Denver: 'Getting past Grandpa,' February 13

Finding records outside the US will be discussed at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado on Sunday, February 13.

"Getting Past Grandpa: Finding Records Outside the US" - with speaker Sandra Greenberg - begins at 10am, at Temple Emanuel, 51 Grape Street, Denver.

This session is part of the seven-session "Jewish Family Tree Initiative: Workshop and Mentoring Series" of the JGSCo. The series is free to members, and $30 for others.

Learn how to identify resources online and offline for documenting family history outside of the US. Some foreign archival holdings are not only online in English, but many provide indexes to find out what records exist for ancestral towns. Tips, tricks and techniques for successfully retrieving records will be discussed.

The mentoring series was develooped to help beginners get started in Jewish family history research. Each session includes an instructional lecture and a hands-on workshop to assist with the creation of family trees and historical research utilizing genealogical resources and techniques. Mentoring assistance outside of class will be available.

The series is open to all, with a $30 one-time fee for non-members for a book and materials. The fee also includes a one-year membership in the JGSCo. Attendance is not required at all seven sessions to participate; jump in any time to get started!

For more information, check out the JGSCo website.

Yizkor Book Project: January 2011 update

The JewishGen Yizkor Book Project reports that six new projects, 17 new entries and 19 updated projects were added during January 2011.

Additionally, two books (Ruzhany, Belarus; Daugavplis/Dvinsk, Latvia) have been completely translated and are on the site.

New projects have been added to the growing list of those requiring translation fund contributions; they are. Kurow, Poland; Lowicz, Poland; and Volodymyr Volynskyy (Ludmir), Ukraine. To donate funds, click here.

Brian Reiser, coordinator of the Kolki, Ukraine Yizkor Book, has prepared helpful notes on using a Facebook "Cause" to raise money for the Yizkor Book Translation Funds.

The project needs translators, necrology transliterators and HTMLers to help with a large volume of material to be placed online.

Six new projects:
- Bivolari, Romania (Our town Bivolari)
- Daugavpils, Latvia (In Memory of the Community of Dvinsk)
- Derecske, Hungary (Memorial book to the Jews of Derecske and its environs)
- Tarnogrod, Poland (Book of Tarnogrod; in memory of the destroyed Jewish community)
- Tuchin, Ukraine (Tuczin-Kripa, Wolyn; in Memory of the Jewish Community)
- Zborov, Ukraine (Memorial book of the community of Zborow)

17 new entries:
- Blaszki, Poland (Pinkas Poland)
- Gadunavas, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Garliava, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gastynai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Geguzine, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Geleziai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gelgaudiskis, Lithuania(Pinkas Lita)
- Giedraiciai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gintaliske, Lithuania(Pinkas Lita)
- Girkalnis, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Givyai Skrudziai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gudeliai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gudiniskiai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gudziunai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Jezow, Poland (Pinkas Poland)
- Ujazd, Poland (Pinkas Poland)
- Ukmerge, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)

19 updates to existing projects:
- Bedzin, Poland (A Memorial to the Jewish Community of Bendin)
- Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland (Book of the Jewish community of Dabrowa Gornicza and its destruction)
- Dieveniskes, Lithuania (Devenishki book; memorial book)
- Fehergyarmat, Hungary (Our Former City Fehergyarmat)
- Gorodets, Belarus (Horodetz; history of a town, 1142-1942)
- Kovel', Ukraine(Kowel; Testimony and Memorial Book of Our Destroyed Community)
- Lowicz, Poland (Lowicz; a town in Mazovia, memorial book)
- Merkine, Lithuania (Meretch; a Jewish Town in Lithuania)
- Ostrow-Mazowiecka, Poland (Memorial Book of the Community of Ostrow-Mazowiecka)
- Rafalovka, Ukraine (Memorial book for the towns of Old Rafalowka, New Rafalowka, Olizarka, Zoludzk and vicinity)
- Ruzhany, Belarus (Rozana; a memorial book to the Jewish community)
- Sanok, Poland (Memorial Book of Sanok and Vicinity)
- Serock, Poland (The book of Serock)
- Siedlce, Poland (On the ruins of my home; the destruction of Siedlce)
- Skuodas, Lithuania (Memorial Book of Skuodas)
- Slutsk, Belarus(Slutsk and vicinity memorial book)
- Turka, Ukraine (Memorial Book of the Community of Turka on the Stryj and Vicinity)
- Volodymyr Volynskyy, Ukraine (Wladimir Wolynsk; in memory of the Jewish community)
- Zelechow, Poland (Memorial Book of the Community of Zelechow)

