source material.
Much of the data is supported by source material that Steve generously made available to me, however some other parts of his data is based on source material that Steve could not yet make available to me at this time and yet other parts are based on assumptions (however plausible).
Since all other descendant reports on my website are based entirely on known source material, I chose at this point in time not to list Steve's material "as-is", but rather offer a comparison between the data as listed on his site and the chunks of data that I have been able to reconstruct so far from Steve's and other sources. The researchers visiting this site can decide for themselves what parts to adopt. Maybe some visitors have material that can assist in further establishing the historic facts. If so, please let me know. Of course please also visit Steve's site by the links above and below.
If further source material comes in, from Steve or anyone else, I will update this page accordingly.
Following, I will present a comparison between Steve's data and mine, subdivided into 2 sections:
The
ancestry of the REMEZ, Rabbi Moshe ben Mordechai Zacutto
Following is the table of
comparison. Please read the notes under the table to understand the main
differences.
(Unfortunately the table
comes out perfect only in IE6. Netscape, Firefox etc.
present it understandable, but somewhat short of lines.)
Steve Weiss' Data
|
Yossi's Reconstruction
|
|||
Name |
Birth
- Death |
Name |
Birth
- Death |
Source |
Shamarya Zacuto |
(ca 1265 - ca 1330) |
(see note 1) |
|
|
Abraham ben
Shamarya Zacutus the
Elder |
(ca 1285 - ca 1345) |
Abraham Zacutus
the Elder (see note 2) |
(ca 1340 - ca 1400) |
|
Ben Abraham Zacuto |
(ca 1315 - ca 1385) |
Son (see note 2) |
(ca 1370 - ca 1425) |
|
Son |
(ca 1345 - ca 1410) |
|||
Son |
(ca 1370 - ca 1450) |
|||
Abraham II Zacutus |
(ca 1395 - ca 1475) |
Abraham II Zacutus
|
(ca 1395 - ca 1475) |
|
Samuel ben Abraham Zacuto |
(ca 1425 - ca 1490) |
Samuel ben
Abraham Zacuto |
(ca 1425 - ca 1490) |
|
Rabbi
Abraham ben Samuel III Zacuto |
(ca 1452 - ca 1520) |
Rabbi
Abraham ben Samuel III Zacuto |
(ca 1452 - ca 1520) |
|
Samuel Zacuto |
(ca 1475 - ca 1540) |
Samuel Zacuto |
(ca 1475 - ca 1540) |
|
? Zacuto |
(ca 1500 - ca 1590) |
(see note 3) |
|
|
? Zacuto / Nunez |
(ca 1548 - ca 1612) |
(see note 3) |
|
|
Anrique Mose Zacuto |
(ca 1576 - 1623) |
Anrique Mose Zacuto |
(ca 1576 - 1623) |
|
Mordechai Zacuto |
(ca 1598 - ca 1665) |
Mordechai Zacuto |
(ca 1598 - ca 1665) |
|
Rabbi
Mozes ben Mordechai Zacuto |
(ca 1620 - ca 1697) |
Rabbi
Mozes ben Mordechai Zacuto ("REMEZ") (see note 4) |
(ca 1612 - ca 1697) |
Note
1:
I have not been able to locate any source for the identity of Abraham Zacutus the Elder's father as "Shamarya"
Note
2:
According to the introduction to the Sefer Ha-Yohassin written by Rabbi Abraham ben Samuel III Zacuto, Abraham Zacutus the Elder was the grandfather of Abraham II Zacutus (who in his turn is mentioned as the grandfather of Rabbi Abraham ben Samuel III Zacuto himself).
Therefore I don't at this time see support for Steve's data placing three generations between Abraham Zacutus the Elder and Abraham II Zacutus and I would rather place only one generation in between. Since Steve's dates are estimated dates counted back from Rabbi Abraham ben Samuel III Zacuto, my correction means that Abraham Zacutus the Elder would be born some 60 years later than Steve calculated.
It
would seem to me that my interpretation is very plausible since the Sefer Ha-Yohassin states that
Abraham Zacutus the Elder was a descendant of
the Jews that fled
Note
3:
I have not been able to find any documentation for the two generations between Samuel (son of Rabbi Abraham ben Samuel III Zacuto) and Anrique Zacuto.
More seriously, I have not been able to find any source for Anrique being a great-great-grandson of Rabbi Abraham ben Samuel III Zacuto.
Therefore basically I have at this time no proof whatsoever that Anrique is indeed a descendant of Rabbi Abraham ben Samuel III Zacuto.
Note 4:
I obtained 3 important articles:
(To read Melkman's and Lattes' articles you can click the link. No link is provided to Appelboim's article, since the relevant passages in his article are accurately quoted by Melkman).
After accurately studying these articles, I have come to the conclusion that there is no doubt as to Melkman's findings that the Remez was born around 1612 and not in 1620 or 1625 as other researchers assumed.
The possible relationship between my
ancestor Isaac Sacutto and the REMEZ
Isaac Sacutto is my (and Steve's) ancestor. Steve lists him as the grandson of the REMEZ, thereby linking us directly to the REMEZ. Though I would like to believe so too, I can't determine this with any certainty. Yet, as the following lines will point out, the articles I obtained lately do make Steve's assertion plausible.
Following, I will list the main differences between my interpretation and Steve's interpretation of the material available concerning Isaac, after which I will continue to explain why Melkman's research may after all make it plausible that Isaac is indeed a grandson of the REMEZ.
1. The identity of Isaac Sacutto
and his date of birth
The data on Steve's site shows two Isaac Sacutto's, both mentioned as supposed grandchildren of the REMEZ. One Isaac is mentioned as a son of the REMEZ's son "Moses" (shown in the table below) and married to Anna Alfarin. The other Isaac, who was married to Rachel Falcao, is mentioned as a son of another son of the REMEZ called "Eliaser".
However, with the help of specialists of the Amsterdam Municipal Archives, I have been able to prove on basis of the data in the "Trouwen in Mokum" book of Ketubbah's (where the "second" Isaac is mentioned as "widower of Anna Alfarin") and on basis of their signatures (though spelled somewhat differently, proven to be identical handwriting), that these "two" Isaacs, are actually one and the same person, born 1653. Isaac married twice, first to Anna Alfarin who died and then 8 years later to Rachel Falcao.
The only discrepiancy is that in the registration registers of the Amsterdam Portuguese Community, at the time of the marriage to Anna Alfarin he is written in as "Isaac of Moses" and at the marriage to Rachel Falcao as "Isaac of Eliaser". This is no doubt where Steve found the names Moses and Eliaser who he assumes to be sons of the REMEZ. The specialists of the Amsterdam Minicipal Archives have established for certain that Isaac is one and the same person (as explained in the paragraph above) and therefore determined that one of the notations of the Portuguese Community is mistaken. This happened more often in those days because the name was entered on the Ketubbah in Hebrew. Since many grooms did not read Hebrew they would not even notice the mistake.
Since a daughter of Isaac was registered at the time of her marriage as "Reina of Isaac Moses", we assume with almost absolute cetainty that Isaac's father was indeed named Moses. Therefore "Eliaser" must have been the mistaken entry. One possible reason for this mistake may have been that as we know, at the time of his wedding to Rachel Falcao, Isaac had a five year old son Eliaser (from Anna Alfarin). When asked by the scribe: "Son of.....?", meaning his fathers name, he might have understood "Son...?" and answered with his son's name.
My definite conclusions:
2. Who was
Moshe, the father of Isaac Sacutto
We have now established that Isaac is a son of Moshe. However, is this Moshe indeed the son or at all a descendant of the REMEZ?
At
first sight this seems unlikely. The family of the Remez moved to
However, I find that Melkman's article The Early Years of Rabbi Moshe Zacut does bring up information that might after all make it plausible that Moshe the father of Isaac Sacutto is a son of the REMEZ, as Steve assumes, even though Melkman himself does not come to that conclusion.
Melkman
explains the confusion which led many researchers to believe that the REMEZ was
born somwhere around 1625. (I strongly suggest reading the supplied link above to fully
understand Melkman's research). He proves this
confusion stems from the fact that in
Melkman
(and before him Appelboim) very convincingly proves
this could not have been. Therefore, this Moshe Zacut who studied in the Talmud
Tora in
Now,
here Melkman makes an interesting, but perhaps mistaken, assumption as to who this young Moshe Zacut might have been. He writes:
"The young Moshe Zacut who received assistance
from "Etz Haim", was apparently a grandson of Moshe Enrique Zacut, by
another son. It is possible he was sent from
This
is after Melkman has explained at length that the absence of Batei Midrash in
Also,
we know from letters that (at least) between 1642-1647
the REMEZ resided in
Therefore I dare make an assumption that I believe to be as least as plausible as Melkman's.
This "young Moshe Zacut", who Melkman says could be a much younger cousin of the REMEZ (from a different son of the REMEZ's grandfather), may just as well have been a son of the REMEZ!
After
all, instead of assuming him to be the son of a totally unknown son of the REMEZ's grandfather, it is just as plausible that the REMEZ
would have sent his own son from
The dates would fit in well and the lineage would be as follows:
Though in Ashkenazi circles it was unheard of to call a son by the name of his living father, in Sephardi circles this was not uncommon. Therefore it could well be that the REMEZ (Moshe ben Mordechai) called his son Moshe too.
From all above, I derive that Steve's assumption that Isaac Sacutto is a grandson of the REMEZ, though not actually proven, is plausible.
A comparison with Steve's data would give the following results
Steve Weiss' Data
|
Yossi's Reconstruction
|
|||
Name |
Birth
- Death |
Name |
Birth
- Death |
Source |
Rabbi Mozes
ben Mordechai Zacuto ("REMEZ") |
(ca 1620 - ca 1697) |
Rabbi Mozes
ben Mordechai Zacuto ("REMEZ") |
(ca 1612 - 1697) |
|
Moses Zacuto |
(ca 1640 - ?) |
Moses Sacutto (maybe a son of REMEZ) |
ca 1632 |
My assumptions from |
Issac Zacutto
|
(ca 1664 - ?) |
Isaac Sacutto
|
1653 |
|
Eliaser Zacuto |
(ca 1690 - ?) |
Eliaser Sacutto |
1689 |