Hesitantly, and a bit embarrassed, people ask me again and again, “Bloomfield. Isn’t that, um – ah, a Jewish name?” “Of course,” I answer. But I understand their uncertainty. It’s not every day that you meet a Protestant minister with Jewish roots. My ancestors lived in Momberg, Hesse, Germany. My great-grandfather Jacob had the last name Blumenfeld when he emigrated at age 16 to New York in 1888. And like his relatives in the USA, he assumed after a short time the English version of his German name. Blumenfeld became Bloomfield.
This was not the first time in my family’s history that they changed their name. My oldest known ancestor in Momberg was Bendet (Benedikt) Katz (son of Meier Katz), who had moved to this Hessian village in 1735. Bendet and his wife had a least one son, Moses Bendet. Moses Bendet’s son, Abraham Katz,1 enjoyed as a Protected Jew (Schutzjude) certain privileges in return for payments to his protector – just as his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had done. Abraham married Giedel, née Gerson Moses They had six children: Moses,2 Sprinz,3 Breine,4 Hanna,5 Meier,6 and Jakob.7 Together with their mother, the children adopted the name “Blumenfeld.” Jakob Blumenfeld was my 3rd great-grandfather.
What’s the story behind this name change? The Information Center for Hessian State History offers a plausible explanation of the name change from Katz to Blumenfeld on the website about Jewish cemeteries. “The civil surname of the deceased [Giedel, Abraham Katz’s wife] was actually Blumenfeld. Her husband Abraham, however, who had died on December 21, 1807, […] did not yet bear this name.8 Usually, he is referred to in documents as Abraham Katz, Katz being, in this case, a short form of Kohen Zedek (righteous priest [KaZ]), which has the same meaning as ha-Kohen.” The record of the death of Abraham’s son, Maier (Meier) Blumenfeld from September 19, 1878, gives credence to this explanation. Here the deceased’s father is listed as Abraham Blumenfeld (not Katz).
Blumenfeld Family Stories 