The Yizkor Book Master Name Index (YBMNI) has also been updated with some 13,000 records added since July 2010; currently, it has some 18,000 records covering Poland, Ukraine, Greece and Lithuania.

Questions on the project, on specific books, on contributing or volunteering? Contact project manager Lance Ackerfeld.

For more, check the Project's translations page.

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!

RootsTech: Some sessions to be online for free

As Tracing the Tribe gets ready for our trip to the new RootsTech conference in Salt Lake City, we learned that six popular sessions will be broadcast live and free on the Internet.

Global viewers can see them at RootsTech.org.

More than 2,000 attendees have registered for the new family history and technology conference which runs February 10-12.

Tracing the Tribe arrives Monday and hopes to get some research time in at the Family History Library, take an FHL tour on Tuesday, and that evening attend Daniel Horowitz's talk for the Utah Jewish Genealogical Society on researching Israel genealogical resources.

Special events for media/bloggers include a Wednesday trip to the FamilySearch microfilming facility, a dinner, a special breakfast program on Thursday and other events.

In addition to assisting Daniel Horowitz at the MyHeritage.com display, my own conference sessions include participation on the Thursday bloggers' panel - moderated by our good friend Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.com - and on genetic genealogy (with a Jewish twist) on Friday.

The six sessions to be broadcast include some keynote speakers and a sampling of programs (times are MST - Mountain Time):
Thursday, February 10

· 8:30-9am, A World of Information, Shane Robison, chief technology officer, Hewlett Packard

· 9-9:30am, Turning Roots, Branches, Trees into Nodes, Links, Graphs, Jay L. Verkler, chief executive officer, FamilySearch International

· 3-4pm, Digitally Preserving Your Family Heritage, Barry Ewell, founder of MyGenShare.com

Friday, February 11

· 8:30-9:30am, The Changing Face of Genealogy, by Curt Witcher, manager of the Historical Genealogy Department, Allen County Public Library

· 9:45-10:45am., Cloud Computing: What is it and how it has been used to create the next familysearch.org, by Brian Pugh, senior engineer, FamilySearch International

Saturday, February 12

· 8:30-9:30am Personal Archiving and Primary Documents, Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archives

· 1:45-2:45pm, Virtual Presentations Round Table and Collaborative Panel Discussion, Thomas MacEntee, professional genealogist and technology specialist

· 3-4pm, The Power of PDF: Tools for Every Genealogist , D. Josh Taylor, Director of Education and Programs at New England Historical Genealogical Society.

Broadcasting some sessions is an excellent idea, and it is fitting that this new genealogy and technology conference should make this possible.

Tracing the Tribe wishes more gen conferences would do the same, to give more people a "taste" of what they would be experiencing if they had personally attended.

Seattle: Jewish records on the new NARA website, February 14

Locating Jewish records on the new National Archives website - with speaker Carol Buswell - will be discussed at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State on Monday, February 14.

The meeting starts at 7pm at the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island. The JGSWS library and WiFi will be available. Admission: JGSWS members, free; others, $5.

The National Archives recently completed a major redesign of their website. As a result, little-known documents and materials are more easily accessible. Billions of NARA documents are continuously being added both free and for-fee sites, such as Ancestry, Heritage Quest, Footnote and FamilySearch.

Carol Buswell will introduce these and other new resources, along with techniques for using them to discover Jewish family, community and political records from the Civil War through the 20th century. She’ll show how easy it is to do research on those sites.

