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Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to some frequently asked questions about conducting a search at The Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center at Beth Hatefutsoth:
1. What information is available in the database of the Genealogy Center?The database of the Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center contains information about more than 2,600,000 individuals registered in many thousands of family trees. 2. Do you have information about my family?Perhaps, depending on whether this information has been submitted to the center. The database of the genealogy center contains family trees that have been constructed by Jewish families from Israel and the Diaspora. Perhaps distant relatives that you do not know have already registered the information. 3. How may I receive information about my family tree?You need to send a search order of the genealogy database. Click here to return to Genealogy Main Page and then click on Search Order, fill out the form and send it to us by clicking on the Submit button. The price is NIS 25.00 for up to four family names. You may also conduct a search while visiting the visitor center of The Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center located at the third floor of the museum. Click here to see the opening hours of the visitor center. 4. In what language do I need to fill out the search order?Your contact details must be filled out in English if you reside outside Israel. Residents of Israel may fill out their contact details in Hebrew. However, family names you are searching as well as any given names or names of communities, places, countries etc. must be filled out in Latin characters only. The database contains information in English and for carrying out an effective search, it is imperative to submit the family names you are searching in Latin characters only. 5. What details shall I fill out in the Genealogy Order Form?The Genealogy Order Form contains a number of fields marked by an asterisk (*). To submit the search order successfully you need to fill out these fields. However, it is highly advisable to fill out all fields in the order form. 6. How do I know that my search order has been received?After clicking on the Submit button please wait a few seconds while your order is being processed, until you see a message on your screen. Within minutes, an automatic confirmation will be delivered to the mail address you registered in your search order form. 7. When shall I expect an answer?The search results of the database of the Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center will be sent to the e-mail address you filled out in the search order form within a few days, but not longer than 14 business days of receipt of your request. On the same day and depending on the search results, printouts will be posted to your regular mail address as advised in your search order form. 8. Is my Search Order secure?Yes, all credit card numbers submitted to the site through our various “Search Orders Online” are encrypted using “Secure Socket Layer” (SSL) encryption. For more details about this subject click here and read our privacy policy. 9. Can you tell me to which tribe my family belongs or whether we are Cohanim?No. For these questions, please seek the advise of a rabbi. However, there are some family names - Cohen, Levy, Katz, Segal and others - that according to the Jewish tradition designate descendants of Cohanim or Leviim. 10. Can you confirm whether an individual registered in the genealogy database is Jewish?No. The fact that an individual is registered in the database of the Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center may not serve as a proof for his/her Jewishness. For more details on this subject click here to read the Bylaws of the genealogy center. 11. I have already built my family tree. How may I register it with the genealogy database of Beth Hatefutsoth?Click here and read how "to plant" your family tree in the genealogy database. 12. I do not know my exact date of birth. How can you help me to find out my date of birth?Unfortunately, we cannot assist you with this request. 13. How do I convert a Hebrew date to a date in the general calendar (Gregorian calendar)?Visit JOS Calendar Conversion or alternatively open the Index volume of the Encyclopedia Judaica, p. 109, to find conversion tables of Hebrew and Gregorian dates for the years 1920 to 2020. For users of ILANOT: the program converts automatically between Hebrew, Gregorian, Julian and Muslim dates. If you do not have access to Encyclopedia Judaica or ILANOT, we will be happy to assist you: just call us Sun - Wed between 10:00 - 14:00 at 03-6405599, or send us an e-mail at bhrsrch@post.tau.ac.il if you reside outside Israel. 14. Does Beth Hatefutsoth have a list of Holocaust victims?No. For information about this subject, please send your inquiry to Yad VaShem in Jerusalem. However, please note that many family trees registered in the database of The Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center do contain names of Holocaust victims and survivors. It is always advisable to order a search of this database, as there is a reasonable chance to discover lost relatives. 15. What is the difference between the genealogy database and the database of Jewish family names? Is there any link between them?The genealogy (family trees) database and the Jewish family names database are two distinct databases each containing information of a different type. The genealogy database contains a collection of family trees built and submitted by Jewish families from Israel and the Diaspora. The database of Jewish family names is based on research done by Beth Hatefutsoth and provides explanations in English about the origin and the meaning of Jewish family names. At this stage, the two databases are not integrated: it is possible that a family name will appear in the Jewish family names database but not in the genealogy database and vice versa. For that reason we recommend ordering searches of both databases.
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