Methods & notes

Source

Every weekly issue of Kol Mevaser (London) is read page by page: the simcha listings (sholom zochor, bris, kiddush, mazal tov, bar mitzva, shidduchim, oifruf, wedding luach, sheva brochos, “simchas not yet published”) and the simcha advertisements. Each printed item is one appearance. Appearances that belong to the same simcha are linked into one event, and the dashboard counts events, not appearances.

What is counted

• Births — boys (sholom zochor / bris / not-yet-published / ads, linked as one), girls (kiddush / not-yet-published / ads), twins. Dated by the first week the birth appears.
• Bar mitzvas — mazal tov and kiddush and ads for the same boy counted once, dated by the first appearance.
• Engagements (shidduchim) — dated by the week the shidduch is announced.
• Weddings — dated by the sheva brochos week, else the wedding / oifruf / luach week. A couple appears both as an engagement and a wedding when both were printed; to count each couple once use the filter “Marriages: count each couple once = Yes” (the migration views do this).
• Pidyon haben, Ateres zekeinim (grandparents' milestones; kept separate, never counted as births) and Other simchas (siyum, hachnosas sefer Torah, upsherin, etc.).

Duplicates

A simcha printed in several sections or several weeks is counted once. Births are linked when the father matches (spelling-tolerant match on family and first name), grandparents do not contradict, and the appearances are within 6 weeks. Bar mitzvas: same father and same boy's name within 6 weeks. Weddings: chosson's and kallah's families match; the shidduch may be up to 18 months earlier, oifruf / luach / sheva brochos within 5 weeks. “Simchas not yet published” are moved to the previous week.

Weeks and dates

Each issue is dated by its Shabbos; weeks are named by that Shabbos (Gregorian date). Issues printed before a Yom Tov count towards the following Shabbos. Hebrew month and year are taken from that Shabbos. Sefira = 16 Nissan – 5 Sivan, Three Weeks = 17 Tammuz – 9 Av. Because periods have different lengths, use “Show as → Average per week” to compare them fairly.

Chasidus and shul

Chasidus comes from the shul where the kiddush / sholom zochor / oifruf took place, as printed. Shul categories were classified by hand by the editor where available (e.g. Satmar 26 / Satmar 86, Belz 99, Vizhnitz 89 — shown in “Chasidus (detail)” and combined in “Chasidus (umbrella)”); the rest are proposed and still being checked. Home kiddushim are their own category. Where no shul is printed but a cheder is, the cheder's chasidus is used.

Out of town, towns and countries

A simcha is “out of town” when any family member on the announcement is listed with a town outside London (e.g. grandparents in Antwerp). London families are normally printed without a town, so “London / not printed” means no other town was given. For births, the paternal and maternal grandparents' towns are shown separately; for marriages, the town of the chosson's side and the kallah's side.

Venue type

Where a venue is printed, it is classified as home, shul / community hall, school hall, commercial hall (e.g. banqueting halls) or private address. This is a rough proxy only — most births and kiddushim print a shul, not a venue.

Privacy

This public site has counts only. No names, family names, house addresses or announcement texts are published here. Shul names and towns are shown. Categories that occur fewer than 3 times in the data (rare shuls, rare towns) are grouped as “Other (fewer than 3)”.

Caveats

• Reading the pages is automated and checked by rules; a small share of items may be misread or mis-linked. Spot checks are ongoing.
• Only simchas that families chose to announce in Kol Mevaser are counted.
• Engagements announced shortly before the first issue of the data, or weddings after the last, may fall outside the period covered.