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The Weekly News Nosh – March 30, 2025

Mar 30, 2025 | Nosh

News About Jewish Genealogy, Jewish History, and Jewish Culture

Editor: Phil Goldfarb, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

  1. WOW…Upcoming Jewish Events/Programs Posted in One Place Viewable 24/7/365!  What’s New to Consider and Attend. Have You Been Checking Out JDays? Go to L’Dor V’Dor Foundation’s Worldwide Jewish Event Calendar (called JDays) at any time and look for any Jewish genealogy/family, Jewish history, and Jewish heritage events/programs coming up from around the world that are of interest to you, and which strengthen Jewish identity and continuity. A free service to post as well as to view, it is a defining initiative and global resource in Jewish education, teaching and learning. Events/programs from not only Jewish Genealogy Societies but from Jewish Museums, Universities with Judaic Studies, Jewish Universities, Holocaust Museums and Jewish Historical Societies. Go to: JDays – L’Dor V’Dor Foundation (LDVDF). New events are added daily!
  2. Why Strengthening Jewish Identity and Continuity to the Younger Generation is so Important…Nearly a quarter of Americans raised Jewish have left the religion, survey says. 17% of U.S. adults raised Jewish now describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated. Others practice a different faith. Read the story from JTA: Nearly a quarter of Americans raised Jewish have left the religion, survey says – Jewish Telegraphic Agency EDITOR NOTE: This is why the L’Dor V’Dor Foundation’s JDays (story above) is so important to support as they are also targeting Hillels, Young Jewish Professionals, BBYO’s, along with Jewish Fraternities and Sororities.
  1. In a related story: Ten thousand members of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Jewish fraternity have signed the Jewish Youth Promise, committing to “being active, contributing members of the Jewish community throughout their lives.” Read more: https://aepi.org/2025/03/24/ten-thousand-aepi-brothers-have-signed-jewish-youth-promise/  
  2. DNA testing firm 23andMe files for bankruptcy as demand dries up. Read the story from Reuters: DNA testing firm 23andMe files for bankruptcy as demand dries up | Reuters 23andMe says it won permission from a judge to sell customers’ medical and ancestry data. Here’s how to delete yours: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/23andme-says-won-permission-judge-110700171.html Here is the statement from 23andMe from their blog: An Open Letter to 23andMe Customers – 23andMe Blog
  3. Argentina to declassify Nazi-era documents. The Latin American country will expose war criminal escape routes. Historians estimate that Argentina harbored around 5,000 Nazi war criminals, including high-profile figures such as Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele. Read more from JNS: Argentina to declassify Nazi-era documents – JNS.org
  4. What America Can Learn From Tulsa. In Oklahoma’s second-largest city, a new vision of economic development is being born. From Washington Monthly, a great article about the George Kaiser Family Foundation and what Jewish philanthropy can do to a city: What America Can Learn From Tulsa | Washington Monthly
  5. Cemetery has been busy documenting millions of graves in Eastern Europe. It has expanded its databases for Latvia by another 250,000 graves in 568 cemeteries (total almost 1.85 million) and another 292,000 graves at 967 cemeteries in Lithuania (total almost 1.5 million) since spring 2024. Read more: More free cemetery databases are helping to find graves in Eastern European – Find Lost Russian & Ukrainian Family
  6. Jewish Soldiers of the Habsburg Army (1788-1820). Currently this database covers a total of 1,858 Jewish soldiers, 421 wives and 83 children. To read more go to: Jewish Soldiers of the Habsburg Army (1788-1820)
  7. Introducing Places, a new geographical map of your Ancestral Tree. Seeing your ancestral locations mapped out makes it easier to understand your family tree and where you come from. More from DNA Painter: Introducing Places, a new geographical map of your Ancestral Tree | DNA Painter Blog
  8. Massive 2,200-year-old structure uncovered in Judean Desert. A 2,200-year-old pyramid-shaped structure from the days of the Ptolemaic and Seleucid rulers is being unearthed in the Judean Desert in one of the richest and most intriguing archaeological excavations in the area. Read the story from JNS: Massive 2,200 year old structure uncovered in Judean Desert – JNS.org
  9. 1,200-year-old clay jug with camel motif found in Israel’s Yatir Forest. The depiction of camels on the vessel highlights the importance of the animal, which was a central means of land transportation around 1,200 years ago. Read more from JNS: 1,200-year-old clay jug with camel motif found in Israel’s Yatir Forest – JNS.org
  10. Archaeologists find first evidence of epic biblical battle at ‘Armageddon.’ Pottery excavated at Megiddo in northern Israel suggests a military presence, possibly confirms the battle between King Josiah and Pharaoh Necho, and hints at Gog and Magog narrative. Read the story from The Times of Israel: Archaeologists find first evidence of epic biblical battle at ‘Armageddon’ | The Times of Israel
  11. In Kolkata, a Jewish school centenary puts on the focus on the community’s rich legacy in the city. The Elias Meyer Free School and Talmud Torah was built with a donation from a millionaire in Singapore. Shalome Obadiah Ha Cohen, the first Jewish settler of Kolkata, came to the city in 1796. Read more from The Scroll: Elias Meyer Free School and Talmud Torah: Kolkata’s Jewish boys’ school turns 100
  12. Czech Republic: TAMUS Tachov 2024 annual report highlights Jewish cemetery documentation. In 2024, the Tachov Archives and Museum Society (TAMUS), a Czech non-profit NGO deeply involved in documenting and preserving Jewish cemeteries and other sites, carried out detailed photo documentation and mapping of 10 Czech Jewish cemeteries. Read more from Jewish Heritage Europe: https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2025/03/27/czech-republic-tamus-2024/
  13. Tehines: Women’s Prayers. Women used these popular prayers to commemorate special holidays and special times in their lives. The first tehineh to appear in print was one for a woman to say before immersion in the mikveh. This tehineh, was included in Seyder Mitsves Nashim (loosely translated as “Guide to Women’s Rituals and Commandments) published in Cracow in 1577. Read more from My Jewish Learning: Tehines: Women’s Prayers | My Jewish Learning
  14. Yiddish in Texas: An unexpected language is still riding the bronco. In Houston, the “Yiddish Vinkel” has been meeting for 45 years, and now there’s even a Yiddish class for teenagers. The golden age of Yiddish in Texas began in 1907 with an initiative to redirect the flow of Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants. Instead of Ellis Island, ships from Europe now docked in Galveston. Read more from The Forward: Yiddish in Texas: An unexpected language is still riding the bronco – The Forward
  15. English Words of Hebrew Origin. From cabal to camel, a list of English words that derive from Hebrew. Though primarily a West Germanic language of Indo-European origin, English incorporates words from countless languages, including Hebrew. Often, these words have religious connotations and come to English through the Bible. Read more from My Jewish Learning: English Words of Hebrew Origin | My Jewish Learning
  16. Stunning Indian Jewish Baby Names. These beautiful names overlap with Hebrew or Yiddish naming traditions as well as one or more languages used in modern-day India. Indian Jews are part of one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, believed to date back all the way to the 9th century BCE. Read the story from Kveller: Stunning Indian Jewish Baby Names – Kveller
  17. Eisenhower’s great-grandson to join Holocaust march in Poland. Merrill Eisenhower will join Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Polish President Andrzej Duda alongside 80 Holocaust survivors, some of whom were liberated by U.S. and Allied forces led by his great grandfather in the March of the Living in Poland next month to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day. Read more from JNS: Eisenhower’s great-grandson to join Holocaust march in Poland – JNS.org
  18. New play depicts Holocaust through the eyes of a dog. It is always interesting to see an innovative theatre performance that takes a traditional theme and portrays it from an unusual angle. Israeli-born theatre maker Shahaf Beer is doing exactly this with The Jewish Dog, a play that depicts the Holocaust through the eyes of a dog. Read more from The Jewish News UK: New play depicts Holocaust through the eyes of a dog – Jewish News
  19. UK’s Tate Britain gallery to return Nazi-looted painting to heirs of Jewish collector. Spoliation Advisory Panel rules that ‘Aeneas and his Family Fleeing Burning Troy’ will be returned to descendants of Samuel Hartveld, who fled Antwerp with his wife in May 1940. Read the story from The Times of Israel: UK’s Tate Britain gallery to return Nazi-looted painting to heirs of Jewish collector | The Times of Israel
  20. Here’s why hospitals ask you your religion — and why Jews shouldn’t be afraid to answer. Answer: Hospitals typically ask about religion so that they can be attentive to a patient’s cultural and spiritual needs, such as dietary preferences, traditions (such as offering candles for the Sabbath), or if they ask for a member of the clergy to assist in counseling or prayer.” Read the story from NY Jewish Week: Here’s why hospitals ask you your religion — and why Jews shouldn’t be afraid to answer – New York Jewish Week
  21. Forget the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile…meet the Manischewitz Deli on Wheels. A truck of kosher knishes and matzo ball soup rolls into New York with hot dogs, babka and egg rolls are all made hot-to-go in the Manischewitz Deli on Wheels. Read more from The Forward: A completely kosher food truck from Manischewitz – The Forward
  22. Israeli American Michigan basketball star Danny Wolf is seeking glory in March Madness — and likely the NBA. The 20-year-old 7-footer is one of the best players in college basketball. Read his story from JTA: Israeli-American Michigan basketball star Danny Wolf is seeking glory in March Madness — and likely the NBA – Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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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.