• Tracing roots is challenging.relaxing with great grandma image by Pix by Marti from Fotolia.com
  
  Tracing your roots can require time and patience, as Jewish history is complicated. Historically, Jews wandered to different countries and changed their names when they finally arrived at Ellis Island in the United States. If you're lucky, you might find your family's genealogy immediately. If not, you may have to dig deeper, researching records in the towns from which your family members emigrated.
  
  

Beginning the Process

• Check any family records you can find such as marriage licenses or census reports. Look up Ellis Island records to see if you can locate the ship manifest on which your ancestors may have come to America. Distinguish between a city name in Russia and the county. For example, many people say their ancestors came from the city Minsk, but they really came from another city in Minsk Gebornia, which is Minsk county. Look for spelling variations since many names were changed in the translations and many Jews Americanized their names upon arriving at Ellis Island. Ask all members of your family what they might remember.
  
  Look for passports, naturalization papers, social security applications or cemetery stones. In the Jewish tradition, the latter sometimes lists the name of the father.
  
  

Organizations to Contact

• There are several organizations that have collected genealogical materials.
  
  Research Foundation for Jewish Immigrations Archives has some material and is a good resource to begin with.
  
  570 Seventh Avenue
  
  New York, New York 10018
  
  212-921-3871
  
  www.fgsny.org
  
  Yivo Institute for Jewish Research
  
  15 West 16th Street
  
  New York, NY 10011
  
  212-292-1892
  
  www.yivoinstitute.org
  
  Yivo has genealogy records and name indexes for Eastern European Jewry. It also has old Jewish community records.
  
  Yeshiva University
  
  500 West 185th Street,
  
  New York, NY 10033
  
  212-906-5382
  
  www.yu.edu
  
  Yeshiva University Library has U.S. vital records, names and origins, cemeteries, Holocaust victims and survivors.
  
  Dallas Jewish Historical Society is a source.
  
  7900 Northhaven Rd.
  
  Dallas,TX 75230
  
  214-239-7120
  
  www.ufcfedweb.org
  
  Other Jewish genealogical societies are in
  
  Brazil, Great Britain, Maryland, or San Francisco Bay Area.
  
  The Mormon Church in Salt Lake City is a valuable resource for Jewish genealogy research.
  
  30 E. 100 South
  
  Salt Lake City, UT 84111
  
  801-237-2141
  
  

Internet Sources

• There are several places on the Internet that will guide you in finding genealogical resources.
  
  http://www.jewishgen.org. Their databases have many resources to help with Jewish ancestry research. They have Hungarian Jewish vital records as well as a Holocaust database. They have a Yizkor book or record of deceased persons and other resources for the ancestry seeker.
  
  There is a database for Family Tree of the Jewish People as part of www.jewishgen.org where you can discover towns from where people came.
  
  Avotaynu search database at www.avotaynu.com is a good source. Their phone is 201-387-7200
  
  The database at www.ushmm.org of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
  
  Louis Kessler has materials available at www.lkessler.com
  
  

Jewish Genealogy Books

• "From Generation to Generation: How to Trace Your Jewish Genealogy and Family History" by Arthur Kurzweil and Elie Wiesel, 2004
  
  "Finding Our Fathers: A Guidebook to Jewish Genealogy" by Dan Rottenberg, 1998