New York: 30 Jewish marriage contracts exhibit, opens March 11

The Jewish Museum will open the exhibit "The Art of Matrimony: 30 Splendid Marriage Contracts from the Jewish Theological Seminary Library," on Friday, March 11 to run through June 26.

The library of The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City holds one of the best collections of ketubot - Jewish marriage certificates. Thirty of the finest will be featured in the exhibit, which dates from a 12th century piece to later examples.

Jewish family history researchers can discover much information on these documents (ketubah, plural ketubot), which exist for all communities around the world, and provide family details on the families, communities and customs

The JTS ketubah collection numbers more than 600 works of every type. The majority are from Italy, with others from Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Iraq, Iran/Persia, Morocco, Syria and Turkey. Other examples represent Croatia, France, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and the United States. They represent the diversity of Jewish communities throughout history, with information on the couples, marriage customs and artistic styles.

Before a wedding, families negotiate a marriage contract (ketubah), which includes the husband's duties to his wife and monies due her in case of a divorce or her death.
Some examples:

• The earliest in the exhibit is a rare 12th century Egyptian fragment.
• 1764 earliest known decorated ketubah from Baghdad, drawn on paper from Augsburg, Germany, and indicating Jewish commercial ties.
• 1885 Damascus contract shows vivid colors and lush floral imagery echoing the blessing bestowed on a couple as they stand under the bridal canopy: “Grant perfect joy to these loving companions, just as You made your creations joyful in the Garden of Eden.”
• 1749 Venetian ketubah features the 12 Zodiac signs and an intricate love knot borrowed from Italian folk culture. The wording says that the bride and groom “agree to conduct their mutual life with love and affection, without hiding or concealing anything from each other; furthermore, they will control their possessions equally.“

Although hand-decorated ketubot began to go out of fashion in the late-19th century, there was a revival in the 1960s along with a new interest in Jewish identity. Examples include:

• A 1999 Archie Granot muti-layeredpapercut.
• 1961 ketubah by artist Ben Shahn, showing his fascination with Hebrew calligraphy.

Two related JTS faculty lectures are scheduled:

• Monday, March 14: Dr. David Kraemer, Abbell Librarian and Professor of Talmud and Rabbincs at the JTS, will discuss the history of Jewish marriage contracts.
• Monday, March 21: Exhibition curator Sharon Liberman Mintz will speak about the art of the decorated marriage contract.

The Jewish Museum was established in 1904, when Judge Mayer Sulzberger donated 26 ceremonial art objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary of America as the core of a museum collection. Today's collection numbers some 26,000 objects, including paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, archaeological artifacts, ceremonial objects and broadcast media.

Museum hours: Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday: 11am-5:45pm; Thursday, 11am-8pm; and Friday, 11am-4pm. Admission: Adults, $12; seniors, $10; students, $7.50; no charge for Jewish Museum members and children under 12. Admission is free on Saturdays.

For information on The Jewish Museum, click here  For program and ticket information, click here.

The Museum is at 1109 Fifth Avenue (at 92nd Street), Manhattan.

A 'Jewish' Ming Vase: Rare discovery

Just like "Antiques Roadshow."

A retired Cadbury's factory worker walked into an auction house with a perfect 600-year-old Ming vase sitting in a cardboard box.

The auction house called it a "spectacular find."

"When my colleague initially showed me what had arrived in a cardboard box I could not believe my eyes," Guy Schwinge of Duke's told the Guardian. "The vase is in perfect condition, and it is amazing to think that it has survived unscathed for almost six hundred years."

BBC said that the 11.5" tall vase is the largest found of a rare group of early Ming "moonflasks" produced between 1403-1424.

Athough the story says it is influenced by Islamic design, the presence of a Magen David - Jewish star - is interesting. And reminds us that the Jewish community of Kaifeng was active at that time in history. A connection? Tracing the Tribe doesn't know, but it is a romantic thought.

To be auctioned in May, it should bring at least $1.6 milion dollars.

It would like very nice on a Shabbat dinner table!

Keeping the kipas: A family tradition

Every Jewish family owns a bagful of these.

We collect these headcoverings, called a kipa or a yarmulke, at every lifecycle event we attend and Tracing the Tribe has long advocated the use of these objects to further family history research.

It's nice to know that the New York Times feels the same way, and carried a story by Uzi Silber - Time in a Basket - about the kipa stash at the Bialystoker Synagogue on the Lower East Side.

Each kipa or yarmulka - diverse names for the Jewish skullcap - carries a unique story. Thanks to the imprint inside, we know the names of bride and groom, the date, the place and sometimes additional details. Bar and bat mitzvah head coverings are also rich sources of genealogical information. In Los Angeles, I've even seen black suede kipas made up for funerals! They are usually color-coordinated to the party theme, and made of satin, silk, velvet or suede.

Like most synagogues, the Bialystoker Synagogue, on the Lower East Side, keeps a stash of skullcaps in the foyer, for anyone who forgot to bring one. In a tattered wicker basket, under a collection of limp nylon kippot and forgettable leather circles, lies a layer of shimmering velvet and satin yarmulkes in gaudy pinks, lemons, baby blues and golds.

They are genuine antiques, and not just bits of textile treasure. Inside each is an inscription: names and dates from some long-ago wedding or bar mitzvah. The most recent in the trove was produced in the disco era, but several harked back to the Eisenhower years. They chronicled events not just at Bialystoker, a century-old Orthodox synagogue in a landmark building, but also from around the region, perhaps left by visitors, or brought by congregants cleaning out the drawers of parents who have died.

One couple mentioned in the story provided a blast from the past for Tracing the Tribe.

A gold satin kipa was handed out at the wedding of Flora and Fred Mendelson (photo left) at their 1960 wedding in Swan Lake, NY - not far from our summer stamping grounds in Kauneonga Lake and my grandparents' large bungalow colony (Fink's Kauneonga Park).

Mendelson, 73, and his three brothers, although based in Miami, ran the summer kosher butcher shop - Mendelson & Sons Kosher Meat Market - in Kauneonga Lake for as long as I can remember. They closed the year after Woodstock. My grandmother and other relatives, as well as the local hotels and bungalow colonies were all loyal customers.

Also view the interactive display with information about each of the five couples featured in the story.

Contest: Your heirloom may win roots travel

What's the most unique thing saved from your family's history? Write a 300-word essay about it and you might win this heritage stories contest.

Lands' End - a catalog that shows up frequently in mailboxes across the US - has created a Heritage Collection and now wants others to tell their own family stories.

Readers can submit entries through September 30:

From antique hunting in a parents' attic to digging up old treasures on the family farm, everyone is getting excited about items from long ago - including Lands' End. The company is celebrating its rich, storied past with the Lands' End Heritage Collection - well-known, classic pieces that are synonymous go-to favorites by virtue of their authenticity. Inspired by this collection, Lands' End is inviting everyone to share their own heritage with the "Heritage Stories" contest.

Beginning Sept. 8 through Sept. 30, submit a short description of the most unique thing from your family's past. Perhaps an authentic family heirloom, quality advice, or a valued family motto - that has been treasured and counted on over time.

What are the rules?

To enter the "Heritage Stories" contest, please submit an essay, in 300 words or less, explaining the most unique thing saved from your family's history. All entries must be submitted to landsend.com/thehub by Sept. 30, 2010, 11:59pm CDT. This contest is open to United States and Canadian residents. The official contest rules can be found at www.landsend.com/thehub.

And if you win?

Winners will be notified on or around October 15, 2010. Twenty-five winners will each receive $100 towards their choice of items in the Lands' End Heritage Collection. One Grand Prize winner will receive $250 towards the Lands' End Heritage Collection, plus a $2,000 Visa Travel Money Card to use toward continuing their family's traditions or discovering more of their family's heritage.

Tracing the Tribe's crystal ball forsees roots travel in someone's future!

For more details, click here and read the complete press release here.

London: Jewish Museum acquires Sephardic treasure

Here's one wedding present that wasn't "re-gifted" after the happy occasion.

Tracing the Tribe wants to know where the bride and groom registered their wish list three centuries ago.

The London Jewish Museum raised £282,000 to acquire the silver hanukkiah, according to the story, although it had been on loan to the museum since the 1930s.

Known as the Lindo Lamp (below), it is a Sephardic treasure of British Portuguese and Spanish Jews. It was commissioned for the marriage of Elias Lindo to Rachel Lopes Ferreira in 1709.

Silversmith John Ruslen fashioned the memento at the request of Isaac Lindo, Elias’s father, who fled the Inquisition in the Canary Isles to settle in London and founded the city’s iconic Bevis Marks Synagogue at the start of the 18th century.

“Hanukah lamps are central to Jewish celebrations and the Lindo Lamp is particularly special as it is the first one known to have been made in England,” said Dame Jenny Abramsky, Chair of the Memorial Fund.“It is witness to the long history of Jewish people in this country, and it’s wonderful that the Fund has played a part in saving it for future generations.”

It will be displayed at the Museum's Judaism: A Living Faith exhibit, which recently reopened following a £10 million redevelopment.

Funds to purchase the piece came from The National Heritage Memorial Fund (£145,000), Art Fund (£75,000) and the MLA/V&A Purchase Fund (£30,000).

Europe: 2010 Day of Jewish Culture, Sept. 5

Each year, the European Day of Jewish Culture offers activities and events in many countries.

While the official day is September 5, events are scheduled for other days as well and there is a calendar on the home page of JewishHeritage.org, which offers links to this year's participating countries.

Countries scheduling events this year: Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

“Art and Judaism” - this year's theme - explores a wide field of topics:

- Media: paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, literature, music, films, theatre

- People: painters, sculptors, writers, actors, composers and performers, directors

- Period: ancient, medieval, modern, contemporary

- Collectors: patrons of art, collections, museums

- Religious: applied art, artifacts, Judaica, everyday life,

Click here for an interactive map. Click the country of interest and a PDF will come up (in English as well as that country's own language), arranged by city and event, with detailed information.

Boston: NEHGS launches AmericanAncestors.org

The venerable New England Historic Genealogical Society, founded in 1845, has launched AmericanAncestors.org, the new website of the expanding and growing regional and national repository of genealogical resources.

Information below is from the press release. I accessed the site several times today but cannot load it now, most likely due to a heavy usage.

The site will contain all of NEHGS's New England and New York content, features, articles, resources, in addition to weekly updates and databases in regional and ethnic specialties, such as sources for mid-Atlantic, Irish, and African American research. The website provides access to 2,400 databases containing 135 million names. Many databases are restricted to members who pay $75 annually, but there is a free section.

The new site provides online access to important research tools and resources, a new image viewer, faster navigation, faster search results and more unique content. Society members and the public will benefit from the improvements. The oldest and largest non-profit genealogical organization has some 26,000 members nationwide.

NEHGS president/CEO D. Brenton Simons said:

"This website marks a transformative experience in our 165-year history, the first genealogical society founded in America. It represents the next major step ahead as we continue to expand our resources." Simons added, "AmericanAncestors.org is a new, dynamic platform from which we will grow in our position as a leader in American genealogy and as the nation’s largest genealogical society."

He added that New England will always be the greatest strength and primary focus, and that the new site will add 25 million more New England names to search. According to the press release, the site will provide:

-- More unique, searchable materials for New England, New York, and other regions.
　
-- A new "master search" to search across all databases and other web-based content, faster results and easier navigation.
　
-- A social networking feature for NEHGS members to develop an online profile, input family research information, and share it with others.

-- A state-of-the-art new image viewer for easier saving and viewing of images and data.
　
-- More news on the homepage and an enhanced blog - "The Daily Genealogist" - to provide stories and helpful research tips

Readers are invited to sign up for the NEHGS "Guest User" free registration for access to weekly news stories, special access to some databases, resources, articles and other research tools. Read more at AmericanAncestors.org.

"American Ancestors" is the new brand identity for NEHGS. In October 2009, it began publishing "American Ancestors Journal," an annual supplement to its quarterly "The New England Historical and Genealogical Register," while its quarterly member magazine was renamed (earlier this year) "American Ancestors: New England, New York, and Beyond."

Located at 99-101 Newbury St., Boston, NEHGS has some 28 million books, journals, manuscripts, papers, photographs, documents, and other artifacts, many centuries-old.

Food: 'Jewish' in America?

[My traveling schedule has forced me to cut back a bit on posting -

everyone needs a few days to kick back.

Here's a post of a few weeks ago - but still delicious -

that was languishing in draft format]

American Jews are mostly familiar with Ashkenazi-based food products, both in supermarkets and at home. Have you ever looked at the shelves in a large Middle Eastern market?

When I'm in northern California, a favorite store is the Rose Market in Mountain View, a well-stocked bazaar of exotic Persian foodstuffs and kitchen essentials. If they don't carry a desired Persian product, it's likely not available anywhere!

Today I arrived in Los Angeles from Seattle. My schedule is tight with the 30th IAJGS International Conference of Jewish Genealogy starting on Sunday, but I'm still hoping for a chelo kabab meal at one of the great Persian restaurants here.

Attesting to the influence of the Los Angeles Persian Jewish community - sometimes called Irangeles or Tehrangeles - are the many kosher-certified products, from exotic ice cream specialties, baked goods, canned foods, dairy items and much more. These products are available across the US, wherever there are Persian or Middle Eastern shops.

It's a far cry from Eastern European gefilte fish to Persian faloudeh (a frozen rosewater-rice stick confection that's both delicious and safe for the lactose-intolerant!). Frozen confections - from little ice cream sandwiches encased in wafers, to large containers of exotic items such as creamy saffron pistachio or rosewater ice - bear the names of Golnazar or Mashti Malone's and others.

US supermarket yoghurt is too watery to the Middle Eastern palate. If you're a yoghurt aficionado, try some Persian mast (yoghurt) - I recommend the thick Ab Ali brand - perfect for making various summer salads with spinach (borani-esfanaj) or other vegetables. Ab Ali comes out of the container looking like thick stiffly beaten whipped cream. For those who want an even thicker type, there is mast-e-kiseh (literally "yoghurt in a bag," where the yoghurt is even further drained) which can be mistaken for cream cheese.

Another Ab Ali product is doogh, a carbonated tangy yoghurt drink, beloved by most Persians. It isn't to my taste, but watching someone shake it, carefully open it with a glass on top, is an experience. Those who love it claim it is very refreshing on very hot days.

Ab Ali, a natural spring, was a destination resort for picnics and barbecues outside of Teheran. My husband's family went there very often when he was young.

Persian breads are different and delicious. Instead of bagels, try breakfast-size nan-barbari (photo left). While the original version is a long flattish bread with ridges; the loaves are about 8" wide and may be more than 24" long, the breakfast size is about 4" by 8". Split it, toast it, spread with Persian-style panir (a feta-type cheese).


In Iran, the best panir(also sheep mik) was from Bulgaria and it came in large green or green-and-white cans. Here in the US, an excellent less salty, milder brand is Valbreso (sheep milk from France, photo right) is available in bulk and smaller portions. For an even more exotic taste, spread the Valbreso on your barbari and add some Persian halvah over the cheese. Yum! The combo of salty and sweet can't be beat!

Or, use a bit of butter on your barbari and add sour-cherry (al balu) jam. With a cup of fragrant steeped Earl Grey tea, this is heaven!

Feel like making barbari? Try this recipe.

When we visited Shiraz years ago, we sometimes stayed at the Park Hotel, with its lovely gardens. We enjoyed breakfast outdoors, amid the fragrant roses, with all the delightful essentials plus fresh watermelon juice. Who would want to forget those experiences?

Giving Jewish American food its due is a current National Yiddish Book Center exhibit presenting food-related artifacts reflecting the search for a balance between acculturation and identity.

The Jewish experience in America has been told in home kitchens and grocery shelves across the country. It represents the past, present and future from the early-20th century immigrant community through today and beyond. I don't know if the exhibit includes any references to the Jewish Persian influence, but that would be nice.

The Amherst, Massachusetts-based center offers signs, menus, ads and packaging from the collection of Rabbi Michael Strassfeld, and a Garden Cafeteria sign is on loan from the Museum at Eldridge Street. The exhibit runs through October 3.

Enjoy!

Oregon: Heirlooms and genealogy, Jan. 24

We all have them - mementos and heirlooms. How can genealogists and family historians use old letters, jewelery, newspaper clippings, photographs and even household items in our research?

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon will host Toby Forim Blake, who has many such items and will share some of them, on Sunday, January 24. She's been researching her family since the late 1980s.

The program begins at 1.30pm at Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Portland, where Blake will demonstrate how these family treasures have impacted her own research and how your own heirlooms can help you.

She earned an MA in Jewish History (Baltimore Hebrew University)., and has served on the Baltimore Community Board of Jewish Women's Archives where she was involved in personal history interviews and other project components. She's been a Jewish educator and administrator in the classroom and for the Baltimore Board of Jewish Education. Currently at the Portland Jewish Academy, she is the International Baccalaureate Coordinator for the Primary Years Program.

For more information and directions, see the JGSO site, and check out their resources to help readers tracing family that lived in the state.

Romania: Jewish Museum genealogy resources

There is a Jewish museum in Bucharest, detailed as part of a website devoted to the country's past and present Jewish life.

If your research includes this once-large Jewish presence in many population centers, Tracing the Tribe highly recommends this website. The museum section of the site details the displays of community history and how it preserves the past. Read below for more details of the exhibits.

According to the site, it is sponsored by B'nai B'rith International (Washington DC), The Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania, Embassy of Romania (Washington DC) and the US Agency for International Development.

Genealogical Treasures

Genealogically, the website and the museum are useful for those searching for details about Romanian Jewish families. Numerous names of individuals and families appear in every section. As one example, in the section on Jewish financiers, viewers can read about the families of Bercovitz, Manoah, Halfon, Daniel, Marmorosh and Blank.

The history details the country's political and geographical history through the Holocaust and today's community. The sections - each contain many names - are literature (Romanian, Yiddish), science, press, music, Judaica (silversmiths, objects, architecture, textiles and gold/silver embroidery), fine art, theater (posters, costumes, photos), religious life (personalities, institutions, buildings, synagogue models).

The Community Archive offers Micro-monographies (also accessible through the Jewish Reality section), providing numerous detailed articles on Romanian communities, with history, names and more; and Genealogy research (currently under construction and looking for donors).
There is - click here for the Romanian-only collection - a list of Jewish entrepreneurs in Moldavia (register of documents for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the National Archives, Iasi county division, 1879-1950). See below.

Also, only in Romanian, is the list of Jews in Romania's first university 1860-1950. See below.
There is also a Family Roots section with information on surnames taken from various records, including Holocaust records held at the USHMM in Washington, DC.

For an interesting overview of what you might discover, choose letter C and click on Cohn for a long list of individuals from various record groups. Be aware that data for each person varies:

Choose ACTION (far right column), and see all the information for a person (address, job, marital status and more), and click at the bottom to see other family members. When we click on Moise Cohn (second in the list above) we see:

And, when we "click here to view all family members," we see:

The Romanian community included both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, who arrived in the 16th century. By 1715, there was a synagogue and by the 20th century, synagogues and ritual baths were common. When the Nazis came to power, the community was decimated, many Jewish buildings and institutions were destroyed.

The museum - established on January 15, 1978 - is located in one of the few surviving synagogue buildings. Built in 1850, the building was the Holy Union synagogue, known also as the Tailors' Synagogue, on Mamulari Street in the Vacaresti neighborhood.

Originally called the Museum of Romanian Jewish communities, today it is the Museum of Romanian Jewish History, named for the prominent Chief Rabbi Dr. Moses Rosen, who served from 1948-1994. He founded the magazine Revista Cultului Mozaic (Mosaic Cult Magazine) in 1956, served as leader of the Federation of Jewish Communities from 1964, and a documentation center on the history of the Romanian Jews was established in 1977.

Rosen's activities were meant to counter the trend of forcing the remaining Jews to forget their ethnic and religious identity and disappear as an ethnic group. The museum demonstrated the creative Jewish presence in every sector of Romanian culture and society.

In its current form, the museum offers a systematic outline of Jewish history in Romanian lands.

Thousands of exhibits reflect the communal, cultural life of the Jews; their economic, social, and political integration with Romanian society; their scientific, literary, and artistic creations-indicating a rich multi-centennial Jewish activity within the circumstances of Romanian history.

The ground floor traces the political, cultural, and eco­nomic evolution of Romanian Jewry from the 14th-20th centuries, along with information on historical roots to ancient Judea and the Roman conquest in the 1st century CE.

A replica of a bas relief from Emperor Titus' triumphal arch in Rome shows how the Romans chased the Jews from Judea leading to their dispersion around the world, mainly into Europe. A number of archeological findings prove that the wandering sons of Israel, particularly those who served in the Roman troops, occasionally arrived as far as the territory of Roman Dacia.

Medieval Sephardic Jewish world traveler, Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, wrote that he found Jews among the Wlachs, south of the Danube River, and the community was on the map.

Sections of the site include the museum exhibits on Jewish history in Romania, 14th-19th centuries, Jewish life in the early 20th century and contributions to culture and science. Included are maps, portraits, documents, edicts, and economic life.

There are models of old synagogues from the three Danube-Carpathian principali­ties. They include the 500-year-old timber synagogue in Piatra Neamt, the fortress-synagogue in Iasi cited in late 17th-century chronicles, the Sephardic synagogue in Bucharest, and more.

Sections of the website include: Jewish Heritage Trail (a map of community locations), Jewish history chronology, Bucharest's Jewish community, the Tailor's Synagogue history, sections on community leaders, rabbis and the work of community institutions, such as the Federation.

This site is well worth a look for readers looking for information on the Romanian Jewish community, past and present.

Chicago: Fragile family ties, personal histories, Nov. 12

Fragile family ties and conserving personal histories will be discussed at Chicago's Spertus Museum in Chicago, on Thursday, November 12.

An exhibit viewing (see below) is set from 6.30-6.15pm, with the presentation following from 6.15-7.15pm.

This program should be required for anyone who has ever wondered about the importance of family objects in their home and, of course, for everyone interested in Jewish and genealogical history.

An artist and author, Chicago Conservation Center CEO Heather Becker will help participants understand the important role that conservation of family treasures play in family and cultural history.

Drawing on personal items conserved by the CCC, Becker will demonstrate images from before, during and after restoration. These items have a lasting impact on how families and communities understand themselves.

The related exhibit - What Does It Say to You? - presents more than 60 objects from the museum's collection.

Related programs, such as the one by Becker (above) are an important component of the exhibit. On the second Thursday evening of each month, the public joins museum staff, community leaders, scholars, artists, performers and others to explore the roles objects play in our lives.

For more information, click here.

Southern California: Jewish treasures, Nov. 8

Genealogical details turn up in many places, and Jewish family history is often revealed in books and documents from medieval times.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County (JGSCV) will host antiquities collector Rabbi Shimon Paskow at its meeting on Sunday, November 8, at Temple Adat Elohim, Thousand Oaks.

The meeting begins at 1.30pm.

Paskow is Temple Etz Chaim's rabbi emeritus and has spent a lifetime looking for Jewish history in books and manuscripts.

He will show some of his Jewish treasures, including:

-- A Hebrew Haggadah printed in Venezia (Venice), Italy with a page of “approval from the Inquisitor” (from the Inquisition era).

-- A Sephardic Hebrew siddur (prayer book) with a page in Portuguese. This includes the names of the people who produced the book, which are as genealogically interesting as the book itself.

-- A scroll with a child’s prayer for its parents.

Paskow was ordained by the HUC-JIR New York. He has served as a US Army chaplain and is a Colonel Army Reserves Ret.

He joined Temple Etz Chaim in 1969 and is now Rabbi Emeritus.

For more information, send an email.

Israel: 'Preserving memory' seminar, Dec. 1

Registration is now open for the Fifth National Seminar, this year under the joint auspices of the Israel Genealogical Society (IGS) and the Jewish Family Research Association (JFRA). The theme is "Preserving Memory: Family and Community."

The full-day event, from 8.30am registration to the 6pm conclusion, takes place Tuesday, December 1, at Bet Hatefutsoth, on the Tel Aviv University campus.

Readers who have not been to the museum recently will appreciate the beautiful renovation and new wing, permitting all lectures to be on the main level, along with an Aroma Coffee Bar branch (with wi-fi).

Searching for family roots and origins often leads to the discovery of ancestry in an historical perspective, thus revealing multilevel and layered cultural traditions of the community.

This year's event will focus on methods of preserving the memory of vanished communities in Poland, Galicia, Bukovina, Iraq, Yemen, the FSU, and other locations, even as the cultural and spiritual values of these communities remain alive.

Included topics:

- Writing and publishing Yizkor and Memorial Books.
- Preservation and restoration of historic cemeteries.
- Virtual digital reconstruction of town and communities.
- Preservation of customs, artifacts, crafts and cuisine.
- DNA and genetic research (Kohanim, Leviim, rabbinical lines)

Two simultaneous tracks (English and Hebrew) will follow the (1) opening comments and awards, (2) an introduction to the museum's databases by database department director Haim Ghiuzeli, and (3) Dr. Lea Haber Gedalia's presentation, "Reconstruction of Collective Memory: To tell about our Czernowitz (Bukowina).

The English track features:

- Prof. Daniel Wagner - Genealogical Database Merging: A tool for the reconstitution of vanished Jewish communities.

- Dr. Ida Selvan-Schwarcz - Yizker Bikher (Yizkor Books) as preservers of family and community history.

- Dr. Isaac Solomon - The Bene Israel Community of India.

- Rose Feldman - Building a virtual site for a place that no longer exists.

- Tova Waks - The Rejowiec Congregation in Israel: Memory of the home town.

- Dr. Racheli Kriesberg - Genealogical mapping of the Wiesenthal family: Skala (Galicia, 19th century. (Kriesberg is the granddaughter of the late Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal.

The Hebrew track features:

- Dr. Victor Hayoun - The genealogical reconstruction of the Nabeul, Tunisia Jewish community.

- Orly Shtettiner - Siedlce (Poland) - An extinct community becomes a target for yearning.

- Hanna Kochavi - The silver spoon: Commemorating family through objects.

- Rachel Silko - The story of the Sasson families in Iraq and Israel.

- Dr. Ruth Marcus - Once upon a time, there was a shtetl called Lunna.

- Sara Weiss-Slep - Duesetos (Dosiat, Lithuania) Jewish community will be forever remembered.

Also simultaneous with the English and Hebrew tracks will be workshops, not yet publicly detailed, although Tracing the Tribe knows that Daniel Horowitz (of MyHeritage.com) will be participating.

The seminar ends with a joint Hebrew presentation by Avraham Sfadia,"From Aram Tsoba to Diaspora: Assimilation of Tradition, Identity and Heritage," and seminar concluding remarks.

Click here for the speakers' bios and abstracts. The Hebrew track bios and abstracts are not available in English, but readers may use Google Translate for a reasonable, if rough, translation into English or other languages.

The English registration form is here. Until November 15, registration is NIS 60 for members of IGS and JFRA, NIS 100 for others. Prices go up November 16 to NIS 80 and NIS 120.

Tracing the Tribe encourages readers in Israel, or those who plan to be visiting at that time, to register for the seminar. Seating capacity is limited for some events, so quick registration is suggested.