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!