"Find Your Israeli Family"

Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando Proudly Presents

Internationally Renowned Expert Michael Goldstein

ORLANDO, FL, March 1, 2012 — The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (JGSGO) proudly presents internationally renowned and highly regarded expert, Michael Goldstein, as Speaker of the Month. He will present "Find Your Israeli Family".

“Find Your Israeli Family” will be a reality-based session featuring a "live" demonstration from Jerusalem in how to search for living Israeli relatives. While not guaranteeing success, the session should give a clear, practical guide to performing the research.

To increase the chances for success, during early February, the JGSGO conducted an open call for interested parties to submit the names of Israeli relatives they seek, provide background information on who they were trying to locate and what research had been done to date. This enabled Michael to conduct pre-investigation of aspects that cannot be done live. Interested parties were also encouraged to provide Yad Vashem Pages of Testimony relevant to their family being searched. Having completed the pre-investigation work, Michael will be performing the search in real-time and sharing research techniques with all attendees.

Michael Goldstein, born in Toronto is a Jerusalem-based genealogist who researches, mentors, and lectures. He carries out worldwide Jewish research, Holocaust research and guides researchers in locating and connecting with their Israeli family, facilitating the use of local Israeli research sources.  Michael is president of the IAJGS, member of the JewishGen Board of Governors, immediate past president of The Israel Genealogical Society, Association of Professional Genealogists board member and a member of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal and the Israel Genealogy Research Association. Michael Goldstein has been pursuing his personal genealogy since 1985 when he assisted his eldest son with a bar mitzvah project, which turned out to be open-ended.

A JGSGO Maven’s Corner will be available starting at 1:00 P.M. prior to the scheduled program. Those interested in meeting with a maven to discuss a genealogy problem should plan on bringing a concise description of their genealogical question and relevant background data. Since time will be limited, you can email your question and background information in advance to jgsgo.maven@gmail.com .

Michael will present to the group from Jerusalem live via the Internet. Whether beginner or expert in researching your Jewish family history, this is the meeting for you. Don’t miss out!

DATE: Sunday, March 18, 2012

TIME: 1:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M.

LOCATION: Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation, Social Hall, 11200 South Apopka Vineland Road, Orlando, FL 32836

ADMISSION: Open to the public. $5.00 for non-members. Free for members.

About the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (JGSGO) is a not for profit organization dedicated to sharing genealogical information, techniques and research tools with anyone interested in Jewish genealogy and family history. Anyone may join JGSGO. Annual dues are $25 for an individual and $30 for a family. For more information visit our blog at www.jgsgo.blogspot.com .

Webinar of Latin American Resources

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain will hold a webinar on "Genealogical Resources in Latin America" on February 23 at 7pm GMT or 2pm EST. The lecturer is Daniel Horowitz of MyHeritage.com. Daniel is also a member of the board of directors of the IAJGS. There are not many guides on genealogical research in Latin America. So this is a special opportunity. Space is limited!

Reserve a seat at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/532578214 . The webinar will cover available genealogical resources in Latin America (Jewish or not) including institutions, temples, burial societies, cemeteries, citizenship records, immigration and computer databases that can be used online. Learn what to look for and how to ask for information by regular mail in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean.

Save the SSDI - Call to Action!

Our umbrella society, the IAJGS, has been carefully tracking the potential upcoming legislation to remove the SSDI (Social Security Death Index) from public view. In fact, the SSDI has already been removed from Rootsweb as a response to the recent hearings. All genealogists know how critical access to these records are. The legislation is being considered as a way to limit tax fraud and identity theft using the social security numbers of deceased individuals. In fact, the SSDI is precisely the tool to use to identify when a deceased person's social security number is being falsely utilized. Please consider signing the petition  http://wh.gov/khE described below BEFORE the March 8 DEADLINE. Help save the SSDI!

Below is more information on this issue from the IAJGS:

1. USA Congressional Hearing on SSDI and RPAC's Petition Drive

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Subject: USA Congressional Hearing on SSDI and RPAC's Petition Drive
From: janmallen@att.net
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 22:22:57 -0800
X-Message-Number: 1

I previously posted on this forum about the US House Ways and Means
Committee Subcommittee on  Social Security hearing where the genealogical
community was not invited to testify!  That hearing held on February 2nd
video was posted to the Subcommittee's website on February 7:
http://waysandmeans.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=133.
I suggest you watch the entire video as the questions and answer session is
very telling where everyone is on this issue.

The written statements of the five invited witnesses may be read at
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=276835

The "Legal Genealogist" posted a summary of the hearing which may be read
at: http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/ 
Scroll down to February 3 posting.

As a result of what happened at the hearing it is obvious that the
genealogical community is under attack and we have initiated a campaign:
"Stop Identity Theft NOW"-which is the real culprit-not genealogists!  See
below under "Call To Action for IRS To Do Its Job."

History:
The House Ways and Means Committee Social Security Subcommittee held a
hearing on the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), the commercial name of
the Death Master File (DMF) on February 2nd. The genealogical community was
told they were not invited to testify, unfortunately the Committee members
and those invited to testify  made the genealogy community the scapegoat for
identity theft, by focusing on the public access to the SSDI on genealogical
websites. One of the witnesses was a grieving father whose deceased child's
social security number was stolen and used fraudulently for tax refunds by
the identity thieves. He was very concerned that his deceased daughter's
Social Security number could be seen on the internet by anyone. The Social
Security Administrator spoke on behalf of the Administration and during the
question and answer period stated, genealogists do not need the SSDI, they
can get their information in other ways, and can wait as they do for the
release of US census for "75 years. It was reported that the Administration
is very concerned with who has access to the SSDI and the Office of
Management and Budget is working on the issue.

The House Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Social Security is
proposing to completely shut down use of the SSDI by genealogists as well as
other industries such as banking and insurance that rely upon its
information. Such an attempt is short-sighted and runs counter to the
original purpose of the SSDI: to actually combat fraud.

The subcommittee members indicated that this is a bi-partisan issue and both
the Democrats and Republicans will be working together to address this in
upcoming legislation.

Because of the negativity given the genealogical community at the hearing
the genealogical community, through the Records Preservation and Access
Committee (RPAC) [a joint committee whose voting members are the Federation
of Genealogical Societies, IAJGS and the National Genealogy Society with
participating members: APG, BCG, ASG, Ancestry.com and ProQuest.] is
responding with a campaign to "Stop Identity Theft NOW". The issue is that
the SSDI used appropriately is a mechanism to stop identity theft!

Call To Action For IRS To Do Its Job:

Each year, fraudulent tax refund claims based upon identity theft from
recently deceased infants and adults are filed with the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS). The current target is the Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
or Death Master File since this file, as found on numerous
genealogy-oriented websites, could possibly be the source of identity
thieves acquiring a deceased person's Social Security number.

The IRS could close the door to this form of identity theft if, in fact, it
were to use the Death Master File for the purpose for which it was created:
to reduce fraud. If returns claiming a tax refund were screened against the
Master Death File and matching cases identified for special processing, the
thief should receive a rejection notice for the filing.

Please see http://fgs.org/rpac  for information on what the genealogical
community is doing. In addition, IAJGS, FGS, NGS and RPAC will be submitting
statements for the record before the February 16 deadline for the record
closure.  I encourage you to go to the website and become involved and sign
the "White House "We the People Petition" now posted at http://wh.gov/khE
and accepting signatures, has a simple yet effective mission:

Take immediate steps that would curtail the filing of fraudulent tax refund
claims based upon identity theft from recently deceased infants and adults.

When on the "We the People" petition website you have to create an
account -name, e-mail address, location and create a password. The only
information  showing on the petition, is first name and first initial of
last name and location.  The White House requires 25,000 signatures within a
month to act!   Please have your voice counted!

Do not forget this is an issue where "you" need to contact your
Congressional representatives so that they hear us- access to public
information should not be the casualty in this fight! Only when we help our
elected representatives understand that using public records is the way to
stop fraud, not closing those records, can we protect all of the interests
we all have here.

To see who is on the House Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee go to:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/About/Members.htm and scroll to the
subcommittee.
The link by the Members name on the full committee roster connects to the
Members home page.

To find out your US House of Representative go to:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/
To find out your US Senator go to:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Please share this with your genealogical friends and your genealogical
society. If you have any problems with signing the petition, please let me
know.

Jan Meisels Allen
janmallen@att.net 
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee