Articles
The Israel Genealogy Research Association [IGRA] electronically publishes peer reviewed articles. We invite articles for submission, which may be about any subject that touches global Jewish genealogy, most especially those that will improve research skills, or open new streams of research from which the reader can learn. Articles must not have been published previously.
You are encouraged to send your articles electronically to: [email protected], including a short biography of just a few lines and a photo of the author. Please note that all material published by IGRA becomes the property of IGRA and may be reprinted only by the written permission of IGRA. Any websites noted in the article should use the format http:// . In addition to links within the article, we encourage you to include visuals: photographs and/or illustrations should be sent individually as .jpeg or .png files at a resolution of 300 dpi, along with their captions. Please limit your article to 4,500 words, use font Ariel 12, spacing 1.5, and the format should be .doc (a Word document). The bibliography for your article should be standard and complete, including the publisher, the date, and the place of publication.
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The Goal of My Father's Cousin- Miron (Yoni) Zlatin June 27, 2022 My father, Oscar Herschman, was born in the USA. His father, Gregory (Harry) Herschman, immigrated from Vitebsk, Lithuania (now Belarus). His goal … |
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Surprise May 26, 2022 What A Surprise! I Found A "Divorce On Condition" that My Uncle Signed Rose Avigael Feldman My Uncle Yehezkel Lulkin was the second oldest … |
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Simcha Goldenberg’s Journey from the Czar’s Army through Paris to New York May 3, 2022 By Ellen Stepak nee Goldenberg Simcha Goldenberg was my paternal grandfather. He was born in September 1889 and died in Lawrence, Massachusetts … |
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In Spite of it all, do not despair! “af al pi khen lo l’hitya’esh" in Hebrew March 8, 2022 We sailed in May 1940 from a Czechoslovakian port on a Bulgarian freighter flying the flag of Panama. Our goal was to arrive in Palestine within … |
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A Request for Help, by Rosemary Eshel March 6, 2021 IGRA the Israel Genealogy Research Association receives a variety of enquiries and requests for help from those looking to find out more about their … |
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The Brothers Tissenbaum: Discovering Drama Dostoevsky Didn't Write July 5, 2020 Shortly after our father passed away in June, 1995, my brother Mitch alerted me to informationhe had just received that our maternal grandfather … |
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The History of the Friedman Family Interwoven with the History of Motza & Eretz Israel: 100 Years of Our Friedman Family in the Land of Israel, by Ellen Stepak May 4, 2020 The History of the Friedman Family Interwoven with the History of Motza & Eretz Israel: 100 Years of Our Friedman Family in the Land of Israel, … |
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Hitting the Jackpot! by Garri Regev March 1, 2020 In my “spare time” I volunteer at the Genealogy Center at the National Library of Israel. For seven years now there have been sessions twice a week … |
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Military Resources in Eretz Israel for the Genealogical Sleuth, by Rose Avigael Feldman January 29, 2020 For thousands of years Eretz Israel has been the crossroads of invasions and an arena for wars, but documentation of individual Jewish soldiers and … |
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The Jews of Simferopol, by Esther (Herschman) Rechtschafner December 12, 2019 Simferopol is the largest city in the Crimean peninsula with a Jewish community dating from 1240. Esther Rechtschafner, the author, has … |
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Ada Holtzman - on the third memorial of her passing, by Ellen Stepak October 1, 2019 Ada Holtzman (1951-2016) was born on Kibbutz Evron, where she was buried. She had a tremendous influence on the Jewish genealogical community, mainly … |
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From Rotenburg an der Fulda to Huntington, Indiana and Points in Between, by Ellen Stepak July 25, 2019 Beginning with the history of my maternal ancestors In Hesse, I will follow my maternal family though generations, and migrations, until my parents, … |
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The Urban Jewish Population in Eretz Israel from 1839 – 1948: Censuses and Voters’ Lists, by Rose A. Feldman, Database coordinator for IGRA January 18, 2019 Until the founding of the State of Israel the Jewish and Arab populations had separate ruling bodies under the British government. This is the reason … |
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The People of the Book, by Chanan Rapaport December 10, 2018 The Jews are known as the People of the Book = עם הספר = Ahlil-Kitab. Are they worthy to be called also "The People of the Books and Libraries".… |
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Finding My Lysiec Family by Jeffrey Knisbacher October 14, 2018 My father Max KNISBACHER (Menahem Mordechai) of blessed memory, born April 7, 1913 in Berlin, passed away on June 2, 1995 in Baltimore. Amazingly he … |
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A Cautionary Tale or A Genealogist's Nightmare, by Ingrid Rockberger July 14, 2018 I recently re-read The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal and gave a wry chuckle when I read that one day, when de Waal is quite advanced in … |
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A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to the Forum, by Dr. Chanan Rapaport April 23, 2018 Dr. Rapaport wrote, "I was searching for the origins of a known reputable Ashkenazi family, and I found them". About three years ago I was … |
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Chronicling America: Aaron Tissenbaum 1903, by Jeffrey Knisbacher March 4, 2018 Sometime late last year I was alerted to or offered a new app for my Android Samsung Galaxy 3 cellphone called Old News USA. I downloaded it and … |
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Zefat, 16th and 17th Century CE Epitaphs from the Jewish Cemetery, by Yosef Stepansky February 3, 2018 In loving memory of my mother, Batsheva Friedman Stepansky z"l, whose forefathers arrived in Zefat and Tiberias 200 years ago and are buried in their … |
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Jewish Life in Bessarabia Through the Lens of the Shtetl Kaushany, by Yefim A. Kogan October 30, 2017 Very little, if anything, is written about mestechko, the small towns or townlets in Eastern Europe with fewer than two thousand Jewish residents. … |
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Theatrical Ancestors, by Daniel Wagner May 28, 2017 Comedians are unusual characters. Quite a few of them populate my paternal line and this short article will clarify what I mean. In their profession, … |
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My Grandmother's Medical File Was Found in the Archive of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, by Ruth Marcus March 12, 2017 About one year ago I had a telephone conversation with Dr. Nirit Shalev-Khalifa, who was the curator of an exhibition entitled "Jerusalem: A Medical … |
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Yagolnitzer Connection [part 2], by Jeffrey Knisbacher January 24, 2017 Part 2 Thus far this discussion has revolved exclusively around five people: two known Jagolinzers, Fischel and Keyla, Fischel's suspected brother … |
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Yagolnitzer Connection [part 1], by Jeffrey Knisbacher December 24, 2016 Introduction This paper describes recent research on a very large and prominent immigrant family in Rhode Island and beyond, many from the area of … |
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An Inspiring Visit to Yad Vashem December 7, 2016 On September 14, 2016, the Raanana and Petach Tikva IGRA groups, in conjunction with Zvi Bernhardt, Deputy Director of Reference and Information … |
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Finding My Cousin Zara, by Eli Rabinowitz November 3, 2016 I met my first cousin Zara [Zara Zeldin Smushkovich], known to us as Sofka, in late 1975 on Kibbutz Tzora.... Read Eli Rabinowitz's search, trail … |
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Shimon Peres in the All Israel Database September 29, 2016 Shimon Peres (from Wikimedia Commons) Sadly this week former Israeli President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres passed away. Many parts of his … |
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Aggressively and Strategically Breaking through the Brick Wall, by Dennis Weiner September 12, 2016 The majority readers of this article are relatively well experienced genealogists so there will be no need for me to define or explain the basics of … |
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From Rachel's Tomb to Billion Graves: The Inscriptions on Jewish Tombstones, by Esther (Herschman) Rechtschafner April 3, 2016 Being an active member of IGRA, I have become acquainted with "Billion Graves". For over a year I have been transcribing the epitaphs on tombstones … |
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Ava “Sherlock” Cohn got me going! The Story of a 19th-Century Photo, Documents, and some Incomplete Family Lore, by Peter Tarjan January 14, 2016 Reprinted from BRANCHES (December 2014), newsletter of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Miami, and with the author’s permission. When … |
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IGRA's First Project with the Israel State Archives: Marriage & Divorce Certificates during the Mandate Period in Palestine, by Rose Avigael Feldman December 6, 2015 In the fall of 2014 the Israel State Archives approached the Israel Genealogy Research Association [IGRA] with a request to build databases of … |
