Colorado: Memoir writing workshop, May 13

If you don't write the history of your family, who will?

The Jewish Genealogy Society of Colorado, under the leadership of Ellen Shindelman Kowitt, is an active group offering several programs each month.

The next program is a "Memoir Writing Workshop for the Family Historian," with Susan Jacobs, set for 6.30pm, Thursday, May 13, at Temple Emanuel, Denver.

Discover the joy of memoir writing in Jacobs' stimulating and fun workshop for family historians, regardless of whether or not they've written anything previously.

Jacobs holds a BA in oral interpretation of literature (USC) and an interdiscplinary gerontology certificate (University of Denver). She has 30 years of teaching experience and 18 years teaching memoir writing at such venues as Regis University and the Denver Jewish Community Center.

In addition to monthly programs, the JGS of Colorado also offers a community genealogy education series for which it received some interesting grants which could be duplicated in other communities. For more information on the JGSCo's programs, including resources and useful links, see the website above.

For more information, click here.

Kaifeng: Shi Lei's US lecture tour begins

Shi Lei, a descendant of one of the original Kaifeng Jewish families, is now on a US speaking tour sponsored by Kulanu..

Tracing the Tribe encourages readers who live in or near the communities where he will speak to attend the program.

Wooden model, Kaifeng Synagogue

Beit Hatefutsot-Museum of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv

He's already spoken in Maryland and he'll also be in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Texas, Ontario, California, Georgia and New Jersey.

In his talk, Shi Lei discusses the history of this unique community, presents a slideshow and information on his community's origins, how they preserved their identity under near-impossible circumstances and centuries of isolation isolated from the mainstream Jewish world.

Above right is the wooden model of the ancient Kaifeng Synagogue at Beit Hatefutsoth-Museum of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv.

He discusses Jewish traditions preserved through the centuries. It's not all about the past, as he talks about the young people of his community and their desire to learn more about their origins; 18 are now studying in Israel and several have made aliyah.

A graduate of China's Henan University, Shi Lei studied Jewish history and religion at Israel's Bar Ilan University (2001-2002) and spent two more years at Jerusalem's Machon Meir Yeshiva. He now works as a national tour guide, providing private and group tours to Jewish sites in China. The New York Times Travel Section recently called him “licensed, charming and experienced.”

For more information, click here or here or view Kulanu’s slide show on the history of the Kaifeng Jews.

The remainder of Shi Lei's tour includes:

Visit the links above for more information on Kulanu, its activities and to donate to the organization in support of those activities.

Monday, May 3, 7.30pm
Jewish Community Center of the North Shore, Marblehead, Massachusetts

Tuesday, May 4 8pm
Beth Hillel Cong. Bnai Emunah, Wilmette, Illinois

Wednesday,May 5, 7.30pm
Congregation Agudath Jacob, Waco, Texas

Friday, May 7, 6.15pm
Congregation B’nai Zion, El Paso, Texas

Monday, May 10, 7.30pm
JCC/Ansche Chesed, New York City

Wednesday, May 12, 7pm
Temple Isaiah, Lexington, Massachusetts

Thursday, May 13, afternoon
Taping, Israel Today TV interview, Toronto, Canada

Thursday, May 13, 7pm
Darchei Noam, Toronto, Canada

Monday, May 17, 7pm
Temple Adat Shalom, Poway, California

Tuesday, May 18, 3pm
Taping, Jewish Life TV interview, Encino, California

Tuesday, May 18, 8pm
Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, Pasadena, California

Wednesday, May 19, 6pm
Tustin, California

Friday, May 21, 7pm
Saturday, May 22, 10am
Mickve Israel, Savannah, Georgia

Sunday, May 23, 10.30am
Temple Beth Tikvah, Wayne, New Jersey

Technology: The future, dot by dot

Remember these colorful candy dots on long strips of paper? Now there are nanodots. They may not be as as colorful but, in the future, may be just as sweet.

Tired of carrying around your family history paper charts, or using an iPhone that gets heavier as you add data to various genealogy apps?

Yes, Tracing the Tribe knows that iPhones really don't get heavier as you add information. Just wanted to get your attention.

In any case, North Carolina State University researchers have developed a computer chip that can store a huge amount of data - an entire library's information on a single chip - using nanodots.

The single crystal nanodots create magnetic sensors integrated into a silicon electronic chip. Yes, I know that your eyes just glazed over, except for the techies out there.

“We have created magnetic nanodots that store one bit of information on each nanodot, allowing us to store over one billion pages of information in a chip that is one square inch,” says Dr. Jay Narayan, the John C. Fan Distinguished Chair Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at NC State and author of the research.

However, the question is how this new technology may help genealogists, database developers and others. And more technology must be developed to utilize it properly.

The entire Ellis Island Database, along with Steve Morse's rainbow of One-Step search forms, all the federal censuses? Everything on one tiny chip? Stick it in some sort of reader to be developed and you might not even need the Internet. Ha!

Read more about the “Self Assembly of epitaxial magnetic nanostructures” at the link above

What uses can you think up for such an item? The future is here.

