Zoom information will be sent out midweek, the WEEK BEFORE THE MEETING, to JGSMD members.

Do you call noodle pudding kugel or kigel? Do you prefer sweet or savory gefilte fish? Did you grow up eating shlishkes or bourekas? These are just some of the Jewish food customs that can provide you with a glimpse into your ancestry.

Join Caryn Alter and Stephen Cohen, founding members of the Mercer County Jewish Genealogy Society at Beth El Synagogue and coauthors of What’s in a Name? A Young Person’s Jewish Genealogy Workbook, for an eye-opening, mouth-watering Jewish heritage journey. Sprinkled throughout the presentation will be tips from Caryn, a Registered Dietitian, on how to make some of these traditional Jewish foods healthier. Take a gastronomic trip back in time, and perhaps discover your roots in the process.

Caryn Alter and Stephen Cohen are founding members of the Mercer County Jewish Genealogy Society at Beth El Synagogue and are coauthors of What’s in a Name? A Young Person’s Jewish Genealogy Workbook. They have given presentations on Jewish genealogy throughout New Jersey, and both sing with the Jewish choir Sharim v’Sharot.

Caryn started doing research on her ancestors from Ukraine, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Israel, and the United States when she was in college. She has a Master’s Degree in Nutrition and Public Health and is a Registered Dietitian in the community wellness and cardiac rehabilitation departments of CentraState Medical Center in Freehold. She has also written articles for newspapers, magazines, and journals.

Stephen serves as the Treasurer of the Midwest Jewish Studies Association. He has presented and published papers on numerous Jewish Studies topics. His research on over 4,500 family members from Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, the United States, Canada, and Israel goes back nearly 250 years. Stephen, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry, has written several books, is a Judaic calligrapher, and raised his children speaking Yiddish.

Past Programs

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Upcoming Programs

News Tidbits

JGS Maryland has been reconstituted!
JGSMD had its initial meeting on Sunday August 18, 2013 to see if there was interest in the group's reconstituting. The turnout was overwhelming, with 31 people attending with only a few days' notice. Look forward to new programming over the next year!
Some of the attendees: