Channa Ita Gratch was the daughter of Shimon Gratch and Bela Eisenstein. She was born in the town of Drogichin, in Belarus, in about 1856. She married Reb Shmuel Levy probably around 1871 while still in Belarus. Sometime between 1886 and 1891 the family moved to Jerusalem (the dates come from birthdates of their children). Six of their 8 children were born in Belarus and the remaining two in Jerusalem.
Shmuel was often away…fundraising in the US for the school and guest house he was building in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Channa never came to the US. She died in Jerusalem in 1922, and was buried in the Mount of Olives Cemetery with her husband Shmuel.
The document below is a Marriage Register for Boston in 1911. About half way down the page, record number 4005, is the marriage of Louis Levy, age 28, to Sarah Mochedlover (23). It is a first marriage for them both. They lived at 62 Fowler Street. He is a tailor, she is a paper box maker. They are both from “Russia”. His parents are Samuel Levy and Hannah Gratz and hers are Wichter Mochedlover and Rebecca Mendelson. They were married by Rabbi Raphael Minsky at 3 Baldwin Place. Rabbi Minsky was working at Congregation Hadrath Israel in Roxbury
Above is the United States Consular Registration for Channa Ita Gratch Levy. She was a US citizen (even though she never set foot in the US) because her husband was a citizen. The document says he was a citizen by birth, but his Passport Applications say that he was born in Drohitchen (Belarus) and Naturalized in Chicago, on April 3, 1893.
Channa Ita Gratch came from the town of Drohitchin in Belarus. It is important to distinguish it from a town with a similar name in Poland which is 70 miles east of Warsaw. Our town is 155 miles south west of Minsk. Other spellings for our town: Drahichyn (Belarusian), Drogichin (Russian), Drohiczyn (Polish), Drohitchin (Yiddish), Drahitschyn (German), Drogičinas (Lithuanian), also Drohichin, Drahičyn, Dorohiczyn.
Tombstone of Chana Ita Gratch Levy – It says she is the daughter of Shimon and the wife of Shmuel Levy. The date is Died 6 Iyar 5622 (May 4, 1922). She is buried in the Mount of Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem.
