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July 20, 2007
Research creates hope
Genealogy expert shares stories of generations.
DANA SCHLANGER
When Schelly Talalay Dardashti first approached her editor at the
Jerusalem Post more than 20 years ago with the idea of a genealogy
column, he quipped, "Who's interested in dead people?"
One issue and hundreds of enthusiastic responses later, she was
given a full-page feature in the paper.
Now, it seems that everybody is interested – a fact Talalay
Dardashti attested to recently as the first guest in the Genealogically
Speaking series at the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia
(JMABC).
Talalay Dardashti is one of North America's foremost speakers on
Jewish genealogy. Since 1989, her research has covered Ashkenazi
and Sephardi Jews in countries as wide-ranging as Belarus, Iran
and Spain. She has a special interest in encouraging family history
research for children and young people, perhaps because her own
interest in genealogy was sparked by a family project her daughter
had to prepare in her bat mitzvah year.
Genealogy, said Talalay Dardashti, is not an esoteric pursuit. It
affects everyone and it brings forth unexpected emotional responses
when people are confronted with the "mystery of history"
on a personal level. The Internet has completely revolutionized
genealogical research. As Talalay Dardashti went through the many
resources available – even to the most inexperienced genealogical
explorer (such as JewishGen.org,
MyHeritage.com
and the Yad
Vashem database) – she noted that there is information
out there for every level of interest: from tracing a family name
and finding other relatives, to trying to unearth information about
whole families wiped out in the Holocaust, or following complex
migrations of families throughout the world.
But the more information that's out there, the more need there is
for someone to filter and guide seekers through it. With that in
mind, genealogical societies are holding yearly conferences for
professionals and amateurs alike. Online genealogy courses are in
high demand – and, closer to home, JMABC will have a genealogy
specialist available to the public every Sunday afternoon.
But sometimes, searching for the roots of Jewish individuals presents
an insurmountable challenge – one that may be conquered by
the advent of genetic genealogy. Talalay Dardashti said that discoveries
made through DNA testing have led to new connections being brought
to light, often resulting in huge surprises. Sometimes, families
that have not been Jewish for many generations have a vague Jewish
reference in their oral tradition and want to research it. Sometimes
the academic research itself lights upon genetic mysteries in population
groups apparently never connected to Jews who nevertheless present
consistent Jewish genetic markers.
The title of Talalay Dardashti's lecture was Creating Hope. It was
clear that she gained great satisfaction from her work by helping
to bring people together and sharing in their overwhelming emotion.
The other aspect of "creating hope" stems from genetic
research: knowing one's roots is important in exploring genetic
diseases – in determining if one is more likely to carry certain
type of genes. For example, a recent genealogical research project
focused on a specific geographical area, in the hope of finding
family connections that may lead to an increased chance of finding
bone marrow matches.
Talalay Dardashti reminded her audience to remember one thing: if
a family story lasts for many generations, even if it's unproven,
it must contain a kernel of truth. In her own family, the Ashkenazi,
Yiddish-speaking Talalay branch, hailing from a shtetl in Belarus
had always told their children that they came from Spain –
hence their unusual surname. Apparently, it continued to be passed
on in the family as a joke, like "How would Spanish Jews ever
make it to the Dnieper River?" The joke was on them when Talalay
Dardashti spoke on the phone with a fellow genealogist who was holding
in her hands a document from 1353, detailing the business transactions
of one Moshe Talalay, kosher winemaker from the town of Laredo in
Catalonia, Spain. The lesson? Hold on to your family jokes –
they may prove to be priceless.
Dana Schlanger is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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