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 Chaiken Family of Nezhin
 Chazanov Family of Nezhin
 Fine Family of Bialystok
 Geffen Family of Vilkomir
 Goldberg Family of Jablonka
 Katz/Hollander Family
 Zavelsky Family of Glukhov

If your surname is Geffen and you have roots in Lithuania, you are surely part of this wonderful family.

In the four years of our research we have attached over 2700 Geffens worldwide to our main tree. Even though there are still several hundred unattached names in our database, we feel that in time they will all be connected. Research seems to lead to all Geffens, with the exception of those who took the name upon entering Israel, back to our earliest ancestor, David Geffen circa 1758 from the town of Vilkomir, Lithuania. Click here to see the first three generations.

There are many more years of research to come and on our Research Page, you will see the projects we are pursuing now. This has been a collaborative project with many people.

This site is far from complete. In the essence of time, I made the decision to go online with the site as it is, so that I could share the beginnings of the research with family members. I welcome any new information or additions that anyone may have.

I will be continually working on the site, and will be happy to notify you when new information is put up. Please be sure to E-mail me above if you would like to be notified when the updates are added to the site.

There is information on all of the pages shown on the navigation panel to the left. Also, many of the main pages lead to others via links. The main Family Tree is a complete list of descendants from the first David Geffen down. Through the Family Tree Surname Index, you can find your name and then click on up through the tree to your earliest ancestor.

If you do not find your name in the index, it may mean that you are in our files, but not yet connected to the main tree. Hopefully, information from you will enable us to tie in your family.

Thank you for visiting our site. We hope you find it informative and interesting.

December 2004...We are very pleased that with the help of Peter Geffen, we have made contact with our Geffen relatives presently living in Vilnius. They are descendants of the late Shalom Lieb Gefen (born 1868) who was the brother of the late Rabbi Tobias Geffen. We welcome Shalom's grandsons and great grandchildren to the family. Click here to read Peter's description of his recent meeting with his new 2nd cousin and a wonderful photograph.

Research Update December 2006...We have made wonderful strides in connecting the Geffen and Gafanovich families. At present, we are having research done in both Lithuania and Latvia which we hope will document our findings. We believe the original name of the family was Gafanovich and that the family first settled in Kupiskis, Lithuania, which was a hub for Portuguese Jews.

We believe that the patriarch David, of our Geffen family, had at least four brothers. These four brothers all eventually settled in different towns including one in Ukraine. Also their father was Itsko Gafanovich, born c. 1710, and his father was David Bentzion, born c. 1690.

We are looking forward to receiving our research during the coming year and thusly adding several hundred names to our tree.

New On The Geffen Site

Rabbi David made a presentation to the President of Israel on behalf of the descendants of Rabbi Tuvia. Click here to read

Dov Levin
Passed away on December 3rd, 2016 in Jerusalem. Dov was related to the Geffen family via his grandmother being a sister to Sara Hene Geffen .He was a belovid friend, teacher and great human being.

Besides his own role as a partisan in the Holocaust, his research and publications on the armed Jewish resistance to the Nazis were groundbreaking and a major contribution to Jewish historiography and the history of human struggles in general. May he be remembered by all. Click here

An important new book, by Dov Levin, The Story of an Underground has been published in English during August 2014. Please click here to read the bio of Dov Levin and click here to read the preface by Robert Geffen. Click here to read a letter from the President of Israel honoring Dov.

"With a Rifle in My Hand and Eretz Yisrael in My Heart" by Prof. Dov Levin, Jerusalem Click here

Rabbi David Geffen honored in Jerusalem by the Jewish Theological Seminary with the Louis Finkelstein Award. Click here to go to Milestones Page and scroll down

Deaths..Dr. Jeremy Geffen, Terrance Geffen, Anne Emple Kaplan..Click here to go to Milestones Page and scroll down

Rabbi Wendi Geffen...Click Here

Abraham Geffen, son of Rabbi Tobias and Sara Hene Geffen passed away on April 20, 2015. He is survived by his three children, David, Robert and Sara.

Robert Geffen
has made contact with another branch of the Geffen Family. The Family of Shlomo Geffen. Please click here to read his fascinating story and to meet hhis daughter who lives in Israel..

The family of Gitel Geffen and Malka Geffen, sisters of Rabbi Tobias, previously thought to have perished in the Holocaust, has been found in Moscow and Jerusalem. We welcome them back to the Geffen Family. Click here for a photo of the first reunion of the families in 110 years.

Memorial Film on the one year aniversary of the death of Idan Geffen Click here
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Memorial for Idan Geffen Click here

Rabbi Tobias Geffen
Autobiography...Click here

 


 

 

Rabbi Tobias Geffen...born 1870...3rd great grandson of David Geffen
Abraham Yonah Geffen...born circa 1870...2nd great grandson of David Geffen
Toiba (Mabel) Geffen Lipschutz...born 1869...2nd great granddaughter of David Geffen. Click here for the Lipschutz family page.
Vera Sovel Flaxman, nee Fine, mother of Marjorie Goldberg and Terry Heller, sadly passed away on April 16th. She is survived by her two daughters, two son-in-laws, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren. She is greatly mourned and missed by her family and friends. Vera was an intrical participant in creating this site and provided much of the information. Her grandmother was, Toiba Geffen Lipschutz from Vilkomir. She was a part of the Fine, Geffen and Lipschutz families by birth, and the Chaiken, Chazanov and Zavelsky families by marriage. Click here for tributes.

Please click here to read the memorial for Idan Geffen