News

The Twersky Family Tree

L?dor V?dor: Yitz?s grandfather, the Grand Rabbi Mordechai Yisrael Twersky of Khotin. Image by Courtesy of Yitz Twersky

By Jon Kalish December 13, 2010

The Twersky family tree has more than 25,000 names on it, and stretches back to the early 1700s, in the town of Chernobyl. The family not only boasts a legacy as a Hasidic dynasty — with the exception of a handful of Hasidic groups from Hungary, almost all Hasidic sects can trace their lineage to Twersky rabbis in Chernobyl — it has given us many prominent lawyers, doctors and academics. Yitz Twersky, an Orthodox Jew, works in the IT department of Deutsche Bank to support his wife and five kids. But his passion is working on the family tree — a project more than 20 years in the works.

Jon Kalish is a Manhattan-based writer and radio journalist.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO