User talk:Vipseixas

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Your name

I saw the name Vinnie Seixas on a posting for Amazon Eve. Interestingly, it was not a standard signature. Anyhow, I'm writing about your last name. Are you related to the family associated with one of the founders of Columbia University (King's College)? Greenwayfriend (talk) 22:28, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

My last name is from Portugal but my family has lived in Brazil for 3 or 4 generations now, so I don't think I am directly related to any founder of Columbia University (NY, is it?). Interesting to know about it, though. Vinny Seixas 06:14, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

BTW... I am using four tildes to sign, do you know why my signature is "not standard"? I saw at the Amazon Eve talk that my comment appeared as "unsigned", although I signed it... Vinny Seixas 06:24, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Strange about your signature. Anyhow, before and after the American Revolution the leader of the Jewish community in New York City was Gershom Mendes Seixas, a patriot. He was a founder of Columbia University in New York City. He also attended the inauguration of Geo. Washington. At the time the only Jewish congregation in NYC was Shearith Israel also known as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York. This year marks the 225 anniversary of the inauguration. Representatives of all the congregations who participated in 1789 were invited, including the current rabbi of Shearith Israel. If you are Jewish you might want to show up at the congregation. I suspect they would make quite a fuss over you. Where do you live? We're in Manhattan. Greenwayfriend (talk) 12:23, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Very happy to hear that story :) I am not Jewish but I like the philosophy (I just finished a book by rabbi Nilton Bonder). It's a shame that I am very far from NY right now, I live in Rio de Janeiro. I was planning to go to NY next October but my visa expired and the USA Embassy is having trouble emitting new ones. I'm probably going to NY next year and I am definitively visiting Shearith Israel when I'm there! []s! --Vinicius Seixas (talk) 14:54, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Can you tell me a bit more about yourself? The first group of Jews to arrive in New York City came from Recife, Brazil. Until 1654 that city was controlled by the Dutch. Once the Portuguese took it over it was no longer a place for Jews. Most returned to Amsterdam. Many went to the Caribbean. One unfortunate boatload ended up in Nieuw Amsterdam where the Director General, Peter Stuyvesant did not want them to stay. (When the British took over then years later the city was renamed New York.) And the story gets more fun after that. I'm 65 living in Manhattan where I grew up. Your written English is perfect. How come? 184.153.65.195 (talk) 17:00, 9 September 2014 (UTC) Ooops. Greenwayfriend (talk) 17:03, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

They tell us here about the history of the Dutch (and French) at the Northeast but never heard about the Jewish exile. Very interesting, is there a place where I can learn more about it? My father's parents and grandparents were farmers at Piauí, a state near Pernambuco (where Recife is located), they then moved to Petrópolis (that once was the capital of the Brazilian Empire) and finally to Rio. I'm 40 and was born and lived all my life here in Rio. I started studying English very early, I think I was only 8. My mom thought it would be important :) About my English (hey, thanks :), I like American and English culture (like music, see a *lot* of TV shows... Literature too, I just read the 5 books of A Song of Ice and Fire - in English) and as an IT professional I have to use written English every day. My spoken English is good too, I've been in the USA once and had no problem talking to other people. []s! Vinicius Seixas (talk) 16:57, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

Just before your signature there is a strange 4-character string: left bracket, right bracket, letter ess, and exclamation point. I wonder if that relates to the unusual signature. Try [1]. I found it by searching on "jews dutch recife" in Google. On the family name Seixas, see [2] on Isaac Mendez Seixas toward the bottom of the page. Born in Lisbon. Does the name "Seixas" mean anything in Portuguese such as "sixth"? Is it an unusual family name? My career was in I.T., too. Now, I'm retired. Jordan Greenwayfriend (talk) 17:43, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

My sig problem was some wrong configuration, the []s! means "hugs!" :) Thanx for the references, I will read them. The name Seixas comes from seixo [3], which means pebble, small stone. But I really don't know why it became a familly name :) Vinicius Seixas (talk) 20:02, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

I understand the smile emoticon. "Became" do you mean you think it was adopted within the recent past? Have you tried the possibility of a Jewish connection on any older relatives? I find it hard to believe this is the first time the question has been raised. Do you have any idea as to how common a name it is? Jordan Greenwayfriend (talk) 20:09, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

Yes, Seixas is a rather new surname (couldn't find any mention of it before the second half of the 17th century), in old Portugal only rich families had proper names and the poor usually adopted names from the nature around them, like Macieira (apple trees), Pereira (pear trees), Silva (jungle). Seixas is not a very common name in Brazil [4] and it is not common in Portugal either [5]. I said that Seixas derived from seixo and it seemed that it came from people that lived near rivers or other places that have many pebbles around but... You sparked my curiosity and I started researching, there is some people that believe that Seixas is derived from (you gonna like it) a Hebrew word used to denote a kind of dove, which would make perfect sense if you see the Seixas family crest [6]. It is hard to confirm that information, maybe you have some Hebrew knowledge... I also found there was a book about Seixas genealogy written in 1972, and I was able to find 2 people selling it on the internet. It is a little expensive but I'm buying it :) Vinicius Seixas (talk) 15:01, 12 September 2014 (UTC)