Please find the location of and information regarding a statue in the
French Pyrenees commemorating two rabbis -- a father and son, with the
surname "Temime", who led their congregation out of Spain into France
at the time of the Spanish Inquisition.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 08 Mar 2005 08:37 PST

Nothing shows up with a preliminary search. 

Perhaps if you told us a bit more -- where you came across mention of
this statue?  Any other details of the story?  Possible alternative
spellings of Temime? -- it would help us in our searching.

Thanks,

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by avrahamchayim-ga on 08 Mar 2005 09:28 PST

We heard about this from our great aunts, who were born in Paris,
France, where our branch of the Temime family had been living.
The father and son apparently felt that their congregation was in
danger, since the Church was persecuting the Jews, so they sought
refuge in the French Pyrenees. It would have been in the late 1400's.
Apparently it was considered an act of courage and leadership. I heard
from a cousin that the statue was erected in 1940 or 1941 (though that
has always seemed strange to me, since France was at war at that
time!).
There we other rabbis in the Temime family, who led their respective
congregations to Tunisia. There are still Temimes living there.
"Temim" seems to be an alternative spelling. "Tamim" is *not* an alternative.

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Clarification of Question by avrahamchayim-ga on 08 Mar 2005 14:14 PST

Thank you for your interest and effort in resolving my question.

The name Temime is actually a Hebrew word, "temime" that has a number
of related meanings including pure, forthright, unpretentious, and
unduplicitous.

Greetings Avrahamchayim,

I don't know if this will help, but I discovered a great deal of
history on a family its variant names at
http://users.erols.com/gascue-maymi

"The name Maymí/Maimí appears in the: "Consolidated Jewish Surname
Index", (S.) and in the book "Les Noms des Juifs du Maroc" by Abraham
I. Laredo. Institut Montano (Madrid, CSIC, 1978). On page 819, entry
no.760, Laredo says: "Maimi, Maymi, Mimé, Meme: Name derived from the
Hebrew "Mayim" = water or sea, it relates to the "aquatic" or
"maritime" element."

"Saul Aben Mime, one of the 14 rabbis who took part in the controversy
of the Council of Tortosa in 1413-1414. ("Historia Social, Política y
religiosa de los judios de España y Portugal" por: José Amador de los
Rios, p. 435)."

"Rabi Yuce Meme, of Cuéllar, is beneficiary of the will of Doña Mencia
Enriquez, duchess of Alburquerque, deceased in 1479 in Segovia. (Baer
II, p. 422)."

"Meme el Viejo, figures as having been the owner of a house in a
lawsuit on the town of Cuéllar in 1498. (Baer II, p. 422)."


I do not know the Hebrew usage or meaning(s) of "te" or "te'" but if
placed before Mime as in te'Mime then it could have merit as a
possibility.  My apologies for not knowing the correct meaning/usage
of "te" - it just struck me as interesting.

Best regards,
journalist-ga

Alas, "te" is not a prefix in Hebrew, nor does it mean anything in Hebrew.

French transliterations, especially medieval ones, may certainly
differ from current US transliterations, but in US English the common
rendering of the Hebrew word for pure, etc. would in fact be tamim.

If you don't get a definite answer to your question here, you might
try contacting those other branches of the family that you mention.
While oral histories in families are often divergent from the facts,
you may be able to triangulate between various versions of stories
from different family members and branches, and then use that info to
do some more digging on your own.

Good luck.