News About Jewish Genealogy, Jewish History, and Jewish Culture
Editor: Phil Goldfarb, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
- ‘You probably didn’t inherit any DNA from Charlemagne’: What it means when your DNA ‘matches’ a historic person’s. A genetic match to an ancient person doesn’t mean you’re more related genealogically. Ancient DNA is a new and rapidly growing field, with a Nobel Prize awarded in 2022 to Svante Pääbo for his foundational work. Using samples taken from skull bones or teeth, aDNA researchers can sequence the DNA of people who lived as far back as 100,000 years ago. More than 10,000 ancient DNA sequences, or genomes, are currently available. Read the story from Live Science: ‘You probably didn’t inherit any DNA from Charlemagne’: What it means when your DNA ‘matches’ a historic person’s | Live Science
- Who Are Sephardic Jews? A look at Sephardi Jews: History, Culture & More. The term, “Sephardic Jews,” technically refers to the descendants of the great Jewish community of Spain—infamously exiled in the late 15th century—except that like most things relating to the long, difficult history of diaspora Jewry, it isn’t that simple. An excellent story about Sephardic Jews from Aish: Who Are Sephardic Jews? – Aish.com
- The History of Ethiopian Jewry. Piecing together legends and stories. A Jewish community in Ethiopia , the Beta Israel (House of Israel), has existed for at least 15 centuries. Most likely, the Beta Israel arrived in Ethiopia between the first and sixth centuries, coming as merchants or artisans from various countries in the region. Read the full story from My Jewish Learning: The History of Ethiopian Jewry | My Jewish Learning
- The Secret Jew & Incredible Survival of his Lost Manuscript. The amazing story of Luis de Carvajal, a secret Jew who was murdered in the 1500s, and the unlikely survival of his handwritten memoirs. He was a “secret Jew” living in terror of the Spanish Inquisition, penned the following words at great risk to his life: “To practice Judaism is not heresy; it is the will of the Lord our God.” The Jewish book he secretly wrote has been found and is on display for the first time in decades. Read more from Aish: The Secret Jew & Incredible Survival of his Lost Manuscript – Aish.com
- Czech Republic: Important Jewish heritage web resource is now (at least partially) in English. An important online resource for Jewish heritage sites in the Czech Republic is now at least partially available in English. Called Židovské památky Čech, Moravy a Slezska – Jewish Heritage in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, it is a revamped and updated version of an earlier site and is aimed at creating a complete online database of the synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, monuments, and other sites around the country. Read more from Jewish Heritage Europe: Czech Republic: Important Jewish heritage web resource is now (at least partially) in English – Jewish Heritage Europe (jewish-heritage-europe.eu)
- Centropa archive documents Holocaust survivors’ entire lives – not just the Nazi years. US Holocaust Museum acquires trove of interviews with Jews who stayed in central and eastern Europe in hopes of fleshing out a lost 20th-century history as told by those who lived it. Read more from the Times of Israel: Centropa archive documents Holocaust survivors’ entire lives – not just the Nazi years | The Times of Israel
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) means voices of Holocaust survivors will live on. With survivors sadly becoming fewer and fewer, Holocaust educators are using the latest technology to share their stories. Working with the USC Shoah Foundation, founded by Steven Spielberg, we have created a unique educational package, which brings together interactive digital testimony and virtual reality. Read more from The Jewish Chronicle: AI means voices of Holocaust survivors will live on – The Jewish Chronicle (thejc.com)
- The Youngest Holocaust Survivor. Erika Nissanoff was born on October 17, 1944, in a Nazi hospital in Austria. Her miraculous birth and survival is a harrowing story that everyone should hear. The doctor who delivered Erika was a Nazi. “That’s why I am called a miracle baby. I don’t know why he let me live.” Read her story from Aish: The Youngest Holocaust Survivor – Aish.com
- ‘We’re all scarred in different ways’: The next generation of Holocaust testimony. As survivors die, their descendants are finding new ways to keep their stories alive. Generations Forward a group of 36 descendants of survivors who excavate their families’ trauma and their own. Run by the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center, founded in 1990 it is part of a broader movement aimed at ensuring that Holocaust education and testimony continues as the number of survivors rapidly dwindles; last year, a number of so-called third-generation — 3G — groups formed an umbrella called Living Links that is working with the USC Shoah Foundation to expand their reach. A recent study estimated that 245,000 survivors are still living, half of them in Israel and 16% in the United States. Their median age is 86. Read more from The Forward: How younger generations tell their family’s Holocaust stories – The Forward Thanks to Judi Missel for this story
- Artist fights for memorial to 4,000 Jews who died at Jungfernhof Nazi camp in Latvia. For 17 years Karen Frostig worked for recognition of the mostly German and Austrian Jewish victims who died at the poorly documented site. Latvian officials are now showing support. Nearly 4,000 German and Austrian Jews died there, but few photos exist and any records were destroyed. Read the story from Times of Israel: Artist fights for memorial to 4,000 Jews who died at Jungfernhof Nazi camp in Latvia | The Times of Israel
- This Mexican diplomat helped Jews flee Hitler. Does that make him Mexico’s Schindler? Some say Gilberto Bosques was just doing his job. Others call him a hero. As head of the Mexican Consulate in France during World War II, Gilberto Bosques signed exit visas for leftists fleeing Fascist Spain and Jews fleeing Hitler. He rented chateaus near the consulate in Marseille to house and feed refugees, and he issued papers giving safe passage to those who wanted to stay in wartime Europe to fight with the resistance. Read his story from The Forward: Was WWII diplomat Gilberto Bosques the Schindler of Mexico? – The Forward
- From pushcart to American icon: Levi Strauss, denim blue jeans, and San Francisco’s Jewish community. What American product is more popular than the denim blue jean? Each year, around 450 million pairs of jeans are sold across the U.S. and a whopping 1.25 billion pairs are bought worldwide. A 2023 PBS documentary, “Riveted: The History of Jeans,” tells us “half the population of the planet are wearing them on any given day.” Did you know that the incredible story of blue jeans starts in the Kingdom of Bavaria (now Germany) and a Jewish merchant’s 1873 invention? Read his story from Jewish Unpacked: From pushcart to American icon: Levi Strauss, denim blue jeans, and San Francisco’s Jewish community – Unpacked (jewishunpacked.com)
- Colorful wall paintings have been discovered in the one-time Beit Midrash in Illintsi, western Ukraine. e. The paintings were discovered during renovation of the large brick building, which the Center for Jewish Art dates to around the year 1900. Read more from Jewish Heritage Europe: https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2024/06/19/ukraine-murals/
- Ancient Lod coin hoard reveals details of little-known 4th-century Jewish uprising. 94 coins found in a destroyed Jewish public building were buried during the short-lived Gallus Revolt, undertaken by the Jews during a time of Roman civil war. Read more from The Times of Israel: Ancient Lod coin hoard reveals details of little-known 4th-century Jewish uprising | The Times of Israel
- Cargo from ‘most ancient’ shipwreck found off Israel. Cargo from the remains of the oldest shipwreck to be found in the deep sea has been discovered in the eastern Mediterranean, Israeli archaeologists have said. Hundreds of intact amphorae – ancient storage jars – believed to be 3,300 years old, were discovered 90km (56 miles) off the northern coast of Israel at a depth of 1,800m (5,905ft) on the seabed. Read more from the BBC: Cargo from ‘most ancient’ shipwreck found off Israel (bbc.com)
- Steven Skybell is bringing Jewish pride to Broadway’s latest ‘Cabaret’ revival. Sixty years after it first graced the Great White Way, “Cabaret” has cemented itself as a must-see production whose message remains relevant through the ages. The production depicts 1929 Berlin and the rise of the Nazi party through the patrons and performers of the seedy Kit Kat Club. Read the story from Jewish Unpacked: Steven Skybell is bringing Jewish pride to Broadway’s latest ‘Cabaret’ revival – Unpacked (jewishunpacked.com)
- 102-year-old Holocaust survivor is Vogue cover star! Margot Friedländer, born Anni Margot Bendheim in Berlin in 1921, has dedicated her life to Holocaust education through the charitable foundation established in her name. Her entire family was murdered at Auschwitz. She has been chosen as the cover star of German Vogue’s July/August issue. Read more about her from Jewish News UK: 102-year-old Holocaust survivor is Vogue cover star – Jewish News
- Willie Mays’ treasured bond with a Jewish family. Mays, who died this week at 93, counted Jacob Shemano as a friend, financial advisor, and golf coach. Willie Mays was in the prime of his career in 1963, but his finances were a mess. The Giants’ star outfielder had plunged into debt amid divorce proceedings, and was staring down bankruptcy. Then he met Jacob Shemano. To some it might have seemed an unlikely pairing: Shemano, a Conservative Jew who had immigrated from Russia as a toddler, and Mays, a Black man born reared in coalmining, rural Alabama. Read the story from The Forward: Willie Mays’ treasured friendship with a Jewish family – The Forward
- Why Paul McCartney should be known as ‘the Jewish Beatle’. The secret Jewish history of Paul McCartney. Given Paul McCartney’s apparent love affair with all things Jewish including collaborators, business associates, girlfriends and wives, the title of the artist’s 2013 album New could well be meant as a transliteration of the all-purpose Jewish word nu. Read the story from The Forward: The secret history of Paul McCartney, the Jewish Beatle (forward.com)
These Jewish sandwiches define NYC, according to the New York Times. The New York Times’ latest interactive food feature, “57 Sandwiches That Define New York City,” features no less than 11 Jewish sandwiches (19%), from bagels and lox to an entire section devoted to pastrami, to an upscale shawarma sandwich created by an Israeli-born chef and his French business partner. Read more from JTA: These Jewish sandwiches define NYC, according to the New York Times – New York Jewish Week (jta.org)
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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.