Date: January 24, 2021
Event: Jewish Ethnicity & DNA: History, Migration, Genetics
Guest Speaker: Schelly Talalay Dardashti and Maria Apodoca
Bio: Schelly Talalay Dardashti is a journalist, genealogist, and founder of the award-winning “Tracing the Tribe – Jewish Genealogy on Facebook” (37,000+ members/101-countries). She is the US Genealogy Advisor for MyHeritage.com
Schelly was an early proponent of DNA for genealogy, and co-admins several DNA projects at FamilyTreeDNA. She has traced her Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Mizrahi roots across Europe and the Middle East for more than 35 years. Her articles have appeared in JTA, Reform Judaism, Hadassah, NGS Quarterly, Avotaynu, and numerous Jewish and general genealogy publications. Schelly is a founding member, Centro Sefarad NM (New Mexico); president, JGS of New Mexico; and media coordinator, Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies.
Maria Apodaca’s family has been in New Mexico since arriving with the Juan Onate expedition in 1598. She was born and raised a Catholic in Albuquerque before finding out, at 14, her family’s true heritage. She made her return to Judaism in 1999 and is active in many Jewish organizations. Her affiliations include: founding member and event coordinator, Centro Sefarad NM;
vice president, Jewish Genealogical Society of New Mexico; outreach coordinator, Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies; and member, New Mexico Jewish Historical Society. She shares her personal story and the Sephardic saga, as a speaker (since 2016) for the Road Scholars program.
Date: February 7, 2021
Event: Beginning Genealogy Jewish Research
Guest Speaker: J.D. Arden, CJH
Description: Best paid and free databases for U.S. Records, search for your ancestors in U.S. birth, marriage, & death records, census records, immigration & naturalization records, etc. The New York Public Library is currently offering New York residents free access to these databases from home. To get an online library card, visit nypl.org/books-music-movies/ebookcentral/simplye. If you already have a library card, open these databases at nypl.org/collections/articles-databases. Ancestry.com: Search for your ancestors in many types of U.S. records. Newspapers.com: Search for your ancestors in U.S. historical newspapers and obituaries.
Bio: J.D. Arden is the Reference and Genealogy Librarian at the Center for Jewish History and teaches (online now) for LIU-Post. (Long Island University Post). He graduated with a Master’s from Pratt Institute’s Information School, and with a Bachelor’s from Brandeis University. He writes for the CJH blog at cjh.org/blog/JD-Arden and is one of the co-hosts of the live video series “Genealogy Coffee Break” on Facebook. He brings training opportunities in Sign Language to CJH staff out of personal interest and to make our work more accessible.
Date: February 14, 2021
Event: Advanced Genealogy Research with Focus on Research in Other Countries
Guest Speaker: J.D. Arden, CJH
Description: This presentation focuses on research strategies while exploring ancestral countries, towns and regions, indexers, directories, databases and documents from the “old country”.
Bio: J.D. Arden is the Reference and Genealogy Librarian at the Center for Jewish History and teaches (online now) for LIU-Post. (Long Island University Post). He graduated with a Master’s from Pratt Institute’s Information School, and with a Bachelor’s from Brandeis University. He writes for the CJH blog at cjh.org/blog/JD-Arden and is one of the co-hosts of the live video series “Genealogy Coffee Break” on Facebook. He brings training opportunities in Sign Language to CJH staff out of personal interest and to make our work more accessible.
Date: March 14, 2021
Event: Research Jewish Genealogical Resources on the Internet
Guest Speaker: Daniel Horowitz
Check out the latest MyHeritage innovations to expand your research! Explore advanced MyHeritage features that will enhance your family tree and make the most of your DNA results. Learn more about the Pedigree Tree, Pedigree Map™, Tree Consistency Checker, the Theory of Family Relativity™, AutoClusters, and many more.
BIO: Dedicated to Genealogy since 1986, Daniel was the teacher and the study guide editor of the family history project “Searching for My Roots” in Venezuela for 15 years. He was a board member of The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) for 10 years, now is involved in several crowdsource digitization and transcription projects, and holds a board-level position at The Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA). Since 2006 Daniel has been working at MyHeritage liaising with genealogy societies, bloggers, and media, as well as lecturing, and attending conferences around the world.
Date: April 18, 2021
Event: DNA Basics and Beyond
Guest Speaker: David Ellis
Description: Are you considering taking a DNA test? Have you taken a DNA test to learn about your ancestry? Are you confused by the results? This presentation covers the kinds of tests available, the major DNA testing services and the differences between them, and how to interpret your results to get the most out of them. Learn about Jewish genealogy DNA challenges.
