Madeleine Isenberg, retired software engineer/technical writer, and 24-year member Jewish Genealogy Society Los Angeles (JGSLA), has been researching families in Slovakia, Austro-Hungary, Poland, Belarus. As a self-styled “stelaeglyphologist,” she has deciphered thousands of tombstones from more than 25 cemeteries, collecting and maintaining BMD data for Jews in the Spis Region of Slovakia.
Madeleine is co-author of Jews in the Spis Region, Vol. I, Kezmarok and its Surroundings. She has created KehilaLinks websites for Kezmarok, Huncovce and Kosice; translated sections of Pinkas Slovakia for Yizkor Book project; and contributed burial information for JOWBR. She enjoys writing (see Avotaynuonline.com) about genealogy research, and has conducted presentations on tombstone research and beginning genealogy.
Educators Forum*: “Tombstone Deciphering — What and Why ?” (Sun-126), 10:15-11:15 A.M.
Are you struggling to translate Hebrew lettering on photos of ancestral tombstones?
Learn what to expect to find on tombstones: there are patterns of what and where to find information. Don’t always assume it’s “just Hebrew.” The Hebrew letters could also be for Rashe Tevot (acronyms/abbreviations), or words in Aramaic, Yiddish, or Ladino.
What are the “take-aways” from being involved in tombstone-reading and deciphering?
If time permits, we’ll try to analyze your tombstone photos (bring them on a fl;ash drive) as a joint learning experience. Handouts for future use.
Topics: Ashkenazic research, Beginning genealogists, Cemetery research, Jewish history and culture, Jewish surname adoption and naming patterns, Rabbinic research, Sephardic research, Workshop
*The combined fee for attendance at the full conference and the Educators’ Forum is just $365 during early on-line registration through April 30. If one wishes to attend the Educator’s Forum only, registration fee is $50 per person. See http://www.iajgs2016.org/educators/
“Different Traditions Even In Death: Ashkenazi vs. Sephardi Tombstones” (Thurs-111), 9-10:15
Did you know that not all Jewish tombstones display the same “formulaic layout” or content? I’ve spent 12 years mostly with Ashkenazi tombstones, expanding rashe tevot (acronyms/abbreviations), and deciphering hidden clues. I learned what to expect as “norms.”
In early 2014 I accidentally found a cemetery with both traditions. Sepahardi tombstone inscriptions were different and this changed my expectations. Derived from searching for and viewing mostly on-line images world-wide and accumulating my findings, this presentation will demonstrate some of the differences found between these traditions. Mostly, the data and representative tombstones will be for roughly the 100 year span (~1840s-1940s), after which time assimilation and integration of communities obscured the differences, thereby losing their uniqueness.
I hope this presentation will assist others in deciphering Sephardic tombstones as well as pique interest for further research and discussion.
Some basic knowledge of Hebrew would be helpful, but is not essential.
Topics: Ashkenazic research, Cemetery research, Jewish history and culture, Sephardic research