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Dan Rottenberg

Finding our fathers: A guidebook to Jewish genealogy Hardcover – January 1, 1977

by Dan. ROTTENBERG (Author)

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Most American Jews believe they can only trace their families back for two or three generations. In this work Dan Rottenberg proves that they are wrong and shows how to do a successful search for probing the memories of living relatives, by examining marriage licenses, gravestones, ship passenger lists, naturalization records, birth and death certificates, and other public documents, and by looking for clues in family traditions and customs. Supplementing the "how to" instructions is a guide to some 8,000 Jewish family names, giving the origins of the names, sources of information about each family, and the names of related families whose histories have been recorded. Other features included a country-by-country guide to tracing Jewish ancestors abroad, a list of Jewish family history books, and a guide to researching genealogy in Mormon records and in Israel.

Print length

401 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Random House
Publication date

January 1, 1977
ISBN-10

0394406753
ISBN-13

978-0394406756
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House; First edition (January 1, 1977)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 401 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0394406753
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0394406756
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #932,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #94 in Historical Bibliographies & Indexes
- #381 in Jewish Biographies
- #1,169 in History of Judaism

Customer Reviews:
39 ratings

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About the author

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Dan Rottenberg

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Dan Rottenberg has been chief editor of seven innovative publications, most recently Broad Street Review, an online arts and culture salon he created in 2005. As an advocate for free expression and alternative media, he successfully defended seven libel suits and received Temple University’s Free Speech Award in 1992. His twelve published books include his memoir, The Education of a Journalist (2022); Finding Our Fathers, which launched the modern Jewish genealogy movement in 1977, and Death of a Gunfighter, which was honored as the best Western history book of 2008. He served as a consultant in 1981 when Forbes magazine launched its annual “Forbes 400” list of wealthiest Americans. His syndicated film commentaries appeared in monthly city magazines around the U.S. from 1971 to 1983. Earlier, he was a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, executive editor of Philadelphia Magazine, managing editor of Chicago Journalism Review, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and editor of a daily newspaper in Indiana.

Customer reviews

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Southwest Reader

This book is phenomenal & invaluable!

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book--this resource is phenomenal and priceless.

My wife's family, beyond her grandparents, is lost in the shrouds of time. That fact is a dark cloud that has haunted her all her life. With a complete dearth of familial history, we had little hope to ever discover anything of value, but we recently decided now was the time to at least try searching.

But where to begin?

After searching Amazon, I came up with Finding Our Fathers: A Guidebook to Jewish Genealogy by Dan Rottenberg. Although 22 years have passed since the updated edition of this book was published in 1998 (with previous publications in 1995, 1986, and 1977), still in 2021 this remains a treasure of inspiration, education, history, guidance, landmarks, direction, and motivation.

As evidence of that claim, I have dog-eared so many pages that my paperback copy of the book is nearly impossible to keep closed; I've highlighted so many selections that nary a page is without a smattering of semi-transparent, blue markings.

Will all of the periodicals, books, institutions, people, and resources discussed in Finding Our Fathers still be viable at present? Of course not. But please do not let that deter you. If you plan to search out the branches and roots of your Jewish family tree, I promise you will want your own heavily-highlighted, thoroughly-bent-paged copy of this book in your reference library. The litany of references to places and people and publications is so long that you will have plenty of still-relevant starting points to begin your journey, and the advice that Mr. Rottenberg provides throughout the book is all by itself invaluable.

The best thing I can say about this book, as a summary to my review, is that where before reading it we were sunk in a state of dire hopelessness about finding my wife's family, now we feel as though we are standing on solid ground, with a plan in our heads and a series of maps in our hands.

Now on to Google and answers to questions that have plagued my wife for far too long. On to discover mothers and fathers....

One person found this helpful

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Lynn Wronosky

Well researched book

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

I didn't find names I was looking for, but there are lots of resources listed.

Helpful

Lisa M

a welcome guide to searching for your ancestors.

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2016

Verified Purchase

The book is an excellent source for those who are looking for their ancestors. Very helpful with many lists of surnames and those who are related to who and how to get more info on your ancestors. A must for the amateur genealogist.

One person found this helpful

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Virginia Hedgepeth

Informative!!!

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2014

Verified Purchase

Well written and informative. If you study genealogy, it is a must for your library. It opened several avenues for me, even though I believed that my ancestors were not Jewish. However, I had come to a road block, and it may turn out that one line were Christian Jews. Either way, I believe you will find this book interesting and worth the money.

4 people found this helpful

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Prudence M. Thorner

Useful genealogical handbook

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2015

Verified Purchase

Lots of information in this compendium of information about family names, place names, and how to start to put together a family history. Although the advice is outdated in this computer age, there is still much to learn from it.

One person found this helpful

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ALJI

Great Condition!!

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2013

Verified Purchase

Happily receiving this book. It is great for searching Jewish last names and their histories.. The book is in Great Shape! Great Condition Overall. I am very excited to start reading it.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Carlos Rivera

Great deal!

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2019

Great deal!