Clay in My Boots: A Romp Through My Genealogical Past

I responded to the following post on facebook: “ Through family trees that I found on Ancestry.com, I am related to many famous Rabbinic families from the 15th and 16th centuries: for example, Shaul "King for a Day" Wahl Katzenelenbogen is my 14th great grandfather; Rabbi Meir Katzenelenbogen Maharama of Padua is my 16th great grandfather; Rabbi Yechiel-Michel "Martyr of Nemirov" is my first cousin 13 x removed; etc.  My concern is that nobody has actual documentation on Ancestry.com of how they are related to these ancestors, so how can I know that I am related?  I can't even find my paternal grandmother's ancestors a few generations back, so how can I know these are my ancestors? ” I too am interested in better documentation of these relationships, but …. I’ve been giving this a lot of thought since I discovered this post. 7, 8, 9 generations are the best you can do with documentation available through JewishGen, LitvakSIG, and JRI Poland. This takes you b...

Cantor Dan Singer     is my 5th cousin, confirmed by DNA and a bunch of research. We’ve been collaborating on research over the last 4 years, including family Zoom meetings. We are related by an ancestor named Khaim Khazen (b 1779 Varnai, Lithuania). Apparently, Dan comes from a long line of Cantors.  Thanks to some connections made by my cousin Dan he’s found Khiam’s wife comes from a rabbinical family. As an Ashkenazi Jew, the wonderful thing about making a connection to a rabbinical family is you can suddenly go back many generations.  If this research is confirmed I’ll have a possible family tree that extends back to the 13th century. It just goes to show you don’t have to do all the research yourself. Working with your cousins makes “Genealogy a Team Sport.” Chag Shavuot Sumach!