News About Jewish Genealogy, Jewish History, and Jewish Culture
Editor: Phil Goldfarb, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
- RootsTech 2025 Recap. RootsTech 2025 had millions of participants from 235 countries and all 50 states join in person and online for classes, keynotes, Expo Hall browsing, or unique RootsTech activities like Relatives at RootsTech. This global experience had more than 659,000 participants who viewed 6.4 million ancestral relationships. Even though the RootsTech 2025 event is over, the experiences continue. Classes and keynote sessions are created so they can be viewed online and on-demand at RootsTech.org. Go to: RootsTech 2025 Recap
- Amsterdam mayor to apologize for city’s role in Holocaust. City to issue a formal apology and pledge £21m to support Jewish life. Amsterdam’s mayor will deliver a historic apology this month for the Dutch capital’s role in the Holocaust, and the city’s failure to support Jewish survivors returning from Nazi death camps. Read the story from Jewish News UK: Amsterdam mayor to apologise for city’s role in Holocaust and mistreatment of survivors – Jewish News
- Aided by German archive, descendants of victims of the Nazis retrace family history. Located in small German town, the Arolsen Archives returns Nazi-looted possessions to victims’ relatives, helps estranged family members find each other through WWII-era documents. Read more from The Times of Israel: Aided by German archive, descendants of victims of the Nazis retrace family history | The Times of Israel
- The miracle babies who survived Ravensbrück concentration camp. Infants secretly born in German concentration camp were kept alive by community of women prisoners who risked everything to protect them. Until 1943, most newborns were smothered, drowned, or burned and women up to eight months pregnant were mostly given lethal injections to abort their babies. The Nazis burned their records, but a register kept by a Czech escapee noted 522 births in the camp between September 1944 and April 1945. Only 30 of those names were not marked as dead. Read the full story from The Times of Israel: The miracle babies who survived Ravensbrück concentration camp | The Times of Israel
- 101-year-old WWII veteran recalls US Army’s seder night, weeks before liberating Dachau. Hilbert Margol still regularly speaks about the atrocities he saw firsthand at the notorious Nazi concentration camp as a young US soldier: ‘We didn’t understand what we were seeing.’ Read more from the Times of Israel: 101-year-old WWII veteran recalls US Army’s seder night, weeks before liberating Dachau | The Times of Israel
- The Last Seder in the Warsaw Ghetto. Survivors testify about an epic Seder held in underground bunkers as the Nazis sought to liquidate the last Jews of Warsaw Ghetto. Read this amazing story from Aish: The Last Seder in the Warsaw Ghetto | Aish
- The Jews of Argentina. The largest Jewish community in Latin America has struggled through the economic and political upheavals of the 20th century. Argentina’s Jewish community of more than 200,000 is the largest in Latin America and the seventh largest in the world. Read their story from My Jewish Learning: The Jews of Argentina | My Jewish Learning
- Let My People In! Visiting the last Jews of Ethiopia, who are still waiting for their turn to reach the promised land. Read more from Tablet Magazine: Visiting the Last Jews of Ethiopia – Tablet Magazine
- In Georgia, a 23-year-old maintains a venerable synagogue, the last remnant of his community. Soviet repression caused most Georgian Jews to flee, leaving behind a 2,500-year-old history whose memory is beginning to fade. In his village, one young man seeks to preserve it. What may be one of Europe’s oldest synagogues stands in a small town along the southwestern border near Akhaltsikhe, Georgia. It is the last remnant of a once-lively Jewish community that first migrated to the country during the Babylonian exile in the sixth century BCE. Read the story from The Times of Israel: In Georgia, a 23-year-old maintains a venerable synagogue, the last remnant of his community | The Times of Israel
- America’s Original Bestselling Haggadah. Before there was Maxwell House, there was Mrs. Philip Cowen’s ‘Seder Service.’ Read about it from The Tablet: America’s Original Bestselling Haggadah – Tablet Magazine Editors Note: Our family still uses a wonderful Haggadah each year called the Union Haggadah from 1923 edited and published by The Central Conference of American Rabbis
- The lost seder plates: A glimpse into a vanished Jewish world. The centuries-old seder plates photographed by Theodor Harburger in the 1920s may be the only remnants we have of many Jewish families from Bavaria. Read more from JNS: The lost seder plates: A glimpse into a vanished Jewish world – JNS.org
