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Jewish Genealogy Society
of Cleveland

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We research and support programs by renowned genealogy experts and offer monthly educational programs to members (free) and non-members ($5). We meet on Zoom (and occasionally in-person following COVID regulations) typically on the first Wednesday of the month at 7 pm ET.  Advance registration is required for all programs and must be posted by midnight before the program.  Please contact our Vice President for Programming to discuss speaker opportunities and program ideas.

You can also check out the IAJGS Calendar for a listing of Jewish Genealogy Events.



Upcoming events

    • 01/08/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EST)
    • Zoom

    Being Jewish in Hungary: Re-imagining Jewish Life in the 21st Century with Marcell Kenesei

    Date & Time: Wednesday, January 8, 2024, 7:00-8:30pm ET

    Location: Zoom

    Program:  Hungary's Jewish community holds a fascinating and resilient story. With nearly 100,000 members, it represents the third-largest Jewish population in mainland Europe. Despite the devastating impacts of Nazi and Communist regimes, Jewish life in Hungary experienced a significant revival starting in the 1990s.

    The establishment of JCC Budapest by the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in 1994 played a pivotal role in this resurgence. It became a cultural and social hub, fostering Jewish identity, education, and community building. Over the years, it has supported an extraordinary transformation, with Budapest now celebrated as one of the safest and most vibrant cities for Jewish life in Europe.

    On the occasion of JCC Budapest's 30th anniversary, CEO Marcell Kenesei will offer insights into the growth of this community over three decades. He highlights the resilience and creativity of Hungarian Jews, the cultural renaissance of Budapest's Jewish life, and the factors contributing to its current safety and vibrancy—a story of hope and revival, woven into Hungary's complex modern history.

    Speaker:   Marcell Kenesei embodies the spirit of dedication and growth within the Hungarian and Central European Jewish community.  Currently the Director of JCC Budapest, Kenesei’s position represents the culmination of years of commitment, education, and development. His leadership reflects a deep understanding of the community's past and a vision for its future, ensuring that JCC Budapest remains a vibrant center for Jewish life, culture, and connection in Hungary.

    Kenesei’s Hungarian Jewish journey began early. As a child, he participated in the JDC-Ronald S. Lauder International Jewish Camp and was educated at the Lauder Jewish Community School in Budapest.  He later became active with the Haver Informal Jewish Educational Foundation, serving as a volunteer, informal educator, and general advisor, passionately organizing and leading dialogue programs for Hungarian public school students. He was a fellow at Paideia - The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Stockholm, Sweden, where he promoted interfaith dialogue, bringing together Jewish, Muslim, and Christian students.  He went on to earn a political science degree from ELTE University - Faculty of Law, Hungary's oldest and largest institution of higher education.

    Kenesei has been instrumental in shaping Jewish cultural and educational initiatives in Hungary. He co-founded and served as deputy director of the Israeli Cultural Institute in Budapest.  He next worked with Centropa, a non-profit Jewish historical and educational organization dedicated to preserving and sharing 20th-century Jewish stories and photographs.  He served as director of Centropa Hungary and later as deputy director of Centropa International, expanding its impact across Europe and beyond.

    Marcell Kenesei joined the staff of JCC Budapest-Bálint Ház as the director for resource development in 2017, and in 2020, he was appointed director, bringing his years of experience, dedication, and vision to lead JCC Budapest into a new era of growth and cultural revival.

    Registration All participants must register for this Zoom program.  Members free.  Non-members $5.  A Zoom link will be emailed to you the day before the program.  Registration ends at midnight on Tuesday, January 7  This program will be recorded and available to JGSC members.

    • 01/16/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM (EST)
    • Zoom


    Discover Your Past: Doing a Deep Dive in Ancestry's Collections

    Online via ZOOM

    Thursday, January 16, 2025 - 7:00pm - 8:00pm

    CLICK HERE - Full Details and Registration

    Program Type: ADULT

    Age Group: Adults

    Event Details: Filling out a search form on Ancestry only returns a small percentage of the millions of records available on the site. Professional genealogist Annette Burke Lyttle shows you how to search on Ancestry so you can find all records your ancestor may be mentioned in.

