I've moved my blog!

I've been busy over the last few days and finally feel ready to move everyone over to my new blog site.  It's part of my business site.  Hope to see you there!

http://www.jenealogy.biz/blog/

Wordless Wednesday- Engel Family

Who else is in this picture?

Schmoozing* With the Local Jews

 
*schmooze (Yid.) to converse informally, to chat in a friendly way so as to gain favor, business, or connections

Last month I wrote about shlepping to the cemetery and getting pictures of your loved ones' headstones.  Little did I know that I would actually be doing just that on my latest vacation to Indiana!  Ever since I started researching my family I have taken the opportunity to combine visits with my family and trips to the library, archives, or court houses.  Over the past few years I have had some success and have managed the six hour drive on a more regular basis. This time, I was fortunate to be able to travel with my mom and she suggested that we get in touch with the local Jewish Historical Society. I took her advice and ran with it! 

Cemetery Record for Dora Engel

Before I had even started on the road, I had gotten in touch with Maggie Goldberg who is the Executive Director for the Michiana Jewish Historical Society. I wanted to see if she would be able to squeeze in some time for me (and mom) to come to the Jewish Federation building and schmooze about my Jewish ancestors who had settled there.  Mom had suggested that they might have records from the burials at the cemetery of our family and so we were able to get copies of those while there. We were able to get copies of a number of our relatives’ cemetery records and even though I already knew most of the data; it was interesting nonetheless. You can see here on my Great Grandma Dora’s card that at the very bottom it shows the other Engel family members and their death dates. 

Unfortunately the Michiana JHS archives are a bunch of boxes in a storage room right now and so it was pretty challenging to try and find out anything new.  Apparently the synagogue that my Great Grandfather Samuel Engel helped start was a bit confused in my Grandmother's mind as she had stated it was the “Sons of Israel Synagogue on Taylor Street”.  According to Maggie, there was a synagogue on Taylor Street, but it wasn't Sons of Israel.  The one on Taylor was Temple Beth-El and Sons of Israel (B'Nai Yisrael) was on Williams Street.  We looked at some newsletters from Temple Beth-El, but had no luck finding my Engels.  The box with all the information from the Sons of Israel was out on loan so we did not get to confirm he was a founder there.  Luckily, my cousins who live up there are well known and should be able to help me get copies when the box is returned.  I'll just have to wait.

After our meeting there, we drove over to the Hebrew Orthodox Cemetery, Rose Hill, and Mom quickly guided me around to my family’s plots.  While visiting I was able to get a picture of my Great Grandparents’ headstones and left a rock to let them know I was there. Of course I posted the pictures on the JewishGen.org Viewmate site and got the following translations.

Samuel Engel
Here Lies
Shmuel Natan, son of Mr. Yitchak Peretz Engel
Died on 2nd of Kislev, in the year 5688. May his soul be bound up for life eternal

Dora Engel
Here Lies (two-letter acronym on top)
The woman, Devorah daughter of Mr. Abraham  
Engel  Died 12 of Second Adar
In the year 5603. May her soul be bound up for life eternal

I did not have Samuel’s father’s name before this! An exciting development has revealed itself. Not to mention that I now have Dora’s (or should I say, Devorah’s) father’s name too. Prior to this I had not known his name for sure. I can not wait to take this information and try and unearth more on the JewishGen site!

Next time, I’ll share with you how my visit to the St. Joseph County Archives went and other discoveries I made as a result. In the meantime, schmooze those connections!


This blog entry was originally written for “The In-Depth Genealogist”.

Technorati Tags: Engel,Jewish,cemetery

Shlepping* to the Cemetery

 

* shlep- (Yid.) to proceed or move especially slowly, tediously, awkwardly, or carelessly  

As a child I remember going to the Jewish section of the cemetery with my Mom.  She knew where the Engel family was buried and would lead the way.  We would gather small stones as we approached so that we could carefully place them on the headstone.  It was not until I was much older that I realized that this is a Jewish custom.   When I asked my mom why we did that she gave me the explanation that we were showing our relatives that we cared and remembered them.  Recently I revisited this custom and found a number of explanations, but my favorite is by Rabbi Andrew Straus who says, 

“Ritual is a way of expressing our emotions and spiritual needs. We need physical acts to express these things for us, to make them concrete.”

