The Wandering Jew in History
Presented by Ralph Bloch
http://www.jgsh.org/events.php?ITEM=8

When we consider our own family history in isolation, we often overlook a general motive inherent in the history of most Jewish families. Considering this common theme often helps us to stitch apparently isolated fragments together. In Ralph`s professional life he has learned to appreciate the usefulness of a theoretical model in exploring complex phenomena.

In this presentation Ralph will suggest the fish ladder as a model to analyze the complexity of Jewish genealogy over many generations. After expounding this model, he will illustrate it with a series of examples from well researched Jewish family histories.

Finally, he will examine the strengths and limitations of using this model.

Ralph Bloch is a retired academic of Swiss origin who has been active in genealogy since 2001. Ralph’s research interests include: Jewish history in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Frankfurt a.M.

He is responsible for the Jewish Genealogy in Bavarian Swabia project the data from which he has recently donated to JewishGen. He is a founding member and webmaster of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Hamilton http://jgsh.org.