Finding Our Way Home Through the Stories of Those Who Came Before Us

What if understanding where we come from can help us better understand who we are?

In this episode of Exit Strategy, Stephanie Garry speaks with Rabbi Andrew Mandel, a passionate genealogist, about the power of uncovering our family stories—and the deeper connections those stories can reveal.

Together, they explore what happens when we look beyond names and dates to discover the lives, journeys, struggles and dreams of those who came before us.

Because genealogy isn’t simply about looking backward. It can be a way of finding our place in the Jewish story, connecting generations, and deciding what we want to carry forward.

Our stories didn’t begin with us. And perhaps one of the greatest gifts we can give the generations that follow is to make sure those stories are remembered.

Guest insights~~

Andrew is a passionate genealogist. He has undertaken a major family genealogy project with his father, researching archives and cemeteries and organizing family reunions with relatives they had never previously met. Most importantly, he has described genealogy as having a spiritual dimension that deserves a place alongside prayer, study, compassion and justice in Jewish practice.

He is also an active member of the New York City Reform Chevra Kadisha, which makes his interest in genealogy especially interesting in the context of Exit Strategy—the intersection of Jewish ritual, memory, death, family and the responsibility we have to those who came before us.

https://www.centralsynagogue.org/about-us/our-clergy/andrew-kaplan-mandel

www.plazajewishcommunitychapel.org

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