Jewish people in the United States, A Coat of Many Colors. , he was completing a seventh book, Early Social Life in Miami Beach: From Mangroves and Mosquitoes to Mansions and Millionaires. He also was selected to write the article on Judaism for the Encyclopedia of Sociology, and to write seven articles on the relationship between anthropology and DNA for the Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Lavender has argued that since Sephardic Jews constitute a separate group, they should be granted the same attention bestowed on other ethnic groups. On six occasions, Lavender has been honored (Distinguished Citizen Award, Key to the City, Certificate of Appreciation) for his civic activities in Miami Beach. Lavender also has close ties to Charleston, South Carolina], his second home, where he has lived part-time, has many relatives and friends, visits frequently, has been a speaker at the historic (founded in the 1740s) Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue, has conducted extensive research at the Huguenot Society, and was involved with the International Huguenot Conference held in Charleston in 1997. Civic and political activities Lavender also has been active in civic and political affairs, serving as advisor to Miami Beach mayor Seymour Gelber, vice-chair and commissioner of the Miami Beach Housing Authority, chairperson of city's Homeless Committee, and as a member of the city's Safety Committee. He served on the board of directors of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Miami, and has conducted extensive genealogical research. An academic and personal area of interest, used in genealogical and historical research, was DNA. His strongest personal genetic matches were in Spain, especially among the chuetas (Marranos) of the island of Mallorca. His direct paternal ancestor, Benjamin Lavender, settled in the Sumter, Turbeville, New Zion areas of South Carolina c. 1790, and among Lavender's later presentations was "Where in the World are Benjamin Lavender’s Distant Male Cousins?" ("¿Donde Están en el Mundo los Primos Distantes de Benjamin Lavenda?"), presented in Turbeville, S.C., in August 2010. With thirteen Y-chromosome markers, the answers were, in order, Italy (especially Marche); Cologne, Germany; Central Portugal; the United States (4 European background, 2 Hispanic background, and 1 African background), Brazil (especially Rio Grande Do Sul), and Warsaw, Poland. Lavender was also a frequent speaker to academic, civic, and genealogical groups, with frequent presentations about the Sephardic Jews of Spain and Portugal, and their descendants in North America and South America. Recent presentations have included "The