By Eugene Normand, Special to JTNews
Nearly 140 members of the Maimon family gathered in Seattle for three days in August to celebrate the 85th anniversary of their arrival in the city. Family members are direct descendants of Rabbi Abraham and Victoria Maimon, along with their spouses. The entire family numbers approximately 344 members, spread around the United States, Israel and England.
In 1924, Rabbi Abraham Maimon was called from Tekirdag, Turkey to serve as the rabbi of the Sephardic Bikur Holim congregation. He arrived with his wife and six of his eight children; the two eldest daughters remained in Turkey and joined the family in Seattle a few years later. Unfortunately, he died prematurely in January of 1931, but his five sons and three daughters all married and raised their families in Seattle. Thus, the Maimon family was joined with the Adatto, Azose and Benoliel families as the three Maimon sisters married.
Only one of the eight children is still living, Rabbi Solomon Maimon, and so fittingly, the first event was a party to celebrate Rabbi Maimon’s 90th birthday at the home of one of the Seattle cousins. This was the fifth major reunion that the family has held, the first being in 1974 (the 50th anniversary) and the last one in 2004, with two smaller reunions in the 1980s. The family lore is that they are direct descendants of the illustrious Jewish sage, Maimonides, although there is no hard proof at this time.
At the time of the 50th anniversary reunion, the majority of the family lived in the Seattle area. Now, there are about 60 family members in the state of Washington, and a larger number in New York, with sizable numbers in Israel, California, New Jersey. Illinois and England.
All eight of Rabbi Abraham Maimon’s children attended the 50th reunion in 1974, where they exchanged stories of how things were when they were growing up. This tradition was continued at the Shabbat luncheon this year as each of the eight branches of the family gave brief summaries of highlights within their respective families. In this way, younger members, especially those living outside Seattle, were able to reacquaint themselves and learn firsthand about their family. A committee of Seattle cousins prepared most of the food items served at lunch, including
Sephardic favorites such as bourekas (potato-filled pastry) and fritada de spinaca (a type of spinach soufflé). With a large number of rabbis in the family, several were given the honor of delivering the sermon, including Rabbi Abraham Maimon, son of Rabbi Solomon Maimon, and giving shiurim (lessons) at the SBH synagogue, while other members collectively led all of the services throughout Shabbat.
The reunion was organized by family members living in Seattle, with the participation of several out-of-towners via e-mail and phone calls. The family has an award-winning Web page managed by Rabbi Abraham Maimon, and it was used to inform the out-of-town family members of the details of the reunion.
Sunday was a big, fun-filled event — an all-day picnic in the Sephardic Bikur Holim social hall. It began with a brunch and included displays of various items related to the family history and lore such as books and writings authored by family members, and included a DVD continuously running the video from the 1989 reunion. Many of the children enjoyed playing on the “moon walker,” the outdoor playground and indoor games. Before lunch, all of the approximately 130 family members in attendance assembled for a family photo, with Rabbi Maimon, the birthday boy, and his wife, Aunt Esther, in the center.
Lunch consisted of barbeque (hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken) and all the fixings, which was followed by competitive games outdoors for children, teenagers and adults.
Cousins who didn’t know one another before the event became acquainted with each other and their common history. The group included about 10 young children under the age of 5, all of whom were born after the last reunion, and all great, great-grandchildren of Abraham and Victoria Maimon.