JewishGen.org Discussion Group FAQs
What is the JewishGen.org Discussion Group?
The JewishGen.org Discussion Group unites thousands of Jewish genealogical researchers worldwide as they research their family history, search for relatives, and share information, ideas, methods, tips, techniques, and resources. The JewishGen.org Discussion Group makes it easy, quick, and fun, to connect with others around the world.
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How is the New JewishGen.org Discussion Group better than the old one?
Our old Discussion List platform was woefully antiquated. Among its many challenges: it was not secure, it required messages to be sent in Plain Text, did not support accented characters or languages other than English, could not display links or images, and had archives that were not mobile-friendly.
This new platform that JewishGen is using is a scalable, and sustainable solution, and allows us to engage with JewishGen members throughout the world. It offers a simple and intuitive interface for both members and moderators, more powerful tools, and more secure archives (which are easily accessible on mobile devices, and which also block out personal email addresses to the public).
I am a JewishGen member, why do I have to create a separate account for the Discussion Group?
As we continue to modernize our platform, we are trying to ensure that everything meets contemporary security standards. In the future, we plan hope to have one single sign-in page.
I like how the current lists work. Will I still be able to send/receive emails of posts (and/or digests)?
Yes. In terms of functionality, the group will operate the same for people who like to participate with email. People can still send a message to an email address (in this case, main@groups.JewishGen.org), and receive a daily digest of postings, or individual emails. In addition, Members can also receive a daily summary of topics, and then choose which topics they would like to read about it. However, in addition to email, there is the additional functionality of being able to read/post messages utilizing our online forum (https://groups.jewishgen.org).
Does this new system require plain-text?
No.
Can I post images, accented characters, different colors/font sizes, non-latin characters?
Yes.
Can I categorize a message? For example, if my message is related to Polish, or Ukraine research, can I indicate as such?
Yes! Our new platform allows members to use “Hashtags.” Messages can then be sorted, and searched, based upon how they are categorized. Another advantage is that members can “mute” any conversations they are not interested in, by simply indicating they are not interested in a particular “hashtag.”
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Can I still search though old messages?
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So just to be sure - this new group will allow us to post from our mobile phones, includes images, accented characters, and non-latin characters, and does not require plain text?
Correct!
Will there be any ads or annoying pop-ups?
No.
Will the current guidelines change?
Yes. While posts will be moderated to ensure civility, and that there is nothing posted that is inappropriate (or completely unrelated to genealogy), we will be trying to create an online community of people who regulate themselves, much as they do (very successfully) on Jewish Genealogy Portal on Facebook.
What are the new guidelines?
There are just a few simple rules & guidelines to follow, which you can read here:https://groups.jewishgen.org/g/main/guidelines
Thank you in advance for contributing to this amazing online community!
If you have any questions, or suggestions, please email support@JewishGen.org.
Sincerely,
The JewishGen.org Team
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C Chaykin
Not a physician, but a former French-English translator... My take would be "brain disorders," which yields a million or so hits on Google.
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Re: Kehilat Friedberg from Andreas Gotzmann
#germany
fejackson@...
Are you speaking of a place or name. I'm sorry I didn't quite understand. My relatives were Freiberger or Frieberger and I have found no one who has been abale to help me.
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Pinkus ancestors living near Warsaw 1850-1945
#poland
Prim50@...
Information needed for Pinkus ancestry. Harry (Pinchos) Pinkus born possibly in Sochachev Poland (near Warsaw) about 1888 and emigrated to US in 1912.. His brother Maier Pinkus was given as contact for a sister Esther Pinkus born about 1903 who also emigrated to US in 1923. Father;s name was Wolf/Zev Pinkus, mother's name may have been Sarah. Birth, marriage and death records desired for these individuals well as information about any other relatives.
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Re: The male name Shapsei
#names
#lithuania
@murfisto
Shepsie: Possibly the diminutive of the name: Shepsel. My first cousin, born near Bialystok, emigrated to Montreal in 1939 and never changed his Yiddish name up to when he took his own life. I heard him called Shepsie by his mother and older brothers.
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Paternal Great Great Grandmother, Rochel SHERESHEVSKY
#lithuania
#latvia
raf3838@...
I am looking for any relatives of my paternal GGM, Rochel Shereshevsky (1860-1922?). Her father and mother were Abram (Avrum, Abba) and Gitel Shereshevsky. Her grandfather was Efraim Shereshevsky. Her siblings were Girsh, Sheyta, Ite, Elias, Yente, Yetta, Jennie, and Chaya. ithuania, LitvakSIG Census & Family Lists from Various Districts, 1795-1900
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Re: Moses Hyam or Hyam Moses - name reversal in early 19th century
#unitedkingdom
Sarah L Meyer
Yes, this was exceedingly common in the US. I have seen it in my husband's non Jewish family many times.
-- Sarah L Meyer Georgetown TX ANK(I)ER, BIGOS, KARMELEK, PERLSTADT, STOKFISZ, SZPIL(T)BAUM, Poland BIRGARDOVSKY, EDELBERG, HITE (CHAIT), PERCHIK Russia (southern Ukraine) and some Latvia or Lithuania https://www.sarahsgenies.com
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Re: Why the name "Sylvester"?
