Isaac Habib
October 25, 2023
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Lori’s paternal Rhodesli ancestors’ surnames were Levy, Tarica, Notrica, Hasson, Pelosoff, and Shemaria.
As a teenager in Los Angeles, she was instilled with an appreciation for her ancestral roots by her father, Myer Huniu. At sixteen, Lori was sent to her grandmother Behora Huniu (née Levy) to learn how to make yaprakes and wrote her first oral history of her Rhodesli ancestors when she was twenty.
By age forty, she worked with Victor Alkana, Dr. Bob Rubin, Aron Hasson, and Leon Taranto to find her extended family and document her ancestors. With the advent of Facebook, she has been brought closer to other Rhodesli family members who are on an amazing journey to solidify their familial bonds. When DNA testing became an option, she became immersed in understanding how genetics plays into our family connections and shared history.
For more info, please visit Lori’s Website
Lori Huniu Escalera with her painting “Life on La Kaye Ancha” at the Jewish Life in Rhodes exhibit at Ohr Shalom Synagogue San Diego
The painting tells the story of the Jews of Rhodes who frequented the Juderia at La Kaye Ancha (wide street) over the last several hundred years. It chronicles real people who lived, loved, and died there.
“Ceremonies or rituals, shopping for groceries or material goods at the “Charshi”(marketplace) where everything once occurred, while relaxing to have a Turkish coffee and “echar lashon” (throw the tongue) about the news and happenings (Ke Haber?) of Jewish social life.”
Rhodes Jewish Historical Foundation
