How It All Began
This story began nearly 30 years ago when Alexander Jonathan Vidgop, one of the founders of the Am HaZikaron Institute, started researching his family tree.
He began with a list of just 35 known relatives and eventually traced over 1,500 more.
He noticed something remarkable: relatives who had lived unaware of each other’s existence for over a century, scattered across different countries and continents, had strikingly similar—often virtually identical—life paths and professions.
What might have seemed like an uncanny coincidence served as the spark for creating a nonprofit institution to systematically investigate whether such patterns occurred across other Jewish lineages.
The Creation of Am HaZikaron (1998)
The Am HaZikaron Institute was formally established to scientifically explore intergenerational connections within the Jewish people. After a decade of rigorous empirical research, the team achieved remarkable milestones. They have:
Reconstructed Jewish family trees stretching back as far as 900 years.
Uncovered unique, groundbreaking hereditary patterns through systematic data analysis.
Published their compelling findings in peer-reviewed academic journals.
Earned the Zeiti Yerushalayim (Olive of Jerusalem) medal for their contributions to Jewish heritage.
Received the endorsement of a distinguished advisory board comprising 55 Nobel Laureates.
The Core Discovery: The Family “Mission”
Am HaZikaron demonstrated that members of a single Jewish lineage preserve distinctive traits unique to that family across centuries. This affirms the Biblical concept that every lineage has a distinct role—a generational calling passed down and fulfilled over time. Generation after generation, families share:
Professional Spheres: They gravitate toward, and often achieve exceptional heights in, just four or five specific career areas.
Lifestyle Habits: They share inherent patterns regarding migration (some are highly nomadic, while others stay rooted for generations) and relationship dynamics (ranging from multiple divorces to lifelong monogamy).
The Nature of Genius: Building on this theory of familial mission, researchers examined the genealogies of extraordinary individuals. They discovered that certain Jewish families predictably “produce” a genius in highly specific fields (such as mathematics, physics, or commerce) once every few generations, ultimately helping to shape world history.
The Impact on the Diaspora Youth
As the Institute expanded its research into demographic genetics to build detailed historical portraits of Jewish communities, its findings evolved into a powerful educational tool for Jews who have lost touch with their heritage.
During the Institute’s seminars, young Jews in the Diaspora often experience a profound emotional awakening when they:
Discover who they truly are and the ancestors who founded their family line.
Learn about the brilliant minds that were part of their own ancestry.
Feel a deep sense of reclaimed memory and belonging, realizing that the journey to true self-discovery begins with one’s family story.
The Key Concept: What is “Yikhes”?
The ultimate mission of Am HaZikaron is to restore the family narrative. In practice, this concept is beautifully encapsulated by the Yiddish word: Yikhes.
It stems from the Hebrew yichus, meaning “relationship” or “connection” (whereas yohasin refers strictly to genealogy).
Yikhes is not merely a literal family tree with names and dates; it is the profound, living story of a family’s connections, its origins, and its enduring legacy.
Ultimately, Yikhes is the profound force that has shaped both individual Jewish lives and the destiny of the Jewish people as a whole.