This Jewish heritage news digest is this week’s NewsNosh (The Weekly News Nosh) from L’Dor V’Dor Foundation—a curated set of links for anyone interested in Jewish family history, Jewish history, and Jewish heritage. This week’s NewsNosh Jewish heritage news digest includes IAJGS conference dates reset, Tulsa’s Jewish recruitment push, new FamilySearch–NY records, Fold3 burial index, and more.
Editor: Phil Goldfarb, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
This week’s news links:
- IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy Dates Reset. IAJGS is moving their Virtual Conference to April 4–6, 2027 and their In-Person Conference to 2028 because they are not willing to rush something this important to our community. IAJGS President Susan Weinberg has written a full account of why, including the financial realities facing conference organizers post-COVID and what they are doing differently to build a stronger future. An Important Update on The Future of Conferences — And Why We’re Excited About It – IAJGS
- The promised land is… Oklahoma? Inside Tulsa’s campaign to court young Jews. Hundreds of Jews from the coasts and Canada have flocked to the heartland hoping to plant new roots in a once-booming prairie city. Read the story from The Forward: Tulsa, Oklahoma, is recruiting Jews. It’s working. – The Forward Editor’s Note: While it was not mentioned in the article, there is a thriving over 20-year-old Jewish Genealogy Society of Tulsa as well!
- FamilySearch and the Office of Cultural Education Collaborate to Expand Access to Genealogy Records. Documents from the New York State Library and New York State Archives to Be Made Available for Free. The New York State Library and New York State Archives are working with genealogy organization FamilySearch International in an effort to expand access to some of the state’s most important ancestry records and historical collections, the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education just announced.
- Revolutionary War Burial Index in the US. While there were approximately 100 to 200 Jews who fought in the Revolutionary War with roughly 2,000-3,000 Jews in the U.S. at that time, Fold 3 has put their 67, 290 burial index 1775-1875 records online for free. Go to: Revolutionary War Burial Index – Fold3
- Have you checked out Genealogy Indexer? They have 2,214,000 pages of 3,704 historical directories, 159,000 pages of 364 yizkor books, 32,000 pages of military lists, and 54,000 pages of community and personal histories. Go to: Genealogy Indexer
- Americans and the Holocaust Traveling Exhibition. Explore More American Responses to Nazism in Groundbreaking Exhibition. The Americans and the Holocaust exhibition examines the motives, pressures, and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war, and genocide. View it online: Americans and the Holocaust | The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, in person at the Museum, or on its nationwide tour.
- Commemorating America 250 and Jewish America 250. From USHMM: Commemorating America 250 – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Editor’s Note: More to come about Jewish America 250 and stories about the contributions that Jews have made to our Country.
- 10 Genealogy Mistakes You Might Be Making. Do you ever wonder if there is a right and a wrong way to go about your genealogy research? In this post, find out if you are making these ten family history research mistakes: 10 Genealogy Mistakes You Might Be Making – Who are You Made Of?
- This Free, Elegant GEDCOM Analyzer Is a Wonder. How does your family tree measure up? Read all about it from Family Tree: Fortify Your Family Tree: This Free, Elegant GEDCOM Analyzer Is a Wonder
- Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe Launches “Challenging Conversations, a video series of conversations about Jewish Heritage, Culture and Communal Life in Europe.” The four videos will be aired one by one over the coming weeks. Read more from Jewish Heritage Europe: https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2026/03/24/challenging-conversations/
- The Exodus You Never Knew. There is a stone slab sitting in the Cairo Museum carved in 1207 BCE, that most Jews have never heard of. It was made by Pharaoh Merneptah, son of Ramesses the Great, to celebrate his military campaigns. He listed the people he had conquered, the nations he had crushed. The red box marks the word Israel — the earliest mention of our people outside the Bible. Near the bottom, in hieroglyphics, he carved a name: Israel. It is the earliest mention of Israel outside the Bible. Read more from Aish: The Exodus You Never Knew | Aish
- Paleolithic chic: 500,000 years ago, Israel’s ancient toolmakers had a taste for sparkle. Rare hand axes from the Sakhnin Valley show Homo erectus picked fossil- and crystal-rich stones for visual appeal, hinting at early symbolic thinking, new study suggests. Read more from The Times of Israel: Paleolithic chic: 500,000 years ago, Israel’s ancient toolmakers had a taste for sparkle | The Times of Israel
- Largest prehistoric bead cache, found in northern Israel, is a window into early artisans. A new study shows that Natufian adults and children crafted jewelry 12,000 years ago shaped like the plants they ate, in one of the earliest documented symbolic uses of clay. Read the story from The Times of Israel: Largest prehistoric bead cache, found in northern Israel, is a window into early artisans | The Times of Israel
- Ancient coins from Hasmonean kingdoms, Jewish revolts seized after suspected smuggling. Most of the coins date back approximately 2,000 years. Some were minted by Hasmonean kings (in the second or first centuries BCE), others by Jewish rebels during the Great Jewish Revolt (66-73 CE) or the Bar Kochba Revolt (132-136 CE). Read more from The Times of Israel: Ancient coins from Hasmonean kingdoms, Jewish revolts seized after suspected smuggling | The Times of Israel
- Iron from a 2,600-year-old shipwreck off Israeli coast may rewrite the history of war. The first evidence that iron was traded as a semifinished product has been found off the coast of northern Israel. It may have been intended for weaponry among rival empires in an era of upheaval. Read more from The Times of Israel: Iron from a 2,600-year-old shipwreck off Israeli coast may rewrite the history of war | The Times of Israel
- 187 years after deadly Iran pogrom, Mashhad crypto-Jews are focus of Jerusalem exhibit. Now at Israel’s National Library, display shows how the Jewish community of Iranian city outwardly acted as Muslims for over a century after a massacre on March 26, 1839. Read more from The Times of Israel: 187 years after deadly Iran pogrom, Mashhad crypto-Jews are focus of Jerusalem exhibit | The Times of Israel
- Jews and Japan: 7 Interesting Facts. Some of Japan’s biggest influences have come from contacts with Jews, and Japan in turn has influenced Jewish culture and history. Here are seven fascinating facts about Jewish links with the Land of the Rising Sun from Aish: Jews and Japan: 7 Interesting Facts | Aish
- Malta: A small island with a long Jewish history. The Jewish presence in Malta dates back nearly two millennia and possibly more. Read the story from JNS: Malta: A small island with a long Jewish history – JNS.org – Jewish News Syndicate
- The new Haggadah which takes us back to Egypt. Knowing about ancient Egyptian culture can deepen our appreciation of the Seder story. Read the story from The JC: The new Haggadah which takes us back to Egypt – The Jewish Chronicle – The Jewish Chronicle
- Finding beauty in wartime, museums offer culture to those who can fit in the shelters. Cultural institutions with safe spaces are selling out of tickets to limited numbers of intrepid guests allowed in by the Home Front Command, as Iranian missiles briefly interrupt visits. Read the story from The Times of Israel: Finding beauty in wartime, museums offer culture to those who can fit in the shelters | The Times of Israel
- A Jewish President for Germany? Meet Karin Prien, the woman who could become Germany’s first Jewish president. A granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Federal Minister Karin Prien says her “Jewish biography” shapes her politics and public identity. Read more about her from JTA: Meet Karin Prien, the woman who could become Germany’s first Jewish president – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
- Romania’s secret police trailed a Jewish photographer. Decades later, their files have become a film. Edward Serotta did not know he was being trailed at the time. Read his story from JTA: Romania’s secret police trailed a Jewish photographer. Decades later, their files have become a film. – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
- 50 years after the Dirty War, Argentinians remember the Jews who ‘disappeared.’ Educational projects aim to teach younger generations about a military dictatorship that singled out Jews for “special” abuse. Estimates suggest that as many as 1,900 Jews were abducted, tortured and murdered by the military junta during the six-year Dirty War. Read the story from JTA: 50 years after the Dirty War, Argentinians remember the Jews who ‘disappeared’ – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
- As Americans drink much less wine, kosher demand stays strong. A built-in ritual market and evolving consumer base are helping kosher wine outperform the industry. Read more from JTA: As Americans drink much less wine, kosher demand stays strong – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
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About The Weekly News Nosh
The Weekly News Nosh (NewsNosh) is the L’Dor V’Dor Foundation’s weekly Jewish heritage news digest—a curated set of links for anyone interested in Jewish family history, Jewish history, and Jewish heritage. NewsNosh is published on Sundays and shared on our website and social media platforms. “A Family Without The Understanding Of Their Past History, Foundation And Ethnicity Is Like A Tree Without Roots.” Subscribe to receive NewsNosh every Sunday, directly in your inbox. Browse past issues of our Jewish heritage news digest in the NewsNosh archive.