Genetic Genealogy

The following article is an excerpt from a chapter of our forthcoming book: "The Shpoler Zeida – The Life, Legends, and Descendants of the Grandfather of Shpola."  The chapter is entitled: "Mysteries of the Shpoler Zeida Family."

Our decade-long genealogical research has been a dedicated pursuit to construct a family tree for a figure of profound importance in Chassidic history. This individual, born three centuries ago, is Yehuda Leib of Shpola (c. 1725–1811), a revered tzaddik known as the Saba Kadisha (Hebrew for “Holy Grandfather”) or the Shpoler Zeida (Yiddish for “Grandfather of Shpola”). His influence and teachings have left an indelible mark on Chassidic history, making our research all the more significant.

Our research has led us to identify over 5,500 descendants of the Shpoler Zeida. However, our journey was not without its share of enigmas and complexities. The intricate web of family connections, the gaps in historical records, and the challenge of verifying oral histories have all contributed to the depth and complexity of our research.

A particularly intriguing challenge was the discovery of fifteen families who claimed descent from the Shpoler Zeida, yet the specifics of their lineage remained unknown.  This lack of documentation has veiled their proud heritage in a cloak of uncertainty, shrouding their connection to the Shpoler Zeida in mystery.  As their lines of descent from the Shpoler Zeida were unknown, we have come to refer to them as the “Mystery Families.”

This article delves into the intriguing mystery of the Beletsky family (including the Belasco, Bell, Bruskin, Gellard, Goldberg, and Polis branches), who claim descent from the Shpoler Zeida.  The mystery involves how their earliest known Beletsky ancestor, Leiba Beletsky (1782–1846), and his wife, Risya (1789–bef. 1848), are connected to the Shpoler Zeida.

In this comprehensive research study on the Beletsky family's descent from the Shpoler Zeida, we painstakingly traced family records, cross-referencing them with historical documents and oral histories.  We believe that the available historical and genealogical evidence is sufficient to support the Beletsky family’s plausible line of descent from the Shpoler Zeida through his son Yaakov and the marriage of Yaakov’s daughter Risya to Leiba Beletsky and to connect them to the Shpoler Zeida family tree.

RJGG 60 ___________________________________________________________ Принята 23 января 2011; опубликована 24 января 2011 Связаться с автором по email: babasan@yandex.ru Этногенез пуштунов (афганцев) с точки зрения популяционной генетики Жаксылык Сабитов

Counting Y-DNA STR differences is a poor discriminator for members of the same family. Unless a very large number of markers are used, matching cannot be used with a statistically significant degree of accuracy to establish whether someone is more closely related even to second cousins. However there are other methods that may be used to distinguish degrees of relatedness. We present a simple and useful test which involves finding a “segmenting marker” which can establish relative consanguinity with some accuracy, and we give a real-life example of its use to show from which of two 17th Century brothers a man of partly unknown origins descended.

Objectives: We describe a method to identify human remains excavated from unmarked graves in historical Québec cemeteries by combining parental-lineage genetic markers with the whole-population genealogy of Québec contained in the BALSAC database. Materials and methods: The remains of six men were exhumed from four historical cemeteries in the province of Québec, Canada. DNA was extracted from the remains and genotyped to reveal their mitochondrial and Y-chromosome haplotypes, which were compared to a collection of haplotypes of genealogically-anchored modern volunteers. Maternal and paternal genealogies were searched in the BALSAC genealogi-cal record for parental couples matching the mitochondrial and the Y-chromosome haplotypic signatures, to identify candidate sons from whom the remains could have originated. Results: Analysis of the matching genealogies identified the parents of one man inhumed in the cemetery of the investigated parish during its operating time. The candidate individual died in 1833 at the age of 58, a plausible age at death in light of osteological analysis of the remains.

https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/486729/la-lignee-tremblay-ou-l-aventure-nord-americaine-d-une-signature-adn
Premier nom au Québec avec plus de 80 000 porteurs, Tremblay fait figure de symbole. Plus de 100 000 personnes portent le nom en Amérique du Nord. Ce statut peut justifier qu’on s’y intéresse plus particulièrement pour illustrer comment se combinent aujourd’hui généalogie et génétique. Le regard offert ici porte sur la dimension scientifique de ce savoir plutôt que sur son industrie.Le discours sur le comportement humain a l’habitude d’opposer nature et culture. L’intuition nous conduit à séparer biologie et nom de famille de la même façon. La recherche en anthropologie et généalogie génétique révèle cependant l’existence d’une étroite corrélation qu’on peut pratiquement qualifier de
« biologie du nom ».

There is much confusion in the minds of many genealogy enthusiasts as to exactly what a centiMorgans (cM) is. About the time one sort of grasps what a cM is, then the question arises as to how cM’s tell us how much we are related to various kin folk.  If you are a novice in this field, try to decipher the following definition of a centiMorgan.  “A centiMorgan is the distance between chromosome positions (also termed loci or markers) for which the expected average number of intervening chromosomal crossovers in a single generation is 0.01” (see International Society of Genetic Genealogy in Sources).

A 700-page surname study that is far more than genealogy, in that it uses members of the family to illustrate the social and economic history of Cornwall, Australia, New Zealand and several states in the USA, while covering the stories of a number of outstanding of eccentric individuals who shared a surname. It uses genetic genealogy to solve a number of thorny genealogical problems:

[Publication is in Norwegian] English abstract: «MY HAPLOGROUP»:
BIOLOGY, KINSHIP AND CULTURAL IDENTITY IN THE CONTEXT OF GENETIC GENEALOGY The focus of this article is genetic genealogy, i.e., genetic testing that helps hobby genealogists to trace their «origin» in historical and pre-historical time. I discuss how the three most common methods provided – testing on the Y chromosome, mitochondrial DNA and autosomal DNA – may impact on the formation of kinship, descent and cultural identity. The article engages classical anthropological debates on the role of biology versus meaning in the constitution of kinship. I deviate from deterministic cultural perspectives that deny any form of biological «fundament», arguing for a more nuanced and realistic anthropology that rather examines the relative importance of biology in the sociocultural formation of kinship.

Cet article s'intéresse aux enfants de Nicolas Lebel, ce pionnier de Nouvelle-France né près de Rouen vers 1633. Le nombre de Québécois actuels qui descendent de ce Normand est estimé à près de deux millions. On découvre toutefois qu'au moins deux des trois fils documentés de Lebel ne le sont pas par la biologie. En outre, certains indices suggèrent que sa seule fille pourrait aussi être née d'autrui. Les données ADN du chromosome Y ne laissent par contre aucun doute quant aux origines distinctes des trois «frères» Lebel qu'expriment leurs filiations masculines. Le cas est à ce point singulier qu'il faut s'interroger sur la possible infertilité du patriarche. Les informations recueillies sur cette famille ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives sur les mœurs de l'intimité aux premiers temps de la Nouvelle-France, alors que les réalités observées peuvent s'expliquer de différentes façons. À l'évidence, jamais ne pourra-t-on trier les scénarios concurrents et situer toute la vérité. Des indices circonstanciels dans les relations entre les familles concernées aident néanmoins à l'interprétation des faits mis au jour.

Résumé : L’histoire des populations recèle des métissages anciens que la recherche par ADN parvient aujourd’hui à détecter. Cet article démontre la pertinence de cette méthode pour l’étude de l’Acadie, de son ethnogenèse et de son prolongement québécois en y exploitant spécifiquement la présence d’ADN amérindien. Un développement distinctif et exclusif au continent américain y caractérise en effet la population autochtone.

Y-DNA results show that Bacharachs, despite their oldest known ancestor living in France, Southern Germany, Northern Germany, or  Belarus in the 17th or 18th century, share a common male ancestor, sometime in the range of 1200-1400 C.E. A respected rabbinic family throughout Europe, the many related branches of the Bacharachs appear to have kept their surname for centuries.

Viele der jüngeren Generation befassen sich, vor allem in sozialen Netzwerken, mit der Erforschung Ihrer Vergangenheit. Es wird auch viel nach dem eigenen
Familiennamen gegoogelt. Das ist so beliebt, dass die Internet Adressen über Ahnenforschung im Internet auf Rang zwei kommen.
Die genealogische Datensammlung ist das Gerüst für das Verständnis der Kulturgeschichte. Dies gilt vor allem für das Land unserer böhmisch-mährischen-schlesischen Vorfahren im Kernland Europas, den Ländern der Böhmischen Krone.
Mein Anliegen ist, den jeweiligen Abschnitt der Familiengeschichte im betreffenden kulturhistorischen Rahmen darzustellen.
Im Rahmen meiner Beratungstätigkeit in der ČSSR, ČSFR und ČR seit 1990, meiner Forschungen und in vielen Gesprächen wurde deutlich, dass trotz ehemaliger
ideologiefixierter Geschichtsschreibung in der ehemaligen Tschechoslowakei, dem Deutschen Reich und der Bundesrepublik/DDR im Herzen Europas viele
kulturelle und familiäre Gemeinsamkeiten bestanden und bestehen.
Die Historiographie und Möglichkeiten der Forschung sind meiner Erfahrung nach in Österreich besonders wertvoll. Aber auch in der Tschechischen Republik hat
sich viel getan!
Auf die besondere Bedeutung von genetischen und epigenetischen Faktoren wird hingewiesen. Gerade die Epigenetik, die durch unterschiedlichste "Umweltfaktoren" intensiv beeinflusst wird, hat für die Entwicklung auch unserer Vorfahren eine zentrale Bedeutung, die erst seit einigen jahren in seiner Dimension zu erkennen begonnen wurde.

This is a longish presentation for the intelligent layman of the current status of the  Cornwall DNA project. It covers a wide range of areas (autosomal, Y, Beaker) but does not go into detail in terms of providing citations etc

It was given at the Genealogical Society of Victoria on 14 March 2018

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/cornwalladvancedydna/about
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/cornwall/about/background

After a brief overview of YDNA, I describe and analyze the information about the R-Y17224 branch collected from members who have so far done NGS testing. I advance some ideas about the origins and history of the branch and suggest a connection with the Lusitanian tribes. Further samples, especially of ancient DNA, might support or invalidate the ideas proposed in the article.

RJGG 57 ___________________________________________________________ Принята 28 декабря 2010; опубликована 30 декабря 2010 Связаться с автором по email: babasan@yandex.ru Об этногенезе каракалпаков с точки зрения популяционной генетики Жаксылык Сабитов Абстракт Историография проблемы: Каракалпаки, как этнос, возник относительно поздно. В середине 16 века из-за междоусобных войн Ногайская орда распалась на части. Часть ногайцев осталась на месте и стала носить название Большие ногаи, часть ногайцев ушла на Кавказ и стала Малой Ногайской Ордой. Еще одна часть ушла в Среднюю Азию, где данная часть ногайского этноса стала именоваться как каракалпаки.

Erratum that corrects an error in Figure 11 of the original article. Pedro Mexía de Lugo was a son of Juan Benítez Pereira de Lugo and Elvira Mexía de Figueroa. His paternal grandparents were Pedro Benítez de Lugo and Ana de Lugo, as stated in the article narrative.

Une triangulation réussie sur une matriarche d'Acadie, Marie Christine AUBOIS, a permis l'établissement de sa signature ADNmt. Des tests génétiques ont identifié son haplogroupe A2i (A2-C64T) par séquençage complet des mitochondries, validant ainsi l'attribution documentée de M. C. AUBOIS au groupe amérindien. Cette signature s'ajoute au catalogue des signatures ancestrales que dirige l'auteur au projet "ADN-Héritage français". Grâce aux collaborations suscitées par cette triangulation, certaines lacunes de la documentation traditionnelle ont aussi pu être compensées. Cette identification par ADN de M. C. AUBOIS est exemplaire en ce qu'elle illustre le rôle complémentaire et décisif de la généalogie génétique.

Inleiding Deze update dateert van 24 juli 2020 en verschilt, in hoofdzaak, van de vorige editie van 22 juni 2020 door de toevoeging van een 7 de generatie. Ook werden alle gegevens verwijderd die waren gekopieerd uit online gepubliceerde stambomen, alleszins uit diegene waarin men zich geen moeite getroost heeft om primaire bronnen te vermelden. Het is belangrijk dat dit document verschoond blijft van de slordigheden die op internet-genealogieën welig tieren en die exponentieel toenemen door het klakkeloos overnemen van mekaars stamboomgegevens. Tot slot, op enkele kleine aanpassingen na, is de benaming zijtakken vervangen door uitgestorven takken wat meteen duidelijk maakt waar het om gaat. Deze gemoderniseerde versie van de Van Beurden Hoofdstamboom, ook beschikbaar in pdf-formaat, werd digitaal voor het eerst gepubliceerd op 5 mei 2020 op de weblog https://haplogroup-g-f807.ws/. Het document brengt enkel verslag uit over de zeven oudste generaties. Recentere generaties komen in afzonderlijke documenten aan bod. Het was de heer J.A.W. Swane die als eerste de grote lijnen van deze Van Beurden Hoofdstamboom uitzette begin jaren '60. Wat de vroegste generaties betreft werden de uit het Bossche Protocol stammende gegevens aan Swane bezorgd door de heer Ferdinand Smulders (1907-1972) die in staat was deze archiefbron met grote vaardigheid te lezen. De architecten die zowel qua vorm als qua inhoud het meest hun stempel gedrukt hebben op dit genealogisch bouwwerk, zijn Ad van Beurden en Marijn Verstijnen. Van de overige personen die een steentje bijgedragen hebben, vermelden we Van Dijk, van Trommelen, Arno, Ben, Henk (1951-2018), Jan & Piet van Beurden. Maar er zijn nog anderen, eigenlijk te veel om op te noemen, die één of meerdere keren voor een aanvulling zorgden of een dwaling uit de wereld hielpen. Het mag gezegd worden dat deze Hoofdstamboom op genealogisch gebied een huzarenstuk zonder weerga vertegenwoordigt. Dit bestand zorgt er, net zoals een goede reisgids, voor dat iedere thans levende Van Beurden die een zoektocht onderneemt naar zijn/haar voorouders, probleemloos de eindbestemming bereikt, namelijk Huize Herman van Boerden senior, stamvader, eind 13 de-begin 14 de eeuw, Tilburg. Zelfs al mocht de ambitie, namelijk om alle Van Beurdens die ooit geleefd hebben in kaart te brengen, te hoog gegrepen zijn, dan nog is het de moeite waard om deze ingeslagen weg zo ver mogelijk te volgen.

De acuerdo con el Real Decreto R.D. 43/215, del 2 de febrero (BOE de 3 de febrero de 2015), donde se establece la ordenación de los nuevos estudios universitarios oficiales, para acceder a las enseñanzas de Máster Propio, será necesario estar en posesión de un título universitario oficial español u otro expedido por una institución de educación del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior que faculte en el país expedidor del título para acceso a enseñanzas de Máster. Asimismo, podrán acceder los titulados procedentes de sistemas educativos ajenos al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior sin necesidad de la homologación de sus títulos, siempre que acrediten un nivel de formación equivalente a los correspondientes títulos universitarios oficiales españoles, que facultan para el acceso a enseñanzas de posgrado.

УДК 929.5
ББК 63.2
А 51

Алпысбес М.А.

А 51 Шежире казахов: источники и традиции. (Учебник для вузовских и послевузовских спецкурсов). – Астана, ИП «BG-Print», 2013. – 240 с.

ISBN 978-601-7376-05-5

Задача данной книги – донести до читателя отдельные итоги изучения шежире
казахов, исследуемое автором в качестве генеалогической памяти и исторического источника, как культурной традиции и самобытной формы историознания казахского народа.
Материалы шежире содержат в себе сведения о генеалогии в виде рассказов,
списков, схем, которые дают информацию о характере системы родства и свойства народа, родоплеменных и субэтнических группах, а также о известных исторических личностях вкупе с родословными элитарной части казахского общества – торе, ходжей.
В трудах дореволюционных авторов шежире представлена как совокупность
историко-генеалогических материалов и использовалась в целях изучения обычного права, родового быта и этнического состава населения степи.
Книга рассчитана на преподавателей, научных работников, историков, филологов, философов, этнографов, краеведов, а также на всех интересующихся проблемами развития устных знаний, исторической традиции и вопросами генеалогии.

Рецензенты:
Абусеитова М.Х., д.и.н., профессор
Кумеков Б.Е., д.и.н. РК, профессор, академик НАН РК

Modern genetic genealogy conventional approaches to reconstructing the phylogeny of agnatic (male-line) ancestors for a group of Y-DNA-tested men have traditionally used either Y-STR or Y-SNP data only. This creates an occasional dilemma over which analysis-Y-STR or Y-SNP-more accurately reflects the phylogenetic tree of the group; an unnecessary dilemma since both sets of data are products of the same historical agnatic lines of descent and should therefore be complementary. Y-STRs and Y-SNPs also each have different strengths which can be used in concert to partially offset their separate weaknesses. An approach is presented that weighs phenetic and cladistic data characteristics from the available sources of data (Y-STR and Y-SNP) as well as from traditional genealogy information according to likelihood to reconstruct an agnatic phylogenetic tree which reaches 100% accuracy at maximum data availability while exploiting the strengths of each available data source. This approach has also been made publicly available as the free online software program Still Another Phylogeny Program (SAPP at http://www.jdvtools.com/SAPP).

Öz

Türk tarihinin yetiştirdiği dünyâca ünlü ilim ve fikir adamlarından biri olan Mehmed Fuad Köprülü (1890-1966), özellikle Osmanlı tarihinin kuruluş devri hakkındaki tartışmaların iyice alevlendiği bir dönemde en zorlu tartışmalara eğilerek, ortaya koyduğu keskin ve iddiâlı tezlerle bir döneme damgasını vuran en önemli isimlerden biri olmuştur. Onun bu tezlerinin en meşhur olanları; Wittek'in Kayı menşei ile ilgili itirazlarına yönelik güçlü savunması ve Osmanlılar'ın atalarının Anadolu'ya göçünün -bilinenin aksine- Cengiz istilâsı sırasında değil, Anadolu'nun ilk fethi sırasında gerçekleştiği yönündeki iddiâsıdır. Bu iki konu Köprülü'nün ölümünden sonra da uzun yıllar tartışılmış; ancak her ikisi hakkında da çağdaş kaynaklar ışığında kalıcı bir çözüme ulaşılamamıştır.

Bu makale, hâlâ üzerinde tartışılan bu iki konu hakkında, şimdiye kadar devrin aslî kaynaklarına bakılmaksızın geliştirilen yüzeysel ve şahsî düşüncelere dayalı tezlerin aksine, ilk kez dönemin İslâm kaynakları ve Bizans kroniklerindeki kayıtları Osmanlı rivâyetleriyle karşılaştıran bir tez ortaya koyarak, ikisi hakkında da kesin ve kalıcı bir çözüme ulaşmak amacıyla kaleme alınmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Mehmed Fuad Köprülü, Osmanlı Kuruluş devri, göç ve yerleşim, Cengiz Han istilâsı, Anadolu’nun fethi.


Abstract

Mehmed Fuad Köprülü (1890-1966) who is one of the worldwide known scientists and intellectuals raised by Turkish history, was one of the most important names who left his mark on an era by giving thoughts on the most difficult discussions and putting forward sharp and assertive hypothesis in an environment where the debates about Ottoman Empire’s establishment period had escalated. His most famous hypotheses in this regard were; his strong defense against Wittek’s objections towards origins of Kayı and his claim that migration of Ottomans’ ancestors to Anatolia took place during the first conquest of Anatolia and -contrary to general belief- not in the course of Cenghis invasion. These two issues have been discussed for a long time even after Köprülü’s death, but no permanent conclusion was able drawn in the light of contemporary sources for neither of them.

This article is written to put forward a hypothesis which for the first time compares Islamic sources and records in Byzantine chronicles to Ottoman narratives contrary to the superficial and personal opinion based claims that were raised without going through main sources of the time and to reach a precise and permanent conclusion for both of the two issues which are still being debated over.

Keywords: Mehmed Fuad Köprülü, Ottoman Establishment Period, Migration and Settlement, Cenghis Khan’s Invasion, Conquest of Anatolia.

If you are a Jewish genealogist, chances are you have encountered the dreaded brick wall – the seemingly impenetrable barrier beyond which lie untold generations of unknown ancestors who represent a proud Jewish heritage that has become shrouded in mystery.

As Jewish genealogical researchers, we wondered what it would be like if we tried to surmount some of these brick walls.  Could it be done, and if so, how?  We decided to embark on such a research project by focusing on fifteen "Mystery Families" who all shared one thing in common – they all claimed descent from Yehuda Leib of Shpola, better known as the Shpoler Zeida, a revered 18th-century tzaddik and early Chassidic leader in the Russian Empire.

The traditional genealogical research methods employed, combined with modern genetic genealogy techniques, and the many lessons learned through the research of these fifteen mystery families, representing hundreds of Jewish surnames and lines of descent, are universal in nature and have widespread applicability to Jewish genealogy. For this reason, we are making this invaluable information available to the wider Jewish genealogical community.

This article, written with Jean-Paul Lallemand, reviews 4 major recent contributions in social sciences on the new genomic "knowledge" on racial differences, how it is constructed and integrated in public policies, health, forensic and genetic genealogy enterprises.  It is an extended version of a shorter article on the same topic published in La vie des idées (03/31/2014: http://www.laviedesidees.fr/Un-nouveau-paradigme-de-la-race.html). Books under review are Bliss, C., Race Decoded. The Genomic Fight for Social Justice, Stanford University Press, 2012, $24.95 ; Kahn, J., Race in the Bottle: the Story of BiDil and Racialized Medicine in a Post-genomic Age, Columbia University Press, 2013, $27.00 ; Schramm, K., Skinner, D. & Rottenburg, R. (dir.), Identity Politics and the New Genetics, Bergahn Books, 2012, $99.00 ; Wailoo, K., Nelson, A. & Lee, C. (ed.), Genetics and the Unsettled Past, Rutgers University Press, 2012, $28.45.

This pre-publication instalment from “House GRAHAM: From the Antonine Wall to the Temple of Hymen” has been retired as the book has now been completed and published (the full eBook PDF is available from this section of my Academia portfolio).

TMRCA of Jewish clusters E1b1b1c1a*-B and E1b1b1c1*-D1 has been updated, based on the structure of their trees. A hypothesis on their origin in Europe has been put forward. It has been shown that these two clusters could not arise simultaneously.

Before the turn of the 17th century the settlement of Irish in the Americas lacked permanence. Soon after, Irish came to North America and the Caribbean in a steady flow, and by the mid 18th century a flood of Irish and Scotch-Irish had settled in the Americas. The reasons for that settlement were many and varied, as were the geographic origins and lineages of those Fitzpatricks among the influx. This article provides a review of the forces that pushed and pulled Irish and Scotch-Irish to the Americas. By way of example, a single Fitzpatrick line demonstrates how messy traditional genealogy of early Colonial American Fitzpatricks can get. That messiness is due in no small part to the cut and paste functionality at websites such as ancestry.com. But by careful review of authentic historical records, caution with speculative associations, and the power of Y-DNA analysis, it is possible to untangle the mess and bring back some much-needed clarity. In this article, the example used is that of the well-known colonial-settler William Fitzpatrick (born ca. 1690 AD), of Albemarle County, Virginia, who arrived in North American ca. 1728. Two living ancestors of William have been found to share a common ancestry from ca. 1650 AD both bear a genetic mutation (FT15113) specific to William's line; this enables the ready identification of male descendants of William.

Tartakovsky surname study has carried out by classical and genetic genealogy (Family Tree DNA company
makes the genetic genealogy part of the project). Four persons from three countries situated in three continents
(USA, Israel and Chile) are participating in the project. The purpose of the project is to attract new participants to
identify branches of the surname have not been discovered yet. The project is not limited by time or by number of
members. The article presents the interim results of the project.

This article is about the challenges involved in researching Irish ancestry (e.g., widespread destruction of genealogical records, limited online access to existing parish records in both America and Ireland, lack of well-documented family trees, common surnames), are very similar to the challenges involved in researching Jewish ancestry.

In researching Irish ancestry, the importance of collaborating with family members, genetic matches, genealogical organizations, and other genealogists and family researchers, cannot be overstated.  In keeping with this, I invite all interested readers to share your thoughts, comments, and suggestions for researching Irish ancestry with the author.

What is it about Jewish genealogy that makes it so challenging and difficult?  Why do so few Ashkenazi Jews have family trees and paper trails?  Are autosomal DNA and Y-DNA tests as useful for tracing Jewish ancestry as for other groups?

As someone who has been successful at tracing his family’s Jewish ancestry back to the Middle Ages, and has conducted numerous Y-DNA studies of rabbinical lineages, while encountering his share of genealogical challenges along the way, I thought that it would be useful to share some of my experiences and insights regarding these very important questions.

In this article, the main factors that are responsible for making Jewish genealogy so challenging are divided into ten main categories: (1) the destruction of Jewish records; (2) the difficulty in finding surviving Jewish documents; (3) language barriers; (4) the history of Jewish surname adoption; (5) the nature of the Jewish surname adoption process; (6) the Americanization of Jewish surnames; (7) Jewish endogamy; (8) the historical lack of family trees and paper trails; (9) the Holocaust; and (10) the Jewish immigrant experience in America.

It is only by fully understanding the challenges, problems, and difficulties faced by Jewish genealogists that effective strategies can be devised to deal with these issues and to find solutions.

Presents new DNA evidence regarding a very old controversy - whether the two titled Drake families of Devon are related. Steps through the careers and ancestry of Sir Francis and Sir Bernard Drake, and the various disagreements that  have followed interpretations of the life of Sir Francis over the past 200 years. Presents an indication that these Drakes are related more than 1000 but less than 2000 years ago, and might possibly be the result of a very early Scandinavian settlement in the south of England. Recommends further DNA and archaeological investigation.

I am posting the Preface from our forthcoming book: "The Shpoler Zeida -- The Life Legends and Descendants of the Grandfather of Shpola."  We invite all interested readers, especially descendants of the Shpoler Zeida, to contact us with any questions that you might have about the Shpoler Zeida's family tree, or about the book itself.

For some time now I have been busy trying to tell the world the truth about religion. I have even said that the people responsible for the world's more pervasive religions were my own royal ancestors. And this is true. I have tried to inform as many people as I can to what they did and why they did it, and to help people to understand this step-by-step. It is my responsibility to do my best to undo the harm that my ancestors did to the world. And so, there is no choice for me but to continue until everyone is informed of this and finally accepts the truth about religion. This is not the easiest thing for me to say or talk about, but it is true that some of my ancestors were indeed psychopaths. Also, there are some of my relatives who know that I have been telling the world about this, but who would rather I not do so. I know the damage that the lies and twisted ideologies have caused and will continue to cause if left unchecked. This is now about the survival of the human race and our planet. The result of what my ancestors did is that the world is now a place in which psychopaths run free, occupy positions of authority and remain in a position to control and manipulate the populace. And if humanity is to survive, it cannot continue to be left in the hands of psychopaths. My royal ancestors had already known how to rule and control the masses when they began to create the three main religions of the world. This is because they had been ruling over dynasties even before dynasties were formally known as such. And that was long before the person known to the world as 'Adam' had existed. Those earliest 'dynasties' are called by archaeologists by the term "proto-dynasties". These ancestors of mine established the first dynasty in Egypt. It wasn't until the 12th dynasty that the pharaoh Amenemhept I (aka Adam-en-em-hept I, etc.) began to create the religion that would later become known as Judaism. He was the founder of the 12th dynasty, but he was also creating another dynasty parallel to that one which was known to his family and descendants as the "biblical dynasty". This pharaoh had envisioned the way that he wanted his religion to be and left instructions for its further creation and establishment to his descendants. He had created the first part of the story of Genesis and borrowed from some from already known religions for some of the other portions of his religion.* This religion, was only a part of what he had envisioned to do. He needed to continue to rule over Egypt and so, he had assistance from his sons to create his then new religion-a monotheistic religion. In it, he, the pharaoh was the god and played the part of God. He also played the part of Adam. He, like many of the ancient rulers played around with words. He placed 'Adam' in a wonderful place which was called the "garden of Eden". It was a play on the letters that were used, it was actually, the "garden of Aten". That, was a royal garden belonging to the pharaoh himself. And the name 'Adam' was already a name by which this pharaoh was known. Other information about this pharaoh and the story of Genesis and others will be made known; but at this time, I am giving an overview of what these ancient royals did. The Pharaoh's son Seth stayed with him in Egypt and ruled there with him and then also after he died. Another of his sons, known as 'Cain' went to another land to establish followers for the new religion with his brother's son Enosh. Cain had a son of his own whom he named after his brother's son who was helping him, Enoch. And Seth while ruling in Egypt was known as Sesostris, his Egyptian name. His son Enosh, had a son, and he named him after his uncle, calling him Kenan (Cainan). It was Cain and his descendants who established the people known as Cainanites. In the line of descent from Adam, Seth's wife is unnamed. But knowing that Seth as actually the Pharaoh Sesostris I, we then know that his wife was his sister or half-sister Neferu III. But to have given her name in the Bible would have