Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on December 5, 2020

Today, Rappaport, Rappoport, Rapoport andRapaport are all common Jewish family names, found both among Ashkenazi andSephardi Jews. The name was borne with pride by successive generations ofrabbinic leaders and their families since the 15th century. Although shroudedin mystery, there are certain facts we know for sure about this name:

We are still, however, leftscratching our heads regarding the provenance of the Rap or Rappa half of thename (which also appears to be an independent name).

Online research revealsthat some have linked it to the word rabbi, implying that contemporaryRappaports are descendants of the rabbi of Porto. However, it is more likelythat it is an unrelated term, possibly the German word for raven, which issupported by the fact that certain prestigious members of this family had araven included on their coat of arms.

Some famous Rappaportsinclude:

RabbiYitzchak Rappaport (16851755), who was born to Polish parents and grew up tobecome the chief (Sephardic) rabbi of the Holy Land

RabbiChaim Rappaport (?1771), rabbi of Lvov (Lemberg), a close disciple andcolleague of the Baal Shem Tov

Read the original here:

What Does the Jewish Last Name Rapoport Mean? - Chabad.org

Category: Sephardic
Tags: