We are all African: DNA

Dr. Spencer Wells is explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society and the director of the Genographic Project. His article in the July issue of Vanity Fair magazine is thought-provoking.

To learn about the Genographic Project, click here

Do you think you know who you are? Maybe Irish, Italian, Jewish, Chinese, or one of the dozens of other hyphenated Americans that make up the United States melting pot? Think deeper - beyond the past few hundred years. Back beyond genealogy, where everyone loses track of his or her ancestry - back in that dark, mysterious realm we call prehistory.

What if I told you every single person in America - every single person on earth - is African? With a small scrape of cells from the inside of anyone's cheek, the science of genetics can even prove it.
To read how it works, how each person has received DNA from their parents and so on for "millions of generations to the very beginning of life on earth," read Spencer Well's article in Vanity Fair here.

The end result: If you share a marker with someone, you share an ancestor with him or her at some point in the past: the person whose DNA first had the marker that defines your shared lineage. These markers can be traced to relatively specific times and places as humans moved across the globe. The farther back in time and the closer to Africa we get, the more markers we all share.

Take some time and read the entire article.

Syrian Jewry conference

I was sorry to have missed the late May Bar Ilan University conference - Syrian Jewry: History, Identity and Heritage. The event's extensive and interesting topic list was sponsored by the World Center for the Heritage of Aleppo Jewry and the Association of Jews from Damascus in Israel.

Topics included genealogy, architecture, history, literature, music, immigration, religion, women and others. More information is at the Dahan Center, dahan.center@mail.biu.ac.il.

The event included exhibits of inlaid metal implements from Damascus and Damascus-style metalware by Bezalel, a display of Judaic paintings; Syrian music and a film, The Man Who was not Afraid of Peace.

Presenters included Dr. Yaron Harel, Dr. Noam Stillman, Dr. Yom Tov Assis, Dr. Minna Rozen, Dr. Avraham David and others, as well as Sarina Roffe of Brooklyn, who focuses on Syrian genealogy.

Genealogical topics included the Farhi, Antebi, Elmaliah and Safra families, and even the Syrian-Jewish kitchen

History included the Jews of Damascus and Aleppo in the 17th century and more contemporary times, ties between Aleppo and London, the Brooklyn Diaspora, rescue of Syrian Jews, Jews under Assad, Syrian illegal immigration and aliyah, indigenous Arab Jews in 16th century Damascus, and Syrian Jews in Latin America.

Included were women Zionists in Damascus and the role of women in preserving community traditions.

Music covered a Damascus Cantor's notebook, musical tradition of Aleppo, Syrian cantors in Brooklyn.

The conference covered far-ranging subjects by outstanding researchers.

The Jews of Iran: A simple view

YnetNews posted a recent interview with non-Jewish Ramin Farahani, director of The Jews of Iran, which will be screened (along with 43 other films) at the 27th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy (July 15-20 in Salt Lake City).

Although the film should be seen as one portrayal of contemporary Jewish life in Iran, the interview - with a director who admittedly knew little about this ancient community and a reporter who understood less - was simplistic. It persists with stereotyping of certain cities and values (materialism and education) within the community.

Among reader comments was the question on why Persians use classical Persian names instead of "Jewish" names. At least Farahani answered that one correctly - with 2,700 years of life in Iran, its Jews are Persian and typical Persian names, taken from classic literature and used by all religions in the country, are a natural outgrowth of that long association and history.

Readers should not dismiss the fact that Farahani is not Jewish and that his governmental permit to make the film necessarily entailed restrictions and censorship. It must also be understood that the community in Iran does not feel confident in revealing what might be more correct answers to what Farahani attempted to show.

As someone who has lived in Iran and the U.S - within the community - I am dubious about the comments and motives of those who appeared in the film.

Farahani, according to the story, is soon returning to Iran, and his interview in Israel ahead of a recent screening of the film, may not have been the safest thing he has done, considering the current state of affairs.

The interview is here.

Who do Canadians think they are?

Our neighbors to the north will be getting their own version of the extremely popular British genealogy series, Who Do You Think You Are?

CBC offered a slate of fall shows that, according to an article in the Globe and Mail, was "less stuffy and more ebullient with a sexier slate of longer-running shows."

Among them:

CBC's documentary unit will air a 13-part genealogy series, Who Do You Think You Are?, in which well-known Canadians (Don Cherry, Chantal Kreviazuk, Shaun Majumder) set out to discover their family roots.

I wonder when a major U.S. broadcaster will do the same?

Back to the Mountains: The 13th Catskills Conference

Last summer, I returned to the Catskills - after more than three decades - for the 12th Catskills Institute Conference.

Our family had spent every summer at my grandparents' (Sid and Bertha Fink) bungalow colony in Kauneonga Lake, quite close to where Catskill Institute founder Phil Brown's family had their property.

It was also the first time I had stayed at a real Borscht Belt hotel. Phil, a Brown University sociology professor, presented at the 2006 International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in New York and was very well received by a roomful of appropriately nostalgic individuals.

This year's event runs August 24-26 at Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello.
Speakers will include Jim Landis and Barbara Autrey, “Alfred Landis – Postcard Artist Extraordinaire;” Andrew Jacobs and Charles Swietarski, “Four Seasons Lodge: A Bungalow Colony of Holocaust Survivors; ”Joe Dorinson and Henry Foner, "Sam Levenson – From Classroom to Stand-Up.” Others will be announced.

The documentary pre-release of “Four Seasons Lodge” is based on the property whose residents were Holocaust survivors, by producer/director of photography Albert Maysles, under direction of New York Times reporter Andrew Jacobs.

The new bus tour this year will focus on Ellenville and will be led by author/historian Irwin Richman, whose talents were recognized on last year's tour of another area.

There will be an opening night event with a slide show of Catskills history, accompanied by live music.

The Catskills Institute publishes the newsletter “In the Mountains,” runs a website, coordinates research activities, and maintains the largest Jewish Catskills archive in the world. Phil is always looking for new items, so if you've got a neat T-shirt from your day camp years, postcards, photographs or other items, do contact him.

The conference fee is $60; the bus tour is $25 additional. Registration forms are here. For hotel reservations, contact Kutsher's.

While there is no requirement to stay at the hotel, the experience is well worth it. Our table of very interesting people from New York, Hawaii and elsewhere produced non-stop fun. One couple had met at the hotel and returned every year. Our family had spent summers at the bungalow colony, so we never stayed at the hotels, and it was a brand-new experience for me.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend this year due to travel plans, but I encourage other readers to return to the mountains.

Cruise the Mountain roads of the Catskills Institute website, or email Phil, catskills@brown.edu

The Jews of Libya: A rare glimpse

Little-known communities hold special interest for genealogists interested in Jewish history.

The recent documentary, The Last Jews of Libya, is narrated by Isabella Rossellini and directed by Vivienne Roumani-Denn.

It traces the final decades of an ancient Sephardic community seen through the eyes of the Roumani family. By the end of WWII, about 36,000 Jews lived there - there are none today.

Based on memoirs of family matriarch Elise Roumani, it offers interviews in English, Hebrew, Italian, Arabic, as well as archival film and photographs.

The family is from Benghazi and the film traces them from Ottoman rule through Mussolini and Hitler to their immigration when faced with Arab nationalism.

To learn more, click here.

Jewish Genealogy's main event begins July 15

If you're still sitting on the fence about attending the 27th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, July 15-20, in Salt Lake City, here are some things you won't want to miss.

According to event chairs Hal Bookbinder and Michael Brenner, time is running out for the special conference room rate of only $119 per night at the four-star Hilton, only a few blocks from the Family History Library. The rate, good for 1-4 people will expire Friday, June 29.

To view the full program and plan your activities, click here.

Along with sessions geared to every level and every interest, and unparalleled research opportunities at the Family History Library, conference registrants will be able enjoy a series of films in a dedicated theater on the conference floor, free access to subscription databases and detailed European maps, three evening receptions, a world-class photographic exhibit, a wide array of special interest group (SIG) programming and events, and many cultural and natural attractions that the Salt Lake City area has to offer.

The sessions will include the latest on the opening of the Arolsen archives, upcoming improvements at CIS (formerly INS) to allow faster access to genealogical records, the latest from JewishGen, the incomparable Stephen Morse on his ever growing collection of on-line tools, a full day of focused sessions on DNA and genetics, and more. For more on the program and to register, go
to the conference website.

I'm looking forward to greeting Tracing the Tribe's readers, so please say hello at the conference!

Next stops: Seattle, WA; Vancouver, BC

Hello, readers.

I've been traveling up the West Coast, from Los Angeles to Los Altos to Monterey and north again to San Francisco to attend the American Jewish Press Association conference.

At the meeting of the JGS of San Francisco Bay, the fascinating topic was pre-1906 earthquake records. The JGS is involved in indexing many pertinent Jewish records.

In a week, I'll be in Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, B.C. to speak and visit with friends and family.

From 10 a.m.-noon Sunday, July 1, I'm speaking to a Sephardic/Mizrahi group in Seattle's Seward Park neighborhood for those whose families come from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran. It is part of a worldwide effort to preserve Sephardic and Mizrahi experiences and history.

For information on reservations and address, contact chair Albert Israel, jewishalbert@yahoo.com. For more information, click here.

I will be in Vancouver for a meeting jointly sponsored by the Jewish Genealogy Institute of British Columbia and the new Jewish Museum and Archives, at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Vancouver, 950 W. 41st Avenue, at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 8.

Back in Seattle on Monday, July 9, I'll speak at 7 p.m. at Mercer Island's Stroum Jewish Community Center, co-sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State and the Jewish Education Council of the Seattle Jewish Federation, as part of their Summer University series.

For more information, click here, or email AdultEd@JewishInSeattle.org.

I'm looking forward to these opportunities to encourage everyone to begin preserving unique family histories.

In the next few days, I'll be posting a batch of new entries, so stay tuned!

With best wishes,

Schelly