The Weekly News Nosh

JewishGen Weekly E-Newsletter

Phil Goldfarb, Editor

Date: November 13, 2022 

“A Family Without The Understanding Of Their Past History, Foundation And Ethnicity Is Like A Tree Without Roots”

A lot of interesting, wide-ranging stories this week! Go slow for the best Nosh!

Regards,

Phil

pgoldfarb@...

1.      Tip on Using the JewishGen Discussion Group (JGDG) Message Search. One feature of the secure, JewishGen Discussion Group is that you have the ability to search their entire archives of over 672,000 messages/posts using optical character recognition (OCR) going back to 1998. However, the “News Nosh Tip Of The Day” is that you can narrow your search by using the “+” character. So instead of trying to search with just the name Cohen who happened to live in Vilna, try searching with Cohen + Vilna to reduce the number of results. If you are not a member of the JGDG, but a member of JewishGen.org only, you can subscribe for free at: main@... | Home then go to “subscribe.”

2.      RootsTech 2023 Facebook and YouTube Live Series. FamilySearch announced a series of Facebook and YouTube live events leading up to RootsTech 2023—the world’s largest genealogy conference (March 2–4, 2023), where millions of people around the globe will join online and in-person to celebrate their roots. Viewers will get insider insights and can ask questions live to the RootsTech Team. Read more about the specifics and register at FamilySearch: RootsTech 2023 Facebook and YouTube Live Series (familysearch.org)

3.      MyHeritage Completes and Publishes the 1950 U.S. Census: Search All States and Territories for Free. The 1950 census collection searchable index contains all records from all 48 U.S. states and territories (Alaska and Hawaii were only added as states in 1959). In addition, the collection includes the Indian Reservation Schedules, and four overseas islands of Canton, Johnston, Midway, and Wake.  Also check out their Census Helper™: a useful new feature that tells you who in your family tree is likely to appear in the 1950 U.S. Census and other censuses. Read more from their blog: MyHeritage Publishes the 1950 U.S. Census: Search All States and Territories for Free! - MyHeritage Blog

4.      Launch of the DNA Reunion Project at the Center for Jewish History. Zoom meeting on November 29 at 12:30 Eastern Time. Tune in for the official launch of the DNA Reunion Project at the Center for Jewish History, a new worldwide effort by the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute to reunite families separated by the Holocaust. The DNA Reunion Project at the Center for Jewish History will make commercial DNA kits available free of charge to Holocaust survivors or their children and will serve as a central genealogical resource where survivors with complex case histories can avail themselves of expert genetic genealogical consultation. Ticket Info: Pay what you wish; register here for a Zoom link. Read more about the project:  https://www.cjh.org/research/dna

5.      TheGenealogist (U.K.) has Released a Collection of Memorial Records of the First World War. With almost 50,000 records that were originally compiled by the Committee of the Irish National War Memorial and published in 1923, it comprises of details for men who had been born in Ireland as well as in England, Scotland and Wales with connections with the island of Ireland. Read more from The Genealogist blog: Remembering the Fallen - Edmund De Wind VC – Irishman, British Army Officer and Canadian Private Soldier (thegenealogist.co.uk)

6.      Shapell Roster of Jewish Service in the American Civil War. The Shapell Roster of Jewish Service in the American Civil War is an ongoing reappraisal of the military service of Jews who served in the Union and Confederate Armies and Navies from 1861 – 1865 with the goal of identifying every Jewish serviceman who served.  Compiled by a small team of professional researchers who have worked since 2009, the Shapell Roster is a digital history resource that puts at easy reach the records of the thousands of men who served — both those previously recognized for their participation and those who have remained, until now, unidentified. To read more see: https://www.shapell.org/roster/about/.  Thanks to Jan Meisels Allen, Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee for this story.

7.      Artworks Stolen by the Nazis Go On Display in Strasbourg. Many art works that were stolen by the Nazis during World War II and quite a few were brought back to France by the Allied Forces after recovering them in Germany. While more than 45,000 items of property were returned to their owners, approximately 2,200 works were placed under the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and entrusted to the custody of national museums. There is an exhibition In Strasbourg at the Palais Rohan gallery bringing 27 paintings and art objects looted by the Nazis with the hope of returning them to their original owners or their descendants. Among the works exhibited in Strasbourg, four were owned by Hermann Göring, one of Hitler’s most prominent right-hand men. To read more see: https://eurojewcong.org/news/communities-news/france/artworks-stolen-by-the-nazis-go-on-display-in-strasbourg/ Thanks again to Jan Meisels Allen, Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee for this story

8.      This Map Shows Many of the Synagogues Destroyed on Kristallnacht. The geography of the Nazi "night of broken glass." On the night of November 9, 1938, synagogues, Jewish schools and Jewish-owned businesses were targeted in violent riots throughout Nazi Germany. At least 267 synagogues were burned down or destroyed in the pogroms, which is known as Kristallnacht, the “night of broken glass.” The map below shows the extent of the damage. Read the story from My Jewish Learning: This Map Shows Many of the Synagogues Destroyed on Kristallnacht | My Jewish Learning

9.      Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum releases rare photos of Kristallnacht. 91 Jews were killed in attacks between November 9-10 in 1938, while 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and later sent to concentration camps. In addition, the Jews were forced to pay “compensation” for the damage that had been caused, amounting to one billion reichsmarks. The album was kept for many years in the home of a soldier who served in the counterintelligence department of the U.S. Army in Germany during World War II. Read the story from JNS: Yad Vashem releases rare photos of Kristallnacht pogrom - JNS.org

10.  Tour the well-fortified Tel Gezer, the biblical Canaanite holdout that wouldn’t fall. One of the rare sites with written evidence matching it to its Bible location, the massive 32-acre park is free for all and boasts layers of history down to King Solomon’s time. Rarely do archeologists and historians have written proof that positively identifies a Holy Land site mentioned in the Bible. That’s why the rock inscription discovered at Tel Jazer in the early 1870s made such a splash: the words written on the rock, in ancient Hebrew, read: “Boundary of Gezer.” Read the story from The Times of Israel: Tour the well-fortified Tel Gezer, the biblical Canaanite holdout that wouldn't fall | The Times of Israel

11.  Reform rabbi to be knighted by Pope Francis for his work on Jewish-Catholic relations. A. James Rudin, a leading Reform rabbi and educator and the longtime director of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee, will be knighted under the Papal Order of St. Gregory for his work on Catholic-Jewish relations. He will become the ninth Jewish person to receive the honor in the Order’s nearly 200-year history. Read the story from JTA: Reform rabbi to be knighted by Pope Francis for his work on Jewish-Catholic relations - Jewish Telegraphic Agency (jta.org)

12.  A tale of Apple’s two Yiddish keyboards. Apple released its first Yiddish keyboards for phone and computer. The new upgrade included several languages including Yiddish. Of the languages that were released, Yiddish has the most speakers, with an estimated 600,000 speakers around the world. Read the story: Ground News - A tale of Apple’s two Yiddish keyboards

13.  Why is Hebrew Written from Right to Left? Most languages are written from left to right. Hebrew is one of the exceptions. Scholars believe Hebrew was initially inscribed in stone. For a right-handed person chiseling a tablet, it is most convenient to hold an awl in the left hand and strike it with a mallet held in the right, naturally progressing from right to left across a stone surface. Read the interesting full story from My Jewish Learning: Why is Hebrew Written from Right to Left? | My Jewish Learning

14.  Funeral company offers to scatter people's ashes at land and sea using drones. An unusual story this week… a new way of spreading your loved ones' ashes has been introduced by Co-op Funeralcare who say they are the first firm to offer a drone service that allows you to scatter ashes over land and sea. Co-op Funeralcare say that they are the first firm to offer the new drone service with the machinery possessing four-propeller machines that carries a large black box to drop the ashes where the family wishThe company say that the service will enable families to drop their loved ones' ashes in places that are difficult to access, such as rivers and beauty spots. Read the story from the U.K.:  https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/funeral-company-offers-scatter-peoples-28434075

15. ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ returns in Yiddish — and feels more relevant than ever. After a smash-hit run interrupted by COVID, “Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish” is returning next week for a seven-week run at Manhattan’s New World Stages. For many in the cast, Jewish or not, returning to “Fiddler” feels emotional, especially in a time of world upheaval, rising antisemitism and another refugee crisis in Ukraine, where the play’s fictional shtetl, Anatevka, would have been located. Read the story from JTA: ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ returns in Yiddish — and feels more relevant than ever - Jewish Telegraphic Agency (jta.org)

