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AMAR Origin of surname

AMAR, AMMAR

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from an occupation, profession or trade (also connected with raw material, finished product or implements associated with that trade).

Amar, which means "builder" in Arabic, can be an occupational name. Amar may also be a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives. In some cases Ammar is associated with Balad-Ammar, an area in southern Yemen. In other cases Amar can be a patronymic surname derived from a male ancestor's personal name of biblical origin, as a variant of the biblical male personal name Omar/Umar, a descendant of Esau; according to another view the name derives from the biblical male personal name Omri/Amari/Imri, a descendant of Perez (1 Chronicles 9.4). Transforming or translating Hebrew and biblical names into vernacular sounding names enabled Jews in the Diaspora both to maintain their Jewish tradition, as well as to become part of their host society. In the 19th century, Amar is recorded as a Jewish family name with Mardochee Amar of Tunis, mentioned in the 'ketubbah' of his daughter Simha and her husband Elie Platero, dated August 18, 1813. Ammar is also recorded as a Jewish family name in a list of Jewish Yemenite families compiled by Rabbi Shalom Gamliel, who was sent from Israel to Aden, Yemen, in 1949 to assist in the organization of the mass immigration of Jews from Yemen. A family who immigrated to Israel from Yemen during the 1950s, later on changed its surname from Ammar to Amir.

Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Amar include the Hungarian-born violinist , Licco Amar (1891-1959), who along with the German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) established the Amar-Hindemith Quartet (1921-29), and the Moroccan-born Israeli singer, cantor and entertainer, Jo Amar (1930-2009). In the 20th century, Amar is recorded as a Jewish family name in Meknes, Morocco, with Rabbi Mordechai Amar (1888-1958), who was general secretary of the Jewish community and co-founder of Bikur Holim Association in Meknes; Messo Amar was leader of the Jewish community in Tangiers, Morocco; Meyer Amar (born 1914) was a Zionist activist in Meknes, Morocco, and one of the propagators of the modern Hebrew language; Mory Amar (born 1958) in Casablanca, Morocco, was president of the European Union of Jewish Students as well as the president of the Union of Jewish Students in France (1980-1982); and Rabbi Shlomo Amar (born 1948) has been the Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel since 2003.

Jo (Yosef) Amar (1930-2009), singer and cantor, born in Oujda, Morocco in 1930. He came to Israel in 1956, already an experienced singer, at the age of 26. His first hit was "Yismah Moshe", after which he performed and recorded many songs, still loved today by both listeners and young singers and musicians. Jo Amar is considered the first singer to introduce Moroccan Jewish liturgical music in Israel, as well as a pioneer in the social protest of Moroccan Jews against the Ashkenazi establishment in Israel. In 1970 he settled in New York, and performed in the USA and in Europe as a cantor, as well as a teacher in workshops for cantors. He also published an anthology of Moroccan Jewish liturgical music. His discography features more than 20 albums recorded over the course of a long international career including two that he recorded with the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra in 2000. Jo Amar resided both in Israel and Los Angeles, USA, and had 4 children and 10 grandchildren.

Paul Amar (b.1950), journalist, born in Constantine, Algeria. His family immigrated to France in 1961 settling in Lyon, where Amar attended high school. He later moved to Paris, where he graduated from Centre de formation des journalistes (CFJ) in 1971. He began his career working for France Inter as a war correspondent in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and then as its correspondent in Washington, DC. As of 1979 he joined Antenne 2 TV company holding various positions until 1994. He then worked for Paris Premiere, TF1, and France 5 TV companies until 2016 when he became news director at i24NEWS - an Israel -based international all-news television channel, a position he held until 2017, and from 2021 he joined the Jewish radio station RCJ (Radio de la Communauté Juive).

Rajuza

 

Arabic: رجوزة 


A large rural settlement south-east of Sadeh in north Yemen.
 

History

In the Middle Ages a dense Jewish group of settlements existed in the district. It extended to the north, beyond the present day border with Saudi Arabia. The standing of the Jews in the region was more solid than that of the Jews in the center and south of Yemen and they were allowed to carry arms. They lived under the protection of the tribes of the district and took part in their raids. In 1818 the Jews of the district participated in a raid on San’a and saved a number of scrolls of the law and other sacred books from ruin.

According to a popular tradition, Jews had lived in Yemen from the time of the destruction of the First Temple, although archeological evidence of Jews in Yemen exists only from around the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. In spite of the physical separation, the Jews of Yemen kept contact with other Jewish cultural centers.

In the years 1678-1679 most of the Jews in the Jewish settlements of Yemen were exiled to Mawza on the southern shore of the Red Sea (Tihamah) by a decree of the Imam Al-Mahdi, the ruler of Yemen. A year later the expellees were allowed to return to their places but most of them were obliged to build for themselves new quarters as their former homes were either ruined or occupied by Muslims. Some demographic changes followed the year of exile. There were exiles who returned to other than their original places, while other returnees came to their place.