Bio: David Ellis is JGSGB Board member and leader of the Litvak and Galicia SIGs. He discovered dozens of ancestors unknown to his relatives and initiated contact with distant cousins who were out of touch for many years. He enjoys helping people research their ancestry and is writing a document describing his research.
Date: May 2, 2021
Event: Advanced MyHeritage Jewish Genealogical Resources
Guest Speaker: Daniel Horowitz
Check out the latest MyHeritage innovations to expand your research! Explore advanced MyHeritage features that will enhance your family tree and make the most of your DNA results. Learn more about the Pedigree Tree, Pedigree Map™, Tree Consistency Checker, the Theory of Family Relativity™, AutoClusters, and many more.
BIO: Dedicated to Genealogy since 1986, Daniel was the teacher and the study guide editor of the family history project “Searching for My Roots” in Venezuela for 15 years. He was a board member of The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) for 10 years, now is involved in several crowdsource digitization and transcription projects, and holds a board-level position at The Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA). Since 2006 Daniel has been working at MyHeritage liaising with genealogy societies, bloggers, and media, as well as lecturing, and attending conferences around the world.
Date: June 6, 2021
Event: A Taste of Jewish Genealogy in Poland
Guest Speaker: Tomasz Cebulski
Description: Tomasz joins us from Krakow for this program on why, when, and how to
conduct genealogical research. Tomasz will share his favorite online resources before
demonstrating how he combines research, maps, photography, video and drone
documentation in search of Polish Jewry. We will make a virtual visit to Brzesko in
former Galicia, once a vibrant center of Jewish life.
Bio: Tomasz Cebulski Ph.D., has worked professionally as a Jewish genealogist for ever 20-years perfecting his knowledge on archival resources in Poland and Central Europe.
He is a scholar in genocide studies and changing patterns of Holocaust and Auschwitz memory. Tomasz is a historical memory analyst, guide and author of “Auschwitz after Auschwitz”. He is the founder of Polin Travel and Sky Heritage Pictures.
Date: July 18, 2021
Event: The Changing Borders of Eastern Europe
Guest Speaker: Hal Bookbinder
Description: As Russia expanded west, it absorbed millions of Jews. This talk examines Russiaʼs efforts to limit the Jews in its territories and the associated border changes impacting our ancestors. With them, town names, record-keeping and archive locations might change. This overview may help researchers in determining where records might be located, their format and languages. The JewishGen Town Finder and the Encyclopedia Judaica are two excellent resources for determining in what country your town was located at specific times
Bio: Hal writes and lectures extensively on diverse genealogical topics, including border changes, migration, citizenship, safe computing, Jewish culture and Jewish history. He has identified over 4,000 relatives reaching back to the mid-1700s in modern Ukraine. Other roots reach into adjacent areas of Moldova, Poland, Belarus and Russia. He has served as president of the IAJGS and has been honored with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Professionally, he is a retired healthcare IT director and currently a university instructor.
Date: August 22, 2021
Never Give Up – Strategies for Taking Your Genealogy Research to theNext Level and Finding the Previously Unfindable
Guest Speaker: Marion Werle
Description: This completely updated talk is a collection of problem-solving strategies to maximize your research efforts. Topics include maximizing web searches, multiple search strategies, using non-indexed records, going beyond what is online, using research logs, names and name variations, strategies for researching common names, the role of geography, revisiting old
research with new eyes, obtaining the most out of the records you find, alternate approaches to solving genealogical problems, and the importance of persistence in genealogical research.
Bio: Marion Werle began family history research 25 years ago, researching family from Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus, who settled in the US, Canada, UK, and Israel. She has been on the boards of JGSLA and JGSCV (Conejo Valley/Ventura County) and is a past president and founding member of the Latvia SIG (Special Interest Group). She is currently on the board of the revitalized JewishGen Latvia Research Division. A retired IT professional with masterʼs degrees in both European History and Library Science from
UCLA, she has written two unpublished family histories. One, The Skuders from Skud, traces her Litvak grandmotherʼs family. She successfully completed the Boston University Genealogical Research Certificate and recently completed the ProGen study group. She has an ongoing interest in applying general genealogical methodology standards to Jewish research. She is a member of the JewishGen Latvia and Belarus Research Divisions, as well as the Litvak SIG. Marion has also spoken at several IAJGS conferences and local genealogical societies in the Southern California area. She was a member of the Southern California Genealogical Society Writers Group for several years, which gave her the opportunity to hone her family history writing skills.
Date: September 19, 2021
Event: Belarus: Jewish History & Research Strategy in the Archives
Guest Speaker: Yuri Dorn, Coordinator of Jewish Heritage
Research Group in Belarus
Description:: This presentation includes a Jewish history of Belarus plus research tips and techniques. Including an overview of available documents such as: family lists, revision lists , censuses, metric, draft , homeowners, and business owners. Other documents include- foreign passports, voter registration, ship manifest and tombstone inscriptions.
Bio: Yuri Dorn is a well known genealogist, specializing in Jewish genealogy and ancestral tourism to Belarus. He founded Jewish Heritage Research Group in 2002, which consists of professional historians, genealogists and certified English speaking guides. Yuri and his staff are not only working in Belorusian archives and arranging ancestral tours to Belarus, but they also put a lot of efforts into restoration and preservation of Jewish heritage in Belarus.
Date: October 22, 2021
Event: O’ Canada! Researching Your Canadian Jewish Ancestors from Afar
Guest Speaker: Marion Werle
Description: This presentation concentrates on internet-based Canadian family research that can be done from virtually anywhere. The focus is on the major years of Jewish immigration to Canada after 1880 and ranges from Jewish farming settlements in the Canadian West to immigration to larger cities. The presentation covers the major sources of Canadian genealogical records – government, general genealogy websites, educational and other institutions – and includes ship manifests, naturalization records, Canadian census and census substitutes, city directories, voter lists, 1940 residence records, Jewish communal institutions, vital records, cemetery data, military records and local histories.
Bio: Marion Werle began family history research 25 years ago, researching family from Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus, who settled in the US, Canada, UK, and Israel. She has been on the boards of JGSLA and JGSCV (Conejo Valley/Ventura County) and is a past president and founding member of the Latvia SIG (Special Interest Group). She is currently on the board of the revitalized JewishGen Latvia Research Division. A retired IT professional with masterʼs degrees in both European History and Library Science from
UCLA, she has written two unpublished family histories. One, The Skuders from Skud, traces her Litvak grandmotherʼs family. She successfully completed the Boston University Genealogical Research Certificate and recently completed the ProGen study group. She has an ongoing interest in applying general genealogical methodology standards to Jewish research. She is a member of the JewishGen Latvia and Belarus Research Divisions, as well as the Litvak SIG. Marion has also spoken at several IAJGS conferences and local genealogical societies in the Southern California area. She was a member of the Southern California Genealogical Society Writers Group for several years, which gave her the opportunity to hone her family history writing skills.
Sunday, November 14, 2021, 1pm Pacific Time
Guest Speaker: Risa Daitzman Heywood, Professional Genealogist
The Power of the Catalog – Unindexed Records and How to Find Them
Did you know that over 75% of the records available on FamilySearch cannot be accessed by a simple records search? Did you know that Ancestry has record collections that are available to browse but that cannot be searched because they are not yet indexed? While digitizing records is relatively fast and inexpensive, indexing those records is much costlier. Many online repositories have made these records available for browsing but working with them can be a challenge. This presentation will show you how to find and use these unindexed records to greatly enhance your research.
About Risa Daitzman Heywood
Risa Daitzman Heywood has been involved with Jewish genealogy for over 25 years. She is Past-President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado, served as co-chair of the original Belarus SIG, travelled to Belarus as a JewishGen Shtetl Now defunct) liaison. Risa earned a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University, and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and adheres to its Code of Ethics and Professional Practices.
Sunday, December 12, 2021, 1pm Pacific Time
Guest Speaker: Nolan Altman
The Importance of Patronymic Naming and Cemetery Research
Headstone inscriptions provide one of the most important tools for those researching their Jewish genealogical history, patronymic naming. This presentation will familiarize the attendees with the evolution of family surnames and the practice of patronymic naming. Also, a trip to the cemetery: including symbols and how to understand Hebrew inscriptions.
About Nolan Altman
Nolan Altman was bit by the “genealogy bug” when he was inspired to write his family history in 1996 in memory of his mother. After making use of the valuable information on JewishGen, he volunteered to do data entry on various projects. In time, he was asked to become the Coordinator for JewishGen’s Holocaust Database and subsequently the Coordinator for the JOWBR (JewishGen’s Online Worldwide Burial Registry) project. Nolan works with volunteers from around the world helping to grow both data-bases for the benefit of family members and researchers. Nolan currently holds the position of JewishGen’s Vice President for Data Acquisition and will focus on growing the JOWBR, Holocaust databases and JewishGen’s new Memorial Plaque project. He is currently on the board of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) and was President of JGSLI (Jewish Genealogical Society of Long Island), where he coordinates their Yearbook, Cemetery, and Memorial Plaque projects. Nolan is also a member of the JGS of New York.
