Genealogy with Rabbi Scott

Genealogy with Rabbi Scott Rabbi Scott Kalmikoff is a professional Jewish genealogist based in NYC.

He conducts private, personalized genealogical research for those interested in discovering their family history.

American Jews are kvelling over Jack Hughes, the Jewish hockey star who scored the winning goal for team USA in men’s ic...
02/23/2026

American Jews are kvelling over Jack Hughes, the Jewish hockey star who scored the winning goal for team USA in men’s ice hockey at the 2026 winter olympics, securing the gold medal for the United States after 46 years. To celebrate this historic win, I thought I would research Jack’s Jewish heritage.

Jack is the son of Jim Hughes and Ellen Weinberg-Hughes. According to her Wikipedia page, Ellen is a former ice hockey player who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Dr. Warren Abraham Weinberg and Penny Klamon. By searching on newspapers.com, I found Warren and Penny’s wedding announcement which was printed in the Blytheville Courier News on February 1, 1964. According to the article, Jack’s grandparents were married on January 19, 1964 at the Chase Hotel Regency Room in St. Louis. Rabbi Alan Fuchs of Fort Knox, Kentucky officiated the ceremony. Penny’s parents were Jerry Klamon and Bernice Gruskin and Warren’s parents were Nathan Weinberg and Pauline Stein, Jack’s great grandparents.

Continuing through his maternal line, I found a picture of Jack’s great grandmother, Bernice Gruskin Klamon, his mother’s, mother’s, mother, in her high school year book from Williams Memorial Institute High School in 1939 in New London, Connecticut. I then found the Gruskin family in the 1940 US Federal Census living in New London. According to the census, Bernice’s parents, Jack’s great-great grandparents, were Morris and Eleanor Gruskin. According to her naturalization papers, Eleanor was born Nellie Rubenstein in 1897 in Leeds, England. She immigrated to the US in 1908, sailing from England to Canada and then crossing over the US-Canada border.

Using the information in her naturalization records, I found Eleanor’s border crossing manifest showing her, her mother, Rebecca Rubenstein, and her siblings crossing the border from Montreal to Vermont in August of 1908. They were going to their husband and father, Wolf Rubenstein, who was living in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I then found the Rubensteins in the 1910, 1920 and 1930 US Censuses and learned that Jack’s great-great-great grandparents, William (Wolf) and Rebecca Rubenstein, first settled in Scranton and then moved to Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

William Rubenstein was living in New London, Connecticut and was listed as a widow in the 1940 US Census. I learned that his wife, Rebecca Rubenstein, died on June 18, 1936 at Beth-El Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. According to her death certificate, Rebecca’s maiden name was Kaplan. She is buried in Montefiore Cemetery in Queens with the Shater Progressive Benevolent Association, a society for Jews from Seta, Lithuania. Taking the information from her grave and death certificate, we learned that Rebecca’s parents were Shaya Leib Kaplan and Menucha Kurtz, Jack Hughes’ great-great-great-great grandparents, going straight up the maternal line.

Jack Hughes
Ellen Weinberg-Hughes - Mother
Penny Klamon Weinberg - Grandmother
Bernice Gruskin Klamon - Great Grandmother
Eleanore Rubenstein Gruskin - Great-Great Grandmother
Rebecca Kaplan Rubenstein - Great-Great-Great Grandmother
Menucha Kurtz Kaplan - Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
02/23/2026

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Only once Dana was in her 30s did she learn that her grandfather, Nathan Weissman, was married before marrying her grandmother, Dora, and had two children with his first wife. Dana wanted to see if we could find the names of her grandfather’s children from his first marriage and learn if there are any living descendants of those relatives.

We first found Nathan’s Petition for Naturalization which listed all of his children, their names, and places and dates of birth. The petition said that his oldest children were Benjamin and Sarah, who were from his first wife who received a divorce on March 1, 1920. We found Nathan and his first family residing at 592 Stone Ave in Brooklyn in the 1910 US Census. Nathan’s wife was Pauline and his children were Benjamin and Sarah. According to the census, Nathan, Pauline and Benjamin were born in Russia and Sarah was born in New York. Nathan immigrated to the US circa 1902 and Pauline and Benjamin immigrated circa 1904.

