The Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon invites you, your family and friends to its upcoming program on two topics – Ellis Island Name Change Myth & “Finding “Waldo” At Ellis Island presented by Joel Weintraub
Ellis Island Name Change Myth
The idea that inspectors at Ellis Island regularly Americanized immigrant names is a persistent myth. We will investigate the evidence that should exist (it doesn’t) to confirm the story as fact, and why name changing at the station was improbable given how immigrants were processed. The history of this immigration station, the types of people who passed through their doors, the legal documents (including their name) they came with, and station detention documents generated for about 1/6 of them, will be discussed with actual examples. Note: be prepared to avoid deportation by Inspector Weintraub.
Finding “Waldo” At Ellis Island
Using a case study, we will show how nine different strategies can be used to find the immigration record of an elusive immigrant to Ellis Island. For those who still cannot locate Ellis Island immigration records of their ancestors, this talk may provide some approaches you might not have tried. The difficulty of providing accurate indexes from transcriptions of ship manifests is a major problem associated with many of these strategies. We will see how well you do as a transcriber of manifest names.
Bio: Joel, a New Yorker by birth, is an emeritus Professor at California State University Fullerton and won awards for his science teaching. He volunteered for nine years at the National Archives and Records Administration. Joel created search tools for the U.S. and New York City censuses that are freely available on the Steve Morse “One-Step” website. He and Steve are currently developing locational tools for the 2022 release of the 1950 federal census. Joel has written and talked on NYC and Federal census research, immigration and naturalization, Ellis Island, biographical research, and Jewish genealogy topics.
Join friends for an evening of great food, schmoozing, singing and storytelling!
Cost: $15 per family
Register: oregonjcc.org/sukkah, Please register by October 4
Free and open to the community
In partnership with PJA
Learn to play this ancient game. It will give your mind a workout!
Register at: www.oregonjcc.org/registration
Registration code: CG 100
The MJCC presents four Israeli films Tuesday nights in October! A discussion will follow each film.
Yolki Palki: A documentary about the Russian community in Israel today – their successes and personal stories. The film is filled with interesting people who talk about their memories of Russia, the anti-Israel lessons, and the reasons that they left. They look back with humor on the difficulties of their aliyah and laugh at their mistakes in Hebrew.
Per film: $8. Member Cost: $5
Film Series Pass: $20, Member Cost: $12
Register: oregonjcc.org/film
In partnership with IJS
Sign, Sing & Play (ages 9 months-approximately 2.5)
EACH class offers a chance to learn and discover for you and your child and also includes numerous strategy tips, ideas and specific demonstrations of how to teach certain signs- especially abstract ones which are more challenging to teach without proper guidance.
Registration code: CG103
Register at: www.oregonjcc.org/register
Music, Movement & Signing for preschoolers (ages 2-5)
Little movers and shakers ages 2-5 and their caregivers will sing, dance, hear stories and learn some sign language in this lively interactive class.
Cost: $15/family
Register at: www.oregonjcc.org/registration
Registration code: CG104
Join us for a fun, introductory Israeli dance class. All levels are welcome. Six people needed to run class.
10 week class
No class on 11/22
Register at: www.oregonjcc.org/registration
Registration code: CG 101
Hadassah presents Our Heritage and Our Health
Free, but RSVP is mandatory for the lunch catered by Century Catering.
Learning about your heritage is a beginning. All around the world distinct ethnic groups have been identified as having increased risks for particular genetic diseases. In the Ashkenazi Jewish population, several such inherited diseases are known. These include Gaucher disease, cystic fibrosis, Canavan disease, Bloom syndrome and others. Gaucher disease is the most common Jewish genetic disorder. Among Ashkenazi Jews, 1 person in 15 is a carrier for this disease and 1 in 850 have Gaucher disease.
Learn more at this complimentary presentation by Gary S.Frohlich, MS, CGC senior patient education liaison.
RSVP for free lunch: diana2504@msn.com.
Free and open to the community
In partnership with Haddasah, JFGP, MJCC
Learn to play this ancient game. It will give your mind a workout!
Register at: www.oregonjcc.org/registration
Registration code: CG 100
The MJCC presents four Israeli films Tuesday nights in October! A discussion will follow each film.
I Had a Dream: The extraordinary life story of Yona Bugale who worked ceaselessly as a teacher and community leader, promoting connections with the State of Israel and with Jewish organizations, in order to prevent the possible destruction of Ethiopian Jewry. Based on rare archival material, the film aims to preserve not only Bugale’s story, but also to give expression to the complexity of the Ethiopian immigration to Israel.
One of four films in the MJCC’s Israel FIlm Series.
Per film: $8. Member Cost: $5
Film Series Pass: $20, Member Cost: $12
Register: oregonjcc.org/film
In partnership with Institute for Judaic Studies