Where to Start

Record What You Know

First, start by recording everything you know-names, dates, and places of yourself, your parents, your grandparents, and so on. A helpful way to record this information is by starting a free family tree on Ancestry. By entering what you already know into a family tree, you keep all your information organized in a centralized place.

Talk with Family

You may be surprised what you can learn simply by talking with your family. When speaking with them, do not ask the general question, "What do you know about our family’s history?" The response will invariably be, "Nothing!" Ask specific questions, like names, places, and dates. The following examples are taken from real interviews:

Life events can jog memories.
"When did your grandfather die?"
"I don’t know."
"Was he alive when you were born?"
"Yes."
"Did he attend your bar mitzvah?"
"Yes, in fact he died a year after my bar mitzvah."

Photographs can jog memories.
"When were your grandparents married?"
"I don’t know."
"Do you have any photographs of them?"
"Yes, in fact I have the photo album created in 1951 for their 50th wedding anniversary celebration."

Search for Records to Fill in the Gaps

Once you’ve recorded what you know and gotten as much information from your family as possible, it’s time to fill in the gaps by finding records about your ancestors’ lives. Interestingly, you are rarely looking for Jewish records, because historically there is nothing in the Jewish religion or culture that requires keeping records of life events. Synagogues did not keep records of births (there are no christenings) or deaths, and there is nothing comparable to marriage banns.

When you do Jewish research you are looking for government records. If your great-grandfather was born in New York City, his birth record is in the New York City archives. If your great-grandfather was born in Minsk, Belarus, his birth record is in the Minsk archives. Some people believe all Jewish records were destroyed in the Holocaust. While it is true that most things Jewish were destroyed during this period, the records you are looking for are government records, not Jewish records. For the most part, government records have survived.

Research Issues Peculiar to Jewish Genealogy

There are some unique aspects of Jewish culture and religion that can help you trace your family history, such as Jewish naming patterns and tombstone inscriptions.

Jewish Naming Patterns

Every Jew has a religious given name as well as a secular name. The religious name is used in baby namings, religious services, and on tombstones. Ashkenazic Jews-the Jews who originated in Central and Eastern Europe-invariably give their children the religious name of a deceased relative. Sephardic Jews-whose origins are primarily the Mediterranean rim and the Middle East-name their children in the following manner: the first son is named after the father’s father; first daughter-mother’s mother; second son-mother’s father; second daughter-father’s mother. These rules are often the first clue as to the names of ancestors for whom there is yet no documentation.

Interview:
"What is the name of your grandmother?"
"I don’t know. She died before I was born."
"Who are you named after?"
"My grandmother."

Two Jewish genealogists who suspect they are related but have not found records as proof often will compare given names in the two families. If there are given names common to both families, it suggests common ancestry.

Jewish Tombstones

If a Jewish tombstone has a Hebrew inscription, it includes the religious name of the deceased and his/her father’s given name. It is a quick way to go back one more generation. Assimilated Jews tended not to have Hebrew inscriptions on their tombstones. As a generalization these inscriptions do not appear on tombstones of Jews who came from Germany in the 19th century, Jews who are members of the Reform movement, or more recent burials where the Hebrew name of the decedent has been lost to the family.

If the decedent was the immigrant ancestor, the Hebrew name is a clue to the Yiddish name used when the person lived in Eastern Europe. The tombstone inscription shows that Harry was Hirsch, Morris was Moshe (Moses), Rose was Frusha, Ida was Chaya. The problem of knowing the European given name is so critical to locating information about an ancestor on passenger lists or in European records that our Jewish Family History Collection homepage has a search for "Jewish Name Variations."

Additional Jewish Resources

There is much help available in your quest to find your Jewish ancestry. The following resources are available:

• Databases on Ancestry and JewishGen.org, which may include records of your ancestors and family.
• Jewish Special Interest Groups (SIGs), organized primarily by country of ancestry.
• Approximately 80 Jewish genealogical societies worldwide where you can attend meetings, network with other genealogists, and attend lectures that will expand your knowledge of genealogy and history or e-mail for local assistance.
• An annual International Conference on Jewish Genealogy where hundreds, sometimes more than a thousand, persons attend to network and learn.
• The journal of Jewish genealogy: AVOTAYNU.
• More than 50 books that focus on the needs of Jewish genealogical research.