We then found Pauline and Benjamin immigrating to the US. They sailed on the SS Finland from Antwerp, Belgium, arriving at Ellis Island on November 7, 1904. Pauline and Benjamin arrived under their original names, Pessie and Beric Weissman. They were going to their husband, N Weissman, who was living in Brooklyn.

After the 1910 census, Pauline and her children disappeared. We could not find Pauline, Benjamin or Sarah Weissman in any other census records. I then searched on Ancestry.com for Benjamin Weissman using his original name, Beric Weissman. I found Benjamin’s naturalization records but discovered that Benjamin Weissman became Benjamin Hegel. Pauline and Sarah also became Hegel. This explained why we couldn’t find them when we searched for them under the name Weissman.

I then found Pauline, Benjamin and Sarah in the 1930 US Federal Census. They were living at 127 West 111th Street in Manhattan. We learned that Pauline also got remarried, her second husband being Morris Milles. Benjamin married a woman named Anne and Sarah married Irwin Liefcourt. Neither Benjamin or Sarah had children, so there were no living relatives to look for.

Another person named Dana visited the center on the same day. She has been conducting genealogical research on her own for a number of years. She was able to trace her lineage to her great-great grandparents, Jacob and Rachel Idzal. Dana wanted to see if we could learn the names of Rachel’s parents, her great-great-great grandparents. By conducting a quick search, I found Jacob and Rachel in the 1885 Iowa State Census living in Des Moines. Rachel’s parents, Louis and Fannie Conigisky, were living with Jacob and Rachel. We successfully learned the names of Dana’s great-great-great grandparents.

We then found the Conigisky family in the 1870 and 1880 US censuses living in Peoria, Illinois. According to the censuses, Louis and Rachel were born in Russian/Poland in 1830 and 1832, respectively. We then found a transcript of the marriage record for Louis and Fannie’s son, Abraham Conigisky. According to his marriage record, Fannie’s maiden name was Tilzer. This excited Dana very much. According to family lore, they are related to Albert Von Tilzer who wrote the music to many hit songs, most notably "Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” According to his Wikipedia page, Albert Von Tilzer was born Elias Gumbinsky and his mother’s maiden name was Tilzer. We need more information, but it is possible that Dana’s great-great-great grandmother, Fannie Tilzer Conigisky, and Alber Von Tilzer’s mother were sisters.

Brad asked if we could conduct research on his great grandfather, Samuel Weckstein. We found the Weckstein family in the 1930 US Census. Brad’s grandfather, Albert Weckstein, was living with his mother, Jeanette Weckstein, and her parents, the Hartensteins. Jeneatte was listed in the census as a widow. We then found Samuel Weckstein and Jeanette Hartenstein’s marriage certificate. They were married in Brooklyn on March 1, 1921. According to the marriage certificate, Samuel’s parents were Abraham Weckstein and Rose Rudolph. Based on the information in the marriage record and 1930 census, we know Samuel Weckstein had to have died between 1921 and 1930. We then found Samuel’s death certificate. Samuel died on November 2, 1926 in Manhattan.

We searched to find Samuel coming to America and learned that he immigrated under the name Isaac Wekstein, arriving at Ellis Island on January 15, 1920. According to his ship’s manifest, he was most recently living in Pretoria, South Africa. He was going to his sister, Mrs. M Rudolph, who was already living in NYC. We identified his sister as Anna Weckstein Rudolph who was married to Max Rudolph. We found a picture of Anna’s grave which said that her father was Abraham, confirming that Anna and Samuel were siblings.

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
02/16/2026

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Talia, visiting from Ithaca, NY, asked if we would be able to identify the town that her great grandfather, Max Laster, came from. Talia’s family believed that Max came from Chernowitz, modern-day Chernivtsi, Ukraine, or the surrounding area. Chernivtsi was the capital of the Bukovina Province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. According to Max’s World War Two draft card, he was born in Kliwodin, Austria. Using the JewishGen Town Finder, we identified Kliwodin as modern-day Klyvodin, Ukraine which is 18 miles north of Chernivtsi.

