Israel: Horowitz family conference, Dec. 5

Is your name Horowitz, Ish Horowitz, Horwitz, Hurowitz, Hurwitz, Gorovets, Gorvich, Gurevich, Gurovich, Gurvich, Gurvits, Gurvitz, Gerwitz, Urevich or Herwitz? Did any of your ancestors bear one of these name?

Did you know that there is a Horowitz Families Association?

The group will hold its 23rd annual conference on the first day of Chanukah, at 4.30pm Wednesday, December 5, in Tel Aviv's Beit HaTanach, 16 Rothschild Blvd.

According to association board member Shlomo Gurevich, the meeting will focus on the contribution of family members to the creation of the state of Israel, on the 60th anniversary of the UN decision, as well as connections with the Czech Republic.

The event will feature remarks by association chair Yitzhak Ish-Horowitz on the family roots in Bohemia, by the Czech Ambassador in Israel, and the Israeli-Czech Friendship Society president.

During the conference, books on the family history will be presented as well as the annual association yearbook. Admission is NIS 25; members, NIS 20.

The website publishes information - in Hebrew, English, Russian and Spanish - about the family history, events and members, according to one of the site's webmasters, Daniel Horowitz. Horowitz family members and descendants from around the world can register for free, facilitating contact with other branches and the exchange of information. A mailing list keeps everyone up to date.

Visitors can also read and download past editions of the annual association newsletter, Yedion.

Monthly updates include biographies of notable Horowitz family members and a project titled "The All Horowitz Family Tree" is underway in an attempt to gather as many of the families' branch trees as possible.

The Horowitz Family Tree page is located at MyHeritage.com. The site offers excellent tools for genealogists, such as family websites with smart matching technology, photograph handling capabilities, a search engine which accesses 1,200-plus genealogical websites at one click and much more, including easy-to-use online family tree building tools.

Those members living in or visiting Israel can review the association's library holdings online and make appointments to visit the association library and consult its resources.

While the family's rabbinical roots are in medieval Barcelona, they migrated to the town of Horovice (today's Czech Republic) and adopted the town name for the family.

For more information, click here.