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In the Footsteps of Hugo Rosenthal in Grodno, by Ruth Marcus October 16, 2015 Introduction In October 16, 1914, less than three months after the beginning of WW1, Hugo Rosenthal, a Jewish German soldier, was taken prisoner … |
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The Value of Old-Fashioned Rosh Hashanah Cards, by Ingrid Rockberger September 11, 2015 How many email or Facebook Rosh Hashanah greetings have you received this year? New Year Card Those who send these 'cards' spend time clipping … |
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Kolel and Yeshivah Voting Lists, by Shalom Bronstein August 8, 2015 One of the many IGRA projects is to make available to researchers the names found on lists published in the early part of the 20th century by the … |
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Enjoying Your Online Volunteering, by Irv Cantor June 27, 2015 I perform online volunteer work for IGRA and enjoy it very much. I have worked on just a few projects, however some were quite large in scope. The … |
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Finding Aron David Baum, by H. Daniel Wagner April 24, 2015 A condensed form of this article appeared in Avotaynu XXX (3) Fall 2014, pp. 40-45, and the present version is published here with permission. In … |
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My Visit to the Minsk Archives, by Yechezkel Schatz March 20, 2015 Last year’s trip to the Chernigov archives uncovered plenty of information about my grandfather and his family. As is always the case in family … |
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Searching the Montefiore Censuses, by Billie Stein February 11, 2015 Background Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885) was one of the most prominent Jewish philanthropists in the 19th century. After making his fortune … |
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Mathilde Tagger 1933 - 2014, by Jeff Malka January 26, 2015 Mathilde Tagger 1933 - 2014. Her memory is a blessing. Mathilde Tagger passed away in Jerusalem on December 27, 2014 and on that day the Sephardic … |
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A Monumental Conundrum, by Hank Skirball November 5, 2014 In 2008, I received a letter and photographs from my cousin, Peter F. STRAUSS of Oakland, California. The letter was from one of his genealogy buff … |
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Beirut, Berlin and a Small Town in Lithuania, by Ralph Salinger October 12, 2014 In 1982, two weeks after the birth of my first daughter, I found myself fighting in the First Lebanese War. My parents [refugees from Nazi Germany] … |
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WWI and Its Aftermath in Ivanik and Pinsk, by Ellen Stepak August 31, 2014 Before World War I, the Polesian city of Pinsk was in Czarist Russia. The city had a strong Jewish majority. In 1897, there were approximately 21.000 … |
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Researching Your Female Ancestors in Eretz Israel: Part Two – The British Administration of Eretz Israel - second half by Rose A. Feldman July 20, 2014 The first half of this article is available at - Part Two – The British Administration of Eretz Israel - first half 1939 Employment & … |
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Jacobi Absolute Generations Scale, by Chanan Rapaport May 19, 2014 A major goal of the International Institute for Jewish Genealogy and Paul Jacobi Center is to develop scientific research tools and technologies for … |
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The Domiciles of my Direct Forebears, by Esther Rechtschafner April 13, 2014 EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is an excellent example of genealogical methodology. The author shows intellect, patience, persistence, creativity, … |
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History and Geography As Crucial Factors In Determining Where to Look for Baltic-Area Archival Records—with Emphasis on Latvia by Martha Lev-Zion, PhD March 13, 2014 History and Geography reprint from Avotaynu This is a reprint of the article History and Geography As Crucial Factors In Determining Where to … |
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Researching Your Female Ancestors in Eretz Israel: Part Two – The British Administration of Eretz Israel - first half, by Rose A. Feldman March 8, 2014 Kefar Azar Introduction When researching your female ancestors as you go back in time, do you hit a brick wall? This need not be. As more is … |
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Enjoying the IGRA Occupation Databases, by Esther Rechtschafner December 9, 2013 Recently, I was checking family names on the some of the various IGRA databases. My father had relatives, from the H.Gerschman family who had come … |
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Selected Lectures on Genealogy: An Introduction to Scientific Tools, עורך: פרופ' דניאל וגנר October 17, 2013 Selected Lectures on Genealogy: An Introduction to Scientific Tools עורך: פרופ' דניאל וגנר הודפס במכון ויצמן למדע 204 עמודים Selected Letures … |
