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Journalchronicles of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia דברי הימים Table of Contents Reflections from your 1 Reflections from Your Chronicles Team Chronicles team 3. President’s Message 3. New Members’ Welcome ne of the exciting and fulfilling aspects of being a ge- 3. Letters to the Editor nealogist is the realization that we are part of a larger 4 The Last Immigrant Bank Book community. While we work on our own respective fam- David Mink Oily histories we are nevertheless linked to others. For example, 5. A Shtetl Wedding in the Berkshires in trying to close gaps in our family trees, we communicate with Rabbi Moshe Silver known relatives who often direct us to other relatives, thus cre- 6 Book Review: Chicken Hill Chronicle ating a larger network. We don’t work in a vacuum. Shelda Carol Bachin Sandler 6 Summary of the JGSGP December 2011 Meeting This operates on other levels as well. Hardly a week goes by, Steve Schecter when we don’t hear from Jan Meisels Allen, an IAJGS Vice 7 Family History and My Belief in G-d / Hashem as the President who chairs its Public Records Access Monitoring Creator of Our Diverse Populations Committee. She posts frequently on the JewishGen discussion Dr. Stanley R. Sandler group (http://www.jewishgen.org/ListManager) with informa- 9 Rose and Jack’s Wedding: October 26, 1939 tion about proposed changes in legislation and regulations Mindelle Najman Pierce worldwide that would impede access to vital records. 10 Additional Resources for Research Dr. Stanley R. Sandler Jan often puts out a red flag to warn us that trouble may be 11 “Wow” Experiences brewing. In late January she indicated that a subcommittee of Evan Fishman the U.S. House of Representatives Ways & Means Committee 12 Accessing Birth & Death Certificates in Pennsylvania will commence hearings on February 2 to evaluate overall ac- (Legislative Update SB-361) cessibility to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). Jan sug- Jan Meisels Allen gested how we as JGSGP members should respond: 13 The Winning IGS Poster - Artist’s Comments 1.Follow developments as the hearings proceed; Jillian Beroza 2.Await the IAJGS response (before February 16); 14 Finding a Genealogical Treasure 3.Write to the appropriate elected officials and indicate our pref- Shelda Carol Bachin Sandler erences as to how they should vote on proposed legislation. 15 Jewish Philadelphia Photo Collage (By the way, sending hard copy letters has greater impact than Walter Spector email messages). 16 Announcements 17 Newsletter 32nd IAJGS Conference - Paris France Were we not part of this web of genealogists, we might be un- 18 Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness aware of impending developments which could restrict our fu- 18 Quick Links - Web Articles of Genealogical Interest ture use of the important SSDI resource tool. Previously, Jan 18 From Your Chronicles Editorial Board recommended action we could take in support of legislation in 19 Membership Application for 2012 20 JGSGP Calendar Reminder Pennsylvania, (Continued - See Reflections Page 3) Chronicles - Volume 28-4, Winter 2011-2012 1 Journal of the Jewishchronicles Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia JGSGP Membership Editorial Board Membership dues and contributions are tax-deductible Editor - Evan Fishman - [email protected] to the full extent of the law. Please make checks Graphics & Design - Ed Flax - [email protected] payable to JGSGP and mail to the address below. Felicia Alexander - [email protected] Please include your email address and zip+4 code. Elaine Ellison - [email protected] Marge Farbman - [email protected] Annual Dues (January 1 - Dec. 31) Cindy Meyer - [email protected] Individual............................................................. $25 Selma Neubauer - [email protected] Family of two, per household...............................$35 Sponsor.................................................................$50 Patron.............................................................. ..$100 Officers Non-resident (beyond 90 miles)...........................$15 President: Fred Blum [email protected] Non-resident (with local mailings).......................$25 Vice President - Programs: Overseas...............................................................