## ***THE IRRESPONSIBLE LIFE OF JOSHUA COHEN RODRIGUES***## ***WITH JAÏR VAN DIJK***## ***SEPHARDIC WORLD, SUNDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2024***After the death of his wife, Joshua Cohen Rodrigues from Amsterdam was faced with the care of a large family of six children. He disappeared from the face of the Earth, leaving his children destitute and facing challenges including suffering from poverty, coping with bureaucracy, and having guardians that they didn’t like.***Jaïr van Dijk*** tracked Joshua down, despite emigration and name changes. Following Joshua’s path to the United States, Jaïr found more marriages and yet more children. He finally reunited the different branches of the family, who had no idea of the existence of the others.***Jaïr van Dijk** *has been exploring Dutch archives since his youth. He edits 'Misjpoge', the magazine of the Dutch Society for Jewish Genealogy, He has studied archaeology and has a degree in History, University of Amsterdam.Join us on ***Sunday 4 February 2024**,* at 11am in LA, 2pm in NYC, 7pm in London, 8pm in Paris/Amsterdam, 9pm in Jerusalem, and 6am the next morning in Sydney. Patrons are invited to join us live on Zoom. Everyone else is welcome to join us on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory (and please remember to subscribe to the channel).***‘As perfect as if cast in gold’***In case you haven’t yet watched Heide Warnke’s excellent and beautifully illustrated talk on the collection of the Ets Haim Library in Amsterdam, or if you want to see it again, it is available here.***More London Accounts Transcribed***The A Nação Hebraica project has completed transcribing the fifth Accounts Book of the London Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation covering the years 1681-1683. The project has now covered the period from 1676 to 1683. The Account Books are freely available and searchable at https://anacaohebraica.transkribus.eu/***YouTube Milestone***Our YouTube channel has now passed 5,000 subscribers, making it the largest dedicated channel in Jewish genealogy. Most of our past meetings can be viewed there. If you haven’t already subscribed, please do so now at: https://www.youtube.com/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory***A Further Threat to Bevis Marks***You will recall that a conservation area was recently established around Bevis Marks synagogue in London, protecting the historic building and character of the area. Now, a few weeks later, the Corporation of London has decided that tall buildings are excluded from conservation areas. Obviously, this undermines the entire purpose of having a conservation area. Several prominent people have written a letter to The Daily Telegraph newspaper condemning this action. Signatories include the historians Simon Schama, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Abigail Green, and Tom Holland. We shall follow developments closely.***Can you Volunteer or Donate?***The Sephardic Genealogical Society is looking for volunteers. If you have skills and time to spare, please complete our questionnaire. We are particularly looking for people with video editing, fundraising and web design experience.https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aFsubxSY_PtauwOJzlayxBmLTKjXL8kTzz50jmmRiHA/viewform?edit_requested=trueWe rely on the support of our patrons. If you can support our work by donating as little as $5/month, please visit our Patreon page. We have a number of projects that require more substantial support. Please let us know if you can help.https://www.patreon.com/sephardi***Join our new WhatsApp channel***We have set up a WhatsApp channel to better help communication with supporters. If you have WhatsApp, please follow the channel.https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaHxAjhJ93wTMhWkTF0i*Best wishes**Ton and David**Sephardic World**Image: John Alexander, one of the American sons of Joshua Cohen Rodrigues*