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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.

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