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.
Is it Secure?
Yes. JewishGen is using a state of the art platform with the most contemporary security standards. JewishGen will never share member information with third parties.
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.”
Will all posts be archived?
Yes.
Can I still search though old messages?
Yes. All the messages are accessible and searchable going back to 1998.
What if I have questions or need assistance using the new Group?
Send your questions to: support@JewishGen.org
How do I access the Group’s webpage?
Follow this link: https://groups.jewishgen.org/g/main
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
|
JRI-Poland takes special pride in Hadassah Lipsius and Robinn Magid receiving the IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award
#jgs-iajgs
#announcements
It was with a great sense of pride that the board of JRI-Poland learned yesterday
that two of our long-time colleagues, Hadassah Lipsius and Robinn Magid were
named co-winners of the 2020 IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Both Hadassah and Robin have contributed to the world of Jewish family history
in countless ways and for more than 20 years and have been valuable members
of the JRI-Poland family
I cannot improve on the IAJGS press release announcing the awards to Hadassah
and Robinn so I am including excerpts of the text below.
The 2020 award to Hadassah and Robin has additional significance for the entire
JRI-Poland family. With their nomination, we are proud to say that every current
and former member of the JRI-Poland executive committee has now received the
Lifetime Achievement Award from the IAJGS. They are as follows:
2003 - Stanley Diamond
2011 - Michael Tobias
2015 - Judy Baston
2018 - Mark Halpern
2020 - Hadassah Lipsius & Robinn Magid
We believe that this recognition individually and collectively is a testament to the
devotion and leadership they have provided JRI-Poland as well as their respective
JGS societies to which they have contributed in countless way and the various roles
they have played in participating in numerous IAJGS conferences and activities
over the years.
 Hadassah Lipsius, a Kew Gardens Hills resident, has been awarded the
2020 IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award for her lifelong commitment to
Jewish Genealogy. The award was presented Aug. 12 at the International
Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) 40th International
Conference on Jewish Genealogy, at its first virtual conference.
Hadassah has been a board member of Jewish Records Indexing- Poland
from 1997 to present, a member of the JRI-Poland Executive Committee,
data coordinator, Warsaw coordinator and town leader, Shtetl CO-OP
Initiative Coordinator.
Among her achievements with the Jewish Genealogy Society Inc. (New York),
she has been a member of the Executive Council, Board and Administrator
of the JGS, Inc. Facebook Group.
She was a member of the JewishGen Board of Governors from 2009 – 2016
anddata manager of JewishGen’s Warszawa Research Group.
Her IAJGS involvement has included being co-chair of the 2006 IAJGS
New York Conference, a member of the Conference program committee in
2006, 2018 and 2020, SIG (Special Interest Group) coordinator, 1999
NY IAJGS Conference and a Conference speaker 1999-present.
Ms. Lipsius is a Metallurgical Engineer and works as a Supplier Quality
Manager for a major Defense Contractor.
 Robinn Magid, a Berkeley resident, has been awarded the 2020 IAJGS
Lifetime Achievement Award for her lifelong commitment to Jewish
Genealogy. The award was presented Aug. 12 at the International
Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) 40th International
Conference on Jewish Genealogy at its first virtual conference.
Among many achievements in her 30 years of experience in Jewish
genealogical research is Robinn’s involvement with JRI-Poland.org
(Jewish Records Indexing- Poland). She recently was elected to the
new position of assistant director and took over as the project manager
of JRI-Poland’s NextGen relational database, search engine and website,
its first major overall in 25 years.
Robinn’s leadership as a board member for JRI-Poland earned her a city
medal in 2017 for inspiring the cultural identity of her family’s hometown
of Lublin, Poland as part of the 700th birthday celebration of that city.
Robinn had served as Lublin Archives Project Coordinator for JRI-Poland
since 1998 and coordinated the JRI-Poland activities for 100 towns in the
Lublin area.
