Jewish genealogy is the study of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

families and the tracing of their lineages and history. The

Pentateuchal The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

equivalent for "genealogies" is "toledot" (generations). In later Hebrew, as in Aramaic, the term and its derivatives "yiḥus" and "yuḥasin" recur with the implication of legitimacy or nobility of birth. In Modern Hebrew, genealogy is generally referred to as "שורשים"/"shorashim", the Hebrew word for roots, or borrowing from the English, "גנאלוגי"/"genealogi". Since

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

is not only a religious community but an ethnic group that claims descent from common ancestry, there has been significant interest in tracing Jewish descent. To this day there are Jews who trace their descent from the ancient tribe of priests ( kohanim) and levites ( leviim) of the

Jewish Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

Jewish synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish language, Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino language, Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word ...

service. Due to the importance of

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

learning in the Jewish tradition, genealogical records of rabbis and

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

rebbes are carefully recorded and readily available. The

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

was a significant factor in stimulating the research of Jewish genealogy. Many Jews were tormented by questions of what and who had been lost. In response, a number of genealogical agencies were created, including the

International Tracing Service The Arolsen Archives – International Center on Nazi Persecution formerly the International Tracing Service (ITS), in German Internationaler Suchdienst, in French Service International de Recherches in Bad Arolsen, Germany, is an international ...

(ITS) in

Arolsen Bad Arolsen (, until 1997 Arolsen, ''Bad'' being the German name for ''Spa'') is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and t ...

, the Search Bureau for Missing Relatives in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and museum and resource

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

. CRARG (Czestochowa-Radomsko Area Research Group)(www.crarg.org) finds and translates Holocaust survivor lists and death lists from around Poland. Its database is one of the largest on the web, with over 300,000 records so far, covering hundreds of towns and consisting of more than 150 separate projects. The 1976 TV miniseries of Alex Hailey’s book,

Roots: The Saga of an American Family ''Roots: The Saga of an American Family'' is a 1976 novel written by Alex Haley. It tells the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African, captured as an adolescent, sold into slavery in Africa, and transported to North America; it follows h ...

, is generally credited with popularizing genealogy. ''Generation to Generation: How to Trace Your Jewish Genealogy and Family History'' by Arthur Kurzweil, published in 1980, was a significant text in the evolution of Jewish genealogy.

Avotaynu ''Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy'' is a magazine that focuses on Jewish genealogy and family history published by Avotaynu Inc. (New Haven, Connecticut). It was established in 1985. An index to the first 24 volumes is avail ...

magazine was launched in 1985. JewishGen, an electronic resource for Jewish genealogy, was established in 1987. Following the formation of a number of Jewish genealogical societies, the

International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, Inc. (IAJGS) is an independent non-profit umbrella organization coordinating the activities and annual conference of 84 Jewish genealogical societies worldwide. History The IAJGS was ...

(IAJGS) was set up in 1988. Their activities include hosting annual conferences, normally in the United States. Sephardic critics of the leading institutions in Jewish genealogy argue they are Ashkenazi-centric and that they platform claims about Sephardic genealogy that are not compliant with genealogical standards. These include the identitarian claims of the crypto-Judaism movement and claims of Sephardic populations in eastern Europe. The SephardicGen website was established in 2007, with a name apparently intended to differentiate from JewishGen. The Sephardic Diaspora group was set up on Facebook in 2014 following the removal of a Sephardic academic from the then largest Jewish genealogy group, Tracing the Tribe. The Sephardic Genealogical Society was established in 2020.

Family pedigrees

Some Jewish families have preserved traditions relating to their tribal affiliation, based on partial genealogical records passed down generation after generation. In Yemen, for example, some Jews trace their lineage to Judah, others to Benjamin, while yet others to Levi and Reuben. Some Ashkenazi Jews have "Levi" and/or "Cohen" as surnames, probably because their ancestors were levites/cohanim. Of particular interest is one distinguished Jewish family of Yemen who traced their lineage to Bonai, one of the sons of Peretz, the son of Judah.This genealogical record, unfortunately, was broken off somewhere in the late or early 1500s. Nevertheless, it listed ninety-one successive generations, starting with Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. A copy and description of this family's genealogy has been published in the book "Mi-Yetzirot Sifrutiyyot Mi-Teman" (''Fragments of Literary Works from Yemen'' = מיצירות ספרותיות מתימן), Holon 1981, by Yehuda Levi Nahum, pp. 191-193 (Hebrew). Today, the original manuscript is at the Westminster College Library in Cambridge, England.

References

External links

{{Commonscat
JewishGen
- JewishGen, Jewish genealogy organization
JRI-Poland
- JRI-Poland, Jewish genealogy organization
LitvakSIG
- LitvakSIG, Jewish genealogy organization
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies ("IAJGS")
-

IAJGS The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, Inc. (IAJGS) is an independent non-profit umbrella organization coordinating the activities and annual conference of 84 Jewish genealogical societies worldwide. History The IAJGS was ...

, umbrella organization of local Jewish Genealogical Societies and organizer of annual Jewish genealogy conference
B&F Compendium of Jewish Genealogy
- Over 20,000 online resources for Jewish genealogy cover 200+ countries
One-Step Webpages by Stephen P. Morse
- database search tools by

Stephen P. Morse Stephen Paul Morse (born May 1940) is the architect of the Intel 8086 chip and is the originator of the "One Step" search page tools used by genealogists. Early life Morse was born in Brooklyn, New York. He has degrees in electrical engineerin ...

Jewish Genealogical Society (New York)Jewish Genealogical Society of Southern Nevada (Nevada)Israel Genealogy Research AssociationSephardic GenealogyGenealogy.org.il
- Israel Genealogy Research Association
Routes to Roots FoundationRoutes to Roots Foundation's Archive DatabaseRoutes to Roots Foundation's Image Database
- Sephardic Genealogical Society Jewish genealogy,

Family pedigrees

See also

Portals, Databases, Archives

Genetics

References

Further reading

External links