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Founding of the Institute and its Founders

A Founding Committee consisting of a dozen prominent Jewish genealogists from across the globe was formed in January 2004 to establish an International Institute for Jewish Genealogy in Jerusalem. Three places on the Committee were allocated to Israel, two to the United States and one each to seven other countries.

Dr. Chanan Rapaport was co-opted on to the Founding Committee when the Paul Jacobi Center in Jerusalem agreed to merge with the proposed Institute in March 2004.

At an inaugural meeting in Jerusalem in July 2004, Dr. Sallyann Amdur Sack of Washington, DC was appointed Chair of the Founding Committee, while Dr. Neville Yosef Lamdan of Jerusalem was nominated Director-Designate of the Institute.

The "International Institute for Jewish Genealogy and Paul Jacobi Center" was registered as an Israeli non-profit association (Amuta) in October 2004.

In spring 2005 a verbal agreement was reached with Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem whereby the Institute would be housed in the Library and affiliated to it as a research centre.

After further organizational work, the Institute was formally opened in January 2006 at the Library.

The full membership of the Founding Committee is: Dr. Alexandre Beider Ph.D. (Paris), Claire Bruell (Auckland), Sophie Caplan OAM (Sydney), Stanley M. Diamond MBA (Montreal), Alain Farhi (Singapore [now New York]), Prof. Ladislau Gyemant Ph.D. (Cluj), Dr. Anthony Joseph MD (Birmingham England), (Amb.) Dr. Neville Y. Lamdan D.Phil. (Jerusalem), Prof. Dov Levin Ph.D. (Jerusalem), Gary Mokotoff (Bergenfield NJ), Dr. Chanan Rapaport, Ph.D. (Jerusalem), Dr. Sallyann Amdur Sack Ph.D. (Washington DC), Mathilde A. Tagger (Jerusalem).

Click on names for further details and photos of the Founders.