She served as chair of the 2018 IAJGS Warsaw Conference, the first
IAJGS conference in Eastern Europe and established the IAJGS
Conference Discussion Facebook Group. She also worked on the
committee that recently updated the IAJGS Conference Planning Manual.
She chairs this year’s IAJGS Conference which initially was scheduled to
be in-person in San Diego. When it had to be cancelled due to Covid-19,
she created and chaired a financially successful new IAJGS 2020 Virtual
Conference with just a few months to arrange it.
Stanley Diamond, M.S.M. (Montreal, 514-484-0100)
Executive Director
 Executive Director, Jewish Records Indexing - Poland, Inc.
|
|
|
|
Re: Translation Request -- Hebrew with possibly Rashi (Sephardic) Script
#sephardic
#translation
#ukraine
Kalman Appel
Not Sefardic, not Rashi. It’s Yiddish in cursive.
-- Kalman Appel Phone 702.466.8248 Skype: KAL702
|
|
|
|
Jewish Agricultural Colony in Woodbine, NJ
#usa
diamondesllc@...
My father and his siblings were born in Woodbine in the late 19th and early 20th century. His parents were amongst the earliest settlers in that Colony in the early 1890s. I am trying to find out how the early Colony members were recruited for participation and residence in the Colony. If your family members were part of this "experiment" and/or you have any knowledge of the early formation of the Colony please contact me.
|
|
|
|
Re: Brick wall of family named Gavrin, Gavrinovich, Gavrinowski
#ukraine
Max Heffler
I have Gavronsky -> Garon in my tree
From: main@... [mailto:main@...]
On Behalf Of Nancy Seibert via groups.jewishgen.org
Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2020 2:41 PM To: main@... Subject: Re: [JewishGen.org] Brick wall of family named Gavrin, Gavrinovich, Gavrinowski #ukraine
Just wondering if you have considered the possibility that GAVRIN also could have had the Polish spelling GAWRON - the "w" would be pronounced like "v" by a speaker of Polish. Gawron means raven (bird) in Polish. You do have a variation
of the name with the Polish suffix "-ski", so Gavrinowski could be the same as Polish Gawronowski/Gawronski. Grodno was under Polish rule at times in its history. -- Web sites I manage - Personal home page, Greater Houston Jewish Genealogical Society, Woodside Civic Club, Skala, Ukraine KehilalLink, Joniskelis, Lithuania KehilaLink, and pet volunteer project - Yizkor book project: www.texsys.com/websites.html
|
|
|
|
Announcing the New Director of Special Projects-Yizkor Books
#yizkorbooks
#JewishGenUpdates
Avraham Groll
Dear JewishGen Community, JewishGen is pleased to announce the appointment of Lance Ackerfeld as the new Director of Special Projects - Yizkor Books. In this position, Lance will serve as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, and will manage the entirety of the Yizkor Book project - which includes serving as the main contact, initiating new projects, overseeing current projects (and ensuring project coordinators have what they need), expanding our editor and HTML teams, increasing operational efficiencies, and playing a leading role in the development of a new, and modernized web experience. Many of us are already familiar with Lance’s devotion and dedication, as he brings more than twenty years of experience with JewishGen and the Yizkor Book project. He originally volunteered under the direction of Joyce Field (retired VP of Research for JewishGen), before assuming the mantle of leadership of the project between 2009-2019. Most recently, he served as an editor and HTML coordinator for the project. In his professional life, Lance is a Senior Database and Software Developer, and lives in the North of Israel. Lance is re-joining the leadership team after Binny Lewis’ departure, who is leaving to pursue his graduate studies. We thank him very much for his efforts and hard work over the past year, which in addition to stewarding the project, focused on improving operational efficiencies and strategic planning. Binny has offered to stay on as a volunteer to help when needed, and we look forward to continuing to work with him in the future. Please join me in congratulating and welcoming Lance back to the team. He can be reached via email at: lackerfeld@.... Avraham Groll
|
|
|
|
tom
i'm looking for the descendants of Izrael MAUSKOPF and
Róza KLEIN from békéscaba, hungary. to the best of my
knowledge, one of their children, Ernest, survived the holocaust, and
emigrated to st john's, newfoundland, where he is buried.
any leads on their descendants would be greatly
appreciated.
....... tom klein, toronto
.
|
|
|
|
Sherri Bobish
Sherry, If Frank Kaplan was divorced than they may have married outside of NY, perhaps NJ. My husband's grandfather was divorced in NYC in 1913. The divorce papers specified that his ex-wife could re-marry, but he could not. Two weeks after the divorce he got married in Paterson, NJ. An index to NYC (or maybe just Manhattan??) divorces is at: OLD RECORDS & ARCHIVAL MATERIAL Division of Old Records
|
|
|
|
Re: Brick wall of family named Gavrin, Gavrinovich, Gavrinowski
#ukraine
Nancy Seibert
Just wondering if you have considered the possibility that GAVRIN also could have had the Polish spelling GAWRON - the "w" would be pronounced like "v" by a speaker of Polish. Gawron means raven (bird) in Polish. You do have a variation of the name with the Polish suffix "-ski", so Gavrinowski could be the same as Polish Gawronowski/Gawronski. Grodno was under Polish rule at times in its history.
A different branch of the family could have used a different spelling of the name. Nancy Seibert
|
|
|
|
Re: Can anyone figure this surname out?
#names
Paul Chirlin
I'd look at the rest of the document not shown in the snip provided. The mystery is the final letter. I'd hope that same typewriter key was needed elsewhere on the document and can be deduced from context.
Paul
|
|
|
|
Sally Bruckheimer <sallybruc@...>
"My question is: How complete are Ancestry's marriage records? Is it possible that marriage records are lost or misplaced?"
If you don't trust Ancestry, try stevenmorse.org or italiangen.org. Both are free and search lots of NYC records. FamilySearch.org is another possibility, and if you find something, you will get a lot more info. Sally Bruckheimer Princeton, NJ
|
|
|
|
Re: Origin of the name Brodsky
#ukraine
Dr.Josef ASH
From the town Brody in Lviv district. There is a big Jewish cemetery there
|
|
|
|
Translation Request -- Hebrew with possibly Rashi (Sephardic) Script
#sephardic
#translation
#ukraine
Alan Klein
I'm requesting the translation of 4 page letter written in 1923 from my great uncle, Obercantor in Vienna, to my maternal grandmother, his daughter, on the death of his wife, Chane..
https://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM83782 https://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM83783 https://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM83784 https://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM83785 Thank you, Alan Klein
|
|
|
|
Re: Aramaic Translation Help!
#translation
Dr.Josef ASH
o yes. This is Aramic.
the document is called "KeTUBA" - Marriage agreement. "on Tuesday 13 of Siwan (Hebrew calendar month ) year 5683 (~May-June1923) the groom Yosef Khaim son of reb (Mr) Shim'on Eliahu told to Bluma Dvora daughter of ... reb GUTMAN blessed memory...," And then - long text he promises that he will do for her..... It is read loudly during the wedding. Her mother keeps the ketuba. I don't think many Israelies can translate it today without the dictionary. Sure you can find it in internet, but the important information I could read as it is written in Hebrew. Josef ASH
|
|
|
|
Looking for relatives of Abram Babin from Sloboda, Russia, cousin to my husband's grandfather Sam Schaje Dobrinsky/i Dobrin..
