The Weekly News Nosh – February 1, 2026 CLICK HERE TO VIEW NEWS NOSH Jewish Heritage · Jewish History · Jewish Family History Editor: Phil Goldfarb, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA Headlines February 1, 2026

MyHeritage Adds Spain, Names & Stories in Newspapers from OldNews.com Israel Genealogy Research Association’s Databases Release for January 2026 International Holocaust Remembrance Day: From Numbers to Names Find a Grave: 2025 Year in Review It’s gotta be the genes: Israeli study finds genetics play key role in human longevity Smashed by ISIS, a 2,700-year-old carving may have been the earliest-known depiction of Jerusalem Czech Republic: Archaeologists will research the site of Brno’s destroyed Great Synagogue as part of a series of commemorative initiatives How yizkor books bring the sights, sounds, and even smells and tastes of lost Jewish shtetls back to life For the first time since Hitler, a Hebrew publisher sets up shop in Germany Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History premieres taking viewers on an epic journey of the parallel and intersecting streams of Black and Jewish experience in the U.S On PBS’ ‘Finding Your Roots,’ Jewish actor Lizzy Caplan discovers her family’s unknown Holocaust story Why We Must Remember the Holocaust Holocaust-era songs composed in Nazi ghettos published for first time in English A Holocaust survivor born in a concentration camp shares her story Adolf Hitler’s Art Still Sells, as ‘Industry’ Just Reminded Us Auschwitz-Birkenau Grandson of Auschwitz commandant: “My grandfather was greatest mass murderer in history” A millennial rabbi built a synagogue where others have closed For fleeing Jews, Venezuela was a golden land — now in exile, they watch their homeland’s unrest with trepidation The Jews of Argentina A language course is reviving Moroccan Jewish culture and bridging Middle East divides A Museum of Jewish Culture is being developed in Bardejov, Slovakia Yad Vashem nominated for Nobel Peace Prize All the Big Jewish Nominees at the 2026 Oscars Northern Noshes…Canadian Jewish Community Cookbooks

JewishGen Talks: The Dash: Finding the Person in the Papers, February 18 at 2 PM, EST

 

JewishGen Talks: The Dash: Finding the Person in the Papers, February 18, 2026, 2:00 PM (EST) 

 

 

awang@jewishgen.org Feb 3   #700428    Dear JewishGen Community:   Please join us for our upcoming virtual JewishGen Talk:   The Dash: Finding the Person in the Papers   Speaker: Caitlin Hollander Waas Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2026 Time: 2:00-3:30 PM, EST (New York)   Registration: Free with a suggested donation. Click here to register       A gravestone records two distinct dates, but the story of a life exists entirely within the "dash" between them. How do we find the living, breathing person behind the cold facts of a census or a death certificate? How do we move beyond a simple biography to discover a personality? Join Chief Genealogist Caitlin Hollander Waas for a look at the strategies used to find the human spirit hidden in the archives. This webinar explores how to identify the “little details” of a person that traditional research often overlooks. From the shifting nuances of a signature to the physical clues that reveal a person's reality, these details change how we see our family history. By looking at naming choices, self-reinvention, and the physical characteristics found in unusual documents, you’ll learn how to bridge the gap between data and identity.   This program will be recorded and uploaded to JewishGen’s YouTube channel.   Registration: Free with a suggested donation. Click here to register   Please note that you do not have to create an account and can register as a guest. Donations will be made to the Museum of Jewish Heritage and credited to JewishGen.

JewishGen Talk: No, Your Ancestors' Names Were Not Changed at Ellis Island-February 11 at 2:00 PM, EST

 Dear JewishGen Community:

 

Please join us for our upcoming virtual JewishGen Talk:

 

No, Your Ancestors’ Names Were Not Changed at Ellis Island

 

Speaker: Caitlin Hollander Waas

Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Time: 2:00-3:30 PM, EST (New York)

 

Registration: Free with a suggested donation. Click here to register

 

 

Photo Credit: Landing at Ellis Island. (1902). Ellis Island, New Jersey, New York, 1902. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

 

It is the most persistent myth in American family history: the overwhelmed or malicious clerk who unilaterally altered a family’s identity at the port of entry. Whether framed as a clerical error or an act of xenophobia, historical records show that this scenario was not only unlikely—it was impossible. Join Chief Genealogist Caitlin Hollander Waas as she deconstructs this legend by examining the administrative mechanics of the immigration process and the specific records created at the port of entry. This session moves beyond the myth to explore the genuine legal, social, and economic motivations behind name changes, revealing how immigrants navigated their new identities, not as victims of a clerical error, but as active participants in their own American narratives.

 

This program will be recorded and uploaded to JewishGen’s YouTube channel.

 

Registration: Free with a suggested donation. Click here to register

 

Please note that you do not have to create an account and can register as a guest.

Donations will be made to the Museum of Jewish Heritage and credited to JewishGen.

 

About the Speaker:

 

 

Caitlin Hollander Waas is JewishGen’s Chief Genealogist, as well as being on staff at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. She has been a professional genealogist for over a decade, beginning in the world of forensic genealogy specializing in high value estate cases, as well as researching for private clients and consulting for books. In addition, her citizenship reclamation work has been featured in Family Tree Magazine, The Times of Israel, and the South Florida Sun Sentinel, among other publications. She holds a degree in Anthropology, as well as additional certificates in Jewish Studies and Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

 

Upcoming JewishGen Talks:

 

The Dash: Finding the Person in the Papers

2:00-3:30 PM, EST, Wednesday, February 11, 2026

 

Registration: Free with a suggested donation. Click here to register