Ancestry and JewishGen.org

The ultimate goal is to find records of your ancestors and there is no better place to start and continue to return than Ancestry and JewishGen.org. Many of the important JewishGen databases are also on Ancestry and free to the public; therefore, searching for your ancestors at the Ancestry Jewish Family History Collections homepage will automatically retrieve the information from JewishGen.org without you having to actually go to the JewishGen site. However, here are two important databases that must be accessed directly at JewishGen.org:

JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF). Your genealogy may already be done! More than 80,000 genealogists worldwide have submitted to JGFF the Jewish surnames and ancestral towns they are researching. Go to the site and search for the surnames you are researching to determine if other genealogists are doing similar work. Be sure to search using the "Sounds like" option because there are often spelling variants of names. JGFF will display the surname, town, and identifying information about the person who submitted the information so you can contact the individual and jumpstart your research. You can search for a surname only, a town only, or both.

Family Tree of the Jewish People (FTJP). This database includes more than 2.5 million people on Jewish family trees. Perhaps a distant relative or a relative by marriage has already done some of your research and can fill in a portion of your tree. FTJP also provides a way for you to communicate with the person who submitted the information.

Some additional resources specific to JewishGen.org include the following:

• Infofiles – Articles written by genealogists about specific aspects of Jewish genealogical research.
• Discussion Groups – Daily bulletin boards you can join where questions are posted and answered.
• ShtetLinks – Web pages devoted to the history of specific ancestral villages. These are created by other genealogists.
• Viewmate – Post photos and documents for identification, analysis, and translation.

Special Interest Groups

Because today most Jews do not live in the countries where their ancestors lived 150 years ago, Special Interest Groups have developed oriented toward researching their country of ancestry. Most are for countries in Central and Eastern Europe (e.g., Germany and Ukraine). Two are topical SIGs: Rabbinic and Sephardic. You can link to their homepages from the JewishGen.org homepage. Go to the section titled "Special Interest Groups." Two SIGs are not part of the JewishGen umbrella and are listed in the "Hosted Organizations" section of the homepage: Jewish Records Indexing-Poland and LitvakSIG (Lithuania).

Jewish Genealogical Societies

There are some 80 Jewish genealogical societies in the world under the umbrella of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS). A complete list of societies is available at https://www.iajgs.org/?s=member+index. If there is one in your area, join the society. At their meetings you will be able to discuss your research with experts who can point you in the right direction. You can also e-mail them for local assistance.

International Conference on Jewish Genealogy

The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) sponsors the annual International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, which has been held annually since 1982. Typically between 750 and 1,000 people attend. Information on the conference can be found at the IAJGS website: https://www.iajgs.org/.

AVOTAYNU

AVOTAYNU is a quarterly journal of Jewish genealogy, which publishes articles of value about Jewish genealogical research. Information about AVOTAYNU can be found at https://www.avotaynu.com/.

Books on Jewish Research

Avotaynu, Inc., the publisher of AVOTAYNU, has also produced more than 50 books to assist persons researching their Jewish ancestry. Written by more than 60 authors on 100 subjects, Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy is the definitive guide to Jewish genealogical research. Avotaynu also publishes the e-zine of Jewish genealogy, Nu? What’s New?, published biweekly and available free of charge.

About Gary Mokotoff

www.avotaynu.com/gmokotoff.html

Gary Mokotoff is an author, lecturer, and leader of Jewish genealogy. He has been recognized by three major genealogical groups for his achievements. He is the first person to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS); and is the recipient of the Grahame T. Smallwood Award of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and the Rabbi Malcolm H. Stern Humanitarian Award of the Federation of Genealogical Societies. Mokotoff is also known for his application of computers to genealogy. Among his accomplishments is co-authorship of the Daitch-Mokotoff soundex system; the JewishGen Family Finder, a database of ancestral towns and surnames being researched by some 50,000 Jewish genealogists throughout the world; and the Consolidated Jewish Surname Index.