The Jewish Genealogical Society of Palm Beach County will feature a presentation by Jennifer Mendelsohn “No, you don’t have 7,900 4^th cousins!” on September 14.

Jennifer Mendelsohn’s presentation“No, you don’t have 7,900 4^th cousins!” illuminates the problems identifying a person’s ethnic heritage, and uses data from Ancestry, Family Tree DNA, MyHeritage or 23andme.  Ancestry currently boasts some 4 million people in its DNA database.  These tests provide a list of people with whom you share DNA, ranked in order of predicted closeness to you: your genetic “cousins.”  Trying to connect with your newly found relatives requires a bit of a learning curve.  Her presentation focuses on endogamy, (the custom of marrying only within the limits of a local community, clan, or tribe), knowing your numbers, interpreting shared matches and names.

Jennifer Mendelsohn began her career as a journalist and ghostwriter. A former Washington, DC-based special correspondent for People, her work has appeared in numerous local and national publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and The Los Angeles Times. A native Long Islander now based in Baltimore, Mendelsohn serves on the board of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Maryland and is the administrator of Facebook’s Jewish Genetic Genealogy group. A veteran of many successful unknown parent searches, Mendelsohn is also the creator of #resistancegenealogy, a project that uses genealogical and historical records to fight disinformation and honor America’s immigrant past. Her work has received international media attention, including features on CNN.com, The New Yorker, The Washington Post and Yahoo News.