Berkal Family


Moshe Berkal (son of Yossel) had two sons that we know about - Tzvi Eliyahu Berkal and Berel Berkal. Tzvi Eliyahu and his wife Brina Margolis had nine children, seven daughters and two sons, all of whom emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada in the early years of the 20th century.  Tzvi Eliyahu and Brina, however, remained in Uzpaliai until their deaths and are buried in the cemetery there.




This photo of the extended Berkal Family was taken around 1909-1910 in Uzpaliai.

1.  Bessie Margolis; 2.  Max Margolis; 3.  Major Margolis; 4.  Hymie Margolis; 5.  Abraham Katz; 6. Sora Etta Raisa (Berkal) Blostein (married to 13, Avraham Blostein); 7.  Ida Margolis; 8.  Rochel (Berkal) Margolis; 9.  Moshe Margolis; 10.  Chana Berkal; 11.  Rashe Devorah (Berkal) Katz; 12. Max Katz; 13. Rabbi Avraham Blostein; 14.  Chaikeh (Berkal) Margolis; 15.  Yankel Margolis; 16.  Basia Libe Berkal; 17.  Sorel (Ulman) Berkal; 18. Michel Berkal; 19. Mendel Katz



Seated:  Tzvi Eliyahu Berkal (?-1934) and Brina Margolis Berkal (?-1928)
Standing:  Daughter, Basia Liba Berkal 

Hirsh and Brina are the great grandparents of Arky Berkal
Berel Berkal and his wife Shifra Leah Jaffe Berkal

Berel was a brother to Tzvi Eliyahu  Berkal and Chasia Berkal Ozer





L to r:  Moses Berkal, Chana Rachel Berkal Viduchinski, and Matis Berkal

They are the children of Yosef Michel Berkal and the grandchildren of Berel and Shifra Leah Berkal, seen in the photo above.

 

 

(Moses was identified for us by his grandson Mickey Berkal)
Michel Berkal, Joe Blostein and Shimon Kitties, all born in Uzpaliai.  

Michel is the son of Tzvi Eliyahu  Berkal and Brina Berkal, and brother of Shimon, Sora Etta Raisa, and Basia Liba.

Joe Blostein is the son of Sora Etta Raisa Berkal and Rabbi Avraham Blostein and thus a nephew of Michel.

Shimon Kitties married Basia Liba (Bessie) Berkal, (1887-1978) making him a brother-in-law of Michel and an uncle of Michel and Joe.

All three men ended up in or near Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Michel and Shimon had tailor shops and Joe owned a large clothing store.

 





Michel Berkal, Chaikeh (Katz) Blostein, and Joe Blostein

Chaikeh (1890-1983) is the daughter of Rasheh Devorah Berkal and Mendel Katz ha Cohen and the wife of Joe Blostein. 

Michel (1886-1964) and his wife Sora Ulman (1890-1964), along with Joe and Chaikeh (Chaia Doba) Katz Blostein,  and Chaikeh Berkal and Yankel Margolis (see photo below) emigrated to Switzerland in about 1911, staying about a year. They then emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada.

Chaikeh (Katz) Blostein and Chaikeh Berkal

Chaikeh (Clara) Berkal, married to Yankel Margolis,  (1889-1994) was a daughter of Tzvi Eliyahu  Berkal and a sister to the mother of Chaikeh Katz Blostein, thus Chaikeh's aunt.





Abe (Avraham) Berkal  (1906-2000) and Doris Berkal Margolis, son and daughter of Shimon Berkal and first wife Sora Rivka Shapiro. Abe is the father of Arky Berkal and was the first of Shimon's children to come to Canada.
Rabbi Louis Berkal (1914-2009), son of Shimon Berkal and his first wife, Sora Rivka Shapiro was born in Uzpaliai and emigrated to Canada with his family in 1927.  Rabbi Berkal served at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue in Winnipeg for over 50 years. 

Louis was a brother of Abe and Doris, shown in the photo above.

[Sora Rivka Shapiro Berkal died of cholera in 1917 while the family was in exile from Lithuania in Simferopol, Russia.]

 





Shimon and Henneh Eidelman and children, before emigrating to Canada

Back Row, l to r:  Doris, Morris, Sam, Bella

 

Shimon Berkal, son of Tzvi Eliyahu  Berkal and Brina Margolis, and Henneh  Eidelman Berkal were both born in Uzpaliai and emigrated to Canada in 1928.  (See document in the collection of YIVO from the Uzpaliai Jewish community that is signed by Shimon Berkal.)







Berkal Family home 

From Bev Berkal, "This is the Berkal home.  It has three chimneys.  The owner was kind enough to let us come in.  We were able to take video of the inside of the house.  She asked me 'if you could have this house back would you move back here?'  I told her no.  None of these homes have running water or sewer and are still heated by wood stove."
Photos courtesy of Arky and Bev Berkal.  Arky is the grandson of Shimon and Soreh Rivkeh and the son of Abe Berkal.

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