Justin, a college student visiting from Boston, has been conducting a bit of genealogical research on his own. He asked if I could help him find more information about his great grandmother, Ethel Jane Hirsch. Through our research, we were able to go back to Ethel Jane’s grandparents, Justin’s great-great-great grandparents, Pelta Peltason and Miriam Diamond Peltason. The Peltason family lived in St. Louis, Missouri. We found Pelta and Miriam living in St. Louis in the 1870 US Federal Census. According to both the 1870 and 1880 censuses, Pelta and Miriam were born in Prussia.

By searching on newspapers.com, we found an advertisement in The Jewish Voice, a weekly English-language newspaper based in St. Louis, for matzah that Pelta was selling. According to the advertisement, Pelta Peltason was the sole agent selling Livingston and Korsosky Matzos. Pelta died on October 2, 1897 in St. Louis. We found a picture of him and an obituary printed in The Jewish Voice on October 8, 1897. The obituary said “Mr. P. Peltason, a true Israelite, a man of faith and devotion, died at his home, 3518 Laclede Avenue, last Sabbath, and was laid to rest in the Mt. Olive Cemetery last Monday afternoon, Dr. Messing officiating. The unusually large attendance of friends testified to the worth of Mr. Peltason as a man and a neighbor. He passed through a lingering illness and death came to him as a deliverer from suffering.—We are unable this week to do full justice to his memory, but will be better prepared for it next week. In the meantime we say: תנצב״ה”

Pelta and Miriam had a son named Max Peltason who, according to this World War One draft card, was born on December 29, 1876. In honor of being born in the 100th year of the United States of America, Max’s full name was Max Centennial Peltason.

Mitch returned to the center to spend more time researching his grandfather, Albert Breit. We found Albert’s World War One draft card which taught us that he was born in NYC in 1892 and that he registered for the draft on May 28, 1917 at the age of 25. We then found an abstract of his military service from the First World War. Albert served in the US army in Battery D of the 306th Field Artillery Regiment of the 77th Infantry Division. He served overseas from April 24, 1918 through April 29, 1919. He was promoted to Private First Class on May 20, 1928 and was honorably discharged on May 14, 1919.

We then found the manifest showing Albert being transported from Hoboken, NJ to Europe on April 24, 1918 on the USS Leviathan. The USS Leviathan, originally the SS Vaterland, was built as Germany's largest passenger liner and launched on April 13, 1913. The ship was seized at Hoboken, by the U.S. Shipping Board when the United States entered World War I, on April 6, 1917. Operating between Hoboken and the European ports of Brest and Liverpool, she completed 10 round trips, carrying over 119,000 fighting men, before the armistice on November 11, 1918. After that date USS Leviathan reversed the flow of men as she transported the veterans back to the United States with nine westward crossings ending September 8, 1919.

Neva visited the center hoping to learn more about her grandfather’s family, including the names of his parents, siblings and the town they came from. I found Kalman Frumkin’s obituary from 1970 which said he was born in Pink, Russia. The obituary also mentioned that he was survived by two sisters, Mary Tessler and Sonia Lipcus. Mary lived in Montreal, Canada and Sonia lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We found a picture of Mary Tessler’s grave in Baron de Hirsch Cemetery in Montreal which said her father’s name was Abraham. We also found a burial record for Sonia Lipcus in the Jewish cemetery in Berazategui, Argentina which also said her father was Abraham and her mother was Chinka. Using this information, we identified Neva’s great grandparents as Abraham and Chinka Frumkin.

We learned that Chinka immigrated to England and died there on March 17, 1946. We found a picture of her grave in the East Ham Jewish Cemetery in London. Shortly after Chinka’s death, Kalman and his family immigrated to the United States, settling in Brooklyn in July of 1946. According to his naturalization papers, Kalman was born in Stoln, Russia which is modern-day Stolin, Belarus, which was in the Pinsk district of the Russian Empire.

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
02/09/2026

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Itty, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, visited the center a few months ago and conducted research on her father’s family. She returned to the center to research her mother’s family. Itty told me that her grandparents were Shoil Leib Basch and Itta Steinmetz’s Itty’s namesake. She also told me that her grandparents came from a town from Spinka. Using the JewishGen town finder, we learned that Spinka is modern-day Sapanta, Romania.

We then searched for Itty’s grandparents and found pages of testimony that were submitted to Yad Vashem in their memory in 1956. According to the pages of testimony, her grandfather, Shoil Leib Basch, was the son of Peisach and Rivka Basch. Her grandmother, Itta Steinmeitz, was the daughter of Berl and Frieda Rivka Steinmetz. Itty wasn’t sure how many of her mother’s siblings were killed during the war. We learned that her mother had two brothers, Mendel and Berel, who perished in Auschwitz. Mendel was married to Rachel. Mendel and Rachel had three children, Itty’s mother’s first cousins, who were also killed in Auschwitz, Pesach (6), Feiga (5) and Malka (3).

We then searched for records for the Basch and Steinmetz families on JewishGen and found a transcript of Itty’s grandparent’s marriage record. Shoil Leib and Itta were married on January 19, 1914 in Neresnytsia. Ukraine. According to the marriage record, their mothers’ maiden names were Rivka Englender and Frieda Rivka Kahan. Shoil Leib was born on December 15, 1890 in Ust-Chorna, Ukraine and Itta was born in Borsa, Romania on October 12, 1891.

Jeffrey knew that his grandfather, Sam Bernard, was buried in Mount Hebron Cemetery in Queens. He wanted to find his grandfather’s exact burial location. We visited Mount Hebron Cemetery’s website and searched for Sam Bernard in their database and learned that there were three men named Sam/Samuel Bernard who are buried in the cemetery. Sam Bernard died in July of 1966, one Samuel Bernard died in November of 1941 and another Samuel Bernard who died in July of 1955.

Jeffrey knew that his grandfather passed away before he was born, so we knew that Sam Bernard who died in July of 1966 couldn’t be his grandfather. Now we had to determine which Samuel Bernard was the correct one. By searching on Ancestry.com, we found Samuel Bernard’s WW2 draft registration card. According to the date on the back of the card, Samuel registered for the draft on April 25, 1942. This proved that the Samuel Bernard who died in 1955 is Jeff’s grandfather. It would have been impossible for him to register for the draft in 1942 if he died in 1941.

I decided to jump on the bandwagon, asking ChatGPT to create a caricature of me and my job based on everything the platf...
02/09/2026

I decided to jump on the bandwagon, asking ChatGPT to create a caricature of me and my job based on everything the platform knows about me.

Here is the result:

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
01/19/2026

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

According to his World War Two draft card, Leslie’s grandfather, Hebert Roskind, was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi on December 8, 1908. We found the Roskind family living in Nashville, Tennessee in the 1920 US Federal Census. Herbert was the son of Morris Roskind and Annie Matison. We then found Morris’ social security application which taught us that he was the son of Sam Roskind and Ida Rivkin, Leslie’s great-great grandparents.

We learned that Sam and Ida also immigrated to the United States, settling in Nashville. By searching on Newspapers.com, we found obituaries for both Sam and Ida. According to his obituary in the Nashville Banner in 1917, Sam was “Mr. Roskind was born in Minsk, Russia, in 1839, and lived there until 1908, when he came to America to visit his children. After spending a few months with his daughters in Hartford, Conn., he came to this city to visit his sons. He was so pleased with Nashville that he decided to make it his permanent home and has resided here ever since. Mr. Roskind was a man of fine personality. He always had a kind and cheering word for everyone and made many friends in this city. "

We located Sam and Ida’s burial location in Temple Cemetery in Nashville and found a picture of their grave. According to the headstone, Sam’s Jewish name was Shimon, son of Moshe Roskind and Ida’s Jewish name was Chaya Leah, daughter of Chaim Getzel Rivkin. Moshe Roskind and Chaim Getzel Rivkin are Leslie’s great-great-great grandfathers. Using this information, we searched to find the Roskinds in Minsk and found Sam and Ida in an 1874 revision list living in Okolovo, Belarus which was part of the Minsk province.

Paulo, visiting from Brazil, asked to research his grandfather and find out where the family comes from. We found his grandfather’s death record on FamilySearch.org. Hanani Forshaid died in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 14, 1969. According to the death record, Hanani’s parents were Shmerel and Leah Forshaid. We then learned that Hanani had four siblings who had also immigrated to Brazil, Aaron Forshaid, Lipa Forshaid and Aida Grimberg, and Luba Poloponsky. According to Aron’s death record, their mother’s name was Chaya and according to Lipa’s death record, their mother’s name was Chaya Leah and according to Aida’s death record, their mother’s name was Leah. We concluded her full name was Chaya Leah.

The records also taught us that the Forshaid family came from “Kamenka, Russia” which is modern-day Camenka, Moldova. We searched for information about the Forshaids in the old country and found the grave of a woman named Chaya Leah Forshaid who died in Soroca, Moldova in 1932 and concluded that this is the grave of Paulo’s great grandmother. According to the headstone, Chaya Leah’s father’s name was Chaim, Paulo’s great-great grandfather.

We also looked up the origin of the name Forshaid in Alexander Bieder’s A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire and discovered the surname Forshaid is a Yiddish word meaning “wanton” or "licentious."

Catherine asked if we could research her grandfather’s family. According to his WW2 draft card, Louis Seidenstein was born on December 2, 1898 in NYC. We found his birth record and learned that his parents were Nathan Seidenstein and Molly Schwartz. The Seidensteins were residing at 197 Moore Street at the time of Louis’ birth.

I then found Nathan Seidenstein’s naturalization papers showing his living at that same address in 1906. According to his naturalization papers, Nathan was born on May 16, 1871 in Romania. I then searched for records for the Seidensteins in Romania and found a transcript of Nathan’s birth record. According to the transcript, he was born Nachman Zeienstein on May 14, 1871 in Iasi, Romania, the son of Zelik and Malka Zeidenstein. Nachman was one of eleven children born to Zelik and Malka.

We then learned that Zelik and Malka also immigrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn. Zelik died on July 13, 1917 and Malka died on August 29, 1914. They are buried in Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn. According to their graves, their Jewish names were Sheima, son of Yaakov Moshe Seidenstein and Malka, daughter of Yisrael Ginsburg. Yaakov Moshe Seidenstein and Yisrael Ginsburg are Catherine’s great-great-great grandfathers.

Allan asked if we could conduct research on his grandfather, Herman Haber. He was told that his grandfather’s original last name was Haberblatt and that his Jewish name was Tuvya. We found Herman immigrating to America in 1913 under the name Tobias Haberblatt. He sailed on the SS Kroonland from Antwerp, Belgium and arrived at Ellis Island on December 24, 1913. Herman was born and raised in Warsaw, Poland.

We then found Herman’s marriage certificate. He married his first cousin, Lena Flashenberg. According to the marriage certificate, Herman was the son of Isaac Haberblatt and Eva Kohill and Lena was the daughter of Joseph Flaschenberg and Bluma Haberblatt. Herman’s father and Lena’s mother were brother and sister.

We then searched to find information about the Haberblatt family in Warsaw. We found the graves of Allan’s great grandparents who are buried in the main Jewish cemetery in Warsaw. Isaac Haberblatt died on July 28, 1905 and Eva died on August 5, 1913. According to their headstones, Isaac’s father was Tzvi Hersh and Eva’s father was Leibush, Allan’s great-great grandfathers.

For those in the Hartford, CT area:"Come join the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford & Mem Global's Moishe Ho...
01/12/2026

For those in the Hartford, CT area:

"Come join the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford & Mem Global's Moishe House Without Walls (MHWOW) program for an evening with Genealogy with Rabbi Scott! Let's do a deep dive into family roots and how to uncover more about who you are.
The event is on Thursday 2/5 at 6:30pm at the JCC and refreshments will be served. RSVP before 2/3 at 4pm. Looking forward to seeing you there!"

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
01/05/2026

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Marian stumbled upon the center while visiting the museum with her husband. She asked if we could research her grandfather’s family. We started by finding her grandfather’s WW2 draft card which taught us that Hyman Mohel was born in NYC on December 21, 1908. Using this information, we found Hyman’s birth record which provided us with his parents’ names: Leo Mohel and Minnie Halperin. We then found Leo and Minnie’s marriage certificate. They were married in NYC on February 18, 1908. Leo’s parents were Kalman Ber Mohel and Doba Podbielski, Marian’s great-great grandparents.

We learned that Kalman and Doba also immigrated to the United States. They settled in Lakewood, NJ where Kalman owned and operated the Carmel Hotel. Doba passed away in 1929. According to his obituary, Kalman retired in 1931 and then moved to Israel. He died in Jerusalem in 1956. He was active in Jewish communal affairs in Lakewood, having been instrumental in the founding of the Talmud Torah there in 1916 and serving as the president and secretary of Congregation Sons of Israel.

The Mohel family came from Lomza, Poland and we found the Mohels in a list of residents of Lomza. According to the list, Kalman Ber Mohel was the son of Chaim Leib and Sheina Perl Mohel and Doba was the daughter of Leizer and Rochel Podbielski, Marian’s great-great-great grandparents. Chaim Leib and Sheina Perl were married in Grajewo, Poland in 1855. According to their marriage record, their fathers were Eliasz Mohel and Ber Zeligsohn, Marian’s great-great-great-great grandfathers. We learned that Marian’s great-great-great grandmother, Sheina Perl Zeligsohn Mohel, also immigrated to the United States, arriving in 1905. We found Sheina Perl living with Kalman and his family in the 1905 NY State Census. Marian had no idea that so many generations of her family lived in the US.

Steve’s brother, Bob, visited the center two weeks ago to research their mother’s family. Steve visited so we could focus our research on their father’s family. He was interested in knowing more about his paternal grandfather, Samuel Gelber, the only grandparent Steve never met. We found the Gelber family in the 1910 and 1920 US Federal Censuses and in the 1915 and 1925 NY State Censuses. According to all of the censuses, Samuel Gelber was born in Romania and was a baker by profession. We also found the family in the 1930 US Federal Census. Steve’s grandmother, Rose, was listed as married, but her husband, Sam wasn’t living with them. According to Steve, Sam had abandoned the family.

Steve wanted to know where exactly Samuel Gelber came from and when he immigrated to the US. We found his WW1 draft card and naturalization papers which taught us that Sam was born in Mihăileni, Romania. He immigrated to the US in 1909, arriving at Ellis Island on March 19, 1909 under the name Zalman Gelber. According to his ship’s manifest, Sam was single when he arrived, which meant he had to have gotten married between his arrival in March of 1909 and the time of the 1910 US Federal Census in April 1910. We learned that Sam and Rose were married on March 26, 1909 in NYC. Their marriage certificate taught us that Sam was the son of David Gelber, Steve’s great grandfather.

Ben visited the center hoping to learn more about his grandmother, Ida Kadish. We found Ida’s marriage certificate which taught us that her maiden name was Toltz. She was the daughter of Jacob Toltz and Eva Jaffe. Using this information, we learned that Ida had at least two siblings, a sister named Bessie and a brother named Sam. Sam was a butcher and lived in Rochester, New York. He married Rose Goldstein on April 2, 1916 in Rochester.

We found Sam’s WW1 draft card which taught us he was born in Vitz, Russia, which we identified as modern-day Vidzy, Belarus. We then found newspaper articles about a rivalry between Sam Toltz and another butcher in Rochester named Harry Gordon. The feud between the two men became so heated that Harry shot and killed Sam in February of 1927. Three other butchers were shot, one of them, Harry Katz, was also killed.

We found an article about the shootings that was written in Medium in January 2024:
“On the evening of February 11, 1927, 34-year-old Harry Gordon snapped. Formerly a butcher in the Rochester area, he believed he had been unfairly forced out of his work by rivals in the same trade because of disagreements and violent clashes they had had in the past.

Armed with two pistols, Gordon first went to the apartment of Harry Katz, who was preparing to go out on a date. The agitated Gordon forced his way through the door and fired three shots into the surprised victim, killing him almost instantly.

Driving away from the scene of the murder, Gordon next went to the butcher shop of Sam Toltz. There, a similar scene ensued, as Toltz was on the receiving end of eight bullets. As he lay dying, customers and employees of the shop fled in panic.

The rampage wasn’t over yet, however. Having already killed two men, Gordon proceeded to the deli owned by Frank Cohen and Morris Klass. He emptied his gun into the pair, shooting Cohen in the leg, and Klass in his torso. At first, it appeared that Klass might succumb from his wounds, but he eventually pulled through.

Shortly after the killings, once the killer was suspected, there was neighborhood mania, with hundreds of people flooding the police station demanding protection. Gordon was arrested at his home by the friend of a policeman who was lying in wait for him. He quickly confessed, explaining:

“I had been planning these killings for several weeks and when Katz passed me on the street and refused to stop when I called to him, I decided the time had come to carry out my program.”

Robert had dabbled in genealogical research over the years and had collected records and documents for his ancestors. He was unable to find his grandfather’s ship’s manifest. Robert would like to acquire Romanian citizenship in order to get an EU passport. He knew his grandfather was from Bessarabia, a province of the Russian Empire which became part of Romania. Bessarabia officially became part of Romania on March 27, 1918, when its legislative body, the Sfatul Țării, voted to unite the Moldavian Democratic Republic with the Kingdom of Romania, following its declaration of independence from Russia. Residents of Bessarabia automatically became citizens of Romania after the region was united with Romania.

We started by finding a picture of his grandparents’ grave which taught me that Sam Schoenberg’s Jewish name was Yehoshua (Joshua). We then found Sam’s naturalization papers which taught us he was born in Telenesht, Russia which is modern-day Teleneşti, Moldova. He immigrated to the US in 1921, arriving at Ellis Island under the name Ovshei Scheinberg. Ovshei is the Russian version of Sam’s Jewish name, Yehoshua. Using the information in the naturalization papers, we found Sam’s ship’s manifest. According to the manifest, his most recent place of residence was Paris, France. Robert said that according to family lore, his grandfather had studied at the Sorbonne, the historic University of Paris.

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Je...
12/29/2025

Here are a few highlights from my day at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Brian had visited the center back in October. During that visit, we identified the name of the town his grandparents came from. We also learned that his two oldest uncles, Nathan and Abraham, were born in Russia, while his father and their other siblings were born in Baltimore. We didn’t find any records showing Brian’s grandparents and their two oldest children immigrating to the US. Brian hoped we would find a record of their immigration on his second visit.

Brian knew that although his family was known as Schwartz in the United States, their original surname was Chernobulsky. We sat together for two hours, searching manifests to find Brian’s family immigrating to America. We finally found a ship manifest for a woman named Golde Schwartz who was immigrating to the United States with her sons, Nisel and Avrum (Nathan and Abraham). According to the manifest, their most recent residence was Kolerka, Russia. Kolerka, now known as Mokra Kalyhirka, Ukraine, was the town the Chernobulskys came from. Golde and her children were going to their husband and father, Meyer, who was already living in Baltimore.

Golda and her sons sailed from Bremen, Germany on the SS Main and arrived at the port of Baltimore on January 4, 1907. Brian was thrilled that we found his grandmother and uncles immigrating to the United States. We will search for his grandfather coming to America during his next visit.

Rick, visiting from California, asked if we could find information about his grandparents. He wasn’t 100% sure what his grandfather’s name was. By using the names of Rick’s father and his father’s siblings, we found the Cooper family in the 1920 US Census living in Chicago. The census taught us that Rick’s grandfather was Hyman Cooper and his wife’s name was Belle. We then found the Cooper family in the 1930 US Census, but Belle was listed as a widow. We concluded that Hyman had to have died between the 1920 and 1930 censuses.

By searching on FamilySearch.org, we found Hyman Cooper’s death record. He died on June 26, 1925 in Chicago and is buried in Waldheim Cemetery. I then found a picture of Hyman Cooper’s grave which included a picture of Hyman Cooper himself. It was the first time that Rick had ever seen a picture of his grandfather. According to Hyman’s death record, he was born in Kishinev, Russia, which is modern-day Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.

Lisa's grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Unfortunately, not much was known about them or their families because they passed away when Lisa’s mother was just a teenager. Lisa hoped we might learn something about them and their families.
We learned that Lisa’s grandparents, Samuel Holtzman and Liza Bregman, were both born in Pinsk, Belarus, Samuel on September 15, 1905 and Liza on September 15, 1910. According to his displaced person’s card, Samuel was the son of Michel Holtzman and Zlata Rolnik, Lisa’s great grandparents.

We searched for records for the Holtzman family in Pinsk and found a transcript of the marriage record for Samuel’s brother, Meyer Holtzman, who married Mirl Lukhtan in Pinsk in January 1934. Meyer and Mirl had a son, Avraham Abba Holtzman, who was born in Pinsk in November 1934. These were Lisa’s mother’s uncle, aunt and first cousin. No one in their family had known these names until we found them. Presumably, these relatives were killed in the Holocaust.

Lisa’s father was told that he is a Kohen, a direct male descendant of Aaron in the Bible. In ancient times, the Kohanim served in the Temple in Jerusalem, where they performed sacred rituals and sacrificial offerings. Kohanim also recite the priestly blessings on holidays and are the first ones to be called to the Torah. This status has been passed down, from father to son, generation after generation. Lisa’s father wanted to be able to confirm that he is a Kohen.

We found Lisa’s father’s family in various census records, including the 1940 US Census. The Rosenberg family was residing at 542 Hopkinson Avenue in Brooklyn. We then found Lisa’s great grandfather’s WW2 Draft Card which also said his address was 542 Hopkinson Avenue. Using this address, we learned that Hyman Rosenberg died on January 8, 1943. According to his death certificate, he is buried in Montefiore Cemetery in Queens. Lisa and her family will visit the cemetery to visit Hyman’s grave. They hope that information on the grave will confirm that they are indeed Kohanim.

Dan’s aunt has been conducting genealogical research for years, but there were a few questions that were still unanswered. Dan called his aunt while he was visiting the center. She had been told that her grandmother’s maiden name was Bick, but couldn’t find any documentation that proved that that was the case. I found her grandmother’s ship manifest, but she was already married when she immigrated to the United States, so she arrived under her married name. I noticed that her grandmother listed her own mother as her point of contact in the old country on the ship’s manifest. The manifest said that her mother’s name was Golda B*k, proving that her grandmother’s maiden name was Bick/B*k.

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My Story

Rabbi Scott Kalmikoff was born and raised in Staten Island, NY. He grew up in a two family home where he lived with his parents, younger brother and maternal grandparents. Growing up, Rabbi Scott had a particularly close relationship with his grandparents who shared many stories with him about their lives, relatives and family history. These family stories inspired a curiosity within Scott who wanted to learn more about his family tree. Rabbi Scott began his genealogical research fourteen years ago at the young age of fifteen. Since then, he has traced parts of his family tree as far back as the 1600s and discovered roots in Belarus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania and Wales. Rabbi Scott has traveled across the globe, visiting the towns his ancestors emigrated from and meeting distant relatives. Rabbi Scott received a BA in Jewish Studies with a concentration in Jewish History from Yeshiva University. He was a recipient of the university’s Altshul, Pearlman Memorial Award for Highest Ranks in all Jewish Studies. Following graduation from Yeshiva University, Scott began his studies at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School and was ordained in June 2018. He currently resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In 2020, Rabbi Scott was inspired to offer his genealogical expertise in American and European Jewish Genealogy to those who are interested in connecting with their roots. For Rabbi Scott, genealogy isn't just a hobby or profession. Genealogy is a wonderful journey of personal exploration and self discovery. While learning about our ancestors we learn about ourselves. While learning about our history we connect with and deepen our Jewish identities. Jewish history and our families' stories are our story and deeply influence who we are today in ways we may never fully comprehend. ​Genealogical research provides us with a precious gift we can pass to the next generation, L'Dor VaDor.