Oregon: Daniel Horowitz, July 1

Face recognition technology is the topic at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon, on Thursday, July 1.

Daniel Horowitz, genealogy and translation manager at MyHeritage.com, will speak at the event which begins at 7.30pm at Congregation Ahavath Achim, 3225 SW Barbur Bvd., Portland.

Face recognition technology can help researchers identify and tag people in photos, discover related people and recover lost family connections. MyHeritage makes use of this technology as an excellent tool for genealogy research.

Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, Daniel graduated from the Moral y Luces Herzl-Bialik High School and earned a BS.c (computer engineering) with specializations in education and management of educational institutions.

He returned to his Jewish high school as a computer instructor and teacher/director of the genealogy project - "Searching for My Roots" - for which he created the educational materials, and presented genealogy workshops for students and parents.

Daniel received awards for the project, including the Gonzalo Benaim Pinto Venezuela national award. His students received nine consecutive awards (1997-2005) in the Beit Hatfutsot / Museum of the Diaspora annual international competition, "My Family Story."

He was a founding member and lecturer of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Venezuela (AGJUVE), and he and his family have lived in Israel since 2005.

He is a member and webmaster of the Israel Genealogical Society (IGS) and the Horowitz Families Association, has lectured at various international conferences and for local genealogy groups. He was elected to the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) board in 2008, and is its webmaster.

Admission: JGSO members, free; others, $5.

For more information, visit the JGSO website, or send an email.

Venezuela: The Yecutieli family saga

A new book details the Yecutieli family saga from Iran to Venezuela to Israel.

I first met author Samy Yecutieli several years ago in Israel and learned about his ancestors' journey. After five years of research, the book, written with Raquel Markus, has been published:

Una historia, dos países: la saga de la familia Yecutieli
(One history, two countries: The story of the Yecutieli family)

The story of Samuel and Simja Yecutieli is an intimate retelling of the memory, development and traditions of the Jewish community.

Readers will acquire historical and geographical knowledge and understand the world of Jewish genealogy across national and historic borders. The authors also hope readers may be encouraged to discover their own family stories.

To see an excellent film clip about the book (so far only available in Spanish), click on Roots Television here.

There will be two book launches in Israel at Jerusalem's Hebrew University (late December) and at Tel Aviv University (early January). I am planning to interview Samy about the book and his family as well. Stay tuned for more information.

Chicago 2008: Latin America, Chicago Jewish Archives

Two new items - a Latin America expert lunch and extended hours for the Chicago Jewish Archives - have been added to the 28th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy website. The final program should be posted in a few weeks and the conference discussion group is already active (see link on the website).

Latin America Jewish Resources Q&A

In addition to already scheduled Breakfasts with the Experts, previously posted here, an expert luncheon - "Jewish Resources: Argentina & Venezuela Q&A" - will feature Rabbi Victor A. Mirelman, originally from Argentina, and Daniel Horowitz, formerly of Venezuela and now Israel. Attendees can sign up at the Registration page at the conference site.

Dr. Mirelman, born in Argentina, is an authority on Latin American Jewry, and has personal and academic interests in Sephardic Jewry. His most recent book is Jewish Buenos Aires, 1890-1930 (Wayne State University Press). In 1991, he was appointed Professor of Jewish History at Spertus College (Chicago) and, in 2005, was elected president of the Chicago Board of Rabbis.

Since 1990, he has been rabbi of West Surburban Temple Har Zion (River Forest, Illinois), previously served Congregation B'nai Israel (Milburn, NJ), was visiting professor of history at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and lectured on contemporary Jewish history (1970-74) at Hebrew University (Jerusalem).

He was ordained a rabbi at JTS and received a doctorate from Columbia University and also holds an MS in mathematics from the University of Buenos Aires.

Horowitz often speaks on Jews in Latin America - he will also be presenting two technology workshops at the conference - and taught family history research to students and parents at the Bialik school in Caracas.

As a personal note, among my prized possessions are the two first-edition leather-bound volumes of the Spanish translation, adaption and notes by Marcos Edery - supervised by Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer - of the Conservative movement's English-language siddur (daily prayerbook) and machsor (High Holyday prayerbook). Published in 1965 by the Consejo Mundial de Sinagogas in Buenos Aires, the two volumes - one blue, one green - were sent to me that year by Rabbi Meyer. My set is well traveled, having "lived" in Iran, Florida, California, Nevada and now in Israel.

Rabbi Meyer's papers are archived at Duke University, and this article discusses his remarkable life and achievements in Argentina from 1959 and following his return to the US in 1984. Readers interested in Sephardim of Latin America, may enjoy this interesting article by Margaret Bejarano. For an analysis by Yaacov Rubel of marriage and intermarriage in the Argentine community, click here.

CHICAGO JEWISH ARCHIVES

A fascinating resource for Chicago Jewish research is the Chicago Jewish Archives (part of the Asher Library at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Study). Extended hours will be provided during the conference - appointments are required.

What can you find at the Archives, which holds the memories of Jewish Chicago?

It collects historical material in all formats, including letters, diaries, photographs, memorabilia, audio and video tapes and has some 2,500 linear feet of material, while continuing to acquire relevant material.

Jewish organization records:
American Jewish Congress (Chicago Office); Anti-Defamation League (Midwest Office); Covenant Club of Illinois, 1917-1985; Jewsh Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, 1865-[ongoing]; Johanna Lodge (United Order of True Sisters); Zionist Organization of Chicago.

Synagogue records:
Cong. B’nai Emunah; Cong. B’nai Jacob; B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom (Homewood); Cong. B’nai Zion; Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation; KAM Isaiah Israel; Kehilath Jeshurun; Lawn Manor Beth Jacob; Mikdosh El Hagro Hebrew Center; Cong. Rodfei Zedek; South Shore Temple.

Family papers:
Robert S. Adler Family Papers; Alfred Alschuler Papers (architect), Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Collection; Gov. Samuel Shapiro Collection, Jerzy Kosinski Papers (author), and others.

Oral history:
Chicago Jewish Historical Society’s Oral History Project (more than 200 interviews); Stanley Rosen’s Chicago Radical Jewish Elders Video History Project (100 interviews); American Jewish Committee oral history project, and others.

Photographs:
The Sentinel Photo Archive, the Weinstein Photo Archive, and the General Photograph Collection. In addition, many collections include photographs as well as documents.

If your family has roots in the Chicago area and you hold records, remember that the archives also seeks to obtain unpublished records such as documents (correspondence, minutes, reports, diaries, family histories, etc.), photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, film, scrapbooks and other selected artifacts as space permits, as well as printed ephemera such as bulletins, pamphlets and internal publications.

Caracas: Jewish genealogy classes start May 7

I am always happy to spotlight events and activities of the international Jewish genealogical societies, for Tracing the Tribe's many readers around the world.

The JGS of Venezuela, writes president Ignacio Sternberg, will begin offering basic and intermediate Jewish genealogy sessions in the computer labs of the Colegio Moral y Luces Herzl Bialik in Caracas.

The first session will be 7 p.m. on May 7, with others scheduled in the coming weeks. For more information, write JGSVenezuela@bellsouth.net.