Discovering Your Jewish Ancestors
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Writing about Jewish HistoryI have been fascinated with Jewish history since my Hebrew school days at Congregation B’nai Israel in Kearny, New Jersey. I earned extra credit by reading additional history books in Mar Derman’s fourth grade class. I began tracing my family’s history in 1989 after the birth of my son and was thankful that I’d studied German and Russian in high school and college. I was also glad I knew the Hebrew alphabet and could understand Yiddish based on that and my knowledge of German. But the deeper I dug for my roots, the more I wanted to know who my ancestors were as people. And their stories began to inspire the stories I wrote. Children:BABAGANEWZ “Miracles.” (Nisan [March] 2002) “Rescue at Entebbe.” (Iyar [April] 2002) “Searching for Mt. Sinai.” (Sivan [May] 2002) “Tears and Testimony: Survivors of the Holocaust Speak Out.” (Tevet [December] 2002) “Going Wild.” (Shevat [January] 2003) “Freedom Ride.” (Adar One [February] 2003) “Aboard the Exodus: Setting Sail for Freedom’s Shore.” (Iyar [April] 2004) “Spotlight on Gershom Mendes Seixas.” (Special Supplement) “Dear Heartsey.” (Special Supplement) “Prairie Dogs Weren’t Kosher.” (Special Supplement) “News ‘n Views: The Beth Elohim Controversy.” (Special Supplement) “Life in a Sweatshop.” (Special Supplement) HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN “Make Your Own Noisemaker: Celebrating Purim.” (March 2006) Special project management/editorial assignment work for Behrman House, including lesson plan manuals and other curriculum materials Adults:ANCESTRY “Beginning Jewish Research.” (March/April 2003) AVOTAYNU: THE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF JEWISH GENEALOGY “The Fate of Our Files.” (Spring 1999) “Breaking New Ground: Jewish Records Indexing – Poland Project.” (Spring 2001) B’NAI B’RITH INTERNATIONAL JEWISH MONTHLY “Going the Distance.” (November/December 2000) DOROT (Journal of the Jewish Genealogical Society of New York) “The Power of Collaboration: A Three-way Success Story.” (Spring 2002) “Book Review: Climbing Your Family Tree by Ira Wolfman.” (Fall/Winter 2002) FAMILY CHRONICLE “Discovering Your Jewish Ancestors.” (July/August 2001) Book excerpt. HERITAGE QUEST (Contributing Editor on Jewish Genealogy, January 1999 – December 2003; Contributing Editor, January 2004 – Present) “Fishing for Ancestors? Cast a Wide Net.” (January/February 1999) “Finding Your Jewish Family in Nineteenth Century Poland.” (March/April 1999; errata corrected and reprinted May/June 1999) “Russian Revision Lists.” (July/August 1999) “Surname by Decree.” (September/October 1999) “Surname Surfing on the Web.” (November/December 1999) “Hunting for Your Eastern European Vital Records.” (January/February 2000) “Colonial Jewish Families.” (March/April 2000) “Researching Your Jewish Medical Family History.” (May/June 2000) “Locating Your Jewish Immigrant Ancestors.” (July/August 2000) “Sephardic Research.” (September/October 2000) “Jewish Cemetery Research.” (November/December 2000; errata corrected and reprinted January/February 2001) “Calling All Landsmen! Town-based Research in Jewish Genealogy.” (March/April 2001) “Holocaust Research.” (May/June 2001) “The Center for Jewish History: Candy Store for the Jewish Genealogist.” (July/August 2001) “Going on a Treasure Hunt.” (September/October 2001) “World War II Diaspora.” (November/December 2001) “Handling Those Sensitive Skeletons.” (January/February 2002) “Finding Your Jewish Ancestors in the Ellis Island Database.” (January/February 2002) “Jews in Eastern European Censuses.” (March/April 2002) “Going Back to the Shtetl.” (May/June 2002) “Finding Your Past through Postcards.” (July/August 2002) “Serendipity in Jewish Genealogy.” (September/October 2002) “Researching Your Jewish Tough Guy.” (November/December 2002) “Researching Jews in Military Service: Russia, Poland, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.” (January/February 2003) “Network Your Way to Success with the JewishGen Family Finder.” (March/April 2003) “Where in the World? Using Maps to Find Your Ancestors.” (May/June 2003) “Jewish Newspapers.” (July/August 2003) “10 Essential Books for the Jewish Genealogist.” (September/October 2003) “Mining Russian and Polish Business Directories.” (January/February 2004) “Morse's Code: The Making of the Ellis Island Database.” (June 2004) HISTORY MAGAZINE “A New World Exodus: The 23 Unwanted Pilgrims.” (August/September 2009) Newspapers“Ashkenazim Seen to Get Blood Disorder.” Forward, August 28, 1998. “Waldheim Cemetery Provides Links to Genetic Research.” JUF News 29, no. 5 (May 1999). BooksDiscovering Your Jewish Ancestors. North Salt Lake, Utah: Heritage Quest, June 2001. Short Stories"The Guardian," Jewishfiction.net, February 2011 |
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