- Jewish Actor Jack Black Caught the Acting Bug at a Passover Seder. Black caught the performance bug in a somewhat unlikely location: Not at theater camp or by watching a particular movie or show — but as an eight-year-old guest at a family friend’s Passover seder. Read his story from Kveller: Jewish Actor Jack Black Caught the Acting Bug at a Passover Seder – Kveller
- 12 Jewish Baby Names Inspired By Passover. Some of the names may be obvious in that they draw from the biblical figures from the Passover story itself, while others reflect the spring season. See the list from Kveller: 12 Jewish Baby Names Inspired By Passover – Kveller
- How did an Atlanta rabbi make Coke kosher for Passover? Nearly 100 years ago Coca-Cola started making kosher for Passover Coke because of a rabbi who wanted American Jews to have their favorite soda. Read more from Unpacked: How did an Atlanta rabbi make Coke kosher for Passover? – Unpacked
- Made from snails and fit for kings: First biblical-era dye factory found on Israel’s coast. Ancient Tel Shiqmona site yields first evidence of large-scale purple dye production centuries before Roman times, possibly supplying First Temple in Jerusalem. The special dye is mentioned multiple times in the Hebrew Bible and other historical sources as sought after by elites across the Mediterranean, in two variations: purple (argaman in Hebrew) or blue (tchelet). Read more from The Times of Israel: Made from snails and fit for kings: First biblical-era dye factory found on Israel’s coast | The Times of Israel
- How Jewish patriots in the US Revolutionary War helped shape the First Amendment. The colonies were overwhelmingly Christian, with Jews representing just one out of every 1,000 colonists and 0.1 percent of the population. However, Jews encountered allies in the Founding Fathers, including George Washington and the principal author of the Bill of Rights, James Madison. Read the story from The Times of Israel: How Jewish patriots in the US Revolutionary War helped shape the First Amendment | The Times of Israel
- A Guide to Jewish Acronyms and Abbreviations. Common Hebrew (and Aramaic) shorthand translated and explained. Jews were not just the People of the Book, but the People of the Acronym. Acronyms — in Hebrew, Aramaic and transliteration — appear frequently in Jewish correspondence, books, spoken conversation and even on gravestones. Famous rabbis are frequently referred to by their acronyms. Even books themselves, like the Hebrew Bible are often identified in this abbreviated manner. Read more from My Jewish Learning: A Guide to Jewish Acronyms and Abbreviations | My Jewish Learning
- How Abraham Lincoln in a kippah wound up making a $250,000 deal on ‘Shark Tank.’ Jewish entrepreneur Ari Siegel secured a $250,000 investment on the show for his business, History By Mail. When Ari Siegel took the stage on a recent episode of “Shark Tank,” he was dressed as Abraham Lincoln, but with a Jewish twist: His outfit featured a kippah and a kapota, the black robe traditionally worn by Hasidic men. The get-up reflected Siegel’s pitch for History By Mail, a historical document subscription service, as well as his Jewish identity — which he said are interconnected. Read more from The Forward: How Abraham Lincoln in a kippah wound up making a $250,000 deal on ‘Shark Tank’ – The Forward
- Could AI solve the enigmas of ancient Talmud-like Christian manuscripts in Aramaic? An Israeli researcher uses computational technology to showcase that the scribes compiling Syriac texts made active editorial choices, similar to the redactors of Jewish Gemara. Read more from The Times of Israel: Could AI solve the enigmas of ancient Talmud-like Christian manuscripts in Aramaic? | The Times of Israel
- In early Christian Holy Land, private churches rose as acts of faith — and displays of power. During 4th-7th century CE, new research shows, Christian elites built numerous private churches, while Jewish donors appeared to pool their resources in a communal synagogue. Read the story from The Times of Israel: In early Christian Holy Land, private churches rose as acts of faith — and displays of power | The Times of Israel
- Israeli scientists develop first-ever blood test for early detection of Parkinson’s. Hebrew University researchers say their innovative test can find tRNA fragments unique to the neurodegenerative disease before patients even have symptoms. Israeli scientists develop first-ever blood test for early detection of Parkinson’s | The Times of Israel
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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.