Exploring Your Jewish Genealogy

So, you’ve decided to explore your ancestry. Perhaps you’ve even taken a DNA test only to be frustrated and confused by the thousands of “matches” to people you don’t know. Welcome to the challenges to doing Jewish genealogy! 

DNA is a great genealogy tool, but it is only a tool in performing Jewish genealogy. Here’s why: in a word, endogamy. Because our ancestors typically lived in, what would be referred to as, “closed communities,” families tended to marry into the same families. Consider this; Jewish communities were typically small shtetls of less than 1000 residents with many around 500 or so. Out of that population there were a limited number of adults of marrying age. Furthermore, Jewish citizens were restricted from marrying citizens of other faiths either by law or by restrictions within their own community. Therefore, many times young adults had to marry cousins within their community to create a family. 

This is why performing traditional genealogical research is so important for Jewish families if you wish to uncover your family ancestry. If you’re new to genealogical research, you may be struggling with how to begin. The answer to that is somewhat simple. Start with what you already know. 

–       Gather all vital records & documents: 

•        birth certificates, marriage licenses, death certificates, naturalization records, obituaries, etc. 

–       Gather all family photos, scan & label if possible 

–       Complete a “Pedigree Chart” with the names, birth/death dates & locations of known direct ancestors (https://www.ancestry.com/cs/charts-and-forms) 

–       Complete a “Family Group Record” for each  generation if possible 

–       Conduct interviews when possible of the oldest members of your family 

•        Be sure to make a list of key questions ahead of time 

Now that you’ve gathered up a lot of information, what’s next? 

We’ll answer that in our next installment. 

Questions? Email: nashvillejgs@gmail.com