    • 01/22/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EST)
    • Zoom
    • 5

    JGSC Book Club: Stranger in the Desert by Jordan Salama

       

    Join us for the first meeting of the new quarterly Book Club for JGSC Members!

    We'll read books that bring Jewish genealogy to life, including memoirs that explore generations of a family's history, histories that explore Jewish families and make use of genealogical research, and other titles that explore the role of genealogy in our lives.

    Format:

    Following a moderated discussion of the book, we will have a Q &A with the author, Jordan Salama.  This meeting is limited to 10 people in order to promote active discussion.

    Book Synopsis:

    One Thanksgiving afternoon at his grandparents’ house, Jordan Salama discovers a large binder stuffed with yellowing papers and old photographs—a five-hundred-year wandering history of his Arab-Jewish family, from Moorish Spain to Ottoman Syria to Argentina and beyond.

    One story in particular captures his attention: that of his great-grandfather, a Syrian-born, Arabic-speaking Jewish immigrant to Argentina who in the 1920s worked as a traveling salesman in the Andes—and may have left behind forgotten descendants along the way. Encouraged by his grandfather, Jordan goes in search of these “Lost Salamas,” traveling more than a thousand miles up the spine of South America’s greatest mountain range.

    Combining travelog, history, memoir, and reportage, Jordan Salama's Stranger in the Desert transports readers from the lonely plains of Patagonia to the breathtaking altiplano of the high Andes; from the old Jewish quarter of Damascus to today’s vibrant neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. It is also a fervent journey of self-discovery as Salama grapples with his own Jewish, Arab, and Latin American identities, interrogating the stories families tell themselves, and to what end.

    The Author:

    Jordan Salama is a writer covering culture and the environment in the Americas. He is the author of Every Day the River Changes, a journey down Colombia's Río Magdalena, which was named a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2021. His essays and stories have appeared in National GeographicThe New York TimesSmithsonianScientific American, NPR's All Things Considered and other publications. 

    Registration:

    Registration is open only to JGSC members and is limited to 10 participants.  There will be a waiting list.  Registration closes on Tuesday, January 21, at which point participants will receive a Zoom link.

    Contact:

    Email Jane Rothstein at president@jgscleveland.org with any questions.

    • 01/25/2025
    • 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM (EST)
    • Zoom


    Discover Your Past: Reconstructing Your Ancestors' Lives

    Online via ZOOM

    Saturday, January 25, 2025 - 1:00pm - 4:00pm

    CLICK HERE - Full Details and Registration

    Program Type: ADULT

    Age Group: Adults

    Event Details: In this workshop, gain the skills necessary to potentially transform a particular ancestor from a basic sketch into a life-like portrayal. Genealogist Stephen Wendt's personal case-study approach will draw from a variety of sources with numerous examples that you may be able to apply to your own research.

    • 02/05/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EST)
    • Zoom

    Tracing the Lives of a Community: Ashtabula's Early Jewish Residents and Their Legacy with Laurie B. Davis


    When: Wednesday, February 5, 2025, 7pm ET

    Where: Zoom

    Note: This is a virtual event only.

    Presentation: 

    Join Laurie Davis for a journey into the past as we uncover the fascinating history of the Jewish community in Ashtabula County, Ohio,  including the Geneva Jewish farmers. She will introduce the individuals who built this community, explore their lives through tools like Ancestry.com, and reveal the stories that connect us to their legacy. Along the way, she will share how she follows leads, pieces together histories, and brings the past to life.

    Speaker:

    Laurie Davis has dedicated over 40 years to the fascinating world of genealogy, considering it the greatest puzzle—one where every discovery is a piece of a larger story. In addition to researching her own family ancestry, she has delved into the histories of various Jewish communities. With a passion for connecting the past to the present, Laurie brings a unique perspective to every story she uncovers.

    Registration:

    Registration is required for this Zoom event.  Registration closes on February 4, and participants will receive a Zoom link then.  This program is free for JGSC members and open to non-members for a $5 fee.

    Please contact Jane Rothstein at president@jgscleveland.org with any questions.

    • 02/13/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM (EST)
    • Zoom


    Discover Your Past: "I Have a Civil War Ancestor... Now What?"

    Online via ZOOM

    Thursday, February 13, 2025 - 7:00pm - 8:00pm

    CLICK HERE - Full Details and Registration

    Program Type: ADULT

    Age Group: Adults

    Event Details: Civil War soldiers often left a rich genealogical paper trail. Many of these records are tucked away at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Professional genealogist Brian Rhinehart discusses the records that are available for your ancestors only at the National Archives, which records are online already, and how to access all of them. These records may unlock some of the family stories that have been forgotten over time, as well as break down a brick wall or two!

    • 02/27/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM (EST)
    • Zoom


    Discover Your Past: Navigating Shifting German Surnames

    Online via ZOOM

    Thursday, February 27, 2025 - 7:00pm - 8:00pm

    CLICK HERE - Full Details and Registration

    Program Type: ADULT

    Age Group: Adults

    Event Details: In this workshop, professional genealogist Stephen Wendt discusses the skills necessary to potentially transform a particular ancestor from a basic sketch into a life-like portrayal. Stephen's personal case study approach will draw from a variety of sources with numerous examples that you may be able to apply to your own research.

    • 03/05/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EST)
    • Zoom

    Save The Date: JGSC Zoom Event

    Details coming soon...

    • 03/06/2025
    • 8:00 AM (MST)
    • 03/08/2025
    • 4:00 PM (MST)
    • Salt Lake City, UT and Zoom

    RootsTech is the world's largest family discovery event.  The 2025  genealogy conference will be held from March 6 - 8.  Sponsored by FamilySearch, you can register to attend in Salt Lake City, UT for a fee or attend via Zoom for free.  Check out the 2025 class preview.

    • 03/13/2025
    • 03/14/2025

    Happy Purim!  Chag Purim Sameach!


    • 03/26/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM (EDT)
    • Zoom


    Discover Your Past: Solving Maternal Surname Mysteries with DNA

    Online via ZOOM

    Wednesday, March 26, 2025 - 7:00pm - 8:00pm

    CLICK HERE - Full Details and Registration

    Program Type: ADULT

    Age Group: Adults

    Event Details: We all have that ancestor with a first name, but no family name. When traditional genealogical techniques fail to turn up an answer, we can turn to DNA to find more opportunities to discover clues. Follow along as professional genealogist Kate Penney Howard explains how she used traditional genealogy,and DNA clustering to write her ancestors’ surnames in their family tree!

    • 04/02/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EDT)
    • Zoom

    Save The Date: JGSC Zoom Event

    Details coming soon...

    • 04/12/2025
    • 04/20/2025

    Happy Passover!


    • 04/24/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EDT)
    • Zoom

    JGSC Book Club: Once We Were Slaves by Laura Arnold Leibman

      

    When: Thursday, April 24, 2025, 7pm ET

    Where: Zoom

    Join us for a moderated discussion of Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family by Laura Arnold Leibman.

    About the Group:

    We read books that bring Jewish genealogy to life, including memoirs that explore generations of a family's history, histories that explore Jewish families and make use of genealogical research, and other titles that explore the role of genealogy in our lives.

    Book Synopsis:

    An obsessive genealogist and descendent of one of the most prominent Jewish families since the American Revolution, Blanche Moses firmly believed her maternal ancestors were Sephardic grandees. Yet she found herself at a dead end when it came to her grandmother's maternal line. Using family heirlooms to unlock the mystery of Moses's ancestors, Once We Were Slaves overturns the reclusive heiress's assumptions about her family history to reveal that her grandmother and great-uncle, Sarah and Isaac Brandon, actually began their lives as poor Christian slaves in Barbados. Tracing the siblings' extraordinary journey throughout the Atlantic World, Leibman examines artifacts they left behind in Barbados, Suriname, London, Philadelphia, and, finally, New York, to show how Sarah and Isaac were able to transform themselves and their lives, becoming free, wealthy, Jewish, and--at times--white. While their affluence made them unusual, their story mirrors that of the largely forgotten population of mixed African and Jewish ancestry that constituted as much as ten percent of the Jewish communities in which the siblings lived, and sheds new light on the fluidity of race--as well as on the role of religion in racial shift--in the first half of the nineteenth century.

    Download printable family trees for the families discussed in the book!

    Position
    Bio/Descriptioshe found herself at a dead end when it came to her grandmother's maternal line. Using family heirlooms to unlock the mystery of Moses's ancestors, Once We Were Slaves overturns the reclusive heiress's assumptions about her family history to reveal that her grandmother and great-uncle, Sarah and Isaac Brandon, actually began their lives as poor Christian slaves in Barbados. Tracing the siblings' extraordinary journey throughout the Atlantic World, Leibman examines artifacts they left behind in Barbados, Suriname, London, Philadelphia, and, finally, New York, to show how Sarah and Isaac were able to transform themselves and their lives, becoming free, wealthy, Jewish, and--at times--white. While their affluence made them unusual, their story mirrors that of the largely forgotten population of mixed African and Jewish ancestry that constituted as much as ten percent of the Jewish communities in which the siblings lived, and sheds new light on the fluidity of race--as well as on the role of religion in racial shift--in the first half of the nineteenth century.

    Author:

    Laura Arnold Leibman is the Leonard J. Milberg ’53 Professor in American Jewish Studies at Princeton University. Her work focuses on religion and the daily lives of women and children in early America and uses everyday objects to help bring their stories back to life.  She is President of the Association for Jewish Studies, and the author of three award-winning books: The Art of the Jewish Family: A History of Women in Early New York in Five Objects (2020), Messianism, Secrecy and Mysticism: A New Interpretation of Early American Jewish Life (2013), and Once We Were Slaves (2021).  She also co-edited the collection Jews Across the Americas: A Sourcebook, 1492-the Present (2023). She is currently working on a book about Jews and textiles during the long nineteenth century.

    Registration:

    Registration is open only to JGSC Members and is limited to 10 participants.  There will be a waiting list for each meeting.  Registration closes on Wednesday, April 23, at which point participants will receive a Zoom link.

    Contact:

    Jane Rothstein at president@jgscleveland.org for questions.


    • 04/30/2025
    • 05/03/2025
    • Kalahari Resort & Convention Center, 7000 Kalahari Dr, Sandusky, OH 44870

    Ohio Genealogical Society

    2025 Annual Conference

    Sandusky, OH  *  April 30 - May 3, 2025


    The OGS conference will offer a number of tracks, among them a current “hot” topic — DNA, along with Military, Searching Records, Ethnic groups, and Technology — including the current “hottest” topic — Artificial Intelligence and Genealogy!  Join other Ohio genealogists and register now.

    • 04/30/2025

    Yom HaZikaron

    • 05/01/2025

    Yom HaAtzmaut

    • 05/04/2025
    • 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM (EDT)

    Save The Date: Program with Daniel Horowitz

    Details coming soon...

    • 06/01/2025
    • 06/03/2025

    Shavuot

    • 06/04/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EDT)
    • Zoom

    Save The Date: JGSC Zoom Event

    Details coming soon...

    • 07/02/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EDT)
    • Zoom

    Save The Date: JGSC Zoom Event

    Details coming soon...

    • 07/23/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EDT)
    • Zoom

    JGSC Book Club: It's All Relative: Up and Down the World's Family Tree by A.J. Jacobs

      

    When:

    Wednesday, July 23, 2025, 7:00pm ET

    Where:

    Zoom


    Join us for a moderated discussion of It's All Relative: Up and Down the World's Family Tree by A.J. Jacobs


    About the Group:

    We read books that bring Jewish genealogy to life, including memoirs that explore generations of a family's history, histories that explore Jewish families and make use of genealogical research, and other titles that explore the role of genealogy in our lives.


    Book Synopsis:

    A.J. Jacobs has received some strange emails over the years, but this note was perhaps the strangest: “You don’t know me, but I’m your eighth cousin. And we have over 80,000 relatives of yours in our database.”

    That’s enough family members to fill Madison Square Garden four times over. Who are these people, A.J. wondered, and how do I find them? So began Jacobs’s three-year adventure to help build the biggest family tree in history. In 
    It’s All Relative, he “muses on the nature of family and the interconnectedness of humanity in this entertaining introduction to the world of genealogy” (Publishers Weekly).

    Jacobs’s journey would take him to all seven continents. He drank beer with a US president, sung with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and unearthed genetic links to Hollywood actresses and real-life scoundrels. After all, we can choose our friends, but not our family.

    “Whether he’s posing as a celebrity, outsourcing his chores, or adhering strictly to the Bible, we love reading about the wacky lifestyle experiments of author A.J. Jacobs” (
    Entertainment Weekly). Now Jacobs upends, in ways both meaningful and hilarious, our understanding of genetics and genealogy, tradition and tribalism, identity and connection. “Whimsical but also full of solid journalism and eye-opening revelations about the history of humanity, It’s All Relative is a real treat” (Booklist, starred review).


    Author:

    A.J. Jacobs is an author, journalist, lecturer and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help. Among his books are The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically, and Thanks a Thousand, in which he travels the globe to thank everyone who had even the slightest role in making his morning cup of coffee. He is a contributor to NPR, The New York Times, and Esquire, among others. He has given several TED talks, including ones about living biblically, creating a one-world family, and living healthily that have amassed over 10 million views.


    Registration:

    Registration is open only to JGSC members and is limited to 10 participants.  There will be a waiting list. Registration closes on Tuesday, July 22, at which point participants will receive a Zoom link.


    Contact:

    Email Jane Rothstein at president@jgscleveland.org with any questions.

    • 08/06/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EDT)
    • Zoom

    Save The Date: JGSC Zoom Event

    Details coming soon...

    • 08/09/2025

    Tisha B'Av

    • 08/10/2025
    • 08/14/2025
    • Fort Wayne, IN

      IAJGS 2025

    More details to come...

    Click here to register for a Virtual Information Session on Sunday, February 2nd.

    • 09/03/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EDT)
    • Zoom

    Save The Date: JGSC Zoom Event

    Details coming soon...

    • 09/22/2025
    • 09/24/2025

    Rosh Hashanah

    • 10/01/2025
    • 10/02/2025

    Yom Kippur

    • 12/03/2025
    • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EST)
    • Zoom

    Save The Date: JGSC Annual Meeting

    Details coming soon...

Past events

12/25/2024 Happy Chanukah!
12/04/2024 Annual Membership Meeting and Program with Margaret Lynch
11/06/2024 Woman in Gold with Randy Schoenberg
10/16/2024 Sukkot
10/11/2024 Yom Kippur
10/02/2024 Rosh Hashanah
09/04/2024 JGSC Quarterly Board Meeting
09/04/2024 Old Jewish Cleveland and its Cemeteries with Jeffrey Morris
08/22/2024 Research Study and Road Trip to the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
08/18/2024 2024 International Association of Jewish Genealogy Societies (IAJGS) Annual Conference
08/11/2024 Family History and Genealogy Open House: Our Food, Celebrations, and Stories!
07/31/2024 JGSC Quarterly Board Meeting
06/11/2024 Shavuot
06/09/2024 Genealogy Discussion Group and Coffee Talk
06/05/2024 Intro to JewishGen & Jewish Genealogy with Avraham Groll
05/12/2024 CANCELLED: Genealogy Discussion Group and Coffee Talk
05/06/2024 Holocaust Remembrance Day
05/01/2024 Comparing and Choosing Genealogy Software with Chuck Weinstein
04/22/2024 Passover
04/14/2024 Genealogy Discussion Group and Coffee Talk
04/10/2024 Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS) 2024 Conference
04/03/2024 Using the Cleveland Jewish News as a Genealogy Resource with Editor Bob Jacob
03/23/2024 Purim
03/10/2024 Genealogy Discussion Group and Coffee Talk
03/06/2024 JGSC Quarterly Board Meeting
03/06/2024 Making the Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne Your Research Assistant with an Emphasis on Jewish Genealogical Research with Curt Witcher
02/11/2024 Genealogy Discussion Group and Coffee Talk
02/07/2024 Family Secrets, Memory, and Faith with Heidi B. Neumark
01/27/2024 International Holocaust Remembrance Day
01/16/2024 Last Call: MyHeritage Offer for JGS Cleveland Members Only
01/14/2024 Genealogy Discussion Group and Coffee Talk
01/03/2024 Beyond the Myths: Adventures in Jewish Genealogy with Jennifer Mendelsohn
12/06/2023 Annual Membership and Board of Trustees Meetings: Help Us Kickoff 2024 Membership with a Program and Case Study “DNA Results for the Emerging Genealogist” with Dr. Robin Selinger
11/14/2023 From the Shtetl to Ellis Island: Discovering the Journey with Leah Kaplan
11/01/2023 Researching Jewish Families in America: Focus on Lake Erie Region Resources
10/28/2023 Family History Day at the Cleveland Public Library
10/19/2023 Discover Your Past: Becoming a Genealogical Thinker Instead of a Genealogical Collector
10/12/2023 Cleveland Jewish FilmFest
10/04/2023 Why did our Jewish Ancestors Leave a Great Place Like the Pale? with Hal Bookbinder
09/06/2023 Using FamilySearch for Jewish Research and Cleveland Connections with Todd Knowles
08/20/2023 Summer Cemetery Cleanup
08/09/2023 The ABC's of Vital Records: Birth, Marriage, & Death with Deborah Abbott, PhD
07/30/2023 2023 IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy
07/12/2023 JGSC Quarterly Board Meeting
07/09/2023 Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP)
07/05/2023 U.S. Synagogue Records as a Genealogical Resource with Ellen Kowitt
06/18/2023 Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP)
06/09/2023 JGSC 40th Anniversary Program and Open House
05/21/2023 Jewish Federation of Cleveland's Spring Cemetery Cleanup
05/03/2023 Moving Your Family Memories from Nostalgia to History with Samuel Gruber, PhD
04/26/2023 2023 OGS Conference: What Brought Them Here
04/23/2023 NEOGRT Series with Daniel Horowitz (Sunday)
04/22/2023 NEOGRT Series with Daniel Horowitz (Saturday)
04/05/2023 Passover
03/29/2023 JGSC Quarterly Board Meeting
03/02/2023 RootsTech 2023
03/01/2023 Finding and Understanding Bubbe and Zayde’s Galician Vital Records with Mark Halpern
02/08/2023 ICA Art Conservation: Caring for Paintings and Frames
02/01/2023 Gone Girl: DNA and Document Strategies for Finding a VERY Long Lost Female Cousin with Rhoda Miller
01/27/2023 International Holocaust Remembrance Day
01/18/2023 Finding Your Roots: Documenting Family History in the Digital Age
01/04/2023 Researching Criminal Ancestors with Ron Arons
12/18/2022 Chanukah
12/14/2022 DIY HANUKKAH PAPERCUTTING WITH JEANETTE KUVIN OREN
12/14/2022 ICA's Conservation Highlights 2022
12/07/2022 Annual Meeting: Help Us Kickoff our 2023 Membership Drive and Take a Quick Tour of Our Online Home
11/13/2022 Exploring DNA Testing for Genealogy Research
11/09/2022 Caring for Silver
10/12/2022 Tips and Tools to Explore Military History and Make Family Connections
09/07/2022 Secrets, Lies, and Families … Let’s Talk! with Julie Klam and Diane Cole

Copyright 2024.  The Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland, Inc. (JGSC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization (EIN: 34-1648203).  All Rights Reserved.