Israel: One Day Seminar, Dec. 1

Registration is now open for the registration for the Fourth Israel Genealogical Society One Day Seminar to be held Monday, December 1. The theme is "Oral Tradition and Lore as Sources for Family Roots Research."

Genealogy research usually relies on official documents such as birth, marriage, and death certificates. Even tombstone inscriptions can supply important data. Dates and names gathered from the above are used as the basis for constructing family-trees.

Gathering materials based on both private and public memory can fill the gap where official data is missing - a well known problem in Jewish genealogy - and serve as a cultural bridge between generations.

At the Fourth Annual One Day Seminar [Yom Iyun] which will take place on Monday, December 1, 2008 – 4 Kislev 5769 we will wander together between past and present.

We will examine legends and anecdotes with memories that are a leitmotif in every family. We all have relatives who tell us they are sure of "what was . . ."

Join us for a fascinating program in which we will get a taste of what we were always too impatient to hear about. Our families are transmitting unique traditions from generation to generation: From King David to the de Vinci code, from the Magreb to Aram Tzova, between Ukraine prairies and the new vineyards in Gedera there are tales to tell.

The event will take place from 8.30am-5.45pm (with lunch and coffee breaks) at Beit Wolyn, the Givatayim branch of Yad Vashem's International School for Holocaust Studies. For more information, click here.

Fees (lunch not included): Members, IGS/JFRA: NIS 105; others, NIS 125. Seating is limited; register early.

The opening keynote speech (Hebrew) by Dr. Anat Gueta is "The Family Traditions Relating to King David's Pedigree – Michael Halperin's Case Study."

There are two concurrent program tracks in English (E) and Hebrew (H).

11-11:45am
"Oral Documentation, Genealogy and History;" Dr. Margalit Bejarano [H]
"The Legacy of An-sky in the search for roots;" Rosemary Eshel [E]

11.45-12.30pm
"The Myth on the Chelouche Family Immigration to ‘Eretz Yisrael’in the order
of Time and Research;" A. Chelouche [H]
"Family Oral Tradition and Lore: Blind Loyalty or Critical Confrontation;" Paul King [E]

1.30-2.15pm
"Amnon Hurvitz as an Historian of GEDERA’s First Days;" Dr. Nili Arieh-Sapir [H]
"Stories my father told me;" Ida Chaya Schwartz Se-Lavan [E]

2.15-3pm
"The ANTEBI Family History in the Light of Traditional Family Stories;" Dr. Elioz Antebi–Hefer [H]
"The Jewish Historical Clock: The case of 'Megale Amukot;'" Michael Honey [E]

3.30-4.15pm - workshops
"Collect Genealogical Materials 'in the field;'" Yehuda Etsba'a [H]
"Gathering Oral Information for a Genealogical Research;" Shoshana Ben Dor [E]

4.15p-5pm
"10 Words, 7 Months, and a 5-Languages’ Meeting;" Arnon Hershkovitz [H]
"So, We are not really Friedmans?" Roni Golan [E]

5-4.45pm - Closing Session
"The Family Code: A Literary or Pseudo Scientific Subject?" Eli Eshed [H]