The National Archives in Seattle holds government documents for Washington, Oregon and Idaho, a large microfilm collection for all states, and free computer access to for-fee websites featuring National Archives records.

The NARA education specialist in Seattle, Carol has also worked as a teacher, author, public speaker, professional genealogist and owner of an American Indian antique shop and bookstore. She has published articles and books about American Indian migration, genealogy and historical issues. She holds a BA in Elementary Education and Fine Art (Western State College of Colorado) and an MA in American Indian Studies (UCLA).

For more information about the JGSWS, click here.

Southern California: Leaving the Pale of Settlement, February 13

Some 80% of our ancestors lived in Poland and the western Russia Pale of Settlement in 1880.

Why they left such a "nice place" is the topic of the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County (JGSCV), on Sunday, February 13.

The program runs from 1.30-3.30pm at Temple Adat Elohim, 2420 E. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks. There is no charge to attend.

Speaker Hal Bookbinder will present "Why Did Our Ancestors Leave a Nice Place Like the Pale?"

Most Jewish genealogists are aware of the pogroms and mass exodus of our ancestors over the next generation. Hal's talk will provide background on the 120 years of the Pale from its formation at the turn of the 19th century to its dissolution during WWI.

Understanding this period in history provides context to the lives of our ancestors in the Pale, and their decision to leave everything behind for new lives elsewhere. The Pale of Settlement, in the Russian Empire, included much of  present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Moldova, Ukraine and parts of western Russia.

The Pale afforded permanent residency to Jews, and beyond its borders, Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited.

Hal Bookbinder has been researching eight family lines for more than 27 years, identifying 4,000 relatives and tracing two lines into the mid-1700s. A JGSCV founding member and former JGSLA and IAJGS president, he created and continues to edit the annual Jewish Genealogical Yearbook.

In 2010, he received the IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to Jewish Genealogy, and was recently elected to the JewishGen Board of Governors. He has spoken at numerous conferences, synagogues and society meetings on topics from computing to geography to brick walls.

For more information, contact the JGSCV or view its website.

New York: Moroccan henne ceremony, February 6

Looking for an ethnic alternative to Super Bowl Sunday?

The American Sephardi Foundation will present a re-enactment of the traditional Moroccan pre-wedding ceremony called berberisca or henne, on Sunday, February 6.

The program begins at 4pm at the Center for Jewish History, in New York.

It is part of a year-long series - "2,000 Years of Jewish Life in Morocco: An Epic Journey" - presented under the patronage of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, and made possible through the generous support of the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation.

Tableau Vivant: The Berberisca Ceremony (A Living Picture)
Among the traditional ceremonies of the Moroccan Jews, the richest, most original and picturesque is the "Noche de Berberisca" or "Noche de Paños" (according to the Northern Moroccan Jews, who used to live in the former Spanish zone of Morocco), or the "Henne" or "Soiree du Henne," as it is called in the Southern Moroccan communities. The ceremony takes place during the week that precedes the wedding, in an atmosphere full of joy and emotion. It is enhanced with Sephardic songs, or Judeo-Arabic music, fashion, delicious dishes and pastries made with almonds and honey. The evening reaches its climax when the bride makes her entrance magnificently made up and dressed in the Berberisca "Traje de Paños", or "Vestido de Berberisca" (Spanish), or "Keswa Elkibra" (Great Dress or Grand Dress in Arabic). Moroccan Tea and pastries will be served.

Tickets: $18 General Admission/$12 ASF members. Advance registration requested.

Ohio: Learn about Family Tree Maker, February 6

Cleveland-area residents will learn about Family Tree Maker software at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland, on Sunday, February 6.

"Family Tree Maker - What it can and can't do for you" begins at 1.30pm, at the Park Synagogue East, 27500 Shaker Boulevard, Pepper Pike, Ohio.

Speaker John Stoika of the Cuyahoga Valley Genealogical Society is also the past president and member of the Computer Assisted Genealogy Group (CAGG)

For more information on this program and the March 28 program for beginners, click the JGS of Cleveland website.