Other items in today’s column include:
*Jewish community coronavirus news
*Political bytes
* San Diego County Judaica
SAN DIEGO — Coronavirus pandemic permitting, the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies plans to hold its 40th international conference at the Sheraton Harbor Island Hotel and Marina from August 9-14 with 110 speakers delivering some 250 presentations “on just about every aspect of Jewish genealogy,” according to Sandra Golden, the association’s publicity chair.
Robinn Magid, a Berkeley, California resident who is the conference chair, said up to 1,000 genealogists from various parts of the U.S. and abroad are expected to attend the conference which will place special emphasis on Latin American Jewry, Jews in the Military, Sephardic Jewry, and Middle Eastern Jewry among the many other discussions focusing on such topics as ancestors from specific countries, how to access records, how to read records written in different alphabets, and DNA tracing. A “Share Fair” on Sunday, August 9, will feature a line-up of exhibitor tables to help attendees decide which of the many programs they wish to attend.
If the pandemic continues into the summer, Magid said, then, following government advisories, the conference would be postponed to some later date in San Diego.
This is the first time in its 40-year history that the genealogy societies have met in San Diego, a reflection of how the Internet has changed their conferences. In the past, she explained, genealogists typically wanted to go to cities like New York that were centers for genealogical records, so that they could combine meetings with opportunities to research in archives. Now, with more and more records on the Internet, she said, that is no longer necessary, so now the genealogists want to go to interesting vacation spots like San Diego.
In addition to the already scheduled meetings, the conference facilitates what Magid calls “Birds of a Feather” get-togethers in which people whose ancestors came from the same town get together, ask such questions as “who was your grandmother?” and otherwise trade genealogical information.
There will be plenary sessions as well with such speakers as Prof. Glenn Dynner of Sarah Lawrence College, the scholar-in-residence who is an expert on both the Haskalah (Enlightenment) and the growth of Hasidism; Arthur Kurzwell, considered the founding father of Jewish Genealogy; and representatives of the various genealogy research services like FamilyTreeDNA, Family Search, and Ancestry.com. Randy Schoenberg not only will represent Geni.com and the Jewish Genealogy Portal, but will serve as chair of the Austria-Czech special interest group. Jewish Gen, which is “considered the home on Jewish genealogy on the Internet,” will be represented by Avraham “Avrami” Groll, Magid said. Ken Bravo of South Euclid, Ohio, is the president of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, which serves as an umbrella organization for nearly 90 genealogical societies worldwide.
Among San Diego County presenters are Jean Moss, president of the Diego Jewish Genealogical Society, and Kitty Munsen Cooper, both of whom will address issues of DNA testing. Former San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman is part of a team handling security arrangements.
Magid, who has attended 22 of the past 25 international conferences, served as chair of the 2018 conference which was held in Warsaw, Poland. She said putting together the schedule of panels, so that sessions appealing to the same interest group won’t conflict with each other, must be similar to the process her alma mater, UCLA, went through putting together schedules of classes. Registration and reservations for the conference may be made via this website.
*
Jewish community coronavirus news
*The San Diego-based Butterfly Project now has more than a quarter million ceramic butterflies on display around the world toward its goal of 1.5 million to memorialize the children who died in the Holocaust. More would have been financed, no doubt, from the planned collaboration with the Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance, which had intended to donate to the project the proceeds from its annual motorcycle ride, to occur this year April 30-May 2 in San Diego . Now, however, the ride has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was reported by the Butterfly Project’s executive director, Cheryl Ratner Price.
*The Holocaust Living History Workshop at UC San Diego has cancelled its June 3 appearance by Gabriella Karin on “Trauma, Memory, and the Art of Survival” because of the pandemic.
*Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) reports that 19 San Diego County residents volunteering for military service in Israel as lone soldiers will be unable to travel home because of the coronavirus pandemic. Following the IDF rule of not permitting full identification of its active-duty soldiers, FIDF spokesperson Ariel Taub in New York reported the following: “‘This is the second year our oldest son will have missed Passover and the first year our second to oldest son will miss Passover,’ said Sharon and Isaac, the parents of Lone Soldiers Sagie and Amit from San Diego. ‘Both of our sons are serving proudly in the IDF paratrooper unit. It’s been two challenging years but we are very proud of our boys and their service. We always taught them the love and importance of Israel and the Jewish people. So we give our blessings and ask G-d to protect them on their life’s journeys. We are counting the days till they will join us back home. We wish our beloved sons and the entire country of Israel a happy Passover,’ they added.”
*Bea Goldberg of San Diego sent us a meme that reads: “I moved by mezuza from my front door to my fridge because it’s the only door I still open.”
*Ben Dishman of San Diego passes on a meme showing a young man wearing a medical face mask saying “From the Bar Mitzvah of Kyle Stuart Goldberg, March 22, 2020.”
*
Political bytes
*Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, running in the 50th Congressional District from which disgraced Congressman Duncan Hunter resigned, released a poll showing him slightly trailing former Republican Congressman Darrell Issa in the traditionally Republican district. While Campa-Najjar came in first in the primary election, Issa fought it out with two other well known Republicans: former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio and State Sen. Brian Jones. Now the Republican vote seems to be coalescing, but is not so unified that the race isn’t close with 45 percent for Campa-Najjar, 48 percent for Issa and the balance undecided.
*
San Diego County Judaica
Ventriloquist Joe Gandelman, a San Diegan who also publishes The Moderate Voice website, shares a laugh with one of his wooden sidekicks John Raven. Below left, Nancy E. Harrison, co-publisher of San Diego Jewish World, provides the tenth person to an almost minyan envisioned by the late artist Harry Sternberg, who lived the latter part of his life in Escondido. His works were the subject of a retrospective at the San Diego Museum of Art, and also were on display at the recent exhibition on Jewish life in San Diego County at the San Diego History Center. Below right, Micha “Mitch” Danzig gives us a triple Judaica treat. He is standing by his and wife Denise Danzig‘s ketuba; he is holding a ceremonial cup used while reciting the prayer for washing one’s hands, and is wearing a Love Israel shirt, which is distributed by StandWithUs.
*
Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. To view his previous articles click on his byline above. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com