Calendar

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.

Federation Women Make an IMPACT!

Women’s Philanthropy welcomes producer, Nancy Spielberg https://www.facebook.com/whowillwriteourhistory/ to present at IMPACT. Women’s Philanthropy provides a place in the Portland Jewish community for all women.  We represent the diversity of women from all ages and stages of life.   Women are thoughtful, powerful and caring as individuals and make a difference when we collaborate and unite…we have IMPACT! Join us October 26 @ 7 pm at the MJCC and make your IMPACT!

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon invites you, your family and friends to its upcoming program “Read All About It!: Using Online Newspapers For Genealogical Research” by Janice M. Sellers

Description: Newspapers are valuable in genealogical research because you can find information about births, marriages, deaths, moves, business, naturalizations, court cases, and more. Millions of pages of the world’s newspapers are now accessible online, but there is no one place to find them all. This class provides an overview of what is available online and techniques to help improve your chances of finding information about your relatives.

Bio: Janice M. Sellers is a professional genealogist specializing in Jewish, black, forensic, and newspaper research. She edits three genealogy publications and serves on the boards of San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society, African American Genealogical Society of Northern California, and Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy. She is also a member of Association of Professional Genealogists, Genealogical Speakers Guild, and California Genealogical Society. Before becoming a professional genealogist, she worked in publishing for many years as an editor, indexer, translator, and compositor. Her web site is ancestraldiscoveries.com.

Young children and their parents celebrate Shabbat with singing, movement, blessings, and storytelling. We touch on the main highlights of the Shabbat morning service: wonder, fun, song, listening to the world, dancing, and Torah. Afterwards, we enjoy an informal potluck nosh and the chance to play and schmooze. Led by Deborah Eisenbach-Budner.

Please RSVP here by Wednesday, Jan. 31.

Young children and their parents celebrate Shabbat with singing, movement, blessings, and storytelling. We touch on the main highlights of the Shabbat morning service: wonder, fun, song, listening to the world, dancing, and Torah. Afterwards, we enjoy an informal potluck nosh and the chance to play and schmooze. Led by Deborah Eisenbach-Budner.

Please RSVP here.

During March Movie Night on Sunday, March 18, Havurah Shalom’s Ma’avar Committee will show “Living While Dying,” a film made by P’nai Or member Cathy Zheutlin.

Here is a brief description of the film: Death is a big mystery, and yet the outcome is 100 percent certain. How do you plan for the unknown? Filmmaker Cathy Zheutlin tells the stories of four friends with terminal illness who chose to live out their final days at home with creativity humor and courage. One might think that it would be depressing or morose. In fact, just the opposite – it is loving, hopeful and and full of joy. Despite cultural norms that death is meant to be vanquished, “Living While Dying” transforms sorrow and fear into inspiration and beauty. It honors what University of California San Francisco palliative care physician BJ Miller says, that “dying is a human act, not just a medical one.”

The film will be followed by a panel discussion with some experts in end-of-life care, many of whom are Havurah members.

Panelists include:

• Rabbi Benjamin
• Charles Blanke – Havurah member and OHSU oncologist specializing in end-of-life care and death with dignity
• Karen Erde -Havurah member and palliative care physician
• Susan Hedlund – Manager of Patient and Family Support Services at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. She has over 30 years of experience in oncology and hospice care, and worked on the original task force to legalize death with dignity.

A suggested donation of $10 will directly help the filmmaker so she can continue to pay for the production of this very beautiful and important film.

Please RSVP at tinyurl.com/Live-HS.

This 18-week course is taught by members of The Oregon Board of Rabbis, representing a variety of Jewish affiliations. A carefully constructed curriculum includes Jewish history, life cycle events, holidays, ritual and daily practice, theology, study of Torah and contemporary Jewish America. While not a conversion class, most OBR members consider it a prerequisite for students beginning study for conversion. Classes 7-9 pm, Thursdays, at rotating Portland area synagogues.

This 18-week course is taught by members of The Oregon Board of Rabbis, representing a variety of Jewish affiliations. A carefully constructed curriculum includes Jewish history, life cycle events, holidays, ritual and daily practice, theology, study of Torah and contemporary Jewish America. While not a conversion class, most OBR members consider it a prerequisite for students beginning study for conversion. Classes 7-9 pm, Thursdays, at rotating Portland area synagogues.

This 18-week course is taught by members of The Oregon Board of Rabbis, representing a variety of Jewish affiliations. A carefully constructed curriculum includes Jewish history, life cycle events, holidays, ritual and daily practice, theology, study of Torah and contemporary Jewish America. While not a conversion class, most OBR members consider it a prerequisite for students beginning study for conversion. Classes 7-9 pm, Thursdays, at rotating Portland area synagogues.