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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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!
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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!
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Sincerely,
The JewishGen.org Team
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Re: Need help with a ViewMate translation of letter with a request for secrecy
#yiddish
#translation
Stephen Weinstein
On Wed, Apr 14, 2021 at 11:27 PM, N. Summers wrote:
I’ve uploaded a short letter written from a man in Israel to his nephew in Boston which includes strict instructions not to show it to the man’s brother. I’m eager to find out what the big secret is!If it is a secret, then you should not be posting it on ViewMate. If you are sure that it merely had to be kept secret from the brother, and you know that the brother is deceased, then it may be harmless. But if there is a possibility either that it should be kept secret from the general public, even now, or that the brother might be alive and see it on ViewMate himself, then it should not be posted there. -- Stephen Weinstein Camarillo, California, USA stephenweinstein@...
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dbpdallas@...
The Museum of Jewish Heritage in NYC holds many landsmanshaftn records. Unfortunately, every time I've reached out to the museum to inquire about records pertaining to my Jewish immigrant ancestors, my requests have gone ignored and unanswered. Even phone calls prior to COVID were met with a degree of barely veiled hostility.
David Passman Dallas, Texas
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A. E. Jordan
From: Diane Jacobs <geniediane@...> These are held at the NYC Municipal Archives It has to be done by mail order I believe. The Municipal Archives is closed to the public due to the pandemic as are most other document repositories in NYC and elsewhere,
Allan Jordan
New York
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Diane Jacobs
Try contain all the information in a marriage certificate but also include a persons place of employment . But also remember there is no guarantee that the info is correct or complete.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Go to stevemorse.org and see is you can find the bride and grooms names to see if you have the correct couple.
In the meantime I will look up the record I have and see if there is any more relevant info that might be useful. Also check on familysearch.org as they sometimes have marriage certificates online.
Diane Jacobs
On Apr 15, 2021, at 8:37 PM, Diane Jacobs <geniediane@...> wrote:
--
Diane Jacobs, Somerset, New Jersey
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ViewMate translation request - Russian re Meir Praszkier
#translation
I originally posted this document believing it to be in Polish, but it is written in Russian so have reposted it.
I would like a full translation please and would like to know who Meir Praszkier's widow was and her maiden name if possible. It is on ViewMate at the following address: https://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM93074 Please respond using the online ViewMate form. Thank you very much, Ms Terry Ashton, Australia PRASHKER/SZUMOWSKI/WAJNGOT/WIERZBOWICZ/GOLDMAN/SEGAL-SEGALOVITCH/GOLTZ
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Diane Jacobs
These are held at the NYC Municipal Archives
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Room 103, 31 Chambers Street in lower Manhattan. You can order the marriage license and application by giving them the names of the two people, the date ,the application number And the borough . I believe you can get order applications online and must include a check as payment. You can also get it in person at the archives. Hope this helps. Diane Jacob
On Apr 15, 2021, at 6:49 PM, Bob Silverstein <bobsilverstein@...> wrote:
-- Diane Jacobs, Somerset, New Jersey
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Bob Silverstein
I found the index to the license for a marriage in Brooklyn in 1926 but how can I find the license itself?
Thanks. -- Bob Silverstein bobsilverstein@... Elk Grove Village, IL Researching Kaplan (Krynki, Poland) Tzipershteyn (Logishin, Pinsk, Belarus), Friedson/Fridzon (Motol, Cuba, Massachusetts), Israel and Goodman (Mishnitz, Warsaw, Manchester).
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Conversion records South Africa
#southafrica
Anne Budlender
Does anyone know who holds Orthodox conversion records for South Africa? I have been trying for many years to find a record from 1907. The civil wedding took place in Cape Town but the Cape Town Beth Din says it only has records from 1947. The Johannesburg Beth Din doesn’t have this record. I have contacted individual shuls where their children were married hoping the Rabbi or secretary may have noted sighting the conversion certificate. All to no avail. Could they have been held by the London Beth Din? Thank you for any help.
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Re: Searching for FRIEDMAN Family on Berriman Street in Brooklyn in the late 1920s
#usa
My mother was born at 312 Berriman St. My great-grandfather founded the Berriman St. shul which I have written and spoken about in various places. Looks like you got some good information her.
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Re: Do these siblings have the same mother? A Yiddish given name question
#names
Sally Bruckheimer
"But the mothers are different. So what do you think, name variations or dad had a 2nd spouse:"
Sorry, but my ggrandmother was one of 20 kids born to the only Jewish couple in a tiny town. Her mother's name was different on each birth record. My ggrandmother was usually Rachel (also her mother's name on a different record), but she got married as Regina in NYC (another of her mother's names and a sister's name on her birth record. Reis, Rosa, every R name but not Rivka, and Teresa all were her mother's names. So anything is possible, Sally Bruckheimer Princeton, NJ
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USHMM Through Ancestry Offers Free Access to Newspapers.com April 19-25 and May 10-16
#records
#announcements
#holocaust
Jan Meisels Allen
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) History Unfolded platform with Ancestry’s Newspapers.com will be offering free access to the newspapers.com premium subscription databases during the following times:
Before searching the newspapers.com archives, you will want to select History Unfolded event module topic(s) to research. Go to “Menu” and “Browse Events” (https://newspapers.ushmm.org/events/events-all?from=global-nav) to see what topics we are collecting research on. Please research and submit articles on these topics only. Use the event module’s “keywords” and “dates-to-check” to guide your research.
Go back to the newspapers.com web site and go to the homepage of newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com). To read how to navigate this website see: https://newspapers.ushmm.org/blog/2020/04/13/april-2020-blog-post-need-new-title
Through newspapers.com research, they hope to not only expand our database, but also work towards our goal of developing a more representative sample of newspaper reporting in each of the fifty states (https://newspapers.ushmm.org/blog/2018/12/07/top-priority-newspapers-explained/). If you wish to help with this specific research challenge, please reach out to the History Unfolded’s community manager here https://newspapers.ushmm.org/message/manager
I have no affiliation with Ancestry, Newspapers.com or the USHMM and am sharing this information solely for the readers’ information.
Jan Meisels Allen Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee
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MyHeritage Offers Free Birth Records April 18-24
#announcements
#records
Jan Meisels Allen
My Heritage is offering free access to all birth records on their website the week of April 18-24, 2021. No time zone was provided for beginning or cutoff so assume US Central Time zone.
MyHeritage’s collection of birth records includes 115 collections containing a total of 1,144,541,613 individual records from all over the world. Some of the collections contain indexes which help you find out where the birth record is located, while others contain the actual image of the record.
Go to: https://www.myheritage.com/research/category-2010/birth-records
You can save a record to your computer or to your family tree on MyHeritage if you have a subscription. No credit card information is requested.
If you try to access the records before or after the access dates of April 18-24 you will be invited to subscribe.
I have no affiliation with MyHeritage and am sharing this information solely for the information of the reader.
Jan Meisels Allen Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee
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jbonline1111@...
Some time ago, I found online the landsmanshaft that buried one of my uncles and his wife. I think I started with the death records and went backward. Sorry I don't recall details now, but wanted you to know this is possible.
-- Barbara Sloan Conway, SC
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Re: Ancestry World Explorer subscription
#general
Molly Staub
I have used the Explorer subscription for years, since I have living relatives in Israel, Great Britain, Australia, and even China. One woman in Ukraine found me, and then located the record of my uncle's discharge from the Kiev Hospital during World War I. I had known he served in the Russian Army in that war, but wasn't sure he had been wounded.
Molly Arost Staub, staubmolly@... Researching AROST/HARAST, BERENSON, GROFFMAN, and thousands more
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Issac LAZAROFF- London end of 19th century #united kingdom
#united
Yonatan Ben-Ari
According to family lore my great great grandmother, gittle ABRAMOWITZ a widow with 4 children married an English widower with some 10 children and they lived in the Meah Shearim section in Jerusalem toward the end of the 19th cent. There is a lot of confusion regarding the places and times that Gittle lived. After leaving Novarodok in Europe she lived for sometime in New Haven, and Jerusalem. If the above sounds familiar to anyone I'd be happy to hear from you. Tia. Yoni Ben Ari, Jerusalem
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Re: HOROWITZ-Minsk turn of 18th century
#rabbinic
Janet Furba
Hi, ask the Minsk town archive for the relevant documents.
Janet Furba, Germany
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Sherri Bobish
Jeff,
On their daughter Minnie's 1923 marriage record Rebecca's maiden name is transcribed at FamilySearch as: Rebecca Balner https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:248W-MRD Regards, Sherri Bobish
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Barbara Kenzer
I am researching my Grandparents and Great Grandparents. I am trying to find Landsmanshaftn that might give me information about my ancestors that were naturalized in Chicago. I have contacted others with no reply. Thank you for your help. Barbara Kenzer
I also recommend a book - A Brotherhood of Memory: Jewish Landsmanshaftn in the New World, by Michael R. Weisser, pub 1985 by Basic books, and 1989 by Cornell U Press. as paperback.
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Machpelah Cemetery 82-30 Cypress Hills St., Glendale, NY 11385
#usa
Rabbi Ben-Zion Saydman
My ancestral shul, Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagodol, formerly of
Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side, was tragically burned to the ground in 2017 after serving the Jewish community for 120 years. BHH had two burial grounds, one at Machpelah and one at Union Field. Machpelah is now a ruin and is in terrible shape. I would like to make contact with anyone who might still be in charge of the cemetery and its ledger record books. The IAJGS cemetery project contact for Machpelah is no longer functioning. Does anyone have contact information or know if the ledger record books still exist? Does anyone know if the NY Jewish community, the City, or the State have any plans to rehabilitate the cemetery, fix the broken stones, and cut back the jungle? It is truly a shanda to leave it in decay. Thank you. Rabbi Ben-Zion Saydman Executive Director Tree of Life Heritage Foundation www.tolheritage.org MAIPER, MELTSNER, AUG, WERNER, SATINSKY, NEVIAZHSKY, RAPHAEL, RODOFF, NEWMAN, ROMM, NUROCK, MARCUS, KANTER, GORDON, BLOCH, CHIPKIN, MOISEIWITSCH, KRULL, LEVIN(E), ZUBACH, ZILBERKWEIT Rumsiskes, Telz, Plunge, Kelem, Novy Dvor, Zagare, Bauska, New York, Philadelphia, Rabbi Ben-Zion Saydman Executive Director Tree of Life Heritage Foundation www.tolheritage.org (949) 292-3131
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Do these siblings have the same mother? A Yiddish given name question
#names
There are 4 people, immigrants from Minsk Gubernia, who lived in New York City and/or Canada who I can identify as siblings via Census records or immigration manifests or other documents. I've tracked down their parents' names on death or marriage records. All 4 list their father as Abraham or Abram. But the mothers are different. So what do you think, name variations or dad had a 2nd spouse:
Lewis, b. 1894, mother is Nussa Jacob, b. 1891, mother is Mashe Karlin Sarah, b. 1877, mother is Gossie Karlin Morris, b. 1870, mother is Rose So, are these 4 mothers the same person? -- Phil Karlin Hartford, CT USA
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