FamilySearch catalog no. 708776 (Mogilev metrical books) was initially identified as a promising path. Actual examination of the full catalog record produced a negative ruling:
The catalog record (familysearch.org/.../koha:708776, "Metrical books, 1837-1894") states explicitly: the records are "for the rabbinate of Mogilev"; author: "Jewish Congregation. Mogilev"; Locality Subjects: only Mogilev/Mahilioŭ. There is no mention of Lyady. Source: the National Historical Archives of Belarus, Minsk.
Meaning: scanning the reel's 906 images would not find AZR — he was born in Lyady, a separate town. The step proposed earlier (locating the 1854 birth volume on the reel) was canceled: it aims at the wrong place.
Catalog 708776 = 7 reels, structured as V. 3362-x/y, all Mogilev city. An 1854 birth volume exists (indeed twice) on Film 1920796 / DGS 7766479, but for Mogilev city. The last reel (Film 1920802 / DGS 4563097) includes a name index ("Register to V.1/1-14,17-18"), an efficient entry point if it ever turns out that AZR was recorded in Mogilev.
| That the catalog covers Mogilev city only | high certainty |
| That Lyady is not included in it | high certainty |
The JewishGen Communities Database provided Lyady's exact administrative placement over time:
| Period | Town | District | Governorate | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-WWI (c.1900) | Lyady | Gorki | Mogilev | the Russian Empire |
| Interwar (c.1930) | Lyady | — | Vitebsk | the USSR |
The project database had recorded a contradiction: Mogilev (Wikipedia, Tidhar) ↔ Vitebsk (Geni). Both versions are correct for different periods: Lyady lay in Mogilev Governorate until WWI, and moved to the Vitebsk region afterwards. The contradiction is closed.
Details: 54°36'N 31°10'E, on the Belarus–Russia border; 58 miles NE of Mogilev, 56 miles SE of Vitebsk, 36 miles WSW of Smolensk. Names: Ляды (Russian/Belarusian), Lyadi (Yiddish). Jewish population 3,763 (1897), corroborating the database. The registration district = Gorki, which confirms that the 1875 conscription record (from the "Gorki district" database) indeed belongs to Lyady's correct district. JewishGen Communities
The JewishGen database "Lyady, Dubrovna Fire-victims 1850, 1879" (92 records; a name-by-name list of Lyady residents, fire victims who had not repaid the 1850 loan). This is the first primary source documenting a Rabinovitz family in Lyady itself:
One of the highest property values on the list ⇒ a well-to-do family in Lyady, 4 years before AZR's birth.
"Rabinovich" is an extremely common surname; AZR's father was Tsvi-Hirsh (not Zalman); there is no "Brook" here (the maternal line). Do not assume kinship — this is evidence that a well-to-do Rabinovich family existed in Lyady in 1850, not proof of a connection. The link is circumstantial only (same town, close to the birth year).
Associated names worth noting (hypothesis only): TZALKIN Simcha/Sterlya children of Girsha (#83, #29); "Tzalkin" is phonetically close to "Tsirlis/Tsirli" (the name of AZR's paternal grandmother's family). There is no BROK/BRUK on the list. JewishGen Belarus DB
Three angles, all 0 relevant hits: Рабинович+Ляды → 0; Рабинович alone → 38 records but all Tomsk/Siberia (the geographic filter is not enforced); Брук+Ляды → 0; Full-Text Search (OCR) "Ляды" → 0. Conclusion: FamilySearch does not index Lyady in any language — not in English, not in Cyrillic, not via OCR.
Distinction: Fond 3410 = metrical books (including births) + a name database. The 1858 revision list of Lyady, in which R. Nissan's father is recorded, is held in a separate file: NIAB ф.2151 / оп.1 / д.154.
The website of the National Historical Archives of Belarus (fk.archives.gov.by/fond/110385), "Collection of documents of Jewish societies and institutions of the Mogilev and Vitebsk Governorates," 1841-1918, 96 items. Official annotation: metrical books of the districts of Gomel, Gorki (Горецкий), Mogilev, Mstislavl, Klimovichi, Rogachev. Unlike Fond 3362 (Mogilev city only), Fond 3410 covers Gorki district, where Lyady is located. This is the most promising archival path not yet examined.
niab@niab.by).| Path | Status |
|---|---|
| Mogilev metrical-books catalog 708776 (FamilySearch) | ruled out, city only |
| Cyrillic search on FamilySearch | closed, 0 results |
| A dedicated Lyady reel on FamilySearch | does not exist |
| NIAB Fond 3410 (covers Gorki/Lyady) | open, requires inquiry |
| The NIAB "Mogilev Synagogue" database (25K) | open, requires inquiry |
| List of localities under Mogilev Governorate (FS) | blocked, display bug |
niab@niab.by) requesting a search for "Rabinovich, Lyady, Gorki district" in Fond 3410 and in the "Mogilev Synagogue" database. There — if AZR's birth (1854) was recorded — the record will be found. Parallel path: once FamilySearch's catalog display is fixed, search for Gorki district at the County level.
The alphabetical index of the "Mogilev Synagogue" database begins in 1864, and AZR was born in 1854. That is, the index cannot contain AZR's own birth record — it falls before the covered range. Correct use: to locate the family cluster (siblings, other Rabinoviches 1864-1893) and to confirm the place of registration. The 1854 record itself would come from the metrical book by record number (to which the index points) or from the 1850/1858 revision censuses.
metrics.tilda.ws/belarus, nashipredki.com/archive/niab-minsk, catalogs and lists of digital copies outside FamilySearch.The conscription record places the family in the Gorki/Mstislavl district, but the biography places Lyady on the Mogilev–Vitebsk border. There are two candidate "Lyadys" in the region, and the district attribution determines which fond holds the records. The inquiry to NIAB should ask explicitly "under which rabbinate were the Jews of Lyady registered," not assume.