Avraham Chardas clan history

The earliest known mentioning of the Hordas family name refers to the end of the 18th century when the family settled down in a small place called Cholui in Belarus. The place names sounds bad in Russian (means a kind of a slave) and Russians renamed it in the course of time in Lipen. It is told that a person named Nasheh Maron received a piece of land and three old Jewish families settled there: Maron, Hordas and Lurie. Later there were a lot of intermarriages between the families. In fact, the family of Yechiel Chaim Hordas, son of Abraham, is a good example. The father of his wife Hadassa Esther Maron is also from the house of Chardas (Hordas) while her mother is of the house of Maron. We don’t know much however about the families of Chardas and Maron, besides that the latter was a prominent Chasidic family.

The earliest known ancestor of the family is Abraham Chardas (in Bobruisk Duma List written as Chordos while the spelling Hordas was taken by the Russian branch of the family). He was a milkman and lived near Bobruisk where he used to bring dairy products for sale. His descendants were well-educated both in Jewish and in secular knowledge. Among talents present in the clan one can name talent in the Jewish studies, talent in business and the gift of speech. There are also many accountants in the clan. Remarkable achievements by the clan members include a leading role in the advancement of the interests of the Jewish National Fund, establishment of the first net of supermarkets in Israel and commandment of a regiment at the age of eighteen.

Today there are several yet unconnected branches of the Hordas clan that are scattered all over the world (Latvia, the US, Israel). Majority of these branches come also from Bobruisk region so there can be hardly any doubt that there was a connection in the past (an immediate possibility is through brothers of Abraham). Only further research will help establish the connection.

Clan page: Hordas family