Placing a stone on a grave does just that. It works in several ways:

1) It is a sign to others who come to the grave when I am not there that they and I are not the only ones who remember. The stones I see on the grave when I come are a reminder to me that others have come to visit the grave. My loved one is remembered by many others and his/her life continues to have an impact on others, even if I do not see them.

2) When I pick up the stone it sends a message to me. I can still feel my loved one. I can still touch and be touched by him/her. I can still feel the impact that has been made on my life. Their life, love, teachings, values, and morals still make an impression on me. When I put the stone down, it is a reminder to me that I can no longer take this person with me physically. I can only take him/her with me in my heart and my mind and the actions I do because he/she taught me to do them. Their values, morals, ideals live on and continue to impress me - just as the stone has made an impression on my hands - so too their life has made an impression on me that continues.”

After placing the stone on the headstone it is a wonderful opportunity to examine the writing on the grave.  You may find that there is Hebrew writing on the headstone along with the English name and dates.  For example, here is my great grandfather's headstone. 

You can see that his name was Myer Krueger and lived from 1885-1934.  Although I am Jewish and had some education in Hebrew, I don't remember enough to be able to interpret the writing.  From what I have come to learn the Hebrew engravings often include the full Jewish name and the name of the person's father.  With any luck this opens up a new branch on your family tree!  

There are a number of options to get the Hebrew translated, but probably the simplest is to find someone who knows the language.  This could either include a visit to your local synagogue, university's Jewish studies department, or look online for possible translation.  What I've found to be easiest was to turn to Jewishgen's members to assist in translating the Hebrew writing.  If you are not already a member, I recommend that you sign up so that you can post and images or documents that you may want translated eventually.  Once you have logged in click on the "Research" menu and choose "Viewmate" from the drop down menu.  

After I uploaded the photo of Myer's headstone I got the following responses.

The first JewishGen member response:  "Hebrew says:  Here lies Mayer son of Eliyahu Kriger, died 24 Cheshvan 5694 = Nov 13, 1933 May he rest in peace"

Another response was:  "note: died in Hebrew is NIFTAR with the letter TET. Here it is with the letter TAV, a misspelling.

Finally another response: "Assuming that the engraved year 1934 is correct, the Jewish date is not 5694 but 5695 and that would change the civil date to Nov 2, 1934."

Now, if you didn't already know the date of his death this could open up some avenues to research obituaries.  The real revelation was that his father's name was Eliyahu Kriger!  I was so excited to have a name for my great great grandfather!  In later articles I will reveal how I discovered Myer's place of birth and proved that Eliyahu was in that town at that time.

In the meantime I have been trying to find Myer's sister who lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The only clues I had were from my grandmother's biography,

"Dad's sister married a Mr. Frame, moved to Milwaukee and had two sons, Alex and Maurice. After her husband left her, Dad would send her money to tide her over."  

On a recent search on JewishData I found  headstone for Fannie Frame and Alex Frame.  I'm not totally sure that Fannie is Myer's sister, but it's certainly worth a try to get the Hebrew translated.  

  

The first JewishGen member response:  Here Lies (two-letter acronym surrounding the star)

Shayna Faygel, daughter of Eliyakim
Died 22nd of Tishri, 56?? - she'd be 89, but that's not what the numbers appear to be.
May her soul be bound up for life eternal.

Another response was: here lies
Shayna Feigel daughter of Elyakim
died 22nd day of Tishrei 5690
(acronym meaning) may her soul be bound in eternal life

A third translation: Here lies Sheina Feigel,son of Rabbi Eliakim (Eliakum)
Died in 22 Tishrei 5690

The final response was:  Shayne Feigel is without any doubt a woman's name.