#names
Susan J. Gordon
Re: "Sylvesterabend in German" -- my Hungarian cousin, Eva, who survived the Holocaust in and out of hiding in Budapest, called New Year's Eve "Sylvester Night." This date was particularly harrowing in 1944, when "the Germans and Nyilas [Hungarian Nazis] were fighting against the Russians."
Susan J. Gordon Ukraine - Zbaraz, Skalat, Chernivitzi, Lvov
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Webinar - Researching NYC Resources Remotely
#education
#JewishGenUpdates
We are pleased to invite you to attend a free webinar presentation in our JewishGen Talks series, with our speaker, Jordan Auslander. Researching NYC Resources Remotely (English) Wednesday, June 17, 2020 3:00 pm Eastern Time - New York (19:00 UTC) *Presented in partnership with the JGS of NY As the cosmopolitan gateway to the United States, New York City has always been a magnet for immigrants. Throughout the United States an estimated 40 million can trace roots to an ancestor who lived in Brooklyn. While many families passed through or settled in Gotham, not all family members came to the US, and some of those who remained in Europe and elsewhere may have lost contact with their American cousins. While on-site research is the optimal approach to research, this is not always convenient or feasible, especially now. Nevertheless, much can be accomplished in advance or in lieu of physical travel. Components of New York City family history can be identified without setting foot on Broadway using a broad array of free and subscription internet sites as well as some conventional sources. Advance Registration Required! Please click here: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about how to join the webinar. Please direct any questions to: webinars@... For information on other JewishGen Talks webinars, go to: Nancy Siegel (San Francisco/CA/USA) Director of Communications JewishGen.org
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Looking for Ukraine records for families
#ukraine
Abe Hirsch
I am trying to find information on a few families from Tsybuliv and Monastyryshche, Ukraine. They include: Samuel and Elka (Voskobinik) Meyerson Samuel Magnes last name Bogomol or Bogomolny I have seen Magnus and Bogomol in the 1851 vital records for Monastyryshche. I have their history in the US but am looking for more information in Ukraine. Can you point me in any new directions? Thanks, Abe Hirsch
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Har Nebo Cemetery in Phila
#photographs
#usa
Rachelle Litt
Would like to know if someone is willing to take some gravestone photos at Har Nebo Cemetery in Phila.
Please respond privately for information needed. Thank you! Rachelle Litt Palm Beach gardens Florida -- Rachelle Litt Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
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Valentin Lupu
Hi Aline,
Felester (or some minor variations like Falester, Folester,....) is a family name found predominantly in Bessarabia (territory in the modern Republic of Moldova) and in Romanian Moldova. Most of the Felesters are from Botosani, Romania and some of them immigrated from Botosani to the States at the end of 19th century and the beginning of 1900s. I have a hypothesis about the Felester name origin. Many Jewish people adopted a family name according to their geographical origin. In Romania and Bessarabia there are two main ways to do that: either adding the termination "eanu" to place name (Romanian) or "er" (mainly for Jewish people). Therefore, I think Falester is a Jew originally from Falesti (pronounced Faleshti), Bessarabia. Before WWII 51% of Falesti population was Jewish. Indeed, most of the Falester famiies were from nearby places (Telenesti, Orhei/Orgeev, Balti) and Botosani. I didn't find Felesters in Falesti and this is obvious. Falester was a person who migrated from Falesti and nicknamed the "Falester". It is exactly why Ashkenazy is always a Sephardi Jew (one who migrated from Ashkenaz into a Sephardic community). After many generations, the descendants of Ashkenazy are obviously Sephardi. Valentin Lupu ISRAEL
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rroth@...
American physician here. I don't speak French but it does not sound like one needs to for this.
You are right to be irritated, "brain trouble" is extremely non-specific. Anything in the entire textbook of neurology could fit. You mention multiple sclerosis, alcoholism, intoxication of any kind, but equally a hundred other things. The term may have had some specific cultural meaning "between the lines" in that time and place, but if so I do not know it. Sorry. Robert Roth MD Kingston NY USA
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Re: Moses Hyam or Hyam Moses - name reversal in early 19th century
#unitedkingdom
Jeffrey Knisbacher
Double name reversal was very common. My late father Max Knisbacher was Markus Mendel on his Palestinian Citizenship Order (British Mandate)
of 11 January 1937 and entered the U.S. in October 1938 under that name. It was based on the Hebrew Mordecai Menahem. In the U.S. he reversed those names and the reversal was how we knew him growing up and is recorded on his tombstone. He always went by "Max" growing up in Berlin (born 1913) and made that official on his U.S. naturalization. Jeff Knisbacher
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This week's Yizkor book excerpt on the JewishGen Facebook page
#yizkorbooks
#ukraine
Bruce Drake
In curating these weekly Yizkor book excerpts, I have come across numerous accounts of pained Jewish parents, facing death for themselves and their families, who would put children in the keeping of a non-Jew in hopes it would ensure their survival. In many cases, the willingness to take in such a child was not an act of mercy or altruism, but greed — whether it was for money or to put the child to work. And in many cases, that same greed stood in the way of families' efforts to get their children back after the Nazi horror was over. Such is the case in “A Baby Girl Captured by the Gentiles,” a chapter from the Yizkor book of Mikulince (Mikulintsy) Ukraine by Zalman Pelz. This is the story of a child given up to a Polish woman on the promise of her return if any of the family survive, the cruelty the woman inflicted on her, and the struggle to get her back years later. URL: https://www.facebook.com/JewishGen.org/posts/3107442485944552?__tn__=K-R Bruce Drake Silver Spring MD
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Re: Vetting family tree submissions to genealogy sites for data soundness
#general
Alan Kania <alankania@...>
I have three ways of doing research on my family history (a) I gather my own research that I can clearly document with primary-source information (NOT family stories), (b) for difficult areas of research (usually in foreign countries), I hire professional researchers who have a good reputation for accurate primary-source research, and (c) I use public resources like geni.com, ancestry.com or other popular subscription web-site - BUT ONLY AS GUIDANCE. If someone has posted information that would be valuable to my own family tree, I contact the person who posted the information to see if they are willing to share the source where they found that information. I have found that some Europeans posting to geni.com are actually including a photo of the resource material and a full citation of where that information can be found. To me, using due diligence in my own research will help assure others of having information that won't send them down blind-alleys or dead-ends in their own family trees. Blindly accepting someone else's posted research is as effective as doing your family research with information you found on a bathroom wall.
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Alyssa Freeman
Doing a quick Google search of the term makes it look like that it could refer to Alzhimer's/Dementia. Alyssa Freeman Henrico, VA
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Re: Witkin family from Mogilev
#belarus
Carole Feinberg
Sorry, Judy, I cannot offer you any help. But, your post helped me recall my early years. In the 1940s and 1950s, for a treat, my parents would buy deli from Witkin's Deli in Bronx, NY, for the family to enjoy at home. Mmmmmm. It was a weekend treat. Come to think of it, you ought to look into Jewish cemeteries in New York City, many of which have searchable online databases. Besides surname, look into Mogilev landsmanshaftn, too (social/burial societies). Traditional Jewish tombstones usually include the father's given name of the deceased, Good luck finding your family.
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binyaminkerman@...
It's very possible that the "high Rabbi" was the rebbe of Ger but it could have been the leader of many other Chassidik dynasties. Why do you believe it is him? From what I can find quickly online the center of the Ger dynasty was in Gora Kalawaria (Ger) which is closer to Warsaw than to Krakow. Ger was one of the largest sects before the war (and remains so today) and probably had a strong presence in Warsaw so he may have been a follower.
I don't know off hand of a different Chassidik sect based in Krakow but as a larger city it would have had many shteibelach (smaller synagogues) connected to various sects. There could have been a big Rabbi who he followed there who wasn't a leader of a dynasty but had a large following. Also your mother may have remembered Krakow when in fact it was a smaller town in the area. As far as why he would travel to visit the rebbe, he most likely went to spend the high holidays or another holiday there. It was and still is common for Chassidim to travel to gather with the sect leader for the holiday prayers. The rebbe would have spoken, and possibly give individual Chassidim blessings or counsel.
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Re: Who Was Cudek APOTHEKER from Krakow # galicia
#general
eslteacherdenise@...
Shalom Jacob,
I am a Cudek. I live in Ottawa, Canada. I doubt the information I have is related to your query but I thought I would respond. Here is what little I know: In Canada our spelling is Cudeck. My grandfather Joseph Cudeck was born April 30, 1909 in Czestochowa, Poland. He arrived in Toronto, Canada just before WWII. I remember stories that the original last name was indeed Tzudik but that the name was anglicized for immigration purposes. I also know that there were/are Cudeks living in Paris and they had/have a fur factory. Joseph Cudeck (d.June 4, 1985) married Eva Rose (Jan 20, 1909-Nov 11, 1989). They had 2 children: Sydney (Nov 28/36-Oct 31/76) and Jerry (May 2/47-Nov 24/97). Sydney married Anne Gliklich (Apr 5/38-Dec 20/20). They had 2 children. Denise (b.July 11/64) and Ken (b.Nov 9/66). As far as I know, we (Denise and Ken) are the last surviving Cudeck's in Canada. We have no children. Jerry Cudeck embraced the Chasidic culture late in his life and married twice. The second marriage produced a daughter who I believe lives in New York. She is probably in her 20's or 30's by now and is married. Feel free to contact me again if you need more information. I hope this information was helpful for you. Shabbat Shalom. Regards, Denise Lascelle (nee Cudeck)
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Re: Moses Hyam or Hyam Moses - name reversal in early 19th century
#unitedkingdom
My grandfather was Moshe Chaim but his gravestone reads Chaim Moshe ben Shimon.Zev ha Levi. When I asked family members about the transposition I did not receive a satisfactory answer. As a result I have come to accept that it might simply be an error.I will follow this tread with interest.
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