16.  Shalom Y’ll.  Have You Heard About the New (1 year old) Museum of Southern Jewish Experience?  You don’t have to be Southern, and you don’t have to be Jewish to visit the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience. At the Museum located in New Orleans, Louisiana USA, there’s an ornate Torah crown from a synagogue in Port Gibson, Mississippi, dating back to the 1850s. Walk a few more steps, and there’s a bill of sale for a 12-year-old enslaved girl to a Southern Jewish family in Arkansas. The museum tells the long and evolving story of Jewish life in 13 Southern states through artifacts, exhibits, and educational programming. Its very existence is an answer to the question that so many Southern Jews have encountered: “There are really Jews here?” Read more at their website: Visit - Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience | New Orleans (msje.org)

17.  Jerusalem square named for Portuguese diplomat who saved 10,000 Jews in WWII. Aristides de Sousa Mendes defied his country’s dictator and provided visas to people in France fleeing Nazi persecution; mayor says plaza ‘now carries the name of a hero.’ In a ceremony in Jerusalem’s Kiryat Hayovel neighborhood, with several descendants of those who he saved and his own family members present, Sousa Mendes was hailed for his courage. Read the story from the Times of Israel: Jerusalem square named for Portuguese diplomat who saved 10,000 Jews in WWII | The Times of Israel

18.  4,000-year-old Canaanite hair care advice discovered on lice comb in Israel. The comb's inscription, "May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard", is direct evidence for the use of the alphabet in daily activities back in 1,700 BC. The ivory comb was discovered in Tel Lachish in Israel, which used to be a major Canaanite city state in the second millennium BCE. It was also the second most important city in the Biblical Kingdom of Judah. Read the story from the Jewish News: 4,000-year-old Canaanite hair care advice discovered on lice comb in Israel | Jewish News

19.  New York City’s Museum of Jewish Heritage holds annual Generation to Generation event. Marking its 25th anniversary, the Manhattan institution seeks to engage with the second and third generations of survivors. Manhattan’s Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will host its annual Generation to Generation event on November 15, bringing together friends and family to support the museum’s mission of fighting bigotry and anti-Semitism through learning and teaching the lessons of the Holocaust. Read the story from JNS: New York City’s Museum of Jewish Heritage holds annual Generation to Generation event - JNS.org

20.  A new film is the first to explore the history of Holocaust reparations. A new film examines the effort by Israelis and Diaspora Jews to seek justice, resettle survivors and rebuild their lives in the aftermath of mass murder. “Reckonings,” which had its premiere in New York last month, is being billed as the first-ever film on the reparations negotiated by Israel and Diaspora Jews with the newly formed West Germany. Read the story from JTA: A new film is the first to explore the history of Holocaust reparations - Jewish Telegraphic Agency (jta.org)

21. ‘I’ll have what she’s having!’ – a celebration of New York’s Jewish delis. The new exhibit — which originated at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles and opens in New York, traces the mouthwatering history of the Jewish deli beginning with the first waves of Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Read the story from Jewish News: 'I’ll have what she’s having!’ – a celebration of New York's Jewish delis | Jewish News

22.  Spielberg’s very Jewish memoir film ‘The Fabelmans’ is one of the best of his career. Out in NY and LA on Nov. 11 and countrywide the next week, the star-studded autobiography is its acclaimed director’s genesis story, full of references Diaspora Jews will love. Read more including how Spielberg came up with the name Fabelman from the Times of Israel: Spielberg's very Jewish memoir film 'The Fabelmans' is one of the best of his career | The Times of Israel

23.  Maccabi Cairo — the Jewish club that briefly dominated Egyptian basketball. Crowned champions in 1956, many of the club’s players went on to represent Egypt's national team, but as Israeli-Egyptian relations soured, the legacy came to an end. The Jewish club was active between 1932 and the late 1940s. It reached its peak in the early 1940s and became one of the best and most renowned basketball clubs in Egypt. Read the story from Y Net News: Maccabi Cairo — the Jewish club that briefly dominated Egyptian basketball (ynetnews.com)

24.  Three Jewish American Fighting Heroes. Three remarkable Jewish servicemen who displayed extraordinary bravery in battle. From the earliest day of the American Revolution, Jews have fought valiantly in the nation’s armed forces.  After just celebrating Veterans Day in the U.S., let’s remember these little-known heroes. Read the story from Aish: Three Jewish American Fighting Heroes - Aish.com Modern, Featured, History

Copyright © 2022 JewishGen.org, All rights reserved.
JewishGen is an Affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
You are receiving this email because you registered for
JewishGen.org and have opted-in to receive email from us.