The Jewish communities of Yemen were of two types. There were district communities in the district and larger towns, which served also the neighboring villages, and there were small rural communities. The Jewish community in Yemen had no real organizational structure. Until the second half of the 19th century, the organization of the bigger communities had been based on a limited number of institutions and functionaries. When the protection tax (jiziya) was abolished, the former system came apart and only certain officials remained, mainly in the bigger communities.

The head of the community was an appointment of the authorities. The bet-din (court of justice) in Yemen formed the spiritual leadership of the community and its authority was absolute also in secular matters, although without the sanction of the authorities.

The head of the bet-din was the rabbi, called “Mori”. The “Akel” was the head of a committee of representatives of the public and he represented the community toward the authorities. In the smaller communities the Mori alone was the head of the community and the Akel was the representative toward the authorities.

The information concerning synagogues in the Jewish communities is limited and partial, as the Jews of Yemen worshipped mainly in private houses. Public institutions and public buildings hardly existed. Ritual purification was carried out in natural pools of water in the area and ritual slaughter took place in private courtyards. A tax on slaughter was collected by the community for the purpose of social aid. Schools existed in the houses in which a prayer place was available. A bet-midrash existed only in the bigger communities, attached to the synagogue. All the Jewish men could read, and most of them could also write. The knowledge of Hebrew was fairly widespread among the Jews of Yemen.

The relations with the authorities and the Muslim environment were based on the payment of tax in return for protection. In the towns protection was given by the local governor and in the villages by the heads of the tribes.

Rajuza had three private synagogues - Yamin, Abu-Zareb, and Amar. There was no bet-din at Rajuza, nor in the entire district. In simple disputes the parties referred to a respectable person acceptable to both sides, in important matters of principle they referred to the bet-din of San’a.

Rajuza served as a center for the small surrounding communities without synagogues, sometimes even without a minyan for public praying. Two such communities were at Al-Rashid and Al-Usa. A little larger communities were at Mudan and Mahtuya.

The majority of the Jews of Rajuza were craftsmen: carpenters, tinsmiths, copper and silversmiths, tailors, cobblers, and tanners. They also engaged in repairing agricultural tools and weapons. There were no farmers or land owners among the Jews of Rajuza. Some of them traded in coffee, spices, ropes, skins, snuff, sugar, and fabrics.


Postwar

Prior to their Aliyah to Israel, there were about 70 adult men at Rajuza. The main families were Zandani, Amar, Abu Zareb, Moshe, Yamin, and Ma’uda. They all went to Israel in the framework of the magic carpet operation in the years 1949-1950.

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AMAR Origin of surname
AMAR, AMMAR

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from an occupation, profession or trade (also connected with raw material, finished product or implements associated with that trade).

Amar, which means "builder" in Arabic, can be an occupational name. Amar may also be a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives. In some cases Ammar is associated with Balad-Ammar, an area in southern Yemen. In other cases Amar can be a patronymic surname derived from a male ancestor's personal name of biblical origin, as a variant of the biblical male personal name Omar/Umar, a descendant of Esau; according to another view the name derives from the biblical male personal name Omri/Amari/Imri, a descendant of Perez (1 Chronicles 9.4). Transforming or translating Hebrew and biblical names into vernacular sounding names enabled Jews in the Diaspora both to maintain their Jewish tradition, as well as to become part of their host society. In the 19th century, Amar is recorded as a Jewish family name with Mardochee Amar of Tunis, mentioned in the 'ketubbah' of his daughter Simha and her husband Elie Platero, dated August 18, 1813. Ammar is also recorded as a Jewish family name in a list of Jewish Yemenite families compiled by Rabbi Shalom Gamliel, who was sent from Israel to Aden, Yemen, in 1949 to assist in the organization of the mass immigration of Jews from Yemen. A family who immigrated to Israel from Yemen during the 1950s, later on changed its surname from Ammar to Amir.

Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Amar include the Hungarian-born violinist , Licco Amar (1891-1959), who along with the German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) established the Amar-Hindemith Quartet (1921-29), and the Moroccan-born Israeli singer, cantor and entertainer, Jo Amar (1930-2009). In the 20th century, Amar is recorded as a Jewish family name in Meknes, Morocco, with Rabbi Mordechai Amar (1888-1958), who was general secretary of the Jewish community and co-founder of Bikur Holim Association in Meknes; Messo Amar was leader of the Jewish community in Tangiers, Morocco; Meyer Amar (born 1914) was a Zionist activist in Meknes, Morocco, and one of the propagators of the modern Hebrew language; Mory Amar (born 1958) in Casablanca, Morocco, was president of the European Union of Jewish Students as well as the president of the Union of Jewish Students in France (1980-1982); and Rabbi Shlomo Amar (born 1948) has been the Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel since 2003.
Written by researchers of ANU Museum of the Jewish People
Jo Amar

Jo (Yosef) Amar (1930-2009), singer and cantor, born in Oujda, Morocco in 1930. He came to Israel in 1956, already an experienced singer, at the age of 26. His first hit was "Yismah Moshe", after which he performed and recorded many songs, still loved today by both listeners and young singers and musicians. Jo Amar is considered the first singer to introduce Moroccan Jewish liturgical music in Israel, as well as a pioneer in the social protest of Moroccan Jews against the Ashkenazi establishment in Israel. In 1970 he settled in New York, and performed in the USA and in Europe as a cantor, as well as a teacher in workshops for cantors. He also published an anthology of Moroccan Jewish liturgical music. His discography features more than 20 albums recorded over the course of a long international career including two that he recorded with the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra in 2000. Jo Amar resided both in Israel and Los Angeles, USA, and had 4 children and 10 grandchildren.

