08 August 2006

What to expect from Tracing the Tribe

In 1989, when I began researching my family, there was nothing on the Internet to help me – there was barely an Internet. All I had was the hint of a place name on a river, an unusual family name, and nothing much else … and few people to ask.

Family history researchers know that this is the curse of Jewish genealogy. When we finally catch the passion of finding out who and what we really are, there are few people to ask.

I hope this blog becomes the place where you can ask, and get real answers, when you have genealogy questions so you can find out more about your heritage.

This is an exciting time of year for genealogy: The 26th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy is starting on August 13 in New York (www.jgsny2006.org). This major event brings together about 1,500 international researchers (from beginners through professionals) and experts who will participate in 280 programs.

I’ll be blogging from the conference, which has interesting events from expert panels to a film festival to concerts, tours of Jewish sites and cemetery visits.

What are your interests? Sephardi families in Greece or families from Spain who migrated into Poland? Ashkenazi families in Russia or Israel? Connecting families separated by the Holocaust? Tracking ancestors in rural German Jewish communities, small UK towns, medieval Italian Jewish communities or Jewish cemeteries in America’s deep South? How DNA testing can track and match families, or reveal our roots? Set up a Web site for your family research?

Tracing the Tribe will provide information to help you connect. We will explore new resources, materials and methods, provide information on communities, investigate high-tech innovations to make research easy, and talk to the people who make it all possible.

Schelly

11 comments:

  1. Schelly, best wishes for the new blog!

    Regards,
    Drew Smith
    Tampa, FL

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  2. Anonymous7:40 PM

    Schelly, I'm so glad that you have created this blog to keep us abreast of what's going on in the world of Jewish genealogy. Your writing is always interesting and informative.

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  3. Anonymous12:28 AM

    Schelly, Thanks for adding another great dimension to Jewish genealogy. Being unable to attend the International Conference, I will look forward to reading your comments.

    Ellen Lukas Kahn
    Homewood, IL
    EllnKahn@aol.com

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  4. Best wishes and good luck!

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  5. Anonymous10:54 AM

    Dear Schelly,

    Mazel-Tov on the blog. What a great idea. Jerry & I are raising our glasses to it's success.

    Sorry we can't be at the conference. We miss seeing you.

    Fondly,

    Bobbi & Jerry Cohen

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  6. Anonymous3:15 PM

    Good for you Schelly - I'm sure lots of us will be following your blog from all points of the globe!

    Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience with all of us!

    abrazos,

    Jenni Hymoff
    Canary Islands, Spain

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  7. Anonymous3:10 PM

    Schelly, Thanks for the intitiative - great idea!
    I hope to hear a lot from the conference, as unfortunately I cannot attend due to family matters. So I hope to be able to follow it from afar.

    Best wishes to you and all at the conference

    Elsebeth

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  8. Anonymous5:44 AM

    Schelly, This is a wonderful initiative. I am the daughter of one of the few who survived the extermination of Tarnopol Jewry. Problem is that my mother, rescued and placed in a convent, was given an alias and because she rarely spoke about the events, I have no idea the family to which I belong. In a nutshell, I don't know who I am. And though the stories are different, there are plenty others who are in the same condition. Every initiative like this is a blessing. It's another chance we may, at last, find our roots. Sincerest best wishes for your new blog!
    Jana
    Dallas, TX
    jp.001@sbcglobal.net

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  9. Anonymous6:27 AM

    You said exactly the right thing. You actually know that there are Sephardic families. I'm hooked.

    Thank you.

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  10. Anonymous1:45 AM

    see : The TRIBE
    at www.Cohen-Levi.org

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  11. Anonymous8:31 PM

    Unbelievable! Someone who
    asks if anyone is interested
    in Sephardic families...and
    from Greece. Go, girl!

    Mazel tov.

    ReplyDelete