The acronym after her name and before her father's - ב"ר - stands for "bat reb" i.e. "daughter of reb" ("reb" is an honorific, more or less the equivalent of Mr.". The first responders are are right.

This should not be confused with the Aramaic word בר which does indeed mean "son".

The father's name on the gravestone is Elyakum.
She died on 22nd Tishrei 5690.

As you can see, translations can vary a good bit so be sure and pay close attention to the responses you get.  Based on this information I can't completely rule out Fannie as a match as Myer's sister.  Eliyahu and Elyakum are fairly similar so it's possible that it could be the same person.   I will continue to hunt for more information, but we'll see if it pans out.  Now that I have approximate birth and death dates for Fannie I will check the census, directories, and immigration records to see what can be found there.  Be prepared to hear more about this hunt in the future.  In the meantime, shlep on over to the cemetery and get pictures of your ancestors' headstones.  There might be a clue that you did not even realize was hidden there.

This blog entry was originally written for “The In-Depth Genealogist”.

Technorati Tags: cemetery,Krueger,Frame,Jewish,genealogy

Researching Your Jewish Family History and Heritage

 

(Originally a guest post on the JewishGen blog on June 17, 2010)

In 2008, I suffered a great loss when all three of my remaining grandparents passed away. As I began to reflect on the relationships that I had with them, I realized how little I really knew. I spoke with my parents and became increasingly interested in finding out more.

I began my blog in an attempt to share my research with my relatives and friends. As I began to read blogs, listen to podcasts, and research at libraries, I decided to focus on my mom's side of the family. I knew that we were descended from Russian Jews and that my great grandfather, Myer Krueger, had come over around 1900.

I turned to JewishGen.org for more information on the Jewish side of my heritage. Since I was self-taught and was wandering a bit aimlessly through my research, it made sense to me to sign up for the Basic Genealogy Class that was to begin in May.

Once I had signed up for the class, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Message boards are used to publish the daily posts and the lessons for the students of the class. I felt a bit over overwhelmed at first with the many posts that began to flood the board, but found that the moderator, Nancy Collier Holden, was a wonderful guide as we began the class. With close to forty class members, she had her work cut out for her.

Each student was asked to introduce themselves and detail what family line they want to work on. Nancy helped keep us focused on working on one family line and provided suggestions for new resources when we became blocked by a brick wall. I just wish I had the time available like the others in the class! There are class members who have posted upwards of fifty times. I think I only posted about ten times to report my progress.

Overall, the class was a great way to learn the basics of genealogical research and to become familiar with the JewishGen resources on the website. In particular, I wanted to share a few key lessons that I came away with.

1. Focus on one branch at a time and learn all you can about that family. Document your searches and what you find and do your best to research in a logical progression. It is easy to get excited about new information that you may unearth, and before you know it, you are researching a line of the family that is far from where you were.
2. Study the history of that time period of the family. Learn about the culture in the country of origin. There are many books and websites that can provide you with valuable insight.
3. Talk with those relatives! They have a vast resource of memories and may provide new avenues for research. Look through old photographs, family diaries, notes, and letters. You never know what new detail will open doors for you.
4. There are many free services provided through local libraries and you may not even need to go to the location itself. You may be able to log on remotely through the library.
5. Ask for help. Talk out your brick walls with your fellow genealogists. They may have great suggestions on where to look next. Write letters to county archives, synagogues, and other connections that your ancestor may have had.
6. Finally, I recommend this class to anyone who is researching their family history. It's a great way to get focused on what you are trying to achieve as well as a way to refresh your methodology.

As you take the class, I would suggest copying the posts from the message boards to a document or print them out so that you can refer to them later. There is so much information inside the lessons and posts that you may find something new the next time you look at them.

I know that I will be mining those documents for the next few months as I continue my own search for my ancestors.