Paul Amar

Paul Amar (b.1950), journalist, born in Constantine, Algeria. His family immigrated to France in 1961 settling in Lyon, where Amar attended high school. He later moved to Paris, where he graduated from Centre de formation des journalistes (CFJ) in 1971. He began his career working for France Inter as a war correspondent in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and then as its correspondent in Washington, DC. As of 1979 he joined Antenne 2 TV company holding various positions until 1994. He then worked for Paris Premiere, TF1, and France 5 TV companies until 2016 when he became news director at i24NEWS - an Israel -based international all-news television channel, a position he held until 2017, and from 2021 he joined the Jewish radio station RCJ (Radio de la Communauté Juive).

Rajuza

Rajuza

 

Arabic: رجوزة 


A large rural settlement south-east of Sadeh in north Yemen.
 

History

In the Middle Ages a dense Jewish group of settlements existed in the district. It extended to the north, beyond the present day border with Saudi Arabia. The standing of the Jews in the region was more solid than that of the Jews in the center and south of Yemen and they were allowed to carry arms. They lived under the protection of the tribes of the district and took part in their raids. In 1818 the Jews of the district participated in a raid on San’a and saved a number of scrolls of the law and other sacred books from ruin.

According to a popular tradition, Jews had lived in Yemen from the time of the destruction of the First Temple, although archeological evidence of Jews in Yemen exists only from around the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. In spite of the physical separation, the Jews of Yemen kept contact with other Jewish cultural centers.

In the years 1678-1679 most of the Jews in the Jewish settlements of Yemen were exiled to Mawza on the southern shore of the Red Sea (Tihamah) by a decree of the Imam Al-Mahdi, the ruler of Yemen. A year later the expellees were allowed to return to their places but most of them were obliged to build for themselves new quarters as their former homes were either ruined or occupied by Muslims. Some demographic changes followed the year of exile. There were exiles who returned to other than their original places, while other returnees came to their place.

The Jewish communities of Yemen were of two types. There were district communities in the district and larger towns, which served also the neighboring villages, and there were small rural communities. The Jewish community in Yemen had no real organizational structure. Until the second half of the 19th century, the organization of the bigger communities had been based on a limited number of institutions and functionaries. When the protection tax (jiziya) was abolished, the former system came apart and only certain officials remained, mainly in the bigger communities.

The head of the community was an appointment of the authorities. The bet-din (court of justice) in Yemen formed the spiritual leadership of the community and its authority was absolute also in secular matters, although without the sanction of the authorities.

The head of the bet-din was the rabbi, called “Mori”. The “Akel” was the head of a committee of representatives of the public and he represented the community toward the authorities. In the smaller communities the Mori alone was the head of the community and the Akel was the representative toward the authorities.

The information concerning synagogues in the Jewish communities is limited and partial, as the Jews of Yemen worshipped mainly in private houses. Public institutions and public buildings hardly existed. Ritual purification was carried out in natural pools of water in the area and ritual slaughter took place in private courtyards. A tax on slaughter was collected by the community for the purpose of social aid. Schools existed in the houses in which a prayer place was available. A bet-midrash existed only in the bigger communities, attached to the synagogue. All the Jewish men could read, and most of them could also write. The knowledge of Hebrew was fairly widespread among the Jews of Yemen.

The relations with the authorities and the Muslim environment were based on the payment of tax in return for protection. In the towns protection was given by the local governor and in the villages by the heads of the tribes.

Rajuza had three private synagogues - Yamin, Abu-Zareb, and Amar. There was no bet-din at Rajuza, nor in the entire district. In simple disputes the parties referred to a respectable person acceptable to both sides, in important matters of principle they referred to the bet-din of San’a.

Rajuza served as a center for the small surrounding communities without synagogues, sometimes even without a minyan for public praying. Two such communities were at Al-Rashid and Al-Usa. A little larger communities were at Mudan and Mahtuya.

The majority of the Jews of Rajuza were craftsmen: carpenters, tinsmiths, copper and silversmiths, tailors, cobblers, and tanners. They also engaged in repairing agricultural tools and weapons. There were no farmers or land owners among the Jews of Rajuza. Some of them traded in coffee, spices, ropes, skins, snuff, sugar, and fabrics.


Postwar

Prior to their Aliyah to Israel, there were about 70 adult men at Rajuza. The main families were Zandani, Amar, Abu Zareb, Moshe, Yamin, and Ma’uda. They all went to Israel in the framework of the magic carpet operation in the years 1949-1950.