New York: Three Catalan Sephardic programs, May 2-4

The American Sephardi Federation has scheduled three programs from Sunday, May 2-Tuesday, May 4.

-- A History of Jewish Catalonia
4pm, Sunday, May 2

A lecture on this book, along with a sale and signing, will feature authors Sílvia Planas and Manuel Forcano.

This beautifully illustrated book traces the rich and fertile history of the Jews in Catalonia from the time of the late Roman Empire and the Early Middle Ages, until the drastic decree of expulsion by the Catholic Monarchs.

It captures their wedding songs, the smells from their cooking pots, and reconstructs the soaring intellectual edifice they created despite the difficulties of a daily life fraught with religious persecution and social degradation.
 
The program is in collaboration with and the support of NYU's Catalan Center, an affiliate of the Institut Ramon Llull, and the European Institute of the Mediterranean

Fee: ASF members/students, free; others $5. It will take place at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, NYC. Reservations requested.

-- A Certain Identity: Crypto Jews Around the World
6.30pm, Monday, May 3

Thousands of Iberian Jews went "underground" at the time of the Inquisition and the expulsion from Spain. They dispersed across Europe, across the ocean to South America and the Caribbean, to North Africa and the Middle East. With tremendous tenacity, they preserved their heritage, married among themselves, and passed it down from generation to generation.

Gloria Mound, Director of the Casa Shalom-Institute for Anusim Studies in Israel, will illuminate their fascinating history, their presence in the Caribbean and in European countries, as well as previously unsuspected links with French Huguenots.

Fee: ASF members/students, $5; others $10. It will take place at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, NYC. Reservations requested.

-- Traces of Esther: The Jewish Presence in Contemporary Catalan Literature
6.30pm, Tuesday, May 4

Manuel Forcano, PhD (Semitic Philology), poet and essayist, will offer a Catalan perspective on Jewish culture as reflected in the writings of the great 19th and 20th century Catalan authors. Offering rich passages from the literature, Dr. Forcano will guide us from the negative stereotypes of the 19th century, through the fascination with Israel as both a religious and political inspiration, and the Bible and the Talmud as references, to the emergence of a modern, nuanced view of the place of Jewish culture in Catalonia.

The program is in collaboration with and the support of NYU's Catalan Center and the European Institute of the Mediterranean.

Fee: no charge. It will take place at the King Juan Carlos Center, 53 Washington Square South (bet. Sullivan & Thompson Streets). Reservations requested.

Canada: Yiddish oxen, tractors in Saskatchewan

The Yiddish Book Center (Amherst, Massachusetts) sends out periodic newsletters on books and events.

The latest update, just received by Tracing the Tribe, has several interesting items, particularly a Yiddish book on a Saskatchewan farming community and an update on the Hania, Crete synagogue fire and attempts at rebuilding its destroyed library.

Learning how our ancestors lived is key to understanding who they were and how they coped with local conditions.

When, in 1911, Michael Usiskin arrived in the Jewish settlement of Edenbridge, in northeastern Saskatchewan, he and the other pioneers struggled.

Weather conditions, isolation and other factors contributed to their attempt to form Jewish cultural life. He recorded this life in his 1945 Yiddish book, Oksn un motorn (Oxen and Tractors).

To learn more about this book, click here.

Readers may remember the devasting fire at the Hania, Crete synagogue that destroyed its library. Many people have already donated books to rebuild that important resource. The drawing at left is part of director Nikos Stravroulakis' drawing of the town.

Click here to read the thank you message from Stavroulakis and his staff. Read the names of those who donated books and see an interactive map, as well as a list of books they still need.

Subscribe to the National Yiddish Book Center's newsletter.

Florida: Share success, May 12

Researchers are often frustrated by brick walls and remaining gaps in family history, but we also love to hear about colleagues who have made considerable progress and to share their success.


Some 15 years ago, Tracing the Tribe was looking for relatives from Mogilev, who had settled in Detroit, Michigan. The strategy included sending out, via snail mail, a stack of letters to those with the same or similar names. The letter explained why I was looking for those family members and included my contact information. I received quite a few answers.

My favorite response: "I'm not a member of that family, but I do know them. Here's their contact information." While some may consider this strategy a long shot - only one good response is needed to find those whom you seek.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Palm Beach County - celebrating its 19th year - will hold its annual SOS ("Share Our Success") membership meeting on Wednesday, May 12. The day runs from 12.30-3pm at the South County Civic Center in Delray Beach.

The agenda includes a Brick Wall Session, election and installation of officers and the main program starts at 1pm.

Three members will share their successful research stories and explain the methods used to trace their families:

• Dr. Gary Stone will give a PowerPoint presentation "Barney's Story," a moving narrative of a family member who was responsible for bringing most of his family (more than 50 persons) to the USA.
• Dorothy Bernstein will share her research success finding family members despite the many changes in the spelling of the family name. Her persistence in searching for vital records enabled her to discover the various spellings were actually in the same family.
• Glenn Segal will discuss how to make successful research contacts through phoning.

The annual program provides a wealth of genealogical research information. It is always one of the most popular events of the year. Q&A follows the presentations; members are invited to discuss their own success stories.

For more information on the program, or to submit questions for the Brick Wall discussion, e-mail program chair Helene Seaman.

Yizkor Book Project: Additions and updates during April

The dedicated volunteers at the Yizkor Book Project at JewishGen were busy in April. See below for the complete list of additions, new projects, updates and more.

Four new Translation Fund Projects have been organized for Debica and Grajewo (Poland), Leova (Romania) and Olkeniki (Lithuania). These projects collect funds to hire professional translators so these books can be made accessible online. Readers with roots in these geographical locations (and others) are invited to contribute to the Translation Fund.

The list, with links to each community, is organized by country:
(NP=New Project; N=New Entry; U=Updated)

AUSTRIA

NP -- Neunkirchen (The Holy Community of Neunkirchen: A story of Jews in their native land)

BELARUS

NP -- Disna (Disna; memorial book of the community)
U -- Antopol (Shards of Memory: Messages from the Lost Shtetl of Antopol)
U -- Ruzhany (Rozana; a memorial book to the Jewish community)
U -- Smarhon (Smorgon) (Smorgonie, District Vilna; memorial book and testimony)
U -- Voronovo (Voronovo: Memorial Book to the Martyrs of Voronovo)

LITHUANIA

N -- Backininkeliai (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Balsiai (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Baltiskis  (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Baltmiskis  (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Baltusova (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Baranas (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Bariunai (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Barova (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Barsenai (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Barstyciai (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Bartininkai (Pinkas Lita)

POLAND

NP -- Grojec (Grizer Scroll)
NP -- Grudki (Horodok; in memory of the Jewish community)
NP - Serock (The book of Serock)
N -- Baligrod (Memorial book; dedicated to the Jews of Linsk, Istrik and vicinity)
N -- Lutowiska (Memorial book; dedicated to the Jews of Linsk, Istrik and vicinity)
N -- Ustrzyki Dolne (Memorial book; dedicated to the Jews of Linsk, Istrik and vicinity)
U -- Bedzin (A Memorial to the Jewish Community of Bendin)
U -- Bialystok (The chronicle of Bialystok)
U -- Brzeziny (Brzeziny memorial book)
U -- Chelm (Commemoration book Chelm)
U -- Czyzew-Osada (Czyzewo Memorial Book)
U -- Dabrowa Gornicza (Book of the Jewish Community of Dabrowa Gornicza and its Destruction)
U -- Debica (The Book of Dembitz) - additions to Polish section
U -- Kaluszyn (The Memorial Book of Kaluszyn) - necrology
U -- Katowice (Katowice: the Rise and Decline of the Jewish community; Memorial Book)
U -- Kutno (Kutno and Surroundings Book)
U -- Lesko (Memorial book; dedicated to the Jews of Linsk, Istrik and vicinity)
U -- Miedzyrzec Podlaski (Mezritsh book, in memory of the martyrs of our city)
U -- Opoczno (The Book of Opoczno: memorial for the destroyed community)
U -- Piotrkow Trybunalski (A Tale of One City: Piotrkow Trybunalski)
U -- Ryki (A memorial to the community of Ryki, Poland) - additions to Polish section
U -- Zelechow (Memorial Book of the Community of Zelechow ) - added pictures to Polish section

UKRAINE

N -- Skhodnitsa (Memorial to the Jews of Drohobycz, Boryslaw and surroundings)
U -- Kolomyya (Memorial book of Kolomey and surroundings)
U -- Ivano-Frankivsk (Towns and Mother-cities in Israel: Memorial of the Jewish Communities which Perished)
U -- Vystosk (Our town, Visotsk; Memorial Book)

See all additions and updates flagged here.

Seattle: Bennett Greenspan, May 10

FamilyTreeDNA.com founder Bennett Greenspan will speak on the new genetic genealogy test at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State on Monday, May 10.

The program is titled "The Y Chromosome and Beyond: Tracing Your Genealogy with the 'Other' DNA."

It begins at 7.30pm in the Stroum JCC Auditorium on Mercer Island. Doors open at 7pm, the JSWS library will be available, along with Wi-Fi.

Many genealogists have been using genetic genealogy, and specifically FamilyTreeDNA.com, to learn more about their ancestors and find relatives using Y-DNA for paternal lines and mtDNA for maternal lines.

The tests have been essential tools in exploring recent and early Jewish roots, including links among Ashkenazim and Sephardim (such as in the IberianAshkenaz DNA Project, co-administered by Judy Simon and myself).

Now there's a new test that uses autosomal chromosomes to look for close relationships along all ancestral lines, and can find links between male and female cousins across all family lines for the past five generations. Bennett will explain the new test in detail and provide exciting examples of new matches. He will also discuss the nuances of Y-DNA and mtDNA testing.

Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Bennett is the founder/CEO of FamilyTreeDNA.com. He spent years investigating his maternal grandfather's ancestors - an obsession that turned into a full-time vocation and led him to become a founder of the growing field now known as genetic genealogy. FamilyTreeDNA and other cooperative ventures, including the National Geographic Society’s Genographic Project and AfricanDNA.com, now comprise the largest non-medical DNA testing program in the world.

Fee: JGSWS members, free; others, $5. For more information, click here.