$21 Steve Schecter - [email protected] Membership Applications / Renewals and Payments Vice Presidents - Membership: to: JGSGP • PO Box 335 ● Exton, PA 19341-0335 Mark Halpern - [email protected] [email protected] Walter Spector - [email protected] Treasurer: Editorial Contributions Barry Wagner - [email protected] Submission of articles on genealogy for publication in Corresponding Secretary: chronicles is enthusiastically encouraged. The Evan Fishman - [email protected] editorial board reserves the right to decide whether to Recording Secretary: publish an article and to edit all submissions. Please Joan Rosen - [email protected] keep a copy of your material. Anything you want re- Immediate Past President: turned should be accompanied by a self-addressed Mark Halpern - [email protected] stamped envelope. Trustee: Joel Spector - [email protected] While email and other electronic files are highly pre- Trustee: Harry D. Boonin - [email protected] ferred, the editors will be happy to work with you and your material in any form. If you have an idea, please Committee Chairs contact Evan Fishman of the Editorial Board by email: Hospitality: Judy Becker - [email protected] [email protected] or by phone at 856-667-2077. JGSGP Bulletin: Evan Fishman - [email protected] Subscriptions - Address Change Librarian: Alvin First - [email protected] chronicles (ISSN 0893-2921) is the quarterly New Member Orientation publication of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Lois Sernoff - [email protected] Greater Philadelphia. It is free to JGSGP members and Publicity: Jack Weinstein - [email protected] to JGS’s in the newsletter courtesy-exchange program. Russian Special Interest Group Printed and mailed back issues are available at $4.00 David Brill - [email protected] each in the US and $7.00 outside the US. Chronicles is South Jersey Affiliate: published quarterly and distrubuted electronically in Bernard Cedar - [email protected] PDF format. Please supply the editor with your updated Webmaster: email address to ensure on-time delivery. Jim Meyer - [email protected] Copyright © 2012 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia. http://www.jgsp.org/ 2 Chronicles - Volume 28-4, Winter 2011-2012 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE (Reflections - continued from Page 1) which would provide greater access to birth and death records in I am pleased to inform you that our society has some very the state. Thankfully, that legislation was passed. Legislators do interesting programs scheduled in the next few months. In pay attention to their constituents. March we will be holding what has become an annual event-- our "Breaking Down Brick Walls" meeting. We It’s also important that we share our stories (successes as well as failures) with other society members. Our annual “Breaking will have a panel composed of our society’s "experts" that Down Brick Walls” session (next one in March ) has often proven will help you solve some of your difficult research prob- to be pivotal. As veteran member, Lois Sernoff, indicated in her lems. In April we will host Yuri Dorn as our speaker. Yuri Summer 2011 article, "Alternative World War II Research Strate- lives and does research in Belarus and will tell us what is gies", “Sharing my research dilemma with other JGSGP mem- available in the Belarus archives and what is involved in bers and employing the strategies suggested provided me with a doing research in as well as travelling to Belarus. In June much richer and more detailed account of his WWII service.” we hope to host our second annual "Genealogy Fair" in Cherry Hill, NJ. Watch for more details as the June 10 By the same token, we can influence each other when we share date approaches. our “wow” experiences. Chronicles editor, Evan Fishman, writes in this issue about some amazing developments in his Following the program portion of our Sunday afternoon, personal genealogical journey. We hope his message will gen- March 11 meeting, which will be held at Reform Congre- erate excitement and inspire you to share your own special ex- gation Keneseth Israel, we will be holding an open board periences in future issues. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, I meeting to discuss JGSGP’s future direction We are look- definitely want to be an [active] member of a club that accepts ing for like-minded individuals who would like to take on people like me as a member. ❖ leadership positions in our society. I hope some of you will attend the meeting and decide to take a more active role. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR As some of you may know we now have our own Face- Jack and I are relatively new to searching out the roots of his family and were excited last summer when we learned about book group, "Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater JGSGP's Genealogy Fair. We were impressed by both the wealth Philadelphia". On this page we will be posting informa- of information provided in a convenient format and the welcom- tion about our meetings, questions about research, useful ing attitude of everyone associated with the Fair. research links