News About Jewish Genealogy, Jewish History, and Jewish Culture
Editor: Phil Goldfarb, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
- Wrapping Up 2024: MyHeritage Year in Review. See all that MyHeritage added in 2024 from their blog which is quite impressive. If you haven’t tried their AI use with photographs…it is a must! Wrapping Up 2024: MyHeritage Year in Review – MyHeritage Blog
- 2024 Year in Review and Recently Added and Updated Collections on Ancestry. Recently Added and Updated Collections on Ancestry Watch the 2024 Ancestry Year in review with IAJGS Board Director Crista Cowan: (1) Facebook Live | Facebook
- FamilySearch Year in Review 2024. With online access to records from more than 170 countries and principalities—and more than 2.5 billion new searchable records and images added in 2024—FamilySearch users have a total of more than 20.5 billion records available to them! Read more from their blog: FamilySearch Year in Review 2024
- Interested in South African Jewish History? Sign up for CHOL – Community History On-Line, which is a forum for those involved in preserving the footprint of Southern African Jewish community life in digital form. Go to their website: Community History On-Line
- Names of 425,000 suspected Nazi collaborators during the German occupation of the Netherlands has been published. The names represent individuals who were investigated through a special legal system established towards the end of World War Two. Of them, more than 150,000 faced some form of punishment. The full records of these investigations were previously only accessible by visiting the Dutch National Archives in The Hague. Read more from the BBC: Netherlands: 425,000 suspected Nazi collaborators’ names published
- Get Ready for Finding Your Roots: Season 11 Premieres January 7, 2025. Actress Debra Messing whose Jewish ancestors came from Russia and Poland is featured this year. What’s more, this new season also includes a special reveal: the solution to a mystery that has haunted Gates’ own family for generations. Check your local PBS stations for the time. Read more from PBS: Get Ready for Finding Your Roots: Season 11 | PBS
- Bob Dylan’s Jewish Odyssey. Born Robert Allen Zimmerman (or to give him his Hebrew name: Shabtai Zisl ben Avraham) to, by all accounts, a fairly observant Jewish family, Dylan had a decidedly Jewish upbringing as part of the tight-knit, small Jewish communities of Duluth and Hibbing, Minnesota, growing up in a kosher home and even attending the religious-Zionist summer camp, Camp Herzl. Read more from Aish: Bob Dylan’s Jewish Odyssey | Aish Editor’s Note: The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma is simply outstanding honoring one of America’s most important and influential artists.: Bob Dylan Center | Tulsa, OK
- The Underground Railroad of Portuguese Jews. Defying the Inquisition, converso Jews of Portugal were conducted to safety through a secret escape network. When King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain exiled the Spanish Jews in 1492, King John II of the neighboring Portugal saw an opportunity for profit. Read the story from Aish: The Underground Railroad of Portuguese Jews | Aish
- Mystery persists over function of ancient Golan megalith. Gilgal Refa’im was hitherto believed to have been used as an astronomical observatory. A stone site on the Golan Heights made up of more than 42,000 basalt rocks that dates back 5,000 years was likely not used as an astronomical observatory as previously thought. The establishment of the site, and other nearby ancient settlements, is dated by archaeologists to the Early Bronze Age II period (3000–2700 BCE). Read more from JNS: Mystery persists over function of ancient Golan megalith – JNS.org
- ‘Miracle’ hoard of Hasmonean coins discovered during Hanukkah in Jordan Valley dig. Haifa University team finds cache of 160 extremely rare coins – dated to 80/79 BCE, during the reign of Judah Maccabee’s grand-nephew – near Alexandrion Fortress, north of Jericho. This style of coin dates from 80/79 BCE and the cache is also one of the largest collections of ancient coins ever discovered in the Holy Land. Read more from Times of Israel: ‘Miracle’ hoard of Hasmonean coins discovered during Hanukkah in Jordan Valley dig | The Times of Israel
- From Olympic medals to college ball, the top moments for Jewish athletes in 2024. Jewish athletes distinguished themselves across events, venues and tiers of competition while also having an incredible impact off the field. Here’s a look at this year’s highlights from The Times of Israel: From Olympic medals to college ball, the top moments for Jewish athletes in 2024 | The Times of Israel
- Louisville orchestra to mark Holocaust Memorial Day with opera written in a concentration camp. The group has a direct connection to the opera — “Der Kaiser” — through its one-time concertmaster, Paul Kling, who performed with the composer, Viktor Ullmann, in Theresienstadt. Read more from eJewishPhilanthropy: Louisville orchestra to mark Holocaust Memorial Day with opera written in a concentration camp – eJewishPhilanthropy
- The 22 Best Yiddish Words to Know. A brief glossary of important and commonly used Yiddish words and phrases. How many do you know (and use?) From My Jewish Learning: The 22 Best Yiddish Words to Know | My Jewish Learning
- The Most Anticipated Jewish TV of 2025. From the “Shtisel” prequel to biblical kings to the return of a certain hot rabbi, there’s a lot to look forward to this year. Read about them from Kveller: The Most Anticipated Jewish TV of 2025 – Kveller
- From Germany, a ‘Sopranos’ set in the world of a Jewish delicatessen. David Hadda’s ‘The Zweiflers’ playing as part of the New York Jewish Film Festival this month, aims for an authentic look at the Jewish world a Frankfurt family who opened a traditional Jewish deli — after leaving behind the business of red-light district brothels. Read more from The Forward: ‘The Zweiflers’ is a German ‘Sopranos’ set in a Jewish deli – The Forward
- Speaking of Frankfurt, After World War II, there were 100 Jews left in Frankfurt. Today, the community has a potent voice. There were approximately 30,000 Jews in the city of Frankfurt before World War II, making it the largest community in Germany. By the time the U.S. military occupied the city in 1945, there were only about 100 left. Now there are only about 6,600 Jews in the city of 753,000, but they have a political influence that other minority populations don’t. Read the story from The Forward: After World War II, there were 100 Jews left in Frankfurt. Today, the community has a potent voice. – The Forward
- Into Klezmer Music? The Klezmatics at 40. Songs to know by the most influential band of the ‘klezmer revival.’ Listen to them from Tablet Magazine: The Klezmatics at 40 – Tablet Magazine
- Goats to mark the Hebrew month of Tevet whose Zodiac sign is Gedi — or Capricorn. The representation of the Zodiac was a fairly common feature of the painted decoration of synagogues in parts of Eastern Europe (and also elsewhere). Here are some striking representations of the Zodiac sign for Tevet found in various European synagogues (and a library). From Jewish Heritage Europe: https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2025/01/05/tevet/
- Brigham Young University’s star Jewish quarterback Jake Retzlaff scores sponsorship deal with Manischewitz. Retzlaff is the first athlete to reach a deal with the iconic Jewish food brand. Manischewitz released their first commercial with Retzlaff wearing an orange No. 12 “Manischewitz” jersey and running football drills in front of snow-capped mountains while talking about what “fuels” him. The answer, of course, is Manischewitz matzah — and the minute-long ad culminates in an unexpectedly intense supercut of Retzlaff posing with, and munching on, the unleavened bread. The video ends with a klezmer riff. See the full ad here: BYU Quarterback Celebrates Alamo Bowl Win with New Manischewitz Ad
- Chinese Hacking Dangers. Another great article from JGSCV’s Hal Bookbinder. Chinese hacking has become more and more frequent and blatant. Along with the rich, powerful, and government-connected, we are all at risk. “Chinese Hacking Dangers” discusses the issue and offers some rational precautions that we each can take to lessen the risk. “Chinese Hacking Dangers” is the 107th article added to the Practicing Safe Computing compendium, which is freely available at https://tinyurl.com/SafeComputingArticles.
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About The Weekly News Nosh
The Weekly News Nosh contains news about Jewish Genealogy, Jewish History and Jewish Culture. The Nosh is published on Sundays and distributed by the L’Dor V’Dor Foundation on its 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 future announcements.