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Book Reviews, by Irwin M. Pikus October 17, 2013 Selected Lectures on Genealogy: An Introduction to Scientific Tools, edited by H. Daniel Wagner, Printed. Rehovot, Israel: Weizmann Institute of … |
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The IGRA Voters' List Project, by Dr. Martha Lev-Zion September 19, 2013 The Israel Genealogy Research Association [IGRA] has been feverishly working on obtaining as many Israeli records as possible to database as an aide … |
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The Shtetl of Dolina and the Origins of the Weinbergs, by Rabbi Dr. Norbert Weinberg September 7, 2013 The Jews of Dolina, Galicia ( now Dolyna, Ivano-Frankivsk region,Ukraine) trace their origins back to the times of the Polish kings who had … |
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Researching Your Female Ancestors in Eretz Israel: Part One – The Ottoman Empire Period, by Rose A. Feldman July 10, 2013 Introduction When researching your female ancestors as you go back in time, do you hit a brick wall? This need not be. As more is discovered about … |
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Finding Tante Fanni, by Jeanette R. Rosenberg May 11, 2013 No matter how experienced we are as genealogists, we probably all have brick walls in our personal genealogical research. Here is a short … |
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Discovering our Past: The Good, the Bad and the Sweet by Michael Salzbank March 18, 2013 My genealogical journey began, I imagine, like many others begin, while sitting shiva for a parent. In my case it was my mother who had passed away … |
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New Strategies in German Jewish Research by Karen Franklin February 14, 2013 From a lecture to the Colorado Jewish Genealogy Society January 14, 2013 I recently began working on a project to organize 50 years research … |
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Images of the Holocaust January 1, 2013 (Note: This article, having been edited by the IGRA editorial board, was published as modified simultaneously in Mishpacha Volume XXXIII, Issue … |
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Hebrew genealogy terms December 11, 2012 English Phonetics Hebrew Search chipus חיפוש Name shem שם Given Name shem … |
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Vabolnik Revisited: A Cemetery Documentation Project December 8, 2012 by Ellen Stepak The cemetery is located just outside of the village of Vabalninkas, known by its Jewish inhabitants as Vabolnik, or Abolnik. … |
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Elvis Presley’s Jewish Ancestry August 29, 2012 Goodness… It’s been 35 years since the King passed on. According to an article in Tabletmag.com, Elvis’s great great maternal grandmother was … |
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Israelis who lectured at the 32nd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Paris 2012 July 20, 2012 Israelis who lectured at the32nd International Conference on Jewish GenealogyParis 2012 Alexander AvrahamYad VashemName lectures Behar Doron … |
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Jewish Cemeteries in Jerusalem July 8, 2012 Jewish Cemeteries in Jerusalem by Mathilde A. Tagger From antiquity, people have chosen a place outside the village or the settlement for burying … |
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History, Fiction and Genealogy May 20, 2012 History, Fiction and Genealogy by Hank Skirball Genealogy - An account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor; … |
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My REZEKNE March 31, 2012 My REZEKNE by Esther Rechtschafner Introduction A few years ago, a cousin of my father wrote me that my paternal grandmother was born in … |
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Visiting Grandpa Tuvia in America March 7, 2012 Visiting Grandpa Tuvia in America Miriam Gil (1) 'Soon I'll meet my Grandpa Tuvia' (2) as once again the thought crossed my mind like a mantra … |
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Free Article from Internet Genealogy Magazine February 23, 2012 We are happy to offer a free article from Internet Genealogy magazine each month on our web site to registered users (registration is free). You can … |
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Using Newspapers and Land Registries to Find People February 10, 2012 1943 Palestine Post Legal Notice Historical Newspapers Maariv Notice The following are examples from Davar [i]– published in Eretz Israel … |
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Chutes & Ladders: Innovative Approaches to Genealogy February 6, 2012 Chutes & Ladders: Innovative Approaches to Genealogy Pamela A. Weisberger © 2013 Are you eager to connect the dots, score points and populate … |
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Passover Break – Fifth Episode December 28, 2011 H. Daniel Wagner A few years ago, at Pesach time, I published a 4-part article in Sharsheret Hadorot which recounted short stories of relevance … |
