Jewish Genealogy

Presentation synopsis: European Jews have mainly married within their group. The pool of mates was limited. As a result, Jewish people today are all related to one another, multiple times. This phenomenon, known as endogamy, makes Jewish genetic genealogy very difficult, often impossible. Members of endogamous groups, such as Jewish people, who have tested their autosomal DNA find they match (are related) to a much larger number of people than those who are not associated with endogamous groups. In conducting his genealogy research, Pickholtz was convinced that this brick wall was not as impenetrable as it seemed, at least in some circumstances. Using his own family as an example, Pickholtz was able to utilize DNA to clarify multiple family relationships. In his talk he will step through his research and analysis process in hopes that it will encourage and inspire European Jewish family researchers and those studying other endogamous populations to say, “I can do this!”

The speaker: Israel Pickholtz is a Pittsburgh native who has lived in Israel since 1973. He began working seriously on his family’s genealogy in 1994 after many years of talking about it. His flagship work is the “Pikholz Project,” a one-name study project that aims to identify and reconnect all Pikholz descendants. Israel’s new book, Endogamy: One Family, One People, will be published in August (and will be available for purchase). It describes his research, techniques of analysis and findings. He has been blogging since 2012 on matters genealogical at http://allmyforeparents.blogspot.com/ 

Israel’s involvement with genetic genealogy began in 2012. He attended the inaugural “Practical Genetic Genealogy” course at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy, the Guild of One-Name Studies, the Israel Genealogical Society, and the Association of Professional Genealogists.