 

Technorati Tags: Jewish,genealogy,class,website,research,interview

Interviewing Bubbe*

*bubbe (Yid.) grandmother

For those looking to get started in researching your Jewish genealogy there are many ways to get started.  From experience, I have learned that the best place to start is in talking with the oldest generations of your Jewish family.  My grandmother was one of those rare people who wrote down her memories for posterity’s sake.  As a result, I had a great document to refer to whenever I got stuck.  Not everyone is as fortunate.  So, my recommendation to you is to start by interviewing your oldest living Jewish relatives.

Sometimes older relatives may feel self-conscious or suspicious about your reasons for asking so many questions.   Be sure to explain to them that you are trying to learn about your family’s history and that you want to know more about what their life experiences have been.  Tell them that you will share your genealogical findings with them and usually this will be enough to open them up to being interviewed.   If not, sometimes you can get someone to open up by simply interviewing someone else in front of them.  Before long they will be throwing in their two cents as well!

You may find that you will have so many questions that you want to interview them several times.   This is a good thing because often, once you get your relative to think about the past… new stories will come up in subsequent meetings.

There are a number of items I would suggest you take with you in preparation:

1. A recording device.
   Whether it’s a video camera or some kind of audio recorder it doesn’t matter.  I find that audio tends to be less obtrusive and easier for your relative to deal with.  However, if you can get a video camera the result could become something priceless for future generations to see your relative share their stories.  Regardless, I would strongly recommend that you record the conversation in some way so that you won’t have to take a lot of notes.  Being more present in the conversation will help you to draw your relative in and ask supplementary questions that may occur to you as you talk.  I have a great little device called the Blue Microphone Mikey that I can attach to my iPod that records easily and is down-loadable into iTunes for my use later.  If your relative doesn’t want you to record it, I recommend typing up your notes as soon after the interview as possible.  It’s easy to forget things weeks later!
2. Bring a list of questions.
   There are many great lists of questions available online.  In particular, you might want to look at the JewishGen InfoFiles page which has an extensive list of questions.  You might want to ask about your relatives’ memories of certain holidays like Hanukkah, Passover, or Purim.   Memories of family weddings, bat/bar mitzvahs, and funerals may also yield some interesting tales.  A wonderful book by Arthur Kurzweil, “From Generation to Generation” has some great questions within it as well.
3. Bring photographs that you may have.
   Sometimes a great way to break the ice is to look through old family photos.  You may hear stories of Great Aunt Beulah that you’d never heard before.  Perhaps you’ll discover that you’re relatives used to get together every year at Thanksgiving and have potlucks and talent shows.  You just never know!  Plus, you may be able to better identify who is in that picture that you didn’t know before.  Write on the back of the picture or on a post-it (in pencil!) who everyone is, rough time period, and what was going on if they can remember.  These are priceless bits of information you can refer to later in your research.
4. Bring a digital camera or scanner in case your relative digs out some documents or photos you’ve never seen before.
   Take a picture of family heirlooms that may be around the house too.  Ask if there are candlesticks, kiddush cups, ketubah, letters, immigration papers, passports, and recipes that you could see.
5. Ask who else in the family might have information to share.
6. Finally, try your best not to ask “Yes” or “No” questions.
   You want to get them talking and telling stories!

My last bit of advice on this is to be proud of yourself for trying to do this.  It’s not easy to sit down with older relatives sometimes. There are generational barriers that may make you hesitant to ask personal questions.  But remember, your interest in their life and their stories is something that can be passed on to future generations.

“If you don’t recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are.” – Madeleine L’Engle

 

This blog entry was originally written for “The In-Depth Genealogist”.

