Sephardic Genealogy

29/08/2025

The Jews of Edirne, Turkey

Edirne once held one of the world’s largest Sephardic communities. Drawing on Ladino, French, Turkish, and English sources, Jacob Daniels traces how upheavals from the Young Turk Revolution to the Thracian violence of 1934 reshaped their identity: wary of Zionism under Alliance schools, briefly supportive during the Greek occupation, then forced into silence under the Turkish Republic. Prosperous yet resented, Edirne’s Jews became the last minority in a sensitive borderland, and the 1934 attacks—though not fatal—drove most to Istanbul, ending centuries of communal life.

Jacob Daniels earned his History PhD at Stanford. He now serves as Assistant Professor of Instruction and Assistant Director of the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at The University of Texas at Austin.

Patrons can join us live on Sunday 31 August 2025, at 11 noon in LA, 2pm in NYC, 7pm in London, 8pm in Paris/Amsterdam, 9pm in Jerusalem, and 4am the next morning in Sydney. Patrons will receive a link in a separate email. Everyone else is invited to watch the YouTube premiere the next week. https://www.youtube.com/c/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory

15/08/2025

Sephardim in Eastern Europe?

Many Ashkenazi families have traditions of Sephardic ancestry. Recently this hit international headlines when a Russian businessman received Portuguese citizenship based on such claims. How much evidence is there to support these Ashkenazi traditions?

This week’s multi-expert meeting will explore the question from the perspective of the Amsterdam archives, claims by prominent rabbinic dynasties, genetic evidence, and more recent claims connected to Spanish and Portuguese nationality applications. Join us for an insightful and possibly myth-busting meeting.

Patrons can join us live on Sunday 17 August 2025, at 11 noon in LA, 2pm in NYC, 7pm in London, 8pm in Paris/Amsterdam, 9pm in Jerusalem, and 4am the next morning in Sydney. Patrons will receive a link in a separate email. Everyone else is invited to watch the YouTube premiere the next week. https://www.patreon.com/c/sephardi

14/08/2025

Congratulations to David Silvera of A Nação Hebraica for winning the IAJGS's Lifetime Achievement Award for his pioneering work using AI to transcribe historic documents from the London Spanish & Portuguese Jews' Congregation. Well deserved recognition. https://anacaohebraica.transkribus.eu/

18/07/2025

Breaking Down Brick Walls: Solving Sephardic Genealogical Mysteries

This Sunday’s Sephardic World meeting is open to everyone on our mailing list, not just patrons. If you are facing a genealogical brick wall in your Sephardic research, we invite you to share it with the group. Whether you are struggling to trace a particular ancestor, unravel a surname, or link a family across borders, others in the community may be able to offer insights or suggest sources you have not yet considered.

If possible, please send your questions in advance to:n
society@sephardicgenealogy.com
This will help us structure the discussion more effectively.

If you are not yet on our free mailing list, please sign up here: https://www.sephardic.world/sephardic-world. Non-subscribers are still invited to submit questions.

Please note that we are not specialists in DNA analysis, so queries of that kind are best directed elsewhere.

Join us live this Sunday, 20 July 2025, at 11 noon in LA, 2pm in NYC, 7pm in London, 8pm in Paris/Amsterdam, 9pm in Jerusalem, and 4am the next morning in Sydney.

04/07/2025

Sephardi Spaces: Researching Sephardic Migration

This Sunday, Dr Shai Cohen’s talk will introduce Sephardi Spaces, a research project launched in 2023 that traces the migrations of Sephardic families from the Iberian Peninsula to their global diasporas. Combining historical scholarship with digital mapping, the project seeks to understand how Sephardic identity has evolved across different geographies and generations. A central element is an interactive GIS-based platform that allows users to explore these movements in spatial and cultural terms, offering new ways to visualise continuity and change within Sephardic traditions, languages, and communal life.

Dr Cohen brings to this work a wide-ranging scholarly background that bridges early modern Iberian literature, Jewish-Christian relations, and digital humanities. A Senior Lecturer at the University of Miami and Director of its AI and Humanities Lab, he has published on political satire in Habsburg Spain, converso identity, and cultural hybridity. His current work integrates AI and extended reality (XR) technologies to preserve and interpret Sephardic heritage. Sephardi Spaces exemplifies this interdisciplinary approach, offering both historical insight and contemporary relevance in understanding how diasporic identities are shaped and redefined over time.

Patrons can join us live on Sunday 6 July 2025, at 11 noon in LA, 2pm in NYC, 7pm in London, 8pm in Paris/Amsterdam, 9pm in Jerusalem, and 4am the next morning in Sydney. Patrons will receive a link in a separate email. Everyone else is invited to watch the YouTube premiere the next week.
https://www.youtube.com/c/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory

If you are not yet a patron and would like to support our work, you can join us here: https://www.patreon.com/sephardi Even $5 a month or a single payment of $60 for a year makes a meaningful difference and gives you the chance to put your questions directly to leading experts in the field.

01/07/2025

https://youtu.be/DG0Fd9PYhpA

In this deeply moving talk, Chantal Clabrough traces the 2,000-year history of Jews in Algeria through the intimate lens of her grandfather’s life. His story...

19/06/2025

Finding Myself: Sephardic Roots in Algeria

At this Sunday’s meeting Chantal Clabrough will trace Jewish life in Algeria since the Expulsion, combining historical overview with her own family story dating back to the 1700s through her grandmother's lineage. Her presentation covers the antisemitism Algerian Jews faced, her grandfather's WWII internment, and the Algerian War of Independence that forced her family to flee to Canada in 1957—illuminating both the broader North African Jewish experience and the personal stories of displacement and survival.

