We also help Sephardic Jewish families apply for Portuguese citizenship. Specializing in Syrian Jewish and Sephardic families, Sephardic Genealogical Journeys can build your genealogy using family information and documents as a starting point, and then research and collect information from other sources. A member of the JewishGen Board of Governors, Sarina Roffé has an extensive history and passion for Sephardic genealogy. Born into Brooklyn’s Syrian community, Sarina realized the importance of chronicling her family’s history after the death of her grandparents. With 52 first cousins, it became easy to lose track of who was related to whom. Documenting the family history gave the family a written record that could be passed down through the generations. As the designated family historian, she soon became frustrated that records were not easily available from Syria, then part of the Ottoman Empire, where her family originated. During the past three decades, Sarina founded the Sephardic Heritage Project and completed genealogies for the following community families: Missry, Salem, Roffé, Labaton, Hedaya, Seruya, Beda, and Kassin. In 2002, Sarina completed Branching Out, the genealogy of Chief Rabbi Jacob Kassin z’l, which traced his lineage as a descendant in an unbroken chain of rabbis to 1492. A Distinguished Toastmaster Sarina has presented at numerous conferences including the World Congress of Jewish History and the International Jewish Genealogical Society. She is a frequent contributor to genealogical publications, encyclopedias, journals and magazines. She holds a BA in journalism from the University of Maryland and an MA in Jewish Studies from Touro College.