#russia
Marlene Dobrin <dobrins@...>
Looking for relatives of Abram Babin from Sloboda Russia, cousin to my husband's grandfather Sam Schaje Dobrinsky/i Dobrin. Abram was the cousin Sam was meeting upon his arrival to the US in 1914. I just learned about Abram Babin and can't wait to connect with his family tree. Marlene Kempner Dobrin - dobrins@... - Arizona USA Family names: KEMPNER, POKEMPNER, PAKEMPNER, MIRVIS, RIEF, WESTERMAN, MELMAN, SHEINKER, KRECHMER, LUNTZ, SACHS/ZOX, LITT, FLEISCHMAN, MEYERSON/MAROVICH, HILLMAN, KAMENETS, SEGALL, FRIEDMAN, DOBRIN, DOBRINSKY, SCHUMAN, ITKIN, FIRESTONE, FEIRSTEIN, FOREMAN, FUXMAN
|
|
|
|
Sherri Bobish
Beth, Several NY (and one NJ) cemetery is searchable here: Searching the Cemetery Databases http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/erc-scdb.htm You can search NYC death cert index here: https://stevemorse.org/vital/nydeath-igg.html The cert will list name of cemetery. FamilySearch has transcriptions of some info of the NYC death certs: https://stevemorse.org/vital/nyvital.html?type=death Old digitized NY (and now other states) newspapers can be searched here: https://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html You can search by name or address. Regards, Sherri Bobish Princeton, NJ
|
|
|
|
Translation from Yiddish
#translation
#yiddish
evnsenior@...
Hello, seeking translation of a short inscription on the back of a photo of my husband's great grandparents: https://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=83778.
Thank you, Evelyn Senior
|
|
|
|
Katie Anderson
Hi Maggie,
I am interested in finding my Werner ancestors. My Grandfather Armin Werner Born 1886 Beel, Arad, Romania My great-grandfather Benjamin Werner Born in Derecske , Romania/Hungary. He married Sali Weber and Zali Salamary Any of these ancestors are connected to your Werner family? Thanks Katie Anderson
|
|
|
|
Shalom.
Thank you very much. Seeking clarification: you wrote, "It is possible that 'mem-vav-hey' indicates that he had semicha, but that that he had a official position." Did you mean to write, "but not that he had an official position?" In other words, that mem-vav-hey could indicate semicha, yet, not an official position as a rabbi? Thank you very much. Shalom. - Tzvi Fievel
|
|
|
|
JewishGen Yizkor Book Research Division Meeting
#yizkorbooks
Max Heffler
Hindsight being 20-20 I forgot to share at yesterday's JewishGen Yizkor Book Research Division Meeting two benefits I have experienced from volunteering:
1. When I started coordinating the translation of the Lita Yizkor Book and worked with a volunteer translator, I later found out his wife was my 5th cousins and we have been collaborating for well over a decade
2. When the conference was in Warsaw, I got to visit some ancestral towns. One of those towns had a Yizkor book, Serock, and my grandmother’s siblings’ families had written stories documenting their experiences during the war
Max -- Web sites I manage - Personal home page, Greater Houston Jewish Genealogical Society, Woodside Civic Club, Skala, Ukraine KehilalLink, Joniskelis, Lithuania KehilaLink, and pet volunteer project - Yizkor book project: www.texsys.com/websites.html
|
|
|
|
YIVO Launches First Exhibition Online
#announcements
#lithuania
Jan Meisels Allen
YIVO launched the first exhibition of the YIVO Bruce and Francesca Cernia Slovin Online Museum which is free to see. The exhibit is interactive storytelling using hundreds of artifacts from the YIVO archives. The first exhibition features the life of Beba Epstein, a young girl born in Vilna, Poland now Vilnius, Lithuania in 1922. Her autobiography was written in 1933 and discovered in 2017. Go to: https://museum.yivo.org/
You will learn from her experiences about: Family dynamics Social changes that occurred between the mid 1800s and the early 1900s Vacations Schools and curriculums Jewish Vilna Summer Camps The world at the edge of war in the 1930s The Holocaust through Beba’s harrowing account Immigration to the United States
Jan Meisels Allen Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee
|
|
|