Chantal Clabrough is a history teacher who received the 2023 Governor General of Canada Award for Excellence in Teaching History and authored the forthcoming A Pied Noir Cookbook: French Sephardic Cuisine from Algeria. She works with the Montreal Holocaust Museum and Vimy Foundation of Canada.

Patrons can join us live on Sunday 22 June 2025, at 11 noon in LA, 2pm in NYC, 7pm in London, 8pm in Paris/Amsterdam, 9pm in Jerusalem, and 4am the next morning in Sydney. Patrons will receive a link in a separate email. Everyone else is invited to watch the YouTube premiere the next week.
https://www.youtube.com/c/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory

If you are not yet a patron and would like to support our work, you can join us here: https://www.patreon.com/sephardi Even $5 a month or a single payment of $60 for a year makes a meaningful difference and gives you the chance to put your questions directly to leading experts in the field.

17/06/2025

Watch this talk at:

Increasingly, Sephardic researchers are able to identify the names of ancestral towns and villages in Portugal. Yet few of us have experience navigating Port...

06/06/2025

Researching Sephardic Ancestors in Portugal with Tombo.pt

Increasingly, Sephardic researchers are able to identify the names of ancestral towns and villages in Portugal. Yet few of us have experience navigating Portuguese archives, especially Catholic parish and notarial records where so much essential information lies hidden. In this talk, João Ventura, creator of tombo.pt, will introduce the structure of Portuguese archives, explain how to locate and interpret parish registers and other documents, and show how tombo.pt can simplify and guide your search. Whether you are new to Portuguese records or have already begun exploring, this session will provide the knowledge and tools needed to continue your research in Portugal with confidence.

João Ventura was born in the Algarve and trained as a computer scientist, applying his skills in the European aerospace sector before turning to family history. Frustrated by the fragmented nature of Portuguese records, he created tombo.pt—a free, independent guide that consolidates access to digitised parish books and archival resources from all 22 Portuguese district archives, including the Azores and Madeira. Now based in Germany, João has spent nearly two decades tracing his own Portuguese ancestry. When not improving tombo.pt or researching archives, he is also a scuba diving instructor and contributor to open-source software projects.

Patrons can join us live on Sunday 8 June 2025, at 11 noon in LA, 2pm in NYC, 7pm in London, 8pm in Paris/Amsterdam, 9pm in Jerusalem, and 4am the next morning in Sydney. Patrons will receive a link in a separate email. Everyone else is invited to watch the YouTube premiere the next week.

If you are not yet a patron and would like to support our work, you can join us here: https://www.patreon.com/sephardi. Even $5 a month or a single payment of $60 for a year makes a meaningful difference and gives you the chance to put your questions directly to leading experts in the field.

29/05/2025

Tackling Genealogical Uncertainty with Autosomal DNA MatchingHow far can you push autosomal DNA research? Normally only used for close relatives, in this pre...

23/05/2025

Fintas, Promesas, Imposta: Taxing the Portuguese Nation in Early Modern Amsterdam

In early modern Amsterdam, the Jews of the Portuguese Nation were allowed to govern much of their communal life—building a synagogue, running schools, administering poor relief, and maintaining a Beth Din with power to fine or exclude. To fund this autonomy, the community levied taxes: fintas, promesas, and possibly uniquely Sephardic, imposta. These were imposed on members. Ton Tielen will show how these taxes offer an insight into the economic and social fabric of Amsterdam’s Sephardic Jews.

Ton Tielen is a well-known personality in the world of Sephardic genealogy. He co-founded this series of meetings, the Sephardic Genealogical Society, the Sephardic Research Foundation, and The Sephardic Diaspora group on Facebook. He is also a trustee of A Nação Hebraica. He formerly served as archivist of the Netherlands Red Cross.

Patrons can join us live on Sunday 25 May 2025, at 11 noon in LA, 2pm in NYC, 7pm in London, 8pm in Paris/Amsterdam, 9pm in Jerusalem, and 4am the next morning in Sydney. Patrons will receive a link in a separate email. Everyone else is invited to watch the YouTube premiere the next week.
https://www.youtube.com/c/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory

If you are not yet a patron and would like to support our work, you can join us here: https://www.patreon.com/sephardi. Even $5 a month makes a meaningful difference and gives you the chance to put your questions directly to leading experts in the field.
https://www.patreon.com/c/sephardi

09/05/2025

Fun with Autosomal DNA? - Tackling Genealogical Uncertainty with Autosomal DNA Matching

How far can you push autosomal DNA research? Normally only used for close relatives, in this presentation Julian Land will show how he identified family connections 11 generations ago. While complex, this methodology can open up new possibilities for autosomal DNA research.

Julian Land trained in theoretical physics and mathematics followed by a thirty-year career in commercial client relations with Australia’s national science research corporation, CSIRO. He descends from the Lousada family and runs the popular www.barrow-lousada.org website.

Patrons can join us live on Sunday 11 May 2025, at 11 noon in LA, 2pm in NYC, 7pm in London, 8pm in Paris/Amsterdam, 9pm in Jerusalem, and 6am the next morning in Sydney. Patrons will receive a link in a separate email. Everyone else is invited to watch the YouTube premiere the next week.

If you are not yet a patron and can support our work, please sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/sephardi. As little as $5/month makes a huge difference to our work and gives you the opportunity to put your questions directly to world experts.