Members Helping Members Since 1981

Are you researching Jewish family history and looking for a Chicago area network of experts and enthusiasts?

We help members collect, preserve, and perpetuate the records and history of their ancestors and serve as a resource for the worldwide community to research their Chicago area Jewish roots.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois (JGSI) is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization established in 1981 and now with over 300 members.

A great honor in memory of Peggy Morrow: Morasha, the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois newsletter formerly edited by the late Peggy Morrow z"l and now edited by Dale Amdur, has won the first-place award for newsletters in the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors’ 2020 Excellence in Writing Competition. Congratulations to all JGSI volunteers who regularly contribute to Morasha!

JGSI members are invited to write articles for Morasha, JGSI's newsletter. If you have an interesting family story or genealogical find, please send an article about it to morashaeditor@jgsi.org. 

Genealogist Ellen Kowitt to give two talks July 26, 2020

Ellen Kowitt, past president and current outreach chair of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado, will give two virtual lectures for the Sunday, July 26, 2020, Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois meeting: “Comparing Jewish Resources on Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Findmypast, MyHeritage and JewishGen” at 1 p.m., and “What Would Nancy Drew Do in the Quest for Missing Family” at about 2:30 p.m.

For more information about this meeting, see https://jgsi.org/event-3605842 or call 312-666-0100. This event is free and open to the public; however, Zoom will limit attendance to 100. Planning is underway to have the live streaming presentation also be available simultaneously through Facebook Live.