Technorati Tags: Jewish,history,genealogy,interview,stories

Passover Memories

Last weekend was one with two different celebrations- Easter and Passover.  While the Easter celebrations were being prepared for some…  there were many Jews planning their Passover Seder.  Growing up I always marked this time of year by the television showing of “The Ten Commandments” and the story of the Jews escaping Egypt.  There is nothing like Charlton Heston, as Moses, declaring, “Thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel: Let my people go.” 
Over the years, the Passover Seder has had an increasing meaning for me.  Part of that is due to the fact that I do not get home to spend time with my family as much as I would like.  Also, as I have learned more about my family’s history I have an increased appreciation for how the Jewish people have survived and held onto their beliefs.  I have a lot of respect for those with strong beliefs- whatever they may be.
Anyway, for those not familiar with Passover (or Pesach) I thought I’d share some of the things that my family and I do when we celebrate.  I can’t speak for all Jews (and wouldn’t want to!), but I really love the time we have together as a family.  A few years ago I found some hilarious finger puppets to use in the telling of the story of Passover.  Check them out in the pictures below.

Mom always makes a great spread with all the representative foods used during the night.  She has spent a lot of time putting together a special series of readings from several different Haggadahs.  We all take turns reading from the books and say the blessings for the wine with Mom’s guidance.   We talk about the symbolism of the various food on the seder plate.









Greens/ Karpas represent the initial flourishing of the Jews in Egypt.  The salt water represents the tears shed by the Jews.  Haroset is a mix of fruit, nuts, and wine and represents the mortar used to build the pyramid.  Bitter Herbs (usually horseradish is used) allow us to taste the bitterness of slavery.  The lamb shank bone represents the sacrifice of a lamb made at the Temple for a special Passover offering.  The egg shows the circle of life. 




The youngest child, Kait, asks the four questions and notes what is different about the night’s celebration.
1. On all other nights we eat bread or matzo, while on this night we eat only matzo.
2. On all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables and herbs, but on this night we have to eat bitter herbs.
3. On all other nights we don't dip our vegetables in salt water, but on this night we dip them twice.
4. On all other nights we eat while sitting upright, but on this night we eat reclining.






There is always an extra place  setting for Elijah and the door is kept open in case he should appear.  (Yes, that’s right, the Jews are still waiting for their Messiah.) 

















As we tell the story of the Exodus we talk about the ten plagues that occurred.





















The ten plagues brought on Egypt were:
1. Water to Blood
2.  Frogs
3.  Gnats or Lice
4.  Livestock Diseased/ Cattle Plague
5.  Flies










6.  Boils
7.  Thunder and Hail
8.  Locusts
9.  Darkness






10. Death of the Firstborn





 

By the time we’ve made it through all the stories, reflections, and blessings we are usually so full that we hardly make a dent on the delicious meal that Mom has made.  On the bright side, the leftovers are great!

Technorati Tags: jewish,passover,pesach,plagues,moses,egypt,exodus

An Introduction

Over the past five years I have learned more about my Jewish roots than I had in the thirty-some before that.  I have always been fascinated with the history of the Jewish people, but until my maternal grandmother, Shirley Krueger Morse passed away, I didn’t realize how little I really knew.  After experiencing the loss of such an influence in my life, it took a while before I could even delve into the things she left behind.  One of the greatest things she did in her life was writing her biography which included a lot of personal stories of her childhood and information she had found in her own research of her family tree.  This document has been a treasure in my research.  Some of it may not be 100% accurate, but most of it has hints of new avenues to pursue in my hunt.

I have been fortunate enough to have photographs of these great grandparents and stories that were handed down by my maternal grandmother, Shirley Krueger.  Many people are not that fortunate- whether they are Jewish or not.  My Jewish roots extend back to Belarus and Slovakia in the late 1800's. Within this journal I will write about how I have gradually uncovered information on my Jewish family both here in the United States and in Europe.   For now, I will share some photographs of my ancestors for your enjoyment.

 

Most recently I received a copy of this photograph of my great great grandmother, Zipe (Sophia) Soloman Krueger from my dear cousin, Marcia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some other wonderful photographs of my ancestors that were given to me.  I count myself lucky to have them! 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: jewish,genealogy,Krueger,Engel,Morse